They're here... hard to find, I know.

http://innoruukserver.yuku.com/directory

Lux et Veritas, Amici, Patronas Veritas, Ridgerunners, Dead of Winter, Legion of Darkness... whoever you are...

Come back, it's better than you imagine.

Making sure all the different software packages on your machine are up to date is generally a very good idea. Everyone sees the high profile security holes in Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer, as well as others. Microsoft gets the lion's share of attention because they are the largest provider of the computer tools we use on a day to day basis. But every piece of software we use needs security patches, even image editors and instant messaging clients.

I've just recently built a couple new systems and it really hit me how the necessity of software installation and updating is being used now to force feed us with any number of accessory apps, or as Walt Mossberg would say, "Craplets". This is one of the few times when the producer of software has your attention and can ask you if you are interested in other products they may offer. Sadly, this brief, transient interaction we have with Apple, Microsoft, Adobe, or Yahoo! is one that now universally leaves a bad taste in our mouths. Not only are they trying to obfuscate additional craplet installation, they are partnering with other craplet producers to piggy back yet even more crap into whatever we actually wanted.

I'm almost shocked to say it, but Apple is one of the worst offenders. You just can't get iTunes without Quicktime, no matter how carefully you try to install it. I'm not going to reinvent the rant, however. My renewed outrage came after reading Dominic Humphries' recent blog... here. Check it out, it's well worth the read.

---Jack

http://geekblog.oneandoneis2.org/index.php/2010/01/14/hypocrisy-noun

I'm not a firm believer that there is only one "true" reality. Every one of us sees the world through glasses colored by the sum total of our past experiences within the limits of our innate ability, both physical and mental. We like to simplify the human experience by believing that there really is One True nature of things that are. Maybe there is, maybe there isn't.

What I do know is that when you limit your experience of reality passively or by active choice, you should at least admit that what you have chosen is your own variant and not necessarily the same as that of others. Censorship is an artificial and active limiter on what we are allowed to experience as reality. It's a tool which can only be wielded by those who presume to know better. It is a tool to soothe and placate, to restrain and control, to make people docile and manageable.

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We had a very nice Christmas tree this year in part because we were here to have one. Normally we are traveling, making a tree pointless. The tree we chose was a concolor fir: long, soft needles and most notably, smells like sliced oranges.

I really enjoyed having this tree and if things were up to me I'd keep it year round in the living room. The trouble though is two-fold: the tree was cut and being a cut tree, it is dying. Alice may be a veterinarian but the task of saving this tree is beyond even her. That means it must eventually be taken down and removed. None of this is all that life changing but apparently, there is a particular day when Christmas trees are supposed to be taken down - on Epiphany, which is January 6.

Now that I've missed Epiphany, do I need to keep that tree going for another 12 months so I can take it down on 1/6/2011?

After reading a recent article posted on Yahoo Finance, I felt a rebuttal was in order. "10 things not to buy in 2010" states you should be avoiding gas guzzling cars, inefficient appliances, new text books, CDs, DVDs, land line phones, newspapers, pocket cameras, external hard drives, and any phone that isn't a BlackBerry or iPhone. Some of this is good advice and some of it is not. If you don't read any further than this, do yourself a favor and go out and buy an external hard drive RIGHT NOW.

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