Time to Upgrade

Posted on May 16 2003 by Mickey
    I’m serious about wanting to upgrade. My problems with video capture are really annoying me so it looks like it’s about time to move on to something faster and more powerful. I don’t think I’m going to go over to the Mac side though (like I hinted at).
    I haven’t seen any computers that suit all my needs and I already have some parts that I’d like to keep, so I’m toying with the idea of building my own computer. It seems about time too. I’ve been messing around with computers for around ten years, so it seems time for me to really get my feet wet.
    Right off the bat though, I’ve hit a snag. I was instantly attracted to the cool looking full-tower acrylic cases available at C3 Clear Computer Case, but I can’t decide whether I want to get the clear or Blue Ice case.
    …Which brings us to our latest poll…

The Contenders
             
Clear Premium                   Blue Ice

    Update: Thanks for voting. The poll is closed.
Posted in Gadgets, New Computer, Personal, Polls, Tech | 1 Comment

Today in Food (2003/05/13)

Posted on May 13 2003 by Mickey
    Another lawsuit over unhealthy foods; only, this time, this one might have merit. According to the Yahoo! News article:
The lawsuit, filed last week in Marin County superior court [by public interest lawyer Stephen Joseph], seeks a ban on the black and white cookies, arguing the trans fats that make the filling creamy and the cookie crisp are too dangerous for children to eat.
    The Food and Drug Administration has tried to force food companies to list trans fat content with other nutritional information on food packages, but manufacturers have challenged the rule. Even food labeled “low in cholesterol” or “low in saturated fats” may have high percentages of trans fats.
Nabisco has been targeted in the suit “because, while other major snack food makers have reduced the amount of trans fats in their products, Nabisco has not.”
    Update: According to last night’s news, the lawsuit has been dropped, following word that Kraft is already investigating ways to reduce transfat in its foods. Stephen Joseph, who filed the lawsuit “called Kraft’s move to reduce trans fat in Oreos ‘a home run’ in efforts to make the public more aware of the problem of trans fats in food products, as well as what he termed their ‘extremely negative effects’ on human health.”   [5/15/03 1:46 PM]
Posted in Food, News | 1 Comment

Leo’s Precious

Posted on May 10 2003 by Mickey
    I happened to tape this on Tuesday, during Tech TV’s replay of Monday’s The Screen Savers. Leo Laporte and Patrick Norton are discussing HTIBs (Home Theater in a Box), and they had some interesting things to say about The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition. [Allow me to replace my old RealVideo clip with this YouTube embed…]
    Yes, I know the audio is a bit out of sync. There’s nothing I can do about that. My computer just can’t handle it, apparently, despite all my upgrades. I’m half tempted to get a Titanium Powerbook, just for the video editing … that is, if I had two thousand bucks to spend.
Posted in LOTR, TV, Video | Leave a comment

Today in Food (2003/05/09)

Posted on May 9 2003 by Mickey
    Tommy Thompson, Secretary of Health and Human Services, is putting pressure on fast food businesses to shape up, according to a Reuters article on Yahoo!.
    “It is important to pressure the food industry and the soft drink society [not to be confused with The Pepsi Generation] to get them to offer healthier foods and put more things on the menu dealing with fruits and vegetables.” The article goes on to say “Thompson specified PepsiCo Inc., Coca-Cola Co., McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Taco Bell as companies that could offer consumers healthier options and promote more sensible diets.” It is unsure what repercussions may be at this time, although some experts say it may not be long before we see people having to cluster around the outsides of office building entrances to eat their fries.
    To be honest, I wouldn’t mind if fast food places were forced to provide healthier foods. Despite what some of the lawsuits might claim, I, as a fat person, am not “addicted” to burgers and fries. What I am addicted to is getting a hot meal through my driver’s side window. And a cheeseburger is a great car food the same way a salad isn’t. So until they come up with something as fast and convenient and as a cheeseburger, all Thompson’s recommendations will be meaningless.
Posted in Food, Links, News | Leave a comment

So It Begins

Posted on May 8 2003 by Mickey
    At last come the first rumblings from the Peter Jackson camp regarding the third and final Lord of the Rings movie. No actual stills or scenes yet, but at least the talk of actual stills and scenes has begun. The DVD release dates were announced last week: August 26 and November 18 for the theatrical and extended editions, respectively. (And pre-orders for the theatrical release start tomorrow.)
    This is actually later than the same time last year. Then, the theatrical version came out on August 6 and the extended on November 12. Helping bide the time is the release of The Two Towers upgrade pack for the Topps trading cards in August. I’ve been waiting for this, and was pleased to see the announcement. This set not only includes “memorabilia” cards like last year, but also some more autograph cards. (So you’ll probably catch me on eBay spending all my savings.) The upgrade set will also offer a sneak peek at The Return of the King. For now, you can get an idea what our heroes will look like from these action figure photos, courtesy of TheOneRing.net.
    Incidentally, I just finished rereading The Hobbit. (I’m more partial to Lord of the Rings, so I hadn’t read The Hobbit in quite a while.) I know there was some debate about Peter Jackson’s choice to include an Elven army defending Helm’s Deep. This is a departure from the book, since the Elves were actually busy defending their own borders at that point in the tale. Others point out that the “Last Alliance” of Elves and Men is clearly depicted at the beginning of the first film, so this new alliance would belie that.
    But, as I am reminded by my recent rereading, The Hobbit ends with its own alliance — of Elves, and Men, and even Dwarves! — in defense against an attack by goblins from the Misty Mountains.
    Admittedly, The Hobbit does not fit all that comfortably within the history of Middle-earth, and there are some who treat it as somewhat apocryphal. There are many who do the same with Peter Jackson’s alterations. But Tolkien could live with the Battle of Five Armies and let it stand in print, so that’s something to think about when I next see The Two Towers.
Posted in LOTR, Movies, News | Leave a comment

