February 28, 2003

Grok Headline matches for February 28, 2003

February 03, 2003

February 03, 2003 03/11/2003 09:44 AM

New Column

I just got the March copy of the Programmer's Paradise catalog, which contains the first installment of my new column, a review of VMware, on page 11. “By the twentieth time I'd installed Windows 2000, I could do it in my sleep, even though I don't know a word of Chinese.” The only way to read the column is to get the catalog, which you can do for free here.

I've already written the next two columns for the catalog: a review of ERwin and an article about user interface design. Also in the pipeline: reviews of LeadTools, Camtasia Studio, and DevPartner Studio. Unlike most software reviewers who write for the magazines, who spend just enough time with a the product to get 750 words worth, I plan to review things that we actually use on a daily basis here at Fog Creek and talk about how we use them.

Commoditize Your Complements

Remember when I wrote that “smart companies try to commoditize their products’ complements?” We decided to take some of our own advice, here, so as of today, FogBUGZ can be run on top of MySQL, which is free, in addition to Microsoft SQL Server, which is expensive.

We also support two more source code control systems: CVSNT and Visual SourceSafe.

February 25, 2003

February 25, 2003 03/11/2003 09:44 AM

The discussion forum for this site generates a lot of questions and commentary. As I said when I launched it, it's a bit of an experiment. Although it may seem simple, there are a lot of subtle design decisions and magic-behind-the-scenes in hopes of improving the quality of discussion that takes place there. So far, it has mostly worked.

Later this week I'll write an essay explaining everything, but because it's full of Heisenberg effects, the essay won't appear on this web site, it will only go out via email to email subscribers. You can subscribe here or at the bottom of any page on my site:

Email:

 

Don't worry, you can unsubscribe at any time; every email I send includes a single-click unsubscribe link. I will never sell your email address. Subscribe by Friday to be sure to get the essay. Once again -- the essay will not appear on the web and will be copyright so I'll ask you not to forward the email around. It's an exclusive benefit for email subscribers.

February 14, 2003

February 14, 2003 03/11/2003 09:44 AM

Due to the poor sound quality of the previous CityDesk online demo, I decided to invest in a real studio quality microphone instead of using one of those cheap computer headset/mike combinations.

It took me a while to figure out what I needed. The mike itself is a Shure SM58, probably one of the most popular professional microphones in use today and generally available for about $100.

I bought the Mic from Sam Ash on 48th street, hoping that they would be able to get me the right combination of cables and adapters I needed to plug this thing into a standard sound card. The stoner DJ sales dude sounded very confident but he didn't tell me that I needed a preamp, and he gave me the wrong kind of cables.

If you're trying to do this yourself, here's exactly what I have:

1. the Shure SM58 microphone
2. A basic desk stand. The clip part that connects the mike to the stand comes with the mike.
3. a 3' mic cable (it only needs to reach the preamp). I bought a CBI LowZ Microphone Cable from Zzounds.
4. A preamp. This boosts the level of the microphone to something that is called "Line Level" which is what a computer sound card needs. I got an M-Audio AudioBuddy from Zzounds.
5. To connect the preamp to the sound card, you need a cable with a 1/4" stereo phone jack on one end and a 1/8" stereo "mini" phone jack on the other end. I assembled this out of two cables which I bought at my neighborhood Radio Shack. For some reason the professional music stores like Sam Ash and Zzounds think it is beneath their dignity to stock any parts with 1/8" jacks, but that is what your sound card needs.

The sound quality is really quite a bit better. Here are two MP3s, before (with the computer mike) and after (with the professional mike).

February 04, 2003

February 04, 2003 03/11/2003 09:44 AM
I've moved Joel on Software to a new server, at a colocation facility operated by Peer 1 Network. In the process of finding a new home and getting it up and running I've learned quite a bit about how web hosting works, so I thought I'd describe a bit of it here and in the process provide a glimpse Behind The Scenes.

"February 2003"

"February 2003" 01/03/2004 07:07 PM

February 05, 2003

February 05, 2003 03/11/2003 09:44 AM
Dave asks: "When I get Slashdotted we get about 5000 reads. I've noticed that number is about what some Manila and Radio sites have gotten when they were Slashdotted. Now, according to Joel Spolsky he gets about 400,000 reads from a Slashdot link, about 80 times the flow. Now here's the question. Why?"

