Wednesday, 30 November 2005
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶Milling Around
I just bought gas for $1.99.
Not $1.999. Not even $1.989. Just $1.99. No mills, just cents. Weird.
If I've ever bought gas without the obligatory nine mills on the end of the price, I've never noticed it before.
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶No Bones About It
From The Daily Mississippian:
As the skeleton of the new ATO house rises, so do the spirits of the ATO members and pledges.
In August 2004, a fire destroyed the former ATO house, killing three fraternity members.
OK, maybe this is just me, but I think in the lead for a story dealing with a fire that killed three people, I might have used "framework" instead of "skeleton." But maybe I'm just being picky. (Or maybe it's just the fact that not only is it the third word of the story, the first sentence is basically "As the skeleton ... rises, so do the spirits..." Kinda macabre.)
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶DiMac Update
I made a bit of progress last night on saving my iMac, kinda. I managed to get it to boot from one of my external Firewire hard drives. I also managed to get it to boot from the iBook, which was cool though ultimately pretty useless. I had to do the system install on the hard drive from an old OS version (Panther, I think?) which has caused compatability problems, and, for some reason, I'm having trouble mounting disk images, but I managed to get around that by moving them to the iBook, and then moving the software from them back onto the drive.
After several attempts at accessing the internal hard drive, which shows up as varing degrees of dead depending on how I try to access it, I discovered that I could get to the OS X partitition on it if I booted from the OS 9 partition. I spent a good bit of time last night copying files from the internal drive to the external drive, a process that ended up being far more labor intensive than I hoped, since I could only do a portion of the drive at a time, and had to click OK every time it encountered a file that couldn't be copied because of the drive damage; which, in some places, was all-too-common.
I have a bit more copying to do; it wouldn't let me move the whole Applications folder, so I'm having to go through one-by-one and decide which apps are worth copying. That'll be my task for tonight. At that point, I should be ready to let the internal drive die and run from the external.
At this point, I've booted from the external drive, so I know it won't be a complete failure; but I've encountered enough problems, even in the limited stuff I've done so far that I know it won't be a complete success. After moving the rest of the applications, the next trick will be distributing files (mostly in the Users folder) to trick the new drive into thinking it's the old drive. My goal is to be able to open, for example, Mail, and have it look like it did this weekend (well, plus new messages). We'll see.
I believe, though, but haven't confirmed, that I did manage to pull off most of the stuff I wanted to save before the drive failed completely. I really was not too keen on the idea of losing all the info that I had put into Quicken over the past year, a lot of which couldn't be reconstructed at this point. Again, we'll see tonight.
Then, once I'm up and running in stop-gap mode, it'll be time to revaluate the future, both in terms of whether to speed up getting my next machine and what to do with the G4.
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶McCallum Like He Sees 'Em
SciFi.com recently published a post-DVD-release
interview with Rick McCallum about the ROTS disc and the future of Star Wars. A few highlights:
- On the live-action TV show:
We know it's going to be darker, much edgier, and with a totally different kind of sense of humor, a different look altogether, so it'll be much more dramatic [than the films]. But there's no plan to follow Luke and Leia as they're kids growing up. There will probably be some kind of reference to them, you know, to keep it all in the same feel of what's going on, but so far it'll be basically with characters that you're not that familiar with, and we'll be exploring everything that's going on during that 18-year period.
...
We wouldn't even start shooting it until 2007. George is finishing up the script for Indiana Jones IV, and then we'll start on the TV series.
- On the cartoon TV series:
...it is being done here at the Ranch, and I'm very excited about the guys that are working on it. I think the first real episode will start being made in end of March, late April [2006].
- The context here is talking about a future super-high-capacity media that could hold tons of the raw footage shot for ROTS, but I'm choosing to take this quote as indication that there's at least a small chance that we'll someday get the Peter-Jackson-esque Extended Edition of Episode III that I want:
... one day I'm hoping we can go back in and edit all that footage we have. We're trying to get that together, but that'll be a couple years in the future.
- On the 3D versions of the OT:
The 3-D, it's a wonderful post-production process. It's done by a company called N3. We've been working with them for about 4 years. We gave them about 10 minutes' worth of Episode IV a couple of years ago, and they came back with this completely immersive 3-D technology where they take any 2-D film and turn it into a 3-D image that you can be the architect of, because you can go in and change virtually every effect that you put into a frame and move it closer or pull it back, and even change the perspective of it. The wireless technology for the glasses allows you to see this [immersive experience] from any seat in the theater, without getting any eyestrain.
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶Nap Time
In case you missed it, there's new content on
Joe's blog, which apparently has now recovered from Hurricane Katrina.
Since Joe's sort of hit-or-miss about responding to comments on his blog, I'll post here that I'd really like to see him put together a list of 10 or so recommended (non-Joe, since all of his are highly recommended) tracks from MacJams that would be a good starting place for tyros to download.
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶iShirt
What better gift this season than the gift of an an
manga Steve Jobs t-shirt? Other than maybe the Jobs-and-Woz-manga shirt? (Or the forbidden fruit shirt on the seller's site?)
Tuesday, 29 November 2005
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶diMac
It appears that my aging G4 iMac may be dying.
Disk Utility told me last night that my internal hard drive has a fatal error, and is failing. I'm not sure what the problem is, but from the noises I'm hearing, it sounds like hardware.
So where does that leave me? I have absolutely no experience in trying to set up an external boot disk. If that would be possible, it seems like that would be the ideal stopgap -- copy the contents of the internal over to the external and run from that. Assuming, of course, the internal drive is still in good enough shape to copy everything from it. That's my biggest concern -- I hate the idea of losing all the files I've got stored on there.
The other option is to go ahead and get a new machine. I'd been looking at doing that eventually. Questions about the financial issue aside, though, my biggest problem there is that I had decided to hold off on buying a new iMac based on the rumors that the Intel-based machines will be announced in January. I had to buy a computer now that will be an entire general obsolete a month later. And, again, there's still the issue of whether I'll be able to save anything from the G4.
OK, this is officially a pointless entry. If anyone has any thoughts/suggestions, though, I'd be interested in hearing them.
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶MSX
When I was listening to the radio morning show on the way to work yesterday, they had a Microsoft rep on promoting the Xbox 360. A few notes that I found interesting:
- Someone asked her about the glitches that have been being reported in the machine. Sticking to the company line, she reported that the number of reported problems had been minimal. In fact she was only aware of five problems -- that had been mentioned to her personally.
- Another caller asked about how the new Xbox compared with the next generation of Playstation. The MS rep responded that the biggest difference is that the Xbox is out now, while the next Playstation won't be out until next year. As far as specific features, she noted that the Xbox is upgradable, and the specific features for the PS3 have not yet been announced. So, when those are released next year, new features can be added to the Xbox through upgrades.
Yep -- according to a Microsoft spokesman, the company's policy is to release a minimal product, wait for the competition to innovate, and then copy what they did. Which, I'm sure, comes as a complete shock to most of the readers of this blog.
