| CTP's RECURSIVEirony |
| Thursday, September 30, 2004 |
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Microsoft watch... They keep saying they (MS) are more actively dealing with security, but folks, it's all smoke up your wazoo. Microsoft sold a lot of copies of Windows, security warts and all. Hundreds of millions of those systems, security warts and all, are still out there running, and they are not secure. Microsoft wants everyone to upgrade, to the tune of a fair chunk of change, not to mention the cost of a new machine if one's 5+ year old PC won't handle WinXP. It's fine to want everyone to upgrade, but by cutting off security updates to their older systems, they make all of us more vulnerable. Of course if they had written their OSes properly in the first place we might not have all the problems we have today. Is Your Security Worth $239? If you want the “security enhancements” of Windows XP SP2 but you’re running an earlier version of Windows, you might have to upgrade. The cost of upgrading to Windows XP is $239. This means that about 200 million computers still running old versions of Windows are soon to be cut off from their security updates, unless the opt to upgrade. Ben English, the head of security at Microsoft Australia, said the decision to leap forward, leaving older versions of its software behind, was necessary, to rethink security at the core of Windows because the internet was a more dangerous place. "We're living in a vulnerable world now," English said. "That's a harsh reality of modern Internet life." Charles Britton, a policy officer for the Australian Consumers' Association, said: "We'd rather see them use some other carrot than the security stick." Upgrading an operating system was not to be taken lightly, Britton said, because it could involve also having to buy new hardware and software - even for machines just a few years old. Posted at 8:50 AM |
| Wednesday, September 29, 2004 |
 Smile is out... And here's Van Dyke Park's website too (You probably don't know who he is yet, but you'll need this link as you start reading) Brian Wilson's much anticipated album, Smile, came out yesterday. I got the last copy at the store I went to. I was in line with several other people who were buying it as well. I just heard it was number one in Amazon music sales (not that that is ANY indication of anything)(unless you happen to like what is #1). Why all the hoopla? The Greatest Album That Never Was finally is. The Beach Boys uncompleted 1967 album Smile has remained the elusive touchstone of Brian Wilson's brilliant, tragically star-crossed career for decades. Artistic Holy Grail and troubling professional Waterloo for Wilson, a tantalizing prism of unfulfilled promise to his loyal cadre of fans, its story has become pop music's Rashomon. Finally completed via Spring 2004 recordings with his stellar, longtime touring band (none of the original '60s sessions were used, though they've been recreated here with often stunning authenticity), it's arguably as alien to contemporary pop as it might have seemed in its intended '67 context--even to ears freshly primed by the glories of Pet Sounds. Collaborator Van Dyke Parks' impressionistic, often mischievous lyrics conjure a collage of arcane 19th century Americana that's equal parts artful ellipse and aloof nostalgia. But wed to Wilson's innovative composition/recording techniques (echoing beat author William Burroughs' fabled cut 'n' paste methodology and exemplified by the modular "Good Vibrations") the resulting semi-suite confections challenge the boundaries of both song and album form, but with an insouciant charm that's as different from Pet Sounds as that landmark was from "I Get Around." Turns out those hypothetical comparisons to Sgt. Pepper's weren't so far off the mark. --Jerry McCulley The Beach Boys had a body of work, starting with Pet Sounds (you do own a copy, don't you?) and continuing for several years, that is brilliant, crazy, often self indulgent, occasionally lousy...but overall is truly amazing. This is stuff you pretty much never hear on the radio. One notable exception is "Good Vibrations" which happens to be the most saleable tune, so of course it gets airplay. As is typical of what gets airplay though, it is nowhere near the most interesting of the music from that period of Beach Boys' recordings. According to all I have read, or seen in documentaries, the rest of "the boys" were plenty happy making the same sorts of music they had grown accustomed to. Brian Wilson had a lot more in him though. He brought in Lyricist Van Dyke Parks to collaborate. The rest of the band wasn't too keen on this outsider, and especially an outsider writing words like "Columnated ruins domino, canvas the town and brush the back drop, are you sleeping brother john?" But in the context of the song those lyrics appear in, called "Surf's Up" by the way, they are a irreplaceble part of an incredible song...probably my favorite from that era. Although it's pretty hard to pick a favorite. Anyhow, is "Smile" my TNFA? Nah. Don't get me wrong, its recording and release is a watershed moment. I own a copy now, and love it, and have already listened to it 8 times as of yesterday afternoon (I left it at home so I could get some work done today:). But for me it contains no huge surprises. Most of it is music I already know and love, sung by its older, wiser creator, backed up by an amazing band. I guess the only reason it isn't my TNFA is that there's nothing temporary about it. It now takes its rightful place in a space set aside for it 37 years ago. Go check this out too at NPR. Posted at 8:59 AM |
| Wednesday, September 22, 2004 |
