Award-winning comedian George Carlin dies - CNN.com

I've been away for a while -- had a baby :-) No sleep :)
I had to post this sad piece of news... George Carlin was an intellect and brave man (IMHO). His mastery of the English language and his often cynical view of the world were ironically refreshing. My condolences go out to his friends and family.

I proudly exclaimed the seven words you can't say on television upon hearing the news (Google it for you youngsters out there).

RIP Mr. Carlin...

Award-winning comedian George Carlin dies - CNN.com

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Windows 7 Touch Screen Demo

In my previous post, I talked about Windows 7 looking like Mac OS X & Ubuntu having a baby... I forgot to put the iPhone / iPod Touch in the mix :-)

I don't know that I'd want to use the touch screen for day to day work on my PC. I suppose for kiosks and possibly restaurant tables, this might make sense...

Windows 7 Touch Screen Demo

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Winners Of Life: Microsoft Confirms Windows 7 for 2010 (17 screenshots)

I'd be remiss if I didn't post about the Windows 7 news today... here are some nice screenshots of the 2010 OS -- IMHO: Looks like Mac OSX & Ubuntu had a baby called it Windows 7 -- I'm just saying...

Winners Of Life: Microsoft Confirms Windows 7 for 2010 (17 screenshots)

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Adieu to the True Audiophile?

Frustrating article... I am by no means an audiophile but I do enjoy music and love to feel the passion of the artist come through the notes and subtle tones... Good audio equipment is an investment in my mind but it seems that everything is getting some commoditized these days... Enough of my mini-rant... read the article.

Adieu to the True Audiophile?

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Obtaining SYSTEM level access in Vista without credentials

For educational purposes only... I've had to use similar techniques to unlock relatives' boxes... Mixed blessing I suppose.

Offensive Security Training - Getting System Level access to Vista Video

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The 10 best beer names ever - St. Petersburg Times

Clever list -- a must read for memorial day long weekend :-)

The 10 best beer names ever - St. Petersburg Times

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The Smelly Bacon Tuxedo

I'll save you the trouble of clicking on the link... the picture is key -- what a sexy dude!



The Smelly Bacon Tuxedo

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10 Worst Jobs: Tech's 10 worst entry-level jobs

Funny (in a sick way) article about the worst jobs in IT -- with pictures and estimated salary :-)

10 Worst Jobs: Tech's 10 worst entry-level jobs

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Lifehacker Top 10: Top 10 Firefox 3 Features

Firefox 3 holds a lot of promise... I've been using it on Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy) and it's been fast and reliable. Here's a breakdown of some of the best features:

Lifehacker Top 10: Top 10 Firefox 3 Features

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Pulsejet-powered bicycle, for those leisurely commutes - Engadget

Title says it all... Youtube video embedded... Enjoy :-)

Pulsejet-powered bicycle, for those leisurely commutes - Engadget

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Microsoft to lure search users with cash

Sounds like desperation to try and take search market share from Google... Microsoft will pay part of the purchases you make when using their search engine... Not a new concept but sounds desperate.

Article: Microsoft to lure search users with cash
Microsoft's site: http://search.msn.com/cashback

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Steve Ballmer dodges eggs at Hungarian University - Engadget

Ever want to toss an egg @ Steve Ballmer? Well this student did. I'm surprised security didn't try to recreate a "Don't Taze me Bro!" scenario :-)

Take a look for a chuckle...

Steve Ballmer dodges eggs at Hungarian University - Engadget

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Cookware Cleaning & Stain Removal Tips » TipNut.com

Another cooking related post... This time, a bunch of really good ideas to keep your cookware clean. From copper pots, cast iron pans to cookie sheets and roasting pans!

Happy cooking!

Cookware Cleaning & Stain Removal Tips » TipNut.com

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Speed tip: Make individual portions in freezer bags | Lunch in a Box: Building a Better Bento

Out of the "why didn't I think of this" archives comes a clever way to portion and freeze food. We always buy in bulk since it is more economical. We tend to use too many zip-lock bags. This is a clever way to almost create a type of ice cube tray for your meat... now there's an idea... hamburger Popsicles... YUMMY!

Speed tip: Make individual portions in freezer bags

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Why we can't stop playing computer solitaire. - By Josh Levin - Slate Magazine

Ever wonder about the history of Solitaire on your PC? Then you might want to check out this article. It seems that solitaire is the most used application on the Microsoft OS :-)

That reminds me, I need to play a few games of Spider Solitaire...