Actually, I said 500,000, not 400,000, and I was referring to hits, not "reads." I'm not sure what a read is, but a hit is a single file served by the web server. Even the simplest page on this site consists of four files: the header GIF, the Made with CityDesk GIF, the CityDesk logo, and the article itself. Articles with pictures have a lot more. The number of page views we get, which only counts HTML files, is about 120,000 on "slashdot days." Since the average day has about 30,000 page views, only 90,000 are "extra." Still a lot more than Manila sites, but not 80 times the flow.

Another difference is that I almost always get slashdotted on a day when I release a new article. This is coincidentally the same day I send email to 16,000 subscribers telling them about the new article. And on average a few dozen webloggers will link to me on the same day, bringing in their traffic as well.

Some percentage of those people say, "Aha! This precisely proves my point!" and forward the URL to their boss or underling to hit them over the head with it. "See? Nya!" So there's always a multiplier effect.

Finally, Joel on Software has enough old content that many new visitors stay a while and click around. That accounts for a lot of the extra traffic on Slashdot days.

Pro News : February 28, 2003

Pro News : February 28, 2003 03/13/2003 10:20 AM
Stop-motion animation app comes to OS X; Group aims to put Mac in home theater; Mask Pro gets X rating; Quark opens a Jaguar-lined kimono; Snowmint updates Budget, unleashes Planner; Ham radio apps get updated; iLink get tweaked; ODBC middleware moves to X; 4D gunning for Apache; Scrapbook apps finetuned; Online training app gets new features

Tuesday, February 25, 2003

Tuesday, February 25, 2003 03/13/2003 10:23 AM
Through the Reeds

Wednesday, February 12, 2003

Wednesday, February 12, 2003 03/13/2003 10:23 AM
How to Make A Man Bloody

CodeBitch : February 24, 2003

CodeBitch : February 24, 2003 03/13/2003 10:20 AM
In which CodeBitch ruminates on the fate of Opera for Mac

Monday, February 10, 2003

Monday, February 10, 2003 03/13/2003 10:23 AM
The true story of Giggle and Boggle.

News : February 27, 2003

News : February 27, 2003 03/13/2003 10:20 AM
The Earthlink (NASDAQ:ELNK) board of directors announced on February 24th that it had authorized an additional $25 million for use in repurchasing its common stock, bringing the total authorization to $50 million.

The Parting Shot : February 28, 2003

The Parting Shot : February 28, 2003 03/13/2003 10:20 AM
Thirty days hath September...

Release Digests: KDE, February 12, 2003

Release Digests: KDE, February 12, 2003 02/13/2003 01:54 AM
Today's KDE apps: Digital Video Recorder 2.7.9.3, KSEG 0.351, KKeyled 0.8.6, Design Recovery Tool 0.2.5, Kile 1.4, KMuddy 0.4.1, KMySQLAdmin 0.6.1, and Kcube 0.55.

Release Digest: KDE, February 14, 2003

Release Digest: KDE, February 14, 2003 02/14/2003 08:43 PM
Today's KDE apps: Licq 1.2.4, KSteak 0.9.3, PerlQt 3.006, Gwenview 0.16.2, KMySQLAdmin 0.6.2, KPilot 4.3.7, Kcube 0.61, krename 2.5.2, and KnetmonApplet 0.6.7.

The Parting Shot : February 21, 2003

The Parting Shot : February 21, 2003 03/13/2003 10:20 AM
Connectix releases Version 7

Archives | February 23-March 1 2003 |
Yourish.com

Archives | February 23-March 1 2003 |
Yourish.com 03/14/2003 12:58 PM
International Eat an Animal for PETA Day, .. Meryl Yourish .. Meryl

track this site | 7 links

Linux Advisory Watch - February 7th 2003

Linux Advisory Watch - February 7th 2003 02/07/2003 08:39 AM
- by Benjamin D. Thomas - Linux Advisory Watch is a comprehensive newsletter that outlines the security vulnerabilities that have been announced throughout the week. It includes pointers to updated packages and descriptions of each vulnerability. This week, advisories were released for cvs, mcrypt, slocate, qt-dcgui, bladeenc, cim, mysql, kernel, kerberos, php, OpenLDAP, windowmaker, xpdf. The distributors include Caldera, Conectiva, FreeBSD, ...

CBS News | U.S. Presses For Decision On
Iraq | February 25, 2003 14:12:43

CBS News | U.S. Presses For Decision On
Iraq | February 25, 2003 14:12:43 03/13/2003 10:25 AM

Linux Advisory Watch - February 28th,
2003

Linux Advisory Watch - February 28th,
2003 03/11/2003 01:22 AM
- By Benjamin D. Thomas - This week, advisories were released for slocate, nanog, tcpdump, kde, openssl, WebTool, syncookie, webmin, acupsd, tightvnc, vnc, vte, hypermail, libmcrypt, openldap, mysql, postgresql, initscripts, krb5, lynx, and shadow-utils. The distributors include Conectiva, Debian, Guardian Digital's EnGarde Secure Linux, Gentoo, Mandrake, Red Hat, SuSE, and Trustix.

