Ten…

3… 2… 1…

Happy New Year!!

OK, time for bed.

The 1.0 version of Silverlight, which is being released to the Web, is geared to providing video. Accessible at the Silverlight Web page, it has been available in a beta release. A more potent successor, Silverlight 1.1, will provide for more interactive content, including support for .Net development and transactional capabilities. It remains only available in an early alpha release format.

While Silverlight currently works with Windows and Macintosh, Microsoft is endorsing Novell’s plan to make Silverlight run on Linux clients via the Moonlight project.

[...]

Microsoft cites several differentiators between Silverlight and Flash. Silverlight, Deshpande said, offers high-definition video at a lower cost and functions with Microsoft’s developer tools. The company also is offering a SaaS-based component, Silverlight Streaming by Windows Live.

Read more at article source.

Whether or not Silverlight will pose a threat to Macromedia’s ubiquitous Flash player remains to be seen, although Microsoft could have the advantage of being able to push Silverlight to Windows users through Microsoft Update (assuming such a move wouldn’t cause antitrust concerns).

The thing that blew me away the most is that the “iPod touch” has Wi-Fi web browsing using the same Safari browser found in the iPhone. And it has other iPhone features like the touch interface, the YouTube browser, and Cover Flow (the last of which has also been ported to the “iPod classic,” as it’s now called, and the iPod nano).

It has just about everything the iPhone has except the phone functionality. Which would work for me, since I already have an existing cellphone and cellular plan. However, public Wi-Fi is pretty scarce where I live, and of course I wouldn’t be able to browse the Internet with AT&T’s EDGE network.

One more gripe about the iPod touch: its maximum storage space of 16 GB looks wimpy compared to the cheaper iPod classic’s 160 GB. I know, I know, it’s because it has flash memory, but would it really be worth it to get an iPod that’s more expensive and has one tenth the storage space of another iPod? I guess those iPod touch features come at a high premium.

But still, if I were to get a new iPod, it would probably, just barely, be the iPod touch. 16 gigs would be a tight fit for my music, photos, videos, and podcasts, but it sure would be nice to be able to browse the web, assuming I could find a hotspot.

And plus, the iPod touch is just cool.

Here’s my daily voting list:

• People’s Choice - Catholic Insider
• Best Mobile Phone Formatted Podcast - Praystation Portable
• Cultural/Arts - Secrets of Harry Potter (no, I’m not a Harry Potter fan, but I’m voting for it anyway because it’s a Catholic podcast that aims to create bridges between Christianity and the world of Harry Potter)
• Health/Fitness - Healthy Catholic
• PodSafe Music - Catholic Rockers
• Religion Inspiration - iPadre

Yes, they’re all Catholic podcasts. But then again, that’s just about the only category of podcasts I listen to.

Well, I didn’t have the time to devote to that sort of project. So I looked. And I searched. And I hunted for a WordPress theme I liked. Then one day, I began yet another theme-searching session, and one of the first themes I stumbled on was Integral.

Ah-ha! I liked it! So I installed it, changed some colors around, and over the course of a couple weeks I tweaked and modified it. And now I’m about done!

To all RSS-only readers: come on over and check it out!

In an article published in today’s New York Times researchers using WiFi connection say they can gain access to an iPhone ceding control of the device. Researchers also say the hack can be achieved by tricking iPhone users into visiting a Web site with malicious code. The hack, ISE researchers say, can give intruders access to “any file” on the iPhone and allow a remote user to “make calls… or even turning it into a portable bugging device.”

A bugging device! Yikes!

I guess this is what happens when any technology product becomes popular, be it the Apple iPhone or Microsoft Windows.

I wonder if this is due to a flaw in the iPhone’s Mac OS X version, the Safari browser, or some iPhone-specific hardware or software issue.

After all, the iPhone does have a lot of limitations. As Wikipedia puts it:

iPhone lacks a number of common handheld features, including voice dialing, voice recording, instant messaging, memory card slot, MMS, A2DP (stereo bluetooth), common Bluetooth file transfer, GPS capability, text copy and paste, native games, and support for MP3 files as ringtones.