Why we can't stop playing computer solitaire. - By Josh Levin - Slate Magazine

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The Rise of Contextual User Interfaces - ReadWriteWeb

Very well written article on the popularity of simple, user-friendly UIs in modern software. Apple is known for it, Web 2.0 is also doing a good job at it -- Microsoft, well, they have the ribbon :-)

Worth a read.

The Rise of Contextual User Interfaces - ReadWriteWeb

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't Is Goud - WalletCards on my iPhone

I lived most of my life with a George Costanza wallet (big thick wallet with nothing really in it [stupid loyalty cards mainly]). Over a year ago, I decided to simplify my wallet situation and get rid of most of my cards and various other pieces of paper that found a home in my mock-leather (but not Velcro) wallet. I got a money-clip with a 5 card holder on it from Steinhausen. I now a bit of cash and 5 cards. It's been great (and my back is thanking me for it too)!

Anyhow -- this guy takes things to another level. He has scanned his loyalty cards and put them in his iPhone. For vendors that don't use the magnetic strip and only use the numbers on the card -- this is a cool idea :-)

WalletCards on my iPhone

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Weird Science! NYU Student Invents Virtual Girlfriend -- Daily Intel -- New York News Blog -- New York Magazine

Nothing beats the real thing but if you want to sleep with a partially interactive TV... be my guest. Nice reference to an 80's movie...

Weird Science! NYU Student Invents Virtual Girlfriend

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YouTube - Windows 7 Features, Screenshots, Demo

Here is a FAST rundown of some of the implemented features in the very early builds of Windows 7 (successor to Vista). Some of these changes to the Windows Explorer are a long time coming (dual work areas).

YouTube - Windows 7 Features, Screenshots, Demo

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YouTube - Adding Google Friend Connect To Sample Website

There has been a lot of buzz around Google's Friend Connect beta that allows for the union of many social networking sites on your specific site. This ability sounds interesting but may be a bit difficult to rationalize :-). Being the visual person that I am -- I found this video that demonstrates the feature and its benefits to various types of users.

Enjoy.

YouTube - Adding Google Friend Connect To Sample Website

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.:: Microsoft presents :: The Ultimate Steal ::.

Until May 16th -- Get Microsoft Office Ultimate @ a 91% discount (that's right, no type-o there) PROVIDED, you have a .EDU email account {you might have access if you are part of your school's alumni as well ;-) }. Seems to be US only though...

.:: Microsoft presents :: The Ultimate Steal ::.

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BetaNews | Id Software announces the coming of Doom 4

For all your FPS fans :-) It seems that DOOM IV is in the pipeline! Get your trigger fingers ready!!

BetaNews | Id Software announces the coming of Doom 4

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First look: OpenOffice.org 3.0 beta a big step forward

A OpenOffice 3 Beta is available for download. I'm pretty stoked about this release. It will add support for the Office 2007 file format. This will allow me to have better interoperability with the largest commercial office product in the world :-)

First look: OpenOffice.org 3.0 beta a big step forward

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Files on a home computer that are compressed by using NTFS compression may not be backed up correctly by Windows Home Server

For those of you who went out and got a Windows Home Server -- there has been a long standing (and controversial) bug concerning the backup of certain files on user's computers. This bug has taken months to fix and has been a sore point for many users. It seems the fix is finally available -- you do have to install it on each PC manually -- this is a true shame since it should have been something that the server itself controls to update it's clients... I would have appreciated having the server Autoupdate itself via Microsoft and then have the WHS update its clients as they check in. This would have been the right architecture to adopt. I know, I know, it's a home product, not an enterprise product... Still -- Home networks are mimicking enterprise networks these days...

Files on a home computer that are compressed by using NTFS compression may not be backed up correctly by Windows Home Server

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The heron has landed: a review of Ubuntu 8.04: Page 1

Ars Technica always has very good reviews of product. Here is a good review of Hardy Heron (Ubuntu 8.04).

The heron has landed: a review of Ubuntu 8.04

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Criterion Collection coming to Blu-ray in October - Engadget

For all of your hard core movie buffs -- the Criterion Collection has a very good reputation for putting out excellent quality versions of classic (debatable) movies. Now that the HD format wars are over -- they are announcing the release of some Blu-ray content! W00T!