Linux Advisory Watch - February 21st,
2003

Linux Advisory Watch - February 21st,
2003 02/21/2003 07:28 AM
- By Benjamin D. Thomas Linux Advisory Watch is a comprehensive newsletter that outlines the security vulnerabilities that have been announced throughout the week. It includes pointers to updated packages and descriptions of each vulnerability. This week, advisories were released for mod_dav, w3m, cups, php, mysql, openssl, mailman, syslinux, nethack, bitchx, util-linux, apcupdb, pam, shadow-utils, and imp. The distributors include ...

CBS News | Transcript: Saddam Hussein
Interview, Pt. 1 | February 26,
2003 20:31:07

CBS News | Transcript: Saddam Hussein
Interview, Pt. 1 | February 26,
2003 20:31:07 04/11/2005 03:50 AM
CBS News Transcript: Saddam Hussein Interview, Pt. 1 February 26, 2003 19:23:27 .. an interview with Dan Rather on CBS .. Complete transcript is here .. interviewed

cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/26/60II/main542151.shtml
track this site | 3 links

Update Fever! February / March 2003
Google Update finally arrives

Update Fever! February / March 2003
Google Update finally arrives 03/11/2003 01:22 AM
The long awaited, eagerly anticipated February, 2003 Google update finally arrives in March. The early returns say that the pre-update jitters were unwarranted.

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah
Marshall: February 15, 2004 - February
21, 2004 Archives

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah
Marshall: February 15, 2004 - February
21, 2004 Archives 02/17/2004 12:57 PM
This is the arsonist in your house telling you that stranger outside with the hose can't be trusted .. Democratswould threaten fiscal health .. ever .. Heh

talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_02_15.html#002565
track this site | 5 links

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah
Marshall: February 08, 2004 - February
14, 2004 Archives

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah
Marshall: February 08, 2004 - February
14, 2004 Archives 02/10/2004 01:35 PM
sounding evasive, incoherent and out of touch .. Josh Marshall .. said

talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_02_08.html#002539
track this site | 5 links

"Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah
Marshall: February 01, 2004 - February
07, 2004 Archives"

"Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah
Marshall: February 01, 2004 - February
07, 2004 Archives" 02/10/2004 02:52 AM

February 23, 2005

February 23, 2005 03/14/2005 05:44 PM

Phew! and w00t! Last night at about 7:35 FogBugz 4.0 finally went live, on the exact day we planned to ship it quite a few months ago.

 

I have put a lot of other things on hold while we got this major upgrade out the door, so I'll be spending some time in catch-up mode for the next few weeks. And now I'm going to take a nap.

The Large Print Giveth and the Small Print Taketh Away: What we shipped today was FogBugz 4.0 for Windows. The Unix & Mac versions are now in beta and will be shipping Real Soon Now.

February 27, 2004

February 27, 2004 03/06/2004 01:51 AM

I hope you're not all missing the excellent stuff going down on the Ask Joel forum.

On Apress: “ And although they would not put a doggie on the cover of my book as I requested, because a certain other book publisher threatens to sue his competitors when they put anything animal like within 90 feet of their covers, their graphic designer worked overtime to create underground cover art called User Interface Design for Doggies complete with three golden retrievers, which they framed and sent to me. ”

On Microsoft Program Managers: “ So the programmers think they're deciding everything and the program managers think they're deciding everything. How can they both be deciding everything? They can't. Who is really deciding, then? Let me give you a hint. Of the program managers and developers you know, on the whole, who has better people skills? eh? speak up boy, I can't hear you. Duh! Of course it's the program managers. You knew that. Developers couldn't people-skill their way out of a summer intern party at BillG's lakeside mansion. Developers have such weak people skills they can't even imagine what people skills could be used for, other than the purely theoretical concept of getting a theoretical date ("I ... like ... big BUTTS and I can not LIE..."), so it's no wonder they're not even aware of the secret that I can finally reveal today. ”

On Lisp: “And I have the ultimate respect for Paul Graham -- I think there's a good probability that in a year or two we will credit him with being the man who solved spam. But I think that if you try to ignore the fact that millions of programmers around the world have learned lisp and don't prefer to use it, you're in the land of morbid cognitive dissonance. ”

On Big-M Methodologies: “ Everything about RUP, for example, is obsessed with figuriing out what the business objects and business rules are so you can do a payroll system. We do things like add spell checkers to an editor window. ”

On Usable Programming APIs: “Indexes are one based. That's how humans count. Zero-based is better, I agree, but one-based is what humans expect, and the program model must conform to the user model for ease of use.”

