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Opinari - Latin term for Opinion. Opinari.net is just what it seems: a cornucopia of rants, raves and poignant soliloquy.

Thursday, March 31, 2005

Missing the 80s? Then try decking your bed with the Twister Duvet Cover.

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.: posted by Dave 10:02 PM


For any of you out there who are into Microsoft-centric development, you might be interested in the new MSDN pricing structure:

MSDN with one of the Team Edition products will go for $5,469, and as I already mentioned, the whole Team Suite with MSDN is $10,939. In addition to those new products, there's also the Team Foundation Server, which provides the source code control server for the Team Edition products, and which is a separate $2,799 license.

I almost choked when I first read about the new MSDN prices. There is no way I would be able to invest that kind of money in a development tool. That was until I found out that the Team Editions were incorporating CASE tools into the package (a la Rational Rose/ClearCase/etc.)

More palatable pricing includes:

At the bottom end Microsoft has added a series of Express Editions at $49 each, which introduce new programmers to Microsoft tools. These editions lack basic amenities such as source code control, and they're not suitable for professional use. Next up is the $299 Standard Edition, followed by the $799 Professional Edition. These are the versions the Microsoft anticipates most Visual Studio developers using. The difference between Standard and Professional is that Standard has a "streamlined" user experience and lacks high-end features like remote debugging, SQL Server 2005 integration, and SQL Server Reporting Services support (Professional bundles SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition).

If you're an independent developer who wants Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition, plus the other MSDN content that you've grown to know and love (the operating systems, productivity tools, and servers for development use) then you can sign up for the Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition with MSDN Premium subscription at $2,499. This is going to be the appropriate level for a lot of developers moving forward.

Now, those prices are more in line with what I am accustomed to seeing. Also, the Express versions at $49 are nice, especially for the recreational coder.

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.: posted by Dave 9:29 PM


Funniest thing I have heard all day. If you've ever worked in the fast food industry (or as a police dispatcher for that matter), you will appreciate this audio clip.

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.: posted by Dave 9:27 PM


Ted Koppel is leaving Nightline. Well, I still won't be watching it anytime soon. The MSM has a long way to go to regain my viewership.

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.: posted by Dave 9:12 PM


My local newspaper, the Hartford Courant, now has RSS feeds. Several weeks ago, I emailed them specifically about this very thing. Don't say Opinari.net doesn't have some influence in these parts. Heh.

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.: posted by Dave 9:01 PM


And on the same day as Terri Schiavo passes away, the Pope is given the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church.

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.: posted by Dave 3:59 PM


Probably the saddest excuse for a blog has to be this one. The commenters make the DU look like a civilized town hall meeting. It's very sad to know that these types of people exist. At least now that Terri Schiavo has passed away, this "blog" can go away, too.

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.: posted by Dave 3:55 PM


Terri Schiavo has died. There will be eloquent eulogies, angry banter, and sincere expressions of emotion ranging from relief to disgust emanating from the blogosphere in the coming hours. Not much can be said that hasn't been said already, but I'm going to try anyway. I have hope for a few things to come out of this:

I hope that she was in as little pain as possible.

I hope her parents and siblings, who have lost someone they love dearly, find comfort somewhere, somehow.

I hope this whole mess does not become more of a political football than it already has. Perhaps state legislatures can begin to address this issue before a similar situation rears its ugly head. And, despite how we may dislike the imminent outcome, we need to encourage our federal legislators to respect the laws of the states, without intervening where they have no authority. This holds true for a lot more than just moral dilemmas.

I hope I am wrong about Michael Schiavo. I really do. However, actions reflect true character: "The feud between the parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, and their son-in-law continued even after her death: The Schindlers' spiritual advisers said the couple had been at their daughter's besides minutes before the end came, but were not there at the moment of her death because Michael Schiavo did not want them in the room." I don't care how much you hate someone. That sort of behavior is just downright awful. Hatchets should be buried, even if temporarily, during such times. Even if Terri wanted to die, as Michael claims, I doubt she wanted her parents to be isolated from her. It is things like this that make many people doubt the motives of Michael Schiavo.

I hope the American public learns to realize that opinions exist that differ from their own, and, even if they disagree, they need to learn to respect those differences. I have heard far too many people insult and berate others because they thought differently about the Schiavo matter. Insulting others does not make your case. It makes you look like a fool.

And finally, I hope the public learns the value of a living will (which is not an infallible document, but is an important one nonetheless). No doubt, the Schindlers would have challenged a living will in this case, but the public outcry would have been far less, and Terri Schiavo no doubt would have been allowed to die years ago.

Terri Schiavo, rest in peace. You've earned it.

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.: posted by Dave 10:36 AM


Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Does a Tennessee resident have to pay taxes in New York? The State Court of Appeals thinks so:

A man who lives out of state while working by computer must pay New York tax on his full income, the state's highest court ruled Tuesday in a case that could have wide implications for the growing practice of telecommuting.

The Court of Appeals said computer programmer Thomas Huckaby, who lives in Nashville, Tenn., owed New York income tax for his full salary, not just the time he spent working at his employer's New York offices.

Huckaby, whose home state doesn't have an income tax, paid New York state tax on about 25 percent of his income over two years for the time he spent working there for the National Organization of Industrial Trade Unions.

The court upheld a state tax department ruling that all his income should be taxed. That amounts to $4,387 plus interest. However, the ruling could lead to much greater income for the state as it is applied to the growing field of telecommuting.

So how does the court come to this decision? Apparently, because the employee chose to live elsewhere, he is liable for making that choice. Never mind that the choice was one that saved his company thousands of dollars by allowing him to live in an area of the country with a smaller cost of living. Ironically, the law cited is called the "convenience of the employer."

How does the state tax a resident who is not represented in that state? I don't see where the plaintiff received any governmental benefit from the state of New York. Would this person qualify for New York's subsidized health care, or TennCare? Can Mr. Huckaby vote for New York government? No, he cannot. Wasn't there a precedent for this in... oh, the 18th century?

How would this have affected the plaintiff if he lived in a state where there was an income tax? Does anyone think double taxation is fair in this case? How about if he lived in New York and worked in Tennessee? Would he then have owed NO taxes? Hopefully, this absurd case goes to the Supreme Court, as I can only think it will be overturned.

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.: posted by Dave 9:55 PM


Do you sell stuff on eBay? Well, the wonderful arm of our government known as the Internal Revenue Service wants to make sure that you are paying taxes on those pesky sales. Wonderful. Pretty soon, they will be taxing us for having sex.

