Category: Computers, Science & Technology

Those of us that are serious Trekkers (“trekkies” as you may know, is a derogatory term) know Commander Data on Star Trek: TNG was the android that was so determined to be “human.” Well, while I still don’t have a household robot that will clean my house (and “Roomba” doesn’t count), the Japanese have premiered a “human-like” android:

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Japanese develop ‘female’ android

OK, this is cool… but I still want a robot that will clean the house… and it can look like a toaster for all I care. Now THAT would be cool!

John C. Dvorak is easily as much of a curmudgeon as I am, and he is definitely opinionated, but I have to admit, I think he is on to something with his recent article on the “ho hum” reaction to Windows Vista:

Dvorak Article

Read it and see what you think. Overall, I think he may be right!

So we go from Windows XP to Windows Vista. Will that bring it out any faster? And will it be worth it?

Windows Vista

From what I have been reading, more and more is being stripped out because they aren’t going to be able to get it out in time. At this point, there is very little truly “exciting” about it. So… yawn!

Well, now it seems that not only was SCO lying about their claim that Linux developers had stolen code from them…

SCO: Fish or Cut Bait

… it also now seems that they knew it wasn’t true all along… and that they were (shock) doing it to make it harder for a competitor (Red Hat) to compete.

In short, they were failing in their business and wanted to try to make money by trashing everyone else. Nice guys. (Not!)

I watched Star Trek on my old black & white TV when it first came on… and a real treat was getting to walk several miles to a friend’s house and watch it on his COLOR TV! Like all the other Star Trek:TOS (The Original Series) characters, I grew up with them, and thoroughly enjoyed watching the episodes over and over!

Now, Scotty won’t be saying, “She canna take anymore, Cap’n!” again… but I will treasure his memory. I got to meet James Doohan several times as a “true blue” Star Trek fan… he even did a small cameo appearance in a “joke video” we did for our R&D Computer Group when I worked at Ciba-Geigy Corporation. We likened the Enterprise under stress to the network under stress, and had Mr. Doohan say, “I canna give ya any more CPU, Cap’n!” at one point during the production… it brought down “the house!” We’ll miss ye, Scotty!

James Doohan Dies at 85

Now here’s an idea that may, indeed, be revolutionary! Imagine where ever you had a power outlet in your home, you could plug in to high speed Internet?

Broadband over Power Line: Ready for Prime Time?

The implications are amazing! There are still places that can’t get cable, or are too far away from the DSL phone company’s CO. That means that some folks still HAVE to use dialup… not that they haven’t switched over due to cluelessness! But, most of these places DO have electricity, and therefore (depending on other limitations,) they might be able to use this technology. Very cool!

As a recognized “uber-geek,” I get asked questions about what anti-virus to use (“AVG” or “Avast!,” both free,) what to do about attachments (don’t EVER click on them!), etc. But occasionally, I get a really unique question. Today I was asked, “Do you know anything that will block all gambling sites?” Well, I had never looked into that… I must admit. Gambling has never been an issue with me. I understand that no one really “wins” at gambling. And, somehow throwing away my money has no enticement for me! But, for those that have the addiction (and it is an addiction every bit as bad as drugs, cigarettes, etc.) here is a possible software “solution”:

GamBlock

Warning… it is designed to be “un-removable” once installed, so that the user can’t say, “Well, I REALLY want to gamble!,” and then remove it in order to do so. But anyway, if you need it, check it out!

How’s that for a jazzy title for this entry?! I have long been amazed at the kahunas that SCO has shown by alleging that there is “proprietary code” in Linux. Riiiiiight! Uh, huh. I got a bridge I’ll sell ya, too. Now, it appears that one of the guys SCO hired to investigate whether this allegation was true, told them that “At the end, we had found absolutely *nothing*. ie no evidence of any copyright infringement whatsoever.”

GROKLAW

So, SCO will apologize to the Open Source community and slink off into the sunset now, right? Don’t hold your breath.

OK, so some people don’t get it. That’s news? To whom?

Study Shows Users’ Confusion About Blogs

I can understand “not getting” RSS or XML, those are technical aspects to blogging that people don’t really need to understand to read a blog, or even to be a blogger. But, the overall idea of blogging seems simple enough: a blogger has a huge ego and ACTUALLY believes people will read and enjoy his, or her, thoughts. That is blogging. And, amazingly, sometimes people do… and that, now that… is strange!

This is very cool! Check it out!

Laszlo Systems

Imagine having what appears to be “desktop applications” that run through a web browser. This is a full development environment… very nice!