Want tabbed browsing on *ugh* Internet Explorer? You can have it, as advertised on Microsoft's Windows website. It even comes with a popup blocker *ooh!* and a search bar *wow*.
However, it costs US$29.95. And the reviewers of this software don't seem to realise there are better products out there, going for free.
Get real. Get Firefox!
Yesterday I forwarded this BBC News article about how Mozilla browsers have taken 7% of the browser market share at Internet Explorer's expense, to my boss and team-mates. Happily, a team-mate backed me up and suggested we needed these browsers in the course of our work. Even better, my boss said he had just discovered Firefox a month ago, installed it at home and found it better than IE!
So we've requested the IT department to install Firefox as well as Opera on our systems (fingers crossed). We're the Internet team, after all. We do need to test out our web pages on our own PCs.
Last night, while iTunes was playing, my G5 hung (it hangs every other day now, which is very irksome). So I force rebooted the system.
When I started up my G5 again, iTunes was blank. Zilch. No playlists, no songs! Fortunately the music files, nearly 5000 of them, were still in the same folder on my hard drive. I managed to import them all back in. But the iTunes database file was corrupted, and importing the iTunes XML file didn't do anything except add a 'Shuffle' playlist which was blank. Importing it again just duplicated that playlist.
As I don't have time to figure out how to restore a corrupted database file, I'm just going to close my eyes and hit the 'Update Songs' command, and watch my song ratings, playlists, and play counts disappear.
Sob...
Not only am I receiving more spam than valid emails every day - someone's gone and reset my MT password.
Whoever you are, sod off!
It was only upon receipt of the latest issue of the University of Bristol law alumni newsletter, that I realised the Guardian had given my late personal tutor, Professor John Parkinson, a respectful obituary on 9 April 2004.
It was written, in part, by another law professor, Keith Stanton, who taught us Torts (Civil law) in our first year. Reading the first half of the obituary, I could almost hear Prof Stanton's voice, and recalled the way he would thoughtfully stare into space, with a perturbed look - slightly like Mr Bean. His account of John's modesty and sense of humour is not surprising.
Lady Justice Arden, whom I do not know, also gave an account which I can completely believe to be true to his form. Quiet, and yes - again, an 'attractive' sense of humour.
John's award-winning book, 'Corporate Power and Responsibility' was a necessary read for Company Law students in our university. However it wasn't an all-in-one tome, chock full of popular cases to swot for in the final exams. Instead it looked at stakeholders of a company not just being shareholders, but employees as well as the wider public.
There is another obituary in the Journal of Corporate Law Studies, written by Professor Paul Davies of the London School of Economics, which can be found in the second half of this page, kindly posted by another well-liked tutor of ours, Stephen Jones.
John Parkinson was well-chosen as a member of the Company Law steering group in the UK. His ideas were in place before Enron, WorldCom and Martha Stewart happened. We can only hope that his efforts will soon be put to practice by the British Government.
I succumbed and bought a pair of Sennheiser 280 Pro headphones at CK Tang's. The fun part was that I got to try out various Sennheiser models, which were connected to Nakamichi amplifiers (yeah!).
At first, the salesman tried to pitch the wireless models to us. But they didn't sound spectacular, although the reception was OK. Then I recalled that various sound-production type friends had advised me to get a pair of professional headphones by this brand. Only thing is, I had forgotten which model to get and Tang's had several of them on trial.
So I tried out the HD212, which were not too bulky, and silver. The sound quality was good but nothing spectacular. The next model was the HD280, which the salesman highly recommended (after I told him I was looking for something not just to listen to music with, but to do studio monitoring).
It definitely sounded more robust. But I wasn't quite sure about their choice of sample music, since I seldom listen to Bryan Adams. Another album had pleasant-sounding acoustic guitars but it got terribly boring after the fifth track. So I asked the nice salesman if he could plug the headphones into my iPod!
He obliged, and Stacey Kent (Remastered, Gold CD audiophile version, ripped to Apple Lossless Format) sounded so clear I could almost imagine the hair on the insides of her nostrils blowing back and forth as she breathed out, "That would be so nice..."
Unfortunately, at that point, VanPod died. The ever-unreliable battery meter said it was at about 40%, I was about to make a big investment, and it had to conk out. Bad Pod!
So I didn't get to play another 'audiophile' series of tracks by jazz band Flim and the BBs, who have a very dry sound and are pretty refined and intricate with all of their instruments, sometimes so subtle they are barely audible (to inferior speakers) and sometimes loud.
Then I looked at the remaining models and realised they were 'bigger' in number and presumably of higher quality. But according to the salesman, that wasn't the case. I tested another pair of headphones from the 500 series but because they had an 'open' design, I could still hear a lot of noise around me. The HD280 had a 'closed' design which shut out more sound and I preferred that. (However if that's chiefly what you're looking for, I do recall trying out a pair of Bose headphones which were even better at silencing the environment.)
