Ploafmaster General

I read an article on CNN's site today (which I cannot seem to relocate here at home for the life of me) that highlights ABC.com's move from flash-based online video to a new format.

This new technology requires the installation of a small plugin which is definitely available for Firefox, and works in both Windows and OS X.

The essential benefit of this switch is fast-loading, high quality streaming video that's playable "full-screen" (it only filled half the screen on my Macbook Pro). I have to say the quality is impressive. The load time is extremely fast, and you're only interrupted periodically by 30 second ads - less advertising than a regular TV program over all.

It may just be the thing to introduce me to a few ABC programs.

MaCNN reports that Apple just rolled out a hot new feature in the iTunes store.

Now, if you purchase a single from the store which later appears on an album, you can buy the album from iTunes and receive a full $0.99 credit on the song you already purchased. This works for any purchase of songs from an album with a later purchase of the entire album, with a full credit for each track, as long as the album purchase occurs more no more than 180 days after the song purchase.

Pretty slick! Less buyer's remorse should equal higher sales, methinks.

Looks like a gentleman in London has created a host of "Twitter bots" that essentially auto-update with the headline ticker from BBC News' website.

I'm totally digging the BBC World bot, and follow it on Twitter. It's like a free RSS feed reader that auto-updates, and provides a link at the end of each "tweet" to the full story.

So there's a practical use for Twitter.

Holy Cow. 200 mpg, reasonable cruising speed, and spaceship looks to boot? And they want to try selling 'em for 20 large? SIGN ME UP!

Alright Nintendo, when are you going to open up the floodgates and start shipping more Wii units? I've got a serious craving for some new Legend of Zelda action!

Any Fortune 500 company worth its salt wouldn't rest on its laurels when a competitor unveils a hot new toy, right?

Ladies and gentlemen, the ZunePhone.
[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRLRjKCGHek&w=425&h=350])

Today from about 12 pm to 2 pm EST, I'll be pretty much useless as I sit glued to my monitor at work, repeatedly hitting F5 to refresh my browser.

Today, Steve Jobs delivers his keynote address at Macworld Expo in San Francisco, and like many Mac nerds, I'm champing at the bit to see what new Apple hotness will be revealed...

UPDATE:
Keynote over, we have two sweet devices. First, the pre-announced media streaming box is officially unveiled as the Apple TV. That's all well and good, but really...

THE iPhone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apple's new phone is tiny (for a smartphone - more like a GENIUSphone), has a wide screen, gesture/touch input, bluetooth, and WAY more. It comes out in June, and it's the first thing I've seen that makes my HTC Wizard look like a steaming pile.

Oh yeah, and it runs a fairly feature packed OS X as well, with real applications. There's so much more to say about it, but I think Apple, Inc. (not Apple Computer anymore) says it best.

Peep this slick video of the first test flight for Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGWk_rfq_bM&w=425&h=350]

Space travel fascinates me, but it's one area where I feel it's hurtful for our US Government to spend money, particularly when there's so much else that needs attention.

I say leave space tech to private industry for now, where the investment doesn't take money away from environmental programs, education, and social programs.

With people like Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson throwing lots of money into space flight, we're not far from an age where space travel becomes as attainable as air travel.

Never has it been so difficult for me to plop back into the daily routine.

It's only my second day back after my vacation, and I'm having serious motivation problems at work.

Though not really thinking of it as a "New Year's Resolution" until just now, I've decided over the course of the last week that 2007 would be the year I start performing free lance work on the side. I imagine it will take me a few years to build up any real business outside of my current occupation (and sufficient business to someday leave my current occupation), but I have to start sometime, and this year is it.

My growing distaste for working in a corporate environment has lighted the proverbial fire 'neath my arse to finish up my Ruby on Rails books and get programming.

I was in Target yesterday shopping for a Christmas gift for my Mother-in-law when I approached the Electronics section. There he was - a tall, nerdy looking gentleman speaking enthusiastically to some would-be customers by the Microsoft Zune kiosk.

As I neared the fellow, I could hear him extolling the virtues of the little would-be iPod competitor. Why on earth would somebody be so excited about this device which has received so many lukewarm reviews by periodicals and consumers alike?

The camera tightens on a badge dangling from the guy's neck beside an "XBOX" logo on his shirt, and we see Microsoft employee credentials.

There it is. A paid, card-carrying MS stooge hawking sub-standard electronics to unsuspecting shoppers on the basis of what you can do with the Zune "when it gets popular." This man was on the premises from 10 am to 6 pm every day until Christmas, sanctioned by Target, to promote MS' non-software wares - the Zune and XBOX.

Blech. Just what I need at my big-box retail chain...a salesman.

Wow...just read a fascinating and hilarious article over on Wired's site.

The columnist describes every nerd/boy's dream toy - a jet pack. While extraordinarily heavy and bulky, the unit should deliver about 30 minutes of flight compared to the typical minute or so that previous efforts have mustered.

The article's highlight, however, is undoubtedly the following passage:

Of course, it's hard not to imagine the test flight. With great ebullience, Andreas soars into the heavens. He sneers at gravity with contempt, a spurned mistress, a whore who embraces all but him. But suddenly he hears a horrifying choke and shudder and a sickening vertigo creeping up from his genitalia and into his bowels as he plummets back down to the ground, strapped to over 200 pounds of highly-explosive rocket fuel and whirring metal blades.