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.