On Starting Fog Creek: “ The law firm that was recommended to us was big and famous and wanted a $30,000 retainer just to talk to us. There was a time during dotcom mania where you weren't someone unless your law firm was VLG or MoFo. I was literally told that you had to use VLG or maybe, distant second, MoFo, or I could never convince VCs to invest. "They won't take you seriously if you don't have a serious lawfirm." I snorted up my milk. ”

On teaching your boyfriend C++: “ Forget it! Give up! ...  Teach me about women's shoes and I will feign interest and then promptly forget everything you told me.”

On software pricing: “With software sold in corporations, as soon as your price gets up in the $3000 level, the amount of approval it needs is so absurd that you are not going to sell products without a salesperson making a few visits. Hiring the salesperson, sending them out to make presentations, hotels, airfare -- now it costs $50,000 to get the sale done just in sales closing costs. That's why you see a lot of software products at $100,000 and a lot under $3000, but anywhere in-between and it's impossible to make sales. ”

No PowerMacs in February?

No PowerMacs in February? 02/16/2004 09:30 AM
ThinkSecret updates with a number of small blurbs... the most interesting of which involves some information of PowerMac G5 updates. According to t...

February 17, 2005

February 17, 2005 03/14/2005 05:44 PM

Usability Time! When Microsoft AntiSpyware is running it displays this dialog:

... which looks, to me, like it's telling me that it detected spyware on my system.

Oh, wait! No, that's not it, it's just a lazy programmer who wrote this code:

10 PRINT "DETECTED SPYWARE ON YOUR SYSTEM:"
20 FOR I = 1 TO 1000000000
30 IF SPYWARE(I) THEN PRINT FILENAME(I)
40 NEXT I

I think I get it. It's the heading for a list which has not arrived yet because you're still busy scanning my harddrive searching for spyware which I don't have. The usual programmer mentality ("it's just a list with 0 elements, what's so hard to understand about that?"). Hey guys, next time don't use a message that's only one pixel away from telling me the exact wrong fact about whether or not there's spyware on my system.

So far, it looks like this is a nifty program, and consumers should be happy that Microsoft has announced it will be free, but it really, really would have been nice for us here in the software industry if Microsoft had set a price on this thing just to provide some air cover for the other companies working on spyware removal. This is not a software category where a monopoly monoculture will be a good thing.

Not only that, but I wonder if Microsoft can run an antispyware product without huge conflicts of interest. For example, will they block all the spyware that Real installs on your system? While Real is suing them? Especially when blocking spyware from Real will just give Real more ammunition to use against Microsoft in court? And the next time Microsoft needs a DRM favor from your friendly neighborhood media conglomerate, will the media conglomerate demand exemption from Antispyware removal for their adware in exchange for supporting Windows Media 37.0, with the new brain-zapping feature that prevents you from humming any song unless you bought the performance rights? (A sheet of tinfoil wrapped tightly around your skull is effective against this zapper, I understand.)

I understand that Microsoft wants to help customers who feel like a spyware-free operating system should be your right when you pay for WinXP, but it's a shame that by giving it away free they're likely to wipe out a useful industry and replace it with something that's difficult to trust due to conflicts of interest.

February 16, 2005

February 16, 2005 03/14/2005 05:44 PM
Jamie Zawinski on Groupware: “So I said, narrow the focus. Your ‘use case’ should be, there’s a 22 year old college student living in the dorms. How will this software get him laid?”

February 05, 2005

February 05, 2005 02/05/2005 09:52 PM

It's time for a server upgrade. For two years a single server has hosted the bulk of our sites, including Joel on Software, although a second smaller server has made an appearance. Over the next few weeks there will be a massive upgrade, giving us six top of the line, state of the art servers at the Peer 1 colo downtown.

In the past I would have upgraded the system, installed it all, and written an article about it. And then people would have emailed me to suggest better ways to do things, but it would be too late.

So now for the first time ever, I'm going to publish a "live" article here. So far, I haven't done anything. If you have any better suggestions for how to do things, it's not too late for me to learn from your experience. As we go along, I might have a few questions for my readers who have experience with this stuff.