Today in Food (2003/05/06)

Posted on May 6 2003 by Mickey
    The only North American plant that distributes Pringles and Torengos chips was damaged in last weekend’s deadly and destuctive tornadoes. The plant, located in Jackson Tennessee, has lost power and also has damage to its roof. None of the 200 employees working at the time were injured but for safety’s sake production was immediately halted. It has not been decided when production will resume. Roads in the area were badly affected as well. Indeed the entire county of Madison is under a state of emergency.
    Authorities stress that SFGs must remain calm in the wake of this news. There is no real reason for panic since analysts predict there is “a six-week supply in the pipeline”. They also remind us that the shelf life of a canister of Pringles is 15 months.
    (Sources: CNN Money and The Cincinnati Post)
Posted in Food, News | Leave a comment

AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Posted on May 5 2003 by Mickey
    I’m trapped in my own building! Overhead, the PA keeps whooping and saying “Attention. Attention. A severe weather storm has been reported. Walk to the designated area immediately.” Since I am in a windowless room I’ve decided to just stay in my office. My only knowledge of the outside has come from the local TV affiliates’ websites. This is what WXYZ‘s Doppler 7 radar shows:
And this is what the WDIV skycam shows:
    According to the National Weather Service:
AT 755 PM EDT…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO OVER DEARBORN…OR 8 MILES WEST OF DOWNTOWN DETROIT…MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.
This is right overhead! First manhole covers exploding and now this! It is the will of Allah! Run for your lives!
    The warning was set to expire at 8:00 but has been extended to 8:15. Hopefully the stupid alarm will shut up then and I can go home.   [7:58 PM]
    Update: “The building emergency situation has been cleared. You can return to your normal activites.” [8:16 PM]
    Update: And this was what the sky looked like when I finally got outside.
Posted in Personal, Photos | 1 Comment

Woe is Me

Posted on May 4 2003 by Mickey
    First, some more computer woes. I recently mentioned how I’d tried speeding up my computer by uninstalling a lot of software. Shortly after that I noticed my DVD-ROM and CD-ROM drives were no longer being recognized by Windows XP. The System Control Panel informed me that “Windows successfully loaded the device driver for this hardware but cannot find the hardware device. (Code 41).” I finally got fed up enough to research this yesterday, and I found out that this is supposedly a “known problem” brought about by removing Easy CD Creator or DirectCD. I have neither of these programs, so that did not explain the situation — but it’s interesting: if you remove some CD-ROM software, Windows removes the drive along with it. Nice. Anyway, I followed Microsoft’s instructions (found on this page, FYI) and this did solve the problem. (I was only able to find “LowerFilters” and nothing about “UpperFilters”, but it still worked.) Maybe this can be of use to you.
    My other tale of woe is web-related. I discovered by accident that my Bitter Old Man site was completely down today. I did a WhoIs search just to verify the IP, in case I wanted to ping it, and along the way I discovered that the domain registration had ended yesterday! Nice of my hosting service to remind me to renew. For a terrifying while I believed this meant my site was gone for good, taking with it all the work I’d done last week. (All three hundred DVD reviews — the ones I’d just moved over there last week — would be totally lost now, since I’d deleted them from here already.)
    But this tale of woe also has a happy ending. It turns out I had renewed the service contract with my host, but had not renewed my domain registration. So all my files were still intact, and accessible through the same IP address. I renewed the Bitter Old Man name early this afternoon, and I see the domain is once again up and active.
    Phew!
    May your tales of woe end as happily too.
Posted in Blog, Personal | Leave a comment

Now How Much Would You Pay?

Posted on May 3 2003 by Mickey
    Yes, we know Jimmy appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Monday, April 28 2003. But it was a complete surprise to see Jimmy on Tech TV the following morning! He wasn’t on a show — it was a full-length, two minute television commercial for his latest CD release. I happened to be taping when I caught the commercial, so I am able to offer it to you now. Unfortunately it’s not the best quality, since I was taping in EP mode (and my ATI All-in-Wonder card is a piece of crap), but here it is:
Download it for later (5.5 MBs)         Downstream it live

    Archivist’s Note: Frustratingly, the above links are broken. The hunt is on to find this missing video…

Posted in Buffett, TV, Video | Leave a comment

Image of the Day

Posted on May 3 2003 by Mickey
    You’ve probably seen on several sites how this photo was unofficially voted the coolest picture ever.

No, not this one…

I’m sorry, but that’s wrong. Whoever says so is a young punk whippersnapper who’s not old enough to know better.
    For forty-somethings and older, like me, the coolest picture ever was just discovered in this week’s TV Guide (May 3-9 2003)…
More >>

Posted in News, Photos, TV | 2 Comments