- She also explained that there are two different models of the Xbox out now, the basic core system, which is about $300 (I believe), and another version, that, for $100 more, includes a hard drive. The rep noted that the pricier version is a good deal, 'cause $100 is a great price for a 20-gig hard drive like that.
Monday, 28 November 2005
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶Success?
After a series of problems, Japan's
Hayabusa spacecraft appears to have succeeded when it really mattered -- its primary mission to collect the first-ever samples of asteroid material. While JAXA is still awaiting official confirmation, an agency spokesman said that the probe appears to have successfully collected the samples during a landing on Saturday.
Now, of course, they must be brought home safely.
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶The Big Egg
In a way, it's understandable. Forgivable may be reaching, but understandable, certainly.
There was, for example, the whole Phi Beta Kappa thing. Apparently, there were plenty of naysayers that thought Ole Miss could never earn a chapter of the honor society. But, practically through sheer force of will, they did. And that's just the most shining example of all that has been accomplished at Ole Miss in the past several years.
So, sure, you can kind of understand where Chancellor Khayat and Pete Boone could get together and decide they would do the same thing with athletics. Where they might be convinced they would recruit a nationally competitive experienced head coach to take over after Cutcliffe the same way they awed Phi Beta Kappa. Unfortunately, it turns out that big libraries are more convincing for honor societies than head coaches.
So, understandable, certainly, but not forgivable. Anyone with any sense of history about Ole Miss football in recent years could see the flaw in the plan. Even this blog, which doesn't claim to know anything about sports, knew their decision was flawed. They weren't going to get a head coach of a program better than Ole Miss's. It just wasn't going to happen.
Instead of moving up from Cutcliffe, they got, on paper at least, the exact same thing again -- an assistant coach from a national championship team, with great expertise in his area, but untried in running an entire program. A wild card.
By the time of Orgeron's hiring, however, there was a difference -- Cutcliffe, by then, had experience as a head coach. He had proven himself. He knew how to be a head coach.
The same doesn't appear to be true as yet for Ed Orgeron.
That's not to say Cutcliffe was perfect. In my mind, aside from the stumbles that all coaches make, all good-but-not-great coaches at least, he made one fatal mistake that cost Ole Miss heavily in its then rock-bottom 4-7 2004 season. And that mistake had already been made by the time the season started: In 2003, he refrained from seasoning a new quarterback in favor of letting Eli break records. There were plenty of times that the second-stringer could have gone in with no risk of losing the game, but Coach Cut let Eli keep going, keep racking up stats.
Also understandable, if not forgivable. Manning made a major contribution to the respectability of the program (a contribution that Khayat and Boone unfortunately have since completely squandered), and one can understand Cutcliffe thinking he owed Manning something. Arguably, though, his first loyalty should have been to the team rather than to any one player. As a result of that mistake, and the mistake of overconfidence in a player that seemed assured of being the next big thing, Ole Miss entered the 2004 season completely unprepared in the all-important quarterback position. And it cost them, heavily.
And while we're on the subject, let's deal with the Manning issue. Those who have defended the firing of Cutcliffe by attributing all of his success to the talent of Eli Manning. (And in response to Jordan's remark about Eli's decision being purely a result of Archie going to Ole Miss; it's important to note that Archie's background didn't stop Peyton from going to Tennessee, and that Eli's decision to go to Ole Miss was likely influenced by his brother's experience there with Cutcliffe as by his father's experience at UM.) But the fact of the matter is, Cutcliffe had winning seasons before Eli. He had already proved himself more than capable of winning games without a Manning on the roster.
The problem last year was not the lack of Eli, it was, among a few lesser issues, the aforementioned lack of a decent quarterback at all. And that also bears looking at, since it reflects another issue of Cutcliffe's worth. Sure, he could win games with Tuberville's recruits, and with Eli, but could he recruit? Those who saw Spurlock's performance at Ole Miss would probably answer in the negative.
But if it was a mistake, I would have made the same one. I followed Michael in high school; heck, I encouraged his mom that he should go to Ole Miss (within NCAA regulations, of course). As The Clarion-Ledger reported in a story on
leading high school prospects:
Michael Spurlock (6-0, 190, 4.5) from Indianola Gentry, Mississippi may be one of the biggest surprises in the South. He also has not gotten the publicity that he richly deserves with the incredible numbers that he put up in the last two seasons.
In two unbelievable games this year, Spurlock passed for 544 yards and seven touchdowns in one game and ran for 511 yards and seven touchdowns in another game.
Locals who had seen them both play said that Spurlock played more like Archie in high school than either of his sons did. So what happened? I have no idea. Perhaps the pressure of the expectations was too much for him. Perhaps family life distracted him. Three seasons with only five minutes off the bench couldn't have helped. But you recruit based on potential. And Spurlock had it.
So mistakes were made, and the team suffered for it in 2004. It should have been obvious (again, if this blog realizes something, anyone should) that 2004 was going to be a rebuilding year. Instead, some were expecting it to be a continuation of the previous season. If you lose talent and don't prepare people to fill in those holes, you're not going to do as well. Clearly, a big part of 2004 was going to be letting people get the experience they didn't get in 2003.
But Pete Boone decided that one 4-7 season was unbearable. And he fired Cutcliffe. In a move that utterly failed to shock this blog, things didn't get better. I have to admit I was a bit surprised that they actually got even worse. A 4-7 season is bad. The worst season the team has seen in 18 years, that's impressively bad. That takes some doing. But Boone managed to get it done.
As much as part of me would love to see Cutcliffe brought back, that wouldn't really help, and, besides, it's too late. As of today,
Cutcliffe is expected to be working again. And I'm happy for him:
David Cutcliffe's return to Tennessee is expected to become official today when he's introduced as the Vols' new offensive coordinator.
Tennessee, coming off its first losing season in 17 years, is glad to have him back:
Cutcliffe, 51, was Tennessee's offensive coordinator under Fulmer from 1992 to 1998. The Vols haven't won an SEC championship since he left.
Sure, it's not a head coaching position. But it wouldn't surprise me at all to see Cutcliffe pay some more dues with Tennessee and earn his way back up to the top. He's talented, and classy.
Speaking of classy, by the way, here's
a nice bit about our current head coach:
Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron was apparently at the center of Tulane's tampering allegations, and among his top targets was Green Wave quarterback Lester Ricard.
...
"In the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States, you have to stoop pretty low to do that," Scelfo said. "You're lower than dirt."
Fills you with pride, doesn't it?
If blood had to be spilled to atone for last year's 4-7 season, then should there be a price for an even worse season this year? I've said all season that I don't know that there's anything to be gained from firing Orgeron at this point. I'm less certain now. It would assure the team another bad season next year, but I'm not convinced that's not assured now anyway. Last year was should have been a rebuilding year, but the firing of Cutcliffe assured that there would be little rebuilding carried over into this year. This year should have been a rebuilding year, but I haven't seen much progress. Certainly the team that played Saturday's game didn't seem much better than the team that played the first game of the year.
