Lock Down The Wireless

I've been tinkering with wireless connectivity on a new Palm TX and a loaner Siemens SX66 Windows Mobile 2003 PDA.

I've found the PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) functions work just fine on the SX66 without having the cell phone (Cingular) portion turned on. This is fine because the SX66 is a loaner from Cingular to my friend.

I provide computer support for the dean in the College of Arts and Architecture at Penn State. He purchased a Treo 650 PDA cell phone with the idea that he could leave his laptop behind while traveling. The Treo uses the Palm OS and I've been working with Palm PDAs pretty much since 1996. Even so, the Treo 650 is a slightly different beast and we ran into some major issues with it, mainly that our network calendar would not synchronize between the Mac and the Treo.

Before I found a solution for the Treo 650, I started looking at how well a Windows Mobile PDA can connect with a Mac and borrowed the SX66. This then led into looking at wireless connectivity, as opposed to a cell phone connection to the internet and then an evaluation of the new Palm TX with built-in wireless support.

Both PDAs offer built-in 802.11b wireless internet connectivity. The faster wireless protocols would be nice but a battery drain. The coolness with a wireless PDA is that things really open up in terms of personal computing.

Imagine driving around all day taking care of errands. For relief, you walk into the local Starbucks and load up on some espresso latte thingamajigger concoction (can you tell I don't drink coffee?) and sit down to enjoy whatever CD is spinning on the PA system. Just pull out the Palm or Pocket PC (as the hardware end of the Windows Mobile stuff is called), turn on WiFi and connect with Starbucks' wireless internet. From there, you can grab email, send a message to someone check college football BCS standings or log on to AOL Instant Messenger.

The world is your oyster.

Wireless internet is becoming more prevalent. Hotel lobbies have wireless internet in addition to Ethernet jacks in the rooms (kiss telephone access and worries goodbye!). McDonald's has wireless in some locations (buy a Big Mac, get access).

Locally, I can get free wireless internet access at Wegman's Grocery Store (they have a nice café, Denny's, the Honda dealership, Barnes & Noble and a couple other cafés.

I installed a program on the Palm TX called NetChaser. It is designed to continuously scan for wireless networks as one walks or drives down the road When it finds a network, it will log its name and information (the name and whether or not it is locked from anonymous log ons).

On the way home from the grocery store last night, I turned NetChaser on and drove the two or so miles to my house. As I drove through the neighborhood, NetChaser picked up well over 15 different wireless networks. To make matters worse, all but five or so of the listed networks allowed for anonymous connections.

This means I could stand outside someone's home and use their internet connection with my wireless Palm PDA, Windows Mobile PDA or laptop, gratis. Of course, this is very much against the law. The courts here in the United States pretty much treat that as illegal trespass and there have been convictions.

Aside from legality, we should all be working to keep the hackers and snoops out of home computer networks.

My own wireless setup is far more secure. I don't broadcast my network name (known as SSID), require a password to connect and only allow computers with certain IDs (known as MAC address) to connect to my network. All is not perfect though, I really need to get a new router that allows for a certain type of encrypted password.

So my advice to you, ensure your wireless network is locked down. Don't worry Mom and Dad, I definitely locked down your wireless router.

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy a nice Saturday afternoon at Wegman's with some hot tea, a good book (currently reading "To the Last Man" by Jeff Shaara) and occasionally logging onto the internet to check email, without my PowerBook. The world is my oyster (I've said it before, this is a favorite saying these days).

Battle, Not

Some senators and members of the press are predicting a huge battle over Judge Alito's nomintion to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court of the United States.

It hasn't happened yet and based on what some senators are saying in their press conferences, it looks like Alito will be on the Court.

News media sensationalism has really hit an all time high and the blame should go to the creation of 24/7/365 news channels. A small airplane wreck in a small town makes it to the nationally broadcast news these days. Gotta fill those 24 hours with something. Soon you'll see an in-depth investigative report on teenagers battling their principals over what they can wear to school.

"He like said like that you know I couldn't wear this cute tight short pants to school. It's like you know from like Abercrombie and like Fitch you know. Omigod I need to like channel with my homeys."

"Talking points: Godless children dressing like hookers in our schools and what we need to do about it!"

Penn State: Winning Ugly

Back in 1983, the Chicago White Sox were having a successful year but the stats really didn't show it. They were winning through "scrappy play" (that's how Wikipedia.com termed it). This scrappy play was explained as "Winning Ugly."

Winning ugly pretty much describes Penn State football's 8 wins and 1 loss thus far this season. One game, the defense will shut down the other team, maybe that game or another, the offense will really shine.

Michael Robinson, the first string quarterback, is dangerously inconsistant. I say this because they take on Wisconsin this Saturday in what may be the showdown for top of the heap in the Big Ten conference. He can execute the play but from there but his long throws don't always connect, his short tosses are OK and the running plays work well enough, especially when he's running the ball himself.

Penn State has the potential to win this last home game of the season but...but...

Sox Sweep Series

It's been a long time since I've watched such a great World Series and the Chicago White Sox definitely earned the championship title. They played solid baseball, even during the wild Game 3 which went 14 innings with both the Sox and Houston Astros going through so many pitchers.

It wasn't luck, just consistant solid ball playing and teamwork, as well as management. To me, naming one person as MVP is really hard. The whole team is MVP

For me, one of the best moments was watching the broadcast from Jimbo's near Cominsky Park after the Sox won. Everyone was standing or sitting behind the reporter singing the chorus to Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye). Reminded me of Fall semesters at my alma mater, Illinois State University.

So the only team that still has a "curse" is the Chicago Cubs. I would say there's no such thing as a curse but for the Cubs? Probably.

Na-na na-na-na na na na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye
Hey hey-hey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye [repeat many times and fade out]

Razors in Candy? A Myth!

Yahoo News has a story from LiveScience.com about those rumors we've heard from the dawn of time, or at least when the concept of Trick or Treating came about, regarding razor blades and other stuff being in candy or other types of tampering with Halloween candy. Bottom line, it's probably one of the strongest urban legends going out there.


It is the same deal every Halloween, kids dress up in outfits, walk through the neighborhood, knocking on doors and yelling "Trick or Treat!" when the person opens the door. The neighbor does the neighborly thing and comments on how scary the kids' costumes look and not say anything about knowing this or that kid set fire to his trash can the other night (confession time: my friend Gary did that in the 5th grade). The neighbor then puts candy in each kid's bag and they go off to scare another neighbor.

When the kids get home, parents inspect the candy for any sort of tampering, remembering their mothers reminders every Halloween about sick people in the world tampering with Halloween candy. Sometimes, parents will go to the hospital emergency room to have the candy X-Rayed.

Benjamin Radford, of the Skeptical Inquirer, reported that

Despite e-mail warnings, scary stories, and Ann Landers columns to the contrary, there have been only two confirmed cases of children being killed by poisoned Halloween candy, and in both cases the children were killed not in a random act by strangers but intentional murder by one of their parents. The best-known, "original" case was that of Texan Ronald Clark O'Bryan, who killed his son by lacing his Pixie Stix with cyanide in 1974.

There have been a few instances of candy tampering over the years—and in most cases the "victim" turned out to be the culprit, children doing it as a prank or to draw attention. With the exceptions noted above, no child has been killed or seriously harmed by contaminated Halloween candy.

And what of the candy that the X-Ray machine deemed to be safe? It is now contaminated with a small amount of radiation. In effect, you tampered with your own candy.

X-raying candy helps parents feel like they are protecting their children, but in fact parents are simply wasting resources and feeding children's fears unnecessarily.

This is perhaps the saddest part about this myth: children are given the message that their neighbors might try to poison or hurt them. In fact, a child is in far more danger from his or her own parents than from strangers. Surely there are better uses for the X-ray equipment and film than battling a myth. Clinics would do more good offering free or low-cost X-rays to needy families than scanning candies.

If you have doubts about a piece of candy, just throw it out. The only thing that will come out of taking the candy to the hospital to be X-rayed or calling the police is that you will find out your HMO will not cover the cost and the cops will be taken away from real emergencies.

First Snow Of The Season

As I speak (10:50am) snow is falling and sticking. We didn't have a first frost or first snow flurry. Because of that, I am now officially not looking forward to Winter. The predictions of a cold and very white Winter may come true.

Bond, Batman and Jack

With all the recent news and PR surrounding Pierce Brosnan being dumped for a blonde...errr...the producers naming a new Bond, Cinematical has made a list of what they think are the best Bond flicks. I tend to agree but I'd omit any Roger Moore flavored movies. Simon Templer is not James Bond.

Oh, and by the way, there are lots of rumors about the next Christian Bale (Batman Begins) flavored Batman movie, notably, who will play The Joker? The best guess is Michael Keaton. he played Batman/Bruce Wayne in the first Tim Burton bat-flick. At first, I thought it was a wild pick but then it grew on me. Just look at Keaton in BeetleJuice, he could really play The Joker, and I'm not dissing Jack Nicholson's version at all.

