I saw this on Alternet. Don't laugh. Take this very seriously. VERY SERIOUSLY:
I've read books by evolutionary psychologists (e.g., Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters) that say the same thing - women want to marry men with power and money. I've seen it many times. But there's another side to that equation. Women want rich men, but many of them are willing to cheat on these rich men with poor but handsome men.
I'm 6', 195 lbs at 10% body fat, green eyes, a full head of frankly luxurious wavy hair, and I'm 99% percentile (over 8") in the other height measurement. I'm from a working-class family, and for a while, I pursued a career that was aimed at helping my fellow human beings more than it was aimed at making good money. I had plenty of women who wanted to have sex with me, no strings attached, and a few who actually cheated on their shorter, fatter, dumber, glasses-wearing boyfriends. One was worried she got pregnant and plotted to pass the spawn off as her boyfriend's. This was because these short, fat, stupid men were from richer families that were able to put them through schools with no student loans, set them up with cars and houses right out of graduation, and in some cases, even gave them high-paying jobs.
After a few years, I got wise to the way things work, and I got out of social work and got a job in IT, tripling my income instantly. I was at my IT job for one week before I met my wife. If I was still working in social work, I'm certain that I'd never have attracted my wife, except perhaps for quick rebound sex from one of her previous relationships.
The lesson is this: women want men with money and good family connections as husbands. Many, however, are willing to take handsome, genetically-gifted men who don't have as much money for lovers.
If you're some 5'8," pot-bellied, balding creep who had the good fortune of being born to a dad who's a senior law partner or a banker, you've probably got a pretty hot chick because of your Lexus and big house. But I'd keep a close eye on your hot wife or girlfriend. I never knowingly cheated with anyone, but I've unwittingly cuckolded a good number of you guys because your girls want some hot sex with a tall athletic stud while their fat, ugly rich husbands are toiling away at the office. This is no joke. Be warned. Some of you might already be raising the babies of guys like me without even knowing it.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
The Strange Case of Child Pornography
And so this morning I read about a case in which a man, whose last name is the improbable Sodomski, was busted for having child pornography on his computer. Normally I have no sympathy for such people and I have even reported an online peddler of such material to the authorities when he attempted to send some my way. Homey don't play dat.
However; this case caught my attention because of the underlying privacy concern that it brought up. If you read about most child porn stings you will find that they usually involve a lengthy investigation in which people are caught using some kind of darknet in order to trade in such material. In some cases it involves snail mail. In other words the users involved have thoroughly shown that they have in fact either created, traded in, and purposefully owned child pornography. This is important. Going back to my statement on reporting an online peddler, In that case I was, in fact in possession of child pornography. I didn't ask for it, but it arrived. Knowing how the internet works, there was no doubt that there was a record of that transfer on someone's log and for a times there was a copy on my hard drive. Since I had not done a low level format or a "secure erase". The file, though "deleted" was still in fact on my drive for as long as it took for the OS to decide to write something else to that space. This time depends on the level of usage of the computer. This is somewhat important as we look at the case.
The man involved here brought his computer to Circuit City in order to have a DVD drive installed in his computer. At some point during this "install" the "tech" person did a search of the Hard drive and found "stuff that looked like adult material". the "tech" decided to click on the file to see what it was and discovered the child porn at issue. A judge ruled that the man's privacy was not infringed because he could not expect that the contents of his HD would not be looked at while the computer was out of his possession. I work with computers for a living so I know the process and this ruling is pretty bad.
Firstly, I'm not clear as to what Circuit City's policy towards their customers private data but I would be extremely disturbed, to the point of not using their "service" if they did not have a policy of "do not touch and do not look at" customer data. Furthermore I would be equally shocked if, unlike any other corporation I know about, Circuit City does not have a "no viewing of adult content" policy in effect as well. Let's assume for a minute that Circuit City does not have such policies on the books. Does this mean that Circuit City Techs are free to peruse user data which would inevitably include personal information of all kinds? Do they understand the inherent security risk this entails? If a customer has their identity stolen after having service at Circuit City, Circuit City could find itself at the receiving end of a lawsuit for knowingly allowing third parties to access user data. It's called willful negligence. That's not good.
But moving on from there. The process of installing and testing a DVD burner does not include a windows search. The only software portion of the install is the driver for the DVD drive (if needed, some drives already have the drivers in the host OS). After installing said software the machine would be rebooted and a test burn of a DVD would be performed. The tech ought to have a file they can test on a USB drive. In other words there is no good reason to do a search of the users system. So the question here is why were the techs performing this search? And why were they interested in the porn on the system? That's like having your car in for new tires and since the shop has a sign that the shop is not responsible for items left in the vehicle, the mechanics go through your glove box, digs in your seats for change or makes a few phone calls on your built in phone. After all, you left the car in their possession so you couldn't actually expect that they would limit their use of your vehicle to only that which is required to perform the service requested.
That is what bothers me about the ruling. Does Circuit City inform their customers that their data will be accessed? Does Circuit City inform their customers that their data will NOT be accessed? If either of these are the case then Circuit City would be in breech of a legal contract and a) ought to be sued. and b) the evidence ought not be admitted. I don't like option "b" but because I prefer that the law fail on the side of the citizen rather than the state I have to offer that option up.
However; this case caught my attention because of the underlying privacy concern that it brought up. If you read about most child porn stings you will find that they usually involve a lengthy investigation in which people are caught using some kind of darknet in order to trade in such material. In some cases it involves snail mail. In other words the users involved have thoroughly shown that they have in fact either created, traded in, and purposefully owned child pornography. This is important. Going back to my statement on reporting an online peddler, In that case I was, in fact in possession of child pornography. I didn't ask for it, but it arrived. Knowing how the internet works, there was no doubt that there was a record of that transfer on someone's log and for a times there was a copy on my hard drive. Since I had not done a low level format or a "secure erase". The file, though "deleted" was still in fact on my drive for as long as it took for the OS to decide to write something else to that space. This time depends on the level of usage of the computer. This is somewhat important as we look at the case.
The man involved here brought his computer to Circuit City in order to have a DVD drive installed in his computer. At some point during this "install" the "tech" person did a search of the Hard drive and found "stuff that looked like adult material". the "tech" decided to click on the file to see what it was and discovered the child porn at issue. A judge ruled that the man's privacy was not infringed because he could not expect that the contents of his HD would not be looked at while the computer was out of his possession. I work with computers for a living so I know the process and this ruling is pretty bad.
Firstly, I'm not clear as to what Circuit City's policy towards their customers private data but I would be extremely disturbed, to the point of not using their "service" if they did not have a policy of "do not touch and do not look at" customer data. Furthermore I would be equally shocked if, unlike any other corporation I know about, Circuit City does not have a "no viewing of adult content" policy in effect as well. Let's assume for a minute that Circuit City does not have such policies on the books. Does this mean that Circuit City Techs are free to peruse user data which would inevitably include personal information of all kinds? Do they understand the inherent security risk this entails? If a customer has their identity stolen after having service at Circuit City, Circuit City could find itself at the receiving end of a lawsuit for knowingly allowing third parties to access user data. It's called willful negligence. That's not good.
But moving on from there. The process of installing and testing a DVD burner does not include a windows search. The only software portion of the install is the driver for the DVD drive (if needed, some drives already have the drivers in the host OS). After installing said software the machine would be rebooted and a test burn of a DVD would be performed. The tech ought to have a file they can test on a USB drive. In other words there is no good reason to do a search of the users system. So the question here is why were the techs performing this search? And why were they interested in the porn on the system? That's like having your car in for new tires and since the shop has a sign that the shop is not responsible for items left in the vehicle, the mechanics go through your glove box, digs in your seats for change or makes a few phone calls on your built in phone. After all, you left the car in their possession so you couldn't actually expect that they would limit their use of your vehicle to only that which is required to perform the service requested.
That is what bothers me about the ruling. Does Circuit City inform their customers that their data will be accessed? Does Circuit City inform their customers that their data will NOT be accessed? If either of these are the case then Circuit City would be in breech of a legal contract and a) ought to be sued. and b) the evidence ought not be admitted. I don't like option "b" but because I prefer that the law fail on the side of the citizen rather than the state I have to offer that option up.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
All a dem dirty
So now that the report is out showing that all matter of people in all the clubs in the MLB have been using steroids, Jon Gruber finally has something to say about someone other than Barry Bonds. I wonder if that little NY Yankees icon will be doing a reappearance on his site in the future. I think he should also provide a nice little "daring" post in regards to putting astericks on the World Series winnings of the Yanks.
Speaking of astericks, since every team had a juiced player, wasn't the field actually "level"? Does the steroid use of players on one team negate the advantages of the steroid users of the opposing teams?
Speaking of astericks, since every team had a juiced player, wasn't the field actually "level"? Does the steroid use of players on one team negate the advantages of the steroid users of the opposing teams?
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Sim City DS
I used to play this game on my computer back in the day. I recently picked it up for my DS and have been wisked away to a time when time would fly and not bullets or lasers. I was working on my city, looked up and it was 1AM. I even had dreams about how to plan out the city. Good distraction from the auto woes (yes, still). I hearty recommend for those who previously enjoyed the game or those looking for DS fare sans violence or high speed.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Speaking of Sensors
So it is reported that Ford is recallng some trucks
The sensor in question is the Cam shaft position sensor. Why would that cause a problem? Basically the computer needs that information to know when the crank is at TDC (top dead center) and uses that information to determine how to ignite the air fuel mixture. If this information is not known, spark happens at the wrong time or more likely not at all. Dead engine. Bye bye power accessories.
due to a faulty engine sensor. Over time, the sensor can degrade, causing the engine to stall.
According to Ford, there have been 14 reports of accidents or loss of control related to the faulty sensor.
The sensor in question is the Cam shaft position sensor. Why would that cause a problem? Basically the computer needs that information to know when the crank is at TDC (top dead center) and uses that information to determine how to ignite the air fuel mixture. If this information is not known, spark happens at the wrong time or more likely not at all. Dead engine. Bye bye power accessories.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Recent RIAA decision
from Ars:
Well actually you can know how many people have grabbed your file since most clients will tell you not only how many people are connected to your client but also how many times the file has been completely uploaded. So it is entirely knowable the exact amount of copies that have been originally distributed.
Secondly, unless we are using the same logic as the felony murder laws, what other people did once they got the files ought to be irrelevant. If this individual is going to be held legally responsible for the infringement done by others, then the on the next go round the defendant ought to claim that he got his file from Thomas and that since the court has ruled that Thomas is legally and monetarily responsible for any further infringement that occurs from files Thomas originally infringed upon, then the RIAA has already been compensated for all it's losses.
It is clear that the judge here is biased. How can the sharing of a a single file that has a revenue of 77cents result in $220,000 of damages? Even with punitive measures added that number is too high. I mean that's over 314285.714 record sales. Very few albums by themselves even sell that much in a single year much less a single track. That simply makes NO sense.
It's also impossible for the true damages to be calculated, according to the brief, because it's unknown how many other users accessed the files in the KaZaA share in question and committed further acts of copyright infringement. That's significant, because it shows that the DoJ is siding with the RIAA when it comes to the issue of whether making a file available for download on a P2P network constitutes distribution. It was a contentious issue during the Thomas trial, with the jury instructions originally stating that making songs available is not the same as distribution. The RIAA objected to that instruction, and in its final form, all the jury had to do was find that Thomas made the files available.
Well actually you can know how many people have grabbed your file since most clients will tell you not only how many people are connected to your client but also how many times the file has been completely uploaded. So it is entirely knowable the exact amount of copies that have been originally distributed.
Secondly, unless we are using the same logic as the felony murder laws, what other people did once they got the files ought to be irrelevant. If this individual is going to be held legally responsible for the infringement done by others, then the on the next go round the defendant ought to claim that he got his file from Thomas and that since the court has ruled that Thomas is legally and monetarily responsible for any further infringement that occurs from files Thomas originally infringed upon, then the RIAA has already been compensated for all it's losses.
