Z Trek: The Alan Zeichick Weblog
Happy 50th Birthday, NASA!
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was officially formed on July 29, 1958. The U.S. agency was cobbled together in a frantic response to Sputnik. The little golden orb went beep-beep-beep on October 4, 1957. American prestige…
Should we buy Blu-ray or standard DVD movies? That’s the quandary
Should we buy new home movies in the high-resolution Blu-ray format, or in the lower-res, but more widely accessible, standard DVD format? That, Detective, is the right question.When we rent movies from Netflix, we get them in Blu-ray format…
My first phishing spam that exploits the YouSendIt service
Today, I received my first instance of malware using YouSendIt. I don't blame the service, any more than you should blame carriers for regular email spam.I'm a major fan of the YouSendIt service, which is an FTP replacement. You use the service…
Closure on Agitar: McCabe picks up their Java unit-test assets
If you’re looking for AgitarOne, you can get it from McCabe Software.Agitar essentially went out of business in May, as has been discussed in a couple of previous posts, “Agitar is having a going-out-of-business sale” (May 12) and “Agitar:…
The latest scam: Someone tried to access your personal root server
Here's a new phishing scam — or at least, this is the first time I've seen it.The e-mail message comes in from an account named "localhost." It looks like a message from Red Hat, complete with forged redhat.com headers. Here's the message:Subj:…
Juno loves SD Times!
Here's a new picture of Juno, the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, already world famous from the video, "Juno found the dog bones."What a clever dog! But where does he shows up on SD Times' BPA audit statement?>> Correction: That's not Juno, and…
People don’t like to leave voicemail
I tallied how many people called my office phone yesterday, but did not reach me because I was out, in meetings, at lunch, etc.The number of "missed calls" was at least 19. This is probably undercounted because it doesn't count calls missed…
Six necks are better than one
My son — still depressed that I learned about Potter Puppet Pals — has decided that he needs a new guitar, and sent me this link.It's not like he doesn't have enough instruments, but what do you think, should I get him one?If the Swiss Army…
When the cloud was good, it was very very good. But when it was bad, it was horrid
Cloud computing took a big hit this week amid two significant service outages.
The biggest one, at least as it affects enterprise computing, is the eight-hour failure of Amazon’s Simple Storage Service. Check out the Amazon Web Services…
Defragmenting solid-state disks: Good idea, or totally useless?
Disk defragmenting is generally good thing. However, some would argue that depending on the file system and disk access patterns on your rotating media, any performance improvements aren't worth the effort.Take the Macintosh, for example. In…
In the totally silly department: Potter Puppet Pals
To my son's everlasting dismay, I stumbled across the Potter Puppet Pals videos on YouTube over the weekend.He's embarrassed because I think think these videos are cute, particularly the episode, "The Mysterious Ticking Noise." The tune is…
Look out, Gotham, here comes Bat Thumb!
My family really enjoyed The Dark Knight, which we saw at 10:00 am on Saturday. The movie deserved all of its many accolades.We prepared for the film by re-watching Batman Begins the week before. However, if you truly want to get into the mood…
The new math: Google gets $1.10 of every new search dollar
I love this press release headline: "Q2 Search Engine Performance Report: Google gets $1.10 of Every New Search Dollar." How can someone get more than 100% of the money spent? Has Google reinvented statistics? Is this gMath?The press release…
Journey Revelation: Disc 1 is excellent, skip Disc 2
The new songs from Journey on their 2008 album, Revelation, are a delight. Okay, I've never left the 1970s and 1980s — queue up Bowling for Soup's catchy song, 1985.Even so, it was with some trepidation that we ordered Revelation, the new…
We bid a sad adieu to our trusty Sunbeam Mixmaster
How long does a Sunbeam Mixmaster last? Based on three data points, the answer is, "Twenty five years."Today, our trusty Mixmaster's motor died. My wife and I purchased it right after we got married, 25 years ago. It was sad to see it go away.…
Microsoft extends Windows XP support through 2014
Microsoft has very quietly pushed back the date when it will discontinue its support for Windows XP. The new cutoff date is August 4, 2014.The decision came without fanfare; you won't find an official announcement. But on a page called "Windows…
Learn all about the commissioning of the USS New Hampshire
Submarines are fascinating — well, I've always enjoyed studying big naval vessels like submarines, aircraft carriers and battleships. Touring museum ships like the USS Missouri, USS Massachusetts, USS Intrepid, USS Hornet, HMS Belfast, SS…
Happy birthday, Intel! Here’s a big present!
