Breaking Windows: November 2003 Archives

iChat is Annoying Me

When I quit iChat, I want to quit iChat. I do not want to be asked if I am sure (if I have an open chat window open). Even if the open chat window was with someone who is no longer online, you are still asked if you are sure you want to quit. Why, oh why, is there no preference to turn this off? If you want to send feedback to Apple on iChat, please do. If enough people complain, things usually get changed. I am back to using Fire. I only open iChat up if I want to use the A/V capabilities. I hope in a future version of iChat that there is a view chat log feature. This is something that is in Fire, and is nice to be contained inside the application. For now there are some nice alternatives for iChat, but that is not good enough for me. When I quit Fire, it quits. I like that feature.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 1, 2003 1:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

My Polls Suck

Or, at least they did, so says Brandon. So, he is now in charge, from this day forth, of the polls for my site. If YOU think they suck then you need to email me with a better one.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 1, 2003 2:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Comment SPAM

There is nowhere that is safe from SPAM. I knew I would be getting comment SPAM in my blog sometime, it was just a question of when. Today was the day. Bastards. There is IP banning in the MT preferences, but people have gotten more proactive about comment spam. There is the MT-Blacklist plugin, which I will now be installing. Even Six Apart has blogged about comment SPAM. MT-Blacklist is installed, and is very nice. If you do not have this plugin installed, i suggest you install and configure it. Thanks to Jay Allen for a great addition to the MT community

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 1, 2003 6:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

iTunes ID3 Tags Follow Up

From BlogCritics:

posted by Iain: One thing that can dramatically change the time to write ID3 tags, is if there is a format change. ID3 v1 tags are or fixed length, so if you alter the data you only have to rewrite the tag. However, if you start adding additional info such as in V1.1 tags or V2.3 tags (not sure what itunes uses) - then the tag suddenly becomes longer. At this point instead of just rewriting the tag the program has to rewrite the whole file to disc - this takes more time. This may account for the difference in write times you are experiencing. I suspect that Itunes is converting the tags.

This is in response to my post about slow ID3 tag editing in iTunes. This clearly is the reason for it. I just checked it myself, I edited a MP3 with v 1.0 tag and added info that requires v 2.3 tags and it took much longer. Thanks Iain this answers my question.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 1, 2003 11:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Windows Media Player 9 for OS X

I heard about this a while ago, seems like ages now, but I guess it is finally here. Windows Media Player 9 for OS X. Odd thing is there is no mention of this on any of the Mac sites such as MacCentral. It is not on the MacTopia home page either. Strange. A friend of mine confirms that it does indeed play WMP 9 files. This rocks! Now I can watch that content that sites only put up in WMP 9 format. Thanks to Eric for the link.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 7, 2003 3:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Adobe CS Shortcomings

