Paul Graham

Paul Graham is one of the father's of computer science and was voted by Business Week as one of the top 25 most influential people of the web for 2008.

It is Mr. Graham that noted some number of years ago that computer companies that also write their own operating systems provide better end-to-end integration, and thus, have the best user experience. He was referring to Apple. His latest quote is that "Windows is for grandmas." What he was specifically referring to is the unending backward compatibility of the Windows operating system. At some point, the legacy cord has to be cut in order to provide a better operating system.

Wall-E

I received the movie, Wall-E, as a Christmas gift. It is actually very funny. One thing that the geeks will notice right away is that every time that Wall-E boots up you hear the Apple boot tone. It is a good thing. If it were a Windows boot tone, this 98 minute movie would have lasted about 3 minutes before Wall-E blue screened.

Its Alive!

Windows XP is the operating system that will not die and for good reason - Vista. Microsoft originally stated that they would stop shipping XP on January 30, 2008, one year after Vista was introduced. Well, Vista was less than well received. So, Microsoft extended the deadline for shipping XP until January 31, 2009. With this impending deadline consumers were in an uproar. It turns out that a full 30% of Vista consumers actually downgrade their computers to XP. The deadline has been extended again, this time until May 30, 2009.

The result is that it is now possible to buy new XP machines until Windows 7 is released. Let's just hope that Windows 7 is a better OS launch than Vista was!

Who Is The Stig?

I love the BBC show Top Gear. British humor is amazing. The show comes on every Monday evening with reruns every day at 5:00pm EST.

One of the coolest features of the show is a test lap with a secret racing driver known only as 'The Stig.' There are many different theories as to who the Stig really is. Some believe that he is actually a Formula 1 driver. Others believe that there is actually more than one Stig. He has posted faster times against both Nigel Mansel and Jensen Button's.

Whoever the Stig really is, he can drive!

Internet Explorer Has Serious Security Flaws

This is not really a surprise to anyone that knows anything about internet security. Microsoft has admitted that a serious flaw in security has left all users of Internet Explorer vulnerable to attack from hackers.

This problem gets even better. When Microsoft catalogs all of the vulnerabilities in IE, it takes 18 pages to list them all.

So what is Microsoft doing about it? They may consider a patch outside of the normal update cycle. Do yourself a favor. Do not use Internet Explorer for any reason!

Catsablanca

This is a very cool image that I just got back from my black and white lab - Silver Images. The guy that runs the place is a genius and the best black and white printer in the country. He does all of the lab work for a little jewelry store in New York City called Tiffany's.

The image reminded me of an old black and white movie, thus the title - Catsablanca.

Broccoli Kitten

This is hiliarious!

Open Handset Alliance (OHA) Takes Off

The Open Handset Alliance (OHA), a collection of companies devoted to Android, has grown by new 14 members. The OHA is committed to promoting Google's mobile OS, Android. There are so many members now that it is easier to names the companies not involved.

So, who are the hold outs as of today? AT&T, Verizon, and Nokia are the only handset manufacturers and carriers not part of the OHA. I expect that to change soon.

Best Bluetooth Headset

I love my new T-Mobile Google G1 phone! That said, it has a horrible wired headset. One of T-Mobile's regional managers told me that the reason that the G1 has such a terrible wired headset is to gently pursued people to purchase a bluetooth headset.

So, I set out on a journey to find the best possible bluetooth headset. People that know me understand how much I despise bluetooth headsets. Nonetheless, if I had to purchase one, I wanted one that works well. Historically, bluetooth headsets have had less than stellar performance.

So, where did my research take me? To the ultimate in bluetooth headsets - the Jawbone. It has noise cancelling technology that is superior to any other bluetooth headset on the market. Ideally, the company would offer custom fitted earpieces but for now, this is as good as it gets.

Google G1

My Google G1 came in today. This is the best phone that I have ever used. Unlike the iPhone, the G1 syncs wirelessly with your Gmail, calendar, and other Google information. The technology is vastly superior to the iPhone in my opinion. That said, it is first generation technology. Android is certainly an exciting platform!

I love this phone!

Apple Advises Using Anti-Virus

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Apple is now advising it's users to install anti-virus protection on their Apple computers. I would say that the vast majority of Apple users don't think twice about this. I know that none of my Apple computers have AVS protection. This could be the beginning of a paradigm shift for Apple.

Update: There is a correction to this situation. Apparently, the suggestion to use anti-virus with the Apple only relates to pre-OS X versions of their operating system. Mac users really don't need anti-virus.

Nikon D3X Released!

Nikon officially released the new D3x yesterday. It is by far the most advanced DSLR on the planet as of today. That said, at $8000, it is way overpriced. I am not sure who is going to buy this but at 24.4mp, it is pretty amazing. Give it a few months and the price will come down.