Colo Expansion Part 1

BenQ P50 in February for $800

BenQ P50 in February for $800 01/06/2005 02:56 PM

BenQ finally showed off the P50 smartphone, with built-in Wi-Fi and GSM/GPRS radios, as well as a 1.3-megapixel camera. The bummer is they are quoting a price of $800—almost twice as much as its main competitor, the Treo 650 (after rebates).

B enQ unveils WLAN smart phone with camera [Infoworld]

"February Stars"

"February Stars" 06/25/2004 10:29 AM

February 20, 2004

February 20, 2004 03/06/2004 01:51 AM

Ask Joel

I'm running out of my own ideas for article topics. I was going to write about how the search for autotrephination on Google only has one result, which is surprising, considering how there's an entire movie on the subject, although I realized most people probably think autotrephination would mean "automatic-drilling-of-holes-in-the-head" when it's perfectly obvious to me that it should mean "drilling-of-holes-in-one's-own-head" but, hey, what does a word mean that has only been used once in the entire history of Google? And what does it mean to say that a word means something if nobody has ever used it? Anyway, I decided that writing about this would be so headache-inducing you all would try to drill a hole in my head so I didn't write anything about it.

Luckily, I have my readers for topic ideas. A lot of times people email me saying, "I'd love to hear what you think about X." Sometimes, that's enough to motivate me to write a long essay. But more often, my opinion is far too shallow and insipid to justify such an effort, so I dash off a paragraph or two to the email correspondent, or, more often, file away the email in a folder full of things I would love to respond to if we lived on Pluto and the day was 153.4 hours long and humans didn't require that much sleep.

I decided to try out one of Philip Greenspun's ideas -- the Ask Philip Forum. So, without further ado, I have recycled the dreary old "New Yorkers" forum, which was something of a ghost town anyway, into the shiny new Ask Joel Questions forum. There are still some old New York-related topics there. Ignore them. Put the drill away. Thank you.

Linkers

The appropriate person at Microsoft ble w off my request for a linker. The strongest argument he makes is that Microsoft wants to be able to patch security bugs in the CLR after I've shipped my program. This is a valid concern; when a major security hole was found in zlib everybody had to figure out which programs they had that used it and recompile them all. I wasted a day of my life on that particular bug. But it's easily solved by a simple technology of shims or jump tables. Put on your thinking hat and you'll figure out how to make a linker that produces a single executable plus a jump-table that Microsoft can patch when they find a security hole. PS. Apple had this technology in the original Macintosh, 1984.

His other argument about working set size is a decision that should be left to developers. Let me pick the tradeoff I want to make between ease of installation and working set size.

Look, I used to be a program manager at Microsoft, and there's a really strong tendency in that culture to treat customer requests as fun intellectual challenges to be fended off like exercises in debating class. But I've been talking to customers since the days of the Visual Basic 1.0 runtime in 1991 -- thirteen years ago! who have been begging for this problem to be addressed. Jason, why don't you go talk to somebody on the FoxPro team. In the late 80s FoxPro clobbered dBase in the market mainly on the strength of the fact that it compiled standalone executables. FoxPro had a linker. xBase developers pleaded with Ashton-Tate, makers of dBase, to develop or acquire a linker, but Ed Esber, reviled CEO of Ashton-Tate, refused to give them one. Learn from your own history. (Thanks to Rick Chapman for reminding me of history repeating itself.)

ISV's that I talk to agree that this is the #1 weakness of VB1-6 and .Net. I'm forced to conclude that Microsoft has grown so large they are living in a reality-distortion field. I suppose it's not unusual for someone working on a campus with 45 buildings all full of Microsoft employees to lose track of what the outside world is thinking and doing.

OK, anyway, there are third party alternatives. Jitit makes a thing called Thinstall. I haven't tried it. If someone out there wants to write an in-depth technical review of this thing, please contact me and I'll try to get you a review copy.

Elsewhere

Blogs I've been reading lately: Rory, Scoble, Raymond, Phil.

I loved the style, wittiness, humor and erudition of Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby but I can't say I learned much about Ruby. Maybe in the next chapter?

February 28, 2004

February 28, 2004 03/06/2004 01:51 AM

This thread in Ask Joel about offshoring/outsourcing is much better than anything I could have written on the subject myself. Ken sets up the strawman; eloquent readers from around the globe tear it down.