So I splurged on a pair of headphones. As I typed this entire post, it was clamped onto my ears. If you speak to me now, I might not hear you. I might be conscious of a bomb blast, or if the building collapsed. It's rather exciting because I'm running through iTunes, choosing challenging tracks to test my headphones on. Flim sounds pretty good. I can almost see the drummer tinkling on the cymbals with his ... left arm.
The headphones plug was (what else but) gold-plated. The screw-type 1/4" adapter was also gold-plated. I learnt that screw-types were better as they ensured a good connection. I also received a Sennheiser teddy-bear and a Braun shaver. Oh, glorious day.
The sad thing is, now my Bose computer speakers sound amateurish...
Today, two friends were baptised in church. They were the couple who met at our Bible Study session, where I felt the "This is it!" sensation from the Holy Spirit.
Over a year has passed since then, and they're planning to get married already. This morning I was very happy to share in this joyous moment with them as their sponsor (not that I did anything much).
Occasionally, especially in the earlier stages of their courtship, I could sense there was a light shining between them. I have never actually 'seen' it but I can feel it. It is difficult to express this in words. I've tried to recapture this in visual format every time I take photos of them - especially if they're outdoors and there's a bright ray of sunlight passing between them. I haven't quite done it yet.
Maybe these moments are special and private and don't really need anything else done to them, because I know God's blessing is upon them.
I'm trying to switch back to using Thunderbird, but it seems that I am unable to import various .rge Entourage files (containing mails only / mails + contacts + settings).
Thunderbird only seems to have options to import data from Eudora and Netscape. I seem to be having the same problems as this guy.
Can anyone help?
Firefox 1.0 is out. Go get it. Actually, as expected, the Mozilla server's getting overloaded with requests (read Netcraft report). That's a happy sort of problem.
My Nokia 6600 has become increasingly slower in opening programs (even if other programs are not running in the background), and very occasionally, it hangs on me. However it syncs well on my Mac using iSync, which is the main reason keeping me from upgrading my handset at the moment. I'm now looking for a phone with even more PDA features such as displaying Office and PDF documents.
I probably have to buy third-party software should I switch to an 02 XDA or a Linux-powered Motorola smart phone. I was impressed with the responsiveness of the A768i, although it wasn't too pretty. Also its camera is not as high-res as my Nokia's, which still beats many newer handsets, hands down. However I am interested in the forthcoming Motorola A780, which looks good and has the keypad, which is reassuring - just in case something happens to the touch screen. It is quad-band, also runs on Linux, comes with Opera 7 and plays AAC files.
[Update: Overview of Linux smart devices. Hopefully more to come.]
I just downloaded the demo version of Delicious Library, a delightful OS X tool that catalogues your book, movie, music and game collections, links them up with Amazon.com resources and displays them in high-res quality on a virtual bookshelf. The interface works pretty much like iTunes.
Cool options? Rather than type in all your titles, you can use Apple's iSight webcam, or Delicious Library's own intelligent Bluetooth scanner to scan in bar codes. The catch is, the latter device can only be delivered to certain countries. Which means I will probably buy iSight when we move back into the house, which will be hopefully soon. Lots of unpacking and clearning to do.
Other cool factors include iPod Notes synchronisation, voice search (iSight might come in doubly handy then) and a drag-and-drop borrower's list using contacts in your Address Book. And it's just beautiful.
More information at the Delicious Monster website.
I will be heading off to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow morning for a day trip. Until then, ta ta and enjoy the rest of your weekend ...
First, Bush won. Well I kind of expected that and I don't have much more to say but that the Democrats have to buck up and re-invent themselves.
Next, I was asked to uninstall Firefox from my computer. I kind of expected that too. After debating with the IT staff about IE's security issues, how easy it was to use Firefox with tabbed browsing, zoom-in text and popup blockers, the answer was still: It's policy. And besides, at least Micro$oft is fixing bugs. Who's to guarantee that freeware like Firefox will have the same support?
Someone's gone and de-linked me from his site because I write too much about US politics, OS X and soccer. Well actually that's not a disaster. But I thought it would be nice to have at least three points in this post.
I'm not thinking any more.
[Update: Latest reports at CNN]
By the time I wake up in the little city-island of Singapore, America would have voted. If the polls are anything to go by, George Bush junior will win by a narrow margin. However the Democrats may gain a new Senator in the very charismatic Barack Obama (did you hear his speech at the DNC?), and hopefully others who will act as a moderating force in the decision-making process.
[Update: Obama wins but Democrats lose more seats in total.]
I visited one of my favourite Christian resource websites and was disappointed because it was obvious the writers were supportive of Bush, focusing on what else but abortion. I am alarmed that so many Christians have decided not to vote for John Kerry largely on this premise. It portrays us as one-track minded zealots who wish to impose our views on other people who do not share the same faith as us.
[Update: I like this slogan - "God is not a Republican... or a Democrat." Take back our faith!]
