Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Monday, December 12, 2005
Visual Studio 2005: "Upgrade with extreme caution"
T has an entertaining description of attempting to migrate his Visual Studio projects to Giant Cluster**** of incompatibility version 8, *er*, I mean Microsoft Visual Studio 2005.| ...First up is the new winforms-based UI that immediately takes a 200MB chunk of your system memory. You'd think that with that much system memory being used, the entire application and all supporting libraries would be running directly out of RAM, thus making the interface very snappy...but you'd be wrong. It is easily 30-50% slower for things like button clicks, menu pulldowns, and most disturbingly, compilations. These inefficiencies all seem to root from the "highly-polished" (read: stupid animations) of just about every thing on the screen... |
Giant Cluster**** of incompatibility version 8
BlackBerry 7290 Review: Outstanding convergence device
I'd heard lots of complaints about the 72XX's abilities as a phone. It's definitely not an ideal form-factor, but it works. And with the hands-free device (included), you should have very, very few issues.As an email and web-surfing device, it excels. While it may not have the full GUI of the "brick-style" (heavier and larger Windows Mobile) devices, you get most of what you really need without having to download entire attachments. That's right, the BlackBerry server will download and read the attachment and send only the fraction you need to see on your display. It works seamlessly and saves a lot of time and effort - there's no need to download an entire file when you just want to read the first page or two.
I've played with all the latest devices (even new Windows devices that haven't come out yet) and I wouldn't trade any of them for the BlackBerry 72XX. It's lighter, smaller, and easier to use. The convenience of the thumbwheel acting as a selector and the button next to it "escaping" out of any menu is something that 98% of all other devices haven't figured out yet.
A couple of nits to pick: the earpiece on the hands-free needs a better way to attach firmly to your ear. In addition, I haven't yet figured out how to keep my place on a web page and check my email (without backing out of the web page). Maybe there's a way, but no one I know has figured it out either. Other than that... great device. Highly recommended.
Restaurant without a kitchen
Interesting idea for an entrepeneur in the food services realm:| Amsterdam's Food Facility [is] a temporary restaurant without a kitchen, hosted by Mediamatic. Diners at the venue go online to check out menus from existing take-out restaurants in the area, while a food advisor informs them about the quality of the food and estimated delivery times, and then places their order. A food DJ takes the order from the delivery person and does away with the packing materials, before the food advisor serves the food at one's table. Mixing and matching is encouraged: negotiating with other guests makes it possible to have Tom Ka Ka as a starter, spareribs as a main course and tiramisu for dessert... |
Restaurant without a kitchen
Fighting terrorism without military options
Interviewed on Fox News, Mort Kondracke notes:| I think this has been a disastrous week for the Democrats across the board. When they're not incoherent, then they're defeatist.... And then we have John Kerry who's back in the picture. Made another speech today, which basically said that George Bush is doing nothing except military operations in order to -- in order to fight Islamic terrorism... |
'Nothing except military options'? Is there another option against suicidal extremists who target women shopping, children at toy hand-outs, and civilians lined up for jobs? What would Kerry do? Sit down in the Brussels Hilton conference room, hand out courtesy gift bags commemorating the event, and negotiate terms of surrender with Al Qaeda?
If there are other options besides terminating the fanatics with extreme prejudice, I haven't heard about them. And this is example #4,323 in my continuing series entitled, "yet another reason why the Defeatocrats can't be allowed anywhere near the levers of power in this country."
Avoiding Rookits by disabling CD "Autoplay"
In the aftermath of the Sony DRM rootkit debacle, it may be wise to disable the "autoplay" feature that is -- by default -- enabled in Windows XP. Here's how to do it without touching the registry: "Totally disable AutoPlay in Windows XP with no Registry editing".
I guess I was wrong
Headline: "Suicide-bomber bicyclist kills seven, wounds dozens in Bangladesh".
That's weird. I didn't think the Bangladeshi Army was in Iraq. I guess I was mistaken. Because, according to the Democrats, the extremists are only blowing up civilians because Allied countries are "occupying" Iraq.
