Merry Christmas from Mozilla

To paraphrase the great poet, Ronnie James Dio, when there's lightning, it always brings me good stuff from the Mozilla foundation! Like a rainbow in the dark, Mozillazine is reporting that "With Lightning, Mozilla Thunderbird will have a set of user features that is much more competitive with Outlook, especially in enterprise usage."

Don't Check Gmail on Bloglines

I'm reposting IceBurrg's second comment in his More G-mail Goodness from Google story, because I think the comment is front-page worthy:

Check this out:

http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://gmail.google.com/gmail

If you subscribe with Bloglines, it saves your password and makes the feed available to everyone. At last check, there were over 20 mailboxes (and their passwords in the URL) available.

Do NOT check your G-mail with Bloglines.

More G-mail Goodness from Google

G-mail and RSS, a match made in geek heaven? While checking my G-mail this morning I noticed the live bookmark icon in Firefox's taskbar letting me know that there is an RSS feed available for this page. I immediately bookmarked it. After checking to make sure it worked, I went to G-mail's help to look up information on RSS. Sure enough, G-mail now has Atom feeds. Now, you can use an aggregator to check you G-mail! Bloglines just got a whole lot more useful!

Oh, You Naughty iSync, You!

I just submitted the following to macosxhints.com. Update: It got posted! Maybe they can use it, maybe not. Either way, here's a solution to a problem that's been driving me mad all day today:

Recently, my iSync got a little whacked out. The iSync on my work G4 Laptop wanted me to remove all my MS Exchange contacts currently installed within Address Book. I let it remove the contacts, thinking that it would repopulate the Address Book. But that didn't happen! iSync would connect correctly to my Exchange server, check both Address Book and Exchange contacts folder, and decide that no changes were necessary. Even though my Address Book was empty!

iSync's sync data must be messed up, I thought. I wanted to trash the sync data and let iSync start anew, but I couldn't find it!. Turns out it was stored within the main Library folder:

/Library/Application Support/SyncService/XXX/EngineData

Here, "XXX" is the uid -- an integer number used internally -- of your account. If you don't know the uid of your account, you can find it within /Utilities/NetInfo Manager.

I trashed everything within the XXX folder (WITH ISYNC OFF, OF COURSE), restarted iSync, and volia! iSync started jiving with Address Book correctly again.

Now, somebody with a little bit more iSync savvy can explain what within the EngineData folder was messed up; and how trashing the whole XXX folder was overkill. I'm just happy I got the contacts back in Address Book.

Show URLs In Your XHTML Print Page

For my XHTML coding bretheren out there, I link to Richard Czeiger's great work on displaying link URLs in a page's print view. Basically, our lovable standards-compliant browsers will use CSS 2.1 :after psuedo-element. But Microsoft's browser -- what is it called? -- doesn't like :after, so Richard put together some JavaScript to do the same thing. Thanks to the fine humans at web-graphics.com for the link.

Batch Renaming Shouldn't Be a Hidden AppleScript

So I'm needing to change the file extension within the filename of a bunch of JPEGs in OS X. This is a huge pain, of course; there's no easy way to batch change filenames within the GUI. I start looking up some sort of BSD bash script way to do it, and I found a few before stumbing over this gem of a hint:

Take a look at /Applications/AppleScript/Example Scripts/Finder Scripts. I found a script that will add extensions and prefixes, as well as one that will do wildcard renaming. Very useful!

Yes, very useful. Also useful is writing a script to run in the Terminal.

As IceBurrg pointed out to me, DOS 1.0 had the "ren" command that basically did batch renaming with wildcards. That's great; why didn't that carry over into Windows XP file management GUI or the Mac OS X Finder GUI? It really shouldn't be such a pain in the ass to rename several files, or change extensions.

My Contribution - Online Bookmarks

I am sure all of you know of, and some even use, the Bookmarks Synchronizer extension for Firefox.

With an XSL style sheet, the uploaded XBEL.xml file, and a little PHP magic you can use the uploaded XBEL to make a continually updated bookmarks page on your website. I did not develop this trick. I originally found this on a Gadgetopia Blog if you want to go straight to the source.

I have a zip file on my website which contains the PHP, XSL, CSS, and a sample XBEL file in case you want to use this trick yourself.

You can see a sample of the generated output by going to this address.

Thunder! Thunder! Oh, You Get The Point

Thunderbird 1.0 is go. Go get it from mozilla.org. As of this post, there are no contributed or localized builds -- sorry Russian-speaking folks.

ThinkPad - Old and Busted; Blade Servers - The New Hotness

Engadget is reporting that IBM may sell its PC division soon. The article's author notes, "it still seems somehow weird and wrong that one of the companies that basically helped invent personal computing has decided there’s no future/money in it." I think they decided that long ago, though; IBM hasn't been personal computer/laptop market seriously in a long time.

In other news, I feel no shame in making reference to an overused Will Smith quote.

Thunder! Thunder! Thunderbird HO! (Almost)

As a part of our mandated Mozilla.org loving, I am happy to announce that Thunderbird (the email client alternative) has a version 1.0 release candidate. You can pick up one of the 1.0 RCs for your own amusement. Looks like message threading, er, I mean grouping has been improved, along with better migration tools for Outlook 2003 & Eudora users.

And the march goes on...

10 down, 90 to go.

Pop Goes The Cliched Titles

Gmail is rolling in POP access. If you don't have it yet, Google's already answered your question because they're smart like that. You know, I hear they hire only math whizzes!

Join Me and Together We Can Rule the Galaxy as Search Page and Browser!

Step #27 of Google's Plan to take over the world: Firefox's default home page now goes to a special Firefox-branded Google search page (http://www.google.com/firefox). I love this start page: very simple and intuitive and links to just the major categories of Firefox information.

What About Google Closet Search? Or Google Purse Search?

Step #26 of Google's Plan to take over the world: Google Desktop Search for OS X. It will be interesting to see how this competes (or works with) the Spotlight search developed for Mac OS 10.4.

>> Self Managed Cows <<

PULL

way to go Ice ;)

BANNED

Wal-Mart is refusing to sell George Carlin's best-selling new book, When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?, in its stores because the company feels it "would not appeal to a majority of our customers." OK, I'll bite: When will Jesus bring the pork chops?

What a Deal

Microsoft Sets Licensing Policy for New Chips Aren't they nice too bad the price for a server OS will now probably triple. Cough Monopoly Cough

And What Does The Microsoft Folk Think About Google Desktop?

They're [ordered to be] not impressed.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Googlehorn.

When Microsoft ditched the WinFS file system so they could release Longhorn in 2006, the promise of an effective desktop search engine tied in to the operating system was trashed. Enter Google to save the day with the new Desktop Search utility. Desktop Search allows you to search email from Outlook and Outlook Express, files in TXT, HTML, DOC, XLS, and PPT formats, chats from AOL Instant Messenger and web pages. I installed Desktop search and after all the indexing was completed, I was amazed at how fast results were returned. I know there will be privacy concerns with this, but it's definitely worth trying (even if it's on a test computer). I think this is going to be a utility that I can't live without!

