Universal Rule

Book Reviews

Monday, June 30, 2003

iChat standards -- Comment()
I was wondering earlier: "It seems that the new iChat AV software by Apple does not currently support H.323." Now I learn that Apple Rocks even more! - "Apple is clearly on the right track with the underlying protocols in iChatAV. [...] iChat AV uses standard SIP and RTP for voice & video. The (default) voice coded [sic] is QCELP - the same codec used in CDMA cell phones; and the (default) video codec is H263 - the standard video conferencing codec. SIP runs on port 5060. [...] So, there you have it, iChatAV uses: SIP, RTP, and Quicktime to deliver voice using QCELP and video via the H.263 codec. [...] Truly open standards, especially when adhered to, are a wonderful thing. Now, they just need to deal with that little security issue and this is the killer app for absolutely everyone."

-- Comment()
Harry Crushes the Hulk: "Far from being a particularly unethical generation, the file-sharing Americans of the Napster era may be no more or less moral than those that came before. They may well be willing to pay for their entertainment - if the quality is guaranteed and the price is fair." (via Slashdot)

-- Comment()
Final irony: "'Isn't it ironic?' You hear it all the time - and, most of the time, actually no, it isn't. Hypocritical, cynical, lazy, coincidental, more likely. But what is irony and why did pundits think it would die two years ago, after September 11?" (via Slashdot)

-- Comment()
kasia in a nutshell writes: "This scientology handbook from 1976 will explain how you can be the hero and fix all that is wrong in our society.. They even tell you how to deal with drug addiction.. [...] Vitamins! That's what I was missing!"

-- Comment()
The Life of Reilly mixes fact and fiction at Blogshares.

-- Comment()
Blogshares Strategy promises: "Any incoming links to Blogshares Strategy will net you 100 shares of this stock... Currently trading at over $300 per share." Update: "You have been given 100 shares in BlogShares Strategy by ashes." So, this works as advertised. Did I just yield to temptation by providing a link?

-- Comment()
Google + wireless = God? "If I can operate Google, I can find anything. And with wireless, it means I will be able to find anything, anywhere, anytime. Which is why I say that Google, combined with Wi-Fi, is a little bit like God. God is wireless, God is everywhere and God sees and knows everything. Throughout history, people connected to God without wires. Now, for many questions in the world, you ask Google, and increasingly, you can do it without wires, too." (NY Times) [via Boing Boing Blog]

-- Comment()
Blogshares people: "As many of you know, I've been playing blogshares on and off over the last few months. Usually when I couldn't type, just so you know I haven't been neglecting the blog due to geeky games. There are a few sites I have found over the course of the game as well as new friendships." [Private Ink]

-- Comment()
Serious spousal spats spike blood pressure: "Investigators at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, found that, during discussions between couples with a somewhat turbulent relationship in which one partner wanted the other to make certain changes in their marriage, the change-desiring spouse often experienced a marked increase in blood pressure, which lasted as long as the conversation." [Reuters Health eLine]

-- Comment()
Whoring your PageRank: "Okay, this has gone too far. Yesterday I received an e-mail from someone who wanted to buy some text links on my blog. I figured it was a humorous response to Google AdSense rejecting me. No. He was serious. [...] I am interested in buying text link advertising promoting my internet pharmacy off of your website." [Jeremy Zawodny's blog]

-- Comment()
Blogs worth re-reading: "Most blogs I read lightly. The list of blogs I find interesting is so long that I skim them, looking for nuggets of information and entertainment. Blogs tend to lend themselves to that sort of light reading—skipping from post to post [...] But every now and then, I stop short on a blog post, forced into a deeper level of reading and consideration than I expect. I tend to go back to the posts to read them again, trying to understand [...]"[mamamusings]