pointlessness

AJAX - A Year Later

2006-08-31T14:04:00.000-07:00

I've been following AJAX and it's integration into our 'webbed' world for a while now. This article takes a look at the current state of AJAX and how it's come along

Making it possible is Ajax (Asynchronous JAvaScript and XML), a programming technique that lends Web sites the same kinds of interactivity and speed that desktop programs have traditionally had. With Ajax, we'll no longer need desktop applications. Our data will be available to us everywhere we go, because it will all be stored on Ajax-based Web sites. Who needs Microsoft or other makers of desktop software? We're finally free! That's the hype, anyway. But is it actually true?

Some of the best sites that are now using AJAX are listed on pages two to seven. When I first heard of AJAX I started to learn to use it, going so far as to get a book from the local chapters. When I asked if they had one they said, 'no'. When I asked if they could get one they said, 'no'. And along with everything else in my life I just let it go and decided not to bother. It's a shame because it seems like a useful piece of knowledge to have these days.

I thought it may just be a passing fancy at first, but it looks like it may be worth looking into again.

Tags: AJAX, Best of

Movies on iTunes

2006-08-31T13:24:00.000-07:00

Movies on iTunes? Who cares. I had a brief discussion about this today with someone before I saw this. I don't have a video iPod and I have no interest. Give me a 60" TV before you give me a 2.5" screen (or whatever it is).

Coming soon to a Mac or PC near you: Movies on iTunes. My BusinessWeek colleague Ron Grover has exclusive details about how how Wal-Mart, as the largest seller of DVDs -- it sells about 40% of DVDs produced -- is unhappy at the prospect of Hollywood studios doing business with Apple and iTunes. But here's the best part, and a detail you won't see anywhere else: The announcement is expected by mid-September, with prices of $14.99 for new releases and $9.99 for older movies.

I would have to guess is that there would have to be a new hardware product to go with such an announcement too, wouldn't you? Grover says says a "wider screen" iPod is on the way as well.

So unhappy is Wal-Mart at the prospect of all this that its demanding lower wholesale prices on DVDs, and Wal-Mart exec David Porter has been "playing the heavy" with Hollywood execs. Additionally, he wants marketing help when Wal-Mart launches its own movie download site later on. Wal-Mart's leverage certainly makes these Hollywood execs nervous.

Naturally this has studio execs spooked, and is irritating Steve Jobs, Grover reports. Jobs has apparently done some lobbying of his own around Hollywood, and is said to have personally called Wal-Mart honcho H. Lee Scott to express concerns. Wal-Mart also happens to sell an awful lot of iPods and Macs.

So are the movies going to have DMA protection on them also? Sure, it's not hard to get around, but if I'm buying it I don't want to have a bunch of problems making a back-up copy of it. I'm sure it won't be that hard, but Apple and the MPAA will make sure to include some sort of protection.

[byte of the Apple]

Tags: iTunes, Movies

Zune Pics

2006-08-17T21:47:00.000-07:00

Gizmodo has a picture of the upcoming Zune by Microsoft. The Zune, said to be the iPod killer, looks fairly ugly to me. There is not a lot of information on it, but as it comes available I'll have it posted.

More information was added at Gizmodo here, but the only thing that intrigues me is this:

FM support is fairly complete, with both an FM tuner and an FM transmitter so you can beam the music to your car. The FM transmitter also feeds up Song and Artist information so you can see what's playing from your car stereo (if it supports that feature, like in GM cars). Pretty neat.

While this is possible with an iPod, it's an add-on that you have to purchase separately. I haven't done so yet, but I would like one for my car. I'm sure Apple isn't far behind with their newest iPods being announced in December, and a handy feature like this would be nice to see.

Engadget also has information on the Zune, courtesy of iLounge, but really it says much of the same. One feature that did stick out was listed here:

...but of course the Zune's killer app is WiFi. iLounge says that you'll be allowed to "loan" songs to other users for a day, which they can proceed to buy from the Zune music store, and you'll also be able to stream music to a WiFi-enabled Xbox 360, but we're not sure if a hard drive will be required to pull it off. At a purported $300 pricetag, we can't tell if the Zune will have what it takes to challenge the iPod -- iLounge, naturally, has their doubts -- but from the writeup it does seem like the Zune will have at least one heavily bandied feature: video.

'Loan' songs to friends? Since everything digital is made of 1's and 0's this'll be cracked in no time. You can 'loan' your song to your friend and they take it home, put it on their PC, crack it, put it back on the Zune, and away they go. It'll only be a matter of time. Look at the '360. How long did it take people to crack the system? No time at all. How much effort did MS put into designing a system where people couldn't copy their friends games? Too much for the amount of effort it took to crack their system. Anyway, off topic a bit.

The technical details of the Zune will reveal whether or not it'll be worth switching over to iPod, or at the very least, going with both.

Tags: Microsoft, Zune, iPod

Blogger 2.0

2006-08-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

Blogger seems to have an upgrade available. I read it somewhere this evening and thought that I'd give it a try. More on that in a second.

Google on Monday took the wraps off a new version of its Blogger service, which adds a number of new features in an attempt to catch up to its rivals. On the list of additions are categorizing posts with labels, controlling who can read a blog, and modifying the design without editing HTML.

While it's in beta, only a limited number of Blogger users are being offered the ability to migrate their blog to the new service, although those interested can create a new account on the beta. Google hasn't said when it plans to officially launch the new version, but notes that it will be tied to the company's Google Accounts system.

I had to sign up, which annoyed me because I already have a blogger account, why do I want two? Anyway, after fiddling around with it for a while I came to the realization that it's not near complete and shouldn't have been released to the public yet.

There are neat features, like the drag and drop layout feature, but even that is far from perfect. I have a feeling it won't be fully functional, to most users preference, even after the 'final' version is done.

Some more links:

Business Wire
VNUNet
MacWorld
Pocket-lint

[betanews]

Tags: Blogger, beta, update, 2.0

Imaging of Hydrogen Fuel Cells

2006-08-16T20:31:00.000-07:00

While probably not that interesting to most people, this really intrigues me.

Thanks to a new and improved imaging instrument at the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), scientists now can conduct detailed surveillance on the comings and goings of water inside hydrogen fuel cells—a piece of intelligence key to making the technology practical for powering future automobiles.

With visualization powers 10 times better than those achieved previously, researchers can “see” water production and removal in fuel cells under a range of simulated operating conditions, from arctic cold to desert heat.

“This as-it-happens, inside view is essential because fuel-cell performance depends on a delicate balance,” explains NIST physicist Muhammad Arif, who leads the NIST team that developed the instrument. “Too little—or too much—water can shut it down.

”Better water management is fundamental to meeting targets for fuel cell performance, reliability and durability. Reaching these targets, in turn, is integral to efforts to replace petroleum with hydrogen to power cars and trucks by 2020—the goal of President Bush’s Hydrogen Fuel Initiative.

I've studied Fuel Cells in the past, and I think that they're going to be the only solution in the future. Oil doesn't last forever, and electric vehicles will only get us so far. The problem, as far as I can tell, is going to be having the cars make the hydrogen themselves. The solution is quite easy in the mock up I designed, but the implementation is difficult. The size of the cars would be massive.

[nist]

Tags: Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, Imaging

One Terabyte Drives

2006-08-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

Desktop hard drives holding 1 terabyte, or 1,000 gigabytes, of storage will likely be announced in 2006, said Bill Healy, senior vice president of product strategy and marketing at Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. These drives, which will have a 3.5-inch diameter, are expected to be incorporated into PCs and home servers. Healy wouldn’t say what companies would announce first. Sources at Seagate, however, said Seagate plans to come out with 1TB 3.5-inch drives by late 2006 or early 2007.

It's not that big of a stretch for some hard drive makers. Hitachi already sells a 500GB drive, while rival Seagate Technology started shipping a 750GB drive to desktop makers in April. Seagate also sells a home storage device with two 500GB drives to make up 1 terabyte. Drive density effectively doubles every two years and increases steadily over the two-year period; hence, a terabyte drive is on the horizon, Healy said.

The next line is quite funny, actually.

Granted, few people really need 1 terabyte of storage.

Really? I could use one or two. Especially when CDs and DVD backups don't last forever. At least HDDs last longer, especially in a RAID configuration. With file sizes only growing (HD-DVD backups on the PC anyone?) it's not enough to have one TB... How about 200TB drives? That would mean I wouldn't have to upgrade for a while.

[zdnet]

Tags: Hitachi, 1 terabyte, HDD

120GB iPod?

2006-08-15T18:58:00.000-07:00

We can only hope.

Seagate has announced that they will be launching a new 1.8" Hard Drive possibly for the expected iPod in December. iPods have had the 60GB limit for quite some time and it is proposed that their new rumored iPod will be released and break the current maximum storage capacity.

This is currently just speculation, the image is also just a concept. (Seagate has announced the 120GB drive but they have not yet promised its use in the Apple iPod.) However, it is very possible....sorry about the mix up guys.

All these events are obviously happening around the Christmas Season....in hopes to spark up another iPod frenzy.

Would be nice. I haven't grabbed a 60GB yet, but with all the podcasts and music crammed onto my iPod, I may just hold out for something even bigger. Of course, once that happens I'll get into the video end of it and 120GB won't be close to enough.

[pcexposure]

Tags: iPod, 120GB, Seagate

Pirate Party's Darknet

2006-08-14T19:18:00.000-07:00

The second one I've run across today? That's odd, isn't it? Seems that everyone is tired of the RIAA and the MPAA.

Today, the Swedish Pirate Party launched a new Internet service that lets anybody send and receive files and information over the Internet without fear of being monitored or logged. In technical terms, such a network is called a "darknet". The service allows people to use an untraceable address in the darknet, where they cannot be personally identified.

"There are many legitimate reasons to want to be completely anonymous on the Internet," says Rickard Falkvinge, chairman of the Pirate Party. "If the government can check everything each citizen does, nobody can keep the government in check. The right to exchange information in private is fundamental to the democratic society. Without a safe and convenient way of accessing the Internet anonymously, this right is rendered null and void."

File sharing of music, films, and other forms of culture is where the surveillance of Internet addresses has attracted the most attention, largely because the entertainment industry has been so aggressive in suing Internet users for copyright infringement, suing college students and single mothers alike without concern.

"But there are much more fundamental values at stake here than copyright," Rickard Falkvinge says. "The new technology has brought society to a crossroads. The only way to enforce today's unbalanced copyright laws is to monitor all private communications over the Internet. Today's copyright regime cannot coexist with an open society that guarantees the right to private communication."

PirateParty

Tags: Pirate Party, Darknet, Filesharing

Fox and Myspace

2006-08-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

I think the biggest question with this is: Does Fox actually have any shows worth downloading?

Fox Entertainment Group is planning to distribute movies and TV shows to consumers from the company's network of Internet sites, including MySpace.com.

Fox, a division of News Corp., announced Monday that digital versions of TV shows such as "24" and "Prison Break," along with feature films, including "X-Men: The Last Stand," will eventually be available for download at Fox sites. Movies will go for $19.99, while TV episodes will cost $1.99.

The move is the latest sign that Hollywood studios are determined not to allow Apple Computer as much control over distribution digital content as the music industry handed over to Apple's music download site, iTunes. Apple has emerged as the gatekeeper when it comes to digital music, selling more songs than any other Web site. Movie and TV executives have said that they want a host of e-tailers offering their content.

Warner Bros. Entertainment has been among the most aggressive of the studios in the pursuit of such a strategy. In recent months, the company cut distribution deals with video-sharing site Guba and file-sharing system BitTorrent.

Apple already offers some Fox TV shows, but they can be watched only on Apple handheld products such as the iPod. In what Fox claims is an industry first, customers will be able to download a TV show or movie to two Windows-based computers, where each can then transfer the content to a single handheld device.

Fox's IGN Entertainment, which makes video games available for download, is providing the distribution platform for all of Fox's sites, and will also offer the first download, on the IGN's Direct2Drive Web site, sometime in October, Fox said in a statement.

The company did not disclose when its other sites will begin selling digital content.

news.com

Tags: Fox, TV, Download

OFF by Digital Douwd

2006-08-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

Could this be the answer everyone is looking for? Napster goes bye bye, Bittorrent seemed like a good idea, and now maybe OFF will be the answer everyone is looking for.

Closing letter to
the Copyright Industry Associations of America
from
the Digital Douwd

Attention:

Mark today on your calendar! They will need it for your obituary. Today is the day our future began and your future ended.

For three years now you have pursued your lawsuit campaign. Twenty thousand plus consumers, a dozen companies, and several very prominent friends of ours have fallen victim to your charade. We hoped you would see the obvious foolishness of your ways. Now, however, it appears clear that your shenanigans have gone on too long—You have begun deposing bereaved families of the deceased.

This can not stand. This will not stand. You will not stand. And from this day forward, your manipulative copyright claims will have no standing.

Today is the day we end all of your problems with consumer copyright infringement. For from today forward, consumers have no need for copies, infringing or otherwise. One common copy is all that is needed. One copy for everyone. Accessible forever.

Today we announce a massively distributed copy-less file system. A place where all content is available instantly, anonymously and to everyone, without breaking any laws. Today we announce the Owner-Free File System. An island of sanity in your sea of madness.

Feel free to monitor OFF’s communications. You’ll find no copying. Subpoena a few servers. You’ll find nothing that belongs to you. Only bits of randomness. This new internet infrastructure is truly a place without ownership. Nobody owns the OFF System. Nobody owns bits of randomness collected in the OFF System. There is beauty in randomness. As with all things beautiful, randomness’ value lies in the eye of the beholder. There is no intrinsic meaning in randomness but an infinite amount of extrinsic value. And behold that value we will.

This is not a threat. This is not a negotiation. This is the future—A future with no one to sue.

Adapt or die.

The Digital Douwd

Press Release

OFF information on Sourceforge

Tags: OFF, Digital Douwd

Laptop For Everyone

2006-08-13T17:19:00.000-07:00

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has announced that an ambitious project to provide low-cost laptop computers to all of Thailand's millions of elementary school students will begin in October.

The U.S.-based "One Laptop per Child" project aims to deliver up to 30 computers to Thailand in October and 500 more in November, Thaksin said in a nationwide radio broadcast on Saturday.

"If this project is completed, each elementary school child will receive a computer to learn on at school," Thaksin said.

"Each elementary school child will receive a computer that the government will buy for them, free of charge, instead of books, because books will be found and can be read on computers," he said.