USB to the Rescue!

Have you ever had to swap a hard drive in to a new case just to get data off of it? Anyone who has ever had to go through the annoyance of opening your PC, setting jumpers, and connecting all the cables will appreciate the USB 2.0 IDE Cable with Power Adapter from USB Geek. At an affordable $32, it's a steal.

Cube Zero Trailer on Line

CUBE ZERO , the third in the sci-fi thriller series and said to be the most gruesome entry yet, has a preview in various formats here. The sequel, written and directed by Ernie Barbarash, will be playing at the New York City Horror Film Festival, LA’s Screamfest (as the opening-night attraction, with Barbarash and the cast in attendance) and the Rhode Island Horror Film Festival , before hitting video February 22 (including a DVD with commentary and other extras).

Say hello to my Boomstick

Sam Raimi: EVIL DEAD 4 yes, FREDDY/JASON/ASH no

Finally, OS X users can get critical updates

Virtual PC 7 has finally shipped. Before Connectix was bought up by Microsoft, their Virtual PC client was fairly well done. It was handy having a Windows 98 VPC on your OS 9 Powerbook that could actually network with other Windows computers. (I'm showing my age.)

VPC 7 is released as part of the Mac Office 2004 Professional package. I thought the professional package was released long ago, but I can't find anything on the ole Interweb that says otherwise.

Obituary: Big Bossman Ray Traylor dead at age 42 from unknown causes

Big Bossman dies at age 42 sources are claiming a massive heart attack, Rest in Peace big man.

Things to make you fall to the floor dying of laughter

BRET "HITMAN" HART HAS A NEW PROFESSION Ohhh how the mighty have fallen ;) SNICKER, SNICKER

Firefox 1.0 Here we come!

The Firefox 1.0 Preview Release is finally available! Download, break your extensions, and enjoy!

Like Peanut Butter and Jam

TiVo and Netflix are supposedly teaming up to allow downloaded DVDs on demand. Now that's hot stuff, right there. Cable & Satellite may offer their pay-per-view on-demand stuff, but you're limited to what they want to run. It will be interesting to see how they manage copyright restrictions -- do you have only 48 hours to watch the movie, etc. Also, I'm waiting for the MPAA to start screaming about how data packets sent from Netflix to your TiVo could possibly get intercepted, so therefore the service is bad and must be stopped.

Here's another good idea: the ability to preview whole albums for a reduced price. If there is a "play this within 48 hours" model installed, why couldn't Netflix get a CD library installed, allow customers to "rent" the album for $1-2? I would be more apt to buying CDs outright if I had to chance to listen to the music once before I pay $16 for a CD (or $10 for a iTunes download). The content stays on the TiVo just long enough for me to try it out, so the RIAA doesn't get its panties in a wad. The artists & RIAA split my money with TiVo/Netflix, so everybody is happy.

Why can't everybody be happy? Huh? Just for once?

Downloads away....!

Find the Latest Movies with mIRC

To use IRC you need a small program like mIRC, an IRC client for Windows, written by Khaled Mardam-Bey. mIRC is a friendly IRC client that is well equipped with options and tools. mIRC is shareware, which means that you can download mIRC and try it out freely for 30 days to evaluate it. If during, or at the end of, the evaluation period you decide that you would like to continue using mIRC, you must register your copy.

GMail Notifier goes legit

Google now has a beta GMail notifier available. Download, and enjoy. As a bonus, it even handles mailto links!

Secure Is As Secure Does

Windows XP Service Pack 2 is upon us, and an exploit has already been found. The exploit doesn't use a flaw in the new SP2 code, but a flaw that MS didn't fix when making SP2. I guess we can chalk this up as XP SP2's first exploit, but I feel cheated that it doesn't involve any of the new innovations SP2 is incorperating.

Time to get rid of the 486!

If you're like me and have way to many old computers lying around, you'll be happy to know that there is a free way to recycle them (for a short time). Through Labor Day, Office Depot will accept a variety of junk free of charge. Come on, you have to know that no one on eBay is willing to buy your IBM PC Jr! Finally, Chopper_D can find a home for that Apple IIp! Why not help the environment and recycle it? Thanks to Boing Boing for the link.

Who needs a cameraphone anyway?

Finally a cell phone that not only let's you call a cab, but actually tells you when you should. Introducing the breathalyzer phone. Coming soon to a watering hole near you.

Sticky Pads are Good

For all of you camera geeks out there, finally, something to make you ditch your D70.

Wi*Mart

Everyone's "favorite" store, Wal-Mart is planning to roll out WiMax to all of its stores. Basically, that would mean a huge portion of the country would have access to wireless broadband. Probably at a pretty good price too! I bet Chopper_D is already waiting in line.

iPod Updater 2004-08-12

There's a new iPod updater available that provides improved connectivity with FireWire hubs, improved power management, improved performance with the optional external battery pack, and removing headphones while the hold switch is on no longer wakes iPod. If you want to back up your iPod before running this upgrade (and you should), I recommend iPod Agent. In addition to making backups of your music, it also transfers Outlook mail, contacts, appointment, tasks, and notes to your iPod. It can even fetch news and RSS feeds! If you have an iPod it's definitely worth checking out.

Get your Blog this back

Use this neat extensionShow Old Extensions 0.1.3, it will open some of your old favorites like Blog This for use again.

IE Snapout Extension

Try this extension for firefox, for those pages that only work in IE.

Enjoy

321 Studios Shuts Its Doors

That pesky Entertainment Industry has struck again, 321 Studios (maker of DVDXCopy)has gone under due to their efforts. Picking on the little guy shame shame.

Did filesharing die when they killed Napster, what do they think this will do?
Alcohol120 % ,and CLone DVD ,with ANyDVD are great options.

Read this wired article for more details.

Snarf! Snarf! Oh, Lion-O!

A new way for you to have your information stolen from you -- bluesnarfing. Using a high-gain antenna, one can hack into a Bluetooth device (like your high-priced cell phone) from a long distance away, ripping off your stored phone numbers, calendar items, your cell phone number, etc. Why is this possible? Because the Bluetooth development specification for cell phones recommends that only services should be responsible for binding and securing BT connections (and not the cell phones themselves). I guess the recommendation committee probably didn't think that long-range hacking on a normally short-range networking method could occur. They'll have to think again due to the mighty power of the BlueSniper.

Firefox,, The Browser Re-packaged

There's a new version of Firefox available (0.9.3). This release fixes 4 security holes and should be installed as soon as possible. Download, and enjoy!

How many of these have you owned?

I found a link to the old-computers.com museum while reading a story about the 10 worst laptops on Gizmodo this morning. I don't agree with most of what Dvorak says here, but it's a fun read. I used to work on/with the IBM 701c laptops and loved them. Butterfly keyboards rocked!

