Apple //c
"There are many vintage Apple II computers available for auction, but this one is special: It's never been opened. Ever. It hasn't seen the light of day since before it was shipped on May 5th, 1988." This was my first computer too! And it still looks great.
Feb 5, 2008 in Consumer Lust, Tech | Comment
Game Downloads
"Also have sometimes irresistible desire for playing some old game, you used to play at a time, and not only on PC? Then abandonware section is here right for you. You retrieve here full versions of games, that have got their greatest fame already long over, however this doesn't in any case mean, that you can not be having great fun by them - playability is a vital attribute of these downloads! These lovely nostalgical recollections are now here for you."
Nov 25, 2007 in Tech | Comment
New bill would punish colleges, students who don't become copyright cops
"A massive education bill... introduced into Congress contains a provision that would force colleges and universities to offer 'technology-based deterrents' to file-sharing under the pain of losing all federal [student] financial aid." Appears to mandate that schools monitor or block some kinds of traffic and buy music services for their students. Seems like a bad idea to say "hey, let's not educate kids!" as punishment for file-sharing. Actually, it seems evil!
Nov 12, 2007 in Breaking News, Tech | Comment
Blaise Aguera y Arcas: Jaw-dropping Photosynth demo
Demo of a super-cool app that basically stitches together photos from various sources into the real world. Want to recreate a tourist site from your photos? It can do it, and fill in the gaps with others'. Fun app, and more fun because I went to junior high with the guy on the stage!
Sep 9, 2007 in Tech | Comment
Study: Inkjet printers are filthy, lying thieves
"A new study says that on average, more than half of the ink from inkjet cartridges is wasted when users toss them in the garbage. Why is that interesting? According to the study, users are tossing the cartridges when their printers are telling them they're out of ink, not when they necessarily are out of ink."
Jun 21, 2007 in Tech | Comment
Sony BMG to pay for CD damage
Sell a CD: make $13. Sell a CD with virus-like digital rights protection on it: make $13, pay $150. If you have a DRMed disc from a Sony artist, you might get some money in your pocket, in return for the damage done to your Windows operating system.
Jan 31, 2007 in Tech | Comment
Apple promises something big
Talk about a teaser page! I wonder what they have planned for Macworld this year? For a pre-announcement this big, it must be a whole new product line... I predict a cell phone, although it could be the iTV... that, though, only if they have someone like Comcast about to carry it as a premium product.
Jan 3, 2007 in Consumer Lust, Tech | Comment
Hacker attack at UCLA affects 800,000 people
Including me, from the warning I got. In return for applying to the MBA programs at USC and UCLA, I got my identity stolen twice. Real good guys.
Dec 12, 2006 in Tech | Comment
Move a Subversion repository from one machine to another
There are big things afoot. Well, medium-sized things. Stuff that'll take most of the evening, anyway.
Oct 2, 2006 in Tech | Comment
The Corruptibles!
A simple explanation of how the media companies are trying to take away heretofore legally-guaranteed rights.
Jun 17, 2006 in Tech | Comment
A Ring Tone Meant to Fall on Deaf Ears
"In that old battle of the wills between young people and their keepers, the young have found a new weapon that could change the balance of power on the cellphone front: a ring tone that many adults cannot hear."
Jun 12, 2006 in Tech | Comment
Scan, copy and fax with your camera phone or digital camera
Scan whiteboards, documents, or business cards into clean legible PDF files.
Jun 9, 2006 in Tech | Comment
Smaller cable firms take aim at Net neutrality fans
"'I think what the phone industry's saying and what we're saying is we've made an investment, and I don't think the government should be coming and telling us how we can work that infrastructure, simple as that,' Commisso said during a panel discussion about issues faced by companies like his, adding, 'Why don't they go and tell the oil companies what they should charge for their damn gas?'"
May 9, 2006 in Tech | Comment
Save the Internet
"Right now Congress is pushing a law that would abandon the First Amendment of the Internet -- a principle called "network neutrality" that preserves the free and open Internet. Congress needs to hear from you today or they will hand over control of what you do online to companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast." Crazily enough, this isn't just some bizarre consipriacy theory.
May 3, 2006 in Tech | Comment
Windows Shill Recognizes The Ship Has Run Aground
"Shame on you, Microsoft. Shame on you, but not just for not doing better. We expect you to copy Apple, just as Apple (and Linux) in its turn copies you. But we do not and should not expect to be promised the world, only to be given a warmed over copy of Mac OS X Tiger in return. Windows Vista is a disappointment. There is no way to sugarcoat that very real truth."