But, with the Cutcliffe-comes-back option out of the way, while it's not hard to imagine someone doing better than Orgeron, it's hard to imagine Ole Miss hiring anyone better. This blog predicted that the manner in which Cutcliffe was fired would make the school even more unappealing to coaching prospects, and this year seems to have bore out that prediction. Firing another coach a year later would only make it even harder to hire a quality coach.
But if Cutcliffe had to pay the price for a 4-7 season, what does that say about this season? And I'm not talking here about Noel Mazzone. I'm not going to judge whether he should have been fired or not -- there's too much blame to go around to say how much should fall on someone like that -- though I will say that the way in which he was fired didn't seem to do the team much good.
No, it's clear who the architect of Ole Miss worse season in 18 years is; who is fully responsible for the dismal performance this year. And that is Pete Boone.
In Pete Boone's own words:
I asked Coach Cutcliffe after the Auburn game; there were a couple of weeks there in which I had developed an evaluation sheet and forms and some opinions backed with facts and figures and some statistics. And I wanted him to start thinking about, which I would assume that he would and I think that he was, about the program, strengths and weaknesses of the program, his analysis of the program, and develop a plan that he and I could look over and address any of those concerns that he and I may have at that time, and how he would address those concerns.
In the end, we could not agree on the solution to some of the problems that we thought were there. He preferred a status quo, keeping things as they were with a greater challenge to the players and coaches. I felt like that approach was not the long-term solution we needed to have.
He made a comment, and it was certainly a trying time between us, and you know Coach Cutcliffe has a very gentlemanly like approach with never raising voices, but sitting there listening to each other, obviously disagreeing on a few things, but always done in a very professional way. But his comment was that `I have to be true to my heart. I need to make decisions based on how I feel.' And I respect that. That tells you a lot about the man. It also made me think too. This not about Pete Boone, it is not about David Cutcliffe - This is about Ole Miss. I have got to make decisions based on my heart, and my heart is red and blue.
The decision I make is for Ole Miss to be better tomorrow than it was today. So those are the issues and philosophies that we have come up with.
Last season, he decided that he could run a football team better than Cutcliffe. And when Cutcliffe disagreed, Boone, in a move of pure arrogance, fired Cutcliffe for thinking a coach could coach better than a banker. Looking back, it appears maybe Cutcliffe was right.
And for Boone's ego gratification, Ole Miss has paid the price. "The decision I make is for Ole Miss to be better tomorrow than it was today."
Perhaps it's time for Boone to be held accountable for that decision.
Saturday, 26 November 2005
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶MS Whoops
Per The Washington Post:
ASHINGTON -- Microsoft's Xbox 360, the much-anticipated video game system that made its debut this week, apparently is experiencing some technical glitches -- screens freezing minutes into a game, for example -- and that has left some users pretty upset.
At gamer-oriented Web sites, Xbox 360 owners have reported system crashes in games such as the space-marines-vs.-aliens title "Quake."
One owner complained that his new console tries to read the shooter game "Perfect Dark Zero" as a DVD movie. Another posted a video file of the game "Project Gotham Racing 3" freezing up before the player had finished even the first lap of the driving game.
Microsoft describes the glitches, which one report says one in six users have experienced in the few days since the machine's release, as "isolated" and experienced by "a very small fraction" of users. Kinda says something about Microsoft that they're actually
pleased that
only 16 percent of the shipped product is defective.
Friday, 25 November 2005
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶Blogpoint Opportunity
OK, let's get this over with.
10 Blogpoints to the person who most accurately picks the winner and score of Saturday's Egg Bown between Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Picks must be entered before tomorrow's 1:30 kick-off.
+ 0 - 2 | § ¶RIP, Pat Morita
"Man who catch fly with chopstick accomplish anything."
--
Mr. Miyagi
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Tripped, O Friend
In case you felt you had better things to do yesterday than read
this week's new Hatbag, the Thanksgiving strip is online.
Thursday, 24 November 2005
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Welcome, Bethany
My neice Bethany Kathleen Hitt was born this morning in Memphis at 8:50. She weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces, and was 19 3/4 inches long.
Congrats to Jonathan and Erin!
Wednesday, 23 November 2005
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶O Well
Per The Clarion-Ledger:
Maybe Ed Orgeron is right. Maybe sacking his offensive coordinator, Noel Mazzone, eventually will make Ole Miss a better offensive football team.
Believe this: It didn't help Saturday night against LSU's fourth-ranked Tigers.
...
One, Mazzone is in the first year of an unprecedented three-year contract worth $250,000 a year to run Orgeron's offense. It will cost Ole Miss half a million to pay off the last two years, plus whatever Ole Miss pays a new offensive coordinator.
Two, you have to wonder how the Ole Miss coaching staff could possibly properly prepare for LSU, given the situation.
Well, actually you don't have to wonder. It was all too obvious, as the Rebels false-started, tripped over one another and gained fewer than 3 yards per play.
...
This is Orgeron's first head coaching job. Maybe we should chalk this one up to a rookie mistake.
We can only guess how much the sacking of Mazzone had to do with the worst Ole Miss home loss in 56 years. We don't have to guess this: It couldn't have helped.
...
When Ole Miss finally scored with just over two minutes remaining, only a few chilled fans dressed in red and blue were left to cheer.
And that brings to mind this question: What if they held an Egg Bowl and nobody came? This Saturday's Egg Bowl will match 2-8 Mississippi State, a 34-point loser to Arkansas Saturday, against 3-7 Ole Miss, a 33-point loser.
"If you're at Ole Miss, you have to beat Mississippi State," Orgeron said afterward. "We understand that."
Orgeron again refused to comment about staff changes during his post-game press conference.
"Obviously, we've got to get bigger, stronger and faster," Orgeron said.
That's true. Just as obviously, the Rebels need to get smarter, too.
So, by rights, Ole Miss should win on Saturday. And if that happens, fine. There will have been absolutely no improvement over last year under the new coach, but what's done is done; we call this the rebuilding year last year should have been (even though I don't know that there's been much sign that any actual rebuilding has taken place).
But if Ole Miss loses Saturday, it will make this the team's worst season in 18 years. In that case, heads (or at least, a head) should roll. I don't know that firing Orgeron at this point wouldn't do more harm than good.
Pete Boone, on the other hand, should go.
He might should either way -- even if Ole Miss wins against State, there's been no improvement over last year. We don't know what would have happened if Cutcliffe hadn't been axed last year -- whether his one bad season was just that: one bad season. Things might have been better this year. They might not. There's no way of knowing.
But we do know that they weren't any better with him gone. The question remaining for Saturday is, are they worse?
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶New Touchdown Call
After initially reporting that the Hayabusa spacecraft failed to land on the asteroid Itokawa,
JAXA is now reporting that the probe did, in fact, land, but didn't collect samples as it was intended to. A second landing attempt may be made on Friday.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Storage Brick
I've got two external hard drives attached to my primary desktop computer, and they're both tucked out of sight underneath the desk.
LaCie's new hard drive, on the other hand, I'm seriously geek-lusting after in order to display proudly. The new drives, by designer Ora-Ïto, are far too cool to hide away, and actually stack together. In addition to the larger desktop models, smaller and flatter
mobile versions are also available.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶30 Million
At the beginning of this year, Apple had sold 10 million iPods in the three years since its release.
