Firefox Fan Ruins Microsoft's Day

Any bad day for Microsoft is a good day for me. The worse the day they have, the better my day. I hate 'em -- and not just 'cause Windoze sucks more than a high-priced hooker.My dislike for Microsoft started before Windows*, I believe.

So some fan of Firefox knew Internet Explorer 7 was coming. Yes, they did. Microsoft has been trumpeting IE7 for quite some time. It's going to be out any day if not already. Yes, some intrepid fan has taken the domain name www.ie7.com and the results are beautiful. Just click on over to see. Have a nice day, Bill Gates. Have a nice day. I bet he's seething. The lawyers are sure to come, but will be powerless in this case. Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy.





* In fact, it's all about that product "QuickBasic" for the Macintosh (long since gone) in which they engaged in false advertising, admitted it, and then removed the product rather than fix it. I'm not sure I should take the credit for them withdrawing the product, and I won't but I'm sure my complain to the Washington state attorney general's office back then might have had something to do with it. But the real reason I hate them, is they promised to refund my money and they never did.

The Return and Death of Crazy Frog

I've blogged about him before in my post Crazy Frog or Coldplay? and now I shall kill him -- for he's responsible for some 20,000 of my blog hits -- visitors who come and leave without nary a glance at the rest of this blog. View this 28 second clip and then read on:




Okay, it's not really me who killed him, but someone did it properly. Yay! Crazy Frog is officially old and tired. I saw a new Crazy Frog CD in FYE just this past weekend and I was wondering why he was still kicking around. Now, he isn't 'cause he's been offed.

Vlad Taltos return in Dzur in time for Hurricane Ernesto

Ah, before that damned almost-Hurricane Ernesto arrives, I shall bang out one last blog entry.

I've finished Steven Brust's latest entry in the Vlad Taltos series, Dzur, and enjoyed it thoroughly. Okay, I'm a Brust fan and this isn't exactly an entirely unbiased review.

However, a few special points to bring up: the ending is both a surprise and definitely setting up huge possibilities for the future. I won't be a shmuck and spoil it for you, though. Instead I will say, bravo.

Secondly, there is an introduction at each chapter describing a dining experience. I'm not sure how he did it, but this is probably the first time food has become a sensual, almost erotic, experience. I want to eat at this restaurant even though it doesn't exist. It's amazingly brilliant and fantastically done. Brust has clearly had one amazing meal because I'd buy a book to read about this meal. I kid you not. It's fantastic, so be sure to read it though it probably doesn't affect the plot much one way or another.

Like all reviewers, I have to find a nit to pick. As the cover blurb says: "In which Vlad Taltos confronts the Left Hand of the Jhereg....." I point this out because this is classic Brust talking. He writes in very interesting speech pattern. It's older English, but not Olde English. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about because this cover blurb is a flawless example. Only the book isn't written this way anymore. It's like Brust forgot his old speech patterns and just wrote the book. I'm not complaining but I had to adjust my mindset considerably to get into my Taltos frame-of-mind. Or is it that I've become so used to it, I didn't notice it -- no, I don't think so.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this book a great deal. It kind of reminds me of an Oldsmobile commercial. "This is not your father's Vlad Taltos...."

Hurry up and read it!

Naked Teens On Parade

Amazingly, this is not a shameless ploy to get people to read my blog. With such a title you might actually imagine such a thing. This post is as sexually titillating as a visit to the nude beach with Nancy Reagan.

I saw this post in Rob's blog, followed it to the article, and read it. At first was I was shocked (shocked, I tell you!) and then realized I just didn't care. I'm glad I don't live in this town because seeing a bunch of naked strangers really doesn't do much for me.

Seriously, if you're a reader of this blog, I'd love to know why a teenager would go around naked. Would you go around naked assuming it were legal where you lived? Would you do it if you were the only one, or is this something that one finds courage in groups? Most teens I've known over the years would rather die than parade around naked in public (or should that be pubic?)

Rats in the Attic

I have rats in my attic. That really, really, really, really, sucks. Why do I have rats in the attic? Because I went so long without an actual roof, that some rats decided to move in. The exterminator was here, and he's set some traps which he hopes will work. However my attic is so hot, he wouldn't go in (130 degrees) -- this is caused by the fact that (a) it's really fucking hot here and (b) there are no tiles to protect and insulate my roof. He'll come back at night if the traps he set at arm's length from the attic door don't work.

On the plus side he also flooded it with ant poison and it's seemed to have killed quite a few of those damned white-footed ants that have been invading my home for the past eight weeks. Not having a roof causes quite a few problems you don't normally anticipate.

They're working on the inside of my house. My garage has a ceiling again. You have no idea how exciting that is. And my stairwell has a wall and a ceiling. My office no longer has ugly brown stains on the roof, and the same for my kitchen walls. Neither do my bathrooms. My computer area and hallway are still, shall we say, incomplete.







