It was time, tree has been up three weeks. Still looked green, but the needles were getting dry and crackly. Plus youngest son is going back to college in a few days. Doing it now, with his assistance is nicer than doing it later all by my self. Taking the tree down and packing all the stuff away for next season is never as much fun as putting the tree up before Christmas.
Note to the Christmas tree decoration industry. Cellophane windows in the boxtops suck. The weaken the always flimsy box, making it harder to pack the fragile stuff away. And, maker of bubble lights, is it necessary to use 16 gauge lamp cord to light 5 watt bubble lights? Surely something thinner would be cheaper? And lessen the cord drag that keeps turning the bubble lights on their heads. And those flimsy molded on plastic hooks break too easily leaving bubble lights hanging head down and not bubbling. Surely metal clips are not that expensive.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Obama in NH
Did some chatting about the primary at coffee hour, which follows church services. Iowa has moved Obama from "interesting new guy" to "possible Democratic nominee". He is likable, a good orator, and now he looks like he could win. If he takes NH, and he could, he looks like he could go all the way. The voters moods are shifting rapidly up here and I don't think any poll is current enough to be trustworthy. The feel up here is that Obama could follow up Iowa with a solid win in NH. I'm watching TV pundits saying the same thing.
On the Republican side, John McCain is looking stronger and stronger. Should the charismatic Obama be the democratic nominee, the charismatic McCain would be the Republicans best bet. I don't think Huckabee is going to do much, unless he taps into a large previously in active bunch of voters. Which is what he did in Iowa. I don't think this will work for him in NH, but after Iowa, I am reluctant to write Huck off. I personally hope McCain beats Huckabee solidly, I think that's highly likely, but Huckabee surprised us all in Iowa.
If Obama and McCain become the nominees, and that's looking likely, then Iowa and NH voters will have made the nominee selection for the rest of the country. I say that's the way it oughta be, any right thinking NH blogger can see that plainly. Primary voters in the Super Tuesday states may not agree, and any state voting after Super Tuesday is wasting it's time.
The presidential season is just too damn long. We are selecting the nominees nearly a year before the election. I think we ought to push all the primaries back a good three months. Pick the nominee no earlier than April, so the primary votes represent voter opinion closer to election time. Nominees that look good in January may not serve the party well in November.
On the Republican side, John McCain is looking stronger and stronger. Should the charismatic Obama be the democratic nominee, the charismatic McCain would be the Republicans best bet. I don't think Huckabee is going to do much, unless he taps into a large previously in active bunch of voters. Which is what he did in Iowa. I don't think this will work for him in NH, but after Iowa, I am reluctant to write Huck off. I personally hope McCain beats Huckabee solidly, I think that's highly likely, but Huckabee surprised us all in Iowa.
If Obama and McCain become the nominees, and that's looking likely, then Iowa and NH voters will have made the nominee selection for the rest of the country. I say that's the way it oughta be, any right thinking NH blogger can see that plainly. Primary voters in the Super Tuesday states may not agree, and any state voting after Super Tuesday is wasting it's time.
The presidential season is just too damn long. We are selecting the nominees nearly a year before the election. I think we ought to push all the primaries back a good three months. Pick the nominee no earlier than April, so the primary votes represent voter opinion closer to election time. Nominees that look good in January may not serve the party well in November.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Patents are exhausting (WSJ)
Patent law used to hold that patent rights expired upon first sale of the patented product. The patent holder could put restrictions on the patent licensee, for example licensee was only good in a limited area. But, after the licensee sold the product, the buyer could do anything he pleased. In the case of area restriction (e.g licensee is only good for sales within 10 miles of Boston), a buyer of the patented product could resell it anywhere he pleased. In short, patent owners rights to control the product end when the product is sold. I can buy a patented product and then do anything I please with it. The patent holder cannot tell me that the product may only by used on alternate Tuesdays, or under water, or anything. I have bought the product and that makes it mine. Patent holders rights have been "exhausted" to use lawyer jargon.
Seems like Korean chip maker Lucky Goldstar licensed Intel to use some LG technology but with some restrictions. Intel sold product containing the LG licensed technology to customers, and said customers failed to comply with LG's restrictions. LG sued Intel's customers.