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.: posted by Dave 9:45 PM


Good question:

Morphine has only palliative value. It can only relieve pain and add comfort. But why on earth would a brain-dead person whose expedition towards the hereafter is described by Felos as "very peaceful. She looked calm..." require relief of pain? They claimed earlier that her alleged persistent vegetative state and alleged absence of cerebral activity precluded any experience of pain.

I've been wondering that for awhile now.

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.: posted by Dave 8:28 PM


Dave Winer:

“However, if there's any rationality to the justice system in the US, the EFF will prevail in the Grokster case. Why? Because, the act of freely distributing other people's work, without compensation, is something the user is doing, not the software developer.”

I couldn’t agree more; yet I wonder how many who have this view share the same view regarding firearms. I certainly would think that it is a consistent position. After all, the murder in downtown Hartford was not caused by the gun, nor was the illegal distribution of the latest CD du jour caused by the latest P2P app. Somehow though, I think that there are a lot of people who have incongruent opinions about these issues, which just goes to show – people take sides in issues as much because of the outcome they desire as they do the logic in the argument.

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.: posted by Dave 6:23 PM


Thursday, March 24, 2005

Laugh out loud statement of the day:

It's official. The Kyrgyzstani government has collapsed and its president has fled to Kazakhstan.

NGOs and UN aid agencies are standing by to airlift emergency supplies of vowels to the Kyrgyz people.

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.: posted by Dave 3:23 PM


Peer-to-peer computing via the human body? Apparently so.

Japanese company Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) claims to have developed the first viable Human Area Network (HAN) device, enabling fast data transfer between devices using the human body as a conduit.

NTT reckons this latest advance on the wireless Personal Area Network concept - dubbed RedTacton - can transmit data over the surface of the skin at up to 2Mbps. Where it differs, though, from previous offerings, is that a RedTacton-enabled device does not have to be in direct contact with the skin - only within about 20cm.

Funniest observation about the technology:

RedTacton can also "transmit" through clothing or shoes, allowing the useful possibility of downloading MP3s through a floor-based sensor while dancing the Lambada. What's more, you can swap files by straight human contact, so two filesharers equipped with RadTacton devices can indulge in torrid illegal P2P activity and have sex at the same time.

Making (illegal yet) beautiful music together? Indeed.

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.: posted by Dave 3:01 PM


Damn it. My least favorite sport is the NBA, yet they appear to be the first one to do podcasting. I've been thinking about doing a weekly podcast about fantasy baseball, but who has the time? Besides, surely someone out there will be doing one before the season is over. Won't they?

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.: posted by Dave 2:53 PM


Psychopathic teenage school shooters blog too.

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.: posted by Dave 2:30 PM


While the courts quarrel with Michael Schiavo's right to starve his wife to death, a Vermont farmer plea bargains for a suspended sentence, work crew assignments, and other restrictions for... starving his cattle.

We do indeed live in a bizarre world.

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.: posted by Dave 2:24 PM


Coming soon to Air America: instant credibility.

Daytime talk show host and former mayor of Cincinnati Jerry Springer has signed a deal with the liberal Air America Radio network, taking his current radio show, "Springer on the Radio," to a national audience. Springer is set to go live on Friday, April 1.

This is apparently not an April Fool's joke.

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.: posted by Dave 2:19 PM


Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Statement of the day by Robert Alt:

Anyone who doubts the respective capacity of the branches to resolve disputed moral questions need only recall that the representational function of government which gave us the Declaration of Independence (" . . . all men are created equal . . .), and the judicial branch which has given us such glowing statements as Dred Scott and Plessy.

Not that I endorse Congressional intervention in state matters, because I don't. However, one of the worst abuses of government in the history of this country has been the expansion of judicial activism. One only has to consider Alt's statement to see how effective they have been in assuming that role.

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.: posted by Dave 9:24 PM


Are you kidding me?



It's springtime, right? Well, not according to Mother Nature, who has decided to extend the winter season awhile longer:

The National Weather Service Tuesday issued a winter storm watch for Wednesday evening and into Thursday morning.

The winter storm watch includes all of Rhode Island and northeast Connecticut, including the Hartford area.

NBC 30 Meteorologist Bob Maxon said rain will develop Wednesday afternoon and will change over to wet snow by evening.

"The heaviest amounts will be at the highest points in the state," Maxon said. "However, a good part of the state, including the Hartford area, can expect 4 to 8 inches."

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.: posted by Dave 11:22 AM


Tuesday, March 22, 2005

An update on PyMusique, as posted several days ago... it seems that the software was broken by Apple, then it was reimplemented. So the race is on between those of us who hate DRM and those of us who want to attach it to digital downloads. I say the former will win, every time.

Speaking of Apple, they are offering five free songs when you sign up for iTunes using Paypal as your method of payment. Well, I swore I would never use iTunes, but I decided to give it a whirl, and... well, I have yet to receive my five free songs. Why? Because, despite my address and phone number matching exactly the one on file with my bank, and despite receiving FOUR verification notices from Paypal, iTunes seems to think I am not who I say I am.

So, when I legitimately try to buy music, their e-commerce logic becomes a hindrance. Yet, if I want to download copied songs, I can do so seamlessly, and even anonymously. Is there any wonder why file sharing is so prevalent?

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.: posted by Dave 9:42 PM


Another reason for me to get a Playstation Portable - PSP Video 9

PSP Video 9 is a free PSP video conversion and management application. It can convert regular PC video files (avi, mpeg, etc) into PSP video files, as well as manage/copy these PSP video files between your PC and PSP.

When combined with another application, Videora + PSP Video 9 form the first PSPcasting solution, allowing you to download, convert and copy video to your PSP, automatically using BitTorrent and RSS technology.

NOTE: eCost is advertising the new PSP for $239, by far the cheapest price I have seen.

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.: posted by Dave 9:36 PM


My wife has some really good observations, yet she is reluctant to join me in blogging. Thus, I have decided to paraphrase something she said today.

"Native Americans are crying racism because the school shootings in Minnesota aren't getting the coverage that Columbine did. Michelle Malkin says it's because Columbine is essentially a suburb of Denver, whereas this place is 250 miles from Minneapolis. I have a different theory.

I think it's no longer new. Columbine was unprecedented. Now, it's been done. It's so 1999. and it's old news. We've become numbed a little bit by Columbine, and it will take something bigger to surpass it in news coverage. Since this was smaller, it is not as sensational."

Such is the news cycle in the 21st century. I will add though that I hope we never see a bigger school massacre than Columbine. I shudder to think what it might be like.

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.: posted by Dave 9:24 PM


The most outrageous USB memory device I have seen... ever:



Either that, or shrimp are suddenly fornicating with unsuspecting laptops.