Which, of course, reminds me of when I watched the Oscars one year when they gave a lifetime achievement award to Jack Nicholson. A montage of his movies was shown but instead of showing him as The Joker, they showed Batman. Nicholson just wouldn't let this go at the film's end saying something to the effect of "A movie about me and they show the G******ed Batman," on live TV. Of course, he was wearing that famous grin of his but noboby thought he was joking.

Jack rules.

Mickey D's Quality Food But...

Sure, I'll agree with McDonald's press release about the high quality of their food but healthy is a different matter.

Mickey D's Quality Food But...

OK, I'll agree with McDonald's claims of their food offering high quality. But healthy? Ahhhh...

We're Getting There

We must be at some stage in technology when a guy notes in an online discussion that he has a PDA set to remote control his stereo and does so while he's in the bathroom.

There is a program, Salling Clicker, for the Mac that allows you to control it via a Bluetooth wireless enabled device, in this case a Palm Treo 650. The Mac can either have a really good speaker system or be connected to the home stereo (you can get very hi tech in this regard).

The next big step will be to have iPods Bluetooth enabled. Then hookup in cars will be simplified, as well as remote control of the iPod connected to the home stereo.

Still, remote control of the stereo via your PDA and computer. Yeah.

Music Video Made on Apple II

Blair Witch Project and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow were done on Macs with all the latest, at the time, tools?

Pfffthhpth, forget that noise, Stewart Smith made a music video for Jed's Other Poem by Grandaddy using his 1979 vintage Apple II+ that has a whopping 48K of RAM. The video is actually pretty cool, check it out.

By the way, I know Bob Leonard, the father of the main Blair Witch actor, Joshua Leonard. Pretty interesting tales about how Josh got into the movie business.

Cure For The Cold

Time to get ready for cold and flu season. Here's what I use as part of my cure by way of food:

• Gatorade - Orange and lemon-lime flavors work for me.
• Hot & Sour Soup - I haven't been able to find Knorr Hot & Sour. Great stuff.
  
• Coca Cola - You could substitute seltzer water but I like Coke to help clear out the throat congestion.
• Tea - Earl Grey or other black teas
• Ramen Noodles - At 25¢ a packet, hard to beat Chinese noodles to help provide a cure.

I probably should get a box of Sudafed (made by Pfizer, the folks who brought us Viagra).

Sudafed/SudaCare has a product, Vapor-Plug, that works in the same manner as a plug-in scent dispenser. Instead of some sort of fragrance like Amazon Rain Forest, Clean Laundry or Bachelor Apartment (probably prohibited by the Geneva Convention), it emits a menthol smell.

Shower Soothers is similar but is a big tablet you have in the shower with you. A plug-in with electrical cord might present some safety issues and legal litigation Pfizer would probably want to avoid.

Wonder how the Vapor-Plug would affect my cats. The Shower Soothers could be a good idea but only in a shower before going to bed. I'd hate to walk around work smelling like a menthol cough drop. "Hey, nice aftershave!" "Gee, every time you walk into our office, our nasal passages clear up immediately."

But always, hot & sour soup is my cure. Dump in some Frank's Red Hot and your nasal passages will surely have smooth sailing afterward. Don't worry, Frank's is not as fiery hot (we're talking the original flavor here) as other sauces but is great for cooking. Try it as a baste on hamburgers or on scrambled eggs.

My only prayer though is that the bird flu pandemic predictions don't come true. It's been said that it's not a case of whether or not there will be a repeat of the 1918 pandemic but when.

Richard Widmark Still Here

I just read a note at another blog that Richard Widmark is going to be awarded the career achievement award by the LA Film Critics Association. The biggest news is that Widmark is still very much alive. So why does the guy have to wait until he's 91 years-old and 74 movies later to get an achievement award? Just goes to show how underrated an actor he is. He should have gotten his due a long time ago.

Something Wicked This Way Hops

On Sunday, I saw Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

The movie took something like 5 years to make and it shows. So much detail for clay figures and small sets. The jokes are funny but I think what Marcella said at the end of the movie sums it up pretty well, "It was cute."

The RIAA...greedy?

While listening to XM Radio on the drive home from work, one DJ mentioned that the RIAA only allows three songs from an album to be played on services like XM Radio.

The RIAA is really doing their darndest to avoid new technology. Anybody like Apple or Microsoft have a rough and tumble time dealing with them. They don't like XM because of it's digital broadcast quality, the onslaught of some satellite radio receivers that can record a broadcast.

Now Slashdot is reporting the "RIAA may seek $1 billion plus in music rights fees for a new contract covering 2007 to 2012 to replace the current $80 million pact that expires in 2006."

The RIAA is a dinosaur that not only doesn't get it, they refuse to get it. They won't even buy the clue if you gave them $1 million. They' probably demand $100 Million and when you walk away, they won't get that money.

What I'm trying to say is that XM Radio, Sirius, iPods and iTunes Music Store are helping to sell tunes in ways the RIAA cannot.

The RIAA claimed that CD sales suffered because of illegal downloading but when they lowered CD prices, sales picked up.

They just don't get it.

Folger's Coffee had a new tugging at the heart strings ad during Law & Order last night (an average, predicatable episode) in which they have various employees reading off cue cards and telling the world that well, our plant in New Orleans got hit but the hurricane and we are working to rebuild as fast as humanly possible. There's even a website with further info.

One little side note for all you eight cups a day addicts/drinkers, since about 50% of Folger's coffee comes from the New Orleans area expect the price of coffee to go up.

On a bright note though, Folger's said the New Orleans area employees still have jobs. Did you hear that Mayor Ray Nagin?

Cold Turkey

This past Sunday, there was an ad from a local grocery chain, Weis Markets, announcing that their free Thanksgiving Day turkey promotion is now under way. Just collect enough points after each purchase and you'll have a free bird.

This reminded me that I have a cold turkey still in my freezer from last year's promo. According to ochef.com:

in terms of safety, frozen turkeys will keep indefinitely in the freezer. Quality is another matter, however, and is said to decline after about a year.

I think this weekend will be good time to borrow Mom's roaster and get ready for a month of turkey sandwiches and turkey rice soup.

Weis says that if you spend $250 at their stores, you can get a free turkey. How about if I spend $20, I can get a turkey. Besides, Weis is the most expensive grocery store in town. They are even more expensive than Wegman's.

Subway Maps On Your iPod

iPodsubwaymaps.com is sort of like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Many people who make use of subway systems have iPods. So why not have subway maps on your iPod? Tada! Website born!

iPodSubwayMaps.com has had some start up pains though. Both San Francisco and New York City have siced their lawyers on William Bright, the guy who started the website, sending cease and desist letters. NYC said he could use their maps so long as he obtains an annual license, $500
per year.

Maybe San Francisco and New York City should buy a clue from Washington D.C. They said Bright can use their maps for free. They should help Bright. Any way to increase usage of public transit systems should definitely be encouraged. And really, is San Francisco or NYC losing money by allowing people to download the maps for free?

In fact, I did a little bit of research about which subway has free maps online:

New York City MTA - Downloadable PDF
San Francisco BART - Downloadable PalmOS or PocketPC guide
Washington D.C. Metro - downloadable PDF

When I visited the nation's capitol about a year and a half ago, with my cousin Alsona and her husband Alan, we used the Metro to ride from Falls Church, VA into the city. I fell in love with the D.C. Metro line. Clean, easy to use and now I can have the map on my iPod without legal issues. Cool!

The Monster...On Tour

Halloween is right around the corner and before you start thinking the photo here is Frankenstein's Monster, think again, it's really Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones. And that, folks, is scary enough.

The Rocker In Autumn

I just finished converting the new CDs by Neil Young and Sheryl Crow to my computer and viewing a couple of scenes from the DVDs included with both albums. I did the same for Paul McCartney's new album released few weeks back.

I'll have to agree with an Amazon.com user review of Neil Young's "Prairie Wind," too many reviewers are labeling this album as part of some sort of trilogy along with "After The Gold Rush" and "Harvest Moon." These reviewers forget about other similar albums in Neil's eclectic catalog.

Neil Young is sort of a rock and roll carmudgeon. When he did MTV Unplugged for example, he refused to submit a play list to the producers so they could figure out camera angles for each song. Instead, Neil laid out all the instruments on stage and would play whatever song he was in the mood to play. I've heard that's pretty much how he is in concert. Another time, during an interview, live, on MTV, the reporter made the mistake of calling Neil's music "classic rock." Neil let fly with a few colorful words and said he hasn't retired, he's still putting out fresh stuff.

Neil has always followed his own lead, or his own muse. Much to the irritation, at times, of record companies (he was famously sued by Geffen Records for being "uncreative"). So here, Neil once again takes a turn putting out a country/folk/rock album.

Prairie Wind certainly seems to be somethng of a Autumnal album. The songs have a retrospective, introspective, reflective, comfortable feel. I'm still listening to the album but "The Painter" and "This Old Guitar" are early favorites.

