The 10.5.6 Blunder
Did your mouse go crazy after the 10.5.6 update?
You are not alone. There are already several threads in the apple support forum.
Many people have been hit with ‘Erratic Mouse Syndrome’ (EMS) after updating to x.5.6.
The symptoms (users usually report the exact same symptoms for this bug) are:
1. Upon wake from sleep, the mouse (cursor, not the hardware) is frozen, or skipping erratically around the screen.
2. Sometimes, the mouse will move opposite of the user’s hand movement.
3. Sporadic black flickering of the display.
4. It is resolved by keyboard restart (Ctrl+Eject, in case you cant get to the ‘apple’ menu).
5. GOTO 1
6. In my case, Final Cut Pro launches super slow (the rest of FCS2 does not)*.
Until now, users have tried Zapping PRAM (CMD+OPT+R+P before and during the gray screen, you need to wait for the second chime), fsck, permission repair and all the usual suspects, to no avail.
SOLUTIONS:
One option, if you are effected, is downloading the combo update (about 600 Mb),and install it on top of whatever is already installed. When the update asks for restart, hit ok, and MAKE SURE to hit ok in the following box, one that says something about UPDATING BOOT CACHES. My problem seems fixed after doing this, and hitting the ok in said box (instead of just letting it disappear). FCP launches horribly slow (about 3 Min of SBOD, used to be 5-10 Sec total launch time).
Another way is to Archive and Install to an earlier OS (use your original Os X disc, insert it, restart and press Alt or Opt before and during the gray screen, choose Options, then Archive and Install). After this, make sure you download the combo update from apple’s site, not using the updater, and avoid 10.5.6 for now.
What can I say, this is a horrible, horrible blunder. Almost as bad as the ‘Fire-On-The-Wire iTunes Firewire’ update fiasco, which erased whole drives , thanks to a ‘ “ ‘ missing in some installer script.
Making the mouse in a mouse-based OS unusable, they deserve a Darwin Award.
*Support and I are still looking into the cause of this. we are not sure what caused it, it could be the Kona Driver not playing nice with some updated Nvidia code, so please, if you have been having issues with FCP\S after the update, lets talk so we can cross information.
UPDATE:
10.5.6 is still messing up with my mouse. even after the combo install. the only solution at the moment is to disable sleep, until apple issues a fix.
An observation; the MacPro’s power indicator stopped blinking in sleep mode, but is a steady light. could this be a clue?
I did manage to fix FCP.
HOW TO FIX FINAL CUT PRO LAUNCH ISSUES AFTER THE 10.5.6 UPDATE:
1. Trash Prefs, using this tool
2. Locate the folder “Final Cut Pro Documents”, should be on your scratch disc.
3. Inside it, locate the thumbnail and waveform cache folders, and trash them.
4. Empty the trash.
You should be good to go. if things still arent working out for you, use this tool to remove FCS and do a clean install. Feel free to email any questions you might have.
Good Luck!
You are not alone. There are already several threads in the apple support forum.
Many people have been hit with ‘Erratic Mouse Syndrome’ (EMS) after updating to x.5.6.
The symptoms (users usually report the exact same symptoms for this bug) are:
1. Upon wake from sleep, the mouse (cursor, not the hardware) is frozen, or skipping erratically around the screen.
2. Sometimes, the mouse will move opposite of the user’s hand movement.
3. Sporadic black flickering of the display.
4. It is resolved by keyboard restart (Ctrl+Eject, in case you cant get to the ‘apple’ menu).
5. GOTO 1
6. In my case, Final Cut Pro launches super slow (the rest of FCS2 does not)*.
Until now, users have tried Zapping PRAM (CMD+OPT+R+P before and during the gray screen, you need to wait for the second chime), fsck, permission repair and all the usual suspects, to no avail.
SOLUTIONS:
One option, if you are effected, is downloading the combo update (about 600 Mb),and install it on top of whatever is already installed. When the update asks for restart, hit ok, and MAKE SURE to hit ok in the following box, one that says something about UPDATING BOOT CACHES. My problem seems fixed after doing this, and hitting the ok in said box (instead of just letting it disappear). FCP launches horribly slow (about 3 Min of SBOD, used to be 5-10 Sec total launch time).
Another way is to Archive and Install to an earlier OS (use your original Os X disc, insert it, restart and press Alt or Opt before and during the gray screen, choose Options, then Archive and Install). After this, make sure you download the combo update from apple’s site, not using the updater, and avoid 10.5.6 for now.
What can I say, this is a horrible, horrible blunder. Almost as bad as the ‘Fire-On-The-Wire iTunes Firewire’ update fiasco, which erased whole drives , thanks to a ‘ “ ‘ missing in some installer script.
Making the mouse in a mouse-based OS unusable, they deserve a Darwin Award.
*Support and I are still looking into the cause of this. we are not sure what caused it, it could be the Kona Driver not playing nice with some updated Nvidia code, so please, if you have been having issues with FCP\S after the update, lets talk so we can cross information.
UPDATE:
10.5.6 is still messing up with my mouse. even after the combo install. the only solution at the moment is to disable sleep, until apple issues a fix.
An observation; the MacPro’s power indicator stopped blinking in sleep mode, but is a steady light. could this be a clue?
I did manage to fix FCP.
HOW TO FIX FINAL CUT PRO LAUNCH ISSUES AFTER THE 10.5.6 UPDATE:
1. Trash Prefs, using this tool
2. Locate the folder “Final Cut Pro Documents”, should be on your scratch disc.
3. Inside it, locate the thumbnail and waveform cache folders, and trash them.
4. Empty the trash.
You should be good to go. if things still arent working out for you, use this tool to remove FCS and do a clean install. Feel free to email any questions you might have.
Good Luck!
|
(Un) Mess-up your iTunes
For the last few days, i have ben re-arranging my music
collection (90GB).
I am one of those people who simply copy entire music collections from friends, and never likes to erase any of it. Being a video editor, i look at my music collection in a more ‘practical’ way. That means, many of the tracks are of not things I would listen to, but things useful for editing.
I tried using itunes to re-tag all those ‘unknown’ titles, genres, and artist, all the ‘___1___.mp3’ mysteries, to no avail.
This simply takes too long to be possible when you have ±15,000 songs.
Hello Jaikoz, you saved my life!
Jaikoz is a simple and efficient Java application for mp3 meta-tagging. The application ‘listens’ to the tracks, compares to the musicbrainz DB, and fixes as much information as possible (genres, artist, title, artwork, lyrics). the interface resembles the itunes one (sort of, this is a multi-platform java app, so please, don’t expect the Apple finesse), and one may choose to run in full auto mode, semi-manual, or manually fix each or a group of tags.
From my experience, after getting to know the preferences a little bit, slightly tweaking them enables a fully automatic repair of most tracks, and powerful batch tools (such as ‘save changes and move’ ) makes fixing enormous collections absolutely possible.
I am not into writing usage instructions, you can find this in the Jaikoz help section, but i am into helping my fellow netizens,
so here is a bug solution, for a nasty (but not really a bug) bug, most users with over 2500 songs will encounter...
‘Memory Limits Bug’
Again, not really a bug, but the application is only addressing (up-to) 300 MB ram. A large collection may require much more memory, and this will cause the application to crash when loading a large number of file (2500 and up).
HOW TO FIX:
1. after installing Jaikoz, go to Applications > Jaikoz > right click (or ctrl click) on the Jaikoz icon, choose ‘show package contents’
2. in the folder that opened (called ‘contents’ ) look for ‘info.plist’. Make a copy, named jaikoz.info.plist.bak’ or whatever you like, to serve as a backup in case you totally mess-up something. Save this backup OUTSIDE of the contents folder.