Wireless Storage Goodness

Engadget has an article about Netgear’s new WGT634U Wireless Media Router. Other than the obvious features of your standard 802.11g router, it has one very unique feature: a USB port. This can be used to plug in a USB hard drive and share it out on your home network. This is not good news! I officially have no justification to keep running my home server...

Firedox. The Browsed.

Firedox, a new site that parodies Mozilla Firefox caught my attention this morning. For a blog that is sometimes be consumed by Firefox news it's nice to add some humor. For a little more Firefox related humor, try Firesomething.

iPhone here we come!

With the announcement that Motorola has paired with Apple to hook up mobile phones to itunes we are now just a little bit closer to having an iPhone. *drool*

Lego Wars

(jedimindtrick)These are not the Legos you're looking for(/jedimindtrick).

Yet Another iPod Hack

Engadget has a feature on how to turn your iPod into a Universal Remote Control. To get this to work, they needed a Pocket PC with specialized software to record the IR signals that are outputted by your remotes. The signals are then converted into music (wav files), installed on the iPod, and then played through a special music-to-IR jack. Real simple, huh?

The strangely talented find ways to use devices outside of their intended application. And with the forthcoming age of household robotics, more hacks like this iPod Remote Control will appear.

If it wasn't dead already

If you needed another reason why the PDA is dead, here it is: How about an open-source program that works like Activesync to sync your Outlook Calendar and Contacts with your iPod. I *so* love Sourceforge!

Fiber to the home. It's about time.

Thought you were cool with an ultra-fast cable modem? DSL ping times helping you in Unreal Tournament 2004? Well, if your neighbor has a fiber connection from Verizon to his house, you might as well be using a 56K modem. The scary thing about this is that it will cost less than cable and DSL. Now, maybe cable companies will realize that the arbitrary 128K/UP cap is silly.

Tastier Apples

Attention Ipod Fans! Longer battery life, fewer $$

Pagerank

If you use Firefox and you're a fan of Google's Pagerank, you're in luck. Now you don't have to install the whole Google toolbar to get it. There's an extension called pagerankstatus that shows pagerank in the Firefox status bar. Download and enjoy!

Buy it now from Love Your Computer

My vote for best OS X app name goes to Slide Show Bob created by R.A.D. Productions. I'm waiting for IceBurrgs obligatory "Best. _____. Ever." comment, since that's the only quote he knows from the Simpsons.

Widget Tossing

Okay, so we all "oohed" and "ahhed" at Apple's Dashboard feature coming in OS 10.4. We also know that Mozilla, Apple and Opera are all working together to get more powerful web scripting (not named ActiveX) into modern browsers. What do these two things have in common? J. Hobbs thinks that we'll have web plugins that we can drag into Dashboard. He says, "Want a persistent listing of your Google gmail inbox? Drag it off their webpage. Want the weather and extended forecast for your area? Drag it off their webpage." Of course, Arlo Rose and the Konfabulator development team are still pissed off. Apple should bring them into this project -- so that Konfabulator for Windows will get a jump on Microsoft.

Kong

News flash: Jack Black says huge apes are scary. Team coverage at 6. Seriously now, I'm very excited for the King Kong movie. Whoops, not that King Kong, this one!

If someone says "stop", goes limp, or taps out this blog post is over.

Rule 1: You do not talk about Fight Club. Instead you can check out trailers for the upcoming video game. Rule 8: If this is your first night at Fight Club, you HAVE to pick up my stationary from Staples.

G-Mailto, Part 2

A new version of G-mailto is available. Version 1.1 gives you a choice which browser you'd like to open the compose window in. In addition to the update to this already great program, there's a link on the page to a Firefox plug-in that does the same thing. This is nice if you use it at work and your default e-mail client is Outlook. With the Firefox plugin you can still send mailto links to GMail!

Firefox - The Browser, Reloaded

Firefox 0.9.1 was released this morning. Download, and enjoy.

Firefox 0.9.1 is coming

The Burning Edge: Firefox 0.9.1 is coming. Mostly bug fixes for the theme and extension manager. The default theme will also be tweaked.

Viruses and the University Network

Some good discussion and off-topic bantering going on at Slashdot about "Should Colleges Monitor Students' PCs?" The liberal-arts college in question is forcing PC users to download and install software that will allow patches and virus definitions to be pushed onto the computer. A very hands-free solution for the student, but it raises some privacy concerns. I also don't like what I'm hearing about how MAC addresses can be changed.

AOL Employee Steals 92 Million Screennames for Spammers

Check out the Google News listing. I think everybody who has anything to do with data security isn't surprised at something like this happening. Make all the AOL jokes you want -- it could be any ISP.

Not rain nor sleet nor snow will stop delivery of our email posts

For the last couple of days, Blogger wouldn't accept any email postings. IceBurrg and I sent a few test posts that didn't get delivered until sometime this afternoon or evening. I removed those posts, and learned that when posting via email, Blogger doesn't interpret HTML code in plain-text messages. Sigh. I have way too much fun putting in my own link tags.

mini Mini with a Mini

chopper_D's recent purchase is pretty nice. With this Gizmodo news of Mini Coopers getting the built-in iPod Mini's, perhaps he might be feeling a little twinge of buyer's remorse.

Babylon Trek?

...to boldly go where no Babylon 5 season has gone before. Seriously now, who doesn't have an idea for a new Star Trek series?

Somebody, please think of the children!

Remember Sen. Orrin Hatch? Last year he caused an uproar when he said copyright holders should be allowed to remotely destroy the computers of music pirates. Now, he's introducing the Induce Act, which will outlaw any device that can be used to circumvent copyrights, and incriminate any person distributing those devices, according to News*(.com)^2. That means P2P stuff, ReplayTV and even VCRs could be illegal. News of the bill is spreading, so expect a nice national outrage by free geeks everywhere very soon. What really ticks me off is that Hatch is using the "Please, think of the Children!" defense for this publicly, when we all know he's just getting money from the MPAA and RIAA.

Today's forecast calls for sunny weather!

If you're a fan of Meteorologist for Mac OS X and have been frustrated lately, you're not alone. Early versions of the program were great, but the last couple of releases were awful. It seems their only function was to crash on startup. Well it appears that someone new has picked up the development of this software (gotta love Sourceforge!) and there's a new version out. Version 1.4.0a is an alpha release developed to fix the majority of the crashes out there. Download, and enjoy!

New Details: iRiver PMC-100 Portable Media Center

iRiver PMC-100 Portable Media Center just keeps getting cooler this one sports a few games too as well as audio/video capabilities.

New kid on the block

iRiver America - PMP-120check this bad boy out, only thing that would make this package any sweeter is a 40gb drive instead of a 20gb one.

G-spot

Looks like Bill's running scared and Yahoo is upping the ante.

iTunes Auto Edition?

Steve Jobs dropped a hint that iTunes may be coming to a car near you. Chopper_D will be very interested methinks...

