Margot At The Wedding
Almost unwatchable. A serious waste of time for any viewer. Nicole Kidmann, Jack Black and the rest of the cast mumble their lines, allude to characters that aren't in the film and generally laze about doing nothing of any interest or meaning. Don't rent this film on DVD. It is terrible.
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
A film about a back alley abortion in Communist Romania. I'm not anti-abortion, but this was possibly one of the worst films I have seen in a long time. It was boring and pointless to say the least. The acting was dreadful as was the dialogue. Avoid this one at all costs, even on DVD. Amazingly, metacritic.com gave this a rating of 97, which pretty much reinforces my belief that most media film critics are uneducated and totally lacking in taste or any amount of artistic experience.
Hillary for President and Bill for First Lady
Vote for Hillary!
Plus, as an added bonus we get Bill back! Woot!
Microsoft Zune 30 gig
Well Microsoft missed reading a study from the 70s that indicated that BROWN and GREEN were the two most negative colors for consumers.
So, as Microsoft evidently has a lot of unsold BROWN Zunes, they were on sale on Black Friday for as low as $79, which you have to admit is a pretty good deal. In their infinite wisdom, Microsoft is going to replace the BROWN Zunes with GREEN ones. Doh!
Like when you are working out or whatever, who cares what color your Zune, iPod or any other MP3 player is? Really! Although we have every single model of iPod here at home, I bought one of the brown Zunes to see how it compared to the iPod.
Well the Zune software is different to say the least. In some areas it's easier to use in others it's not. It is definitely flashier than the iTunes software, but it also offers fewer songs in its marketplace.
The Zune is ok if it is your first MP3 player or if like me you have used others over the years and just want to check it out from a technical standpoint.
January 2008: After owning the Zune for a while, I think one of its most outstanding features is the built-in FM radio for those of us who lack massive MP3 collections of music. The worst feature is the PC software for the Zune. Apple's iTunes software simply is superior to the Zune software and I don't find iTunes that intuitive to begin with....
So, as Microsoft evidently has a lot of unsold BROWN Zunes, they were on sale on Black Friday for as low as $79, which you have to admit is a pretty good deal. In their infinite wisdom, Microsoft is going to replace the BROWN Zunes with GREEN ones. Doh!
Like when you are working out or whatever, who cares what color your Zune, iPod or any other MP3 player is? Really! Although we have every single model of iPod here at home, I bought one of the brown Zunes to see how it compared to the iPod.
Well the Zune software is different to say the least. In some areas it's easier to use in others it's not. It is definitely flashier than the iTunes software, but it also offers fewer songs in its marketplace.
The Zune is ok if it is your first MP3 player or if like me you have used others over the years and just want to check it out from a technical standpoint.
January 2008: After owning the Zune for a while, I think one of its most outstanding features is the built-in FM radio for those of us who lack massive MP3 collections of music. The worst feature is the PC software for the Zune. Apple's iTunes software simply is superior to the Zune software and I don't find iTunes that intuitive to begin with....
Toshiba HD-A3 DVD player
As one of the bits of Black Friday swag, my daughter got a Toshiba HD-A3 DVD player from Amazon.com for $175. While we don't have actual HD programming via satellite or cable yet, playing an HD DVD was STUNNING to say the least! In the box was 300 and The Bourne Identity. If you purchase an HD DVD player, go to www.thelookandsoundofperfect.com where you can print a page that entitles you to five free HDs.
Even watching non-HD DVDs was a whole new experience as "up-verting" by the Toshiba was absolutely amazing!
Hey! I'm not anti-Blu-Ray, but Blu-Ray DVD players are still much higher in price than the HD players. I could see ending up with both formats until the high definition DVD war has a winner.
In the meantime, if you find a reasonably priced HD DVD player, buy one!
By the way, use HDMI cables to connect your HD player to your HD TV, and buy the cables off of the Internet for $5 or more instead of purchasing HDMI cables at Best Buy, Fry's or Circuit City for outrageous amounts like $50 or higher. There's only two states with an HDMI cable: It works or it doesn't work. End of story!
Even watching non-HD DVDs was a whole new experience as "up-verting" by the Toshiba was absolutely amazing!
Hey! I'm not anti-Blu-Ray, but Blu-Ray DVD players are still much higher in price than the HD players. I could see ending up with both formats until the high definition DVD war has a winner.
In the meantime, if you find a reasonably priced HD DVD player, buy one!
By the way, use HDMI cables to connect your HD player to your HD TV, and buy the cables off of the Internet for $5 or more instead of purchasing HDMI cables at Best Buy, Fry's or Circuit City for outrageous amounts like $50 or higher. There's only two states with an HDMI cable: It works or it doesn't work. End of story!
Don't give to the Salvation Army this holiday season
This religious organization spends more than $300 MILLION on "Administrative Costs" in the US alone. Kind of makes one wonder what high level quality of life is being financed for the leaders of this organization by your donations.
No need to discuss their dogma of being anti-homosexual or encouraging the breeding of large families. Maybe they can out breed the Mormons and Catholics.
I'd rather hand my charitible donations directly to a homeless person or to a locally managed shelter or hospice.
Avoid charities and religious groups this holiday season that have massive administration overheads or that just don't actually move their cause forward.
No need to discuss their dogma of being anti-homosexual or encouraging the breeding of large families. Maybe they can out breed the Mormons and Catholics.
I'd rather hand my charitible donations directly to a homeless person or to a locally managed shelter or hospice.
Avoid charities and religious groups this holiday season that have massive administration overheads or that just don't actually move their cause forward.
Vista Service Pack Release Candidate 1 is OK
The ONE thing that makes the first of what I expect will be many, service packs for Windows Vista is that for us unfortunate users (retail beta testers?) of Vista Ultimate is that now one's Internet connection is established immediately instead of five minutes after Vista Ultimate has booted up.
Performance? HA! My startup time is SLOWER now, but I'm confident that Microsoft will label that as being "more secure" by using some new mystery code that we don't see while the PC boots up.
Performance? HA! My startup time is SLOWER now, but I'm confident that Microsoft will label that as being "more secure" by using some new mystery code that we don't see while the PC boots up.
Windows Live OneCare failure
Well, Windows Live OneCare is finally off of the last system in my home. My wife had been using it under Windows XP. Recently OneCare downloaded an "update" that made it totally unuseable. Using Microsoft's OneCare repair tools (kind of says something about the product when they have repair tools, eh?) and doing a total uninstall and reinstall could not get OneCare back in operation.
So, I installed Symantec's Norton 360, which offers everything that OneCare does. Norton 360 also has many additional features over and above OneCare, such as regularly tuning up your PC.
I use Norton 360 on three of my PCs and find it to be an excellent for securing and protecting your PC, especially if you are a heavy Internet user.
So, I installed Symantec's Norton 360, which offers everything that OneCare does. Norton 360 also has many additional features over and above OneCare, such as regularly tuning up your PC.
I use Norton 360 on three of my PCs and find it to be an excellent for securing and protecting your PC, especially if you are a heavy Internet user.
Windows Live Messenger is risky to use
I logged in to Windows Live Messenger this morning to find that all of the people on my Coworkers group (a group that is built into Windows Live Messenger) had disappeared!
At first I thought possibly that I had been fired, but fortunately that is not the case.
Microsoft simply lost all of my data. This shouldn't surprise me because as I contractor I had to reconstruct all of the MSN internal InfoPath help desk forms from screen shots because they somehow managed to lose that data.
The lesson learned here is to keep a seperate copy of all your IM contacts on your local PC. You will need that list if Microsoft loses your IM data, as Microsoft obviously has lost for me.
At first I thought possibly that I had been fired, but fortunately that is not the case.
Microsoft simply lost all of my data. This shouldn't surprise me because as I contractor I had to reconstruct all of the MSN internal InfoPath help desk forms from screen shots because they somehow managed to lose that data.
The lesson learned here is to keep a seperate copy of all your IM contacts on your local PC. You will need that list if Microsoft loses your IM data, as Microsoft obviously has lost for me.
Best HD TVs as of October 2007
The Panasonic 42” Plasma HDTV (Model number is TH-42PX75U) is currently the best 720p on the market.
The best 1080p HDTV out there is the Westinghouse LVM-42w2. This is a true 1080p that has beaten out Sony and JVC in testing.
The best 1080p HDTV out there is the Westinghouse LVM-42w2. This is a true 1080p that has beaten out Sony and JVC in testing.
HP Pavilion a6152n
Currently the best priced desktop with a Quad Core processor. Amazon, Fry's, Circuit City and many other retailers sell this PC for $800-$1000. It uses an ASUS IPIBL-LA motherboard. Comes with 3GB of RAM (2 1GB and 2 512MB. 32 bit OS like Windows XP and Vista don't recognize RAM beyond 3 GB so this is optimal unless you "upgrade" to a 64 bit version of Windows, and if you do that, all I can say is good luck finding device drivers!)
I got one awhile back, and while the LightScribe/Roxio software won't burn a LightScribe label, everything else works fine and it's good PC. I did stick an EVGA DX10 compatible PCI-E board and a wireless-n board in it as well.
It also has an HP Pocket Media Drive bay, but as I already carry around a pocket USB drive, I haven't used that feature yet. No need to buy another drive at this time point anyway.
I got one awhile back, and while the LightScribe/Roxio software won't burn a LightScribe label, everything else works fine and it's good PC. I did stick an EVGA DX10 compatible PCI-E board and a wireless-n board in it as well.
It also has an HP Pocket Media Drive bay, but as I already carry around a pocket USB drive, I haven't used that feature yet. No need to buy another drive at this time point anyway.
Vista Ultimate versus Vista Business versus Vista Home Premium
OK, go for the weirdest situation created by Microsoft to date.
Vista Business (installed on one of my notebooks) works fairly normal. I installed it for the scanning and fax capability that comes with Vista Business. The Microsoft scanning software won't work with my older scanner, but that's OK, as the old scanner software will allow me to scan documents onto my notebook. The only good news here is that the Microsoft Fax software does function. God only knows what scanners will work with the Microsoft Scan software.
I recently bought an HP (made by Asus!) Pavilion with a Quad Core processor. The PC came with Vista Home Premium installed. This version of Vista worked pretty well. I had also recently "upgraded" my daughter's PC from Vista Home Basic to Vista Home Premium. Basically Home Premium seems to work much better than Home Basic.
Now I recently had to "upgrade" my new PC to Vista Ultimate in order to run Virtual PC 2007 for my work. Talk about a step backwards! As opposed to Vista Home Premium, Vista Ultimate takes several minutes after booting up the PC to connect to the Internet. Very annoying. In addition, Ultimate forced me to create a static IP address for this PC as it couldn't seem to handle accepting or working with an automatic IP address from the router. Oddly enough, Vista Home Premium had no problem connecting to the Internet instantly and receiving an automatic IP address.
As one wag put it, "Windows Vista users are the largest beta testing group in the world."
Vista Business (installed on one of my notebooks) works fairly normal. I installed it for the scanning and fax capability that comes with Vista Business. The Microsoft scanning software won't work with my older scanner, but that's OK, as the old scanner software will allow me to scan documents onto my notebook. The only good news here is that the Microsoft Fax software does function. God only knows what scanners will work with the Microsoft Scan software.
I recently bought an HP (made by Asus!) Pavilion with a Quad Core processor. The PC came with Vista Home Premium installed. This version of Vista worked pretty well. I had also recently "upgraded" my daughter's PC from Vista Home Basic to Vista Home Premium. Basically Home Premium seems to work much better than Home Basic.
Now I recently had to "upgrade" my new PC to Vista Ultimate in order to run Virtual PC 2007 for my work. Talk about a step backwards! As opposed to Vista Home Premium, Vista Ultimate takes several minutes after booting up the PC to connect to the Internet. Very annoying. In addition, Ultimate forced me to create a static IP address for this PC as it couldn't seem to handle accepting or working with an automatic IP address from the router. Oddly enough, Vista Home Premium had no problem connecting to the Internet instantly and receiving an automatic IP address.
As one wag put it, "Windows Vista users are the largest beta testing group in the world."
Windows Live OneCare is the spawn of Satan!
One has to wonder if the people behind Windows Live OneCare even have any computer programming experience!
Amongst the many stupid things committed by Windows Live OneCare are:
1. Automatically downloading Internet Explorer 7 onto a notebook that already had IE 7 on it, thus corrupting the registry and knocking the browser back to IE 6! This cannot be undone, believe me!
2. Randomly shutting down Windows Vista to install updates without any warning.
3. After practically any update, Windows Mobile Center is knocked out, thus requiring that one totally reinstall the Windows Mobile Center configuration with the Windows Firewall.
Well, there's more but those are just the high points of this crappy program.
Amongst the many stupid things committed by Windows Live OneCare are:
1. Automatically downloading Internet Explorer 7 onto a notebook that already had IE 7 on it, thus corrupting the registry and knocking the browser back to IE 6! This cannot be undone, believe me!
2. Randomly shutting down Windows Vista to install updates without any warning.
3. After practically any update, Windows Mobile Center is knocked out, thus requiring that one totally reinstall the Windows Mobile Center configuration with the Windows Firewall.
Well, there's more but those are just the high points of this crappy program.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie
Absolutely the worst Harry Potter film to date!
Yes it is as true to the book as filming time could allow
(Running time is 2 hours and 15 minutes)
but it is Very S-L-O-W and BORING!
Wait for it to come out on DVD.
Yes it is as true to the book as filming time could allow
(Running time is 2 hours and 15 minutes)
but it is Very S-L-O-W and BORING!
Wait for it to come out on DVD.
Sicko
Michael Moore's new film, Sicko is his best work to date.
It is an incredible film and every American should see it.
Now I want to move to France, Canada or the UK! (You'll understand after you see the film.)
It is an incredible film and every American should see it.
Now I want to move to France, Canada or the UK! (You'll understand after you see the film.)
Vista reboots without warning
At least once a month on my PC, Vista will reboot without warning!
No dialog box, no warning box, just all of a sudden everything begins to shut down and then Vista reboots. A search on Google and Microsoft's site has turned up nothing that discusses or addresses this behavior.
I could attribute this behavior to Windows Update which as a rule updates on Tuesdays, but today is Saturday, it is 8 in the morning and once again Vista did an auto reboot.
Even stranger is that I had been working on the PC for at least 30 minutes.
Well once again this just serves as an example of the lack of thoughtful design and professional programming practices that should have been in Vista, especially after 7 years of development.
No dialog box, no warning box, just all of a sudden everything begins to shut down and then Vista reboots. A search on Google and Microsoft's site has turned up nothing that discusses or addresses this behavior.
I could attribute this behavior to Windows Update which as a rule updates on Tuesdays, but today is Saturday, it is 8 in the morning and once again Vista did an auto reboot.
Even stranger is that I had been working on the PC for at least 30 minutes.
Well once again this just serves as an example of the lack of thoughtful design and professional programming practices that should have been in Vista, especially after 7 years of development.
BlogHer 2007
COST:
$205.93 for two days of networking with other women bloggers, etc.
LOCATION:
End of the Navy Pier, Chicago.
I may be attending, difficult to predict at this point.
$205.93 for two days of networking with other women bloggers, etc.
LOCATION:
End of the Navy Pier, Chicago.
I may be attending, difficult to predict at this point.
Window Vista and Bluetooth
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
As of this writing, there are NO (as in ZERO) Windows Vista certified Bluetooth products on the market.
I recently spent the day with a new USB Bluetooth adapter vainly attempting to get it to work with Vista. Hours later after much research it appears that Vista isn't very well behaved with Bluetooth.
I plugged the same USB Bluetooth adapter into an XP PC. Wham! Worked flawlessly!
So what else is broken in this shoddy OS? Did Microsoft outsource the entire Windows Vista project to a bunch of losers from India or what?
As of this writing, there are NO (as in ZERO) Windows Vista certified Bluetooth products on the market.
I recently spent the day with a new USB Bluetooth adapter vainly attempting to get it to work with Vista. Hours later after much research it appears that Vista isn't very well behaved with Bluetooth.
I plugged the same USB Bluetooth adapter into an XP PC. Wham! Worked flawlessly!
So what else is broken in this shoddy OS? Did Microsoft outsource the entire Windows Vista project to a bunch of losers from India or what?
Windows Vista - Wireless Issues
My daughter's Vista PC has a new Linksys adapter in it.
Recently her PC stopped connecting to the Internet!