3. open the original info.plist with textedit (or plist editor if you have), look for a line, somewhere in the middle, which reads ‘-Xms150 -Xmx300. this line’s meaning is “minimum memory 150mb maximum 300mb”
4. change the Xmx value to something fitting your setup (dont allocate 4000mb if you only have 4000mb)
5. save (with the original name and suffix)
6. relaunch jaikoz.
Note; if the application fails to launch, most likely you entered a too large (or wrong) Xmx value. Simply change it to a lower number until it launches fine. i allocated 4gb (on a 16gb machine), and it failed to launch. After setting Xmx to 2500mb, it launches, loads and process smoothly.
Final thoughts
I think Apple should develop such tool, to go along with the itunes. this probably contradicts their music store philosophy, where you buy ‘fresh’ songs, and never have to fix their tags.
For the time being, Jaikoz is doing its job well, and is a very capable application. Well worth the 20$ the full version costs.
Links:
Download Jaikoz
Download MusicIP (similar to the Genius feature in itunes)
I am one of those people who simply copy entire music collections from friends, and never likes to erase any of it. Being a video editor, i look at my music collection in a more ‘practical’ way. That means, many of the tracks are of not things I would listen to, but things useful for editing.
I tried using itunes to re-tag all those ‘unknown’ titles, genres, and artist, all the ‘___1___.mp3’ mysteries, to no avail.
This simply takes too long to be possible when you have ±15,000 songs.
Hello Jaikoz, you saved my life!
Jaikoz is a simple and efficient Java application for mp3 meta-tagging. The application ‘listens’ to the tracks, compares to the musicbrainz DB, and fixes as much information as possible (genres, artist, title, artwork, lyrics). the interface resembles the itunes one (sort of, this is a multi-platform java app, so please, don’t expect the Apple finesse), and one may choose to run in full auto mode, semi-manual, or manually fix each or a group of tags.
From my experience, after getting to know the preferences a little bit, slightly tweaking them enables a fully automatic repair of most tracks, and powerful batch tools (such as ‘save changes and move’ ) makes fixing enormous collections absolutely possible.
I am not into writing usage instructions, you can find this in the Jaikoz help section, but i am into helping my fellow netizens,
so here is a bug solution, for a nasty (but not really a bug) bug, most users with over 2500 songs will encounter...
‘Memory Limits Bug’
Again, not really a bug, but the application is only addressing (up-to) 300 MB ram. A large collection may require much more memory, and this will cause the application to crash when loading a large number of file (2500 and up).
HOW TO FIX:
1. after installing Jaikoz, go to Applications > Jaikoz > right click (or ctrl click) on the Jaikoz icon, choose ‘show package contents’
2. in the folder that opened (called ‘contents’ ) look for ‘info.plist’. Make a copy, named jaikoz.info.plist.bak’ or whatever you like, to serve as a backup in case you totally mess-up something. Save this backup OUTSIDE of the contents folder.
3. open the original info.plist with textedit (or plist editor if you have), look for a line, somewhere in the middle, which reads ‘-Xms150 -Xmx300. this line’s meaning is “minimum memory 150mb maximum 300mb”
4. change the Xmx value to something fitting your setup (dont allocate 4000mb if you only have 4000mb)
5. save (with the original name and suffix)
6. relaunch jaikoz.
Note; if the application fails to launch, most likely you entered a too large (or wrong) Xmx value. Simply change it to a lower number until it launches fine. i allocated 4gb (on a 16gb machine), and it failed to launch. After setting Xmx to 2500mb, it launches, loads and process smoothly.
Final thoughts
I think Apple should develop such tool, to go along with the itunes. this probably contradicts their music store philosophy, where you buy ‘fresh’ songs, and never have to fix their tags.
For the time being, Jaikoz is doing its job well, and is a very capable application. Well worth the 20$ the full version costs.
Links:
Download Jaikoz
Download MusicIP (similar to the Genius feature in itunes)
It's been a long time , i know
17/12/08 15:54
HOW-TO; Creacte a secure backup, using OS X
(If you just want the HOW-TO, scroll down, it’s below
the intro to backup)
Sometimes, its not a bad idea to have backup, and most people realize this when they need the backup.
You only think of your car’s spare tire when you have a flat, and after the first time you get stuck in the
middle of nowhere with a flat spare, it will never happen to you again, and you will always check your
spare before going on a trip.
Backup on OS X is very easy, and you have to be super-lazy or an absolutely careless and free spirited
person. If you are like me, and your Apple is almost an extension of your body (i almost feel naked when i leave the house without my laptop bag), then you dont want to have to resort to...(drum roll) Data Recovery.
This is not a ‘How-to backup’, so i’ll just mention my backup scheme:
1. SuperDuper clone of my internal HD, in a safe.
2. portable media vault (PMV), two partitions, one is encrypted
3. PMV clone at home
4. Capture scratch and FMV (fixed media vault)
why so much? well, hard disks are not reliable, and i do not want my 90 gig itunes library dead, nor my 15 gig iphoto library, so it is backed up (anyone who experienced the ‘external firewire erase’ bug of itunes knows what i am talking about). Capture Scratch is something to do with video editing, so you may disregard the CS+FMV item.
PMV i need because anyway my Internal HD is getting full, and this is why the need for encryption; these small (2.5”, laptop disk) disks are very easy to steal.
(what we came here for)How to encrypt an external USB disk?
as you may or may not know, OS X has a FileVault App, which encrypts your home folder. nice and handy, but wont work for external disks.
solutions?
1. can use applications like TrueCrypt. my problem with truecrypt was, that it doesnt allow you to format your disk as HFS+, only FAT (forget about files larger then 2gig), and is kind of complicated and intimidating, unless you name is Mr. Data.
2. my solution - create a sparse disk image, encrypted, with shrink script.
HOW-TO create a SPARSE DISK IMAGE
(this is very very easy to do, just follow the instructions)
1. open DISK UTILTY
2. FILE > NEW > BLANK DISK IMAGE
3. choose where and how the image is saved.
4 choose the size you want. there is an overhead of about 100mb for 100gb, so it is ok to choose very big images. mine is 120gb, but you should experiment with smaller ones before committing.
5. encrypt using 128-bit, or 256-bit if they are after you. you may want to uncheck the keychain box, so you (or the thief) will have to enter the password in order to mount it (this matters only when mounted on your computer, otherwise, password is needed anyway).
6. choose sparse disk image. this means the image, even if defined in size ‘200 gb’, will be just as big as it’s contents, and will expand until it reaches the predefined size.
you are done. mount the image, drag files into it, they are now AES 128-bit encrypted. this works fine for all your needs, video playback, iPhoto (all these naughty pictures are finally safe), itunes and so on. infect, this is exactly what FileVault does behind the scenes.
there is one tiny problem. when you delete files from the image file, it will not shrink. this has something to do with encryption and trash cans, but we dont really care why, we just want to fix this, dont we?
enters THE AUTO-SHRINK
(thanks iShater @ Mac Forums)
Instructions:
1) Download this zip
2) Extract the .workflow file in the archive.
3) Launch Automator from the applications folder.
4) Open the workflow file.
5) Verify the contents (Should always do that before executing someone else's script!) - you will see that it is shelling out to the bash shell and telling it to run the disk utilities application (hdiutil) to compact the file being passed in (compact "$@", where the funny characters refer to the file you select in finder when running the script).
6) In Automator do a Save-As Plug-in
7) Pick a name (same name as the script is OK)
8) Select Finder as the Plug-in type
Once that is done, you can right-click the image file and select Automator->Compact sparse image (or whatever name you chose for the script).
It will then reclaim any space left by deleted files from the sparse image.
This script was courtesy of an article from MacWorld.
Sometimes, its not a bad idea to have backup, and most people realize this when they need the backup.