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.: posted by Dave 9:12 PM


I've been staying out of the Schiavo fray intentionally, because it presents a lot of ethical questions that are difficult, and not readily addressed in a single blog post. However, I have the following observations about the matter:
  1. This should make all couples (my wife and I included) realize the value of a living will.
  2. The woman shouldn't have to starve to death. If she's going to die, make it easier on her.
  3. Congress should be ashamed of themselves for jumping on this case. There are many times where political opportunism can be excused. This isn't one of them.
  4. Separation of powers, states' rights, the sanctity of life... these are issues that you should advocate based on the merits of the issues themselves, NOT because you are trying to attain a politically advantageous outcome.
  5. Whomever is responsible for authoring the so-called GOP memo pointing out the political leverage to be gained from this situation should be fired.
My personal belief is that since there is no living will depicting the wishes of Terri Schiavo, and since the parents are willing to take custodianship of her, and since Michael Schiavo has two children and a wife-in-waiting, the best thing to do for all concerned would be for Mr. Schiavo to grant his wife a divorce, and allow the parents to care for their daughter, especially if (IF) there is any (ANY) chance that she might recover. But, my personal beliefs have no bearing.

As a matter of law, I take issue with the precedent being set by Congress with their intervention. And, if Mr. Schiavo isn't willing to proceed as I would suggest, and the courts have found that this is his right as the husband, then I, and others like me, must accept the regretable outcome, because the rammifications of not doing so are more dire than one might think. There is more to this case potentially than just one family, and one life, and that's what makes it so complex. In this situation, only King Solomon could make an optimally wise decision, and we don't have such a person in the modern world.

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.: posted by Dave 8:46 PM


Today, I found out that Lileks, of "the Bleat" fame, has started a podcast (James, you're calling it an audioblog... get with the program) called the Diner. Oh, and James... get an RSS feed with enclosures. That would be really cool, and would make it a lot easier to get your fortnightly update. Thanks, man.

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.: posted by Dave 8:42 PM


Saturday, March 19, 2005

The main reason I avoid iTunes is the proprietary nature of the product, and the fact that I dislike DRM in general. However, now that Jon Johansen (of DeCSS fame) has developed PyMusique, that might no longer be a problem. See, PyMusique allows you to download legally purchased iTunes songs, sans DRM. This might be the thing that leads me to use all of those free iTunes caps I have been hoarding.

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.: posted by Dave 12:06 PM


You'd think I would have known about March Madness being streamed via the Internet before this morning, but I didn't. I guess I've been spending too much time doing actual, real-life value added activities, like working, and spending time with the family.

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.: posted by Dave 11:23 AM


Friday, March 18, 2005

My favorite cartoon show is coming to Broadway:

Seth MacFarlane is producing a theatrical stage production of Family Guy titled, originally enough, Family Guy Live!

The "two-hour, multimedia extravaganza" will feature MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green, Mila Kunis, and Mike Henry. The actors will read from a classic episode, take part in a Q&A and preview the first new Family Guy episode in three years.

Family Guy Live! is scheduled to premiere with two performances at Los Angeles' Wiltern Theater on April 15, followed by four shows at New York City's Town Hall on April 29 and 30. Tickets go on sale tomorrow.

Now, I love Seth MacFarlane's humor, but this just seems out of place on the stage. Sometimes, I think that the writers of the world are just running out of ideas. (This might explain why there are so many fiction books out that try to emulate CSI or The DaVinci Code).

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.: posted by Dave 10:18 AM


For those of you who are both handheld enthusiasts and RSS addicts, Bloglines now has a mobile site.

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.: posted by Dave 9:47 AM


Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Bad day for the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, as the Senate votes to open ANWR for oil exploration, and on the same day, Bush nominates Wolfowitz to be the head of the World Bank.

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.: posted by Dave 8:57 PM


Today's brain-dead politician moment is brought to you by the Hartford Courant:

At a time of near-record prices for crude oil and winter heating fuels, the legislature is considering a bill that would impose a surcharge on heating oil and natural gas in order to fund energy efficiency programs.

The bill, which was the subject of a hearing before the energy and technology committee Tuesday, would add 2.5 cents to the retail cost of a gallon of heating oil in Connecticut and 2.1 cents per 100 ccf to the retail cost of natural gas.

For a residential customer consuming 1,000 gallons of heating oil a year, the surcharge would add $25. For a natural gas customer consuming 150 ccf a month, that would add $3.15 a month.

Supporters said the legislation would promote energy efficiency, ultimately reducing consumption of fossil fuels and costs. However, opponents that include the heating oil industry and the state's business community said the bill imposes additional costs at a time when people are already paying near-record prices for fuel.

Promote energy efficiency? How? By forcing us to dial down the thermostat and freeze in the winter? Americans are already more fuel efficient than they were in yesteryear, so how is a regressive tax going to further that cause?

Ostensibly, the tax will help promote efficiency by setting up a fund to pay for replacement of old equipment with new equipment (read: income redistribution). Yet, even with that goal in mind, there is no guarantee that the fund would even be used for that purpose, because the state has a habit of dipping into those types of funds and "borrowing" from them to pay for other pet projects.

An idea like this could not come at a worse time, with energy bills already in the stratosphere. In an average winter month, I can spend over $500 in electric and natural gas bills alone. That's an insane amount for a house the size of mine, yet this great state wants to make it even more difficult to afford to heat Connecticut homes.

I can only imagine the effect on people who make less than I do, yet I do know how this state operates. The lower class will, by directive of the legislature, have their heating bills subsidized in one form or another, creating a subsistent class of citizens. The middle class will be then left with the burden of covering the added fees, as is usually the case here. If the leadership here isn't careful, there will soon be no middle class, and we will all need government help... or perhaps that is their goal from the outset.

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.: posted by Dave 8:43 PM


Bobby Knight going to coach the Vols?

First, I have to say that I am in the minority on this one it seems (at least from what I have read on blogs and Knoxnews). This would be a monumentally positive move for the university, and would show that they are serious about winning in men's basketball. Going after a second tier coach with little or no credentials won't cut it, unless you are willing to live with mediocrity.

I lost interest in UT basketball after Tony White and Fred Jenkins were out starting backcourt (I followed them some during the Jerry Green years, but only because they were actually winning a few games). During that same timeframe, I followed such powerhouses as Loyola Marymount, UMass, Princeton, and Gonzaga. Why? Because the product they put on the court was worth watching. The Vols, sad to say, haven't been.

