Why can't Apple and Microsoft play nice?

Having issues with iWeb formatting text that had me up most of last night:



Took me 90 minutes to figure out that it wasn't playing nice with copy/pasted text from MS Word (even if reformatted in iWeb). Probably a better way to work around this, but best fix I've come up with is copying, pasting into TextEdit, recopying to convert to plain text, re-pasting into iWeb, and reformatting. Not sure who's fault it is (Microsoft, Apple, or mine), but it sucks when I thought I was done and now having to reformat 70+ pages. Guess it's time for me to really learn how to code...

(I do find it hilarious in a painfully ironic way that Google's contextual ads look at this mess and decide to offer up "Download Adobe Acrobat 8")

Gmail - Live!

I especially love the mouse pointer on a stick...

1.1.4 & Starbucks Connection

Apple just dropped iPhone 1.1.4 moments ago; I'm upgrading as I type this.

Also, another story is floating around that Starbucks is closing all of their stores tonight at 5:30pm local time for a special 3 hour employee training session. Coincidence?

Coffee chain to close all 7,100 stores for employee training.

One BILLION Dollars

Analysts at Marketwatch speculate Apple is losing buckets of money due to iPhone unlocking:

Sacconaghi estimated that between 25% and 30% of the more than 4 million iPhone units already sold have been unlocked to work on other wireless networks, and that each unlocked iPhone results in Apple's missing out on $370 in earnings over the phone's two-year contract period. If Apple were to hit its 10 million-unit sales target, the unlocked devices would cause the company to forgo between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion over two years, he said.

But a blogger at CNET.com disputes the math with much aplomb:

Which is why -- and, jeez, how many times does the Macalope have to say this? -- it makes absolutely no sense to say that Apple is losing this money. If these phones are in countries where Apple has no contract, the only thing you can say is that Apple should get an exclusive contract there faster (easier said than done). If they're being used by people who just don't like the exclusive provider Apple's signed with, then these are people they'll never get anyway.

(Quick little postscript: I'd never noticed the "live updating" stock quotes inside a story at MarketWatch before. Pretty slick.)

Make My Logo Bigger!

This video is just too good for words.



Make My Logo Bigger Cream

Yahoo vs. Google: The Class Struggle

I can't really get my head around "why" this would be so, but it is somewhat interesting.

Poor People Use Yahoo, Those Better Off Use Google

Final Draft + Google Docs = ?

Interesting twist on Web-based word processors, intended for collaborative screenwriting.

Final Draft + Google Docs = PlotBot

(via Webware)

VD

It's that time of year...


Be My Anti-Valentine

Danger Dogs

Interesting (and entertaining) LA Weekly article on street vendors, guilty pleasures, and governmental double-standards.

THE BACON-WRAPPED HOT DOG: SO GOOD IT'S ILLEGAL

Be sure not to skip the comments. My favorite:

In Germany you can get grilled hot dogs at every hot dog stand and at many corners from carts. Especially in Berlin. What is the matter with the Americans... so many are fat, probably from boiling hot dogs, but won't allow any one to have a well tasting hot dog. This country is getting duller by the minute. And to jail people for broiling hot dogs... what a country. In the meantime Bush and his cronies, who have and still are killing thousands, are strutting around like peacocks, when they should be jailed and sent to Guantanamo forever, demonstrating the joys of Waterboarding for a paying public.

Benefits of eBooks

March 2 - March 8 is "Read an eBook" week. Timely Persuasion is scheduled to be released February 29 (jury duty permitting.) I think I smell a connection...

In the meantime, I like how this article on eBooks acknowledges (and actually hopes) they never replace paper books, but still manages to give a long list of compelling reasons why both can live together side by side.

30 Benefits of Ebooks

On Strike

Although it may be a little late for this, Towform has gone on strike until the WGA goes back to work.

Check out our live video from the picket line for more.

Lost In Translation

Translation From PR-Speak to English of Selected Portions of Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang’s Company-Wide Memo Regarding the Microsoft Takeover Bid

"Everyone seems to agree that Microsoft would fuck Yahoo up but good."

Put the Consipracy Theory Down and Walk Slowly Away From Your Computer...

Hey team. Just to counterbalance my previous comment on the possibility of something fishy going on with the communication cables being cut, here's another take on what could be happening over in the Mid-East. I am still leaning towards malfeasance of some kind but I think this is a pretty even-handed look of what's going on over there. From Wired.