You only think of your car’s spare tire when you have a flat, and after the first time you get stuck in the
middle of nowhere with a flat spare, it will never happen to you again, and you will always check your
spare before going on a trip.
Backup on OS X is very easy, and you have to be super-lazy or an absolutely careless and free spirited
person. If you are like me, and your Apple is almost an extension of your body (i almost feel naked when i leave the house without my laptop bag), then you dont want to have to resort to...(drum roll) Data Recovery.
This is not a ‘How-to backup’, so i’ll just mention my backup scheme:
1. SuperDuper clone of my internal HD, in a safe.
2. portable media vault (PMV), two partitions, one is encrypted
3. PMV clone at home
4. Capture scratch and FMV (fixed media vault)
why so much? well, hard disks are not reliable, and i do not want my 90 gig itunes library dead, nor my 15 gig iphoto library, so it is backed up (anyone who experienced the ‘external firewire erase’ bug of itunes knows what i am talking about). Capture Scratch is something to do with video editing, so you may disregard the CS+FMV item.
PMV i need because anyway my Internal HD is getting full, and this is why the need for encryption; these small (2.5”, laptop disk) disks are very easy to steal.
(what we came here for)How to encrypt an external USB disk?
as you may or may not know, OS X has a FileVault App, which encrypts your home folder. nice and handy, but wont work for external disks.
solutions?
1. can use applications like TrueCrypt. my problem with truecrypt was, that it doesnt allow you to format your disk as HFS+, only FAT (forget about files larger then 2gig), and is kind of complicated and intimidating, unless you name is Mr. Data.
2. my solution - create a sparse disk image, encrypted, with shrink script.
HOW-TO create a SPARSE DISK IMAGE
(this is very very easy to do, just follow the instructions)
1. open DISK UTILTY
2. FILE > NEW > BLANK DISK IMAGE
3. choose where and how the image is saved.
4 choose the size you want. there is an overhead of about 100mb for 100gb, so it is ok to choose very big images. mine is 120gb, but you should experiment with smaller ones before committing.
5. encrypt using 128-bit, or 256-bit if they are after you. you may want to uncheck the keychain box, so you (or the thief) will have to enter the password in order to mount it (this matters only when mounted on your computer, otherwise, password is needed anyway).
6. choose sparse disk image. this means the image, even if defined in size ‘200 gb’, will be just as big as it’s contents, and will expand until it reaches the predefined size.
you are done. mount the image, drag files into it, they are now AES 128-bit encrypted. this works fine for all your needs, video playback, iPhoto (all these naughty pictures are finally safe), itunes and so on. infect, this is exactly what FileVault does behind the scenes.
there is one tiny problem. when you delete files from the image file, it will not shrink. this has something to do with encryption and trash cans, but we dont really care why, we just want to fix this, dont we?
enters THE AUTO-SHRINK
(thanks iShater @ Mac Forums)
Instructions:
1) Download this zip
2) Extract the .workflow file in the archive.
3) Launch Automator from the applications folder.
4) Open the workflow file.
5) Verify the contents (Should always do that before executing someone else's script!) - you will see that it is shelling out to the bash shell and telling it to run the disk utilities application (hdiutil) to compact the file being passed in (compact "$@", where the funny characters refer to the file you select in finder when running the script).
6) In Automator do a Save-As Plug-in
7) Pick a name (same name as the script is OK)
8) Select Finder as the Plug-in type
Once that is done, you can right-click the image file and select Automator->Compact sparse image (or whatever name you chose for the script).
It will then reclaim any space left by deleted files from the sparse image.
This script was courtesy of an article from MacWorld.
16 Right, 09 Left, 81 Right (or 'I'm a Doctor, Let Me Through!')
24/06/08 09:35 Filed in: Art of
Living
First, take a look at the picture below. The sign reads
'Medkit'.
This is the photo of a Medkit on board of an Israeli train. If you still dont get it, the box is locked with a safe-like dial. This gives the old 'break In case of emergency' sign a new meaning. What kind of horrible vandals we must be, if even life saving equipment such as a Medkit has to be locked in a safe? maybe it's to keep junkies away from the morphine.
We could start discussing boring things like priorities, and optimization of objects (when the designer has to balance between several qualities in order to get that perfect mix for the object's purpose), but i think it is much more entertaining to try and imagine what would happen in case of emergency. 16 to the left, 09 to the right, 81 left. or was it 81 to the right?
This is the photo of a Medkit on board of an Israeli train. If you still dont get it, the box is locked with a safe-like dial. This gives the old 'break In case of emergency' sign a new meaning. What kind of horrible vandals we must be, if even life saving equipment such as a Medkit has to be locked in a safe? maybe it's to keep junkies away from the morphine.
We could start discussing boring things like priorities, and optimization of objects (when the designer has to balance between several qualities in order to get that perfect mix for the object's purpose), but i think it is much more entertaining to try and imagine what would happen in case of emergency. 16 to the left, 09 to the right, 81 left. or was it 81 to the right?
I wish I could make a jacket out of YOU(R milky white skin)!
22/06/08 08:38 Filed in: Art of
Living |
lolcat
This really makes me sad. How can someone be so heartless?
The Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), also known as the Painted Leopard, McKenney's Wildcat or Manigordo (in Costa Rica), is a wild cat distributed over South and Central America and Mexico, but has been reported as far north as Texas and in Trinidad, in the Caribbean.
The Ocelot's appearance is similar to that of the domestic cat. Its fur resembles that of a Clouded Leopard or Jaguar and was once regarded as particularly valuable. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Ocelots have been killed for their fur. The feline was classified a "vulnerable" endangered species from the 1980s until 1996, but is now generally considered "least concern" by the 2006 IUCN Red List.
I would have loved to have an extra-large, leopard look-alike Ocelot cat around. and yes, i'd rather make a coat out of that east-german trash bimbo who is so dense she makes lead bricks seem like angel's wing's feathers, otherwise she would barf when wearing the coat of another animal.
Firefox 3 (yay!)
Ok, I did as instructed,downloaded during the Guinness
record event and installed Firefox 3.
Installation was as easy as expected, and the new Firefox seems faster and looks better, but
thats not what i wanted to talk about.
Firefox had a nasty bug (maybe just my MBP?) that causes it to open as a tiny window that
i had to look forever for, and Firefox would not remember the window size, so every time it
started i had to resize and position it. very annoying.
THE SOLUTION FOR THE NASTY MICRO WINDOW FIREFOX BUG:
(Note - this has worked for me perfectly, please let me know if it does not work for you)
1. Quit Firefox (but not before reading this text, lol...)
2. go to : USERNAME \ LIBRARY \ APPLICATION SUPPORT \ FIREFOX \ PROFILES \ YOUR.PROFILE \
3. locate the file localstore.rdf
4. make sure you quit firefox before doing anything (but fear not, i tried doing this without quitting, and it's OK)
5. rename localstore.rdf as localstore.rdf.bak (or .sav or whatever, this is your localstore backup file for now)
you might have to 'Show Info' on the file (cmd+i) so you can untick the 'hide extension' box, so that you can
change the .rdf to .rdf.bak.
6. launch Firefox. it should be fine now, and you will see a new Localstore.rdf file created in the profile you fixed.
thats it. if you are having trouble, leave a comment and i will try and help.
Installation was as easy as expected, and the new Firefox seems faster and looks better, but
thats not what i wanted to talk about.
Firefox had a nasty bug (maybe just my MBP?) that causes it to open as a tiny window that
i had to look forever for, and Firefox would not remember the window size, so every time it
started i had to resize and position it. very annoying.
