ARCHIVES:  January 1-7, 2005

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January 7, 2005 - Friday

Tsunami Videos

Deborah P. sent me this list of home videos and still pictures of the tsunami (as well as this animated picture.) We both watched all of them -  amazing stuff. Most of them were taken in the movie mode of a digital camera. In one, the person appeared to be walking through the water themselves ... whew!

In another, the people were wondering if they should go downstairs and help people below. Unfortunately, another wave was just crashing through. It was impossible to do anything at that moment, but it was horrible to watch the wave retreating, pulling people out to sea.

 

Tsunami Movies

 

 

January 6, 2005 - Thursday

Powerful LaserPointers

This is almost funny and adds to the belief that there is no such thing as bad publicity. This link from del.icio.us goes to a place that sells the same laser pointer that was used to blind the pilots which led to an arrest. I bet they sell a lot more after this. Heck, laser pointers are probably selling well all over the country right now. Maybe even more so among our country's enemies, alas.

A couple of Christmases ago, Mom gave me a laser pointer. My cats love to chase the beam (we keep it out of their eyes, of course).

 

 

January 5, 2005 - Wednesday

Tech TV Returns?

From Technified, comes a blog entry that says Microsoft is interested in starting up a TechTV-like network with maybe the old TechTV hosts back. If that turns out to be more than rumor, I wonder if the hosts will still be promoting open-end programs as much as they used to. It's hard to imagine someone owned by Microsoft promoting Firefox.

I used to love that show -- learned much from their computer tips and lessons.

 

 

January 4, 2005 - Tuesday

46 Best-Ever Freeware Utilities

From del.icio.us, is a notice about this link to a list of good freeware utilities. I'm always ready to try a respected, free program. I agree with the first several programs listed here ... and am still reading this list. So far, they all look pretty good.

 

 

Tsunami Relief Effort Questioned

I am not sure I heard this right, but I think yesterday, I heard Paul Harvey question the Tsunami Relief Effort. He thinks they are getting enough of our tax money now that it has become a fad and Hollywood is jumping in. He implies that too much government money has been spent in this cause, that Bush and Clinton do not need to go around and do a fundraiser. But he did add today that the Salvation Army was one of the best places to contribute private funds to the effort. Someone else suggested getting the money to supply our soldiers with decently-armored tanks. That sounds like a worthy cause, too. I don't know what to think, but hearing another side to this issue was interesting.

 

 

January 3, 2005 - Monday

Need a Cell Phone Glove?

No, this is real. I'm not kidding. :p

 

 

2004 - Big Year for Blogs

PC World reports:

 

Readership is up, but most Web surfers still don't know what blogs are.
Paul Roberts, IDG News Service


Last year proved big for blogs and bloggers, according to data released from The Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Blog readership jumped 58 percent between February and November, and comprised 32 million U.S. citizens in 2004. More than 8 million U.S. citizens have created a Web-based diary, and one in 10, or around 14 million U.S. Internet users, has contributed thoughts or comments to a blog.


The figures released by the Pew Research Center are just the latest in a series of studies on the growth of blogs on the Internet, and show that the online diaries are becoming important sources of information for Internet users.


Despite gains in popularity, blogs are still the domain of Internet cognoscenti. More than 62 percent of those surveyed said they do not know what a blog is, Pew says in a statement.


Pew began surveying Internet users about blogs in the spring of 2002, and has charted a steady growth in blog readership since 2003, from 11 percent of U.S. Internet users to 27 percent in November 2004.


Most of these readers, 57 percent, are male. Less than half of the surveyed blog readers, 48 percent, are under 30, and a whopping 82 percent are long-time Internet users, with more than six years experience online.


Internet users who were new to the medium, used the Internet less often or had less education were less likely to be bloggers or blog readers, the Pew study finds.


Technology used to read blogs is also beginning to take hold. The study found that 5 percent of Internet users received their news from RSS (Really Simple Syndication) aggregators, or XML (Extensible Markup Language) readers that pull information from blogs and other Web pages.

 

But most Internet users still don't know what blogs are? Can this really be true? Others think the word, blog ought to be banned. (<-- This article is good reading of phrases people are tired of hearing - but banning the word, blog, -- oh, brother.)

 

 

January 2, 2005 - Sunday

Dan Speaks Out about The Screen Savers

I was a big fan of the show and still watch it once in a while, although it is not the same without Leo Laporte, Yoshi, Dan, Alex and others. Dan speaks out about the show and reveals a dirty little secret (from Slashdot.org). Leo comments on it, too.

 

 

January 1, 2005 - Saturday

New Year Flash Animation

Thanks to my sister, Deborah, I learned about this cute, quick interactive flash video wishing you a happy new year.

 

New Year Countdown

 

 

Happy New Year 2005

May you have a wonderful year. Why not do some good this year and give to the Tsunami Relief Effort? (Thanks to largeheartedboy for posting this link on his site, too.)

I finally saw Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. The movie was well-made (it got a 70% fresh from RottenTomatoes.com), being the kind of movie that critics love and wins Academy Awards. It was showing on the biggest screen in the theater - yay! (The bigger, the better.)

Okay, with that being said, let me add that this is not a "happily-ever-after-movie." There were unanswered questions (maybe a sequel is coming?) and the best that happened to these characters was that they achieved "peace of mind," but I don't know how that could be, due to one of the plot's developments. Anyway, the ending was tear-jerker and the whole movie was kind of dark - yet exciting and never boring. Jim Carey was very good in this as were the other characters. I don't think I want to read the books, though. I like happily ever after in my fiction. Like Barbara Walters once said, "There is enough sadness in reality -- I don't look for it as entertainment."