Criterion Collection coming to Blu-ray in October

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Create Your Own Smart Bookmarks in Firefox 3

Very detailed article on using Smart Bookmarks in the upcoming Firefox 3. Looks like a powerful tool! I like it.

Create Your Own Smart Bookmarks in Firefox 3

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PC World - 18 Features Windows Should Have (but Doesn't)

Good article showing all sorts of useful (subjective) features that exist (or have existed for a while) in other OSes (Mac OS, Linux, PC-BSD, etc) that don't exist natively in Windows. Wow -- that's a fragmented sentence...

PC World - 18 Features Windows Should Have (but Doesn't)

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The 20 saltiest foods in America exposed - Diet and nutrition - MSNBC.com

This is scary stuff... salt certainly makes food taste better and often accentuates their natural flavors but it can and does wreak havoc on your body (kidneys especially). Check out this list of the most salted food in America!

The 20 saltiest foods in America exposed - Diet and nutrition - MSNBC.com

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Crapware: Superior Alternatives to Crappy Windows Software

A good list of alternative apps to the common characters... I'm using most of them :-)
Pearls of wisdom can also be found in the user comments (along with the usual noise).

Crapware: Superior Alternatives to Crappy Windows Software

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The Mac in business: it's easier than you think | InfoWorld | News | 2008-04-21 | By Galen Gruman

Another story about Macs gaining market share in the "non-creative" enterprise (ie not web / graphic designer companies).

The Mac in business: it's easier than you think

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The Great Ubuntu-Girlfriend Experiment « Content Consumer

Many Geeks have done the "Girlfriend experiment" with Linux. I know I have... many end with a similar result -- "Please put windows back on my system". Not for any MAJOR issue -- on many occasions it's just a matter of comfort. This is a very well put together article with explicit tests (and results) from a "girlfriend test" using the new Hardy Heron (Ubuntu 8.04).

The article itself is great but what amazed me more was the amount of feedback the author received (189 at the time of this posting) and the level of detail of said feedback.

Worth a look!

The Great Ubuntu-Girlfriend Experiment « Content Consumer

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Five important security apps for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows: Page 1

If you are reading my blog, chances are you know your way around a personal computer (whether a Windows, Linux or Mac). Here's a great review of some key applications you should have on your respective platform.

Some of these are open source and / or may have ports on the Windows side so don't limit yourself to reading your "OS du jour"...

Five important security apps for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows

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The Heron has landed: Ubuntu 8.04 officially released

It's hhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeee


Ubuntu 8.04 - Hardy Heron -- has flapped its wings and landed on servers around the world. I upgraded my main system yesterday. The update went flawlessly over the network. The system is as responsive (if not a bit more responsive actually but it's too early to tell). I did experience a bit of a VERY annoying hiccup. When I use the number pad (in a spreadsheet for example) -- the second I press a number key, I get logged out of the system... This is NOT good. I'll be looking on the forums for an answer for this one!

Apart from that one incident, I'm very pleased with the new OS.

Update: The fix for the annoying number pad issue I was having is to disable the "mouse control in keypad" under "Mouse Tabs" in the "Keyboard Prefs" -- happy Zombie, happy

The Heron has landed: Ubuntu 8.04 officially released

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Vous Pensez – The geekiest pants… ever?

I wonder if ThinkGeek will pick this up at some point? Gives you a good reason to touch your private areas ;)

Vous Pensez – The geekiest pants… ever?

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Linux examined: Ubuntu Hardy Heron

A decent article describing the virtues of Ubuntu as a Desktop for noobs :-)

Linux examined: Ubuntu Hardy Heron

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Fat, fatter, fattest: Microsoft’s kings of bloat | InfoWorld

This is a must read by all IT professionals. There has always been a sense that Microsoft was getting more and more "bloaty" with each release and that upgrading your hardware to run the latest release of Windows or Office was a necessity in order to achieve the same or better level of performance. This study compared each generation of Windows / Office vs the state of the art PC at the time and compared the performance and footprint. Conclusion -- Microsoft is getting fatter and fatter and essentially annihilating any speed bumps achieved from better hardware (RAM, CPU, BUS etc). Worth a read!

