Collapse on flight prompts needle warning to diabetics – National – smh.com.au
This just in – proof that the terrorists have won! They have made it so that the lives of average law abiding citizens are placed in jeopardy without having to do anything.
Congratulations to the fear mongers, you have handed victory to those who would wish to destroy you to them.
Makes me sad to think people who allow this to happen could ever get the power to do this.
M
It seems that Apple Inc. have (finally) launched the DRM free tracks on the iTunes Music Store, which I am pretty sure is a good thing.
Now Apple don’t deserve all the credit here – EMI (and a big applause to them for the decision to go the route of portable music) deserve big kudo’s for being the first music distributor to offer tracks without DRM.
All is not so shiny with these DRMless tracks – they cost approximately 30% more than DRM encumbered tracks and albums however as they are higher quality (256kBit) this is somewhat easier to bare. The value proposition of the ITMS however is somewhat decreased now over CDs – with a CD which is basically the same price (if not cheaper) you get a permanent backup of it (the physical CD) and significantly more flexibility in the format that you can transcode the music into.
The biggest benefit of this – is that the ITMS becomes viable for people who want to use their songs on other devices (mobiles, Zune’s etal) hopefully we’ll see some price adjustment with the tracks on the store and many more labels jumping on the DRMless track bandwagon!
This is finally, and for once good for consumers!
😀
Notes on my experiences – The ITMS is being slammed by people upgrading their tracks at the moment, the 45 or so songs that I had available to upgrade/update showed up, and came to $16.50 or so to have them in the higher quality more usable DRMless format, however when I clicked upgrade an error popped up, and I could no longer go to the upgrade my existing track selection. Was fixable by going to the shopping cart and selecting check for purchases – boom – a menu would you like to move your existing songs to the trash or desktop (i picked desktop – always keep backups of stuff 🙂 ) and 45 tracks immediately started downloading.
Having read about the mypods on the homepage of mactalk (formerly appletalk.com.au) I was intrigued by these covers. Having used a hardcover case for my iPod over the past 15 months or so but due to its nature little bits of dirt and dust got underneath the clear plastic and was beginning to scratch the iPod. I figured that a removable plastic cover that sticks to the surface of the iPod has got to be better than the hardcover case.
I wandered over to the website and attempted to place an order, entered in my credit card details, but thats when things got interesting, I got no confirmation that my order was accepted. I emailed customer service with my dilemma, and this is where it gets interesting – within 24 hours I had a response – that they had looked through their charges and could not find any against my details, and that I should try again. After trying again I got not only an automated confirmation, but their customer service also let me know that they had received it and worked with me to determine what was causing the issue on their site.
For such a relatively new company this level of service is nothing short of amazing – for anyone looking at getting a cover for their iPod – you could do a lot worse than one of the mypods.com.au covers, you’d probably be hard pressed to do much better. They be cheap and are backed up with quality customer service!
Three thumbs up!
Update – time to add some piccies – the installation was incredibly easy even for someone with dodgy fine motor skills such as myself, looks nice and unique now, not the same old iPod generica 😀
The newest British Royal Navy’s submarine looks like a giant whale, can sit in the English Channel and fire cruise missiles at North Africa; but perhaps the most extraordinary feature of the British-built sub is that it will never need to be refuelled throughout its 25-year lifespan, meaning it can sail round the world 40 times without surfacing.
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As random as this article is for me, damn this sub is impressive!
Modern Drunkard Magazine Online
Now I don’t advocate that this list should be followed to the letter, it is rather amusing and provides some good ground rules to follow should you ever find yourself in the pub 😉
I am usually not a fan of Merlot as it is too soft for my liking, way to subtle. I like a wine that smacks you across the back of your tonsils and shakes you all about. Now while this is not as in your face as the typical Aussie big Red like the Barossa Shiraz or the Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, there is something that lifts it above the standard Merlot. I like this one – I’d be interested to hear the thoughts of people who know and like Merlot’s as to their opinion of this in my not so humble opinion tasty drop.