Sunday, December 11, 2005
BlackBerry: Summary of 11/30/05 USPTO Filing on NTP Patent
Interesting tidbit from the Right to Create blog:| ...the USPTO has issued a non-final rejection of the patent at the core of the BlackBerry case, according to new reports (additional coverage here). The summary of a USPTO document dated Nov. 30 states, "the next office action is expected to be a final rejection of all current claims." |
Combined with the US Government's intercession -- asking the court to delay any injunction at least 90 days -- it looks like RIMM may be in better shape than Gartner had anticipated. And if RIMM escapes without paying a cent to NTP, albeit by the skin of their teeth, the shareholders should throw one hell of a monster party.
Friday, December 09, 2005
The US Government intercedes in the BlackBerry dispute
I've carefully read the US Government's statement to the court regarding the NTP patent lawsuit against RIMM (the maker of BlackBerries). And I've noticed some interesting tidbits that haven't been mentioned in the news. The government stated:| ...in the formulation of any injunction, it is imperative that some mechanism be incorporated that permits continuity of the federal government’s use of BlackBerry™ devices and establishes some procedure for identifying those devices that lie outside the scope of any injunction entered in this action... |
Okay, the US Government wants to keep their BlackBerries operational whether or not an injunction occurs. Fair enough. But...
| ...in NTP’s Proposed Scheduling Order, filed November 1, 2005, it stated that it will propose an injunction with exceptions for federal, state and local governments, as well as first responders, such as the American Red Cross... |
If this interpretation is correct, then, in the event of an injunction, RIMM must be permitted time to acquire and filter all federal, state, and local user network traffic. That is, someone will have to assemble a comprehensive list of all federal BlackBerry users, government contractors, the affected personnel in all fifty states, a countless number of localities and first responders, etc.... before the injunction can be levied!
And, to complicate matters further:
| ...according to RIM, it does not maintain a listing of e-mail addresses associated with government users, so that one might attempt to segregate addresses that end in .gov or .mil... Rather, RIM relies upon a PIN (Personal Identification Number) as a means of uniquely identifying every BlackBerry™ device. Thus, there is no simple way in which federal government users can be easily identified to assure that their service is not being cut off along with commercial users. The same would apply to state and local governments, and any other authorized users... |
No wonder RIMM seems to be dawdling. Just assembling that that list might take longer than the US Patent and Trademark Office's final determination on the patents.
And here's another interesting tidbit:
| ...After recognizing that BlackBerry™ devices permitted emergency communications during times when other communications systems were inoperative, Congress issued them to every member... |
Every member of Congress has a BlackBerry? That's quite a constituency.
The Government also mentions the patent review, in which the USPTO has ruled (in a preliminary determination) that some of NTP's patents may be predated by "prior art", which would render them useless.
| ...It is further worth noting that the five patents involved here are all undergoing re-examination by the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). Given the potential complexity and expense involved in inventorying the government’s BlackBerry™ devices, it may make sense to stay any consideration of the reimposition of the injunction for at least 90 days, during which time the PTO may issue a final decision regarding the re-examination... |
The phrase "may issue" is interesting. Why would the PTO make a final determination within 90 days? Unless, of course, something is happening behind the scenes...
Lastly, the government notes that civilian users will be impacted:
| ...There may also be a substantial public interest that would be impaired by enjoining commercial use of BlackBerry™ devices... it is quite possible that there is a strong public interest in being able to convey health or public emergency warnings to non-governmental users who have BlackBerry™ devices, and can take immediate action in response to such information... |
Having read the entire statement, I think I now understand why RIMM is playing "four corners".
US government steps in to BlackBerry litigation
Update 12/10/2005: Forbes notes that in the few cases the Government interceded with a similar sort of patent dispute, the Judge determined no injunction was necessary and/or threw the case out. While the latter possibility is unlikely, patent lawyer Jesse J. Jenner, partner at Ropes & Gray called the letter 'very powerful' and likened it to eminent domain.
Which programs are auto-starting on your computer?
From SysInternals' invaluable Mark Russinovich (of Sony DRM Rootkit fame), comes this fantastic free utility that will scope out all of the automatically starting programs and libraries on your Windows system. This is the tool Microsoft should have shipped instead of MSconfig.