I recieved my copy of Adobe CS Standard this past tuesday. I payed for expedient shipping, and I sure did not get it, as I know others who got their boxes 3 to 4 business days before I got mine. I am just glad to finally have it, I am really looking forward to the new features in all the new apps (sans GoLive, I am a Dreamweaver type of person). PRINTED MANUAL? If you buy the new Adobe CS applications separately, you will get the printed manual in the box. If you get the Adobe CS Standard or Premium, you do not get printed manuals. You get a 92 page booklet that has 2 pages of "what's new" content, and a bunch of lessons such as "how to make a brochure." All I have to say is WTF? I guess Adobe thinks it would make the CS suite too expensive to include the manuals, yet they are available from the Adobe Store. This is total BS. There are reports on MacInTouch about the printed manuals. Some people called Adobe Customer Support about the lack of manuals, and they got the line that I just described. You see I like having the printed manuals. Apparently I am not the only one. Having a PDF manual is nice to be able to do a keyword search on, but for all intents and purposes, I would much rather read about things in a book, I burn out my retina enough as it is. Hey Adobe! You made a bad choice here. Why include the manuals in the single application boxes and not the entire suite? If I pay $1,229.00 for a suite of apps, I expect printed documentation, and not 2 pages of "what's new" and a stupid bunch of tutorials. I also like the tri-fold Quick Reference Card with all the tools, palette options, and keyboard shortcuts. I cannot see how printed materials are too expensive for someone like Adobe. Odd thing though, I got a different story when I called the Adobe Tech. line. I was also told the manuals ship with the single application boxes, but they were not yet available for purchase. Also they would cost $50 a piece. This is not true at all. They cost $30 a piece, and are available for purchase right now. They are also available in a Standard and Premium bundle for $49 and $59 respectively. I have half a notion to call back and hope I get a different tech. on the phone to see if I get a different answer, the correct answer. Other people have been told they can buy the manuals online, after all. I bought the books for the Adobe CS Standard, that cost $67.38 after all is said and done. Tack on another $10 if you get the Premium set, which adds the manual for GoLive CS and the Getting Started Guide for Acrobat 6. Talking about Acrobat, it has not had a printed manual, I don't think ever. I have bought Acrobat since 3.0 and it has never came with anything substantial in the printed form. And for that matter there is no manual installed in PDF form with Acrobat 6 Professional. Why not? I don't understand why Adobe does not use the Mac OS X Help architecture for its online help. Macromedia does. Many other developers do. Its nice to have everything in the Help Viewer app. Acrobat 6 help is in its own interface inside the app. Photoshop CS opens in a web page, same with Illustrator CS, and InDesign CS. I am willing to bet its the same thing for the GoLive CS help. I know from doing it myself that it takes little time to get your online help into the Help Viewer application when you already have it in HTML. This is because Help Viewer in a sense is a web browser. I do not understand why Adobe does not go the extra mile to put their online help into the Help Viewer. And then there is Acrobat, the odd ball. It has its own Help within the app. I wonder if the Adobe CS help is in the standard Windows Help UI. I have a lot of "why didn't they go the extra mile" questions for the Adobe CS suite of apps. More on that in a minute. Lets put things into perspective, and not just point the finger at Adobe. I also bought the Macromedia Studio MX 2004 suite for $1000, and all I got by means of printed documentation was the same type of 90 some pages of "what's new" and "how to" projects. Macromedia also sells the manuals in print on their site. Of course I am the type of person that buys the Macromedia API reference manuals as well, as I like writing extensions for Dreamweaver. Quark did the same thing. For Student Publications I ordered a lab pack 15 seat license of Quark 6 which came with no printed materials what so ever. I cannot find a manual for purchase on the Quark site. Quark 6 online help is in the Help Viewer, just like the Macromedia apps help files are. I am already disappointed in Adobe for not including printed manuals. This is not like them. But of course this is a growing trend that only irritates customers. I wonder why developers like Adobe, Quark, and Macromedia, etc, etc, don't seem to care. UPGRADE COST? Also, if you do the math on the upgrade you will be scratching your head. $169 a piece for the new Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign (the three apps in the Standard CS suite) is less then the upgrade cost of $550. CS INTEGRATION? These apps are supposed to be even more integrated as ever. First they need to be consistent, then they can be integrated. The new features in Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator are great and in some cases numerous, but I am not going to talk about them. I think Macworld did a great job of explaining the "best of" the new features. I might highlight some of my favorite new bells and whistles, but I am not going to go in-depth on anything. Adobe claims that the new Adobe CS is integrated more then ever. There are some glaring omissions IMO to this integrated package Adobe calls Creative Suite. Lets start with the New Document dialog. Photoshop and InDesign allows you to make custom document sizes. Which is nice, now you don't have to edit a text file to make a custom entry in the Preset drop down menu. But there is no such custom preset feature in ImageReady or in Illustrator. Why not? I am not seeing integration here. The Keyboard Presets editor in Photoshop is really nice. It allows you to change keys for the menus, tools, and even the palettes. You can also save out an HTML file of the shortcuts (although it tries to open this file in InDesign CS, I do not understand that). The HTML file that is exported is nice though. This Summerize feature is not in InDesign, Illustrator, or ImageReady. Illustrator will export a very poorly formatted text file. InDesign exports a better formatted text file. ImageReady has no such Keyboard Shortcut editor. At least ImageReady still allows you to select "Use System Shortcuts" so Command + H hides ImageReady. This is more than can be said for InDesign though, the Keyboard Shortcut editor in InDesign, which does not look changed from version 2.0, does not allow you to change the 'Hide InDesign' menu command. So there is no Command + H (to hide the app) in InDesign. Photoshop has the most robust Keyboard Shortcut editor in the suite, with distinct sections for Application Menus, Palette Menus, and Tools. InDesign will let you customize all but the tools, and of course the Hide command. Illustrator allows you to change Tools and Menu command keys, but not Palette Menu keys. ImageReady lacks a customizable keyboard shortcuts editor all together. How about it Adobe? How about the same UI for keyboard shortcut customization. The HTML page exported by Photoshop CS is very nice, it is a shame that you cannot export the same looking file from the entire CS suite. On a rather comical note, be sure to check out my poll on this subject :) More is yet to come... there are more things that annoy me, but I don't have time to finish this now.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 9, 2003 6:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Your 99c belong to the RIAA

Are your base, all belong to us. Yea. The RIAA.

Wasn't the Internet, this weightless kingdom of bits and bytes, supposed to make distribution costs just vanish? Apparently not.

Source: The Register

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 9, 2003 9:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Matt Paprocki Joins BW

A good friend of mine who wrote for me years ago for The BG News is again writing for me, but for Breaking Windows this time. Matt reviews movies, DVDs, and video games. Be sure to check back for his latest, also be sure to check out his other writings. I am really happy to have Matt as a part of BW, please be sure to share your comments on his reviews! [Shameless Plug] If you would like to write for this site, please send me an email, ken [at] meancode [dot] com.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 10, 2003 7:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Phone Booth DVD Review