Neil Young is in his own class, it's very hard to put a label on him and I'm sure he'd be happy to hear that. "Prairie Wind" is a solid effort. The DVD edition features a making-of-the-album movie that shows a band that is comfortable with each other, which helps to make this album so solid.

The Apprentice: Martha's Take

I saw part of the series opener for Martha Stewart's "The Apprentice" and the first thought was that her PR spin crew worked overtime with this series. At the start, we see Martha walking through the offices, saying hi and one employee running up to her to show off some layouts. So cute and Martha seems to be so nice and calm. Nothing like what we saw on the television movie that starred Cybil Shepard as Martha.

So we don't get to see Martha raging at the contestants, pity. Martha said the Shepard portrayal was a bunch of hooie but after reading about her temper and controlling nature, I'm sort of wont to believe the television movie wasn't too far from the truth. I've endured a manager who wanted to scream and cuss up a storm at employees, belittling them and telling them the company did that employee a favor by hiring them.

What we do get however is Martha's take on Donald Trump's "You're fired!" (and that little "cobra snap" of the hand when he said it). Her phrase is "You just don't fit in."

"You just don't fit in?" That's like when I was laid off at Gateway and the HR rep was trying to smooth my anger by saying "We didn't lay you off, just eliminated the job." That only made me angrier and I asked, "so I'm still on the payroll with my current salary?" "Well....I wouldn't say that."

Julie Hinds, at the Detroit Free Press, has a great article about how "You just don't fit in" is such a bad phrase. The best reason:

It's not delivered with panache. Trump's serpent-like flick of the wrist and his brusque delivery give his catch-phrase a campy charm. Stewart is still too icy on camera, her emotions as frozen as a Botoxed forehead. Maybe if she got angry and threw tiramisu at the departing players, it would perk things up.

Throw tiramisu at the axed contestant? Can you imagine what that would do for ratings? Heck, secretly replace Martha with Cybil Shepard and definitely watch those ratings skyrocket. She can yell and be more intimidating that R. Lee Ermy. Then again, the scuttlebutt I've heard was that Cybil really didn't have to stretch to act as Martha.

Hinds definitely hits the nail on the head with her last reason. Isn't it true that the ones who don't fit in are the ones that come up with innovative ideas? That's the whole idea behind Apple's Think Different ad campaign.

I'm sorry Martha but your flan is overcooked.

Bond Confessions

I love the James Bond movies and love to talk up which actor has done the best job of playing Bond. Here's my list with the first being the best:

1. Sean Connery
2. George Lazenby
3. Pierce Brosnan
4. Timothy Dalton
5. Roger Moore

Picking a favorite Bond movie is tough, I just can't do it.

I've only read one of the Ian Fleming books, The Living Daylights. I've read several of the Bond books by John Gardner. I really should read more of the Ian Fleming books, especially From Russia With Love. It is said that book was John F. Kennedy's favorite. That was also the last movie JFK ever saw. He screened the film a couple days before flying down to Texas.

"To Be Continued." Noooo!

"To Be Continued."

"Battlestar Galactica returns in January..."

No. Freakin'. Way.

Sure, we can have a couple months between two seasons of a television series but to have almost as much time between two parts of one season and especially after the halfway point episode ends on such an incredible cliffhanger (I won't say anything that may spoil it for timeshifters).

January. January? January!

Ack!

I've never been a huge fan of science fiction but Battlestar Galactica has been great and season 2 is much better than season 1.

Argh! January!

It's The End Of The World As We Know It

Hurricane Rita dumps rain on New Orleans which washes over a levee.

Hurricane Rita's Going to Texas.

Bus explodes while leaving Houston with evacuees on board.

L.A. hit with a 3.6 earthquake.

Jennifer Love Hewitt's new TV show debuts tonight.

Surprisingly, for an actor or musician, Britney and hubby gave their newborn a sensible name. Sean Preston Federline.

Coincidence or further signs of The Apocalypse?

Like, No Way!

Like...wow...like...ya know...there's rumors that Paris won't get wed after all. Like...omigod, why did you wear that scarf?

OR

Girl 1: Did you like hear?

Girl 2: No? Like...what?

Girl 1: That like Paris like may not be getting like married, you know?

Girl 2: No way! Shutup!

Girl 1: Like, way, like really!

Girl 2: Like, omigod! Shut up!

Trust me, if you don't think teenage girls still talk like this, you haven't been hanging around teenage girls. I listen to my niece and her friends chat it up. Like, wow.

Gasoline Price Watch

There is a cool widget for Mac OS X 10.4 which will allow you to monitor gas prices. Known simply as Gas, it can monitor for a single station or plug in your zip code only and the radius to see prices for several gasoline outlets.

Gas gets its info from GasPriceWatch.com. So Windows users won't feel left out in the fun of seeing just how badly we are getting gouged.

Yesterday, I heard it was $2.55 per gallon for regular. This morning, it's already at $2.65 in town. Hmmmm...let's plug in a Texas zip code...Houston is currently $2.45 a gallon for regular.

Simon Wiesenthal passed away this morning. He was 96 and he outlived most the Nazis. Good for him!

After surviving five concentration camps and losing 89 of his relatives to the holocaust, Wiesenthal set out to bring Nazi war criminals to justice. It was through his dedication and help that Adolf Eichmann and the police officeer who arrested Anne Frank were captured and punished.

According to the Associated Press,

Wiesenthal spent more than 50 years hunting Nazi war criminals, speaking out against neo-Nazism and racism, and remembering the Jewish experience as a lesson for humanity. Through his work, he said, some 1,100 Nazi war criminals were brought to justice.
"When history looks back I want people to know the Nazis weren't able to kill millions of people and get away with it," he once said.

If I should ever have the opportunity to visit his grave and pay my respects, I'll be sure to put a stone on his marker.

Lord Of The Keyboard

Keyboard commands are great timesavers. And if you know enough of them, you can look like the computer users on the movies. You very rarely ever see them use a mouse or have problems unless it's five seconds before the bad guy enters the room ("Drat! I transposed the S on the command to open the bomb bay doors. Hang on...(keyboard noise)...there...(keyboarad noise)...ok, cool, while I was at it, I added $100,000 to your bank account and your son now has an A in physical education classes anymore. You so owe me big time."

One website has a huge plethora (how about that for a $10 word?) of them for the Mac.

I love keyboard commands. I was once even chastised (sorry, it's only a $5 word) by the instructor at a Microsoft seminar for using the keyboard instead of the mouse. She wanted to prove Windows 3.0 was just like the Mac and didn't require the keyboard like DOS.

So here's my advice for the weekend, learn some keyboard commands. Learn what right-clicking the mouse can do for you in each application.

Bond Rumors Continue

"Casino Royale" has been said to be the darkest of the Bond novels penned by Ian Fleming. That might explain some of the recent rumors that Q will not be on board for the newest installment of the Bond movies.

The writers have said they want this one to be "a grittier, tougher and more realistic Bond movie." Maybe they are taking a cue from "Batman Begins."

Who will play Bond? That seems to be the big question. Supposedly Goran Visnjic, of ER fame, is on the short list as was Hugh Jackman (he's rumored to have turned it down). While Visnjic is a good actor, I just can't imagine him with an English accent. How about Dominic West (The Wire, The Forgotten) or Jamie Bamber (Battlestar Galactica). Both are English and have done great jobs with the American accent.

But now there's word that Pierc Brosnan has been asked by Sony Pictures to come back to the fold. As the title of the "rogue" Bond flick goes, "Never Say Never Again."

Stevie Nicks, Music Pirate?

Stevie Nicks, of Fleetwood Macm showed up at Walter Reed Medical Center (on the list of recommended base closings) to visit with soldiers. Her appearance on July 8 was unannounced and paparazzi free. She handed out t-shirts and Apple iPods to those she visited with. One USO official noted that Nicks downloaded tunes to the iPods herself.

I certainly hope the songs are legal. Probably Fleetwood Mac and solo tunes.

On a similar note, President Bush isn't the only person in the White House who jams out with an iPod. Margaret Spellings, Education Secretary, two daughters gave her a gift for Mother's Day, an iPod mini (recently replaced by the iPod nano)

The iPod mini is jammed with songs from the Police, Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, and the Carpenters. "She loves it," says a pal, "for her power walks and spinning class." Not at work, we hope, especially since many schools ban them.

Again, I hope the songs are all legal. It's not difficult to stay legal, You can buy songs from the iTunes Music Store for .99¢.

The .99¢ pricetag may change soon though as the recording industry is starting to get greedy again and talking about raising prices to $2 per tune.

Steve Jobs, of Apple Computer, Inc., recently spoke out against the idea of raising song prices saying that it is just the recording industry getting greedy and that higher prices will encourage piracy.

For the longest time, the RIAA claimed the reason record companies were losing money (if in fact they really really were) was because of piracy. A funny thing happened though after they lowered prices of CDs, people bought them.

