Wednesday, February 22nd, 2006
US Patent Awarded for "Rich Internet Applications"
Well, this is fun news for everyone that has been building web applications (most web sites would actually fall under the scope of this patent) for the last .. oh, lets say .. the last decade. from this article at InformationWeek
All I can hope is that this gets sold to someone who actually cares about making the internet a better, more useful, experience for users and not someone who is looking to put a stranglehold on the entire show.
Conversely, can anyone get a patent for anything these days? It's as if the US patent clerks have never even used the internet if they feel that this patent application is fair and has merit for approval. Maybe I'll run out and try to patent driving. Not the cars people drive, but just the act of driving. Then I can sell the patent for the act of driving to a major car manufacturer and they can enforce a fee every time someone gets into a car, starts it and moves it. Sounds reasonable to me.
Thursday, January 26th, 2006
Underworld: Evolution
I saw Underworld: Evolution yesterday evening in the relatively cheap comfort of the Towne 8. To summarize, if you enjoyed the first one, you’ll like the sequel. It’s more of the same, only even more-so!
The movie picks up right where the last one left off, at the tail end of a secret war between vampires and werewolves. Our protagonist, played by the scrumptious Kate Beckinsale, has betrayed her kind, killed her group's leader and her father figure, and run away to elope with a freaky werewolf-vampire-abomination fellow she just recently met.
From there, comic book action ensues. The story is as popcorn fluff as the original. Don’t expect Shakespeare here. In fact, before hitting the theatre, me and some friends re-watched the original and went all Mystery Science Theatre 3000 on it. By mocking the original and lowering our expectations, we steeled ourselves against disappointment.
One thing I'll say about this movie, however, is that where other flicks would fade to black and leave something to the imagination, this one goes the whole balls-to-the-wall way! It's like the director thought "We never get to see this sort of stuff. I want to see this stuff. This is my movie. I want to see it!
I can't blame him too much. The hyper violence was offically thumbs-up cool, and Beckinsale gets peeled out of that latex and corset outfit. Final tally, it’s a fanboy movie, made by a fanboy, for the fanboy. If you like the cheese, you'll like the movie!
Sunday, January 8th, 2006
Free Music...
I've been paying attention to the mercedes-benz web site for awhile now. Why? Not because I have any intention of buying a new car from them, or because I find it well done from a design stand point, but because they actually offer a really cool service, go. Enjoy!
Tuesday, December 6th, 2005
OS X Utility - Autopairs
If you use OS X and Auto Pairs, a preference pane install that does this for you.
Once you install it, you can set the applications you want it to actually work for. I've set it for "most applications". It does take a little getting used to, but once you realize that all your "" and {} and < > only require 1 key stroke instead of two (and if you don\'t write code ... you have no idea) it sure is a time saver! Enjoy!