It shows her as connected, but in reality (as opposed to the fantasy world of Windows Vista) she isn't connected.
We removed and reinstalled the drivers.
Ran a diagnostic on the network card.
Dropped the firewall and anti-virus on the off chance they impeded connectivity.
All the other PCs in the household connect without problem including the other PC that runs Vista.
The daughter wants me to remove Vista and install XP as she needs to be on the Internet.
Seems like a reasonable request to me as it becomes more and more obvious that Vista is the worst OS ever released by Microsoft.
Recently her PC stopped connecting to the Internet!
It shows her as connected, but in reality (as opposed to the fantasy world of Windows Vista) she isn't connected.
We removed and reinstalled the drivers.
Ran a diagnostic on the network card.
Dropped the firewall and anti-virus on the off chance they impeded connectivity.
All the other PCs in the household connect without problem including the other PC that runs Vista.
The daughter wants me to remove Vista and install XP as she needs to be on the Internet.
Seems like a reasonable request to me as it becomes more and more obvious that Vista is the worst OS ever released by Microsoft.
Hotel Internet issues
Man, it seems like every hotel in the US seems to be too cheap to upgrade their routers beyond the "b" standard to supporting "g" or even the "n" specification.
I recently stayed at a Microtel in Tampa which as usual had "b" and amazingly had a T1 line! This is a very small hotel with even fewer guests using the Internet. I gave the hotel manager who was quite interested a mini-speech on the advantage of upgrading to at least "g" and preferably "n". Come on, at least for small hotels, routers are cheap!
The nice thing at the Microtel was that you had wireless in your room, which unfortunately doesn't seem to work well in other hotels.
Currently I am in Chicago and while my hotel offers free wireless internet in the lobby, it is $10 a night in the room and to top it off it's wired in the room, not wireless. No biggie, as I always carry a network wire just for those odd occasions, but I can see if you weren't traveling alone where there could be an issue, as there is only the single Internet port in the room. Maybe people traveling as a couple might be wise to pack along a router just in case.
I sure wish more hotels would upgrade to at least "g" if not "n"!
I recently stayed at a Microtel in Tampa which as usual had "b" and amazingly had a T1 line! This is a very small hotel with even fewer guests using the Internet. I gave the hotel manager who was quite interested a mini-speech on the advantage of upgrading to at least "g" and preferably "n". Come on, at least for small hotels, routers are cheap!
The nice thing at the Microtel was that you had wireless in your room, which unfortunately doesn't seem to work well in other hotels.
Currently I am in Chicago and while my hotel offers free wireless internet in the lobby, it is $10 a night in the room and to top it off it's wired in the room, not wireless. No biggie, as I always carry a network wire just for those odd occasions, but I can see if you weren't traveling alone where there could be an issue, as there is only the single Internet port in the room. Maybe people traveling as a couple might be wise to pack along a router just in case.
I sure wish more hotels would upgrade to at least "g" if not "n"!
Windows Vista - Microphone
I foolishly attempted to try to use my microphone under Vista for the first time.
My microphone worked fine in the past with Windows XP.
No such luck with Vista. Checking the Creative site to see if there were new drivers for my SoundBlaster Live! sound card brought me the news that Creative would not be writing any Vista drivers for this older card.
So, I did a bit of research and bought a Creative Xtremegamer sound card.
The sound is much improved, but attempting to use the microphone (which took a lot of research and fooling around with to enable) is still a no go. At least I can see some movement on the audio bar while attempting to "train" the microphone, but it still isn't usable for gaming, Windows Speech Recognition, navigation or any other function.
Looks like my new research project is to find a decent microphone with some kind of a volume boost.
As usual there is NO HELP on the Microsoft site. Vista still sucks and it is not a product that Microsoft should be proud of.
My microphone worked fine in the past with Windows XP.
No such luck with Vista. Checking the Creative site to see if there were new drivers for my SoundBlaster Live! sound card brought me the news that Creative would not be writing any Vista drivers for this older card.
So, I did a bit of research and bought a Creative Xtremegamer sound card.
The sound is much improved, but attempting to use the microphone (which took a lot of research and fooling around with to enable) is still a no go. At least I can see some movement on the audio bar while attempting to "train" the microphone, but it still isn't usable for gaming, Windows Speech Recognition, navigation or any other function.
Looks like my new research project is to find a decent microphone with some kind of a volume boost.
As usual there is NO HELP on the Microsoft site. Vista still sucks and it is not a product that Microsoft should be proud of.
Smug Microsoft Interviewers
As a computer consultant since the 70's, I have done more interviewing than God.
OK, maybe not that many but average a minimum of 2 a week for 30 years and it comes out to roughly 3000 interviews or so.
I'm pretty good at it and those skills come in handy for public speaking or starting a conversation in a bar.
Anyway in the last six months I have had interviews with at least four different groups at Microsoft. They usually call me every six months or so.
The disturbing trend is that now I get interviewers whose main interest seems to be in letting me know how smart they are.
What got me going on this is that I had yet another one of those interviews with a smug interviewer who started off by asking me what the difference is between BizTalk 2002 and BizTalk 2004. Seeing how I only use the current version which 2006, my unspoken mental reaction was "Who gives a s--t?"
Anyway this interview went on endlessly forcing me to re-evaluate my occupation and wonder exactly how much money one could make driving an ice cream truck.
OK, maybe not that many but average a minimum of 2 a week for 30 years and it comes out to roughly 3000 interviews or so.
I'm pretty good at it and those skills come in handy for public speaking or starting a conversation in a bar.
Anyway in the last six months I have had interviews with at least four different groups at Microsoft. They usually call me every six months or so.
The disturbing trend is that now I get interviewers whose main interest seems to be in letting me know how smart they are.
What got me going on this is that I had yet another one of those interviews with a smug interviewer who started off by asking me what the difference is between BizTalk 2002 and BizTalk 2004. Seeing how I only use the current version which 2006, my unspoken mental reaction was "Who gives a s--t?"
Anyway this interview went on endlessly forcing me to re-evaluate my occupation and wonder exactly how much money one could make driving an ice cream truck.
The Dip by Seth Godin
I'm not a follower or regular reader of Seth Godin, but I saw his new book, The Dip for $12.95 at Borders or for $5 on CD (with Seth himself actually reading which answered my question of how he pronounces his last name).
Seth has a good speaking voice, the material was fairly well organized and for $5, I think I got my money's worth.
It's an interesting piece on knowing when to quit or when to stick with it.
Seth has a good speaking voice, the material was fairly well organized and for $5, I think I got my money's worth.
It's an interesting piece on knowing when to quit or when to stick with it.
Sicko by Michael Moore
Michael Moore's new film, Sicko, about the health insurance industry opens June 29th.
Go see it!
Go see it!
Windows Vista - May 2007
I have spoken with dozens of people who either upgraded to Windows Vista or got it pre-installed on a new PC, since its launch on Jaunuary 29th of this year.
So far everyone I have talked with HATES Windows Vista.
So far everyone I have talked with HATES Windows Vista.
MSN stiffed me for $10,000
Yeah I got a contract to recreate three InfoPath forms for MSN. Seems that MSN blew off their SharePoint servers and had no backups for their InfoPath forms. Considering that these forms are used on a world wide basis as a trouble ticket system, this probably was embarrassing. So rather than admit to anyone within Microsoft as to what had happened, MSN contracted me through a third party to recreate these forms.
Well I finished reconstructing and unit testing the forms yesterday and then received an email from the third party company that I was no longer on the project.
Part of the issue was that MSN would have to let me install the forms on their network (due to a variety of complex issues) and they hadn't figured that into their scope of work.
So, MSN still owes me $10,000 for the forms.
P.S. If anyone out there would like a nice InfoPath-based trouble ticket system, I can develop one for you for a pretty inexpensive amount!
P.P.S. Got $2500 out of them. Better than nothing and cheaper than a lawsuit.
Well I finished reconstructing and unit testing the forms yesterday and then received an email from the third party company that I was no longer on the project.
Part of the issue was that MSN would have to let me install the forms on their network (due to a variety of complex issues) and they hadn't figured that into their scope of work.
So, MSN still owes me $10,000 for the forms.
P.S. If anyone out there would like a nice InfoPath-based trouble ticket system, I can develop one for you for a pretty inexpensive amount!
P.P.S. Got $2500 out of them. Better than nothing and cheaper than a lawsuit.
America is Humpty Dumpty
America is falling down.
I'm writing this post not from a state of depression, but from a point of observation. This is just a knee-jerk rant/reaction to the overwhelming glut of "news" and information. Our borders are no more secure today than they were before 9/11. We have 12 million illegal immigrants who think they should be rewarded with citizenship and all the other privileges of our society because they snuck into our country like a thief in the night. Bill Gates (and other CEOs) wants the H1B visa program to have no limits because "there aren't enough qualified Americans willing to work for $100,000 at year at Microsoft". Faceless corporate America is now the enemy of the people. Pharmaceutical companies want to have vitamins and other supplements removed from over the counter sales to be only available via presciption. The federal government under pressure from companies like Wal-Mart has now bastardized the term "organic" to be practically meaningless relative to the source of food. Monsanto wants the milk labels banned to refer to milk coming from cows that haven't been ingesting Monsanto-modified grains. We have wasted thousands of lives and billions of dollars in Iraq for no meaningful purpose. The country appears to be headed into a third world structure of rich and poor with no middle class. A country of extemes: haves versus have-nots.
Yes, like Humpty Dumpty, America is falling down and all the King's horsemen cannot put it back together again.
It makes one wonder what we can all do together in the present to salvage the future of our lives.
I'm writing this post not from a state of depression, but from a point of observation. This is just a knee-jerk rant/reaction to the overwhelming glut of "news" and information. Our borders are no more secure today than they were before 9/11. We have 12 million illegal immigrants who think they should be rewarded with citizenship and all the other privileges of our society because they snuck into our country like a thief in the night. Bill Gates (and other CEOs) wants the H1B visa program to have no limits because "there aren't enough qualified Americans willing to work for $100,000 at year at Microsoft". Faceless corporate America is now the enemy of the people. Pharmaceutical companies want to have vitamins and other supplements removed from over the counter sales to be only available via presciption. The federal government under pressure from companies like Wal-Mart has now bastardized the term "organic" to be practically meaningless relative to the source of food. Monsanto wants the milk labels banned to refer to milk coming from cows that haven't been ingesting Monsanto-modified grains. We have wasted thousands of lives and billions of dollars in Iraq for no meaningful purpose. The country appears to be headed into a third world structure of rich and poor with no middle class. A country of extemes: haves versus have-nots.
Yes, like Humpty Dumpty, America is falling down and all the King's horsemen cannot put it back together again.
It makes one wonder what we can all do together in the present to salvage the future of our lives.
eMachines (Gateway) rebate programs SUCK!
My daughter bought a new eMachines PC at the start of February. Before the end of February we mailed in her rebate to eMachines. Even though the rebate envelope weighed less than an ounce the dimwits at the U. S. Post Office returned it two weeks later with a sticker on it that read "requires special handling".
So without even opening the envelope so that the retards that handle the eMachines rebates could see the postmark, we put it in a larger envelope along with a letter explaining the rebate was mailed on time but that the Post Office had returned it.
Today almost a month later, we receive an notice from eMachines that the rebate will not be honored since it "wasn't mailed in time". This, despite the fact that they can clearly see that it was mailed "on time".
Our advice? Given a choice between eMachines/Gateway or another manufacturer, go with the other manufacturer.
It is quite obvious that eMachines/Gateway doesn't give a ding dong damn about their customers.
So without even opening the envelope so that the retards that handle the eMachines rebates could see the postmark, we put it in a larger envelope along with a letter explaining the rebate was mailed on time but that the Post Office had returned it.
Today almost a month later, we receive an notice from eMachines that the rebate will not be honored since it "wasn't mailed in time". This, despite the fact that they can clearly see that it was mailed "on time".
Our advice? Given a choice between eMachines/Gateway or another manufacturer, go with the other manufacturer.
It is quite obvious that eMachines/Gateway doesn't give a ding dong damn about their customers.
JetBlue JFK February 14 2007
Yes, I got caught in the JetBlue fiasco at JFK on 2/14/07. JetBlue kept everyone on the hook by continuing to show flights as delayed and rescheduled, until midnight when they announced that all flights were cancelled. They then proceeded to dump all the luggage from all of their aircraft into the luggage area, causing one to search an area the size of a football field through literally thousands of bags to locate their personal luggage.
Here are three photos I took with my phone camera of the mess. The time stamps in the corner of the pictures show military time, so I indeed was looking for my bag at 3:15 in the morning!
JetBlue only offered to let people be on standby (with hundreds of other people) for their already sold out flights, or get a refund or buy a ticket to fly out MONDAY (keep in mind this was on Wednesday night/early Thursday morning). Needless to say, I bought a ticket on Northwest, flew to Minneapolis, then flew Continental to Houston, laid over there a few hours and finally flew Continental to Sacramento arriving in the wee hours on Friday morning.
Then I fell ill and had to be rushed to the emergency room on Saturday, but that's another story.
Windows Vista - Video and missing RAM
Ok, anyone with half a brain knows by now that Windows Vista irregardless of version needs 2 Gigs of RAM to perform at an acceptable level.
I have 2 Gigs in my PC. My daughter bought a new PC with Vista Home Basic pre-installed on it the Sunday after Windows Vista was launched.
Of course it came with only 512M of RAM and the hard disk drive thrashed constantly.
Being Dad, I ordered 2 Gigs of RAM and installed it. Performance was now fine, but unlike my PC with Vista Ultimate which shows that I have 2 Gigs, hers only showed 187.5 Gigs.
Weird? Where did that 128m of RAM go? Ah, I have a video board with 512M of VRAM and her low end PC has an ATI 200 in it which shares system RAM.
Guess what? The video minimum for the Aero look and feel under Windows Vista requires 128m of VRAM. So, even though Windows Vista Home Basic DOES NOT SUPPORT AERO, Vista grabs 128m of system RAM anyway!
Too bad Microsoft can't manage to explain this to consumers.
Or hire some decent programmers.
I have 2 Gigs in my PC. My daughter bought a new PC with Vista Home Basic pre-installed on it the Sunday after Windows Vista was launched.
Of course it came with only 512M of RAM and the hard disk drive thrashed constantly.
Being Dad, I ordered 2 Gigs of RAM and installed it. Performance was now fine, but unlike my PC with Vista Ultimate which shows that I have 2 Gigs, hers only showed 187.5 Gigs.
Weird? Where did that 128m of RAM go? Ah, I have a video board with 512M of VRAM and her low end PC has an ATI 200 in it which shares system RAM.
Guess what? The video minimum for the Aero look and feel under Windows Vista requires 128m of VRAM. So, even though Windows Vista Home Basic DOES NOT SUPPORT AERO, Vista grabs 128m of system RAM anyway!
Too bad Microsoft can't manage to explain this to consumers.
Or hire some decent programmers.
Windows Vista - Performance Issues
The phone rings at Drips Central, a branch of the Goliath Corporation.
Me (answering the phone): Hello? If you're calling to tell me my weekly beer delivery is gonna be late, I am gonna be pissed.
Victim (an actual famous editor of a computer publication: Hello Mike. (Sniff!) I fell off the wagon!
Me: You started drinking again?
Victim: No, I installed Windows Vista.
Me: Man, you would have been a lot better off if you had started drinking again, or even become a drug addict. Of course once Windows Vista hits the street, 12 step Windows Vista programs will probably spring up all over the world.
Victim: It's too late for that! (Sob!) I've already installed it on my home and office PCs (Wail!).
Me: Didn't I already warn you about this? Vista is the spawn of Satan.
Victim: I know, I know, I should have listened!
Me: Well what do you me to do?
Victim: Just tell me the secret to Windows Vista performance. Please! I'm desperate! My entire computing world has turned into total slow motion! I feel like I am swimming in a pool of honey!
Me: Well Windows Vista won't install if your CPU is too slow, so, um, how much RAM do you have in your system?
Victim: (Choke!) One gig.
Me: Man, no wonder Windows Vista is kicking sand in the face of your PC! That's only enough RAM to boot up, not to actually do anything with Vista!
Victim: Well, uh how much more RAM do I need?
Me: For you to get acceptable performance out of Windows Vista, you have to have a minimum of 2 gigs of RAM.
Victim: But, but, that's not what Microsoft says!