He said the first batch of laptops - costing around US$100 (euro79) each - will be distributed to children in rural areas where access to technology is limited. Those children will test the computers before the government proceeds with the project nationwide. The laptops are not yet in production.

The Thai government adopted the project a year ago after Thaksin met the "One Laptop Per Child" project's founder, Nicholas Negroponte, the state Thai News Agency reported Sunday.

Some critics say the project misallocates resources and that governments in developing countries would do better to invest in providing for more basic needs. Other countries that have shown interest in the project - which has been endorsed by the United Nations - include China and Brazil, Thaksin said.

The machines are being designed to be cheap and sturdy, and have minimum running costs. They will use the free Linux operating system, flash memory instead of a hard drive, and according to Thaksin will be able to run on an outboard electricity generator that is pumped by hand.

Thaksin entered business as an agent for IBM computer systems, and later built a telecommunications empire that made him one of Thailand's richest men.

The prime minister last week launched his campaign for re-election at polls scheduled for Oct. 15.

ON THE NET

One Laptop per Child: http://laptop.org/

[siliconvalley]

Technorati Tags : Laptop, Thailand

HD-DVD and Blu-ray Are Losers

2006-08-13T17:16:00.000-07:00

Based on a new media research report that says neither the HD DVD nor its Blu-ray contender will deliver a "knock out" punch in the digital video ring, consumers may well think twice before upgrading their home theater system.

That's the conclusion drawn in a report by media researchers at The Screen Digest, which projects that both formats will coexist until some form of common ground is established, much like the current situation with recordable DVDs.

Opinions vary among industry watchers, some of whom argue that Blu-ray, backed by Sony and most of the major film studios, is in a better position to dominate.

"The net result of the format war and the publicity it has generated will be to dampen consumer appetite for the whole high definition disc category," said Ben Keen, Screen Digest chief analyst, in a statement.

Give and Take

The report notes that the success of DVD was based on the fact that it offered better quality and greater convenience than the VHS format it replaced. This time, though, both standards support similar features, and the differences are likely to confuse the average consumer.

For example, while the two formats look similar, a Blu-ray disc cannot be played on an HD DVD player and vice versa. And, Blu-ray discs hold up to 50 GB of content compared with HD DVD's 30 GB, Screen Digest notes.

What's not confusing is the price: each player is listing for as much as $1,500.

Edge to Blu-ray

"A battle between formats is not fought week by week; it is fought by lining up companies to support the format," said Forrester Research analyst Ted Schadler. "And the Blu-ray format continues to have much more support from manufacturers and studios than HD DVD."

The HD DVD format is backed by Toshiba, Microsoft, Universal, and others, while the Blu-ray format is backed by companies including Sony, Samsung, Phillips, Panasonic, Disney, and Twentieth Century Fox Studios, Warner Bros. and Paramount are backing both formats.

"It's time to put a stake in the ground regarding the future high-definition DVD format: Blu-Ray has won," Adrienne Downey, senior analyst at Semico Research, wrote in a company newsletter. "Walking around [the Consumer Electronic Show], it was obvious that much of the enthusiasm and momentum is on the Blu-Ray side."

"The support for HD DVD is minimal, in comparison. And Blu-ray has a technical advantage as well because it offers greater storage density," she said in a recent interview, noting that the Blu-Ray disc can scale up to 200 GB over time. "HD DVD can't match that scalability," said Downey.

All Just a Game

Sony has promised to provide Blu-Ray technology in its next-generation PlayStation 3 gaming console, which will give the format even more momentum, some analysts say.

By 2010, Screen Digest believes that just under one-third of all spending on video discs in the U.S., Japan, and Europe will be generated by sales of high definition formats.

[yahoonews]

Technorati Tags : HD-DVD, Blu-ray

AMD Release More Chips

2006-08-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

WEE XBIT labs reckons that AMD has started "conquering low end" territories. There's a fash aboot it, here.

Jings! And there's more. According to this Taiwanese site, AMD has gorn and quietly released a X2 5200+ - L2 cache being 1MBX2.

The News of the Screws - Bit-tech - has gone all Gelsinger and has a palooza of power supply units, here. Wil Harris has recently visited with (sic) Intel in Dullsville, so no doubt he's brainwashed with the palooza term again. Only Gelsinger knows the meaning of palooza. And he's nae saying.

Hard OCP suggests that you can really really get a decent gaming card for under 100 nicker US, here.

Meanwhile at Overclockers, Ed the S suggests there's grounds for Cointreau pricing optimism.

AMD Zone notices that Mad Shrimps has decided to do a chipset cooler roundup!

[theinquirer]

Tongue'd Gameboy

2006-08-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

Simmunity has created the world's first tongue-controlled Nintendo Game Boy AdvanceSP console and Game Cube controller for quadriplegic youth and adults.

The unit is designed for special people in school, residential and hospital settings, who can now play Game Boys with a tongue controller.

At left, you see a Tongue-Controlled Game Boy Advance SP and remote control receiver and a Charmed Labs XPort 2.0 cartridge programmed with a custom game program.

To make this work, we added a new jack for the receiver input. This receiver processes signals from the tongue-touch keypad and, in this case, relays them to a second micro-controller computer chip inside the Game Boy, added by Simmunity, to decode the reciever signals and activate the Game Boy Advance SP buttons.

The Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP operates normally with all Game Boy Advance compatible cartridges, though games which require multiple simultaneous button closures will require an assistant to help push extra buttons during play. Many games such as the popular Pokemon Pinball game and retro game collections with Ms. PacMan, Battle Zone and Galaxian are easily played on the Tongue Controlled Game Boy Advance SP without assistance. The Tongue Controlled Game Boy Advance SP can also control many Nintendo Game Cube Games through use of a Nintendo Game Boy Advance to Game Cube link cable.

Each Remote Controlled Game Boy Advance SP system is created by remanufacturing a standard Game Boy Advance SP console and adding a MicroChip PIC processor for signal decoding and button activation. Remanufactured consoles look unmodified and provide full battery life.

Simmunity Corporation is also developing specialized games and augmented communications software for people with various physical and cognitive communications challenges. We are dedicated to the thousands of young people whose lives we can touch and make brighter with learning, communication and entertainment products. We endeavor to raise self esteem and independence through accomplishment.

[simmunity]

Technorati Tags : Gameboy, Advanced

Toy Hydrogen Cars

2006-08-13T17:00:00.000-07:00

The H-racer ($40), a new toy car from a Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies, is a fascinating look into the potential hydrogen economy—although a sad excuse for a toy. The H-racer is pretty much pointless without it’s Hydrogen Station accessory ($40), which extracts hydrogen from water using electrolysis. That process is powered either by an included solar panel or by AA batteries.

The folks from Horizon admit that they are a fuel cell company, not a toy manufacturer, and perhaps it might require the skills of a seasoned toy industry veteran to include something such as remote radio control. But was it too much of an intellectual challenge for a company of engineers who spend their days blueprinting fuel cell stacks to design wheels that steer?

Okay, so the thing only goes in one direction, the fun part is supposed to be the hands-on demo of the technology that will single-handedly solve the fuel crisis. Here’s how it works: First, you build the car (which involves around 10 minutes of hooking up internal tubes and screwing together the case). Then you use an included syringe to extract any residual gasses in the car’s hydrogen tank—really just a little balloon. Next you plug the car into the fueling station, fill the station’s pump with water, plug in the solar panel, and wait. Then, after around three minutes, you get sick of waiting, and you turn on the battery power to fill the tank at a less glacial pace.

Then you’re ready to go. Flip the on/off switch on the bottom of the racer and its little wheels turn as fast as they can—which is actually not that fast at all. Nor is it that far. In our tests, the racer seemed to travel around 25 feet before petering out. (Inexplicably, this seems to occur while the balloon is still full.)

Nevertheless, the H-racer does provide a powerful lesson about the feasibility of a hydrogen fuel economy. And that lesson is that, as demonstrated, it is a disappointing power delivery system. As you patiently wait ten minutes for the fueling station to extract enough energy from the solar panel to create enough hydrogen to eventually run the car, you can’t help wondering why you didn’t just strap the solar panel and a battery to the car and be done with it? Instead of a miracle fuel, the tank full of hydrogen is just acting as a complicated battery with plenty of built-in inefficiency and extraordinarily low capacity.

So what’s the lesson? Hydrogen is a nice, clean way to run an electric motor, but pure hydrogen doesn’t just make itself. These days, when battery-powered cars such as the Tesla can go 130 mph and get up to 250 miles on a charge, the happy hydrogen future seems more and more like a lot of pressurized gas.

[popularmechanics]

Technorati Tags : Fuel, Cell, Car

Road to High Def

2006-08-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

HIGH-TECH projects often take longer to complete than anticipated; just ask Microsoft’s Windows team.

But it seems as if we’ve been hearing about high-definition video since the Eisenhower administration. The Federal Communications Commission’s mandatory cutoff of old-fashioned analog TV broadcasts, now scheduled for 2009, has been delayed, what, 500 times?

Part of the holdup is the extent and expense of the switch to the new, better-looking format. To achieve HDTV nirvana, you have to replace every element of your video setup: the TV set, cable box, DVD player, DVD movie collection — and even your camcorder.

Next month, Canon will release the world’s smallest and least expensive high-definition tape camcorder, a one-handable beauty called the HV10. Its list price is $1,300. As any gadget freak can tell you, however, that’s an inflated, fanciful figure provided for — well, for no good reason. The online price, once the camcorder is on store shelves, will be lower.

The HV10 is not the first high-def consumer camcorder by any means; Sony began blazing this path at the beginning of 2005. In fact, Sony’s third HD camcorder, not counting pro models, has been available for months: the HC3 ($1,500 list price; under $1,200 online), the previous price and size champ.

As Canon rolls out its HV10, Sony’s HC3 seems to be squarely in its cross hairs. Both camcorders produce video in the 1080i format, which you can edit in Apple’s iMovie or many Windows programs (Premiere, Vegas, PowerDirector and so on). Both have built-in, automatic lens caps but lack headphone and microphone jacks.

Both are HDV camcorders, which means that they record onto standard, easy-to-find, inexpensive MiniDV cassettes. The eyepiece viewfinder is immobile and nonextendable on both. And both cameras are so compact, the other parents at the baseball game will have absolutely no clue that you’re filming in high definition.

OF course, they’ll also have no idea that you paid more than $1,000 for your camcorder, compared with as little as $300 for a standard-def model — at least until they see the result on a high-definition TV.

That’s when they’ll see what all the fuss is about. The clarity, color fidelity and detail of good high-def video is absolutely astonishing, and its wide-screen shape makes even home movies look like Hollywood movies. With four times the resolution of a standard TV picture, high-def movies look like the view out a window.

This image-quality business, as it turns out, is the new Canon’s specialty. Talk about being blown away the first time you play back your recordings — let’s hope you have a sturdy couch.

Several advances are responsible for the brilliant picture quality. First, Canon has paid extra attention to two of the most important aspects of HD recording: focus and stability. Because the high-def picture is so sharp and so wide, moments of blurriness or hand-held jitters are far more noticeable and disturbing than in regular video.

So the front of the HV10 bears a special external sensor that, when you change your aim, handles the bulk of the refocusing extremely rapidly. A standard through-the-lens focusing system does the fine tuning after that. Together, these two mechanisms nearly eliminate the awkward moment of blurry focus-hunting that mars other camcorders’ output. (Take care to avoid covering the focus sensor with your fingers as they wrap around this vertically oriented, chunky camera.)

The HV10 also aims to iron out camera shake with a true optical stabilizer. A gyroscope inside the lens mechanism sends real-time feedback to the sensor itself, resulting, Canon says, in a more stable picture than you’d get from electronic stabilizers like the one in Sony’s HC3.

In practice, the Canon’s stabilizer works fantastically when you’re zoomed out; if you use two hands, the picture is indistinguishable from a tripod shot. As you zoom in, however, camera shake becomes more noticeable; at the 10X maximum, keeping the video rock-solid requires either a tripod or nerves of steel.

Now, depending on where the Canon’s street price winds up, Sony’s HC3 may be slightly more expensive. But it offers some goodies that the Canon lacks: a minutes-remaining readout for the battery; a “nightshot” mode for filming in total blackness, infrared-style; and an accessory shoe for video lights and microphones (proprietary Sony accessories only).

The Sony model also has an HDMI jack. HDMI is a single cable that carries high-definition video and audio — a common, extremely convenient connector on high-def equipment. Connecting the Canon to a high-def TV, on the other hand, requires plugging in five connections: left and right audio, and three component-video jacks.

[nytimes]

Technorati Tags : HDTV

Spill-resistant Keyboard

2006-08-13T16:53:00.000-07:00

The eMark Super Mobile Keyboard is marketed as the world's thinnest keyboard and just so happens to be spill-resistant—no more worrying about a cup of joe (or, mayhap, other liquid-like substances) muddying up the keys. From Japanese company Kimura Metal, the keyboard measures only 1mm, or about 0.04-inches. The USB keyboard has a retractable cable and comes in both white and black. Since it's so thin, it's possible to wrap it much like a Fruit Roll-Up. It's due to hit Japan later this month for around $256.

[gizmodo]

Technorati Tags : Keyboard, Tech

Lossless Downloads On iTunes

2006-08-13T16:42:00.000-07:00

A recent upgrade to the iTunes Producer software used by studios to encode tracks for iTMS distribution may be a good sign for the discriminating audiophile community, as Apple has included the necessary tools to create lossless AAC content that could presumably be uploaded to the online store. While the simple availability of this option certainly doesn't mean that higher-quality downloads are on the way -- for one thing, the so-called Apple Lossless Encoder still lacks the required FairPlay support -- Ars Technica points out that Cupertino and Hollywood could both potentially benefit from a less lossy option. Since tracks encoded in this format can be almost ten times as big as equivalent MP3s, widespread availability of lossless music may convince consumers to step up to higher capacity iPods, which would seem to be in Apple's best interest. As for the music studios, these high-fidelity tracks could presumably fetch more than the 99 cents that 128Kbps files go for, opening a door for the tiered pricing structures that content providers so desire. For now, though, these crystal-clear downloads are still merely speculation, so hardcore audio ~~snobs~~ enthusiasts will have to continue buying and ripping their own CDs for the foreseeable future.

[engadget]

MS Concepts

2005-12-18T02:29:00.000-08:00

This is just what the doctor ordered.