You may not like Coach Knight, but he has proven himself, he graduates his players, and he wins games. Furthermore, there are some people that aspire to play for a Coach Knight. Some are afraid he will scare recruits away, but I think the only frightened players will be the Tony Harris-types of the world that know nothing about discipline and team play. We want players who want to win, and a coach that shows the same attitude. Pat Summitt shows that attitude. Bob Knight shows that attitude. And for those who are afraid of a little profanity from the ol' ball coach, you obviously haven't been on the court where the players shout obscenities at one another quite readily. Coach Knight is just what this university's basketball program needs. Heck, if they hire him, I might even give some money to the general scholarship fund, just for ha-has.

MORE: And for those who want to complain about how Buzz Peterson was treated, please keep in mind that this is a business, not a hobby. Buzz was a nice guy, but he didn't get it done. Period. One commenter I read wondered aloud why the kids of two prominent Vol alums (Dale Ellis and Ernie Grunfeld) went to other schools. The answer is that those schools had successful programs, and Buzz wasn't going to help the school turn that corner. When the boosters, the contributors, and the trustees don't have confidence in you, it doesn't matter how nice you are.

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.: posted by Dave 8:29 PM


Hating Blogger:

Tonight, I have been trying for hours to access Blogger. Finally, it let's me in. This has become a persistent thing lately. I wonder if that can be attributed to Google's acquisition of Blogger. Blogger was a much better tool in the "good ol' days". It's a good thing I don't depend on blogging for a living.

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.: posted by Dave 8:27 PM


Monday, March 14, 2005

Shameless plug:

I've got some merchandise available on eBay, including some authentic and replica sports memorabilia, and a few selected baseball cards, among other things. Feel free to bid on them. :-)

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.: posted by Dave 9:29 AM


Saturday, March 12, 2005

Rhode Island government goes RSS. I certainly hope more state and local governments do the same.

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.: posted by Dave 1:50 PM


Jonah Goldberg on the death penalty as it relates to the shooter in the Fulton County courthouse:

(T)his guy is guilty. There are many witnesses, including this poor woman who was shot in the fact, the pistol-whipped AJC reporter, the dozen or so people in the courtroom who were held at bay etc. Nichols apparently went considerably out of his way -- postponing his escape -- to shoot down a judge. Opponents of the death penalty who make their arguments on procedural grounds -- as opposed to strictly moral or ideological grounds -- need to explain why this man should not be executed. Fine, fine, there may be others on death row somewhere who shouldn't be. Or, there may not be. But none of that is relevant to whether this guy should get what he deserves.

I would like to hear the arguments by the liberal apologists here in Connecticut as to why they think the death penalty is a bad thing for this guy.

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.: posted by Dave 1:39 PM


Friday, March 11, 2005

A post on SlashDot today caught my eye:

"NewsFactor is running a story on the exodus of women from the I.T. field. According to the article, women made up 41% of the I.T workforce in 1996. That number dropped to 35% by 2002 and that "the downward spiral is gaining momentum." While this is certainly a concern, what are the overall effects of such a mass departure?"

What piqued my interest is the fact that these numbers do not necessarily mean that there is a mass exodus of women from IT. Use the table below as an example.

19962002
Male59007800
Female41004200
% Male59%65%
% Female41%35%


It was assumed for simplicity that there were exactly 10,000 people in the industry in 1996. As you can see statistically, males grew much more substantially in the IT industry than females, but it is completely fallacious to say that, in a case such as this, there was a mass exodus of women from the industry, when there was actually a 2% increase.

I present this illustration as an exercise in understanding statistics when they are presented to you by self-serving individuals. It may well be that there IS a "mass exodus" of females from the IT workforce, but one cannot come to that conclusion based simply on the data given by the poster on SlashDot.

People can argue that we are losing jobs because of outsourcing, while conveniently ignoring insourced jobs. People can also argue that the government wants to implement spending cuts in specific programs, when the reality is that the government wants to reel in new spending by proposing less growth in the same program. Such tactics cut both ways, and come from both sides of the political aisle. In the information age, where facts and numbers come at us with astounding frequency, we would be best served if we would try to understand the facts before making any assumptions.

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.: posted by Dave 9:52 AM


Apparently, some governments will stop at nothing to collect taxes:

Tax defaulters in southern India are being forced to face the music after city authorities hired drummers to play non-stop outside their homes until they pay up.

After many residents ignored repeated demands to settle overdue property taxes. authorities in a city in Andhra Pradesh state have sent 20 groups of drummers to play outside offenders' houses for the past week.

"They put up a spectacle outside the houses of defaulters, draw them out and explain their dues to them and the need to clear it at the earliest," said T.S.R. Anjaneyulu, municipal commissioner of Rajahmundry city.

"They don't stop until people agree to clear the dues."

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.: posted by Dave 9:39 AM


I refuse to watch the OC on Fox just to see the Star Wars Episode III trailer. I'm sure there are more people like me out there. So, if you want to download an HD version of it, try going here.

UPDATE: The above link is no longer functioning, but here's a bitTorrent that's working just fine.

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.: posted by Dave 9:23 AM


Thursday, March 10, 2005

More double entendre from those bilingual nuts at Hershey:

Argentines and Dominicans may do a double take when they see Hershey's new Elegancita chocolate bar and an ad for Kisses being promoted by Mexican bombshell Thalia.

The advertisement, running in People en espanol, features a shot of the songstress about to bite into the Kiss with a slogan boasting "sabor a chocolate blanco con cajeta" (white chocolate taste with goat's-milk caramel). The chocolate bar proclaims it is "Cajeta Elegancita" on the wrapper.

Well, that's the Mexican version of cajeta -- a type of dulce de leche, a very sweet, caramelized condensed milk eaten straight from a tin, drizzled atop desserts or made into candies throughout Latin America.

But in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic, cajeta is a vulgar term for a certain delicate part of the female anatomy.

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.: posted by Dave 9:12 PM


From "The Ice Block" comes this funny tidbit:

On April 23rd, at the Bell Centre, a hockey game “featuring several NHL Hall-of-Famers and Canadiens Alumni, will be unveiled” according to a Canadiens press release.

What’s it called?

The VIAGRA Legends of Hockey Classic

Canada may have no viable missile defense system, but they sure do have a sense of humor.

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.: posted by Dave 8:42 PM


Chris at My Quiet Life reviews several of his favorite geek utilities (although I must say that the Google toolbar is not one I would recommend).

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.: posted by Dave 8:40 PM


Charge your cellphone battery while you ride your bike.

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.: posted by Dave 8:20 PM


We're "Rather" Glad To See You Go, Dan:

You would think that now former CBS anchorman Dan Rather's peers would be spending some quality time reflecting on his work for the network now that he has stepped down, but you would think wrong:

A few days ago, Cronkite, now 88 years old, went on CNN to remind the world what a longtime ratings loser Rather has been.

