Category: General

I am in the process of migrating to a new webserver. I was running out of disk space on the old server and so needed to upgrade. If you are seeing this post then you have successfully reached the new site!
There should be no different in content or performance. So far, I have
migrated most of the web applications and now have to start working on DNS and Email.

I was recently perusing a photographic forum where I generally like to visit periodically and they were recommending an application called "ProShow Gold" from photodex.  I recently downloaded a trial version of this application to try it out and found it to be great.  It is a very cool product that allows you to take multiple pictures and put them into a slide show with synchronized music.  It offers an abundence of transition options and output formats.  I player around with it briefly and created a short 4 minute show.

The results were stellar.  It took only about an hour to produce, and the output looks very professional.  The only issue I am facing now is how to post the output to the web.  I am still struggling to find the best encoder to create the smallest size image and most widely compatible format.  Regardless, I highly recommend this application.

There was recently a public hearing in Cambridge, MA talking with the FCC about Comcast’s policy of blocking certain traffic on its network.  This is quite upsetting to many since it seems almost like censorship.  That is, does Comcast have the right to block you from doing whatever it is you want to do on the Internet.  This meeting covered this exact topic.

According to "Save the Internet Blog", Comcast paid people to attend the event on their behalf and basically filled up the entire hall with supporters.  This prevented regular people (e.g. non-Comcast lackies) or Comcast critics for attending.  Comcast has since admitted that they did indeed pay people to attend the meeting.

This is crazy and is very wrong.  I am not one of these anti-business type people, but I believe that these kind of forums should be open to the public and not secretly undermined by major stakeholders.  I am not sure what, if any, repercussions Comcast will face from this, but I think that they need more than a slap on the wrist to set an example.

We often hear about the threat of global warming and the impact it has/will have on the globe. An oft cited source for information is Al Gore’s "An Inconvenient Truth." We hear about this and in fact global warming has become a rallying call for many politicians. It seems that the Democrats are more focused on this issue than the Republicans.

The interesting thing is that once the politicians get involved this no longer becomes a scientific issue, but rather an emotional one. Once the emotions set in, facts no longer matter and the issue takes a life of its own.

This is where global warming (GW) is these days. This is not to say that GW does not exist, but rather that it has becoming this incredibly emotion driven topic and is generally acknowledged that this is one of the biggest issues facing us. But is it really? If you research, you will see that there are many scientists who do not believe that GW is really an issue. Their opinions are de-emphasized while everyone promotes the scientists whose theories are inline with the theory of GW. I am personally undecided on the issue of GW. It very well could be the most important issue of our time, but it also could be a load of hot air (pun intended). Given the strong opinions on either side, it is difficult to understand what is actually happening.

This brings me to my final point which is a recent article from the National Post. Ironically, it says that this winter is one of the coldest on record and in some of those places where people were screaming about ice loss actually have more ice now than ever before! It is an interesting read that makes you think and was a key driver in this post.

I was perusing Fox News and it must be a slow day because they featured a story on Death Threat Elmo. Yes, believe it or not they had a story dedicated to Elmo. Specifically, a woman bought a new Elmo doll for her son who is obsessed with Elmo. (If you watch the video, you will see how obsessed. The room is filled with nothing but Elmo dolls. Creepy!) Anyway this is some new fangled Elmo that talks.

Elmo’s battery recently died and evidently, he did not appreciate the battery change.  He emerged from his operation wanting to say only one thing: "Kill James". (James is her son.) Yes, she is the new and exclusive owner of the new terrorist Elmo! This is one of the most bizarre an laughable stories I have heard about in a long time. Follow this link to read the full story including a video with Elmo threatening James.