Of all the stupid things, if the State can’t work out a budget by next Monday, “non-essential services” will start to be shut down. So, when you can’t renew your license at the Sec. of State, you also won’t be able to drown your sorrows as package liquor distribution will stop. You can still buy, but if the shutdown lasts, how long will your local store have you favorite bottle in stock?
Wonder if this applies to beer, too.
This site is now running WordPress 2.3, thanks to the new upgrade; check out the link for a huge feature list. Of note (and the reason for this post) is the new native tagging system. After trying to get Ultimate Tag Warrior working on this site, and giving up, WP now has it built in.
So, WP users, time to upgrade again. Beware, the database upgrade took a while for my mini-blog here so you majors are going to have some downtime.
Well, 2 months and then some. After buying the new computer, I was all gung ho to be a Vista-guy. I’m no fanboy, but I do like Windows (yeah yeah). It’s familiar, it’s easy to use, and I have tons of software from work that conveniently ports to my home machine.
So, what’s Vista like after a couple months? Frustrating. Congratulations Microsoft, you made the following sentence pass my lips: “If I could sell these machines and come up with the cash, I’d buy a Mac.” Vista is essentially the answer to “how do we prevent idiots from installing crapware on their computers and then blaming us?”. It assumes that you are a) computer illiterate, b) in possession of a video card powerful enough to render scenes from Lord of The Rings from source and c) willing to put up with incredible amounts of confirmation dialog boxes.
Now, I am not a sysadmin by any stretch. I cannot (yet) pwn your box, forge email headers, or (apparently) get Ubuntu running in a virtual machine (dammit). However, I can build my own machines, hack a registry here and there, and configure damn near anything given the right documentation. So, what was the first thing that I did to “customize” my Vista install? That’s right, I nulled the fucking UAC “feature”. Yes, I am actually trying to defrag my hard drive; that should not require confirmation. Yes, I am trying to adjust the font size on my monitor; why the hell is that an admin-level change?
UAC is, for anyone who remotely uses a computer either incredibly frustrating or downright insipid. So, the major feature for security on Vista? For me, gone.
Next comes networking. Aside from the claim of easy setup, it’s anything but. No one, and I mean no one, can read or write from any shared folder on my machine. As the current powerhouse in the, uhm, house, my machine is the goto box for encoding video. Unfortunately, everything has to be fetched from the machine as I’m unable to get the config to allow anyone to see the damn box, much less write to it. I suppose that’s a security feature.
Aside from that, DirectX 10 sucks the big one. J– bought me Bioshock for my birthday. After cranking down every video setting in the game (for a brand new computer with a GeForce 8600 GT, Windows score of 5.9 of 6), the game still had issues in certain areas. Then, after some digging, it turns out that the game performs better on DirectX9 and DirectX10. ‘scuse me, but what the hell?
And, the last complaint, iTunes. This likely has blame to spread around to both Apple and Microsoft, but someone needs to step up and fix this issue. I like videos on my iPod. That means I have add and annotate quite a few files in iTunes. Under XP, this was simple: add video, right-click on it, set properties. In Vista, it goes like this: add video, wait, right-click on it, wait a very long time, enter properties, wait even longer still, repeat. To change the title on one sit-com length video takes (without exageration) at least 90 seconds. For a DVD of episodes, this means it takes 8-10 minutes to change the episode titles. It’s enough to stop organizing them.
That said, at least iTunes is stable on Vista, which is a vast improvement over my XP box.
So, I’m not impressed with Vista. For $10 billion in development, I expected way more. If upgrading to XP wasn’t such a pain in the ass, this machine would be an XP box. Thank god Virtual PC still works (although unsupported). At least I can have a dev environment.
Our Lager,
Which art in barrels,
Hallowed be thy drink.
Thy will br drunk,
(I will be drunk),
At home as in the tavern.
Give us this day our foamy head,
And forgive us our spillages,
As we forgive those who spill
Against us.
And lead us not into incarceration,
But deliver us from hangovers.
For thine is the beer,
The bitter and the lager,
For ever and ever,
Barmen.
(courtesy of StumbleUpon and Office Humor).
