Snow Leopard Tops Amazon Chart

As of this afternoon, Snow Leopard ($29) and the Snow Leopard Family Pack ($49) were ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on Amazon's software sales chart.

This is going to be an exciting upgrade!

Vocal Kitty

This is one of the funniest videos that I have ever seen! :-)

New 'Get A Mac' Ads

I saw this new 'Get A Mac' ad last evening. It is absolutely hilarious. This 'top-of-the-line' PC comes on rather strong. When she asks about viruses his response is 'come back when you are ready to compromise.' Brilliant!

Check out the new ads over at Apple.

VisibleDust Is Amazing!

I have been using a VisibleDust Artic Butterfly and Zeeion blower for some time but have been reluctant to actually physically apply cleaning liquid to a DSLR sensor. That time is past.

Today I received a Sensor Loop, V-swabs, and various cleaning liquids. I have to tell you, I wish that I had bought these supplies a long time ago.

Before buying the sensor loop, I had to take a photo of the sky, load it onto the computer, then determine if there was anything on my sensor. If there was dust on the sensor, I would blow the sensor off and start the process all over. This was hit or miss and very very time consuming.

With the sensor loop, you just shine the light on the sensor and determine the next step. You would not believe all of the crap that was on the sensor. Grease, dust, and some unknown substance. Using the V-swabs and the appropriate fluid, I cleaned the sensor better than new in less than five minutes. This stuff is amazing.

Now the downside. Visible Dust products are not cheap. That said, I will never be without them again!

Snow Leopard Released

Apple released Snow Leopard today. The long anticipated successor to Leopard was actually released a month early. Imagine a company that can release a major OS upgrade early that actually works.

This is vastly different from the Vista release that was over a year late and was arguably a "bag of hurt!" :-)

Cash For Clunkers A Rip-Off

It turns out that the 'Cash for Clunkers' program may be a rip-off. My local Porsche dealer had no interest in my above trade-in :-)

My JH Audio Monitors Arrive

My JH Audio in-ear monitors arrived. I have been using these for a couple of weeks and they are absolutely amazing! Jerry Harvey of JH Audio was kind enough to make these for me.

Jerry's nickname is 'Sound Guru to the Gods." By Gods they mean Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, Guns N' Roses, Van Halen, and the list goes on.

If you are looking for the perfect earphones, look no further!

Microsoft Retail Stores - Now Hiring

It looks like Microsoft's knockoff of the Apple Store concept is well under way. There first two stores will be in Scottsdale, AZ and Mission Viejo, CA. My prediction is that this will be like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Given how well the Xbox 360 and Vista went, this should be interested.

My suggestion is that instead of a 'Genius Bar' they have a 'Virus and Malware Bar."

Xbox 360 Failure Rate is 54.2%

The Seattle Post today published a survey stating that the failure rate on Xbox 360's is an astonishing 54.2%. The red ring of death is familiar to the majority of Xbox 360 owners.

The situation is so bad that Microsoft has set aside $1 billion to deal with warranty issues with the Xbox 360. I know a guy who has had seven of these delightful little crash machine go bad on him.

What is sad is that this is the kind of thing that people expect as normal from Microsoft.

Yet Another World Record For Usain Bolt

This is amazing. After breaking his own world record in the 100m just days ago, Usain Bolt broke another world record in the 200m with a time of 19.19. Much like the 100m, he also held the previous world record of 19.30 in the 200m.

Last Polaroid For Sale

Sad news indeed. There are only 700 hand-numbered kits containing a Polaroid ONE600 Classic camera and a pack of Type 779 film available at Urban Outfitters. After they are gone, there will be no more.

Snow Leopard Almost Here

In a surprise move, Apple posted the box set of Snow Leopard on their web site briefly yesterday, then removed it. It does indicate that Snow Leopard might be available before its September release date.

Don't Text And Drive

This is one gruesome video. The Gwent Police department in Wales created this PSA to try to deter this bad behavior. People that text and drive don't seem to grasp that it is causes reaction times slower than drinking three martini's.

