It never fails with me. I travel and then I get sick.
I've been laid up the last couple of days with kind of sinus flu bug. Been able to play some video games, but not to get a lot of work done. Even small things like going to the store have exhausted me.
I'm back at work this morning, but I'm already tired from just driving in so I may have not made the best decision in coming in at all.
MacWEEK reports that there is a Mac OS 8.5.1 update coming out in December that fixes a bunch of bugs in Mac OS 8.5.
The reports of Bill Gates' testimony in the Java case mirror the experience that the Justice Department had with him in the anit-trust lawsuit. He is openly hostile at times, and can't seem to remember much about anything or to confirm the meanings of simple colloquial phrases.(Mercury News report ). Some genius.
Well I have to try and get some work done before I pass out.
I had a phenomenal Thanksgiving. I spent it with my family in Connecticut, and celebrated my younger brother's 21st birthday in the process. The reconciliation with my family gives me one more thing to be thankful for this year.
I have a lot to be thankful for. In saying so, I am not just giving lip service to the tradition. Every day I wonder how I got so lucky. I get to work at something I love. I have people who love me. It's fantastic.
Now I'm back at work.
My RIO PMP 300 arrived this morning. I won't be able to check it out until tonight, but expect a full writeup either then or tommorrow morning.
Rasterweb has a new Code section . Looks like I might find it useful. It reminds me that I want to add some of my Applescript and Frontier efforts to Bump.
I went with my three brothers, their girlfriends, and Kate to see Enemy of the State I thought it was really good, but not great. I still haven't seen A Bug's Life
I started out using Mosaic as my first browser. It was a few years ago, and I hardly remember those early days of using the net. I remember the change to Netscape only slightly, but I do remember each version change in those early days. We'd check Netscape's FTP server waiting for the new betas. Before I was doing the net as my full time gig. It was special. This marks the end of an era, and rather than resisting, I am going to choose to embrace the change.
Plenty of news coverage of the announcement already.
Update: An enterprising reader has pointed out to me that you can order the Episode 1 poster(single-sided) for less than $20 from the Official Star Wars fan club. They can be reached at 1.800.truefan. Thanks for the heads up Eric!!
It's a shortened week so I won't have too much time for updating, but I will try to get something up every day.
AOL-Netscape deal close is an SJ Mercury article on the impending acquisition of netscape by AOL and Sun Microsystems. Am I the only one who sees this as a bad idea? Partnering would be a good idea, but I'm convinced that this is akin to Pepsi owning Pizza Hut. Other ISP's aren't going to want to fund their competitor's expansion. The offshoot of it will be that Netscape's browser will lose marketshare.
They would have to fundamentally change their strategy because, right now, everything is leveraged off of that browser marketshare. Sun owning server software that runs on Windows NT might not be the best idea in the world either. I sonehow think that they will improve the Solaris version of Enterprise server before the NT version. As you can see, I am very skeptical of this deal. I'm not convinced that its a good thing for anyone in the long run.
I am addicted to eBay . I found the Episode One poster that I have been looking for there, as well as the Japanese Pokemon figurines that I have wanted since Nintendo was showing them off at E3.
Those recent to Bump as readers may not be aware that the second domain I registered(and one that still leads to this site and my mailbox) is yoda.org. I am a Star Wars fiend, and proud of it.
Yesterday, I finally got to see the trailer for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. I was blown away, and the if this is any indication of how good the movie will be, they will break the Titanic record.
I am now searching the Web for a copy of the poster . If you know where I can get one, please email me.
Salon Magazine is tracking the flood of trailer news, and Slashdot.org is posting a list of places you can download the trailer off the Web.
My next redesign will include a Phantom Menace page and I will begin to track news from here on out.
Iconfactory has the details of their new icon creation tool, IconBuilder, posted along with a screenshot.
I am in the beginning stages of a new design for this site. new features will include more links to work I have done and a static posting of my resume. I want the site to be more photographically and graphically rich than it is now.
A very talented friend of mine, Mark Delfs, from Albany, NY where I used to live is holding a support drive to get Diammond Multimedia to build application software and an interface for its portable MP3 player, RIO , for the Mac. I already ordered a RIO, but I would love to have Mac software and connectivity for it. He also wrote an article on the subject named MP3 Wars: Blame it on Rio .
We are having our big Thanksgiving lunch at work today.
I'm wearing my brand new glasses. My first pair, and they feel good. I only have to wear them while I'm on the computer(which is very near all of the time), and I see things without any of the strain I had yesterday. Still, it's going to take a little while for me to get used to them.
