Month: March 2011

Firefox 4

Firefox 4 leaked out a bit early so I’ve managed to have a little quality time with it. First I’ll state that I haven’t tested many of the new features and mostly played with the interface and realized several of my most beloved add-ons no longer work. But one key thing did pop into my mind when I used it, Firefox is trying too hard to be Chrome.

Listen Mozilla if I wanted to use Chrome I would be using Chrome. The fact of the matter is I don’t really like Chrome’s interface. Personally I think placing tabs at the top of the window is stupid. I interface with tabs far more often then I interact with the URL bar and having to move my mouse a bit further to get to the more used interface element is really just poor design. Likewise I miss my status bar, and popping up the URL of a link when I hover my mouse over it doesn’t count. There was also no reason to move the home button to the other side of the window. Yeah that last one is nitpicking but seriously if it’s not broken don’t fix it.

I admit nobody is asking me my opinion but that’s why I have a website, so I can express it anyways. Firefox had a good interface that worked well and there was little need to fix it. Mozilla should have spent their time on performance and security related issues. What would be great is if Firefox ran inside of a sandbox as Chrome does. Combining a sandbox with NoScript would make for some pretty heavy armor when browsing online.

Maybe the under the hood features will win me over but the interface changes haven’t. I will give Firefox kudos on one thing, having an actual title bar. Chrome’s biggest problem is the fact there are roughly four pixels above the tab bar that you can click to drag the window. It’s probably one of the most annoying interface elements I’ve seen in modern software since… I don’t know. Firefox has a full title bar that you can click on just like every other application on the planet. Good jobs on that.

High Speed Low Drag RAM

A company named G.Skill is releasing RAM for operators who like to operate in Call of Duty. Supposedly the RAM is supposed to look like a rifle but I only seem a slight resemblance honestly. With that said it does have some neat benefits:

According to G.Skill, the new Sniper series was designed in ultra-low voltage, particularly 1.25V. This feature alone points to a possible power savings of up to 10-percent, allowing PC gamers to push other components without having to worry about overheating issues with the memory. G.Skill said it performed extensive compatibility tests across a wide range of Intel and AMD platforms to “guarantee the best performance, quality and reliability for user’s gaming needs.”

Whenever a component manufacturer can reduce the amount of power a component uses while keeping good performance it’s a good thing. Power consumption means heat which is a pain in the ass. Hell you should see the heat sinks of my Mac Pro’s RAM, damn FB-DIMMs have heat sinks large enough to be mistaken for rectangular processors.

Sprint and Google Voice Integration

The nerd news just keeps rolling in. It seems Sprint has setup a deal with Google that allows customers to have their Sprint number work on Google Voice:

First, Sprint customers will be able to use their existing Sprint mobile number as their Google Voice number and have it ring multiple other phones simultaneously. So now, calls to your Sprint mobile number can easily be answered from your office or your home phone, or even your computer through Gmail. Calls from Gmail and text messages sent from google.com/voice will also display your Sprint number. This basically gives Sprint customers all the benefits of Google Voice without the need to change or port their number.

This is an announcement I’m actually excited about. Although I have an AT&T account I’ve kept my Sprint account active mainly because I like having a 4G phone and everybody has my Sprint number. If I could have my Sprint number ring my AT&T phone without having to pay Sprint’s call forwarding fee I’d practically be in Valhalla. Likewise it would be nice to have my Sprint number contact my Sprint phone when I’m down in Southeastern Minnesota where AT&T has no coverage. Frankly I can’t wait for this feature to be activated.

Sprint to Get the Nexus S

It looks like Sprint is finally getting another decent phone, the Nexus S with WiMax capabilities:

Recently, we introduced Nexus S from Google, the first phone to run Android 2.3, Gingerbread. In addition to the UMTS-capable Nexus S, today we’re introducing Nexus S 4G from Google, available for Sprint. Nexus S 4G is part of the Nexus line of devices which provide a pure Google experience and run the latest and greatest Android releases and Google mobile apps.

When Google released the Nexus S I was pretty ho hum about it and still am. But the fact of the matter is Google provides frequent updates for their developer phones which means it’s the only platform that you can expect bug fixes with any consistency. Likewise having WiMax on a phone with stock Android would be a huge plus over the current 4G offerings (nothing like HTC Sense to help ruin a perfectly good phone).

It will be nice having an Android development platform available for Sprint.

AT&T to Purchase T-Mobile

Ma Bell is the beast which can not be killed. Even though it was sliced apart years ago it is slowly recombining to recreate a telecommunications monopoly. The latest step in Ma Bell’s reintegration is AT&T making a deal to purchase T-Mobile for $39 million of fiat currency. With this purchase there will be a practical monopoly in the United States for the GSM protocol.