Me: If you have to choose between believing what Microsoft says and smoking crack, then smoke crack. At least you will experience a lot more pleasure.
Victim: Well, thanks for the info. Now can I talk to you about Aero?
Me: Nah, it's too early in the day for me to start that gimpy piece of crap. It'll just force me to start drinking immediately. Call back later.
Me (answering the phone): Hello? If you're calling to tell me my weekly beer delivery is gonna be late, I am gonna be pissed.
Victim (an actual famous editor of a computer publication: Hello Mike. (Sniff!) I fell off the wagon!
Me: You started drinking again?
Victim: No, I installed Windows Vista.
Me: Man, you would have been a lot better off if you had started drinking again, or even become a drug addict. Of course once Windows Vista hits the street, 12 step Windows Vista programs will probably spring up all over the world.
Victim: It's too late for that! (Sob!) I've already installed it on my home and office PCs (Wail!).
Me: Didn't I already warn you about this? Vista is the spawn of Satan.
Victim: I know, I know, I should have listened!
Me: Well what do you me to do?
Victim: Just tell me the secret to Windows Vista performance. Please! I'm desperate! My entire computing world has turned into total slow motion! I feel like I am swimming in a pool of honey!
Me: Well Windows Vista won't install if your CPU is too slow, so, um, how much RAM do you have in your system?
Victim: (Choke!) One gig.
Me: Man, no wonder Windows Vista is kicking sand in the face of your PC! That's only enough RAM to boot up, not to actually do anything with Vista!
Victim: Well, uh how much more RAM do I need?
Me: For you to get acceptable performance out of Windows Vista, you have to have a minimum of 2 gigs of RAM.
Victim: But, but, that's not what Microsoft says!
Me: If you have to choose between believing what Microsoft says and smoking crack, then smoke crack. At least you will experience a lot more pleasure.
Victim: Well, thanks for the info. Now can I talk to you about Aero?
Me: Nah, it's too early in the day for me to start that gimpy piece of crap. It'll just force me to start drinking immediately. Call back later.
Windows Vista - No Sound
Yes, after installing Windows Vista Ultimate, you might notice how quiet it is.
That's because if you (like myself) own a Creative Labs SoundBlaster card, you have to go the Internet (see my posting below on that) and go to Windows Update for your SoundBlaster card to be "discovered" by Windows. Windows Update will then install the driver and you will once again have sound.
I asked one of my Microsoft pals why they didn't just fire the idiot that made the decision to leave those drivers off of the Windows Vista installation DVD, and I got the usual moronic apology:
"Microsoft did that to distance themselves from the hardware manufacturers."
Huh? Distance themselves? Microsoft is the biggest $2 whore in the world! They will hop into bed with anybody!
Hell, even at the Windows Vista/Office 2007 launch lunch with Steve Ballmer that I will be attending on Monday, guess who else will be speaking at that lunch?
HARDWARE MANUFACTURERS!
That's because if you (like myself) own a Creative Labs SoundBlaster card, you have to go the Internet (see my posting below on that) and go to Windows Update for your SoundBlaster card to be "discovered" by Windows. Windows Update will then install the driver and you will once again have sound.
I asked one of my Microsoft pals why they didn't just fire the idiot that made the decision to leave those drivers off of the Windows Vista installation DVD, and I got the usual moronic apology:
"Microsoft did that to distance themselves from the hardware manufacturers."
Huh? Distance themselves? Microsoft is the biggest $2 whore in the world! They will hop into bed with anybody!
Hell, even at the Windows Vista/Office 2007 launch lunch with Steve Ballmer that I will be attending on Monday, guess who else will be speaking at that lunch?
HARDWARE MANUFACTURERS!
Windows Vista - No Internet
Yeah, I am running the actual retail version of Windows Ultimate on my main PC. It makes me wonder if I am just a masochistic computer consultant or what.
Anyway! Yes, I managed to install Windows Vista Ultimate in only one hour on my PC which is a Windows record compared to installing XP, 2000, Millenium, 98, 95 and Windows for Warehouses, er, Workgroups.
Of course it then took TWO HOURS for Windows Vista Ultimate to recognize my LinkSys wireless card, my wireless network and finally connect to the Internet.
Anyway! Yes, I managed to install Windows Vista Ultimate in only one hour on my PC which is a Windows record compared to installing XP, 2000, Millenium, 98, 95 and Windows for Warehouses, er, Workgroups.
Of course it then took TWO HOURS for Windows Vista Ultimate to recognize my LinkSys wireless card, my wireless network and finally connect to the Internet.
Microsoft LifeCam NX-6000
Well I had some extra money which is a rare event for me, and decided to foolishly squander it on this new Microsoft web cam. I'd been looking at newer generation web cams for months, and was interested in this one even though Microsoft took a while to actually sell the darned thing.
Immediate caveat: This camera has a non-adjustable clip on the back of it that BARELY fits onto the top of a Dell notebook. There is no way to affix it to the top of an LCD or analog monitor without using Velcro or some other method to jury rig it. Also it has a short USB cable if you want to use it on your desktop. It's like 5' or so.
The good news is that the picture is awesome! The built-in microphone works great and it actually worked extremely well at the JetBlue hotspot at JFK, which is darned noisy.
It does work with the latest version of Microsoft Live Messenger. It claims to work with Yahoo's IM, but I have had zero success with it trying to interact with Yahoo IM users.
It also works fine with Comcast's video mail system.
Immediate caveat: This camera has a non-adjustable clip on the back of it that BARELY fits onto the top of a Dell notebook. There is no way to affix it to the top of an LCD or analog monitor without using Velcro or some other method to jury rig it. Also it has a short USB cable if you want to use it on your desktop. It's like 5' or so.
The good news is that the picture is awesome! The built-in microphone works great and it actually worked extremely well at the JetBlue hotspot at JFK, which is darned noisy.
It does work with the latest version of Microsoft Live Messenger. It claims to work with Yahoo's IM, but I have had zero success with it trying to interact with Yahoo IM users.
It also works fine with Comcast's video mail system.
House of Leaves
I am still struggling to read my way through this large experimental tome.
I was lead to the book by a WoW poster using this quote from it in their signature:
"this great blue world of ours
seems a house of leaves
moments before the wind"
I was lead to the book by a WoW poster using this quote from it in their signature:
"this great blue world of ours
seems a house of leaves
moments before the wind"
A Dr. Seuss quote that I've always liked
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -- Dr. Seuss
One of my favorite authors from my childhood and even through today.
This is a quotation that most bloggers should take to heart.
One of my favorite authors from my childhood and even through today.
This is a quotation that most bloggers should take to heart.
Windows Vista crash cost me $100
BLEH! Yesterday Vista out of the blue began plaguing me with messages that a system device needed to be checked or blessed or some other damned thing. Anyway, to stop the stupid dialog box from constantly popping up, I renamed the rogue file that was the source of all this irritation.
Now keep in mind that the poorly designed, poorly programmed Windows Vista won't even let me change or delete a fucking ICON ON MY DESKTOP! OK?
But it allowed me to rename this file within the Windows/System32 directory, which after much research as I could do seemed to be acceptable.
Nope. After the rename, Windows Vista would not reboot normally, to safe mode or even to the command prompt.
So, I went out and bought a new Western Digital 250 gig drive at Best Buy for $89 ($96 and change with the tax). Yeah I could have spent an hour and $10 worth of gas to drive to Fry's and buy a 300 gig drive for ten dollars less, but it didn't seem worth the trouble and time. I can't stand Fry's 90 per cent of the time anyway, as they have the usual non-English speaking employees who wouldn't help you even if you were on fire.
I put Windows XP on the new drive, made it the master (DUH!), made the ass-wipe Vista drive the slave and now I can get most of my old data. I was too frazzled to think to do this one drive at a time, so now my primary drive with XP is drive E, the old drive with Vista is C and my DVD burner is D. Go figure. Makes for some interesting software installation scenarios, trust me.
All I can say is that Windows Vista has always been problematic and I advise that everyone and every company out there, to avoid it like the plague. Tell Microsoft to just keep slowly improving Windows XP. Sigh.
Now keep in mind that the poorly designed, poorly programmed Windows Vista won't even let me change or delete a fucking ICON ON MY DESKTOP! OK?
But it allowed me to rename this file within the Windows/System32 directory, which after much research as I could do seemed to be acceptable.
Nope. After the rename, Windows Vista would not reboot normally, to safe mode or even to the command prompt.
So, I went out and bought a new Western Digital 250 gig drive at Best Buy for $89 ($96 and change with the tax). Yeah I could have spent an hour and $10 worth of gas to drive to Fry's and buy a 300 gig drive for ten dollars less, but it didn't seem worth the trouble and time. I can't stand Fry's 90 per cent of the time anyway, as they have the usual non-English speaking employees who wouldn't help you even if you were on fire.
I put Windows XP on the new drive, made it the master (DUH!), made the ass-wipe Vista drive the slave and now I can get most of my old data. I was too frazzled to think to do this one drive at a time, so now my primary drive with XP is drive E, the old drive with Vista is C and my DVD burner is D. Go figure. Makes for some interesting software installation scenarios, trust me.
All I can say is that Windows Vista has always been problematic and I advise that everyone and every company out there, to avoid it like the plague. Tell Microsoft to just keep slowly improving Windows XP. Sigh.
Snakes on a Plane - The Movie Redux
The movie met and exceeded my expectations. If Samuel Jackson (or any other star) wasn't in it I probably would have skipped the film.
Oddly when I bought my ticket on opening day (August 18) the ticket seller mumbled something about this film already being a cult movie. I replied that had I known that I would have dressed up in a snake costume. Or should that be dressed down into a snake costume? I guess it depends on how you are dressed.
Anyway the start of the film had me a tad concerned that it was going to be an extremely cheesy "B" movie. Once Samuel Jackson appeared on the scene, all that changed and the film took off to be a well made suspenseful thriller.
So what are you waiting for? Go see it!
Oddly when I bought my ticket on opening day (August 18) the ticket seller mumbled something about this film already being a cult movie. I replied that had I known that I would have dressed up in a snake costume. Or should that be dressed down into a snake costume? I guess it depends on how you are dressed.
Anyway the start of the film had me a tad concerned that it was going to be an extremely cheesy "B" movie. Once Samuel Jackson appeared on the scene, all that changed and the film took off to be a well made suspenseful thriller.
So what are you waiting for? Go see it!
Inspector Montalbano mysteries
Just finished Voice of the Violin, the fourth book in the Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri. This series has been a best seller in Europe but isn't very widely known here in the US.
Anyway, the whole series revolves around a police detective in Sicily, his eating, his girl friend, his co-workers and life in Sicily in general. It's light reading but interesting and complex at the same time.
Highly recommended, although I am going to have to research to figure out which book in the series is number five. I hate reading books like this out of order as sometimes the story refers back to incidents in previous books.
Anyway, the whole series revolves around a police detective in Sicily, his eating, his girl friend, his co-workers and life in Sicily in general. It's light reading but interesting and complex at the same time.
Highly recommended, although I am going to have to research to figure out which book in the series is number five. I hate reading books like this out of order as sometimes the story refers back to incidents in previous books.
The World's First Blogger Doll
There are rumors that a doll modeled after Tara Hunt, the world’s most famous female blogger and creator of the HorseCowPig blog is in the works!
Naturally there are a lot of design decisions (Natural blond? Dark roots?) to be made and it isn’t certain whether or not the Tara doll will be available for the 2006 holiday season. Certainly the demand to own one of the Tara dolls from what is expected be a limited edition production run will be great.
However as rumors and details are forthcoming, we will keep you posted.
Naturally there are a lot of design decisions (Natural blond? Dark roots?) to be made and it isn’t certain whether or not the Tara doll will be available for the 2006 holiday season. Certainly the demand to own one of the Tara dolls from what is expected be a limited edition production run will be great.
However as rumors and details are forthcoming, we will keep you posted.
Snakes On A Plane – The Movie
Of course I haven’t seen it because the movie isn’t out yet, but whoever created the marketing buzz for this film should have a statue erected in their honor. I am envisioning something from the Soviet school with a figure holding a torch aloft surrounded by Nietzsche inspired Aryan children, kneeling at the figure's feet.
Snakes On A Plane is everywhere! Well, there isn’t a breakfast cereal yet, but don’t be surprised to see one. Even this week’s Best Buy Sunday ads have pictures from the film imposed on the screens for their TVs.
I’ll be seeing it I hope shortly after it comes out. Some places are sneaking it this Thursday night, but I’m not THAT eager to see it.
Snakes On A Plane is everywhere! Well, there isn’t a breakfast cereal yet, but don’t be surprised to see one. Even this week’s Best Buy Sunday ads have pictures from the film imposed on the screens for their TVs.
I’ll be seeing it I hope shortly after it comes out. Some places are sneaking it this Thursday night, but I’m not THAT eager to see it.
A Scanner Darkly – The Movie
This has always been my favorite Phillip K. Dick story, written during the drug holocaust days of the 70s. I too knew people that died or were damaged by drug usage. Heck even I am still damaged: “Sorry honey, didn’t mean to call you a bitch last night. I was having an acid flashback.” Right.
My problem is that I know this story very well and the film was largely faithful to it. So I can’t say how it plays for someone who has not read the book (or been involved with drugs). It’s a great story of unintentional heroism and tragedy. Whether or not the audience picks up on that I can’t say. I do know that I don’t care for the animation overlaid on the live action.
More disturbing is that director Richard Linklater’s next film is another book that I enjoyed, Jennifer Government. Sigh.
Anyway I enjoyed A Scanner Darkly and hope that some people that see it will actually read the book.
My problem is that I know this story very well and the film was largely faithful to it. So I can’t say how it plays for someone who has not read the book (or been involved with drugs). It’s a great story of unintentional heroism and tragedy. Whether or not the audience picks up on that I can’t say. I do know that I don’t care for the animation overlaid on the live action.
More disturbing is that director Richard Linklater’s next film is another book that I enjoyed, Jennifer Government. Sigh.
Anyway I enjoyed A Scanner Darkly and hope that some people that see it will actually read the book.
My New England Trip
It was the usual joy of traveling with my wife and daughter who evidently think I just walk around during the day and spear 100 dollar bills with a trash collecting stick. The two of them managed to do their usual routine which is to pack along more luggage than went down on the Titanic. Anything they don't have room for, they ask me to put in my luggage which in their world is probably full of useless crap like my clothing.
Well, the trip was quite educational. We discovered that Sprint has absolutely no cell phone coverage north of Manchester in NH and sporadic service (if any) in ME. Boston of course was no problem. The Internet? Ha! Not in northern NH! What is New Hampshire anyway? A forest with a government and a few towns?
And what's with the moose? NH has signs about every 50 feet indicating that you may be on the verge of hitting a moose while there are no signs in Maine about moose or any other animal.
There is an eating pattern that we did observe taking highway 25 from Conway NH to Portland ME. The pattern is you pass a pizza parlor then an ice cream store then a pizza parlor then an ice cream store over and over. It was weird. I presume that Maine residents have just tossed in the towel regarding obesity issues in the US.
So we did the Freedom Trail walk around Boston last Wednesday in the 103 degree heat with the 112 degree heat index. Did you know that the Freedom Trail walks ends in Filene's basement? Neither did I.
The highlight of Thursday was touring the Albacore sub in Portsmouth, followed by more binge shopping by the wife and daughter. I spent a whole dollar that day on an Albacore magnet which I think I probably have lost already.
Wed, Thurs and Friday were spent at the Best Western in Manchester which had FREE and excellent (except that it was B) Internet service plus a great continental breakfast which included waffles.
Friday we had to check out and move to Chocorua NH for the wedding welcome dinner. We stayed at Samantha's Inn which is slightly better than sleeping in your car but not by much. That evening we attended the wedding welcome dinner where we met what I can only presume were the immediate drinking buddies of the groom and my wife's brother's family which included his daughter the bride. As far as I could tell most of the people there were either overly inbred or else dropped on their head a lot when they were babies. Well, the food was good, and more importantly the booze was free.
Saturday we went shopping (Surprised?) before going to the wedding that night. The post wedding dinner consisted of the usual inedible rubber chicken. At least the booze was free. My 19 year old worked her deep cleavage dress on the bartender and drank about 5 rum and cokes. The good news there is that she has my high alcohol tolerance.
