Friday, March 31, 2006

mplayerplug-in 3.21 Released -- 8:07 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

I noticed last night that mplayerplug-in 3.21 was released last month. This plug-in allows users of Mozilla and Firefox to use mplayer to play digital media on websites. Whatever mplayer can play, mplayerplug-in can play within Mozilla. Very handy. I'm using it right now to listen to the Red Wings' game on NHL Radio.

PalmPDF 1.2 Released -- 8:04 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

MetaViewSoft has released PalmPDF 1.2, an open-source PDF viewer for PalmOS PDAs. Unlike Adobe's Reader, PalmPDF can view PDFs natively with no conversion necessary. Because it's open source, it's free (both as in speech and as in beer). Check it out. Thanks Palm Infocenter.

It's April 1 Somewhere -- 7:00 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

I won't offer any comment, you just have to see for yourself.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

And Now For Something Completely Headbanging -- 9:22 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

I recently discovered this new podcast called Talking Metal. They interview some of the big names in heavy metal music. The latest edition include interviews and clips from shredders extraordinaire, Michael Angelo Batio and Yngwie Malmsteen. I ripped the latest one to a CD-RW and listened to it as I was driving yesterday. If you like metal, you'll want to check this out.

Along those same lines, if you didn't realize it already, Hard Radio has a broadband Ogg Vorbis stream for your headbanging pleasure. I'm very glad that they went to that. For a long time I couldn't enjoy their streams in Linux. I can even listen to it via pTunes and WiFi on my Palm TX.

Vintage Python Clip Found -- 9:15 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Someone has located an old T.V. clip of the Monty Python troupe on KERA in Dallas. This was about the time when Python first started appearing in the U.S. on Public T.V. It's a big download, but it's well worth the time. It'll even work on one of those fancy new iPod thingies that the kids are all talking about. Thanks HardOCP.

St. John on Vista Security -- 1:46 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

If you can find a copy of the April 2006 issue of Computer Power User magazine, make sure you check out the scathing editorial from Alex St. John on Microsoft Vista security. He says what I've been thinking. If Vista is supposed to be so secure, why have they decided to unveil OneCare to provide antivirus protection, among other things, for $49.95/mo? Here's a snip:

What're all the obstruction and pop-up dialogs in Vista for if I'm still going to need Microsoft's OneCare package to be secure? What has Microsoft been writing all these years, if on the verge of its next-generation OS release, it already knows that security and maintenance for the OS will be so bad that the company figures it can make a killing selling the security and maintenance service for it separately? I have trouble imagining a louder or clearer declaration of total surrender Microsoft could make to its inability to make a reliable OS than to announce OneCare for Windows on the verge of Vista's release.

It seems that MS has just decided that rather than fixing the problems, they will just profit from them. Just to note: St. John is a former Microsoftie, having working on the original Direct3D.

Past Two Days' News

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