Simon Dumenco is a Fraud

Hrumph. Doc Searls lead me to this link - an article titled "American Idle". In it the writer, Simon Dumenco slashes away at technology, specifically TiVo and blogs. He claims that these technologies are making him lazy, impassive, and yes, a fraud in claiming he's seen or read something he has not.

Ah, but the fault, dear Simon, is not in our blogs, but in ourselves. Or more specifically, in yourself.

I find TiVo useful, VERY useful. But I wouldn't bother to claim to have watched something that I have no interest in and I certainly wouldn't record it so I could claim with a clear conscience that I'd watch it sometime in the future. That's your problem, Simon, not mine.

And I use other peoples' blogs to help me find interesting and useful stuff and see their opinion of what they've found. Only a fraud wouldn't read the source. I read your article, Simon, but I never would have found it without Doc blogging it. I know who Doc Searls is. Who the hell are you?

Such stuff you say.

Link-o-rama

Oh, here's an nifty feature - iTunes integration! So, for example, if I happen to be listening to the Riders In The Sky singing Wah-Hoo from the album "A Great Big Western Howdy..." by Riders In The Sky I can link it all up with ease!

And here's my little link test, as well: .
Riders Online

Yet Another Blog Tool

Trying another blog posting tool - this one's called "Kung-Log". Looks pretty good - still not as easy as emailing. Then again, the *&$#!!! email submission through BloggerPro is unreliable, at best. And I still can't get my XML straightened out.

Of Cats and Dictionaries

My friend Penny has put together a list of Cat-lover's dictionary of terms and behaviors.

I've contributed one - anyone else have something to add? Use your well honed email skills and receive the credit you so richly deserve! (No, don't send them to me. What am I going to do with cat terms? On the other hand, if you do send them to me, I'll take credit for the good ones.)

Don't Know Why

Kathleen introduced me to Norah Jones last year. I'd probably heard her by then, but not really brought her into foreground processing. She is, admittedly, much more interesting to listen to than virtually all of the other pop played on the radio (I do like Five for Fighting).

I saw her mentioned in the news today and it reminded me of a question. What is the meaning of her song, "Don't Know Why"? I went to the web, but after reading what I could find, it was obvious that they don't get it. It's not about something - it's a story, or more to the point, a lament.

The content: an alcoholic, presently inebriated and unable to rise to full emotion, wistfully reminisces about a love that could have been, but will never be.

It's a torch song, folks, but ultimately depressing!

Another bad idea

Another bad idea.

I'm a bald man and content with my lot. If they had a cheap and effective baldness treatment ("here, swallow this pill and make an appointment with the hair stylist"), I'd take it, but I'm fine with things the way they are. In fact, I shave the wispy strands on the top of my head. I often consider stopping men with comb-overs and other poor hair-o-flage and telling them that the jig is up.

Anyhoo - just like bringing back the Mamoths, can chick with teeth be a good thing? Buckeye egg, just North of here has 14 MILLION chickens. Besides the poor management and environmental mess they cause, imagine what they'd be like if they could bite back!

SETI @ Home

I can see that the PC behind me has just picked up the 1219th work unit
in my little search for intelligent life in the universe. It's one of
4 machines I've got using their spare processing power to work on this
little task. I had one other online, but it's off on someone else's
desk now, no longer part of the search.

I started several years ago, then dropped off after nearly 1000 units,
using just one machine. When they popped back up in the news lately I
decided to load it up again, with some real horsepower. My desktop at
work is a Dual 1 ghz G4 PowerMac. It rips through work units at nearly
2 a day. The old PC behind me takes 4 days to get through 1. It's too
bad the software can't use both processors - I'd love to see how fast
that'd go.

Why do this? I'm not sure we'll ever find anything this way, but it's
worth the spare processing. Plus, it's a neat screen saver. Other
than that, it's a fascinating start at using the computers connected to
the net as more than just advanced TVs. There's power out there, and
possibility.

What possibilities? Ah, talk to Mr. Dyson (not that one, his son, Esther's brother).

Links:
SETI @ Home
SETI
Darwin Among The Machines - By George Dyson

Unexpected Home Theater Benefit

While I must admit I've been just this side of giddy since we finished Cinema Murray, my wife and I have discovered a unique benefit to watching movies there (get your mind out of the gutter!): Credits!

Movie credits are designed for a big screen and next to impossible to read on a TV screen, even a big RPTV. On the 110" they're perfectly readable.

When we go out to movies we like to stay and watch credits - we're interested in who contributed, locations, music, etc., but at home and watching on TV there isn't much point. And forget about trying to watch credits for a broadcast TV movie (actually, I don't watch broadcast TV movies anymore and when I do watch TV, it's through TiVO - no commercials!)

Take for example, last night. It was a double feature: Romancing The Stone with the girls, then Night Shift when they went to bed (Barney Rubble, what and actor!).

Watching the credits, we discovered that Kevin Costner and Shannon Doherty are both in the movie (Night Shift Credits)! We popped back through the scenes to confirm that yes, both were on screen for a few seconds. You'll also find Vincent Schiavelli in his traditional weird, scarry guy roll, but you can never miss this guy He's also in the opening moments of Amadeus.

In addition, the watching the credits provides a nice "falling away" period from the movie. A transition from being absorbed in the story, a moment or two to think about what you've seen, but not entirely withdrawn, held still by the music, dimmed lights, comfortable chair.