Those familiar with the Harry Potter books and films might recognise the first idea - called the Whereabouts Clock.

It shows you where people are, and its inventor Abigail Sellen thinks its best use is in the home.

Microsoft wants to build these "Harry Potter" maps so that you can keep track of where everybody is. Does anyone else see a problem with this? I know they offer a service in the UK that is similar to this, except you just phone in or use a GPS or something and you can find out where the person is.

This is extreme though. I don't want someone, like my wife, knowing where I am at all times...

Check out the rest of the article for more insights into the future according to MS.

Technorati Tags : Microsoft, Future, Technology

Virgin Galactic

2005-12-17T01:14:00.000-08:00

What won't Richard Branson do for money?

...officials from Virgin Galactic and from the State of New Mexico announced that they had reached an historic agreement which will see the building of a $200m spaceport in the southern part of the state on a 27 square mile area of state land.

Virgin Galactic[a]? Now that can't be a good idea. Didn't Richard try to fly around the world in a hot air balloon a few times? Wait, was he successful? I can't remember...

So why not build a spaceport and see if we can't throw a few millionaires into the air and watch them blow up like some fireworks on the 4th? I think that's a fine idea.

$200 million for a spaceport plus how many billion for a few spacecraft? How much is a flight into space going to cost? $10 million for an hours flight is my guess. It just sounds like a bad idea all around. [ars technica]

Technorati Tags : Virgin, Galactic, Tourism

Google Music Search

2005-12-15T12:46:00.000-08:00

What other [free] products could Google possibly supply us with?

Hot on the heels of yesterday's public confession of its new fascination with widgets, Internet un-portal Google has unveiled yet another new service: Google Music. Accessible from the main search page, Google Music provides information on albums, lyrics, and other artist-related information. When users enter the artist or song name as a search argument, a small box with the artists name and image (or icon of music notes) appears at the top of the results.

Music search? Is that even worthy of a note? I found this at ars technica (which has an amazing amount of extremely interesting articles lately it seems).

The thing that gets me is the lyrics part of their post. It's not in the next paragraph:

Clicking on the link will take you to a Google Music page with links to artist information, album information, artist websites, photos, along with online discussions. There are also the inevitable "buy this album" links to places like the iTunes Music Store, Amazon, Wal-Mart, and other online merchants.

With the RIAA, ASCAP, and BMI announcing in the last few days that they will now be going after tableture and lyric sites, would it be smart for Google to offer up artist's lyrics in their search results? I don't think so.

Technorati Tags : Google, Music, Search

Cracking the XBox 360

2005-12-15T02:10:00.000-08:00

Now here's food for thought: Do you think that any amount of security on a gaming system will stop crackers from reverse engineering it?

A group of crackers called Team PI Coder says it has discovered the basic workings of the console's file system. The information has helped the group dig out the raw data from the console for 13 Xbox 360 games.

I'm going to go with "no" on that one. What makes Microsoft think that their newest protection on the 360 is any different than the other systems to date?

A spokesman for Microsoft said there had been a series of improvements to the Xbox 360 that protect it against cracking.
He said that hardware on the system only allows Microsoft certified and signed programs to run on the console. This meant that copied games would not be recognised by the system and would not run.

Ahhhh! So that's it! Hardware based protection. Maybe a bit like the last Xbox? Oh, I'm sure it's improved, but when the challenge is there, there's a lot of engineers and reverse engineers that are going to be working on the problem to try to break the system. Remember the last Xbox? Yeah, the one that used a modchip to bypass the EEPROM (I think that was it)? Well, it didn't last long, and neither will this one.

I'm not interested really, but it makes me mad that MS would have the balls to think that their system isn't breakable. If it boils down to 1's and 0's, it's breakable.

Technorati Tags : Bypass, Security, Xbox, 360

The Trickiness of the RIAA, Etc

2005-12-15T01:42:00.000-08:00

I know we all know that the Recording industry is much smarter than we thought.

Lately, the industry has found a creative twist in this game: They're deliberately mislabeling CDs, giving their artists pseudonyms, and sometimes even fake song titles, to throw off those who might swipe a record from a desk or mailroom and spread it over the Web.

So they give out these promos to journalists, but they put sneaky names like Jack and the Bean Stalk on them, and no one can figure it out. Why is it, then, that Madonna's last album was leaked onto the 'net a few weeks before its retail date? What will they think of next? Hey, I know, maybe they could mail CDs that are disguised as grilled cheese sandwiches. When the hunger reviewer tries to eat it though, watch out! You don't want to see a hungry journalist get tricked like that.

Technorati Tags : Music, Industry, Snafu

Pentagon Watches Peacemakers

2005-12-15T01:36:00.000-08:00

Why would the US think that this was a good idea.

If you've marched against the Iraq war or flashed a peace sign during a rally, the Pentagon may be keeping an eye on you. The U.S. military has been building a secret database that suggests it is monitoring peace demonstrations and collecting information on Americans who oppose the Iraq war.

MTV has this article on the Pentagon, which, to me, is just about the most retarded thing I've ever heard. How do they expect to keep an eye on half of the population of the US? How many Americans now support the war in Iraq? One? Two maybe? They seem to be coming around to what we have known for a long time. The war in Iraq is just a bad idea. Get out.

Technorati Tags : Pentagon, Watches, Protestors

To Flop or Not

2005-12-15T01:14:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered if that movie you're filming in your backyard is going to be a huge hit in Hollywood? Yeah, that's right, me too...

The program looks at several factors, including the movie's rating, competition from other films at the time of release, strength of the cast, genre, special effects, whether it is a sequel and the number of theatres it opens in. It weighs all these factors using a neural network and predicts whether or not the movie will be a box-office hit. The predictions are sorted into nine categories, from "flop" (less than US$1 million) to "blockbuster" (over US$200 million).

ars technica has an article on this software that will predict whether a movie will be a success based on data provided before the movie comes out.

Uh-huh. Sure it will.

So if I spend $1,000 on a movie it's not going to make me over $100 million? Is it sure about that? What if I spend $10 million? Will it be a success? What if I make a movie like The Blair Witch Project? Will it think it's going to flop based on the fact that it cost barely anything to make, and it was a horror? I think it's a stupid program that won't lead to anything we don't already know as human beings.

Technorati Tags : Movie, Prediction, Software

iPod Boxers

2005-12-13T02:55:00.000-08:00

I've noticed this on a few sites already and just passed it off as really stupid, but I suppose it has some use to someone.

iBoxers are boxer shorts with a pocket built to hold an iPod or anything you please.Purchase a pair for $22, buy two and get three free iTunes downloads.

There's a point where Apple iPod "gadgets" are just unnecessary. Really, you're running around your house like Tom Cruise, playing air guitar in your underwear, and you can't hold your iPod? Nope. Guess not. So where do you put it? Well, you put it in the pocket of your Boxer Shorts especially designed for just this situation. Check out the picture at ubergizmo to see how stupid it really is. At least the guy looks like he's having fun.

Technorati Tags : iPod, Gadgets

Apple Boombox?

2005-12-13T02:36:00.000-08:00

Engadget has an interesting article on Apple's future.

In what would be quite a departure for Apple, AppleInsider is rumoring that the company’s iPod division is working up a foray into consumer electronics land next year, including products such as an iPod boombox.

A boombox? That can't be right, can it? Although, if you think about it, who wouldn't want to be able to hook up their shelf-sized stereo to their computer and load up 175,000 songs onto it. Music for a lifetime.

What's next? Maybe Apple could get into Stove Stereos. I kind of need music while I'm cooking. If only my microwave would sing to me instead of beep every time my TV dinner is done.

Technorati Tags : Apple, Boombox

Remove the XP Start Button

2005-12-11T15:05:00.000-08:00

Has that little "Start" button in the taskbar ever bothered you enough to actually want to remove it?

Well the people at Channel9.MSDN.com have come up with a great solution.

Well, times move on and I wanted to shrink the size of my start button, so I edited the Windows string table to change "start" to an empty string. Since Windows doesn't allow null, empty, or zero-length strings (for some bizarre reason) I replaced it with a space.

I then reloaded explorer, by-passed the SFC dialog, and the start-button is now much smaller.

But the button had an unsightingly bulge to the right where the space was.

Since you can't have an empty string in the string table, I wondered what would happen if you deleted the string table entry, which I did. I then reloaded explorer.

Lo and behold, the start button was gone, entirely.

Isn't that a great solution? If you read through the comments you'll get a better understanding of what you have to do, but it makes sense in the end. I like the idea because sometimes I have so much crap on the taskbar that it would be nice to spread it around a bit. Also, it just looks cleaner without that big bar there.

It's said that you need to have Visual Studio or some other resource editor, but I'm not sure which one other editor can be used, so if you know, leave me a comment.

Technorati Tags : Windows, Hacking

SmashMyXbox

2005-12-11T11:20:00.000-08:00

These guys are just sick...

Don't watch the video if you are desperate for an Xbox 360. PS3 fans (who are convinced the PS3 is far superior, or have a dislike of Microsoft) may like this.

From channel9.msdn.com comes this exciting news. Those idiots who did smashmyipod.com did another one called smashmyxbox.com. They should be shot.

One thing that would have been a bit better is if they could have been in first, quickly paid for it, and then smashed it in front of a long line of 1000 people or so. That might've been better.

Technorati Tags : Smash, Xbox, stupid

WiMAX a Go

2005-12-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

It looks like we'll be getting WiMAX by mid 2006.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) has quietly ratified the long-awaited 802.16e standard for mobile WiMAX, which is also known as 802.16-2005.

It's about time. From the Wiki page for WiMAX:

The technology has been claimed to provide shared data rates up to 70 Mbit/s, which, according to WiMAX proponents, is enough bandwidth to simultaneously support more than 60 businesses with T1-type connectivity and well over a thousand homes at 1Mbit/s DSL-level connectivity.

This would be ideal for a smaller town, such as the one I live in with 100,000 people, where the need for wires is a thing of the past and there would then be more than two options for highspeed internet for the area. The initial costs would be high, but with reasonable pricing it would pay for itself in the end. Now where did I put that $500,000,000 I need to put a tower on the hill across the lake?

Technorati Tags : WiMAX

MS IE 7 More Secure

2005-12-11T02:18:00.000-08:00

Apparently IE 7 will be more secure according to bloggers at the Redmond site.

Microsoft is changing Internet Explorer 7's security zones in a bid to create a more attack-resistant browser, according to public blog entry written by three developers at the software giant.

Yeah, right. Sure... Okay. Security holes abound, I'm sure. We all know that there are going to be major problems with this piece of software. Look for a patch within 2 to 3 days, and then an IE 7 SP1 within two weeks. It's the way it goes. Some of this can be attributed to MS not testing their software enough, but I will give them a bit of credit and expect some of the security flaws to be unknown (or unknowable) before the software comes out. Can't wait for it though! I'll still use Firefox. Original story.

Technorati Tags : Microsoft, Internet, Explorer, Security

Paris Hilton vs. SPCA

2005-12-11T01:59:00.000-08:00

It's good to know that people realize Paris Hilton can't take care of that stupid mutt she drags around all day.

Paris Hilton is the world's worst dog owner, according to an online poll conducted by the magazines New York Dog and Hollywood Dog. "Our readers felt Ms. Hilton's dog-parenting skills left a lot to be desired," said joint editor Leslie Padgett. "First she loses Tinkerbell, then she ditches her dog for a cuter dog, then replaces that dog with a ferret, then a Kinkajou monkey, and then, I gather, a goat." The title of best dog owner went to Joss Stone, who narrowly edged out Ashley Olsen.

How anyone can subscribe to, and vote in a poll by, a magazine about dogs I'll never know, but this late breaking news is soothing, to say the least. Why does Paris carry those dogs around anyway? Does she like dogs or does she like the fact that millions of girls around the world are now carrying little runts around like a purse all because of her? It's a tough job being famous for being famous.

Technorati Tags : Paris, Hilton, Dogs

Princeton Student Fined by RIAA

2005-12-11T01:51:00.000-08:00

It seems the RIAA continues to delve into the retarded.

Delwin Olivan is an 18-year-old Princeton student who is being extorted by the RIAA to the tune of $5,000 as punishment for being caught promoting music by sharing it on the Internet. His fellow Princetonians have founded the Free Delwin group, which is fundraising to help pay off his settlement.

Boing Boing has a post about it, and they nicely point out how stupid it is. Really, a kid sharing music online, a university student at that, and they want to fine him? At least the artists affected will eventually see $0.0000001 cents each from the settlement.

Technorati Tags : RIAA, Music, Piracy

Beyonce to Wed

2005-12-10T03:04:00.000-08:00

It looks like Beyonce will finally marry long-term boyfriend Jay-Z.

The sexy R&B star and her rapper boyfriend have begun planning their US summer wedding day - but are determined to keep the details a secret. A source close to the couple said: "It will be a small, intimate wedding with just close friends and family."

Ever since it was first rumoured that they were together I couldn't understand it. Is this just Beyonce following in Whitney Houston's footsteps? Could this be the good girl marrying the badboy singer (rapper)?

Next thing you know Beyonce will be the biggest coke-head and acting all strange on Oprah. Just you watch.

Technorati Tags : Beyonce, Jay-Z, Wedding

Ashlee Simpson's Package

2005-12-09T20:18:00.000-08:00

A Socialite's Life posts this picture and quotes Ashlee talking about anorexia. What I find interesting about this picture, though, is that it looks like she's packing a "package". What's she hiding in there?

Wireless iPods in 2006

2005-12-09T20:11:00.000-08:00

Apparently we're going to get wireless iPods within the next year.

"PortalPlayer Inc. shares jumped in trading on Thursday after an analyst upgraded the stock, and speculated that the company may be involved in the release of wireless iPods in 2006.

Could this mean streaming applications / music / video? The iPod could turn into the next multi-use personal portable computer. This is really good news for those of us who are too lazy to plug in the iPod.

Seriously, though, it would be handy for connecting two iPods together so that we could share music with each other ;)

Technorati Tags : iPod, Wireless, Apple

To Neptune! Alice!

2005-12-09T19:49:00.000-08:00

Here's something I could never understand. Why spend all that money planning and taking trips to other planets? What are we expecting to find there? Signs of life from another time? That's not likely, and even if it was, who cares.

A mission like the one being proposed could cost $3-4bn dollars and would probably need international partners.

BBC News is carrying this story on how researches are planning an eventual trip to Neptune.

