The Ministry of Truth
jason| November 13, 2008 11:44 pmHappy Anniversary Subprime Lending!
jason| September 30, 2008 12:07 pmVeeg Destroyer
jason| September 21, 2008 5:35 pmWhat happens when I have a programing assignment due and Jade needs to practice his multiplication tables? Veeg Destroyer…
Switching to Gmail IMAP on the BlackBerry
jason| August 28, 2008 9:44 am
Michigan Adventure Pics
jason| August 12, 2008 5:38 pm
Michigan Adventure PicsMarch-April Issue of Business Advocate
jason| May 15, 2008 6:01 pmI found out yesterday that I made the cover of the March/April Business Advocate. OK, so it isn’t Forbes. How many magazine covers have you made?
The back story is that one of our exec assistants brought a copy down after recognizing me and Adam, a coworker of mine, on the cover. We took a day off work about a year ago to go to a business expo where we apparently were photographed.
Northwest Boeing 757-200 OW
jason| May 7, 2008 6:05 amI’ve been meaning to put this up for over a week now…
I had the opportunity to experience a new first class configuration on a newer Northwest Boeing 757-200 OW on one of my flights back from Boston recently. This was the second time I had seen this plane; it was substituted for our scheduled aircraft in both situations.
The first class cabin is completely reconfigured with the seats almost double spaced. While sitting down you cannot touch the seat in front of you with your hands or legs without getting up. The seats themselves are more la-Z-Boy style with four points of adjustment. Besides the standard overhead lights, there is a lamp connected to the seat for reading. Because the seats are spaced so far apart, the trays all fold out of the left arm and can be used either folded in half to the left side or fully unfolded and turned out in front of you. There is a universal power plug on the left by your leg that appeared to support both American and European style plugs. On the right side is a special plug to be used with a multimedia device available upon request. I didn’t request one, so I’m not sure what this looks like or what you can do with it. There is a bracket that folds out of the right arm rest to hold the device. The seats fully recline, almost into a bed-like configuration. I was sleeping with the seat all the way back during landing–whether this is now allowed with these planes or the stewardess simply couldn’t wake me up to make me put my seat up I cannot say.
The coach cabin has more modest updates and seemed mostly the same other than perhaps more comfortable chairs.
I took pictures of as much as I could. Forgive the quality–it was a crappy camera phone. Click any of the pictures below to see the rest of the gallery.
Affordable Apple: Here Come the Clones
jason| April 15, 2008 9:36 amIt was only a matter of time after Apple’s switch to Intel and subsequent thriving of the OSx86 project. There were already plenty of hardware guides helping users spec out their own OSx86 compatible PCs. Now you can switch on the cheap without putting in that kind of effort. Psystar Corporation is selling computers with OS X Leopard preinstalled starting at $554.99. Here are the specs on their baseline machine:
- 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Processor
- 2GB of DDR2 667 memory
- Integrated Intel GMA 950 Graphics
- 20x DVD+/-R SATA drive that is Lightscribe-capable
A significant processor gain and twice the memory and hard drive of Apple’s closest priced Mac mini which is $50 more. Interesting to note that most of the cost for these computers, like PCs today, is in the cost of the operating system. In fact, even more of the cost ($155) is due the operating system in the case of these machines because Apple does not have OEM licensing pricing available. Psystar does make their hardware available without Leopard preinstalled for $399, a move likely to encourage piracy of Apple’s OS X. If Apple can hold back the knee-jerk urge to sue they must be feeling right now, this could be another revenue opportunity. A $90-a-copy OEM licensing deal with companies like Psystar in exchange for the manufacturer agreeing not to sell the equipment without an operating system, similar to deals Microsoft has been known to engage in with Dell and other manufacturers, it would serve both add a revenue stream from a customer base that currently finds Apple’s lineup cost prohibitive and reduce revenue loss via piracy. That would make a lot of business sense. Apple will still be the Cadillac. These machines are large ugly bricks compared to the cool and sleek Mac mini. Of course I’m morally opposed to enforced licensing schemes such as that. 