JFK Dirty Laundry For Sale

The watch Marilyn Monroe gave to President Kennedy the night she famously sang "Happy Birthday Mr. President" will go on the auction block in October. The inscription on the back reads, "Jack, With love as always from Marilyn May 29th, 1962."

To be sure, that's an incredible conversation piece to own, but wait! There's more! Check out the case the watch came in.

Loosely placed in the bottom of the case is a circular paper disk with a red hand-colored border with black-printing, with a poem titled "A HEARTFELT PLEA ON YOUR BIRTHDAY" and ending "Let me love or let me die!"

Yeah, I can see the watch going for a couple million dollars. Think it will ever make an appearance at the Kennedy Library?

According to U.S. News & World Report's Washington Whispers section for September 19, 2005,

Auctioneer Bill Panagopulos , president of Alexander Autographs, calls it "undoubtedly the most controversial presidential relic ever offered." To call the watch a scandal is an understatement. Panagopulos says that after first confirming the history of the watch, family members of the JFK aide who kept relics like the outfit Jackie wore the day Kennedy was murdered have clammed up.

[...]

The live and online auction slated for October 15-16 at alexautographs.com looks to be a mother lode of JFK dirty laundry. Also on the block: letters from Kennedy filled with sexual innuendo and competitive talk about dating, catty remarks about unattractive women, and an uncharacteristic four-letter word.

Understatement indeed. You can see photos of the watch and other JFK artifacts soon to be on the auction block at Alexander Autographs.

The Oldest Buffalo Soldier Stands Down

The 9th and 10th Calvary regiments were given the nickname of "The Buffalo Soldiers" by the Native Americans they fought during the late 1800s. These all-black units were given the name, according to CNN, "because the Indians thought the soldiers' hair resembled a buffalo's mane or that the Indians respected the soldiers for their courage and fearlessness, qualities they found in the buffalo."

The courage and fearlessness was undeniable. 20 of those "Buffalo Soldiers" were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

One of those men who wore the nickname with pride, Mark Matthews, passed away September 6, 2005 at the age of 111. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetary, as the oldest surviving member of the Buffalo Soldiers.

Matthews joined the unit at the age of 16 in 1910. While stationed in Arizona, he learned how to ride, shoot and survive. Several years later, he served under General John "Blackjack" Pershing in the pursuit of Pancho Villa.

George S. Patton and Dwight David Eisenhower would go on to become generals themselves. Matthews rose to the rank of First Sergeant and served in WWII in the Pacific Theatre of War.

Matthews retired shortly before President Truman desegregated the unit. The Washington Post reported that,

In retirement, he liked to fish. He also enjoyed sitting on the front porch and telling tales about the old days out West and the not-quite-so-old days in the Pacific during World War II, often to neighborhood kids who came around and sat at the knee of a man who had experienced an adventure-novel's worth of stirring chapters in U.S. history.

I know I would have loved to have been one of those sitting on the front porch listening to those adventures.

"I did it all," Sgt. Matthews told The Washington Post a few years ago. "Yes, I was there."

More Info:

Buffalo Soldiers website

Mark Matthews Washington Post Obituary

In-depth story on Matthews

Me Too!

A new feature was added to Mac OS X with the release of version 10.4, "Widgets." These are tiny applications that perform one task very well. Press F12 and a translucent window appears, showing all the widgets you have open.

Widgets can do anything. The best example is the one provided by Apple to display current weather conditions as well as a forecast from Accuweather, based here in State College. Other widgets can provide a television schedule, calendar, a list of entries at a blog, etc.

Microsoft recently announced a new concept for the next version of Windows, known as "Vista," which was formerly known by it's development name, "Longhorn."

I like to think the name was changed from "Longhorn" to "Vista" because some concerned Texas Aggies on the marketing team forced a change. Could explain the silly and blah name, "Vista." Or maybe Microsoft didn't want "Windows Longhorn" to be confused with Longhorn cheese. All kidding aside, I liked the name "Longhorn" and the logos they were using. Then again, I lived in Austin TX and the "Longhorn" logo reminded me very much of the University of Texas Longhorns.

But back to Gadgets. Just when you think that there's something original going on here, look back at the history of Apple's widgets. At one point, they were called gadgets. No idea why the name was changed to widgets.

Of course, Widgets aren't entirely original either. Widgets are very much akin to another product, Konfabulator, which was recently purchased by Yahoo. Apple probably should have bought Konfabulator.

To be even more fair and concentric, Widgets and Konfabulator are descendants of Desk Accessories from the original Mac OS.

If that doesn't sound crazy enough, there's the whole thing about Apple's original internal online service known as AppleLink. At one point, they thought of having a external version called AppleLink Personal Edition. The software was then sold to a guy named Steve Case who had his own online service for the Commodore computers. Case renamed and retooled the software into America Online, AOL.

Apple then decided they really did want to build an online service for Apple fans and borrowed/rented/whatever the AOL engine and slapped their own front end and name on it, eWorld. I worked at eWorld in their customer technical support department.

Ahhh, Mr. Bond! We've Been Expecting You

Rumor has it that Daniel Craig has been named the next Bond. An English actor, Americans have probably seen him in "I Dreamed of Africa," "Road to Perdition," "Tomb Raider," and "Elizabeth."

Even so, Craig is a relative unknown compared to Ewan McGregor. Then again, Sean Connery was very much an unkown outside bodybuilding circles before he became the first and arguably best Bond.

The rumor has sprung because Craig was seen shopping for a mint condition copy of the first Bond book by Ian Fleming, "Casino Royale." That book title is set to be the title for the next movie.

Annanova reported, "Clive Owen and Hugh Jackman reportedly turned the role down while ER's Goran Visnjic is said to have auditioned for the producers in July."

Hugh Jackman would have been great in the role.

Bush Helps Out Quietly

While I haven't been able to confirm it yet, I've read that George H. Bush and his wife Barbara have opened their home in Kennebunkport Maine to some who have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Same goes for their son. President Bush has allowed some folks to stay on his ranch in Crawford, TX.

Even more important to point out, they did this without issuing any sort of press release, statement or photos of the whole thing. They just quietly opened their hearts to Americans affected by the storm.

I'm still trying to track down news sources to confirm this tidbit.

Testing Blog 123

I've looked at blog sites by several companies, including Yahoo's new 360 but I keep returning to Blogger. Thus far, until I can set up my own domain with a service that will allow me to have CGI scripts and other requirements, this is the best for me. Are you listening Apple? I love my .mac account but if add the ability for me to use WordPress, BlosXom or Movable Type, I'll be a seriously happy camper.

I have found a cool blog editing tool, Ecto, for Mac OS X and Windows, that can allow me to edit my Blogger website offline. Makes up for the sometimes turtle-like pace of their admin tools.
Testing continues. I might have to bite the bullet and set up my own domain. Then I have to figure out a name. I've always wanted to do something along the lines of song and album titles R.E.M. came up with:

- Murmur (album)
- Reckoning (album)
- Fables of the Reconstruction of the Fables (album)
- so. central rain (tried to use South Central Rain but it's taken)
- King of Birds
- Moral Kiosk
- Pilgrimage
- Harbour Coat

Can you tell I like the first bunch of albums by R.E.M.?


[Posted with ecto]

Give Us Condi And We'll Give You The Boat

North Korea has offered to return the U.S.S. Pueblo spy boat if we send eithe Condoleezza Rice or a different high-level official for a visit.

One reader at outsidethebeltway.com suggested the following:

1. Secretary of Agriculture. (Given all the food aid we’ve given them, and their everlasting famine)
2. Secretary of Energy. (Another major need of NK, plus controls the US nuclear labs)
3. Dick Cheney. (why not? And he could be more stoic than the NK)

Regarding the notion of potentially sending Dick Cheney, another reader asked, "He wouldn't be coming back, would he?"

Probably the best reader suggestion was to "Send Alec Baldwin over to represent the Film Actors Guild."

Only Three Remain on Gilligan's Island

Bob Denver died last Friday. He played therugby shirt and sailor hat wearing Gilligan on Gilligan's Island.

Now, the remaining survivors on Gilligan's Island are The Professor, The Movie Star and Mary Ann.

Personally, I think Mary Ann will win this oldest version of Survivor.

As a side note, of all the main actors on Bewitched, another television series that had its start in 1964, only the twins who played Tabitha , Diane and Erin Murphy, remain.

What If?

That classic historical question will be the title of a new SciFi Channel series in the works.

One blogger suggested several what ifs that could be asked for episodes including "What if the Germans won WWII?" or what if John F. Kennedy hadn't been murdered.

I am currently reading a book about the Battle of Britain by one of the British fighter pilots who fought in it, "Duel of Eagles" by Peter Townsend. This Townsend should not be confused with the guitar smashing Peter Townshend of The Who. For one thing, The Who's Pete would probably never have dated Princess Margaret.

