Tag Archives: Japan

The Catch Up

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When you spend hours laying around unable to move one thing you do manage to do is catch up on the tech world. With that, here are some of the neatest things I’ve been following in tech lately:

  • Check out MaximumPC’s Top 50 Web Sites list. You’ll find some of my favorite daily clicks including Wunderground.com, DrinkHacker, and What The Font.
  • If you’re as confused as me about the whole FaceBook Farmville and Vampire sim thing, there still may still be online multi-player gaming hope yet for the nerd community as a whole– Civilization is coming to FaceBook by 2010!
  • Remember a few days back I told you about Verizon’s new Droid phone and how both open availability of both the Moto Sholes hardware and the Android OS itself could lead to other things? Word is Dell is working on a mobile Android hand held of its own right now.
  • The US FCC Commission has unanimously declared Net Neutrality as a top mandate in regulation for online access and that is great news for consumers as a whole.
  • If you’re into on the go computing like me, be sure to check out Portable Apps. They rock!
  • The BK Windows 7 Whopper is amazing, but only sold in Japan.
  • Kudos to the US Executive Branch IT team for moving the White House site over to an open source CMS saving all tax payers money and developers’ time. Excellent job!
  • R.I.P. to GeoCities. Your wealth of poorly designed sites may have not been much to brag about, but being the first to offer the masses free web space is not only notable, but changed the way web content hosting would forever be offered to the residential market as a whole. There would be no MySpace, AOL, or Facebook had there been no GeoCities.
  • At the end of this month, Ubuntu’s latest OS (9.10) will be released. Looks slick. Why would I pay for an OS again? Windows who? iPhone what?

Right arm is still sore and 95% unusable, but the intense pain has died down. Able to take a sponge bath, which is nice. You forget how much you take simple pleasures like bathing until you can’t do them.