To those who might be wondering: Yes, this is an 81 minute film about a man inside a Phone Booth. Surprisingly, this is an outstanding 81 minute film about a man inside a Phone Booth. Sadly, the DVD doesn't add very much, but the film itself is strong enough on it's own to warrant a purchase. Young actor Colin Farrell stars as Stu Shepard, a publicist inside the overly crowded New York City. He is the perfect example of a person your supposed to hate. He is constantly throwing empty promises out to magazines, ripping off a young kid looking to get a break into the business with Farrell, cheating on his wife, etc. Finally, everything catches up with him. As he steps into the phone booth he uses to call the other woman (Toledo native Katie Holmes) in his life every day, a sniper (Keifer Sutherland in one of the most unique movie roles of all time) pins him down. The tables take an even larger turn for the worse when the sniper picks off a civilian drawing the police (headed by Forest Whitaker) and SWAT team to the area. The pacing of this brief experiment in psychological terror is relentless. Colin's character is set up in a matter of minutes and from here on out it's him and the lonely confines of a phone booth with a man who continuously breaks him down. He toys with him, sends him warning shots, and literally causes him to break down on national TV. There are no major twists in the story and the ending is on the disappointing side, but the tension Joel Schumacher creates is breathtaking. At a brisk 81 minutes (including the credits), there's no time for boredom to set in and the unique camera shots always keep things interesting. People who go in expecting action will be highly disappointed, but even these people will be drawn into this gripping thriller. The DVD comes with both a widescreen and full-screen version (on opposite sides of the disc). The full screen version is hardly watch able, cutting off the picture-in-picture segments, one of the more unique aspects of the movie, directly in half. The picture, regardless of which format you choose however, is gorgeous. Most of the film retains a dark feel, from Colin's suit to the city towering above him. Colors are faded for effect and it all works thanks to the quality of the print. There are very few instances where the compression of the video becomes a problem and even these are negligible. Much like the video, the sound is equally impressive. Both the English and French tracks support 5.1. For a movie that takes place mostly inside a phone booth and hardly any soundtrack to speak of, it's something to listen to. The opening minutes of the film feature countless people talking on cell-phones and their conversations, inaudible as they are, surround the viewer. You'll hear ambient noises throughout if your paying attention, but this is a movie where most of the sound is dialog. Your subwoofer won't get a workout, but most of the positional audio, when used, is great. Sadly, the rest of the disc is mediocre. The only features include a commentary by Schumacher and the theatrical trailer. Schumacher talks quite a bit about the conditions during the shoot and stays active throughout, but it's no replacement for a detailed documentary DVD fans are used to. This is a DVD that needs to reissued in a nice 2-disc set. By the time your done with this movie, your sure to check this one out again regardless of it's glaring lack of features. Whether it be to introduce someone else to it or simply catch Farrellís outstanding performance, this is disc that NEEDS to be on your shelf. This is an underrated gem that was sadly overlooked.

Posted by Matt Paprocki on November 10, 2003 8:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My Dead PC's Hard Drive

In our earlier episode we found out that my PC is dead. It took me a while since I have been so busy lately, but I finally got the data I needed off the HD of my PC. As I stated earlier Alienware will not backup data for you, even for a fee. I would have paid for it too, as it is a convenience. After all, the stuff I need is in my My Documents folder. I first though of going to Best Buy or some similar place to get my files resurrected. Then I thought, why not attach it to the IDE chain of the G4 at work. Then my dad had a much better, and less painful option. Put the IDE drive in a FireWire enclosure. This worked very well, as we have a number of full sized Firewire drives at work. Opening the OWC drive case and taking the existing drive out was pretty easy. Getting the drive closed again was a little more work. In little time I had all my important data that was on my PC's HD. Now it is time to send it in to Alienware, which I will be doing this week.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 10, 2003 9:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Magazine says it has topless photos of Jessica Lynch

"Leave it to (Hustler publisher) Larry Flynt to do something like this," said Paul Bogaards of Alfred Knopf, publisher of "I Am A Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story," which was released Tuesday.

Source: az central.com Oh this is rich. And I do not see why people think that Larry Flynt would do anything less then this.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 11, 2003 9:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

FCC allows using home number for cell phone

Consumers can move their home or office phone number to a wireless service starting on Nov. 24, the Federal Communications Commission ordered Monday. Wireline-to-cell-phone number portability will take effect in the nation's largest 100 markets the same day wireless-to-wireless portability kicks in, the FCC ruled.

Source: Newsday.com and CNN/Money It would have been nice to do this 5 months ago when I finally decided to ditch the land line phone and opt for a cell phone only. Of course I wonder when this service will be available in Bowling Green, Ohio! Still, it is nice that the FCC is doing this. I heard on Bob & Tom this morning that an estimated 5.2 Mil. people have gone wireless only, like me. I think it is a great thing. The only thing I regret is not having being able to fax from home. Oh well, there are always tradeoffs. The benefits of just having a cell phone surely out weigh this one drawback. I am really glad I went with Verizon Wireless. T-Mobile seems like the most advanced carrier this side of the pond, but from what I have seen with friends who have T-Mobile their service is rather splotchy. One thing I do not understand about Verizon Wireless though: they are by far the biggest of the cell phone carriers, but they do not have the best selection when it comes to smart phones, and phones with advanced features, such as bluetooth, etc.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 11, 2003 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Matrix Revolutions Review