"February 8, 2004 05:18 PM"

"February 8, 2004 05:18 PM" 02/13/2004 02:37 PM

"February 2001"

"February 2001" 06/04/2004 05:03 PM

W3C Talks in February

W3C Talks in February 02/11/2004 01:16 AM
2004-02-10: Browse upcoming W3C appearances and events, also available as an RSS channel. (News archive)
Grok Description matches for February 28, 2003
GrokA matches for February 28, 2003

N.Y. Removes Controversial Parking Meter
(AP)

N.Y. Removes Controversial Parking Meter
(AP) 05/11/2004 06:11 PM
AP - The city wasted no time in mollifying motorists angry over a case of meter madness. A parking meter in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn was so close to a fire hydrant that parking there meant risking a $115 ticket.

Wis. Police Probe Parking Meter Thefts
(AP)

Wis. Police Probe Parking Meter Thefts
(AP) 07/20/2004 07:47 PM
AP - Maybe they were tired of the tickets. Thieves have stolen nearly $25,000 worth of city parking meters so far this summer, according to the Department of Public Works.

Woman Drops Rare Gold Coin in Parking
Meter (Reuters)

Woman Drops Rare Gold Coin in Parking
Meter (Reuters) 07/22/2004 09:31 AM
Reuters - A South African woman mistakenly plunked a 100-year-old gold coin worth more than $1,000 into a parking meter while shopping without her glasses, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

"Museums, restaurants, bars,
theatres and galleries across Italy have
signed up to entertain the striking
viewers."

"Museums, restaurants, bars,
theatres and galleries across Italy have
signed up to entertain the striking
viewers." 12/13/2003 07:06 AM
Some folks in Italy are turning off and tuning out this weekend .. Italian TV strike .. beautiful

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3313187.stm
track this site | 6 links

Bluetooth Chat

Bluetooth Chat 07/09/2004 06:39 PM
This is just cool, people. Thanks to bChat, you can have instant message conversations without needing any type of network structure in place! IM your friends in class, during a dull lecture for work, or any place where you and your buddies are close by.

Bluetooth Chat?

Bluetooth Chat? 12/29/2004 03:30 AM
All About Symbian Dec 29 2004 6:48AM GMT

* ProximityMail Bluetooth Chat

* ProximityMail Bluetooth Chat 03/19/2005 03:01 AM
Pocket PC Universe Mar 19 2005 7:42AM GMT

Nethercomm Corporation’s Unveils
Innovative Answer to Natural Gas Meter
Reading; A Solution which Eliminates
the Need for a Local Gas Meter
Altogether - Meterless Gas Read

Nethercomm Corporation’s Unveils
Innovative Answer to Natural Gas Meter
Reading; A Solution which Eliminates
the Need for a Local Gas Meter
Altogether - Meterless Gas Read 06/05/2005 11:16 PM
The gas distribution industry continues to seek out the most advantageous, economical gas meter reading method -- One unique outgrowth of Nethercomm’s evolving technology base is the ability for Broadband-in-Gas to provide a very accurate means of monitoring natural gas usage by end users; in essence eliminating the traditional need for on-premise meters and their costly reading. [PRWEB Jun 3, 2005]

I just used bluetooth to transfer
pictures, ringtones and games. Didn't
try to chat. However, even if you try

I just used bluetooth to transfer
pictures, ringtones and games. Didn't
try to chat. However, even if you try 07/13/2004 11:55 PM
TechTree Jul 14 2004 4:46AM GMT

MemoryWorks’ Kolowich on Cinematic
Wedding Video: For Better or Worse,
Hollywood Production Techniques Come to
Wedding Videography

MemoryWorks’ Kolowich on Cinematic
Wedding Video: For Better or Worse,
Hollywood Production Techniques Come to
Wedding Videography 08/05/2004 03:47 AM
New digital video production tools have expanded artistic possibilities available to wedding video producers. But DigiNovations' Michael Kolowich warns that indiscriminate use of these new tools can actually diminish the effectiveness of wedding videos. Links point to examples of cinematic wedding video editing on MemoryWorks website. [PRWEB Aug 5, 2004]

It's like a wedding. I swear to God,
it's a wedding for all of Iraq

It's like a wedding. I swear to God,
it's a wedding for all of Iraq 02/01/2005 09:11 PM
election

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48454-2005Jan30.html
track this site | 3 links

We are all connected: The path from
architecture to information architecture

We are all connected: The path from
architecture to information architecture 11/11/2003 04:46 AM

We Are All Connected: The Path from
Architecture to Information Architecture

We Are All Connected: The Path from
Architecture to Information Architecture 01/07/2004 06:41 PM
In this article, author Fu Tien Chiou describes a link between traditional architecture and Information Architecture, showing how the Information Architect uses a set of blueprints that builders -- designers and programmers -- can construct. 1217

