Friday Night Fights - Chris Ullrich dot net

Friday Night Fights

Not really. No fighting for me, thank you very much. I am currently at work right now in lovely Santa Monica, CA and am watching a progress bar go across the screen. Very exciting, I can tell you. Only 27 minute left. What Joy! What Bliss!

Seriously, I have been giving quite a bit of thought about my moods and ranting of late. It seems like the times have put me off. It feels like all the stupidity and moral decay in the world has had its way with me. Well, I am going to try to not let it get me down or get me too angry.

After all, things are going to be just fine. Especially if we end up with a new President and a new credibility in the eyes of the world. That would be a good thing. Ok, enough of that. Take a look at this. NASA will let you use their cool planetary imaging satellites to check out your house from space.

It’s really cool. Although, I would not try to do it over dial-up or with a computer with a crappy video card. The images are pretty big and pretty complex so only more recent hardware and broadband need apply.

In other news, Microsoft has announced it won’t update Internet Explorer unless you’re using Windows XP. The company said in a statement, “We do not have plans to deliver Windows XP SP2 enhancements for Windows 2000 or other older versions of Windows. The most secure version of Windows today is Windows XP with SP2. We recommend that customers upgrade to XP and SP2 as quickly as possible.”

Well, good for them. I think. With all the problems that plague Windows, I understand them wanting to put all their effort into Windows XP. It’s also another incentive for people to upgrade to XP, which is good for Microsoft. Who stands to benefit? Microsoft, of course.

And, those closed-minded dolts at Sony have finally pulled their collective heads out. In addition to supporting its proprietary ATRAC audio compression, new Sony music players will finally support MP3 files.

If they want to compete with the iPod, this is the right move. I’m still going to use an iPod, however. And you should too. They rock. But kudos to Sony for finally seeing the light.

Finally, a recent survey of web users says nearly half couldn’t go two days without the net without suffering withdrawal symptoms.  The “Internet Deprivation Study” from Yahoo and media group OMD said that respondents felt that they couldn’t function without the net. Participants in the study “experienced withdrawal and feelings of loss, frustration and disconnectedness when cut off from the online world.” They felt helpless, too, apparently having lost the ability to use the phonebook and newspapers to fetch information. They had to pay people $950 just to participate in the study.

I will be testing that research when I go to Mexico next month for my friend Kris’ wedding. 6 days, no internet. How will I ever make it? We’ll see if I do. . . I’m sure the resort has a T1 line somewhere.

Good, only 5 more minutes. Damn progress bar!

Later.

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