“It’s quite a tribute to him that he — that CBS held on to him so long under those circumstances,” Cronkite said. “It surprised quite a few people at CBS and elsewhere that, without being able to pull up the ratings beyond third in a three-man field, that they tolerated his being there for so long.”

Cronkite also made it clear that he thinks Rather’s interim successor, Bob Schieffer, will do a better job than Rather.

“Although Dan did a fine job, I would like to have seen [Schieffer] there a long time ago,” Cronkite said.

Earlier, Cronkite joined a gaggle of CBS veterans to cast aspersions on Rather’s record, telling The New Yorker that viewers sensed that Rather was “playing the role of newsman.”

“60 Minutes” star Mike Wallace told the magazine that Rather is “not as easy to watch as [ABC’s Peter] Jennings or [NBC’s Tom] Brokaw” because his on-air performance is “uptight and occasionally contrived.”

Former “60 Minutes” chief Don Hewitt said viewers just never liked Rather very much. “If you’re in a three-network race and you come in third,” Hewitt told The New Yorker, “then the public is against you.”

And “60 Minutes” commentator Andy Rooney called anchoring “a dumb job” and said of Rather and his fellow anchormen, who often like to anchor from the site of news events, “To gain some credibility, they all feel obliged to go out and stand in the wind. They should either accept their role as a news reader or become a reporter.”

Ouch.

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.: posted by Dave 8:16 PM


Man Cooks, Cat Shoots Man

A man cooking in his kitchen was shot after one of his cats knocked his 9mm handgun onto the floor, discharging the weapon, Michigan State Police said.

Joseph Stanton, 29, of Bates Township in Iron County, was shot in his lower torso around 6 p.m. Tuesday, the state police post in Iron River reported. He was transported to Iron County Community Hospital.

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.: posted by Dave 8:09 PM


As if we aren't taxed enough, the benevolent governor of Wisconsin wants to tax downloaded material. How would such a measure be enforced? Why, it would be voluntary, of course. Yeah, just like the use tax here in Connecticut. Please.

The only reason I can see for implementing this is to gain a foothold in internet taxation. After all, it would be much easier to make a voluntary tax compulsory than to create a new tax out of thin air.

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.: posted by Dave 7:44 PM


Is Technology Leaving Radio Behind?

I would like to begin this essay with a personal comment. I loathe the blather being slung across the public airwaves. The catalyst of this discontent is outlets like ClearChannel, which has driven down the quality of broadcast radio for quite some time, and the aggressiveness of the FCC in policing content has certainly not been helpful. Many audiophiles feel the same way as I do, and have begun a mass exodus away from traditional radio in favor of alternative, more flexible content.

Regarding broadcast radio, the only time I find myself listening is when I need a traffic report, and the technology is there to allow more robust, real-time reports via PDA, satellite, or mobile phone. If satellite radios use XML to display sports scores, song titles, etc, why can’t they display real-time traffic reports? Further, why can’t they incorporate GPS into the unit and display completely localized reports? They can, but the local stations fight this sort of innovation. Recall the quarrel last year with local stations and XM Radio about traffic updates, a dispute that is ongoing. The bottom line is that the marketplace demands innovation, and traditional outlets tend to lag behind. Thus, they fight the innovation, and seek intervention to allow them to keep their market share.

The RIAA had a similar view regarding Peer-to-Peer software. P2P computing was the beginning of the download revolution, and the media conglomerates fought the technology tooth and nail. Regardless of whether you are for or against the transmission of digitally copied music from one client to another, it cannot be argued that the most sensible tactic would have been for the industry to have embraced the technology from day one. As a result of their stonewalling, file sharing became a behemoth that they will surely never overcome, especially if they continue to charge a king’s ransom for songs that are crippled by proprietary DRM schemes, and if they continue to provide a limited catalog from which to choose.

Podcasting, a recent trend in content delivery, takes the issue of content delivery a step further. Now, anyone with a microphone and a PC can produce content, and distribute it to the masses. Admittedly, most content is lacking right now, but Podcasting is in its infancy, and, as often is the case, the market will dictate which podcasts will survive, and which ones will not.

Now that digital audio devices have become so ubiquitous, the public has a demand for content for those devices. As such, people want robust content, on demand, and portable. In fact, some broadcasters have joined the technological bandwagon, such as Virgin Radio, Wall Street Journal This Morning, and Air America.

Other media corporations need to realize the limitations of their product. Traditional radio can only reach an audience within a specific geographic scope. Syndicated shows appeal to a mass audience, yet are periodically under assault by the right (read: indecent content) and the left (remember the Fairness Doctrine?) In these conditions, disenchanted listeners will flock to alternative media, yet the traditional broadcast media simply do not see this.

However, it doesn’t have to be this way. Here is what I would propose to breathe new life into the radio industry.

  • Realize that many radio listeners simply do not like formulaic music. Cast this notion aside in favor of more niche-oriented stations. Like it or not, this is why podcasts and satellite radio have been so successful.
  • Podcast audio streams so that people can listen to them on the go. If cost is an issue, sell the podcast as an opportunity to deliver more advertisements to more listeners.
  • Provide licensed content for download, such as MLB or NFL broadcasts. Incorporate a reasonable DRM scheme into the content so that users cannot use the material for longer than a set number of days. Allow the user to pay a fee if they want to keep the material for their own use. Further, allow the user to choose the device to which the content is delivered.
  • Standardize DRM. Apple should work with iRiver, and Real should work with Apple, etc.
  • Provide RSS feeds of your content so that users can easily sync their digital audio devices with the feeds. This is the most efficient medium of delivery, and you would be wise to embrace it.
  • As mentioned earlier, deliver XML content to satellite radio units that is useful, and can be localized (i.e., traffic reports).
  • Keep the FCC out of the satellite industry. Allow the market to self-regulate. If people don’t like the vulgarity, they can either block the channel, or they can vote with their pocketbook and drive the vendor out of business.


    • Finally, a more broad word of advice to “old media.” Do not fight the advance of technology. Embrace it. Incorporate it into your business. Listen to the consumer. Be innovative. Think outside of the box. And don’t let your product become stagnant. The consequences of inaction will likely leave the industry on the outside looking in.

    UPDATE: Dave Winer echoes similar thoughts regarding podcasts on behalf of NPR.

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    .: posted by Dave 3:27 PM


    Wednesday, March 09, 2005

    Ohio is trying to license eBay sellers.

    The law, as written, requires Ohio residents who sell products online to get a state auction license.

