Gilbert and Sullivan review Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)

by

The Safari browser now subscribes to R.S.S. news feeds,
And its “private browsing” mode conceals the tracks of online deeds.
There are archives now, and log files, when you send or get a fax;
You can make the pointer bigger on those Jumbotron-screened Macs.
You can start a full-screen slide show from some photos on demand;
And the voice that reads the screen aloud can lend the blind a hand.
There’s a password-phrase suggestor meant to make yours more secure,
And the Grapher module draws equations simple and obscure.
Then the Automator program is a geeky software clerk –
You just choose the steps you want performed, and it does all the work.
There’s a lot of miscellany, lots of spit-and-polish stuff,
But it works and doesn’t slow you down – and these days, that’s enough.

— David Pogue, in the New York Times

(via adavies42, on /. — I originally didn’t notice the poem in the NYT article thanks to their horrid online formatting)

Serenity

by

Okay, okay, okay already. When no less than four people on my reading list mention the trailer for Serenity — the upcoming movie from Joss Whedon‘s Firefly show — and I’ve barely started going through my feeds for the day, I figure I should probably check it out.

Dori:

You’ve heard us rave about Firefly and how much we’re looking forward to Serenity, but now, you can go see why for youself: the first trailer was just released. Oh. My.

Shelley:

Thanks to you all I have become addicted to this show and have now watched the entire series three times in a very short period of time. Wonderful show, and the movie looks to be as good.

Tvindy:

Today they released the trailer for Joss Whedon’s new Firefly movie. It looks pretty good. Who knows? Maybe they’ll even base a series on it.

Jacqueline:

Scot got it right when he called it “distilled awesome”.

Admittedly, I’m intrigued. I can’t quite match the level of excitement that other people are, though that may be because I’ve yet to watch Firefly (I just finished Buffy a few months ago, and finally wrapped up Angel last week), so I think I need to pop that onto the top of my Netflix queue. But I know that I generally like Joss Whedon’s work, I’ve heard nothing but good things about Firefly so far, the effects look nice, and there’s some fun dialogue in the trailer.

We’ll see how amped up I get after I know a little more about this thing…

This could get pretty interesting.

Define ‘interesting’.

…’Oh God, oh God, we’re all gonna die?’

iTunes “It Can’t Rain All the Time” by Siberry, Jane from the album Crow, The (1994, 5:35).

There is hope…

by

I refused to read any further than the first two sentences, but towards the end of his latest post, Kevin Smith has this to say about Revenge of the Sith:

“Revenge of the Sith” is, quite simply, fucking awesome. This is the “Star Wars” prequel the haters have been bitching for since “Menace” came out, and if they don’t cop to that when they finally see it, they’re lying.

Rethinking

by

In science it often happens that scientists say, “You know that’s a really good argument; my position is mistaken,” and then they actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn’t happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.

— Carl Sagan, 1987 CSICOP keynote address

(via Atomic Playboy)

Lost broach

by

Tree broach, Seattle, WA

Walking up Pike St. towards Piecora’s this evening, the glint of the setting sun off of the stones in this broach caught my eye. It was wedged into a knothole in a tree by the side of the street, about a foot above eye level. Missing stones let the gold tones of the metal shine, surrounded by the purples and blues of the remaining gems.

It looked like a child’s plaything, toy jewelry once prized as it adorned the dress of a young girl. Eventually lost as she walked down the street hand-in-hand with her mother, slipping away and bouncing into the gutter, small stones scattering across the sidewalk. Found by some random passerby when the glint of something shiny caught their eye. They picked it up and examined it, decided that it was worthless — an evaluation the little girl would be sure to argue — and, as they continued on their way through Seattle, they reached up and placed it into a convenient resting place on a tree.

There it sits, casting its small colored beams at people as they pass. Some glance up and wonder how it got there, most just walk by, not paying any attention at all.

And one young girl, slightly saddened by the loss of her pretty jewelry, asks her mom as she is tucked in at night if they can go back to the dollar store — where even a child’s allowance can uncover treasures beyond imagining — and find another sparkly for her outfit.

Smiling, her mother assures her that they will. One kiss on the forehead, and the young girl drifts off to sleep, to dance in the golds, blues, and purples of a child’s dreams.

iTunes “Back in My Life” by Alice DeeJay from the album Who Needs Guitars Anyway? (1999, 3:29).

Maybe I won’t end up in hell…

by

A guy died and found himself waiting in the long line of judgment.

As he stood there he noticed that some souls were allowed to march right through the pearly gates into heaven. Others, though, were led over to Satan who threw them into the burning pit. But every so often, whenever one of the condemned souls showed up wearing a Utilikilt, instead of hurling him into the fire, Satan would march him straight back to Heaven and slip St. Peter five bucks after a short, hushed conversation, whereupon the soul was quickly slipped inside. After watching Satan do this several times, the fellow’s curiosity got the best of him so he asked what was going on.

“Excuse me, Prince of Darkness,” he said. “I’m waiting in line for judgment, but I couldn’t help wondering, why are you bribing St. Peter to admit folks in Utilikilts instead of flinging them into the fires of hell with the others?”

“Oh, them?” Satan said with a groan. “They’re all from Seattle, they’re too wet to burn.”

(via Oakdancer on the Utilikilts Yahoo! group)

Nasty bug

by

I’ve spent the majority of the last 31 hours or so either unconscious or in a very woozy half-conscious state, thanks to being hit with a nasty cold bug. Loads of fun, let me tell you. Ugh. Right now, I’m just hoping that since it hit me over the weekend and I could spend that much time resting, I’ve knocked the majority of it out of my system, and making it through the work day won’t be too much of a strain.

Before the bug took me out of commission, though, Prairie and I did spend some time on Saturday afternoon out at the Arboretum, and there’s a bunch of new flower shots added to my Arboretum photoset, starting with this fern.

And now, off to soak in a hot shower and hope that the workday isn’t too crazy. Posting may very well be light for the next few days — I’m thinking early bedtimes are going to be a good idea until I’m sure I’ve got this bug taken care of.

iTunes “Groove Radio pres. House (full mix)” by Various Artists from the album Groove Radio pres. House (full mix) (1997, 1:13:46).

Better Living Through Apathy

by

As cynical as it may be, I think there just might be something to Davan’s theory in today’s Something Positive strip.

Peejee: You don’t really care about this date, do you?

Davan: Not even an ounce. If I did, I probably wouldn’t be going on it.

Peejee: Care to explain?

Davan: When you’re involved with someone else, people find you attractive. It’s because you don’t care about attracting someone else. You’re complacent, and therefore you’re actually being yourself.

After Branwen, I’ve just not been interested in trying to find anyone else. As long as I maintain that same level of ‘it honestly doesn’t matter to me if you live or die,’ women will find me attractive on some level. The minute I show any interest, it’s over. Remember that. The key to happiness is disinterest mingled with mild contempt.

iTunes “You Are My Sunshine” by Cash, Johnny/Dylan, Bob from the album CBS Nashville Studio Session (1969, 3:27).