THE SOLUTION FOR THE NASTY MICRO WINDOW FIREFOX BUG:
(Note - this has worked for me perfectly, please let me know if it does not work for you)
1. Quit Firefox (but not before reading this text, lol...)
2. go to : USERNAME \ LIBRARY \ APPLICATION SUPPORT \ FIREFOX \ PROFILES \ YOUR.PROFILE \
3. locate the file localstore.rdf
4. make sure you quit firefox before doing anything (but fear not, i tried doing this without quitting, and it's OK)
5. rename localstore.rdf as localstore.rdf.bak (or .sav or whatever, this is your localstore backup file for now)
you might have to 'Show Info' on the file (cmd+i) so you can untick the 'hide extension' box, so that you can
change the .rdf to .rdf.bak.
6. launch Firefox. it should be fine now, and you will see a new Localstore.rdf file created in the profile you fixed.
thats it. if you are having trouble, leave a comment and i will try and help.
Kipa Aduma
03/06/08 09:53 Filed in: Art of
Living
Hele-Shaw Ferrohydrodynamics
27/05/08 08:44 Filed in: Art of
Living
I came across this experiment a few years ago,
and was mesmerized by it's beauty.
not being an educated professional in the chemistry
or biology fields, my guess is as good as anyones,
but assuming that some primordial molecules had
ferric elements, isnt it possible that the first
cellular life form came to be due to this effect?
i have lost the video file long, long time ago. thanks youtube!
what you are about to watch is an experiment, where magnetic
(ferro fluid) liquid is placed between two sheets of glass,
surrounded by a magnetic field. the fluid arranges itself
according to the magnetic field's direction and force.
and was mesmerized by it's beauty.
not being an educated professional in the chemistry
or biology fields, my guess is as good as anyones,
but assuming that some primordial molecules had
ferric elements, isnt it possible that the first
cellular life form came to be due to this effect?
i have lost the video file long, long time ago. thanks youtube!
what you are about to watch is an experiment, where magnetic
(ferro fluid) liquid is placed between two sheets of glass,
surrounded by a magnetic field. the fluid arranges itself
according to the magnetic field's direction and force.
cats love weed!
21/05/08 08:25 Filed in: lolcat
China's Great Wall (Nikiland)
20/05/08 20:10 Filed in: Art of
Living
Last month i have been to Macao. Nice place.
for those who haven't been there, here is a map of
Macao ;
View Larger Map
As i said , a nice place, made up mainly from casinos
and giant apartment buildings.
Walking next to Senado Square, i came across this site,
probably a demolished house.
looks interesting, and i would have loved to know what is
written in that poster. probably some government endorsing.
unfortunately, they have really tall gates over in Macao, and
Macao, China, is not a place i would like to be caught trespassing.
Detail - Crazy Rabbit Aardvark Flower Sucking Beast
and to my disappointment ,the back side of Nikiland, which turns out to be
an advertisement for the Red Devil.
do you think coke paid her to keep all but the bottle in B&W?
or did she simply give up in disgust after selling out so badly?
for those who haven't been there, here is a map of
Macao ;
View Larger Map
As i said , a nice place, made up mainly from casinos
and giant apartment buildings.
Walking next to Senado Square, i came across this site,
probably a demolished house.
looks interesting, and i would have loved to know what is
written in that poster. probably some government endorsing.
unfortunately, they have really tall gates over in Macao, and
Macao, China, is not a place i would like to be caught trespassing.
Detail - Crazy Rabbit Aardvark Flower Sucking Beast
and to my disappointment ,the back side of Nikiland, which turns out to be
an advertisement for the Red Devil.
do you think coke paid her to keep all but the bottle in B&W?
or did she simply give up in disgust after selling out so badly?
Apple's TimePiece
Apple's TimePiece, a revolutionary new product \
service to be unveiled
next month, sources claim (yes, another apple rumor...fanboys rejoice)
TimePiece, still unknown if 'firmware update' for Time Capsule or sold
separately, will enable users to browse back in time (a La Time Machine),
not only on their local drive, but web pages as well.
the principal is quite simple; backup entire domains, as several companies
already do, using petabyte scale storage pools (in folk-talk, record the
internet on a giant computer) and serve it chronologically. apparently,
apple has been recording the 'net for some years, since 1991 (first browser,web page ever,
NeXt computers).
TimePiece will enable users to check, for example, what happened on
the internet on Sep. 10th, 2001, or Sep 12th... or to see how trends@net
grow.
no details as of yet on the cost, or the business model (will it be like a .mac
account, or pay-by-session? may pay-per-Mb?)
Time will tell..
Technorati Profile
next month, sources claim (yes, another apple rumor...fanboys rejoice)
TimePiece, still unknown if 'firmware update' for Time Capsule or sold
separately, will enable users to browse back in time (a La Time Machine),
not only on their local drive, but web pages as well.
the principal is quite simple; backup entire domains, as several companies
already do, using petabyte scale storage pools (in folk-talk, record the
internet on a giant computer) and serve it chronologically. apparently,
apple has been recording the 'net for some years, since 1991 (first browser,web page ever,
NeXt computers).
TimePiece will enable users to check, for example, what happened on
the internet on Sep. 10th, 2001, or Sep 12th... or to see how trends@net
grow.
no details as of yet on the cost, or the business model (will it be like a .mac
account, or pay-by-session? may pay-per-Mb?)
Time will tell..
Technorati Profile
Enter the lolcat
18/05/08 08:33 Filed in: lolcat
How to beat piracy
Piracy seems to be a major headache for content
'owners'.
it is evident in their never ending quest to squelch their
'non-paying' customers.
the word 'pirate' is being touted so often, one might imagine
we are living in the dark ages of privateers. here be monsters!
in fact, none of this true. considering all p2p users 'pirates'
is a tactic used by media giants to marginalize and criminalize
otherwise law abiding, normative people. 'pirates' are those who
make thousands of duplicates in china and offer you Office '08 for
$29.99. millions of others, who just want to watch the latest 'Lost'
episodes, are simply engaging (freedom surfing) in a business
model yet to be exploited by said media giants.
It's the business model, stupid!
in the past, having access to a media, meant owning the medium.
the last group to have monopoly on knowledge and information
was the church. they lost their monopoly with the invention of the
printing press. of-course, the church didn't let go easily, and went into
the ever expected "devil's device" fit.
governments weren't so happy with the free distribution of ideas, as they
are always unhappy with thinking people, so they started taxing and
providing 'print licenses' (more accurately, withholding those licenses).
within a few decades the printers won and we got free press and good
books. the business model is, 'you buy it, it's yours' proved itself and was
second to the 'pay us for the performance' model used in theaters and
concerts.
along comes the radio.
now there is a need for a new model, since it is impossible to charge by
the show. in some places, the radio receiver is taxed, and fees are paid
to some governmental broadcasting agency, but the most common method
is advertisement. what advertisement means is, the broadcaster is selling
your (the listeners) attention.
attack of the videotape
the radio and film had the money coming in, and had little to fear on the
subject of content ownership. just as in the good old days of the printing
press, you had to buy a medium (a tape, rolls of film) since there was no
(convenient) way to record the information.
when the video tape became popular, the industry had to adapt. first, they tried
to block the video tape by suing the tape makers. the courts ruled in favor
of the tape ('a technology has many uses, and can not be made illegal categorically
just because someone might use it against the law').
so a new business model emerged; renting the medium. while not really new
(aka library) tape rentals became a major income for studios.
the digital age
nowadays, the medium is almost unwanted. you may still be enticed to buy a dvd disc,
since it has all these extra good extras, but most likely, you just want the movie.
just as the printing press made it possible to make exact clones of books (hence the
'devils' nickname), the digital age makes it possible to clone any information.
the problem occurs, again, when advanced technology meets outdated business
models.
are studios really expecting us to keep buying discs, when all we want is the
(freely available) content? criminalizing p2p as a technology is parallel to deeming
the printing press 'the devil's device'.
hopefully, they (media giants) will repent their erroneous ways, with new and exciting
business models.
i dont have any problem with paying for content. at the moment, i download from
a service that provide fast, secure and stable connection. it costs 1/5 of cable tv,
and i get all and only what i want. when the quality of the movie is important, or i
want the extras, i will rent. iTunes could have been nice too (but i am out of the region).
point is, people will pay for what they want, given that the price is right and the deal is fair.
i am willing to bet that as iTuneTV (and the likes) market share rises, studios will stop harassing p2p
users, as they will see that money can be made after all.