    Besides costing $200 and posting a $50,000 bond, the license requires a one-year apprenticeship to a licensed auctioneer, acting as a bid-caller in 12 auctions, attending an approved auction school, passing a written and oral exam. Failure to get a license could result in the seller being fined up to $1,000 and jailed for a maximum of 90 days.

    First, Connecticut wants to legislate against an urban legend, then this. Does anyone understand the founding fathers' idea of limited government?

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    .: posted by Dave 3:14 PM


    Proof that idiocy exists even in the elitist New England states:

    Hang up and pump. That's what Sen. Andrea Stillman, D-Waterford, wants drivers to do when they pull into a gas station to fill up the tank.

    The legislature's Judiciary Committee heard testimony Monday on her bill that would impose a $250 fine on people who use their cellular phones while pumping gas.

    Stillman said there are already warnings pasted on gas pumps informing people that a cell phone in the proximity of a gas pump could cause an electrical charge that might ignite the pump. However, she said, there are no penalties.

    "People just do not pay attention to the notices that are displayed for their protection and of course we sometimes believe that these dangerous events cannot possibly happen," Stillman said. She acknowledged the fine might be difficult to enforce, but it could be a deterrent.

    Geez, it's no wonder I get angry about the punitive taxation in this place. This is what my dollars buy. Can someone find a copy of Mythbusters and send it to Ms. Stillman?

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    .: posted by Dave 3:02 PM


    I'm Really Sick of the Cold:



    This is what Interstate 91, 84, 95, and Routes 2, 3, and 5 all looked like last night, and this morning. A 25 mile commute normally takes 30-35 minutes in bad traffic. This morning, it took over 90 minutes, and then I stopped counting.

    I think I heard this morning that we have exceeded four feet of snow this season. Then I was told that there is more snow coming on Friday and Saturday.

    Sigh.

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    .: posted by Dave 2:51 PM


    Monday, March 07, 2005

    Dumbass athlete of the week award.

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    .: posted by Dave 3:51 PM


    Online subscription services from Napster and others are beginning to put pressure on Apple to allow users to "rent" music, reports Reuters. "The only reason they have iTunes is to sell iPods. If it turns out subscription services are important to sell iPods, they'll probably get into that business," said Jupiter Research analyst David Card.

    Subscription or not, if they continue to implement a model that restricts me to the iPod to play the music, I will not buy anything from Apple. Open standards, and the freedom to port the music to various platforms and devices is of the utmost importance, and Apple refuses to concede that.

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    .: posted by Dave 3:42 PM


    Even though I have long believed that outsourcing is not always a bad thing, this article illustrates something I have also thought to be true:

    Businesses looking to save money by outsourcing customer service functions are risking losing customers and paying even more for the privilege.

    Although researchers from Gartner predict the market for outsourcing will grow from $8.4bn in 2004 to $12.2bn in 2007 they say 80 per cent of projects started to save money will fail to do so.

    Besides poor management and high staff turnover (reasons mentioned in the article), I maintain that outsourcing to staff that do not understand the problem domain is a killer to any initiative. Thus, at my employer, all of the IT apps, business processes, and data analysis are done in-house. Menial tasks ranging from food vending to rudimentary machine maintenance to lawn care are vended out because such tasks are not business-critical. Thus, once companies figure out this fact (and once customers begin to reflect these values, they will), the trend toward outsourcing is bound to diminish, and some sort of equilibrium will be reached.

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    .: posted by Dave 3:26 PM


    Quake, Doom and Hexen ports for Palm OS? You betcha.

    Hat tip to Palminfocenter.

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    .: posted by Dave 3:17 PM


    Lawrence Lessig:

    At the beginning, we led the world in broadband deployment. But by 2004, we ranked an embarrassing 13th. There are many places, like Philadelphia, where service is lacking. And there are many places, like San Francisco, where competition is lacking. The result of the duopoly that currently defines "competition" is that prices and service suck. We're the world's leader in Internet technology - except that we're not.

    The solution is not to fire private enterprise; it is instead to encourage more competition...

    Let the markets, both private and public, compete to provide the service that telecom and cable has not.

    I can't disagree with Lessig's premise that encouraging public intervention into a market might actually improve service and pricing. It's unfortunate that public entities have earned themselves such a reputation of inefficiency and poor performance, but they have, and the result is the lack of choice and effective service we have today. I am far from a Keynesian, but somehow, Lessig's proposal seems sound for the evolution of broadband.

    MORE: On the subject of the effects of municipal entry into the market comes this:

    Charter Communications has been offering a popular cable television package in Ashland for $24.15 per month while offering the same package for $45.99 per month in other Rogue Valley communities that lack a city-owned telecommunications service.

    The price difference raises the issue with city officials of whether Charter, the nation's third largest cable company, has engaged in predatory pricing against the Ashland Fiber Network, the City of Ashland's cable television and high-speed Internet service.

    If the presence of public entities force private ones to lower prices, I am all for it, but not at the expense of the surrounding townspeople. Ironically, now that Charter has been called on the practice, they have raised their prices to the locals in Ashland.

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    .: posted by Dave 2:31 PM


    Podcasting has been a big thing lately, and will likely only get bigger as media outlets of all sorts join the fray. I have been subscribing to Adam Curry's Daily Source Code, Engadget, and 1src. For the time being, most content seems to be geek-oriented, which doesn't bother me one bit actually.

    However, I have been wishing for a way to podcast broadcast content. Initially, I did so using a little app called AudioFeast. AudioFeast offers some free content, and some paid. Fortunately for me, the single feed which I wanted was free, the Wall Street Journal This Morning. However, this little tool hasn't really satisfied me, as I want to customize the feeds of the broadcasts I choose. I mean, if the broadcast is streamed free online, why shouldn't I be able to capture it as an MP3 and podcast it?

    Enter Replay Radio. Replay Radio has hundreds of online broadcasts in its database, and you can add more if you like. Think of it as TiVo for radio. Now, I already have a Sirius radio, but some of the content I want isn't yet available there. So, let's say that I want to hear the Information Overload Hour from the Neal Boortz show. Maybe I also want Clark Howard, or Bruce Williams. Or, in a fit of liberal voyeurism, I decide that Air America belongs in my audio archives. I set the presets on Replay Radio, schedule the recordings, and voila... instant podcasts. I was even able to record the Lady Vols' win over LSU by recording the WNOX feed. And (shhh... don't tell anyone) I have been successful at recording Sirius' broadcasts online, although they max out at about 128 Kbps quality.

    All in all, Replay Radio is well worth the $29, especially if you like podcasts, and want something more than the mostly geekish fare.