Streamlining CSS using PHP
Tyler Hall has published a clever treatise on improving CSS files using PHP. Imagine being able to define constants in your style sheets. Say you've come up with a great foreground color that's used repeatedly in your CSS. Wouldn't it be nice to just define that once? Here's how.
The soldier who wouldn't quit
In February of 1974 on the island of Lubang, Japanese soldier Hiroo Onoda laid down his rifle after spending 29 years fighting a war that had long been over.| On December 17, 1944, the Japanese army sent a twenty-three year old soldier named Hiroo Onoda to the Philippines to join the Sugi Brigade. He was stationed on the small island of Lubang, approximately seventy-five miles southwest of Manila in the Philippines, and his orders were to lead the Lubang Garrison in guerrilla warfare. As Onoda was departing to begin his mission, his division commander told him, "You are absolutely forbidden to die by your own hand. It may take three years, it may take five, but whatever happens, we'll come back for you. Until then, so long as you have one soldier, you are to continue to lead him. You may have to live on coconuts. If that's the case, live on coconuts! Under no circumstances are you to give up your life voluntarily." It turns out that Onoda was exceptionally good at following orders, and it would be 29 years before he finally laid down his arms and surrendered. |
Creatine and Military Training
Headed to boot camp or a similar intense training regimen? Stew Smith has some interesting advice regarding the advisability of using creatine when in the midst of serious military training.
Hmmm. Never thought of it that way
The Gunner's Guru -- Jeff Cooper -- writes in Guns & Ammo magazine:| [Marine Colonel Christopher] Bourne is explicit... in pointing out that while we are winning the [war], the world press would have us believe otherwise. Just why it is that the leftist media insist upon giving us us such bad press calls for explanation. These news people are simply committed to the viewpoint that the American Right must be wrong. Among other things, it wins elections, which is intolerable to a socialist. |
Hey, at least I didn't say that!
Thursday, December 08, 2005
RSStroom reader - the toilet paper printer
Hooked on RSS feeds to get your news? The RSStroom reader is a gadget for your bathroom that prints RSS news feeds directly onto toilet paper. Never be without news again.Act now! Operators are standing by.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
December 7
| On this day 64 years ago, a massive surprise attack by Japan on the U.S. Pacific Fleet inaugurated America’s entry into the Second World War. Unlike today, Democrats did not protest the war against Germany, even though the Nazis had nothing to do with the Pearl Harbor raid, and they did not demand a timetable for the return of U.S. troops. |
PoliPundit
The Defeaticrats' Latest Outrage
Howard Dean:| The idea that we are going to win this war is an idea that unfortunately is just plain wrong. |
This, my friends, is the ostensible leader of the Democratic Party. And he thinks we're losing a war we're winning. Dean thinks our military is lying when they say we're winning the war on terror in its central front. That he is doing so strictly to score political points -- not because he's correct or it is the right thing for America -- is an outrage. And it is precisely why the Mediacrats can't be allowed anywhere near the levers of power in this country.
Mark Steyn says -- paraphrasing Peter Worthington -- that "'there's no such thing as an unpopular won war.' [But] the Democrat-media alliance are determined to make Iraq an exception to that rule."
Steyn calls them 'the Defeaticrats.' They are indeed, and in more ways than one. They are defeatists in every sense of the word. And they certain to be defeated at the polls in '06 and '08 and in every major election until they have a pro-American agenda worthy of JFK, Truman, or FDR.
Here's John Kerry on Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer last Sunday:
| [T]here is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, uh-uh-uh, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the -- of -- of -- of -- historical customs, religious customs, whether you like it or not. Iraqis should be doing that. |
You heard that right. John Kerry is accusing the US military of terrorizing Iraqi kids (and children, for goodness sakes!). Never mind the car bombers. Or the head-choppers. Or the female suicide bombers. Or the evil criminals that shred children with explosives during toy hand-outs. It's the US military that's terrorizing the Iraqis!
After returning from Vietnam, Kerry fabricated stories of atrocities he'd never witnessed. He accused his comrades of committing those atrocities. Today, he's no more witnessed our military terrorize kids (or children, for that matter) in Iraq than I've dated Tyra Banks. But he is freely echoing the Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy Left Bank of today's Defeaticratic Party. And no one, least of all Bob Schieffer, voices even the slightest concern.
