Month: May 2003

At Lessig‘s suggestion, I’ll try to snap a photo at Starbucks this weekend.

You should too.

John Burkhardt:

Check out the new Groove DevZone, complete with rss feed.

V. Satheesh Babu:

Kalsey’s button maker interface for Bill Zeller’s brilliant button maker application is pretty sweet. Here’s my button!

Cool button love.

Also a link from Slashdot today, ExtremeTech takes a look at F#, a new .NET language that draws from OCaml and C# (which in turn has roots in Java, C++, etc).

When Microsoft runs out of letters to put # next to, will we start seeing languages like Bb (B flat)?  🙂

Slashdot has a pointer to a Computerworld article noting that the new supposedly final standard has a much lower throughput than the 54 megabits that current hardware runs.  Here’s CowboyNeal:

It’s been moved from 54Mbps all the way down to 10-20Mbps, more than just a slight change.

It’s going to be a tough sell to get customers to update their 54g firmware if it is going to reduce their throughput that significantly.

The Nikon D100 is moving from professional digital dealers only to NAS/NCP digital dealers.  What does this mean?  It means that more stores will be able to sell the D100.  Another major thing is that the D2 and D2x are in the pipeline, though I don’t know exactly where, and should be officially announced in the near future.

No ETA on delivery.

While at a bar last night, the thought came to my mind that there really needs to be a drink called the Slashdot.  I don’t know what it would contain, but the ingredients would have to be geeky.

Someone I was with took it to the next level: “Helper monkey: Slashdot me.”

I recieved a little treat in my inbox tonight: more TypePad info and some juicy screenshots!  You can head over to the TypePad site to take a look for yourself.  The interface looks really clean, like a souped-up yet simplified MovableType.  It looks like it has the potential to be an excellent service.

The thought of hundreds of users clicking ‘rebuild’ at the same time makes the sysadmin in me cringe, but hopefully they’ve got something up their sleeve.

Aaron Swartz has an awesome idea brewing.  He thinks of it as CodeCon on the web.

I think it’s a great idea Aaron.  The name does remind me of Hack the Planet, but +1 to the idea.

Mental note: review the insecure.org Top 75 Security Tools list.  I already use some, but could probably make use of others.

PuTTY, a tool that I use daily, is on the list but on the bottom 25.

OSNews:

What’s new in the upcoming Java version 1.4.2? The answer can be found in the discussion here.

From MySQL AB:

SEATTLE, Wash. – (May 20, 2003) – MySQL AB, developer of the world’s most popular open source database, today announced that the MySQL™ database has been optimized for the AMD Opteron™ processor, the flagship for AMD’s new AMD64 technology platform. MySQL for Linux running on the AMD Opteron processor is now available at the MySQL AB Web site at www.mysql.com/downloads.

Let’s see: x86-64 + 64 bit MySQL + gigs and gigs of RAM == bliss.

Joi points out that Supernova will be held in DC later this summer.  The conference itself is priced out of my tax bracket, but if Joi and others are going to be in town, it’d be perfect for a weblogger get together.

I’m sure the Supernova conference is going to rock, so if you can afford it, definately check it out.  Check out the schedule and list of speakers if you don’t believe me.

Mobiletracker dishes about the Nokia 6108 pen-based camera.  Mobiletracker has more rumors about the phone which probably won’t be anywhere until Q3 2003.

Estimated time until this phone hits the United States: Forever.

Via OpenBSD Journal, for those on the bleeding edge, NTFS support has been commited to the OpenBSD cvs.  It’s read-only for now, but is definately helpful.

• I was in a store at the mall the other day and noticed that Playstation 2’s are down to US$179.  I’ll probably wait for the newest incarnation (some chip redesigns) which is expected to ship with the broadband adapter for $199 in June.
• Wordlog 1.3: “Wordlog is an weblog written in PHP and backed by MySQL. It is entirely ASCII based and standards compliant. Features include: multi-user support, a threaded reply system, on the fly administration, user profiles, and more!”
• Greg has the NewsGator 1.2 release details.  Check it out!
• Phillip Greenspun: “After two days of touring Wales, a country that apparently has yet to discover the mixing faucet, it has become apparent that there is better mobile phone coverage in the remotest sheep pasture or coastal outcrop than in downtown Boston. How can such an otherwise backward place be so far ahead of the U.S. technologically?”
• This Gizmodo piece makes me think, “But mommy, Mickey says I should see the Tiki Birds two more times!”

CNet:

A new version of Amazon.com’s Web services tool allows third parties to embed Amazon’s shopping cart technology into their own Web sites.

Other new features in the latest version of the tool, due out Monday, include a chat function and the ability to search by price range.

Check out the Amazon Web Services page for more info.

Greg has something up his sleeve for NewsGator 1.2:

Tomorrow, May 20, 2003, everything changes.

MacCentral:

Toast maker Roxio Inc. today announced that it had acquired Sony/Universal’s Pressplay online music service. The company plans to use Pressplay as the basis for its relaunch of Napster. A joint venture between Universal Music Group (UMG) and Sony Music Entertainment (SME), Pressplay has been acquired by Roxio for US$12.5 million in cash and 3.9 million shares of Roxio stock — a purchase valued at about $39.5 million.

Here’s an interesting tidbit from The Washington Post:

Apart from its Friday-Sunday total (the usual measure of Hollywood success), “MR” collected another $42.5 million between its late-Wednesday sneak previews and its official Thursday opening, pushing its five-day gross to $135.8 million. The Wednesday-Thursday total very likely means the movie collected more at the box office on Thursday than any other in history, according to Dergarabedian.

Not too shabby at all.  My $9 contributed to the wed-thur totals.