"It would also take up the careers of the mission team," said Bernie Bienstock, a robotic systems project manger with aerospace company Boeing. "It's probably like an 18-year mission but then there's all the lead time - another 10 years to do all the selling to Congress and Nasa, and do all the detailed engineering design.

So then, yeah, well worth it. $4 billion and 18 years. To find out that there's another big ball of rock floating in space 4.5 billion KM from here. Science is sometimes totally under-rated.

Technorati Tags : NASA, Neptune, Stupid

Windows Live Local

2005-12-09T01:13:00.000-08:00

Microsoft is launching Windows Live Local.

Microsoft has launched Windows Live Local, one of the first applications under it's new Windows Live brand. This web application is a rebranded Microsoft Virtual Earth, and provides features typical to other map sites, although it provides subtle usability tweaks typical to the Microsoft design ethos, which innovate while retaining known usage paradigms.

For a list of some new features, check out this site. What the difference is between this and Google Maps or Google Earth is, I'll never know, and probably don't care to know. I just know that if MS doesn't do something quick the internet may just soon be owned by Google (which in my opinion isn't such a bad thing).

Technorati Tags : Windows, Live, Local

Intel to Move Detection to Hardware

2005-12-09T01:07:00.000-08:00

In a related story to the one directly below this one, ars technica also has an article about Intel wanting to move rootkit detection to the hardware level.

Intel doesn't like rootkits any more than you or I do, and the chip maker hopes to do something about them. The company has begun research on the possibility of hardware-level rootkit detection. Known as the OS Independent Run-time System Integrity Services project, the rootkit detections system would consist of a small chip on the PC's motherboard that would be dedicated to monitoring active processes.

But what does this mean? The hardware will detect a rootkit and pop up a warning. So what? You still need the proper tools to remove it. This is a step in the right direction, but not enough to make it worth while.

Technorati Tags : Intel, Rootkit, Hardware

Sony DRM Snafu 1.2

2005-12-09T01:02:00.000-08:00

From ars technica comes another story of Sony's headache with Rootkits. And no, this is not the same one as last month.

On Tuesday, Sony informed the world that its other DRM software contained a security vulnerability as well. SunnComm's Media Max version 5 is the culprit, with its installation of a directory that could provide a means by which malware writers could hijack a PCs running Windows. The problem was discovered in late November by Information Security Partners, which shared it with the EFF and Sony.

So, if you own any of these CDs, you better get the patch that plugs the security hole... Even though I'm guessing that it will do nothing at all. Or better yet, it'll more than likely create another hole.

Technorati Tags : Sony, Rootkit, Again

Paris' Glasses

2005-12-08T09:49:00.000-08:00

From A Socialite's Life comes the breaking news that Paris Hilton has a hickey, as seen below.

What is by far more disturbing than some dumb hickey is the ridiculous pair of glasses sitting on her face. Why is it that Hollyweird stars think that bigger is better? Reminds me of a picture I saw of one of the Olson twins not so long ago. Ugly, stupid, socially unacceptable, big glasses. The 1970's and Elton John would like the glasses back please.

Technorati Tags : Paris, Hilton, Sunglasses

Eminem Remarries

2005-12-07T14:32:00.000-08:00

It looks like Eminem is about to re-marry his wife, ex-wife, wife, ex-wife... What is she again?

According to Star magazine, and yes, there are a lot of reports on this from different sources, but it's just so much better when you take it from Star magazine, Eminem and Kim have reconciled and will be once again tying the knot.

"Em told me, 'I might as well marry her again. For some reason, we seem to be stuck with each other for life,'" the friend says. "It looks like they're getting remarried after the new year."

Sounds like a real winner. Anyway, I have this strange feeling that Em's press hasn't been at the top of its game lately, and maybe he needs to be in the spotlight a little more. Curtain Call? I doubt it, there's still another $400 Million sitting in that head of yours Marshall. Best just to squeeze it out while you can.

Technorati Tags : Eminem, Kim, Marry

Jessica's Infidelities

2005-12-07T14:23:00.000-08:00

It appears Jessica Simpson didn't just cheat once, but many times.

From LiquidGeneration.com comes news that Jessica not only slept with Johnny Knoxville and Bam Magera, but also Adam Levine. Adam Levine? Who is Adam Levine? He's that lead singer from Maroon 5. You know, the one that sucks so bad (but my wife absolutely loves). Yeah, that's him.

CaCee can't get past the fact that Jessica cheated," reports a Lowdown spy close to the situation. "She feels badly for Nick and is very vocal about missing him. She saw Jessica abuse him all along. Ever since 'Dukes of Hazzard,' Jessica hasn't been good to Nick, and no one saw this more clearly then CaCee."

CaCee just can't get past the fact that her life-long friend is famous and sleeping with other famous people. What kind of friend is she? And for that matter, what level of stupid is Jessica on anyway? Bah! Whatever. Original Source: NYDaily News

Technorati Tags : Jessica, Simpson, Cheat

Slice Me Up a Line

2005-12-07T14:07:00.000-08:00

When people do stupid things, they really do stupid things. This woman, thinking she was in for the big score, was about to kill four men over some cocaine.

Little did she know, but the block of cocaine was actually a block of cheese.

Jessica Sandy Booth, 18, was arrested over the weekend and remains in jail with bond set at $1 million on four charges of attempted murder and four counts of soliciting a murder.

Do you know how screwed this girl is?

According to police, Booth was in the Memphis home of the four intended victims last week when she mistook a block of queso fresco cheese for cocaine — inspiring the idea to hire someone to break into the home, take the drugs, and kill the men.

If you're that hard up for a high, why not just grab some Pam or a little glue and start sniffing? I hear gasoline will do the trick too. I just don't get stupid people sometimes. I suppose, though, that looking at that block of cheese she probably saw a lot of dollar signs in her head. Original article here.

Technorati Tags : Stupid, People, News

Podcasting Has Been Crowned

2005-12-07T02:00:00.000-08:00

When you're MTV you 'crown' the artist who made the biggest stink that year at the MTV Music awards. When you're the New Oxford American Dictionary what do you do?

You proclaim a single word, "The Word of the Year!"

The term 'podcast' been declared as Word of the Year by the New Oxford American Dictionary. The term is defined as "a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the internet for downloading to a personal audio player".

It's sad, isn't it? Of course, when you have a big winner on your hands, there must be a loser (or two).

Among the words that did not make it were two other terms popular in tech circles. One was lifehack, which refers to a more efficient way of completing a everyday task. The other was rootkit, defined as software installed on a computer by someone other than the owner, intended to conceal other programs or processes, files or system data.

Let's all say a prayer for the fallen... Lifehack and Rootkit were good words. They were used daily by the geeks of the world... Geez that's just stupid. How about we crown the NOAD stupid?

Technorati Tags : Podcasting, Podcast

The End of Harry?

2005-12-07T01:12:00.000-08:00

Could this really mean the end of Harry Potter? I haven't ever read a Potter book, but I really do enjoy the movies.

J.K. Rowling is said to have said that the death of Harry Potter will be in the next book.

Harry Potter author JK Rowling is apparently desperate to kill off the boy wizard after living with him for too long reports Bang Showbiz.

Actor Jim Dale, the voice of Harry in the US audio books, says Rowling recently spoke with him, and confirmed "Book seven is the [absolute] final one. She's lived with Harry Potter so long she really wants to kill him off".

If it is true, I think there's going to be a lot of kids crying themselves to sleep at night. Doesn't Rowling know that a lot of kids under the age of 8 read her books? Does she think that it's a good idea to kill off Harry? Can't he just get married at 17 and move away and live happily ever after?

When asked whether the young hero will reach adulthood, Rowling recently told press: "You have to wait and see whether he survives to be a grown-up".

Of course, people like me will be thrilled to see him killed. Who wants a happily ever after anyway? Hermione and Ron will end up having kids and then divorce because of irreconcilable differences... You get the point.

Even actor Daniel Radcliffe is opening to the idea, telling press during the fourth film's promotions that "I do maintain there is a possibility he could be killed in the final book".

If I were Daniel I'd be a little mad at this news. He's making a fortune being Harry Potter. Why would he warm to the idea of not milking any more money out of the character? If I were him I'd try to push J.K. Rowling into writing books until Harry's at least 40. Radcliffe won't ever have to find a real job then. He can go on being the loveable Harry right into his geriatric diapers.

Technorati Tags : Harry, Potter, Killed

Intel Macs

2005-12-07T00:43:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it? First it's one month, then it's the next, then it's that first month again, then a different one... When are they going to make up their minds?

Engadget had an article on their site today about the Intel iMacs now not showing up until June. I think someone is just messing with us and Steve is going to release them next week, just in time for the Christmas rush.

As unlikely as that is, an earlier date than June would be appreciated. Some of us are anxiously awaiting these new Macs. If it keeps changing like this I might just have to go with the current iMac G5...

Technorati Tags : Intel, iMac, Apple

Indie Music Moving to Podcasts

2005-12-07T00:02:00.000-08:00

Indie music is finally making its way to podcasting. Not only is the Podsafe music network making a difference, but music labels are now making the move to help their artists instead of just stealing their profits.

From the BBC:

The Association of Independent Music is selling six-month worldwide licence deals for its members' music to be used on download radio programmes.

Other acts signed to AIM's 900 member labels who might be part of the deal include Bloc Party, Stereophonics, The White Stripes, The Strokes, Basement Jaxx, Paul Weller and Arctic Monkeys.

At least the labels are coming around to the fact that podcasting can bring money in for them, not hinder them.

Technorati Tags : Podsafe, Music, Podcast, Indie

iTunes and NBC

2005-12-06T23:47:00.000-08:00

Apple announced today that it had come to an agreement with NBC to add some of their shows to iTunes.

Well thank goodness! This is just one more reason for me to go out and get a video iPod. The Office and Knight Rider? K.I.T.T.? Awesome! It's innovations like this that make me believe that the big Networks maybe aren't so evil.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs in a press release touted the progress Apple has made: "In our first two months we've sold more than three million videos, and have expanded our TV catalog from five shows to 16 shows."

From this businessweek article. Although 16 shows isn't a lot, it's at least a start. I'd like to see more networks get in on the action. How about TLC or Discovery? To have a chance to download the newest season of any of the programs from either network would be nice.

Technorati Tags : iTunes, NBC, video, Knight, Rider

Mariah Loves You

2005-12-06T16:15:00.000-08:00

Mariah Carey wants to wish you a Merry Christmas. Now, really, how vain do you have to be to take a picture like this for a Christmas card? The sad state of Mariah. At least she's smiling in this picture. I've seen some lately where she doesn't look so good. I sometimes I wish I was a Diva so that I could act simply ridiculous and be adored by millions.

Technorati Tags : Mariah, Carey, Merry, Christmas

No Kong!

2005-12-06T01:22:00.000-08:00

Ahhhh MAN! I really didn't want to hear this. Two reviews on King Kong, both of them say it's oustanding. Jami Bernard's article isn't much different than Jack Mathews... Both of them rave about the movie.

Jami Bernard:"King Kong" is also scary. And funny. It's everything people have ever wanted from the movies - action, romance, surprise, plus every monster menace you can buy for a budget north of $200 million. In addition to a roaring, snorting Kong, there's a stampede and deadly pileup of prehistoric dinosaurs, plus spiders and creepy-crawlies of every degree of bloodthirsty.In short, it's brilliant.

Jack Mathews:Its color, soundtrack and physical landscape are spectacular and its computer-assisted effects deliver a Kong so realistic you can smell his breath in the back row of the balcony.

Did you read that? Spectacular? Brilliant? NO! Now I really want to see it. Sure, critics can be wrong, but if everyone's saying it's brilliant, there's no getting away from seeing it. And what happened to me saying I was going to stop reading reviews, watching previews, or knowing absolutely anything about movies before I watch them? I don't want it to be ruined. And now, I suppose, it is. Grrrr...

Technorati Tags : King, Kong, Movie

Love, Angel, Music, Gwen

2005-12-06T01:07:00.000-08:00

Apparently Gwen Stefani is now considering holding off on doing a second solo album. Earlier reports said that she was planning on having a second album by the end of the year, but I guess it's just not going to happen. Now, Gwen's not my favourite artist or anything, but my kids both love her. Even though they're only 5 and 6 years old, they still always ask for "the tick tock" song. It's a bit of a shame that she's not going to release a new album in the near future, really. Even if my kids aren't getting tired of the same songs over and over, I sure am.

"I have a really good record that I could put out," Stefani told the Chronicle. "I had a fantasy about it, but I'm not doing it. I decided it's more important that I take a nap." Stefani explained that she's been going nonstop for years and is feeling "burnt."

C'mon Gwen, give us something new so I don't go crazy! Without a little variety in life it's just not enjoyable. And, no, it wouldn't be easier for me to convince my kids to like other music, they like Gwen!

Technorati Tags : Gwen, Stefani, New, Album

Jennifer's Rack

2005-12-06T00:50:00.000-08:00

It's funny that being a celebrity brings strange behaviour (see Ben post below), but it also brings with it a total lack of privacy. We've all been there. See a famous person and gawk for a while. If they catch you they just turn away. It's commonplace for them. Well, there's a limit to everything and taking the Hubble into a tree and trying to catch Jennifer Aniston's breasts on celluloid is just ~~wrong~~ creepy. For someone to do something like that just goes to show that the strip clubs aren't doing the business they could. Get a life or a hooker, a spouse, or an imagination... loser.

Technorati Tags : Jennifer, Aniston, Papparazi

Oscarette?

2005-12-06T00:44:00.000-08:00

When does feminism go too far? Could it be when they want to change the "Oscar" statue? I once was studying for a Calculus exam and commented to my friend, Rose, that "I'll put the seat down for you as soon as you put it up for me!" And it's true. There's equality, and there's taking the ridiculous to new levels. Well, these ladies are heading in that direction. Defamer.

Technorati Tags : Oscar, Women's, Rights

Ben's Bagel

2005-12-06T00:38:00.000-08:00

Isn't it strange how celebrities can get away with murder? Ben Stiller shows up at a restaurant with his own food and asks the water to cook it. Mind you, it was only a bagel, but still! Could you imagine bringing in a box of Honeycombs and telling a server that you need a bowl of cereal with Peruvian sliced bananas (do they have bananas in Peru?) in a pink bowl, with low-fat chocolate milk? I imagine you'd get your ass thrown out on the street and then laughed at. Actually, that could possibly be in the wrong order. Stupid celebrities. Original post.

