Brugge / Bruges - Belgium
23 04 2004Updated PowerBooks, iBooks, AirPort Extreme & Pro apps
21 04 2004hardware? After the eMac update, it certainly starts to look that way with these
models: 1.5 GHz PowerBooks with 4x DVDr, standard built in BT
& AE, upgraded graphics, … 1.25 GHz iBooks with optional 4x
SuperDrive (!) and POE (Power over Ethernet) AirPort Extreme Base
Station.
Time to roll out the updated G5’s and displays!
Next week?
For the pro users there’s also plenty to peruse: DVD Studio Pro
3, Final Cut Pro HD, Motion, Shake 3.5 and XSAN (storage area network)
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Categories : Another day
Friesen op de weg
21 04 2004This wouldn’t be any news in Europe, but while we’re driving on a local highway towards Bangor, my eyes spotted a Dutch tag on a truck driving a bit ahead of us. Can’t be! Sure is. Yellow tag, black lettering BD-BP-79, NL country sticker & Frisian flag (northern Dutch province)
Somebody is doing some serious sightseeing with their off-road capable Mercedes truck. I hope for them spring speeds up a little, as there’s hardly any green and all the parks are still closed.
That Frisian flag certainly gave me a smile as I was revisiting Friesland through wonderful memories of windsurfing & icesurfing trips 
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Categories : Another day, Photography
Easter lillies
21 04 2004
The first flowers in our area (besides stores). Some Easter Lillies
in the landlord’s flower bed.
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Categories : Photography
Improved Apple Support Website
15 04 2004support area is one welcome and good looking update. Oh, and if you
haven’t been to the discussion area in a while, it had a major
overhaul some months ago.
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House Of Sand And Fog [****] 2003
14 04 2004auction to an immigrant family. Neither are aware of how their lives are about
to change as the story unravels to it’s final conclusion.
A very
good movie: 4+ The twists and turns will keep you guessing beyond the final
moment.
Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley … directed by
Vadim Perelman
House Of Sand And Fog - Drama - Widescreen -
English - R [ Netflix - Walmart ]
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Categories : Movie Zone
The Cuckoo [*****] 2002
14 04 2004sniper), a Russian soldier and a Lappi girl together in rural Finland near the
end of World War II. The cuckoo is a very charming movie about three people with
different languages, backgrounds, cultures and agendas. Highly
recommended.
Starring: Anni-Christina Juuso, Ville Haapasalo …
directed by Aleksandr Rogozhkin
The
Cuckoo - World - Russian, Suomi - Subtitles - PG13 [ Netflix
- Walmart
]
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Categories : Movie Zone
Virex 7.5 beta
13 04 2004to test it. So, I gave it a whirl for a few days. It’s under NDA, so I can’t
disclose anything specific. I’ll just say it’s a step in the right direction,
but don’t waste your time & resources. And that you can take very literal.
McAfee, my feedback is ready and I’ll gladly consult on a few things
as well.
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Categories : Technology
FBI = 42 different systems?
13 04 2004been doing the job they were paid for! 42 different systems within one
organization?! TILT.
… and I thought over a decade ago that 3
different organizations with 5 different systems was bad!
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Categories : News bites
eMac update
13 04 2004sweeter today: $999 for a 1.25 GHz G4 + 80 GB HDD + 8x SuperDrive model. Yes, an
8x SuperDrive! A first for an Apple computer, and it’s introduced on the low-end
machine first. Most people will agree such DVD burner should have been part of
the G5 series for a long time already, but, after a long period without hardware
updates, this hopefully is the start of things to come
Those
waiting for iMac, PowerMac and display updates will hopefully see those soon.
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Categories : Another day
iBlog 1.3.6 released
13 04 2004Comments : No Comments »
Categories : iBlog
Happy Easter
11 04 2004season.
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Categories : Photography
Blue is fun
9 04 2004so I squeezed in day 3 of my first experience pass. The snow is getting pretty
thin in some areas and there are more and more icy spots, but they didn’t bother
me much. After a little warm up on my favorite green trail, it was pretty much
blue all the way.
The afternoon coach helped me ski a bit more
dynamic and with hardly anybody on the trails, we pretty much had the place to
ourselves to slalom along. Too bad my lift pass was limited, as I would have
loved to have gone to the mountain top(s) to reach some of the longer blue
trails and at least one black diamond trail. It’ll be for next year 
… smiling big
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Categories : Another day
Trojan Horse affects OS X
8 04 2004This is not good 
I hope Apple will cut this kind of
development short by taking whichever steps necessary so the OS can’t be
exploited in this way (prevent files from disguising as applications, file
extension & internal code should match one purpose (mp3 cannot delete &
alter other files), all applications require installation & authorization so
nothing can start behind the scenes, …) and preferably without requiring
users to hook up with Symantec or McAfee to get in the annual fee, daily update,
continuous scanning & filtering needed mill. The last thing Apple users need
is viri, trojans and the like to worry about.
I’m not saying this
IS the case, but when one Anti-Virus company announces the first trojan to
affect a platform, it smells (of what was long thought but since surpassed in
the Windows world because of the vast explosion in viri & trojans) that
somebody might be working to increase their business. I can’t help but
wonder.
