Z Trek: The Alan Zeichick Weblog
Artificial Nostalgia
Oh, to have worked or studied at SAIL, back in the day. Of course, “in the day” was in the 1970s and early 1980s, when the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory was in its prime – long before AI became shorthand for “any technology…
May the Rice Be With You with Star Wars lightsaber chopsticks
"Use the chopsticks, Luke!"My son found these delightful lightsaber chopsticks. Coming right after we completed a Star Wars movie marathon, we've got to have them. The link shows someone holding them.Z Trek Copyright (c) Alan Zeichick
New scam has hackers or phishers phoning users: Be warned
A good friend — a computer expert — just sent me this account of a strange experience this afternoon. It's scary, especially for those whose "skeptic flag" is turned off. Be alert!Got a weird phone call just now. Guy with Indian accent who…
With Touch, we get a new feel for Windows
Touch may be the next mass-market computing innovation. It’s very interesting – but not surprising – that Microsoft appears to be leading the charge with functionality based on its Surface technology and built into Windows 7.Despite its…
Do you really want to shop at this spamhouse?
I received this verbatim identical message about 15 times from a variety of recipients over the past few days. Gosh, this makes me really want to shop there. Not!Subject: Dear friend...! 1 Dear friend, How are you doing recently? I found a…
Spending $402,800 for a wristwatch
The perfect stocking stuffer, the Breguet 5347PT/11/9ZU.It's described in the most recent Tourneau catalog as "Classique Grand Complication, 950 platinum with twin rotating tourbillons, ring-shaped dial forming a flange in 18K silvered gold,…
The Way of the Ad-Sales Samurai
Is Ted Bahr, co-founder of BZ Media, the Last Samurai of print advertising?Folio Magazine's Tony Silber thinks so, as you can read in his blog post, aptly titled "The Last Samurai." There, Tony questions Ted's unwillingness to write off print…
FasTrak FAIL – trapped in the SFO parking garage
Using FasTrak seemed like such a good idea at the time. It wasn't.The central parking garage at San Francisco International Airport now accepts FasTrak, the RFID-based system that lets you pay bridge tolls without stopping. FasTrak is a wonderful…
Finally, Itanium is profitable!
Intel’s 64-bit Itanium processor never got much respect from the mainstream enterprise server buyer. A set of more established 64-bit chips based on the RISC architecture, the rapid evolution of the 32-bit x86 architecture – and then the…
Resignation accepted, I guess
Trying to figure out this email. Is it spam? Is it business correspondence? It came to an obsolescent personal email address. The name of the sender doesn't appear to match the name on the email address. Needless to say, there's nothing in my…
You’ve got to see this to be-leaf it
Adorable blog today posting today, by Christoph Niemann in the New York Times: Bio-Diversity.Z Trek Copyright (c) Alan Zeichick
Windows Azure and Zero-Day Flaws
My brain is trying to wrap itself around two of today's news items.The first is by SD Times reporter David Worthington, reporting from the Microsoft Professional Development Conference. His story, “Azure shines over Microsoft PDC,” covered…
Mistakes in typography to drive you batty
"Dirt. Noise. Crowds. Delays. Scary smells. Even scarier fluids swirling on the floor. There are lots of reasons to loathe the New York City subway, but one very good reason to love it — Helvetica, the typeface that’s used on its signage."So…
Amazon in the United Kingdom won’t accept an American Amazon credit card
The irony is ironic: Amazon.co.uk won't accept payment from a U.S.-based Amazon credit card. But the online retailing service will accept other U.S.-based credit cards.Our family possesses an Amazon.com Visa card, used mainly to buy things on…
Intel pays off AMD
The box-office draw of the lawsuit between Intel and Advanced Micro Devices has been small but consistent. The companies have been embroiled in legal claims and counterclaims for many years. Now, the suits are apparently over, with Intel agreeing…
Can you trust the integrity of your chips?
A few weeks ago, in "Can you trust the integrity of your data," I wrote about the potential for shenanigans with a new computer-controlled watt-hour meter that a local electric utility installed at my home. The worry: My bill might go up.
That,…
Disenfranchising the disconnected
"Welcome to Toronto!" said the cheerful flight attendant. "Voice rate is $.79/min; data is $15.36/MB. Unlimited domestic plans do NOT apply," said the happy text message from AT&T Wireless.Not wanting to purchase a data plan for over a hundred…
It may be the end for Jolt Cola, namesake of the Jolt Awards
Jolt Cola may be gone forever from supermarket shelves. Fortunately, I've got quite a few hypercaffeinated bottles stashed away.Jolt Cola is the mascot of the Jolt Awards, which originated at Miller Freeman's Computer Language Magazine in 1990.…
Definitely not the target market
It's a given that spammers don't put a lot of effort into filtering their lists to ensure that their marketing messages reach a specific target audience.Thus, the subject line on a spam received today by my friend Andrew:Did you suffer a Gallbladder…
The Windows Name Game
Today is Windows 7 Day. What better way to celebrate than to remember the two Windows desktop genealogies?Let's begin with the long-forgotten family that started out as a graphical shell for DOS:Windows 1.0Windows 2.0Windows 3.0Windows 3.1Windows…
"My product supports Windows 7" is not news
Attention PR and marketing professionals: An announcement that your Windows products support Windows 7 is not news. It's fairly safe to assume that every company with Windows desktop products is making darned sure that those products run on…
iPhone App to Serve Up Chicken Wings
This is one iPhone app that I won't be purchasing, even for 99 cents. But I got a laugh from the press release.Subj: iPhone App to Serve Up Chicken WingsWhat's everyone Kluckin' about?NEW YORK, Oct. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Kluckr Communications announces…
Where’s my Tweet Me Elmo?
This year's most coveted Christmas toy should be Tweet Me Elmo. But as far as I can tell, nobody has developed one.What would Tweet Me Elmo do? When you squeeze his furry tummy, Elmo says,"Won't you friend me?""Having lots of followers is fun!""What…
Symantec wins today’s Buzzword Bingo Award
"Symantec Offers New Service Delivery Model that Helps Ensure Specific Business Outcomes"That's the headline of a press release received today from Symantec. My hat is off to the company's marketing copywriters, whose prose is 100% buzzword…
Can you trust the integrity of your data?
This afternoon, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. installed a new electric meter at our home. The SmartMeter reports its data over the powerlines – and can be remotely controlled by the utility company. Now, we’re not sure if we can trust our energy…
… But that’s what it says in the computer
"Sir, your reservation is correct. That's what it says in the computer," the young lady said for the fifth time, pointing at her screen.I was at the Hertz rental desk at New York's JFK Airport on Tuesday, picking up a car for my regular trip…
Hurray! I’m 186! I’m 186!
Break out the bubbly! My blog, Z Trek, has made the "Top 200 Tech Blogs: The Datamation 2009 List," published on Monday.My humble blog scored #186, with the description:186) Z Trek: The Alan Zeichick WeblogIT, software development, security,…
Thinking in polynomial time
“The Status of the P versus NP Problem” is the title of an excellent paper in September’s Communications of the ACM. For many developers, it may be a look at the world you live in, where solving complicated problems in a reasonable amount…
GameStreamer vows to arm congress
My hats are off to the gang at GameStreamer for today's press release. I have no idea about the games, but who cares? They've got a great sense of humor, and have delivered a solid marketing message.GameStreamer, Inc. Today Announced a New Plan…
I love it when a mashup comes together!
“I love it when a plan comes together.” Those were the memorial words spoken during many episodes of “The A-Team,” a U.S. television show than ran from 1983 through 1986. During the show, a group of good-hearted Army veterans would…