Microsoft Chat: Windows XP Smart
Displays Online chat

Microsoft Chat: Windows XP Smart
Displays Online chat 12/04/2003 07:11 PM

Chat Blazer, Cutting a Trail to
Enterprise Chat

Chat Blazer, Cutting a Trail to
Enterprise Chat 04/15/2004 11:36 PM
Internet.com Apr 16 2004 3:07AM GMT

Five restaurants in Paris

Five restaurants in Paris 01/22/2004 02:19 PM

The NY Times had an article the other day about Comfort Food at Comforting Prices in Paris. While all five spots sound delicious, I'm especially tempted by Le Petit Pontoise if only because it's located on rue de Pontoise, the location of my mother's first apartment, rented for her 1996 sabbatical.

[O]n a recent visit, there was a wood crate filled with freshly gathered girolle mushrooms. It's the season, and the mushrooms were too tempting not to order. Quickly sautéed so that they remained juicy and slightly chewy, they were perfectly accented with garlic and parsley.

I'm really longing for a trip to Paris, it's been just long enough (seven months) that I'm missing it very much, especially since my favorite mittens from La Samaritaine got a hole in the thumb! I mean, I could replace my mittens here in NYC, but somehow French mittens seem superior, certainly these ones are, except for their hole.

Why do restaurants have menus?

Why do restaurants have menus? 06/06/2004 09:39 AM

Just back from seeing the movie "Super-size Me" and it occurred to me that, in an age of limitedless wealth, cheap food, and universal private automobiles, nutrition is best not left to amateurs (i.e., us).  Consider the process of going to a restaurant.  You, a completely ignorant and probably somewhat fat person, walk in and they hand you a long menu of potential dishes.  For each dish the menu lists a tiny fraction of the ingredients but does not fully disclose sauces or overall calories.  Even if the content of each item were fully disclosed it wouldn't do most of us much good because most of us don't know how many calories are appropriate.  Finally there is the problem that everyone gets the same quantity of food.  If you're a 5'-tall woman and order "Chicken surprise" you get the same quantity of food as a 6'-tall man who orders the same dish.

Here's an idea for a restaurant...  You walk in and give them the following information:  (1) height, (2) weight, and (3) whether or not you have exercised today.  They come back to you with a few choices, e.g., "fish, chicken, steak, or vegetarian?"  You choose one of those and finally an appropriately-sized quantity of food shows up on your table.  This is, I think, how the $1000/day fat farms operate.  But in an age of computerization it doesn't seem as though it would cost a standard restaurant anything more to operate this way.

Thoughts?

[P.S.I went through a 3-month period in which I ate almost every meal at McDonalds.  This was in 1993 while driving to Alaska and back (see Travels with Samantha).  I was a graduate student and the 59-cent hamburgers, 99-cent chicken fajitas, and drive-thrus were hard to resist.  I was about 30 years old and a tiny bit pudgy when I started the trip.  I probably lost at least 5 lbs. during that period.  I didn't order fries or regular (sugar) Coke and I was riding my bike every few days.]

Krystal Restaurants Get Wi-Fi

Krystal Restaurants Get Wi-Fi 06/01/2004 03:25 PM
Free Wi-Fi in about 10 percent of Krystal's restaurants by the end of June: This is a regional chain with 425 locations; 50 will have Wi-Fi this month, available for free. They'll filter content to avoid objectionable images showing up in a family environment -- just as Schlotzsky's does with their service -- but it's otherwise wide open. The restaurants are located throughout the south. Early locations include Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama, Tennessee, and one in Texas. [link via Jim Sullivan]...

McDonald's Restaurants Down Under Unwire

McDonald's Restaurants Down Under Unwire 02/19/2004 12:43 PM
Telstra said last year that it would build hotspots in McDonald's restaurants and now Wi-Fi is available in 44 restaurants in Australia: Telstra plans to build hotspots in as many as 500 McDonald's over the next 12 to 18 months. McDonald's has been really aggressive in building out Wi-Fi globally, but has yet to make a decision on a single provider in the United States as the company indicated it would....

Some Wis. Restaurants Rationing Napkins
(AP)

Some Wis. Restaurants Rationing Napkins
(AP) 05/17/2004 01:35 PM
AP - Fierce competition for fast-food dollars has some restaurants taking an extraordinary measure to cut the bottom line — napkin rationing.