Fat, fatter, fattest: Microsoft’s kings of bloat

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Sternlab.:BodyTechnologyInterfaces

OK, uhm so, uhm... this is some strange stuff... It's like gloves or a hat (toque) that fits your body part and your electronics... just take a look -- odd.

Sternlab.:BodyTechnologyInterfaces

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The Ten Most Beautiful Computers

Not surprisingly, Apple has 2 of the 10 spots :-) I don't see a Cray anywhere though... oh well :-) I feel old looking at this article. I've personally used quite a few of these computers...

The Ten Most Beautiful Computers

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Microsoft Exec: UAC Designed To 'Annoy Users' - Software - IT Channel News by CRN and VARBusiness

Nothing like purposely pissing off your client base... Talk about arrogance! I agree with the spirit of what they are trying to do with UAC but I must admit, it IS annoying :-).

Microsoft Exec: UAC Designed To 'Annoy Users'

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Issues for DSM-V: Internet Addiction -- Block 165 (3): 306 -- Am J Psychiatry

We all joke about being addicted to the net... it seems the American Journal of Psychiatry is looking at including this addiction as a very real disorder. I'll need my daily dose of prozac to get off the PC :-)

Issues for DSM-V: Internet Addiction -- Block 165 (3): 306 -- Am J Psychiatry

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The Fastest Ways to Kill a Virtual Team | Geekpreneur

I've been working in or managing virtual teams for many years. It is a HUGE challenge. I'm a fairly social person and it has always been difficult working with people you rarely or NEVER see. You don't have the benefit of breaking bread with your team and sharing non-work related stories over lunch. It is much harder to bond with your team when you only get 30 min or 1hr increments of time with them a week and that time is primarily focused on the task at hand. Here are some things not to do when working in a geographically disparate team...

The Fastest Ways to Kill a Virtual Team | Geekpreneur

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Add new functions to Canon’s Digital Cameras

OK -- Let me start by saying that I've not tried this... though it seems simple enough to back out of the change. There is an alternate firmware for many Canon digital cameras that allow for extra features like faster shutter speeds, longer exposures and RAW support etc... Might be good for those of you that want to squeeze more juice out of your digital cams :-)!

Add new functions to Canon’s Digital Cameras

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Open Source Decade: 10 years after the Free Software Summit: Page 1

This is a great interview article with many pioneers of the Open Source movement. No, Stallman isn't there - for those of you that like his panache... Interesting views on what's working, what's not and where people think the movement is going.

Open Source Decade: 10 years after the Free Software Summit

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Lifehacker Top 10: Top 10 Software Easter Eggs

In the spirit of Easter -- Top 10 Software Easter Eggs! Now these won't get you fat...

Lifehacker Top 10: Top 10 Software Easter Eggs

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Feature: Jailbreak Any iPhone or iPod Touch in 45 Seconds

My iPod Touch is still on 1.1.3 but I'll probably upgrade to 1.1.4 at some point in the near future. I'll be trying this method:

Feature: Jailbreak Any iPhone or iPod Touch in 45 Seconds

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Finished Installing Windows Vista SP1 ? Now Remove All The Junk Files

As everyone knows -- Vista SP1 is out -- when you installed it, you do however have the option of uninstalling the behemoth of a service pack. If you are committed (or should be for using Vista) to staying with the SP1, then save yourself some disk space and run the Vista Service Pack 1 Cleaner (creatively called vsp1cln <-- run it from the command line).

Finished Installing Windows Vista SP1 ? Now Remove All The Junk Files

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Tracking Linux prereleases: OpenSUSE, Ubuntu, and Fedora: Page 1

So many distros -- so many release dates... how does one keep track? The more I use Linux, the more I enjoy the experience. I must admit that when I run into a problem -- it's usually a tricky fix so for that reason I don't know that it's ready for prime-time just yet. Anyhow -- Ars Technica has a good article that talks about the forthcoming releases of some of the major distributions and explains their individual roadmap process...

Tracking Linux prereleases: OpenSUSE, Ubuntu, and Fedora

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"Canada's Next Great Prime Minister" to be found on P2P

Following Norway's lead (a progressive country), Canada's CBC will start making DRM-free copies of it's new series "Canada's Next Great Prime Minister" available for free over bittorrent! This is an experiment that I hope catches on...