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Classic DF – 12/18/01

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December 18, 2001: [•] Ramadan is over (BTW: I hope that all my Muslim viewers had a joyous Ramadan) and 90% of the war in Afghanistan has been won. However, Mohammed Omar and Osama bin Laden are both still missing. [•] US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warns all US citizens to be vigilant against terrorism as the nutjobs of the world begin to embrace new techniques of inflicting pain on others. [•] US Marines injured by a landmine encourage the world to worry about bigger problems instead of their wounds. [•] The Yemeni military has attacked an al Qaeda camp in its country. [•] Even though al Qaeda appears to have been beaten the US government continues to warn US citizens about the possibility of a terrorist attack. [•] US President Bush had several lesions removed from his face. None were cancerous. [•] Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is asking Arab leaders to meet him in Mecca to discuss Israel and Palestine. Go nutjob leader! [•] Siena Heights University has added a philosophy class that examines how The Simpsons handle theology. [•] India is mulling over its response to a terrorist attack on its government. [•] Arctic weather hits Europe. [•] Somali warlords are attempting to convince the US to attack their country’s government in hopes of achieving power. [•] Ebola continues to ravage Gabon. [•] The ousted government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide attempted to regain control of Haiti, but failed. [•] Oh those crazy civil liberty loving Canadians and their crazy civil liberty loving Canadian ways! [•] Thailand will only issue 17 visas this year in an attempt to stop illegal activities. [•] A heavy earthquake hit Japan and Taiwan creating a small tsunami. [•] Spain has arrested 7 suspected ETA members. [•] Princess Buniah al-Saud, the niece of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, has been arrested on charges of beating her maid. [•] A sewerage spill has closed a portion of Laguna Beach, California. [•] A first-grader who dresses as Santa Claus and distributes small toys in a local mall was kicked out by mall owners since (get this) he’s competition to the official mall’s Santa LOL. [•] The Space Shuttle Endeavour has landed. [•] Serious crime fell in the first 6 months of 2001, but murder went up. [•] An equipment failure has stopped progress in clearing anthrax from the Hart Senate Building. [•] Vivendi Universal has bought USA Networks. [•] Be careful, you could end up buying fake FDNY or PDNY goods. [•] Intel is sponsoring an open source code called OpenCV that they hope will allow computers to see in three dimensions. [•] A Japanese zoo’s panda gave birth to a male cub. [•] Utah has introduced the US’s first voice-recognition based travel information service for telephone users. [•] A genetically engineered mouse has been developed who’s milk contains the malaria vaccine. [•] Chicken feces and diesel fuel: What a mix! [•] CERT is warning UNIX administrators who are running Secure Shell on their systems to make sure that they are using SSH2 (full install not upgrade) with no SSH daemons running and all exploits patched. [•] Microsoft has released Service Pack 1 for Office XP. [•] RSA Security Inc. has developed the Wireless Equivalent Privacy protocol to encrypt individual data packets sent over 802.11 wireless networks thus fixing current security issue. [•] A new drug reduces cold symptoms within a day and knocks one day of the actual disease off. FDA approval is about a year away at best. [•] 3/4 of new HIV cases are resisting treatment. [•] Autism seems to be higher in Silicon Valley. Could tech savvy genes be responsible? [•] Google will allow you to now browse 600 catalogues online. [•] Universal Music Group’s new CDs won’t play in a PC. Their solution: Buy another copy in digital format for the PC through the Net. Hey, why not pay a third time just for fun! Hell, let’s go for four! [•] An ISP is claiming the FBI wants the e-mail logs for data logged by the BadTrans.B worm and sent to one of several e-mail addresses including one hosted by the ISP. Why would they want it? Well, they assert that BadTrans.B is actually the Magic Lantern virus developed by the FBI reported on earlier last week. [•] A captured al Qaeda member turned informant claims that Windows XP has backdoors inserted by the terrorist group. [•] Christmas may be here, but thoughts of September 11th still haunt Americans. [•] Everyone’s favorite anti-CVS group, It’s Our Town, has been sponsoring a gift drive for needy families of Warwick, NY. [•] The US Postal Service switches into high gear to meet last minute mail demands. [•] Will a correction officer who is charged with trash compacting a box of contraband kittens face jail time? [•] Newburgh, NY City Comptroller Ed Weber resigns because City Manager Harry Porr was fired. [•] Cory Jones is found dead in New Windsor, NY and police are ruling it suspicious. [•] Local Catholic school teachers are still on strike, a textile union pickets an employer over a wage dispute, a woman is charged after she crashes her auto with a young child unbelted, ’tis the season for ice, the Milford-Montague bridge toll gets raised, an elderly woman is killed crossing a highway, a high speed chase keeps things interesting for the Ulster County Sheriffs, robbers are defeated by a soda machine, the Sullivan County Family Violence Response Team arrested a man on charges of molesting a toddler, and Wurtsboro Police arrest John Kallajian stemming from charges in Connecticut. [•] Hank Williams Jr. and Kid Rock will appear together on CMT Crossroads. [•] Weezer has begun working on their new album. [•] Charlie Clouser has left NIN, but formed a new band called Revenge of the Triads that includes guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen and bassist Jason Slater from A Perfect Circle. [•] The Chevrolet Corvette Z06 rules, but then again you already know that don’t you? [•] Can’t afford the Corvette? Try the Ford Focus; it rules. [•] The 2002 Maserati Spyder is so damn kick ass that I don’t even have a wise ass comment to get you to click on the link. Just do it. [•] Intel has announced an official Pentium 4 chipset using DDR SDRAM. The new AMD Duron mobile ratchets cheap laptop speeds up to 1GHz. And Toshiba has quit the memory business. [•] Viisage Technology licenses its face recognition technology to the US Army. [•] Apple has released a PowerBook with a CD/DVD burner and more memory. [•] Adobe is putting the final touches on multimedia creation software for Mac OS X. [•] Azazel and I had an excellent time at my company’s Christmas party. The food was great and a good time was had by all! [•] C0il is home for Christmas vacation! [•] Sometimes a song can say it all. [•] Note that there is no planned updates for the next three days as I will be attending a three day seminar on VDSL. The next update will be this Saturday. Talk to you then.

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Classic DF – 12/10/01

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December 10, 2001: [•] Al Qaeda is being beaten back by Eastern Alliance forces in Tora Bora and a compromise has been made to finalize Afghanistan’s postwar government. [•] A videotape found in an Afghan home shows Osama bin Laden bragging about how he planned and admired the results of his efforts concerning the September 11th attack. [•] Israel has refused to deal with terrorist groups offering them a ceasefire noting that the only Palestinian group they negotiate with is the Palestinian Authority. [•] The World Health Organization has confirmed an ebola virus outbreak in Gabon. [•] 3 people were killed when they were run over by a train in Philadelphia. [•] Israel attacked suspected terrorist compounds killing two children. [•] South Korea and Japan have finalized World Cup venues. [•] Kosovo conducted its first parliamentary session in 13 years. [•] Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez insists that even a massive strike by union employees can’t shut his country down. [•] Jacques Navarra, a suspected Corsican militant, was assassinated on his way home. [•] Colombian rebels freed a US man held hostage for over a month. [•] The new crew has arrived at the International Space Station. [•] The families of victims of the Columbine shooting want to revive a case concerning whether people have the right to publish gunmen’s journals for profit. [•] Online cigarettes sales are soaring, but how do you card an online purchaser? [•] 4 Israeli teens have been arrested and charged with creating the Goner Virus. [•] The EU is going after spam! Rejoice! [•] Batman: Vengeance is pretty damn neat. [•] High blood pressure, even that caused by nerves, is dangerous. [•] Lord of the Rings is going to rule. [•] Let the domain hijacking begin! [•] The Pleasant Valley Fire District in Dutchess County, NY is looking for a few good men. [•] St. Mary’s Church in Port Jervis, NY celebrates its 150th year in God’s service. [•] Winter is unofficially here in good old Orange County, NY. We got our first snow of this season. [•] Seniors get a new apartment complex in Bloomingburg, the Friends of Jonah Mandelbaum Charity Fund to Benefit Winslow Therapeutic Riding Center is opened, and Jeffrey R. Cox died when he car skidded into oncoming traffic. [•] Expect the final album of the late Joey Ramone to be released in early 2002. [•] Neil Young gets paid his tribute. [•] Several of Slipknot’s members are working on solo projects. [•] Pamela Anderson has accused Tommy Lee of poor parenting and demands full custody of their children. [•] Soul Asylum celebrated the band’s 20th anniversary. [•] Human rights activists are trying to a lingerie manufacturer to move their factories out of Burma. [•] The Beastie Boys have started working on their next album. [•] The 3dfx Voodoo 5 6000 videocard may have been one of the most kick ass video card ever, but now we’ll never know. [•] Li’l Pooh has added “Mamma” to her vocabulary. She’s so darn smart! [•] Word. [•] Double word. [•] Triple word.

