October 2004

Google desktop search

October 14, 2004

Dave Winer is very excited with Google Desktop Search. It does seem like something pretty cool and I'll have to check it out. It just might bring Windows XP one step closer to OS X. Dave notes that GDS is not available for the Mac. This seems a bit odd to me, the fact that it is a fractional web server means there are several ways it could quite easily work on the Mac. Perhaps they're waiting for some of the core searching features to be baked in in Tiger. Or perhaps they're looking at the fact that very similar functionality has been available since OS 8.6 for the Mac - longer than Google's been around. Admittedly the idea of a fractional web server is a thousand times cooler than a native app and the expandability should be great for this kind of platform. It is quite disappointing that they don't support the browsers that many community leaders use - Firefox comes to mind.

Which brings me to another idea that's been bugging me lately. When will there be a browser maker for Windows that understands spell checking. Certainly Apple's decision to bake spell checking into the operating system makes it easier, but the feature of Safari as far as I'm concerned is that it can spell check anything I type on the web - critical for web content authors.

CherryOS - Vaporware

October 13, 2004

If something sounds too good to be true it probably is.

This adage seems to apply to the "makers" of Cherry OS. They alternately claim "immediate availability of CherryOS software" in their press release of October 8, 2004. Yet they say in the documentation portion of the same site the vaporware OS is "only available as a beta release for selected user" - If only it were true.

And you're surprised

October 13, 2004

The stepfather of a University of Colorado freshman who was found dead on September 17th in the Chi Psi frat house said of CU it is "one of the highest-risk environments" for new college students.

What amazes me is not this assessment. It amazes me that there are people who continue to deny this. Most importantly those who run the institution continue to foster this environment by not taking appropriate actions against coaches who do not recognize that rape is inappropriate. Further when there is strong evidence these same coaches wanted "plausible deniability" they knew that things were going wrong. Seriously wrong. It's time for the administration of CU to step aside and make way for a new team with real concern for the students and the community.

Drupal kicks ass

October 12, 2004

On my walk last night I was listening to the Gillmore Gang's replay of a blogging strategies session at Gnomedex. I started paying attention to the features they needed in blogging tools and content management. There wasn't anything they mentioned that Drupal won't do. There are several items like search that it is very good at and it is easy to setup and run for even pretty novice users. The added thing is that it has an aggregator baked in so everywhere you go your aggregator is accessible even if your desktop computer isn't. Now, I'd love to have a better aggregator built in and have more feed by feed control. I'd love to be able to throttle a feed such as the Las Vegas Herald which assimilates local news but comes as floods that wipe out all the other news in the top of my aggregator. Then again these are small wants/needs compared to the simplicity and power of Drupal.

SETI@Home

October 11, 2004

The Seti@Home project allows users to use their home computers to search for intelligent life. Today news from Columbus, Ohio says that a state programmer was fired for running the program on a state-owned computer server. Maybe using all those spare taxpayer dollars to run up your personal stats isn't such a good idea.

A new judge

October 9, 2004

The Review Journal has a nice picture of the investiture of Judge Markell formerly a professor of law at UNLV. Congratulations professor Markell!

A passing grade?

October 8, 2004

It's pretty scary to think that nearly half of the residents of the United States give W a passing grade on being president. When will folks wake up to the real record he has on defending America?

Maybe there are just too many people overcome by Bush II's speaking abilities.

The Capital Grille

October 7, 2004

I went to a Cancer Society fundraiser at the soon to open Las Vegas Capital Grille last night. The selection was wine (including a wonderful Chardonay) and heavy appetizers. There was a nearly endless selection of sea food dishes, including wonderful (and huge) shrimp, crab, salmon and oysters. On the meat side was a rather plain turkey and a stellar pork. Notably absent was any hint of the signature steak. The service was good, though there are still kinks to be worked out. It took several tries for the requested water to make it to the table. There were also some tomato and mozzarella on toast. Although it smelled a bit of cheese, it had absolutely no flavor. None. Not a bit. All and all it will be a wonderful restaurant. Though it was a bit ironic to sit in a wonderful restaurant and look out on the "Bikini Electronic Bull Riding" sign on the Frontier casino.

A failing memory?

October 6, 2004

Evidence suggests that John Edwards is fit to be a heartbeat away from being President but calls into question Cheney's fitness. How is it he can't remember standing right next to John Edwards while being Vice President? It does help to explain why we're at war with a country that had nothing to do with 9/11.

Pages