Sunday we went to the post wedding breakfast, which totally lacked mimosas or bloody Marys. Sigh. Well we said our goodbyes and loaded the luggage in the van and drove through ME to Boston. We stopped at the Cape Elizabeth lighthouse where the presumed heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune did more shopping even though the gift shop couldn't have been more that 20' x 20' square.
We checked into the Marriott Wharf hotel next to the Boston aquarium. No I didn't pay their minimum $450 a night fee for a room. The bride who is quitting her job at Harvard got the Harvard discount for the room of $99 and paid for it. The ransom to park the car was $40 a night, the Internet connection was $10, etc. I was somewhat surprised that they didn't have a coin slot to charge you for using the elevator inside the hotel. Was it worth $450 a night? Not unless Meg Ryan was going to drop by to tuck me in. Um, or a word that rhymes with tuck.
Monday morning the Women With Bottomless Pocketbooks managed to spend $50 on souvenir T-shirts and baseball caps at the booth in front of the hotel. It was amazing. They hadn't gotten 50 feet from the hotel before shopping. Then they walked to Filene's to resume their shopping while I stopped near there at Borders (if you fall asleep in a chair there, they rudely wake you up, trust me on this one).
Finally we got to Logan, dropped off the rental car, lounged around the airport which has no free wireless service and boarded JetBlue to connect in NYC at JFK. So, we barely managed to make our NYC connection only to be caught up in the FAA computer glitch that occurred that evening. We sat on the runway in that jet for FOUR HOURS before taking off for our five hour flight to Sacramento.
Despite all this "fun" we just fell in love with the northeast (well except for the useless people in NH) and are ready to move there if anyone will offer me a job that pays real money.
Well, the trip was quite educational. We discovered that Sprint has absolutely no cell phone coverage north of Manchester in NH and sporadic service (if any) in ME. Boston of course was no problem. The Internet? Ha! Not in northern NH! What is New Hampshire anyway? A forest with a government and a few towns?
And what's with the moose? NH has signs about every 50 feet indicating that you may be on the verge of hitting a moose while there are no signs in Maine about moose or any other animal.
There is an eating pattern that we did observe taking highway 25 from Conway NH to Portland ME. The pattern is you pass a pizza parlor then an ice cream store then a pizza parlor then an ice cream store over and over. It was weird. I presume that Maine residents have just tossed in the towel regarding obesity issues in the US.
So we did the Freedom Trail walk around Boston last Wednesday in the 103 degree heat with the 112 degree heat index. Did you know that the Freedom Trail walks ends in Filene's basement? Neither did I.
The highlight of Thursday was touring the Albacore sub in Portsmouth, followed by more binge shopping by the wife and daughter. I spent a whole dollar that day on an Albacore magnet which I think I probably have lost already.
Wed, Thurs and Friday were spent at the Best Western in Manchester which had FREE and excellent (except that it was B) Internet service plus a great continental breakfast which included waffles.
Friday we had to check out and move to Chocorua NH for the wedding welcome dinner. We stayed at Samantha's Inn which is slightly better than sleeping in your car but not by much. That evening we attended the wedding welcome dinner where we met what I can only presume were the immediate drinking buddies of the groom and my wife's brother's family which included his daughter the bride. As far as I could tell most of the people there were either overly inbred or else dropped on their head a lot when they were babies. Well, the food was good, and more importantly the booze was free.
Saturday we went shopping (Surprised?) before going to the wedding that night. The post wedding dinner consisted of the usual inedible rubber chicken. At least the booze was free. My 19 year old worked her deep cleavage dress on the bartender and drank about 5 rum and cokes. The good news there is that she has my high alcohol tolerance.
Sunday we went to the post wedding breakfast, which totally lacked mimosas or bloody Marys. Sigh. Well we said our goodbyes and loaded the luggage in the van and drove through ME to Boston. We stopped at the Cape Elizabeth lighthouse where the presumed heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune did more shopping even though the gift shop couldn't have been more that 20' x 20' square.
We checked into the Marriott Wharf hotel next to the Boston aquarium. No I didn't pay their minimum $450 a night fee for a room. The bride who is quitting her job at Harvard got the Harvard discount for the room of $99 and paid for it. The ransom to park the car was $40 a night, the Internet connection was $10, etc. I was somewhat surprised that they didn't have a coin slot to charge you for using the elevator inside the hotel. Was it worth $450 a night? Not unless Meg Ryan was going to drop by to tuck me in. Um, or a word that rhymes with tuck.
Monday morning the Women With Bottomless Pocketbooks managed to spend $50 on souvenir T-shirts and baseball caps at the booth in front of the hotel. It was amazing. They hadn't gotten 50 feet from the hotel before shopping. Then they walked to Filene's to resume their shopping while I stopped near there at Borders (if you fall asleep in a chair there, they rudely wake you up, trust me on this one).
Finally we got to Logan, dropped off the rental car, lounged around the airport which has no free wireless service and boarded JetBlue to connect in NYC at JFK. So, we barely managed to make our NYC connection only to be caught up in the FAA computer glitch that occurred that evening. We sat on the runway in that jet for FOUR HOURS before taking off for our five hour flight to Sacramento.
Despite all this "fun" we just fell in love with the northeast (well except for the useless people in NH) and are ready to move there if anyone will offer me a job that pays real money.
World Trade Center - The Movie
It sucked.
Bad if not almost non-existent acting, absolutely no emotional bond to any of the characters (in other words you won't be shedding any tears) and as hard to believe as it may seem, BORING.
This might as well have been a movie about two guys stuck in the bottom of a mining cave-in.
If you HAVE to see this loser of a film, save your money and rent it on DVD in a few months.
Bad if not almost non-existent acting, absolutely no emotional bond to any of the characters (in other words you won't be shedding any tears) and as hard to believe as it may seem, BORING.
This might as well have been a movie about two guys stuck in the bottom of a mining cave-in.
If you HAVE to see this loser of a film, save your money and rent it on DVD in a few months.
iPods lock up Windows Vista
Talk about PANIC! Yesterday I turned off my PC that I am testing Windows Vista on, and when I came back to it hours later, it would not boot up. This particular PC has an Intel motherboard, Intel Pentium 4, 2 gigs of RAM, an ATI video board with 128M of RAM and the other usual suspect hardware.
When I would turn on the PC, it would show the Intel screen from the Intel BIOS, but it would not start up the hard drive. I figured that my hard drive had finally been killed by the poorly programmed Windows Vista. Odd things you can observe on your Windows Vista PC are watching the CPU peg at 100% utilization when you have no programs running, having your monitors turn off and turn on randomly, having to wait 15 minutes after booting up for Windows Vista to “stabilize”; if you attempt to do anything during this stabilization phase of booting up, Windows Explorer will crash and you will have to reboot your PC for it to function.
Anyway, I had foolishly plugged my iPod into a USB port to recharge it. Windows Vista not only now supports booting from a USB port, it looks to the USB ports FIRST for booting up! Doh!
Well, once I unplugged my iPod and rebooted my PC, all was well. By the way besides the fact the having an iPod plugged in prevents Windows Vista from booting up your PC, the iTunes software doesn’t work under Windows Vista either, even in “compatibility” mode!
Sadly I still have Windows Vista on my PC. Windows Vista is just a dog of an operating system that smells as rank as a pile of skunk droppings.
When I would turn on the PC, it would show the Intel screen from the Intel BIOS, but it would not start up the hard drive. I figured that my hard drive had finally been killed by the poorly programmed Windows Vista. Odd things you can observe on your Windows Vista PC are watching the CPU peg at 100% utilization when you have no programs running, having your monitors turn off and turn on randomly, having to wait 15 minutes after booting up for Windows Vista to “stabilize”; if you attempt to do anything during this stabilization phase of booting up, Windows Explorer will crash and you will have to reboot your PC for it to function.
Anyway, I had foolishly plugged my iPod into a USB port to recharge it. Windows Vista not only now supports booting from a USB port, it looks to the USB ports FIRST for booting up! Doh!
Well, once I unplugged my iPod and rebooted my PC, all was well. By the way besides the fact the having an iPod plugged in prevents Windows Vista from booting up your PC, the iTunes software doesn’t work under Windows Vista either, even in “compatibility” mode!
Sadly I still have Windows Vista on my PC. Windows Vista is just a dog of an operating system that smells as rank as a pile of skunk droppings.
30 Seconds to Mars uses DRM
Yep. My daughter attempted to download the songs off of her 30 Seconds to Mars CD, to her iPod, only to be stymied by the EVIL DRM (Digital Rights Management). The iTunes software simply would not recognize that she had a legitimate copy of the music! To add insult to injury 30 Seconds to Mars put a survey on their CD asking if users were unhappy that they couldn't download their songs to an iPod!
So, after attending 2 of their concerts and buying their CDs, my daughter is no longer going to be a consumer of 30 Seconds to Mars.
She just wanted to listen to their music while she worked out. The combined corporate greed of 30 Seconds to Mars and their publisher Virgin Records just cost them another customer.
So, after attending 2 of their concerts and buying their CDs, my daughter is no longer going to be a consumer of 30 Seconds to Mars.
She just wanted to listen to their music while she worked out. The combined corporate greed of 30 Seconds to Mars and their publisher Virgin Records just cost them another customer.
An Inconvenient Truth
Go see the movie and read the book.
This is very real and quite scary. Things need to change or we will all die in an unexpectedly short amount of time.
Although their website is still a work in progress, Nature's Future is probably the best environmental group in the world for contributing your time and money to in an effort to fight global warming and to support and repair bio-diversity.
They do real work and they don't screw around with your donations.
This is very real and quite scary. Things need to change or we will all die in an unexpectedly short amount of time.
Although their website is still a work in progress, Nature's Future is probably the best environmental group in the world for contributing your time and money to in an effort to fight global warming and to support and repair bio-diversity.
They do real work and they don't screw around with your donations.
Dell XPS 2010 FINALLY ships!
Woo hoo! Yes at $3500 and 18 pounds (well from earlier reports; Dell NEVER DOES say how much this thing actually weights) the Dell 2010 is the Godzilla of both notebooks and uber geek status.
Just go to Dell's web site and check it out. While I might have techno lust for such a beast I lack the money. A more practical solution for my impoverished tastes would be the new G35-AV650 model of Toshiba's Qosimo which has HDTV built into it.
Just go to Dell's web site and check it out. While I might have techno lust for such a beast I lack the money. A more practical solution for my impoverished tastes would be the new G35-AV650 model of Toshiba's Qosimo which has HDTV built into it.
Allen Ginsberg's Howl turns 50
The 50th Anniversary of the publication of Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg took place on June 4th. I always found Howl to be inspirational. For more details, visit the City Lights site.
The 25th Anniversary of the first reported cases of AIDS
June 5, 2006, marked the 25th anniversary of the publication of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report of June 5, 1981, describing the first reported cases of an “unexplained illness among five previously healthy homosexual men in Los Angeles.” The report signified the beginning of what would later become known as the AIDS pandemic.
Through the California Department of Health Services, Office of AIDS (CDHS/OA), the State provides funding and resources for HIV and AIDS prevention, care, and treatment, including HIV rapid tests, (now available in over 30 local health departments), and services to 29,000 HIV-positive citizens of California who benefit from the largest and most comprehensive AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) in the United States.
For additional information about AIDS or to locate HIV testing services, contact your local health department or the California AIDS Hotline at (800) 367-AIDS (2437) or visit www.AIDShotline.org. For information on CDHS/OA mission, programs and other helpful resources, see OA’s Web site http://www.dhs.ca.gov/AIDS.
Through the California Department of Health Services, Office of AIDS (CDHS/OA), the State provides funding and resources for HIV and AIDS prevention, care, and treatment, including HIV rapid tests, (now available in over 30 local health departments), and services to 29,000 HIV-positive citizens of California who benefit from the largest and most comprehensive AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) in the United States.
For additional information about AIDS or to locate HIV testing services, contact your local health department or the California AIDS Hotline at (800) 367-AIDS (2437) or visit www.AIDShotline.org. For information on CDHS/OA mission, programs and other helpful resources, see OA’s Web site http://www.dhs.ca.gov/AIDS.
Art School Confidential
I love to find quirky offbeat films otherwise known to some as "art house films". Films I've seen in "art houses" that fall into that distribution channel have been works such as Donny Darko, Amelie, Rabbit-proof Fence and Life Is Beautiful.
Art School Confidential attempts to make the cut as an art film but falls flat as sort of an occasionally funny bit of satire. With a cast that includes John Malkovich (who also was one of the film's producers), Jim Broadbent and Anjelica Huston one would have hoped for a better production, but this one really fell short of the mark. Granted it had many funny moments and to be frank, I think it is an enjoyable alternative to shallow thrillers like Mission Impossible III and The DaVinci Code.
My recommednation is to do something different and go see this film.
Art School Confidential attempts to make the cut as an art film but falls flat as sort of an occasionally funny bit of satire. With a cast that includes John Malkovich (who also was one of the film's producers), Jim Broadbent and Anjelica Huston one would have hoped for a better production, but this one really fell short of the mark. Granted it had many funny moments and to be frank, I think it is an enjoyable alternative to shallow thrillers like Mission Impossible III and The DaVinci Code.
My recommednation is to do something different and go see this film.
Apple iPod, Nano and Shuffle review
We now own all three Apple iPod models through a series of unrelated events.
First, the daughter hit 19 this month and her Dell DJ 15 MP3 player which cost $200 two years ago died. I took it to a shop where for no charge they showed me where the danged thing had shorted out internally. Sigh.
So for her birthday, we bought a 30 gig iPod, which as it turns out is really cool. I think we can appreciate the integration between the iPod and iTunes because we spent so much time struggling with the Dell which used the ever-so-crappy MusicMatch for its software. That was a constant battle and things just did not work well. It was pretty frustrating. Having said that we are so far beyond pleased with the iPod.
So! For Mother's Day, Mrs. Drips received an iPod Shuffle, based on the mistaken assumption that she wouldn't need anything more technical than that. Mrs. Drips sent me on a course correction to Best Buy yesterday to buy her an iPod Nano. Cough. She is now content for the moment and has already done a workout at her gym with the iPod which she loves as it is so much cooler than toting a CD player with her.
I am now the unintentional recipient of the iPod Shuffle. I'm not the big music consumer in this household, but I am stunned about how clear the sound is with the Shuffle. The only album I own is Joan Osborne's Relish, which despite being several years old is still a favorite of mine. It just sounds so great on the Shuffle, and I can actually hear sounds that I never heard before through normal stereo speakers. I also have an hour of the sounds of a rainfall loaded on the Shuffle which is supposed to make me more focused, but tends to put me to sleep. Ok, so I have The Jets and Hoobastank tunes on there too, as well as Beethoven.
First, the daughter hit 19 this month and her Dell DJ 15 MP3 player which cost $200 two years ago died. I took it to a shop where for no charge they showed me where the danged thing had shorted out internally. Sigh.
So for her birthday, we bought a 30 gig iPod, which as it turns out is really cool. I think we can appreciate the integration between the iPod and iTunes because we spent so much time struggling with the Dell which used the ever-so-crappy MusicMatch for its software. That was a constant battle and things just did not work well. It was pretty frustrating. Having said that we are so far beyond pleased with the iPod.
So! For Mother's Day, Mrs. Drips received an iPod Shuffle, based on the mistaken assumption that she wouldn't need anything more technical than that. Mrs. Drips sent me on a course correction to Best Buy yesterday to buy her an iPod Nano. Cough. She is now content for the moment and has already done a workout at her gym with the iPod which she loves as it is so much cooler than toting a CD player with her.
I am now the unintentional recipient of the iPod Shuffle. I'm not the big music consumer in this household, but I am stunned about how clear the sound is with the Shuffle. The only album I own is Joan Osborne's Relish, which despite being several years old is still a favorite of mine. It just sounds so great on the Shuffle, and I can actually hear sounds that I never heard before through normal stereo speakers. I also have an hour of the sounds of a rainfall loaded on the Shuffle which is supposed to make me more focused, but tends to put me to sleep. Ok, so I have The Jets and Hoobastank tunes on there too, as well as Beethoven.
San Francisco Zoo, Beach Chalet Restaurant and other places
My daughter turned 19 recently so we took a trip into San Francisco yesterday to celebrate. First we stopped at the Beach Chalet restaurant for a (with tip) $103 lunch for four of us. It was pricey, but excellent.