What it took the iPod three years to do the first time around, it has done twice more in less than a year. As of now,
Apple has sold over 30 million iPods, a number that is expected to increase by a few million by the end of the year.
(iPod number 1 million
, which means my first iPod was in the first million.)
Tuesday, 22 November 2005
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Goblet Of Fire
The one positive thing I can say about Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is that even at two and a half hours, it felt short, at least after it really got going.
However, that impression is because of what I thought was the movie's greatest fault, which is that it felt sort of perfunctory, like they were trying to rush through it. Which, of course, is true. Goblet of Fire was the first of the HP mega-volumes, and there was originally talk of splitting it into two movies to make room for everything that was needed. Instead, the film is the movie equivalent of a PowerPoint presentation, with the full-fleshed story condensed into bullet-point events -- "This happened; then this happened; then this happened."
For what it is, it's pretty good; the acting and the effects are good; they just are unfortunatetly put to work servicing a product with little heart or depth.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Editorial Note
Eh, slow blogging today. I blame Thanksgiving.
Anybody got any topics for discussion?
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Spirit Is Willing
After nearly two years on Mars, Spirit has spent a year on Mars.
About a month and a half from the second anniversary of its landing on Mars being marked on Earth, Spirit this weekend marked its one-year anniversary on Mars, local-time, having been on the Red Planet for one full orbit around the sun. (That's 687 Earth days; not sure how many Sols.)
+ 0 - 2 | § ¶iFriday
If you've got any Apple buying needs coming up, be sure to
check out the online or brick-and-mortar Apple Store Friday for special deals.
Monday, 21 November 2005
+ 0 - 2 | § ¶Centurion of Music
After accomplishing his longstanding goal of entertaining Lain, Richie, Nicole and I in a live concert, Bono went on 60 Minutes this weekend to announce that he is now confident that
U2's music will be around in 100 years.
Glad we were able to help.
+ 0 - 2 | § ¶iTiVo
According to AP,
TiVo is expanding its service to support iPods and PSPs, allowing you to transfer recorded shows to handheld players.
I'm not entirely sure how this plays out. My initial reaction was that it was all the more reason the networks should offer content through iTMS, but, realistically, the appeal to me of having content on iTMS is being able to buy it if I didn't record it, not being able to transfer it to the video iPod I don't have once I already have it.
It seems like a significant step somehow, I just can't quite figure out what the significance is. Other than possibly pushing Joe closer to buying a video iPod.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶No Touchdown
Japan's increasingly troubled Hayabusa asteroid-sample-return spacecraft
suffered yet another setback this weekend when, during an attempt to collect a sample from the surface of asteroid Itokawa, it failed to actually make contact with its target.
Mission controllers plan to make another attempt at collecting the sample, but fuel reserves are dwindling.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Walk The Line
Went and watched the "Walk The Line" over the weekend while in ATL. Enjoyed it greatly.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Endorsing The Other Guy
If you're visiting the MSN site,
Microsoft advises not using Microsoft software, at least if you use a Mac. If you access the site using Internet Explorer, you get a message recommending you use another browser for optimal experience.
Saturday, 19 November 2005
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Discussion Question
What's the best concert you've ever been to, and why?
What, to you, makes a good concert?
Friday, 18 November 2005
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Blogpoint Opportunity
Eh, once again, I'm not giving Blogpoints for guessing just how badly LSU will stomp Ole Miss this weekend. (I'll do like before, though, and say that if Ole Miss does actually win, I'll award 30 Blogpoints to anyone who asks for them this weekend after the game.)
In the absence of Ole Miss picks this weekend, though, I'll award 10 Blogpoints to the person who most accurately picks the winner and score of the Alabama-Auburn game this weekend.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶When Dave Comes To Town
There'll be light blogging the next few days. Why?
Well, with great "Pride," I can tell you I'll be going "Where The Streets Have No Name" in the "City of Blinding Lights," assuming those are Atlanta, for a concert. Some of the ATW audience will be there also, but "With Or Without You," I'm hoping for "One" "Beautiful Day" for driving. If I find time for blogging while I'm gone, that'll be the "Sweetest Thing," but no promises.
Sorry for my "Mysterious Ways," but that's all I'll say about my weekend plans, other than that I'll be back "Sunday Bloody Sunday."
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶See The CEV
Sure, it's only a model...
But soon NASA's Crew Exploration Vehicle will move out of the realm of PowerPoint presentations and animations and into the physical as
Johnson Space Center builds a full-scall mock-up of the new spacecraft.
(I've been in the room in the picture a couple of times, and, while I hadn't planned on going on that tour while I was in Houston in Feb., may have to change my plans. Yeah, having it in this form doesn't really mean much at this point, but it would be kind of cool to see it.)
Thursday, 17 November 2005
+ 0 - 2 | § ¶Byline
I know I've had features on the front of the NASA homepage before, and most of my stories for the last year or so have had my name on them, but I think this may be the first time I've had a bylined story on the front of NASA.gov.
One of my
Chris Van Allsburg interview articles is currently one of the stories featured on the
NASA.gov front page.
+ 0 - 2 | § ¶Egging Him On
Seth's NaNoWriMo adventure continues in
this week's new Hatbag.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Moon Money
Despite worries that recent events could lead to a funding cut,
Congress yesterday approved a $260 million increase for NASA's FY06 budget over FY05. The $16.5 billion budget is even $1M more than the president's NASA budget request. It includes about $3.1 billion for CEV/CLV development, and $270M for a Hubble servicing mission.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶The Wrong Stuff
Per This Is London:
A new reality TV show is aiming to pull off the biggest hoax in TV history - by persuading a group of Britons that they have been blasted into space.
...
Nine people will be told they are set to visit the final frontier as space tourists and that in preparation they will undergo intensive training in Russia courtesy of the Space Tourism Agency of Russia, but in reality the groups will be "trained" for space in a disused airbase in a secret location in the UK.
Unbeknown to them, their shuttle will be a Hollywood creation, made originally for the film Space Cowboys.
A giant custom-built screen positioned just outside the shuttle will, it is hoped, provide the illusion of a view of Earth from space including a hurricane over Mexico and a glimpse of the UK on one day when cloud cover parts.
...
Channel 4 admits that the joke could be on them if the participants, who are currently being selected from a group holed up in a secret location with no contact with the outside world, cotton on to the stunt.
Three actors have been placed in the group and will be able to report back on whether there are any suspicions.
Uh. This makes me curious about a few things. First, and foremost, how exactly they're going to handle the whole, you know, gravity thing. I guess they can try to explain it away, but it's hard to imagine people not getting suspicious.
Second, what kinda people do they get for this show? What sort of person wants to go into space, but doesn't know that not only does Russia not have a space shuttle that carries a dozen people, nobody does, and Russia doesn't even have a space shuttle at all?
If they actually pull it off, it should make some entertaining TV, but I'll be shocked if it works.