No sequel can compare to the original 1999 masterpiece that is The Matrix. I don't want to spoil the ending of this well written piece of popular culture, so I am not going to go into any concrete details. Matrix Reloaded was a disappointment to some, and some people will not be happy with Revolutions for the simple reason that they did not like Reloaded. I was one of the few that enjoyed Reloaded, even though it was a bit thick on the philosophical parts. (If you really want to, check out Taking the Red Pill: Science, Philosophy and Religion in The Matrix, I found it a good read). If for nothing else people swarmed to see Revolutions for closure. We find out what happens to Neo and Trinity, and the rest of the gang. I guess that is why it made 209 Mil. in its international box office opening. That or people were actually looking forward to seeing it for the great movie it was. Revolutions tied up and answered a lot of loose ends left a fray from as far back as the original movie. It is nice to see the story come full circle so well on so many things. I think when you watch these 3 flicks back to back to back you will see what I mean. I watched The Matrix and Matrix Reloaded on DVD before I went to the theater to see Revolutions, didn't you? :-P I thought that Revolutions was cut a lot better then Reloaded. Reloaded had some scenes that went on forever, the pacing of Revolutions was better. The battle scenes and the machine city were very impressive. Very nice amination. Did you notice the heavy overtone of classical music in Revolutions? It was hardly there in The Matrix, and then was stronger in Reloaded, but Revolutions had massive amounts of very electric classical tracks (the Neo - Smith fight, for example). I don't think this is a bad thing, I think it is quite the opposite. While I liked hearing Rage, Prodigy, Rammstein, Rob Zombie etc, in the first flick, the original score is more powerful, especially considering the underlying concepts and philosophy of The Matrix trilogy. I think the popular soundtrack was used to get wider exposure, but look at what they did with the 3rd soundtrack. I would score Revolutions above Reloaded, but without the middle chapter, Revolutions does not make much sense. Revolutions is a very well done ending to a great story. But then I am just a geek that is infatuated with the world of The Matrix. If you did not get a chance to play the Enter The Matrix video game, then you should. You would have gotten much more out of Revolutions if you played through the video game. For one, it introduces the changed Oracle (for those who do not know, Gloria Foster died just after the shooting of Reloaded, so the story had to be modified a little, and a new actress had to be cast.) The video game did a great job of bringing The Animatrix and Reloaded together as well. Enter The Matrix fleshed everything out nicely for those of us that wanted more. It will be interesting to see if/when something compares to The Matrix experience. Three movies, The Animatrix anime and the Enter The Matrix video game are all tied together so well. It makes for a very fun experience. The only thing I was hoping for in Revolutions was big surprises. There were none. Everything was obvious, or it had already been implied by the first 2 movies. But nothing is perfect, and Revolutions was well worth the price of admission. Also posted at BlogCritics.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 11, 2003 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Did hackers expose N-Gage games?

Well that didn't tale long at all!

Mobile phone giant Nokia is investigating whether hackers managed to disable security that protects its N-Gage cell phone games. If various Web reports are true, someone has discovered a way for the games to be played on any cell phone that, like the N-Gage portable video game machine, uses the Symbian operating system. Symbian is an overwhelming favorite among handset makers that develop next-generation cell phones.

Source: C|NET

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 11, 2003 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tears of the Sun DVD Review

Trailers for a feature film are supposed to give potential viewers a general idea on what the movie will be about. In the case of "Tears of the Sun," it's full length trailer depicts non-stop violence much like the movie it is constantly compared to, "Black Hawk Down." Believe it when you are told that it is far from an all-out Bruce Willis action epic. This a slow paced, tension filled drama with a 20 minute battle tacked onto the closing moments. A team of Navy Seals (headed up by Bruce Willis) is sent into a war torn segment of Africa to retrieve a US doctor (Monica Bellucci) working at a missionary. An African militia is also making a bee-line to the area and the team must move quickly. When Dr. Hendricks refuses to leave those who are in her care, Lt. Waters (Willis) makes a conscious decision to turn back and try and get every able African out of the area. The film runs at just under 2 hours. During this time, viewers will be subjected to some brutal sequences depicting some savage murders unlike anything this reviewer has ever seen on film. Though not as gory as "Saving Private Ryan," watching 2 members of the militia douse a child in gasoline and then raise a lighter is gut wrenching. The film does more than enough to get it's point across, but it seems to drag on too long until the final spectacular showdown. Even then you'll find numerous military clichÈís that dumb down the entire movie. Each of the actors is more than adequate, but some of the writing is simply childish. This dual-layered DVD is presented in a brilliant widescreen presentation, marred only by a few tension filled nighttime sequences. Here, those hate-filled little compression squares rear their ugly head far more than is necessary. The daytime scenes are crisp and the colors, muted for effect, set the tone of the film from the start. Both 5.1 soundtracks (French and English) sound spectacular during the few fire-fights, but it's a shame there isn't more reliance on ambient effects. There are a few bird chirps strewn about, but it's hardly enough to immerse a viewer in the film. Feature wise, the disc performs admirably. There are 2 commentaries, one from the writer's view and one from the directors. There is also an "Africa Fact Track" that will give viewers info on the country during the film. 8 deleted scenes have been included and there's a short 15 minute documentary on the making of the film. The director, Antoine Fuqua, talks quite a bit on what he was trying to achieve with this film, but there's hardly enough time to present everything in 15 minutes. There are a bunch of trailers tacked on and the "Voices of Africa" features are interesting enough, letting African people who have lived through wartime speak about their experiences. There's enough on the disc to keep fans busy for a while, but the movie itself it a bit of a downer, especially after the action-packed trailer. If you go into this movie expecting a drama, you may find yourself hooked for the entire running time. Those of us who viewed the trailer and expected something else are bound to be disappointed.

Posted by Matt Paprocki on November 11, 2003 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Risks of Panther Access Changes

Last week (and in our Panther Special Report) we covered the change in Panther that lets any administrative user move, or even delete, important system-level files by simply authenticating (providing their admin account password) when trying to perform the action. What we didn't cover at the time is the fact that what is actually happening "behind the scenes" is that you are actually using the Unix sudo command -- a way to temporarily perform actions with root-level access -- to execute the desired action. Why this is important is that the sudo command has a built in timer: once you've authenticated, it provides you with that root-level access for five minutes (by default). So after you've first authenticated, subsequent actions -- even dangerous ones that could render OS X inoperable -- can be performed without requiring you to authenticate again. Obviously, this could result in a messy situation. However, at least you're aware that you've authenticated, so you know to be careful what you do for the next five minutes or so. The real danger of this "feature" -- as pointed out to us by Chris Breen, Macworld Magazine's 911 columnist -- is that when an admin-level user logs in, the act of logging in itself constitutes an authentication. In other words, for the first five minutes after logging in, you have root-level access and you probably aren't even aware of it. You can move or delete system-level files without being warned and without being prompted to authenticate -- it just works. After those first five minutes are up, you resume your normal level of access. As Chris pointed out, these first five minutes can be quite risky: "I've confirmed this by dragging my System folder to the Trash. And no, I couldn't get it out again without booting into Mac OS 9 and recovering it from the .Trashes file." We would add that sometimes people accidentally delete files -- using the command+delete keyboard combination in Mac OS X's column view sometimes makes it easy to delete an enclosing folder rather than the sub-folder you actually wanted to delete. In fact, Chris makes another good point about the risks of this situation: "Although some may argue that this is perfectly acceptable because you shouldn't be an Admin if you don't know what you're doing, bear in mind that any new Mac owner -- your aged Aunt who's upgrading from her trusty Performa -- is an Admin."

