New Site

Hey all,

If you’ve been following along here, check out my new WordPress site hosted  by David.

The Greatest Living American

The Greatest Living American

Damn It

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/us/10reserves.html?ref=us

The iPhone may sleep with the fishes

Microsoft has released a new mobile internet technology called Deepfish. Deepfish is an interface for web content on mobile phones and internet devices (read: mobile browser). The app loads full screen thumbnails of webpages and allows users to select an area of the webpage to view in detail. Websites do not have to be ported into a mobile format. The application reportedly utilizes such revolutionary technolgy as:

• A familiar look and feel of web pages on mobile as seen on desktop.
• Bandwidth optimized rendering for faster content delivery.
• Address bar web navigation.
• Intuitive zooming, panning and cue map for quick navigation and browsing.
• Support for simple link navigation and form submission.

So…in other words it’s a browser with a zoom function…

This sounds familiar… where have I heard about this before?

Oh right. Apple’s iPhone (announced in early January) features its Safari web browser which allows users to zoom an pan around websites with the touch of a finger

The main differences? We don’t have full specs since neither have seen a full release (Deepfish is available in a limited beta version) but we know a few things. Deepfish currently require you to navigate with a joystick and keypad while iPhone uses Apple’s touch interface. Deepfish is also missing support for ActiveX controls, AJAX, cookies, Javascript, and HTTP POST. Apple says that the iPhone uses their Safari browser, but isn’t clear about what features will be included. They have already said that the iPhone will probably not run Java because it’s bulky and not as widely used in web sites.

The most important difference in my mind is that Microsoft’s Deepfish can be downloaded onto Windows Mobile devices whereas right now, Apple’s mobile software is only available on their $500-$600 phone which will only be available with the purchase of a 2-year contract from Cingular (AT&T) and will not accept third-party software.

This all feels familiar. When the Macintosh and Windows were first introduced, Apple lost out big time because, although they arguably had a better product, it was a proprietary system. You had to get everything from Apple and everything you got from Apple could only run with other Apple products. Microsoft basically made a copy of the Mac OS (which was only a GUI facade that ran over DOS rather than an operating system) and beat Apple to the market with a more widely available and compatible system.

Getting the picture? Right now the iPhone is doing exactly what the original Macintosh did. It’s really cool, but you’ve got to do things the Apple way in order to own one. Apple has a good chance of loosing this one if they don’t at least make the iPhone available through other carriers.

Overweight Glob of Grease

I didn’t sleep Sunday night.

I wore my duckie shirt on Monday and no one noticed.

I turned in my paper late and am going to get a ridiculous penalty.

On Tuesday I had a lot of energy and I got to see my friends. I also learned that drinking a double shot of espresso at once is not the same as drinking a medium coffee over the course of a five-hour shift.

I walked to the wrong class in the wrong building and so was counted absent even though I was only two minutes late.

On Wednesday I wore my “Thinking so you don’t have to” baseball tee. Someone asked about it. I really like it. (Good for you spreadshirt! Quality product.) Then I got caught in the rain on the way to the post office. I very stereotypically ran through the rain holding a newspaper above my head. It does not work for very long. I received my first-ever messenger bag. I’ve debated getting a messenger bag for a long time because they always seemed fun, but also like they might not be comfortable. This one was awesome enough that it was worth it.

Tonight I went to Krannert Uncorked to try wine and talk about music and share stories with friends. Then I went to the Branded on Display exhibit at Krannert Art Museum (-5 points for no permalink). I also tried Rogue Brew 10,000. It was like getting punched in the face by a beer. Woa.

It’s way too late and some dumb people at a frat party were yelling and blowing whistles.  Sleep.
One more thing…I was walking to work when I glanced at the mailbox to remind myself that I had something to mail. This greeted me:

Return

I am so tired right now.

Hey all, I back from Key Largo on Friday. I had a great time and now have tons of work to get done which I’m not really doing. This may be an all-nighter for me.

The Show ended on March 17th, but I had been in a car since 4:30 am that morning so I had to wait until Friday night to see the final Show. It’s been a little sad, but The Show was only meant to last for a year and there’s definitely something to be said for not letting something drag out. Anyone seen the Simpsons lately? I haven’t. Besides – there’s a pretty cool community that’s collected around The Show and I’m sure Ze will start working on his next project soon if he hasn’t already.

A bunch of stuff happened in the world this past week. Some of it might have been important. Some of it might have been tragic. A lot of it we probably won’t hear about. I did some things and thought about some stuff.

This post is brought to you by Katie who likes to call me out when I go too long without writing. Thanks, Katie.

More to come…

iTunes, Picasa Updates and The Chief

Just a few pieces of tech business to start out with:

• Run your software updates, on Monday Apple released updates to iTunes and Quicktime. The update mostly concerns the new Apple TV which is shipping this month. You’ll find a new Apple TV control panel in iTunes and the option to make coverflow full screen (which is pretty sweet-looking). There are also new sorting options in iTunes and bug and security fixes in QT. DVD Studio Pro and Backup 3 (from .Mac) have also recently been updated

• Picasa improvements! Last night, Google updated Picasa Web albums by bumping storage in free accounts up to 1GB and implementing a new search feature. Make sure to log into your Picasa account and make your photos searchable to take part.

Onward and upward

This week was the first time I noticed that our school paper did not have a story about The Chief on the front page. Since the University of Illinois decided to retire its controversial mascot, the story has held a place on the front page almost every day. Most of the time it even got the main headline or main photo above the fold. Of course, the Chief issue still makes its way into the editorials and letters to the editor. Many people write about the Chief as if their rights have been violated or their religion had been banned or even as if a family member had passed away. Actually, what I’m most reminded of is the reaction of a child who has his toy taken away. Some people have even threatened to stop supporting the university financially and encouraged others to do so if the Chief tradition is not maintained.

That’s like refusing to donate to the Red Cross because they changed their logo.

Despite these worries, the University began receiving huge donations almost immediately after the announcement was made to retire the Chief from people who thought well of the school, but didn’t want to support a practice that they felt was harmful and racist.
Still to come… My thoughts on the Lost Tomb of Jesus and how to combine two very unpopular things in order to convince no one of your stance on abortion.

Whitewashed Tomb

Did anyone see “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” on the Discovery Channel tonight? I was hoping that it would at least be interesting or intellectually stimulating in some way. At most I was hoping that it would somehow change or deepen the way we think about who Jesus is.

Nope.

Utter crap.

More on that later.

How to Over-Cook a Potato

1. Pre-heat your oven to 400°F
2. Clean your potato. Make sure to remove any sprouts and cut out “bad spots,” then use a brush and water to wash off the dirt.
3. Dry your potato.
4. Lightly spread olive oil over your potato.
5. Rub salt onto the  potato(sea salt works nicely here).
6. Put your potato in the oven.
7. Have a beer.
8. Read from Bertrand Russell’s “Problems of Philosophy.”