happy new year.
woopee.
Archive for December, 2004
so i updated the content management software i use. now i only gat spammed 400+ times a day.
We’re going to do a few podcasts in the new year. This could be very cool.
The Mozilla Foundation released a beta of Sunbird, the open source, open standard calendaring application today. Cnet reports they’re also going to be integrating Sunbird into Thunderbird–a potential Outlook killer. The project is called Lightning. Also effected is OSAF’s Chandler PIM/mail/calender app.
Sunbird currently runs on windows, Linux and OS X. check it out. It’s stable, and imports or subscribes to iCal calendars. I successfully imported mine and one from Apple’s calendar library.
And here’s a free application to move birthdays from the OS X address book to iCal.
Another story that cheers me up. I understand this. An Apple contract employee’s project was canceled and contract expired, but his badge still let him in the building so he kept working on the project: he just wanted to see it finished and shipped.
“Q: Do you work here?
A: No.
Q: You mean you’re a contractor?
A: Actually, no.
Q: But then who’s paying you?
A: No one.
Q: How do you live?
A: I live simply.
Q: (Incredulously) What are you doing here?!”
“In October, when we thought we were almost finished, engineers who had been helping us had me demonstrate our software to their managers. A dozen people packed into my office. I didn’t expect their support, but I felt obliged to make a good-faith effort to go through their official channels. I gave a twenty-minute demonstration, eliciting “oohs” and “ahhs.” Afterward, they asked, “Who do you report to? What group are you in? Why haven’t we seen this earlier?” I explained that I had been sneaking into the building and that the project didn’t exist. They laughed, until they realized I was serious. Then they told me, “Don’t repeat this story.”"
(Pacific Tech, the company founded by the guy in the story makes a free version of the software available for OS X and OS 9, as well as pay to play versions. Kind of reminds me of the failed HP Math Explorer)
This guy in Alaska is building his own mecha. Check out his webpage, link in the article.
“In the back of Carlos Owens’ southern Alaska yard, an 18-foot-tall steel robot is taking shape in the dim light of the winter afternoons.
The 26-year-old Owens is an Anchorage-area steelworker by day. In his own time, he’s hoping to become the creator of a true “mecha”–not a robot, exactly, but a gigantic exoskeleton that can transform its wearer’s motions into eight-foot strides and the devastating sweep of a steel fist.”
(thanks to Ben, Neil, John, Jerry, and David for suggesting or posting links)
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Internet’s version of the ACLU has entered the P2P fray, by sponsoring and supporting the development of TOR:
“Tor: An anonymous Internet communication system
“Tor is a toolset for a wide range of organizations and people that want to improve their safety and security on the Internet. Using Tor can help you anonymize web browsing and publishing, instant messaging, IRC, SSH, and more. Tor also provides a platform on which software developers can build new applications with built-in anonymity, safety, and privacy features.”
(Tor is being built out of the Navy’s onion router)
BitTorrent is neither dead nor illegal. It’s just misunderstood.
let’s say you want to be a podcaster, and you have limited bandwidth. or you just want to experiment, like Mark Frauenfelder:
“I’m starting to get interested in podcasting, so I interviewed Matt Webb, the co-editor of the new book, Mind Hacks, just published by O’Reilly. It’s 25 minutes long, and I even created a cheesy Garageband theme song for what I hope is the first of many interviews.”
So Mark put up the BitTorrent. (actually this is the second one he put up.) And you get to listen to an interview you might otherwise have missed. Or, if your so moved, you could check out lots of other legal content. But remember to leave BitZtorrent running after you finish the download to help other people get the Torrent. I leave it running for at least 3 times the time it took me to download the file, and in some cases i’ve left it up for days.
(FFEJWORLD will be experimenting in podcasting after new years, and we will almost certainly be using BitTorrent to keep from clogging the line. So get your copy of BitTorrent now.)
from boing boing of course:
“The M&Ms website includes an online service for ordering your very own personalised M&Ms. The printing dos and don’ts are a fun read, though — don’t even think about mentioning landmarks, or other terms that might raise copyright issues for the candy maker. Certain dirty words are prohibited”
(they ain’t all banned 
)
The President’s national security advisor is wasting her time on following an Indian cell phone sex scandal. An Indian school kid used his cell phone to record his girlfriend blowing him, and Condy is wasting her time following the case, because an american is involved. (Salon article, you have to watch the ad to read it.) Another article.
