...more recent posts
Thinking of buying a laptop from Dell? You might want to read one person's experience. Thinking of installing linux on any sort of laptop? You definitely want to check out this page.
I'm not quite getting it. Handspring, maker of the popular Visor PDA (a Palm compatible with the proprietary Springboard expansion slot) has announced a cellphone springboard plug in module. This will turn your Visor PDA into a cell phone. (Other modules give you more memory, turn your Visor into an MP3 player, and I think there is a camera module.) The cellphone module costs $300. Already that's more than almost any cellphone, and that's not even counting the original cost of the Visor. Plus, if your phone is your PDA, you can't really look up a number, or open your calendar, while you're talking to someone on the phone. I guess you could say it saves space, but the module is only marginally smaller than today's smallest cellphones (like the startac or the new flip open samsung/sprint/qualcomm phone.) I can't think of one reason why you would want this over a regular cell phone; worse, I can think of several why you wouldn't. Who's going to buy this thing? And as long as I'm complaining, I'll throw in a little dig at the proprietary expansion slots that Handspring and Sony (memorystick) keep trying to peddle. Don't trust them. Don't buy it. Why don't they just use compact flash, or PCMCIA? (Answer: because they want you to be locked into their products instead of trying to provide the best product to their consumers.)
Genetic art project creates green glow in the dark bunny.
What an amazing day. I wish I could put this weather on hold for Saturday.
The NYTimes has put together a panel discussion (no sign-in BS) on file sharing technologies and their impact on more traditional media business. Hilary Rosen (RIAA), David Boies (Napster lawer), Gene Kan (Gnutella programmer), Kevin Smith (film director), Esther Dyson (cyber bigwig), Senator Orin Hatch, and some 17 year old average internet consumer kid. Surprisingly, to me at least, is how much Sen. Orin Hatch seems to understand. He's talking the correct talk (Is that PCPC talk?):
"The Internet generally (and peer-to-peer file sharing technology in particular) is dramatically shaking up the traditional relationships between artist and audience, as well as the entities that mediate between them. It makes possible direct dissemination of creative works with essentially no reproduction or distribution costs. That is very exciting, but frightening to the mediators who have added value by helping with the previously costly processes of copying and distributing. Artists can still benefit from many promotional, business and financing services in the wired world, so we are not necessarily facing the extinction of record companies and movie studios, obviously. But I hope that we are moving toward a system where artists and the audience drive the process more, have more choice. That is the hope. If the business mediators can find supportive, value-adding roles (as they should be able to), and if the artists and the audience can have a more direct relationship through this media, we need not have an adversarial relationship. Quite the contrary. I believe this technology can foster a closer relationship between performing artist and audience than we have ever had since Edison separated artistic performance from live performers. I hope to help that happen."I hope he can help it happen too. But really, politicians mostly need to not stop it from happening. Seems like the technology will take care of the rest.
Here's the archives to a good mailing list for would-be Mac OS X system administrators.
Just purchased tickets for the big Thanksgiving adventure. More exciting details to follow...
Progress has stalled slightly on the new office. Hopefully tomorrow it will be back on track. Supposedly the plumber is coming to move all the pipes (running along the ceiling) into one group to be boxed in next to the one large support beam. This will give us another few inches of headspace which seems like a very good thing seeing as it is a basement space. I'm thinking everything will progress a little quicker once this unforseen step is taken care of.
being assembled
The John Perry Barlow article in the new Wired is worth the read.