After much of the reading I've done and documentaries of WWII I've seen this Summer, as well as reading "Why The Allies Won," I am of the conclusion that there was no way the Germans would have been the victors. Granted, this is all in hindsight. During 1939 to probably 1943, the Allies were indeed losing but there were so many variables that worked in the favor if The Allies that the outcome was pretty much certain.

Better what if questions would be:

- What if Great Britain decided to side with Germany against France and Russia (something Hitler and others on his staff hoped for and were surprised didn't happen)?

- What if Hitler had committed suicide before he was arrested and thrown in jail (where he wrote Mein Kampf)? Germany's rebuilding of its military was going on before Hitler started the Nazi party, he just ensured the build up went through.

- What if Hitler didn't survive the attempt to kill him by some other German generals in 1944?

The better What if is that one about John F. Kennedy. If he survived or the bullets missed, he probably would have been reelected, forcing Johnson not to run because he was too old and, provided things went well in the second term, Robert F. Kennedy would have run and potentially cancel out a Nixon presidency.

What if the Wright brothers failed at Kitty Hawk and we only started to fly many, many years later?

What if America remained isolationist during WWII?

The list goes on.

Do I Like The Current State Of Music?

So, what is it about the current state of music I don't like besides way, way too many bands cutting CDs that really have no business doing so? Let's take one "musician" as an example...

Snoop-Dog on TV shows, Snoop-Dog during the Super Bowl half time show, Snoop-Dog on Chrysler commercials, Snoop-Dog ring tones, Snoop-Dog cell phone wallpapers, Snoop-Dog screen-savers, etc., ad infinitum.

Then again, the Beatles were pretty well hyped. But was it as bad as we are seeing it today? And at least The Beatles could walk the walk music-wise.

I started thinking about this after seeing a free (!) screensaver for the Mac from the anime band, Gorillaz.

DIY Postage Stamps

Ever wish you could have your mug on a postage stamp like various kings, queens, presidents and rock stars? Well, now you can! Not only can you create a postage stamp with your photo, it's legal to use for postage.

Check it out!

Where In The World Is Ray

While our missing district attorney probably won't make it onto a milk carton, a website has been set up which has information and photos to help find him.

Hopefully he's OK.

Back In Black In The Black

The RIAA announced that AC/DC's 1980 album, Back In Black, has been certified as having sold 21 million copies. This album is now tied for fifth place bestselling album of all time along with Billy Joel's Greatest Hits Volumes 1 & 2.

I'm not a heavy metal fan but I own this CD and all the songs are on my iPod. I would have to say this is one of those desert island CDs.

Hard to beat this album for absolutely raw, powerful rock n' roll.

Cold Weather Hinders Global Warming Event

Greenpeace announced that they've cancelled a trek to raise awareness of global warming because of bad cold weather.

As the Mastercard commercials would say, "priceless."

What Not To Eat Over Your Keyboard

One ZDnet.com.au writer recently lamented about what he considered to be the worst food to eat over a computer keyboard.

I can definitely feel his pain. There are two people I provide support for that have keyboards which totally gross me out. I turn the keyboard over and bang it on the desk, out falls all matter of food debris.

Twice now, I’ve had to find new keyboards for those who thought it would be OK to drink coffee over the keyboard. Not when they discover the coffee is McDonald’s version of hot: able to melt steel.

Finding things people have under their desks runs a close second for grossness. Old food. Shoes and socks (not clean), staples (Found out the hard way).

Then there’s just the stuff lying around the desk. it’s incredible that people will drink coffee out of a mug that hasn’t been washed since the first Bastille Day (why am I noting a French holiday? Because I can. Thank YOU Mr. Constitution).

Yeah, there’s got to be some truth to the study which showed that an office desk is dirtier than the bathroom.

Microsoft Cares, As Long As You Pay

Microsoft announced a new subscription-based service, Windows OneCare, which will provide security for Windows based PCs. Expected later this year, Microsoft hasn’t announced pricing yet.

Microsoft is going to charge people to help secure their computer against unsecure items in the operating system they develop. Hmmm…is that chutzpah?

Maybe this service should be free. After all, proving their operating system is safe to use. Proving that should sell more copies.

Tommy, Can You Hear Me?

The warning about X causing damage to hearing has been updated to iPods.

Blame the people, not the iPod. Or, in my case, my nieces and nephews. I walk into their homes and the TVs are turned up, the stereo is turned up and the most commonly, faintly heard, phrase is, “What? I can’t hear you!”

At first I thought, great here we go again, iPods cause an increase in crime and now iPods cause deafness. Then I thought that this is a refreshing of an old message updated from 8-Track to iPods.

Tommy…Tommy…Tommy…

And Then There Was One

Victorinox is the original Swiss Army Knife manufacturer and Wenger is an official Swiss Army Knife maker. Confused? I’m not because I own Swiss Army Knives from both companies.

The confusion however is now moot as Victorinox announced acquisition of Wegner.

The news also noted that sales have been hurt in the United States since the new security laws were put in place that doesn’t allow people to carry the very useful pocketknives in their carry-on luggage.

My first was a Victorinox, purchased while I was a sophomore in high school and is still in use. One of the best purchases I’ve ever made.

How To Properly Fold Fitted Sheets

Target has a great instructional guide for how to fold fitted sheets every time.

I love Target.

Cher 3 Year Farewell Tour Wraps Up

Wrapping up a three year farewell tour at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Cher announced that “This is truly it.”

Until you need to pay off some debts.

During the final show, Cher, 58, did her usual bunch of costume changes, including one outfit which featured a G-string. Don’t think you’ll see that at a Barbra Streisland concert.

Name That Tune

I think it was when Volkswagen used “Theme from Harry’s Game” by Clannad in a TV ad that people started really listening to music in ads. Microsoft paid an insane amount of money to use The Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up” as part of their Windows 95 marketing campaign.

Whenever you install Mac OS X on a computer and restart the computer, an application to walk the user through initial setup is launched. While video showing the word “Hello” in various languages runs, there is funky background music. Here’s a partial list of what tunes were used for which version of the Mac OS X operating system:

Mac OS X 10.2 - “Sofa Rockers” by Kruder & Dorfmeister
Mac OS X 10.3 - “Eple” by Royksopp (of Norway)
Mac OS X 10.4 - “Bytecry” by Weevil

All three are available at the iTunes Music Store.

I am still trying to find out what songs were used in versions 10.0 and 10.1 of Mac OS X.

XXL Jumbo Jet Flies

The new Airbus A380 made it’s maiden voyage today. This “Super Airbus” is billed as the largest passenger jet. Depending on the configuration used by the airline, the plane can hold 555 passengers. A Boeing 747, similarly configured, can house 416 passengers.

Most of the configurations I’ve seen have the 747 seating around 330 or so passengers.

If it takes so long to de-plane a 747, imagine how long it would take for passengers to disembark from an A380.

PC-Turn Off Week A Possibility?

The folks at PC-Turnoff have declared August 1st through 7th as PC-Turn Off week.

Shaaaaa-right. See, here’s the thing. From 8-5 I support roughly 50 some-odd Macs and PCs. From 5 to 9pm, I am on-call for something like 10 Macs or PCs and I have my own computer setup. PC-Turn off ain’t happening in my world.

So, if not for me, how about my nieces and nephews? My niece Kara, absolutely starts to show withdrawal symptoms 30 seconds after she’s been told she can’t be on the computer. She is addicted to instant messaging. And I mean addicted in the serious sense of the word. So yeah, PC-Turn off could be a good thing for her but you don’t have to be around her when she doesn’t have access to the computer. Grumpy is too nice a word for that mood she has during the withdrawal.

The Pope Spoke!

From a CNN.com story:

Speaking in his native German, Benedict told the audience that during the conclave, or papal election, when it became clear he was getting many votes, a cardinal passed him a note reminding him what he had preached about Christ calling Peter to follow him even if he was reluctant to go.

Benedict, 78, said he hoped to spend his last years living quietly and peacefully.

“At a certain point, I prayed to God ‘please don’t do this to me,”‘ he recalled. “Evidently, this time He didn’t listen to me.”

From a Catholic News Service story:

The cardinals and those assisting inside the conclave or at the dormlike building where the cardinals will stay are to take a solemn oath to observe “absolute and perpetual secrecy” about the election. Violation of the oath can mean excommunication.

The report noted the reason for Pope John Paul II amending the rules regarding the conclave, in 1996, was because he had been unhappy about some discussions that occurred amongst cardinals after the conclave that elected him and appeared in several books about the voting and set up these rules.

I’m sure nothing will happen. I understand the need for secrecy in the conclave but am not a fan of closed door elections.

Translating PRSpeak To English

This week has been a big one for companies buying other companies. Probably the biggest purchase was Adobe’s acquisition of Macromedia.

The Adobe folks put out a press release and FAQ that were heavily laced with PRSpeak. One weblog writer took it upon himself to translate the FAQ to plain ol’ English.

I suspect the writer was being paid by the word.