Tag: Rats and Roof and Repairs

Another Mac Story, of a sort....

Yes, I'm always going on about why PCs suck. It's true. Or more accurately, at least PCs that are running Microsoft Windows.

Sometimes I blog about people who switch away from the PC to the Mac -- I am, after all, on a mission to convert the world one person at a time.

Well here's the story of someone who switched away from the Mac and to the PC. I'm sure you're anxious to read his story. And you'll see why all the smart people are switching to the Mac and not away. I'm confident this person has already plotted his return to Apple.


(He's actually running an X-Server unit so the OS is really irrelevant from an operational standpoint. This is after all a security issue: something Microsoft doesn't much care about.)

And as a special side bonus today Forbes Magazine reports that in an Apples-to-Apples* comparison that, a Mac Pro Beats Dell on Price! Yes, it's true -- and in Forbes, a magazine that has long been hostile towards the Macintosh.

8-28-06 Addendum not warranting a new post: There's some more on Macintosh superiority. Read this from David Pogue's NY Times commentary.


* What a great way to use that phrase ;)

In The Merde For Love

I recently read A Year in the Merde by Stephen Clarke -- you may click on the link to see my review of that book. I ended up liking it quite a bit, so I ordered the sequel In The Merde For Love.

The first book had this quote: "There are lots of French people who not at all hypocritical, inefficient, treacherous, intolerant, adulterous or incredibly sexy.... They just didn't make it into my book." That brutally up front statement, is indicative of the sequel's attitude as well. The turn and reason for the sequel comes with the realization that our English protagonist has almost become, Mon Dieu, French! Alors!

And that isn't a bad thing because that's what makes it such an enjoyable read instead of a pedantic rehash of the first book. You will have to read the original or this book will be of no value to you. I will be honest, the parts that take place in England are a bit tiresome. Overall, it kept me occupied whilst the workmen spent the day repairing more hurricane damage -- it was sort of ironic because I related to the workmen he had to deal with in this tome. (My house somewhat resembles something a human might live in now. That's exciting.)

Superman Really Does Return

I finally got around to seeing Superman Returns. Better late than never, I suppose. I really didn't want to see it because I thought the previews looked really sucky. Well you know what? The movie was good. It was a bit creepy seeing Marlon Brando in it since he was long dead when this was made, but that's how it is.

There were some really poignant moments, something one doesn't expect in a Superman film. In this respect it reminded me of the last Batman flick (Batman Begins).

The acting was decent, the script was better than average for a superhero film. And (spoiler alert) the kid was fantastic. I generally hate kid actors, in case you haven't noticed in my reviews. However this one was really good. I can recommend this to anyone. It's enjoyable, not overlong long at 2-1/2 hours and it occupies you. My only complaint was the editing wasn't all that great, but that's a quibble.

So what is this "Emo Boy" thing?

Emo Boys: this term has come up a lot lately online, and I never heard it until very recently. So, being the inquisitive type, I've read a bit online at Wikipedia and also at the Urban Dictionary. I have a definition, but knowing what word means technically doesn't mean you really know what it means.

Could someone actually explain it to me. I just don't get them. I mean, I see they dress similar to the Goth style, but not exactly. I even get they listen to Emo music. I understand some of them are into mild cutting which I find bizarre, but that's their choice not mine. But what's their attraction, if you understand my question. It's confusing. I just don't get it. Really.

Someone out there has got to be able to shed a little light on this. If you don't want to post it as a comment, an e-mail will do. Surely there's an Emo Boy reading this right now.

Screw The Terrorists: Kill 'em all and let God sort it out

Another bad day -- at least it was for normal people everywhere. It's stories like this that make you think genocide isn't the worst idea ever. How on earth can someone think blowing ten airplanes full of innocent people out of the sky is a smashing-good idea? What is the mind-set for that? How can anyone think that's going to bring people around to their cause?

I've always realized it's been a small group of nut-case Islamic extremist fundamentalists that have the mind-set that killing to make a point is a good idea. However, it seems more and more that the non-extremist Muslim community is not willing to speak out. That's guilt by association. Although I don't think genocide is a good idea and is morally reprehensible, if an act like today's attempted terror attack had succeeded, a lot more people would start thinking along the lines of the old cliché: "Kill them all and let God sort it out."

I don't understand the logic and I fully fault the mostly peaceful members of the Muslim community for not turning in their extremist members. The madness must stop or at some point the world will rise up in an effort to exterminate them. They may outnumber us, but we can lay them flat quickly if we don't have to worry about civilians. My guess is most of the Muslim world could be wiped off the map in 48 hours using some well placed nuclear weapons. I want to reiterate that nuclear holocaust is a bad idea, but if you don't think Bush or some other nation will consider it at some point, you're sadly mistaken. The English, Americans, and Russians have all had their fill of barbaric acts. The Spanish and French are getting weary too, but I'm not quite sure they're crazy enough to act.