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    .: posted by Dave 1:51 PM




    This past week, we decided to try a grocery delivery service called Peapod. If you haven't heard of Peapod, it's because likely you live somewhere other than the Northeast, DC or Chicago. Basically, Peapod provides a handy web interface, a complete inventory of everything you have purchased at the local Stop and Shop grocery stores, and they allow you to click through each item you want for that particular order. You schedule a delivery for a time convenient to you, and you let the deliverers do the rest.

    By coincidence, we chose a day for delivery during which we received a sizable amount of snow, so I was skeptical about the service. My wife reported back to me that afternoon with a mostly positive review.
    • The prices (already exorbitant, in my opinion) were comparable to the brick-and-mortar stores. In fact, some prices were even lower.
    • The selection on the web was more than sufficient, and, in some cases, even exceeded the Stop and Shop. For example, we were able to find the right kind of ladyfingers for my wife's homemade tiramisu. The same ladyfingers were not carried in the main store.
    • The produce was actually better in some cases than what we normally buy in the store, with the exception of the strawberries, which just didn't make the grade.
    • The driver left us some vouchers for our next order, enticing us to use them again.

    The bad points were few.

    • Coupons are accepted, but in a strange twist, they apply to your NEXT order. This would not be a point of contention if the company had prominently disclosed this beforehand. Thus, our bill was a bit higher than we had anticipated.
    • The driver apparently was not perceptive enough to spot the many piles of dog poop in the front yard, as he neglected to shut the front gate. This is an annoying habit of nearly all delivery persons in the Northeast (yes, I am talking to you, UPS, FedEx, and the Post Office!)

    So all in all, it was a good experience, although the delivery fees can add to your final cost by 10% or more. However, Peapod is a premium service of sorts, and such fees should be expected. The only drawback is that, in order to recoup our previous coupons, we are actually forced to order again. So, the Opinari blog gives the service a recommendation for convenience and selection, although we think we will more often than not be making the trek to the local grocer to save the additional cost.

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    .: posted by Dave 1:27 PM


    This topic has been around for quite awhile, yet it appears to be more prominent in the last few weeks, mainly due to the Supreme Court case involving New London Development Corporation here in Connecticut. Today, though, I read the story of a retired couple and their quarrel with the Cobb County government in metro Atlanta:


    Fred and Louise Maloney have lived the quiet retirement of their dreams since they built a home on 53 acres of woodlands in northwest Cobb County more than 30 years ago.

    But their peaceful life was shaken recently when the Cobb School District told them their property might be seized under eminent domain laws and used to build two schools.

    Fred and Louise Maloney - he's 82, she's 78 - bought their Cobb County land in 1965 and moved into their home in 1971. They would receive fair market value if Cobb schools seize the land through eminent domain, but they don't want to go. They say they couldn't survive in assisted living or a condo arrangement. Cobb officials want to inspect the land to see if it's suitable for development.

    The Maloneys said they're not letting anybody on their land, and they're not going to sell.

    Now, it can be argued that such ire is premature, because the government has not yet decided where they will go with this construction. Further, they even expressed in the interview with the AJC that it was not their wish to displace a retired couple. Yet, the fact that the government even thinks they have the right to do so is nauseating.

    Besides that, if you've ever traveled Stilesboro Road, you know that there is a LOT of open land there. The land in question approaches the Paulding County line. While the west Cobb corridor is certainly bustling (we lived there in 2003), the area in question is not. To quote my wife, "Once you get outside of Barrett and Highway 41, there's nothing there." Exactly.

    Here's hoping common sense prevails, and the Maloneys are allowed to retire in peace.

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    .: posted by Dave 1:10 PM


    Friday, March 04, 2005

    Now That's Customer Service:

    A small popping noise, followed by intense burning and the release of a powerful, acrid gas had Rajiv Diwan convinced he'd been shot. Gasping for breath, he worried he also was having a heart attack.

    "Now I can laugh about it, but you know, I really thought I was definitely dying. I really thought that was it," said Diwan, who was accidentally given a dye pack along with his cash at a Lakewood, Pierce County, bank Wednesday. After the dye pack exploded in his pants, he had to convince police he hadn't just robbed the Bank of America branch where he's done business for nearly a decade.

    But the kicker...

    "Obviously, it was a mistake," Diwan said, adding the bank has since replaced the stained bills. He said he wishes someone from the bank would call, just to see how he's doing and to offer "some sort of explanation."

    "I want to go back, but if I don't hear from them ... I'm definitely taking my business elsewhere," Diwan said.

    Note to bank: when you screw up someone's day, make sure you apologize, lest you be branded inconsiderate.

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    .: posted by Dave 1:33 PM


    On Social Security:

    Today, I perused an old article on Slate about Social Security privatization. Of course, being Slate, it wasn't exactly encouraging the idea. Perusing various sources today, I read these headlines:


    See a trend here? Everyone on the left side of the debate wants to give me reasons why I should be afraid, appalled, or skeptical of this idea. Everyone on the other side wants to tell me how insolvent the present program will be if we don't fix it now. Quite frankly, I find none of the arguments overly compelling.

    What I do find compelling is that right now, the Federal Government takes 12.4% of my income and puts it into a fund that they redistribute to people older than me, or more infirm than me. I also am interested to know that demographically, this scheme is unsustainable. President Bush didn't tell me so. Neither did Alan Greenspan. All it takes is a little bit of reading and research, and some good ol' fashioned cipherin' to know that when the retirement population grows, the working population grows, but more slowly, and the birthrate decreases, there is going to be a little problem with funding.

    People can argue that T-bills are less risky, that some people do not want to be bothered with the custodianship of their retirement accounts, that far too many people are ignorant where financial management is concerned, that Social Security was never meant to be a retirement account, etc. In fact, many of those arguments are valid for the people making them. However, they are not valid for me.

    I agree with the idea of ownership. I own property; I own responsibility. I want to ensure that my family has the resources it needs to survive. I want that responsibility to be mine, not Uncle Sam's. If you are uncomfortable with that idea for yourself, that is your choice. However, I am uncomfortable giving such a huge percentage of my income to Washington bureaucrats so that they can manage it until I am long enough in the tooth to need it. In the case of privatization of Social Security, I will always choose choice over an inflexible system. I will always choose concrete freedom over perceived security.

    Fortunately, we have a president who sees things that way, too. It will be a long road to travel to convince enough legislators that he is right. In fact, I am skeptical that anything more than "reform" will pass. But it's a start. And it's a debate that's worth having, for the future of my retirement, and for my children, and for their children.

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    .: posted by Dave 1:07 PM


    "The coming crackdown on blogging..."