I've actually applied for a space-related reality show before; it would be funny if that was it. If so, that would certainly explain why I was rejected.
In defense of the selectees, the only non-ex-pat British national to fly into space,
Helen Sharman, did so after adding an ad she heard on her car radio: Astronaut wanted. No experience necessary."
Wednesday, 16 November 2005
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Newspaper Next
Per API:
The American Press Institute today announced an ambitious year-long project to conceive and test new business models to help newspapers thrive in the next decade.
“Newspaper Next: The Transformation Project” will explore the trends disrupting the newspaper industry and develop practical business initiatives newspapers can adopt. API is investing $2 million into this project, which is the centerpiece of the Institute’s 60th anniversary.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Red Six RIP
I'm way slow on the news, but
William Hootkins is dead.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Ain't Nothing But A G Thing...
Flight International has an article about
Virgin Galactic's efforts to tweak a few problems in the SpaceShipTwo design before putting it to use for passenger suborbital spaceflight in 2008.
This paragraph in particular amused me:
The UK company wants to find a way of reducing the 5g that the Scaled Composites-designed SS2 will experience during re-entry and is working with NASA and Qinetiq to achieve that.
Virgin is turning to NASA for helping fixing problems Burt Rutan caused?
Heh.
Heh heh.
Ha! Hahahahahahahahaha!
+ 0 - 2 | § ¶The Peanuts Code
OK, is it just me or is Charles Schulz not somehow
ripping off The Leonardo Code in Sunday's strip? I mean, I know he's dead and all, but... (Even the Superman reference is clearly a little nod at Lain.)
Tuesday, 15 November 2005
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Photo Of The Day
The iWipe
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶More Mactel
After that story I posted the other day saying the Mactel Mini may be announced at the beginning of the year, Apple Insider is now reporting that both the
Mactel iMac and Powerbook may also be announced at MacWorld San Francisco in January, which could be big news for Dave computer buying. The report passes on rumors that the first "iMactel" will be much like the new G5 machine just released, but with Intel Inside, which would be a pretty tempting machine. (They also report that the Powerbooks may be thinner and may have built-in iSights like the iMacs, which was also rumored, but undelivered, for the last Powerbook upgrade.) The story also says that the Mactel Mini will actually be coming a little later, around the same time as new slimmer iBook, which will have a more iPod/iMac-inspired design.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Jurassic Space Station
While I hope the international space station has a long and profitable life ahead of it, there will nonetheless reach a point where the government partners that operate it will have done what they want to do there, and will move on to bigger and better things.
There's been talk what when that occurs, it will open the doors to new possibilities for private ventures. If that comes about, I would love to see it be a little something like
what a guy did recently in a MMORPG:
n one of the largest sales yet of property in an online game, a Miami resident has bought a virtual space station for $100,000 and wants to turn it into a cross between Jurassic Park and a disco.
Jon Jacobs, a director of independent films, plans to call the space resort, in the science-fiction themed game Project Entropia, "Club Neverdie." Like other land areas in the game that has been visited by 300,000 players, the resort grounds will spawn dinosaur-like monsters, which visitors can kill.
Granted somebody would have to start cloning dinosaurs first, but that needs to happen anyway, right? But if people will pay $20M just to visit ISS, imagine what people would pay to hunt dinosaurs in zero-G in space!
Monday, 14 November 2005
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶SBASAF
Much thanks to Jonathan for sending me this link to
the official Strong Badia space program.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Indie 50
So I'm a bit embarrased that I've only seen, I believe, 10 of the
50 greatest independent films, but there were several more than I do plan to see when the opportunity presents itself.
Sunday, 13 November 2005
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Greetings
No offense to anyone in the ATW audience who lives in Montgomery, Ala., or is from there or has family there or other fond feelings, but I've never been a big fan of this town. Don't know why, it's just never done much for me.
Hotels with free high-speed internet, though? Very nice.
Saturday, 12 November 2005
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Zathura
So went and watched Zathura last night. Not bad, but I think I probably set my expectations too high based on the reviews I had read. I enjoyed it; I just didn't find it great. There were some cool twists in the story, and the special effects were good (of course, I'm a complete sucker for retro-future stuff, which this game had in spades), though, of course, the science was agressively bad.
Friday, 11 November 2005
+ 0 - 2 | § ¶NaGaDaItInAMo
Since apparently not even Lain read through all of the crap I posted yesterday to see the announcement of
this week's new Hatbag, I'm posting it again.
Apparently that Mac tome I posted kept him from making it that far. But it was really interesting, I promise. Well, to me at least.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Come On Over
Per AppleInsider:
The momentum generated by Apple's iPod digital music players and related products continues to translate into new Macintosh sales according to one Wall Street analyst who estimates that over one million Windows users have purchased a Mac in the first three quarters of 2005.
In a research note released to clients on Monday, Needham & Co. analyst Charles Wolf said the number of Windows users purchasing a Mac appears to be far higher than the firm had previously anticipated.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶More Than Meets The Force
OK, yes, I realize intellectually that
Star Wars Transformers are just a gimmick, and really kind of a stupid one, and that other than Vader, the character modes really aren't that great, and yet, I kinda want some.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Blogpoint Opportunity
10 Blogpoints to the person who most accurately guesses the winner and score of tomorrow's
Ole Miss game against Arkansas. Picks must be posted before the 1 p.m. kick-off.
Thursday, 10 November 2005
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Lost Life
You know, I initially wasn't a big fan of [SPOILER], but still was kinda sad that [SPOILER].
Anybody got any thoughts about last night's episode? (Feel free to actually discuss spoilers in the comments.)
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Back In The ISS
Per NASA:
The International Space Station crew, 220 miles above Earth, will receive a special live musical wakeup call from Paul McCartney Sunday during a first-ever concert linkup.
The wakeup will come from McCartney's "US" Tour performance at the Anaheim, Calif., Arrowhead Pond. McCartney plans to play two songs, "Good Day Sunshine" and "English Tea," for NASA Astronaut Bill McArthur and Russian Cosmonaut Valery Tokarev. This is the first time a live concert will be linked to a U.S. spacecraft.
...
"I was extremely proud to find out that one of my songs was played for the crew of Discovery this summer," McCartney said. "In our concert we hope to repay the favor." McCartney is nearing the end of his 11-week "US" tour.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶The Destination
I received an envelope in the mail recently, with the following written on the front:
Extreme cold...dangerous radiation...ice miles thick...unknown conditions -- this could be the best chance we have to find new life.
Amazingly, no mission exists to explore this tantalizing, alien world!
Even having read that whole message, and even after having seen that the message was from The Planetary Society, I still figured it was going to be something like exploring under the ice shelves in Antarctica.
Only upon opening the envelope and reading its contents did I discover the truth -- The Planetary Society is starting an effort to lobby for a mission to Europa. Yeah, they were seeking donations, and, yeah, I gave one.
The name of this blog, of course, is a reference to the line in "2010," which, as we prepare to launch a mission to the last planet not to have been visited by a probe, and we have landed a spacecraft on the Saturnian moon Titan, is sadly all-too-true: "All these worlds are yours -- except Europa."
