Following up on my previous article about good stuff, here’s a negative.
Periodically, when using Coverflow mode in the new Finder, this is what happens. First I notice my fans starting the rev up, then the system begins to bog down.
It appears Finder might have a problem… Activity monitor shows Finder running between 100% and 180% CPU utilization.
Technorati Tags: Apple, Blog, Computer, Mac, MacBook, OSX, Technology
I’ve been slowly working through our “family pack†updates to Leopard this week and realized a couple things that I hadn’t heard anybody mention yet
Technorati Tags: Apple, Mac, OSX, Technology
If you had any doubts as to how far out nowhere the new Apple store is, take a look at the corner it sits on.
This picture is Williams Field Rd and SanTan Village Parkway, looking at the northwest corner. SanTan Village is the northeast corner.
Yes, that’s a big pile of hay.
Technorati Tags: Apple, Arizona, Blog
With all the excitement of Leopard this weekend, it’s easy to gloss over the other important event – the opening of a new Apple store just a scant 36 miles from my home.
36 miles from your home, you say? Surely that’s out in the middle of nowhere!? You’re right, it is. The trouble is, these days, lots of people live in the middle of nowhere. They’ve ruined nowhere for the rest of us. Since nowhere has been ruined, we might as well look for the silver lining, and that lining would be the Apple store.
This store follows the new trend, the elimination of cash registers. All transactions are processed on small hand-held devices and the receipt is e-mailed to you. I think they piloted this either last year or the year before at Christmas time and the iPod express table. I’ve also noticed lately that they use this technique when the line to check out is getting long.
Apparently the in-store testing has been successful enough that not only is this new store devoid of any visible registers, but they told me they’d be redoing the other two stores in Phoenix soon as well.
Darn clever of them. You talk to an associate, you’ve decided you’re going to take it and he whips out his portable register and you’re paid for and gone. Conversely, if you want to buy something, you have to get the attention of an associate.
I think maybe the associate I spoke with wasn’t the most knowledgeable, but he was friendly and efficient. I asked him about Leopard’s lack of Classic mode.
“Yes, that’s right,†he said.
“So, that means any of the programs over there that have minimum requirements of System 7, 8 or 9 probably use Classic, and therefore won’t work under Leopard.â€
“No, not really,†he says, “most programs are dual binary.â€
BZZZZT. Wrong answer, I do believe. Dual binary deals with PowerPC/Intel programming, but anything that runs under System 9 or less must be a classic-style program.
I’m surprised Apple didn’t yank them off the shelves, or at least put them in a “Does not run under Leopard†shelf.
I spoke to a couple of the people standing at the front door, greeting people. They said last night at the grand opening and Leopard release they did have over a thousand people. I assume they knew that because they ran out of shirts. Today, the store seemed to be having a steady load of visitors.
This weekend was also the grand opening of SanTan Village which is very large, yet quite strange indeed. I don’t think I like the idea of a shopping plaza with parking right up to the stores. Perhaps they’re trying to reinvent the High Street concept.
Technorati Tags: Apple, Blog, Computer, Mac, OSX, Technology
ABC 15 => Local ‘green’ homes come with impressive amenitiesOne again, I’m always pleased to report this kind of stuff. Especially so when it’s right close to home.
A local developer hopes his new project may not only make people homeowners, but heroes to the environment.
Aura at Camelback will be the first environmentally friendly subdivision in the Valley.
Solar panels, underground garages, water-conserving toilets and dryscaping (ie, dirt lawns) are all a start, but I wish the article provided info on the subdivision. That really isn’t all that radical.
So, I went looking and found this article in the Phoenix Business Journal, which gives a bit more detail. The project meets LEED standards.
I’m not going to buy one, but I can’t wait to go see what they’ve done. Although I always have wanted my own elevator and an underground lair. It would be like living at SHADO headquarters!
Technorati Tags: Arizona, Blog, Environment, Technology
After being delayed from a morning to afternoon delivery, my Leopard family pack is finally here and I’m installing it on my first test machine.
The first machine installed will be my very first Mac, a PowerMac G4, Dual 1.33 GHz. I use this machine for my iTunes server for my Apple TV. It also runs various long running server type functions for me.
3:35 PM Started OSX 10.5 Leopard install.
4:24 PM Holy Temporal Stasis, Batman! It took this long just to verify the integrity of the install DVD!!!!