    Apparently, the FCC wants to extend McCain-Feingold into the internet. News.com's Declan McCullough interviews Bradley Smith of the FEC.

    So if you're using text that the campaign sends you, and you're reproducing it on your blog or forwarding it to a mailing list, you could be in trouble?

    Yes. In fact, the regulations are very specific that reproducing a campaign's material is a reproduction for purpose of triggering the law. That'll count as an expenditure that counts against campaign finance law.

    This is an incredible thicket. If someone else doesn't take action, for instance in Congress, we're running a real possibility of serious Internet regulation. It's going to be bizarre.

    2006 should be fun, as I can see the blogosphere reacting en masse as they are told that they cannot link to anything directly attributed to a politician's campaign. The suggestions that I, or any other blogger, cannot post such material because it contributes to a campaign is absurd. Hopefully, the idea is absurd enough that lawmakers will finally throw our McCain-Feingold and return to some sense of sanity.

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    .: posted by Dave 12:19 PM


    On Digital Music Downloads:

    I honestly don't think the record companies have a clue. Recently, I've heard a bit of talk about the record companies raising the prices on digital music downloads. Charging the average customer more than the now accepted $.99 per track will simply drive more people back into P2P, IRC, bitTorrent, etc.

    The pricing scheme is even more idiotic for whole albums. The idea of album pricing should be to entice the consumer to "buy the whole thing". However, most albums are simply priced as a sum of the parts... a 10 song album generally sells for $9.90. From a business standpoint, this just seems absurd. Why not price the album for $7.99 and induce people to buy the whole thing?

    Also, it's a nuisance to try to download some albums in their entirety. I can recall several albums that had only a few tracks available, as if the companies are trying to force the consumer to buy the CD version.

    Additionally, try to find some things on iTunes, or Rhapsody, or Napster. Beatles? Nope. Led Zeppelin? Uh-uh. In fact, I had to buy Zeppelin's box set on eBay and rip it into 192 Kbps WMA. Why? Because I couldn't find any of their music to purchase online.

    Couple all of this frustration with the highly annoying DRM implementations out there (try running iTunes' AAC on a Dell DDJ without using tools like Hymn to strip the DRM protection from the files) and you have a recipe for failure. Once the record companies address these flaws, I think they will have a good business model. Until they do, I, for one, will look for alternatives.

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    .: posted by Dave 11:42 AM


    Bill Gates gets knighted. The Slashdot crowd cringes.

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    .: posted by Dave 11:30 AM


    Broadcast News:

    The debate about indecency standards for cable and satellite programming has led to a resurgence in advocacy for a la carte pricing. While I like the idea of a la carte, it won't matter much as long as technologies like bitTorrent, and Azureus are around.

    While they are at it though, let me be one of the first to advocate a la carte pricing for satellite radio. I don't really care much for the salsa channel, or the Eminem channel, or the Elvis channel... give me ten or so channels for $8/month, and let me lock in the price for several years. Then go ahead and raise your prices for consumers who want the whole pie, like XM did this week. XM, incidentally, went in the opposite direction and removed a la carte pricing for its add-on channels, and decided to package the whole deal as one service.

    In other areas, XM proved how much savvy it lacks when it lost the rights to NASCAR to Sirius. This market looks like it is playing out as a competition for the ears of talk-sports listeners (Sirius) vs. the ears of music listeners (XM). I am much more the former, so here's hoping Sirius wins this race. However, I would like to see some innovations in the market for the near future:

  • Hardware that allows you to subscribe to your choice of service, if not BOTH.
  • TiVo capability, so that I can listen to broadcasts that I might have otherwise missed.
  • More robust displays that can carry media other than audio. How about transmitting a customizable RSS feed to the display? Now THAT would rock.

    • Labels:

    .: posted by Dave 11:12 AM


    Office Rant of the Day:

    If someone sends out a memo to 400 corporate users, and you feel compelled to respond, PLEASE DO NOT click the REPLY TO ALL button. Resist this temptation, lest you anger those responsible for maintaining your mail server.

    End of Rant.

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    .: posted by Dave 11:09 AM


    Several co-workers have approached me with inquiries about setting up home Wi-Fi networks. The huge concerns emanating from the group seem to be security. Of course, these are the same people who balk at installing any form of a firewall on their home network, so why this form of security is a sudden concern is beyond me, but I digress.

    So, as a public courtesy, I thought I would link to The Houston Chronicle, which has some easy steps for securing your Wi-Fi network:

    First, you should block people by MAC (media access control) address. Each computer or wireless card has a specific number, and your wireless router is equipped to only allow access to the machines listed.

    You also can encrypt the signal by using WEP encryption.

    And, finally, you also should change the user name and password on the router. And turn off the SSID transmission, which would keep most users from even knowing you have a wireless router.

    All of these things are accomplished at the router, and each company has a nifty little tool to allow easy access to this information. Follow the above steps, and you can rest easy knowing that your geeky neighbor isn't funneling your bandwidth into his basement.

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    .: posted by Dave 11:03 AM


    Oh, the Irony:

    Wired's Adam Penenberg writes about the unpopularity of the pop-up ad, only to be innundated with emails:

    A stream of reader e-mail has come in, pointing out the irony of a columnist (that's me) criticizing media sites for deploying pop-up ads, only to have his publisher (Wired News) serve up one (for Blockbuster) on this very same column. I hadn't encountered one on Wired.com in the eight months I've been writing this weekly media column, and my editor had assured me the site hadn't used them since even before then.

    I'd now like to add Wired News to the list of clueless media sites that rely on pop-up ads for additional revenue but who, judging by the reader reaction, may instead be alienating its audience. The "money side" of the house is investigating the matter.

    My apologies.

    Funny, but annoying indeed.

    Firms are slowly figuring out that these nuisance ads are getting them anywhere, and they are being blocked anyway, so they are going with alternatives, like that annoying dropdown ad on ESPN.com, or audio ads like the one that startled my entire office when I opened the Wall Street Journal Online several weeks ago. I understand ad revenue pays for the content, but haven't any of these companies heard of subtlety?

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    .: posted by Dave 10:54 AM


    After being one of the least productive bloggers in the Rocky Top Brigade (only five posts in 2005 until this one), I figure it's time to start posting again. To be honest though, I've been a lot more interested in real life than typing out some opinions - an infant child and a possible career transition will do that to you.

    Anyway, for the time being, I'm back posting... let's see how prolific I can be. Heh.

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    .: posted by Dave 10:48 AM


    Need ASP.NET, VB, VB.NET, or Access development?

    Contact me through Guru.com.




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