More About Mobile Music

Ars Technica has a great article about why Motorola and other companies are resisting having an “iTunes phone.”

Basically put, Mobile phone makers or service providers make more money off of selling things like ringtones, wallpaper and other accessories than the actual service itself.

By teaming up with Apple’s iTunes Music Store, they either have to share profits with Apple or get little in return for having an iTunes phone.

Even more simply, they don’t want to share the pie chart. The problem though is whether or not they can actually make money with their own online or mobile music store?

Mobile Phones An iPod Killer?

Some mobile phones currently have the ability to store music. And there’s more to come with mobile phone makers working on newer models which can hold more music and mobile service providers working on their own music services to aide in downloading tunes to the phones. And there is talk about the mobile phone as the iPod killer.

Ain’t gonna happen and blame rests entirely with the mobile phone manufacturers and mobile service providers.

The first issue is that cell phone technology changes faster than digital music players. No sooner than you have a mobile phone, it’s outdated. I still have a second generation iPod and probably won’t buy a new one until December, if not later.

Not only that, when someone buys a new mobile phone, they have to get a new car power cable, data cable, etc.

Right now, the iTunes Music Store and the iPod are the big sellers in portable digital music. If the mobile phone is to be the iPod killer, it needs to offer something the iPod doesn’t have and having my PDA, digital music player and phone wrapped into one really isn’t that much of a deal maker to people.

Anyone notice just how well the Nokia N-Gage mobile phone/GameBoy wanna-be is doing? Exactly my point.

Smoke Cam

Want to see the black or white smoke for yourself but just can’t spare the cash or time to fly out to Vatican City?

Carpe Diem my friends and check out these two webcams to see the Sistine Chapel chimney, live!

Vatican City News Service (Catholic TV) (choose format and bitrate)

Washington Post

Keep in mind though that the average amount of time for the conclave to choose a new Pope is four days. The big exception though was after the death of Clement IV in 1268, It took three years for the conclave, held in the town of Viterbo, to reach a decision. Viterbo officials forced the issue by locking the cardinals in the chapel, boarding up the doors and cutting their rations. Rumor has it they also tore the roof off the building, exposing the cardinals to the elements.

After much haggling which involved some kings, Teobaldo Visconti, was named, Gregory X. Curiously enough, Visconti was not a cardinal because he wasn’t even a priest, just the archdeacon of Liege. Here’s the interesting timeline:

29 November 1268 - Clement IV dies.
Summer 1270 - Viterbo townsfolk lock cardinals in building.
1 September 1271 - Special committee selects Teobaldo Visconti as the new Pope.
19 November 1271 - Visconti returns to Vatican City from England (meeting with King).
12 February 1272 - Arrives in Viterbo, accepts invitation.
12 March 1272 - Visconti, now Gregory X, enters Vatican City.
19 March 1272 - Ordained as priest.
27 March 1272 - Consecreted as Pope.
10 January 1276 - Dies.

Wonder if the actions surrounding the conclave of 1268-1271 inspired the reality TV shows, “Big Brother?”

42

Many years ago, I read Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. Very, very funny.

Adams was not only a funny writer, but also a Mac user who wrote articles for various Mac-related publications and a couple of videogames.

On April 28, 2005, a movie based on Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which will, remarkably enough, bear the same title, will debut. The only problem is, I haven’t seen a whole lot of advertisement for it.

Pity because Hitchhiker’s Guide has heavily influenced the computer industry, especially the answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything, 42.

For example, the identification number for the tech support department at CE Software (now Startly Technologies), a software development company in West Des Moines, Iowa that I worked at for a couple of years, was 42. Tech support, answers, 42, get it?

The website for Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy features more tidbits, similiar in scope.

NIN Helps GarageBand

One of my favorite applications on the Mac right now is GarageBand, bundled as part of Apple's iLife '05 and included with some Mac systems.

Nine Inch Nails recently posted a song for download from their website in GarageBand format. This is a great file for those of you who want help in learning more about GarageBand. Hopefully more musicians who use GarageBand will offer up samples like this. Great stuff.

EctoPlasm

Testing entry with Ecto, a Mac app.

ND Decides Who Owns Vehicle Black Box Data

Over the past several months I've mentioned some of the silly waste of time legislation worked on in various state legislatures. Well folks, once in a good while there is a bright shining light. This time, it was turned on by the North Dakota state legislature.

Automakers have been installing black boxes, similar to what you see or hear about regarding commerical airplanes.

You know, the ominous and smoke encrusted boxes you see Transportation Safety Board and airline officials gathered around at a press conference. They are happy with the knowledge that amongst all the wreckage at a crash site, they were able to find the box. Unlike the FBI that not could not find Eric Rudolf, they were only able to find, with the help of Rudolf, a stash of explosives hidden by Rudolf in the building used as an HQ for those searching for Rudolf.

Wonder if Rudolf saw the humor in that.

Anyway, so automakers have been putting black boxes in cars but not all of them are telling car owners about them. Some insurance companies want to have access to the data before insuring the car owner.

North Dakota State Senator Ray Holmberg introduced a bill declaring that the box and data was owned by the car owner. He introduced the bill after learning that automakers were indeed installing black boxes.

The bill became law and now, at least in North Dakota, the data and box are owned by the car owner, car manufacturers are required to tell customers such a box is installed on their vehicle, a court order must be issued before the data can be used in the court room and insurance companies can't make access to the box a condition for coverage.

Hopefully the rest of the country will take notice and follow the lead. Wonder if it will happen at the federal level.

Source 1
Source 2

Can You Hear Me Now?

Remember those ads for Verizon Wireless in which the guy walks around talking into his cell phone and asking the person at the other side, "Can you hear me now? Good." is not too far from the truth.

There is a story about a reporter riding in a car with a Verizon Wireless employee to test signal quality. The car has about $250,000 worth of equipment to test Verizon Wireless' signal as well as those for competition.

First The 8-Track, Now Watches?

According to textually.org, watchmakers have said that cellphones are a threat to cheap watches.

'Youngsters don't have a watch anymore today. If they want to know the time, they look at their mobile, which never leaves them,' said Patrick Besnard, a representative for the French watchmaking industry at the fair.

So rather than lament the changing times, French watchmakers are suing cell service companies.

Besnard's committee of French watchmakers and jewellers launched legal action in February against a telephone operator's advertising campaign in France depicting watches and a grandfather clock tossed in a bin.

After all, if you can't beat them in the marketplace, draw the battle into court.

It's nice that I can still be considered a youngster. I haven't worn a watch since 1996 after reading an article in a computer magazine. The writer noted that with clocks on computers, VCRs, mobile phones (yes, I know I keep switching between calling them cell phones and mobile phones), in cars and on TV, why wear a watch? I'm guilty of using my mobile/cell phone as a watch.

Make My Burger Right

A woman called 911 in Orange County California to demand that Sheriff's deputies be dispatched to the Burger King she was at to make them make her a Western Burger. "Uh, send an officer down here. I want them to make my order right."

This action tied up the 911 phone line for roughly 2.5 minutes.

Seems that the reason the staff may have been ignoring her is because BK doesn't make the Western BBQ Burger, Carl's Jr. does.


The 911 audio and transcript can be found here.

Make My Burger Right!

A woman called 911 in Orange County California to demand that Sheriff's deputies be dispatched to the Burger King she was at to make them make her a Western Burger. "Uh, send an officer down here. I want them to make my order right."

Seems that the reason the staff may have been ignoring her is because BK doesn't make the Western BBQ Burger, Carl's Jr. does.


Look here for the 911 audio tape and transcript.

Why Syria Matters

Charles Krauthammer writes a weekly column for the Washington Post. Today's article offers a concise explanation regarding why Syria matters in the big scheme of things.

Syria is the prize. It is vulnerable and critical, the geographic center of the axis, the transshipment point for weapons, and the territorial haven for Iranian and regional terrorists.

If Syria can be flipped, the axis is broken. Iran will not be able to communicate directly with the local terrorists. They will be further weakened by the loss of their Syrian sponsor and protector. Prospects for true Lebanese independence and Arab-Israeli peace will improve dramatically

Gmail Goes To 2GB

During it's beta phase, Google's Gmail, a free webmail service, allowed each user to have 1GB of storage for email.

To mark Gmail's 1 year anniversary, the storage limit has been bumped up to 2GB.

Check out Gmail now. It's free.

Supreme Court Back Scratcher

Hmmm...so the Colorado State Supreme Court says it's not OK to look at The Bible for moral support while determining whether or not a guilty person should receive the death penalty.

But it's OK for the US Supreme Court to refer to international law while determining whether or not juveniles should be eligible for the death penalty.

Just checking...

Wide Awake In PA

Yeah, I know it's late/early, depending on how you look at it but I am so, so wide awake.

After a week long flu-enduced slumber and my recharge levels inching back to full, I am so awake. I know next week is going to be screwed up at work but hey, the flu bug is gone.