(I'm waiting for the Muslims to do something to China. China won't hesitate to do retaliate brutally and everyone knows it. That's why China is safe because China just doesn't care what anyone else has to say about their actions.)

Oh, and a clever joke from F.H. just to help everyone laugh or be pissed off:
Recently I received a warning about the use of this politically incorrect term, so please note:

We all need to be more sensitive in our choice words. I have been informed that the Islamic terrorists who hate our guts and want to kill us do not like to be called "Towel Heads" since the item they wear on their heads is not actually a towel, but in fact, a small folded sheet.

Therefore, from this point forward, please refer to them as "Little Sheet Heads."

Thank you for your support and compliance on this delicate matter.

Misplaced Comma costs $2.13 million dollars

Life is good. Yes, grammar has struck a blow for itself. Rogers Communications is expected to lose $2,130,000 because of a misplaced comma in a contract. Yes, the world's most expensive comma.

I always espouse good grammar and ridicule people who screw it up (normal typos excused). However this is what we call 'priceless' -- and you should all read the column in the Toronto Globe and Mail.

The whole thing comes down to this: Page 7 of the contract states the agreement: “shall continue in force for a period of five years from the date it is made, and thereafter for successive five year terms, unless and until terminated by one year prior notice in writing by either party.”

Well, let's look at the comma in red, though I've highlighted the previous word to make it easy to find. Without the comma it's a five year contract which renews for successive 5 year terms. With the comma, it says the contract can be terminated with one year notice regardless of the terms. This is standard contract verbiage. The judge has ruled that the contract is quite clear and is allowing it to be terminated. And I, for one, am pleased.

A Year in the Merde (Stephen Clarke Book Review)

I bought this book awhile ago, inexplicably moving it to the bottom of my unread book pile in favour of other books. I just never felt in the mood for it. Rather interesting book outside my normal genre of reading. So, this weekend when I was bored out of my skull, I finally decided to give it a try.

I have to admire the book for the cover quote "There are lots of French people who not at all hypocritical, inefficient, treacherous, intolerant, adulterous or incredibly sexy.... They just didn't make it into my book." That's a brutally up front statement, and yet it's very indicative of the book's attitude. And that isn't a bad thing because that's what makes it such an enjoyable read. Is it a work of art? No. But if you know the English and you know the French this book is going to really tickle your funny bone and hold your interest. If you don't know the French or English much of this book might just sail right by you. Much of the joy comes from having experienced (for example) the brasserie waiters, the French strikes, the English unflappability, and seeing them forced together.

If you're not sure if it's up your alley, perhaps you should try the paperback. This book is many things, but happily n'est ce pas merdique :)

Talladega Nights (Ricky Bobby) -- do NOT see this film

I cannot emphasize enough how fucking horrible this shite is. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is one of the most vile worthless pieces of "entertainment" to be put on film since the infamous Laserblast. It's a toss-up but Laserblast still sucks a little bit more. DO NOT SEE THIS FILM.

There is very little about this film that's worthwhile except for the often decent soundtrack. The plot is thin, the acting is barely passable, the kids are obnoxious without being funny, Ricky's dad looks younger than he does. Okay, maybe there's a hot babe in the film but sitting through a two hour NASCAR commercial and a number Applebee's commercials does not make it worthwhile.

Yes, there are some moments that are funny, but most of it falls flat. Will Farell owes me a fucking refund? Do you hear me, Will? I will never see one of your movies again until I get a check for $9.75.

Why did we see this film? Well I voted for Monster House but apparently the idea didn't impress Arturo. Adrian was willing to see Monster House. Because we couldn't agree, we decided to let the ticket-seller pick which of the two films we'd see. She suggested Talladega Nights -- so she was obviously on the take. Anyway, because Arturo didn't agree we saw this film. I hated it, Adrian I think hated it more than me, and even Arturo hated it. So maybe he should refund my money.

Anyway this sucks the big, fat, furry one, and is one the worst films I've ever seen.

(We also saw a preview for Rocky VI which will probably also suck, and Stallone can't even act in the trailer.)

Another PC Users Bites the Dust

As everyone knows, I am slowly changing the world one person at a time. How? By convincing the intelligent ones to use Macintosh instead of PCs with Windows. The intelligent ones just get it. They may not switch right away, but with an open mind and after trying it they switch. I've converted a number of people (Ernie, Jan) and convinced any number of people to choose wisely before buying their first computer (Josh). Yeah, there are more but this is just a sampling. It's frustrating changing the world one person at a time, but then the people you change, well they start too. It's called evangelizing, something that Guy Kawasaki espouses and has since his days at Apple.

