Month: October 2011

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I Just Heard….

Mickey Mouse St. Louis Cardinals All-Star Games Statue in Downtown Disney

…that the STL Cardinals just beat the TX Rangers to win the World Series.  Now, I don’t have a dog in this fight, so to speak; but I’m happy for the Cardinals.  

I used to live in MO (Hermann, MO.  Right here actually).  I forget what year it was, but St. Louis was playing the Twins (if I remember correctly).  We had to go out in the evening and twist our TV antenna around to watch it because it wasn’t on any of the stations we normally got from Columbia….it was on the STL stations.  Then, after we were done, we had to go back out and turn it around the other way so we could watch normal TV.

Image from Loren Javier via flickr

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Android the problem?

Android vs. Apple

In this article on PC World, the author says the problem with Android is that most of the phones running Android are stuck on older versions.  He then goes on and points out that Apple IOS 5 was available on every device shortly after launch.  I don’t think this is an apples to apples (or should I say ice cream sandwich to apple) comparison.  Here’s why:

1) Because of Android’s open nature, most handset manufactures have taken to adding their own “skins” onto Android.  Do you know that HTC Touch interface?  Yep…a skin.
2) Just like with other things, the manufacture has to update their skin whenever a new version comes out.  This takes time.
3) Can you imagine Apple allowing people to “skin” IOS?  Heck, no one else even manufactures the device.

While I agree it there is a problem, we disagree on where the problem lies.  The problem isn’t Google or Android….the problem is handset manufactures who think the stock interface needs “help.”  Just like those horrid, rubbish helper apps on a PC, you don’t need them.  Make sure blame is placed at the correct place. 

Image from Saad Irfan via flickr

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Siri appears to be good….unless you are scottish

I don’t think this has made the news in the US; however, several news sites have articles here.  It appears that Siri (software in the new iPhone 4s that processes speech commands) has issues at times with a Scottish Accent.  Here’s a video:

Full disclosure here….I had to hear the guy twice before I figured out he was asking the phone to create a reminder (I couldn’t figure out what a remainder was…well, I knew but it didn’t make sense).

Now, if you don’t live in the UK, you may not realize, but the UK has TONS and TONS of different accents.  What we Americans typically think of a a British accent is really limited to the South East of England.  The best suggestion I saw (which I can’t find out) was to have English (Scottish) in addition to English (International), English (US), English (Australian), and English (UK).  It makes sense to me

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It’s a Culture…not a Costume

For Belinda

To these people at OSU (sorry…THE Ohio State University) I want to say….

…discrimination and racism are wrong; however, your campaign is also wrong (read more in this article).  Why did you only pick those few people or groups?  How many of you will laugh at the guy who dresses up in a hillbilly costume (yep…that is what I thought…everyone loves to make fun of West Virginia)?

To that, all I have to say is be consistent.  It is a culture not a costume.  See how this works?  This campaign is simply political correctness gone awry.

Image from glennsden28 via flickr

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Interesting

London on a Bank Holiday Monday in Late May
Image from UGArdener via flickr

Shortly after I finished this article on the Asian Giant Hornet, I came across an article on the BBC dealing with myths from English/British History.  The ones mentioned are:

  • Norman Conquest, 1066, Myth: Good Saxons versus Bad Normans – with an arrow as the clincher
  • The Battle of Agincourt, 1415, Myth: England’s triumph
  • The Glorious Revolution, 1688, Myth: The revolution was glorious
  • American Revolution, 1774-83, Myth: The American colonists had nothing to lose but their chains
  • World War II, 1939-45, Myth: Britain won World War II

Of these, I really only want to comment on one:  WW2.  The BBC speaks about Roosevelt and Stalin diving the world and compares numbers of dead.  In that sense, no, Britain didn’t win the war; however, I think there is something being overlooked.  If Hitler had actually invaded the Island of Great Britain (think that is a country, watch this video), the Allies (in particular the US) would have been hard pressed to fight the war.  Even with today’s supercarriers (that are loads larger than WW2 era carriers) we couldn’t do it.  Without having the Island of Great Britain to use as a base, there would have been no way to get supplies across the ocean, stage them, then attack the continent of Europe.

So, I think they were very strategic in the winning of ww2.


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This thing is huge!

Asian Giant Hornet (Vespa mandarinia)

Today, I returned from a trip to Prague, Czech Republic.  After we got home, Cyndi and the kids laid down to take a nap…I didn’t have anything else to do so I was randomly reading Fox News sorry…the BBC…when I came across this article about a semi truck accident in Salt Lake City.  A truck carrying bees to California crashed and a bunch of the bees died.  I was going to blog about how important bees are and how they are trucked around.

However, while trying to find some interesting links, I came across this page about Asian Giant Hornets (that is a picture on the left).  If you follow-through the link though, you will see one of these things on a person’s hand.  They are HUGE….it almost covers the person’s palm.  I can’t imagine what it must feel like to get stung by one.  The stinger alone (the part that gets injected) is .25 inches long.  HOLY COW!

I read that the sting, 

can be lethal even to people who are not allergic if the dose is sufficient. Each year in Japan, the human death toll caused by Asian giant hornet stings exceeds that of all other venomous and non-venomous wild animals combined, including wild bears and venomous snakes

That is almost like some of the snakes they have in Australia  🙂

Image from motnworb via flickr

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Skype

Skype

A few years ago, I wrote this article on why I decided I wasn’t going to use Skype anymore.  A few months later, there were articles out about the Chinese Government monitoring Skype.  Today, I see this article on Fox News about a security flaw in Skype that hasn’t been fixed in over a year.

Now, do I think it is that big of a deal?  No…simply knowing your IP address isn’t that bad (heck, if you can see the packets on the wire you can find that out) but it is still a flaw.  A flaw that may have been discovered if their code were open for peer review.

So, I will continue my practice of not using skype for important conversations.  We’ll still us it do Lydia and Isaac can talk to their grandparents…but not much more.

Oh, before it comes up…you may be thinking that you don’t do anything bad so what does it matter.  Well, would you write a love letter on a post-card?  Read this article on why you should care.

Image from patrick haney via flickr

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I’m still here

I just wanter to let everyone know I’m still around.  I had to travel abroad for work and have been working 12 hour days. My hotel doesn’ have internet in the rooms so it is difficult for me to get time to blog when I have access to the internet.

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