Having Sex With Your Hand (And Not Making A Mess)

Yeah, before we get to the subject line, let me first mention a few real stories.

The most admired and trusted company in the world is? Apple Computer. Forbes, who conducted the survey says "this year generated the highest response rate in its history ... For the third straight year Apple takes the No. 1 spot -- this time by the highest margin ever." The nearest competitor on the list is Google. Say what you want, that's some survey.

Paul shares this link with me. Politics are a dirty business, but if you're donating to the RNC, you might want to see what they think of you. If you're in the DNC you need to see what you're up against. It takes a special sort of person to look slimier than a used car salesman, yet they manage it. I do not believe all members are like this, but it's sad this is done so openly with the base assumption that the RNC clearly thinks the people who donate to it are idiots. (Hey, wait, maybe I share something in common with them... ::laugh:: )

And, today, we have news of the absurd. I provide this instead of the huge, major, earth-shattering announcement I was hoping to release today. It'll just have to keep waiting until I can make it. I do have that special post written and I'll I need to do is release it. So, today, we have news of the absurd.

The Swiss have begun producing extra small condoms for use by 12 year olds. In the article it says: The Hotshot condoms, which cost about US$8 for a packet of six, have been created by Lamprecht AG, a leading condom manufacturer in Switzerland. A standard condom has a diameter of 2ins (5.2cm) in comparison with the Hotshot's diameter of 1.7ins (4.5cm). Both are the same length – 7.4ins (19cm). I really have no idea how I should feel about this. I think protection is important for people of all ages, but I don't think twelve year olds should be having sex except with their hand*. In fact, I know a few people in their 30s who shouldn't be having sex either.

And speaking of sex, a city in New Jersey has gone of the deep end. A family (mother, son, and daughter) made a snowman. In fact, it was a snow lady. A near perfect replica of the world famous semi-nude marble Venus de Milo — aka Aphrodite of Milo. Yeah, the same one every single kid has seen in junior high in art class. It's not obscene, and not even titillating**. Yet, amazingly, someone complained and they were told to tear it down or cover it up. There's photos of it (clothed and nude) in USA Today. So it's okay for USA Today (and BBC and the AP and everyone else who carried the story) but not for a front lawn. Someone needs to get a grip.




* And only if all five fingers give their consent
** TITillating. :)

Dick Cheney Is Right....

.... Yeah, for a change. Maybe for the first time. He called Barack Obama a one-term president and I think he's going to be proven right. The Economist Magazine is calling him a failure in its latest issue though they certain feel he can change this still. If there were an election today with Obama and a viable candidate that didn't offend me, I wouldn't vote for Obama. My disappointment with him grows daily. He talks a great talk, but there's nothing behind him. He's done nothing, he's rapidly losing his supporters because his floor is littered with broken promises. It's not that he doesn't mean well, but he is learning you can't change Washington in a day or even a year. He's made promises he had no way of ever delivering on. Too bad. He meant well, but I do not think there's a change he'll be re-elected if he doesn't accomplish things and make some massive changes.

My next disgruntled comment about our government pre-dates Mr Obama but I don't fault Mr Bush either. The Department of Homeland Security, the people charged with protecting us, has lost a few guns. They've ended up in the hands of gangs and criminals. These guns were lost because many were not properly secured, left in unlocked cars, and so-on. How many is a few? 200. As the article says, "It reflects the competence of the officer." Nice work, guys. If an officer loses a gun because of incompetence, fire the officer. Seriously.

Speaking of security, Reuters has an interesting article on Apple's security. Fake Steve Jobs picked up on the article as well and has a snarky title to go with it. Blogger's spell checker dislikes the word 'snarky' for the record. And while we're on the subject of Apple -- don't you love how I related the threads together -- there's this great piece from Fake Steve Jobs.  The point on his Apple vs Google comparison is also worth considering: We charge $99 per year for a MobileMe subscription. Google gives you the same stuff and all they ask for is, um, permission to totally invade your privacy and to “monetize” your personal information. You think your personal information is worth less than $99 a year? Then you’re getting a hell of a deal with Google. The rest of us would rather spent $99 and keep the contents of our email to ourselves. That is absolutely true, and don't forget it. Google isn't any better or worse than any other company. You get their products for free, but you give something up for them. That's why I don't use Gmail and why I disabled Buzz. It's not why I'm abandoning Blogger, though that is soon to happen if I can get it worked out.

In an unusual move one of the largest Seti@Home crunchers in the world has offered himself up for auction. He's #21 in the world. Steve from our team bid $200 to lure him to our team and I threw in another $50 -- donations go to the Seti@Home coffers. The thread is here. I posted that yesterday. Today I got an e-mail from someone saying "Good ... he'll be your burden if you win. We don't want him anymore" Interesting. How harmful can having someone on a team where most members don't know each other, where we have no forums, where we don't talk, nor even email regularly. Weird. Sour grapes perhaps? Dunno. Mostly amused, I guess. If I were a dick, I'd send the email to the guy we're bidding on. But I won't.

Next up, a rare work-related post. We don't have a work blog or I'd put this there. We will have a press release at some point but it's not ready. Together with a Taiwanese partner, I've designed a new screw. We took the German version of their screw, added some special features, and made some adjustments for the US market, and did a few other things to ensure the best performing screw money can buy.

It's fully patented and the parts are due in about two weeks. A few of my friends have seen this page. It was available for weeks, but it was private until it was released earlier today. It's now on-line for everyone to view. I can't begin to tell you how awesome this screw is. I've played with the prototypes. We've got about a quarter million or so coming in on the first order and we're very much looking forward to seeing how the market reacts. If any of my friends want a handful to try at home -- they're especially great on decks -- shoot me an email and I'll bring you some. I'll give blog readers a 15% discount for orders placed prior to their arrival at dock if you mention the blog when ordering. There is a video of the screw as well (scroll to the bottom of the SKT page).

I'll quote from our page: "The features of the patented SKT-II® BiMate screws are many: from the specially designed patented SKT-II® BiMate cutting notch, to the self piercing point, the screw is designed for rapid installation. The special angle, asymetrical High-Low thread grips the wood surface preventing slippage and the low thread is serrated to prevent the wood from cracking. In addition, we've added a type-17 auger point to help in applications that require it. We've incorporated a Quadrex® drive which means you can use a Quadrex® bit, a Phillips bit, or a Square (Robertson®) bit without trouble. And, on top of that, on screws 1-5/8" and longer we've added a type-U knurl above the thread to increase performance. It's self-countersinking with not four, but six (6) self-countersinking nibs. To guarantee no corrosion problems will manifest themselves, this part is made out of 316 (A4) stainless. The screw is then dry-waxed for lubricity. And to be sure you're getting the real patented SKT-II® BiMate screws we've headmarked the part with both the SKT mark and the A4 mark."

JD Salinger Buys an iPad. Not.

First, RIP to legendary author and recluse Jerome David Salinger who died today. In an AP story today humorist John Hodgman was quoted as saying, "I prefer to think JD Salinger has just decided to become extra reclusive." Mr Salinger was most famous for introducing world to Holden Caulfield.

Next up, a quick nod to all my Lost fan friends who will appreciate this link that I got from Sue. It pretty much sums up all of our questions. Not only is it done to the tune of Petula Clarke's Downtown making it very catchy, but it's very cleverly done. The complete lyrics can be seen in the "more info" section of the video's description. I love Lost and am excited about its return.

I have been listening to music today. First Monkey: Journey Into The West which was done by the same people as Gorillaz. I still want to see the play in spite of the fact I cannot say I enjoyed the music thoroughly. It was a like a watered-down Cirque production. I am now in the middle of TSO's overwrought Night Castle which I am enjoying a lot more though it's very uneven. After such a long wait, I expected more. This very well could be my favourite album of theirs. After a second listen, I'll know for sure. Then again so did people who bought Guns-N-Roses Chinese Democracy.

I have no new news on the Nucor front but had to share a link to this post about a prospective Nucor job-seeker. It's all to be taken with a grain of salt but this quote stood out "It's a stressful, fast-paced, and dangerous culture driven by greed more than anything else, so be careful if you do get on."*

The buzz about iPad iTampon continues to be mixed and the buzz about the name continues to be universally derisive. However, there's a new survey that portends ill for Apple. You can have a great name and make a lacklustre product do well. You can have a poor name and a great product break free. But can you have a horrible name and an average product and expect to do well? Not likely. Before you click on the link keep in mind that this site is populated almost entirely by Apple's most loyal and faithful customers: people who are predisposed to by the iPad. Only 54% said they would be getting the iSlate, er, iTablet, er iPad with a full 46% giving a flat-out no answer. This might be an Apple failure in the making, like the Apple TV which has yet to penetrate any market in any noticeable way.

