Be humble

Oh dear, age flashback.  My first kiss, Candy Halligan, at the Paramount theater in Glens Falls, NY.  Candy’s brother, Richard, was part of the first group that formed The Momas and the Popas.  He could play any musical instrument that was placed in front of him and, alas, left the group before they found fame.  I wonder what happened to him (and her).

Halifax-born singer-songwriter Denny Doherty, who achieved his greatest fame as a member of the Mamas and the Papas folk group in the 1960s, has died.

Source: CBC.ca Arts - Doherty, Canadian singer in the Mamas and the Papas, dies

Bummer, an amazing product that is looking more and more like just another telcohead.  What I find difficult to believe is that a lot of people will want to take advantage of this. Today, an average Skype user only spends a few bucks a month on SkypeOut, if that. Would users want to pay the expected $6-7 monthly charge? And, on top of that, pay for international calling and for connection fees?

In the past, users switched to VoIP because it was the cheapest calling option around. When it’s no longer that, customers might no longer hurry to abandon their telcohead services providers .

Skype, the global Internet communications company, today announced its new global pricing structure which offers a simple, convenient and cost-effective way for consumers worldwide to call landlines and mobiles over the Internet. The new pricing structure complements the foundation of Skype’s success in letting anyone in the world talk for free, from one Skype software account to another.

Source: Skype Takes Internet Communications One Step Further With New Pricing Strategy - About Skype

From The PhoneBoy Blog comes this:

But let’s call a spade a spade. What they are really doing is raising the price, but they can’t come right out and say that, can they?

I was passing though Shoppers Pharmacy today when a little old lady wobbled up to me, gave me a huge smile and said, “hello Larry, how nice to see you”.  I responded with an equally large smile and said, “hello dear, it is nice to see you too, but I am not Larry”.

“Of course you are Larry MacGuire”, she said with some irritation.

“No, dear”, I said, telling her that I do know Larry, but she may be assured she is mistaking me for someone else.

“You are Larry MacGuire”, she said, adding “my sister knows you”.

“No, I am not Larry and I do not live in Kings County” I repeated.

“You are Larry, I know it”, she said and stamped her little foot, turned her back and walked away.

I whispered “vote Liberal” as she walked away.

Is there any question about why I love this place?

Want to see if your Windows XP-based PC can run Windows Vista? Just download, install, and run the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor.

This small software tool will scan your computer and create an easy-to-understand report of all known system, device, and program compatibility issues, and recommend ways to resolve them. Upgrade Advisor can also help you choose the edition of Windows Vista that best fits the way you want to use your computer.

Source: Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor

As we are rapidly approaching the public availability of this new operating system I ran this tool on my 18 month old office computer.  I am advised that RAM should be upgraded from 512 to 1G, my ATI video card should be replaced and many of the programs (including some Microsoft programs) are not compatible.

My Norton virus protection is inicated as having a compatibility issue and my Bluetooth devices are not supported.

Like many others, I think I will sit this one out for a while.

For those who share my interest in all things weather, my wind chill meter recorded -42 C this morning at 5:07 AM.

..update - -45 C at 4:18 PM

I doubt much will come of this - and I suspect there is nothing more than Murphy’s cold fish arrogance involved.  It will be interesting to see how the Liberal’s handle this.  Interesting that voters have forgotten Murphy’s mistakenly used the Government credit card on personal expenditures.

Prince Edward Island’s conflict of interest commissioner received two requests Friday to investigate Provincial Treasurer Mitch Murphy’s connection to holdings in his family’s company.

Source: P.E.I. premier, treasurer request conflict of interest probe

...and tagged and tagged and tagged.  OK, people, here it is.  If there are 5 things you do not know about me, hello, there is probably a reason you don’t know them.  Sheech, if there is something I want you to know about me, you probably already know that, because you are a friend.  Conversely, if you don’t know something about me, it is probably because I don’t want you to, or (for gawds sake), I can see no reason to tell absolute strangers anything about myself.

So now we know.  This sure looks like a winner to me.  Beem me up!

iPhone combines three products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers. So it ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, completely redefining what you can do on a mobile phone. 

Source: Apple - iPhone

Codenamed “Q” (and previously codenamed “Quattro"), Windows Home Server is designed to be almost diabolically simple, and after two and a half years of active development, Microsoft feels like it’s arrived at an interface that is simple enough “even for mom” while being powerful enough for even the most jaded  power user.  Microsoft will open up the product to an outside private beta test in late February and then ship it in late 2007.

While this certainly appeals to my inner geek, I can’t really think of why I would want one.  My old P233 MMX runs my weather server, web server and FTP server.  It also acts as a back-up repository for my ‘back-up of back-up’.  My Ximeta network drive serves as a primary back-up.  Do I really need something like this?  Microsoft is betting yes.

Katherine Clough has written a thoughtful article in our local newspaper.  I encourage visitors to read this article.  After you read it, sit quietly and think about Dr. Clough’s comments.  Then read the article again.