Pop goes the Gmail! - Engadget

There's already a program (similar to YahooPOPS) that allows you to check your GMail using a POP3 mail client. Personally, I can't think of many reasons to do this. Kinda defeats the purpose of that wonderful GMail interface and great search features. It might be useful as a means to get mail on a portable device, but that's about it (IMO).

Thunderbird 0.7 Release Candidate Now Available

Thunderbird 0.7 RC is now available for download. It's nice to see they fixed the problem where Thunderbird crashed coming out of sleep mode in OS X. More important changes include the new extension manager, minor improvements to junk mail, and IMAP improvements.

Nvu .3 released

Nvu 0.3 was released today. Download, and enjoy! Important changes include tip of the day, spellchecker, and online bug reporting.

Who let the Fox out?

Mozilla Firefox (the best web browser in the world) just got better! 0.9 was released today, so download and enjoy. Want to know what's new in this release? Read the What's New article at The Burning Edge's web site (Release notes from Mozilla.org are also available). Don't feel like reading release notes? Well, here's a guided tour. Don't forget to stop by the Mozilla store and pick up a t-shirt, polo shirt, or plush toy.

Eggselent!

If you haven't noticed yet, Newegg just rolled out a site update. While it's nothing dramatic, the site is even easier to navigate now. Normally, web site updates are hardly blogworthy, but when the best computer store in the 'verse gets better I think it's worth mentioning. Quick poll for the comments: who hasn't purchased computer parts from Newegg?

One year closer to death

IceBurrg, the creator of this site and highly-talented SysAdminNazi, is celebrating a birthday today. To celebrate this most wonderful of days, please feel free to purchase him one of many decorations from some of his favorite movies.

Crackberries?

Engadget has a story about the ongoing lawsuit against Blackberry. While it's an interesting read, I blogged this because of his use of the word "Crackberry". I wonder if the crackberries taste like snosberries...

New Good Stuff

From Thinkgeek, something useful and something silly. Neither of those get you excited? How about the Flycatcher Mark II?

What is it?

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Apple's AirPort Express. Wow! If this wasn't on Apple's web site, I wouldn't have believed it.

Google Search Appliance

Google Search Appliancewho needs SharePoint?

Evil Dead 1 & 2 - The Musical

Evil Dead 1 & 2 - The Musical I thought I had seen it all.

The Gimp is back, new and improved

The GIMP 2.1.0 was released today. I don't see any builds for the PC or OS X yet, but they can't be far behind.

0.9 is on the way!

According to Mozillazine, Firefox 0.9 is almost here: "We're targeting a 6/12 or 6/14 (earlier better) release date for 0.9." This will be a feature complete release (all features that are targeted for 1.0 will be included - only bugfixes left for 1.0).The world's best browser is about to get better! Be assured that I will post the download info within minutes of it's release.

Friday Apple news

AppleInsider has pictures of the unreleased Power Mac G5. No earth-shattering changes, but it's still one of the best looking boxes around! Also from AppleInsider, some Tiger news. Lastly, “10 Things Apple Did To Make Mac OS X Faster” from the Unofficial Apple Weblog.

Join LARGEST Consumer Advocacy Site for Gas Prices!

Guys I found these in one of the IT mags GasPriceWatch.com & GasBuddy.com . People from all over post Gas pricing in their local Areas, seems like something worthwhile these days.

You can search for you home area or become a spotter ( post up prices) for your area. Hopefully this helps all of our wallets.

Exchange Server 2003 Scpk 1

Download and try out exchange New Service Pack for Exchange 2003 also available is their Exchange Intelligent Message Filter as well the All-In-One Tools download. Be curious to know how these updates have worked for anyone?

United States Patent: 6,727,830

It's official, Microsoft has patented the double-click. (Thanks to Metafilter for the link). Next on their list to patent: breathing and the color blue. I find this ironic, because I bet they stole the concept of double-clicking from Xerox, just like they stole their operating system. If you don't agree that there's something wrong with the US Patent system, you need to read Techdirt more!

Yahoo's Anti-Spyware Toolbar doesn't work

There's a post on Techdirt that talks about how bad the new Yahoo anti-spyware tool is. "...they want to look good to users in the front, while letting in spyware/adware from partners through the backdoor." Sounds just like the tool I was looking for. Isn't this a little like the mafia buying off cops to avoid prosecution? The only thing worse than not having an anti-spyware tool is having one that you think works but doesn't.

New copyright law drives out CloneCD sheep

A classic is under attack for those who are still looking for a recent copy you may goto slysoft By the way the slysoft program is a great DVD copy protection breaker for copying.

June Tool

There's an old tradition on Stupidusers called Tool of the Week that has been ignored for a long while now. I hereby bring this tradition back in grand style with my nomination for Tool of the Month: Jeff Vintar.

Not content with just ruining I, Schmoebot, Screenwriter Hack extraordinaire Jeff Vintar is working on an adaptation (read: butchering) of Asimov's foundation novels. He wants to "create something which is still recognizably Foundation, and yet give us a narrative that has the requirements of a film." I've got a better idea: stay far, far away from this movie. You're already on my list with Keanu, Ewoks, and Jar-Jar, please don't make it any worse...

A First Look at Longhorn

The next build of Longhorn is now finished and WindowsDevCenter.com has a nice first look. Longhorn is expected to ship by 2006, but I'll believe it when I see it. I'll probably be using SuSE Linux 12 as my desktop OS by that time...

Whirr bang pop chirp

Ever take you car to the mechanic and try and describe the noise it's making? Then you'll appreciate this link! Engadget has a post about Hitachi recording wav files of hard drives going bad. It's appropriately named "The gentle sounds of a dying drive." Listen, cringe, and enjoy!

Google Press Center: Zeitgeist

The Google Press Center has released the April Zeitgeist. Nice to see that Kill Bill hits #4 on the popular queries list.

Blog reading made easy

Do you follow multiple blogs, RSS feeds, and news sites on a regular basis? At times it can get overwhelming trying to stay on top of all that information. I've waited for a tool that will help organize all this information and make it easier to sort through. I read an article in Wired magazine that mentioned Bloglines.com and decided to give it a try. After using it for a day, I was completely sold on it. It effectively manages massive amounts of data and presents everything in a very readable format. If you only follow a couple of sites, the beta Kinja site is similar, but has a nicer aesthetic. I don't think Kinja could keep up with 20+ news sources, but for 4-5 Ito would be great. Both are definitely worth checking out.

Azureus has a shiny new release

Version 2.1.0.0 of Azureus was released today. It includes a ton of upgrades and some bug fixes. Download, and enjoy! If you're not familiar with Azureus, it's a java bittorrent client. There are versions available for just about every platform.

Gmail Under Fire In California

Cali. Democratic state Sen. Liz Figueroa wants Gmail to scan your email in real-time only, and not keep records or sell your information to other companies. Her bill has been approved by the Cali. senate. I'm not for sure what Sen. Figueroa is fussing about, because Gmail's privacy policy seems pretty straight forward, including the following: "We will never rent, sell or share information that personally identifies you for marketing purposes without your express permission." I don't consider a beta email system such a threat to my privacy -- I know NO email system connected to the Internet will be 100% secure and private.