And for my friends with a fascination for all sports Canadian from hockey to curling and the CFL, here's an official Canadian government website with a collection of links.

Reminder: if you like this blog and wish it to continue, your help is needed in order to get us transitioned to new blogging software. Otherwise I cannot guarantee this blog will continue.

* Fixed punctuation, spelling, and syntax.

Hockey Hubris, The Florida Panthers, the iPad (iTampon?), and Avatar

I am using the word hubris only because Murphy used it in his recent blog entry. It's an unusual word and if he can use hockey and hubris in a blog post, so can I. I am going to talk about hockey as it turns out.


EASTERN CONFERENCE (NHL: National Hockey League)
These are based on statistics as of the close of business Tuesday, 26 Jan 2010
1. Capitals 74
2. New Jersey 69
3. Pittsburgh 67
4. Buffalo 67
5. Ottawa 62

6. Flyers 55
7. Rangers 55
8. Panthers 55
9. Canadiens 55

10. Bruins 54
11. Thrashers 54
12. Isles 54

13. Lightning 52
14. Leafs 44
15. Hurricanes 39

If the playoffs were held right now, my team, the Florida Panthers, would be in it. Yay, team! Had they lost last night against the Canadiens, we'd have been in 13th place instead of 8th place -- eighth being the final playoff position. That tells you how close the standings are. The Panthers are in a four way tie for 55 points (tiebreakers control the order teams are listed) and there are three more teams just one point behind us. That's a total of six teams that can win today or tomorrow and be ahead of us in the standings. Further, tonight, if the Lightning versus the Canadiens game is won by the Bolts, they'll be in that second group with fifty four points, adding a seventh team to the mix.

Hockey Point System For Non-Fans: If you're not a hockey fan, a regulation win gets you two points. So if you have 54 points, win a game, you have 56 points. If you go into overtime you get one point -- something that is really fucking stupid -- even if you lose the game. Ties were abolished in favour of a shootout -- proving the NHL could fuck up a wet dream. But, I digress. 

The saving grace is no matter what happens this season, we'll not finish in the final two spots (14 and 15) because we're better than that. And we're only a seven points out of fifth place and five points out of thirteenth place -- that may be a record for tight grouping nearly two-thirds of the way into the season. All this assumes nobody in front of us wins which is an absurdist condition. Our divisional record is an abysmal 6-7-2*. To avoid sounding like a Pollyana here, I must point out the only reason the Panthers doing so well there are seven teams (basically half of the conferfence) within two points of us.

(A brief word on the West: if you take out the anaemic Oilers pretty much every team in the Western Conference would rank at or higher than the Panthers. Even Minnesota, which is the subject of ridicule, has 54 points to keep it all in perspective.)

The Panthers are a team that has huge potential. But we're not using it. Our destiny is in our hands. We stand on the brink of a golden opportunity for the future that lies before us or on the brink of a chasm from which we may spend a decade returning. This lies within the hands of the players themselves. It's not coaching (DeBoer is a good coach), it's not ownership (hmph), it's not the referees fault (they suck anyway), and it's not even the fan base's fault (speaking of sucky fans welcome to Sports Hell).

The Panthers have made their bed with some spectacularly bad collapses, lazy efforts, and all around suckitude, and let's be clear: I'm not happy where we are. So many blown games are the primary reason we're not a top point team. But that's the difference: good teams don't consistently blow multi-point leads.

We beat Toronto a few nights ago because Toronto sucks worse than we do. But it wasn't an enjoyable game to watch. It was like watching you play your lazy older brother who wasn't really even trying. Our effort had we played a better team would not have resulted in a win. Let's not even mention the goalie, Tomas Vokun: he's the only reason we're not behind Carolina sucking up last place.

Honestly, it all comes down to consistency. That's not something you can coach. That's something you do as a team. Which road will the team take? History is not on our side but I hope (HAH!) this is the year we take our own destiny into our hands. This differentiates the bad, the average, the good, and the great teams. It shows your character. The Panthers have a date with destiny. The question is, will the Panthers show up?

To quickly change the subject, this video is a riot. We have the TSA and now Rick Mercer has this security video mocking(?) Transport Canada's security:


It's a short video and well worth your time if you need a good laugh at the expense of airline 'security'.

Next up, I must mock the iPad. I love Apple. I am a Mac-head. The iPad, when I first heard the name some time ago, is poorly named. I assumed it must have been a joke. I mean, seriously, why would you name a product after a feminine hygiene product? I thought my amusing comment was original but apparently many people besides myself got the same wrong idea. This (thanks FailBlog) is what happens when people are afraid to stand up to Steve Jobs:

Let me be honest. When I heard they were coming out with a feminine hygiene product tablet, I was sure they'd call it the iSlate. A great name, conveys what it is, and there's far less room for rude product names. Or maybe even the iTablet. But no: we have the iPad. The worst product name Apple's ever come out with.

The iPad is well designed from all appearances, meeting Apple's awesome visual standards. It's easy to use because everything Apple does is easy to use. I will admit that I have no idea why this product exists. I don't know who the market is outside of the geek set who will want it because it's new and cool. I love technology, but I really do need it to serve some sort of purpose. I love books but I don't want an e-reader. I don't have a Kindle and this doesn't make me want one. It's a computer of sorts -- but with limited functionality -- and quite frankly, I'd rather have a laptop. Add a touch screen to a laptop or netbook and that's what this is. What is the revolution? Why does iPad exist? Listen, can we just call it iTampon because Steve Jobs apparently was having his period when this was designed? Would that offend anyone? No? Good.

A little bit of news on Avatar. It has officially become the highest grossing film ever, passing Titanic, a record nobody thought was beatable. The news article is here. Only I'm sure you'll all remember a few days ago in my blog I pointed out how that the real champion remains Gone With The Wind. The article, happily, acknowledges that. Earning $189 million when tickets are averaging a dime is far more impressive than earning $1.3 billion when tickets are averaging $15 per admission. Avatar still impresses at equalized dollars, but it's at 26 on the all-time list by that standard. I have nothing against Avatar and enjoyed it (see review elsewhere in this blog), but it's being made to be bigger than it really is. Seriously, use the equalizer link to see how movies really rate (2009 domestic dollar version).

Lastly, I mentioned Dean before. I have been officially Simpsonized by him:

I will post a full-sized, full-resolution version soon. This tiny preview is for your amusement. This is the second draft. He's amazingly good and the only changes we made were my hair colour and changing shoes to skates. We made a slight alteration to the jersey neckline because it's supposed to be yellow but the shade matched the avatar's skin so it was adjusted for practical reasons. I am deeply pleased with the results and you'll be seeing more of Yellow Me around.

* or 6-7, as I deny the existence of the 2 in accordance with my beliefs that shootouts are bad.

Blu-Ray Phasers and Classic Advertising

Today is laundry day. And it's also a football weekend. The Cowboys lost and that is an awesome thing because I hate them but on the other hand it was to Minnesota, who I used to like. Until they got Brett "Whiny Bitch" Farve, who I can't stand. The Jets and Colts both won and that sucks because I hate them. Arizona lost to New Orleans and I just don't care.

I got a new digital camera today and will shortly be giving away my old one to any friend that wants it. Details privately. It's not a big upgrade really, but it was a sweet deal on a new Kodak Z915 10MPX camera and my old one was a 7MPX Sony Cybershot DSC659 which has given me nearly four years of awesome service. So far my only complaint is that the Sony could mount directly on the Mac desktop and the Kodak can't which is a stupid design flaw, but I can fake it using Image Capture (standard on all Macs). While you can use iPhoto it won't let you add/delete pictures from the camera directly.

Paul is once again trying to get me to adopt one of his cats. I turned him down because I am still not ready for many reasons. Enough said. A shout out to Christin Keck who has had her book self-published though Amazon's CreateSpace. I haven't read either of these, but she's a good writer and tells a good tale. So you can check it out if you'd like. Another long piece, by way of John Carney, on the late-night wars which makes some salient points but mostly rambles on far too long. Just trying to give equal time to all sides on this topic. Suzie-Q shares this link which has tons of vintage Apple Computer ads (Apple I, II, IIc, and even one Mac ad. No Lisa, Apple /// or such ads though.) You may find it educational or reminder of your age. View at your own peril, though seeing how some of those people are dressed may be worth a click on your broadband connection.

Here's another cool link from Dan (I think). Someone took a model of a Classic Star Trek Phaser, and then installed a sound oscillator so it makes noise. After that they installed the optics from a Blu-Ray player and, voilà, you have a phaser that really works. This video shows it blowing balloons apart. You can do it at home, too. He's got links to the instructions from his website. Keep in mind that, in theory, weaponizing this, may be a serious crime in your jurisdiction. But the cool factor is awesome. Broadband recommended before clicking the instructional links.

