Is Big Brother Googling You?
2:26:33 PM     comment []

I ran into a very long but pretty infomative article here about Microsoft and it's future. There are a couple of things mentioned in the piece that I had noticed but just hadn't really "connected the dots".

Microsoft claimed open source software is not safe to use because it doesn't protect users from possible patent claims. This argument has less impact since Microsoft itself has been shown to have not only left SQL Server devlopers wide open to patent claims, but to have deliberately mislead them about the risks (link).

Microsoft claimed open source software is a security risk because the source code is available. Microsoft has argued in court that exposing Windows source code would compromise national security, but they have now agreed to provide that source code to the government of Russia and China (link). Both are not only considered hostile powers by the U.S. government, but are point of origin for many viruses and cyber attacks.

Pretty damned amazing, actually. I wonder if anybody at M$ has noticed that they're contradicting themselves?
2:12:30 PM     comment []

I wonder how this young lady would have reacted to the images at the left? Personally, I've never thought of a penis as a weapon. There are plenty of real weapons out there - guns, knives, spears, rolling pins ..... I wonder how she feels strolling thru the Kitchen Boutique at Cambridge Mall?

Freyr (at left) is not a god of war ... in fact, in the mythology, he doesn't even own a weapon, having given his away to win his bride. He is the god of peace and plenty - the lord of the harvest and fruitfulness.

The kind of humorless prudery proudly flaunted by this girl shows a profound lack of understanding of the very nature of life itself. And this from a student at one of our finest universities...
12:10:15 PM     comment []

I have a confession to make. I hate country music. Have since I was 15 or so, and my stepfather would yell at me to squelch the volume on my Black Sabbath. He'd then proceed to crank up Porter Wagoner or some such drivel at 4:30am when he got up to go to work. Made me furious.

Now, I've always liked folk music, and there's sometimes a fine line between the two I'll admit. But the regular pap coming out of Nashville has consistantly turned my stomach (and my radio dial). Until last week.

I happened to catch this segment on "60 Minutes" last Sunday. I was surprised and impressed by what I heard, especially in the interviews with the members of Bering Strait. So yesterday, when I was in a Barnes and Noble, I took the opportunity to preview the album. I liked it. Alot. So did Kris (who shares my distaste for country). We bought it. A country album.

Maybe my predilection towards folk helped, but these kids can play and sing. I just wish they'd showcase more of their original compositions and less of the standard 'she broke my heart so I broke her jaw' kind of thing. But hell, even that stuff by these kids was tolerable.

If you haven't heard this yet, you deserve to. Even if you can't stand country. You might be surprised.
1:51:33 AM     comment []

Several months ago, back before we moved, Kris bought a "laptop desk". The thing has wheels, a rotating platform with tray to hold the laptop (or other work) and a sort of book basket off to one side. She used it as a combination magazine rack/drawing surface back then - since we moved it's become a temporary bedside stand until we get off our dead butts and get a real night table. Until today.

Today I got the bright idea to move it into the library and try to use it for what it's really supposed to be - a laptop desk. What a concept! Well, it would be pretty cool, I suppose, if it worked.

There's no way to pull the thing close enough to my Lazy Boy to get it a comfortable working distance. I have to hunch slightly forward to type. But even if you could get the lateral distance right, the height adjustment on the thing doesn't go low enough to get it over your lap! At least not while sitting in an easy chair. I suppose you could use it in a corporate setting with a folding chair or something - maybe as a very temporary workstation for a road warrior, but at home? Forget it. Useless as tits on a boar!

So the laptop is back where it belongs - on my lap. I think I'll leave the table in the library and use it to hold the laptop when I'm not working on it - it does keep it off the floor and out of the reach of puppy teeth. And the little basket thing is kinda handy. But as a desk - no way.
1:35:25 AM     comment []