The moral of the story - either make drinking and driving legal or outlaw texting while driving!

Bolt Sets Another World Record

Usain Bolt set a new world record of 9.58 in the 100m today in Berlin. This tops his previous world record of 9.61. In fact, no one in Berlin was even as fast as his previous world record.

This guy is amazing!

Life Is Stranger Than Fiction

This is hilarious. National Geographic now has a photo of the day section where readers can send in photos. This couple set the timer on their camera to take their photo in the Banff National Pat in Canada. While the couple was waiting for the timer to take their photo, this squirrel became curios of the camera noise and sat up on his hind legs.

Talk about a once in a lifetime shot!

America's First CIO Not What He Seems

John C. Dvorack revealed today what may well be one of the most explosive IT personnel issues of 2009. It turns out that America's first CIO, Vivek Kundra, forged most of his credentials, both academic and professional. Read Mr. Dvorack's expose' for more details.

What If No One Cared?

What if you opened a new retail store and no one cared? That is the question that analysts are posing about the new Microsoft retail outlets. Microsoft is planning to open two such stores this Fall. One in Arizona, the other in California.

While these stores are clearly a ripoff of the Apple store concept, many question if Microsoft can really pull this off. Specifically, the number of people that will show up to the 'Answers Bar' will quickly find out that it is not a place for technical support, only 'answers' to questions which may or may not help solve their technical problems.

This is going to be interesting to watch!

Microsoft Office $29 In China

Yet another amazing story about the geniuses in Redmond. It seems that if you live in China, you can buy Microsoft Office for only $29. For the record, the full version in the USA is over $300.

So, why is Microsoft Office so cheap in China? Because China is one of the top software pirate markets in the world. This would probably annoy Microsoft users if they weren't so busy trying to figure out the earlier Windows 7 upgrade chart :-)

Windows 7 Upgrade - Are You Kidding Me?

This could well be the most ridiculous thing that I have ever seen. The above is the official upgrade path to Windows 7. It lays out what has to be clean installed vs. what can be upgraded in place. This is no joke. This is what Microsoft expects people to go through.

What does the Apple Snow Leopard upgrade path look like? Craig Grannell over at Cult of Mac put this great chart together. It is genius.











Which path do you prefer?

Winnie's Birthday Party

Winnie had a birthday party today. It turns out that Winnie has a bit of a sweet tooth :-)

Click on the photo for a larger view

Happy Birthday Winnie

Winnie turns one year old today. He is a whopping 8.6 lbs. The first photo I saw of Winnie was when he was three weeks old. He is the biggest lap cat that I have ever met.

I can't thank Lisa Hendershot of Paws and Purrs Cattery enough for selling us this lovely guy. Winnie was the first red doll faced Persian kitten she ever had.

Happy Birthday Winnie. We will be having cupcakes later :-)

New Area 51

Not to be outdone, Alaska now has its own Area 51. According to an article in Wired, this facility, 200 miles northeast of Anchorage, does mind control, weather manipulation, long-distance spying research for the DoD.

It is no surprise that the Air Force will say only that the facility is used for ionosphere research :-)

ATM Skimmer At Defcom

You have to love the audacity of criminals. Someone placed a fake skimmer ATM outside the security office at the Riviera Hotel Casino in Las Vegas during Defcom, the world's largest hacker conference. It turns out that this is one of the few locations in the casino without a surveillance camera.

How ironic!

Boo Boo's Birthday Party

Boo Boo had a birthday party today. Winnie was the one that really wanted the cake. :-)

Click on the photo for a larger view

Happy Birthday Boo Boo

Boo Boo turns one year old today. He is 40" long nose to tail and weighs a sleek 14.5 lbs. The first time that I saw Boo Boo he was only one month old. He is an awesome cat! Perhaps the friendliest cat I have ever met. When strangers come into the house he runs to greet them.

I can't thank Teresa Signore of Highlander Cattery enough for selling us this lovely guy.

Happy Birthday Boo Boo. We will be having cake later :-)