The Stuff of Life

Microsoft Buys Lookout

2004-07-21T16:13:00.000-04:00

This is one of those good news - bad news items. But, you will have to look hard to see the good news.

Microsoft Corporation announced last week that it had bought Lookout Software, makers of the wonderful Outlook search tool touted in the first post to this blog.

The press release emphasizes the utility of Lookout not to Outlook, but to MSN. It does not comment on when (if ever) the Lookout search capability will be integrated into Outlook, but rather seems to be an attempt on part of the Redmond behemoth to boost the ability of MSN to compete with the new offering from Google, gmail.

The (former) Lookout folks pledge that Lookout, in its current 1.2 incarnation, shall remain available to users for as long as they wish to use it. However, they have removed links from their website to the download site. New users are out of luck - even if they know the old download URL. Lookoutsoft states:

Lookout is no longer available for public download.
Existing users can continue to use Lookout, but new downloads are no longer available while we work on our future products.

If this is the end of an era, it sure was one short era.

Oh, I did say that there was some good news, didn't I? I sure haven't seen any so far, and if you insist on seeing some, I will say that Mike and Eric (at least Mike) are still responding to bug reports.

:(

Google Help Wanted Ad

2004-07-15T12:49:00.000-04:00

Google is using a great approach with a "different" type of help-wanted ad...

The billboard above is on southbound Highway 101 (on the peninsula south of San Fran). Google figures anyone smart enough to figure out that URL would be a good candidate for a job there.

Quoting Google:

In other words, the billboard (which offers problem-solvers the URL to, sorry, a page containing an even harder problem), is a recruiting campaign. We've always worked hard to hire the smartest engineers we can find, and we thought this would be a cool way to find a few more. Perhaps including you. If you're a math or computer whiz who doesn't happen to live within shouting distance of Palo Alto -- good luck, and we're looking forward to hearing from you.

Interesting game...

2004-07-14T16:33:00.000-04:00

Use the cursor keys to travel to every square without crossing over your own path. NascImpact.com - Laby v0.8

Robots Are Our Friends | '_' |

2004-07-14T15:54:00.000-04:00

Really! And in anticipation of I, Robot, look at this...

Robots Are Our Friends | '_' |

Declare Yourself Free from Tyranny!

2004-07-09T12:54:00.000-04:00

I have always loved FrameMaker, but let's face it - not gonna happen on a Wintel platform. Word is functionally good, but licensing costs place it outside of the reach of home users (plus, buying Word and Excel are like supporting terrorism by buying opium).

You do have a choice! Me (and a few hundred thousand other folks) have been successfully and happily using OpenOffice for quite some time.

OpenOffice is, quite simply, terrific! It is open software in every sense of the words. The source code is free, the executable is free, the file format is public (and in XML), and the products support API's to open up their functionality to other programs. Plus, it understands Microsoft file formats, so you can read and write in .doc, .xls, and other formats.

The application suite comes with a word processor (like Word), a spreadsheet tool (like Excel), a drawing tool (kinda like Visio), and a presentation tool (like PowerPoint). A pretty complete toolkit for the Right Price.

VOIP To Your Home

2004-06-09T12:21:00.000-04:00

Vonage has been offering Voice Over IP service to home owners with broadband connections for awhile (currently $29.99/mo.).

Now, AT&T is offering a new service called AT&T CallVantage (will they get sued by Vonage because their names are so similar? bet on it) that starts out at $19.99/mo. for 6 months, and is $39.99 for 6 months after that.

(Quick aside on the price -- the monthly plans for these two carriers sum out to the exact same price. You have a contract with AT&T, and more add-on fees with Vonage. Look for Vonage to run a special very soon.)

This means that HomeVOIP is mature enough now to seriously consider.

The most important thing to consider is that your home phone number is portable - that is, you can change service and keep the same phone number. With both services, you have to connect a telephone adapter to your broadband (DSL, Cable, IFITL, whatever - it just needs an Ethernet connection), and then connect that TA to your home wiring (simply by plugging a wire INTO the phone outlet on the wall) to enable all of your extensions. Et Voila! You have cheaper home phone service with more features!

One of the add-on features that I like is the Virtual Phone Number. The vPN allows you to have another phone number in another area code, allowing callers in that area to call you without toll charges (routing that call to the same line in your house). (Slight upgrade: $4.99 on Vonage)

Right now, I would give the edge to Vonage (more features, including QOS support).

