John Lamansky

According an FAQ on the SuperSite for Windows:

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!

Google announced yesterday that its free email service is now open for registration. From a post on the Official Google Blog:

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.

According to a PCWorld article:

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]

Yep, I’ve decided that Kubrick just won’t cut it. The reason is that it isn’t “brandable.” So many sites have Kubrick that you can’t really tell them apart if you just look at the layout.

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.

I’m currently holding a peanut container from a lesser-known brand. Here is the partially preposterous peanut packaging propaganda paragraph:

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.)

I checked out Apple’s website recently and have noticed that they’ve replaced their generic anti-PC content with specifically anti-Vista propaganda. And I think there are a few things that need to be cleared up.

They say that Mac OS X is still the best OS, and then proceed to say why.

While Vista does its best to copy some features that have been in Mac OS X for years, Mac OS X offers an experience that is simply years ahead.

So what do they do after saying that? They go on to list features that Mac OS X has (all of which Vista has too) or will have in Leopard (all of which appeared in Vista first). Sounds a little turned-around to me.

Spotlight, for example, is always there to help you find that elusive file hiding somewhere in your computer. It shows search results literally as you type, in emails, contacts, PDFs, images, contacts, calendars, and applications.

Dashboard Widgets are small, focused applications for accomplishing discrete tasks (like tracking deliveries, checking the weather, playing Soduku, printing envelopes, reviewing your stock portfolio, etc.).

Based on what they said above, it’s clear that they’re trying to imply that Vista doesn’t have these features, which, of course, is totally false.

Unlike Vista, which comes in four distinct flavors at four distinct prices, each with its own distinct set of features (and each in 32- and 64-bit dialects), there’s only one Mac OS X. It runs on every Mac. With a full set of features.

OK, I do admit, Vista’s editions can be a bit confusing. However, it does ensure that you’re not paying extra for features you don’t really need.

But even as Vista falls short in features that have long been part of Mac OS X, it’s about to lag even farther behind. Because Mac OS X Leopard is right around the corner. And with it will come an even richer set of features to make using your Mac easier and more amazing.

This is where I start laughing, because all of these features have been in Windows for years.

With the new Time Machine, built into Mac OS X Leopard, you’ll be able to peer into any folder on your Mac and travel back in time to retrieve an earlier version of a document. It’s an all-new (and fantastically cool) take on data backup.

This four-year-old (at least) Windows feature has been around in Windows Server 2003 (and quite possibly earlier versions, though I don’t know for sure), and is now entering the consumer editions of Windows.

The Spaces feature allows you to create multiple desktops so that you can organize your workspace differently for different tasks. And that’s just scratching the surface.

Excuse me? This feature is a free Microsoft add-on to Windows XP … that’s right, it’s a five-year-old feature. Sure, so it’s not integrated in the OS, but this still sounds like a rip-off of Microsoft innovation.

The choice today is between an OS trying its best to catch up— or Mac OS X, which continues to lead the way.

Pah! I do respect the Mac OS X, but this “marketing” just seems to be deceitful propaganda designed to take advantage of people who don’t know the full feature set of Windows Vista and earlier versions.

Apple feels threatened. I can tell.

rot13.com: A helpful little website if you ever need to cryptify something.

Frperg zrffntr tbrf urer.