Ok, so iTunes (and 99 cents) will get you that song you want, but it’s not an MP3 is it? It’s some sort crazy protected format that limits what you can do with it, right? Sure… I think it’s in DRM format or something…

I’ve got a Mac with sound output. I’ve got a Mac with sound input. I’ve got cables. I’m not some audiophile phreak who would care about the degradation of the digital/audio/digital conversion process that much. Wait a minute, that’s too complex, what if I download a song, burn it onto an audio CD and then rip that CD back into MP3’s, what happens? Problem solved?

I guess the problem is still somewhat the laziness factor. I mean, the whole idea behind an easy to use, and affordable online music service is that it’s much simpler to pay for it, and play by the rules than to break the rules, or find creative ways around the rules.

I’ve never liked rules…

Dear Apple, I’m sick of this:

Please fix it immediately.

Thanks…

I was attempting to find the number of characters in a field in Microsoft SQL Server, so I tried this:

SELECT
  length(desc)
FROM
  foo;

That was the logical thing to try, and guess what? It worked just fine in MySQL, but no dice in Microsoft SQL Server, so after some searching and asking others I found out that Microsoft SQL Server has something called datalength, so I tried this:

SELECT
  datalength(desc)
FROM
  foo;

Well, that tells you the size of the field, but not the size of the data within the field… Oh, that’s right, rtrim is your friend…

SELECT
  datalength(rtrim(desc))
FROM
  foo;

Success! We get the number of characters instead of the size of the field itself. MySQL is blunt and just gives you the answer you want… Microsoft SQL Server has to get all technical on you, and make you clarify and specifically ask for what you want…

And if there’s something I missed, or there’s some other way to do it, let me know…

(Special thanks to O'Reilly for their SQL in a Nutshell info…)

Yesterday we had 720 requests from a robot named “Robot”, or maybe it was a spider named “Robot”.

Look, if you’re gonna write a robot, at least give it a cool name like Bender or Calculon, or something…

Hmmm, maybe it was named after “The Robot” from Lost In Space.

Mozilla Stuff…

• LiveHTTPHeaders
• Mycroft
• Checky
• pnhtoolbar
• PrefBar
• uabar
• Various mozdev projects…

What has Internet Explorer done for you lately?

Whew, it’s been busy lately. Lots of projects going on. No time…

The current project is: Avoiding Rendundancy

I’ll check back later…

For now here’s a semi-random link dump:

• Virtual Hosts, mod_rendezvous_apple, and Apache on Mac OS X
• Adding New Users to MySQL
• pnhtoolbar
• KahunaBurger: TiVo + Home Media Option + Email
• Rob’s Tech Tips
• WISCOBLOGS
• W3C QA - Log Validator
• Standards Sites | wiki | maccaws.org
• A1 Movie Sounds : Falling Down

Is this how it works?

1. Post something to your site
2. Get comments you don’t like
3. Post a note about being able to turn off comments on a per item basis
4. Turn off all comments

Hmmm, I guess it certainly could work that way.

If you haven’t heard: Macworld magazine is available for digital download - but wait - there’s more!

Zinio gives users a unique experience in digital magazine reading by mimicking the turning of pages while you read.

Are they serious!? Is this considered some sort of feature? How does this add value?

Hmmm, does it actually turn the page while you read, as it says? How does it know when you want the page to turn - wait, I know, you use the mouse to ‘virtually’ grab the corner of the page and do a lift and flip move to turn the page, right?

I’m glad to see technology is advancing in such wonderful directions…

It’s been slow. It’s been weak. It’s been a slow week.

Updates are as such:

I took the kids out fishing in the canoe this week, we had a great time. Emma caught one fish. The home-made anchor worked fine, though you should note that when using a canoe, you really do need two anchors to prevent spinning around in circles.

In the ’stats-geekery’ department, I finally got around to configuring the heck out of Analog, so I might have something to say about stats/bandwidth/etc real soon.