"Canada's Next Great Prime Minister" to be found on P2P

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Arthur C. Clarke dies at 90 - washingtonpost.com

It's a sad day for science fiction fans... Sir Arthur C. Clarke has passed. It's always difficult when the world loses a visionary... RIP

Arthur C. Clarke dies at 90 - washingtonpost.com:

"Clarke was best known in popular culture as the author of the story that inspired Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film '2001: A Space Odyssey,' but his greatest contribution to technology is creating the conceptual framework for geostationary satellites -- machines that would remain in the same spot above the earth and act as relay stations for signals from the ground, covering a wide area. He published a paper about the concept in 1945, which was ultimately realized two decades later. The orbit into which geostationary satellites are placed is now known as the Clarke Orbit."

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Technology Review: Identifying Manipulated Images

Very cool technology out of MIT that allows someone to verify the authenticity of a digital picture (ie see if it wasn't doctored up with Photoshop).

Technology Review: Identifying Manipulated Images

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Technology Review: 10 Emerging Technologies 2008

From Science Fiction to reality -- some innovations that may have a dramatic impact on our lives in the near future... One of these is Wireless Power -- I wonder if we would get a shock when it rains? :-)

Technology Review: 10 Emerging Technologies 2008

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Office 2007 interface prototypes - istartedsomething

A pretty cool picture-set of prototypes to Office 2007. I really like Office 2007... it took me some time to get used to the ribbon and I still to this day find myself wondering where some functionality now rests but the evolution of the interface is quite nice. Here is some insight on how Microsoft got there.

Office 2007 interface prototypes - istartedsomething

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New IE8 beta 1 tantalizes, rough edges and all: Page 1

As you've undoubtedly heard -- IE8 Beta 1 is now available for download. It seems that a concerted effort has been made to adhere to internet standards. I'm still holding on to firefox :-)

New IE8 beta 1 tantalizes, rough edges and all

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Flash video not suitable for iPhone, Apple CEO says

Now this is a bummer -- I miss not having flash on my iPod Touch. Now, the article says that Adobe's Flash player is not suitable for the iPhone... so maybe there is another Flash player that is.

Today's SDK town hall at 1PM Eastern should be interesting... Part of me believes that Apple will release a firmware update that will stop all current jailbreaking techniques from working and the carrot will be some sort of Flash playback capability. This might be just enough to get people to jump onto the standard firmware bandwagon... This is purely speculation on my part... If I'm right, then I hope Apple can adopt many of the brilliant applications that are currently available to people that have jailbroken their devices.

Flash video not suitable for iPhone, Apple CEO says

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Internet Explorer 8 Readiness Toolkit

Some details on the features of the upcoming IE8 -- so far I can do most if not all of this with Firefox today... *Yawn*. Maybe IE9 might have something of interest...

Internet Explorer 8 Readiness Toolkit

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D&D cocreator Gary Gygax now beyond scope of healing spells

RIP Gary Gygax. It is indeed a sad day for all gamers. Gary Gygax is the father of Dungeons & Dragons -- his work has both influenced and inspired the world of gaming as we know it. It is a sad day...

God's speed Dungeon Master...

D&D cocreator Gary Gygax now beyond scope of healing spells

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Obituary: Sony Trinitron Timeline Shows Why It Will Live Forever In Our Hearts

RIP Trinitron -- This article has a really nice time-line representing the history of the Television... Muy cool!

Obituary: Sony Trinitron Timeline Shows Why It Will Live Forever In Our Hearts

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The Ray Gun In Action (CBS News)

Wow! The "heat gun" used on TV. Pretty amazing and frightening. No bullets -- just intense pain. I would hate for this to fall into the wrong hands.




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Daylight Saving Wastes Energy, Study Says - WSJ.com

Very interesting data points on whether or not Daylight savings time actually is a "green" thing to do. It seems that this change in time might actually be much more costly than the benefits of not having as many lights on.

Daylight Saving Wastes Energy, Study Says - WSJ.com

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BetaNews | Nearly 3% of America became iPod converts over the holiday

Interesting figures around iPod sales. I can tell you that I've owned many MP3 players in the last many years and nothing, nothing even comes close to the iPod Touch in terms of quality of the audio, video and extra features (Safari, Jailbroken apps {gotta love iPhysics}, etc) so I suppose I'm a convert. I've not jumped off and purchased an OSX box yet but I must admit that I'm VERY tempted considering the quality and ease of use of the iPod Touch.