"As a security guy, I'm paranoid, but I don't understand the threat model here. On the other hand, four accidental failures in a week is a bit hard to swallow, too. Let's hope there will be close, open examination of the failed parts of the cables."

My favorite among the comments:
"I really don't care what they find when they pull those cables up...

...as long as it isn't bite marks."

Text Toilet

The US probably isn't quite ready for this yet, but with Finland's cellphone penetration up over 100% it's a brilliant idea.

Use SMS to Unlock Public Restrooms

If you need to use the facilities, people just need to send the word "open" to a short code listed at the bathroom, and the door is unlocked remotely. If the room is vandalized, a short-term record of the phone number that unlocked the door prior to the vandalism can help authorities track down the vandals.

(via 4Info Mobile Search Blog)

The Internet is Down!

Shows what a fragile world of technology we live in...

Internet failure hits two continents

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
-Extensive Internet failure has affected much of Asia, the Middle East, north Africa
-Two undersea cables believed damaged, possibly by a ship's anchor
-It has caused major disruptions to business, television and phone services
-Several reports say damaged cable in the Mediterranean could take a week to fix

Spinning Woman: Left or Right Brained?

I was listening to someone say today that there's this cool new visual test that will tell you if you're a left or right-brained thinker.

Herald Sun Story
(read this first)

So, I took the above test and low-and-behold it tells me I'm a right-brained thinker, which didn't really jive with the descriptions they give. I definitely share more in common with the left-side.

As a natural skeptic, I found it preposterous that a "test" could tell you something like this.

So, I found a more scientific explanation and of course it's muddier than some "simple minds" would have you think:

Science Line Explanation

And lastly, I still can't see the spinning woman go counter-clockwise. So, I used this to help me:

The Answer

Ah, much better!

What brain side are you?

Counterpoint

Another side of the debate, from the other side of the pond.

I Hate Macs

"I hate Macs. I have always hated Macs. I hate people who use Macs. I even hate people who don't use Macs but sometimes wish they did. Macs are glorified Fisher-Price activity centres for adults; computers for scaredy cats too nervous to learn how proper computers work; computers for people who earnestly believe in feng shui."

Right of Way

Minor fender bender last night. Thought I'd draw out the scene with Skitch and see what the Towform jury thinks. (Cars anonymized to eliminate bias.)

Three-way stop at a slightly goofy intersection. Just after 6pm, mostly dark and slightly rainy. Cars are represented by the numbered dots (ignore the satellite image cars).

Car 1 and Car 2 reach the intersection and stop at the same time. (Car 1 may have been slightly first, but it's negligible and a virtual tie.) Both are signaling left turns.

Car 3 is approaching the intersection but has not yet arrived. They are signaling for a right turn. (I don't recall if the signal was on or not, but will assume yes for this exercise.)

Cars 1 & 2 are at a standstill for about 3 seconds. Car 1 slowly edges into intersection. Car 2 remains at the stop sign. Car 3 arrives at about this time.

Car 1 completes their left turn, and has a small accident with Car 3. Point of impact is approximately the black dot in the image.

Corner of the rear passenger-side bumper of Car 1 is scratched, while the front driver-side corner of Car 3 is dented.

Drivers exit to exchange pleasantries. Car 1 says "Three way stop, I was there first, my right of way." Car 3 says "Doesn't matter. I was taking a right, you were taking a left. Right trumps left."


Who would be the at-fault party?

The Internet was Formerly Retarded

Found this great article about how truly AWFUL the internet used to look WAAAAAAAY back in 1996. Some great screenshots using the WayBack Machine.

"...many of the best preserved ones were created by fast food and soft drink corporations because they were some of the earliest adapters of the internet. They viewed the medium as a chance for inexpensive advertising and invested dozens upon dozens of dollars into it. The results are tremendously humiliating."


"Additionally, very few web designers had even the most rudimentary of aesthetic sensibilities, and nearly half of them were clinically retarded."

iMovie is a dangerous thing

So I grabbed some footage and photos from a fishing trip to Mexico that had been sitting on my hard drive for a few years, fired up iMovie for the first time and 2 hours later here's what I did. Forgive the pacing and camera work. It was all done with my Fuji Finepix 3000.