Posting from the iMac Welcome to my first post from the new iMac. It's been pretty fun re-acclimating to everything I seem to have forgotten. There's a lot of cool new stuff like the webcam, Expose and Dashboard. It still seems Apple is pushing this .Mac (dot mac) thing, which is annoying (Remember when Microsoft tried to push .Net and no one understood what it was?). Anyway, we installed Microsoft Office and, of course, it tried to set Entourage as the default mail client, so I guess they are even. When I installed Google Desktop Search, Picasa and Firefox, no one tried to sell me anything.

As an update to my previous posts, I also installed iConcertCal and macFUSE to to get my concert gadget working from this machine. Haven't tested everything yet to see if it works as seamlessly. In fact, the iMac is sitting on our kitchen table instead of the office. I need to make time to transfer everything of the ancient Dell.

The lack of posting here is due to my busiest week of school so far. Please don't panic.

Labels: Life, tech

  ¶ 7:27 AM 1 Comments Links to this post

Happy Birthday Brigitta! Today is my wife's birthday. To celebrate, I'm throwing a little party tonight, and tomorrow night we are going camping in Big Basin. I got her an iMac, but she had to work for it this morning. Since Brigitta is a semi-professional easter egg hunter, her mother suggested that I hide her gift and leave clues around the house leading to it. Of course I did this, but not before giving her a pile of camping related stuff so she would think she was getting jipped on presents this year, including a hatchet, leatherman, camping grill, bug repellant, and can of propane. I think I'm funny.

Labels: family, Life, Travel

  ¶ 7:34 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

The Encyclopedia Baracktannica and Crayon Physics Deluxe

Labels: Funny

  ¶ 7:59 AM 1 Comments Links to this post

End of an era It's been over a year since I purchased the Yamaha Vino, and since we got the second car, she's been collecting dust. Also, my one-year motorcycle permit recently expired and California state law requires me to have a motorcycle license, even for a 50cc scooter. Since I don't really have time to take a motorcycle course, I can't really justify re-registering and re-insuring her. I hope she doesn't take it the wrong way.

We had a good run, but it's over now. I think I'll take her out for one last joyride. If you know anyone looking for a slightly banged-up scooter, send them here:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/mcy/608011568.html

Labels: Life, vehicles

  ¶ 10:15 AM 1 Comments Links to this post

Another perk to living in Mountain View The city of Mountain View sends out a city newsletter called 'The View' a few times per year, and usually doesn't have a lot of interesting reading. The most recent issue, however, states that Mountain View residents can purchase event tickets one day in advance of the general public! Maybe this means I can finally get tickets to the Bridge School Benefit. Here are the details:

"Shoreline Amphitheatre is one of the premier concert venues in the Bay Area. Along with its convenient location in Mountain View, city residents may purchase tickets for many events at Shoreline Amphitheatre one day in advance of the general public. Tickets to Amphitheatre events usually go on sale to the public on Sundays during the concert season.

To participate in the program, residents must first obtain a Resident Identification Card from the Shoreline Amphitheatre Box Office. Beginning in mid-April, Resident Identification Cards will be issued at the Box Office Monday through Friday, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, and on resident ticket sales days from 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm.

Valid proof of residency is required to issue the identification card and to purchase tickets. Proof of residency may include a valid California driver’s license, or DMV-issued California identification card, along with a current utility bill, such as a PG&E, phone, water or cable bill, indicating your name and a Mountain View address. Students may present a school picture identification card, along with a current report card mailed to their Mountain View address."

Labels: music

  ¶ 9:56 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

It'll Never Happen to Me This morning, Brigitta noticed a charge from yesterday for $9.87 on our online bank statement. The company name was 'www.photosmix.com', and the purchase was made with a debit card she rarely uses. A quick search, and she finds this thread at broadbandreports.com discussing a whole network of their sites and several other people with the mysterious $9.87. This appears to be similar to a known fraud technique...

"This group is also using the same deflecting tactic as the globus group, by telling victims someone registered on the site with their car. More than likely any victim who bought that lie and got a credit will have been hit with a second charge the next month. Any subsequent second hit names and full info is vital in following the trail."

Obviously, we canceled the card and reported the fraud to Bank of America and the FBI, but now I'm kind of obsessed with catching these bandits. I'm not sure how they got the card number, possibly by taking a picture of her debit card at an ATM or department store sometime over the last year. All you need is the number and expiration date to process a credit, I do it all the time when I order (cheese) pizza.

Looks like photosmix.com is currently down, but there are still plenty more sites with the same generic 'stock photo' template. They probably only keep them up until enough complaints roll in and things get suspicious. It doesn't look like GoDaddy has made any attempt to take down these domains, but if they are stealing credit cards, I'd guess they are using those to buy the domains as well. The newer sites seem to be registering with Domains by Proxy to protect their identities. What's a few extra bucks when it's not yours in the first place?

I may need to dedicate a little time to this caper tomorrow.

Labels: crime-fighting, Life

  ¶ 1:10 AM 1 Comments Links to this post

Ask Martha Stewart? I woke up and had to pinch myself. Did I just have a bad dream? Did Hillary really beat Obama in Texas? Are the Gators really on the bubble? Did Sheryl Sandberg really leave Google for Facebook? Did this really happen to Ask.com...

"The decision to cater to married women primarily living in the Southern and Midwestern United States comes after Ask spent years trying to build a better all-purpose search engine than Google."

PS - Did I ever mention the designer of the Ask Jeeves logo lives two floors up? They already dropped the word 'Jeeves', hopefully they don't entirely retire his work.

Labels: tech

  ¶ 7:22 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

The Night Marchers Just got a ticket to see The Night Marchers April 28th at Bottom of the Hill. This is John Reis's (Rocket from the Crypt, Hot Snakes) new band. If you want to go, get tickets here and let me know. If you are on the east coast, keep an ear out for Obits.

Labels: music

  ¶ 10:12 PM 2 Comments Links to this post

Neighborhood Watch

There has been an increase in crime in Mountain View lately. There was another murder last week, the second in the past month. Prior to that there has only been one murder in the city since 2005. The buzz from these types of crime spikes usually points fingers at a lack of police officers, though, from my experience calling the cops on naked old ladies swimming in my pool and unlicensed street vendors littering in my neighborhood, the Mountain View police respond in minutes, and usually in numbers of two or three.

Anyway, I am a firm believer in the Broken Windows Theory, though I think there is a major hesitation for many people to report petty crimes. Hopefully the new Bay Area Crime Stoppers tip line will encourage people to do their part to report the serious ones. If you live in Mountain View and don't care about anonymity, just put (650) 903-6395 on your speed dial and put your tax dollars to work.

Labels: Life

  ¶ 5:46 PM 0 Comments Links to this post