I still don’t understand why people enjoy using forums that contain almost nothing but photos from other people’s sites (using other people’s bandwidth) with almost no originality or creativity from the people who post. Wow, I can use Google’s image search and paste a url into a form. Sheesh… (Coming soon: allowing and denying action.)

I wish I had more time to write lately, as I have plenty to write about.

I’ve seen more than one instance this week of people who’ve basically said “Clean, valid, proper HTML? Why bother? The browsers will support crap, so I’ll write crap.” This of course is sad, really sad. I hope this isn’t the beginning of a standards backlash.

And now you’re gonna die, wearing that stupid little hat. How does it feel?

Ward says that A is for Apple.

Now where have I heard that before? ;)

Yesterday on the news they had said that many people were calling it ‘vi day’ - the emacs people were of course pretty pissed off about this…

In other news, Megan had her baby on Monday. It’s a girl!

Rasterboy Enterprises congratulates the Morrone family on the new addition.

Windows key leak threatens mass piracy: Oh sure, on the surface this looks like a bad thing for Microsoft, but put on your conspiracy hats and get ready for a ride!

Microsoft wants to sell software. And they will sell software. As long as Windows is running on a lot of computers, they will sell a lot of software.

They want to sell this software to get money. That’s simple, right? Right. Now, to use the old ‘razor blade’ argument, can we see that Microsoft can make money even if someone gets a free copy of Windows? Sure they can, they can sell you Microsoft Office, or Visio, or Project, or Publisher, or some games, and in doing so, they are selling software. Give away the razors, sell the blades. You can get a cell phone for free nowadays - with activation and a service contract - they’ll find some way to get the money they need.

So, let’s say that you can purchase a copy of Windows, or you can get an illegal copy - if you buy it, Microsoft gets your money, and you get the product. If you get an illegal copy, Microsoft does not directly get your money, but you do get the product. When you buy a new PC doesn’t Microsoft get a cut of that money? (I think they still do.) And by insuring that some people will get ‘free’ copies of Windows, they are ensuring that people will use it, and it will continue to be a dominant operating system.

Personally I’d like to see Microsoft crack down on any illegal copies, and add even more protection (return of the dongle?) so that installing and using Windows becomes so much of a hassle, no one in their right mind would do it. (Some would argue that you’d have to be out of your mind to use Windows anyway…)

Ok, that’s it. I’m done.

I was thinking… perhaps the Camino browser and the Minotaur email/newsreader could be combined into one huge suite of applications - a web browser, email app, newsreader extravaganza called Caminotaur!

What about merging Phoenix and Minotaur to create Phoenotaur?

No good? What about Phomino? A combination of Phoenix and Camino. Two browsers in one!

Minix? Phoeno? Chiminox? Mozninotaurix? Netninocamixscape?

When repairing a PowerBook G3 (Wallstreet) you’ll need two Torx screwdrivers, a size 8 and a size 6. If you’re lucky, you’ll find these at your local hardware store. If you’re unlucky - or cheap - this might be more difficult.

I managed to get the Torx 6 at the local hardware store, no problem. They also had a Torx 8 bit, with the security hole in it, which makes it cost more, and allows you to remove Torx screws of the size 8 variety with a small pin in the hole on the top. Yeah, so anyway, I bought that one. The bit worked OK until I had to remove some screws that are way inside, that require you use a Torx 8 with long skinny shaft - which means the damn bit would not fit. This halted repairs a bit.

So I happen to be at Home Depot, they have a Torx set but it’s $20, which for someone who is cheap, is quite the deterrent. I ended up calling another hardware store, they had nothing, I then called Radio Shack, and they did have a tool with fold out Torx bits, but they said it was $16, and it sounded cheap and I wasn’t sure it would work, plus I figured if I was gonna spend that much I’d spend $20 for a nice set.

So at this point I continue to hope I’ll find a single Torx 8 screwdriver, and if I don’t I’ll end up spending $20 for the nice set, even though I’ve already spent $7 for the bit and the Torx 6.

This demonstrate the frustration of everyday life I must endure…

(I’ll leave it up to you to determine if that last statement was sarcasm or not…)