Pimp Your G1

Colorware announced that they will be making the Google G1 available in a rainbow of colors. They are charging $150 to paint your G1 or will sell you a G1 in your choice of colors for $725.

Perhaps I could get a G1 quicker if I ordered one from Colorware :-)

Why I Love Google

People ask me on a daily basic why I am a Google fanatic. I love Google! I love everything about Google. Why you might ask - because it works. If Google makes it, I probably use it. I even moved my domain to Google Apps. In fact, Google could charge me a lot more for their services and I would still use them.

So, why is this a big deal? Anyone who has used Microsoft products for any length of time knows exactly what I am talking about. We are tired of products that are not ready for prime time until the first service pack is released. Products that are often broken.

I am not alone. People are moving their digital lives to Google. The FAA is even moving their operation to Google Apps. Their CIO has expressed that one of his goals is to be a Microsoft free shop within the next five years.

Some people call me a 'Google Evangelist.' Thanks for the compliment :-)

Vaclav Klaus Slated to Lead the EU

You have to love Vaclav Klaus, the president of the Czech Republic. He is a 'take no prisoners' kind of guy. Mr Klaus will be the next president of the EU.

You may remember that Mr. Klaus is one of the few people, aside from Roy Spencer, that talks about global warming is a logical fashion. He once called Al Gore an “apostle of arrogance.”

To supporters, Mr. Klaus is a brave, lone crusader, a defender of liberty, the only European leader in the mold of the formidable Margaret Thatcher.

Mr. Klaus is certainly going to be interesting to watch. Trained as a free market economist, perhaps he can straighten out the EU.

Watch Out Monkey Boy!

HP is so mad about the problems that Vista has caused them with their customers that they filed a lawsuit against Microsoft. HP's CEO, Mark Hurd, emailed Steve Ballmer to complain about HP's "call lines being overrun," with customers struggling to upgrade to Vista. "I'm sure you're aware of this."

How bad are things internally at Microsoft? Nearly everyone who left a fingerprint on Vista is now gone from the company. Likewise, HP is considering building its own operating system.

For Microsoft's sake, Windows 7 needs to be rock solid. I am not holding my breath.

Boo Boo Update

Is may be my Boo Boo masterpiece. In his photo he look just like Yogi! It is kind of spooky.

Not yet four months old, Boo Boo is now 5.5 pounds. He is going to be huge :-)

Dell Customer Service

As they say, a picture is worth 1000 words. This photo demonstrates the difference in Apple and Dell when it comes to customer service.

Dell actually posted a larger than expected profit this quarter. How did they do it? Other than shutting factories, customer service cutbacks.

Zune Success Plan

Microsoft has released the third-generation Zune. Who knew? They also lowered the price. But alas, people are still not buying the Zune. Perhaps Microsoft should adopt the same strategy that they use to entice people to use their search engine - pay people to use it.

Microsoft Now Offers Free Protection

You have to love the irony of this one. Microsoft's inability to create a secure operating system has spawned an entire industry of security software. Rather than include security software, for the security problems that they created, as part of their operating system, they have been willing to sell it at an additional cost for several years.

Today Microsoft announced that beginning with Windows 7, their OneCare product will be free. In typical Microsoft fashion, they will not make this easy for the consumer. Rather than bundling this security product as part of Windows 7, it is a separate download. Are you kidding me?

Jerry Yang Resigns - Finally

Jerry Yang stepped down as CEO of Yahoo today. It's about time! Yang turned down Microsoft's offer to buy the company for more than 44.6 billion ($33 a share) because he said that the company was worth more. The Microsoft offer represented a 62 percent premium over it's market value at the time. So, how has Yahoo done under Yang's leadership since then? Today Yahoo is valued at a whopping $12 a share. Way to go Jerry.

How did the market react to Yang's resignation? The market cap increased $2 billion today. That pretty much says it all.

Steve Ballmer Insults Android - Again

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO, is either a genius or maniacal. Yesterday at the Telstra conference in Australia he said the following about Google's Android Platform "They can hire smart guys, hire a lot of people, blah dee blah dee blah, but you know they start out way behind in a certain sense."

In my opinion, Android will be a major player in this space and much more successful in the long run than WinOS. Remember, Mr. Ballmer called the iPhone a fad. What does that tell you about his judgement?