Sun wins an injunction against Microsoft.(San Jose Mercury news story ) I don't know how I feel about this. If this means we will see Java move back towards being a platform independent programming language then I'm for it. I fear that Microsoft will withdraw its support of the technology, which would make the whole argument a mute point.
I can't believe how fast the weeks have been flying by recently. Seems like I blink and the week is half over.
I finished MedEvil, the Playstation game I was addicted to.
I got the new DJ Q-Bert album, Wave Twisters, and it is really good. He gets great sounds out the turntables, and samples some really strange and diverse things.
Also of note on the music front is Portishead, one of my all time favorites, and their new live album, PNYC. Really good quality live versions of a show at New York City's Roseland(where I've seen a ton of shows). They are backed by a full orchestra. If you aren't familiar, check it out.
I will update again in the early afternoon.
My diet continues. I have made my first goal, and continued three pounds past it. My second goal is still ten pounds away.
Top secret chip less secret now is a News.com story about the details that are emerging about Transmeta. This company got a lot of press attention six months ago because of its secrecy(no one knows what they are working on) and the fact that they employee Linux creator Linus Torvalds. Looks like they are after Intel's market, and seem to have patented an Intel killer. Exciting stuff.
I think that the News.com redesign is a little too jumbled and busy.
Intel is investing in Be. This is great news for Be afficianados(I have an original Bebox at home), and better news for Be itself. I hope they survive this jump to the next level. They have a great Operating System.
They've shipped the millionth consumer DVD video player.(Press Release) I wonder sometimes why they overlook the market penetration occurring in the computer space. I was watching Rollerball yesterday on my laptop while waiting at the doctor's office.
Lots of meetings today. I came in early to get ahead, and got nowhere.
I'm not sure that I dig the new Beck album. Very mellow. I would have to be in the right mood to get into it.
The Beastie Boys will be on Saturday Night Live 11/21/98 and The Chris Rock Show 11/24/98. Warm up the VCR.
I'm learning more every day about what it's like to work for a company that is in the transition after being acquired by another company. It's very uncomfortable at times. It is also frustrating. I know that some of the people that I work with probably won't make it to the other side of the transition, maybe I won't. You never know I guess. They don't reveal all of their plans, and that makes it like walking around in the dark. There are rules that you don't know about. I'm actually enjoying watching it unfolding.
Interesting Salon article that seems to compare Linux's emergence to the Reformation that split the Catholic and Protestant branches of Christianity. This is news?
RasterWeb points to Revelation Records on the Apple Computer site. This label released a ton of the records that mean a lot to me. I still listen to the Inside Out record that they released. Also the Into Another stuff(before they went to the major label) and the seminal Quicksand and Burn, Orange 9MM. Weird how life fits together at times.
I'm working on my Christmas list which is never easy for me. I want all this electronic stuff, but my tastes are a little expensive.
I tried to help a friend set up a small home Windows network over the last two days. He had purchased three new computers(including a 450Mhz Xeon based machine), and just wanted peer to peer sharing and printing. After two nights of trouble, we gave up for the time being. Very frustrating. It should be easy enough for a non-technical person with the right manuals to do. It's not.
Transit , my new favorite FTP tool for the Mac, has been updated to 1.1.1.
I've found at last two bugs in BBEdit 5.0 (and reported them) that are inconvenient to the way I work. I will revert to 4.5 until they are fixed.
Alien Skin Software released their new set of Photoshop plug-ins Xenofex . I played with the beta version of this. I thought that the visual effects it created were stunning. Is it useful? I'm not sure.
Yoot Tower is from the gentleman who developed Sim Tower. The programmer is a Mac fanatic. I ordered a copy.
I would love to hear opinions from anyone who has first hand experience with the Beetle .
My BBEdit 5.0 arrived via Fedex this morning. My first impression is that this is a real tuneup as far as the HTML authoring part of the application goes. Things are where I expect them to be. Commands have moved physically, but all of the keyboard strokes that I am fond of are the same.
In the past, it was a text editor that sort of lucked into being the best HTML authoring environment. This tuneup marks the start of a focus on the HTML authoring capabilities. I already can see that this is a must have $39 upgrade.
The week ahead is filled with nose down programming work. I look forward to weeks like this.
Always the interface junkie, I took advantage of the the theme archive at FreeThemes.com. My Fire Ant is sporting a Final Fantasy theme.
I am down more than 10 pounds in the diet. Although I did cheat a little over the weekend
I've spent almost the entire weekend kicking the tires on the Gateway Fire Ant I recieved on Friday. So far, I'm impressed.
I also have spent a bunch of time this weekend contemplating the purchase of a new Beetle .