Technorati Tags : Ben, Stiller, Restaurant

Anna @ Live 8

2005-12-06T00:30:00.000-08:00

Pretend you're a fat pig who used to be in Playboy. Well, you're just crazy enough to marry a man 32x your own age, then he dies, you get money, you lose it, you get it, you lose it... I forget whether she has any now or not, but then you lose some weight and you look like this: That's right. Not only were you a freak before you lost all that weight, but now you're a freak, and a scary Meth-head. Look at her! Man, what a train wreck. It's just a shame her reality show isn't still on. Or is it? Ah, whatever... Who cares. Original Post.

Technorati Tags : Anna, Nicole, Smith, Freakshow

Oh, to be Famous

2005-12-06T00:22:00.000-08:00

If you were a famous actor or musician, would this be the picture you wanted posted all over the internet? No matter how famous you've become, you have to know that if you take a picture like this it's going to end up on the internet and you're going to have to answer for it.Okay, I know it's AJ from the Backstreet Boys (because the JPG was named backstreetAJ.jpg), and that means pretty much nothing, but it still matters, doesn't it? I suppose because you're a Backstreet Boy you'd want to have publicity like this. What other kind of attention are they getting? Many thanks to A Socialite's Life for finding things like this for us to ridicule.

Technorati Tags : Backstreet, Boys, AJ

Adrienne!

2005-12-05T01:44:00.000-08:00

What will they think of next? Another Rocky movie? Brilliant. Another Rocky movie with Sylvester Stallone? Brilliant * 2. Did you catch the sarcasm there? I hope so. I ran across this article from thestar.com and was just about floored. In the back of my head I am sure I heard this through other sources a few weeks ago, but I probably just dismissed it as stupid people saying stupid things. If only I'd pay attention to people when they're actually saying something that I'll laugh at.The new Rocky movie, currently titled Rocky Balboa, will feature Sylvester Stallone as a geriatric patient who beats up the orderlies in the old folks home after they refuse to give him the bowl of Ben & Jerry's that he's worked so hard to get. Adrianne, his wife, is long dead, yet he still screams out her name every time the male orderlies pass his room without a bowl in their hand.Okay, so that's not really going to happen. Here's the plotline from IMDB:

Rocky comes out of retirement to go in the ring once again this time he is taking on an old foe in the shape of Clubber Lang.

And that's about all the information they'll give. Good thing they're not letting the Sylvester out of the bag. We don't want them to ruin the ending for us. Who wins? I forget. Is it the Russian guy? Apollo? Hrrrmm.. I just can't figure it out. This guy, who should know better when he announces a new Rocky movie, should stop his whining.

Enough with the Rocky jokes already, complains Joe Roth, who heads Revolution Studios, which along with Sony Pictures and its new banner, MGM, is producing the new Rocky picture. "You can't turn on television without someone making fun of it," he said. "Jokes like, `Who's he going to fight, Alan Alda?' ... It's very easy to be cynical."

Well of course people are going to make jokes. I see a very small crowd who will actually love this movie. These are those boxing guys who just can't get enough. Half of them think they're Rocky and the other half wish they were. The rest of the viewing public might just go see it because the notion of sending a 60 year old man into the ring to fight the current heavy-weight champion is pretty priceless.In better Stallone news -- he also announced this:

Stallone, 59, has also revealed that he will reprise his role as former Vietnam vet and one-man army John J. Rambo in Rambo IV, which is scheduled to begin production sometime in the spring.

A new Rocky movie and a new Rambo movie in the same year?!?! Could we be so lucky?

Technorati Tags : New, Rocky, Movie

Rick Springfield back on 'General Hospital' - after 23 years

2005-12-04T11:44:00.000-08:00

All of you hardcore, diehard, Eighties chicks will be happy to know that Rick Springfield will be returning to General Hospital. Really, was / is he that wonderful? I suppose ~~I can see the sex appeal~~ in the Eighties he may have been good looking... No, wait, I really don't think so. His singing career was such a hit. All you swooning ladies, hoping for a chance to touch his arm during his concerts. Jessie's Girl. Yikes! If you listen to the radio it still gets played a few times a day. Man, I don't miss the Eighties at all. <sigh> I don't think I'll ever get it.

Springfield made his first appearance Friday and is set to be in about a dozen episodes of the soap. He'll save the singing for his tour dates in Japan this month and in the U.S. next year.

Oh great! A full on revival! A tour and everything. I wonder if I should book my flight and hotel now for his next appearance. You just never know how fast these things'll sell out.

Technorati Tags : Rick, Springfield, General, Hospital

It's Official: Brad'll Be a Family Guy

2005-12-03T22:41:00.000-08:00

It's Official: The world has gone to hell in a handbasket. Should we care that Brad will adopt Jolie's kids? NO!Not only is he adopting her kids, apparently they'll soon be Mr. and Mrs. Smith... errrr... I mean Pitt-Jolie. Or is that Jolie-Pitt? Whose wearing the pants? I can never tell.It's big news though. MSNBC has a blurb on it. Reuters is spamming the hatred. So it's quite obvious that we should care. Hey, even I'm spreading the word, but that's only because I think it's so stupid and I'm trying to find some converts.

Technorati Tags : Brad, Pitt, Angelina, Jolie

Dave and Oprah

2005-12-03T22:33:00.000-08:00

There's been a lot of talk about Oprah Winfrey appearing on Late Night with David Letterman. I just have to say, "Who cares?" I mean, really, he insulted her in 1989, just like he insults everyone, and she took it hard and hasn't returned in 16 years. Big deal? If he treated me like crap I probably wouldn't call him back either. His push to have her on, which I remember seeing every single night a couple of years ago when I was watching, was obviously just a ratings push. And he's milked it to the end. The only thing her visit to his show was, was a push for Dave's ratings and more people hyped up the event than it ever deserved.If you really want to see Oprah on TV, you can tune in every day at 3pm (or maybe it's 4, I'm not sure).

Technorati Tags : David, Letterman, Oprah, Winfrey

Billy Joel

2005-12-03T22:23:00.000-08:00

Now I'm anything but a Billy Joel fan, but he has a 4 CD set coming out called "My Lives." Which sounds suiting, wouldn't you agree? What I know of Billy Joel is probably about as much as I know of Origami. Not much, to be sure. But he's led an incredible life as "The Piano Man." The amazing part of his life is... The girls he's been with. Is he that good looking? Maybe it's just that women love a man that can play the piano? I don't know, but apparently Elle MacPherson and Christie Brinkly saw something. And his current wife, who is far less than half his age, either thought his piano playing was sexy, or maybe his bank account. I'm not sure which one. What's with older men and young women? Is there a rule I don't know about? When I'm closing in on 50 am I supposed to ditch my wife and find a little hotty? Is the mid-life crisis real? I think it just might be a socially acceptable excuse that men use so that they can go and find little young hotties and get rid of their tired old wives. Maybe. Or they're just not real men. That's more than likely.Anyway, as much as I don't like his style of music, I'll probably find the time to check it out. It just so happens that I recently found out this slower type of music is excellent for studying to. Weird, hey?

Technorati Tags : Billy, Joel, My, Lives

40 Year Old Virgin part 2

2005-12-03T19:47:00.000-08:00

So I don't want to have to do this, but here goes.

Here are the two pictures. It's not exact, but c'mon! When you haven't seen pictures of DD in a while, they look similar! Jeffery, you non-believer. Dammit!

_{ps. good luck with your lawsuit.}

smenita

2005-12-03T16:37:00.000-08:00

I've disabled the word verification on my blogs for the moment. There seems to be a problem on Blogger's end where the picture that comes up is "smenita", but the word it's expecting is not that. If you do a search it sounds like a lot, if not all, of the Blogger users are having the same problem.

NT

HIV and AIDS

2005-12-03T00:55:00.000-08:00

I blogged once before about AIDS and HIV. To go along with Heather's first post and second post, I found an article on MSNBC and thought I'd comment on it. I have had a few friends from my past, while living in Vancouver that either had HIV, or died from AIDS, and I've seen what it can do. Gary, a great guy living in Seattle, was skinnier than one could ever imagine. The last time I visited him, about 2 weeks before he died, he was hardly able to walk, not able to eat, and the bacteria in his mouth made it hard for him to swallow. It was painful to see, never mind live through. I couldn't even imagine what it would feel like to know you were going to die any day.So I was looking through my feeds today and ran across this article. I think, from what I read, that the hope for a vaccine is there, but the answers Larry Corey gives throughout the article don't instill any sense of confidence in the fact that they are any closer to a cure than they were 10 or 15 years ago. The little glimmer of hope comes from his answer when questioned on where they stand in development.

In the last few years, we've developed vaccines that we think are getting the magnitude and the breadth (or the diversity of T cell responses) that was achieved with other successful vaccines like the small pox vaccine. We have started to embark on a series of efficacy trials to see if these vaccines will work. That is where the field is.

I'm not quite sure how close that is, as he doesn't say, but eventually they solved the small pox problem, right?The part of this whole thing that really puzzles me is what's discussed next. Mr. Corey talks about the implications of letting the private sector take on the huge task of finding a vaccine almost 20 years ago. You see, the problem, he says, is that all vaccines are only worth about $8,000,000,000 (yes, that's billion) worldwide. The drug companies don't really want to pursue a market with a puny income potential as that. If it costs them a few hundred million, or even a billion dollars, to develop the vaccine, their only looking at profits of $7 billion, which just isn't enough.In the U.S., the total market for Lipitor, which is a cholesterol drug, is $8 billion. That's just for the United States. There's the whole world out there wanting this drug. Hey, the Lipitor people take my $100 a month, and I'm just one person.So to develop a wonder drug like Lipitor, any statin, or something similar, the drug companies stand to gain profits ten times what an AIDS vaccine will bring in. It's a sad world we live in when $7,000,000,000 in profit just isn't enough to save 52 million lives.So what does this all mean? Well, the smaller private companies and public companies are going to have to take over. People who are looking to find a cure for just that reason, are able to live on what grant money they get, and aren't out looking for their own billion dollars.The only great thing said is his last quote:

It depends on what the data show. I can't give those promises. We'll know at the end of 2007 whether the approach [used in the Merck and the Vaccine Research Center vaccines] does something. Even if it's a modest amount, we'll know which fork to take so we can improve upon it in a much more goal-directed way. These are very important trials. We designed the trial on purpose to get as quick a read-out as we could to tell us what to do next. If we get great results, we'll design trials for licensure. If it's lesser results, then we'll build upon that and we'll develop a better vaccine.

It's hopeful, but not hopeful enough. If the results from the studies using the current vaccines aren't good enough then it's back to the drawing board. Sure, they've learned a lot up to this point, and it's not all wasted time, but how many more millions of people are going to die in the meantime? Maybe, if G.W. didn't spend all that money getting his oil, he could've put it towards research and university education. Then maybe we wouldn't have to worry about this pandemic anymore.

Technorati Tags : HIV, AIDS

Google in the Doghouse?

2005-12-02T20:52:00.000-08:00

I read this and thought the worst had happened. Could it be that once your company is worth more than a billion dollars its products must turn to crap? Just might be. Well, to see what I'm talking about read this.

It's nice to see Microsoft and Google's respective technologies working in tandem - but not so nice to see it used to expose data on your own hard disk to a malicious website operator.Security researcher Matan Gillon has published a proof-of-concept flaw that exploits Google Desktop, the search software that runs on a local PC, and Internet Explorer 6.

Right away a wave of disappointment ran through me. I couldn't believe that Google would pull a 'MS' and release something resembling something more like a slice of swiss cheese than a good piece of software. In their quest for Internet domination could Google be rushing their products out the door? It's something that bugs me more than anything else about the big companies.Well, the next paragraph, which I should add, is after an advertisement that pushes it down off the screen, brings the whole situation into the light.

The principal culprit, once again, is Microsoft's lax and inconsistent implementation of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) in Internet Explorer. A web site can inject code into a page which allows it to execute on a remote machine.

Did I not just complain for a few straight days about MS and their support for CSS? Of course I did. Google, on the other hand, can't be left blameless in this situation. Their careless programming left this security hole wide open. I know they can't be expected to test every single piece of software from other companies to insure that it will work flawlessly with their own product, but this is Microsoft IE. It's not a small name product with little or no marketshare. Millions use IE, which means Google should have done more thorough testing to ensure a safe surfing experience from their Google Bar.

Technorati Tags : Google, Desktop

Mish Mash

2005-12-02T12:27:00.000-08:00

I wasn't about to post any of this stuff. The reason is that most of it is just gossip, but some of it is just priceless. Paris is the best singer ever, Eva is amazingly beautiful, and so on, and so on.

From an interview with ContactMusic -- Eva Longoria has to be right up there on the list of stupidest person alive.

She says, "I've lost a lot of jobs because I was too pretty. And everybody's like, 'Oh, poor you.' But seriously, you don't get the good roles when you're beautiful."

Who says stuff like that? That's just ridiculous! I'll say it, 'Oh, poor you!'.

Tara Reid is having support issues after her surgery.

From the pages of Socialite's Life comes the most anticipated link of the season. Paris is preparing to yodel her way to the top.

Joey is about to go the way of his 'Friends'. NBC has decided that the shitcom just isn't worth the it anymore. It will be replaced with 'My Name is Earl', a show I find much funnier. Following that will be The Office, another very funny show.

The best part of this news is that Scrubs will be returning. I'm not sure what they were thinking when they didn't bring it back right away in September, and I'm sure you can find out on the forums at TV.com, but it's the best show on TV. They should, in fact, force the cast to work through the summer so that we have something good to watch while we're being bombarded by reruns.

NBC will fill the "Earl"/"Office" void Tuesdays with back-to-back episodes of "Scrubs."

Oh, How Right I Am

2005-12-01T16:43:00.000-08:00

For those who dont' believe me...

"Redmond Mulls Emergency Patch for IE Attacks."

You see, it's not that difficult to be right when you're poking a stick at Microsoft.

It's not that I hate Bill. Bill's a brilliant person who's taken his company from a garage to... Well, you get the point. I also don't really hate Microsoft. I'm using Windows right now. I could install Linux. I could run it off of my other machine, but I choose to use something a bit more user friendly (even if it is less stable).

No, you see, the thing I hate about Microsoft, and all companies that do this, for that matter, is the fact that they rush their things out the door before proper testing has been done. Is it a case of quantity over quality? I think so. They need to figure out the software, plug those holes, and then release it.