I am so sick of you. That 'you' refers to those of you who continue to forward shit to me that's comprised of lies, mistruths, and so on. Any email that says "send this to XX people" is guaranteed to be a fraud. I always refer people to Snopes.com a fine bastion of unbiased facts on many of the items circulating in your inbox. I also send people to factcheck.org for the more pedestrian items. Sadly, even these sites are victim to the shite covering the internet. Here's a great article on factcheck.org about snopes.com -- keep in mind, both sites cite facts with references. Wikipedia is never acceptable as a source of "facts" because there are tons of errors, though it is extraordinarily useful in a general way.

The Return of Alan Price -- and more on Kenny

For those of you who wanted to find Kenny Hill, I only remember his icon was 'red' and he was from Detroit, Michigan. He's blocked so I can't see him. But it's "Kenny Hill" if you want to look him up. Yo! Kenny! Speak up, I'm sure you'd like to share your side of the story. And we'd love to hear it. But, Kenny, as much as you think I hate you, I don't. You aren't worth my time to hate. You are worthy of no notice except for me to mock. I like you far, far better than Alan Price who makes a return to my blog. Between Price and Yormark, I think I might like Yormark better.

Nucor Fasteners, as expected, has filed an appeal with the US Court of International Trade, claiming the USITC was wrong in their unanimous ruling that Nucor was not injured by dumped andor subsidized imports from China and/or Taiwan. Alan Price called the decision "clearly erroneous and .... is arbitrary, capricious...." Well, you get the idea. We all expect this appeal to be shot down and then they'll have to refile. Why do we expect it to get shot down? The reasons are twofold. First, Alan Price's record with the ITC indicates he's going to lose. Second, it's my opinion his firm's sloppy-ass research helped sink their case. How Nucor was dumb enough to retain a lawyer who lost them the case 6-0 indicates Nucor enjoys throwing their money down the toilet. Nucor can make a winnable case but this isn't it. They're beating a dead horse. They will refile. When they do, I have a very small but devastating surprise objection to their new filing. I will very much enjoy it. I can guarantee based on what I've observed of Mr Price, he'll make the same mistake again. I let it go the first time but I won't let it go the second. People are very predictable. I fully expect Mr Price to refer to this post in his filing. In fact, I'm counting on it. (I don't have it in for Nucor, but if they're going to be greedy twats that are trying to put honest distributors such as the company where I work out of business, it's my job to fight them to the death. That's what's at stake.)

I think I mentioned this site before, but if you haven't visited ted.com it's worth a look. What is it? Quite simply, in their own words: Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world.

Oral Roberts the deeply religious man who was quite famous passed yesterday but I didn't know what to say. I thought I should say something. Whether or not you liked him, he was an important note in history.  My friend John Carney has an excellent blog post about it, and I'll let him do my work. John is a religious man, and I deeply respect this post because he's (unlike Fox News) fair and balanced. It's a well thought out memorial. If all religious people were reasonable, there would be a lot less war, a lot less friction, and a lot more friendship and understanding. I give John full credit.

Steve's got a follow up post to yesterday's talk with Randall Stephenson which is funny but not as much as yesterday. FSJ is also in hot water with the FTC for trying to bring down the ATT network and they have ruled that would be an illegal act. So I hope he succeeds because that alone is reason enough to do it. How the hell does ATT complain that people using smart-phones (not just iPhones) are overloading their network? If you pay for a service, you're obligated to provide. It'd be like Comcast charging you for 200 channels and then complaining if you actually watched them.

Apple's won their case against Psystar. It's over and done for all intents and purposes.

YouTube has released its most popular video list for the first time. YouTube's 2009 star was Susan Boyle. While she ended up taking second place in that competition, but no one came close to outshining her on YouTube. Her "Britain's Got Talent" videos attracted more than 120 million views worldwide. That was more than the next three most-watched videos combined. Read More here.

My local fishwrapper, the Miami Herald, is throwing itself at the mercy of its online readers. It's asking for donations from people who use the site. It can't afford to be free but it's afraid that if they go subscription people will run to other, free, sites. More here on their plan.  I am undecided but do support the Herald even though they are a shadow of their former selves.

We got a visit at work from Dave Aronberg. He's running for the State Attorney General. I hope he wins. He seems to be a nice guy as far as politicians go. Yeah, I suppose that's a left-handed compliment but after so many years of corrupt local politicians it's hard to get excited. I did have one serious bone to pick with him, and you all know me, and of course I did. One of his most famous cases was taking down "Miss Cleo" -- now I do not dispute that her Psychic Network was clearly a fraud and was fleecing people from their money. But you know what, sometimes people deserve it. That's not my complaint. As we all know, those commercials were awesome (in a bad way) and I resent that he deprived me of their entertainment value. After a good laugh, I gave him a tour, he hit me up for a campaign contribution (I'll give), and went about his merry way. It was nice half-hour visit.

For The Arsemunch, Kenny Hill

Hate mail is fun -- even when it comes to your inbox on Facebook. The inbox, conveniently, has a report button. Which I used. I do want to thank Kenny Hill, the moronic author for giving me a good laugh and the lead topic for today's blog post. That proves he's a little better than a shit-stain on the road to progress. First, here it is in its entirety:

Kenny Hill has the IQ of a brick, and a pretty small brick at that. Kenny shows he's an idiot because he reacted to the title of that infamous blog post and clearly didn't read it. The very first line of that post says OK, that's not true but it certainly got your attention. You're here reading, aren't you? That leads me to make some amazing assumption about him here.We can conclude he's got a double-digit IQ, a small penis, is a liar, and never made it through elementary school. And he clearly didn't make it to the first sentence. It's quite possible he can't read because he certainly can't spell. Kenny, when you're going to flame someone, at least use spell check, okay? And don't say you read the post when it is quite obvious that you didn't. Kenny, I don't like you and you raised my ire which as most people who have done so will tell you is a very bad thing. I've won and you'll figure that out in a day or two. I've blocked Kenny and didn't dignify his message with a reply. Have a nice life Kenny Hill-- actually I prefer you don't. Pick on someone your mental equal: try your local kindergarten. Oh, and you've got your own tag so when people look for Kenny Hill on Google, they'll be able to read this post. Enjoy.

Next up is a fantastical spelling error collection all one menu courtesy of Annie Mole, who's one of my favourite bloggers:

Annie runs the Going Underground blog. This awesome menu includes items such as Steack, Letuce, Peper, and Smocked Salmon. (I think maybe Kenny Hill wrote that menu.)

What? You want more grammar issues? Okay, since it's Kenny Hill Day, we'll continue to point out morons spotted in the wild. This one is courtesy of Office Max. I bought a new calculator for my office because sometimes it's the fastest way to get a quick calculation. The insert speaks for itself. I wasn't aware Kenny worked for Office Max, but apparently he does. Highlighted in red. There's a phone number if you wish to complain. It's not Kenny's phone number, though I may do some research on that if he thinks contacting me again is a good idea....

I've often blogged about the 787 but have been silent as the project has imploded this year due to poor management. I am pleased to finally be able to report that today was first flight. The 787 took to the skies today for the first time and it went well. This article includes a video and a collection of photos. I hope Boeing didn't ruin the 787 project with this delay. They're playing catchup to Airbus, a position Boeing should never have been in.

Speaking of things that think -- that doesn't seem to include Kenny Hill -- this article from the fine folks at IBM is quite interesting. IBM has produced a computer that mimics a cat's brain (AI) and to do that, it they needed a machine with 147,456 processors and 144 terabytes of main memory. And remember, that doesn't include life support functions. This is why replicating a human's brain is many years off. Unless it's Kenny Hill's brain. My understand is they can do that with an old Z80 processor. Kenny, just think how many people are reading this. Was it worth it? Ask yourself that.

I'm still toying with that ring from my previous post in the back of my mind. I found the ring on the left at Overstock.com (thanks Jace) but it's just not quite the same as the one I previously mentioned which is the one on the right. That's really the one I want, but at nearly $1000 I don't think so. I found this one site online today that lets you design your own ring and I can copy the ring above using gold and platinum combined with the titanium and two diamonds and a black diamond at around $1100 but that's about $900 more than I want to spend. Ugh. (Some people have said the rings are lining up Top/Bottom instead of Left/Right -- not sure why. Black is the 'left' ring and Silver is the 'right' ring.)

There's been a lot of publicity about ATT and the iPhone and who's at fault for the recent shitty service. The bottom line is that the phone is working fine in every country in which it's being sold except one. The USA. That pretty much rules out the phone and points to the carrier. TAUW reports that FSJ is asking everyone to participate in Operation Chokehold: On Friday, December 18, at noon Pacific time (3pm Eastern), we will attempt to overwhelm the ATT data network and bring it to its knees. The goal is to have every iPhone user turn on a data intensive app and run that app for one solid hour ... The idea is we'll create a digital flash mob. We're calling it Operation Chokehold. Join us and speak truth to power! I don't have an iPhone but I hope those of you who do will participate. You deserve better.