'Pirate' should be left for describing the criminals who profit from counterfeiting, as i am not a crook!
it is evident in their never ending quest to squelch their
'non-paying' customers.
the word 'pirate' is being touted so often, one might imagine
we are living in the dark ages of privateers. here be monsters!
in fact, none of this true. considering all p2p users 'pirates'
is a tactic used by media giants to marginalize and criminalize
otherwise law abiding, normative people. 'pirates' are those who
make thousands of duplicates in china and offer you Office '08 for
$29.99. millions of others, who just want to watch the latest 'Lost'
episodes, are simply engaging (freedom surfing) in a business
model yet to be exploited by said media giants.
It's the business model, stupid!
in the past, having access to a media, meant owning the medium.
the last group to have monopoly on knowledge and information
was the church. they lost their monopoly with the invention of the
printing press. of-course, the church didn't let go easily, and went into
the ever expected "devil's device" fit.
governments weren't so happy with the free distribution of ideas, as they
are always unhappy with thinking people, so they started taxing and
providing 'print licenses' (more accurately, withholding those licenses).
within a few decades the printers won and we got free press and good
books. the business model is, 'you buy it, it's yours' proved itself and was
second to the 'pay us for the performance' model used in theaters and
concerts.
along comes the radio.
now there is a need for a new model, since it is impossible to charge by
the show. in some places, the radio receiver is taxed, and fees are paid
to some governmental broadcasting agency, but the most common method
is advertisement. what advertisement means is, the broadcaster is selling
your (the listeners) attention.
attack of the videotape
the radio and film had the money coming in, and had little to fear on the
subject of content ownership. just as in the good old days of the printing
press, you had to buy a medium (a tape, rolls of film) since there was no
(convenient) way to record the information.
when the video tape became popular, the industry had to adapt. first, they tried
to block the video tape by suing the tape makers. the courts ruled in favor
of the tape ('a technology has many uses, and can not be made illegal categorically
just because someone might use it against the law').
so a new business model emerged; renting the medium. while not really new
(aka library) tape rentals became a major income for studios.
the digital age
nowadays, the medium is almost unwanted. you may still be enticed to buy a dvd disc,
since it has all these extra good extras, but most likely, you just want the movie.
just as the printing press made it possible to make exact clones of books (hence the
'devils' nickname), the digital age makes it possible to clone any information.
the problem occurs, again, when advanced technology meets outdated business
models.
are studios really expecting us to keep buying discs, when all we want is the
(freely available) content? criminalizing p2p as a technology is parallel to deeming
the printing press 'the devil's device'.
hopefully, they (media giants) will repent their erroneous ways, with new and exciting
business models.
i dont have any problem with paying for content. at the moment, i download from
a service that provide fast, secure and stable connection. it costs 1/5 of cable tv,
and i get all and only what i want. when the quality of the movie is important, or i
want the extras, i will rent. iTunes could have been nice too (but i am out of the region).
point is, people will pay for what they want, given that the price is right and the deal is fair.
i am willing to bet that as iTuneTV (and the likes) market share rises, studios will stop harassing p2p
users, as they will see that money can be made after all.
'Pirate' should be left for describing the criminals who profit from counterfeiting, as i am not a crook!
Freedom Surfers
Hi boys and girls,
today we are going to talk about a new phrase, "Freedom Surfer".
What is Freedom Surfer you ask?
A Freedom Surfer, similar to Freedom Fighter, is a person who doesnt accept
dictatorial limitations on their individual rights. A person that wont accept the
corporations (RIAA, MPAA, IFPI and others) ideas regarding free information
(none unless you pay them).
in other words, a Freedom Surfer is what's commonly reffered to as 'A Pirate'.
I resent being called 'A Pirate'. While indeed carrying a nice romantic aroma,
'Pirate' has a negative, criminal conotation. I dont think you and I are criminals,
just because we engage an activety deemed 'illegal' by interest groups.
A FILM PIRATE
Corporations make the rules as they wish, using goverments as their instruments,
backed by ludicrus financial resorces, they batter us in courts and try to take
away our rights and privacy.
No more. we have an inherent right for free information, the internet being our
ultimate tool for communication. We are not fighting for the right to watch 'Shrek'
for free. The fight is for control of the distribution methods. this is why they attack
technologies (bittorrent, other p2p, streaming and others). i want to surf free.
not for free, as we all pay for access, but freely. i will not accept being criminalized
for this, being compared to terrorists.
A TERRORIST CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF PIRACY (DOUBLE BAD!)
we want to surf freely, and leave the 'piracy'
stigma to those who make millions of copies in china and sell them for a buck
in chinatown. spread the word - Freedom Surfers!
today we are going to talk about a new phrase, "Freedom Surfer".
What is Freedom Surfer you ask?
A Freedom Surfer, similar to Freedom Fighter, is a person who doesnt accept
dictatorial limitations on their individual rights. A person that wont accept the
corporations (RIAA, MPAA, IFPI and others) ideas regarding free information
(none unless you pay them).
in other words, a Freedom Surfer is what's commonly reffered to as 'A Pirate'.
I resent being called 'A Pirate'. While indeed carrying a nice romantic aroma,
'Pirate' has a negative, criminal conotation. I dont think you and I are criminals,
just because we engage an activety deemed 'illegal' by interest groups.
A FILM PIRATE
Corporations make the rules as they wish, using goverments as their instruments,
backed by ludicrus financial resorces, they batter us in courts and try to take
away our rights and privacy.
No more. we have an inherent right for free information, the internet being our
ultimate tool for communication. We are not fighting for the right to watch 'Shrek'
for free. The fight is for control of the distribution methods. this is why they attack
technologies (bittorrent, other p2p, streaming and others). i want to surf free.
not for free, as we all pay for access, but freely. i will not accept being criminalized
for this, being compared to terrorists.
A TERRORIST CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF PIRACY (DOUBLE BAD!)
we want to surf freely, and leave the 'piracy'
stigma to those who make millions of copies in china and sell them for a buck
in chinatown. spread the word - Freedom Surfers!
Florentine Graffiti
27/03/08 08:20 Filed in: Art of
Living
I know you love graffiti. Spontaneous, rapid and
untamed creativity, always good for the soul.
In one neighborhood of Tel Aviv, Florentine, there is a very active group of graffiti artists.
if you have anything to say about these works, leave a comment to this post, and i'll put them
in this small cafe, where the artists have an honorable place. there will be a post covering this
cafe place in a few weeks.
i am not certain about their names, one is called 'Zero Cents', you can recognize his (i know its a 'he').
work by the mirrored writing, the multiple eyes and of-course the '0￠' logo.
Another is 'inspired', who make the lovely flower character, and 'smd' who does characters with '+' signs.
I might be getting all this wrong, and still, the art itself is so well done, you should check it out for yourself,
or at least take a look at the photos.
In one neighborhood of Tel Aviv, Florentine, there is a very active group of graffiti artists.
if you have anything to say about these works, leave a comment to this post, and i'll put them
in this small cafe, where the artists have an honorable place. there will be a post covering this
cafe place in a few weeks.
i am not certain about their names, one is called 'Zero Cents', you can recognize his (i know its a 'he').
work by the mirrored writing, the multiple eyes and of-course the '0￠' logo.