I also dislike that MS forces you to use certain products, or tries, because they bundle their software together. You do have the choice not to use it, but why buy something when you're being force fed to use something that you already paid for? Well, with so many programs in different languages being mashed together, they're bound to have problems.

So, as this eWeek article says, they're thinking about releasing this patch, but they're going to thoroughly test it first. But are they? I bet we see the patch tomorrow.

What's the point? Go get Firefox before someone takes over your computer.

Nick and Jessica

2005-12-01T16:18:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I wrote a quick snip about their breakup. I really didn't want to, but it was news, and people like that kind of stuff.

On a side note, apparently Garfleck had a baby today, if anyone cares. I told my wife that and her only thought was, "What did they name it? Apple? Orange?" Ahhh... Celebs these days. But back to what I was saying.

Rumours (Yes, rumours, not rumors. I am Canadian after all) are running rampant about the goings on of these two. Why do we care so much? Do people love them that much? Are we their best friends? I suppose they're just famous enough that we are.

So, they've split. People are taking it hard. It's a bad time for all of us. They were supposed to last. They were just "Newly Weds." If you find any of this absurd, you have to check out this video from thepostshow.com. Extremely funny stuff. The truth behind the parody should make this the lamest video, but it only enhances it. Oh, and if you want to read and watch more nonsense such as this, check out VH1's Best Week Ever Blog RSS feed (or just the blog). Funny articles every day.

Avril LeThespian

2005-11-30T17:20:00.000-08:00

How many levels of wrong is this? Avril, who I recall said she would never act after optioning Skater Boi, is now going to be in a Richard Gere film? Wrong, wrong, wrong.

MTV is reporting that Avril will star in a crime drama starring Richard Gere and Claire Danes entitled 'The Flock'. Even though it's only supposed to be a few lines, it's still wrong. She should stick to her forte, and that would be singing. I'm not a fan of the music, but at least she does it well! I've seen the videos, it's not a the best performance of the year...

"Lavigne will be in New Mexico this week to film her handful of scenes, according to a spokesperson for her management, who said the 21-year-old singer is just testing the waters with a few lines in the indie crime drama. Lavigne went through the standard audition process to land the role in the movie, in which Gere plays a federal agent who has to track down a missing girl he is convinced has a connection to the paroled sex offender he is tracking."

The premise sends chills down my spine. Gere, also not one of my favourites, is also good at what he does. Maybe he'll be on her next album. That'll be some fun, won't it?

"...an upcoming role as a possum named Heather in the animated DreamWorks film "Over the Hedge," due in May. In her first film role, she'll share (virtual) screen time with William Shatner, onscreen dad Bruce Willis and Gary Shandling."

Now this, this I can understand. There's so much more to being in front of a camera than being behind a microphone. I'm actually looking forward to Over the Hedge. The Flock -- not so much.

To see Avril's latest look, check out the link to the MTV article.

Christmas Shopping

2005-11-30T16:31:00.000-08:00

As I've said in other posts -- We're not doing presents this year. I know, it's aweful, but we figure it's just a waste of money. For those of you who are going to shop, and online, there's some things you ought to know.

It seems that Newsweek is full of interesting articles this week. With each new one that I blog about, I think it pushes me that much closer to subscribing. I'm not a magazine person (except 'BIKE'), but even the articles I haven't blogged about are interesting. I feel cheap for using them as a source so much, but they have the most interesting stuff, so what is a person supposed to do?

This article has 12 pointers to online holiday shopping. Now, most of them seem to be common sense, but there are a few that are interesting.

"4. Look for signs that online purchases are secure. At the point that you are providing your payment information, the beginning of the Web site address should change from http to shttp or https, indicating that the information is being encrypted—turned into code that can only be read by the seller. Your browser may also signal that the information is secure with a symbol, such as a broken key that becomes whole or a padlock that closes."

Number three, to me, is just common sense, but after reading it over I bet there are more than a few of you who don't look to make sure a site is secure before purchasing something. It's vitally important that there not be anyone hanging on to your transaction. If they are, they'll find out a lot more about you than you want them to. So make that padlock is locked. If you do forget to look and make sure the connection is secure, and something bad does happen, follow point four and always use a credit card for online payments. You'll have little hassle getting your money back from the CC companies.

"5. Never enter your personal information in a pop-up screen. When you visit a company's Web site, an unauthorized pop-up screen created by an identity thief could appear, with blanks for you to provide your personal information. Legitimate companies don't ask for personal information via pop-up screens. Install pop-up blocking software to avoid this type of scam."

This is one, I'll admit, that I did not know. I can't specifically think of a time that I have purchased anything through a pop-up screen, but I'm sure I have. I seem to recall it being a major business too. That's odd. It would have been a few years ago though, and nothing bad has happened, so I should be okay ;)

The other points are all valid and useful, but, again, nothing I think the average consumer shouldn't already know (I know, you're saying something like 'you'd be surprised,' and I'm sure I would).

Another article, along the same lines, but dealing with Phishers, is here. I think it's important information to have in your artillery. I was once offered a list of 5,000 credit card numbers and expiry dates, all retrieved from a big name website, and only a few hours old. I don't remember who this person was, but they had obtained it somehow, and they were passing it around IRC to anyone who might want it.

Check your CC bills, make sure you're sites are secure, make sure everything's copacetic, and then you can enjoy your holiday shopping.

Firefox Update

2005-11-30T00:54:00.000-08:00

So, I posted this on my other blog, and you can read it and do what you like, but I strongly recommend what it says.

"Okay, so I've ranted, I've raved, I've pulled my hair out, and now I've done something about it. There is now a link on the right side that points you to Firefox. Internet Explorer has just made me too mad, too many times. The war must be fought! The fox will win!

Anyway, yes, the link does make me a dollar if you actually install Firefox. No, that's not the reason I put it there. You can just as easily go to http://www.getfirefox.com/and get it there. I don't care, either way... Just please, use a real browser. According to my stats about 1/2 use Firefox and just under 1/2 use IE. The other few percent either use Safari or something unknown."

Podcasting: Viewed Askew

2005-11-30T00:01:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting article on the history and future of Podcasting. I think, though, that there are definitely some things in here I don't agree with.. From what I know, and that's only a little, Al Gore invented the Internet. It's true. He did.

So, was Podcasting invented a year and a half ago? I don't think so. I think the term was coined a year and a half ago. There have been typical radio shows on the internet, and just because you didn't listen to them on your iPod, hence podcasting, does not mean they weren't just that. Amateur radio, for that matter, has been on the internet for a long time. Sound bytes -- again, same thing. So why, then, does Al Gore get all the glory of the Internet? That's a pretty good question.

"These are heady days for wannabe radio stars. Only 17 months old, podcasting -- the technology that makes it easy for people to post audio recordings on the Web -- is stirring the creative juices of individuals around the world who are eager to dish up shows on everything from yoga to Nascar. Though it's difficult to track how many podcasts there are, Apple's iTunes alone lists 20,000 shows. And the number is expected to rise."

Of the 20,000 shows, or so, I would have to say more than half of them are because of Dawn and Drew. Does that mean they invented Podcasting? I don't think so. They heard of it from someone and thought they'd give it a try. Their pretty darn good at it too, in case you were wondering.

According to Wikipedia, that all-knowing site... Ah heck, I was going to type it out. I'll just paste it, so much easier.

"By 2003, web radio had existed for a decade, digital audio players had been on the market for several years, blogs and broadcasters frequently published MP3 audio online, and RSS file formats were widely used for summarizing or syndicating Web content."

So web radio had been around for a long time. The only thing missing from the invention of "iPod Broadcasting" was the enclosure of media in RSS feeds. Well, enter Dave Winer. The genius. Somehow, Mr. Winer gets screwed everytime he invents something. I've heard his podcast, and it's interesting to hear him talk about the way things have been ripped from his grasp and mutilated as soon as they become popular. Anyway, Winer invents the Enclosure Tag. I huge step.

And then at the first BloggerCon this happens --

"At the first Harvard BloggerCon conference, October 4-October 5, 2003, Kevin Marks demonstrated a script to download RSS enclosures to iTunes and synchronise them onto an iPod[6], something Adam Curry had been doing with Radio Userland and Applescript."

As you can see, Curry's name pops up again. And, ladies and gentlemen, if you look to your left, you'll see Gore! Oh wait, that was just a bush. So I bring up Gore and Curry because I think the real innovator of what we now know as Podcasting was not Curry, but Winer. A little help from Kevin Marks and Adam Curry, but mostly Winer. And where is he when a discussion happens about the history of podcasting? No where. He's left out. Adam Curry is given all the credit. The Podfather invented it all.

Now, I don't want to sound like I'm bagging on Curry. There's so many good things about him, as long as you can past the hair. ;) As you can plainly see above, he'd been doing pretty much the same thing with Applescript beforehand. And don't forget about what he's done since then, either. He has never, from what I've heard on Daily Source Code, heard him claim to have invented Podcasting. He isn't trying to take the glory, it's being handed to him because he's the one doing all the legwork. Curry has promoted podcasting in such a way that it's come from a hobby for some to a hobby for many and a job for others. Where will he help to bring it next? Well, with Podshow and the PodSafe Network, you just never know.

Which makes me think... Where has Dave Winer been through all of the last 17 months? He just never gets any attention after the initial launch of his ideas. Maybe that'll be the next step in my wanderings.

A Mac Mini in Every Room?

2005-11-29T19:55:00.000-08:00

Peter Burrows seems to think so. And, if I can say it one more time. A lot of us hope so. The digital age is stronger than ever, pushing forward through the nineties with vigor. Now comes the time for us to start integrating all of the technologies into our everyday lives. I know, we're lazy enough already, but who cares!

There is one thing throughout this article that intrigues me more than the rest. The Apple media entertainment centre.

"If ThinkSecret is right, we'll get a better view of Apple's plans come Macworld. They're reporting that Apple will announce a Mac mini designed to be a digital hub, and possibly a PVR to boot. Equipped with "Front Row" and an iPod dock, it certainly sounds promising to this potential customer."

A multi-purpose machine that's hooked up to my TV and does everything? It's almost too good to be true. Sure, it's nice having a DVD Player that plays DVDs, SVCDs, VCDs, DivX, XViD, and MP3-DVDs, but I need more! To be able to hook up my iPod to my TV and blast the tunes that way would be excellent. It would be even better if I had a video iPod, but that's yet to come (no, Karen doesn't know that...).

The innovations of the near future hold a lot of promise, and a lot of excitement.

The Simple Life

2005-11-29T19:23:00.000-08:00

Because you just can't have enough of the Easy Sisters, they're going to make a comeback. Oh, I can go on with my day! I'll now rest easy tonight. Why, oh why?

"Feuding ex-friends Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie will take "The Simple Life" to E! Entertainment Television in a new format that allows them to have nothing to do with each other."

Don't continue reading. There is no more. This is about the stupidest thing I've read in a long time and I wish they'd stick to what they're good at... Home made Porn and being famous for being famous.

The Drunkald

2005-11-29T19:09:00.000-08:00

What will he do next? The Donald, which is by far the stupidest name ever, has decided that forcing himself on drunks is a good idea. Oh, I mean, he's now making vodka for drunks. This article, at the Defamer, takes a funny look at Trump's latest offering. I suppose it's inevitable -- casinos and booze go nicely together. Next up? Maybe hookers. I hear casinos and hookers go well together, too. Check out the poster that the Defamer thought just might kick off Donald's marketing campaign.

Overhaul for Firefox web browser

2005-11-29T16:40:00.000-08:00

I've written a little on my IE frustrations here, and on my other blogs. Well, now it looks like the next generation of Firefox is about to hit the streets.

I don't know why I must vent about Internet Explorer so much, but I must. Last night I was designing a blog template and everything was working fine, but just before I finished I thought I should open it up in IE and see what it looked like. Well, it looked like crap. None of the images were where I put them. Some of the images were just plain old missing. Sidebar in the wrong spot. Main column not what I had specified... Grrrr!

Was it that I had written some bad HTML and CSS? I don't think so. I think it was that IE just couldn't interpret what I had written properly. Anyway, back to the point.

"Firefox 1.5 is due to be available for download on 29 November, marking the end of a thriving year for the browser.

Analysts say Firefox has grabbed a 10% share of the browser market and it claims to have a core of 40-50 million dedicated users."

Well, it's the 29th and Firefox hasn't automagically told me that a new version is available, so I guess it's not ready. That's all right though, since version 1.0.7 is working just fine for me.

After a huge overhaul, and the fact that so many extensions have been written by avid fans of Firefox, I'd say it's about time everyone switched over. I've put a link to Firefox on my blogs, and if you aren't using it yet (or you're using Safari, which I hear is just as good), then go ahead and grab it and be free from the bottomless pit of problems that is IE.

Paul Sr.

2005-11-29T16:19:00.000-08:00

Is it wrong to admit that I love watching "American Chopper"? The premise of the show isn't that exciting -- a few guys building bikes while ripping each others throats out. Okay, after thinking about that, it is exciting. It's an awesome show! What male wouldn't like something like that? Anway, I'm reading through this article on Paul Sr., and a few things struck me as funny.

"For a guy who loves building motorcycles, collecting muscle cars and has a walrus mustache streaming across his face, you wouldn't think Paul Teutul Sr.'s favorite beverage would be club soda. But then again his favorite smell is glue."

Is it the best idea to mention that glue is your favourite smell? If sniffing glue was my pasttime, I probably wouldn't want to admit that in a nationally read magazine (website).

I actually had to stop reading this when I read the following --

Vanessa Juarez -- Is there anything you would like to see in your Christmas stocking—or in your driveway?

Paul Sr. -- You know, you're talking to the guy who's got it all. I'm a real hard guy to buy for. You know, what people buy me is socks. And that's because I don't wear underwear [laughs]. Mikey [his son] got me like 24 dozen pairs of socks last year.

Vannesa Juarez -- Why's that? Do your toes poke through that easily?

Paul Sr. -- Nah, because he's an idiot.

That was some funny stuff. You might not get it if you have never watched the show, so if you have the chance, it's on Discovery (here in Canada at least). Check it out.

I have to give credit to Vannesa Juarez. She actually asked some really good questions in this interview. She could have asked about Paul Sr.'s relationship with Paulie and Mikey, but she didn't. I think most interviewers would have, but if they had ever seen the show they would know that their whole relationship is documented right there on the screen. So props to Vanessa for the skillz.