Window 7 - Vista Only Worse

Just when you think that Microsoft might be able to build an operating system that doesn't cause devastation all around it, they unveiled Windows 7 at PDC last month. Microsoft has 1000 full time developers working on Windows 7. So how is it going? Well according to Randal Kennedy at Infoworld, it performs exactly like Vista but breaks all sorts of things that used to work fine under Vista. He went on to point out that "IT organizations rejected Windows Vista en masse, and Windows 7 is Microsoft’s response. Simply put, it’s not enough. Slapping an upgraded UI onto an already discredited OS platform fools nobody and serves only to further alienate the very enterprise customers whom Microsoft claims to be wooing."

Does this sound like lipstick on a pig?

OS X Snow Leopard vs. WIndows 7

This chart, published at the Onion, summarizes the differences between the new operating systems slated to be released by both Apple and Microsoft. I am of the opinion that they got this 100% correct. Sad, but probably true

All Cats Want to be Red!

I saw this photo today and a thought came to mind. Do all cats really want to be red?

Aston Martin DBR9

I am a huge fan of Aston Martin! The DBR9 won at Le Mans. For the 'Top Gear' fans, they did a test of the DBR9 This is one of the fasted cars ever built.

The best part is that it is cheaper than the One-77 :-)

Friends

I think that Boo Boo and Winnie are friends now.

Microsoft Pays South Korea $60 Milllion to Use Its Software

In what world does this make sense? Microsoft is paying the government of South Korean $60 million to use its software. I suppose that when you have US governmental agencies like the FAA moving to Google Apps, you have to try to plug the dike wherever you can.

Whatever happened to making products so good that people wanted to use them? The most recent technology that comes to mind is the Android platform. It seems like every mobile hardware maker is racing to adopt Android!

I suppose that Microsoft will soon have to pay companies to use it's Windows Mobile Platform. It has been rumored that Microsoft is trying to buy RIM. Now there is a winning strategy!

Dell Releases 24" XPS One

Dell has released a 24" version of the XPS One. For a Dell computer, my 20" version of the XPS One has been great. That is something that I have not been able to say about Dell for a long time.

Somehow, I see a 24" version in my future.

Winnie The Pooh Comes Home

I drove to pick up Winnie yesterday. He is beautiful. The photograph does not do him justice.

We can't thank Lisa at Paws and Purrs Cattery enough for selling Winnie to us. She contacted us the day he was born. Winnie was the first red that Lisa has ever had.

Getting him to sit still long enough for a photograph was not easy. Let's just say that it took roughly 100 frames to get this :-)

Is This The End Of Firewire?

Much to the dismay of many technology junkies, Apple's new Macbook does not have a firewire port. Firewire is much faster than USB 2.0 and allows Mac users to transfer files much faster. In addition, it allows the use of "Target Disk Mode," which in essence, allows you to boot your computer from an external drive. This is a great feature should you experience a hard drive crash.

Steve Jobs feels that many devices are now USB 2.0 compatible and we may no longer need Firewire. Let's hope that Apple sees the error of their ways on this one.

Weekly World News Returns

Good news. The only truly reliable news source is back - the Weekly World News. The Weekly World News has always been checkout line entertainment. The reason that I even noticed this was the dive crew at Jack's Dive Locker in Kona told me about the Mermaid story.

The real story is that as a practical joke, the owner of Jack's Dive Locker, Jeff Leicher, called the Weekly World News to tell them that he had spotted a mermaid in Kona Hawaii. The Weekly World News asked Jeff to take photos with film that they would provide. Jeff loaded his underwater camera with the roll of film at took overhead shoots of his wife wearing a monofin. The rest, as they say, is history.

Best Halloween Pumpkin Ever

This is great! It is the 'Red Ring of Halloween.' For anyone that has ever had an Xbox 360, this will look familiar. It is the Xbox 360's blue screen of death (BSOD).

Boo Boo Comes Home

Emily and I drove to Columbus today to pick up Boo Boo. It seems like we have been waiting for this day forever!

We can't thank Teresa Signore of Highlander Cattery enough for selling Boo Boo to us. She contacted us the day he was born. I have seen numerous catteries in my life and Teresa's is by far the best!

And so the journey begins.................

Windows 7 is Official

Microsoft announced that the next version of their operating system, code named Windows 7, will officially be named - Windows 7. Very creative.

Let's just hope that it is more stable than Vista was at launch.

Ultimate Luggage!

I found this piece of luggage today on Tumi's website. It is only $7000. If you purchase luggage like this you are not the kind of person that is worried about airline charges. Hey, you probably don't even carry your own luggage.

It reminded me of the movie "Joe vs. the Volcano." If you haven't seen the luggage store scene it is one of the best in movie history.

Ninja Cat - Diggnation Video of the Year

The top rated social network news site, Diggnation, ranked the ninja cat video the best of the year. It is hilarious.

No More Drunk Emailing!

How many of you have been victims of drunk dialing, or worse, been a drunk dialer? Google Labs has come up with a new feature just for you - Mail Googles.