BetaNews | Nearly 3% of America became iPod converts over the holiday

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Encrypting an USB Drive with True Crypt

A very good article on how to encrypt a partition using TrueCrypt. You can use Truecrypt in many different ways (password, keyfile, combo of both, encrypt a "container file" on your disk, a non-system partition, the system partition etc...). Lots of options, lots of security.

Encrypting an USB Drive with True Crypt

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Magneto Boy: Science Videos - Science News - ScienCentral

WOW -- This is like Jack Black's upcoming movie "Be kind, Rewind". This kid zaps PCs when he touches them. If he wears an anti-static band on his wrist, then all is well... I guess those things really do work and I should wear them once in a while...

I need to hire this kid to go play on the corporate email servers.... I get WAY too much mail! ;-)

Magneto Boy: Science Videos - Science News - ScienCentral

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Cracking Open the Apple MacBook Air | TechRepublic Photo Gallery

The MacBook Air deconstructed... Very amazing engineering went into this thin notebook... worth a look!

Cracking Open the Apple MacBook Air | TechRepublic Photo Gallery

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Ubuntu brainstorm

No one has a monopoly on good ideas. Ubuntu recognizes that and has launched the "Ubuntu Brainstorm" site where anyone can post ideas on how to make Ubuntu better. Let's hope they take advantage of all the creative and constructive feedback!

Ubuntu brainstorm

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BetaNews | Apple looks set to introduce iPhone SDK next week

This sounds promising but I'm concerned that the community might get pretty locked down in typical Apple fashion. I'll keep my fingers crossed but will not hold my breath.

BetaNews | Apple looks set to introduce iPhone SDK next week

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Kids don't like CDs: iTunes Store now #2 music retailer

It won't be long before your beloved CD will go the way of HD-DVD...

Kids don't like CDs: iTunes Store now #2 music retailer

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Trade group lists top 10 pirated software - TechSpot News

Interesting list... no big surprises -- nice that they carve it up between consumer and commercial. I would have expected Windows and Office to be tops on both lists (or even ON the lists).

Trade group lists top 10 pirated software - TechSpot News

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The update is not installed successfully, you receive a message, and the computer restarts when you try to install an update in Windows Vista

In case you're stuck in reboot hell because of the Vista SP1 prerequisite problem -- Microsoft has released three not so user friendly ways to overcome this annoying problem.

The update is not installed successfully, you receive a message, and the computer restarts when you try to install an update in Windows Vista

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Gaffes Keeping Geeks Out of the Board Room

This is too funny... see how many faux-pas you get out of this list (feels like the old BS Bingo). Some of these hurt... what IS wrong with socks and sandals anyhow right? Am I right?

Gaffes Keeping Geeks Out of the Board Room

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MAKE: Blog: DIY camera GPS project for Nikon DSLRs

Here's a cool weekend project -- add a GPS to your DSLR! Add location information to the EXIF data in your pictures -- how cool is that?!

MAKE: Blog: DIY camera GPS project for Nikon DSLRs

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Application Information - OpenOffice.org OpenXML Translator

One of the recent shortcomings in Open Office has been the inability to open/edit Office 2007 applications. Here's a link to a translator that should solve the problem :-). One of the next releases of OO will include this capability natively.

Application Information - OpenOffice.org OpenXML Translator

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How to Make A Inexpensive Light Tent

Never 2 without 3 eh? Here's something that might actually be useful! Ever wonder how they get those really nice photos where you barely see a shadow and no background? Well, it might be Photoshop (please don't use the magic wand tool!) -- OR it might be a "Light tent". Build your own and sell some cool stuff on ebay!

How to Make A Inexpensive Light Tent

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Magnum Condom LED Music Light - Instructables - DIY, How To, , home

This was too funny not to post... turn a pair of condoms into non-virtual visualizations for your PC! OMG! Too funny!

Magnum Condom LED Music Light

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5-Minute Projects: DIY Slime | Popular Science

Feels like a DIY day today -- I've always wanted to make slime... NOW I CAN! I didn't realize how easy it was!!! Borax, Water and Aylmer's glue... (food coloring too ;-)).

Enjoy!

5-Minute Projects: DIY Slime | Popular Science

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Microsoft: Vista SP1 will break these programs | CNET News.com

Be careful of Vista SP1! It seems there are some incompatibilities that may break your 3rd party security tools such as AV and Software-based Firewall.