Then we visited (for the first time) the San Francisco Zoo. It is the WORST zoo I have ever seen. It is an eyesore and the citizens of San Francisco should be ashamed of it. I hope to post some photos of it on here to display what a despicable condition that zoo is in. By the way if you do go there, they do not feed the lions on Mondays, and the staff starts closing up the Children's Zoo and the carousel at 4 even though the zoo stays open until 5. At $11 per adult for admission this zoo is not worth it. Don't expect to see elephants, camels, seals or orangutans there as they don't have any of those animals to display.
After the zoo, we hit Forever 21 for a couple hours of intensive shopping. Fortunately they had an extremely uncomfortable chair I could sit in while waiting for the shopping spree to end.
Finally we grabbed at bite at Lori's Diner ($50 with tip) and called it a day. My daughter and I always eat at Lori's prior to seeing concerts (Usually Marilyn Manson) at the Warfield, which is just around the corner more or less.
Then we visited (for the first time) the San Francisco Zoo. It is the WORST zoo I have ever seen. It is an eyesore and the citizens of San Francisco should be ashamed of it. I hope to post some photos of it on here to display what a despicable condition that zoo is in. By the way if you do go there, they do not feed the lions on Mondays, and the staff starts closing up the Children's Zoo and the carousel at 4 even though the zoo stays open until 5. At $11 per adult for admission this zoo is not worth it. Don't expect to see elephants, camels, seals or orangutans there as they don't have any of those animals to display.
After the zoo, we hit Forever 21 for a couple hours of intensive shopping. Fortunately they had an extremely uncomfortable chair I could sit in while waiting for the shopping spree to end.
Finally we grabbed at bite at Lori's Diner ($50 with tip) and called it a day. My daughter and I always eat at Lori's prior to seeing concerts (Usually Marilyn Manson) at the Warfield, which is just around the corner more or less.
Linksys WMP54GX4 PCI Wireless-G Adapter with SRX400
OMG! The Linksys WMP54GX4 is better than sex, drugs and alcohol! Well, its
better than most alcohol except beer which is a sacred drink.
I was reading the Sunday Sacramento Bee yesterday and came across a Best
Buy ad for the Linksys WMP54GX4. To be honest I don't actually read the
Sacramento Bee as I think it is only good for wrapping fish or training
puppies, but I do buy their Sunday edition to read the ads from Best Buy,
Fry's, Staples, Circuit City and all the other outlets of electronic toys.
I already use the Wireless-G Broadband Router with SRX400 as well as the
Wireless-G Notebook Adapter with SRX400. Linksys had not announced or
shipped a PCI version for Wireless-G with SRX400 at the time (less than 2
months ago) that I acquired those two products. I wanted an adapter for my
main desktop but Linksys didn't offer one with SRX400 capability.
Weirdly enough the Linksys WMP54GX4 PCI Adapter with SRX400 is not listed on the Linksys site. It's possible that they are ramping up for their 802.11n products and are going to quit selling their SRX400 gear soon, but I would think they would at least list this product to help clear out their inventory.
Anyway, although the installation knocked out my USB mouse for some
unknown reason that I will check into at a later date, I eventually got
the adapter up and running. Although Linksys advertises SRX400 as being
able to increase your networking speed by 10x, my speed went from 54Mps to
240Mps. I'm not complaining as that is almost 5x faster but my wireless
router is only about 30 feet away in another room, so I wonder how one
ever gets up to a 10x performance increase in speed.
I can't link to any picture of it, but the adapter has a four foot cable
that is attached to an antenna that looks like something out of either
Star Trek or Star Wars, thus thrilling one's inner geek. This antenna
really pulls in network signals! Doh! I have a Canary Wireless gizmo just
for finding WiFi and while it finds 2 or 3 networks from my neighbors, the
Linksys finds 6 and gives you breakdown of their SSID, signal strength,
and encryption. Woot! This totally owns! Now you can send death threats to
the President and watch in glee as the Secret Service hauls away your
neighbors. JUST KIDDING!
If you have an SRX400 router and need a PCI adapter go get one of these
while they are still available.
better than most alcohol except beer which is a sacred drink.
I was reading the Sunday Sacramento Bee yesterday and came across a Best
Buy ad for the Linksys WMP54GX4. To be honest I don't actually read the
Sacramento Bee as I think it is only good for wrapping fish or training
puppies, but I do buy their Sunday edition to read the ads from Best Buy,
Fry's, Staples, Circuit City and all the other outlets of electronic toys.
I already use the Wireless-G Broadband Router with SRX400 as well as the
Wireless-G Notebook Adapter with SRX400. Linksys had not announced or
shipped a PCI version for Wireless-G with SRX400 at the time (less than 2
months ago) that I acquired those two products. I wanted an adapter for my
main desktop but Linksys didn't offer one with SRX400 capability.
Weirdly enough the Linksys WMP54GX4 PCI Adapter with SRX400 is not listed on the Linksys site. It's possible that they are ramping up for their 802.11n products and are going to quit selling their SRX400 gear soon, but I would think they would at least list this product to help clear out their inventory.
Anyway, although the installation knocked out my USB mouse for some
unknown reason that I will check into at a later date, I eventually got
the adapter up and running. Although Linksys advertises SRX400 as being
able to increase your networking speed by 10x, my speed went from 54Mps to
240Mps. I'm not complaining as that is almost 5x faster but my wireless
router is only about 30 feet away in another room, so I wonder how one
ever gets up to a 10x performance increase in speed.
I can't link to any picture of it, but the adapter has a four foot cable
that is attached to an antenna that looks like something out of either
Star Trek or Star Wars, thus thrilling one's inner geek. This antenna
really pulls in network signals! Doh! I have a Canary Wireless gizmo just
for finding WiFi and while it finds 2 or 3 networks from my neighbors, the
Linksys finds 6 and gives you breakdown of their SSID, signal strength,
and encryption. Woot! This totally owns! Now you can send death threats to
the President and watch in glee as the Secret Service hauls away your
neighbors. JUST KIDDING!
If you have an SRX400 router and need a PCI adapter go get one of these
while they are still available.
United 93 movie
Well I saw the movie United 93 last night. You can read about the fictionalized chunks of the movie here (MSNBC) and here (Washington Post). The Washington Post has some interesting quotes from 9/11 that show that government order had been passed to "take lives in the air to preserve lives on the ground".
Like the recent A&E film, Flight 93, the movie was very emotional and engaging. I felt distanced though because I was aware that there is no indication on the transcript of Flight 93's cockpit voice recorder that the passengers ever managed to enter let alone seize control of Flight 93's cockpit.
In fact there are many sites and books promoting the scenario that our own Air Force shot down Flight 93. The plane was only 7 minutes from entering the Washington DC airspace, the shoot down orders had been authorized, and ...well it could have happened that way. There's some compelling evidence that supports that scenario, but it's best if one searches the web for those sites to draw your own conclusions.
People want to believe that the passengers of Flight 93 brought the plane down that day because they want the empowerment of having heroes that stood up against the hijackers.
Whether passengers or a missile from an F-16 brought down Fight 93 will probably never be known.
At the end of the movie before the credits began to roll, some woman in our audience stood up and started screaming about Bush covering up 9/11, a fifth plane and Iraq. Then other audience members stood up and screamed back at her (I live in a part of California filled with Nazis and die-hard Republicans). Finally my wife stood up and screamed for everyone to shut up. We left then, as it is always a good policy to move towards the nearest exit when my wife starts yelling.
If you just can't get your fill of 9/11 movies, World Trade Center directed by Oliver Stone will be coming out on August 9th. Nicolas Cage and Maggie Gyllenhaal are the main stars for that film.
Should you wish to while away the hours reading a fringe viewpoint of 9/11, I highly recommend Crossing The Rubicon. The book is a perplexing mix of truth, fantasy and conspiracy theory.
Stay tuned.
Like the recent A&E film, Flight 93, the movie was very emotional and engaging. I felt distanced though because I was aware that there is no indication on the transcript of Flight 93's cockpit voice recorder that the passengers ever managed to enter let alone seize control of Flight 93's cockpit.
In fact there are many sites and books promoting the scenario that our own Air Force shot down Flight 93. The plane was only 7 minutes from entering the Washington DC airspace, the shoot down orders had been authorized, and ...well it could have happened that way. There's some compelling evidence that supports that scenario, but it's best if one searches the web for those sites to draw your own conclusions.
People want to believe that the passengers of Flight 93 brought the plane down that day because they want the empowerment of having heroes that stood up against the hijackers.
Whether passengers or a missile from an F-16 brought down Fight 93 will probably never be known.
At the end of the movie before the credits began to roll, some woman in our audience stood up and started screaming about Bush covering up 9/11, a fifth plane and Iraq. Then other audience members stood up and screamed back at her (I live in a part of California filled with Nazis and die-hard Republicans). Finally my wife stood up and screamed for everyone to shut up. We left then, as it is always a good policy to move towards the nearest exit when my wife starts yelling.
If you just can't get your fill of 9/11 movies, World Trade Center directed by Oliver Stone will be coming out on August 9th. Nicolas Cage and Maggie Gyllenhaal are the main stars for that film.
Should you wish to while away the hours reading a fringe viewpoint of 9/11, I highly recommend Crossing The Rubicon. The book is a perplexing mix of truth, fantasy and conspiracy theory.
Stay tuned.
Robert Scoble supports censorship
Robert Scoble, Microsoft's most well known blogger has decided to censor the comments on his blog.
Ooh! Denouncing free speech? I guess that's why Microsoft's kowtowing to the censorship policies of the Chinese government don't appear to bother Robert. So now his blog will be in line with the usual toadying, mutual ass-kissing and self promotion of his "A-list" clique of "friends". We will be subjected to more promotions of Microsoft's dull products as well as the endless dropping of names like Doc, Dave, Seth and all the other stooges.
So how do those shiny new hob-nailed boots feel Robert? Are they comfy and snug? Robert, have you given any thought about what we can do about all those pesky Jews, and people of color and gays and well, everyone that doesn't think just like you?
Wait! I see clearly now! A conversation is when you totally agree with the other person. So anyone who dares to disagree with you is not part of the conversation?
So much for credibility. It appears that Mr. Scoble's expertise is not in the area of blogs but in the area of suppression of free speech and the censorship of differing ideas and opinions.
You know a "little bit of censorship" is a step on the road towards "let's just put a few people in concentration camps".
"Yes, I am now approving every comment here. And I will delete any that don't add value to either my life or the lives of my readers.
This is a huge change for me. I wanted a free speech area, but after having a week off I realize that I need to make a change. That, I'm sure, will lead to attacks of "censorship" and all that hooey. Too bad."
Ooh! Denouncing free speech? I guess that's why Microsoft's kowtowing to the censorship policies of the Chinese government don't appear to bother Robert. So now his blog will be in line with the usual toadying, mutual ass-kissing and self promotion of his "A-list" clique of "friends". We will be subjected to more promotions of Microsoft's dull products as well as the endless dropping of names like Doc, Dave, Seth and all the other stooges.
So how do those shiny new hob-nailed boots feel Robert? Are they comfy and snug? Robert, have you given any thought about what we can do about all those pesky Jews, and people of color and gays and well, everyone that doesn't think just like you?
Wait! I see clearly now! A conversation is when you totally agree with the other person. So anyone who dares to disagree with you is not part of the conversation?
So much for credibility. It appears that Mr. Scoble's expertise is not in the area of blogs but in the area of suppression of free speech and the censorship of differing ideas and opinions.
You know a "little bit of censorship" is a step on the road towards "let's just put a few people in concentration camps".
Seagate Momentus 160 Gig notebook drive
Woot! I just upgraded my antique Toshiba Tecra 8100 from its original factory 10 gig (that’s right TEN gig) drive to the new Seagate Momentus 160 gig drive. Needless to say, I am extremely pleased with the massive added storage. Come to think of it my desktop PC only has a 120 gig drive in it. Oh well, I guess I shall always be a technology poster child.
The gory details of how I accomplished the upgrade are in my posting about ez upgrade.
The gory details of how I accomplished the upgrade are in my posting about ez upgrade.
Apricorn’s ez upgrade kit
Even though I build my own PCs, the thought of upgrading my notebook’s hard disk drive has been intimidating. I figured there were two possible outcomes: either I succeeded or I turned my notebook into an expensive paperweight. Well, the ez upgrade kit from Apricorn was SO EASY to use that I was impressed. While older notebook kits use a PCMCIA slot card, the ez upgrade kit uses the notebook’s USB port. Here’s the steps:
1. Put your new notebook drive in the external drive box that comes with the kit. Plug the drive into your notebook’s USB port.
2. Boot from the Apricorn CD or just install the software. Booting transfers data faster.
3. Run the Apricorn software which basically bit copies your existing data to your new notebook drive.
4. Unplug your notebook (you need to use direct power during the transfer as it can take quite a while; two hours in the case of my mere ten gigs).
5. Remove your notebook’s battery.
6. Remove your notebooks’ hard drive. HA! I read that instruction and thought: WTF? I have never seen a notebook arrive with instructions on how to remove the hard drive. Fortunately CMS Products web site has instructions on how to remove the hard disk drive from a wide variety of notebooks.
7. In my particular case there was a complication. The drive sits in a casing held in by four screws. In their infinite wisdom, Toshiba put glue in the screw holes to keep things truly secure. Three of the screws with a bit of extra effort unscrewed easily. The fourth screw would not unscrew so I had to cut away that part of the casing in order to remove the drive. It was pretty frustrating, but in the end I managed to get the drive out without totally ruining the case.
8. Put the new drive in your notebook, replace the battery and power it up.
With the exception of the unruly screw, this whole process worked perfectly. An added bonus is that you can put your old drive in the external case and use it for additional storage.
1. Put your new notebook drive in the external drive box that comes with the kit. Plug the drive into your notebook’s USB port.
2. Boot from the Apricorn CD or just install the software. Booting transfers data faster.
3. Run the Apricorn software which basically bit copies your existing data to your new notebook drive.
4. Unplug your notebook (you need to use direct power during the transfer as it can take quite a while; two hours in the case of my mere ten gigs).
5. Remove your notebook’s battery.
6. Remove your notebooks’ hard drive. HA! I read that instruction and thought: WTF? I have never seen a notebook arrive with instructions on how to remove the hard drive. Fortunately CMS Products web site has instructions on how to remove the hard disk drive from a wide variety of notebooks.
7. In my particular case there was a complication. The drive sits in a casing held in by four screws. In their infinite wisdom, Toshiba put glue in the screw holes to keep things truly secure. Three of the screws with a bit of extra effort unscrewed easily. The fourth screw would not unscrew so I had to cut away that part of the casing in order to remove the drive. It was pretty frustrating, but in the end I managed to get the drive out without totally ruining the case.
8. Put the new drive in your notebook, replace the battery and power it up.
With the exception of the unruly screw, this whole process worked perfectly. An added bonus is that you can put your old drive in the external case and use it for additional storage.
Coke Blak is finally here!
Coke introduced Coke Blak in France last August. I was interested because it was described as a mix of Coke and coffee. I hoped it would taste better than icky old Jolt Cola or even my random attempts to blend Coke and coffee. Hell, I was planning a trip to France just to taste Coke Blak!
Well last Friday I found it at the local 76 gas station for $1.39 with a stack of 40 cents off coupons stuck on the freezer door. Naturally I HAD to buy two of them! I can only describe the taste of this drink as smoky and sweet.
Coke describes Coke Blak as "a fusion drink". Well, whatever, I just want it available at a lower price, in cans and in cases. You have to like the bottle design though.
Well last Friday I found it at the local 76 gas station for $1.39 with a stack of 40 cents off coupons stuck on the freezer door. Naturally I HAD to buy two of them! I can only describe the taste of this drink as smoky and sweet.
Coke describes Coke Blak as "a fusion drink". Well, whatever, I just want it available at a lower price, in cans and in cases. You have to like the bottle design though.
Quilmes beer from Argentina
Trader Joe's has a limited selection of beer. I was being lazy and cheap this week, but knew I needed beer, so I bought a six pack of Quilmes beer. I guess I simply don't understand economics or profit and loss because there is a Budweiser plant less than an hour away from where I live, yet a six pack of Quilmes imported from Argentina at the bottom of the southern hemispere is less expensive. Does that make any sense to anyone? I can only presume that the profit margin on Budweiser must be huge.
Well Quilmes is a pretty decent beer and it certainly tastes better than Budweiser.
Well Quilmes is a pretty decent beer and it certainly tastes better than Budweiser.
