Indeed.

Hattip: Also from Theo.

Gettin' Your Geek On.

Geek Item 1: The sky. In detail.

Geek Item 2: Amazon's one day sale on 'Firefly: The Complete Series'. In Blu-Ray, too.

What If Brittany Spears Had Directed 'Lord Of The Rings'?

Sippican at Borderline Sociopathic Blog for Boys accidentally found out while scouring the InterTubes. It ain't pretty:

Yin/Yang.

Apple Computer:

Good: Apple named least "green" tech company. Companies exist to make things and provide services, not be butt-kissers for busy-body moralists. That doesn't mean dumping old SE30's in the Bay is OK - it means they shouldn't have to require employees wear all-natural, free-range, fair-trade skivvies because the Natural Resources Defense Fund or Al Gore thinks it's a nifty idea.

Bad: Apple is tracking you via your iPhone and/or iPad. I'm sorry, but what do they need this for? And, who will try to get their hands on it?
(cough) The government via lobbying by busy-body moralists (cough).

Scotty, This Is Schrodinger...

...We're almost ready to beam up the cat.

Wait till some Ron Paul/Alex Jones/911 Truther/Birther types look at that ominous machine and realize this was done... in Tokyo... before the quake. The conspiracy theories, they shall fly. UPDATE: Wouldn't be the first time.

Today, This Would Be Blamed On Sarah Palin and Talk Radio.

But back in the day, it was still OK for boys to unabashedly be boys.

When I was a kid (about 11, IIRC), my friend Jackson and I built a mortar using old CO2 cartridges (no less), some black powder we made using a chemistry set he got for Christmas (they even provided us with the recipe in a 'Fun Experiments' booklet), some Black Cat firecrackers, and a copper pipe and pipe cap we found under my parent's house. We fired it several times in the alley behind our houses and, besides some scratches on Mrs. Orr's garage from the impact, no harm came to anyone.

Please note that I still have all my fingers and both eyes, and I have not injured - or threatened - anyone because of their political beliefs or because someone on talk radio ordered me to do so. Further, I gained first-hand practical experience in the disciplines of mechanical engineering, ballistics, chemistry, soldering, and master planning. (The latter refers to us pre-selecting a quickly accessible hiding place when Mrs. Munch came out to see what the hell was going on.)

News Alert: Al Gore Has Been Sighted!

Really.

There's even a catchy theme song.

Profiles In Discouragement.

(Note: This is a personal rant because it's my birthday and this is my site. It involves computers and evil. Skip if you want. -ed.)

Today is my birthday and I had something profound to post, but I forgot what is was. The reason? Windows.

Well, more specifically, Microsoft Windows. I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, HATE Microsoft Windows.

No matter how hard the Windows/PC crowd tries, no matter how hard they infuse their products with Mac-like user-friendliness, they will never be Apple and Macs. Never, ever, ever. Microsoft should change their name to 'Sirius Cybernetics Corporation'. Yes, I'm reigniting a worn, useless-but-to-nerds fight, but I have good reason: I had to get a new computer.

Well I didn't have to. I just wanted my iTunes back and working

About a month ago we had someone hack our network at work. Nothing disastrous, but it messed with the servers and caused a couple of our computers to crash - including mine, which was in the middle of an iTunes update. When I restarted, my iTunes library - music, videos, images, etc., was gone. I needed it back. Bad.

For those who do not know, I live by my iPhone. I keep my memos on my iPhone. I use it to take jobsite photos and videos, and I keep many on there for future reference. I keep all my business contacts in my iPhone. No iTunes, no syncing the iPhone; and yours truly is not a happy camper.

Things then went from bad to Microsoft. First, the office "expert" tried to help - something about "changing my profile to administrator", whatever the hell that is. I created a new "profile" so I could fix the first per his advice, but now everything on my machine was "owned" by the new "administrator profile" - including, apparently, my iTunes data (it still existed, but iTunes couldn't see it). The expert's conclusion: "That's weird..." Our local geek (a friend of my partner) who was over fixing the server, also took a look (for a few more hours) and diagnosed a puny and badly defragmented hard drive. Nothing to be done about it. He prescribed "getting another laptop", and told me to call him when it came in.

Remember, all I wanted was my iTunes back and working.

So I went to the Apple store just before Christmas and priced a MacBook Pro, but my partner was not keen on the idea (too expensive, too much incompatibility...). I ended up with a small, Windows-based HP. It arrived last Wednesday. I called our geek and... nothing. No email, no phone call, zip. Swell. So I set about getting the new HP set up myself (hopefully getting my iTunes back). I've set up all my home computers (including the odd PC), so this shouldn't be rocket science. Worked on it Wednesday night until the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

I was wrong.

My partner finally got hold of his friend the geek, and he agreed to remotely set up my computer with me on the phone. It did not go well. First thing geek says over the phone is I need a "network profile", not a "local profile", and most all of the data - including all of my iTunes data I spent hours getting off backups - would not be recognized by the "network profile" as that profile did not "own" it. "That's not the way Windows wants you to work", I was told. Swell. So I had to - again - dump my iTunes data and reinstall it (and other programs, too), this time logged in under the "network profile".