Microsoft: Vista SP1 will break these programs | CNET News.com

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ExclusiveStarWars.com - Online Web Shop

OMG! For the Star Wars lover in your life! An R2-D2 projector / media center!! W00t!!

ExclusiveStarWars.com - Online Web Shop

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Spread Firefox | The Home of Firefox Community Marketing

Congrats Mozilla! Firefox hits 500 million downloads! I can't wait for v3 to come out (and Thunderbird v3 :0)).

Spread Firefox | The Home of Firefox Community Marketing

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Next Ubuntu release to be called Intrepid Ibex, due in October

I was wondering what curious animal the Ubuntu team was going to pick for the "i" release... It seems it is the illustrious Ibex (I had never heard of this animal before now :-)). I had my money on Iguana but I suppose that would be too SuSE-esque...

Next Ubuntu release to be called Intrepid Ibex, due in October

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MAKE: Blog: 7,200 bananas

WOW -- "living art" -- a wall of 7200 real bananas -- complete with rotting smell. Two words: "Fruit Flies". They should be in a position to make massive quantities of banana bread (yummy) in a day or so...

MAKE: Blog: 7,200 bananas

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DisplaySearch Reports Q4'07 Worldwide LCD TV Shipments Surpass CRTs for First Time; TV Revenues Reach a Record High, Up 10% to $33B

I thought this would have happened a LONG time ago... at least in North America. These are however world wide numbers...

DisplaySearch Reports Q4'07 Worldwide LCD TV Shipments Surpass CRTs for First Time; TV Revenues Reach a Record High, Up 10% to $33B

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Obsolete Skils: Skills/Skills

Wow - I'm surprised at how many of these I know how to do... I feel so OLD!! Worth a look -- you'll get a chuckle out of it I'm certain!

Obsolete Skils: Skills

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Live from Toshiba's HD DVD press conference in Tokyo - Engadget

RIP HD DVD...

Sony wins a battle with Blue Ray (vindicated from Betamax loss?). Microsoft is in talks to come out with a Blue Ray XBox 360 drive... I'm glad I didn't buy either... I'm not likely to move to Blue Ray any time soon -- I suspect that on-demand content is just around the corner for early adopters -- Netflix / Apple TV and others have already started... Personally, I think Blue Ray is just as dead as HD DVD.

Live from Toshiba's HD DVD press conference in Tokyo - Engadget

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Bill Gates’ last day, take two (video) - istartedsomething

LOL @ another video of Bill Gates' last day :-) Enjoy - LOLLLLLL

Bill Gates’ last day, take two (video) - istartedsomething

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End of the line for Polaroid film - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

It's the end of an era :( The famed Polaroid picture will be no more... Now that digital is everywhere and people do not need to "print" pictures OR if they do, it's very simple and economical to do it at home -- there is little defense to keep the Polaroid around (apart from nostalgia)...

note: a picture I took in Seattle -- used Inkscape to add a "Polaroid" look to it thanks to a tutorial from Heathenx (http://screencasters.heathenx.org/episode-045/)

End of the line for Polaroid film - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

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First look: Firefox 3 beta 3 polishes rough edges

A very good review of Firefox 3 B3 by the pros at Ars. Looks like firefox 3 is going to be very compelling. I've used earlier builds and it is what I expected -- a GREAT browser that is fast and extensible. I have not used IE in a very long time (unless work requires I use some ActiveX stuff to perform tasks) and I don't miss it for a second. I find using IE 7 a step backwards and cannot wait to get back to my 'fox ;-).

First look: Firefox 3 beta 3 polishes rough edges

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Springlets for your iPhone

Springlets allows you to put some quick access springboard links on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Allowing you to directly access things like Wikipedia, IMDB, I'm feeling lucky (google) etc... Pretty slick... works for me :-)

Springlets for your iPhone

-ZB

TrueCrypt - Free Open-Source On-The-Fly Disk Encryption Software for Windows Vista/XP, Mac OS X and Linux - Downloads

New major version of TrueCrypt is out -- Go get it and ask questions later. This is a GREAT encryption tool -- it's open source and works beautifully. Version 5 works on the Mac, adds a GUI to Linux and can encrypt your system volume! Well worth the price of admission (FREE)!

Use it - love it!