It is clear that the judge here is biased. How can the sharing of a a single file that has a revenue of 77cents result in $220,000 of damages? Even with punitive measures added that number is too high. I mean that's over 314285.714 record sales. Very few albums by themselves even sell that much in a single year much less a single track. That simply makes NO sense.
More Auto Woes
New main relay. Same old problem. At this point it's down to three things:
1) ECU
2) Unknown relay that is rusted to hell
3) Dist/coil (Doubtfull)
4) Cold Start Injector (Doubtful as it starts up and runs (badly) for a bit.
What is interesting is that I now have wet plugs. So it would seem that the engine is now getting flooded and/or no/intermittent spark.
I've found a used DME for 80 bucks. (I'm not paying 700 for a new one to find out that isn't the problem). I'm going to leave work early tomorrow so I can pull the DME out ad check it for water damage. And order the part and have it expressed shipped. I really don't want to part with this car.
1) ECU
2) Unknown relay that is rusted to hell
3) Dist/coil (Doubtfull)
4) Cold Start Injector (Doubtful as it starts up and runs (badly) for a bit.
What is interesting is that I now have wet plugs. So it would seem that the engine is now getting flooded and/or no/intermittent spark.
I've found a used DME for 80 bucks. (I'm not paying 700 for a new one to find out that isn't the problem). I'm going to leave work early tomorrow so I can pull the DME out ad check it for water damage. And order the part and have it expressed shipped. I really don't want to part with this car.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Auto Woes
I have a 1987 BMW 635CSI. Wonderful car. But not today. I can't drive it 'cause it wont idle. It all started in early august when I changed the plugs and oil. I put in Bosch platinum +2's in there. Not good. I forgot that I had banished multi-prong spark plugs from my cars. What started happening as the temps dropped was that it started to idle badly until it warmed up. It would stall intermittently. Now this engine has been rock solid since I got it 2 years ago. even in the winter. Turn key, car starts. Not any more. So having seen this problem on my '88 325i I thought that it was the fuel injector temp sensor. So I replaced that. Same problem. So then I went and tossed the plugs. The OEM ones were not available so I put in another single prong plug. Still rough idle. Now I'm concerned. I ordered the specified Bosch silver plugs and installed 'em. The other plugs showed no signs of any combustion problems. Started her up and she ran nice. Then she tried to stall a bit. I thought that perhaps the ECU needed to adjust.
Anyway I took my other car to my moms house. The next day I thought I'd put it on the road. Started it up and it went to rough idling as expected. I got about 3 blocks when the car went to bucking like a first time stick shift driver. Then the car stalled out. I managed to get it into a parking lot where it became hard to start and would not idle. I could gas it and keep it running somewhat and managed to get it back home.
So today I checked the plugs. Not fouled. Checked for vacuum leaks again. None. Then I discovered that the crank position sensor connection was broken at the connector clip. I'm not sure how much that is the problem but I had to order a replacement. I also discovered that this little vacuum hose sitting on the thermostat housing was broken. Well the sensor part. Had to order that too. The I discovered that one of the relays had a connector lose. I put that back on. No change. So basically the car is immobile and I can't get all the parts I need for 10 days. Never mind the rule here in my complex that you can't leave your car in the same spot for more than 48 hours. So I'll have to tell the super about my problems.
Unfortunately if these parts don't fix the car I'll have to part with it. Which presents another problem. I keep two cars because they are both old so if one acts up or I break something when I'm working on one (it's happened) I can still go to work or the parts store. If I have to part with the 6 I will have to buy another car which I really don't want to do. I'd want another 6 but they are hard to find in the configuration I want: Black with a manual transmission preferably a tan interior.
Anyway I took my other car to my moms house. The next day I thought I'd put it on the road. Started it up and it went to rough idling as expected. I got about 3 blocks when the car went to bucking like a first time stick shift driver. Then the car stalled out. I managed to get it into a parking lot where it became hard to start and would not idle. I could gas it and keep it running somewhat and managed to get it back home.
So today I checked the plugs. Not fouled. Checked for vacuum leaks again. None. Then I discovered that the crank position sensor connection was broken at the connector clip. I'm not sure how much that is the problem but I had to order a replacement. I also discovered that this little vacuum hose sitting on the thermostat housing was broken. Well the sensor part. Had to order that too. The I discovered that one of the relays had a connector lose. I put that back on. No change. So basically the car is immobile and I can't get all the parts I need for 10 days. Never mind the rule here in my complex that you can't leave your car in the same spot for more than 48 hours. So I'll have to tell the super about my problems.
Unfortunately if these parts don't fix the car I'll have to part with it. Which presents another problem. I keep two cars because they are both old so if one acts up or I break something when I'm working on one (it's happened) I can still go to work or the parts store. If I have to part with the 6 I will have to buy another car which I really don't want to do. I'd want another 6 but they are hard to find in the configuration I want: Black with a manual transmission preferably a tan interior.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Gabriel Union Mad at some Black Bloggers
Apparently Gabriel Union is mad at some black gossip bloggers who have her running around with all kinds of people. All I got to say is:
Gabriel If you're reading this: If you're in NY/NJ and bored drop me a line and I'll write whatever you want!
;-)
Gabriel If you're reading this: If you're in NY/NJ and bored drop me a line and I'll write whatever you want!
;-)
Monday, November 19, 2007
The Trouble with Kindle
And so Amazon has released an e-book reader named 'Kindle" in hopes of, as stated, to be the iPods of books. There are a couple of huge problems with this idea the least of which is that the proprietary DRM they are going to use on this thing.
I own a N800 for which there is an ebook reader available. I can get books from the website WOWIO transfer it to my N800 and read it as I recently did with "Where Darwin meets the Bible". Those books are PDFs so any PDF reader will open them. The biggest problem has been that I could not make notes with the reader I was using I often want to annotate my readings. The bigger problem is access. I deal with a lot of history and science books. A lot of times I need to reference a topic and going to my library is easy. I don't have all my books in electronic form so being able to search across volumes, which is what any heavy reader or researcher would need to do, is what is lacking.
Lastly the fact that these books are far easier to lose is a debatable issue. If one is as careful with your e-books as most of us are with our digital music (I have three copies one of which is off-site), then it really shouldn't be an issue.
What is good about Amazon's offering is that it helps to push us into the era of the Star Trek D-pad. One of the issues is that we are on the verge of a generation that will see the computer as more than somewhere you do work. Many of us older folk still have have the mindset of our computers being tools rather than extensions of ourselves. Another generation is coming that will see their digital devices as extensions of themselves (for better or worse). They will grow up in schools where the books are all electronic and there is no library only a central server that books are accessed and or downloaded from.
We may quibble with the Kindle for the services shortcomings but eventually this type of device is going to happen. It is the same reason that the Nokia Internet Tablet was created. It is about ubiquitous internet access which is about ubiquitous data access to any and every piece of information legally (and not so) available.
I own a N800 for which there is an ebook reader available. I can get books from the website WOWIO transfer it to my N800 and read it as I recently did with "Where Darwin meets the Bible". Those books are PDFs so any PDF reader will open them. The biggest problem has been that I could not make notes with the reader I was using I often want to annotate my readings. The bigger problem is access. I deal with a lot of history and science books. A lot of times I need to reference a topic and going to my library is easy. I don't have all my books in electronic form so being able to search across volumes, which is what any heavy reader or researcher would need to do, is what is lacking.
Lastly the fact that these books are far easier to lose is a debatable issue. If one is as careful with your e-books as most of us are with our digital music (I have three copies one of which is off-site), then it really shouldn't be an issue.
What is good about Amazon's offering is that it helps to push us into the era of the Star Trek D-pad. One of the issues is that we are on the verge of a generation that will see the computer as more than somewhere you do work. Many of us older folk still have have the mindset of our computers being tools rather than extensions of ourselves. Another generation is coming that will see their digital devices as extensions of themselves (for better or worse). They will grow up in schools where the books are all electronic and there is no library only a central server that books are accessed and or downloaded from.
We may quibble with the Kindle for the services shortcomings but eventually this type of device is going to happen. It is the same reason that the Nokia Internet Tablet was created. It is about ubiquitous internet access which is about ubiquitous data access to any and every piece of information legally (and not so) available.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
One Image to Boot Them All
Finally I can boot my PPC Macs and Intel Macs from the same image with 10.5. It took a while but I got what I wanted. Yay!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
More Leopard complaints
Apparently Mail.App in Leopard is no longer smart enough to automatically change signatures when you change accounts. It simply puts another signature below the first one. Dumb.
Technorati Tags: Mac OS X Leapard
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Note To Apple on Leopard
I'd like my blue apple icon back please. I can deal with the grey. Reminds me a bit of the OS 9 days. But the last time I saw a grey apple was on the "toned down" Aqua interface pitched at photographers and video people. I understood the point even though I didn't use it. So, um, could I please have my blue apple icon back?
Thanks.
Thanks.
Palm OS emulation on the N800
Just posted to Internet Tablet Talk
[update] ummmmmm on second thought..until the thing can do full screen rather than emulate the exact configuration of a palm device (or at least rotate the screen to portrait view) I'm going to have to stick with the GPE apps. I'm a Mac user. Aesthetics are important to me.
[update] I have successfully synced with my Mac via Missing Sync software over a network connection.
ACCESS Systems Americas, Inc., formerly PalmSource, Inc. has just released Garnet VM Beta for the Nokia Internet Tablet. This virtual machine software lets you run the full Palm OS Garnet on any model of Nokia Internet Tablet (770, N800, N810), giving you full PIM functionality as well as let you install more than 30,000 free and commercial Palm OS applications.Now I can sync, hopefully, haven't tested yet, all my Macs, my Fossil Wrist PDA and my N800 with passwords and other pertinent info.
[update] ummmmmm on second thought..until the thing can do full screen rather than emulate the exact configuration of a palm device (or at least rotate the screen to portrait view) I'm going to have to stick with the GPE apps. I'm a Mac user. Aesthetics are important to me.
[update] I have successfully synced with my Mac via Missing Sync software over a network connection.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
WHAT THE *(*&()*&)(*&!!!
I have the Nintendo DS version of this game and it effin' ROCKS!! I haven't had this much fun on my DS since I finished Golden Eye. Yes I ENJOYED Golden Eye. Well OK Golden Eye and Star Trek Tactical Assault. First thing is that this joint has NICE 3D sound. This is the first game I've actually grabbed my headphones for. The fighting is intense. How intense? Lets just say that I would be up for shooting up civilians if this was actual warfare cause at some points I just held down the fire button and pointed at anything that moved or had a hint of red on it. And yo, that was the first mission.
The problem with this game on the DS is that it, at times, like that aforementioned first mission, can move way to fast for the DS. I have large hands and I was cramping up quickly. The screen is too small for this kind of play. on a 42" TV it's one thing but in the little DS screen it can be a bit much. The other annoying thing is that you have to use the touch screen to turn left and right and up and down. unfortunately that same touch screen, when double tapped allows you to aim through the gun scope. How many times did that pop up while I was trying to navigate? Many. Many, many.
Still this is one of the best games I've purchased for my DS and it has renewed my interest in Golden Eye. Normally I'm not into the war games. The genre doesn't do anything for me. In this particular case I'm not feeling the whole "Middle East" thing but I'm ignoring it for the duration.
I have the Nintendo DS version of this game and it effin' ROCKS!! I haven't had this much fun on my DS since I finished Golden Eye. Yes I ENJOYED Golden Eye. Well OK Golden Eye and Star Trek Tactical Assault. First thing is that this joint has NICE 3D sound. This is the first game I've actually grabbed my headphones for. The fighting is intense. How intense? Lets just say that I would be up for shooting up civilians if this was actual warfare cause at some points I just held down the fire button and pointed at anything that moved or had a hint of red on it. And yo, that was the first mission.
The problem with this game on the DS is that it, at times, like that aforementioned first mission, can move way to fast for the DS. I have large hands and I was cramping up quickly. The screen is too small for this kind of play. on a 42" TV it's one thing but in the little DS screen it can be a bit much. The other annoying thing is that you have to use the touch screen to turn left and right and up and down. unfortunately that same touch screen, when double tapped allows you to aim through the gun scope. How many times did that pop up while I was trying to navigate? Many. Many, many.