Edit: Seems quite a few people agree that it’s not a
virus, but a general vulnerability and that Intego’s wording & actions could
have been better. See also this Wired article.
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Categories : Another day
Moose in the neighbor’s garden
8 04 2004& the car, I saw a moose in the neighbor’s back yard. It took me a second to
realize it! It stood there the moment I saw it, then started walking away along
the fence behind their shed/garage. I quietly slipped the camera out, stepped a
little closer while it was behind that garage, fired up the camera, zoomed in
… only my camera was in playback mode (from the last download session) … so
I missed the shot! and the moose moved on of course. I quickly walked around the
block and wandered through the neighboring streets, but it must have been
between buildings again or have crossed the main road.
Note to self:
make sure your camera is in record mode at all times!
It was the
first moose I saw in broad daylight since we arrived here. Interestingly, this
second encounter is also by daylight in town in the capital area. (in 2000 I saw
one run in front of the state house). Out in the country we’ve only spotted a
few late at night along the road.
Runaround. ATT (I know) has an
extra flat rate plan which hopefully should solve our cellphone roaming issues.
Online it reads dial 1-800-REACHOUT to order. Female voice “Thank you for
your interest in ATT unlimited. To learn more or to sign up, log on to
www.att… If you would like to reach out or sign up, please hang up and call
1-866-REACHOUT or 866-…” The first time I didn’t catch the 866 and the
rest of the number went way too fast. Second time around I caught the detail.
Isn’t it nice when online they tell you to call, where they tell you go online
or call another number?
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Categories : Another day
Digital visit to Chernobyl “Dead Zone”
6 04 2004“dead zone” as close as possible to the atomic plant. Painfully true images and
some interesting facts & figures.
A must visit: Elena’s Ghost Town
pages for a roentgen free dose of nuclear reality.
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Categories : Photography
Security Update 2004-04-05
5 04 2004Panther & Jaguar. Also contains the previous security update.
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Categories : Another day
King winter’s last push?
5 04 2004received another inch of snow last night.
Snow
covered twigs in the river.
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Categories : Weather
Skiing: I’m blue material now.
5 04 2004
(scenic view near the start of Dream Maker & Escapade)
I
had quite a workout at Sunday River. It didn’t take long to get accustomed to
the skis again. After the first hesitation to go down the lower half of the
green slopes again ~ euh, that looks a bit steep ~ I quickly found my rhythm
again, trying to go a bit quicker, improve on turns, a few speedier stretches
straight downhill, …
I had signed up for a 90 min class (single
pupil again) and after a brief look at how good (bad?) I was we went on skiing.
A few pointers to solve some of the problems I experienced, introduction to
mainly pressure the outward leg, hip balancing, etc … and we went as high as
we could on the green slopes. I love the “Dream Maker”, it’s so nice to have a
long downhill stretch!
We took on one - for me really challenging -
steep spot between two trails, which I learned to control by initiating 2 or
more quick turns which you don’t finish (thus avoiding the speed & control
problem as with slaloming the full width). My execution was stop & go
turning, but it worked & I reached the bottom safe & well. Cool! I was
really excited about the progress in those 90 mins. I can ski quite a bit more
dynamic & fluid without hesitation for a steeper stretch.
With
about an hour left I went back up, looked at the blue trail called “escapade”
… and went for it. It was a bit more challenging of course, but went like a
breeze. My legs were feeling quite tired, but I gave escapade another go before
I called it a day. I would’ve loved to make another run, but my upper legs were
too exhausted. Better safe than sorry!
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(burned) taxed out! … it’s the season?
1 04 2004break about even or get a little return.
State taxes are new to us,
but shouldn’t be too bad, should it? Quick referencing we already paid nearly a
1/3rd over what’s listed in the state income tax table. Not a bad prospect, I
thought …
Start with the federal income, minus reduced adjustments
(one of which totally unfair), minus lower state credits & deductions,
calculate a ratio Maine / non- Maine source for out of state credit and when you
bring it all together, you owe even more. Huh? Try again. Ouch!
I
spoke with a state tax office representative. Of course that conversation did
not clear any of the confusion & frustration. It boiled down to: You cannot
look at the state income table (x state income => y state tax). Maine treats
everybody equal so it starts with the federal gross income which determines your
Maine gross income and through the calculated out of state credit ratio you are
not paying taxes on your out of state income … etc.
It sounds
right, but something is amiss. X state income, Y state taxes already paid (of
which Z too much), insert state deduction => you should get something back,
not owe more than what’s already withheld.
The only sensible thing
I can come up with is that - where we break about even federally - state wise
we do not and thus have to pay up. It reminds me of Belgium. Every year I had to
pay up 1 month’s net income in extra taxes (on top of the 50% that was already
withheld to start with) because alone I couldn’t afford a house, lived too close
to work (10 miles) for it to be deductible … and … procreation by yourself
is not exactly feasible.
Joe taxpayer
… I’d rather be
windsurfing! Or skiing! Or snowboarding!
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Categories : Another day