4:32 PM Finally figured out how long it thought it was going to take. 2 Hours 58 Minutes!!!!
4:33 PM Now it thinks it is 1 hour and 43 minutes. The time estimate routine must have been written in Redmond.
4:44 PM I could be in line at the Apple store waiting to buy Leopard, instead I’m going to go to Costco. A minute ago, it said 1 hour 53 minutes, now it says 28 minutes. What am I to believe?
6:13 PM Back from Costco. Yum, free samples fried chicken and shortbread. Leopard install is asking my Apple ID. Which one should I use?
6:15 PM Software updates, already?! Oh, it’s only Backup and Remote Desktop Client.
6:30 PM Yeah, OK, it’s nice and all. Seems like it might be a bit faster.
I missed seeing the intro movie. I had heard it was a masterpiece of post-modernist angst. Perhaps I’ll catch it on DVD.
Technorati Tags: Apple, Blog, Computer, Mac, OSX, Software
Another piece of old writing that I found in a disused directory on my hard drive labeled “Beware of the Leopard.â€
You’ll need to take yourself back to the heady days of the 20th century, when my entire industry was head over heels entrenched in the so-called “Y2K Problem.†It made some of us go just a little bit crazy.
What is the Year 2000 Plumbing Problem?
Every 1,000 years, the Earth’s rotation and axial tilt passes beyond the Prime Meridian, causing a reversal of the Coriolis Force. This effect is virtually unnoticeable to humans and animals, but effects the way water moves across the surface of the planet.
Up till now, water moves in a clockwise rotation in the northern hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the southern hemisphere. In the year 2000 at the beginning of the new lunar year (January 21st, corresponding with the Chinese New Year) the axial rotation will have changed sufficiently that the Coriolis Force will be split between the East and Western Hemispheres rather than North/South.
If it is imperceptible to humans and animals, why is this a problem?
I said “virtually unnoticeable†— not “imperceptibleâ€. Scientific evidence indicates that some people experience difficulty sleeping, minor problems with the equilibrium and in some extreme cases, severe constipation. Generally the symptoms pass within a few days. These physiological problems are not, however, the cause of the Year 2000 Plumbing problem. In fact, constipation may actually delay the effects of the Year 2000 Problem.
The earliest recorded use of indoor plumbing is attributed to the Anasazi Indians some 950 years ago, but they consisted mostly of a large dry hole with a containment system deep underneath. The containment system was periodically emptied manually.
The modern “water closet†variety of toilet was only developed into its current form in England during the 19th Century by Thomas Crapper. During the entire existence of the flushing toilet, the rotation of the flushing water has remained constant.
With the Earth’s new axial alignment, toilets in the Western hemisphere will rotate anti-clockwise, while those in the Eastern Hemisphere with rotate clockwise. The result will be much the same as if currently a northern hemisphere toilet is installed in Australia — the water will be forcibly ejected from the toilet during the flushing cycle.
The original designers of the toilet simply failed to take this natural, inevitable change into account. (Or, if they did take it into account, they decided they would not have the nightmare of retrofitting when the Year 2000 came rolling along some 150+ years later.)
The problem is compounded by the extreme popularity of flushing toilets. The latest polls reveal that some 98% of all US households have flush toilets. Even in underdeveloped countries such as France, indoor toilets comprise nearly 40% of all restroom facilities
Are all toilets affected?
No.
Many “mobile†toilets, such as those on airplanes have been designed to work properly under any Coriolis conditions. Engineers have long understood the negative effect of crossing the Coriolis boundary where the results could be catastrophic. Persons in the process of flushing toilet while crossing the Equator could easily be drowned.
While airplane toilets use Brownian Motion to suppress the potentially damaging effects of transversing the equator, this is impractical in the standard home water closet, which does not have the added pressure differential between the cabin and the outside.
Another type of toilet that is unaffected is the newer “low water consumption†models which partially use suction to drain the bowl using less water than the traditional toilet.
What must I do?
Don’t panic. Toilet replacement is a relatively simple process, but you should evaluate your exposure now.
| North/South | East/West | Year 2000 Problem? |
|---|---|---|
| North | East | No |
| North | West | Yes |
| South | East | Yes |
| South | West | No |
Are only toilets affected?
Absolutely not!
The inexorable laws of physics demand that the effect happen to any kind plumbing that swirls water (or indeed any liquid, except for certain NASA developed Coriolis resistant chemicals used aboard the Space Shuttle). This includes sinks and bathtubs; however, the ramifications of not completing Year 2000 conversions are less severe than those of toilets.