Still this is one of the best games I've purchased for my DS and it has renewed my interest in Golden Eye. Normally I'm not into the war games. The genre doesn't do anything for me. In this particular case I'm not feeling the whole "Middle East" thing but I'm ignoring it for the duration.
Friday, November 2, 2007
MaemoMapper V2 is out for N800/N770
MaemoMapper is available here
While my maps are downloading (into a new database rather than single files in many, many directories) I'm noticing heavier CPU usage as well as slower screen redraws. This was noted by the author so I'm not going to complain yet. The ITOS 2008 will be boosting the CPU speed on the N800 so that may help with some of the CPU usage. If there is better power management to go along with the CPU boost then I won't be too worried about charge time.
Overall, if you have an Internet Tablet you need to get this app. If only I could get my iFoney to work with DUN properly I'd be set.
Oh yeah. MaemoMapper is really high on the list of reasons why I have not purchased an iPhone. Many of the apps I have on my N800 are dispensable or have equivalents on the iPhone but this app has no equivalent.
[update] I just tried it out on the road. Having "up" always be the direction of travel is the way navigation is supposed to be. It may be small mental calculus to determine if you need to make a left or right, but when traveling at speed that small but of time can be the difference between arriving and not arriving.
This is the first release of the 2.x version ofI drove cross country with only this app as a guide and it was great. Only gripes were that the route database went down a couple of times so I had to use my laptop to get route info. Also I discovered that if the GPS unit went out of range MM would crash. This apparently has been fixed though I haven't tested it yet.
Maemo Mapper. It focuses on increased
functionality at the cost of some CPU efficiency.
Major upgrades include a database-driven map
repository, rotating viewpoint, GPSD compatibility,
and new POI functionality.
See the changelog for the (mostly)
complete list of changes.
While my maps are downloading (into a new database rather than single files in many, many directories) I'm noticing heavier CPU usage as well as slower screen redraws. This was noted by the author so I'm not going to complain yet. The ITOS 2008 will be boosting the CPU speed on the N800 so that may help with some of the CPU usage. If there is better power management to go along with the CPU boost then I won't be too worried about charge time.
Overall, if you have an Internet Tablet you need to get this app. If only I could get my iFoney to work with DUN properly I'd be set.
Oh yeah. MaemoMapper is really high on the list of reasons why I have not purchased an iPhone. Many of the apps I have on my N800 are dispensable or have equivalents on the iPhone but this app has no equivalent.
[update] I just tried it out on the road. Having "up" always be the direction of travel is the way navigation is supposed to be. It may be small mental calculus to determine if you need to make a left or right, but when traveling at speed that small but of time can be the difference between arriving and not arriving.
Technorati Tags: MaemoMapper, N800
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
I Phony
So I've gotten my iPhony. Nice looking phone actually. For the record it is the CECT P168 iFONE Tri-Band PDA Phone. Yes the interface is cheesy as hell. Fonts bitmapped like hell. If anything it would make you appreciate what apple did when it did the interface on the iPhone. This phone here has a better video camera than my N800.
One serious word of warning though. DO NOT EVER connect this phone to a Mac via USB. I did so to transfer some images to try out for a wallpaper and had the Finder go crazy after copying all of 3 files. After two reboots I decided that Bluetooth will be the way I'll be transferring things to this phone. Then on reboot it asked me to install the sim card. Excuse me? This went on a couple of times before I figured out that I can access some of the menus and get the phone to "switch" sim cards. After doing this twice, the phone finally booted properly. HOWEVER the touch screen orientation was backwards. After rebooting again I figured out that by recalibrating the touch screen I could get the screen to act right.
Crazy.
Now when I got the package it was interesting what they put on the package as a description of content: LED Flashlight.
One serious word of warning though. DO NOT EVER connect this phone to a Mac via USB. I did so to transfer some images to try out for a wallpaper and had the Finder go crazy after copying all of 3 files. After two reboots I decided that Bluetooth will be the way I'll be transferring things to this phone. Then on reboot it asked me to install the sim card. Excuse me? This went on a couple of times before I figured out that I can access some of the menus and get the phone to "switch" sim cards. After doing this twice, the phone finally booted properly. HOWEVER the touch screen orientation was backwards. After rebooting again I figured out that by recalibrating the touch screen I could get the screen to act right.
Crazy.
Now when I got the package it was interesting what they put on the package as a description of content: LED Flashlight.
NBC's Universal's Thought Process
Ever since Microsoft agreed to pay some company a 1 buck or so "royalty" for every Zune sold, these greedy media people have had hard ons for getting a piece of Apple's hardware business.
Recently Jeff Zucker said that Apple is “destroyed the music business in terms of pricing” and will invariably do the same to the online video business."
Well first think wrong with this idea is that there was no money in the online "music biz" until Apple got in the "music business" And similarly there was really not an online video biz until the iPod Video came around. Yes there were PMP's before the iPod video of which I own a few, but very few of them were actually hosting paid for content. So basically Apple monetized for both itself and its media suppliers the portable music and video online business. But really that's not what they are thinking about. No, they, like the Mob, want their hands in the end to end part of the business. First we dick the artists, then we dick the consumer. If we can dick the hardware companies too, all the better!
OK They didn't say it like that, rather they said:
It's a Mob mentality. There is no shame.
Recently Jeff Zucker said that Apple is “destroyed the music business in terms of pricing” and will invariably do the same to the online video business."
Well first think wrong with this idea is that there was no money in the online "music biz" until Apple got in the "music business" And similarly there was really not an online video biz until the iPod Video came around. Yes there were PMP's before the iPod video of which I own a few, but very few of them were actually hosting paid for content. So basically Apple monetized for both itself and its media suppliers the portable music and video online business. But really that's not what they are thinking about. No, they, like the Mob, want their hands in the end to end part of the business. First we dick the artists, then we dick the consumer. If we can dick the hardware companies too, all the better!
OK They didn't say it like that, rather they said:
“Apple sold millions of dollars worth of hardware off the back of our content and made a lot of money,” Zucker said. “They did not want to share in what they were making off the hardware or allow us to adjust pricing.”Zune-itis. See that's the real dig here. Oddly enough I don't see where Samsung pays each and every media outlet for the movies and other programming seen on it's screens. Nope. Sony.. well they are in the end-to-end business and their pricing shows it. But understand this, These people are mad because Apple didn't roll over and die in the 90's and they are mad 'cause Apple made the better Walkman. They are also completely blind to the fact that they, the media companies are producing crap and the audience knows it. They will no longer spend their money on CD's with filler songs just to get the one, two or three tracks they want. The record companies killed off the singles market because they wanted to boost album sales. Never mind that oft times those singles were ridiculously priced to begin with. But at least in the pre-iPod days you could argue that one had to produce artwork and produce and actual material product, but with the digital revolution, there is one file. That's it. There is no cost incurred by the media companies to distribute the digital product it is a product with the bare minimal overhead for the media companies. Apple is the one paying for that bandwidth and storage and talent. The media companies get to sit back and say: "Pay me."
It's a Mob mentality. There is no shame.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
iPod Touch
I was in B&H Photo is NYC today purchasing a wide angle lens for my camera and while I was waiting for help I saw the new iPods on display. My 20GB iPod is pretty old and will be due for a replacement but I was really unawares of how the iPod ecosystem had changed since that iPod.
The Touch is small.
I knew that the iPods had gone thin but I was really surprised at just how small the touch is. It would have been informative to see the screen on to get a feel for the relative screen size but it makes my N800 seem gargantuan in comparison. Yes the N800 has a larger screen, bluetooth and a SD slot, but seriously it is huge compared to the touch, which functionally does what the N800 does for most people.
The Touch is small.
I knew that the iPods had gone thin but I was really surprised at just how small the touch is. It would have been informative to see the screen on to get a feel for the relative screen size but it makes my N800 seem gargantuan in comparison. Yes the N800 has a larger screen, bluetooth and a SD slot, but seriously it is huge compared to the touch, which functionally does what the N800 does for most people.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
New Mac OS X Names
Well there are still a few big name Cats to go before Apple runs out of feline names for their OS's. So I suggest that Apple start a contest for the public to have a chance at naming a future OS release based on their cat's name. I can see it now. Mac OS X Fluffy. Mac OS X Sox.
and of course my own Cat's name, Mac OS X Yemi. Do you have a cat? Put your OS name in the comments.
and of course my own Cat's name, Mac OS X Yemi. Do you have a cat? Put your OS name in the comments.
Technorati Tags: Mac OS X Leapard
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
IT OS2008 for N800
Will apparently be released alongside the N810.
The N810 sales will start on mid November and simultaneously the OS2008 will be available for download for N800 users.Leopard on Friday. ITOS 2008 in November. I'm a happy camper.
Technorati Tags: N800
Friday, October 19, 2007
RIP Lucky Dube
Victim of Black on Black crime. I just read this. I am NOT happy.
The staff of Gallo Record Company are devastated by the news of the tragic passing of reggae legend Lucky Dube. Lucky was slain in an attempted hijacking in Rosettenville in Johannesburg last night, at approximately 8pm, whilst dropping off his children at a family members house.www.luckydubemusic.com
Toyata: We Knew About That Faulty Transmission...
“We knew in the very beginning we had a transmission issue with that vehicle,” he said. The problem caused the transmission to get stuck in second gear or pass through second gear roughly."Left Lane News
Umm I think I smell lawyers coming.
Google Grand Central Requires Flash
Has unfortunately decided that one must have Adobe Flash to log in thereby making it all but useless to manage from my N800. Of course the ITOS2008 is supposed to have a new Flash plugin. I can only hope that GC will work in the browser with it.
And of course should I receive a voicemail from Grand Central in my in box, the linked file doesn't work in the N800 mail program and therefore I cannot get the voicemail because, well, the site needs flash. Anyone at Google think this is a bad idea?
[update]
I have to rescind this post because I discovered that flash had been inadvertently disabled on my N800. Once I got it back on, Grand Central worked as expected.
And of course should I receive a voicemail from Grand Central in my in box, the linked file doesn't work in the N800 mail program and therefore I cannot get the voicemail because, well, the site needs flash. Anyone at Google think this is a bad idea?
[update]
I have to rescind this post because I discovered that flash had been inadvertently disabled on my N800. Once I got it back on, Grand Central worked as expected.
Technorati Tags: Google Grand Central, N800
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Nokia Intenet Tablet 810 photos released
First the Linky
I have the current N800 which I have grown to enjoy even though I have some quibbles with it. About the only thing I want from it is to make regular cellular phone calls from it. They've added a hardware slide out keyboard apparently a response to people who dislike the onscreen one.I don't mind the on screen one and have finally gotten used to using it to type out messages, however when on websites it can be annoying to deal with the tiny KB, which I suppose is why a relatively larger "real' keyboard has been added.
I am definitely feeling the new hardware design though. I prefered the black of the previous gen 770 so this graphite look works for me. Also it appears that the OS has been given some polish, which is good. Hopefully the bug where the vertical scrollbar is not flush against the side of the screen has been dealt with.
And oh look!!! the IT now supports a wide variety of video codecs without needing mPlayer and supports desktop Adobe Flash 9.
And oh look!! The IT now comes with a car mount. I suppose that is to correspond with the mapping software and built in GPS on this tablet.
I have the current N800 which I have grown to enjoy even though I have some quibbles with it. About the only thing I want from it is to make regular cellular phone calls from it. They've added a hardware slide out keyboard apparently a response to people who dislike the onscreen one.I don't mind the on screen one and have finally gotten used to using it to type out messages, however when on websites it can be annoying to deal with the tiny KB, which I suppose is why a relatively larger "real' keyboard has been added.
I am definitely feeling the new hardware design though. I prefered the black of the previous gen 770 so this graphite look works for me. Also it appears that the OS has been given some polish, which is good. Hopefully the bug where the vertical scrollbar is not flush against the side of the screen has been dealt with.