Another is 'inspired', who make the lovely flower character, and 'smd' who does characters with '+' signs.
I might be getting all this wrong, and still, the art itself is so well done, you should check it out for yourself,
or at least take a look at the photos.
Free Books? Yay!
25/03/08 16:38 Filed in: Freedom
Earlier today, No Starch Press announced the
circulation of two of their books,
'Cult of Mac' and 'Cult of iPod' on the Bittorrent network, free of any DRM.
Get the books here and here.
A pirate's tool of trade. other tools?
What could be better then two free books? more free books, of course.
in times when IP owners try to grab on to their content like uncle scrooge,
it is a fresh change for a publisher to let go of their precious information.
hopefully, we will see many more follow their foot steps, as the publishers
learn that users (or more correctly, 'freedom surfers'
) will keep moving
this information freely anyway.
godspeed No Starch!
'Cult of Mac' and 'Cult of iPod' on the Bittorrent network, free of any DRM.
Get the books here and here.
A pirate's tool of trade. other tools?
What could be better then two free books? more free books, of course.
in times when IP owners try to grab on to their content like uncle scrooge,
it is a fresh change for a publisher to let go of their precious information.
hopefully, we will see many more follow their foot steps, as the publishers
learn that users (or more correctly, 'freedom surfers'
) will keep moving
this information freely anyway.
godspeed No Starch!
Mac Alert
25/03/08 12:25 Filed in: Tech
Now this one is a must for all you Macbook \ pro
owners.
while a bit old, i just learned about it recently, when checking
on the 'Newton Virus'.
What do you do when you are sitting with your laptop in a cafe,
and suddenly nature calls? do you close everything and take it with you?
do you ask the waiter to keep an eye on you laptop? or do you simply
hold on to your nozzle?
No more! iAlertU (oh what a macky name ) to the rescue.
some serious protection here.
iAlertU, application review:
download and install, as always on the Mac platform, a breeze.
major installation bugs? none.
application features:
1. using the SMS (sudden motion sensor) to detect movment.
2. device removal triggers the alarm.
3. keystroke, mouse triggers the alarm.
4. mute\volume key disabled.
5. cover close triggers the alarm.
6. ac disconnect triggers the alarm.
a would be thief, captured and emailed by iAlertU, later confessed to be just passing by.
additional features:
1. isight to capture an image of the perpetrator, then emails that to a predefined address.
2. arm / disarm the system using apple remote (how cool is that? just like a car alarm).
3. screen flashes when alarm sounds.
4. you can adjust the sensetivety of the SMS.
all in all, this is a very nice additional protection, but i would not trust my MBP solely
on it. i would still be fearfull to leave it, sirens or not, on a starbucks table.
a thief can either insert a pair of 2$ headphones in the headphone jack, and no more siren,
or remove the battery altoghther (even better, since then the thief would be confronted with
my user login and drive encryption when he powers on again).
here is an idea for the developer; get Belkin or Kensington to make some metal strip, that locks in the
security latch on the left side, and covers the head phone jack on the other side, while covering the
battery removal latches on the bottom. this way, your mac is safe, protected and this shouldnt be disruptive
for working or traveling with it. have belkin bundle the application with the device and you are good to go.
hmm, you know how the MBP's aluminum case give a small shock when you touch it and stand bare-foot
on the floor? can you program the battery to give a Serious shock? some south-african car alarms do that.
application rating: 7 out of 10, good idea, good features that cover allmost every scenario, but still lacking
'seriousness'. 1 bonus point for being open source, so the final mark is 8/10.
download iAlertU
while a bit old, i just learned about it recently, when checking
on the 'Newton Virus'.
What do you do when you are sitting with your laptop in a cafe,
and suddenly nature calls? do you close everything and take it with you?
do you ask the waiter to keep an eye on you laptop? or do you simply
hold on to your nozzle?
No more! iAlertU (oh what a macky name
) to the rescue.
some serious protection here.
iAlertU, application review:
download and install, as always on the Mac platform, a breeze.
major installation bugs? none.
application features:
1. using the SMS (sudden motion sensor) to detect movment.
2. device removal triggers the alarm.
3. keystroke, mouse triggers the alarm.
4. mute\volume key disabled.
5. cover close triggers the alarm.
6. ac disconnect triggers the alarm.
a would be thief, captured and emailed by iAlertU, later confessed to be just passing by.
additional features:
1. isight to capture an image of the perpetrator, then emails that to a predefined address.
2. arm / disarm the system using apple remote (how cool is that? just like a car alarm).
3. screen flashes when alarm sounds.
4. you can adjust the sensetivety of the SMS.
all in all, this is a very nice additional protection, but i would not trust my MBP solely
on it. i would still be fearfull to leave it, sirens or not, on a starbucks table.
a thief can either insert a pair of 2$ headphones in the headphone jack, and no more siren,
or remove the battery altoghther (even better, since then the thief would be confronted with
my user login and drive encryption when he powers on again).
here is an idea for the developer; get Belkin or Kensington to make some metal strip, that locks in the
security latch on the left side, and covers the head phone jack on the other side, while covering the
battery removal latches on the bottom. this way, your mac is safe, protected and this shouldnt be disruptive
for working or traveling with it. have belkin bundle the application with the device and you are good to go.
hmm, you know how the MBP's aluminum case give a small shock when you touch it and stand bare-foot
on the floor? can you program the battery to give a Serious shock? some south-african car alarms do that.
application rating: 7 out of 10, good idea, good features that cover allmost every scenario, but still lacking
'seriousness'. 1 bonus point for being open source, so the final mark is 8/10.
download iAlertU
Remote-O-Kill
A new system deployed by the IDF in the Gaza-region
enables soldiers stationed
in the operations room to fire at Palestinians near the Gaza fence (source ynet).
The systems, which are equipped with a camera and a machine gun,
enable soldiers to watch any activity that takes place near the fence and
to fire at the push of a button. The new system will soon be officially declared "operational."
yet another triumph to the 'video game warrior'. more 'yay bang
bang shoot'em up' kinda fun.
Joseph Heller wrote in "Closing Time" that the launch button of the nukes
should be implanted in a man's chest, so that to launch the nukes you first
have to kill that man. then that president goes on and launches a nuclear
attack, believing that he plays a video game.
in a sense, most of the soldiers do play a video game.
you hardly have to look your opponent in the eye anymore.
it is done with the push of a button, from a safe bunker, your only fear is a blackout.
in the operations room to fire at Palestinians near the Gaza fence (source ynet).
The systems, which are equipped with a camera and a machine gun,
enable soldiers to watch any activity that takes place near the fence and
to fire at the push of a button. The new system will soon be officially declared "operational."
yet another triumph to the 'video game warrior'. more 'yay bang
bang shoot'em up' kinda fun.
Joseph Heller wrote in "Closing Time" that the launch button of the nukes
should be implanted in a man's chest, so that to launch the nukes you first
have to kill that man. then that president goes on and launches a nuclear
attack, believing that he plays a video game.
in a sense, most of the soldiers do play a video game.
you hardly have to look your opponent in the eye anymore.
it is done with the push of a button, from a safe bunker, your only fear is a blackout.
Turbo Pizza (Master Chef Diabolic)
18/03/08 16:34 Filed in: Art of
Living
This amazing feat is done over at bazilli.com, my
favourite pizza place.
Chef made the pizza, i made the clip, shooting it on my nokia 6500 phone.
i started shooting about 10 seconds after he started, just when the dough came thru the rolling machine.
even thou some people think the clip is speeded up, it is not. the chef is simply the
fastest pizza slinger in the universe (i dare you all master chefs to try overthrowing him
excluding industrial scum like Dominos
)
Enjoy!
