Saddam Captured

Saddam was found hiding in a hole just big enough for himself and his 2 companions. Go read the whole thing on an actual news site like CNN.com or someplace.

Definitely a “good thing” for US forces in Iraq… with any luck, the terrorist strikes on our forces over there will cease now that we’ve got Chief Bad Guy # 1 tucked up in a cave some where…

Now if we could just get our hands on Bin Laden…

Oh Yeah.. Broncos won! 2 more games left this season!

If the typing looks weird on this entry.. its because Kael is trying to help me type, and he really has no idea how to spell yet.. so he just keeps hitting random keys…

Laughable PC Magazine Article

I realize the actual article is a few days old.. I haven’t had time to post about it.

So, one of the windows apologists over at PC Magazine wrote an article about a vulnerability in MacOSX..

And when an article starts out with”…I was happy to learn earlier this month…” its pretty obvious that any “Journalistic Integrity” the author may have had has gone right out the window.

First, here’s the article itself hosted over at ABCNews. So go read it if you haven’t already. Now, since the article provides no means of feedback to inform the author (or PC Magazine, or ABCNews) of the factual inaccuracies that are present, I think a good place to send that feedback would be to the author’s publicly listed email address available here .

So.. what I’d love to know, is how does a flaw which involves your MacOSX box being on a trusted network (Home or office LAN for example) which then has to have a un-trusted machine take over DHCP duties for the network in order to affect your machine, come anywhere close to the number of “critical flaws” found in Windoze on such a frequent basis that M$ had to switch to a monthly patch release schedule to try and make it easier for their users to update regularly?

I mean think about it… if someone has access to your network in order to add a un-trusted DHCP server…you’ve got a lot more security concerns than what might happen if someone were to take advantage of this flaw (which is really just a over user-friendly feature designed to make it easier to set up and integrate networks… see this Apple kbase article on the work around)

And of course, like almost all Windoze apologists he uses the whole “There are no viruses for Macs because its such a small market”… Right, how about there are no viruses/worms/trojans for Macs (Of course..this statement excludes Microsoft Word Macro viruses) because OSX is built on a unix kernal, which has been around for years, and is constantly being updated to avoid huge security holes you can drive a Mack truck through (Internet explorer?) And because the Mac OS ships with all remote connection services (FTP, SSL, Web serving, File sharing, etc..) turned OFF, which requires a user who wants to use one of those services to TURN IT ON! as opposed to the Microsoft way of leaving the door wide open (all services turned on by default) with a big “No Security Here” sign hanging in the window…

Kael’s four month Dr. Appt.

So, Kael turns 4 months old next week, but his 4 month Dr. appointment was today for scheduling reasons

And the Dr.’s exact words were:

“Developmentally Excellent”

Which is a good thing.. it being a 4 month appointment, Kael was due for some shots… so he got them… of course.. he screamed.. and he’s still overly fussy from them.. but he’ll be better by morning (or at least.. he was better by morning after his 2 month shots).

25 Inches tall, 14.4 Lbs

And even though we were looking forward to starting him on solid food after his appointment, the Dr. recommended we wait until Kael is at least 5 months old, seems that babies that start eating real food before then are at a higher risk for food allergies, so it looks like Kael’s first food may be at a Superbowl party! (Hopefully watching the Broncos)

Battlestar Galactica (pt. 2_

The Sci-Fi Channel aired part 2 of the Battlestar Galactica mini-series last night. I had to work, so I didn’t get a chance to watch it until today…

Part 2 was better then part 1, it had a much faster pace, more space battles (well.. one big battle), good character development and a few surprises..

Definitely something I’ll watch if Sci-Fi decides to put a series out…

However (there’s always a however isn’t there?) I have one complaint about the mini-series in general.

What’s up with having Faster then Light engines, but no lasers? I mean.. I know that Space:Above and Beyond (another great series that got cancelled before its time) had FTL engines and machine guns in their fighters…but that series was set to be much more “real-day” (or almost) then BSG seems to be…. so if you guys at Sci-Fi are listening..add some lasers in when you make the series… even if its just for the handguns!

Another chance to make fun of Micro$oft

an amusing article from The Register

The Register is reporting that after months of running Microsoft.com on Linux servers (you know..one of the operating systems that Gates and Ballmer say is less secure and reliable then windows) Microsoft has finally (a little before Thanksgiving) decided to go back to running their website using their server software…guess they finally got around to patching some of the holes in their software, so their machine can be connected to the internet with out constantly rebooting itself!

Battlestar Galactica (pt. 1)

the Sci-Fi Channel aired the first part of its 2 part mini-series of Battlestar Galactica….

It’s billed as a “reimagining” of the original series, which ran for one season back in the 70’s. It has a few controversial changes from the original series (some of the major characters have had sex changes and are now females).

I’ve been lurking in the Battlestar Galactica forums on scifi.com off and on for the last 3 months or so. And I can say, that I am honestly surprised by how many people have been threatening to boycott scifi and all their advertisers because of the changes to the series..

I’ve even seen some people say that they should have used the original cast (uhh.. HELLO! Lorne Greene (Commander Adama in the original series) is DEAD… exactly how did they want Sci-Fi to pull that off?????)