David sent me this blog post from a writer, who also tried it and got it. Not everyone gets it, either. Those people should keep using PCs with Windows because, quite frankly, they deserve them. I'm not trying to belittle them or make fun of their intellect, because I do know some intelligent PC users -- of course they're almost all running Linux and not Windows -- however on the whole I do find as a group Mac users are more intelligent, more creative, and more open to thinking better. PC Windows users just tend to think they're all of those things without really being all of those things.

Oh, and the biggest character flaw in a Mac user according to most PC users: We're all smugly self-satisfied and self-righteous :) I guess they never stopped to wonder why....

Health Alert: Acid Reflux, Aciphex, Tinnitus, and Vocal Cords

If you don't care about me or my health, you can skip right over this post and read the other stuff in this blog. It's far more interesting and less disgusting than this post.

If you know me, you know I've got Acid Reflux disease. Common and not much to say about it really. I've had it for quite a few years and finally started treatment for it about 3 or so years ago. Although we're not sure what caused it, the suspicion is one of those nasty drugs they gave me trying to cure my tinnitus might have caused it since some of those drugs had my stomach in turmoil. I still have tinnitus of course -- happily I don't have a terrible case of it as it comes and goes, but when I do have it, it's maddening. My very distant cousin William"Captain Kirk" Shatner has tinnitus too.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand and continuing with the back story, last month I went to my doctor for my annual physical -- you know the one I only have every 3 to 5 years because, like most guys, I hate going to the doctor. My doctor rather insisted I have one when I went in. Happily, I passed with flying colours at least. All my blood counts were normal, cholesterol was almost normal (165), blood pressure was flawless, and even my EKG showed as perfectly normal -- pretty cool for a guy who is decidedly not normal and prides himself on it. But when it comes to one's health, I guess normal is good. My doctor though I had the heart of a 20 year old, though I could probably stand to lose a few pounds.

While there, I mentioned to my doctor that my throat was a bit sore on one side. He squeezed around it, poked, prodded, asked questions, and said I probably needed to take an antacid before bed in addition to Aciphex (which I take for the aforementioned Acid Reflux). He thought it would get better. But, quite frankly, it hasn't in the past few weeks, and it started getting worse. You may find this hard to believe, but I am getting to a point.

So today I went to an otolaryngologist. The doctor tried to use a tongue depressor to look down my throat but I have a serious gag reflex and that, despite my advanced warning, did not work out well -- as the doctor found out. If the patient says not do so something, be warned.

So, after failing to succeed with that plan, he went to plan "B" which was to spray some substance like Lidocain up my nostril which of course made it numb and without feeling on one side, a bizarre feeling. You know that expression "up your nose with a rubber hose" -- well that's pretty much what it was except there was a camera on the end. It went up my nose and down my throat along with my admonitions -- swallow, breathe through your nose, etc. It's really hard when there's a camera shoved up your nose to breathe through it at the same time. Try it some time. Then the 'swallow' trick is pretty hard too. It's very uncomfortable but not painful at all, as long as you don't think about it. So up to now, this post has been wildly entertaining and/or gross for everyone. Now is when you want to stop reading, 'cause this test produced results.

Yeah, so the news wasn't good. The good news is I went to the doctor early enough. If you don't go to the doctor you can end up with cancer in the throat or esophagus, often fatal. Fatal is bad. I don't have that so far. However, there is a growth/lesion on my left vocal chord near the top where it connects. I've named it "Fred" -- okay, that's a lie, I haven't named it because I'm hoping it'll go away and if you name something you get attached to it. Never name a stray. Because of the acid reflux, this lesion has been irritated and is now swollen and growing. Growing is bad.

The plan of action is to reduce my acid production to about zero. I am still on Aciphex but now also on Pepcid and Nexium in addition, plus Tums as needed. On top of that, a heavily restricted diet has been ordered. Basically if it has flavour I probably shouldn't eat it. In fact, judging by the list the doctor gave me, if it has flavour or colour I shouldn't eat it. Yes, it's white mushy crap for the next five weeks: mashed potatoes, boiled rice, and so forth. (It's amazing the list of foods you can't eat when on an acid restricted diet: no bananas, dairy, carbonated anything, no caffeine, alcohol, coffee, tea, carrots, broccoli, peaches, apples, fruit juice, citrus, beans, and so on....)

In five weeks I return to the doctor for a follow up. If "Fred" is shrinking, yay! If it's not, it's surgery for me. Very risky for my vocal chords and I prefer not to lose my ability to speak. I've always felt if the doctor thinks it might be risky, then it's definitely risky.

So there it is. I am, however, done being cranky about it as I have been all day. That is until I find out I can't eat anything except bread and water.