Check it out – smooth, velvety and fruity 😀
This is a rant.
I have installed Vista on my MacBook Pro, while I do prefer using the Mac for many things (as it suits my work flows better) but there are occasions where Windows is required (whipping up a Win only app, software designed for windows only, or websites that will just not work with any browser other than IE – typically embedded web pages in things like routers, and of course gaming).
After using Vista (Ultimate) for a little over a month now – as an alternative, I have come to the conclusion that it is anti-User. There are so many things that Vista has been programmed to do by Microsoft that cause a level of frustration beyond describable.
Annoyances – UAC, I won’t harp on about this here as it has been covered nearly everywhere in the IT press and online, but I now cringe when I see that little quad coloured shield of pain, as I know there will be a nasty interruption to my work flow just around the corner. (I don’t turn it off as that disables some of the extra security benefits added to IE7, and based on experiences with IE6 and WinXP, I’d like to keep those!).
Vista does its job – its an operating system which lets you run programs so that you can be creative, be entertained and be productive – however the work flows that enable you to do this as currently implemented by the operating system are not as good as other options out there – I find myself many times more productive under WindowsXP, Mac OS X and Linux than under vista. I am pleased with my current decision to migrate toward the mac as my platform of choice – as it appears that many others are also. I doubt I will ever make the switch to Vista as it is not a tool – its a thing that want attention all the time. I’m not prepared to sacrifice the security enhancements offered by UAC by disabling it, and I’m not prepared to continue to use Vista if I feel the levels of frustration and stress rising when I do, rather I’ll continue my migration toward Mac OS X and Linux for my computing needs, while keeping WinXP about for my gaming fix.
I wonder how long before Vista is required to have on the retail packages – “Warning – may increase stress levels and reduce productivity” likely never, but one can only hope!
Spread this number ? Rudd-O.com
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 – These 16 pairs of little hex numbers are causing quite a stir out on the internet. There is a massive underground campaign to spread these numbers about – as far and as wide as possible. The last time I saw this much fuss on the internet in relation to DVD’s was in fact the when dvdCSS algorithm was discovered and spread – that one was most useful as it lead to transcoding utilities that enable uses to convert there DVD’s to other formats (ie: iPod compatible clips/movies) and for players to be developed for operating systems where there is little commercial interest in developing a DVD player (Linux).
The reason that these 16 hex numbers are important for the community is that there is a potential for them to be used to create such utilities and players. For some reason the MPAA does not like this and are issuing DCMA takedown notices.
A reminder to those not liking these numbers spread about
1) They are a trade secret – the secret is out – you need to find your leak.
2) They are numbers
3) I’m in Australia – no DCMA takedown notice for you!
Looks like the number is once again just a plain old boring number again
“There has been a lot of misunderstanding. The key that has been leaked has now been revoked.” from the BBC
Easy oven baked risotto with chilli pancetta, mushrooms and fresh basil.
Serving size: Serves 4
Cooking time: Less than 60 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
6 thin slices of chilli pancetta, cut into strips
1 clove garlic, crushed
100g Swiss brown mushrooms, cut into 4 slices
100g button mushrooms, cut into 4 slices
2 cups arborio rice
100 mls white wine
1.2 litres chicken stock, hot
? cup grated Parmesan
? cup torn basil
METHOD
Preheat oven to 170?C. Heat 1 tablespoon oil on a medium heat in a
casserole dish or ovenproof saucepan with a lid. Add onion and cook
stirring until softened. Add pancetta, garlic and mushrooms cook for
further 2 minutes. Stir through rice until coated.
Add white wine and allow to reduce for 1 minute. Pour in stock, cover with
lid and place in oven for 25 – 30 minutes or until all liquid has been
absorbed. To serve stir in parmesan and basil and season well.