As Iraq turns into another Afghanistan -- another stepping stone on the road to victory in the war on terror -- the Democrats wail and gnash teeth. They accuse our military of terrorizing civilians. They claim defeat when victory is certain.
And that, my friends, is today's Mediacratic, Defeaticratic Party in action. Writing in yesterday's Journal, George Melloan notes:
| Mr. Bush made it clear at the outset that this war would be a long one... it is being fought in the shadows on many fronts... the strategy couldn't be clearer: defeat the fanatics and tyrants by promoting freedom and democracy. The strategy is in fact working... |
Shhhh. Just don't tell the Defeaticrats.
The Differences between Democrats and Republicans
The differences between Democrats and Republicans become painfully obvious when one examines their voting records. Jayson at PoliPundit has captured voting ratios for each party on all major legislative reform packages since January, 2005. Some of the more noteworthy items:| Deficit Reduction Act 0/200 = Democrats in favor (0%). 217/231 = Republicans in favor (94%). Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act 16/194 = Democrats in favor (8%). 212/217 = Republicans in favor (98%). Firearms Liability Reform 59/199 = Democrats in favor (30%). 223/227 = Republicans in favor (98%). CAFTA Free Trade Statute 15/202 = Democrats in favor (7%). 202/229 = Republicans in favor (88%). Renewal of the Patriot Act 43/199 = Democrats in favor (22%). 214/228 = Republicans in favor (94%). Anti-Flag Burning Const. Amendment 77/194 = Democrats in favor (40%). 209/221 = Republicans in favor (95%). Energy Reform (Nuclear, Coal, Natural Gas) 75/199 = Democrats in favor (38%). 200/231 = Republicans in favor (87%). Death Tax Repeal Act 42/202 = Democrats in favor (21%). 230/231 = Republicans in favor (99%). Class Action Lawsuit Reform 50/197 = Democrats in favor (25%). 229/230 = Republicans in favor (99%). |
So, even if we ignore the Mediacrats' reprehensible stance on the war -- their willingness to turn the war on terror into just another partisan play-toy -- their domestic sensibilities are just as flawed. They are anti-deficit-reduction, pro-tax, anti-energy reform, and anti-tort-reform. Sounds like quite a platform.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Google's top ten golden rules
The latest issue of Newsweek features a fascinating article co-authored by Google chairman Eric Schmidt. Schmidt postulates that the productivity of the "knowledge worker" (a term coined by Peter Drucker in 1959) is key to the company's success. Any potential roadblock to productivity is therefore removed. Summarized, the top ten golden rules at Google are:| # Hire by committee. Virtually every person who interviews at Google talks to at least half-a-dozen interviewers... # Cater to their every need... on top of [fringes] are first-class dining facilities, gyms, laundry rooms, massage rooms, haircuts, carwashes, dry cleaning, commuting buses... # Pack them in... The best way to make communication easy is to put team members within a few feet of each other... # Make coordination easy... each Googler e-mails a snippet once a week to his work group describing what he has done in the last week... # Eat your own dog food. Google workers use the company's tools intensively... # Encourage creativity. Google engineers can spend up to 20 percent of their time on a project of their choice... one of our not-so-secret weapons is [an ideas application allowing] everyone to comment on and rate ideas... # Strive to reach consensus... [it] sometimes takes longer, but always produces a more committed team and better decisions # Don't be evil... We foster to create an atmosphere of tolerance and respect, not a company full of yes men. # Data drive decisions... almost every decision is based on quantitative analysis... We have a raft of online "dashboards" for every business we work in that provide up-to-the-minute snapshots of where we are. # Communicate effectively. Every Friday we have an all-hands assembly with announcements... [and] remarkably broad dissemination of information within the organization and remarkably few serious leaks. Contrary to what some might think, we believe it is the first fact that causes the second: a trusted work force is a loyal work force... |
It goes without saying. Read the whole thing.
Unusual cutaway drawings of World War II equipment
Fascinating period drawings, most in the cutaway style, are featured at the "Unusual cutaway drawings of World War II equipment" website.
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