Adweek Media, the icon of the advertising industry has given out its awards for the best advertising of the decade. In first place for Campaign of the Decade is Apple's Get A Mac campaign that everyone took notice of. Even the PC people were amused, though Microsoft retaliated with a much lamer campaign. The best outdoor advertising (out-of-home in industry speak) of the decade was the legendary silhouetted iPod ad that became ubiquitous in record time.  So congratulations to Apple for adding to the legend of awesome advertising. They also have 1984 under their belt, considered one of the best advertising spots ever created.

Moving on to holiday news you can use. Adam Sandler stopped being funny pretty much thirty seconds after the Waterboy vanished from theatres. He did record the Chanukah Song which is much loved by Jewish folks everywhere as well as Goyim the world 'round. Neil Diamond has re-recorded the song for his new Christmas Album, and I almost didn't recommend it but I did like the video. You will too.

Next we have a woman who received an ASBO for having noisy sex, was cited again and will be sentenced in court.  Sunderland City Council told the court they had recorded noise levels of up to 47 decibels using equipment installed at Cartwright's neighbour's house. I have nothing to add to this, nothing I can say to make this any better than it already is. You have got to admire her for doing this every single day. She's enjoying life. An ASBO for loud sex. I laughed.

Finally, because I think Kenny Hill might worry that I've forgotten him midway through the post. I assure you, sir, that I have not. And I've got one last salvo for today. I like trains. I can't provide a link for this article because it's a Usenet bit, but I shall post it here for your amusement:

From:     John Band

Subject:     Re: Liverpool Street's open cesspit

Date:     15 December 2009 08:09:16 EST
On Dec 15, 11:55 am, Tristan Miller wrote:


Greetings.


I often take the train between Liverpool Street and Stratford and have noticed that at the former station the higher-numbered platforms reek of decaying human excrement.  Apparently the tracks in question serve as an open cesspit for waste flushed from the train toilets.


This surprises me; surely in this day and age it is possible to build train toilets which either use septic tanks, or whose flush mechanisms can be disabled while the train is at a station.  Are there no local or national laws or regulations concerning the construction of train toilets, and the dumping of human waste in indoor train stations?  Perhaps the problem is purely cosmetic rather than a public health issue, but in that case couldn't the station at the very least apply some deodoriser to the affected tracks?  I have been in pit toilets which smelled better than those platforms.


There aren't any specific regulations on the, erm, dumping. There are regulations on construction, which mean that all new trains with toilets for the last 20 years have retention toilets.


Unfortunately, the long-distance trains running out of Liverpool Street - loco-hauled mk3s and 317s - are 30 and 25 years old respectively, and hence discharge onto the track. When they expire, they'll be replaced by trains which don't.

Kenny, if you can't figure out what that last post has to do with you, let me assist you by pointing out the word 'cesspit' and the phrase 'human excrement'. Have a nice day :)

Gordon Ramsay and The Secret Diary Of Steve Jobs

This article about Gordon Ramsay's restaurant empire is a good read. It's weird because tonight on BBC America's Late Night With Jonathan Ross, who was the guest? Gordon Ramsay, discussing his recent facelift. And tonight on Jay Leno? Gordon Ramsay. (The BBCA show is one week behind, so we get last week's show a week later here in the USA.) The article discusses how his empire almost went bankrupt but he saved it. What it doesn't mention is many critics say the reason his restaurants started to falter and fail was that he didn't spend enough time in them because he was so busy with his shows: Hell's Kitchen (USA), Kitchen Nightmares (US and UK), and The F Word (UK).

Fake Steve Jobs today has a rare serious type post: a discussion with Randall Stephenson of ATT. This is satire mixed with a serious statement on the state of the American corporation: a real business lesson.  I don't want to spoil it all for you but there's some revelations in there. But I'll include a very small excerpt:

... When I say that “we” have a hit on our hands, I’m really giving you way too much credit, because let’s be honest, the success of iPhone has nothing to do with you. In fact, iPhone is a smash hit in spite of your network, not because of it.... An American company creates a brilliant phone, and that company hands it to you, and gives you an exclusive deal to carry it — and all you guys can do is complain about how much people want to use it. You, Randall Stephenson, and your lazy stupid company — you are the problem. You are what’s wrong with this country ... There was nothing on the line. Silence. I said, Randall? He goes, Yeah, I’m here. I said, Does any of that make sense? He says, Yeah, but we’re still not going to do it. See, when you run the numbers what you find is that we’re actually better off running a shitty network than making the investment to build a good one. It’s just numbers, Steve. You can’t charge enough to get a return on the investment.

That is a sad but true statement of corporate America. And it'll be why Apple doesn't let ATT have the exclusive anymore.

I will continue to ignore Tiger Woods in my blog. His sole contribution to society was to make golf interesting to a wider group of people, to which I say: yawn.

Autographed Cards, Windows Woes, and more...

First, the last in my series of NHL collectible photos was posted at Flickr today. I have plenty of more stuff, but this is all you get to see. This photo shows the NHLPA Binder, NHL certificate of authenticity, and one page of nine cards. There are many pages and this is a complete set of hockey cards and every single card in it is autographed. It's the 1995-1996 Upper Deck Be A Player set. It's pretty cool to have an entire set of mint factory cards autographed by every player.

I have no idea what it's worth. I've never even considered selling it. But one day when I die, I know who gets it. That's what's happening with most of my collection. Any of my hockey friends who don't predecease me, and I think will appreciate it, is getting a piece of this collection. Some stuff is valuable and some isn't. But it's not about the money, but about who will like it for what it is. (Sort of like that Concorde model Murphy gave me -- it may not be worth a fortune, but I love it just the same. It's a true example of the thought really does count. And it's one reason why I'll never forget him.)

Windows Seven has experienced its first full-on disaster. FSJ isn't much for real news, but every now and again, he surprises people. I actually feel bad not only for Microsoft but the users affected by this problem. He also makes a nice point: "... in the U.S. consumer space, we sell one out of every five machines. One in five. Mercedes and BMW each get about 2% of the U.S. auto market. Just saying."

I also pulled my friend Andy's ass out of the fire today and helped him recover his Windows Vista PC over the phone after it got eaten by malware. Remember, if you're using a PC and don't have something like Norton (or such) you're courting disaster. And if you haven't installed it and you get a window offering to remove the infections, you're being scammed -- same as if you get a message saying your credit card information is being transmitted. Think of Norton (or such) as a condom for your Windows PC. Using a Windows PC and the Internet is like having unprotected sex -- sooner or later, you will be infected.

Speaking of Apple and Psystar, they have not come to a decision legally, but they have pre-settled the case. That means, the case will go to trial because each one wants to be proven right. However, if Psystar loses, and they very well may, they have agreed to pay $2.1 million in damages. The company doesn't have the money and is already in bankruptcy. I find this confusing as all hell.

I had more of the clotted cream Karen brought me. Yesterday I had some with scones. Today I had some with raspberries. And I've got enough for a third round. Yay, me.

Lastly, for a good laugh, here's a great photo of an unfortunate Twitter Billboard.

You can read about it here. Clicking on the image will make it larger.

Happy Thanksgiving...

... to those celebrating it. That's three dots, not four. Get it right. :)

Thanks to FSJ for this article: Microsoft, the largest bastion of evil outside of Yormark's office, hosted an conference on Windows Mobile technology called Mobius 2009. There were 25 people in attendance. Picture one shows the presentation being done. On a Mac. Maybe it's because of the 25 people they invited -- see picture two -- 13 of them were using Macintoshes. Way to go Microsoft. This is a blog of a very pro-Windows person of all things. It's fantastically amusing to me. I am not sure he appreciates the irony of his post.

Thanks to Sue for this bit. It's the complete history of the internet in a nutshell. For this article, it' not true. It's pretty interesting, very informative, and entirely geeky. And that's all good. (There is a saying that anything that can be put in a nutshell belongs there. It's often called Whitney's Postulate and is listed as a corollary to Murphy's Law. This quote was stolen by Sydney Harris and is used all over the internet in various forms.)