What a great idea. When the feature is enabled, you must first perform a few simple math problems to verify that you are in the right state of mind. If you can complete the math problems within the specified time frame, you are free to send email.

By default, this feature is only active late night on the weekends. What a great tool!

Wanna Be James Bond 007

As a former spy, I can tell you that it is not all that it is cracked up to be. While James Bond makes the job look sexy, most days are spent driving dignitaries around acting as their bodyguards. Sure, infiltrating organizations and governments to uncover secret information is a large part of the job. However, most of the job duties are not as exciting as James Bond makes it look.

Another downside of being a spy is the job is 100% travel. As you might well imagine, attrition in the intelligence community is rather high. So, what is the best way to recruit new talent? MI6, the British Secret Service, is using Facebook to recruit the next generation of spies. Previously, MI6 recruited primarily from both British military and Universities.

The new MI6 slogan is: "Time for a career change? MI6 can use your skills. Join us as an operational officer collecting and analyzing global intelligence to protect the U.K."

Sure beats a desk job!

Winnie is Two Months Old

Little Winnie is two months old today. In this photo he just woke up. I wouldn't be happy either. :-) He is really much redder than this photo shows.

He gets to come home in 23 days.

Microsoft's New Zune Phone

Microsoft's Steve Ballmer is at it again. Today he told the UK media, at the Professional Developers Conference, that Google's Android phone would have no impact on Windows Mobile 7. He went on to say that Microsoft's new Zune on Windows Mobile phone will be a huge success.

Hey Steve, how is that Zune market share thing going anyway?

Blue Cloud of Death

You have to love this. Steve Ballmer announced today that Microsoft is going to release a new OS called "Windows Cloud." He further went on to say that this new product would allow Microsoft to unseat Google as the king of cloud computing.

Can anyone say 'Blue Cloud of Death?"

James Bond Camera on eBay

This is certainly stranger than fiction. An MI6 operative, a James Bond in real life, sold a Nikon Coolpix 4300 on eBay recently for $30. The problem is that he forgot to erase the top secret documents that were on the camera. This included details of the encryption system used by operatives.

Fortunately, the person that bought the camera found the photos and contacted the Foreign Office in the UK. No one knows how the camera found its way to eBay. That is their story and they are sticking to it.

Boo Boo is Two Months Old

In three and a half short weeks Boo Boo gets to come home to live with us. It is hard to tell from the photo but he is already relatively large. He is going to be a big boy that is for sure.

First Google Android G1 Available

The new Google Android phone represents a paradigm shift in the cell phone industry. While this was true for the iPhone as well, the Google Android project is open in nature. Any cell phone manufacturer can adopt the Android standard. As a group, manufacturers will make the platform better.

T-Mobile is the first company to release an Android phone. Arguably, it is certainly a Gen 1 device but the potential is astonishing. After being a holdout, Nokia announced yesterday that they will be producing an Android phone as well.

The thing that make the Android so powerful is not really the device itself but direct access to all of Google's functionality in a mobile device.

Watch for this to take off!

Kodi and Yogi are Now More Famous!

Kodi and Yogi are now more famous than ever. My friend, Ray Smicker, owns a custom black and white printing studio in PA called Silver Images.. He does all of the printing work for a little jewelry store in NYC called Tiffany's. Both Kodi and Yogi are featured in Ray's Portfolio.

This is a real honor!

New Microsoft Ad Made With A Mac!

This is hilarious! The new Microsoft ad that was released nationally on Thursday was made with a Mac. Someone determined this by examining the metadata of the screen captures on Flickr.

Needless to say, Microsoft has been scrambling to erase the metadata ever since.

New 'Get A Mac' Ad ?

Is this a new photo from a 'Get A Mac' Ad? It could read - " Reason #1 for buying a Mac - Never having to call the Geek Squad again."

Microsoft Drops Seinfeld

Microsoft decided that the new ads with Jerry Seinfeld were not working out. If you saw any of them you are probably still wondering what they were about. Seinfeld got the last laugh though. He was paid $10million for his efforts.

Boo Boo is Six Weeks Old

It is hard to believe how quickly Boo Boo is growing. If you compare this photo to the photo from my August 30 blog post, just two weeks ago, it looks like he has grown a lot in just a short period of time. He is going to be a big boy :-)

His breeder calls him a 'pistol.' Only 40 days until he get to come home to live with us

New iPod Nano Released

The new iPod Nano was released yesterday. Apple doubled the storage and dropped the price to under $200. The Apple store will not get them until next week. I should have mine by Friday :-)

On a related note in case you missed it, and most people did, Microsoft released a new version of the Zune. They still make the Zune? Who knew.