I was a lot younger on July 18, 1968. We all were – and many of you weren’t even born when the company that changed the world was founded.Intel has become a powerhouse since Gordon Moore (of Moore’s Law fame) and Robert Noyce created the…
Am I teh FAIL, or am I just getting old?
What the heck does ‘teh fail’ mean?A technical writer, who I think is in her mid-20s, mentioning in passing that she was teh FAIL at something.My immediate thought, of course, is that she made a typo, and meant to write “the fail.” But…
SCO owes Novell more money, says the judge
Remember SCO? Judge Dale Kimball does. And so does Novell.It’s been a while since I’ve written about SCO. But my last entry on the subject, “The SCO Group files Chapter 11,” didn’t mean that the case was closed. Au contraire.Yesterday…
Juno found the dog bones!
My friend sent me this wonderful video of her dogs discovering, destroying and devouring a box of dog bones... Even if you're not a dog person, you've got to admit, they're adorable.That is, if you can consider huge Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs…
Accomodate Accommodate or Acommodate? Company blames cell phones for poor spelling
This badly written faux story came in a couple of months ago from a company that sells writing software. It looks like news, but it's a company-issued press release.Below is a straight copy/paste. I left in the numerous grammatical and punctuation…
Gizmodo has fun with the iPhone 3G activation problems
Gizmodo, the irreverent gadget site, did a great job with this one.The story, "Apple Cancels All iPhone 3G Orders, Releases iBrick 3G," starts:Cupertino, California (Agencies). In a surprising move that is set to stun consumers all over the…
Great job, Walmart, with digital downloads. Not.
Walmart needs to pay more attention to its Web site.My wife and I wanted to purchase the new Journey CD, Revelation, which is currently only available at Walmart. Last week, while in Las Vegas, we stopped at a Walmart store looking for the CD,…
Haven’t they ever heard of "supply and demand"?
United Airlines has joined the chorus of organizations blaming speculators for the dramatic rise in fuel prices.Yes, prices are higher. Yes, there are more speculators. That doesn't make a cause-and-effect. Perhaps there are more speculators…
Monkey business with the iPhone 3G
There's a lot you can do while you're waiting to get your iPhone 3G. You can browse the enterprise applications on the Apple App Store, for example. Or you can check out the games. I received a press release for one last week:Griptonite Games…
A fun week in Las Vegas: Hits and misses
What should one do on a hot summer week's vacation? Go someplace hotter! From Saturday through Thursday, my wife and I hung out in Las Vegas, while our son attended a music workshop in Los Angeles.The temperatures in Las Vegas were high, never…
Apple: Marketing good, supply chain bad
It's been a good day for many Apple fans, and a bad day for many other Apple fans.I've been watching today's launch of the iPhone 3G, and also covering it in my Mac-specific blog hosted on TechWeb's bMighty. For my detailed observations, based…
Help save the Arecibo Observatory
The Aribeco Observatory — the world's largest radio telescope — is an essential tool for basic scientific research. It's the home base for SETI, the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, and the source of data for the SETI@home program.Founded…
Circulation audits: They’re a good thing
Let's say that there's a magazine in your market that says it has 100,000 qualified subscribers. So, you buy an ad in that publication, believing that your ad will reach, at minimum, 100,000 subscribers.Maybe it will. Maybe it won't. Maybe they…