I've been experimenting with a variety of Windows software to meet my usage needs. I'm using HomeSite 4.0 to edit this site right now. It seems really good.(It's no BBEdit however)
Of the FTP programs I tried today, I've settled on AbsoluteFTP 1.5.
It's strange for me to be making this subtle transition. I've been there at work for a while now, but at home there is a big difference.
I'm addicted to SONY's MediEvil PlayStation game. Great animation, entertaining characters, and well thought out game challenges are combining to suck up my leisure time en masse.
I don't think Kate is too pleased with the amount of time I have spent working on the computers this weekend.
I ended up needing reading glasses the other day. Yesterday I went and picked them out. I'm aging.
I moved the September and October content into the archives.
I have been tracking the Fire Ant's progress across the country. From Iowa to Kentucky to Tennessee and finally to Georgia last night. I am awaiting it this morning.
Sigerson, a really good Sherlock sets manager for Mac OS 8.5 that I've been using, has been updated to version 1.5. You can find it here .
If you are planing on traveling for Thanksgiving, and haven't made plans yet, you need to get it done today. I paid a little more than I'm accustomed to because I waited so long.
Here's an article in the San Jose Mercury News that describes Intel's "Concept PC." They are getting rid of ISA and adding USB and Firewire support while creating something that looks stylish, not boxy. Sounds a real lot like Apple's iMac with Firewire support added.
I'm going to get my eyes checked out this afternoon...
The "Smart Card" test that Citibank was doing in Manhattan is being closed down. Here's the New York Times story . Their failure was thinking they could get a valid test market in one neighborhood in New York City. They would be better off taking over an entire mid-sized town as a test case. That way everything in the town would accept the cards.
I've managed to open up an email conduit with a second of my three brothers. One more to go.
I've also been doing some work on the links page in keeping with my use of it as my home page. I will be changing the way it is laid out to allow for more links tonight.
I read a couple of issues of a magazine called the Silicon Alley Reporter . I really liked the magazine, kind of a right coast counterpart to The Industry Standard . The Web site sucks. No content at all. No online content, and this is supposed to be a digital culture/Web industry magazine? Very dissapointing.
Apple should consider the proposal outlined by MacKiDo in this October 14th editorial piece . Put the the best GUI on top of the most powerful OS and in theory you have the best possible combination. Apple, however, is even more of an antithesis to the Open Source world than Microsoft is. At least the hardware is open in the Intel world. I think that this combination, if done well, could really be a viable alternative to Windows 2000.
Well I have reached the one week point in my dieting, and I have managed a total weight loss to date of six pounds. My body fat has also dropped by 2%.
There is a very well done review of Linux PPC, "Linux for Macintosh" posted on the About This Particular Macintosh site.
I really hope that Microsoft doesn't find some legal loophole to dodge the bullet of this antitrust suit. It's not that I hate Microsoft, far from it, but I think, based on the information that is available to me, that they are guilty of these offenses. Despite Bill's convenient memory in his testimony , it seems there is plenty of evidence provided by computers that proves the point. I just wonder what a fitting punishment would be. Fining them isn't going to solve anything, and splitting them up would be an incredibly complex and not worthwhile measure. The bottom line is that they have been rewarded financially for business practices that can only have a negative effect on the software industry in general.
The Halloween Memo only further proves the point that this behavior by Microsoft will not stop. They will continue to embrace and extend, not because they have better technology(although some of it is quite good) but because they have the arsenal to back up their combative tactics.
I paid to become a member of Salon. While I know that I could read all of the articles for free, I really enjoy them. Also they give you a cool t-shirt and a bunch of other stuff when you join.
I bought a DJ Q-Bert import record called "a preskool breakmix" a couple of weeks ago when I was in New York. Somehow I forgot to listen to it and it got eaten by the mess of paper, Zip cartridges, and Cd's on my desk. I finally listened to it this morning after stumbling across it. Amazing stuff.
We went to see Pleasantville over the weekend. I liked it, but I thought at the same time that it was predictable, and tame.
I have a ton of work that needs to get done this week. I'm trying to grind through it like a buzzsaw this morning.
I'm now using the previously mentioned Transit ftp software almost full time. The things I didn't like in the first version are gone.
I finally figured out what the issue with my system at home and crashing was. When I use Netscape Navigator 4.0.7 instead of Communicator 4.5, the problem goes away. I will attempt to figure out if this is a conflict with another application or something system related.
I'm humming along through this Halloween weekend. I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Halloween celebration. These weekends can never seem to be long enough. I am constantly frustrated by a lack of time to work on the things I want to.
Yesterday, I went to the third round of the PGA Championship. While I am not the biggest golf fan(the tickets were free). It was amazing to see what these guys can do. I got to see Tiger Woods, Vigay Singh, Davis Love III, and most of the others shoot.