Source: MacFixIt This new "feature" is for convenience, but in the long run I do not see what its purpose is for. It does not safeguard people from deleting things they do not know are critical for the system to function. This was a bad choice, IMO, on Apple's part to include in Panther. The fact that you are blessed with root privs for 5 minutes after login is also unacceptable for the most part. I say for the most part because I myself know what root is. There is a small portion of the Mac OS X crowd who know, and understand what root is, and how to (not) use it. Being able to delete a file that is being belligerent is a nice "feature" but I do not think it should have been included in Panther for the reason Chris Breen described above. I know why a file will not delete when I tell it to, it is because I do not have the access privs. to delete it. There are usually reasons why I don't have privs. to delete it. The only reason I like this feature is because I know and understand why I am being asked for my admin password when I try and delete a file and I am prompted for this info. Most people do not. Also posted at BlogCritics.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 12, 2003 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Finding Nemo DVD Review

As I’m writing this, Finding Nemo is just behind “Spiderman” for the title of the fastest selling DVD of all time. Most likely, it will eclipse the superheroís epic within the next few days. Thankfully, this is certainly a disc that’s worthy of a space on everyoneís DVDshelf, but this is still a 2-disc set aimed at the kiddies so true film fanatics are left on the curb. Finding Nemo follows the story of Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks), an overprotective father (for good reason considering the films traumatic opening moments) of Nemo. When Nemo is taken by a diver, Marlin goes on a quest that could only happen in a Disney film. Along the way, viewers are introduced to countless memorable characters, the most prevalent being Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a fish with a serious short term memory problem. Any fan of Pixars other animated films will feel right at home here. The same sense of humor that permeated Toy Story and a Bugs Life is still present though the jokes are a bit spread out for the first hour compared to their previous films. With about 30 minutes to go, the movie really begins to pick up speed and the jokes really start to fly. It’s entertaining throughout, but nothing can match the final chapters. By far, this is the best looking CG film released yet. The water effects are impossible to describe, lighting is gorgeous, and once Australia is revealed for the finale you’ll swear it’s all real. This set provides a digital-to-digital transfer that is possibly even better than the previous Pixar discs. The colors are stunning in the reef and this a great way to show off a new TV. Even when the movie begins to take on a darker tone, you’ll never catch any grain or compression issues. The full frame version included on disc 2 has been reformatted so you don’t miss anything if you choose to watch the film in this manner, but the widescreen print seems much less crammed and of better overall quality. 5.1 EX is the order of the day, and the water creates some surreal moments. The bass during some of the crashing water segments is strong enough to impress even those with a weaker system and the rears are used generously throughout. Scenes occurring inside the aquarium really make viewers feel what it would be like to be inside a glass rectangle, filter sounds and all. As a 2-disc set, there’s a ton of stuff to do and play around with. Disc one is for the film buff with tons of behind the scene art, a slew of deleted scenes (none of which were finished sadly), a nice yet brief 28 minute making-of (which really shows how much work these guys do in a film like this.…everyone had to become certified divers before they could start working!), and a few easter eggs. The “virtual aquarium” feature is an interesting idea, but the execution is seriously lacking. Each of the discs contains a different one, but the video used is grainy and boring. Most don’t even feature fish! Disc 2 is all about the little ones. The “Fisharades” game, while a novel idea, seems to have no end. There’s a nice piece featuring Jean-Michael Casteau and characters from the film that teaches kids about the coral reefs. There’s some fantastic footage to be had here and it’s an interesting watch even for the older crowd. The short film “Knick Knack” is priceless, easily one of the best Pixar has ever made. Scary since it came out in the late 80’s. There’s an tour of the studios that teach kids the basics of the animation process which is quite informative if you’ve never seen this done before. There’s a ton more to explore on this disc and it will keeps kids busy for some time. Sadly, nearly all of the features reside on disc 2 and people looking for more hardcore information are left out. The introduction on disc 1 says they had an actual director take over the helm for the documentary, but there’s hardly enough here to show how these films really get made. I think any fan would love to see some of the more stressful moments: Making deadlines, screening footage, animation screw-ups, more “how can we do this segments,” etc. Also, though I’m not one to usually gripe about packaging, it’s very irrupting to have an advertisement stuck to the front of my DVD’s. Seriously, is the offer for Dole bananas going to have an effect on your purchasing decision? Yes, it does peel off easily, but it’s annoying nonetheless. If there’s one thing that shows through in each of Pixars films, it’s how much fun these guys have making these movies. They have created what seems like one of the most enjoyable places to work in the US and it really shows in the final product. Finding Nemo isn’t the best film they’ve put out in their relatively short time, but it’s right up there at the top. My only hope is that their next film gives older viewers more choices or more detailed information.