Martin Defeated

2005-11-28T16:07:00.000-08:00

Prime Minister Paul Martin was defeated in a non-confidence vote. I'm watching it live on TV (which is extremely boring, by the way), and I have to say that the Liberals are positively upbeat about the whole situation. Maybe they should take a look around and see that they're being kicked out of power.

So will the people vote the Liberals back into power? An early election in the New Year could bring just that. I have a feeling that those Easterners won't let that happen though. But, what does it mean if the Liberals are left out on the curb? Will things really be all that different for you, me, and the dog in the neighbour's back yard? I really doubt it. I suppose we'll just wait and see.

Do the Revolution?

2005-11-27T23:03:00.000-08:00

That's a misleading title. Is a 360 not one full revolution? Steven Levy writes in his article at Newsweek about the experience of the 360 and the joys of worldwide communication that it brings. Okay, so that's not really the only thing he says, but it's one of the things I took from the article. He does, however, start the article with a great description of racing through New York at 100MPH. Wouldn't that be fun?

So what about this global network the XBox will bring? Well, the point he so casually make about a stalker interrupting him to play a network game in Project Gotham Racing 3 is what bothers me.

"But getting that message to chat from Westerby—the nom de joystick of a friend across the continent—illustrated Xbox 360's other big advance: being online is built directly into the experience."

Is it okay to not know you're online with your XBox? And random people are finding you and annoying you in the middle of your game? I'm sure that there's a way to turn off Live when you're playing, and I definitely don't blame Mr. Levy for not knowing he was connected and being bothered at the moment as I hear that the "Blades" are annoying to deal with and impossible to find anything in. So where does that leave the average player such as myself? Being bothered by people who want to challenge me, that's where.

I suppose after the first time I would turn off the option, but it's annoying to know that unless you're aware of every feature the new XBox has, things like this may happen. I know a lot of guys (yes, and gals) who would never bother reading a Getting Started flyer, never mind the user manual. I'm one of the odd ones that actually reads all that stuff before I digg (sic) in. I want to know what I've gotten myself into.

Of course, it's easy to be bitchy about a feature which you haven't experienced first hand, and while I'm racing through the streets of New York at 100MPH+ and having the time of my life, I'm sure a little notice popping up to announce a challenge isn't going to kill me. I'm probably bitter because I don't have one yet and probably won't in the foreseeable future because of the following reason:

"Making a commitment to Xbox 360 is expensive: $400 for the "premium" model, which is really the only logical one to buy. (The $300 version has no hard disk, a component fairly essential to the system.) That only begins the spending. Before most people leave the store, they should probably get a second wireless controller ($50) and, if they have a Wi-Fi household, a wireless Internet connector ($100). And, of course, games, for $50 to $60 each. (The premium Xbox 360 plays many but not all legacy Xbox titles.)"

Weird Awakening

2005-11-27T10:12:00.000-08:00

I was in bed last night, quietly listening to a couple of podcasts at 2 in the morning, when suddenly I was jolted upright. No, Karen's snoring wasn't so loud that it scared me over the sound coming out of the iPod. No, Corby from the Twisted Pickle gave Pointlessdribbles a shout-out. It was a bit weird hearing a 'celebrity' (he is in my mind, so shut up) talk about some blog you write in, about nothing, for nothing.

I write in this blog about the things that interest me because it's fulfilling in some sort of weird way. I've always liked reading, writing, and all that, so it's a nice release of that creative energy pent up inside me. It's been a hodge-podge of crap lately, and I fully acknowledge that, and will be working on it shortly. I promise. But as of right now it is what it is.

So Corby comes by, then he comes back and comments on my post about him visiting, and then talks about this wee site on his show. That's pretty cool.

So go check him out. http://www.thetwistedpickle.com or subscribe to his feed. If you subscribe with something like iTunes or FeedDemon the MP3s will be downloaded automatically for you. GO NOW!

King Kong Movie

2005-11-26T23:16:00.000-08:00

I've stopped watching TV. I was TV shows, just not when their originally aired. This means that I don't really get a chance to see all the commercials and previews for the new movies that are coming out. I don't really miss this, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a great example. I knew nothing about the movie before I watched it. It worked out extremely well in that situation. So I was thinking about it the other day, and I figured that this was a great thing!

To make my point, I'll just say that I had no idea that Peter Jackson had remade King Kong until it came up in my Google Entertainment News RSS feed in FeedDemon. Well, I'm shocked. King Kong is a classic and I really think it shouldn't have been messed with. I say that, but at the same time I was fairly impressed with his adaptation of Lord of the Rings. For those movies I was very excited, and just as skeptical. Overall, I'd have to say I was impressed, but the movies were not without their problems.

So this Newsweek article on MSNBC comes through my aggregator and I'm shocked. Needless to say, I'm fairly excited about this King Kong movie. But, at the same time, I'm even more skeptical. Will this be even more of a Hollywoodized version of a movie? It might just be with information like this --

"Now is probably a good time to mention that Jackson's epic, $207 million remake of "King Kong," is a surprisingly tender, even heartbreaking, film. Like the original, it's a tragic tale of beauty and the beast. Unlike the original, which was 100 minutes long, Jackson's version is a Kong-size three hours."

$207 million is a lot of money. More than likely 75% of that was used for post-production work on special effects. And going from 100 minutes to 3 hours?! That's outrageous! Couldn't Jackson keep it to a length where you don't have to get up twice to go to the washroom after that monster Coke? And then you have to leave the theatre, after 3 hours, not being able to feel your butt or your legs. Are they going to have ushers to carry you to your car?

The big shock of this movie is this --

"Black, meanwhile, is the surprise pick. Jackson and Walsh first thought of him during the Christmas holiday of 2003, when their two young children watched "School of Rock" no fewer than 25 times. What caught their eye was Black's talent for playing "an obsessive, rascally character," says Jackson."

I can't believe they would pick Jack Black. I think Jack Black is great. I like all his movies. I've watched them all a bunch of times. But to cast Jack in an epic like this? That might just be suicide. He's not known for his range of characters, that's for sure. He is known as a zany, crazy, loveable goofball. I'm not sure if that role will fit into this movie. I hope it does.

I guess I'll have to wait to see how the movie turns out. I'm liking the idea, but dreading what might be poor execution. I think it might be time to kick Peter Jackson in the ass and get him making "The Hobbit". Now that's one movie I know will be good and can't wait for!

AMD's roadmaps have changed

2005-11-26T22:01:00.000-08:00

digg story
On the same note as my post about the 3 core IBM chips for XBox I ran across this on Digg. AMD, which I've been buying, and a fan of, for many years, is showing off their three year plan for satisfying our future computing needs.

"AMD plans to offer processors with more than two cores in 2007."

By 2007 they'll be offering more than 2 cores per processor? Well, if IBM is doing it now with 3 cores, why is it going to take a few more years for AMD? With programs today taking more and more processing speed, it'd be nice if they could speed this up a bit.

"Future AMD mobile processors are expected to have technology to more efficiently and effectively sense and control processor temperature."

Are expected to? And...? Speculation is great, but when you're trying to sell a vision you should probably not used word like 'might' or 'expected to'. It doesn't show confidence. They say pretty much the same thing about the Advanced Thermal Management. Tell us what you're doing, not what might be done. You know that they're working on technologies far in advance of releasing them. These 8 core processors that they say will be here in 2008, they're working on them now! Overall, this 'roadmap' doesn't really tell us much. Speculation, and that's about it.

One thing I did find interesting is their outlook on memory in 2008.

"DDR3 is the next evolutionary step in DRAM technology. DDR3 is designed to offer users higher memory bandwidth compared to DDR2. Anticipated interface speeds are 1066MHz, 1333MHz and 1600MHz. DDR3 also operates at a lower voltage (1.5V) than DDR2 (1.8V), offering lower power. AMD, along with its infrastructure partners, plans to incorporate and support DDR3 technology in 2007."

Processing power is great, but it's not the be all end all. Take your 3.2GHz PC and try running it with 256MB PC2100 DDR266. Take that out and run 1GB or more of PC3200 DDR400. It makes a difference. Running your PC with RAM at speeds of 1600MHz will make a difference, and I can't wait.

Americas Most Unusual Inventions and Patents

2005-11-26T20:23:00.000-08:00

digg story

"A HUGE list of weird inventions and patents from the states."

This is a funny site with some funny inventions. I imagine that as absurd as the Back Buzzer is, my wife wouldn't mind grabbing one.

Oh! And Junior Jail would've come in handy a few years back. Hey, actually, I could use it now, couldn't I? They're never too old for the Junior Jail!

And who can live without the Smoker's Hat?

"...the battery powered Smokers Hat sucks up the cigarette's smoke and filters it, deodorizes it, ionizes it and spritzes a fresh scent near the exhaust fan before it spits it back out."

It's fashionable, it's environmentally friendly, why did it never take off? I'll never know.

VH1: This Day in Music

2005-11-26T20:13:00.000-08:00

To follow up on the last Bob Dylan post... He might have been smart to warn the audience.

"Bob Dylan's all-gospel show gets an angry reaction in Tempe, Ariz. Dylan himself spends most of his time onstage berating the audience and then refuses to play an encore."

I don't know a lot on the history of Bob Dylan, but this intrigues me. What pushed Bob into chrisitianity? He must've done a lot of drugs in the 60's. Was this a part of turning his life around and coming clean? I'd be interested to find out.

300GB disc set to challenge DVD

2005-11-26T20:04:00.000-08:00

Oh the joys of technology! A 300GB DVD? That's just what the world needs. I could store all of my MP3s on one disc. No more searching for that one song on one of those many CDs and DVDs lying around the house.

"The discs, holding 300GB each, use so-called Tapestry holographic memory technology to store data by interference of light. They are also able to read and write data at 10 times the speed of a normal DVD."

With 60 times the amount of data on one disc, 10 times the recording speed isn't that great. The average DVD takes about 6 minutes for me to burn, meaning one of these new Tapestry discs would take... yeah, that's just way too much to think about.

"Tapestry can store more than 26 hours of broadcast-quality high-definition video on a single 300GB disk, recorded at a data rate of 160Mbps. The discs are 13cm in diameter and a little wider and thicker than conventional DVDs."

I don't know if 26 hours of HD video is going to be enough. Sure, right now it sounds like a lot, but in a few years the quality of video may just be at the point where 1080i looks to people of that time like BetaMax and 8 tracks look to us now. Technology moves at such a rate these days that things that look like they came out of Star Trek now look ridiculous and pitiful tomorrow. Six gigabyte iPod mini? Great, but it's outdated the week after I buy it...

Costs Could Rise in Olympic Vancouver

2005-11-26T19:40:00.000-08:00

Most of Canada was ecstatic when the 2010 Olympic Games were awarded to Vancouver. The potential for the region is exponential. For years afterwards, they say, the economic effects continue. Great!

Putting on a venue of this size is quite a task. The level of coordination by the Vancouver organizing committee is an astounding task that shouldn't be envied by any but the most stout. Well, we're only 4 or so years away and the problems have started already.

The head of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic organizing committee warns the region's building boom could escalate construction costs for Games venues between 40 per cent and 50 per cent.

With an original building budget of $470 million for construction alone, means that the capital costs have risen from $620 million to over $900 million. And that's now. By the time the games actually come to town, the costs will more than likely top a billion dollars. How many zeros is that? A lot!

Will the economic benefits of something so big be so big? It's hard to imagine. Even with increased tourism for the next decade, the cashflow through the coffers of the local working guy won't be seen. Will the games bring businesses to the province? Maybe, but not so many that it's worth the costs of bringing the games to our fair province. Whistler, I believe, will benefit from the exposure to the rest of the world as it's a resort town.

And why would you forecast costs in the future with today's dollar? Who's doing the financing on these projects? The team that has been assembled to do this are, from what I can tell, brilliant business people, so how could they screw up so bad?

I've seen the figures on how profitable the Olympics are to the hosting city, and they aren't good. How many games in the last 40 years have seen a profit? It's been a while since I read about it, but it's not many. The VANOC should've taken this into consideration when they were putting the package together for the Olympic Committee. Let's hope that we can go against the odds and make this the best, cheapest games to date.

Powerball winner found dead in home

2005-11-26T19:07:00.000-08:00

"A woman who won a $65.4 million Powerball jackpot with her husband five years ago was found dead at her home overlooking the Ohio River, where she had apparently been for days before anyone found her, police said."

Do you see what money will do to you? Do you see how it ruins lives? Win $65 million and your life goes to hell. Money is the debil Bobby Boucher.

Okay, so I'm be facetious. The say money can't buy you happiness, but I strongly disagree with that. Maybe that's only because I don't have any. At least with 32.5 million dollars you'd think you could find some happiness. One body found in her house, apparent death from drugs? Yeah, she O.D.'d on something. I guess there's not much else to do with that much money. Throw Coke parties for the rest of your (soon to be short) life? It doesn't say why her husband died in 2003, but maybe he was just too happy with his money also. Stupid rich people.

IBM XBox 360 Chip

2005-11-26T18:59:00.000-08:00

Wow. That's all I have to say. After hearing about the problems with overheating XBoxs since their release, I have been wondering, and half guessing, at why they would design them like that. This article shows exactly why. A Tri-Core chip from IBM. I'm a bit surprised that Microsoft didn't go with Intel on this one, since their relationship is so tight on many other levels, but they didn't.

Each core will also be able to act on two threads at once. Think of threads as customers at a grocery store waiting in a checkout line. Each core would be like a checkout clerk who can work with two customers are once, thus shortening the wait time. Each core's ability to handle two jobs simultaneously means the chip can act like it is in fact six chips. Each core will operate at 3.2 gigahertz, which is comparable to the processing speed of Intel's fastest Pentium processor.

A tri-core chip? Each core running at 3.2GHz? The speeds obtained should be phenomenal. It's no wonder the consoles are overheating. It would be nice if these kinds of chips were released for consumer use in the next few months. But, of course, it looks like Microsoft is keeping it all to themselves. I haven't been paying particular attention to the speeds of chips lately -- that's something I only really care about when it's about time for me to get a new processor, but as far as I know AMD and Intel have dualcore chips out. If IBM's PowerPC chips were more popular then we could potentially all reap the benefits of these chips.

The Xbox 360 is only one of three gaming systems for which IBM's microelectronics group has either fully or partially been involved in chip design and development. IBM collaborated with Sony and Toshiba (TOSBF) on the development of the Cell Processor in PlayStation 3, due for release in early 2006. It has also landed a chip in the forthcoming Nintendo Revolution.