While I understand that the “die-hard” fans of TOS are upset, I’m not sure what they were expecting? Galactica: 2003? More of the same bad stuff that showed up in Galactica: 1980???

To me.. the complaints about Sci-Fi’s BSG being different then the original, is like complaining that Star Trek: The Next Generation is different then the original Star Trek series… they both tell the same story (man goes out, explores stars, sleeps with alien chick, gets in a fight.. repeat next week) yet they use different ‘versions’ of the same character….

Overall, I have to say that I like tonights first part of the mini-series, and I’m looking forward to watching the conclusion tomorrow night, and I think I’d watch it as a series if Sci-Fi goes that route with it.. My only complaint so far is that there haven’t been enough space battles!

C.A.R.S hits the big time!

Crazy Apple Rumors Site comes of age!

Today, the folks over at Crazy Apple Rumors (link) made it to the big time of Apple Rumor Sites. It involves their story from yesterday, which “borrowed” an image from Apple’s current advertising… the changes to the image were incredibly hilarious… follow this link to read their story from today, which explains all the rumory goodness of it.

Congratulations to the folks over at C.A.R.S!

HDTV!

Finally installed, and a rant about Cable TV in general.

So Comcast finally came out to install the HDTV Cable box today, after waiting a month for the appointment. I’m a little disappointed, instead of using the DVI connection between cable box and TV, the installer used the Component video. Now, granted, I don’t know everything about HDTV..but I’m pretty sure the DVI connection would have provided just a little bit better picture.. so I guess I need to find a DVI cable and give it a try.

That said, I’m also underwhelmed with the selection of HD channels Comcast offers in my area. Of my local networks, I’m offered NBC and FOX, which means I can’t watch most of the Broncos games in HD (They tend to be on CBS), nor can I watch CSI (also on CBS) in HD… hopefully, Comcast will improve their HD offering in the near future.

Picture quality is everything it’s hyped up to be though! Crystal Clear… a definite improvement over NTSC TV. If any of you haven’t seen a HD set showing an HD program..go to your local Best Buy, Sears, or some such place, and get a Demo.. its something that needs to be experienced to fully appreciate.

Now for that rant I mentioned:

Having switched from Dish Network to Comcast when we moved (no longer have line of sight to the satellites). I was used to Dish’s program guide and receiver functionality..I won’t even mention the loss of my DVR! but, here’s some comments on Comcast’s services:

I switched from Satellite TV (Dish Network) to Comcast Digital

cable. I have some questions regarding the electronic program guide

capabilities of Comcast’s digital cable.

1- With Dish Network (and I know DirecTV offers this as well) when

looking at the guide, there is an option to have a reduced size window

that allows you to still view the program you are currently watching,

while still browsing the guide. Is there a way to set my cable box up

to function like this? perhaps by getting rid of the advertisments that

take up about a third of the screen?

2- The EPG on Dish Network allowed customization to see only channels

that were subscribed to, favorite channels (several lists, each holding

approx 30 channels), or all channels. Is there anyway with the Comcast

guide to only see the channels I subscribe to? or for that matter, to

tell what channels I subscribe to when looking at the guide?

3- Is there any way to stop receiving the ‘messages’ that Comcast is

sending to the box? (the ones advertising PPV, etc…)

Comcast’s response when I emailed them these items?

Thank you for contacting us regarding your Comcast High Speed Internet

service. In order to properly assist you, it is necessary that you

supply more detailed information. Please send a chat message through our

Online Support Center at http://www.comcastsupport.com/sdcuser/asp/default.asp

or http://www.comcastsupport.com/sdcuser/asp/default.asp?direct=yes so

we can address your questions or concerns.

If you would like to speak to a customer care specialist, please call

in. You can get the number for your local area by going tohttps://www.comcast.com/Localization/default.asp?referer=/Support/ContactSupport.asp

and entering your zip code, then click on the submit button. Our

customer care specialists are available 24 hours a day, seven days a

week.

Thank you for choosing Comcast High Speed Internet!

MORONS!!!!!!!! I expected to receive a reply that was simply a cut n’ paste from their list of answers..but the least they could have done was actually READ my email, so they could cut and paste from the answers relating to Cable TV. Anyone happen to have an email address for a Comcast executive just laying around they’d like to share with me?

Tough Love

Sure am glad this girl isn’t my wife!

Another interesting news story about people.. click here

Makes you wonder what would have happened had the guy asked for makeup sex? wonder what part would have needed reattachment then?

Another interesting point in the article.. the guy is getting charged with battery for losing his tongue!

Rolling Over!

Another big first for Kael… he rolled over tonight! (And he got to rock out on an iPod!)

At first we thought we were losing our minds. We know we put him to sleep on his back, but twice when we went to feed him overnight, he was laying on his tummy. So we spent the day trying to get him to roll over for us, and of course, he wouldn’t. So tonight while we were getting him ready for bed, he rolled over, like 3 times in a row!

As a reward for rolling over, and since he was in such a good mood, we decided to let him listen to an iPod for a little while (ok..ok… mostly it was so we could take yet another cute picture of him!)

Dscf0173

In case you were wondering, the song he was listening to was “The Man Without Fear” by Drowning Pool featuring Rob Zombie, off of the Daredevil Soundtrack

<— If this works right, you should be able to listen to the song.