As you may or may not be aware every SMS (text message) you have ever sent in your life has been stored by your mobile phone company. Theoretically the archives are reserved for law enforcement and national security purposes. Many, many SMS were sent in the immediate aftermath of 911. Those SMS were posted in their entirety by WikiLeaks on the web. Here's the NY Post article. The article has the link if you care to follow it. I won't put the direct link here because (a) I read a few and some will crush your soul and spirit (b) they violate every personal privacy ethic ever written as they include UNEDITED full names, phone numbers, and more. If you were in New York on 9-11 and sent an SMS it is posted here. If you sent someone your phone, your address, or anything else. It's here. That is completely unacceptable. There are tons of them and unless you like reading both the mundane of unaware people and the misery of people finding out things nobody should ever have to hear, just read the article and skip the link. (The article has more than enough to give you an idea) Nobody should ever have their privacy invaded like this. This isn't journalism, the public's right to know, or anything else. It's fucking disgusting and those at WikiLeaks should die slow, painful deaths.

Special thanks to my season ticket representative Mario Durant of the Florida Panthers for his efforts in securing us nine ducats for a special event. If you ever want season tickets for the NHL's Florida Panthers, call him and tell him I sent you. He'll hook you up. This guy comes through and he's awesome. I'd tell you more about the special event, but you'll have to wait until next year.

A special frown to people who think nearly a decade and a half of friendship should be discarded without at least saying something and providing a reason or even discussing it. Cowardly. And enough on that subject.

So, yesterday was quite the challenge. I left work early to visit the attorney as I do from time to time. Part of my job is making sure things that need to be signed are signed, and everything is in order. If you checked yesterday's weather report, you will know we got damn near 5 inches of rain in some areas and had floods and flood warnings all over the area. I left the attorney's office around 430 to meet everyone for dinner at 515 at Lucille's. The idiot light on my car came on and said my tire was low on pressure. I figured because it was cooler, the pressure had probably caused it to get low (this stupid BMW is sensitive like that), so I stopped in the light drizzle, added air, reset the sensor, and made it almost a quarter mile before it came on again. I stopped, the rain a bit harder, and checked the tire again. Indeed it was leaking because it was low on air again. I inched the car forward and found a very large screw in the front passenger tire. I filled it up again, knowing there happened to be a BMW dealer about four miles from where I was. The car has run-flat tires. While it's good because you're never stranded, there are some downsides. First, you get about 20 to 30 miles of driving if you keep your speed under 30. Second, BMW doesn't give you a spare since you don't need one (as if). The deluge started as I got on I-75 to go one exit (hazards on in the right lane) to the dealer -- Lauderdale BMW of Pembroke Pines. I made it there at 448pm. I walked in and it was damn near deserted in the service department. I explained my situation (and that I was 35 miles from home) but they said most of their mechanics were already gone as they were closing at 5 due to the holiday. (The special tires for the X5 are not readily available at most tire outlets and have to be ordered -- with Thanksgiving looming tomorrow, that was a Bad Thing.) They guy was nice and called every mechanic that was still in the shop seeing if anyone there would do the tire but they all said no as it was quitting time. I was resigned to limping home and missing dinner, the game and everything else.

I thanked the guy (Cal), who was way more helpful than anyone at South Motors would have ever been. My service guy, Donny Rizzo of South Motors, doesn't even return phone calls or emails reliably. How that dealership is in business, I will never know. And of course BMW doesn't care about their customers as my previous interactions indicated (see previous blog posts.) As I was getting ready to walk out the door, a mechanic, Josh, who was sitting in the office (not in the garage) came over and said he'd do it. What a nice guy doing this on his own time to help me out. Sadly for me, the tire warranty company was already closed so I had to pay for the tire at the dealer's rate. (If you worked where I did, you'd have a warranty too for tires that cannot be patched and must be replaced at $300 each.) I paid for it on the company credit card, and I'll file for reimbursement Monday. I give this dealer an A, and will return her for scheduled service even though it's farther from my house than South Motors. To hell with South Motors. BMW will get a nice letter about Cal and Josh, though they probably don't care about that either judging by their previous replies (or lack thereof).

I left the dealer at 550pm, called Karen and found out they were all running a bit late due to weather and were just ordering so I gave them my order over the phone. Got there 615ish, and we ate. About 90 minutes later neither Karen nor myself were feeling very good. So much for dinner. And the Panthers lost in OT.  Came home, returned dinner from whence it came and felt much better. So, all in all, today (yesterday now) sucked.

A Pair of Chuckletrousers and 2038 Random Boogers

This post has nothing to do with that. In fact, I refuse to explain it. Those of you who know, get it. The rest of you don't. -- CMOT TMPV    (That was fun.)

Right. Let's start with an e-bay item which is a true rare piece of history. Yes, that's an original Apple I computer. The original kind, hand built by Steve and Steve (Woz and Jobs) and it's entirely authenticated. I won't bid nor will any of my readers. But you should go look at it. This one doesn't come with the cool wooden case but it's still cool.

This picture was sent to me by a friend.

It's entitled "How Pumpkin Pies Are Made"

This article is another rant about the accuracy over at Fox News. You may be interested to read how intentionally fast and loose they are with the facts. I was going to make a cheap Alan Price joke as a follow up, but that would be redundant.

I want to remind my friends that my mobile phone is not the best way to contact me when I'm in town. Call me at work or at home. I've been known to go days without turning it on. That leads me to remind you all, I still have that ticket from yesterday: I offered Mom the use of 25,000 US Air miles because they're expiring very soon but I can't get her a good flight on the days she wants to travel. If she can't use -- we're still trying -- them and any of my friends want a free ticket, I'll gladly book you a flight. I hate for them to go to waste. If you're interested email me with dates and city pair and I'll see if anything is open.

Tomorrow, I have to go to Best Buy and do some Xmas shopping for a few people. I have this long standing policy of being done all holiday shopping prior to Black Friday and I am failing miserably.

Hockey resumes Monday and I am excited. I have Monday, Wednesday, and Friday hockey games. I also have way too much spare time this long weekend which I am looking to fill up. Work was way too boring today.

Lastly, an interesting document from Tfl will amuse you subway fans. The Tube (London's Underground) is very busy. The busiest station is Victoria which handles 78 million entries/exits per year. That's an astounding number and is more than the annual ridership in many cities. Waterloo follows at 77 million, and King's Cross is behind it at around 69 million. Liverpool and London Bridge both clock in at over 60 million. Between those five stops, that's 350 million. All told the Tube carried almost two billion last year. Boston's T carries 1.3 million a day, Chicago 650k per day, New York 5 million per day, or Miami with 60,000 per day. Yeah, Miami carries 21 million trips a year and London has single stations that beat it. A sad state of affairs, isn't it?

Insert Subject Of Your Choice Here

I'll start off with this quote from McClatchy-Tribune Information Services' Jon Dawson who is reviewing the new Britney Spears release: "The Singles Collection gathers all of Britney Spears singles released between the years of 1999 and 2009. This is a good thing, because if they're all in one place, maybe somebody with a flamethrower can destroy them before more people are exposed to them. The earth is running out of oil and water, yet both of these fragile resources were used to create this 29-disc box set." That's fantastic. That's more brutal than almost anything I've ever written. I laughed. I posted it on FaceBook. I want to share it with my readers because it's hysterically funny.

This link goes to a list of theme parks and various brochures and maps of them, some back to the 1930s. It's got Carowinds, Opryland, Disney, Six Flags, Great American, and many, many more. There's a European section too. Thanks to John Carney for this link.

I rarely take the side of Microsoft or say anything nice about them. If you feel the shock of me saying nice things will be too much for your system, you might want to skip this bit. As you're well aware, the only Microsoft product of the modern era I don't hate are some of their mouse products. I use an Optical IntelliMouse at home and the wireless version at work and the Bluetooth one with the laptop (the mouse is mine, not work's).

Earlier this week Microsoft did something that warmed my heart considerably. Microsoft decided that anyone who modified their X-Box wasn't allowed to use their on-line servers any more.  Now, before you get your knickers in a knot or your panties in a wad, I absolutely and unequivocally support your right to do whatever you want to your X-Box (PS3, Wii, etc.) once you own it. It's yours, not theirs.

However, they are in business to make money -- leaving aside any argument whether or not they deserver it -- and so if their terms of use for their On-Line service say, only original unmodified equipment can be used, then that is their right. It's a private company and nobody has right of access. That's the end of that. Period. You can bet others will follow suit. Microsoft told BBC News that banned machines will be permanently barred and "unable to connect to Xbox Live." Users will have to buy new machines if they want to do that. Yeah, it's a bit harsh, but there ya' go. When you did it, you knew there would be consequences, so don't be mad that this is what they are. The unit will still work for off-line play. Will someone come up with a mod-chip that bypasses this? Likely so. Do I care? Not at all. I am just amused at all the whiners -- they won't win, can't win this battle. Microsoft, to use their own terms PWND them.

