Monday, February 21, 2005
Google toolbar move raises online ire
This is one of the stories I should have posted over the weekend. The good news about the Google Toolbar is that the "autolink" (think smart tags) feature is not turned on by default. However, I can see the concern. Google really is the big Internet player now and needs to handle its power carefully.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
OCPodcast
This is the On Computers podcast for 02-20-2005. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.
Recall on Xbox power cords,
A brief explanation about the recall of Xbox power cords is
available here
The url in the title is where you can put in your serial number and
manufacturing date, any before 10/2003, and shipping info, and one will be sent to you.
I don't know which will be faster... the SP2 CD or the power cord :)
Well done to MS for recalling all of them!
MissM
available here
The url in the title is where you can put in your serial number and
manufacturing date, any before 10/2003, and shipping info, and one will be sent to you.
I don't know which will be faster... the SP2 CD or the power cord :)
Well done to MS for recalling all of them!
MissM
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Americans Gear Up for 8th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count
I should have posted this a little sooner because the Great Backyard Bird Count started today. I'm going to talk about it on Sunday. This is a "Citizen Science" project. I counted birds, following the rules for the study, for an hour today (you can do it for as little as 15 minutes) and then submitted my count online. That's the technology aspect of this. While you can submit paper reports via snail mail, this project truly has a large Web component.
What I didn't know ahead of time was that today as the counts were submitted online you you could see on the Web site, in near real time, what birds were being spotted around the country. It was really neat.
I had wanted to do this for several months but had no idea it would be this much fun. You don't need to be an expert. Beginners are welcome but it does help if you can tell one species from another. There are lots of online resources and if you have trouble with an ID, you can even send in drawings or photos for help. I reported 11 different species all in my backyard today.
So if you like this type of thing, read the rules and get counting. It's not too late since as little as 15 minutes for one of the 4 days is a reportable count. The count started today and lasts through Monday.
What I didn't know ahead of time was that today as the counts were submitted online you you could see on the Web site, in near real time, what birds were being spotted around the country. It was really neat.
I had wanted to do this for several months but had no idea it would be this much fun. You don't need to be an expert. Beginners are welcome but it does help if you can tell one species from another. There are lots of online resources and if you have trouble with an ID, you can even send in drawings or photos for help. I reported 11 different species all in my backyard today.
So if you like this type of thing, read the rules and get counting. It's not too late since as little as 15 minutes for one of the 4 days is a reportable count. The count started today and lasts through Monday.
Federal Aviation Administration, Alaskan Region Weather Cams - (Friday, 02/18/05)
This is a cool web site, If your thinking of coming up here for Geek Meet 2006. Our house is between the camera and the mountains. I'm in the north camera. Federal Aviation Administration, Alaskan Region Weather Cams - (Friday, 02/18/05)
Joe
Joe
Friday, February 18, 2005
RSA: Microsoft on 'rootkits': Be afraid, be very afraid
I am, I am, already!
From the "Just When We Thought We Could Secure Our Computers, Dept." If you like scary stories read this.
From the "Just When We Thought We Could Secure Our Computers, Dept." If you like scary stories read this.
Gmail Continues to Broaden Beta
I got an e-mail late last evening. It was from Gmail. It has been so long that I had forgotten, but I had signed up when to be notified when I could sign up for an account. Having had the account through my Blogger activity for so long it is a non-event for me. In fact, I venture to guess that everyone who really, really wanted a Gmail account by now has found someone to send them an invitation. However, I see this as another step closer to final release.
Emeril jumps on the IPod bandwagon
Courtesy of Geek News Central [Yes, I consider the source justification for posting here ;)]
In other IPod news, Emeril (if you don't know who Emeril is... well, check out his website [this is totally non geeky!]) has 3 different programs for the IPod. Info about his restaurants, weekly menus and recipes.
Ciao!
:P
P.S. OK, only one of the three actually exists, but the other 2 are coming soon.
In other IPod news, Emeril (if you don't know who Emeril is... well, check out his website [this is totally non geeky!]) has 3 different programs for the IPod. Info about his restaurants, weekly menus and recipes.
Ciao!
:P
P.S. OK, only one of the three actually exists, but the other 2 are coming soon.
Thursday, February 17, 2005
HP shows Q1 improvement
HP had a decent first quarter with a record $21.5 billion in revenue, up 10% Y-Y. The PC division revenues were up 11%, with profits improving a margin point to 2.1%. Imaging division wa sup a modest 3%, and servers & storage was up 9%. The services division was up an impressive 20%.
Revenues were up 6% in Americas, 12% in EMEA (helped by a weak dollar), and up 15% in Asia. Personal systems had its best quarter since before the merger, helped by strong corporate demand. HP has stiffened its pricing backbone and is seeing improved margins as a result. Imaging is seeing strong demand for color laser printers and multi-function printer/fax/copier/scanner products such as the 7140xi. The server & storage division saw the strongest x86 business in three years, with revenues up 19% on a 23% increase in units. This was offset by modest 3% growth in HP 9000 revenues and declining revenues for Tandem Nonstop servers. Itanium-based Integrity server revenues doubled in the year. A $33M workforce reduction charge will hit the server & storage division. The Services division is also reducing headcount, even though consulting revenues were up 20% and managed services were up 44% in the year.
Q2 is forecast between a decline to $21.2 billion and a slight uptick to $21.6 billion on a sequantial basis.