And oh look!!! the IT now supports a wide variety of video codecs without needing mPlayer and supports desktop Adobe Flash 9.
And oh look!! The IT now comes with a car mount. I suppose that is to correspond with the mapping software and built in GPS on this tablet.
Apple iTunes Plus Price Drop
Back in my post regarding the new Amazon music store I asked:
From what Steve Jobs has said, the Apple Store uses DRM because they are under contractual obligation to record companies to do so. If that is the case why are the record companies allowing Amazon to sell the same tracks sans DRM? It would seem to me that is an unfair business practice. I would also point out the price difference but it is entirely possible that Amazon is taking a hit on their end rather than the record companies taking it on theirs.I'm not sure whether I was right or not, but it seeing the actual announcement about the price drop, we still do not see any major label other than EMI, but we do see a whole bunch of smaller independent labels. I am going to go out on a limb and suppose that EMI agreed to the price drop and the independent labels came for the ride. The other labels are still, in my opinion, illegally colluding to "punish" Apple Inc. Seeing as how various top name artists are re-evaluating their attachment to the major record companies, I can only think that this is going to be a lose-lose for those record labels who do not get with the program.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Bank Of America Mobile Banking
First, I'd like to thank Apple for hosting a directory of iPhone optimized websites that I can use on my N800. Thanks.
I'd next like to say No Thanks to Bank Of America for disallowing my device to be used with mobile banking. So instead I'll use the regular BOA page that fits quite well on my N800's screen (what with all those extra pixels and all). I cannot fathom why mobile banking is disallowed but not the full site.
Anyway, I refuse to do banking over the air anyway (unless i'm on my home network which is locked down tight). Anyway, good luck keeping that banking stuff secure with that TIFF vulnerability giving root access to the iPhone and iTouch.
I'd next like to say No Thanks to Bank Of America for disallowing my device to be used with mobile banking. So instead I'll use the regular BOA page that fits quite well on my N800's screen (what with all those extra pixels and all). I cannot fathom why mobile banking is disallowed but not the full site.
Anyway, I refuse to do banking over the air anyway (unless i'm on my home network which is locked down tight). Anyway, good luck keeping that banking stuff secure with that TIFF vulnerability giving root access to the iPhone and iTouch.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Neo Office 2.2.2 out
Go get it here
Hopefully that bug where the office 2007 Excel files take years to open has been fixed.
Hopefully that bug where the office 2007 Excel files take years to open has been fixed.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Daft iPhone Owner
Taken directly from a letter sent to Macintouch:
iPhone
8GB
Ships: Within 24 hours
Free Shipping
$399.00
Who knew?
"...Yet, at the same time, I cannot understand why Apple would refuse such a repair for a charge. The shear inconvenience of a dead phone, having to locate and travel to an Apple Store, and the paying of a fee should be enough to discourage future alterations to the phone. I can certainly say I have lost all interest in "hacks".Why yes, there is a pay for means to have your iphone put into ship shape:
iPhone
8GB
Ships: Within 24 hours
Free Shipping
$399.00
Who knew?
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Shifting Habits
Ny times auto blog about manual transmissions:
I don't care about how fast the computer can shift. I like the hand, foot, eye coordination.
At first everyone in the conference thought he was joking. He wasn’t. His magazine isn’t a car magazine, so there’s no professional reason for him to know how to drive a stick. But I’d always thought it was a basic life skill, like rock, paper, scissors, and shuffling cards. I’d always taken it for granted.Seriously though, Most automatic tranny drivers I know are lazy and have really bad driving habits. They ride their brakes... Oh yeah, you got to do that to keep the car from moving while in drive...right. Look, I want the car to move when I want it to move. I want to brake when I choose. I want to hold the engine at whatever RPM I choose. I want to disconnect the engine from the tranny when I want to. Get it? When. I. Want. To.
I don't care about how fast the computer can shift. I like the hand, foot, eye coordination.
New N800 Kernel
While a lot of N800 and 770 owners have been sniggering at iPhone owners who had their phones "reset" by the latest Apple update, Nokia has released a kernel patch to fix a glaring problem in it's kernel that has "bricked" many peoples SDHC cards. Of course we'll have to re-install everything we have in order to get this fix. Me. I'm waiting for a more significant update cause I'm about tired of reloading apps.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
New Amazon Store
Amazon.com has gotten into the music download business, having already been in the CD selling business for some time now.
The store features 89c single tracks and albums from $5.99 to $9.99.
I won't go into the actual workings of the store as other sites are doing that. However I've been thinking about some things here. Is it possible that the Record companies are engaging in unfair competition against Apple?
From what Steve Jobs has said, the Apple Store uses DRM because they are under contractual obligation to record companies to do so. If that is the case why are the record companies allowing Amazon to sell the same tracks sans DRM? It would seem to me that is an unfair business practice. I would also point out the price difference but it is entirely possible that Amazon is taking a hit on their end rather than the record companies taking it on theirs.
Still though, it smells like collusion against a company to me. I mean it's not like the record companies are incurring extra cost to get product <i> to</i> Amazon. And it is pretty clear that Amazon doesn't currently have the retail moving power that iTunes has, so it's not like they are getting some kind of bulk discount. The only thing I can see is that record companies simply decided to give Amazon different terms for the same exact product in order to put pressure on one particular retailer. I thought such things were illegal. I'm probably wrong since lawsuits haven't flown but it still smells pretty bad to me.
The store features 89c single tracks and albums from $5.99 to $9.99.
I won't go into the actual workings of the store as other sites are doing that. However I've been thinking about some things here. Is it possible that the Record companies are engaging in unfair competition against Apple?
From what Steve Jobs has said, the Apple Store uses DRM because they are under contractual obligation to record companies to do so. If that is the case why are the record companies allowing Amazon to sell the same tracks sans DRM? It would seem to me that is an unfair business practice. I would also point out the price difference but it is entirely possible that Amazon is taking a hit on their end rather than the record companies taking it on theirs.
Still though, it smells like collusion against a company to me. I mean it's not like the record companies are incurring extra cost to get product <i> to</i> Amazon. And it is pretty clear that Amazon doesn't currently have the retail moving power that iTunes has, so it's not like they are getting some kind of bulk discount. The only thing I can see is that record companies simply decided to give Amazon different terms for the same exact product in order to put pressure on one particular retailer. I thought such things were illegal. I'm probably wrong since lawsuits haven't flown but it still smells pretty bad to me.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Firmware update may break hacked iPhones
So it appears that Apple will be upping the ante on the iPhone hacks:
"Apple has discovered that many of the unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs available on the Internet cause irreparable damage to the iPhone's software, which will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed,"Lest we N800 users get too happy, we should note that every N800 update has resulted in a wipe of all installed apps. But still at least we are allowed to install apps on our devices.
Privacy What Privacy
The NY Times has a report on a company that will offer you free phone service, should you be willing to have your calls monitored.
Let's just say that once you've given up your expectation of privacy, the government is soon following behind.
[update]
The Web-based phone service is similar to Skype’s online service — consumers plug a headset and a microphone into their computers, dial any phone number and chat away. But unlike Internet phone services that charge by the length of the calls, Pudding Media offers calling without any toll charges.Absolutely frickin not.
The trade-off is that Pudding Media is eavesdropping on phone calls in order to display ads on the screen that are related to the conversation. Voice recognition software monitors the calls, selects ads based on what it hears and pushes the ads to the subscriber’s computer screen while he or she is still talking.
Let's just say that once you've given up your expectation of privacy, the government is soon following behind.
[update]
Besides, Mr. Maislos said, he thought that young people, the group his company is focusing on with the call service, are less concerned with maintaining privacy than older people are.Translation: Young people are too wrapped up in being cool to consider the long term implications of giving up their privacy. So we target them, like any other marketer and wait for older people with sense to die off.
“The trade-off of getting personalized content versus privacy is a concept that is accepted in the world,” he said.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Skype UI updates
If you have an N800 and have Skype installed, Check your application manager. Apparently there is a Skype UI update available.
Technorati Tags: N800
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Check That E-Mail
A very good read for anyone who is suspicious of a "loved one."
My partial story: Chick was acting strange. I got hold of the computer checked the cookies. She'd been using mapquest to go to Rutgers Campus in New Brunswick. Odd, we don't know anyone there and she's in school elsewhere. Checked the cell phone records. All numbers lined up except one. Did a US Search and got the name and addresss of the person. Person has the same last name as a person working at Rutgers.
Mapped out the time and days of calls with "known" activities. Turns out places she said she was going such as the hairdresser" was a front since you can't be calling the hair dresser from the hair dresser.
IMAP stored e-mail revealed a birthday meet up with "side piece" that was told to a girlfriend. I was asked, via e-mail for cash for "birthday hairdo" to occur same day.
Hope he was worth it.
Most of these stories do not end amicably. This year, a technology consultant from the Philadelphia area, who did not want his name used because he has a teenage son, strongly suspected his wife was having an affair. Instead of confronting her, the husband installed a $49 program called PC Pandora on her computer, a laptop he had purchased.
The program surreptitiously took snapshots of her screen every 15 seconds and e-mailed them to him. Soon he had a comprehensive overview of the sites she visited and the instant messages she was sending. Since the program captured her passwords, the husband was also able to get access to and print all the e-mail messages his wife had received and sent over the previous year.
What he discovered ended his marriage. For 11 months, he said, she had been seeing another man — the parent of one of their son’s classmates at a private school outside Philadelphia.
My partial story: Chick was acting strange. I got hold of the computer checked the cookies. She'd been using mapquest to go to Rutgers Campus in New Brunswick. Odd, we don't know anyone there and she's in school elsewhere. Checked the cell phone records. All numbers lined up except one. Did a US Search and got the name and addresss of the person. Person has the same last name as a person working at Rutgers.
Mapped out the time and days of calls with "known" activities. Turns out places she said she was going such as the hairdresser" was a front since you can't be calling the hair dresser from the hair dresser.
IMAP stored e-mail revealed a birthday meet up with "side piece" that was told to a girlfriend. I was asked, via e-mail for cash for "birthday hairdo" to occur same day.
Hope he was worth it.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Enough With The Pop Ups
First I follow this link and get a huge advert.
FIne. I've gotten used to that from the NYT and Salon. FIne.
But next I got this slide out/ pop-up flash advertisement that was activated by mousing over a "sky scraper" page ad. What was most infuriating about this roll over advert was that it was on the right hand side of the screen meaning that if you wanted to use your mouse to scroll (because perhaps you don't have a scrolling mouse) up or down with the scroll bar you roll over the ad and activate the flash animation which, of course, obscures the text you were attempting to read.
How stupid!
That's worse to me, than those obnoxious drop down adverts that have no close box. And webmasters wonder why people had advert blocking software installed on their browsers.
FIne. I've gotten used to that from the NYT and Salon. FIne.
But next I got this slide out/ pop-up flash advertisement that was activated by mousing over a "sky scraper" page ad. What was most infuriating about this roll over advert was that it was on the right hand side of the screen meaning that if you wanted to use your mouse to scroll (because perhaps you don't have a scrolling mouse) up or down with the scroll bar you roll over the ad and activate the flash animation which, of course, obscures the text you were attempting to read.
How stupid!
That's worse to me, than those obnoxious drop down adverts that have no close box. And webmasters wonder why people had advert blocking software installed on their browsers.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
The New BMW X6: Infinity Want's It's Design back
So here we have pics of the new BMW FX, I mean BMW X6
Monday, September 10, 2007
Chevron Techron
This is an endorsement from a TOTALLY satisfied customer.
I have a 20 year old BMW 325iC that just went to Miami Florida and back. For the past 3 years I have had to play the "waiver" game with the NYSDMV because I have been unable to pass emissions inspection. At first my car blew 2.3 on the NOx. Then it blew a 3.1. I changed the catalytic converter. I changed plugs, I changed the distributor. None of these efforts helped. I changed the thermostat. No change. Now the thermostat was actually the first clue as to what was really wrong. My engine had been running hot for a long time. it is known that engines that run hot tend to produce higher levels of NOx.