Posted by Matt Paprocki on November 13, 2003 12:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Text-Only Outlook Email

This is a great tip from the good folks at Tech TV. Using this Registry hack you can make Outlook never show HTML anymore! I guess this is an option in Outlook 2003, but this is a much cheaper.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 13, 2003 1:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (3)

Online Console Games

Online gaming is slowly creeping it's way into the mainstream console gaming arena. Services such as Microsoft's X-Box Live service offers up a ton of nifty features to keep games occupied and connect with freinds. The question that immediately arises from the hardcore gamers is whether or not this is the future of video games. Simply put, this NOT the future, and it could very well destroy game design as we know it. Aimed squarely at the video games target audience, the 18-24 demographic, the online console game experience is certainly garnering a following. This is the group of people who grew up playing games on the NES, Genesis, SNES, and more. Games such as Bomberman with it's 4-player support were quite unique and encouraged socilization between gamers. Gathering 4 freinds over for a marathon session was undeniably a blast, but online gaming completely misses the point. Oh sure, your chatting along with other people looking to complete a common goal, but the interaction simply isn't the same. You'll most likely never see the person your playing with/against neither will even know their name (in most cases). Worse yet, what will happen to the captivating one-player experiences that this entire medium was practically founded upon? Final Fantasy will be going online soon (included with the PS2's hard drive when it finall arrives), but I simply can't understand the appeal here. The series is soon to be on it's 11th entry and it's been fine for the entire time, why take away the experience from those gamers who enjoy playing the game for it's captivating story? While I have no doubt that the storyline will be just as good, but you'll have thousands (millions?) of gamers out there and it only takes one to ruin the entire game. Want another reason? What happens in 10 years when I want to relive the experience of Final Fantasy 12? Oh wait, I won't be able to. By then, the servers will be offline and that game disc will be entirely worthless. This has already happened to those Dreamcast fans who enjoyed playing Phantasy Star Online, Speed Devils Online, Ooga Booga, and Sega's entire line of outstanding sports titles. Yes, these people could've upgraded to a newer console and enjoy the newest sports games, but this brings us to cost. Taking X-Box Live for the example, it costs $50+ a year to subscribe, $50 for a new game, $40 for a cable/DSL connection, and possibly more depending on your service (routers, cables, etc.). That's not even including the $179 for the console itself! The PS2 service requires the adapter ($40) and games such as Everquest charge per month. Costs like this alienate the younger set (the second largest group of gamers) and is even prohibitive to the 18-24 group. I have no problem adding in an extra online multi-player mode to some games , but games that are based entriely online and ignore the single player experience all together are seriously irratating. Growing up on games like Contra and blasting away alien beings with a freind next to me is an experience that simply can't be duplicated with an online game. Developers need to take a step back and realize what it was that brought us to this point. It sure as hell wasn't playing a game with someone I can't see 5,000 miles away.

Posted by Matt Paprocki on November 13, 2003 1:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Internet Explorer to stomp pop-ups

Microsoft plans to add pop-up blocking features to Internet Explorer next year as part of its Service Pack 2 update for Windows XP, a move that would go far toward stamping out the Web advertisements.

Source: C|NET What? M$ u is listening to the outcry from every web surfer? I think they are doing this for two reasons: 1) Everyone else has done it, even Apple, so now it is time they get with the program (everybody is doing it, shouldn't we Bill?). and 2) Many people are moving to PC browsers that do not have the word "Explorer" in the name. This is not just a thing geeks do anymore either. 'Normal people' even use browsers that block browser popups. This, I am sure, does not settle well in M$'s stomach. My last word: Finally!

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 13, 2003 2:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sign the Comment Spam Manifesto

I am fed up with comment SPAM as much as anyone, and so it Adam Kalsey. I cannot stand it when it happens to my blog, or when I see it happened to someone else's blog.

Posting an email address in a public place is not an invitation for companies to send unsolicited advertisements. Hosting a public Web forum or Usenet server does not give companies permission or the moral right to advertise on it. And soliciting comments from the public on a weblog entry or other Web page does not mean that companies or individuals are invited to use it for their advertising purposes. Usenet news succumbed to spam long ago. Email was next. Now spammers have turned their attention to weblogs and comment forms. In order to increase search engine rankings you are posting advertisements to our Web pages. What you failed to understand is that bloggers are smarter, better connected, and more technologically savvy than the average email user. We control the medium that you are now attempting to exploit. You’ve picked a fight with us and it’s a fight you cannot win.

Source: Kalsey Consulting Group Comment SPAM, like all other flavors of SPAM, is evil. DIE DIE DIE. SIGN SIGN SIGN.

What you can do Sign the manifesto by linking to it, leaving a comment or sending a TrackBack ping. Get the word out and let spammers know that their days are numbered. Write tutorials on how to track down spammers and shut down their operations. I wrote about how to get spammer’s affiliate accounts terminated. Perhaps someone else could write up how to trace a domain back to their hosting company. Or how to use tools like dig to find someone’s ISP based on their IP address. Start a posse. People particularly good at tracking down spammers could volunteer to help others. If a blogger is spammed, the volunteers could track down the culprit and shut him down. Stopping comment spam in one corner of the web will be good for everyone.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 13, 2003 2:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (3)

Max Payne 2 Cheats

There is nothing like playing through a game with a nude female character, this time around as Mona Sax. This page has all the other cheats too, cheers! Now if I could only play the darn game, it is sitting on my desk waiting for my PC to come back!