Apr 22, 2006 in Tech | Comment
Apple could double market share on Microsoft defections
"'Microsoft faces big consumer defection risk: One measure of consumers’ dissatisfaction with Microsoft is seen in the 5.4 million households that gave it a brand trust of 1 (distrust a lot) or 2 (distrust a bit),' the report said. 'Compared with all Microsoft users, these at-risk users have higher income, are much more likely to be male and are bigger online spenders.' The demographic of Microsoft’s at-risk customers fits well with Apple’s user base, which Forrester describes as 'affluent, optimistic about technology and brand aware.'"
Apr 21, 2006 in Tech | Comment
Hidden iPod Commands
Apr 16, 2006 in Tech | Comment
The Top 10 weirdest keyboards ever
Apr 3, 2006 in Tech | Comment
Windows Is So Slow, but Why?
"[Microsoft]'s marathon effort to come up with the a new version of its desktop operating system, called Windows Vista, has repeatedly stalled. Last week, in the latest setback, Microsoft conceded that Vista would not be ready for consumers until January, missing the holiday sales season, to the chagrin of personal computer makers and electronics retailers — and those computer users eager to move up from Windows XP, a five-year-old product. In those five years, Apple Computer has turned out four new versions of its Macintosh operating system, beating Microsoft to market with features that will be in Vista, like desktop search, advanced 3-D graphics and 'widgets,' an array of small, single-purpose programs like news tickers, traffic reports and weather maps."
Mar 27, 2006 in Tech | Comment
Multi-Touch Interaction Research
"While touch sensing is commonplace for single points of contact, multi-touch sensing enables a user to interact with a system with more than one finger at a time, as in chording and bi-manual operations. Such sensing devices are inherently also able to accommodate multiple users simultaneously, which is especially useful for larger interaction scenarios such as interactive walls and tabletops."
Mar 10, 2006 in Tech | Comment
Napster plays blame game
"Napster's chief executive has blamed technical glitches from Microsoft and music player makers for hampering his company's ability to compete with Apple's iTunes music service." Probably right, too; see my forthcoming review of a PlaysForSure music service.
Mar 1, 2006 in Tech | Comment
Early HDTV adopters screwed by HD-disc rules
Have an older HDTV with component video but no digital video? You'll only get the low-resolution output from the HD-DVD and BluRay discs. Usually strikes me as a bad idea to screw over your best customers when releasing a new product, but they may be dealing with sufficiently highly-motivated early adopters that they'll get away with it.
Feb 24, 2006 in Tech | Comment
Amazon Plans Music Service To Rival iPod
"Now Amazon, the world's No. 1 online retailer, is in advanced talks with the four global music companies about a digital-music service with a range of features designed to set it apart. Among them: Amazon-branded portable music players, designed and built for the retailer, and a subscription service that would deeply discount and preload those devices with songs, not unlike mobile phones that are included with subscription plans as part of the deal." Somebody needs some tax losses, eh?
Feb 16, 2006 in Tech | Comment
Q&A: A lost interview with ENIAC co-inventor J. Presper Eckert
"Q: When you were working on ENIAC, did you have any inkling these things would be laptop-size and everyone would own one?
A: Mauchley thought the world would need maybe six computers. No one had any idea the transistor and chip technologies would come along so quickly. It is shocking to have your life work reduced to a tenth of a square inch of silicon. "
Feb 15, 2006 in Tech | Comment
Inside the BlackBerry "Workaround"
"Buck up, BlackBerry addicts. At least that's the message from Research In Motion (RIMM), which on Feb. 9 took pains to allay users' concerns that a legal squabble will result in a U.S. shutdown of the popular wireless e-mail service. RIM unveiled long-awaited details of a "workaround," or a plan for keeping BlackBerrys up and running in the event RIM ultimately loses the long and winding patent dispute with NTP..."
Feb 10, 2006 in Tech | Comment
Dell drops hard-drive MP3 line
Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyaaaaaah! (Good riddance to bad-usability rubbish.)
Feb 8, 2006 in Tech | Comment
Whisky PC
Got an extra liquor bottle lying around? Put a server in it!
Feb 5, 2006 in Tech | Comment
Personal observations on the reliability of the Shuttle, by R.P. Feynman
20 years ago today, the Challenger exploded shortly after launch. Here is Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman's incisive and tremendously clear report, dissenting with the official analysis, on what caused the disaster.
Jan 27, 2006 in Tech | Comment
Review - Adobe Lightroom beta
Adobe's Aperture-fighter?
