But, will it sing Melancholy Baby?

Alright dammit! Enough is enough. I can't even  keep up with Verizon's cable menu

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE? I'm sure there's some technology here I don't know about-let alone comprehend, but right now all I see is a polish joke (when you could tell polish jokes).

Surrender

Okay, 

which Windows 8 upgrader wants to sell me their WIN 7 Installation disk?

Pale Blue-Hoo

PALE MOON   [RedState] I have been happily using Firefox for many years now, but the episode with their CEO disturbed me quite a bit.  The day after I heard about that, I was going through my email and clicked on a link from Red State and got this: I really don't give a rat's ass about Mozilla's "corporate values", but when they start using them to interfere with my browsing that's where I draw the line.Today, I installed Pale Moon as my new browser. via Grin Gave it a try yesterday.  Had no problem installing and linking bookmarks, but could not get any extensions.  I'll be damned if I can find any TOOLS to configure the thing.  I'm unimpressed,  and happy to hop back and forth between FF and Chrome and, occasionally, IE.

Microsoft- A Big Fat Dinosaur?

Catharsis           I want a transfer dammit!   Two guys having a drink at the corner bar after work.  On guy complains that his wife is always on his ass about this and that; "I'm fed up!"  His friend chips in, "yesh, your wife is a fkn cnt." And is promptly punched in the nose.  She may be a bitch, but she's my bitch. Right?  I see that Microsoft had it's first losing quarter ever.  Prolly has something to do with stuff like this: MoSup's old computer is newer- but slower than my old box that I'm giving her.  Old computer runs XP.  The ONLY program of consequence I had to get all of was Thunderbird mail.  She has about 3 years of mail archived, with pictures and videos, etc.  That's her filing system.  Best way was to use the XP Easy Transfer program.   It took about 90 minutes to compress  her measly files.  When I plugged into to the new (Windows 7) box however, that Easy Transfer program didn't recognize the "unc" backup file created by XP.  WTFF? I Googled "XP file transfer .unc to Windows 7"  and got virtually nothing;  no real help.  Somehow I wound up using Microsoft's' Bing search engine.  Probably because you can hardly move anymore without being hijacked by it; having a Bing tool bar installed.   But guess what?  Bing came back with a zillion responses, almost all referencing a Microsoft solution or forum.  In short order I found the fix, re-cataloged her old computer,  and did the transfer.  For what that was worth! MS's crappy architecture stores some info in  Program Files, some in /User Files, and still more in /Application Data files; all orchestrated by a registry file.  So, there is no way to just pick up one box and move it to another room.  Here, a day later, I'm still reconstructing her stuff. Which is why I hate Microsoft's guts for the moment.  Aside: It's very much in Microsoft tradition to muscle competitors out of the loop, even one as dominant as Google (remember LOTUS 123/ Excel; or Netscape/ IE?).  What they've done here, it appears, is block Google's bot from access to anything on Microsoft's servers. It won't take long for people to notice that lapse, and just use Bing.  I kind of admire that; or at least enjoy seeing Google being one-upped (if that is indeed what happened). This is cathartic for me, in case you wonder why I think anyone g-a-s.

Burrito on a stick

Perfect Burrito on a stick  gizmo Today's "How Hard Can It Be?"

“ ”

Why no videos?

Http/1.1 Service Unavailable - If you're seeing this type of error, it basically means YouTube's crashed. When something this major happens, you can be sure that some technician ...

What;s his name ...

Search Engines Change How Memory Works

“ Thanks to search engines, most simple facts don’t need to be remembered. They can be accessed with a few keystrokes, plucked from ubiquitous server-stored external memory — and that may be changing how our own memories are maintained. A study of 46 college students found lower rates of recall on newly-learned facts when students thought those facts were saved on a computer for later recovery. If you think a fact is conveniently available online, then, you may be less apt to learn it. As ominous as that sounds, however, study co-author and Columbia University psychologist Elizabeth Sparrow said it’s just another form of so-called transactive memory, exhibited by people working in groups in which facts and expertise are distributed. “It’s very similar to how we use people in our lives,” said Sparrow. “The internet is really just an interface with a lot of other people.” [The Full Monty] When WW III shuts down electricity, Amazon Bushmen will be the smartest people on earth. There are other dangers too.