Peter S. Kastner
Revenues were up 6% in Americas, 12% in EMEA (helped by a weak dollar), and up 15% in Asia. Personal systems had its best quarter since before the merger, helped by strong corporate demand. HP has stiffened its pricing backbone and is seeing improved margins as a result. Imaging is seeing strong demand for color laser printers and multi-function printer/fax/copier/scanner products such as the 7140xi. The server & storage division saw the strongest x86 business in three years, with revenues up 19% on a 23% increase in units. This was offset by modest 3% growth in HP 9000 revenues and declining revenues for Tandem Nonstop servers. Itanium-based Integrity server revenues doubled in the year. A $33M workforce reduction charge will hit the server & storage division. The Services division is also reducing headcount, even though consulting revenues were up 20% and managed services were up 44% in the year.
Q2 is forecast between a decline to $21.2 billion and a slight uptick to $21.6 billion on a sequantial basis.
Peter S. Kastner
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
An Embarassment of Riches
Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is rapidly becoming aware of a problem with conflicts between the various licenses used. Some conflict in their terms and make development on existing programs problematic. CNet's News.com has a fairly succinct depiction of the problems and possible actions which might be taken to resolve things at the link above.
If you've ever spent time (as I have) trying to explain to corporate types and their attorneys the benefits and obligations inherent in these licenses, you know of the problem. (It's odd for a bloke like me to be lecturing lawyers on what is essentially their trade, too.) A wise company, especially one which will have to do development for themselves on the open source products they use, will pay close attention to these things and they do.
The proliferation of licenses can be controlled and conflicts removed. It's going to be a long term struggle, though. The importance of this can't be overstated.
Jack
If you've ever spent time (as I have) trying to explain to corporate types and their attorneys the benefits and obligations inherent in these licenses, you know of the problem. (It's odd for a bloke like me to be lecturing lawyers on what is essentially their trade, too.) A wise company, especially one which will have to do development for themselves on the open source products they use, will pay close attention to these things and they do.
The proliferation of licenses can be controlled and conflicts removed. It's going to be a long term struggle, though. The importance of this can't be overstated.
Jack
Laptop Without a Hard Drive
Because I used to walk everywhere, I always wanted a tough laptop. I figured the toughest one would have no hard drive; instead relying on a few gigabytes of flash memory to hold the OS and data. I've wanted one like that for years now and in flusher times even investigated having one run up for myself.
Now, Hitachi is doing just that. They claim it's quite the robust package. See the link above for details.
Jack
Now, Hitachi is doing just that. They claim it's quite the robust package. See the link above for details.
Jack
Microsoft Consumer Anti-spyware Tool Will Be Free
This is one of those stories that is all over the place, but that I would be remiss not to post here. Just in case you haven't already heard, Microsoft's consumer level anti-spyware will be free. Where did this announcement come from? This announcment came from Bill Gates himself. So count this as a sure thing.
Exploding cell phone shocks 911 dispatcher | CNET News.com
Exploding cell phone shocks 911 dispatcher | CNET News.com
Y'all be careful!
Testing this blogger button on my google toolbar, so if it messes up, apologies in advance. :)
Y'all be careful!
Testing this blogger button on my google toolbar, so if it messes up, apologies in advance. :)
Updates for Today
Fyi Guys and Gals,
There are updates for Adaware and Spybot today, be sure and grab them.
There are updates for Adaware and Spybot today, be sure and grab them.
Sea Launch Current Launch page
Update: If you went to the Sea Lauch site at on February 16, you probably found what I did -- the dates have been changed. It is now February 17, 7:53 pm PST.
Not many of you probably follow this, but I've been watching this for several months now. Later today, if all goes well, XM Satellite Radio will launch its third satellite XM-3. Why should you care? Unless you are a satellite radio fan you probably don't. However, the launch will be Webcast. Besides there are all kinds of other nifty info and pictures at the Sea Launch site. So if you are interested in satellite technology this just may be a fun site to visit and a fun thing to watch later today.
Not many of you probably follow this, but I've been watching this for several months now. Later today, if all goes well, XM Satellite Radio will launch its third satellite XM-3. Why should you care? Unless you are a satellite radio fan you probably don't. However, the launch will be Webcast. Besides there are all kinds of other nifty info and pictures at the Sea Launch site. So if you are interested in satellite technology this just may be a fun site to visit and a fun thing to watch later today.
Macrovision Targets DVD Piracy With RipGuard
And from the "how long do you think it will be before it's cracked?" department, here's this tidbit. What upsets me is that the honest people who just want to back-up their DVD's are denied the right to do so. It is as if they are turned into criminals along with the folks who are making copies to sell or to mass share.
No copy protection scheme that I know of has ever fully or permanently protected the content. I doubt that this one will either. All it will do is frustrate legitimate, traditional fair use acitivites and make a lot of consumers angry in the process. Of course content owners have a right to protect their content any way they want, too; but at best this be an inconvenience to their honest customers, and will do nothing to stop their dishonest customers.
No copy protection scheme that I know of has ever fully or permanently protected the content. I doubt that this one will either. All it will do is frustrate legitimate, traditional fair use acitivites and make a lot of consumers angry in the process. Of course content owners have a right to protect their content any way they want, too; but at best this be an inconvenience to their honest customers, and will do nothing to stop their dishonest customers.
Microsoft to Release New Internet Browser
And today's top story is that, according to Bill Gates, a new version of Internet Explorer, v. 7.0 for Windows XP will be released for testing this summer. This update has been needed for a long, long time. Of course there are a lot more questions than answers at this time.
My personal wonderings about this are along the lines of would this have been a natural spin off of Longhorn development, or is this being fueled by the success of Firefox.
My personal wonderings about this are along the lines of would this have been a natural spin off of Longhorn development, or is this being fueled by the success of Firefox.
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