So I tried one of those "lucas" products. That's when I blew the 3.1. So I had almost resolved to either having to pay out $400/year in order to keep the car on the road. No that I like that, but since I don't have a car note, it's not the worst economic choice. Then I read on a site about a way to get your NOx down.
Get your fuel level down to 1/4 tank. put in 2 bottles of Techron. Drive until your fuel light comes on. Fill up. Go take a test. When I did this, my emissions went from the 3.1 to 2.11. I already qualified for a waiver so I went about my business. I had been adding Techron to my engine on a regular basis up until this last inspection in which my engine blew a nice 1.83. That is a pass. All due to Techron.
I completely recommend this product if your engine is otherwise working but you are still failing an emissions test.
*disclaimer: if you take this advice and mess up your engine it's your fault not mine. The text here is provided for informational purposes only. Again if you follow this advice and mess up your car, I'm not to blame.
I have a 20 year old BMW 325iC that just went to Miami Florida and back. For the past 3 years I have had to play the "waiver" game with the NYSDMV because I have been unable to pass emissions inspection. At first my car blew 2.3 on the NOx. Then it blew a 3.1. I changed the catalytic converter. I changed plugs, I changed the distributor. None of these efforts helped. I changed the thermostat. No change. Now the thermostat was actually the first clue as to what was really wrong. My engine had been running hot for a long time. it is known that engines that run hot tend to produce higher levels of NOx.
So I tried one of those "lucas" products. That's when I blew the 3.1. So I had almost resolved to either having to pay out $400/year in order to keep the car on the road. No that I like that, but since I don't have a car note, it's not the worst economic choice. Then I read on a site about a way to get your NOx down.
Get your fuel level down to 1/4 tank. put in 2 bottles of Techron. Drive until your fuel light comes on. Fill up. Go take a test. When I did this, my emissions went from the 3.1 to 2.11. I already qualified for a waiver so I went about my business. I had been adding Techron to my engine on a regular basis up until this last inspection in which my engine blew a nice 1.83. That is a pass. All due to Techron.
I completely recommend this product if your engine is otherwise working but you are still failing an emissions test.
*disclaimer: if you take this advice and mess up your engine it's your fault not mine. The text here is provided for informational purposes only. Again if you follow this advice and mess up your car, I'm not to blame.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Don't ask Don't care
I need to lift the following from Big Black and Cocky:
Don't ask, don't care.Yep. Just about says it all. Unfortunately I have recently been hit by this particular issue. Makes no sense at all.
Do not encourage her to tell you her problems. Typically, anyone a woman tells her problems to is someone she will not sleep with. Besides, if you’re the guy she’s pouring her heart out to about her relationship problems, chances are that the guy she's sleeping with doesn’t give a crap what she thinks-- and that may be part of the reason why she’s sleeping with him. If she wanted a man that listens to her problems, why is she still fucking him?
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Mobile Safari the Best Mobile browser?
John Gruber over at Daring Fireball states:
I've seen the demos and I'm not sure if that really is true. If we're talking mobile phones, then I could suppose that statement to be true, but seriously the web browser on my N800 is nice. I have flash. I have AJAX. I got Google traffic, Google Docs.. I've got 800X420. I can zoom in and out of a page. I can reflow a page to fit the window. So exactly how is mobile Safari kicking the N800 browser's ass?
And, worse, it’s rather conspicuous that Nocera neglects to mention the iPhone’s web browser, which kicks any other mobile device’s ass.\Really?
I've seen the demos and I'm not sure if that really is true. If we're talking mobile phones, then I could suppose that statement to be true, but seriously the web browser on my N800 is nice. I have flash. I have AJAX. I got Google traffic, Google Docs.. I've got 800X420. I can zoom in and out of a page. I can reflow a page to fit the window. So exactly how is mobile Safari kicking the N800 browser's ass?
Tangerine!
Tangerine is a nice application that will analyze your iTunes music library and set the BPM and "Beat Intensity" of all your tracks. When I previously tried to use the application it was limited to non DRM'd music (MP3. AAC) so I didn;t have much use for it since a growing proportion of my music is from the Apple iTunes Store. The latest version will analyze your DRM'd tracks. So I decided to try it out.
The main reason for trying it out was because I'm not quite happy with the "shuffle" or "Party Shuffle" feature on iTunes. basically it plays whatever it determines without much of a point to it. If you have a wide taste in music and much of it "highly rated" then your playlists tend to all look and sound the same, especially if they are made when you're in a particular mood or have totally forgotten about tracks you've had for ever.
Tangerine fixes this problem for me. Once the tracks are analyzed you can have tangerine create playlists that have tracks that contain music that lies within both a selected BPM range but also a set beat intensity range. In addition, and this is the part I like, you can set a general pattern. I have taken a liking to the "twin peaks" setting, In effect it will create a playlist that increases in beat intensity and BPM and then slows the music down and then brings it back up again, kind of like old school R&B radio stations.
The last list it generated for me had an Oscar Peterson Piano solo that was followed by the instrumental version of Billie Jean. Completelt unexpected, something I would never create in a playlist, but for some odd reason worked for me. The software will show you the playlist it creates in a lower pane which indicated the "pace" of the music by increasing or decreasing the size of the album art associated with the tracks. So far I've generated about 6 playlists that I like out of 10 tries. I generally don't keep the playlists around unless it is really outstanding though.
Tangerine gets a thumbs up from me. There is a demo available. Try it out.
The main reason for trying it out was because I'm not quite happy with the "shuffle" or "Party Shuffle" feature on iTunes. basically it plays whatever it determines without much of a point to it. If you have a wide taste in music and much of it "highly rated" then your playlists tend to all look and sound the same, especially if they are made when you're in a particular mood or have totally forgotten about tracks you've had for ever.
Tangerine fixes this problem for me. Once the tracks are analyzed you can have tangerine create playlists that have tracks that contain music that lies within both a selected BPM range but also a set beat intensity range. In addition, and this is the part I like, you can set a general pattern. I have taken a liking to the "twin peaks" setting, In effect it will create a playlist that increases in beat intensity and BPM and then slows the music down and then brings it back up again, kind of like old school R&B radio stations.
The last list it generated for me had an Oscar Peterson Piano solo that was followed by the instrumental version of Billie Jean. Completelt unexpected, something I would never create in a playlist, but for some odd reason worked for me. The software will show you the playlist it creates in a lower pane which indicated the "pace" of the music by increasing or decreasing the size of the album art associated with the tracks. So far I've generated about 6 playlists that I like out of 10 tries. I generally don't keep the playlists around unless it is really outstanding though.
Tangerine gets a thumbs up from me. There is a demo available. Try it out.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
20GB iPod Meet iPod Touch
So we have a new iPod touch at 16GB.
So my 20GB is now EOL.
If the iPhone goes 16GB then I'll do that instead.
So my 20GB is now EOL.
If the iPhone goes 16GB then I'll do that instead.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Sony Rootkit...again.
Electronics giant Sony has confirmed a recently discovered security flaw in some of its products that could leave PCs vulnerable to attack by hackers.
The firm said that the fault, which affected software packaged with memory sticks, was developed by a third-party.
The flaw was in software that came bundled with the USB devices. The program used virus-like techniques to create a hidden directory on a computer's hard drive.
Researchers at F-secure said that a hacker could then infect a computer as any files stored on the hidden directory would be invisible to the user and also from some virus scanners and security software.
Sony confirms security problem
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Getting Paid
From DV.com:
Ambush
London, 1982. I’m running Molinare, the biggest video facility in Soho. Alan Stewart, our wonderful builder, needs to be paid. Unlike 30-day trade accounts, builders want their money fast. Alan’s accounts are simple. He pays for his building materials cash on pick up. He pays his workers cash each Friday. I pay him every week. What’s left over is profit. Who needs accountants?
But our cash flow is low. We’ve been chasing our debtors like crazy, but it’s not coming in fast enough.
I show Alan our accounts receivable.
“I’ll sort out your bad payers,” he says. “Pay me as I bring it in.”
“Let me see—look, this guy Adrian R. is on Wardour St. He owes us £12,500, most of it over 90 days. Go get him.”
Alan and five builders, all carrying tools of trade, head for Adrian R. on Wardour St., about five minutes’ walk away.
Fifteen minutes later Alan returns, £12,500 check in hand.
“Alan, what did you do?”
“Nothing—I just said that I couldn’t pay my men because he hadn’t paid Molinare’s bills. My lads were wandering around the office straightening the paintings. He pulled out his checkbook there and then.”
A few weeks later, Adrian R. is in my office. He’s promising prompt payment in future and hoping he’s welcome back as a client.
How NOT to release a CD
From The Music Man article in the NY Times:
By the time Barnett first approached Rubin about coming to Columbia, Rubin had already decided that he would have nothing more to do with Columbia Records. This was because of the company's handling of the Rubin-produced Neil Diamond record "12 Songs" in 2005. Diamond was a hero of Rubin's, and he spent two years working on the album, persuading Diamond to record acoustically, something he hadn't done since the '60s.
"The CD debuted at No. 4," Rubin told me at Hugo's, still sounding upset. "It was the highest debut of Neil's career, off to a great start. But Columbia — it was some kind of corporate thing — had put spyware on the CD. That kept people from copying it, but it also somehow recorded information about whoever bought the record. The spyware became public knowledge, and people freaked out. There were some lawsuits filed, and the CD was recalled by Columbia. Literally pulled from stores. We came out on a Tuesday, by the following week the CD was not available. Columbia released it again in a month, but we never recovered. Neil was furious, and I vowed never to make another album with Columbia."
Monday, August 27, 2007
G5's Leaking Coolant!
I knew I was right on the money to avoid the liquid cooled 2.7 Ghz G5's
Symptoms are wide-ranged but will include fans spinning wildly, machines shutting down when they heat up, greenish liquid leaking from the case, and if you are able to look, crystalized liquid forming where the CPU meets the heatsink as well as corrosion of all the metal surrounding the CPU module.Anyone, and I mean anyone who has done ANY kind of work on a car knows full well that cooling/heating systems will leak. For an internal combustion engine that comes with the territory but a computer, for which I may have my entire business running on...a completely avoidable situation. Never should have been produced.
NeoOffice 2.2.1 Out
I just downloaded NeoOffice 2.2.1 and lo and behold I can save as MS Word 2007 (docx) and MS Excel 2007 (xlsx) format. I haven't checked the ability to open docx files but If it does, then unless I get MS Office for cheap, I'll not be doing the Office 2008 update.
[Update]
Holy battery draining cpu cycles! Trying to open an Excel sheet spawns an ODF converter that maxes out the processor with a crawling "waiting for external application" so called "progress bar". Ummmmm. Kill now.
[Update 2]
Finally let an excel document open within NeoOffice. It took nearly 15 minutes with the processor maxed. That's on a G4. I'm not sure what that would be like on a G5 or Intel chip though. Three sheets in the document with graphs. Seems kinda long though.
[Update]
Holy battery draining cpu cycles! Trying to open an Excel sheet spawns an ODF converter that maxes out the processor with a crawling "waiting for external application" so called "progress bar". Ummmmm. Kill now.
[Update 2]
Finally let an excel document open within NeoOffice. It took nearly 15 minutes with the processor maxed. That's on a G4. I'm not sure what that would be like on a G5 or Intel chip though. Three sheets in the document with graphs. Seems kinda long though.
Technorati Tags: Neo Office
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Wake Up Call on Pollutions
For people who pooh pooh environmentalists, I suggest a reading of the recent article on China's pollution problem.
Expanding car ownership, heavy traffic and low-grade gasoline have made autos the leading source of air pollution in major Chinese cities. Only 1 percent of China’s urban population of 560 million now breathes air considered safe by the European Union, according to a World Bank study of Chinese pollution published this year. One major pollutant contributing to China’s bad air is particulate matter, which includes concentrations of fine dust, soot and aerosol particles less than 10 microns in diameter (known as PM 10).Oh and this is a place where pollution regularly blocks the sun.