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Classic DF – 10/18/01

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October 18, 2001: [•] The Capital Building has shut down in Washington DC after 31 people tested positive for anthrax exposure.[•] Airborne radio stations are sending Taliban soldiers an ultimatum. [•] The FAA is checking all employees’ backgrounds. [•] Israel has moved tanks into Palestinian neighborhoods hoping to keep the calm during an assassinated official’s funeral. [•] An envelope containing anthrax was sent from Atlanta, Georgia to a private citizen in Kenya. It looks like someone is testing international mail limits, now doesn’t it? [•] Japan’s Lower House has passed an anti-terrorism bill to support the US’s war on terrorism. [•] APEC is meeting in China this week and instead of economics they will be discussing terrorism. [•] Bodies from the sunken research vessel have started to be recovered. [•] Russia has pulled out of a spy base in Cuba. [•] The Canadian Navy has started making its way to join with US allies near Afghanistan. [•] Eliecer Meneses, an ex-Colombian congressman, was assassinated. [•] Diane Pretty, a terminally ill UK citizen, has lost her court case and the right to die on her own terms. [•] Saudi Arabia has asked its citizens not to sympathize with Islamic militants since they are perverting the religion instead of furthering it. [•] An unidentified man tried to hijack a bus and failed. He fled with an unknown woman into a car that was apparently following the bus. [•] Over $1 billion have been raised by charities for the victims and their families of the September 11th attacks. [•] The USS Kitty Hawk is armed with helicopters and special forces. It is only a matter of time now. [•] Before closing, the US House passed a bill that extends the ban on sales tax for items purchased over the Net by 2 years. [•] Microsoft has decided to start labeling security threats by genre and severity since users seem too incompetent to judge for themselves. [•] Apple has announced upgraded G4s and iBooks. [•] Everybody run for cover! AOL 7 is here! [•] The Ozone Hole over Antarctica hasn’t grown or shrunk for 3 years. [•] Due to anthrax fears Bayer is upping the production of the antibiotic Cipro. [•] Fleischmann’s recalls its unsalted stick margarine because whey isn’t listed on the ingredients label though it is used to create the food product. [•] So what’s stopping terrorists from tainting the illegal drug supply? I don’t know, but Wired is wondering the same thing. [•] Bell Labs scientists have developed a transistor a million times smaller than a grain of sand. [•] Yihat is looking for government support to hack terrorists. [•] GovNet may be separate from the Net, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be hackable. [•] The technicalities always get you. [•] How Route 17’s conversion to I-86 will affect traffic in Orange County, NY. [•] A cyclist collides with a van, Wanted: Politicians, a burglar is found guilty, restore your barn for free, Philip Halasz is arrested for fondling a teenage girl’s breasts, a drive-by shooting, switching from O&R Electric saves Port Jervis big money, and the debate over whether or not the Tappan Zee Bridge should be repaired begins. [•] Linkin Park guitarist Brad Delson broke his foot when he threw a hissy fit and kicked a steel door. [•] Here’s Ozzy! [•] Sony and Toyota are developing a car that can understand human emotion (Ummm… great… I think). [•] Anthrax shows up at CBS. [•] Surgeons develop a way to insert an implant to restore hearing through a tiny incision. [•] Arrested Rapper of The Day: Jay-z has pleaded guilty to assaulting a record executive. [•] First pictures of the production Mazda RX-8 and 6. Very cool indeed. [•] DaimlerChrysler shows off its Mercedes F400 concept model. [•] 2002 will see the return of the Dodge to the police market with the Intrepid police car package. [•] Volkswagen unveils its new D1 and it has a 411 hp W12 engine. What more could you ask for? [•] If you look close at the 2002 Holden Monaro you can see the Australian version of the Chevrolet Camaro. Just “sigh” and think of all that could have been. [•] Sony continues its trend of integrating all of its products together with the TiVo. [•] Microsoft says that many of the exploits that turn up are due to vendors giving out early source code (Sure, blame someone else LOL). [•] I love you wife and daughter! [•] Immy reports that Reboot, a popular computer animated cartoon, will be running season four in the US. That rules. [•] I’ve been busy as heck at work. I had to compose a training transcript and work up a presentation. I completed a broadband presentation the other day. I keep getting stuck late at work solving implausible problems. I’ve had two meetings this week and next week I am going to an expo on local commerce. So faced with not enough time during prime time I got up a 5AM with Li’l Pooh this morning and had playtime. If one thing irks me about this world it’s that I don’t really see my daughter a lot during the week. I guess it’s time to wake up earlier to get some quality time– I hate getting up before the sun, but for her it’s worth it 🙂