I'm working today on a re-design of a site for work. Hopefully, I can turn out something respectable in about a week. Of all of the facets of Web development, I really need to work on my graphic design the most.
Playing with the recently updated FTP client Transit from Panic Software . It seems to have decent scripting support. Suprisingly, their Web pages don't seem to mention this.
I have developed a strong interest in character animation. This is in part due to my visit to the Disney Institute two weekends ago. It also has to do with my addiction to video games.
I use a Contextual menu Plug-in on my Macintosh called the Web File Types Plug-In . For people who deal with a wide variety of file formats(both HTML and Image), this plug-in is invaluable. It is a product(free) of Ranchero Software .
A great place to look for other Contextual Menu Plug-Ins is the Control-Click Web site.
MacKiDo does an interesting comparison(including pictures) of the Pentium II series of processors and the PowerPC G3/G4.
It seems that the utilities and cable company here in Georgia are a lot less reliable than any I remember while I lived in Connecticut and New York. Almost on an average of once a week we either have a Cable or Power outage.
I've been playing with some Applescript this morning to make using Anarchie Pro more automatic. Works like a charm.
Kate, my girlfriend has been home this week(she normally travels on business during the week). It's been a pleasant change to have her around.(Maybe she'll read this and I'll get brownie points)
Day four of my diet. Getting easier.
I reserved a Clio because my intense technolust got the better of me. Thing looks cool. I hear good things about the evolution of Windows CE. Course I should wait for Apple's unreleased Palm Computer(assuming such a thing exists). Another sign that I have become platform agnostic.
Mac OS Is Better Than Ever is a well written article in the New York Times about the new Mac OS 8.5 upgrade. It continues to be solid on my home machine. At work, I hope I am over the bumps(no pun) that I ran into. I didn't bother to completely isolate the issue, but it seemed to be related to the combination of the new Microsft Outlook for Exchange client and Office 98.
I continue to wait for my Gateway Notebook. Plans for this weekend include updating my aging Powerbook 1400 to Mac OS 8.5.
I diagnosed a problem I was having with Mailsmith and a server at work with Stairways Software's OTSessionWatcher . It was invaluable in figuring out the problem.
I have come to the revelation that email is perhaps the most important application I currently use. I have spent the last 24 hours converting from the now defunct Claris Emailer 2.0 to Bare Bones MailSmith . MailSmith is strong like BBEdit, but it still took two updates to its 1.0 version before I was ready to make the plunge.
Anyway, I am back on my feet now, and probably better off.
I spent the majority of the weekend doing a vigorous fall cleaning. I'm getting rid of tons of clothes that don't fit me any longer. Very healthy and cleansing.
I am frustrated with the amount of physical possessions I have. Too many t-shirts, too many books, too many CD's. I want to strip this stuff away and get back to the basics.
I am grooving to the new Fat Boy Slim album, "You've Come a Long Way Baby" at work. It's really really solid, and I recommend it highly. Great album shots of his studio, which resembles the Bump clubhouse quite a bit.
I'm starting, in tandem with my girlfriend, on the Atkin's Diet today. She had been on it previously and had great success, and I am in terrible physical condition.
This week is starting strangely at work. I don't feel as pressured to complete any tasks right now as I normally do. We were acquired by Bill Communications two weeks ago, and it remains to be seen how this will effect me.
My trip to the Disney Institute has renewed my interest in 3D design and character animation. I am now beginning to spend a little time each day sketching and hope to develop characters to bring to life on my Mac.
I'm working from the Bump Clubhouse today. I love doing it, and wish I could do it two days a week. It gives me a chance to get things done without the distractions of my office environment. I've already done as much as I usually get done in a day and it's not even 1 pm.
I really like Proteron's GoMac . It is a utility that gives my Macintosh the standard Windows Start menu and application switcher bar. I'm surprised how much I like this feature of Windows. They released version 1.6 today which adds Mac OS 8.5 compatibility. It has a great pop up calendar feature that I use all the time.
On the subject of Windows, I got to play with a Fire Ant prototype at a trade show this week. It seemed really fast. I especially look forward to being able to watch DVD movies on it. I am working on my level of knowledge of Windows 98 to ready myself for its arrival. I really wish that Windows NT had USB and DVD support, because I would much rather have had it on the laptop.
Mac OS 8.5 has been rock solid here at home. I still am having some nagging issues at work, but I'm sure I will figure them out in the coming days. Claris Emailer seems to work fine, and that was my biggest concern. The Sherlock search engine is an invaluable tool. Sherlock Internet Search Archives is a great collection of plug ins.