LG lost in district court. Judge held that LG's rights had been exhausted upon first sale by Intel. LG lawyers appealed and won. Case is now on the way to the Supreme Court. LG vs Quanta.
Let us hope LG looses. Other wise patent holders could say things like "You may not watch Fox News on your TV because we hold patents on your TV's electronics and that gives us legal control of your TV." Let us hope the nine dumb-as-rocks-lawyers on the Supreme Court can get this one right.
Seems like Korean chip maker Lucky Goldstar licensed Intel to use some LG technology but with some restrictions. Intel sold product containing the LG licensed technology to customers, and said customers failed to comply with LG's restrictions. LG sued Intel's customers.
LG lost in district court. Judge held that LG's rights had been exhausted upon first sale by Intel. LG lawyers appealed and won. Case is now on the way to the Supreme Court. LG vs Quanta.
Let us hope LG looses. Other wise patent holders could say things like "You may not watch Fox News on your TV because we hold patents on your TV's electronics and that gives us legal control of your TV." Let us hope the nine dumb-as-rocks-lawyers on the Supreme Court can get this one right.
Primary is coming
Wham bam thank you ma'am. Smoke from the Iowa caucus is still rolling around the New Hampshire woods. It's too close to the primary for any useful polling, so we won't know nothing until election night (Next Tuesday) I'd say Barack Obama's chances just got a whole lot better. Many NH democrats were for Hillary, not because they particularly liked her, but because they thought she was the party's best candidate against the Republicans. Some, perhaps many, of those Democrats can now vote for Obama, with a clear conscience. Obama is a stirring orator, young and good looking, is preaching a message of "lets get together and stop the backbiting" which is hard to argue against. Now it looks like he could win the general election. Why stick with Hillary?
Republicans up here are less than entranced with Huckabee. To many the Huck sounds like a hick, totally ignorant of foreign policy, too ready to raise taxes, and too preachy. I do not believe Huck's Iowa victory will carry much weight into New Hampshire. Up here McCain, Romney, and Thompson are all strong and any of the three could take the Republican primary. Guiliani hasn't campaigned much, where as McCain has, and his war record is appealing in a state full of veterans.
Republicans up here are less than entranced with Huckabee. To many the Huck sounds like a hick, totally ignorant of foreign policy, too ready to raise taxes, and too preachy. I do not believe Huck's Iowa victory will carry much weight into New Hampshire. Up here McCain, Romney, and Thompson are all strong and any of the three could take the Republican primary. Guiliani hasn't campaigned much, where as McCain has, and his war record is appealing in a state full of veterans.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Window's Panes, Part New, Services
Windows runs a lot of programs behind your back. Your machine may look idle, but under the hood, anywhere from 30 to several hundred programs are active, slowing your boot, consuming RAM and runtime.
Lift the hood and take a look. Click on Start -> Settings -> ControlPanel. Then click on the Administrative Tools icon. In the opened Administrative Tools window click on "Services" (has an icon of a pair of gears meshing).
Services will display a humongous list of "Services". Each service has a computer-geek type name, a description, a startup type, and a status. Services can tend to wireless modems, do network gruntwork, permit strangers to log into the computer from the internet, set the clock and calender, many things. Some services are critical, Windows won't boot without them. Some are dangerous security risks, some are malware, many merely waste RAM and slow the machine down.
Each running service will appear in Task Manager under "Processes". It is reasonable to have 30 running services. A hundred running services is NOT reasonable and is a cause for concern.
Services are controlled by "Startup Type". Auto startup means run the service at boot up time whether it is needed or not. Auto start of unused or seldom used services makes boot take longer. Manual startup is Microsoft speak meaning "Run this service ONLY if some program asks for it". Disabled means never run this service no matter how badly programs scream and cry for it.
You can slim down the service load by setting services to manual or disabled. Care is required to avoid breaking the machine. Number one safety rule: NEVER do anything to service "Remote Procedure Call". Without RPC Windows won't boot, and the only fix is to re install Windows. A painful and difficult process. You have been warned.
With that one exception it is safe to change Auto services to Manual. A manual service that is never requested won't start, saving time and RAM. If it is needed, it will start when some program requests it. Manual services that show as "Started" have been requested.