And the Illini are in the Final Four.

My world rocks to some pretty cool and funky music right now.

Happy Easter everyone!

John 3:16

Fantastic Plastic Card, Plastic Peso

When I went to the doctor's office the other day, the first order of business, of course, was figuring out when I was going to pay my $10 co-pay fee (thankfully I have health insurance). I gave the receptionist my credit card. She said the doctor only took check or cash. Huh?

Since roughly 1996, the only time I've actually written a check has been to pay bills, the ones I don't already have set up to be automatically paid by the bank. And I am starting to warm to the idea of web banking and web bill pay.

In every day meanderings, I've always used cash or my credit card. In fact, I very rarely carry much by way of cash. The movie theatres either take credit cards or there's an ATM machine and my bank has one near the theatre anyway to help me avoid the ATM fee scam. McDonald's here even announced they are going to start accepting credit/debit cards.

I explained all this to the receptionist. It's 2005, the 21st century, my cell phone has the same density of my wallet (small wallet, see above), why can't I use a credit card? She wouldn't answer. I'm sure it's because they don't want to pay the fees involved with running credit/debit card transactions. But hey, it's 2005, the 21st century, my car can verbally tell me where to turn on the way to Cape May NJ.

Google...In Klingon

For those of you who actually know the language adapted from Star Trek, you are loved. Google is available in your favorite dead language.

Sorry Mork, no Orkian version yet. Nano nano.

Breaking It Down

My fever finally broke this morning around 4am. I have been hovering between 100°F and 102.4°F all of last week. So now, aside from feeling very groggy, I feel cold and extremely hungry.

The flu bug is an amazing thing. The flu shot can hold some strains at bay but I know many people who've gotten the shot and still be bedridden by that virus. Because of that, I don't get the flu shot. While it's not a recommended way to lose weight, I've definitely done that and because you don't eat much, if at all, during the main stage of the infection, that notion can stick with you afterwards, as it did to me. My real weight loss happened after my last bout with the stomach flu. That was just an absolute evil romp through at least the third circle of Hades.

While lying on the couch for a week, I've been watching the news about the Terry Schiavo case. I haven't wanted to say anything up here because it is a very controversial and emotional situation.

In my own thinking, I've had to strip away what's been said emotionally and get to the black and white of it all. And while Terry's parents don't like it, I think that's what the judges have done too.

Emotionally, Terry is their child and they believe she is very much in an unconscious state. They believe she can be rehabilitated. They contend her due process rights have been denied.

Legally though, Michael Schiavo is still considered by Florida law to be her legal guardian, the Schindlers have yet to offer any evidence that she clearly indicated she would want all means necessary done to keep her alive, several doctors have drawn the same conclusion that she's in a vegatative state that has remained unchanged for 15 years without any real ability for rehabilitation, no proof has been provided in allegations that Michael hurt her. The whole thing about due process goes the other way as well, which in my mind cancels itself out as an issue. I personally think that Due Process is only effected during legal charges being brought against you. Due Process is one of those things that is largely unique to American law.

I also believe it is vitally important to preserve that distinction of who the legal guardian is. If Michael Schiavo were to be stripped of that status, ccould you imagine the precedent that will set?

For example, I end up in some sort of vegatative state like Terry (please God, don't let that happen) and I don't have a living will, although my public statement in parenthesis just now should clear up any sort of subtlities of my feelings on this, the legal guardianship issue could be battled for years.

We may not all agree about Terry Schiavo's current state and whether or not her starvation is construed as murder or not but I think we'd all agree, I'd hope we do, that it's important for each state to look at their laws regarding living wills, right to die and legal guardianship and get rid of any ambiguities or holes.

The Schindlers are contended that because none of the judicial processes have gone their way, that "Judicial homicide" is happening and that Governor Jeb Bush has done nothing this past week. What about his attempts to gain protective custody of Terry and trying to persuade members of the Florida legislature to pass a law to help Terry? I thnk the Schindlers need to stop listening to radicals like Randall Terry.

In the end, it's been Terry Schiavo's right to a dignified death over 15 years that has been denied.

Make Your Own Duct Tape Wallet

What do duct tape, the jeep and slinky all have in common? They were all invented during World War II.

Duct tape was born out of a need for some sort of tape that could be used to secure demolitions to obstacles at the Normandy beach head. Feature number one was that it could stay secure in the water. All of us duct tape believers know this is great stuff.

Not only did duct tape help the Allies win on D-Day at Normandy, it has helped many of us with various repair jobs. Now, duct tape can be used to secure your credit cards and money.

3M has posted how-to instructions for building your own wallet out of duct tape. Eat your heart out Ralph Lauren, Christian Dior and Tommy Hilfiger.

Go here.

St. Patty's Day Lament

And its by the hush, Me Boys
And be sure to hold your noise
And listen to poor Paddy's sad narration

My background is South African (French, Dutch and a smattering of English). Dad and I believe our Smith surname comes from the Irish Smiths but that is speculative at this point. So really, there isn't too much of a need for me to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. And since the Hugenots were kicked out of France (with some moving down to South Africa), I'm not much for honoring Bastille Day. Nonetheless, I do wear green on St. Patrick's Day (helps that it's one of my favorite colors) as recognition for what the Irish have done for America.

The Irish came to America for very much the same reason as the Hugenots went to South Africa: the potential for making a better living. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That sort of thing.

I was by hunger pressed
And by poverty distressed
So I took an oath to leave the Irish nation

The Scots and Irish, along with Chinese, helped to build our rail and telegraph systems. Irish folk music has heavily influenced American folk music. There was also the Irish Brigade during the Civil War with men often times getting off the boat from Ireland and being mustered right away in to military service.

But when we got to Yankee-Land
They stuck a musket in me hands
Sayin' "Paddy, you must go and fight for Lincoln"

The song quoted above is called Paddy's Lamentation, which I first heard in the movie, Gangs of New York. Irish folk songs, like other types of songs, have several themes running throughout. Praising Ireland's beauty, poverty, some sense of defiance or perseverence.

And here's you Boys, now take my advice
To Americay I'll have you not be goin'
For there's nothin' here but war
Where the murderin' cannons roar
And I wish I was back home
In dear old Ireland

In spite of that advice, most did stay and helped to make it great. I wear my green proudly, even though I'm South African (French, Dutch).

C-Flash. Yet Another Media Format

Not to be confused with CompactFlash, C-Flash is about the same size as the Transmedia format and potential use is in cell phones.

But really folks, do we need yet another media format? C-Flash will be added to the current list:

SD, miniSD, CompactFlash, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo, TransFlash, xd-PictureCard, the USB Flash Card, MMC, RS-MMC, MMCmicro, SmartMedia.

There's probably more but you get the idea.

Fatwa Issued On Bin Laden, Finally

3 years after September 11
1 year after Madrid

Today, Spanish Muslim clerics declared a fatwa on Osama bin Laden. This is basically an official condemnation on the guy.

Great but why did it take so long? Not only that, this is the first ever fatwa against that evil SOB. Not only has he helped murder people and inspire violence and intolerance over peace and tolerance, he has hurt the Muslim faith.

SOURCE

Lies, Damned Lies and Photographs

Giuliana Sgrena, the Italian reporter wounded by U.S. soldiers after the truck she was riding in refused to stop at a U.S. checkpoint in Iraq has some explaining to do regarding the various versions of the story she's been telling about what exactly happened at the checkpoint.

She claimed the shooting at the checkpoint was a deliberate ambush in which she survived a hail of bullets/300-400 bullets.

Unfortunately, the photographs appearing on the internet show it was a car, not a truck that she was in and featuring a couple of bullet holes, not anywhere as many as she claimed.

In fact, the photos are more consistent with what the U.S. soldiers were reporting. They said they used various hand signals and flashlights to signal the car, traveling at a very high speed, to stop. After that they fired warning shots and then several shots into the engine to disable it.

One website had comparison photos of Sgrena's car and Bonnie and Clyde's car, which did get pretty well shot up.

I'm sure Sgrena will now employ Geraldo Rivera's classic "Fog of War" excuse for the embellishments and outright lies in her stories of the events

I'm Just A Bill

Remember the attempt to make it illegal to have "droopy pants" in the state of Virginia? Well it looks like the state of Conneticutt isn't too far behind in terms of genius and and spending tax dollars in a meaningful and prudent manner. Connecticutt state senator Andrea Stillman has introduced legislation to make it illegal to use a cell phone while filling up their cars at the gas station. She believes cell phone usage could spark a fire at a gas station.

Her scientific evidence? A chain junk message she received online. A case of classic urban legends being taken to heart.

There is no evidence to prove cell phones can spark a fire at a gas station. There is, however, lots of evidence to show cell phones won't start a fire.

Nothing to be done about the folks who smoke while filling up.

They Built It, You Should Go

The baseball diamond, house and cornfield that were a part of the movie, Field of Dreams, is still there and lots of people visit it.

