News

i’m at my “office” (aka Starbucks) and people watching a little. The summer is always interesting here in the warmer climes. much more skin is shown and many times that’s a good thing. in fact, there are some pretty good examples of that here right now.

sadly, sometimes it isn’t. you know what I mean. now, i’m not small or thin by any means. In fact, i’m pretty big. however, at least I have the sense not to wear a shirt where my entire stomach is exposed so it can hang way over my belt. although, mine doesn’t do that. anyway, you’ve seen that person before, i know you have. people just should look in the mirror a little more before leaving the house. i’m not against them, i feel bad for them.

anyway, i am at least taking steps to remedy my situation. first, and this will definitely come as a surprise to many, i have stopped drinking alcohol completely. yes, that’s right. no more booze. i’l give you a minute. . . .ok, you may wonder why? its not because i think i have a problem or that i think alcohol is bad or that i’ve found God or anything. nothing so dramatic. it is just time to stop.

all the rest of you can keep drinking as much as you want. i am not going to judge anyone. what i’m doing is only for me. just to see if i can. it’s really more of an exercise to help me get healthier. i don’t like the feeling i get after a night of going out for a few. the next day (sometimes the next two days) are just not as fun when you have a hangover and feel like crap.

this started after my last trip to vegas for add’s birthday party. that was early june. so it has been a couple months already. i won’t say i have not had a drink at all in the last few months. i have had one or two. stopping completely is harder than it sounds. however, my intake is way, way, way down and is going to stay that way. its just time for a change, that’s all.

also, i have started back to the gym and am eating less and exercising more. just like you are supposed to. i want to try it this way and see if things improve. i don’t want to resort to an all liquid diet like my friends tm and jh are trying. a doctor supervised ucla experiment. i guess its come to that for them. not for me. not yet anyway.

in other news of the world:

apple comes out with a 2-button mouse! hell does not, in fact, freeze over.

the space shuttle will get some in-space repairs.

and, NASA shows a few designs for the next-gen shuttle (nyt reg required). change for the better is good. let’s hope they are on the right track.

a noted Windows expert calls for a boycott of the next version of Internet Explorer (IE7).

and this guy has a lot of time on his hands but he might have a point. i have heard of this. at least it hasn’t happened to me yet. i hope netflix isn’t like that but you never know.

From across the www direct to you. Some interesting sites that might be worth a visit. Especially if you are looking to kill a few minutes (or a few hours). Enjoy.

The Playstation 3 info page of things known so far.

Microsoft Windows Vista (i really love that name. no, really. at least no animal names. kinda tired of that too) info page with screenshots.

Some speculation on the innards of the Video iPod, to be released real soon (i am holding my breath. i hope it doesn’t take too long).

Some good tips that every webmaster (like me!) needs to know to enhance his or her use of Google Adsense.

This looks promising. Record everything on TV and play what you want. When you want. No more season passes or setting the timer on the VCR (although, if you really have a VCR, its time to move into the 21st century and get a Tivo at least. I mean really people, tape is so nineties).

And, it seems some debris fell off during the latest shuttle launch. It looked so perfect too. So, NASA has grounded the fleet again. Well, the comet thing was cool anyway. Can we get something else besides foam? It doesn’t work guys. You’re really, really, really smart. Think of something else. Please.

And last but certainly not least, some very cool tips on how to speed up Mac OSX. Many of these I already use. I guess I could have posted them too. Oh well, easier just to link to this guy. Less work for me.

today is monday. not my favorite day of the week by any means. however, a necessary evil so i will just have to let it go. besides, if there were no monday than i would have to be less than enthusiastic about tuesday so what can you do. anyway, to the point, as it were. couple things happening in the world at large and in my world as well.

first, those sneaky mpaa dudes are still trying to ram the broadcast flag down our throats with a last ditch effort to attach it to a senate appropriations bill due for a vote this week. if you live in one of the states that has a representative on the house appropriations committee, give your congress person a call, email or fax and tell them you oppose the broadcast flag. or, live with the government in your computer and other electronic devices forever.

as a public service, here is the list of congress people who make up the house appropriations committee, courtesy of the folks over at boing boing. or, go to the eff site for helpful links to get to the right person.

in other news, kodak is going to stop making black and white photo paper. i know, i know, two or three people are really bummed out right now. i haven’t been in a darkroom in about three years but when i was, it smelled bad and i had a headache for about a day afterward. as i can do all the same stuff, and much more, on my mac at home, where it actually smells pretty good, there really isn’t any reason to go back to a darkroom. still, its a little sad. end of an era and all that.

and last week, Mastercard announced that up to 40,000,000 credit card numbers may have been compromised by one of their processing companies. today, the New York Times (registration, along with first born child, required) is reporting that the company in question, CardSystems Solutions, should not have been handling that data to begin with. John M. Perry, CEO of the processor in question, claims the data was merely being kept for “research purposes”.

priceless.

The number of compromised Master Card accounts has been revised downward to about 68,000, with another 132,000 possibly compromised accounts belonging to Visa, American Express, and other companies.

well, i feel better now. how about you?

and, no word on my sick g5 yet from the guys at melrose mac in burbank on olive ave. (and on melrose as well, one would assume). i hope they know what they are doing. i’ll let you know what the diagnosis is and what the cure is when i know. that way, others can benefit from my suffering.