Sushi restaurants as economic indicators

Sushi restaurants as economic indicators 04/23/2004 10:43 AM
Tyler Cowen, economist and co-proprietor of the excellent Marginal Revolution, recently gave a talk to the International Association of Culinary Professionals and offered some food-related investment advice: If sushi restaurants are new to a country, and are succeeding, buy shares in the stocks of that country. Raw fish, of course, can be toxic. Quality can be hard to monitor with the naked eye. Sushi consumption is a sign that people...

effective bribing at nice restaurants

effective bribing at nice restaurants 04/09/2004 04:06 PM
the story's a few years old, but i bet that money still talks

Microsoft Chat: MSN Messenger Chat

Microsoft Chat: MSN Messenger Chat 07/13/2004 05:11 PM

Home Is Where The WiFi Is (And In Some
Fast Food Restaurants)

Home Is Where The WiFi Is (And In Some
Fast Food Restaurants) 01/07/2004 06:35 PM
A new study shows that more and more homes are likely to get WiFi connections. This seems like one of the more obvious predictions around, but it's still interesting to look at the numbers. The study points out that there are currently about 100 million broadband connections to the home worldwide - and only 5 million home users have WiFi. However, with the technology getting cheaper every day, and the clear benefit of having a wireless network in the home, it's likely to grow pretty rapidly (and, of course, that 100 million number isn't static either). This leads to two thoughts: (1) we still need to make setting up a WiFi network easier. Early adopters will mess around with finicky access points, but most users won't. It really needs to be plug and play. (2) Once more homes get WiFi, expect the unexpected in how they're used. Just like businesses are discovering - once that wireless network is there, there's no reason not to use it for other purposes as well. More devices are going to come with WiFi, and if they can just hop on an existing network, people are going to come up with all sorts of creative uses. Meanwhile, McDonald's continues their "we'll test a different location every few months" rollout of WiFi, as they've agreed to WiFi up over 500 restaurants in the UK. It looks like they're just teaming up with BT to be a part of BT's Openzone WiFi offering. That doesn't seem like the best choice, since already there are (reasonable) complaints that Openzone's pricing is way too high for what people get. In early tests in the US McDonald's was using a very smart pricing plan (buy a meal, get an hour of free service). It's unclear why they're not going with a similar plan in the UK. By offering up service with a meal, the internet access becomes a promotion to get more people into the restaurant. By charging insanely high fees for it, it doesn't bring in too many extra people, and certainly won't bring in much money.

Restaurants Closed for Opium Soup, Stews
(AP)

Restaurants Closed for Opium Soup, Stews
(AP) 06/17/2004 10:37 PM
AP - The soup wasn't just good. It was downright addictive. Narcotics police in southwestern China shuttered 215 restaurants found to be mixing opium poppy into their soups and hot pot stews, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.

Los Angeles bars & restaurants of the
40's & 50's

Los Angeles bars & restaurants of the
40's & 50's 04/15/2005 03:11 PM
Los Angeles bars & restaurants of the 40's & 50's

latimemachines.com/index.html
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"Davids Medienkritik: Michael Moore:
Amerikaner sind dumm, Deutsche sind
gebildet / Michael Moore: Americans are
Dumb, Germans Educated"

"Davids Medienkritik: Michael Moore:
Amerikaner sind dumm, Deutsche sind
gebildet / Michael Moore: Americans are
Dumb, Germans Educated" 11/10/2003 11:14 PM

Davids Medienkritik: Michael Moore:
Amerikaner sind dumm, Deutsche sind
gebildet / Michael Moore: Americans are
Dumb, Germans Educated

Davids Medienkritik: Michael Moore:
Amerikaner sind dumm, Deutsche sind
gebildet / Michael Moore: Americans are
Dumb, Germans Educated 11/10/2003 11:36 PM
Davids Medienkritik: Michael Moore: Amerikaner sind dumm, Deutsche sind gebildet / Michael Moore: Americans are Dumb, Germans Educated .. Michael Moore published in a German newspaper .. thanks to Mediankritik .. David Kaspar

medienkritik.typepad.com/blog/2003/11/die_zeit_prsent.html#mo re
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How's Your Digital Dinner? Restaurants
Go Hi-Tech (Reuters)

How's Your Digital Dinner? Restaurants
Go Hi-Tech (Reuters) 05/24/2004 10:47 AM
Reuters - Some of the world's biggest technology companies are setting their sights on the U.S. restaurant industry, to help them improve operations ranging from hiring wait staff to planning menus to buying appliances.

"experiences tipping maître d's to get
into insanely popular restaurants"

"experiences tipping maître d's to get
into insanely popular restaurants" 04/09/2004 09:09 PM

February 28, 2003

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