At noon, just as in the movie, Shoeless Joe and crew emerge from the cornfield to play.

SOURCE

Personally, I'd like to visit Yankee Stadium and Boston's Fenway Park.

Circuits Dead at NYTimes

It's official. What's been rumored for a week or so is now fact. The Circuits section of the New York Times will be killed off in favor of an expanded fashion section.

Circuits appeared every Thursday and featured stories on computers and gadgets by great writers like David Pogue.

A computer section killed off in favor of a fashion section? How humiliating. Excuse me while I go around the corner and puke. Well, maybe I shouldn't be so harse since the various parts of the Thursday Circuits section will be absorbed into other sections. Thanks Bounty.

Peeps For The People

And while we are talking about building your own laser tag weapons, how about making your own peeps? No, we're not talking about human cloning but rather of Peeps.

DIY Laser Tag: Because We Can

Like laser tag but feel jealous of all the cool equipment the paintball warriors get to choose from? Tired of the wimpy laser tag stuff at Toys R' Us?

Rejoice Laser tag fans! Become a laser tag DIY person with the info here.

Cronkite Digs Into Rather

CNN.com posted the transcript to an interview Wolf Blitzer had with Walter Cronkite. Lots of very illuminating stuff.

Here's what he said about Dan Rather,

CRONKITE: Well, I think that there was a general feeling among quite a lot of us around the CBS shop and, indeed, some of the viewers, that Dan gave the impression of playing a role, more than simply trying to deliver the news to the audience.
...

BLITZER: Bob Schieffer, as you know, is going to be the interim anchor of "The CBS Evening News," a good friend of all of ours, an outstanding journalist. Who do you think should emerge as the next anchor, the main anchor of CBS, after Bob Schieffer's interim period?

CRONKITE: Well, I think it's going to be hard to find anybody who is going to be as much liked and appreciated and does such a job as Bob Schieffer. I think he's one of the great television journalists of our time. And he was a good journalist when he came to television from Fort Worth [Texas]. He is, to my mind, the man who, quite frankly -- although Dan did a fine job -- I would like to have seen him there a long time ago. He would have given the others a real run for their money.

Yeah, I think Cronkite was being diplomatic about Rather, given some of back story about Cronkite's retirement and Rather taking over the anchor position at CBS.

So Rather was "...playing a role, more than simply trying to deliver the news..."? What about when Cronkite used his position (at the time, a pretty powerful one) as news anchor to issue an on the air opinion that the war in Vietnam was at a stalemate and that the U.S. should open negotiations with the North Vietnamese?

Cronkite has been involved with news reporting since the 1930s and with the birth and early days of broadcast journalism, so it was no surprise that Blitzer asked him about the current state of news.

BLITZER: Where does Walter Cronkite go when he wants to get the news?

CRONKITE: Well, I go to my newspapers first. They're more complete than broadcast [news] today. The misfortune with broadcasting today is that all -- even including your network, which is dedicated to the news -- do not take enough time to give us all of the facts and the background. ...

I wish that my network of CBS and the other two, I wish they would spend more time with their magazine programs giving us documentaries to back the news and interpret the news for us, or broadcast time in the half-hour evening news report programs. As we all know, with the commercial time taken out ... we've got 17 or 18 minutes. We've got one of the most complicated nations in the world, particularly today. We've got a complicated world in which we presume to be leaders. And my gracious, we're trying to cover all the important news in those two great bailiwicks in 17 or 18 minutes. It's madness. And we simply can't do it.
...

Give news a little more time and don't request that they also, in their news time, entertain. We're not entertainers. We're journalists. And we need more time to do our job well.

Lisa de Moraes of The Washington Post has a different take on Wolf Blitzer's interview of Walter Cronkite. She thought that maybe it was Cronkite taking some last shots at Rather and CBS.

But really, let's get to the bare essence of it all. Isn't news another form of entertainment? Why does someone "Like" to watch the news? What's the difference between a news junkie, sports junkie or reality-show junkie?

Cronkite has said many times in the past that he'd like to see the daily news shows expand from a half hour to an hour or more. In fact, his CBS news broadcasts were originally 15 minutes long and under his guidance, grew to 30 minutes.

Now, I wonder what Cronkite has to say about The Fox Report with Shepard Smith that is an hour long.

Continued Speculation on 2008

Whether or not we elect a female president in 2008, The folks at Outside The Beltway are probably right in saying that, "the Democratic nomination is rather clearly [Hillary] Clinton's to lose."

Will we will see some sort of branching off either of the two major political parties in this country in 2008?

Peace? Sorry, Can't Have That!

The last sentence says it all:

Lebanon's most powerful party, Hezbollah, says it does not want Syrian troops to withdraw from Lebanon. It has called for a mass rally in central Beirut on Tuesday in support of Damascus and against what it calls Western meddling. "The U.S. and Israel want chaos in Lebanon in order to find an excuse for international intervention," said Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah secretary general. The Shiite Muslim group says Syria's pullout under intense global pressure could spell chaos for Lebanon and push it towards peace with Israel.Peace with Israel?
SOURCE

Peace? We don't need no stinkin' peace!

In the meantime, the government of Lebanon and Syria have agreed to a gradual reduction in Syria's military presence within Lebanon. No surprise they agreed since the Lebanese government is more or less a puppet of Syria.

There is now a kosher mobile phone.

Orthodox Jews say that you cannot use a mobile phone on the Sabbath . Now what if you apply the same concept as what you see on kitchen stoves, the "Sabbath mode" which keeps the stove or oven running? If I was to turn my cell phone on and keep it on through the Sabbath, is that a no-no?

Google Tricks

Google.com has continued to add neat tricks to it's website.

Get the weather forecast - In the Google search box, type "weather state college, pa" without the brackets and use your city name and state instead.

Get a map - In the same Google search box, type an address. You will then get a results page that should have options for viewing the map at Google Maps, Yahoo! maps or Mapquest.

Around The World In 67 Hours

Steve Fossett became the first person to fly solo around the world yesterday. 23,000 miles in 67 hours. Alas, none of those miles will earn any frequent flyer points.

After five unsuccessful attempts at going around the world in a hot air balloon, Fossett was able to do so in a custom built jet.

During the flight, there were concerns about low fuel but after everyone at mission control looked at the numbers, they were confident fuel would not be a great concern. Fossett was also helped by strong tail winds.

Source

Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer

I'm A Nerd!

Not as geeky as Steve Riggins, but that's probably because I never remembered the periodic table of elements.

Hey Intel, How Much Do You Pay For R&D?

CNet.com reported that Intel, at its developer conference, unveiled a prototype for what they believe to be the home entertainment PC. Funny thing is, it looks like Apple's Mac mini.

Oh, but wait, that digital clock on the front of the case shows that there is some form of original thinking going on in the R&D room. I would love to see how much money was invested in the R&D for that box.

Side Effect of TV Series DVDs

I was told to watch the television series, "Lost" but that maybe I should wait until the DVD for the season comes out. That way, I can avoid commercials and not have to wait a week for the next episode.

A friend followed my advice and watched an episode of Battlestar Galactica. because he hadn't seen the mini-series that preceded the current series on the Sci-Fi channel, he was sort of lost (oops, no pun intended).

Given the availability of television series on DVD, people don't feel they are losing out if they miss an episode or half a season for a television series. They'll be able to rent or buy the DVDs.

Surely this will bite into a show's ratings. Television series DVDs have been said to be the hottest selling segment of DVDs currently.

The New York Times has a great computer and gadget section every Thursday with reporters, like David Pogue, who know their stuff about computers. Which makes it all the more difficult to understand why they got everything wrong with their story on security issues with cell phones all wrong.

A representative from Flexilis stood out front at the Academy Awards ceremony to see if he could hack into cell phones of the stars. All for research of course. The idea was that he would use a method called bluesnarfing to tap into the phones and exploit the same security flaws Paris Hilton's phone had.

The Sidekick from T-Mobile, used by Paris Hilton, does not have Bluetooth as a part of its feature set.

Not only that, the story got it wrong in saying that most smartphones store their data on a central server like Paris' wireless service provider. most smartphones (cellphones with PDA functions) store data on the phone itself.

So not only did the reporters get their information wrong, the Flexilis employee really didn't do a good job in representing Flexilis, a company that focusses on mobile phone security.

Bad PR? What's That?

On the tech side of things, T-Mobile took some hits for not patching a security flaw in its systems that allowed someone to hack into Paris Hilton's account. The hacker then posted all of the information stored at the server for Hilton's Sidekick II cell phone/PDA (T-Mobile's version of the Danger HipTop 2).

Lots of geek press wrote follow up articles on how to prevent from being hacked, etc. And you would think T-Mobile would take a beating in terms of new subscribers but that's not true.
In spite of the negative press, TechNewsWorld reported that New York City stores are selling out of the SideKick II. Maybe T-Mobile should do some ads with Hilton.

This smartphone has received lots of good reviews and I wish Danger would make a version for Verizon Wireless.