Jan 13, 2006 in Tech | Comment
A Marriage Not Made in Heaven
The NY Times does not particularly like the new Windows Mobile-powered Treo 700W -- "The Treo 700W ($400 with a two-year Verizon commitment) is a Frankensteinian mishmash. Some of its features are so inspired and well executed, you can't help grinning, while others are so clumsy, you smack your forehead." Seems like they miss the 'ol Palm OS!
Jan 7, 2006 in Tech | Comment
Off-the-Record Messaging
"Off-the-Record (OTR) Messaging allows you to have private conversations over instant messaging by providing: Encryption; Authentication; Deniability; Perfect forward secrecy." Includes source for various flavors of Linux, plus binaries for gaim and iChat. Read more about it at the Daily Californian
Dec 21, 2005 in Tech | Comment
Make Your Own Copy-Protected CD with Passive Protection
"Here’s a great gift idea just in time for the holidays: Make your friends and relatives their very own copy-protected CDs using the same industrial-grade passive protection technology built into XCP and Macrovision discs." Wait, you wouldn't give that as a gift? They wouldn't want it as a gift? Well, if they don't want it for free, why does Sony think that we'd pay for it?
Dec 18, 2005 in Tech | Comment
Your color-screen iPod can control PowerPoint and Keynote slides
"Although its capabilities are limited compared to a laptop, it is possible to use a full-sized, color-screen iPod to run presentations developed in PowerPoint on Windows or Macintosh, or Keynote on the Mac. You’ll need to attach the iPod to a projector or a TV so that everyone can see the presentation, and to speakers if you have a soundtrack or narration to go with the presentation."
Dec 17, 2005 in Tech | Comment
Reality and Digital Pictures
"In this article I shall explain what digital technology can do that conventional photography cannot - how computers can produce more naturalistic pictures, not how they can produce special effects. To do this I'm going to start with perception, pass through art, and enter computers by the back door."
Dec 15, 2005 in Tech | Comment
iTunes Signature Maker
"iTunes Signature Maker (iTSM) analyzes your music collection and creates a short audio signature to represent who you are and what you listen to. After it checks your system configuration and asks you a few simple questions, iTSM will spend a few minutes analyzing your collection and generating the audio signature." Here's mine with the default settings and with some tweaks (note that the tweaked version somehow includes both Jimi Hendrix's and Stevie Ray Vaughan's versions of "Little Wing").
Dec 13, 2005 in Tech | Comment
720p vs. 1080i - The Great HD TV Debate EXPLAINED and SOLVED
I hate competing standards for technologies; I just want to buy something and have it work and give me the quality level I expect. This talks about the 720p and 1080i standards for HDTV, finally making the trade-offs clear to me.
Dec 7, 2005 in Tech | Comment
Sony's MediaMax Permanently Installs and Runs Unwanted Software, Even If User Declines EULA
The DRM software used by Sony apparently will install itself even if you select "no, I don't want this software." It's simply not safe to put any Sony CD into your computer! Bonus question: is this behavior criminal?
Nov 29, 2005 in Tech | Comment
Birth of the PowerBook: How Apple Took Over the Portable Market in 1991
"In 1992, Apple scored a hit, and sales of the PowerBook line helped the company generate $7.1 billion in sales, its best year ever. Like the Macintosh, the PowerBook succeeded despite Apple's management."
Nov 25, 2005 in Tech | Comment
On the Effectiveness of Aluminium Foil Helmets: An Empirical Study
"Among a fringe community of paranoids, aluminum helmets serve as the protective measure of choice against invasive radio signals. We investigate the efficacy of three aluminum helmet designs on a sample group of four individuals. Using a $250,000 network analyser, we find that although on average all helmets attenuate invasive radio frequencies in either directions (either emanating from an outside source, or emanating from the cranium of the subject), certain frequencies are in fact greatly amplified. These amplified frequencies coincide with radio bands reserved for government use according to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). Statistical evidence suggests the use of helmets may in fact enhance the government's invasive abilities. We speculate that the government may in fact have started the helmet craze for this reason."
Nov 19, 2005 in Tech | Comment
domains.live.com
"Already own your own Internet domain name? Have us host e-mail and IM for you in a domain you already own." The Evil Empire does good?