The merger is expected to take one year and until then it sounds like T-Mobile customers will be left alone.

Wisconsin Shootout

There was a shootout this weekend in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. The shooter being a coward, as is par for the course in these situations, took his own life although unfortunately not before killing one officer and wounding both another officer and a police dog:

A Wisconsin man opened fire on police during a six-hour standoff at a house, killing one officer and critically wounding another, authorities said.

Police in Fond du Lac were called to the house around 6:30 a.m. Sunday to investigate a sexual assault. Shortly after they arrived, the suspect started shooting at the officers, a news release said.

Needless to say there isn’t a lot of information being released about this at the moment as an investigation is still ongoing.

For Those of You Who Say Paying Taxes is Patriotic

I bitch about paying taxes as I don’t like money being stolen from me by the state. On the opposite side of the field there are people who say they will gladly pay more taxes and that paying taxes is patriotic (obviously it is as this country was founded on the idea that paying taxes is… a bad thing). Well for those of you who think paying taxes is a good thing you can finally put your money where your mouth is:

Last month, a check for $1,677.97 was sent to Gov. Mark Dayton’s office with instructions to pay down the budget deficit.

Roughly a year before, two checks totaling $136.42 landed at the state treasury with notes saying the same. Some real cash rolled in back in 2008, when a check for $22,685 landed at the state treasury “to help the needy and sick.”

You can give more money to the state if you want to. Of course when people say paying taxes is patriotic or they would gladly pay more taxes what they usually mean is other people paying taxes is patriotic and they are will gladly have anybody who makes more than themselves pay more taxes. Needless to say everybody who has been proclaiming paying taxes as being a great thing generally won’t put up when the opportunity arises.

Thus if you’re advocating for an increase in taxes and you’re not sending money to the state your argument is officially null and void. In other words shut the fuck up.

Pine Island Winter Shoot

On Saturday Pine Island Sportsmans Club had their 2011 Winter Shoot. Needless to say this was the first USPSA match of the year so I was rusty and slow. Still I think everything went well enough and I managed to take down the Texas star with a single magazine (even had an extra round left). Of course my friend Greg dominated the Texas star by taking it down in five rounds.

One thing about winter leaving in Minnesota is the fact that it leaves behind a ton of mud. Nothing like having tons of mud on your boots to make things more lively and interesting. Either way I’m waiting for Oakdale Gun Club to start USPSA so I can start shooting it weekly again.

The Raw Milk Battle Wages On

There has been a rather interesting although little know battle taking place in the state of Minnesota. The battle is over raw milk which is legal to sell in this state so long as some guidelines are followed. One of the problems, as pointed out by Nathan Hansen, is the fact the guidelines are fucking ridiculous. I think the most messed up one is the following:

4) Consumer must bring their own bottling materials. Forget about buying a nice jug of milk from an already inspected bottling facility. Bring your own jug, bring a bucket, bring your oil pan, bring your cat litter pan, all of these are acceptable over the dreaded farmer bottling the milk.

I’ve never understood what right a state has to tell you what you can and can’t put into your body. When somebody else is able to determine what you do with yourself you can no longer lay claim to self-ownership. If I wish to consume raw milk that’s my business, if I choose not to that is also my business. By coming in and trying to do everything by ban the sale of raw milk the state is laying claim to you as a consumer. They are claiming that you’re too stupid to make your own decisions and thus need somebody to step in on your behalf and tell you what you can and can’t do.

If a farmer wants to sell raw milk they should be allowed to. If you want to consume raw milk you should be allowed to. If you want to consume raw milk and a farmer wants to sell it the two of you should be allowed to make a voluntary transaction that is mutually beneficial.

Let’s Piss Them Off More

How can we piss off a nation we’re not technically at war with even more? By sending drones into their country to kill their people. It seems Pakistan is pretty pissed about the 40 people will killed in a drone attack and not surprisingly have vowed revenge. If I were a leader in a country where unmanned drones were be flown in to kill my people I’d be wanting revenge as well.

So who were the 40 people we killed? Obviously top officials in terrorist organizations right? Not exactly:

Thursday’s attack has caused fury – most of the dead were tribal elders and police attending an open-air meeting.

Yup the United States fucked up and that fuck up killed innocent people. That’s a great way of bolstering foreign relations if I’ve ever seen one. When people say the Middle East hates us because of our freedom they’re wrong, they hate us because of shit like this.