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 13, 2003 3:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Palm After Panther

I really wish that Palm would release a Panther fix for HotSync'ing. It is really annoying not being able to sync in Panther. Until then I have installed Jaguar on a FireWire drive. I installed Palm Desktop 4.1, then went to install the iSync Palm Conduit only to find out I did not have iSync installed. I download iSync, only to find out that I need iCal 1.5.1 installed first.... So now I finally have everything installed in Jaguar. Now it is time to install the things I wanted to install but could not because of Panther. Mainly ZLauncher and FileMaker Mobile. But before I do that I need to install the Tungsten T3 ROM update. The ROM update whipes the entire PDA, of course. Palm also says to format any SD cards too. So now I go and backup the stuff on my SD card. Oh, yea, I forgot to mention. I got rid of my T2 shortly after buying it and got a T3. I just could not resist. and fell to temptation. If you were not aware I am a spoiled little bitch, after all (at least that is what Jake keeps calling me). I have got to do something with that domain yet, I just have not had the time. The T3 ROM update went fine, I have not noticed much of a difference. And I must say that ZLauncher is one fine launcher. I used to use HandScape Pro, but it does not even support the resolution of the Tungsten, much less the T3. ZLauncher looks great on the T3.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 14, 2003 4:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tungsten T3 Screen Protector

The Tungsten T3's screen is a wee bit bigger then the Tungsten T/T2 screen. Of course it is. So my T2 screen protectors will not work with it. And the T3 is so new, it is almost impossible to find screen protectors for it. I found some from this Hong Kong based company, and they are not cheap! I thought the package would have 3 screen protectors, after all it is $9 USD. Nope, you get one protector for $9 + $3 shipping. But it is important to have your screen protected. It just comes at a price. I have not seen any other T3 screen protectors out yet either. I am sure there will be other vendors, just not at the moment. I bought these things almost 2 weeks ago, and just got them this week. So I am sure other vendors have them by now.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 14, 2003 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What is the Meatrix?

This is a very well done Flash animation, and spoof on The Matrix. It has a very good point about Factory Farming. It is, without a doubt, some of the best activism I have seen in a while. Be sure to check it out.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 14, 2003 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Terminator 3 DVD Review

Without James Cameron at the helm, it's almost scary to think what could've become of the Terminator franchise. Terminator 3 is by no means the epic thrill ride with a keen eye for storytelling that T2 was, but it manages to be one of the single greatest all-out action flicks ever to come out of Hollywood. The DVD release leaves a bit to be desired (and is especially weak for a 2-disc set), but the film is what all true DVD fans need to show off their systems. John Connor (played by Nick Stahl) has ripped himself right out of society. He has no home, credit cards, bank accounts, family, and has become a complete washout. It is his hope that this will prevent any Terminators from tracking him down. It doesn't. The latest model Terminator (the gorgeous Kristanna Loken) is sent back through time not only to eliminate John, but everyone who later is at his side during the battle. This brings in Claire Danes, portraying a veterinarian who is quickly sucked into the melee during an emergency call late at night. Arnold is back as the quickly aging (appropriately enough) T-101 to help protect John and keep him alive for the quickly approaching Judgment Day. Very little is here to advance the Terminator storyline. From the opening moments, it's nearly non-stop action throughout the entire 100 minutes. Remember the trench/chase scene from the second film? Forget it. It has nothing on a car/crane chase sequence a half-hour into this one. There is a much heavier reliance on CGI in this edition, and when it works, it works. There are those scenes where it's painfully obvious, but for a movie filled with so many awe-inspiring shots, this is a small price to pay. A few surprises are given to keep the timeline moving, but until the shocking revelations at the end of this film, there's hardly anything that will stun fans of the series. Then again, this is obviously not the focus of this third edition either. It's all about entertaining the masses and in this regard, it's easily the best of the year. (**** out of *****) The picture here is incredible. With the exception of a few grainy nighttime sequences, the print is flawless. The colors along with the explosions are reference quality material, right along with sound. Gunfire is prominent as it comes from all sides, immersing any viewer into the action. Bass is deep and the action never drowns the dialogue out. Warner has finally ditched the annoying cardboard snapper case for this release (thankfully) and settled for the standard plastic. Disc one holds the film, a 5.1 mix in French and English, plus 2 separate commentary tracks. One is director Jonathan Mostow going solo meticulously explaining how much of this film was accomplished; the second features most of the films stars (including Arnold himself) along with Mostow. The trailers for the film and video game have also been included. Disc 2 is, as usual, contains all the features but there's not exactly a lot here to dive into. Arnold introduces this disc with a short 30 second clip explaining what your about to experience, but it sounds better than it is. There's the now standard (and quickly becoming redundant) "HBO First Look" which runs at a paltry 13 minutes. There's nothing here that will surprise anyone as it's all been seen before. There's a deleted scene called "Sgt. Candy" which was thankfully cut from the movie, but does give some insight as to how the T-101 came to be. The best part of the disc is the visual effects room which goes deep into the process and even allows you to fiddle with a few sequences, adding in/taking out smoke, changing the weapons used, etc. The rest of the disc includes a look behind the McFarlane toy line, a blooper reel, a VERY brief look at the costumes, and the making of the video game. (***) The more than satisfying ending sets up a 4th film and one that has potential to even out-action this one. Arnold (along with Mastow) prove they have the skills to keep this series going full force if they so choose. It wouldn't surprise this reviewer if this disc gets an even better edition somewhere down the line since there's bound to be more material out there (abandoned effects sequences, more deleted scenes?). As for the moment, you couldn't ask for a better popcorn flick with stunning sound and picture.