What about Swimming Pools?
A swimming pool is a unique case, standing water should be fine, and so, in general you can leave your swimming pool as it is; however, when it comes to draining the pool a unique problem develops.
Normally, a pool does not have a large drain, so that when the pool is emptied it rarely creates a whirlpool effect. (This does not apply to pools with a huge cork stopper at the bottom.) But, once the water level drops low enough, a whirlpool forms. Once it forms, it will be rotating the wrong way and the water will be expelled into the air, but not with enough force to escape the sides of the pool. Thusly, the water cannot escape and attempts to drain again, repeating the cycle.
Water evaporation prevents this from being a practical source of Perpetual Motion Energy, but a team of French scientists are further researching the possibilities. (FAQ Editor’s note: What a shame France is unaffected by the Year 2000 situation!)
Most pool manufacturers recommend that you drain your pool prior to 1/21/2000 and refill it afterwards. You will then have several years before you need to deal with the Year 2000 problem, and if you’re like most pool owners you will have sold your house and moved into a new house that doesn’t have a pool.
I found this review I’d (nearly) completed back in 2000 of the early Big Finish audio adventures. I’d just discovered them at Forbidden Planet in London and purchased the first 10 before returning to the states.
For your amusement, and my archiving of writing projects, here’s my year 2000 take on Big Finish, in days long before anyone believed a Time Lord might be back on the BBC.
Sounds Like Doctor Who
Do you remember the sound of a Dalek control room? The mechanical resonance of the Cybermen voices? The hiss of the Ice Warriors? The scream of a companion or the 6th Doctor’s pompous, over-the-top pronunciation of the word “Iâ€? The electronic sparkles in the classic theme music?
If you’re like me, Doctor Who was more than the sum of its parts. The story, the actors, the visuals and the sounds all came together to produce something magical… something that has been missing for a long time, since the end of the 7th Doctor’s last series.
There’s no doubt that, since that time, the Doctor Who New Adventures books have been quite prolific, continuing the adventures of all the Doctors. Quite frankly, they leave me flat. Sure, they use the same old Doctors we know and love, but they just don’t do them justice do they? If the book cover didn’t have the face of the Doctor on it, would you always know which Doctor it was supposed to be?
There’s more to Doctor Who than just writing. It was the actors who brought the characters to life, and the technicians who realized whole new worlds for us week after week. While it can be argued that through a book your imagination is free to develop worlds beyond the limitations of television, that just isn’t really true with Doctor Who. That universe was fully developed on TV and the imagination just tries to recreate it.
I’m happy to report that last year, the BBC licensed Big Finish Productions to produce new episodes of Doctor Who, featuring the original actors and for the last year they have produced 11 new four-part Doctor Who stories starring Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy.
What’s the catch you say? Well, they’re not television episodes, they’re audio dramas, and I must say, it is good to hear the Doctor again!
Big Finish productions has wisely decided to stick with the original actors for their stories. There will be no first, second or third Doctor stories, nor will they substitute other actors for the companions.
So far they have lined up stories featuring Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann as (respectively) the 5th – 8th Doctors. While no promises have been made, they are also trying to secure the services of Tom Baker for a 4th Doctor story.
Companions and other regulars that they have enlisted include Nicolas Courtney (The Brigadier) Lala Ward (Romana II), Sara Sutton (Nyssa), Mark Strickson (Turlough), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Bonnie Langford (Mel) and Sophie Aldred (Ace)
New adventures are published monthly and are available individually or through a 6 or 12 month subscription service through Big Finish’s web page at http://www.doctorwho.co.uk.
Reviews. (Rated from * to *****)
Episode 01 – The Sirens of Time **
Starring Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor
Written by Nicholas Briggs
4 episodes
Gallifrey is once again invaded by an overwhelming force. The Time Lords, once again rendered powerless, use their last bits of power to try to manipulate three incarnations of the Doctor to save themselves. But why are they trying to kill him?
It’s sad to say that the Doctor Who stories most eagerly anticipated — the multi-doctor stories — are usually some of the most poorly realized. The Sirens of Time is no exception and doesn’t succeed in breaking the curse. The problem with multi-Doctor stories is that it’s difficult to juggle more than one leading character, especially such strong leading characters. The Sirens of Time tries a new approach: each of the first three episodes focuses on a different Doctor, they only come together in the final episode.
