Archive for December, 2006

Upgrade to Wordpress 2.0 was easier than I expected

Last night I finally got around to upgrading this Wordpress installation to the 2.0 codebase.  I’d been running on I think 1.5 for the past year or so.  Just never got around to upgrading because I was nervous about the process.
But I finally got around to using the MySQL admin screen to download the contents […]

‘Pirates’ sequel sells 5 million copies on first day

The second Pirates of the Carribbean movie, Dead Man’s Chest, went on sale this week on DVD. I was apparently one of about 5 million people who picked up a copy.
Now most of those would have seen sold at a discount price (Circuit City had it for $13.99, Target and I believe […]

James Kim, December 6, 2006

I didn’t really know James Kim while I was at CNET. Met him a couple times, but never really got a chance to work with him. But it still hits hard to learn that a peer, somebody just 35 years old, passed away.
In his last days he managed something I think few of […]

2006 is a bad year to be a current or former senior CNET exec

This is turning out to be a bad year if you’re a senior CNET executive, or a former senior CNET executive. First the CEO Shelby Bonnie resigns, along with a slew of other top execs. Mostly to accept blame for their role in a stock options scandal at CNET. Now the former […]

Microwave weapon cooks you just enough so you run away

The Air Force has apparently received final approval to deploy a so-called “non-lethal” weapon called the Active Denial System (ADS). It fires a burst of radiation that creates an intense burning sensation in the skin. Enough that even the toughest test subjects only lasted a few seconds before they ran away to escape […]

Pollution is reducing the rice harvest on the Indian sub-continent

So this could be pretty bad–scientists say the polluted clouds that blanket much of south Asia are having a direct negative impact on the Indian rice harvest. Rice is a staple throughout that region, it would be really serious if they are unable to grow enough to meet local demand.
The problem of course is […]

Uplander is a pretty decent mini-van

So I’m back safely from my quick Ikea trip to the frozen Chicago area. Was reasonably successful, I got one bed but not the two I’d hoped for. Couldn’t decide on what to get for the second one so I just decided to hold off for now.
I’m happy to report though that if […]

Typical bad timing for my IKEA trip

So once again my knack for bad timing rears its ugly head. I’m going on a quick trip to Chicago tomorrow, today a massive blizzard dumps snow on the entire midwest including Chicago. But luckily the forecast for Chicago tomorrow is actually clear, so I’m certain they’ll have everything plowed and dug out […]