Grandma's Spyware Tool

Spyware removal applications just jumped the shark. Yahoo is now offering spyware removal tools as part of their free beta toolbar. Too bad it only works for Internet Explorer. I guess anyone that still uses IE probably needs a dumbed down spyware removal tool anyway...

Cool new Mac Hardware

How do you take something as drool-worthy as the Apple Cinema Display and make it better? Easy, make it out of aluminum. Wow. If you need more pics, here are a few more.

Video Game News

Unreal Tournament 2004 is on sale for $20 today. If you don't already own it, now is the time to buy. That price is just silly! In other video game news, a web site has been set up to track the progress of the upcoming Fight Club game. Too bad it's only going to be available on the XBox and PS2.

iWon - Celebrity Gossip

NO SWEATAn assault charge has been dropped against exercise diva Richard Simmons: ",i am bloggin this entry only because i found it extermely funny...An assault charge has been dropped against exercise diva Richard Simmons, who was accused of slapping a man who made fun of him at Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport last March. The "victim" — a 6-foot-2, 250-pound ultimate cage fighter named Christopher Farney — agreed to drop the misdemeanor charge under the condition that Simmons start referring to him as "Master."

Now where'd it go?

There's nothing better than combining two passions in to one successful product. Engadget (my new favorite web site) has a story about Radar Golf. You want it in your bag, you need it in your bag. Well, at least I do!

You want the truth?

You want me on your wall. You NEED me on your wall!

With new technology comes new services

If you are too lazy to rip your CD collection so you can have something to put on your iPod, then you can have LoadPod do it for you. They pick up your iPod and CD collection, and then return the CDs and a fully-loaded iPod within 5 days. Good idea, but limited: why not offer the service for all MP3 players? Thanks to MacSlash (not Slashdot, not News.com.com.com.com).

McDVD?

McDonald's has decided that it's not enough to just make you fat, now they want to help make you lazy too. Gizmodo has an article on how McDonald's is trying out in-store DVD rentals: "McDonald's grasps for relevance with a new pilot program in its Denver stores that will allow customers to rent DVDs for just $1 a day via kiosks placed in each of its 105 area stores." Now, instead of exercising, you can go home and sit on your butt for two hours after a super-sized meal. Hmm... I wonder if they'll carry a copy of Super Troopers in the kiosk for chopper_D...

Apple issues Mac OS X security patch

Apple responds to the recent reports of security vulnerabilities by issuing a new security patch. It only took one week from when the vulnerability was reported until there was a patch. I only wish other companies worked that fast (*cough* Microsoft *cough*). More commentary on this security patch can be found at the Mac Rumors Forums.

Macromedia to test Linux support

Macromedia will begin experimenting with Linux support, releasing versions of its development tools that work with the open-source operating system, a company executive said on Thursday. I just hope they don't their port product activation scheme as well. Under their current activation scheme, you'd have to buy 3 separate copies of the software if you have a Mac, PC, and a Linux box. Normally you'd be entitled to run it on a work computer and a home computer, but unfortunately both computers have to have the same operating system. This makes me hope NVU will get better. It's already Linux native!

Color iPod?

Engadget (thanks for the link chopper_d) is reporting that the next iteration of the iPod will have a color screen. That may not sound like much, but if it opens the door for pictures and movies, it may be a really big deal. Also, as long as I'm reporting Mac news, Macslash has a link to an article about the possibility of Macs switching to the Intel architecture.

1.0 is getting closer!

The 1.0 branch has been created for Mozilla Firefox and Mozilla Thunderbird. You don't have to understand branches, trees, and CVS (oh my) to get that Firefox 1.0 is getting closer and closer! I've been using the nightly builds of Firefox for a while now and 0.9 will rock when it's released. It will be a feature-complete release, leaving only bug fixes for the 1.0 release.

'24' MOVES TO MONDAY NIGHT

"'24' MOVES TO MONDAY NIGHT; STRONG COMPETITION FOR RAW Another show changing nights.

You have to be kidding me

As further proof that there are bigger geeks than us in the world, you can now search Google using the Klingon language.

Polite spyware?

The Google Blog has a new post about their guidelines to help curb spyware problems. It's worth a read. Personally, I'll skip over the polite guidelines and head straight to the Spybot Search & Destroy web site. That pretty much takes care of all the nasties out there. Also, giving Internet Explorer the boot and switching to a real browser like Firefox is a huge help.

Exchange for everyone (not using Outlook Web Access)

Novell has released their Connector for Microsoft Exchange product under the GPL. This software allows open-sourced mail & personal information managers to interface with an Exchange server. Lets see some development for Thunderbird and iCal to use the Connector. Of course, maybe I'll be worried less about the connector when our Exchange system admin finally gets permission to bring us up to Exchange 2003 (and Outlook Web Access 2003, which works pretty damn good in browsers other than IE).

Google Windows 2004?

The New York Times is reporting that Google is planning to release a desktop search tool. The article says this is a direct challenge to Microsoft for control of the desktop computer. I think that's a little silly, but I do think the utility could steal some of Longhorn's thunder. I would absolutely use a tool like this on my desktop. Now, if only Google could devise a search tool for the papers on my desk...

Fedora Core 2 is ready!

Fedora Core 2 is finished. If you're not familiar with Fedora, the web site describes it in the following way: "The Fedora Project is a Red-Hat-sponsored and community-supported open source project. It is also a proving ground for new technology that may eventually make its way into Red Hat products. It is not a supported product of Red Hat, Inc." If you're interested, download (or torrent) and enjoy!

Yee-Haw! Mac News Roundup

A bunch of interesting Mac news released yesterday and today. First, a pair of flaws can be used to place malicious software on OS X; of course, Apple does not talk about security issues, which irks some. Apple is planning to slow the pace of major OS system releases a bit. Also, Apple has released an SDK for iTunes, which allows third-party music players to support the AAC file format. Thanks to the Slashdot and the News(.com)^2.

Google tests waters with terabyte e-mail limit

CNet reports "Google just escalated the e-mail storage arms race by a factor of 1,000." Right now, the VP's at Hotmail and Yahoo mail are swearing loudly and in the direction of Google HQ. Even I'll admit that I don't need a terabyte of e-mail storage, but I can't fault Google for trying. I wonder if Yahoo still thinks their shiny new 100MB free accounts look good. Side note: how much do you think a terabyte GMail account would go for on eBay?

Quentin, please pass the parmesan cheese.

Only Quentin could make a spaghetti biker film and have a chance at making it good. Good to see he's getting back to work already - I just wish it was on Kill Bill Vol. 3!

And T'Pol will be ordered to wear more Starfleet-standard bikinis

Trekkies can breath again, as UPN has decided to renew Enterprise for one more season. The show will be moved to Friday nights too. I'm glad that it will continue, but even if I had UPN, I wouldn't be sitting down on Fridays to watch it. Dammit Jim, I'm a father, not a lonely nerd.