Which is an incredible shame. As The Planetary Society notes:
In a solar system full of astonishing planets and their moons, Europa stands out. Scientists believe that beneath its unique frozen and cracked surface, there may exist an enormous ocean of liquid water, perhaps twice as much as in all of Earth’s oceans.
If life exists in our solar system, it would be there. It may be on Mars, as well, and we may find it there first, but only because we have a head start.
Congress, apparently, agrees. According to a Space Politics look at the
FY06 budget conference report:
Because of the redirection of Project Prometheus (which had its budget cut by $200 million), NASA had already indicated it was not planning to fly the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) mission for the indefinite future. However, the conferees, citing the scientific interest in a mission to Europa, directed NASA to include a "conventionally powered" mission as a new start in its 2007 budget request, noting that such missions "usually take a decade to complete from design to orbit."
If you'd like to help, feel free to support TPS's
Explore Europa Campaign, an effort to encourage the world's space agencies to send a mission to Europa.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Soyuz Shopping
Per Space.com:
The U.S. Senate has approved amendments to the Iran Nonproliferation Act (INA), clearing the way for NASA to pay for Russian launches and spacecraft to support the International Space Station.
The bill was approved late Nov 8 by unanimous consent, meaning it was not subject to a floor vote because no senators objected to its passage. The House passed the same bill Oct. 26.
"NASA appreciates the efforts of Congress to resolve restrictions placed on our partnership with Russia,” NASA chief Michael Griffin said in a statement. “Congress' action helps to ensure the continuous presence of U.S. astronauts on the International Space Station.”
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Young TOS
Not really new, but thought I'd post
this bit from TrekWeb:
While attired in a gold jersey from the Original Series era, and firmly planted in a faux bridge chair, Danza boldly went where no talk-show host had queried William Shatner before: "What's going to happen with STAR TREK?"
"I'm writing a couple of books on the adolescent Captain Kirk-Spock thing," replied Shatner, "as an idea for CBS, [or] whatever station is going to... Paramount, to use as the next series of STAR TREK."
Comments?
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶The Coming War
OK, what am I missing?
Architosh has an article about a new
MacTel-related patent, with rather cataclysmic headlines: "Apple patent shows company possibly preparing for OS War" and "Apple Preparing Full Assault on Microsoft -- Virtual Machine War?"
Needless to say, that's
exactly the sort of thing that gets my attention, but, reading the article, I don't see any support for that. The patent seems to confirm what has been suspected; that the Mactel machines will run other OS's natively. Uh, unless I'm missing something, that does nothing, at least in the immediate future, to reduce Microsoft's market share. In fact, it seems it would do the exact opposite -- Rather than losing market, Windows would gain market share as it gets a much larger foothold in boxes with apples on them.
It seems like it does stand to increase Apple's market share as OS installation becomes less of an either-or zero sum game, and it could negatively impact other PC hardware manufacturers, like Dell. But hurt Microsoft? I don't see it.
Of course, that could certainly work in Apple's favor -- they may have finally made a deal with the devil that will make them a marketshare force to be reckoned with.
Up until now, when Apple tried to increase market share, it was fighting a war on three fronts. For every gain it made, three groups saw losses, and so it's efforts to make gains were opposed by PC box companies, OS creators and chip manufacturers. While there was a bit of competition in those last two categories, the major players, of course, are Microsoft and Intel.
Now, though, the field has changed. Intel's already on board, so they no longer have a vested interest in the fight -- they make their sale whether you buy a PC or a Mac.
And, the ability to run Windows on a Mac changes the scene even more. But imagine going one step further -- What if Apple
licenses Windows to ship on every new Mac. At that point, Microsoft really does have zero interest in the war. Like Intel, they make their sale either way. Microsoft now has no problem at all with you buying a Mac.
In fact, it could be in their best interest -- The Mac OS has been one of MS's monopoly counter-arguments, since they could show they didn't control the complete OS market. This could be the best of both worlds for Microsoft -- simultaneously increasing non-Windows marketshare, showing that they don't control the market, while at the same time,
increasing their market share.
(On a related note, the patent also mentions Linux. I don't know the exact details, but I believe Linux, while opensource, is often licensed for large-scale distributions through companies, like Red Hat, that provide support, etc. Again, I could be wrong, but I would imagine Apple could get the rights fairly easily to brand their own Linux to ship with their machines, putting all three [or four, counting UNIX] major environments on one box, another advantage they'd have over your standard-issue single-flavor PC.)
At that point, giants like Dell suddenly find themselves with no allies. The playing field is levelled.
Apple is unique in the computer market, as the only major player in both the operating system and hardware games. People talk about Apple's market share as one thing, but it's actually two -- it has a share of two different markets. Until now, that's been irrelevant. To achieve market dominance, it had to dominate both markets. But now, that's changed.
I think Architosh is dead wrong that Apple is preparing a "full assault" on Microsoft. I'm sure Steve would love to crush Microsoft. But, he's shown before that he's willing to play nice with Bill when it's to his advantage. And, now, he can achieve market dominance for Apple without fighting Microsoft, by going after the hardware market instead of the OS market. The fight againt Windows is an uphill one. The hardware fight, particularly with the right allies, is one he can win.
No need to crush Gates. Not yet, anyway.
Architosh is dead wrong about the OS war. But they're right about one thing:
War is coming.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶NaGaDaItInAMo
So some members of the ATW audience might identify a tiny bit with
this week's new Hatbag, but only a tiny bit.
Wednesday, 9 November 2005
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Lichen What They See
In a recent experiment by the European Space Agency, extremophile
lichen proved capable of living in open space for two weeks, demonstrating that it is possible for life to exist in non-terrestrial environments. Besides the obvious import for panspermia theorists, it's further evidence that life could indeed exist in, for example, the relatively hospitable environment of Mars.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶The Real Next Generation
Contrary to a report posted on this blog previously, apparently the second iTunes-enhanced phone will be
the latest version of Motorola's popular RAZR phone, which will be available before the end of the year.
Exact details of how the new RAZR is different from the ROKR are still forthcoming, but it seems there's a decent chance that just the popularity of the RAZR will help sales, for better or worse. (I've not used an iPhone yet, but from what I've heard about them, I don't know that I like the idea there might be people judging iTunes, iPods and Apple in general based on them.)
Tuesday, 8 November 2005
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Hammer Time
Your Birthdate: August 7
|
You are an island. You don't need anyone else to make you happy.
And though you see yourself as a loner, people are drawn to you.
Deep and sensitive, you tend to impress others with your insights.
You also tend to be psychic - so listen to that inner voice!
Your strength: Your self sufficiency
Your weakness: You despise authority
Your power color: Maroon
Your power symbol: Hammer
Your power month: July
|
Uh, it turns out Nicole's was the same. Must be a 7th thing.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Back To Venus
Some time tonight (I don't know how to convert Central European Time to Central Standard Time), ESA's
Venus Express probe will launch on its way to our shining sister.