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Classic DF – 7/3/01

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July 3, 2001: [•] Milosevic is learning just how ironic life is. [•] Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is all too eager to call off a cease fire with Palestine. [•] The US serviceman in Japan accused of rape by a woman has been handed over to Japanese police for questioning. [•] It has been 30 years since Jim Morrison (The Doors) died. [•] The US has asked a jury to sentence Khalfan Khamis Mohamed to death for bombing a US embassy in Tanzania in 1998. [•] Uganda has reopened the Rwenzori Mountains National Park citing that it has evicted rebels from the area. [•] UNITA rebels have asked the US and Russia to help end the civil war in Angola. [•] Alfredo Astiz has surrendered himself. [•] Mexican President Vicente Fox married his spokeswoman, Martha Sahagun. [•] Muslim rebels in the Philippines say they will continue taking Europeans and Americans hostage until the government withdraws its forces from the Basilan island. [•] Cheetahs in Iran are endangered. [•] Quick! Arrest that woman! I can see her ankle! [•] Lebanon plans to eradicate cannabis crops… maybe. [•] The Department of Consumer Protection is looking into claims that ACME Rent-a-car did not provide fair warning to consumers about its speeding policy. [•] The TechX Tradeshow showed off upgrades a plenty. [•] Having wolves in Yellowstone has cut the coyote population in half, but that may not be a bad thing. [•] The Duh Study of The Day: 5.2 million children/teens have hearing loss. What did you say? What? Huh? 🙂 [•] An old story I missed, but should note: Scientists have engineered mice that are immune to certain breast cancers. [•] Laid off workers are reporting their former employers’ pirated software habits to the authorities. He who laughs last indeed. [•] New Mexico teenager Jason Schwab has been charged with hacking into NASA in April of 2000. [•] The world gets a taste of what happens when crazy people get a hold of powerful technology. [•] Did a missing 14-year old girl run off with boys she met on the Internet? [•] Short Line/Coach USA wants a piece of the Metro-North Railroad and Woodbury Common Premium Outlets planned commuter parking lot. [•] The Warwick Town Police lost their case against a man they charged with DWI for driving his truck down his driveway to pick up his trash cans. LOL [•] Do me a favor tomorrow: Don’t be stupid with fireworks and blow off a limb or something! [•] A drug raid in Deerpark yields 3 arrests, Sean T. Pennell gets arrested after crashing his car because he was DWI, and the Tappan Zee Bridge goes online. [•] Creed says its next album will be comparable to U2’s The Joshua Tree. I don’t know, those are big shoes to fill. [•] At last count there are 120 unreleased recordings of Kurt Cobain. Tu Pac eat your heart out. [•] Chino Moreno (The Deftones) decided it would be cool to drink lots of vodka, throw up, show his penis to the crowd, and get beat up. Sounds… ummm… interesting. No wait, let me amend that. Sounds retarded and interesting. [•] Signals to Noise has a very promising line up. [•] A very large ice covered object has been discovered between Pluto and Neptune. [•] The 2002 Ford Thunderbird: It doesn’t suck. [•] Ford recalls 1997-2001 model E150, E250 and E350 trucks due to fuel tank crack issues. BMW recalls models equipped with four-cylinder and six-cylinder engines that were built between October 1998-March 2000. [•] You can now buy an Acura RSX (Kick ass!). [•] A sneak peak at the new VW Microbus. [•] Napster has shut down its file trading service to update its databases. [•] Azazel finally updates! GASP! 🙂 [•] Mermaid gets new fish. [•] I would just like to wish everyone a Happy Fourth of July. Freedom rules!

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