So what’s the reason?

Although the iPhone lacks much functionality, what the iPhone does do it does really, really well. The iPhone lacks many features common to other phones, but its feature set is sufficient for most people, and most importantly, it implements those features in a superior fashion.

Every product or feature has two conceptual components: the idea, and the implementation of the idea. Other phones may already have the same ideas, but with the iPhone Apple has really nailed the implementation.

And of course, Apple has done a fantastic job marketing this thing. They actually haven’t done a lot of marketing. Instead, they’ve used the consumer base to market the product for them. Everyone was talking about the iPhone. The media. Blogs. Podcasts. The iPhone was the coolest thing ever before it was even released. And as the release date approached, Apple leaked out additional details to keep the excitement going.

The whole campaign was very well done. The campaign was so successful, however, that in my opinion it does raise some concerns about society’s inordinate excitement about “stuff.”

But from a marketing standpoint, Apple has done a great job with the iPhone, even though the product itself isn’t the greatest. Though when a product has as many positive aspects as the iPhone, one is more likely to forgive or overlook the negative aspects.

What would be interesting to see is a technology product that is as close to perfect as possible in both the idea and the implementation, with a great feature set, great implementation of that feature set, and great marketing of that feature set. Who knows? Maybe in the future it’ll be something even more trivial than a cellphone.

If you’ve ever wondered the answers to these or other questions related to words, grammar, and language, check out AskOxford.com’s Ask the Experts. It’s quite an interesting website!

It’s finally done! Version 4 of the Disciples with Microphones website has been released. This update to the website of the world’s first Catholic podcast network includes:

• A new layout.
• A categorized Catholic podcast directory.
• The Catholic Podcast Voteomatic, which lets you vote for Catholic podcasts on Podcast Alley, iTunes, and Digg Podcasts. (You can also sign up for monthly Podcast Alley voting reminder emails.)
• The Catholic Podcast Banner Network, which lets you add a rotating banner (at the top of this post) to your blog or website.
• The Start a Podcast Wizard, which takes you step-by-step through, well, starting a podcast.
• Revamped episodes section.
• And a lot more!

There are a still some things to iron out, such as rendering issues under Internet Explorer 6. But for the most part it’s operational.

Please check it out!

Google TiSP (BETA) is a fully functional, end-to-end system that provides in-home wireless access [...] via fiber-optic cable strung through your local municipal sewage lines.

[...]

With professional installation service, you can also have your Google Checkout purchases delivered directly through the sewage network into your bathroom.

[...]

We’re actively developing a higher-performance version of TiSP specifically tailored to small and medium-sized businesses, including 24-hour, on-site technical support in the event of backup problems, brownouts and data wipes.

Hilarious!

They even, uh, use the location of this WiFi access to provide uncanny monitoring:

Your FREE TiSP service includes a Google Toolbar-based analysis of your dietary habits and genetic predispositions, along with recommendations for healthier living.

[...]

To offset the cost of providing the TiSP service, we use information gathered by discreet DNA sequencing of your personal bodily output to display online ads that are contextually relevant to your culinary preferences, current health status and likelihood of developing particular medical conditions going forward.

Read more at Google TiSP (haven’t figured out what it stands for yet…).

Update: it appears that TiSP stands for “Toilet Internet Service Provider.” Makes sense.

Windows Live WiFi, for example, has been renamed MSN WiFi, and Windows Live Shopping, which was once called MSN Shopping, is back to being called MSN Shopping again. Then there’s the MSN Soapbox product, which used to be called Windows Live Video until it was renamed in September.

[Read more at source]

I agree, Windows and Office Live really are a mess. What Microsoft needs is some organization.

Microsoft is running a promotion whereby upon purchase of an OEM version of Windows Vista Ultimate you get the following hardware items for free:

• Kingston 2GB Flash Drive
• Artec HDTV Tuner
• D-Link WiFi Pocket Router
• Epson PictureMate Pal

NewEgg.com also has a promotion page for this deal.