It has been more than three weeks since my old laptop had its hiccup; more than three days since my new computer showed up, and more than 20 hours of my time wasted on setting up again and again. (Several hours of that time was trying to figure out what button, buried on what setting window, stopped the icons on the screen from enlarging if your fingers hit the trackpad in the wrong way.) Remember, all I wanted was my iTunes back and working.

My wife and I have owned five Macs at home in the last 23 years. The last time we bought a new Mac was last year when our old one crapped out unexpectedly. After the geeks at the Apple Store determined our old one was toast (but the hard drive was intact), they plugged a cable between our old one and the new one we bought, and "migrated" one to the other. When we got the new one home it was just like the one that died - including our home iTunes data. We were sans computer at home for maybe two days.

The major reason my partner was against me getting a Mac laptop for the office is how "expensive" Macs are. (I also suspect his geek buddy doesn't like to fool with them.) If you count up my lost work hours, and what we will pay his geek buddy in all of this, that MacBook Pro is looking pretty damn cost effective.

Remember, all I wanted was my iTunes back and working - and I'm just getting to that point. So, Steve Jobs, I am sorry. I will not make this mistake again.

Why Economist Rock Never Made It Big On MTV.

This must be the number one hot video at the Hoover Institution:



Hattip: Libertarian Republican.

I've Waited 13 Years For This.

At the the roll-out of the latest AutoCAD software at the American Institute of Architects convention in 1997, I stood up in an auditorium full of my fellow professionals and asked the AutoDesk presenter when they would be releasing the Mac version.

I was laughed at.

The presenter said AutoDesk had no intention of ever again supporting AutoCAD on the Mac platform. It was a small and shrinking market, and besides, "Apple won't exist in eighteen months."

Look who's laughing now, Market-share Boy.

UPDATE: There's an iPhone App as well.

Connect The Dots.

Here is a fascinating series of maps of major metropolitan areas in the US. Using Census data, they show in great clarity population density and racial makeup. Click on the green 'X' in the upper right hand corner to embiggen the maps.

Here is the map for New Orleans, and the one for Baton Rouge.

Worming Into The Grid.

Obama's push to force us into a the 'smart grid' - to make power consumption "green" - may make us more vulnerable to things like this:

The reality of Stuxnet (and more to the point, its next incarnation) is that critical state infrastructure can be commandeered and destroyed without anyone firing a shot. The very prospect that Israel – or whomever – could shut down Iran by destroying its electrical grid through causing every generator to overload in a matter of minutes is a powerful signal: the signal that cyber war has physical consequences that make conventional air strikes look quaint and maladroit, so 20th century.

Suddenly, "dumb" grids look good - and getting off the grid entirely looks even better.

Another hattip: The MCJ.

Fun With Tesla And Black Sabbath.

From here.

How to Sell Correction Tape.

Using the Internet to move mundane product is nothing new. Creatively using it is, well, rather rare. This is one of those rarities:



Click on one of the "shoot" / "don't shoot" buttons, and have fun! (Warning: NSFW language)

Friday Morning Distraction.

And think - it only cost a quarter.



Hattip: Kevin Kallsen on Facebook.

The New Black.

Not: Steampunk.

Hot: Electri-punk.

OK, I really have no idea if it's hot ot not, but some of those 'electri-punk' things are pretty cool, in a geeky sort of way. Plus, I like saying "electri-punk".

(Note from management: If you are looking to this blog, or this blogger, for what is hot, well, you really, really, really - I mean really - need a life. Round here we still think thongs are 'hot'. On women. Not on... Oh, never mind. -ed.)

UPDATE: (Management note to anyone who may own a '59 Caddy and be named Adair - 59 Caddys do, in fact, rate pretty high on the geek adaptive reuse cultural kinetic warmness meter. My only question is, where do you put your gloves now?)

And In The Interview, Bind Them.

A fascinating 1968 BBC interview with J. R. R. Tolkien, and some of his English fans and students. Be sure to see the the obligatory Lefty git at 14:45 prattling on, Eric Idle-like, about Tolkien's work being escapism, and its failure to address "real issues" of the day. Hey, it was 1968.

Me, I'm More Of A 'Seersucker'. Or Maybe A 'Proo'.

Via Instapundit, the origin of the word 'nerd'.

And I'm not from 'Ka-Troo', either. I'm from the land of 'Wh'er-yat'.

You Can Do That With HTML Code??

Go here, and scroll down. It must be, hee-hee, an HTML 2.0 thing.

Snicker... Chortle... Guffaw...

Yes, I know. Sometimes I'm my own best audience.

(Mildly NSFW)

Fun With Engineering, Or...

...Force equals potato times acceleration:



You know it must be fun when the last line of the video is: "Let's get outta here before the cops show up".

Hattip: Borderline Sociopathic Blog For Boys.