Word on the street(and in a MacWEEK article ) has Palm Computing releasing their revised MacPac software as a public beta. I can't wait for this added flexibility. I am now using the Palm device all the time.
SETI's SETI@Home program , scheduled to start in April 1999, will allow home users to commit their extra processing cycles towards the search for extra terrestrial life. Cool. There is a Salon Magazine article on the topic here .
Kate and I took part in a large event this morning called Hands on Atlanta . Thousands of people come out and perform community service at a variety of charitable locations all over Atlanta. We planted a variety of plants in front of Atlanta's city hall and then took part in a rehab of a local YWCA. Good stuff.
It's October now, and I am rapidly approaching my 30th birthday(the 16th). I'm not sure how I really feel about it. Definitely a milestone, but how much does it really mean? I think I have already made the more meaningful transition into adulthood and am now pursuing the goals of my life.
I installed the final version of the new MacOS 8.5 last night. It's much faster, and so far no problems.
I also picked up a copy of GT Interactive's Unreal for the Macintosh and some additional RAM. I'll write about Unreal after I have played some.
I also purchased SoftWindows 98 which will give me a 32 bit Windows compatibility environment to use at home. I'll make some notes about the experience once I am done installing and kicking the tires.
I still haven't taken the time to build a snapshot of my vacation. I'll try later today.
I am going to install LinuxPPC on the extra Power Macintosh I have here this week. I need more experience with UNIX badly.
An interesting article contrasting the way Bill Clinton's testimony was treated in perspective with Bill Gates' anti-trust testimony. It should be released is my feeling.
Over the last week, the folks behind DIVX, a technology that isn't a good deal for the consumer at all, have been making a major advertising push. We at the Bump Interactive Corporate suite have a real issue with this technology, and with another person of like mind, have registered divxsucks.com. It currently resolves to the Bump domain, and will become a distinct area here until we move it to its own server. I'm looking for a graphic artist who might want to give me some time to create some anti-DIVX graphics.
I expect that we will be gathering the facts and making our case here, then promoting the hell out of the site. Perhaps if enough of the informed consumers cry foul, we can make a dent in their attempt to take advantage of us. Don't believe the hype!!!
I'll be leaving for New York tommorrow and won't be updating for a few days. I'm looking forward to the time with my family, and I hope to continue to build on the foundation of reconciliation we have been working on.
I ordered a new Gateway laptop last night named the Fire Ant . The thing should scream. According to Computers.com, it's the fastest laptop they've ever tested . It's also small. Unfortunately, I have to wait until November for it to arrive.
My PalmPilot adventures continue. I am beginning to see why people find these things so useful. Because of issues with synching on the Macintosh, I ended up using my Windows NT Workstation at work as my main desktop base. The Windows software is really easy to use, and it actually works. Shame on them for not being more compatible with the Macintosh market. I've found PalmPilot: The Ultimate Guide from O'Reilly invaluable in my learning.
An article on Internet based pirate radio that I wrote appears in this month's Swing Generation magazine. I found my copy in a Barnes and Noble here in Atlanta. They don't seem to have a Web presence. I'm also bantering some ideas around to see if I want to explore a book authoring opportunity that has been presented to me.
Shore-Varrone, Inc., the company I work for, was acquired by Bill Communications , a large trade publishing company this week. We'll see how things turn out in the next few months, but everyone who would know about this seems to be very happy about it.
I've had a 3Com Palm Pilot for a few months, but because of synching issues with my G3 tower at work(where my contact and schedule data resides), I have not really started using it until today. I installed the software on my machine at home, and hooked the Hot Sync cable up to it. I soon discovered that the Macintosh software isn't compatible with Mac OS 8.5. Right now I am trying to get some third party software to work, but I am getting very frustrated by these complications. I use Chronos Software's Consultant now for my contact management and scheduling needs. Previously, I used Now Contact and Now Up to Date, which I liked a lot more, but Now Software was bought by Qualcomm and, while they are releasing a follow package named Eudora Planner, I don't have time to wait for it.
The new version of Consultant comes with the ability to synch with the Palm devices, but it means I have to upgrade to a developmental version of the Conduit software. I'm downloading it now. There are a ton of Pilot sites on the Web, and I will add a new section of them on the links page after the dust settles from these projects.
I have to launch a new site at work tommorrow morning. I'm frustrated with the amount of time I have to spend on this task. I want to create high quality work, but don't have enough time to be painstaking about it. I'm hammering away on it now though.
Jakob Neilson has an insightful article on Personalization in alertbox.
Well I have to get back to the site for work. I have more on my software experiences of the last 24 hours, but it can wait.