Talk about unnecessary...

The Bourne Supremacy? Please tell me they didn't make this movie. The tag line is "They should have left him alone." How 'bout leaving the sequal alone instead?

Samsung to unveil satellite TV for phones

There's no way this doesn't cause cancer.

Can you hear me now?

Techdirt:Man Angry At Mobile Phone Service, Starts Throwing Phones. He goes in to the store, rips his shirt off, puts safety goggles on, and proceeds to trash the store. Settle down Mr. Perala, I think they hear you now.

Marc Perkel Rantz: It's the same chair !!!! OMFG !!

For anyone who has been following or has had the stomach to watch the video here is some food for thought. This guys makes some real valid points on how this whole thing could be a fake, after the initial shock of what I was seeing I too thought something was off, after reading this you will have to admit, there are a lot of inconsistencies with the beheading video.Marc Perkel Rantz: It's the same chair !!!! OMFG !! Their are only a few benign pics to support his argument nothing disgusting or sick.

You can view the actual video by going to Consumption Junction, What's Your Dysfunction? While it is disturbing if it is a fake perpetrated by the CIA or something that is even more disturbing...

Yikes!

Careful with that password, Eugene.

And the madness continues!

Another day, another upgrade. There's a new version of Adium X available. Download, and enjoy!

Way too little, a little too late.

Yahoo boosts free e-mail storage to 100MB. *yawn* I have 10 times that with my shiny new Gmail account. In all honesty, I think 100MB for a free acount is plenty (it's twice as large as my work account)! But if Google is going to set the bar at 1GB, Yahoo is going to have to find a better way to win over customers.

Meeces to Pieces

TechTV reviewed Ultimate Gaming Mouses last night. I like that they tested with the mouse pad I use (Ratzpadz). Worth a read if you're in to Unreal Tournament 2004 like most of the people that post on this blog.

Not for the Weak at Heart-

The beheading of the American civilian (Nicholas Berg) in Iraq not a pretty side of humanity.
Can we just drop the F'n bomb already. It is time to turn the middle east into a Parking lot and bring our boys home.

Fair use?

Congress mulls revisions to DMCA "Congress has taken a step toward revising the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which has attracted extensive criticism over the past six years." It's sad that it will take an act of congress to restore fair use rights that have been on the books since the days of 8-tracks. What's even more sad is that this bill won't pass. There will be too much opposition from the RIAA funded politicians. *sigh*

Google to sell banner ads

There goes the internet. CNet reports "Search giant Google plans for the first time to sell ads that include images". If I see picture ads show up in my GMail account, I'm getting rid of it. Maybe. Possibly? Who am I kidding, it's a frigging GIG of e-mail goodness!

Chat Woes for OS X

Instant Messaging on my OS X laptop has been uncomfortable. As much as I love the simplicity of iChat it leaves a lot to be desired, especially in the area of file transferring. Cross-platform IM clients may be functional, but lack usability. On a desperate serch, I stumbled across Adium X. It is not something unknown to Stupid Users staff -- IceBurrg and chopper_D both have experienced the pains of constant updates and crashing. Despite the developer's constant update push, its still better than using iChat.

FireWireless specified

MacSlash is reporting that the specification for wireless IEEE 1394 -- a.k.a. FireWire -- has been approved. From what little chat I've read, this specification is going to benefit entertainement centers by transferring lots of data over a short range. Just let me get a FireWireless card for my Media Center Mac.

Alienware Home Theater? *drool*

Alienware announces digital home entertainment system. More detailed information can be found at the Alienware page. *drool*

Shiny new Spybot!

Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.3 was released today! It's so new that the Spybot home page still lists 1.2 as the current version! 1.3 has a nice first time walkthrough that helps you update and immunize yuor system. This is a MUST download!

Sony to launch iPod rival Time to get you Mac guys all riled up....

Berman Talks Enterprise Future: "Star Trek: Enterprise executive producer Rick Berman told the official Star Trek Communicator magazine that he's confident UPN will pick up the ratings-challenged series for a fourth season" Finally, a show I like that doesn't get cancelled. At least until next year.

Sci Fi Wire reports that "Todd McFarlane plans to produce a new TV version of Spawn, his late-'90s HBO animated series". I guess the movie was so bad that a spinoff TV series was inevitable. I used to be a big fan of the Spawn comics, but I can't imagine them translating to TV. Everything good would be censored! This is so going to suck...

Microsoft Updates Sasser Cleanup Tool. It now includes an activex applet (Internet Explorer required, of course) to check for and remove Sasser. If you want something to remove viruses that's a little more full-featured try McAfee's Stinger. Download, clean, and enjoy!

IBM tries to eclipse .Net with open source. As long as I'm in a M$ bashing mood, this seemed like a good post. Especially since it pushes open source technologies.

Microsoft to end Wi-Fi product line. Good! My advice to M$? Stick to the areas you thrive in: overcharging customers, writing unsecure code, and facilitating the spread of viruses.

If you haven't noticed (and judging by the amount of posting lately you haven't) Stupid Users has a whole new look. Blogger has gone through a complete overhaul and there are a bunch of new features and templates available. I figured as long as no one was paying attention I'd change things up a bit.

Mozilla Thunderbird 0.6 Released Scott MacGregor writes: 'Thunderbird 0.6 has taken flight! Some of the more prominent features include a new Windows installer, Pinstripe theme for Mac OS X, new artwork, improved junk mail controls, new mail notification in the system dock for Mac OS X, server-wide news filters and a slew of other new features.'

Download, and enjoy!

iTunes 4.5 is out! Download, and enjoy.

Just when you thought the days of computer terminals were over, HP decides to release blade PCs. According to News.com, "HP says this approach reduces support costs, boosts productivity and helps protect data." Funny, I thought there was all sorts of software to do that with regular desktop PCs.

AOL is a dinosaur too, but starting tomorrow AOL email will be accessible via IMAP email clients. This is groundbreaking in the "you should have done this 5 years ago" sense.

Internet Explorer Is a Dinosaur--Dump It. Well, duh! We've been saying that since Phoenix 0.4.

RealNetworks seeks musical alliance with Apple. I can certainly understand why Real is looking for help. What I don't get is which part of their crappy-malware-infested software would actually be of benefit to Apple.

Speaking of iPods, a Yahoo! News story says that Apple sold more iPods than Mac computers this quarter. The times, they are a' changin'.

This is what IceBurrg needs in his family-friendly Ford Escape: a custom iPod mount.

Here's a security alert for the anti-Windows crowd: "Stanford, along with a large number of research institutions and high performance computing centers, has become a target for some sophisticated Linux and Solaris attacks. ... The attacker appears to be deliberately targetting machines in academic and high performance computing environments, rather than attacking systems indiscriminately." Let's all chant the mantra: No Computer Is Safe (tm).