IBM sweeps the competition with the Big 3. It's a wonder that Apple decided to go with Intel chips now because IBM couldn't keep up with their demand. Was this because IBM is concentrating on the console market? Would the numbers look better on paper if PS3, XBox360, and the Revolution were all under IBM's control? I'd say that's probably the case. I'm sure the three will outsell the Apple PCs 10:1.

Intel has cornered the PC market, until recently. Many people will argue, but millions are coming around to the fact that AMD chips are cheaper and run faster than Intel chips. So where does this leave Intel? IBM has their console market, AMD is winning the PC market... Could Intel be in real trouble?

Man steals woman's just-bought Xbox at gunpoint

2005-11-25T23:44:00.000-08:00

digg story

I've been avoiding posting about anything XBox 360ish because there's just so much of it out there. I've also avoided posting anything about the violence that's been going on by people desperate for one of these consoles.

Bought after a nine-hour wait and for nearly $600, the new Xbox 360 videogame system wasn't a steal for a Jonesboro, Ga., woman.

Now, I know that there is a shortage of Microsoft XBox 360s. And I know everybody on your block wants one. I also know that you're broke and you can't afford one. So, why not bust out your gun and shoot somebody for one? Or, if you failed to go buy a gun because you're that broke, then why not just beat the shit out of somebody for one, sell it, buy a gun with that money, and then go and get another XBox?

It all seems so logical, doesn't it? Bah! Morons. I work hard for my money. I can't afford a new console (even after my XBox died last weekend). But if I was going to get one, I sure as hell wouldn't give it up to you. Stupid punks. Guns aren't so much a problem here in Canada, but knives, fists, and everything else are. So the violence over a stupid gaming system rages throughout North America.

Microsoft, in all their mightiness, secretly decided that it would be a good idea to purposefully have a shortage. They can say it wasn't planned all they want, we all know the truth. You know what? You may be creating hype by doing this, but you're also getting people beat up and potentially killed. And then there are the people like me. If I happened to have an extra $600 and couldn't get one that day because of your stupidity, well I'd just go to the next store and get myself a shiny new video card and a new game. Seems to work out in the end, doesn't it?read more

Could you survive without a cell phone?

2005-11-25T23:23:00.000-08:00

digg story
This post reminds me of a conversation I had the other day with the last person on earth, that I know, who doesn't have a cell phone. I'm really hoping that they'll be able to hold out and not get one, but I fear that modern day just won't allow for it.

"Before cell phones people planned things in advance such as the location and time to meet now days it's all about texting when you are on the way and call me when you get there.

It's a sad fact of life that we can't survive without our phones. I have two. I'm not proud of it, but I just can't get by without at least the one!

I use a cell phone at least a dozen or more times a day at work. I have to, it's part of my job. So what am I going to do about that? Nothing. At least I look cool with it strapped to my waste, right? That's what I thought... No.

The other phone I need so that I can talk to my wife or anyone else that desperately needs to get ahold of me. You know, life or death, "Can you get milk on the way home," type phone calls. These are important. I know I could just use the other phone for things like this, but my boss wouldn't appreciate his bills at the end of the month if I did. So, I have two phones. A few people I know have two phones, in fact.

So what does this mean? Well, in Western Canada we're not as freaky about our technology like the Chinese in this story, but we're on our way. Asians have always been, and will always be, a few years ahead of us in their technology. So to see what's coming, just look to this story and others like it. Oh, and this story is humourous, if not exceedingly long. Give it a read though.

My cousin, the one without the cell phone. He says he's waiting until phones turn into phones / 20MP digital cameras / HD video recorders / dishwashers / whatever. I think he'll be surprised soon enough when that phone actually does come out... If he can last that long.

Microsoft Making Online Communication Tool

2005-11-25T16:59:00.000-08:00

Those Microsoft fellas sure are leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of us. Why, they're planning on making a new search engine that actually works. They've just released a gaming console that crashes every 20 minutes, and now this.

"Microsoft has announced plans to make the popular RSS internet syndication more “multidirectional,” by extending it to synchronize contact and calendar information across multiple applications."

Can you imagine? Would've thunk? Huh? It's amazing the ideas these tech heads come up with. Next thing you know they'll come out with Mouse 2.0. Oh, wait, that was Apple. I take that back.

Hey, I know, maybe they'll make it, call it aRSServer, package it up with Windows Vista, inherintly forcing users to have it installed, if not use it, and claim themselves the victors because it's installed in every machine. Meanwhile, it will interfere with every other program, including the ones made by MS, and have so many security holes that it'll take a team of a thousand to plug them, which means the overhead of that product will have tripled, and the price for you and me just went up tenfold. Phew. That took the breath out of me.

At least I can sleep better knowing that Microsoft is going to come out with another winner.

Music: Nickelfeud

2005-11-25T15:07:00.000-08:00

As if Mr. Kroeger doesn't have enough to worry about...

Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger is suing former drummer Ryan Vikedal in a bid to stop him from collecting royalties on the hit songs of the rock band.

Kroeger and his production company, Arm Your Dillo Publishing Inc., are claiming damages against Vikedal for royalties received since he stopped being the band's drummer in January.

Maybe he should concentrate on writing... good songs instead of worrying about a few thousand dollars.

I know it's going to be hard for him to take, but I'm going to lay it all out on the line. Your music sucks. I know, I know. There are millions of people who like it, but they are all wrong. Bon Jovi asked, "Can 100,000,000 Fans be Wrong?" The simple answer is, yes, yes they can.

There are a million Canadians who acknowledge that this is how you remind us of how arragant you really are. Get your head out of your ass and realize that you're still Canadian, which in turn means being humble about your greatness. We're loved the world over, but only when we don't do stupid things. This, is a stupid thing.

I wouldn't be down on Nickelback if it wasn't for the fact that before you made it big, when I lived in Vancouver years and years ago, you guys were actually pretty good. I might've even seen one of your concerts, but I can't be sure. But, alas, you found your sound, your one song, and you stuck with it. Chad, experiment a little! Don't write the same song over and over and over and ov... You get it. It's annoying.

2005-11-25T13:35:00.000-08:00

Engadget, which if you didn't know, is just about the quintessential new tech toys site, had this article posted today. It's great to know, now, that prices have been, and are continuing to fall on TVs... This information would have been good a little bit sooner. I guess it's only been 9 months or less with my 51" Toshiba Rear Projection TV, and I don't think waiting any longer would have been a good idea, but it's a tad disappointing to see this chart.

It's not that I'm not happy with my TV. It's great, it really is. It's that to get an even better one would have made me even happier... If the price was right.

When I was looking at the selection available to me, I noticed that the 'economy' TVs for ~1500 - 2000 dollars were fairly good. But, the next step up was even better. At that time, the LCD Rear Projections were more like $3000 for a 42", just a bit too much for me to dish out. So, I was stuck with the bottom of the barrel for $1550.

According to Displaysearch, the price of a 32-inch LCD TV will hit almost $1500 this quarter, down from $3000 a year ago, with the price of a 42-inch plasma sliding from just north of $4000 down to about $2500 over the same time period.

So how much further will prices drop in the next 12 months? Or is it going to be like computer parts? Prices stay the same, but you get more / better things for that amount.

I do have to say, though, that the Toshiba is by far superior to my other choices, A Sony, and a Panasonic. Both of the pictures on those were more pixelated than a SMR movie from a few years back.

With HDTV (which I haven't bothered with yet), and a HD upconverting DVD player to 1080i, it's not so bad to have a regular rear projection TV. But, man, would it have been nice to get a plasma. It still would. Maybe next year, hey?

Politics - 14 Years Old British Mayor

2005-11-25T13:14:00.000-08:00

digg story

Oh, this is just wrong on so many levels. Is it really possible for a 14 year old to be trusted as Mayor of the Youth? The mayor of a town an hour away from where I live was kicked out of office because he was stealing money, and he was in his mid 30's.

Britain's youngest elected official has just been inaugurated. At just 14 years old, Wilf Petherbridge has taken office as the Young Mayor of Lewisham, a London suburb. "It's a great thing to get young people to tell the old people how to do things," says Wilf.

That quote makes me think of a kid off of "Kids Say the Darndest Things." The reason he's in office is so he can tell people how to do things? That's just not right. And either way, he's not in charge of adults, he's in charge of telling the adults how younger people see things, and then they decide. But, with a budget of $25,000, what's he going to do? Free bud for all his friends? The biggest kegger any one of the kids have ever seen? Bullocks.

Tech: Worlds first USB Beverage Chiller

2005-11-25T12:53:00.000-08:00

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The geek in me is screaming for one of these. In fact, I need a hot one and a cold one. I rarely don't have a drink beside me at the computer.

"Just seconds after plugging the chiller into your computer's USB port (no external outlet needed), the coldplate chills to 45 degrees Fahrenheit, the perfect temperature for keeping your beverage chilled."

45F? What's that in Celcius? Considering the company is from Alberta, you'd think they'd have both. Anyway, here's what the original poster had to say.

Not quite to the market yet, but I heard from one of the owners that the first run is coming and will available from Futureshop in Canada before the end of December.

At Futureshop? That's sweet! It's only 3 minutes from my house. I'll check it out in mid-December, and if it's reasonable I'll buy one and let you people know what it's like.

Tech - Nintendo not kiddy enough?

2005-11-25T09:20:00.000-08:00

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"After years of being called too kiddy for hardcore gamers, Nintendo is finally being rebuked for abandoning their kiddiness - shown in their 21% drop in profits. Seems like a bit of a stretch to me..."

This is so true. I know a few years ago I only thought of Nintendo as a console for kids, but these days it's getting out of hand with the rated "T" for teen games.

I think it was last month, or maybe the month before, that Karen and I went looking for a console for the kids. They're 5 and 6, and I know that at least one of them really likes to watch (and asks to play) when I'm playing games on my XBox. So, we went looking at consoles for them.

Well, the first thing I looked at was getting another XBox. I know, from my own experience, that there are a ton of games out there for the XBox, but after looking at shelves upon shelves of games, I quickly realized that maybe one or two were suitable for kids under the age of 12 or so.

So it was on to the next one. The PS2. Sony, they make things for everyone, right? Well, not really. The only kid-friendly games that I could find involved Barbie and Shrek. Well, the one game is fine, but the Barbie stuff? Who cares about her magic horse? So on to the third.

The Gamecube has to be the most kid-friendly. I think I spotted about 4 games without looking too hard that my kids could play. But that's still only 4, and they're kids. They have the attention span of a gnat. They'll be so bored of those games within days that it would be a waste of money without the opportunity to buy them different games.

The price for the Nintendo Gamecube is right, that's for sure. But really, why can't anyone make games for kids any more? Even the old consoles when I was a kid, Atari, Activision, all those, had games that kids could play. Now the companies are just making games that will attract the big bucks from the tweens. There's a market for kids under 12, and maybe the 3 Giants should realize this and start asking their developers to make something geared towards them. Oh, and don't get me started about the learning software that you can buy for the PC...

Misc - Bird Flu 101

2005-11-25T08:49:00.000-08:00

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"H5 influenza strains, H5N1 subtypes, high-pathogenic, low-pathogenic - it's getting so we all need biology degrees in order to digest the latest news reports about avian influenza. Let's start with a few basics about bird flu..."

I'd have to say that I know little, if anything, about the bird flu epidemic. One thing that I have heard, though, is that it's been around for years and years. Has it been killing people for years? Is it like Mad Cow Disease? Do we care about it? Should we care about it? Sure Mad Cow is horrible, but only because it drives the price of beef up and then I can't afford to eat steak any more. So does a pandemic like the Bird Flu affect the price of chicken? If so, I'm not happy about it. If not, then who cares?

A bunch of chickens are going to die. They were going to die anyway. I'll admit, I don't like the fact that a bunch of farmers are losing money because of it. And the two people that have died from it got the short end of the stick, but really... come on. There's bigger things to worry about if only a couple of people have died from it. Take, oh, for example, Cancer? Live strong, let the chickens die.

The Million Dollar Xbox 360

2005-11-25T08:33:00.000-08:00

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"Yes, someone actually paid $1,000,000 for an Xbox 360."

Can you imagine? It's obviously a stupid 12 year old who thinks it's funny to make fake bids on eBay, but if someone with excessive money did want to be 'the first' to have a classic windows crash box? People are stupid.

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AJAX - A Year Later

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Zune Pics

Blogger 2.0

Imaging of Hydrogen Fuel Cells

One Terabyte Drives

120GB iPod?

Pirate Party's Darknet

Fox and Myspace

OFF by Digital Douwd

Laptop For Everyone

HD-DVD and Blu-ray Are Losers

AMD Release More Chips

Tongue'd Gameboy

Toy Hydrogen Cars

Road to High Def

Spill-resistant Keyboard

Lossless Downloads On iTunes

MS Concepts

Virgin Galactic

Google Music Search

Cracking the XBox 360

The Trickiness of the RIAA, Etc

Pentagon Watches Peacemakers

To Flop or Not

iPod Boxers

Apple Boombox?

Remove the XP Start Button

SmashMyXbox

WiMAX a Go

MS IE 7 More Secure

Paris Hilton vs. SPCA

Princeton Student Fined by RIAA

More Wiki Problems

Beyonce to Wed

Ashlee Simpson's Package

Wireless iPods in 2006

To Neptune! Alice!

Windows Live Local

Intel to Move Detection to Hardware

Sony DRM Snafu 1.2

Paris' Glasses

Eminem Remarries

Jessica's Infidelities

Slice Me Up a Line

Podcasting Has Been Crowned

The End of Harry?

Intel Macs

Indie Music Moving to Podcasts

iTunes and NBC

Mariah Loves You

No Kong!

Love, Angel, Music, Gwen

Jennifer's Rack

Oscarette?

Ben's Bagel

Anna @ Live 8

Oh, to be Famous

Adrienne!

Rick Springfield back on 'General Hospital' - after 23 years

It's Official: Brad'll Be a Family Guy

Dave and Oprah

Billy Joel

40 Year Old Virgin part 2

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HIV and AIDS

Google in the Doghouse?

Mish Mash

Oh, How Right I Am

Nick and Jessica

Avril LeThespian

Christmas Shopping

Firefox Update

Podcasting: Viewed Askew

A Mac Mini in Every Room?

The Simple Life

The Drunkald

Overhaul for Firefox web browser

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