TrueCrypt - Free Open-Source On-The-Fly Disk Encryption Software for Windows Vista/XP, Mac OS X and Linux - Downloads

-ZB

YouTube - Official Duke Nukem Forever Teaser Video

Probably the World's most famous example of vaporware... "Duke Nukem Forever" -- it's been a rumor since forever (nearly 10 years)... It looks like a 1 min teaser video has been released... I wonder if they will change rendering engine again and halt development like they've done in the past... I'm not holding my breath on this one...

YouTube - Official Duke Nukem Forever Teaser Video

-ZB

HDRwalls.com - Your source for HDR wallpapers for desktop, Blackbery, iPhone, iPod, and PSP.

Very cool pics at this site -- common theme: High Dynamic Range (HDR) pics where a composite of different exposures of the same picture is blended to create vivid and mystically saturated images. Mucho Coolio!

HDRwalls.com - Your source for HDR wallpapers for desktop, Blackbery, iPhone, iPod, and PSP.

-ZB

Sigma's APO 200-500 F2.8 telephoto lens gets close to wildlife, your wife - Engadget

Got 25G to drop on a telephoto lens? Got strong enough shoulders to lug around a 35lb lens? :-)

Sigma's APO 200-500 F2.8 telephoto lens gets close to wildlife, your wife - Engadget

-ZB

MacBook Air splayed -- multi-touch trackpad controller chip same as iPhone - Engadget

The previous post was all about unboxing the hot little number called the MacBook Air... Engadget's post takes this even further and strips the little minx down to it's core components *blush*.

MacBook Air splayed -- multi-touch trackpad controller chip same as iPhone - Engadget

-ZB

MacBook Air in the House, Unboxing Photos

The MacBook Air has started to ship... Here's a set of pics revealing the unboxing of the sexy technology!

MacBook Air in the House, Unboxing Photos

-ZB

WOW. Microsoft Offers $44.6 Billion To Acquire Yahoo

There have been numerous articles on this bid from Microsoft to acquire Yahoo... I just liked the graphic best on this one :-)



It will be interesting to see how Google reacts to this. Part of me feels this will actually benefit Google since these big mergers are typically plagued with all sorts of integration issues... Given Google is the clear leader in search and web-based advertising -- this is the perfect opportunity for Google to pull further ahead of the combined #2 and 3 players in the space...

Disclosure: long GOOG

WOW. Microsoft Offers $44.6 Billion To Acquire Yahoo

-ZB

$1 Image Stabilizer For Any Camera - Lose The Tripod

This looks like a great idea if you just don't want to lug around a tripod... Fit-in-your-pocket solution for when you just need to get a good shot but can't get to a Tripod or your camera's image stabilization sucks (or is non-existent).

$1 Image Stabilizer For Any Camera - Lose The Tripod

-ZB

DNS celebrates 25th birthday - vnunet.com

nslookup -- oh, Happy 25th b-day DNS!!! W00T!

DNS celebrates 25th birthday - vnunet.com

-ZB

Firefox share up over 20% in Europe, mostly at expense of IE

Firefox is taking up share in Europe... Interesting to see the country by county breakdown of FFox penetration... worth a look. Go Firefox!

Firefox share up over 20% in Europe, mostly at expense of IE

-ZB

Hands on with XIOS, the Cloud OS that runs in a browser

Virtualization is a very trendy theme these days... How about running all of your work in the cloud all the time... Just find a spot to squat and work. High cool factor but I wonder about the productivity / speed constraints that are likely at play here.

Hands on with XIOS, the Cloud OS that runs in a browser

-ZB

iClarified - iPhone - How to Officially Update and Jailbreak to 1.1.3 iPhone Firmware (Windows)

Tested this method with the iPod Touch -- worked like a charm :-)
This method updates your firmware to 1.1.3 and puts the "Installer" program on your device.
NOTE: You will not get the icon "wiggles" and iPhone Apps on your iPod Touch -- you will need to install these as a post-process.

ENJOY!

iClarified - iPhone - How to Officially Update and Jailbreak to 1.1.3 iPhone Firmware (Windows)

-ZB

Lotus Notes 8.5 to fully support Ubuntu Linux 7.0 - Computerworld UK - The Voice of IT Management

This should be an interesting addition for Ubuntu -- maybe I'll be able to lose Windows completely?

Lotus Notes 8.5 to fully support Ubuntu Linux 7.0 - Computerworld UK - The Voice of IT Management

-ZB