Interesting. I went to Sony's site to see if there were any updates for my PDA. Sure enough, there is an update. I download it, install it per the directions, and try out the new software, which was an update to the camera software.

Well, the updated software not only does not work with my PDA, it also makes the memory stick start choking when it is trying to play MP3 files, giving me an error stating that the MP3 is improperly encoded, that my memorystick is not available, and something else that I have since forgotten, since I was frankly pretty pissed off at the moment in time. Also, it is no longer recognizing the card that I have in the device.

OK, yank that card, drop in my other one. Nothing. While the small LED does blink to show that the PDA is trying to read the card, it is not recognized, and I can read no data off the card. Okay, maybe my cards are both fried, maybe I somehow bent them in the case that I made, rendering them inoperable. I check both cards in my PC, and have no trouble reading, writing, adding or deleting anything from them.

Hmmm. Interesting.

I reset the PDA, a process not unlike pithing a frog, as it involves inserting a small pin into the back of the device, to get it to restart. OK, now it will recognize the cards that I am inserting, buy about three tracks in I start getting the same error message again. Bah.

Pith it, restart, and after a few tries it no longer recognizes the stick at all, no matter how many resets I attempt. I am starting daggers at the device at this point, trying to figure out how/why it has decided to betray me. I run through the list of apps that I have recently installed that may have caused this to happen. Only one comes to mind, as it is the only one that I have installed in the past week. Fine. I delete the app, reset, and still the PDA refuses to notice the Memory stick. I set it aside for the night, and retire.

The next day, I get up, and reluctantly insert a stick in the hopes that it will be recognized. It is. I look at the device with one eye, not entirely trusting that which I am seeing. I open up the audio player, and start listening to tracks as I begin to write this very screed. Sure enough, it gets up to track 9 (so far) without a hitch.

The moral of this story: seemingly unrelated and innocent updates may well hamper the use of your gear.

4:39:54 PM    

First Liposuction, Then Lions. Washington Post Jun 8 2002 6:58AM ET... [Meerkat: An Open Wire Service]

People are going to South Africa for first rate plastic surgeons, and stay for a safari while they recover. The exchange rate between the Dollar and the Rand is something like 1/9.8 at the moment, and given that there are companies dedicated to booking such vacations at the moment, I expect this to be the new thing for those that can afford it.

If MEMS take off, and can be developed into a reliable and attractive lens replacement for those with crippling vision problems, I fully expect to see either South Africa, or any other nation that is willing to set up the infrastructure turn into a hotbed for high tech body modification, should a market for this arise.

10:49:59 AM    

Michael Friedman. "The scientific name for an animal that doesn't either run from or fight its enemies is lunch." [Quotes of the Day] (please see gaming story below)

Edmund Burke. "Better be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than ruined by too confident security."

8:34:41 AM    

Make Love, Not War Games. Give peace a chance, says a game developer who is bringing anti-war activism to first-person shooter games like Counter-Strike. By Brad King. [Wired News]

On the one hand, yes, we should always try to peacefully resolve our differences. On the other, it's a game, it's escapism. I play games to do things that I would never do in real life, to shoot lasers while fighting crime, to destroy remnants of the empire, to stop terrorists,  to enter an unending battle, to fight Nazis, more terrorists, nasty fantasy creatures, etc. I don't need moralizing in my games, thank you. What I do need is an escape from reality. It is no different from what an avid reader does when immersing themselves in a book, or what sports fan does for the duration of a game. They tune out the world, and watch the story unfold. Only in this case, I get to effect the outcome.

8:33:21 AM