Nov 18, 2005 in Tech | Comment
Sony’s Web-Based Uninstaller Opens a Big Security Hole; Sony to Recall Discs
"Over the weekend a Finnish researcher named Muzzy noticed a potential vulnerability in the web-based uninstaller that Sony offers to users who want to remove the First4Internet XCP copy protection software... For affected users, this represents a far greater security risk than even the original Sony rootkit... It allows any web page you visit to download, install, and run any code it likes on your computer. Any web page can seize control of your computer; then it can do anything it likes. That’s about as serious as a security flaw can get." Also note that Sony is allegedly shipping spyware on many of its other CDs. Lesson: avoid Sony artists' CDs, for your own safety (or at least don't listen to them on your computer).
Nov 16, 2005 in Tech | Comment
Sony sued over copy-protected CDs
"Sony BMG is facing three lawsuits over its controversial anti-piracy software. Revealed in late October by Windows expert Mark Russinovich, the software copy protection system hides using virus-like techniques. One class-action lawsuit has already been filed in California and another is expected in New York." Like I said, tort city!
Nov 12, 2005 in Tech | Comment
SonyBMG DRM Customer Survival Kit
"Here’s a handy bag of tricks for people whose computers are (or might be) infected by the SonyBMG/First4Internet rootkit DRM." Includes a quick and handy way to know if you've been infected.
Nov 11, 2005 in Tech | Comment
New virus uses Sony BMG software
"A computer security firm said Thursday it had discovered the first virus that uses music publisher Sony BMG's controversial CD copy-protection software to hide on PCs and wreak havoc." Tort city!
Nov 11, 2005 in Tech | Comment
History's Worst Software Bugs
Nov 8, 2005 in Tech | Comment
Amazon Mechanical Turk
There are some things that computer programs would like to do, but that all computer programs are bad at, and people are good at. The Mechanical Turk lets you sign up to do those tasks and get paid -- and lets computer programmers automatically create tasks for humans to do, and automatically use those results in their programs.
Nov 4, 2005 in Tech | Comment
Sony Raids Hacker Playbook
More on the alleged Sony DRM rootkit; "Sony BMG has configured some of its music CDs to install antipiracy software that uses techniques typically employed by hackers and virus writers to hide the program from users and to prevent them from ever uninstalling it... it is sometimes easier (and safer) to reformat the affected computer's hard drive than to surgically remove the intruder... installing the Sony program on a machine running Windows Vista -- the beta version of Windows' next iteration -- 'breaks the operating system spectacularly.'"
Nov 2, 2005 in Tech | Comment
Sony CDs Allegedly Install Rootkits on PCs
Rootkits change the way that Windows works so that it does what the installer wants. In this case, Sony takes complete control of your CD player, it appears, in order to somehow manage its digital rights. Seems a bit abusive to me, and also a real point of entry for viruses and trojan horses -- the way to control the system has already been installed, a virus only needs to deliver a simple payload to completely run your PC.
Oct 31, 2005 in Tech | Comment
The Telegraph Office
The history of the telegraph, including how to use it properly.
Oct 29, 2005 in Tech | Comment
Video iPod Teardown � Who's In and Who's Not
What goes into Apple's new iPods? How much does each component cost? I think this may be handy for this year's Management Accounting class, and an interesting exercise for everyone, really. (Warning: PDF.)
Oct 20, 2005 in Biz, Tech | Comment
Spyware may constitute illegal trespass on home computers
This seems obvious -- the deliberate, surreptitious installation of software that slows down your computer may interfere with your enjoyment of your property (said computer). It's not the final ruling on this case, but the spyware vendor tried to get the case dismissed because their software and installation didn't constitute trespass, but the judge ruled that it might.
Oct 14, 2005 in Tech | Comment
Why the world needs Unicode
You don't care about Unicode, but that's only because all of your friends e-mail you in English. Maybe we should all care about Unicode, because it would solve things like this (one big honkin' set of letters for all languages). And get new friends.
Oct 7, 2005 in Tech | Comment
Honey, he shrunk the iPod
"'Not very many companies are bold enough to shoot their best-selling product at the peak of its popularity,' Gartner analyst Van Baker says. 'That's what Apple just did.' And it did that while staring right down the barrels of the holiday retail season. It was a gutsy play, and it came from the gut: unlike almost any other high-tech company, Apple refuses to run its decisions by focus groups."
Sep 17, 2005 in Tech | Comment
Acoustic Snooping on Typed Information
"Li Zhuang, Feng Zhou, and Doug Tygar have an interesting new paper showing that if you have an audio recording of somebody typing on an ordinary computer keyboard for fifteen minutes or so, you can figure out everything they typed."
Sep 11, 2005 in Tech | Comment
Mark Cuban: Ignore Hollywood!
"Hardware and software don't steal content, people steal content."
Sep 20, 2003 in Tech