The level of such particulates is measured in micrograms per cubic meter of air. The European Union stipulates that any reading above 40 micrograms is unsafe. The United States allows 50. In 2006, Beijing’s average PM 10 level was 141, according to the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics. Only Cairo, among world capitals, had worse air quality as measured by particulates, according to the World Bank.
industrial cities where people rarely see the sun; children killed or sickened by lead poisoning or other types of local pollution; a coastline so swamped by algal red tides that large sections of the ocean no longer sustain marine life.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Windows Geniune Advantage Outage
Let me, as a MacOS X user, take the time out to:
a) laugh
b) laugh some more
c) shake my head in disbelief
because apparently, even if you've paid for your copy of Windows, and it's all legit, one connection to MS's WGA server will render your Windows install "not genuine."
Now how is that for "secure computing".
a) laugh
b) laugh some more
c) shake my head in disbelief
because apparently, even if you've paid for your copy of Windows, and it's all legit, one connection to MS's WGA server will render your Windows install "not genuine."
Now how is that for "secure computing".
Thursday, August 23, 2007
NIkon's D3
Nikon has just released the D3
Looks like me and my Kodak Easyshare Z740 will be bosom buddies for a while longer.
Mr. Lee said that professionals’ camera choices influence consumer tastes. Price is less of a concern for pros, making these cameras more profitable. The Nikon D3 will sell for $5,000, and the Canon Mark III will cost $8,000; both cameras ship in November. <b>Neither camera comes with a lens.</b>$8,000?
Looks like me and my Kodak Easyshare Z740 will be bosom buddies for a while longer.
E30's Rock
For those not in the know, the 1980's version of the BMW 3 series are referred to as E30's. I have one and recently a "nice young lady" suggested it was "not worth it" to invest in re-upholstering it (it really needs it). Some people are just stuck on "new". Anyway for your perusal is a bomb E30 from NJ.
See more at the E30 Tuning Site
See more at the E30 Tuning Site
Maturing iPhone
A nice article at iPhone Atlas on adding custom apps to the iPhone. This is a very good development and makes me consider an iPhone as my next purchase. The stuff I'm seeing here seems like the iPhone will eventually surpass the N800 in practical use for me, with the notable exception of MaemoMapper. I'm already a Cingular customer (Not happy that they are now ATT as I dropped ATT for certain ethical reasons) so that issue doesn't bother me, but as I've been griping about my N800, it can't make calls when I want to make calls and I'm not sanguine about paying yet another party for the ability to make phone calls. With the iPhone now available as a refurb product through the Apple online store for $100 off. It is now a better deal (closer to my investment in the N800) so when the N800 reaches it's anniversary I'll see where the iPhone stands and I may make the switch.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
The Problem with American Drivers and Roads
Yesterday I drove to Baltimore, Maryland. That trip should have taken me about 2.5 hours. It didn't. It took me well over 5 hours. Why? There are a couple of reasons. Let me start with the more mundane and preventable.
Quick question. What is the left lane for? If you said "passing" YOU are in the minority opinion here. Although the drivers ed book says it so, and though there are signs on the road to that effect, it appears that Americans, At least those in NJ think that the left lane is for sitting back, smoking a cigar, talking on the phone or changing the DVD that everybody behind you can watch is the purpose of the left lane.
Another related question: What are those reflective thingies on the side of your car and hanging dead center of your windshield? and what's their purpose? If you said mirrors you too are apparently in the minority as well. If you said to see upcoming traffic and traffic to your left and right, you ought to get a medal.
Yes apparently, at least in the great state of New Jersey, USA, people sit in left lanes while passing no one and they don't appear to check their mirrors OR even know what to do when a car appears in it. So let me clue these folks in.
The left lane is for passing. Your mirrors are for seeing traffic behind your vehicle. When a vehicle appears to be catching up to you in the left lane it is YOUR job to vacate the left lane and NOT OBSTRUCT the lane. Obstructing the flow of traffic is actually a moving violation. I know that State Police appear to not think it's as 'important" as so called "speeding", but yes, it is an actual, on the books civil offense.
When a person blocks the left lane, they cause traffic to line up behind them UN-Frinken-necessarily. That increases the likelihood that someone will have a rear-ender because people will naturally try to change lanes to attempt to get around the "stuck" traffic. This leads to uncertainty on the road as people can no longer expect traffic to their right to be moving at the same or slow speed than they are. In other words the person blocking the left lane is creating a traffic hazard.
So since I find that many people have NO CLUE how to properly use a high speed interstate, let me spell it out:
You stay in the right lane until you come upon slower traffic. you check your mirrors to make sure there are no other cars coming up on your left. If it is clear you INDICATE your intentions and move into the left lane. Pass the vehicle and then pull back into the right lane UNLESS there are multiple cars in the right lane with little space between them. I such a case you pass all vehicles quickly and then pull back into the right lane and resume "cruising" speed.
It's not that hard.
Now the other problem I had going to Baltimore was this toll business. I would GLADLY pay more federal or state income tax if it meant abolishing those damn tolls. Firstly it is inconvenient to whip out my wallet every 30 miles or so AND I don't like easy pass since I believe where I go is my business and no, the government or quasi-government agency does not need to know where I crossed what and when. The easiest pass is my income taxes at work.
I could simply not understand why traffic came to a complete stop between exit 1 on the NJ Turnpike and the Delaware Memorial Bridge. Then I remembered the toll. Oh and lets not even discuss the two lane bottleneck. Who's bright idea was that? And what the heck is with this paying to enter every little thing? Entering Delaware? Pay up. Entering Maryland? Pay up. Leaving Maryland? Pay up. Taking one of the tunnels? Pay up. I soon expect to see a little toll both at the Maryland House. Well actually the inflated prices for the "goods" sold there are the tolls.
I paid about the same as the tank of gas that got me to and from Baltimore in tolls. Ridiculous. Put it in my taxes and lets kill these congestion causing tolls. The cars themselves are bad enough for the environment but having them sit for hours on the road partially due to tolls is even worse.
Quick question. What is the left lane for? If you said "passing" YOU are in the minority opinion here. Although the drivers ed book says it so, and though there are signs on the road to that effect, it appears that Americans, At least those in NJ think that the left lane is for sitting back, smoking a cigar, talking on the phone or changing the DVD that everybody behind you can watch is the purpose of the left lane.
Another related question: What are those reflective thingies on the side of your car and hanging dead center of your windshield? and what's their purpose? If you said mirrors you too are apparently in the minority as well. If you said to see upcoming traffic and traffic to your left and right, you ought to get a medal.
Yes apparently, at least in the great state of New Jersey, USA, people sit in left lanes while passing no one and they don't appear to check their mirrors OR even know what to do when a car appears in it. So let me clue these folks in.
The left lane is for passing. Your mirrors are for seeing traffic behind your vehicle. When a vehicle appears to be catching up to you in the left lane it is YOUR job to vacate the left lane and NOT OBSTRUCT the lane. Obstructing the flow of traffic is actually a moving violation. I know that State Police appear to not think it's as 'important" as so called "speeding", but yes, it is an actual, on the books civil offense.
When a person blocks the left lane, they cause traffic to line up behind them UN-Frinken-necessarily. That increases the likelihood that someone will have a rear-ender because people will naturally try to change lanes to attempt to get around the "stuck" traffic. This leads to uncertainty on the road as people can no longer expect traffic to their right to be moving at the same or slow speed than they are. In other words the person blocking the left lane is creating a traffic hazard.
So since I find that many people have NO CLUE how to properly use a high speed interstate, let me spell it out:
You stay in the right lane until you come upon slower traffic. you check your mirrors to make sure there are no other cars coming up on your left. If it is clear you INDICATE your intentions and move into the left lane. Pass the vehicle and then pull back into the right lane UNLESS there are multiple cars in the right lane with little space between them. I such a case you pass all vehicles quickly and then pull back into the right lane and resume "cruising" speed.
It's not that hard.
Now the other problem I had going to Baltimore was this toll business. I would GLADLY pay more federal or state income tax if it meant abolishing those damn tolls. Firstly it is inconvenient to whip out my wallet every 30 miles or so AND I don't like easy pass since I believe where I go is my business and no, the government or quasi-government agency does not need to know where I crossed what and when. The easiest pass is my income taxes at work.
I could simply not understand why traffic came to a complete stop between exit 1 on the NJ Turnpike and the Delaware Memorial Bridge. Then I remembered the toll. Oh and lets not even discuss the two lane bottleneck. Who's bright idea was that? And what the heck is with this paying to enter every little thing? Entering Delaware? Pay up. Entering Maryland? Pay up. Leaving Maryland? Pay up. Taking one of the tunnels? Pay up. I soon expect to see a little toll both at the Maryland House. Well actually the inflated prices for the "goods" sold there are the tolls.
I paid about the same as the tank of gas that got me to and from Baltimore in tolls. Ridiculous. Put it in my taxes and lets kill these congestion causing tolls. The cars themselves are bad enough for the environment but having them sit for hours on the road partially due to tolls is even worse.
Friday, August 17, 2007
iPhoto is no Lightroom
The Tao of Mac has an entire, long entry on why iPhoto sucks compared to Lightroom.
DUH!
If you want to compare "apples with apples" compare Lightroom to say, oh, Aperture where things like EXIF data?
http://www.apple.com/aperture/process/index.html
Lots of editing options there.
Look. I use iPhoto when I don't need a lot of control. When I need to do manipulation I'm off to photoshop. But the whole comparing Lightroom to iPhoto for anything other than to show what a step up it is, rather than how sucky iPhoto is is just dumb.
To cut a very long story short, iPhoto ‘08 now has a simple keyword/tagging mechanism that appears to not completely suck, and will insert titles and keywords as EXIF metadata when you export files:...
iPhoto has always been somewhat of a bad joke where it concerns color tuning – although its “enhance” button makes some reasonable guesses as to what a photo should look like, the results are generally amateurish and over-saturatedTo paraphrase the recent Hyundai commercials.
DUH!
If you want to compare "apples with apples" compare Lightroom to say, oh, Aperture where things like EXIF data?
Aperture lets you view, extract, and add metadata with unprecedented ease. On import, it automatically extracts all industry-standard EXIF and IPTC metadata. What’s more, it lets you comprehensively add important metadata — copyright, captions, keywords — at the point of import. That’s a real time saver.And photo "enhancement":
http://www.apple.com/aperture/process/index.html
Lots of editing options there.
Look. I use iPhoto when I don't need a lot of control. When I need to do manipulation I'm off to photoshop. But the whole comparing Lightroom to iPhoto for anything other than to show what a step up it is, rather than how sucky iPhoto is is just dumb.
Thou Shall Not Commit Murder...
But apparently praying to GOD to kill on your behalf is OK
In light of the recent attack from the enemies of God I ask the children of God to go into action with Imprecatory Prayer. Especially against Americans United for Separation of Church and State.You know, these folks ought to be checked rigorously before boarding planes, renting Uhaul trucks or running for elected office.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Max Roach Passes
Max Roach, a founder of modern jazz who rewrote the rules of drumming in the 1940’s and spent the rest of his career breaking musical barriers and defying listeners’ expectations, died early today in Manhattan. He was 83.
I'm a Twit!
Well not in the English sense.
I just created a Twitter account. Not sure why I did it, since most of the "social networking" thing is not of interest to me but there it is. On twitter.
Yay?
I just created a Twitter account. Not sure why I did it, since most of the "social networking" thing is not of interest to me but there it is. On twitter.
Yay?
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
N800 Javascript Faster Than iPhone's
Stumbled across this site that has benchmarks for running Javascript on the iPhone vs. a 1.8Ghz Intel iMac:
So not only do we have a larger screen, and true VOIP capabilities, we have a faster browser to boot. I'm an Apple fan and have multiple Apple machines in my ownership, but it is soooo funny reading people practically fall over themselves over the iPhone, aside from it's excellent UI, as if other machines are not out there that do the same thing (other than cellular calls) and more.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Dog Fights: The Game
So I'm watching TV. I see Dogfights: The Game. I see an Apple Computer. I have an Apple Computer! I go to the website. I read this:
System requirements:So why show an Apple Computer? Oh that's right I can install windows on an Apple Computer so it isn't <i>really</i> deceptive advertising.
