Monthly Archives: January 2009

Jan 30 2009

The Macintosh Software Dating Game

From Mactropolis.com:

The Macintosh Software Dating Game: Circa 1983: I don’t think this video requires much description. It takes place in 1983 at an Apple Event. Featured in this “Software Dating Game” are Fred Gibbons, President of Software Publishing Corporation; Mitch Kapor, President of Lotus Development; and of course Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft.

I might have even posted this one before… But I couldn’t resist. Can’t think of a better way to celebrate the end of the week than with a good ‘ol 1983-cheese vintage Jobs/Gibbons/Kapor/Gates video clip.

This comes to you from the [wayback machine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayback_Machine), from a time before [Microsoft](http://www.microsoft.com) was the new evil empire, and Jobs and Gates were cordial, if not friendly. The video is kinda hokey, and definitely dated, but fun all the same. Enjoy.

Jan 29 2009

Teachers Need an Open Source Education

From Slashdot:

Teachers Need an Open Source Education: palegray.net writes “Teachers are sorely in need of an education in what open source software is, what it isn’t, and how it can benefit their students. A recent news story at the Reg discussed the case of a Texas teacher who accused those distributing Linux to students of committing criminal acts. A HeliOS blog entry exposes a “higher education” culture of apathy, lies, and fear of open source software. Things have got to improve, and that improvement needs to start with misguided teachers getting their facts straight.”

When my town was building its new high school several years ago, and I was the then IT director at a high tech company, I volunteered to set up the entire network for the school with open source software, saving the school district, and the town, perhaps millions of dollars over the long run. I was turned down. Why? Because their computer maintenance person only new Microsoft software and wouldn’t be able to handle the *nix infrastructure. Huh? How about hiring a qualified person to run the network, and making the decision based on fiscal and educational responsibility?

Jan 28 2009

US House Kills Digital TV Transition Delay

From Slashdot:

US House Kills Proposed Delay For Digital TV Transition: An anonymous reader writes “The Digital TV transition delay bill has failed to pass the United States House of Representatives. By a vote 258 to 168 in favor of changing the date, the bill has failed as two-thirds of the votes are required for it to pass. The delay bill was once perceived as inevitable, [but the House] has now apparently made February 17th the date of transition once again. Now the question remains, will they attempt to pass it again by the deadline?”

Yesss!! Nicely done! We need to just take the pain and move on. There’s no reason to delay.

Jan 28 2009

“Do Not Call” Violators Fined $1.2M

From Slashdot:

"Do Not Call" Violators Fined $1.2M: coondoggie writes "A federal court today spanked two telemarketers with some $1.2 million in civil penalties for violating the Federal Trade Commission’s Do Not Call Rule. According to the FTC, the companies called consumers whose phone numbers were on the Do Not Call Registry without having obtained their express written agreement or having an ‘established business relationship’ with them. One group’s telemarketers also allegedly abandoned many calls, by failing to connect the calls to a sales representative within two seconds after consumers answered, as required by law, the FTC stated. The cases were filed by the Department of Justice on behalf of the FTC."

Yeah baby! These guys have been a huge problem for a very long time. Please stop calling! I signed up for the do not call list as soon as it was available, and the number of calls has dropped. But the fact that I still get ANY, when I’ve made it clear by signing up for the list that I’m not interested at all is criminal, and thankfully, the courts agree with me 🙂

Jan 27 2009

Senate OKs delay of digital TV transition

From CNN.com:

Senate OKs delay of digital TV transition: Overcoming partisan divisions, the Senate on Monday night unanimously voted to delay the digital television transition until June 12

This is a mistake, and is the same reason that we’re still not on the metric system. Everyone is ready, the die is cast, it’s a done deal. We’re only 3 weeks away from completing the transition. Why do politicians do things like this?

Jan 26 2009

Their Favorite Moments

From SCI FI Wire:

Battlestar Stars Remember Their Favorite Moments: Some moments stick with you forever. Big moments, like when we learned Boomer was a Cylon or when the Cylons invaded New Caprica and descended upon what was left of the unprepared human race. And small moments, such as when Roslin called Adama because she didn’t want to get out of bed and they playfully chatted. So many moments that together make up all that SCI FI’s Battlestar Galactica has come to mean to those of us who have followed this astonishing journey.

For those of you out there that are fans, you might find this to be interesting. Most of the favorite moments aren’t what you expect, but they are all interesting.

Jan 26 2009

Join The Fight

From Join The Fight at SciFi:

Battlestar Galactica: Join the Fight: The truce between Humans and Cylons has been broken and now all fighters need to prepare for the ensuing battle. As warriors, you must continue to build up the fleet by outfitting your ships with bigger, better weapons and engines, and also by optimizing your strategic sleuth for a tactical take-down of the other side.

A **Battlestar Galactica** socia gaming experience??? Sounds at least… *interesting*.

Jan 26 2009

Pope outrages Jews over Holocaust denier

From CNN.com:

Pope outrages Jews over Holocaust denier: Jewish officials in Israel and abroad are outraged that Pope Benedict XVI has decided to lift the excommunication of a British bishop who denies that Jews were killed in Nazi gas chambers.

It’s things like this and the [[A Matter of Law|sex scandal]] and the church’s response to it that are driving people away from Catholicism. Why would the Pope do something as wrong as this? He seems to be doing his best to undo all the good that his predecessor did, and take the church back a few centuries while he’s at it.

Jan 23 2009

Calif. Jobless Rate Jumps to 9.3%

From WSJ.com: Economy:

Calif. Jobless Rate Jumps to 9.3%: California’s unemployment rate jumped to 9.3% in December as employers in the nation’s most populous state cut 78,200 jobs during the month.

Holy **expletive deleted**… almost double digits. I’ve never experienced anything like this before. Is it time to panic yet?

Please, please Mr. President… figure something out to help us out of this mess.

Jan 22 2009

Obama Keeps His Blackberry

From Slashdot:

Obama Keeps His Blackberry (And Gets a Sectera): InternetVoting writes “After all the controversy surrounding Obama’s Blackberry, word has come that he will get to keep it. Few details are available and neither the National Security Agency nor the White House are talking. The current rumor is that the Blackberry will be used exclusively for personal use and a Sectera Edge will be used for official communications.”

Of course he will. If the most powerful man on the planet can’t get his tech crew to figure out how to secure his phone, then we have some truly serious technological problems!

Now, if we could just get him an iPhone… he’d be truly happy!