When it arrives in April, the spacecraft, built using the specs developed for the Mars Express probe currently sending back data from the Red Planet, will be the first spacecraft to visit Venus in over 10 years.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Lost Revenues Update
Per Cult Of Mac:
Two more TV networks will begin offering primetime shows on demand for a buck a pop, but not through iTunes online store, reports Reuters, because of fears of digital piracy.
"NBC and CBS unveiled separate plans on Monday to make some of their hottest prime-time shows available for viewers to watch at their leisure -- without commercials -- for 99 cents an episode, throwing open the door to "on-demand" television," the Reuters report says.
CBS will offer "Law & Order SVU" and "Criminal Intent," "The Office," and the cable show "Battlestar Galactica" to viewers with a DirecTV Plus DVR.
Likewise, CBS will offers four hit shows on demand -- "CSI," "NCIS," "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race" -- to Comcast digital cable customers in various cities.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Mactel Mini
OK, to be honest, I don't need, financially, to buy a new computer now. But our two desktop computers are going on four and six years old, so, sure, I've kinda started looking ahead. My initial thought after the Intel announcement was that it didn't make any sense to buy another PPC-based Mac if they architecture was soon going to be obsolete. But, yeah, that new iMac G5 caught my attention. That's a sweet-looking machine. And the Intel-based machines are still quite a while off, and even longer if you want to wait for the second generation to make sure the bugs are worked out or wait for a good deal on refurb or discontinued machines.
And I'll preface this next bit by noting that not only is it a rumor, but I've heard rumors to the exact opposite effect.
But, Forbes is speculating that
the first Intel-based Macs could be announced in January at the Macworld Expo. I'd read previously that there are delays on the Intel processors that could push the first machines back, so take this one (as with most Mac rumors) with a grain of salt. Of course, the G4-based mini is not the most processor intensive machine Apple makes (In fact, I reckon it's the least), so it makes sense that Apple could release it first with chips Intel could provide easily.
So it looks like my computer window shopping is pushed back until into next year. I don't have any interest in a Mactel mini, but if this means that an "iMactel" could be coming earlier than expected, that might be worth waiting for.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶See You In The Funny Hair Pages
I've probably read and enjoyed as much manga as anyone in the ATW crowd, but, even so, I'm not convinced that the idea of
syndicating serialized manga as newspaper comics strips is that great an idea.
To be fair, there's a limit to how bad it is. If nobody picks it up, it does no damage. And I don't see a lot of newspapers buying it. The comics page is all too sacrosanct -- that's why a huge number of the comics on the funnies page are by people who are, technically, dead; literally in the case of Peanuts, and passed into the hands of others in plenty of other cases.
And the people who are going to complain most loudly about changes in the comics page aren't going to be people who are going to think manga is a great change, it's the people who have been reading Hagar the Horrible since it was about current events and won't know what to do with themselves if they miss a day of the adventures of Mark Trail.
And I just don't know that adding manga is really going to bring the kids in. They can go to Wal-Mart and get a book for a few bucks, certainly far more manga for the money than you're going to get from a newspaper, to say nothing of whether this kids have the attention span to enjoy a story at the rate of eight panels a week.
We shall see.
Personally, I'd recommend a compromise -- make the traditional readers happy by keeping the same strips, but draw in the kids by turning
those into manga. Start with the art (I'd be totally down with a manga Janis), and then you could go from there -- let the Phantom fight giant robots, and For Better or For Worse is only three extra plotlines away from being an April shojo strip anyway.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Good Night, And Good Luck
Nicole and I went last night and watched the "Good Night, And Good Luck." Good stuff. I won't get into my "professional" thoughts about the movie unless anyone wants to start the conversation, since they're not unlike the recent "death of newspapers" thread.
As a piece of film entertainment (and there is a bit of irony judging the movie that way), it was well worth the time and money. Nicole, who was obviously watching from much more of a normal layperson viewpoint than I, enjoyed it also. Well made, well acted. I'm a sucker for movies that make good use of black and white. It captured the zeitgeist well (to the extent I'm qualified to comment on the geist of that zeit), particularly in the combination of vintage and film footage.
Go, check it out.
And, for the media folks in the audience, you may want to check out
this site they included in the end credits (I haven't had a chance to peruse it myself yet).
Monday, 7 November 2005
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶EVA Today
As I write, the Expedition 12 crew is currently outside the international space station in the
first EVA to use U.S. EMU space suits in more than two years.
The first primary task will be the installation of a camera assembly on the P1 truss, which will be used during the addition of the P3 and P4 truss segments on the STS-115 mission. The second primary task will be to jettison the non-functional FPP sensor; a task accomplished by removing it from the station and thowing it away into a safe orbit. (Being able to say you threw something into a new orbit just seems like it would be cool.)
The EVA is scheduled to end at about 2 p.m. CST.
Addendum: Uh, turns out they're not actually outside, but the hatch is being depressurized currently (9:12 a.m. CST).
Updates are available here.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Happy Birthday!
My beautiful, beloved bride Nicole turns 30 years old today!
Happy birthday, Nicole! I love you so much!
(Y'all in the ATW audience are more than welcome to tell her happy birthday, too.)
Friday, 4 November 2005
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Black And White And Red All Over
Per MediaDailyNews:
IT'S OFFICIAL: 2005 WILL BE the newspaper industry's worst year since the last ad industry recession. And things aren't looking much better for next year either, according to a top Wall Street firm's report on newspaper publishing. "Sadly, 2005 is shaping up as the industry's worst year from a revenue growth perspective since the recession impacted 2001-2002 period," says the report from Goldman Sachs, adding a warning that meaningful growth in 2006 is "very unlikely."
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Worst Of The Best
This blog has compiled selections from
one-star Amazon reviews of the books on Time's recent list of the 100 best novels. Good stuff.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Life Versus The Volcano
Per New Scientist:
New observations of the Martian atmosphere show no trace of sulphurous fumes. The finding rules out active volcanoes as the source of the Red Planet's mysterious methane, but fails to resolve the question of where the methane comes from.
Methane breaks down when exposed to sunlight, so its discovery in the Martian atmosphere two years ago meant that something on the planet was continually producing more of the gas. Most astronomers suspected its presence was the result of a geological process, while a few suggested the methane was the signature of past or present life.
...
"I can't rule out a geological source of methane" because there are many conceivable mechanisms, Krasnopolsky told New Scientist, but ”this makes biological methane more plausible".
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶More Than Market Share
Belying the notion that Apple is only a bit player in the world of electronics because its market share is considerably smaller than companies like Dell and Hewlett-Packard, MacMischief notes that Apple's
market capitilization, at almost $50 billion, is closing in on those companies.
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶The Next Step?
Apple's iTMS may be getting more video content.
Apparently CBS is strongly
considering options for online distribution, including iTunes, for its content, most notably Threshold.
Don't know that I watch any CBS shows currently, but I'm greatly in favor of the video transition getting more momentum.
Thursday, 3 November 2005
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶Many Hippie Returns
Yep, it's that
Hatbag time of the week again.