This parallels my feelings for Psystar vs Apple. If Psystar actually buys the copies of OS-X as it claims -- which I am skeptical about -- then they should be allowed to modify them. Sadly, courts have time and time again ruled that software that you buy is not your software. In most cases, you are purchasing a license to use the software. That means you can't legally modify it. I modify software for various reasons, mostly performance tweaks and such. Considering I actually buy my software and don't steal (pirate) it, I feel perfectly entitled to do what I want with it including installing it on more than one machine. If I'm only using one copy at a time, I think that's fine -- many companies have seen the light and now let you install the software on both a desktop and laptop. Others continue to suck.

Our corporate Twitter account continues to gain followers though it's still something we're not active with. Same goes for our FaceBook page. I've packed for the trade show and managed to get it all into one overstuffed piece of luggage and one way-too-heavy backpack. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to ship most of it back and not have to check luggage. I have to check in for my flight, cancel the paper, and all those things.

I heard U2's With Or Without You today. I happened to look at the RDS data and noticed this song was from 1987. Damn. 22 years old. I think I'll just go to a retirement home now.

Due to the trade show, I will be slow to reply to e-mails, moderate comments, and all that good stuff. Be patient. And this cough, I hate it: I'm a bit more phlegmy and a lot more coughy.

Apple, Ghosts, MacBook vs MacBook Pro

Thanks to Suzie-Q and Randy who came back with answers on the MacBook v MacBook Pro. Amazingly none of my local geek friends answered or knew the answers. Their answers -- not fact checked because I trust them -- are:

1. MacBook is less durable because it has a polycarbonate case versus the MacBook Pro which is solid aluminium -- that means the Pro is heavier
2. The Pro has a way better screen
3. The Pro has a way better touch pad in theory -- but this is zero issue because I hate touch pads and use a mouse and for me this is a minus as I need a less sensitive one when I do use one because my fat fingers have trouble with touch pads
   
4. The MacBook shares its RAM with both video and computing whereas the MacBook Pro has separate video memory
5. The MacBook gets better WiFi reception because the Pro's metal case interferes with the signal. 
6. The Pro is lighter by about 1/2 pound and is a bit thinner (though slightly wider)
7. The Pro's battery last much longer, though on the downside it's integrated and not replaceable
   
8. The Pro has Firewire 800 not 400 but this isn't an issue for me
   
9. You can expend memory on the Pro but not the regular: but with 2GB standard, I think it's enough
   
10. The Pro is faster, but not by enough for anyone to care
11. There are some minor differences in what cables you have to use with various audio and video ports for hooking up external devices but this is not an issue as the purpose of this machine is for employees to take on business trips. 

I'll probably wait until late in the month to decide, because I hear new models are coming out. It's damn likely, I'm going to be forced into buying a low priced Wintel machine anyway. So very sad, but I can understand.

Speaking of Apple, they withdrew from the US Chamber of Commerce over the USCC's environmental policies. The USCC is a very, very conservative organization whose goals are to further that of American business. While they try to appear progressive, they aren't. I know. Our company used to belong as well, but we left years ago because while it was good for our business: they lobbied hard for many things that benefited our company, I have to sleep at night and some of their policies were bothersome to me on a personal level. Unlike some companies, we actually care about our employees. The USCC's website will tell you more about them. They do some really good things like fighting for lower health care costs, but since I have a say in the running of our company, I like to make sure we do the right thing even if it isn't always the right thing for the company.

Lastly, I'm going to share a story with you about something that happened yesterday. I wasn't going to post it, because nobody will believe me. Hell, I wouldn't believe me. I'm sure you all remember my blog posts about Scooter -- I am still sad -- and many of you local people had the honour of meeting her. Some of you will remember coming home and finding a roll of paper towels or toilet paper shredded to within an inch of its life. This is a common form of cat entertainment. The cat gets entertained whilst spinning and shredding the roll, and then again when the cat's servant (some of you may use the word owner, but I assure you that is not the correct word) comes home and has to clean up a ton of paper that is strewn about. They watch you and laugh.

The night before last, I got up at around 3am to go to the bathroom. Yes, I know you care about that. Normally I don't turn the light on the in the bathroom. I mean, I know where everything is and how it works. I felt something a little slippery when I went in and thought fuck, something's broken. I turned on the light. The roll of toilet paper in my bathroom was partially shredded. I live alone and nothing with claws lives in my house. Yeah, cue the Twilight Zone music. That's twice Scooter has made her presence known (14 May 2009 post. Item #2) and both times involving my bathroom. Which is odd, since she didn't come into my bathroom very often. I pretty much had written off the first incident, this one, I don't think so. I cleaned up the mess, and it was still there in the morning, so it wasn't a waking dream or anything.

A Joke and all sorts of newsbits

"I hate baby seals. They get invited to all the best clubs." While it's certainly in poor taste, I couldn't stop laughing when I heard that one-liner. You are going to repeat it to someone. I just know it. Okay, now on with today's entry.

The FTC has instituted rules that will impact a lot of bloggers, and I suspect many bloggers will run afoul of the new rules. Effective 1 December 2009, if you take money for reviewing a product in a blog post, you are required to clearly disclaim that. Penalties are $11,000. I do not accept money for reviews. I do accept ads from time to time, and I clearly disclaim them. I also remove them when the lousy bastards stop paying.

Hockey season begins at home for the Panthers this Saturday and sadly, they have yet to sell out the home opener, a new low in Panther history. The following weekend Where The Wild Things opens. So it's an exciting two weeks. To my off-line local friends, I have one spare ticket to most weekday games. You are more than welcome to invite yourself by sending me an e-mail with a choice of date(s).

By way of Fake Steve Job's blog, I was directed to this awesome series of photos. Most mortals will not ever get a job offer from Apple, but here's what one looks like. I can confirm, for the record, it's legitimate, though they sure have changed since my day.

The NHL continues to have issues, with two teams now the subject of relocation talks. The much publicized Phoenix Coyotes which have been rumoured to be Hamilton, Ontario bound for two years. And now, the Atlanta Thrashers which may be off to Winnipeg. (See our message boards for the details).

If you have a Hotmail or Windows Live account, please change your password and security question. They've had a serious security breach and over ten thousand passwords were compromised, though it appears mostly European accounts were affected. Your name and password were posted on public websites.

USA Today is predicting a very cold winter for the East Coast. I sure as hell hope so. I'd like one for a change. It was over 90 today. I hate that.

Psystar, already in a legal dust-up with Apple, is now offering to license their technology that allows OS-X to be installed on any PC. Rumours continue to swirl that this technology is actually plagiarized from another program called Chameleon. Apple's long rumoured foray into Blu-Ray supposedly has been scrapped until 2010 according to John Gruber, who's often right about such things.

My friend Ernie has returned to blogging after a multi-year absence (yay) and Evan also returns with a new post. The script for the Arrested Development Movie is finally a go: about damned time.

Two London papers are battling over an interesting claim. The Daily Telegraph is claiming that Iranian President, and world famous Jew hater,  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is revealed to have Jewish past. Down the block, in an opinion piece the Guardian says that the Telegraph is lying. I have no opinion on the matter, but am amused at two major papers having it out with each other.

Did I ever tell you why I hate baby seals.... ::drum roll::

Apple and stuff that's way more interesting

 I am an Apple fan and have been for a long, long time. So I wish to say I am quite disappointed in today's Apple announcements. Seriously anti-climactic if you ask me. There was much anticipation and it was followed by much boredom.

Far more interesting today 9-9-09 was the Beatles release of their entire catalogue in remastered form.  You can read about it here. (The site is overloaded and you may trouble accessing at times). And if you've heard any of it -- radio stations have been playing from it all day -- you know how fantastic it is. What I've heard is phenomenal I ordered it but it hasn't shipped and I am miffed. Beatles Rock Band was released for all major platforms today and is selling like hotcakes. It is estimated that the Beatles will make over $150,000,000 before the day is done. Yeah, 150 million sawbucks. Wow.

Even the Christian Science Monitor has reviewed the new remasters and is smitten. I am really excited about it. I am just pleased that the Beatles' music is still so well-respected an well-loved to generate this sort of reaction. Makes me happy.

Delta is really pissing me off. I got another form letter today that is, word for word, the same as the last one. Apparently they don't read English in Atlanta.

I finished the last book in the Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks. In a previous post I had reviewed the first book. Some 2,000 pages later, I'm done. Yay. I liked it. It held my interest until near the end. (Evan stop reading here as there are spoilers ahead.)  I didn't like the ending. Seemed forced and semi-stupid. It didn't ruin the book for me, and just left me a little irritated. The characters in this book Kylar and Durzo are really interesting and appealing. Logan could have been but he was half-developed and then left to be a stereotype. Now, I'm not a prude but the word 'fuck' appears so often as to be noticeable and irritating. If a reader notices it, there's a problem because you've knocked your reader out of the story. It happens multiple times. The book begins and it seems a pretty chaste book aimed at young adults or teens perhaps and then it changes in the middle of the first book. That's a good thing even as it grows slowly more vulgar and violent. The books are good. The Wolf is certainly intriguing. But some end-game cop-outs are frustrating. Still I recommend this book.