Lo and behold, Gimp.app is up to version 2.0.0-5. That makes sense... I just put -4 on my laptop this morning. Now that I'm actually using Gimp on a regular basis, I found out in the README file how to make X11 change the focus of windows by following the mouse (making it much easier to use Gimp). There have been some PSD files that Gimp didn't fully understand, but otherwise I'm very pleased with how it works.

A new CERT Cyber Security Alert says that Microsoft Windows' HTML Help system (which uses IE, of course) can be commanded to pull up a virus programmers' "help files," which help take over the machine. This vulnerability effects IE, Outlook Express and Outlook. Good ole' Microsoft -- even the help system can be compromised. Thanks, Slashdot!

Not that anyone cares, but Episode III release date is set. Yawn

According to Coming Soon!, "John Woo has optioned Nintendo's best-selling video game franchise Metroid for the big screen, says The Hollywood Reporter." I love Metroid, but I am dreading this film. "I want to take this Metroid.... off....!"

Version 2.0.0-2 of Gimp.app for Mac OS X has been released. Download, and enjoy.

Looks like it's going to be a Mac OS X News day! Next up, U of IL launches iTunes Recomendation Site. Thanks to Macslash for the great news.

It's still not as good as TBE, but Mac OS X Hints posted a link to an applescript that "takes all the open browser windows and consolidates them into one tabbed window." Nifty!

Neat hack for anyone interested. Found this one on DVDRHELP. I just ordered a new Dell that has a NEC dvd burner sold as just an + r/ +/rw burner by flashing the firmware @ The Dangerous Brothers Present.... opened the ability to burn -/r -/rw discs. Pretty cool it apppears NEC put out the same hardware with different firmware flashes so they could charge different price points. If you happen to have the ND2100A or ND2100A give it a shot/ I also saw one for the ND1100A.

There's a new Apple OS X security update out (2004-04-05 10.3.3). It fixes a couple of security issues in CUPS, libxml2, Mail, and OpenSSL. As usual it will fix these holes and make signifigant unadvertised changes to all of your important applications. Who wants to guess what app gets fixed behind the scenes on this one? My vote is for Safari...

It is about time Star Wars Trilogy on DVD finally a little satisfaction from the Lucas universe. Anybody know if these will be original cuts or those special remastered ones they did a few years ago?

Trailblazer is a sample web browser developed by University of Illinois MacWarriors Mac User Group. Using Safari to do all the page rendering, Trailblazer has a unique graphical interface for viewing browsing history. Its similiar to Expose in its simple design and use. Dear Apple: Pay these students a whole lot of money, and then throw this feature into Safari. (Thank you again, almighty Slashdot.)

So what happens when Microsoft publishes Word Documents on their publically-viewable web sites? Michal Zalewski comes along and reviews the change tracking information within those documents. Some of these are quite hilarious, as over-glowing praise and damning attacks are edited out. Michal says after a quick search, he found that over 5% of over 10,000 web-published .docs had deleted text within the tracking change information. Why didn't MS use their own tool to remove tracking information? (Thank you, almighty Slashdot, for the story.)

A new and hearty extension for our favorite browser, Mozilla Phoenix, er, Firebird, er, Firefox! This Firesomething extension allows you to change the product name in various parts of the browser. Random name generation is also an option. The Firefox naming changes have brought Mozilla some grief, but it doesn't matter. I'd rename Firefox "The best damn little browser in the world."

Nvu 0.2 Released! There's now support for templates and better CSS. If you're sick of Dreamweaver (and I am) you should give Nvu a spin. Download, and enjoy!

Now its official, Zed: Bring out the GiMP v2.0! Get your distros for Mac OS X, which includes a nice Gimp.app stand-alone app. You can get your Gimp on with Windows too. If you find the Gimp a bit complex, try out this Gimp Guide. IceBurrg should have posted about this, since he told me about it, but he is too busy for Interweb fun today.

According to this CNET News.com article, the Witty worm that has been giving BlackIce users problems was written and distributed just two days after the product's security flaw was made public.

Are you in the market for a media center PC but don't want to spend a bundle? Apex Digital may have a product just for you. They made a splash with a $40 DVD player, but I'm holding out for the $100 Media center PC!

Hideo Nakata to direct U.S. RING 2! could be huge, an exciting turn for a sequel.

Mozilla Backup 1.3a is out. Download and enjoy!

Mac OS X is the leading Unix desktop operating system of all time. Well, duh. Credit Newsforge for the link.

The Firefly movie has been given the green light! I just hope this movie launches Joss back in to a Firefly TV series.

This month's Mozilla Links Newsletter mentions possibly the best Mozilla Firefox extension aside form TBE. "Bookmarks Synchronizer is a Mozilla Firefox extension that let you connect to an FTP server and synchronize your bookmarks that are stored in an XML file. Setup is easy; just write in your FTP server address, username, password and a name for the XML file (by default called xbel.xml). To start, press Upload to create the file on the server and set if you want to automatically download the file on startup or upload it when you close your browser. Download and enjoy!

Here's a really bad idea. Take the MP3 standard that has been in place for years and ruin it by adding copy protection and version confusion. Will all MP3 players be able to handle this new format when it comes out? How will you know which MP3's are which? This sucks in more ways than I can count...

There's a very cool web site called The Burning Edge that I just ran across. It blogs developments in nightly builds of Mozilla Firefox. Even if you don't use nightly builds, it has a "bigger picture" page that describes new features that will be in the next release. I just got 0.8 and I'm already excited for 0.9! I'm especially excited about new feature 189888 which shows a warning dialog when closing a multi-tabbed browser window. Major improvement 231995 isn't too shabby either.

Microsoft is considering an update dubbed XP Reloaded. Let's hope it doesn't suck as bad as the Matrix Reloaded! If it does, we're all in for a world of hurt...

Zed, bring out the Gimp 2.0! A freeware image manipulation program that is nearly as powerful as Photoshop, zee Gimp should be ready for 2.0 release sometime in March. Looks like it will run with Windows and Mac OS X. You can obtain a preview release version, if you're bold and dashing.

Good news for fans of Kate Beckinsale: Underworld 2 is going to happen!

Bill Gates predicts the demise of passwords. Fine by me. One user, one password sure sounds like a simple solution, unless you have mulitple systems with multiple OSes and security measures. I'm sure Bill will provide us with a end-all be-all solution, so long as we install Windows on everything. :)

Help, I've been iJacked! The iPod proves a massive hit with thieves. Maybe it should be called the cult of the stolen white earbuds...

At least our first-level helpdesk doesn't work like the technical support call center described in this Salon.com article. I actually starting working with an outsourced call center before coming to my current position, and the training was a little more technical than the article allows. The article is entertaining in a "I knew this is happening!" kind of way. Remember the Mantra: "We don't support that."

Version 2.2.4 of everyone's favorite FTP app FileZilla has been released. Download, and Enjoy!

News of the weird: Teen Surfs Net, Learns He Was Allegedly Abducted.