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶Regular Richie Feature
The Top 20 search strings on Hatbag.net for the first two days of November:
- steve jobs
- Steve Jobs
- "steve jobs"
- funny kitten pictures
- haircut humor
- james t. kirk
- naked nintendo
- popeyes
- "america's challenge"
- "road to space"
- Burt rutan parrot
- Carma Carma Carma chameleon
- Huntsville Middle School Bears
- Stupid things
- a picture of a guy bending over
- all these worlds
- alltheseworlds
- apple swag
- bear convention san francisco
- cross vs science
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Today In History
On this date in 1957, the Sovietlaunch of Sputnik 2 sent
Laika where no living creature had gone before -- to a horrible, horrible space death.
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶The Next Generation
Engadget has a report on
Motorola's next iTunes phone, the SLVR L7. I have no idea where this fits into their product line relative to the ROKR (in other words, will it cost more or less -- not that I'm going to be able to upgrade my phone again anytime soon), and the brief report doesn't really address too much whether it is actually any better than the lackluster ROKR. The one interesting thing it does note is that apparently the new phone will be wireless-only with headphones, lacking an output jack.
But, if you're interested, go check it out.
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶College Apple-cation
Per iPodNN:
Students and faculty at the University of California Santa Barbara can win prizes for displaying Apple gear as part of a promotional effort to publicize how many UCSB students own Apple products. Apple student representatives Maya Collins and Ian Fisch said they will circle the campus this month in black Apple hats, handing out prize entry forms to students, faculty and staff who are in possession of any fully visible Apple product, according to the Daily Nexus Online. The contest began yesterday and ends on November 23rd, with the final drawing to be held the Monday after Thanksgiving. Fisch said "we want to show how prevalent Apple is on campus, a lot of students use Apple - many people don't know how popular it is. Plus, it's a cool contest... iPods are really popular with students. This will get people excited."
I considered using this as inspiration to do something like this on ATW -- maybe Blogpoints for people that give Apple shout-outs online today, but that would probably be unfair for a couple of reasons.
Wednesday, 2 November 2005
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Its Five-Year Mission
As of today, it has now been five years since a day has passed that there was not a human being living in space aboard the international space station.
Happy Anniversary, ISS!
Tuesday, 1 November 2005
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶It's The Right Thing To Do
I just received e-mail with this picture, labelled "R Y in Halloween costume as young Wilfred Brimley."
So, um, 25 Blogpoints to Richie, I guess, since I didn't establish any rules for the contest.
That said, anybody else who sends pictures in which you're not actually dressed up in other than your usual garb gets nothing. Sorry.
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶Barefoot And Pregnant
25 Blogpoints each to Tutor and Mrs. Tutor for their costumes. (Enzo, lest you miss it, is a hot dog.)
+ 2 - 0 | § ¶What You Need
One year ago, we started The Leonardo Code. After a year, The Leonardo Code is finished (with the exception of one last ending I'm hoping to get from someone, which would be the entry that would cap off the whole thing).
It's time to start something new. So today I'm launching the ATW writing project for the coming year.
The new project is a reaction to some of the problems expressed about The Leonardo Code -- it was just too complicated, there was too much to keep up with; making it nigh impossible for someone new to join in and pretty darned difficult even for people who had posted before to make sure they were all caught up and weren't missing something.
The new project fixes all of that, so that, no matter how much has been written, you only need to know one thing to get started.
So here goes:
The name of the new project is "What You Need."
The idea is this: In each story, a character finds a box labelled "What You Need." Inside the box is an item. During the course of the story, it's revealed why that item is what that character needed. At the end of the story, the character replaces that item with something he or she no longer needs. The next story picks up with another character finding the box, and the item that person left.
For those that didn't participate in The Leonardo Code, the way this works is simple. Each story is written by a different person. You just pick up with the item left in the box by the last writer, and then tell your own story with that item, and then leave a new item for the next writer.
This story should also lend itself to a bit more variety that The LC, being open to anything from straight-out drama for those with a serious bent to wacky comedy if that's the mood you're in. There's also room to challenge the next writer with what you leave in the box, if you're the sort to do that sort of thing.
With this concept, it'll be important to let people know that you're writing the next chapter, since two people can't use the same item. Just post something in this thread saying you're about to write. But, other than the item, there's no continuity to worry about.
Anyway, let me know what you think, or if you have any questions, and then get to writing.
Oh, and to start out, 25 Blogpoints per entry.
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶Can You Smell What Lain's Cooking?
The first 25 Blogpoints of November go to Lain for sending in his Halloween costume photo.
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶Blogpoint Update
OK, I'm lazy. I admit it.
Not only have a not been posting many Blogpoint opportunities lately, I haven't mailed out prizes for the last couple of contests. Sorry.
Here's what I'm thinking: I enjoy doing the Blogpoint contests, and I even enjoy having prizes, except for being too lazy to actually send them out, or to come up with stuff that would be of general interest.
So what if the prize was a song or two from the iTunes Music Store? You win, I gift you a couple of credits. Simple enough.
The problem is, while I think most people that would participate the Blogpoint contests use iTunes, I'm pretty sure I know of at least one who doesn't, and there may be more.
What do y'all think? Would that be a cool prize? Do you use iTunes? Do you have a better idea that doesn't cost Dave much money (or time)?
Anyway, results from the September and October contest are as follows:
(more)
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Postcards To Space
With the big ISS anniversary coming up, NASA's set up a site where you can
send virtual postcards to the crew of the international space station. (There's no direct link. Right now, it's the top link on that page, but it could scroll down in the future.)
That said, the cards could be better. Why would the astronauts want a postcard showing the Earth from space? They can look out their window! And a postcard showing an astronaut on EVA with the caption "Wish You Were Here"? Dude, they
are there. I wish
I was there!
Anyway, if you've got anything you want to tell the Expedition 12 crew, here's your chance.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Sisters Of Charon
Per NASA:
Using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to view the ninth planet in our solar system, astronomers discovered Pluto may have not one, but three moons.
...
The candidate moons, provisionally designated S/2005 P1 and S/2005 P2, were observed approximately 27,000 miles away from Pluto. The objects are roughly two to three times as far from Pluto as Charon.
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶New Direction
OK. I'm not getting my hopes up. I'm really not. It may just be a rumor. The movie might not happen at all. The story could be so bad that nothing could be done for it. Any number of reasons not to get excited.
But, according to IMDB,
Nicholas Meyer will direct the next Trek movie.
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶Indie Apple
(Story on Cult of Mac)
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶Bonus Sith
Here's another entry from the "We know he's a geek, but what sort of geek is he?" department:
Yeah, needless to say, I'll be picking up my copy of Revenge of the Sith on DVD today. (More accurately, Nicole will probably be picking it up, 'cause she'll have the opportunity before I will.)
And, after having done a bit of pre-shopping around, I'll be getting it at Wal-Mart, because they're offering it in a two-pack with a bonus DVD, "
The Story Of Star Wars." Is it really worth getting? To be honest, I have no idea. I have no clue what's on the disc.
All I know is, I don't want there to be an official Lucasfilm Star Wars DVD that isn't on my DVD shelf. So I'm buying it.