Apple to Boot Windows
Apple has announced their intentions to allow the new Intel based Mac to dual boot into either the Mac OS or Windows.
This looks like a win-win situation for Apple and might spark developers into looking at the Mac platform again.
This looks like a win-win situation for Apple and might spark developers into looking at the Mac platform again.
How I Work: Bill Gates
This is an interesting article where Bill Gates discusses how he works. What I most enjoy is that he still gives out the impression that SharePoint can be productive right out of the box. This type of misinformation is what keeps me employed as a SharePoint consultant.
It appears in the picture of him in the article that he has a Tablet PC next to him with Post-It notes on it. Then again maybe its just a keyboard with his log-on passwords written on the Post-It notes. Poor Bill! He has to wait until next year to get a digital whiteboard? Doesn't he have any influence at Microsoft?
It appears in the picture of him in the article that he has a Tablet PC next to him with Post-It notes on it. Then again maybe its just a keyboard with his log-on passwords written on the Post-It notes. Poor Bill! He has to wait until next year to get a digital whiteboard? Doesn't he have any influence at Microsoft?
Naked Conversations Review
This book claims on the dust cover to discuss “how blogs are changing the way businesses talk with customers”. The authors however start off with two premises from The Cluetrain Manifesto (possibly one of the most bullshit filled, vapid books ever written) that:
1. Markets are conversations.
2. Conversations are where intellectual capital gets generated.
What the authors of both books fail to take into consideration is the definition of what a conversation is:
“An oral exchange of sentiments, observations, opinions, or ideas”
First of all blogs are not oral, except for podcasts which are only one way therefore podcasts do not have an exchange of information. Blogs (ignoring that they are not oral) have the potential of having an exchange of information but only if someone posts a comment.
So the entire premise of blogs somehow being conversations is false.
Another false premise is that businesses have a need to blog. I have no interest in a blog from Wal-Mart, my grocery store, Sears, CompUSA and many other businesses that I can think of. Granted a web site might well be of use, but I see no reason to get engaged with my grocery store’s blogsphere evangelist. That seems totally pointless. What would we blog about? Carrot prices? There has to be a limit on how much knowledge one needs to take in.
I think of the blogsphere as a giant room filled with a thousand dogs, each one sniffing another dog’s butt. It may not be butt sniffing but butt kissing in the way of name dropping is almost the main content of this book. It sounds like a couple of little kids crying out “Look who we know!” and “Isn’t it cool that we all point and refer to each other’s blogs endlessly?”
Amazingly there is nothing in this book that tells you how to get started with a blog. Perhaps for some of us that is just intuitive.
If you want to read a book that intelligently discusses blogging I suggest Who Let The Blogs Out? By Biz Stone.
I do not recommend Naked Conversations unless you just love the blah blah blah of endless and repetitive name dropping. It's truly not worth wasting your money or time on.
1. Markets are conversations.
2. Conversations are where intellectual capital gets generated.
What the authors of both books fail to take into consideration is the definition of what a conversation is:
“An oral exchange of sentiments, observations, opinions, or ideas”
First of all blogs are not oral, except for podcasts which are only one way therefore podcasts do not have an exchange of information. Blogs (ignoring that they are not oral) have the potential of having an exchange of information but only if someone posts a comment.
So the entire premise of blogs somehow being conversations is false.
Another false premise is that businesses have a need to blog. I have no interest in a blog from Wal-Mart, my grocery store, Sears, CompUSA and many other businesses that I can think of. Granted a web site might well be of use, but I see no reason to get engaged with my grocery store’s blogsphere evangelist. That seems totally pointless. What would we blog about? Carrot prices? There has to be a limit on how much knowledge one needs to take in.
I think of the blogsphere as a giant room filled with a thousand dogs, each one sniffing another dog’s butt. It may not be butt sniffing but butt kissing in the way of name dropping is almost the main content of this book. It sounds like a couple of little kids crying out “Look who we know!” and “Isn’t it cool that we all point and refer to each other’s blogs endlessly?”
Amazingly there is nothing in this book that tells you how to get started with a blog. Perhaps for some of us that is just intuitive.
If you want to read a book that intelligently discusses blogging I suggest Who Let The Blogs Out? By Biz Stone.
I do not recommend Naked Conversations unless you just love the blah blah blah of endless and repetitive name dropping. It's truly not worth wasting your money or time on.
Serious Flaw in Web 2
Google’s Gmail has been down most of the day. It was sporadic last night. Now I can’t get through to Blogger (although if you are reading this I obviously got through eventually). I don’t know if the Blogger problem is Google’s or the degradation of service I have been experiencing with Comcast, but it all points to a serious gap in Web 2. Namely the failure of the service provider’s application (Gmail) or your Internet connection via your ISP (Comcast).
The situation is that a friend of mine is in San Francisco from Australia and the only means of contact we have been using is Gmail. So now with Gmail down we can’t hook up during his visit.
So if you are imagining that you can live with all your data in various areas around the Internet, think again. This is just one example of where you are going to want to have some data stored off line.
The situation is that a friend of mine is in San Francisco from Australia and the only means of contact we have been using is Gmail. So now with Gmail down we can’t hook up during his visit.
So if you are imagining that you can live with all your data in various areas around the Internet, think again. This is just one example of where you are going to want to have some data stored off line.
Download Movies or buy the DVD?
You can now download movies the same day that they become available for sale on DVD through Movielink or Cinemanow. Looks the prices are normally around $19.95 while (even though I hate them) Wal-Mart offers titles as low as $14.99 the first week that they are released.
I would be concerned about backing up the downloads in case of a hard disk crash as well as whether or not there is an DRM/oddball extra copy protection on the downloads. Personally I will stick to the cheaper route of buying the DVD at the store. With freeware programs on the market that can break DVD copy protection, one could upload from the DVD to a laptop or other PC and still have the original in a secure location.
I would be concerned about backing up the downloads in case of a hard disk crash as well as whether or not there is an DRM/oddball extra copy protection on the downloads. Personally I will stick to the cheaper route of buying the DVD at the store. With freeware programs on the market that can break DVD copy protection, one could upload from the DVD to a laptop or other PC and still have the original in a secure location.
Subversive Cross Stitching
I came across this site from reading about it on dooce.com.
Every home should have some of these hanging on their walls.
DirectTV arrives Comcast leaves
It must be the year of the satellite here. I got Sirius satellite for the wife and daughter at Christmas and now we just left Comcast for DirectTV.
Part of the reason for the switch is my intention to totally drop Comcast because their "High Speed Internet" often drops below dial up speed. Yep, that's right, Comcast has over sold their Internet offering and some of us (like moi) are running at extremely slow speeds now. Downloads take insane amounts of time and internet gaming (my personal gripe) is impossible when you have pings of 300+ms!
So the first step was to drop the cable TV (the DSL option is going to take a bit of home rewiring for me). No biggie there as we went from about 60 cable channels to like 155 satellite channels. More choices and excellent video/sound quality. My wife was so brainwashed by Comcast's anti-satellite commercials that she was concerned that we wouldn't receive local TV stations (we do), that satellite TV wouldn't work when it rained or the wind blew (no issues there, and we have had a storm since installation), etc. All is well.
The other incentive was that the satellite/DSL pricing is lower than Comcast's by a considerable amount. We choose DirectTV after reviewing the TV channel packages and selections offered by both DirectTV and Dish. No bias, it just worked out that DirectTV's offering was more in line with what we wanted to watch. As an aside, we also get XM satellite through DirectTV, so now we have both satellite radio carriers! Doh! That's a bit of an information overload.
Part of the reason for the switch is my intention to totally drop Comcast because their "High Speed Internet" often drops below dial up speed. Yep, that's right, Comcast has over sold their Internet offering and some of us (like moi) are running at extremely slow speeds now. Downloads take insane amounts of time and internet gaming (my personal gripe) is impossible when you have pings of 300+ms!
So the first step was to drop the cable TV (the DSL option is going to take a bit of home rewiring for me). No biggie there as we went from about 60 cable channels to like 155 satellite channels. More choices and excellent video/sound quality. My wife was so brainwashed by Comcast's anti-satellite commercials that she was concerned that we wouldn't receive local TV stations (we do), that satellite TV wouldn't work when it rained or the wind blew (no issues there, and we have had a storm since installation), etc. All is well.
The other incentive was that the satellite/DSL pricing is lower than Comcast's by a considerable amount. We choose DirectTV after reviewing the TV channel packages and selections offered by both DirectTV and Dish. No bias, it just worked out that DirectTV's offering was more in line with what we wanted to watch. As an aside, we also get XM satellite through DirectTV, so now we have both satellite radio carriers! Doh! That's a bit of an information overload.
April Fools Day
I found my PC mouse no longer worked this morning. I rebooted the PC. Nope. Still not working. Dusted off and reset all the USB cables. Nope. Still not working.
I turned the mouse over to look at the bottom. Covering the mouse's LED was a small bit of Post-It note with the words “April Fool!” written on it in what appeared to be my wife’s handwriting.
Sigh. I always get fooled on April Fools Day.
Elsewhere on the web you can read April Fools Day news such as China purchasing Google and other phony news for geeks.
I turned the mouse over to look at the bottom. Covering the mouse's LED was a small bit of Post-It note with the words “April Fool!” written on it in what appeared to be my wife’s handwriting.
Sigh. I always get fooled on April Fools Day.
Elsewhere on the web you can read April Fools Day news such as China purchasing Google and other phony news for geeks.
Shel Isreal doesn't know how to blog
Isreal and Scoble were unable to stand up to hard questions during a recent talk at Amazon. They've chosen Werner Vogels, CTO of Amazon as their target for their alleged mis-treatement at Amazon.
I guess they were hurt that they weren't surrounded in real life by a large group of fawning butt kissers as they are on the Internet. What is shockingly amazing is this statement from Shel Isreal:
"I think there's a nice ironic touch to the fact that when I tried to leave a comment on this post by Werner Vogels, CTO of Amazon.com, his technology would not allow me to sign in."
It only takes a TypeKey or TypePad account to leave a comment on Mr. Vogels blog. Mr. Isreal's blog uses the EXACT SAME REQUIREMENT!
This guy co-authored a book on blogging and he can't figure out how to leave a comment?
Well, that says a lot about his alleged expertise!
I guess they were hurt that they weren't surrounded in real life by a large group of fawning butt kissers as they are on the Internet. What is shockingly amazing is this statement from Shel Isreal:
"I think there's a nice ironic touch to the fact that when I tried to leave a comment on this post by Werner Vogels, CTO of Amazon.com, his technology would not allow me to sign in."
It only takes a TypeKey or TypePad account to leave a comment on Mr. Vogels blog. Mr. Isreal's blog uses the EXACT SAME REQUIREMENT!
This guy co-authored a book on blogging and he can't figure out how to leave a comment?
Well, that says a lot about his alleged expertise!
Microsoft blogger Scoble wants to censor unfriendly blogosphere
Investor Relations Blog does an excellent job of dissecting the "truth" behind Scoble's demand for censoring an Australian journalist who wrote that 60% of Windows Vista code needs to be rewritten.
Amen, brother! Windows Vista sucks, and I say that as a long time Microsoft consultant.
Amen, brother! Windows Vista sucks, and I say that as a long time Microsoft consultant.
Pizza in a Cone News
The New Zealanders have finally read their email!
It only took them a week.
Anyway, it turns out that they do not have the rights for me to bring the holy food object, Pizza in a Cone to America.
So they have forwarded my request to the actual Pizza in a Cone inventors in Italy.
Stay tuned.
It only took them a week.
Anyway, it turns out that they do not have the rights for me to bring the holy food object, Pizza in a Cone to America.
So they have forwarded my request to the actual Pizza in a Cone inventors in Italy.
Stay tuned.
Oglala Sioux Tribe on the South Dakota Abortion Ban : SF Bay Area Indymedia
Cecilia Fire Thunder, who is a nurse as well as being the President of the Oglala Sioux tribe said that she will establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
More details are the above link.
More details are the above link.
Who to call when you can't decide for yourself
Stephanie McMillan, the woman behind Minimum Security, created this great cartoon which includes the work and home phone numbers of South Dakota senator Bill Napoli, who pushed through the South Dakota ban on abortion.
March 26 update Stephanie is auctioning the original cartoon on eBay to raise money for Planned Parenthood and the Oglala Sioux tribe.
Vista 2007. Fire the leadership now!
Mini-Microsoft: Vista 2007. Fire the leadership now! So say MANY Microsoft employee bloggers, due to yesterday's announcement that the release date for Windows Vista is now slipping to 2007.
I agree 100% that Microsoft needs a major company housecleaning.
This continuing slippage on product life is seriously impacting worldwide productivity. For some that may be the negative news; for others its positive news as Microsoft's inability to keep up product quality and upgrades is opening the door for companies to sell non-Microsoft solutions to the enterprise.
I agree 100% that Microsoft needs a major company housecleaning.
This continuing slippage on product life is seriously impacting worldwide productivity. For some that may be the negative news; for others its positive news as Microsoft's inability to keep up product quality and upgrades is opening the door for companies to sell non-Microsoft solutions to the enterprise.
Pizza in a Cone update
No word from the New Zealanders on bringing "The Cone" to the states.
I've begun my own pizza in a cone experiments, but since I am the only person in the house who is not gluten/wheat intolerant, it has come down to me and my volunteer staff (Toto the 17 year old blind and deaf poodle with 3 teeth and Minnie the Shih Tzu princess of the universe) to do the tasting. Minnie as you will recall was involved in my recent Flamethrower burger taste test.
I'm semi-decent at cooking. I guess the best news so far is that the smoke alarm hasn't gone off although there was a tense moment when I managed to set my oven mitts on fire. Lots of whooping and dancing around the kitchen. You know the drill.
Stay tuned. Something will come out of this. Perhaps not something good, but something.
I've begun my own pizza in a cone experiments, but since I am the only person in the house who is not gluten/wheat intolerant, it has come down to me and my volunteer staff (Toto the 17 year old blind and deaf poodle with 3 teeth and Minnie the Shih Tzu princess of the universe) to do the tasting. Minnie as you will recall was involved in my recent Flamethrower burger taste test.
I'm semi-decent at cooking. I guess the best news so far is that the smoke alarm hasn't gone off although there was a tense moment when I managed to set my oven mitts on fire. Lots of whooping and dancing around the kitchen. You know the drill.
Stay tuned. Something will come out of this. Perhaps not something good, but something.
Max's restaurant and Firestone beer
Ok, so I went to Max’s the other day for the first time in five years. I had not realized there was a Max’s in Roseville, and I had totally forgotten all about their great restaurant chain.
Max’s was packed, even though it was like mid-afternoon, so I just sat at the bar. You know those customized handles they have on beer taps? Well one of the taps, I swear to God was a fish! So I asked the bartender (a woman with really Big Hair. She had so much hair I was afraid that when she turned around she would have an extra face on the back of her head or something) what the “fish beer” was like, and without an answer she just poured me a 16 ounce “sample” and said “Try it”.
Well the good news is that the beer didn’t taste like fish. The name of the beer is Angler’s Pale Ale, but it didn’t really appeal to me. While I was drinking it, the bartender poured me samples of four more beers without me even asking. For a moment there, I think I was falling in love, at least to the point of realizing I was going to give her a 20 percent tip. So I’m sitting there with an empty stomach downing five glasses of various strongly alcoholic beers. Naturally after a while I still had enough sense to know that laying down on the floor was probably a no-no but that resting my head on the bar until it could clear should be ok. I do recall that one of the beers was Drakes and the one I liked the most was Firestone.
Eventually I was able to feel and move my fingertips. I did manage to sit upright as my BBQ sandwich arrived, which was heavenly (like all the food at Max’s).
No dessert though as it was obviously time to head home for a nap.
I must recommend though that eating at Max’s and drinking Firestone beer is a truly wonderful experience.
Just don’t start drinking on an empty stomach.
April 3 update: We went back to Maz's two days later and had dreadful food and terrible service. So we aren't returning to Max's as even the manager was incompetent at resolving our issues.
Max’s was packed, even though it was like mid-afternoon, so I just sat at the bar. You know those customized handles they have on beer taps? Well one of the taps, I swear to God was a fish! So I asked the bartender (a woman with really Big Hair. She had so much hair I was afraid that when she turned around she would have an extra face on the back of her head or something) what the “fish beer” was like, and without an answer she just poured me a 16 ounce “sample” and said “Try it”.