Lexington, KY Shooting Suspect: I Was Fighting 'Alien Clones': "'We're going against the evil alien clones,' the Herald-Leader reported Hutchinson as saying in its Saturday editions. 'I started with my wife.'"

Now here's something that might make IceBurrg's Monday seem bright and cheery: Bart's Preinstalled Environment (BartPE). This will allow you to boot into a Win32 enviroment (taken from your Windows XP/Server 2K3 CD) on a CD/DVD-Rom. So now you can have a computer boot into Windows from the CD, "with network support, a graphical user interface (800x600) and FAT/NTFS/CDFS filesystem support." This is supposedly better than Windows own Preinstalled Enviroment, which reportedly has limited GUI applications. Thanks to the Mighty Mighty Slashdot for the info.

What is the Internet? Why, it is a world of ends, an agreement that is not owned or controlled by any single entity. That's great; too bad the people providing the services for and access to the Internet seem to have different thoughts on what the agreement should be. The world of ends link above a good read in a "Declaration of Independence" sort of way; unlike that famous document, world of ends will remain just a good read until people take action towards the powers-that-be.

Looking for an answer to your Firefox upgrading problems? How about trying the shiny new MozillaZine Knowledge Base?

Mozilla Backup 1.2.2 has been released. It support Thunderbird 0.5 and Firefox 0.7. Download, and enjoy.

In case you missed it in all of the Firefox hooplah, Mozilla Thunderbird 0.5 was released today. Download, and enjoy!

First, the good news: Mozilla Firebird 0.8 was officially released this morning. Now the bad news: in a travesty of naming justice, Mozilla Firebird has been renamed to Mozilla Firefox. Who on earth thought this was a good idea?

The world has a new reason to rock: Li'l G n'R, the kid-staffed tribute band to Guns n' Roses.

iLoo? Lindows? Get a load of these stupid tech moments.

Do you like computers? How about motorcycles? If you like both, then you have one more reason to like AMD.

Spyware cures may cause more harm than good | CNET News.com: "Web surfers battling "spyware" face a new problem: so-called spyware-killing programs that install the same kind of unwanted advertising software they promise to erase." This is a frightening concept. I'm glad that Spybot isn't the one doing this because I use it constantly to fix people's laptops.

Jarn_the_GameCubePlayer was kind enough to fix the html problem with Stupid Users that prevented it from displaying properly in Internet Explorer. Not that anyone that reads Stupid Users actually uses IE now that Mozilla Firebird is available... Thanks Jarn!

Nvu - The Complete Web Authoring System for Linux "Finally! A complete Web Authoring System for Linux Desktop users to rival programs like FrontPage and Dreamweaver." I don't know if I'd go that far, but it does look like a viable alternative. The price is right (free) and there's a Linux and PC version available. Download, and enjoy.

Progress from IceBurrg's favorite project, the Linux for GameCube guys: "We have released a 1 MB busybox-based Linux system that contains screen output, network code, a telnet server and a webserver. We also provide a kernel patch." It's hard to create .htaccess files with just a controller. Details at their web site.

TiVo says that the Janet Jackson boobage during the Super Bowl is the most replayed event ever. Waitaminute, TiVo is tracking what we watch and what we replay? They're watching me watching TV! Quick, into this tin foil hat, which will protect us from their brainscanners!

Well it's about time! Firebird 0.8 is due out next Monday!

There's a thread at Macslash calling the iPod a gateway drug. My gateway drug was a tricked-out 15" Aluminum G4 PowerBook. Quick poll - what was yours - if you had one?

Click here to see the stolen SCO code that Linux is using.

A couple gives their newborn son's name a version number. The thought went through my head as I was thinking of names for my child, but then I had the realization that the poor kid would get his ass beaten every day by other kids.

Just when it started getting good, UPN executives decided they need to mess with Enterprise.

Sourceforge project of the week: Oubliette. Funny name, amazing utility. It's a secure password manager that has the ability to fill in web forms for you. Best of all, it has support for Mozilla Firebird! More information can be found at the Oubliette home page if you're interested. Download, and enjoy!

For those to missed it here are the pictures Janet's SuperBowl Nippleslip man is she desperate for attention or what...

Memo to movers everywhere: never leave your bronze Yoda unattended.

The creator of Ctrl-Alt-Delete -- David Bradley -- will be retiring from IBM after 20 years of service. Here's a great quote from the article: "At a 20-year celebration for the IBM PC, Bradley was on a panel with Microsoft founder Bill Gates and other tech icons. The discussion turned to the keys. 'I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous,' Bradley said. Gates didn't laugh."

McGregor: Episode III Ends It All. Well thank you, Jedi Master Obvious! I would have never guessed that... It's been a while, but I would like to officially nominate Ewan McGregor as tool of the week.

AMD chips include buffer overflow protection. This is certainly an interesting take on security - I wonder how well it could work in practice.

Wired News: Linux Takes on the Windows Look. I'm especially fond of the looking glass project from Sun. Oooh, ahhh...

Finally, there's a use for Jarn's Game Cube!

Isn't it about time there was a cure for user-created headaches? Sorry for the pun...

Hear ye! Hear ye! Mozilla 1.6 is released! Get ye to a-downloadin'!

Speaking of cool gadgets, how about the ThinkGeek Scrolling LED Badge? I can just imagine the possibilities: "No, I will not fix your computer" or "User error" etc... Just imagine how much fun this would be on Tuesdays!

We've waited and waited, but now it's here! The Dick Tracy watch!

Migration from Windows to Linux saves thousands. This is a good read for people considering getting rid of M$ in the enterprise.

"Windows is about choice - you can mix and match software and music player stuff. We believe you should have the same choice when it comes to music services." That's a quote from David Fester, the general manager of Microsoft's Windows digital media division. Okay, so what happens when Napster 2.0 offers iPod connectivity? Isn't that the choice he's looking for?

Move over Lars, Ben Affleck wants to keep you company.

If you use Mac OS 10.3, the you probably love Expose. Now, if you're forced to use Windows you can have the same functionality in the blatant ripoff WinExpose! (Thanks to Macslash for the link).

The 20 Macs That Mattered Most. For all you Mac lovers out there...

So we all have heard that HP bought rights to produce their own brand of iPods. But what you haven't heard is this: "The company will be working with Apple to add support for Microsoft's superior Windows Media Audio (WMA) format to the iPod by mid-year." I'll allow that to shake your knees for a bit.

Got an iPod? Want to hook it in to your car? Alpine is going to make it happen!

Stupid Users now has an RSS feed! If you don't already have an RSS reader, give RSS Reader Panel for Firebird a shot. Otherwise there are a ton of free RSS readers out there. I'm especially fond of the IntraVNews reader for Outlook.

...and I will call it Mini-Me.

This has absolutely nothing to do with geek news, but I couldn't help posting this story of forbidden ping-pong love.

Mozilla Backup 1.2 Released. Download, and enjoy!

There's a web site about it, so it must be true! FireflyMovie.com!

There's a new version of FileZilla out. Download and enjoy!