While this is a novel approach to the problem, it doesn’t give enough time to the three story threads and instead of being integral to the plot, seem to be incidental to the final episode, which is, in turn, too hurried towards its conclusion.
What should have been a slam-bang opener to this new series of Doctor Who adventures is instead more of an appetizer plate for the adventures to come.
Episode 02 – Phantasmagoria ***
Starring Peter Davison as the Doctor and Mark Strickson as Turlough
Written by Mark Gatiss
4 episodes
London, 1702. The Doctor and Turlough arrive amidst a rash of disappearances of young men. What is their connection to the infamous Diabola Club and is Sir Nikolas Valentine the devil himself?
This episode is very much in the spirit of the 5th Doctor’s psuedo-historical episodes with the tried-and-true formula of an alien trapped on Earth using means to escape that do not sit well with the Doctor.
Peter Davison’s and Mark Strickson’s performances are spot-on with the TV adventures, but the supporting casts’ performances are a bit too camp. One can easily imagine them all wearing wigs, false moles on their faces with frilly shirts waving silk handkerchiefs around foppishly while speaking – but then, perhaps that’s the idea.
I’ve always considered the 5th Doctor to be one of the weaker Doctors, but in audio forms he holds up surprisingly well.
Episode 03 – Whispers of Terror ***½
Starring Colin Baker as the Doctor and Nicola Bryant as Peri
Also starring Peter Miles as Curator Gantman
Written by Justin Richards
4 episodes
The Doctor and Peri arrive at the Museum of Aural Antiquities, a museum for storing the sounds of history, just as an intruder is mysteriously murdered. Can the Doctor and Peri find a way to stop a creature made entirely of sound from escaping and unleashing havoc on the world?
During his tenure as the Doctor, Colin Baker got some pretty awful stories. Whispers of Terror is better than most of his original stories and leads me to hope that the 6th Doctor’s character will be give a chance to shine in the audio dramas in a way only hinted at in the original series.
The most interesting feature of this story is the use of an audio-only creature and a twist ending which could only be realized in an audio play.
The voice of Peter Miles should be instantly recognizable to any Doctor Who fan as he has played many a notable character in the series over the years.
Episode 04 – Land of the Dead ****
Starring Peter Davison as the Doctor and Sarah Sutton as Nyssa
Written by Stephen Cole
4 episodes
Alaska, 1994. The Doctor and Nyssa arrive in the arctic wilderness. The only dwelling in the area is the residence of millionaire Shaun Brett and it’s under attack by monsters.
A few more stories like this and I could get to like the 5th Doctor. This story has the feel of a “classic†Pertwee/Baker era story, but has been well tailored to the 5th Doctor. The Alaskan wilderness provides a tight, claustrophobic backdrop for the attack of the Permians, a new race of monsters for the Doctor to battle.
The cast is quite good on this one, but their American accents wouldn’t fool anyone.
Episode 05 – The Fearmonger ***
Starring Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace
Also starring Jacqueline Pearce as Sherilyn Harper
Written by Jonathan Blum
4 episodes
The Fearmonger is an energy creature that lives inside others and fuels fear in others and then feeds on the emotions. What is its connection to the ultra right-wing nationalist New Britannia party and their candidate for president, Sharilyn Harper?
I’m of mixed emotions on this story. It is a textbook 7th Doctor storyline with all the annoying characteristics therein: It starts with the Doctor and Ace already hunting the creature; the story implies that the Doctor has dark secrets in his past and Ace’s insecurities are once against twisted like a radio-knob. None of these are characteristics that I liked from the 7th Doctor’s final season. The attempts to re-invent the character I think helped hasten his demise on TV.
That said, I must admire the writer’s skill at recreating that atmosphere for this 7th Doctor story. One of the things I’ve enjoyed about these audio dramas is that obvious care has been given towards re-creating the correct “feel†for each Doctor. You couldn’t drop any other Doctor into this story, it just wouldn’t work.
Jacqueline Pearce, probably best known as Servilan from Blakes 7, guest stars in this episode as (what else?) a power-mad politician seeking the Presidency. Nearly 20 years has passed since Blakes 7 was on the air, but she doesn’t sound a day older.