Well the good news is that the beer didn’t taste like fish. The name of the beer is Angler’s Pale Ale, but it didn’t really appeal to me. While I was drinking it, the bartender poured me samples of four more beers without me even asking. For a moment there, I think I was falling in love, at least to the point of realizing I was going to give her a 20 percent tip. So I’m sitting there with an empty stomach downing five glasses of various strongly alcoholic beers. Naturally after a while I still had enough sense to know that laying down on the floor was probably a no-no but that resting my head on the bar until it could clear should be ok. I do recall that one of the beers was Drakes and the one I liked the most was Firestone.
Eventually I was able to feel and move my fingertips. I did manage to sit upright as my BBQ sandwich arrived, which was heavenly (like all the food at Max’s).
No dessert though as it was obviously time to head home for a nap.
I must recommend though that eating at Max’s and drinking Firestone beer is a truly wonderful experience.
Just don’t start drinking on an empty stomach.
April 3 update: We went back to Maz's two days later and had dreadful food and terrible service. So we aren't returning to Max's as even the manager was incompetent at resolving our issues.
V for Vendetta
A combination of Orwell’s 1984 and today’s political scene, V for Vendetta takes place in a not so distant future where the UK government rules by fear. The media is censored. Citizens are manipulated into the fear of terrorism and avian flu outbreaks.
A man who has been a victim of government torture and experimentation, rises up to bring down the government. This unnamed hero wears a Guy Fawkes mask throughout the film and sets November 5th (Guy Fawkes Day) as his date to complete the work of Fawkes by destroying Parliament.
I’m not to going walk through the film and unleash any spoilers.
I think this is an important film that above all else deals with ideas and not the dichotomy of one political figure or party compared to another.
My advice for any intelligent person is to go see this film immediately.
Take a day off from work. Stop watching television. In fact just look up the show times nearest you, turn off your computer and go see this film right now.
A man who has been a victim of government torture and experimentation, rises up to bring down the government. This unnamed hero wears a Guy Fawkes mask throughout the film and sets November 5th (Guy Fawkes Day) as his date to complete the work of Fawkes by destroying Parliament.
I’m not to going walk through the film and unleash any spoilers.
I think this is an important film that above all else deals with ideas and not the dichotomy of one political figure or party compared to another.
My advice for any intelligent person is to go see this film immediately.
Take a day off from work. Stop watching television. In fact just look up the show times nearest you, turn off your computer and go see this film right now.
Microsoft harms world economy yet promotes people-ready ad campaign
Today Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, told attendees at the ImpactPeople conference in New York the new Microsoft ad campaign theme: "Microsoft: Software for the people-ready business." Ballmer claimed that Microsoft software and the new versions of various Microsoft products will improve the productivity of teams within companies.
I disagree 100% with Ballmer’s statements, including those that follow below.
“Successful businesses succeed based on the quality and performance of their people.
… We are talking about making the people in the business more productive.”
Let’s skip quality for the moment and go straight to performance and productivity. It has taken Microsoft over five years to produce an “upgrade” to Windows XP, called Windows Vista. It took six years for Microsoft to upgrade SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005. It has taken four years for Microsoft to produce Office 2007 and SharePoint Server 2007. Other Microsoft products such as Internet Explorer (5 years) are also locked into this lengthy upgrade cycle.
Due to Microsoft’s near monopoly, these 4, 5, and 6 years delays in producing upgrades to existing software products have impacted the growth of economic productivity and performance on a world wide basis.
This is an example of negative productivity and performance on a global scale.
Amazingly in practically the same breath, Ballmer waxes poetically about Microsoft spending $20 billion dollars in the last three years on research and development.
For a CEO who in the past has spoken about “we eat our own dog food” he certainly is not displaying a track record for performance and productivity. As to quality, Microsoft’s best effort in that area is addressed by posting monthly patches to some (but not all) of their products. If you have Office, it’s not in the monthly patch. You need to go to the Microsoft Office web site to locate new patches. For enterprise critical servers such as BizTalk or SharePoint, it’s the same situation; you have to dig to find the patches. That doesn’t impress me as a commitment to quality.
"We think this is a pretty unique vision," Ballmer said. Well a horse wearing blinders has a pretty unique vision too! Ballmer implied that IT people (yes the ones who buy Microsoft’s products) don’t share this “vision” of productivity and performance.
Well that inflammatory statement will be big news to IT people. I would venture that if there is any one group within a corporate enterprise that is productive, it’s the IT department. IT doesn’t drive the quality, performance and productivity of the enterprise; it only provides the tools. It is up to the management to provide the leadership and drive for organizations of any size. Software is simply a tool, not a solution nor an implementation of productivity.
An organization could install all the Microsoft software products available and that would not guarantee one iota of increased performance, quality and productivity.
Microsoft’s “people-ready” campaign misses the whole point: It’s not about software, it’s about people.
I disagree 100% with Ballmer’s statements, including those that follow below.
“Successful businesses succeed based on the quality and performance of their people.
… We are talking about making the people in the business more productive.”
Let’s skip quality for the moment and go straight to performance and productivity. It has taken Microsoft over five years to produce an “upgrade” to Windows XP, called Windows Vista. It took six years for Microsoft to upgrade SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005. It has taken four years for Microsoft to produce Office 2007 and SharePoint Server 2007. Other Microsoft products such as Internet Explorer (5 years) are also locked into this lengthy upgrade cycle.
Due to Microsoft’s near monopoly, these 4, 5, and 6 years delays in producing upgrades to existing software products have impacted the growth of economic productivity and performance on a world wide basis.
This is an example of negative productivity and performance on a global scale.
Amazingly in practically the same breath, Ballmer waxes poetically about Microsoft spending $20 billion dollars in the last three years on research and development.
For a CEO who in the past has spoken about “we eat our own dog food” he certainly is not displaying a track record for performance and productivity. As to quality, Microsoft’s best effort in that area is addressed by posting monthly patches to some (but not all) of their products. If you have Office, it’s not in the monthly patch. You need to go to the Microsoft Office web site to locate new patches. For enterprise critical servers such as BizTalk or SharePoint, it’s the same situation; you have to dig to find the patches. That doesn’t impress me as a commitment to quality.
"We think this is a pretty unique vision," Ballmer said. Well a horse wearing blinders has a pretty unique vision too! Ballmer implied that IT people (yes the ones who buy Microsoft’s products) don’t share this “vision” of productivity and performance.
Well that inflammatory statement will be big news to IT people. I would venture that if there is any one group within a corporate enterprise that is productive, it’s the IT department. IT doesn’t drive the quality, performance and productivity of the enterprise; it only provides the tools. It is up to the management to provide the leadership and drive for organizations of any size. Software is simply a tool, not a solution nor an implementation of productivity.
An organization could install all the Microsoft software products available and that would not guarantee one iota of increased performance, quality and productivity.
Microsoft’s “people-ready” campaign misses the whole point: It’s not about software, it’s about people.
A History of Violence and Mirrormask
Two intriguing films are out on DVD this week: Mirrormask and A History of Violence. Ok, Mirrormask came out last week. So what?
Mirrormask, a Dave McKean, Neil Gaiman and Jim Henson Productions film is weird, arty, weird and somewhat weird. Fun to watch although I swear to God that DVD volume levels are intentionally set low so that eventually you will go out and buy a home theater system just so that you can hear the damned things.
Anyway, the sets, costumes and scenery in Mirrormask are impressive. Jim Henson's daughter, Lisa Henson is on the additional material portion of the DVD. She goes on about The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, but as far as I can research she didn't work on either picture. Her father and his company, Jim Henson Productions worked on those pictures. Perhaps now people can inherit their parents film credits. This should be good news for Alfred Hitchcock's daughter.
I liked A History of Violence, especially the high school hallway scene (I'm not going to give out spoilers, but you will know what I am talking about when you see the scene). The gratuitous sex scene goes on far too long. Maybe it was just an over exposure to Viggo's butt on the wide screen that made me feel that way, but I found it lengthy and lacking any contribution to the story line. The film is edgy and I thought it was well acted and interesting. I don't know if Viggo deserved an Academy Award nomination for this film, but William Hurt sure as hell didn't. He was only in the film for what? Five minutes? Maybe people in Hollywood owe him money or something. Make sure you see this film, it was one of the better ones for 2005.
Mirrormask, a Dave McKean, Neil Gaiman and Jim Henson Productions film is weird, arty, weird and somewhat weird. Fun to watch although I swear to God that DVD volume levels are intentionally set low so that eventually you will go out and buy a home theater system just so that you can hear the damned things.
Anyway, the sets, costumes and scenery in Mirrormask are impressive. Jim Henson's daughter, Lisa Henson is on the additional material portion of the DVD. She goes on about The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, but as far as I can research she didn't work on either picture. Her father and his company, Jim Henson Productions worked on those pictures. Perhaps now people can inherit their parents film credits. This should be good news for Alfred Hitchcock's daughter.
I liked A History of Violence, especially the high school hallway scene (I'm not going to give out spoilers, but you will know what I am talking about when you see the scene). The gratuitous sex scene goes on far too long. Maybe it was just an over exposure to Viggo's butt on the wide screen that made me feel that way, but I found it lengthy and lacking any contribution to the story line. The film is edgy and I thought it was well acted and interesting. I don't know if Viggo deserved an Academy Award nomination for this film, but William Hurt sure as hell didn't. He was only in the film for what? Five minutes? Maybe people in Hollywood owe him money or something. Make sure you see this film, it was one of the better ones for 2005.
Crossing the Rubicon
This book, Crossing the Rubicon is such a struggle to read. It’s a mixture of extreme fantasy fringe writing (“the CIA killed Robert Kennedy”) and reality. It’s like drinking truth and bullshit mixed into a milk shake, and you don’t know when to swallow or spit.
I’m in the middle of it and enjoying it basically because it forces you to keep running a reality check on your own beliefs.
I’m in the middle of it and enjoying it basically because it forces you to keep running a reality check on your own beliefs.
King Michael Edition of the Excel Bible
In other news, I googled my name the other day (I do this on a random basis) and found that John Walkenbach, author of the Excel Bible for Windows 95, refers to it as the King Michael edition (after moi, the technical editor). That gave me a smile for the day. Come to think of it I was probably being an asshole as an editor but then again do editors serve any other function?
Google Office advances, Microsoft Office fumbles
Google has purchased Sketchup. Well, despite the fact that one of Sketchup’s products ties into Google Earth for mapping, their flagship product, Sketchup, is a $495 3D drawing package.
My question is: Could this become another component of Google Office?
Along with Google’s recent acquisition of Writely, one has to wonder when Google will complete and release Google Office. The biggest question is whether or not Google will charge for Google Office. If they don’t, and Google Office is entirely web based, then it will have a major impact on the revenue stream of Microsoft Office.
The downside for Microsoft is their announcement that Windows Vista, the five-years-in-the-making non-upgrade from Windows XP will not begin shipping until November. That means that Office 2007 is accurately named and probably will not ship until 2007 due to Microsoft’s inept testing methodologies wherein if Office 2007 shipped before Windows Vista, there would be incompatibility risks. Microsoft will not chance shipping Office 2007 before Windows Vista because if there are incompatibilities between Windows Vista and Office 2007, that would require shipping a service pack the same day Window Vista ships. It’s too costly and too much of a time crunch for Microsoft to take on, because their present management structure no longer allows them to rapidly respond to change.
Microsoft has also announced that the minimum entry price for Office 2007 will be $150. That minimum entry price gives Google a lot of space to play in regarding pricing.
Google has the ball. Let’s see if they can make a touchdown with Google Office.
My question is: Could this become another component of Google Office?
Along with Google’s recent acquisition of Writely, one has to wonder when Google will complete and release Google Office. The biggest question is whether or not Google will charge for Google Office. If they don’t, and Google Office is entirely web based, then it will have a major impact on the revenue stream of Microsoft Office.
The downside for Microsoft is their announcement that Windows Vista, the five-years-in-the-making non-upgrade from Windows XP will not begin shipping until November. That means that Office 2007 is accurately named and probably will not ship until 2007 due to Microsoft’s inept testing methodologies wherein if Office 2007 shipped before Windows Vista, there would be incompatibility risks. Microsoft will not chance shipping Office 2007 before Windows Vista because if there are incompatibilities between Windows Vista and Office 2007, that would require shipping a service pack the same day Window Vista ships. It’s too costly and too much of a time crunch for Microsoft to take on, because their present management structure no longer allows them to rapidly respond to change.
Microsoft has also announced that the minimum entry price for Office 2007 will be $150. That minimum entry price gives Google a lot of space to play in regarding pricing.
Google has the ball. Let’s see if they can make a touchdown with Google Office.
Marilyn Manson wedding in Vogue magazine
The headline says it all. Buy the March 2006 issue of Vogue for a full color treatment of Manson's marriage to his long time girl friend whatshername. Hey! I might like Manson, but I'm not THAT much of a fan!
Updated March 26 so that the Vogue link goes to the photos. I also meant that I am not a fan that can recall his wife's name, although my 19 year old daughter can. She and I have been to three Marilyn Manson concerts together in the last 3 years. I always get a double take when I wear one of my MM Concert Tour T-shirts out in public. Frankly it never ceases to amaze me as to who will come up and talk to me about MM.
Updated March 26 so that the Vogue link goes to the photos. I also meant that I am not a fan that can recall his wife's name, although my 19 year old daughter can. She and I have been to three Marilyn Manson concerts together in the last 3 years. I always get a double take when I wear one of my MM Concert Tour T-shirts out in public. Frankly it never ceases to amaze me as to who will come up and talk to me about MM.
Electronic Arts BF2 1.21 patch SUCKS!
Yeah, yeah, you probably don’t play Battlefield 2, but Electronic Arts was supposed to ship an expansion to the game (technically called a booster pack) last month. First though, they had to ship a patch so that the expansion would work. Well that patch, 1.2 was fine except that they found a few little glitches in it. So, they delayed shipping the expansion until they could patch the patch.
Well this weekend (after a month of "testing") they made the patch available for download and it has totaled fucked up game play for users worldwide. For some bizarre reason the ping rates are spinning from 300 to over a million, and once your ping rate goes past 125, the Punkbuster software will kick you off of the game servers. Needless to say, right now no one can play Battlefield 2, and there’s nothing on Electronic Arts web site that indicates that they are even aware of the problem, let alone working on it.
Although EA is even more evil than Microsoft, they definitely need a Scoble-like corporate blogger out there to soothe the masses, especially if they want those same said masses to purchase future enhancements to their games.
Well this weekend (after a month of "testing") they made the patch available for download and it has totaled fucked up game play for users worldwide. For some bizarre reason the ping rates are spinning from 300 to over a million, and once your ping rate goes past 125, the Punkbuster software will kick you off of the game servers. Needless to say, right now no one can play Battlefield 2, and there’s nothing on Electronic Arts web site that indicates that they are even aware of the problem, let alone working on it.
Although EA is even more evil than Microsoft, they definitely need a Scoble-like corporate blogger out there to soothe the masses, especially if they want those same said masses to purchase future enhancements to their games.
Bugatti Veyron
Through a series of corporate mergers, Volkswagen has acquired the Bugatti name. Bugatti was a famous Italian auto maker with an active racing team, whose heyday was primarily in the 20s and 30s. They are now manufacturing 50 Bugatti Veyrons a year. At a price of one million Euros (today's rate makes that $1.2 millon dollars) these are not going to be the first choice for your average driver. The Veyron sports a 1000 horse power engine with a top speed of 220 MPH. I don't even want to imagine what the gas mileage is, but if you've got the wealth to pop $1 million+ on a car, gas pump prices probably aren't even a concern. The styling on these cars is amazing and the web site alone is worth a visit.
Groove, SharePoint and BizTalk
Well, my current consulting contract ends this week so once again I am on the lookout for income producing opportunities. I’ve had the good luck and/or misfortune to become quite expert with Microsoft SharePoint, BizTalk and Groove.
I designed and implemented the world’s largest SharePoint site and at the same time have managed to piss off legions of SharePoint developers all over the world who worship Microsoft like a god due to my article (linked to elsewhere on this blog) pointing out the weaknesses of SharePoint. I like SharePoint but Microsoft needs someone (like me but I can think of others) to manage and direct the product in a professional manner.
I’ve used BizTalk since the day it shipped, but it too needs new management. More importantly, Microsoft needs to figure out how to market it. The product is great but trying to explain it and show what it can do is challenging to say the least.