The value of the items wasn’t advertised, but I found the model numbers for 3 of the 4 products and did some searching. Here’s what I found:

• Kingston 2GB Flash Drive - $76.99
• Artec HDTV Tuner - $59.99
• D-Link WiFi Pocket Router - $46.99
• Epson PictureMate Pal - Couldn’t find the model number; an Epson PictureMate Pal printer on NewEgg (don’t know if it’s the same one) cost $133.99, so I think that’s a safe guess

The total price for these four items adds up to $317.96. And what how much is Vista Ultimate OEM from NewEgg? Yep, only $199.99.

Assuming you were able to resell these hardware items at the above prices, you would get Vista Ultimate for free and get $117.97 extra. Or you could keep one or two of the items and sell the rest to recoup the cost of Vista. Or you could just keep all of them. All the same, totally cool.

Office 14 is the next version of Office 2007 (or what Microsoft calls the 2007 Microsoft Office System). [...] 14 is the version number. Office 2007 was called Office 12 internally at Microsoft. The company skipped 13 for superstitious reasons.

Superstitious silliness if you ask me. I did wonder though how they were going to handle this, but I didn’t think they’d actually skip the version number!

Gmail sign-ups are now open worldwide! No more waiting for someone to invite you—just create an account directly at www.gmail.com

Read more, or go to Gmail.com to register.

With Vista just out the door, Microsoft Corp. is now drawing up plans to deliver its follow-up client operating system by the end of 2009, according to the executive in charge of building the product’s core components.

It looks like they also have a name for it besides “Vienna”:

Last year, Microsoft said that the code name for this Vista follow-up is Vienna, but Fathi said he could not disclose the current name. “We’ve been told not to use it publicly,” he said.

[Read More]

The reason I stuck with Kubrick in the first place was that I couldn’t find another theme I really liked. So I think what I’m going to do is design a new theme from scratch.

Of course, this will take a while, so keep an eye out for it in a couple of months.

Scientific Evidence suggests but does not prove that eating 1.5 ounces per day of most nuts, as part of a diet low in saturated fat & cholesterol & not resulting in increased caloric intake may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.

Sounds like the typical thing you find on typical food packaging. But let’s pick this apart.

Scientific Evidence

Who’s “Scientific Evidence”?

In other words, who claims this? A scientist? A group of scientists? Someone pretending to be a scientist? How many studies were there? When were they made? 3000 B.C.?

suggests but does not prove

Oh, so this whole statement might not be true. They’re just suggesting it as a possibility. So don’t take this whole thing seriously.

Well, we’ll just say there’s a 50% chance that this whole thing is correct.

that eating 1.5 ounces per day

Whoops, ate 1.6 ounces on Saturday… (note they don’t say “at least” 1.5 ounces)

of most nuts

So are peanuts included in that group? Are they using some non-peanut-related study to suggest that peanuts are healthy for you?

as part of a diet

Wow, so I have to watch my eating to get the supposed benefits of these nuts.

low in saturated fat & cholesterol

Then why do these peanuts have 2.5 grams of saturated fat per serving?

& not resulting in increased caloric intake

Fair enough. But still, this means I have to cut down on some other food, which many people are not likely to do.

may

Oh, so Scientific Evidence suggests that it may…

So let’s say that there’s a 25% chance now that this will help my heart health.

reduce the risk

So they’re only suggesting that this just might reduce (reduce, not prevent) your risk (not the chance that you’ll get it, only the risk that you might).

Decrease my risk by how much? 1%?

of coronary heart disease

Oh, just one type of heart disease. Hm.

So now that we’ve picked this apart, this isn’t looking so great. In the worst case scenario, there’s only a 25% chance (according to my rudimentary probability estimates) that, under these specific set of conditions, my risk for this certain type of heart disease might just be decreased by 1%.

This is just peanuts.

(Yes, pun intended.)