Episode 05 – The Marian Conspiracy ***½
Starring Colin Baker as the Doctor
Introducing Maggie Stables as Dr. Evelyn Smythe
Written by Jacqueline Rayner
4 episodes
Tracking a distortion in the fabric of time, the Doctor meets Dr. Evelyn Smythe, a historian, whose own history is vanishing, starting with her ancestor from the Tudor times, John Whiteside-Smith.
The Doctor takes her back to the time of Queen Mary to unravel the mystery, whilst conspiracies abound to remove Mary and replace her with her half-sister Elizabeth. When the queen decrees that the Doctor (going under his pseudonym Dr. John Smith) should marry Lady Sarah Whiteside, can it be that the Doctor destined to be the father of Evelyn’s time-distorting ancestor?
This story heralds the arrival of the Doctor’s first new companion for the audio dramas, Evelyn, an elderly professor of history with a penchant for chocolate.
This is a straight historical drama, with no aliens, monsters or time-hopping villains dealing with the conflicts between the Catholics and Protestants during Tudor times and the 6th Doctor fits in quite well, although one suspects that the Doctor’s clothing would gather more comments than Evelyn’s cardigan sweater. My biggest complaint is that no satisfactory explanation is ever given as to what upset the time stream in the first place.
Episode 07 – The Genocide Machine ***½
Starring Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace
Written by Mike Tucker
4 episodes
The library on Kar-Charrat contains all the published knowledge of the universe, but fortunately hardly anyone knows of its existence. The Doctor and Ace arrive just as the Daleks decide they need a library card.
Here’s another perfectly adequate Doctor Who story played out for the 7th Doctor marred only by the fact that Daleks are in this story.
The Daleks have always been a naff bunch of villains, with a stupid physical design and insipid lines to recite. In audio, only their grating, annoying voices remain – not an improvement, really. Nonetheless, as Dalek stories go, it’s better than most, thankfully avoiding bringing Davros into the story.
The Genocide Machine is the first in a super-series called The Dalek Empire. Future stories are planned.
Episode 08 – Red Dawn ***
Starring Peter Davison as the Doctor and Nicola Bryant as Peri
Written by Juston Richards
4 episodes
The Doctor and Nyssa arrive on Mars at the same time as Earth’s first manned mission does. And then they awaken the sleeping Ice Warriors. What happens when the human and Martian races meet for the first time?
This story spent too much time beating us over the head with philosophical arguments that were resolved for the Doctor in Curse of Peladon all those many years ago. Otherwise it’s a straightforward tale of interspecies misunderstanding.
Again, the American accents are almost comical.
Episode 09 – The Spectre of Lanyon Moor ****½
Starring Colin Baker as the Doctor, Nicolas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and Maggie Stables as Dr. Evelyn Smythe
Written by Nicholas Pegg
4 episodes
The Doctor, the Brigadier, UNIT, a lonely moor and a malevolent alien lifeform trapped since before recorded history — can there be a more classic setting for a Doctor Who story?
This is a by-the-numbers Doctor Who story, with all the old familiar plot twists and cliffhangers. What’s so surprising is how pleasant it is; like a favorite, old shoe that’s well broken in and still fits well. Colin Baker’s Doctor is at his pompous best meeting up for the first time with the Brigadier, while Evelyn plays the part like an old-time companion — falling into dangerous situations in a way that would make Sarah Jane Smith proud.
I only give this episode 4.5 out of 5 because I want to leave some room for improvement in the future!
Episode 10 – Winter for the Adept **½
Starring Peter Davison as the Doctor and Sarah Sutton as Nyssa
Also starring Peter Jurasik as Lt. Peter Sandoz
Written by Andrew Cartmel
4 episodes
The Doctor and Nyssa arrive in a haunted chalet in the Swiss Alps, blocked off from the outside world due to a killer blizzard.
Technorati Tags: Blog, Doctor Who, Dr Who, Review
Science Daily => Carnivorous Dinosaur Tracks Discovered In Australia
The three separate dinosaur tracks are about 14 inches long, show at least two or three partial toes, and were likely made by large carnivorous dinosaurs (theropods) on river floodplains about 115 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. Based on track sizes, Martin estimates that these dinosaurs were 4.6 to 4.9 feet tall at the hip, large by human standards but about 20 percent smaller than Allosaurus, a large theropod from the Jurassic Period.
Australia and Antarctica were joined during the Cretaceous and sat near the south pole.
My question is: Are dinosaur walking appendages called paws or feet? The post title doesn’t sound so good as “Southern Feet.â€
Technorati Tags: Blog, Paleontology, Science