Posted by Matt Paprocki on November 15, 2003 11:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Viking Kittens

Gregg showed me this cool Flash amination a while ago, and damit now whenever I hear the Immigrant Song all I think about are these Viking Kittens.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 15, 2003 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lacie Porshe 250 GB Hard Drive

I cannot believe the price drop on Firewire drives. A few months back we bought 120 GB drives for work from OWC for, I think, $250. This 250 GB drive cost $290. But thats how these things work in the computer world. This is by far the smallest full sized Firewire enclosure I have seen. The (approximate) dimensions are 7.25 x 4.25 x 1.25. It is a lot smaller then the OWC drives we use at work. "Designed by the world-famous Porsche Design Agency GmbH." Yea, whatever, its a gray case. I can't get over the form factor though, it is very nice. It matches my PowerBook G4 too :-D. Now I have one place to store my MP3 collection! That is so nice. I can now schedule more things to be backed up, not to mention Apple System Restore (ASR) images of my main drive, and still have room to grow. I formatted it as 'MS DOS File System' with the Panther Disk Utility. I did this so I could hook it up to my PC or any PC that I want to, for that matter. The only problem with using this formatting is the fact that it does not like special characters like HFS+ does, and it seems to have some issues with some icons. Think how many MP3 files have quotation marks, or question marks in them! Thank god for A Better Finder Rename (which coincidentally just came out with a great beta for OS X) to replace all those characters in the file names. Otherwise that job would be very very long and boring. But back to the drive, this is the best looking Firewire drives I have seen, hands down.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 16, 2003 1:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MS DOS Format + Jaguar

I still boot into Jaguar (10.2.8) to sync my Tungsten T3 (which I am actually having problems doing again) and I noticed something: my Lacie Firewire drive does not show up. Indeed if I go into Disk Utility in Jaguar it is grayed out. It finds the drive but cannot mount the volume. It knows it is MS DOS File System, but thats about it. Major bummer! Why? I find that OS 9.2.2 mounts the drive just fine. Interesting. Not another thing that OS 9 can do, and OS X could not do! Shocking. I really don't see why Jaguar cannot mount this drive formatted as MS DOS, but there are a number of mysteries about OS X that I still do not understand. This really does not effect me as I am running Panther, but if I take this drive to say my dad's house, he needs to be running Panther (or OS 9, but who does that anyway) to be able to see the drive. I have a OWC firewire HD that I Formatted on a PC, and Jaguar can mount that drive just fine. So there is something different about the "MS DOS File System" formatting option in the Panther Disk Utility. I tried finding more info about this at the Macworld Forums, but found no solid answers. I will try to find out more info on this on other boards, like MacOSXHints Forum among other places.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 16, 2003 1:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Adobe CS Suite Manuals

As I stated earlier, the Adobe CS Suite does not come with the printed manuals. All you get are the PDF's of them. I find this a major drawback, and do not understand why Adobe has done this. I bought, not too long ago, the Adobe Design Collection, and it had the printed manuals included. the Adobe CS Suite costs the same (give or take $100) and you do not get the printed manuals. You can however buy the manuals from the Adobe Store. For the Standard CS Suite, they cost $49.99. Add $10 for the Premium Suite. With shipping etc, added it cost me $67.30. This was worth it. Even if I had to pay for the CS upgrade, I would be saying it is worth it. Having product manuals is like having health insurance. You hope you don't need it, but are really glad when you have to rely on it. I have already gone through the 'New Features' sections, and am really liking the new 3D transform tools in Illustrator CS. The amount of control over lighting is very nice. This feature in itself is enough to get the new Illustrator. Being able to do 3D text without using Maya, Lightwave, etc, is a really nice thing. While the CS manuals do come in PDF format, I burn my retina out enough as it is, I like having the printed manuals. (And no I don't want to get comb bound manuals that I can make myself). The books are a little smaller this time, but with all the new features in InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator, I like reading about all the new things from the source, and a lot of times this is better then paying $50 or so per app for a 3rd party book.

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 16, 2003 3:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Mail server flaw opens Exchange to SPAM

Another M$ security issue? This is getting ridiculous.

Administrators of e-mail systems based on Microsoft's Exchange might have spammers using their servers to send unsolicited bulk e-mail under their noses, a consultant warned this week. Aaron Greenspan, a Harvard University junior and president ofconsulting company Think Computer, published a white paper Thursday detailing the problem, discovered when a client's server was found to be sending spam. Greenspan's research concluded that Exchange 5.5 and 2000 can be used by spammers to send anonymous e-mail. He says even though software Microsoft provides on its site certifies that the server is secure, it's not. "If the guest account is enabled (on Exchange 5.5 and 2000), even if your login fails, you can send mail, because the guest account is there as a catchall," he said. "Even if you think you've done everything (to secure the server), you are still open to spammers."

Source: C|NET

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 17, 2003 4:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (4)

Why Computers Are Screwed Up

Andy Rooney always has good editorials. Here is one on computers and typewriters.

They make computers so you have to buy a new one whenever there's a full moon. If my Underwood (typewriter) had been a computer, I'd have had to buy a new one every time I needed a new ribbon because Bill Gates would have designed new ribbons so they didn't fit last year's typewriter.

Source: CBS News

Posted by Ken Edwards on November 17, 2003 7:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Palm Problem in Panther Persists - Fixed

I am (now) a very happy c

Breaking Windows

Rants & Raves by Ken Edwards and Matt Paprocki

November 2003 Archives

November 1, 2003