The FML site still amuses me. And my shoes have arrived.

So many things to report....

First, a big thank you to John and Liz for their hospitality last night. There was BBQ and music and fun all around. I'm glad I went. Tasty. A bit spicy and my acid reflux didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I did. Oh well, sometimes you gotta' live a little.

Now on to the rest. Today was a skating day and we went to La Caretta for breakfast and then went off to skating. And, to our horror, saw a school bus unloading kids outside. Lots of them. We decided to cancel skating due to the overwhelming number of children. So we went off to Barnes and Nobles for a bit, then went to the mall to try and Pre-Order the special edition Beatles Rock Band. Why? Well Liz informed me that I was having a Beatles Rock Band Party whether or not I wanted to. They were all sold out but Amazon had some available so I ordered it there. It'll show up eventually.

Speaking of Amazon, they cancelled my Beatles Box Set pre-order saying they had oversold (or likely their allotment was smaller than anticipated). Pretty much everywhere I checked was sold out, but I did find it at Tower.Com (they're out of the mono) so I ordered it there and will pray I get something for my money.

Congratulations to Steve K who broke 1,500,000 credits on Seti@Home. I'm just past 800,000.

Health wise everything is about the same so there will be no report here. I will post a report for sure after I see the cardiologist on the 11th. Before then likely as not depending on having anything to report.

My HP PhotoSmart C6180 will not print because it has determined "one or more of your ink cartridges are expired" -- that's a joke. They were working fine Friday and now just because some arbitrary date has passed it won't print. That's inexcusable. Hey, HP, you suck. Seriously. So I'm off to get ink before everything closes. That sucks.

I was sitting here sweating when I realized my AC's programmable thermostat is on the weekday schedule so it's going to be hot until 5pm. I guess I'll override it.

Thanks to Stan for this funny and sad YouTube video. This guys spent two weeks building a building block replica of the leaning tower of Pisa that's six feet tall. He was waiting for the Guinness Book of World Records to come inspect and certify it. Watch what the reporter does. You'll laugh but still feel really bad for the guy.

And last, but not least, I installed Snow Leopard today. I bought it yesterday because I didn't want to keep waiting for my CD to come from Apple. The install (an upgrade not a clean install) took about 45 minutes. A few things if you're going to do it. Have the latest version of Flash. Apple installs a version that isn't current and has some security holes without checking to see if you have a newer version. If you have QuickTime 7 Pro (not regular) it's going to be deleted. You then click on "optional installs" and re-install QT7P and it will find and use your old serial number. But when you open an application designed for QT, it will open QTX by default. The second QT (QT7) is installed in your utilities folder.

Flip4Mac doesn't work properly with Snow Leopard so be sure and disable it -- it'll keep telling you QT is not installed because it doesn't recognize QTX but I'm sure that'll be fixed eventually. Vuze's toolbar doesn't work and will crash (it's in the library/input method folder -- delete it). Spell Catcher partially works but you'll have to go to Rainmaker's website for all the gory details. Boinc doesn't work properly until you reinstall it but the screen saver is broken. They're working on a new version. There's also a new version of X-code on the disk if you use that.

My HP printer and Snow Leopard don't play all that well together. See HP's website for details on Snow Leopard compatibility. In your "login items" you will find the old HP login items aren't removed. You should do that.

I did a repair permissions when done (always a good idea). I'm sure I'll find more, but right now SpellCatcher is giving me the most headaches because it keeps turning off every time I use a Finder function and despite claims on their website, their little App doesn't always turn it back one. Also, I recommend you update all your applications (especially utilitie) to the current version before the upgrade.

I did my laundry. I know you care. I also finished book two of the trilogy I previously mentioned. Still good but I'm holding my review until I finish the third book. So give me awhile longer.

One last link, BTW, if you want a FREE font in your own handwriting, go here!

Atrocity In The Name Of Food and many other ramblings including iPod and Beatles

If you are squeamish, you will wish to skip this paragraph -- the links are horrifically graphic. This report is available on AP, CBS, and many other news services and it's absolutely disgusting and appalling. NewsBlaze and CBS. The bottom line is that approximately 150,000 baby chickens are ground to death in meat grinders while still alive every single day so you can have eggs for breakfast. The United Egg Producers (the trade association for the industry) confirmed that figure and the practice behind it. "Using a grinder", a spokesman said, "is the most instantaneous way to euthanize chicks. Video from a hidden camera clearly shows healthy male chicks, peeping and bouncing as they greet the world, fed into the blades. You do not wish to click the link.

Apple has announced a music event on 9-9-09 (10am Pacific) which is famous as the date the Beatles will be releasing Beatles Rock Band and their remastered catalogues. Fans are already excited. So everyone is assuming this is the Beatles introduction for iTunes and possibly the infamous and legendary rumoured Yellow Submarine iPod. However, I am not so sure. It's quite odd that the slogan they have picked are the lyrics from a Rolling Stones song. I think a lot of people have added 1 and 1 and got 3. Still, I have faint hope. There will, I promise, be a new iPod announced.

And Disney bought Marvel Comics for $4 billion dollars today but Universal retains theme park rights west of the Rockies almost in perpetuity, though at some point they'll wonder why they're fuelling the Disney empire and find something else. As one columnist pointed out: However, it’s not all golden for Disney and Marvel: Marvel’s pre-existing deals in movies, video games and theme parks mean that in some cases it could be many years—or even never—before Disney gets control of key franchises such as Spider-Man. For instance, Sony has the rights to make Spidey movies forever. Likewise, Marvel Studio's next five movies will be distributed by Paramount, although Iger expects to change that deal as soon as the contract runs out. Although Hulk and Thor costumed characters and rides would be a natural at Disney's theme parks, here also a pre-existing deal with Universal means that Spidey and Co. will stay at Uni's Island of Adventure area in Florida; a spokesman for Universal hinted that Marvel's license with Uni will last “in perpetuity.” On that last bit, I'm sure Disney's lawyers will find a loophole at some point.

In health news, my mood is a bit better but I am way stressed that the heart tests are still so far out. Eleven days may not seem like a long time for most of you but for me it's a lifetime. The sleep thing is still a huge obstacle. We'll be addressing that very soon.

I have received seven phone calls in the past 45 minutes. Damn. We have a new named storm (Erica) which surprised everyone, though I'm betting no visit from her. Evan recommended a trilogy to me about an assassin and I'm reading that. Reviews later. I wasn't going to add to my book pile but it reminded me of Vlad Taltos and that required immediate action.

Weekend In Review

Saw Mom and Grandma Saturday and had a nice visit and a huge breakfast at Mo's. That was the start of the day and I was feeling okay then, relatively speaking. Afterwards, it was going to be "guys day out" but we ended up with Lizzie so our plans changed accordingly. We met up at Sawgrass Mills and instead of a movie for big people (probably the Tarantino film) we saw Ponyo.

Ponyo is an animated film by famous Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki. While hailed by critics, it is -- in my opinion -- pretty much the Little Mermaid tale all over again. That's not a knock but I do need to put it out there because this isn't "original" like his other films. It's got an all-star voice over cast so as long as the lips and words being out of synch doesn't bother you, this might be worth your time if you're a fan of the art form. It's hand-drawn old-fashioned animation. It's also a movie for kids so don't expect heady stuff on multiple levels like a Pixar film. But, all that aside, I enjoyed the film. And the critic that matters here, Lizzie, liked it and didn't get distracted except during the first few minutes.

Afterwards we roamed the mall for a bit and then went to Books-A-Million and Best Buy. At Best Buy on the X-Box (ew) they had a demo of Beatles Rock Band. The visuals were fantastic. The songs were awesome of course. We watched the guy playing it, then Evan took a hand at Yellow Submarine on the easiest level. Some kid came up and thrashed a hard song on expert level. It was all good fun. We went our separate ways, but I wasn't in the mood to be home alone so I called Erin to see if she wanted company. She was willing so I accompanied her to purchase Snow Leopard (the new Mac OS) which we played with a bit at the Apple Store at a different mall. We stopped at the Vans store where I found awesome shoe but not in my size -- now ordered on-line. I'm sure you'll all hate them but I really like them: they have colour. Lots of it. In spades.