I used to be a huge fan of the Food Network. Of the very few hours I would give to TV a week, Food Network used to get a substantial amount of them. But, in the last year or so, FN has become as boring as, well, HGTV; all show and no substance. With the advent of Rachel Ray and a bevy of insipid “personalities” who couldn’t cook their way into a family diner, the Food Network has sacrificed its mantle as a cooking network to become a food entertainment network and, worse, a reality TV network (“America’s Next” + futureShowNameStr + “Star”)
The basic night is now packed with contrived competitions (cause cooking is all about head-to-heads), “celebrity” chefs rehashing the same crap they have for years, and Emeril. Props to Emeril for sticking it out this long because I can’t imagine what a soul-sucking experience it must be when the network you helped make starts tossing talent left and right.
For example, Mario Batali, the oddly fascinating Italian chef didn’t have his contract renewed by Food Network. Must have been hanging with the wrong crowd again. You know, foodies. Which leaves Alton Brown and Emeril (maybe Giada if you’re into her) as the only things worth watching. (Thanks to Ashley for the tip.)
So, my occasional Good Eats viewing will sustain me until someone figures out that what cable really needs is a cooking network. Stars will make themselves if the shows and the cooking are good. Maybe I need to pick up another season of America’s Test Kitchen on DVD. Or Anthony Bourdain could finally get to be the ultimate chef and run a network. Can you imagine?
A fixture in Ann Arbor, Shaky Jake, died Sunday of an unspecified cause. If you know someone who knew Jake, they’re probably lying.
Shaky Jake dies Sunday at the age of 82 – MLive.com [via DataWhat?]
Bits and pieces in no particular order:
Zero Punctuation reviews Bioshock (video with crude language).
Yep, that about sums it up. Bioshock is a solid FPS, a weak RPG, and more overhyped than the PS3. Ok, not as much as the PS3 as the game actually delivers some of what was promised, but.. just watch the video.
Oh, and don’t play it on DirectX 10; apparently the performance is better on a DX9 system.
He was possibly the most important driving force in the world-wide beer community over the past 30 years. Starting with his first publication of “World Guide to Beer” in 1977, he has always been a strong voice for the beer community.
A great loss to the brewing community, Michael Jackson (not the dancing one) has passed away. Raise a glass for Mr. Jackson.
I began a long rambling post about the Katrina-ravaged coast yesterday (the anniversary of the hurricane’s landfall), but became bored by my own self-righteousness. I’ve never been to Louisiana or Mississippi so my attempts to personalize what is happening in that region fall flat.
Instead, you, dear reader, should go out and read for yourself from those living it what is going on or, more appropriately, not going on. A link fest is below, but I will add one commentary of my own. As a child of the West coast of Michigan, Lake Michigan was a huge part of my psyche. Living near one of the largest fresh-water lakes in the world really clicked for me and is one of the things I dearly miss living inland. As a one-time sailor and freeloading boater, I also know that the Great Lakes are a large area of work for the Army Corps of Engineers.
The same Army Corps that failed the city of New Orleans so spectacularly. To my Michigan family, friends, and random readers, what happened in New Orleans and all over the Gulf Coast is a signal to us as well. This state depends heavily on the services and projects completed by the Army Corps. You need only think of Holland, Grand Haven, or Saugatuk to envision the immense sea-works that allow shipping to come in and out of those harbors.
The precedents being set by the disaster in New Orleans has ramifications all the way up here. Katrina did not drown the city of New Orleans. Let me say that again. Katrina did not drown the city of New Orleans. The failure of the levees which held back the Mississippi River did that. The levees were not and are not the responsibility of the state, despite all the finger pointing. The levees are a federal responsibility. Just like the sea-ways on our coasts here in Michigan.
So, as you read some of the posts linked below, remember that what happens in New Orleans is not isolated there. The same agency that allowed the disaster to happen there is very active here. Holland may not flood, but the same methodology that allowed much of New Orleans to flood is being used to protect our coastline as well.
Alan Gutierrez: When The Saints Go Marching In
Large news round-up at VatulBlog
Anderson Cooper: No Right for Us to Feel Fatigued
Douglas Brinkley: If we want New Orleans to die, we should say so