Please take Ray Ozzie, Lotus Notes and Microsoft Groove and put them wherever Jimmy Hoffa is currently residing. I was present at the Lotus Notes announcement in Boston during Networld which I think was in 1989. Anyway Jim Manzi showed two people on stage with one supposedly in London and the other in Boston, sharing a spreadsheet thanks to this hot new product, Lotus Notes. My thought at the time was Big Whoop. Nowadays whenever I encounter Lotus Notes in a corporate environment, it is being used not for collaboration but because it is viewed as being less likely to be vulnerable to a virus attack than Microsoft Exchange. As for Groove, the only market I have seen it used in to any extent, is law enforcement which also uses SharePoint extensively because it is mandated by the Department of Homeland Security. Microsoft has cleaned up Groove (well what will be Groove 12 which is in beta) to where it is actually somewhat usable for collaboration. It’s still as dull as Lotus Notes though and frankly doesn’t carry that much weight to collaboration except in special circumstances (like law enforcement cases).
So I’m great at building collaboration within companies as well as solving complex business problems. Basically I’m talented at making companies wealthier due to higher productivity.
Maybe I need a marketing manager to sell my skills. Anyway don’t hesitate to contact me if you have an opportunity that I can fill.
I designed and implemented the world’s largest SharePoint site and at the same time have managed to piss off legions of SharePoint developers all over the world who worship Microsoft like a god due to my article (linked to elsewhere on this blog) pointing out the weaknesses of SharePoint. I like SharePoint but Microsoft needs someone (like me but I can think of others) to manage and direct the product in a professional manner.
I’ve used BizTalk since the day it shipped, but it too needs new management. More importantly, Microsoft needs to figure out how to market it. The product is great but trying to explain it and show what it can do is challenging to say the least.
Please take Ray Ozzie, Lotus Notes and Microsoft Groove and put them wherever Jimmy Hoffa is currently residing. I was present at the Lotus Notes announcement in Boston during Networld which I think was in 1989. Anyway Jim Manzi showed two people on stage with one supposedly in London and the other in Boston, sharing a spreadsheet thanks to this hot new product, Lotus Notes. My thought at the time was Big Whoop. Nowadays whenever I encounter Lotus Notes in a corporate environment, it is being used not for collaboration but because it is viewed as being less likely to be vulnerable to a virus attack than Microsoft Exchange. As for Groove, the only market I have seen it used in to any extent, is law enforcement which also uses SharePoint extensively because it is mandated by the Department of Homeland Security. Microsoft has cleaned up Groove (well what will be Groove 12 which is in beta) to where it is actually somewhat usable for collaboration. It’s still as dull as Lotus Notes though and frankly doesn’t carry that much weight to collaboration except in special circumstances (like law enforcement cases).
So I’m great at building collaboration within companies as well as solving complex business problems. Basically I’m talented at making companies wealthier due to higher productivity.
Maybe I need a marketing manager to sell my skills. Anyway don’t hesitate to contact me if you have an opportunity that I can fill.
DQ Flamethrower vs Carls Jr Jalapeno Burger
I have to admit that every time I see the TV commercial for the Dairy Queen Flamethrower burger I crack up. If you haven’t seen it, it’s about a guy accidentally setting his office on fire because he was eating a DQ Flamethrower burger.
Well on occasion (despite the extreme right wing politics of the company) I have had a Carl’s Jr Jalapeno burger. It has real jalapenos and onions on it and is fairly spicy.
So Sunday morning I packed Minnie the world’s most spoiled Shih Tzu into my 11 year old VW Golf and puttered over to Dairy Queen to test out the Flamethrower. I wonder how Dairy Queen manages to stay in business as they seem like the trailer trash of fast food chains. Crummy locations, outdated facilities, and well it just seems like the whole chain could go out of business at any moment. I don’t want them to go out of business because I still like their dipped cones (butterscotch, not chocolate) and also because they seem like something out of the 50s. They’re kind of nostalgic.
I ordered the double meat patty Flamethrower $4.50 or so along with a Coke that would fit into the wee drink holder in the VW. I spend a lot of time eyeballing drink containers as only a few will fit in the VW’s drink holder. In fact, I removed the ashtray years ago so that tall drinks would fit in the holder. Otherwise the only thing that truly fits would be a very small cup of coffee. Do Germans have an issue with drinking in their cars or what?
The Flamethrower was not a flamethrower. It wasn’t even spicy let alone hot. No onions, no jalapenos, just two slices of mild pepperjack cheese on a double burger. It was so mild I gave Minnie bites, not that it was an option as she would have pouted for days if she didn’t get a bite. I was very disappointed. Minnie was ecstatic because she got to go for a ride and eat bites of hamburger.
There you have it. I voted nay on the Flamethrower and Minnie voted yea. It’s your call on whose opinion you want to trust, me or the Shih Tzu.
Well on occasion (despite the extreme right wing politics of the company) I have had a Carl’s Jr Jalapeno burger. It has real jalapenos and onions on it and is fairly spicy.
So Sunday morning I packed Minnie the world’s most spoiled Shih Tzu into my 11 year old VW Golf and puttered over to Dairy Queen to test out the Flamethrower. I wonder how Dairy Queen manages to stay in business as they seem like the trailer trash of fast food chains. Crummy locations, outdated facilities, and well it just seems like the whole chain could go out of business at any moment. I don’t want them to go out of business because I still like their dipped cones (butterscotch, not chocolate) and also because they seem like something out of the 50s. They’re kind of nostalgic.
I ordered the double meat patty Flamethrower $4.50 or so along with a Coke that would fit into the wee drink holder in the VW. I spend a lot of time eyeballing drink containers as only a few will fit in the VW’s drink holder. In fact, I removed the ashtray years ago so that tall drinks would fit in the holder. Otherwise the only thing that truly fits would be a very small cup of coffee. Do Germans have an issue with drinking in their cars or what?
The Flamethrower was not a flamethrower. It wasn’t even spicy let alone hot. No onions, no jalapenos, just two slices of mild pepperjack cheese on a double burger. It was so mild I gave Minnie bites, not that it was an option as she would have pouted for days if she didn’t get a bite. I was very disappointed. Minnie was ecstatic because she got to go for a ride and eat bites of hamburger.
There you have it. I voted nay on the Flamethrower and Minnie voted yea. It’s your call on whose opinion you want to trust, me or the Shih Tzu.
Google buys Writely
This is a major deal! I encourage people to sign up for the Writely beta. If Google adds spreadsheet/database/presentation software, then they will have an Office suite on the Web.
Considering the entry point for Office 2007 is at minimum $150, this will have an impact on Microsoft's Office revenue stream. Maybe corporations will avoid this due to security concerns but I think this will be HUGE!
I see this as a serious move by Google that can only benefit them while taking away market share from Microsoft.
Considering the entry point for Office 2007 is at minimum $150, this will have an impact on Microsoft's Office revenue stream. Maybe corporations will avoid this due to security concerns but I think this will be HUGE!
I see this as a serious move by Google that can only benefit them while taking away market share from Microsoft.
Microsoft Origami aka Intel UMPC
Microsoft and Intel have announced the UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC). On the surface, the UMPC appears to be a low end ($500-$1000) mini Tablet PC.
Pros: It's lightweight, weighing in around 2.5 pounds.
Cons:
Too short a battery life (3 hours) to make it practical as a mobile device.
Too big for pockets (like an iPod or a Pocket PC), so how does one carry it?
More expensive than the top of the line iPod or Pocket PC and in the range of low end notebooks.
Ships with Windows XP, but it's an unknown about "upgrading" to Windows Vista.
Regardless of software included with the system, it appears that it will be inconvenient to use due to its form factor. For some reason it reminds me of an Etch-A-Sketch.
Pros: It's lightweight, weighing in around 2.5 pounds.
Cons:
Too short a battery life (3 hours) to make it practical as a mobile device.
Too big for pockets (like an iPod or a Pocket PC), so how does one carry it?
More expensive than the top of the line iPod or Pocket PC and in the range of low end notebooks.
Ships with Windows XP, but it's an unknown about "upgrading" to Windows Vista.
Regardless of software included with the system, it appears that it will be inconvenient to use due to its form factor. For some reason it reminds me of an Etch-A-Sketch.
International Women's Day
Today, March 8, 2006, is International Women's Day so go forth and do something, um, womanly. March in the streets? Take the day off from work? I have no idea exactly what one should do today to mark the occasion.
I can share that on my current job at Delta Dental they use the Websense Enterprise software to keep employees from venturing to non-work related sites on the Internet. The site for International Women's Day is blocked. The software claims the site is "an Advocacy Group". Wow! I wonder if the local Islamic Imam and his Moslem storm troopers would pay me a visit if I dared to commit the thought crime of thinking about advocating women's rights.
I can share that on my current job at Delta Dental they use the Websense Enterprise software to keep employees from venturing to non-work related sites on the Internet. The site for International Women's Day is blocked. The software claims the site is "an Advocacy Group". Wow! I wonder if the local Islamic Imam and his Moslem storm troopers would pay me a visit if I dared to commit the thought crime of thinking about advocating women's rights.
Avoid Franklin Covey PlanPlus
"Are you using Franklin Planner for Microsoft Outlook?
So you are aware, Franklin Planner for Microsoft Outlook is not compatible with USB syncing." -- from Franklin Covey's website.
Let's see, I bought my wife a Palm z22 for Christmas and the Franklin Covey PlanPlus for Outlook from the Franklin Covey store. No one said anything about USB problems between the software and the Palm. The Palm z22 ONLY has a USB port, so it cannot be switched over to serial synching. Even though the Palm z22 isn't listed above, it still eventually hangs and locks up both the PC and the Palm if used with the PlanPlus program.
My advice is to avoid Franklin Covey products based on their lack of up to date technical support!
So you are aware, Franklin Planner for Microsoft Outlook is not compatible with USB syncing." -- from Franklin Covey's website.
Let's see, I bought my wife a Palm z22 for Christmas and the Franklin Covey PlanPlus for Outlook from the Franklin Covey store. No one said anything about USB problems between the software and the Palm. The Palm z22 ONLY has a USB port, so it cannot be switched over to serial synching. Even though the Palm z22 isn't listed above, it still eventually hangs and locks up both the PC and the Palm if used with the PlanPlus program.
My advice is to avoid Franklin Covey products based on their lack of up to date technical support!
Peet's Coffee
Peet's FINALLY opened an outlet here in Folsom yesterday, in
the midst of the six Starbucks serving this not-so-big-suburb. Anyway,
we snagged about $50 worth of premium coffees and teas as door prizes
yesterday, and are returning today to snag more door prizes (basically
everyone entering the store throws a small bag of coffee onto a table
and wins something. You can do this every visit). They had a manager there explaining the nuances of various coffee flavors: nutty, earth, spicy, sweet, etc...
So I was wondering if there is some big coffee snobbery kind of taste-off where coffee lovers sip a cup, swirl it around in their mouth and spit it out?
The BIG PLUS is that ALL DRINKS are FREE yesterday and today. Whoopie!
However, so far (and granted, this could change) I still like Starbucks better.
Peet's does beat out Tully's in San Francisco though. Tully's is usually bitter and not too flavorful, at least in my humble opinion.
the midst of the six Starbucks serving this not-so-big-suburb. Anyway,
we snagged about $50 worth of premium coffees and teas as door prizes
yesterday, and are returning today to snag more door prizes (basically
everyone entering the store throws a small bag of coffee onto a table
and wins something. You can do this every visit). They had a manager there explaining the nuances of various coffee flavors: nutty, earth, spicy, sweet, etc...
So I was wondering if there is some big coffee snobbery kind of taste-off where coffee lovers sip a cup, swirl it around in their mouth and spit it out?
The BIG PLUS is that ALL DRINKS are FREE yesterday and today. Whoopie!
However, so far (and granted, this could change) I still like Starbucks better.
Peet's does beat out Tully's in San Francisco though. Tully's is usually bitter and not too flavorful, at least in my humble opinion.
Capote A brief review
Ok, even though I really don’t like Phillip Seymour Hoffman (is there another Phillip Hoffman that he is concerned about being confused with? I mean what the hell is the requirement for using his middle name of Seymour?) I did see Capote on Friday night, and I have to admit it was a good movie and that he did a great job of acting in it.
Basically the film is about Capote’s researching and writing of In Cold Blood. After seeing the film, I did a bit of follow up to answer a few questions I had, like who was Capote’s "long time companion"? Well the guy was Jack Dunphy, writer of several books that I have never read or for that matter even heard of. Another question I had was to find out if Harper Lee had ever written another book after To Kill A Mockingbird. The answer was no. Then again Capote never wrote another book after In Cold Blood although unlike Harper Lee, he had previously written novels.
I enjoyed Capote and if it beats out Brokeback Mountain at the Academy Awards tonight that’s ok. Just as long as Good Night and Good Luck, Crash and Munich (for what it’s worth I cannot get the Munich web site to open in Opera!?) don’t win squat I will be happy.
Good Night and Good Luck had a good story to tell but it didn’t work. Unless you totally understood the McCarthy era, this film simply did not work. As for the nomination for Best Actor for David Strathairn, I just don’t see it. Sitting stiffly and smoking cigarettes didn’t seem to me like much of an acting job.
Crash came off to me as just another cheap “let’s try to toy with the audience’s emotions” kind of films. No real acting in it either, at least not to the depth of Heath Ledger or Phillip Hoffman.
Munich was just fictionalized bullshit. The book the film was based on, Vengence, was written by a guy who claimed to have inside knowledge of the Mossad’s payback assassination teams, but it turned out that he actually knew nothing about it. Since the release of the film some of the actual Mossad members have come out and said that 1. They didn’t feel any angst about killing terrorists linked to the Munich killings, and 2. That several teams were involved, unlike the film portrays.
Well anyway it will be beer, pizza and chili tonight while we watch the Academy Awards.
Basically the film is about Capote’s researching and writing of In Cold Blood. After seeing the film, I did a bit of follow up to answer a few questions I had, like who was Capote’s "long time companion"? Well the guy was Jack Dunphy, writer of several books that I have never read or for that matter even heard of. Another question I had was to find out if Harper Lee had ever written another book after To Kill A Mockingbird. The answer was no. Then again Capote never wrote another book after In Cold Blood although unlike Harper Lee, he had previously written novels.
I enjoyed Capote and if it beats out Brokeback Mountain at the Academy Awards tonight that’s ok. Just as long as Good Night and Good Luck, Crash and Munich (for what it’s worth I cannot get the Munich web site to open in Opera!?) don’t win squat I will be happy.
Good Night and Good Luck had a good story to tell but it didn’t work. Unless you totally understood the McCarthy era, this film simply did not work. As for the nomination for Best Actor for David Strathairn, I just don’t see it. Sitting stiffly and smoking cigarettes didn’t seem to me like much of an acting job.
Crash came off to me as just another cheap “let’s try to toy with the audience’s emotions” kind of films. No real acting in it either, at least not to the depth of Heath Ledger or Phillip Hoffman.
Munich was just fictionalized bullshit. The book the film was based on, Vengence, was written by a guy who claimed to have inside knowledge of the Mossad’s payback assassination teams, but it turned out that he actually knew nothing about it. Since the release of the film some of the actual Mossad members have come out and said that 1. They didn’t feel any angst about killing terrorists linked to the Munich killings, and 2. That several teams were involved, unlike the film portrays.
Well anyway it will be beer, pizza and chili tonight while we watch the Academy Awards.
Murphy's Red Beer
In a somewhat appropriate manner, my bottle of Murphy's Red Beer from Ireland was the last of my Valentine's Day beers. It was surprisingly good. I never have had much of a thrill drinking Irish beer (Irish whiskey is another story. A real life story too, actually set in Ireland, but alas most of you are too young to hear THAT story.)
Anyway I liked it and now I am off to see the only 2006 Academy Award nominee for Best Picture that I haven't taken in yet: Capote.
Being originally from Kansas I don't know why it's taken me so long to get around to seeing this picture. Well, maybe I will pop up a review here instead of at eOpinions for a change.
Anyway I liked it and now I am off to see the only 2006 Academy Award nominee for Best Picture that I haven't taken in yet: Capote.
Being originally from Kansas I don't know why it's taken me so long to get around to seeing this picture. Well, maybe I will pop up a review here instead of at eOpinions for a change.
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