(p.s., pizza was awesome!)
check their site, so you can buy me some pizza!
Chef made the pizza, i made the clip, shooting it on my nokia 6500 phone.
i started shooting about 10 seconds after he started, just when the dough came thru the rolling machine.
even thou some people think the clip is speeded up, it is not. the chef is simply the
fastest pizza slinger in the universe (i dare you all master chefs to try overthrowing him
excluding industrial scum like Dominos
)
Enjoy!
(p.s., pizza was awesome!)
check their site, so you can buy me some pizza!
Zeitgeist (The Movie)
16/03/08 09:12 Filed in: Freedom
Last night, I watched the film 'Zeitgeist'. Follows my
short impression.
First, something i want to get over with before we go into reviewing
the content, is the quality of the film.
this is not a well done movie. there is almost no footage, no background
music, what footage there is mostly lifted from other movies, it is badly
edited, directed and in general, it is an amateur work done with very low
(or none at all) budget.
since this is not a movie review, i am not going to talk anymore about the
'make' but only of the content.
Conspiracies aside, this movie uncovers the origins of our religious
beliefs, and during its first 30 minutes or so, the film reduces Christianity to
a smoldering pile of astrological paganism. that is ok with me, since i see
all religions as a way for this feeble ape to explain the unexplainable.
during the rest of the movie, the concept of 'paper money', 'federal reserve'
and banks are exposed as tools of the trade of 'international bankers', and
as their means of controlling americans, and humanity in general.
The American Dream
1. i am aware of an earlier version of the film, where 'international bankers'
was substituted for several names, and accusations of Jews being behind this.
with a whiff of anti semitism, it is true that many of the world's banks are owned
or controlled by jews, but the perception of 'the jews controlling the money'
is plain out wrong. rich, capitalist scum-bags control all the money, and some
of them happen to be jewish. i dont see anyone touting the same against the catholics,
who, through the vatican has far more wealth and properties (moses = jesus=
muhamad = capitalist pigs, they are all of the same kind)
besides, the names quoted in that early version were incorrect (probably
the reason for using the 'international bankers' phrase).
2. the movie fails to explain why was the 'federal reserve act' signed, other then
'the bankers really wanted it, and had influence'.
3. it is inherent to the capitalist system for a financial entities to aspire towards
survival. actually, it is inherent to any self-preserving system.
just as it is no 'fault' of the whale to swallow everything in its way, or the shark to
grow more and more teeth, so does the capitalist business.
this is the american system, where the strong survive, by swallowing the week.
since money equals power in this system, it is just natural.
summery:
Zeitgeist is not a bad movie, and it does have an educational value for most people.
as always, to appeal to a broad audience means averaging the content.
watch it, it is a good start. if you are already familiar with the subjects discussed,
you may want to watch the following films, which were (i suspect) the basis for Zeitgeist;
Aaron Russo’s "America- Freedom to Fascism" and Dylan Avery’s "Loose Change 9/11".
also, the BBC's "Why We Fight" might have 'contributed'.
IMHO,
even the strongest, mightiest organisms can be brought down by the smallest virus.
information acts as our viral infection, and one can witness the organism's inflammatory
reaction, manifested in all the recent governmental ' information acts' around the globe, trying to limit
and control the infection. we shell prevail, as they (gvmnts, rulers and 'beastly organisms')
are unable to eradicate the infection (free information) without killing the host (the whole purpose
of the internet is to free the information from its boundaries, and any obstruction of this free
flow of information is a de facto suffocation of the internet, and goes against it's nature).
Hackers of the world, Unite! The war is not upon us, it already shatters our Windows.
First, something i want to get over with before we go into reviewing
the content, is the quality of the film.
this is not a well done movie. there is almost no footage, no background
music, what footage there is mostly lifted from other movies, it is badly
edited, directed and in general, it is an amateur work done with very low
(or none at all) budget.
since this is not a movie review, i am not going to talk anymore about the
'make' but only of the content.
Conspiracies aside, this movie uncovers the origins of our religious
beliefs, and during its first 30 minutes or so, the film reduces Christianity to
a smoldering pile of astrological paganism. that is ok with me, since i see
all religions as a way for this feeble ape to explain the unexplainable.
during the rest of the movie, the concept of 'paper money', 'federal reserve'
and banks are exposed as tools of the trade of 'international bankers', and
as their means of controlling americans, and humanity in general.
The American Dream
1. i am aware of an earlier version of the film, where 'international bankers'
was substituted for several names, and accusations of Jews being behind this.
with a whiff of anti semitism, it is true that many of the world's banks are owned
or controlled by jews, but the perception of 'the jews controlling the money'
is plain out wrong. rich, capitalist scum-bags control all the money, and some
of them happen to be jewish. i dont see anyone touting the same against the catholics,
who, through the vatican has far more wealth and properties (moses = jesus=
muhamad = capitalist pigs, they are all of the same kind)
besides, the names quoted in that early version were incorrect (probably
the reason for using the 'international bankers' phrase).
2. the movie fails to explain why was the 'federal reserve act' signed, other then
'the bankers really wanted it, and had influence'.
3. it is inherent to the capitalist system for a financial entities to aspire towards
survival. actually, it is inherent to any self-preserving system.
just as it is no 'fault' of the whale to swallow everything in its way, or the shark to
grow more and more teeth, so does the capitalist business.
this is the american system, where the strong survive, by swallowing the week.
since money equals power in this system, it is just natural.
summery:
Zeitgeist is not a bad movie, and it does have an educational value for most people.
as always, to appeal to a broad audience means averaging the content.
watch it, it is a good start. if you are already familiar with the subjects discussed,
you may want to watch the following films, which were (i suspect) the basis for Zeitgeist;
Aaron Russo’s "America- Freedom to Fascism" and Dylan Avery’s "Loose Change 9/11".
also, the BBC's "Why We Fight" might have 'contributed'.
IMHO,
even the strongest, mightiest organisms can be brought down by the smallest virus.
information acts as our viral infection, and one can witness the organism's inflammatory
reaction, manifested in all the recent governmental ' information acts' around the globe, trying to limit
and control the infection. we shell prevail, as they (gvmnts, rulers and 'beastly organisms')
are unable to eradicate the infection (free information) without killing the host (the whole purpose
of the internet is to free the information from its boundaries, and any obstruction of this free
flow of information is a de facto suffocation of the internet, and goes against it's nature).
Hackers of the world, Unite! The war is not upon us, it already shatters our Windows.
Hydroponics out, Trash-o-ponics In!
13/03/08 10:18 Filed in: Art of
Living
Like many scientific discoveries, this one was an
accident as well.
While maybe not as exciting as the Chernobyl discovery, not visually
appealing as The Colombia Experiment or as lofty as The God Theory,
The Trashoponics is an important discovery that brings mankind one
step closer toward freedom and self-reliance.
The discovery was made by my uncle, Mr. D.B.M.M (pronounced:
De' Bumm) on March 13, 2008 08:02:56 AM GMT.
In his words:
"Like all great discoveries, this too was accidental.
I like tea, and I like my herbs in other forms as well (wink-wink, nudge-nudge, know what I mean).
An accidental combination of the two in my trash..."
The Trashoponics experiment
So, what had happened here, you ask? a closer inspection of the contents reveals that
1. moisture was kept in the tea bags, for timely release, and 2. carbo-nutriants came from the left over
rice, bread and sesame seeds.
As for No.3, which one of you, sharp eyed readers, can identify the green shootings encircled in
red?
While maybe not as exciting as the Chernobyl discovery, not visually
appealing as The Colombia Experiment or as lofty as The God Theory,
The Trashoponics is an important discovery that brings mankind one
step closer toward freedom and self-reliance.