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Speaking of hardware... A lot of folks had no idea that it had happened when it did, but a number of years ago Sears bought up the Orchard Supply Hardware chain. Unless you are in a place where OSH exists this probably won't mean a thing to you. Anyway, OSH has always been a good hardware store...at times a great hardware store. Many will complain to you about their prices, but overall their selection of stuff made up for it. Enter the sale to Sears. There were many doomsayers...me among them...who said that that was the death of anoter great hardware store. It seemed for quite a few years that we were going to be proved wrong. Turns out it took a long time, but we were right. Unfortunately the rantings and ravings of a minority of folks (those of us who actually need what a real hardware store sells) will be well lost on the ears of the profit worriers, and shareholder sycophants. It all started innocently enough with the introduction of Craftsman tools into OSH stores. Not a problem to me, I happen to like Craftsman tools, and they didn't displace any other merchandise. But over the last few years I have noticed my local OSH go down hill...quite rapidly in the last year. Items I could always count on them having started leaving - from being sold of course - but once they were gone the shelf space would be repurposed to some other item. Higher margin, faster turnover? I don't know. All I knew is that quite a number of items I used to buy there were no longer sold. And this didn't seem to be an obvious response to stores like Home Depot either because some of the things OSH stopped carrying I was starting to find at the big box stores. Also, the people changed. They used to have a large number of highly knowledgeable folks in every department. The people on the floor now are a joke. I'll go in and ask for something, and they have no idea what I am asking for, so I'll describe it. They'll then drag me off to some aisle and start searching the shelves. I can search the fucking shelves on my own...I asked because I am counting on you to KNOW WHAT THE FUCK YOU SELL AND WHERE IT IS KEPT. I don't even ask anymore...at least I don't ask more than the one or two people still left in the store who know anything about hardware. The final nail, for me at least, was driven into their coffin the other night. They had devoted a fair amount of floor space...space that could be used for hardware items...to Kenmore appliances. If they hadn't been on a downhill slide for so long this might not have been so apparent to me. But the fact that less and less of the shelf space contains real hardware...that fewer and fewer of the people knew what the hell they were doing...this was just too much. Hey OSH - let me know when you get the optical store, the Allstate insurance booth, and a menswear department installed and maybe I'll come back...just not to buy any hardware. Posted at 3:07 PM |
| Monday, September 20, 2004 |
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Hold-It -- The Tubular Straw Holder This falls under the OMG-HFS!!! category. (you figure it out) I had seen these forever ago...and only by shear determination (and staying up WAYYYY past my bedtime) I found them again. Not just them, but their source. Oh yea...what are they? Little leashes to keep your little red tubes with their proper cans. Oh, and it seems some people call them "little red straws" Straws? Ay yi yi people. Anyway - not a substitute for properly making available to the consumer new little red tubes...but a suitable way to keep ones tube's (or straws if you must) in one's posession longer. Posted at 12:14 AM |
| Sunday, September 19, 2004 |
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The Man Who Would Be the WD-40 Tube King Sometimes an idea is way ahead of its time. Sometimes a story hits home for me in a very clear way. This one contains both. Do you know those little tubes, the little red ones, that come with cans of spray lubricants, and penetrants, and carb or brake cleaners? The ones that come with the can, but you soon lose, and then you can't get another until you buy another can because NO ONE sells the damn things? Well this guy, Maxim, had the same question I had...why doesn't anyone sell them? So you know what he did? He tried to. It didn't go so well...read the essay. But g-d damn it, he tried. That's furhter than I went. I just started covetting and hording them. (you should have seen me in my bike shop at Burning Man this year...I was keeping track of all the little red tubes better than my food and water practically) BTW - the reason they don't sell them? It's a conspiracy. People buy a new freekin can of stuff to get a tube. If they sold the tubes, no one would buy that extra can, would they? BTW2 - I can't even figure out what they're called. Go ahead, google "little red tubes". Go on. How can something so universally needed, so universally misplaced, and so universally called "those little red tubes" get so few hits on google? It's a damned conspiracy, I tell you!!! Posted at 11:48 PM |
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Swiss Army Knife Riddle Solved If you're like me, well, yer pretty weird. If you aren't, then you must be saying, "boy this guy has a lot of time on his hands." Anyway, read on. I had long wondered why there were two makers of Swiss Army Knives. One claimed to be the original and one claimed to be the genuine. Sounded fishy to me. Well, I had forgotten all about it and moved on to other mundane trivia, but as I was just shopping for some Victorinox stuff this week (Victorinox makes the original Swiss army knife, btw) it brought the whole mess back up. Read the article...it turns out that both are telling the truth, and have both been making Swiss army knives for a very long time. Anyway, read the article. Posted at 9:41 AM |
| Wednesday, September 15, 2004 |
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faeriefae's Xanga Site So, like, my niece made me, like, put up this link to her, like, Xanga...which is like, you know, a like blog and stuff? So, like, here is, like, the link that goes to, like, her blog. Not, like, here here, but up, like, there here. K? K! Posted at 9:40 PM |
 Now I've heard it all! Only Microsoft could possibly think of a reason for a JPEG to contain executable code. Will they ever quit? Will they ever learn? Why do I even ask? Yesterday, Microsoft released a patch for a flaw in the way their operating systems and other software process the widely used JPEG image format. The flaw potentially allows hackers to create an image file capable of executing malicious code on an unsuspecting user’s computer. Internet Explorer is vulnerable to this flaw, this means that people who us IE could fall subject to an attack just by visiting a Web site that has affected images on it. This JPEG flaw affects at least a dozen Microsoft software applications and operating systems, which include Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Office XP, Office 2003, Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1, Project, Visio, Picture It and Digital Image Pro. Microsoft has a full list of the affected products on their website. As always, go here for more info. Posted at 2:41 PM |
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