Afterwards we decided to have dinner and drove around in a freak rainstorm that just dumped water everywhere and the roads were flooded out. It was quite a challenge driving around and down Las Olas where a number of our choices were out of business. We then used her iPhone to find more choices which were, sadly, out of business as well. We ended up at Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza. I've heard about this chain but never been. The Pizza was okay but not great because I really didn't care for their tomato sauce which was reminiscent of chunky apple sauce and was also a little overboard on the olive oil. Loved the crust and cheese. Erin ordered the wings appetizer. I don't normally do wings, but had one anyway and it was way too salty but otherwise it would have been really good. The place isn't bad but not somewhere I'd pick myself. For dessert we ended up at "Goofles" a new frozen custard place that was surprisingly good. After that I went home. I had my usual fitful sleep though it lasted longer than normal.

Sunday AM got the skating call at 1030 due to a miscommunication and bolted out the door. We ended up eating an early lunch at Cheddar's which was both decent and surprisingly cheap. Though for a place called "Cheddar's" I'm surprised the cheese they use on the burger is such bad quality. Still it was a good experience and I'd go back. We had time to kill so wandered about Barnes & Nobles for twenty or so minutes before heading to the rink which was as crowded as I'd ever seen it. They were having a huge tournament. Nonetheless, we skated the first session and part of the second one, and I knocked off a bit before 3pm and headed off to get my skates sharpened at Play-It-Again, not realizing they close at 3pm. I went in they said they were closed but I asked if they could sharpen me and they said they would. The guy had quite some trouble saying my blades were too thick (horseshit) and mis-sharpened by the previous person (absolutely true). He showed me the problem: they were not sharpened on center so he had to cross-grind and start over. Next time I skate, we'll see how they are. No dizzy episodes on ice today.

Headed home for laundry and nearly dozed off in the car so called people to talk to in order to stay awake. Listened to the Sting album Mom got me as I typed this (Brand New Day) and am wholly unimpressed by most of it.

For some reason my Snow Leopard download button isn't appearing on my Apple Developer account and I'll have to deal with that Monday. I was planning to install it today. *grumble*

Intel Rejects Vista Officially

Yeah, in what may be the largest schadenfreude moment I've ever had, I read today in numerous articles that Intel has rejected Vista for internal use (#1, #2, and #3). Will it change? Possibly. But maybe not.

This comes on the heels of IBM themselves officially beginning a study of converting its employees from PCs to Macs. ....82 percent declared that the Mac offers a "better or best experience," compared to their ThinkPad-running Windows, and 86 percent asked to keep their Mac .... IBM employs 300,000-plus people. That's a lot of Macs.

Will it come to pass? Don't know but this must be causing Angst in Redmond and that is, of course, wonderful.

Thanks for the heads-up on the Intel bit from Maury.

Why Apple Rocks (Thanks Paul)

Apple Rocks. I always say that in my other blog posts. So you know I am basically a happy Apple camper. However today is a fine example of why Apple Rocks More.

As you may remember I had an issue with my new monitor wherein I plugged it into my firewire port and everything stopped working.

I shan't bore you with the details but will sum up the saga quickly. I spoke to a gentleman by the name of Paul. Paul has the COOLEST e-mail address ever. I'd love to tell you what it is so you could all be insanely jealous of it like I am. But I can't as it wouldn't be right. Anyway, he's in the escalation area of AppleCare. He helped me as best as he could, and ultimately had me file a case with engineering. They replaced my monitor for free through my original vendor. That was a bit of hassle because there were communications issues between Apple and my vendor and things got a bit botched up. I ended up being out about $38 in shipping. The world will not stop because of this. I had forgot about Paul figuring it was done.

A few weeks ago he called and said he'd arranged for the swap of my monitor also. I told him that it was all done through engineering. Who, in their wisdom, hadn't let Paul know. He asked if I was happy and I sort of let it drop that I was except for the small freight charges. He offered to make good on it but I demurred, but he insisted on sending my software or something. I told him if he felt that strongly he could send me a cool Apple t-shirt. (Apple is famous for t-shirts -- link to great book I own about about it). He asked my favourite colour and I gave him a few choices and he said he'd send something right out.

It sort of slipped my mind as I've been really busy and stressed about various things lately. I got a box at work today from "AI" (Apple Inc.) and it was small and light and I said "Oh, cool, he really did send me the shirt!" And I excitedly opened it. No t-shirt, boys and girls.

Inside: One Apple iPod shuffle 3rd generation (MB227LL/A) Blue 1 GB Digital MP3 player-- read the product specs. Yeah. Take that Dell. This is why you will always suck as I said in a previous post. Dell doesn't care about their customers (they still suck) and Apple does care (and doesn't suck). Point, set, and match to Apple.

THANK YOU, PAUL! You rock. Apple rocks. (Moof!)

Lost Explained, Plumbers, Travertine Marble, and Macs

There have been so many theories on LOST, I've lost track. This one which I found via Stumble-Upon today is absolutely stellar. It works. Makes sense. It's a very long post so make sure you have time to read and think. It's got some holes but I really, really, like this one.

Today, the plumber came to fix the ballcock on my guest bathroom toilet. Actually he replaced the whole mechanism because it had a small leak. I only mention this because it's not often you get to say ballcock when there's not a dirty joke involved. I wish I could work in a badminton reference and say shuttlecock. I can't. So I won't say shuttlecock.

My shower work is done. My three day semi-expensive job turned into a ten day long ordeal. However, the old shower was ripped out. The leaky shower-pan was replaced -- and a good thing because it was developing a mould collection. The new shower has authentic travertine marble tiling. I like it except for the light fixture (which I'll replace) and the door (too short for my tastes). I am pleased, though. I missed being in my bathroom because it was just weird being the guest bathroom for so long.

My new Mac is chugging along nicely except for the firewire issue. What firewire issue you may ask. Well let me tell you then :) An edited version of what I sent to Apple's Engineering Department:

I thought it was just me having problems but then I've since had other friends with similar problems. We have a technology provider that deals directly with Apple an I spoke the Apple Rep. A few days later they called back and confirmed there ARE problems on a wide scale and they're "checking into the cause but are leaning towards the monitor having faulty hardware."

Now, on to the nitty-gritty. This bug manifests itself as follows.

To rule out other issues, ALL OTHER EXTERNAL DEVICES BOTH USB AND FIREWIRE (except mouse and keyboard obviously) were removed from the chain: CPU, Monitor, Hubs, everything.

This problem is specifically related to the 23" new cinema display and the firewire port/hub built in to the new Intel 2x4core3.2ghz. This machine is about a week old as is the monitor. Hot off the press. All external devices were previously plugged into a dual-core G5 with similar specifications and functioned normally.

What happened is that if you plug the monitor into the rear firewire ports an external firewire HD (800 or 400) will eventually overload the system and disable the entire firewire bus on ALL ports. I tried two different external firewire drives (on the 400 and 800 ports in front and back of the machine with NOTHING plugged into the monitor but the monitor plugged into the machine's rear port (tried both ports). I also tried various cables.

Apparently the internals of the machine have one shared bus and even though the system is powered it can't handle an external drive. The drive in question is one of the 1-TB Western Digitals (I'm not using their drivers -- just the default Apple stuff).

When you access the external drive and open it, you get the root directory for that drive, but then when you open a folder the drive over-spins and then powers down. Checking in System Profiler shows that the Firewire Bus cannot be read. All firewire devices stop working. You must POWER DOWN THE SYSTEM to recover. Moving down to 400 didn't help.

I tried this with two different Firewire Drives. Happily the data was not too badly damaged by the unexpected power down. DiskWarrior to the rescue.

At first I thought I had an isolated incident with my specific machine or monitor being bad which is when I slowly begin trying to isolate it by removing equipment from the equation. (I have firewire external Sony AIT, iOmega ZIP, Memorex DVD+RW drives in addition to the HD. Since USB is unaffected I left those out of the equation and unplugged).

So after narrowing it down to the monitor and hard drive, I went to Google (gotta love Google because it knows everything) and typed the error message about the bus being unreadable. There are *TONS* of matches and everyone is having firewire bus problems but nobody has apparently isolated it yet. But it's my observation and gut feeling that there is an endemic problem with the monitor's firewire using too much power from the machine *OR* the machine's firewire bus is insufficiently powered. The fact that it powered down the drive and rendered the bus dead supports this hypothesis. (Or, more likely, a combination of an issue between the Mac and the monitor.)

This information is VERY good and solid and tested carefully. It's not perfectly tested but Apple ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY has an issue. The hard drive worked fine on my G5 Mac (2x2ghz) in the same FW800 port with ALL the above devices attached. That rules out the machine handily.

Continued testing causes repeated bus power downs and will continue to damage my hard drive which is why I don't want to keep testing my drive.

It's some sport of an electrical issue with bus power over your firewire chain. I suspect that with all those ports on the machine plus the monitor added in, the stress is too much and it gives up.

I will, shortly, have a lot more Mac hardware for sale including (possibly) a Cinema Display, a Dual Processor G5, and more. Contact me for details.