Hmmm .... will I do this? Would you?

Reality TV beckons...

2004-06-08T12:37:00.000-04:00

A friend is in the upcoming show, "Next Action Star". Hmmm, maybe you want to be on "Fear Factor", or the "Next Dive of Domesticity"? Are you a real-life Gilligan, Ginger, or Mary Ann? If so, the new reality show "Gilligan's Island" might be for you. Getting married soon and willing to have your bachelor/ette party filmed and shown to your (potential) future spouse? Consider "Stag: Last Night of Freedom".

Hey, I don't make this stuff up...

The Orwell Project, self billed as the "single source for Reality TV". They even have an RSS feed!

Sir Links-a-lot

Reality TV Casting

ShowBiz.com

ABC shows

NBC shows

Models, Actors (mostly NY/NJ/PA)

Big listing of casting sites

2004-05-21T13:27:00.000-04:00

That truly Amazing Honda Commercial!

OK, imagine a Rube Goldberg machine so complex that filming it in motion takes 605 failed efforts before you get it right. Imagine also that you tell your client that you had to completely disassemble one of only six models of their new car to make a commercial. Now, stop imagining...

Main Mirror Site http://www.daboyz.org/honda
Honda's original site http://www.honda.co.uk/newcars/accord300k.html

Viewing one of the pages above will allow you to see a truly beautiful commercial that Honda lauds as the "two most precise minutes of television that you will ever see". Look at it and decide for yourself.

2004-05-13T12:18:00.000-04:00

What's Up?

For a very real answer to this question, check out:
http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/almanac/#

The web site has a concise desription of the current state of the Sun, Moon, and planets.

2004-05-13T11:42:00.000-04:00

And now for something completely different...

All of the other posts so far are for items that I personally find to be interesting and useful. Time to balance this with something a bit different - Immortality Rings!

No, you did not see Frodo with one of these. I did, however, inherit one from my uncle:

http://www.alexchiu.com/affiliates/clickthru.cgi?id=sangreal

2004-05-13T10:39:00.000-04:00

Newsmap is once again operational! Definitely something to check out...
http://www.marumushi.com/apps/newsmap/index.cfm

From the website...

Newsmap is an application that visually reflects the constantly changing landscape of the Google News news aggregator. A treemap visualization algorithm helps display the enormous amount of information gathered by the aggregator. Treemaps are traditionally space-constrained visualizations of information. Newsmap's objective takes that goal a step further and provides a tool to divide information into quickly recognizable bands which, when presented together, reveal underlying patterns in news reporting across cultures and within news segments in constant change around the globe.

Newsmap does not pretend to replace the googlenews aggregator. It's objective is to simply demonstrate visually the relationships between data and the unseen patterns in news media. It is not thought to display an unbiased view of the news, on the contrary it is thought to ironically accentuate the bias of it.

2004-05-13T10:29:00.000-04:00

Project Gutenberg, the Internet's oldest producer of free electronic books (eBooks or etexts), now has an RSS feed! -> http://www.gutenberg.net/browse/recent/today.rdf

Project Gutenberg now has a collection of more than 10.000 eBooks, produced by hundreds of volunteers. Most of the Project Gutenberg eBooks are older literary works that are in the public domain in the United States. All may be freely downloaded and read, and redistributed for non-commercial use

2004-04-22T17:25:00.000-04:00

RSS This:

http://sangreal.blogspot.com/atom.xml

2004-04-22T17:13:00.000-04:00

Here it is - my first post. OK, it is admittedly unexciting, but this blog is not meant to be exciting, only to point to exciting things. (Very voyeuristic, don't you think?)

First plug - Lookout for Outlook. Not just an "almost palindrome", it is an indispensable tool for Outlook that just smushes the Outlook search capability into the dirt. Lookout may not keep you from ever filing stuff into folders, but it is a great adjunct, and certainly keeps you on top of mountains of old email. This is a real must-have for serious Outlook users.

I am an email packrat, and have about 13 .pst's, with 3 GB of very carefully minimized email (and millions of individual emails). Searching across these 13 folders with Outlook is horribly tedious and time-consuming. Lookout does it in a flash.

As Mark the Blogger states, It's fast, and it's free (for now):

http://www.lookoutsoft.com/