No one can remember all the services and what they do, (or don't do). Googling on the service name will get a load of hits, some of them useful and some of them boiler plate. There are a number of websites that carry lists of services and recommendations as to which should be made manual. There is a good deal of disagreement between the various sites. Black Viper runs one of the best sites.
Web surfing in these waters will bring you in contact with advertisements for programs promising to speed up your computer, remove viruses, optimize the registry, and perform other software miracles. Some of these programs are themselves viruses, spyware, sombies, and other bad stuff. Unless I have strong recommendations from several trusted sources, I don't mess with such stuff lest bad things happen to my machine.
Lift the hood and take a look. Click on Start -> Settings -> ControlPanel. Then click on the Administrative Tools icon. In the opened Administrative Tools window click on "Services" (has an icon of a pair of gears meshing).
Services will display a humongous list of "Services". Each service has a computer-geek type name, a description, a startup type, and a status. Services can tend to wireless modems, do network gruntwork, permit strangers to log into the computer from the internet, set the clock and calender, many things. Some services are critical, Windows won't boot without them. Some are dangerous security risks, some are malware, many merely waste RAM and slow the machine down.
Each running service will appear in Task Manager under "Processes". It is reasonable to have 30 running services. A hundred running services is NOT reasonable and is a cause for concern.
Services are controlled by "Startup Type". Auto startup means run the service at boot up time whether it is needed or not. Auto start of unused or seldom used services makes boot take longer. Manual startup is Microsoft speak meaning "Run this service ONLY if some program asks for it". Disabled means never run this service no matter how badly programs scream and cry for it.
You can slim down the service load by setting services to manual or disabled. Care is required to avoid breaking the machine. Number one safety rule: NEVER do anything to service "Remote Procedure Call". Without RPC Windows won't boot, and the only fix is to re install Windows. A painful and difficult process. You have been warned.
With that one exception it is safe to change Auto services to Manual. A manual service that is never requested won't start, saving time and RAM. If it is needed, it will start when some program requests it. Manual services that show as "Started" have been requested.
No one can remember all the services and what they do, (or don't do). Googling on the service name will get a load of hits, some of them useful and some of them boiler plate. There are a number of websites that carry lists of services and recommendations as to which should be made manual. There is a good deal of disagreement between the various sites. Black Viper runs one of the best sites.
Web surfing in these waters will bring you in contact with advertisements for programs promising to speed up your computer, remove viruses, optimize the registry, and perform other software miracles. Some of these programs are themselves viruses, spyware, sombies, and other bad stuff. Unless I have strong recommendations from several trusted sources, I don't mess with such stuff lest bad things happen to my machine.
Global Warming brings record snowfall and 8 below zero
Concord NH reports December snowfall broke the record established way back in 1867. I'm about 70 miles from Concord and I got 30 inches on the ground. New Years Day dropped another 8 inches. Thermometer read 8 below zero at 8 AM this morning. Why do I think the winters are getting colder?
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Kiss your old files goodby
Slashdot reports that Microsoft has announced that support for older office file formats will be removed "for security reasons". Translation. Old Word documents and Excel spreadsheets will become unreadable by Office 2007. Any one who has old stuff that they care about has to convert it to the new formats or risk losing it forever.
Thanks Microsoft. "Security reasons". Right... It improves the financial security of Microsoft to force every one to buy Office 2007, at full list price no less.
The real sin here is Microsoft's practice of allowing executable Basic programs to live inside, come to life from, and do bad things from within Word and Excel documents. Any junior hacker can write a destructive Basic program and hide it in a .doc or .xls file. The "run a Basic program from a Office document" frill only helps spammers and other low life netscum. No real user of Office ever uses that capability.
Thanks Microsoft. "Security reasons". Right... It improves the financial security of Microsoft to force every one to buy Office 2007, at full list price no less.
The real sin here is Microsoft's practice of allowing executable Basic programs to live inside, come to life from, and do bad things from within Word and Excel documents. Any junior hacker can write a destructive Basic program and hide it in a .doc or .xls file. The "run a Basic program from a Office document" frill only helps spammers and other low life netscum. No real user of Office ever uses that capability.
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