Dec - 5th
Posted at 11:15 am | Filed Under Uncategorized
I've been thinking about email a lot lately (I almost wrote "alot;" that would have been a disaster). What it means to me, how I interact with it, how does it fit in my future plans, what is next for this medium. In fact, I've been thinking about email too much.
I've had a lot of [...]
Sep - 26th
Triumph of the Nerds
Posted at 11:11 am | Filed Under Film Retrospective
This documentary of the rise of the personal computer is clearly dated, but it includes interviews with Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, including the memorable "Microsoft has no taste" line...*
This film does identify the basis however -- for the record -- the argument that Steve Jobs has exhibited the greatest second act in the history [...]
Aug - 11th
Silverlight
Posted at 8:13 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized
I wanted to take a moment and thank the fine people at NBC for creating what could be the most obnoxious website (in the web's short history) for its Olympics portal. And bonus points go to the ad wizard who decided it would be best that every god damn American be forced to download and [...]
Jul - 8th
Pirates of Silicon Valley
Posted at 10:38 am | Filed Under Film Retrospective
This movie changed my outlook on life when I first watched it on TNT in 1999. I had to make sure my wife saw it too before it was too late, and although the soundtrack sound-levels are considerably "off," this made-for-TV movie stands up pretty well over time.
I hadn't realized, however, that while I was [...]
Jul - 7th
Apple v. Microsoft
Posted at 9:27 am | Filed Under Uncategorized
After watching my favorite made-for-tv movie of all-time -- Pirates of Silicon Valley -- last night, watching this video (a scene re-enacted in the film) made for great entertainment this morning...
I am looking into reading a book on the subject of Macintosh, Windows, and the war between the two companies -- Apple and Microsoft. [...]
May - 6th
Phreatic
Posted at 2:54 pm | Filed Under Uncategorized
This is just another reason it is frustrating using Microsoft Word in a technical field...
Half-assed built-in financial functions in Excel (read: useless), and a challenged lexicon -- at best -- in Word.
May - 6th
Yahoo Is A Dot-com Bubble Veteran
Posted at 11:23 am | Filed Under Uncategorized
While reading about the failed Microsoft-Yahoo bid (which may still happen), it was mentioned how Yahoo! has historically overpaid for the acquisitions it has purchased over the years, including nearly 5 billion dollars spent on GeoCities, the personal homepage service (now mostly defunct), in 1999. Ahh, the height of the dot-com bubble.
Graphing the full historical [...]
Sep - 26th
In the News… Muck.
Posted at 9:10 am | Filed Under In the News
- A bug in the newest release of Microsoft Excel leads to a computation error: 850 x 77.1 = 100,000. (Note: I use Excel a lot.)
-Rahm Emanuel on Bush's promised veto of an expansion of child health coverage: "Two hundred billion dollars more for Iraq -- and $35 billion for kids is labeled excessive spending? [...]
Aug - 15th
In the News
Posted at 8:58 am | Filed Under In the News
- Google is now offering Sun's StarOffice for free, a $70 value, in the latest battle with Microsoft and their stranglehold on office productivity software. (By the way, I hate Outlook.)
- How long will the religious right allow Romney to continuously sway on the abortion issue, "from the 'effectively pro-choice' position he held until July [...]
Jun - 20th
In the News
Posted at 7:36 am | Filed Under In the News
- Maybe Bush's worst legacy will be the plight of the heroes of nine-eleven, the rescue workers.
- Just how powerful is Google? Well, Microsoft has decided to alter Vista following a Google complaint.
- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has ditched the GOP label that hinders his political future. What is that political future? A run [...]
Jun - 1st
Steve Jobs, Bill Gates
Posted at 9:01 am | Filed Under Uncategorized
If you are at all interested in the history of computers, Apple, Macintosh, the theft that was Windows (see Pirates of Silicon Valley), Microsoft, etc., you will enjoy this lengthy conversation between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. (And I should mention I've long thought of Jobs as a god.)
[Note: I think this is in order [...]
May - 11th
In the News
Posted at 7:07 am | Filed Under In the News
- "The company that makes the painkiller OxyContin pleaded guilty in federal court to criminal charges that it had misled doctors and patients when it claimed the drug was less likely to be abused than traditional narcotics." Just another marketing ploy in a business world without ethics. (Don't blame them, it is how they were [...]
May - 4th
In the News
Posted at 7:35 am | Filed Under In the News
- I know it was expected, but I'm still surprised that every republican, even pro-choice Rudy Giuliani, outwardly supported the repeal of Roe v. Wade. Is this the prevailing viewpoint in America? (Also, are these guys running for president or parish coordinator?)
- I always appreciate Ana Marie Cox's liveblogs. I thought that this was a [...]
Mar - 16th
Mailbag: Vista
Posted at 10:56 am | Filed Under Mailbag
Real emails, real life. (Keep them coming.)
My new computer kicks ass but this Windows Vista has problems and I may need to return it and get a new one installed with Windows XP. I keep getting driver incompatability notices and some programs won't run.-- Jim the hitman, Pennsylvania
Hitman-Don't fret, life comes at you fast; sometimes [...]
Mar - 6th
In the News… Scooter’s Prison Nickname.
Posted at 9:07 am | Filed Under In the News
- Someone needs to inform Rudy Giuliani on the rules for running for president: everything is fair game. It may not be relevant, but it is fair game. Including three marriages.
- Microsoft vs. Google. Don't be evil. Too late.
- San Francisco is a bargain, placing 41st on the list of the world's priciest cities. New [...]
Dec - 27th
In the News… An End-of-the-Year Craptacular.
Posted at 10:42 am | Filed Under In the News
Who needs an end-of-the-year special when you have news items like these...
- "President Bush went to his ranch Tuesday to rethink U.S. involvement inIraq." Could this not have been any Tuesday this past year?
- Headline: Flaws Are Detected in Microsoft’s Vista. Um, who didn't see this coming?
- And "because scientists have concluded that carbon dioxide [...]