Virtual Snow Globe

Posted on December 10 2003 by Mickey
    I am so sleepy I’m unable to muster coherent thought. Fortunately, Schmoe, an occasional contributor here, passed along this link which can serve as today’s blog entry: the virtual snow globe.
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Links Roundup (2003/12/09)

Posted on December 9 2003 by Mickey
    Some stuff I’ve been reading up on today:
    • “The creator and writer of the the Alan Parsons Project, ERIC WOOLFSON, presents his first new concept album in thirteen years.” I guess I’m a little late to the party on this one, since the CD, Poe: More Tales of Mystery & Imagination, came out in the Summer. The few audio clips on the site show the album might not be as great as the original, but thank God it’s better than Woolfson\’s Gaudi musical.
    • As much as I like watching The Screen Savers on TechTV, their Tips of the Day are usually extremely lame. However, last night’s show offered some information that might be very useful. The National Security Agency has provided tips on how to best secure Windows XP. (The page also links to similar information on other Windows versions.)
    • One of my great pet peeves of PCs is the Caps Lock button. despise it since I so often fat-finger it. But at last there might be hope. This site, anticAPSLOCK, also found via last night’s Screen Savers, has scripts and software to help disable that dratted key.
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Mac vs PC

Posted on December 8 2003 by Mickey
    I found the the first article in John Papola’s new blog to be a well-written and thoughtful comparison of Apple’s “vertical” operational structure (writing an OS that works with a select core of hardware) with Windows’ “horizontal” one (writing an OS that has to handle all manner of combinations of hardware). It’s a more sober look than the usual cultish rantings one encounters in this debate.
    I also found it interesting how the article points out Microsoft might be tiring of its role. Taking a page from Apple’s book, MS’s 2006 prototype will be a preassembled computer — the Athens — which also bears a striking resemblance (both externally and feature-wise) to an iMac. And Longhorn, MS’s next Windows incarnation, reportedly bears a similarity to the look of Mac’s OS X.
The Apple iMac (left) and the MS Athens
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Still Waiting to Hear from Dolly Madison®

Posted on December 8 2003 by Mickey
    Work has begun on the SFG Christmas Special — whether I like it or not. My agent says he’s arranged a stable of sponsors, but I think it’s more likely that we plug their products first and then hope they send us free stuff after.
    Doubtful. Especially since that will give them a chance to see the special first!
    I’m already suspicious about the whole enterprise — especially all this talk of the “Baby New Year” outfit they want me to wear.
    Anyway, for those who might be interested, here’s the first promo…
Posted in Blog, Personal, Video | 1 Comment

DIE SPAM DIE!!!

Posted on December 7 2003 by Mickey
   For the most part I’ve simply been deleting the hundreds of spam e-mails I get a day, but recently it’s really starting to take a toll on me and deleting is just not good enough any more. Instead, I want Outlook to have a new button that zaps a jolt of electricity from my power supply straight to the gonads of the original sender. I have reached my limit on seeing the same Nigerian scams, the same P~/N!S PAT|C|H ads, the same “ahjkksfjgiwnztpr” subject headers; so Yahoo! could not have picked a better time to announce a new scheme to curtail all this web-blight.
    It will take effort and cooperation, but it’s about time someone took the first steps in trying to insure the veracity of message headers, and to make spammers culpable for the effluence they spew. …Bastards.
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Today in Food (2003/12/5)

Posted on December 5 2003 by Mickey
   Call it Drive-Thru Rage.
    I suppose I should mention the news story of the woman who was sentenced yesterday to ten years in prison for running over a McDonald’s manager after being told she couldn’t get mayonnaise on her cheeseburger; but the woman sounds like a stupid cow, so I won’t.
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Google Search Game

Posted on December 5 2003 by Mickey
    Below are the results of three randomly selected Google searches. Can you guess the secret bond they all share?
Fried Cheese Appetizer
Fried Cheese Bites
Deep-Fried Cheese
Posted in Food, Links | 2 Comments

A Message from Joe (2003/12/3)

Posted on December 3 2003 by Mickey
    My nephew Joe is taking an international studies course in Ecuador. Here’s his latest message.
From: Joe
Sent: Wednesday, December 3 2003   06:33:05
Subject: Hesperia, Thanksgiving, and a birthday celebration

Greetings friends,

nAs I’m sure we are all aware, last Thursday was Thanksgiving, a wonderfully American holiday that has absolutely no meaning here at all. However, because there are a large number of gringos in our group, the director of our program gave us 150USD to spend as we wished on making ourselves a Thanksgiving dinner. So, with money in hand, we split up who should make what. I wanted to make vegetables (boiling or steaming I can do) but someone snatched up that option right away. So I asked, what can I make guys? The reply … stuffing. That’s right, stuffing. This would be no problem at all if they had Stove Top here, but there is no such thing. How did I handle this you ask? Ingeniously. I found a few recipes online, combined them all, and produced what might have been the most amazing stuffing to ever be created in the small country of Ecuador. Thursday arrived, and I with stuffing in hand (actually in a box my padre helped me make) walked to Susanna’s house for Thanksgiving dinner with our program directors and the Kzoo kids. It was wonderful, so don’t you worry about me!

Last weekend, after Thanksgiving, we took a bird watching trip to Hesperia, a forest at 1400m on the Western slopes of the Andes. This place was beautiful!! The family that owns the preserve (the goverment doesn’t do anything here) was incredible. We ended up seeing 52 bird species, 2 monkeys, and a snake, which may or may not have been of the deadly variety.

Moving right along to the last topic of the email, last night I went out with the Kzoo peeps for a b-day. It just so happens to be fiestas de Quito this week, so there is a week long party in celebration of … well, Quito basically. Anyway, for this young lady’s birthday we purchased a few Cervezas and went out into the streets to party with the mobs. Good times I assure you!

I hope everything is going well you folks. I’ll be sure to keep you all informed, but I don’t have any interesting plans since I have about 500 papers to write before next week. Wish me luck!

Love,

Joe
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Java Jabber

Posted on December 2 2003 by Mickey
    According to The Sun God: ”At last someone serious launches an alternative to Windows (if you’re looking for one) that doesn’t require buying some piece of over-priced hardware (no matter how sweet it looks).” Introducing the Java Desktop System, “a comprehensive, secure, highly-affordable enterprise desktop solution” that reportedly debuts today.
Posted in Links, News, Tech | 1 Comment

Hamlet Act II, Scene 2

Posted on December 1 2003 by Mickey
    You’re probably already familiar with Los Angeles County’s ban on the usage of “master” and “slave” as tech terms. Now I read that they are looking for more palatable alternatives. The MPAA passed along the suggestion of “Master” & “Commander”, but the county’s IT staff feels such a change would be too confusing. Also in the running are “Plantation Owner” & “Retainer”, “Pharaoh” & “Peon”, “Caesar” & “Pleb”, “Dominatrix” & “Thrall”, and, the popular favorite, “Pimp” & “Ho”.
    In a related story, LA County has also expressed reservations regarding “male” and “female” cable ends. Such gender-specific terminology can lead to an uncomfortable work environment as well as possible threats of sexual harassment. County professionals are advised to not handle cords in front of minors and to only plug things in after ten PM.

    P.S.: The quote to which my title alludes was intended to be
Hamlet:  Words! Words! Words!
    But the same scene contains another that is equally if not more applicable:
Hamlet:  These tedious old fools!
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