The discovery was made by my uncle, Mr. D.B.M.M (pronounced:
De' Bumm) on March 13, 2008 08:02:56 AM GMT.
In his words:
"Like all great discoveries, this too was accidental.
I like tea, and I like my herbs in other forms as well (wink-wink, nudge-nudge, know what I mean).
An accidental combination of the two in my trash..."
The Trashoponics experiment
So, what had happened here, you ask? a closer inspection of the contents reveals that
1. moisture was kept in the tea bags, for timely release, and 2. carbo-nutriants came from the left over
rice, bread and sesame seeds.
As for No.3, which one of you, sharp eyed readers, can identify the green shootings encircled in
red?
Master Pirate Merchandise (Burning tower, best thing ever)
12/03/08 09:16 Filed in: Tech
Ok ok, while most people don't need or want this sort
of thing, but I got
a DVD duplication tower yesterday, and boy, its the best thing EVER.
at work i usually don't burn too many discs, but in the last few weeks
i got into burning about 200 a week.
thats a lot, believe me. i got a new external USB burner by SAMSUNG
to help out, but i found out that no matter what the setup was (i burn
.iso using dvd decrypter), speed simply got divided by the number of
writers.
since this meant i can only burn 4-5 discs an hour, i decided to go and
get the burning tower.
if you don't know what a "burning tower" or a "disc duplicator", here it is:
the duplicator next to a lame PC.
basically, it is a case (in my case, a unique case for duplicators) populated
with just DVD burners, a PSU and a controller. no Intel inside.
the burners are just the ordinary drives, as it is the controller that makes all
the difference. in this one they used a copystar DVD1611, which has 12 IDE
connectors, for 11 burners + 1 drive to read from and 128MB RAM. it is capable of
burning at the media's maximum speed in all the drives at once (i used a TDK X20).
the controller. 80 discs passed, 0 failed.
this is a very simple machine, but it makes the process of duplicating quantities
of discs a breeze. no applications to run, no setup, no booting (other then the
power on self-check, which takes 30 seconds or so). all you have to do is to put
a master disc in any of the drives, and the controller scans it and displays the
size and other information on a small lcd display. next, populate the rest of the
drives with as many discs as you want to burn, and close the trays.
thats it. at first when the salesman explained me how to operate this,
i was sure he doesn't know what he is talking about. "just put something to
read from in one drive, and something to burn on in some other drives, and
thats all", 'cant be that simple' i thought. well, it is. using this machine is no more
complicated then using a toaster. of bread that is.
now i am making about 100 copies in an hour, with 0 coasters, with the
Canon 6700D printer i use for printing labels on the discs being the bottleneck.
COPYSTAR DVD 1611:
price: ~1000$
Pros: super fast, simple and reliable.
Cons: since its a tower, it is kind of difficult to load \ unload the drives, but nothing serious.
what more: i would like to see a close all\eject all button. also, the lcd could be more communicative.
there are some more intelligent machines, some even load \ unload the discs with a robotic arm,
some combine a label printer inside, and some have a built in HDD for storing masters. these models
are much more expensive, and suit those who need to make hundreds of discs daily. if you are like me,
and burn something like 500 discs a month, this is a must. must must must. go get one now,
it is the best thing ever.
a DVD duplication tower yesterday, and boy, its the best thing EVER.
at work i usually don't burn too many discs, but in the last few weeks
i got into burning about 200 a week.
thats a lot, believe me. i got a new external USB burner by SAMSUNG
to help out, but i found out that no matter what the setup was (i burn
.iso using dvd decrypter), speed simply got divided by the number of
writers.
since this meant i can only burn 4-5 discs an hour, i decided to go and
get the burning tower.
if you don't know what a "burning tower" or a "disc duplicator", here it is:
the duplicator next to a lame PC.
basically, it is a case (in my case, a unique case for duplicators) populated
with just DVD burners, a PSU and a controller. no Intel inside.
the burners are just the ordinary drives, as it is the controller that makes all
the difference. in this one they used a copystar DVD1611, which has 12 IDE
connectors, for 11 burners + 1 drive to read from and 128MB RAM. it is capable of
burning at the media's maximum speed in all the drives at once (i used a TDK X20).
the controller. 80 discs passed, 0 failed.
this is a very simple machine, but it makes the process of duplicating quantities
of discs a breeze. no applications to run, no setup, no booting (other then the
power on self-check, which takes 30 seconds or so). all you have to do is to put
a master disc in any of the drives, and the controller scans it and displays the
size and other information on a small lcd display. next, populate the rest of the
drives with as many discs as you want to burn, and close the trays.
thats it. at first when the salesman explained me how to operate this,
i was sure he doesn't know what he is talking about. "just put something to
read from in one drive, and something to burn on in some other drives, and
thats all", 'cant be that simple' i thought. well, it is. using this machine is no more
complicated then using a toaster. of bread that is.
now i am making about 100 copies in an hour, with 0 coasters, with the
Canon 6700D printer i use for printing labels on the discs being the bottleneck.
COPYSTAR DVD 1611:
price: ~1000$
Pros: super fast, simple and reliable.
Cons: since its a tower, it is kind of difficult to load \ unload the drives, but nothing serious.
what more: i would like to see a close all\eject all button. also, the lcd could be more communicative.
there are some more intelligent machines, some even load \ unload the discs with a robotic arm,
some combine a label printer inside, and some have a built in HDD for storing masters. these models
are much more expensive, and suit those who need to make hundreds of discs daily. if you are like me,
and burn something like 500 discs a month, this is a must. must must must. go get one now,
it is the best thing ever.
Digital Rabbis To Keep You Chaste
A few weeks ago, the govrment of Israel has passed a
law requiering all ISP's to filter content that might
be inappropriate for children or considered
'abomination'.
the law stipulates that a subscriber that wishes to have accsess to 'abominations' (AKA unfiltered content), must register with the ISP with explicit consent for this. all subscribers that did not register with the ISP will recive filtered content, or will be cut off from the service.
Many people think this is a blessing, in a 'think of the children' sort of way.
Amnon Cohen. he thinks
its cool. do you?
Others, I included, think this is an abomination (pun intended).
The reasons are simple and obvious.
1. 'abomination' (my translation of the word 'ToEva', as it appears in the new law) is a very vague definition, and leaves much for interpretation.
2. interpretation of the word is given to the Minister of Communication. at the moment, MK Amnon Cohen from the ultra orthodox party Shass (which would be filtered under the new law, as its name contains a.s.s).
3. the government will have a list of 'perverts' who wish to access 'abominations', as defined by the Minister.
4. content is not filtered due to illegality of the content (i.e Pedophile, other criminal activities), but using a subjective morals, banning very legitimate 'abominations' (such as online lingerie stores).
if you still fail to see the danger, he
the law stipulates that a subscriber that wishes to have accsess to 'abominations' (AKA unfiltered content), must register with the ISP with explicit consent for this. all subscribers that did not register with the ISP will recive filtered content, or will be cut off from the service.
Many people think this is a blessing, in a 'think of the children' sort of way.
Amnon Cohen. he thinks
its cool. do you?
Others, I included, think this is an abomination (pun intended).
The reasons are simple and obvious.
1. 'abomination' (my translation of the word 'ToEva', as it appears in the new law) is a very vague definition, and leaves much for interpretation.
2. interpretation of the word is given to the Minister of Communication. at the moment, MK Amnon Cohen from the ultra orthodox party Shass (which would be filtered under the new law, as its name contains a.s.s).
3. the government will have a list of 'perverts' who wish to access 'abominations', as defined by the Minister.
4. content is not filtered due to illegality of the content (i.e Pedophile, other criminal activities), but using a subjective morals, banning very legitimate 'abominations' (such as online lingerie stores).
if you still fail to see the danger, he