* Broadband Internet Connection
* Windows 2000/XP
* 2.4Ghz processor
* 512 MB RAM (512-1024 recommended)
* 128 MB DirectX 9 compatible video card
* DirectX 9 compatible sound card
* DirectX Version 9
* 3Gb hard drive space
No You May Not.
I don't know why people allow this but I for one am growing tired of it.
No, you may not have my last name.
No, you may not have my zip code
Nor will I give you my home phone number.
I just want to buy this thing here. Cash. Anything else is NOT YOUR BUSINESS.
You can send your dimest cashier and I'm STILL not given up my personal information.
No, you may not have my last name.
No, you may not have my zip code
Nor will I give you my home phone number.
I just want to buy this thing here. Cash. Anything else is NOT YOUR BUSINESS.
You can send your dimest cashier and I'm STILL not given up my personal information.
View Porn Go to Jail
In related news, the Australian Parliament is evaluating a legislative proposal introduced by indigenous affairs minister Mal Brough that aims to impose extreme restrictions on pornography in the Northern Territory...Mal Brough's proposal, which is described as "draconian" by the New Zealand Herald, would implement a broad ban on X-rated films in the Northern Territory, and impose jail sentences for porn "trafficking" on those who are caught with five or more X-rated films even in instances where the pornographic products are not being distributed.Just where would we be without people protecting us from seeing other people have sex? I tell you, if these people were all that concerned with "morality" they wouldn't have troops in Iraq since, you know, killing is a "sin" too. And no, this is not an approval of sex trafficking of grown women or child pornography.
Mac Mini in a Corvette
A Mac Mini has been installed in a Corvette.
I was going to do the same thing but I have a 1987 (man. 1986) 635 CSI that would have needed extensive mods to get a screen put in. I finally managed a Sony DVD player with a 7" tilt screen, but THAT (and the amp) was a monster to install which includes a now unhinged glove box. I can still put a computer in the car but my recent acquisition of the N800 with it's mapping functions has kinda made that unnecessary. Besides and unfortunately the "shark" has a bad rust problem and may not be with me too much longer so more investments may not make sense.
I was going to do the same thing but I have a 1987 (man. 1986) 635 CSI that would have needed extensive mods to get a screen put in. I finally managed a Sony DVD player with a 7" tilt screen, but THAT (and the amp) was a monster to install which includes a now unhinged glove box. I can still put a computer in the car but my recent acquisition of the N800 with it's mapping functions has kinda made that unnecessary. Besides and unfortunately the "shark" has a bad rust problem and may not be with me too much longer so more investments may not make sense.
First was an oddity, every time the Mac mini booted the system volume level was set to 50%. I wanted iTunes volume and the system volume set at 100% all the time in order to provide the right volume control on my head unit. With both of these volumes at 100%, the volume control on my head unit was a normal ratio of graphical bars to decibel output. With the Mac mini’s volume at 50% however, I had to crank the head unit volume to reach listening levels.I have this particular problem with my system. The Sony unit I have came with an XM adapter which I discovered was the only way I could connect my iPod to the unit. On a side note it took me about 3 hours to figure out how to use the XM controls to control the iPod. THAT was fun. But the input is very low and have to crank the volume 3/4 in order to get decent sound. regular FM radio is much better. This actually revealed another problem which is that I am running the stock amp close to it's max rated current since whenever the headlights are on and the bass goes boom, the lights will dim.
Monday, August 13, 2007
iMovie '08 on a G4...mostly
Reports at xlr8yourmac.com has people running iMovie '08 on both a PB and a dual G4. Performance on the PB was said to be poor, while the dual G4 with a Radeon 9800 pro.
Many of Apple's apps have been leveraging the GPU for work, I suppose that iMovie 8 is hitting up the graphics card which along with the smaller cache on the processor is responsible for the differing results. iMovie on my 12" PB is not exactly a speed demon either, but if FCP can run on it I cannot imagine why anything called "iMovie" shouldn't.
Many of Apple's apps have been leveraging the GPU for work, I suppose that iMovie 8 is hitting up the graphics card which along with the smaller cache on the processor is responsible for the differing results. iMovie on my 12" PB is not exactly a speed demon either, but if FCP can run on it I cannot imagine why anything called "iMovie" shouldn't.
Can This Marriage be Saved?
On a personal note, having gotten out of a relationship relatively recently, the following article touched home for me.
Oh yeah, and...
The next day, Marie arrived looking glassy-eyed and grim and announced, “I just sort of wanna get through the day.” Before the group began, while people were filtering in and picking at the breakfast of bagels and coffee Coché had laid out, the therapist took Marie aside to ask how she was doing. “I’m fine,” Marie said. Now she sat on the couch, eyes closed, holding her head in one hand, petting Coché’s Portuguese water dog with the other. Just before lunch Coché asked if there was any way the group could help. Barely looking up, Marie said that the only reason she’d returned was because of the “contract,” prompting Coché to ask why she told her she was “fine” before the group started.That about sums up what went wrong in my relationship and I suppose a whole lot of others too. If you're not "fine" don't say so you are lying and lying in a relationship, marriage, whatever is NOT COOL.
“Because I wanted you to drop the situation immediately,” Marie said.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to discuss it.”
“Are you angry with me? Did I push too hard yesterday?”
“When I say I’m fine, that means just drop the subject,” Marie spat.
“Could you do me a favor,” Coché said, as calm and collected as if she were asking Marie for the time, “and instead of saying you’re fine, could you say, ‘I need to be by myself’?” Coché wanted Marie to see that when she was angry — at her husband or anybody else — she’d be better off stating it rather than withdrawing behind a froth of fake assurances.
“Um, no,” Marie said. “I find that when I say that the response is the exact opposite.”
“I see,” Coché said evenly. “So the only way you can get me off your back is to say you’re fine when you’re not.”
“I’ve found that’s the only thing that works with you, and with many other people,” Marie said, seemingly referring to the ghosts of her father and brothers that Coché believed were lurking in the room.
Oh yeah, and...
he said that she met perhaps his top requirement for a wife: She’d never “stray or look at other men or have an affair. Marie’s true to me, and that’s one of the things I wanted, and that’s what I got.”Yeah.. I thought that one too. I don't put anything past anyone now.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
NY Times Select To Bite The Dust
Washington Post:
When the NYT's made the change. I simply stopped reading that which was "select". It's the internet. Even "select" content gets out in the wild. Besides, if I can't read your take, I'll find someone else's to read.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Times Co. (NYT.N) plans to stop charging Internet users for access to its columnists and Op-Ed pieces on a section of its Web site known as TimesSelect, The New York Post reported on Tuesday.
When the NYT's made the change. I simply stopped reading that which was "select". It's the internet. Even "select" content gets out in the wild. Besides, if I can't read your take, I'll find someone else's to read.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Garageband '08
I've never liked the sound of the trumpets in Garageband. During Steve Jobs' demo of Garageband '08 he had a trumpet sound that sounded pretty nice, at least on the video. I'm going to have to go back and check on the trumpet sound on my iLife '06 version but if they have a new a decent sounding trumpet sound in garageband I'll have to cop the new iLife since I've been itching to put down some trumpet sounds in my compositions. Double bonus if there is a muted trumpet.
What Do
Teenager Sues Busta Rhymes
So let me get this straight here. LeBron has a habit of just spitting any which way regardless of who or what may be in the direction of his spittle? See that is what we refer to as a lack of home training. See any time I have to spit (thankfuly a rare occurence) I go to the side of the street and spit directly down in a such a manner that nothing other than ground is hit. Furthermore THAT is if and only if I do not have a napkin or some other disposable paper product which I can spit in.
LeBron is simply low class and got dealt with in a low class manner. Live by, deal with. Parents, please teach your children how to properly evacuate phlegm (the only reason to even THINK about spitting in public) from their mouths.
I guess I'll be said to be blaming the victim.
NEW YORK - Busta Rhymes has been sued again,this time by a 19 year old who alleges the rapper and his crew beat him after he spit on one of their cars.In the lawsuit filed Monday in Manhattan state Supreme Court, Roberto LeBron, who is now 20, charged that he was kicked in the head after an encounter with Rhymes and his nine bodyguards in August 2006.
“Me and my friends were walking across the street. I spit on the street and it landed on a moving car. It was a Maybach. That car stopped, along with two black SUVs.
“People came out and they were walking up to me. We realized it was Busta Rhymes,” Lebron said in a phone interview arranged by his lawyer.
So let me get this straight here. LeBron has a habit of just spitting any which way regardless of who or what may be in the direction of his spittle? See that is what we refer to as a lack of home training. See any time I have to spit (thankfuly a rare occurence) I go to the side of the street and spit directly down in a such a manner that nothing other than ground is hit. Furthermore THAT is if and only if I do not have a napkin or some other disposable paper product which I can spit in.
LeBron is simply low class and got dealt with in a low class manner. Live by, deal with. Parents, please teach your children how to properly evacuate phlegm (the only reason to even THINK about spitting in public) from their mouths.
I guess I'll be said to be blaming the victim.
IMovie '08
Umm did I just read that iMovie '08 will not run on a G4?
"iMovie requires a Mac with an Intel Processor, a Power Mac G5 (dual 2.0 Ghz or faster), or an iMac G5 (1.9 Ghz and faster)."
My 12" PB is insulted. Someone confirm this quick.
"iMovie requires a Mac with an Intel Processor, a Power Mac G5 (dual 2.0 Ghz or faster), or an iMac G5 (1.9 Ghz and faster)."
My 12" PB is insulted. Someone confirm this quick.
Pooping yourself Skinny
An Alternet article. I could not keep from smirking when I read the headline.
It offers a beguiling promise: a weight-loss regimen involving alli will help you shed pounds by inhibiting your body's ability to absorb fat. The newly excess fat exits your body by means of 'gas with oily spotting, loose stools, or more frequent stools that may be harder to control.'Just so I understand this. There are people out there who want to lose weight and up until Alli, refused to heed the advice of those of us who are in shape to stop eating fatty foods and to make other lifestyle changes, but will now take the risk of getting the runs while out in public and pay someone for the priviledge? I am certainly in the wrong line of work.
Our Fat Is Doing Us a Favor
NY Times reports on the function of fat cells, though I saw no mention of the fact that fat cells form a lubricating buffer between organs. But that other favour that fat is doing?
Dr. Spiegelman and others have shown that with the onset of obesity — defined as 25 or more pounds above one’s ideal weight — the fat tissue starts releasing potent inflammatory hormones. That response is complex and harmful in the long run. But in the short term, said Dr. Spiegelman, “inflammation clearly has an anti-obesity effect, and it may be the body’s attempt to restrain further accumulation of adipose tissue.”Yeah..so that burning sensation..that would be your body saying put that ish down.
Apple Releases iWork 2008
What's this little statement in the documentation?
So Apple manages to do something the Mac BU cannot do: provide a program to actually read the new Excel file format.
Thanks Steve!
[Update]
Apparently Pages will open Office 2007 documents as well. Can I do that with MS Office 2004? No of course not. But I can download a little program that will convert it to a RTF document. How nice. Hop skip jump. Thanks MS!
"Numbers handily imports spreadsheets created in earlier Excel formats, as well as Excel 2007 documents created in the new Office Open XML formats."Really?
So Apple manages to do something the Mac BU cannot do: provide a program to actually read the new Excel file format.
Thanks Steve!
[Update]
Apparently Pages will open Office 2007 documents as well. Can I do that with MS Office 2004? No of course not. But I can download a little program that will convert it to a RTF document. How nice. Hop skip jump. Thanks MS!
Friday, August 3, 2007
Bourne Ultimatum
Enjoyed the movie.
BUT.
This handheld camera action during close up dialog; not to good. Extremely annoying actually. A little camera wandering I can stand, but a huge screen that has a camera moving when I'm trying to focus on the convo is annoying. Please stop.
BUT.
This handheld camera action during close up dialog; not to good. Extremely annoying actually. A little camera wandering I can stand, but a huge screen that has a camera moving when I'm trying to focus on the convo is annoying. Please stop.