Nanny OS

Backwards-HO! More=Less

This caused me to reflect on what other features Windows 7 gives me that are valuable, and not available on, say, Windows.  I can't think of any.  On the contrary, here, off the top of my head, are things I used to be able to do, but no longer can. Record anything from cable television, save it, and edit it at will, using Media Center. Use video capture software Use DriveImage XML to back-up my system Send data (like cam pictures)  to the disk location of my choosing, and not someplace in the hierarchy, never to be seen again (except by accident). In short, Windows is now an extension of nanny government, beholden to interest groups who restrict the free use of personal files. More=Less

Wacky Islamo Stuff

Today's Achmed WTF?

Nobody will ever know what's going on here, because  police were prohibited from asking by LAPD profiling restrictions. Critical thinking does however seem to limit, to two, the reason he's lying in the street. This is where he found a wireless hotspot He's detonating the bomb he just planted in the hotel he's staying at.  Your guess may differ.

Conoomonium!

It's tough being a captain of industry ...

40.84mm = 1.6 inches Ravi Narain, inventor of the spray on condom, is being sued (who'da ever anticipated that?); and Julius Fromm, inventor of the latex condom is being dissed for wearing his invention, so to speak. It just don't pay to try and please dickheads.

RUPERT

RUPERT

“   One headline in the Herald read: “Kennedy’s Vendetta” and included some prose in a front-page editorial calling Kennedy “fat boy.” [Pop History Dig] ”

It was about this time that Rupert Murdoch registered on my radar screen.  The Wall Street Journal (alone) was covering Ted's attempts to break Murdoch using the FCC.  I was appaled by Kennedy's manipulation of the law to begin with, and this stoked my fire. The "Fat Boy" cover was cited as one that sent Kennedy over the edge, and was later immortalized when  Howie Carr fired up The Official Fatboy Ted Website!!  If there'a a more fascinating newspaper saga than William Randolph Hurst's, it's Murdoch's.  This POP HISTORY DIG story is a wonderfully entertaining time capsule. Anyway, that was a long way to go to get to my point. Murdoch's Digital Daily launch may very well be the blueprint that finishes print newspapers.  That means we can add daily news to the the list of services that would be lost with a single snip of the right wire, so to speak. No telephones, no internet, no lots of things.  Instant Afghanistan. Zippety-Doo Dah.  Now, I'm trying to decide if that's a bad thing.

Beating the Man!

STUFF I'M GOOD AT Beating the Man!

LPT to USB

Misguided Control Freak

Misguided Control Freak

toilet with perfume, massage and music. Sheesh.

Stop the Madness

In the past 10 days we've had to replace our: refrigerator freezer dishwasher a rotted-out main drain pipe (can you spell plumber) But that's not what I'm wanting to tell you.  Let's focus on what I'm looking for in an appliance, like the dishwasher. Yes, I've been here before, but who remembers.  The only control I want is a "wash" switch. That's all. .  Fill it up, add some dishwasher detergent, flip the "on" switch, read a book.  We've had about six of them during our married life, and never once did we want or ask for a sensor to examine rinse water dirt level.  We never once used "rinse and hold."   I'd be willing to pay the same price to buy a 100% mechanical washer (none exist). Over its considerately extended service life, my repair costs would be approximately zero. And face it, this unnecessary high tech, high maintenance gadgetry being shoved down our throats is why we have the government we have.  Now, our blind acceptance  has led to THIS!

Blowing the Turkey Caller

Going With What You Know

Hardcrab

Most, but not, all were successful

Original Models: A Look at Iconic  Prototypes

Are you zoomed in?

Anytime you're ready Mr. DeMille

I understand that kids today can't 4÷2 without a calculator, but JFC!