Friday, April 30, 2004

GMail

I have a professional public blog on a specific topic. I should link it to something so Google starts indexing it already and it can be found, because, after initially happily toiling in the dark, I could use some community there. But that's not important right now, what is is that, because it is on Blogger.com, and Blogger.com is owned by Google, and Google has a new service to try, I got a test account at the fabled GMail.google.com. You know, free email with a gig of storage space.

Oh who cares, like I could ever want to fill a gig of mail on someone else's server. Never delete? I have had email so stressful I not only deleted it immediatly, I went though auxilliary filing mailboxes like 'Sent' to delete my response to it too. However, here's something that has not gotten attention: from my first tests it seems like Web email Done Right. I am really digging this UI, and am dreadfully jealous of my friend there who gets to work with these people where stuff like this can be done, and comes to fruition.

(But could I get fj@gmail.com? Nope. Hmpf. Hey, I am a D-list Usenet celebrity! I have had a price put on my head! I just found out I have a stalker! I demand my preferred email name! Would gmail not offer rms@gmail.com? jwz@email.com? esr@gmail.com? Huh? And besides that these people made something, what is the difference between them and me? What is it with this 'at least 6 letters' requirement?

Bonus points to the first person to figure out what my gmail address is by sending me email there.)

Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Point

[...]

- I wish you could pick up hard disks at CVS[*]. Then again, I need a harddisk to replace the one that blew itself up months ago, with Dean's complete music collection. So maybe I wish you could pick up reliable hard disks at CVS.

[*] Voor onze Nederlandse kijkers: de DA drogist.

Friday, April 16, 2004

At Least They Are Staying On Top Of New Releases

I use launch.yahoo.com as an Internet radio service at work -- damn Nokia's network use policy. I upgraded to the no-commercials service. I get to grade sogns as they play, in the web interface, to say which I like and which I hate, and the system tries to give me more of what I like and less of what I may not like, repeats things I really like, and throws in new stuff so I can keep making decisions and stay on top of things. I am always wary of these stations: how recent is their catalog? How often do they update? Launch seems to be doing pretty well, as I expect from a property owned by a juggernaut like Yahoo. But really, how pretty well?


When I started it up just now after lunch, it played the William Hung version of She Bangs for me.


(For our non-US readers, or those lucky US-readers that managed to live under a rock for this one, Mr. Hung is an American Idol reject, bigtime reject, who was so bad, so very bad, but so high-spirited, he got a record contract. Mainly as a novelty quick-cash cow for the record company, I suspect. One has to wonder what the terms are for Mr. Hung. His album debut charted at nr 30 in its first week. Mostly, according to Tower Records spokespeople, from people buying it who wanted to know just how bad it was.

Let's just say those buyers have gotten their money worth.)

And because of a glitch the web-page to grade it did not appear. I did not have a chance to ban it from my playlist. It may get played again.

I wonder if Launch has the video.

Thursday, April 15, 2004

Hackers Reading Your ATM Card And PIN Number From Across The Street?

Techno-thieves layer tech upon tech to tap YOU out! Next on Sick Sad World....

No wait, it's actually for real. Read the page to know what to look out for.

Friday, April 09, 2004

5 AM Is A Context

My fire-alarm needs to not start telling me ... something! ... something! ... something! ... whatever it is, at 5 AM. Just these single loud beeps every minute or so. Once I had localised it was the fire alarm -- a chore in itself for something beeping once every minute -- all I could do was get a ladder and pull on the one idetifiable moving part. A battery compartment opens for a 9V mini-brick battery. Fortunatly I had previously seen 9 volters in the tool chest a week ago, and had wondered "Why do we have a package of 9V batteries?" I don't even know if that is what it was complaining about. The battery tester that came with the new batteries tells me the old one wasn't even really seriously depleted. The alarm seems to have shut up now.

In the jargon of the particular field of software I work in, it would be said that my fire-alarm needs to be context-aware. Know what people are like at what they do. Don't wake people up when they sleep.