Webmail Gotchya
As stated earlier I have an N800 which can use any WIFI access point to get on the net. Unfortunately the product will also by default check mail automatically. The clear problem with this is that my web traffic is passing through an unknown network and is available for hacking. Proof of this is here:
The attack is actually quite simple. First Graham needs to be able to sniff data packets and in our case the open Wi-Fi network at the convention fulfilled that requirement. He then ran Ferret to copy all the cookies flying through the air. Finally, Graham cloned those cookies into his browser – in easy point-and-click fashion - with a home-grown tool called Hamster.I constantly warn people about the usage of public WIFI. Heck I warn people about using networks that aren't theirs, ask my ex (and why she's an ex).
The attack can hijack sessions in almost any cookie-based web application and Graham has tested it successfully against popular webmail programs like Google’s Gmail, Microsoft’s Hotmail and Yahoo Mail. He stressed that since the program just uses cookies, he only needs an IP address and usernames and passwords aren’t required.
Monday, July 30, 2007
NASA confirms reports of intoxicated astronauts
NASA officials on Friday confirmed that on at least two occasions astronauts were intoxicated immediately prior to missions as the agency said it was taking steps to investigate and remedy the situation.I don't drink alcohol but thinking about it if tomorrow I was going to put on a big orange space suit that weighs, oh 50 lbs? Get into what amounts to a huge firecracker, strap myself in and then feel the sensation of being thrust out of Earths orbit at a couple of G's knowing full well that I'm one malfunction from being blown to bits, I'd probably get smashed too. I'm just sayin'. I understand.
NASA confirms reports of intoxicated astronauts
Law is 'unjust' for unwed couples?
The BBC is reporting that:
You want legal cover for your relationship, get married. Want an easy out: Shack up.
It says the current law is "unjust" and the 2.2m co-habiting couples in England and Wales should have more protection if they split up.Ummm Yeah yes it does. If you've been living together for ages without getting married it ain't an accident. You know full well that you have an out that does not include judges, lawyers, lawyers bills or alimony. Given the divorce rate in the US (not sure if it holds up in the UK) THAT is a heck of a deal.
The report says the majority of couples who live together wrongly believe they are protected by what is known as "common law" marriage.
But it has denied its proposals will undermine marriage.
For example, if a partner has given up a career to bring up children, they should receive compensation in the event the couple separates.Compensation? For what? You knew you weren't married. You knew full well that the relationship could basically end on a whim and you ought to be compensated for what could have amounted to a dumb decision while knowing the risks? If you wanted to "compensation" you should have gotten married. What they hell is wrong with people? They don't want to play the game, but want all the benefits.
You want legal cover for your relationship, get married. Want an easy out: Shack up.
Debt Free
On a related Financial note, Deb Price shares her story:
We set a date -- February 2008 -- to be debt-free and made all money decisions based on that shared goal. Quick examples: Joyce loves to travel, so we took up tent camping -- and found ourselves happily cooking lobsters over an open fire and walking the beach alongside wild Assateague ponies. We swapped golf for tennis, a far cheaper sport.Yep.
Most importantly, we prioritized debts, putting every extra nickel toward erasing first one car loan, then the other. Once they were gone, we immediately doubled up on house payments. Each time one loan was wiped out, the pace of our progress picked up. Why? Less was being lost to interest.
Pay Cash for that Next Car
the NY Times has an informative article on people who pay cash for cars. The most important statement made here was (IMHO):
For Matthew Galloghy, 30, who lives in Batavia, Ohio, outside Cincinnati, it is simply saving money. He recently paid about $20,000 for a Honda Accord, and plans to drive it for about 10 years.Do the math on that.
Mr. Galloghy takes his thrift to another level. He said he would make a monthly deposit equal to a car payment, or about $300, in a money market account. “And now I certainly have a cushion for emergencies or anything else that may come up,” Mr. Galloghy said.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Texting While Driving
Chris Case in an entry at the Huffington Post does something I despise: Texting while Driving.
I want you to know that I do not feel good about myself. I do not feel good that I had to tell you in this way that your keys are too sensitive, that I tried to use you while driving and almost killed myself because I had to look down to use your "intuitive" keyboard.Not cool at all. I've been rear-ended 3 times by mofo's paying attention to their phones. I will sue the retirement account off the next one to hit me.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
BMW 1 Series Coming to America
I have and immensely enjoy a 1998 E30 convertible. The 3 series has gotten kinda big since then. Here comes the 1. I've signed up for a test drive.
The 1 series may be the vehicle that gets me to actually take on a car note again.
The 1 series may be the vehicle that gets me to actually take on a car note again.
iPhone v N800
I have a Nokia N800. I purchased it not long after the iPhone was annoued. It's kind of amusing to read about the limitations and 'new' abilities that the iPhone supposedly brings to mobile computing when in most cases the N800 has 'been there and done that.'
This brings me to this post over at the Maemo blog :
Yeah. Nuff said. Oh yes, this was posted from my N800 thank you very much.
This brings me to this post over at the Maemo blog :
I have a surprise for you, Andrew: it's called the Nokia N800, and today it can function as a basic laptop replacement. It even supports VOIP phone use via Skype, Gizmo or Googletalk. And you were saying...?
Yeah. Nuff said. Oh yes, this was posted from my N800 thank you very much.
Fattening Friends
Interesting read on contageous obesity:
The answer, the researchers report, was that people were most likely to become obese when a friend became obese. That increased a person’s chances of becoming obese by 57 percent. There was no effect when a neighbor gained or lost weight, however, and family members had less influence than friends.Not surprised in the least that family were less influences than friends. Wives tend to not say much about weight gain by their men. Men are afraid to mention weight gain by wives under threat of sexual retaliation or being labeled "sexist" for idealizing some rail thin model (or both). And close friends? In my experience most people's close friends are close because of what they don't say to each other and not necessarily for their blunt honesty.
It did not even matter if the friend was hundreds of miles away, the influence remained. And the greatest influence of all was between close mutual friends. There, if one became obese, the other had a 171 percent increased chance of becoming obese, too.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Tour De Fraud
I like cycling. I like cycling very much. I am not liking the recent news.
I bike. I run. I actually like knowing that those that beat me are simply better than I. They are either gifted by nature, better trained, more disciplined or any combination. Similarly I enjoy watching Le Tour because I know just how hard it is to ride at those speeds for the amount of time they do. I am especially impressed by those climbs. I hate hills regardless of whether I am on foot or on my bike. Hat's off to those who actually race up those things.
I watched as "Vino" crashed. I was amazed and in awe of his iron determination to continue regardless of the 65 stitches in his knees and hip. Anyone who has run or biked with an injury knows full well that it takes a lot to block out that pain and keep going. I was amazed when he slaughtered the field in the time trial. I was amazed again when he killed the mountain stage on Monday.
Every time I was on the phone with someone I told them about "iron man" as I called him. I called him that in reference to the Rocky IV movie where the Russian boxer refers to Rocky as a piece of iron that could not be broken. I knew that regardless of who won the Tour, "Vino" was going to be a frickin legend.
Then came the news. While we are still awaiting the results of the B test, and any possible medical explanation such as the healing process resulting in elevating his red blood cell count; Vino had doped. I don't quite understand what the hell this man was thinking. Seriously. He was NOT going to win the tour. Why take that risk? Why shame his team and countrymen? We were already impressed that he was still going and up in the rankings. Let's just say I was highly annoyed.
Apparently I wasn't the only annoyed person as a few riders staged a small "sit in" at the start of today's stage. Not long after that it was reported that another rider had been caught. This one didn't even request a retest. He was arrested and the team ejected. But oh, it wasn't over.
Rasmussen, who has been leading the Tour, had missed numerous drug testing attempts prior to the Tour. The reason: he didn't inform his team where he was going to be. Is this serious? What part of a plane flight to Mexico is "forgettable" to report to your team? The reason he was allowed to start the tour was because the rules state that a rider has to miss three attempts at testing by the same testing body. Since "Rassy" missed different organization testings, he could not be barred. However; today he was removed from the race. So basically what we saw for the past couple of weeks was a fraud. We were cheering for cheaters and suspected cheaters. Not cool.
I've gotten out of bed for 7:30 AM starts. I've skipped days at work and quality time with friends to watch the Tour. I really feel that I have wasted my time. We don't even know who won last year's tour because of the issues surrounding Floyd Landis. Now it seems we are set for that whole thing all over again. In my opinion the rest of the tour ought to be cancelled. I know that people have spent lots of money to stand on the side of the road to cheer on the riders. I know there are lucrative broadcast contracts in play but enough is enough. When riders figure out that their cheating will cost everybody their year(s) of training and family neglect, I think they will think hard before taking that injection. Heck it may precipitate some death threats and scare some people straight.
Personally I'm done watching the race. As far as I'm concerned this has been a big fraud. Maybe it's an extreme reaction, but there it is. I simply am not interested in finding out that whomever I've been cheering for is a "Sporty crack head".
related:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-CYC-Tour-de-France.html?hp
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/25/sports/sportsspecial1/25tour.html?ref=sportsspecial1
I bike. I run. I actually like knowing that those that beat me are simply better than I. They are either gifted by nature, better trained, more disciplined or any combination. Similarly I enjoy watching Le Tour because I know just how hard it is to ride at those speeds for the amount of time they do. I am especially impressed by those climbs. I hate hills regardless of whether I am on foot or on my bike. Hat's off to those who actually race up those things.
I watched as "Vino" crashed. I was amazed and in awe of his iron determination to continue regardless of the 65 stitches in his knees and hip. Anyone who has run or biked with an injury knows full well that it takes a lot to block out that pain and keep going. I was amazed when he slaughtered the field in the time trial. I was amazed again when he killed the mountain stage on Monday.
Every time I was on the phone with someone I told them about "iron man" as I called him. I called him that in reference to the Rocky IV movie where the Russian boxer refers to Rocky as a piece of iron that could not be broken. I knew that regardless of who won the Tour, "Vino" was going to be a frickin legend.
Then came the news. While we are still awaiting the results of the B test, and any possible medical explanation such as the healing process resulting in elevating his red blood cell count; Vino had doped. I don't quite understand what the hell this man was thinking. Seriously. He was NOT going to win the tour. Why take that risk? Why shame his team and countrymen? We were already impressed that he was still going and up in the rankings. Let's just say I was highly annoyed.
Apparently I wasn't the only annoyed person as a few riders staged a small "sit in" at the start of today's stage. Not long after that it was reported that another rider had been caught. This one didn't even request a retest. He was arrested and the team ejected. But oh, it wasn't over.
Rasmussen, who has been leading the Tour, had missed numerous drug testing attempts prior to the Tour. The reason: he didn't inform his team where he was going to be. Is this serious? What part of a plane flight to Mexico is "forgettable" to report to your team? The reason he was allowed to start the tour was because the rules state that a rider has to miss three attempts at testing by the same testing body. Since "Rassy" missed different organization testings, he could not be barred. However; today he was removed from the race. So basically what we saw for the past couple of weeks was a fraud. We were cheering for cheaters and suspected cheaters. Not cool.
I've gotten out of bed for 7:30 AM starts. I've skipped days at work and quality time with friends to watch the Tour. I really feel that I have wasted my time. We don't even know who won last year's tour because of the issues surrounding Floyd Landis. Now it seems we are set for that whole thing all over again. In my opinion the rest of the tour ought to be cancelled. I know that people have spent lots of money to stand on the side of the road to cheer on the riders. I know there are lucrative broadcast contracts in play but enough is enough. When riders figure out that their cheating will cost everybody their year(s) of training and family neglect, I think they will think hard before taking that injection. Heck it may precipitate some death threats and scare some people straight.
Personally I'm done watching the race. As far as I'm concerned this has been a big fraud. Maybe it's an extreme reaction, but there it is. I simply am not interested in finding out that whomever I've been cheering for is a "Sporty crack head".
related:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-CYC-Tour-de-France.html?hp
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/25/sports/sportsspecial1/25tour.html?ref=sportsspecial1
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