And look at the big picture. Surely the death of 5,000 innocent civilians in Iraq would also account for something? What about the growing numbers of seniors without health insurance? Some may die when they can't afford to pay their bills. What about lax gun laws, thanks to the NRA supporting Bush? What about the death penalties back in Texas when Bush was a governor?
The stance of this current administration has been to attack the symptoms and not the source. Take terrorism for instance. It has taken decades of American intervention in the Middle East, often viewed in favour of Jews at the expense of Muslims, to turn the latter group against America. Together with a generally lower level of education and standard of living, and the rise of fundamentalism, it has been a fertile ground for resentment.
A much slower but more stable approach would be to show that you respect these peoples, that you will not use force to win them over, that you will sincerely give them aid and improve their earning and learning capabilities. They will take their focus off extremism and focus on getting on with their lives.
It has not simply been a case of someone hating America's freedom. It has always been the case of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Many Americans however have been too removed from ground level to realise that many innocents have been killed because of US intervention in other countries. Of course, no matter how Christian the President claims to be, he would never turn the other cheek because he must be strong and decisive. (Kill 3000 of my people? I'll kill 2000 MORE of yours with my new pre-emptive doctrine. Oh, they're not really related to Osama but hey, we got another tyrant! I'm a war president! No, I'm a peace president! And my opponent, by the way, is a flip-flopper!)
Take abortion as another example. Why focus so much on whether or not to ban abortion, when we should also be examining what is causing this to happen in American society and in the rest of the developed world?
As a Christian I agree with conservatives that abortion is a form of murder. However the point where a cluster of cells, or a foetus, takes a life (or soul) of its own is hard to pinpoint. Maybe to make it easier for everyone, we should say it begins upon conception. Or, we can say it only happens after the baby is born. Or, as we Medical law students were taught, it happens somewhere in between, which puts us in a rather 'iffy' predicament. Going for an abortion one day later than originally planned, might constitute murder.
Also, as a cynical law graduate I would say that no law will be followed in any part of the world, entirely to the letter. Some laws, such as that of copyright, are much easier to break than others. But even if Bush gets re-elected and bans abortion in almost all cases, what's to stop a desperate teenage mother to attempt one herself, which may be worse? Even in an increasingly liberal society I'd say there is still a great amount of pressure on the women to 'carry the baby' in both metaphorical and literal senses.
Many of them become single mothers and some are stigmatised and cast out of their family. Even American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino was criticised for not being a good role model. What about the men who've got women pregnant, and left them to take care of the babies? It takes two hands to clap, but it seems only one gets slapped. It's like a double-whammy, almost always aimed at the woman.
As I was saying earlier, these current approaches deal only with the resulting symptoms of a much deeper problem. It's like, you have a cold and all the doctor wants to do is pinch your nose to stop you from sneezing, when the reality is that much of your body is immersed in icy water. If your economy is weak, more jobs have been lost than created, if health care is insufficient, if the gap between rich and poor is widening - these are all danger signs stemming from poor government, among other things.
In a way I pity the winner. America may be in for another recession soon. Iraq shows no signs of stabilising. US troops are staying on longer than planned. Osama meanwhile is laughing because he gets off scot-free, gets a good bang for his buck and the US government lands itself into deeper debt as they continue to wage their war on what they call 'terror'.
And so, with these thoughts I shall sleep tonight. At work tomorrow we shall find out who the new US President shall be.
Soon, America will vote and the fate of a good part of the world will lie in the hands of one man, once again. Only thing is, we're not entirely sure who it's going to be. And I certainly hope it won't depend on 537 votes again.
In local news, an Indian astrologer predicted that the 'stars' shine favourably on Kerry, although most of his counterparts seem to prefer Bush who is less likely to come down hard on outsourcing.
Japan's politicians prefer Bush because of existing good relations, although its peace-loving citizens prefer Kerry. Interesting quote: "If (Democratic challenger John) Kerry comes in, he may not feel he owes Koizumi anything." - That may not be such a bad thing, you know ;-)
We just received news that China has finally come forward to criticise the Bush administration for making decisions that have brought instability to the world - essentially its doctrine of pre-emption.
Stephen Hawking will be leading a protest in London where the names of 5,000 Iraqis killed in the US-led war will be read out. While I agree that the September 11 bombings were an atrocity committed against innocent civilians, you must admit that many more innocent civilians in another part of the world have died - and Osama remains free to this day.
Meanwhile, the Queen of England has asked Tony Blair to lobby against the US's environmental policies which are taking its toll on her gardens and other parts of the world.
And there is one more election that is almost as important that many of us tend to forget about - the Senate race. Will the Democrats oust a couple of seats from the GOP in their quest to regain control of the Senate?
Americans - this has to be one of the most exciting elections you've gone through in recent years. May the votes be counted as fairly as is humanly possible. May your decisions be truly reflected, and not determined by a group of judges, or by any other means which may not represent the real sentiments of the nation. May you show us once again what real democracy is like - sans lawsuits, recounts, name-calling, truth-bending.
On this momentous occasion, May God Bless America.