Month: September 2007

Apparently, today was a slow news day

By jesper

It must have been a slow news day today. I can't think of any other reason why the fact that an ex-Microsoft employee is considering installing a Linux box would be news. Imagine the articles if they realized that, right at this very moment, a whole slew of current Microsoft employees are probably using Linux at home. And, imagine the headlines if it got out that a Microsoft employee admired OpenBSD! Oh, no, wait, that already happened. There is nothing wrong with investigating the best way to meet your needs. My current needs are to watch On Demand (note that I did not say "record," … Continue reading Apparently, today was a slow news day

Blue Screen of DRM Death; or The Death Of Windows Media Center

By jesper

I'm turning off, disconnecting, and throwing out my Windows XP Media Center PC. For two years it has been the DVR unit in my home, as well as just a convenient way to view movies. However, the DRM zealots have finally rendered it completely useless. This weekend my 5 year old was complaining that On Demand (Comcast Cable's video on demand system) was not working. It showed this weird blue screen. Upon inspecting the problem I found that the video would turn on, the screen would flicker for a second each of black and the video a few times, and then … Continue reading Blue Screen of DRM Death; or The Death Of Windows Media Center

Phishing the Government

By jesper

OK, so this is something I haven't seen before: The criminals have now started phishing using the government as the lure (the IRS is the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. tax department). Of course, the refund would have been far more compelling had it happened around the time when people file their tax returns in the U.S. The site it goes to appears to be in Korea, but it also appears to be down. Most likely it was just some compromised computer somewhere. One more odd thing struck me about this. As you see in the picture, Outlook 2007 detected … Continue reading Phishing the Government

What They Teach Kids These Days

By jesper

Sweden has always been a little "cutting edge," if you know what I mean. Little did I know, however, just how cutting edge. This picture was snapped in a toy store in Stockholm last week: I probably stood there stunned for a good two minutes. Brio is known for high-quality wooden toys, particularly railroads. Apparently they are branching out. Using the same basic track and the same gauge, you can now get "modern" toys in the Network line. That's right, the kids can now play network operators. The main kit is the Email Central Set, which is the e-mail sorting … Continue reading What They Teach Kids These Days