Andy's Blog

Oh, thoth it!!!

One of my favourite pieces of software has been discontinued. Thoth has been a really nice Usenet newsreader program I've been using for a few years now without any hassle. I can continue to use it (and will do so). I loved the easy implementation of multi threading, fast downloading and filtering.

It's not the first time this has happened to me. Zonic stopped development of Swaptop over a year ago. Swaptop is a desktop picture manager for the Mac whos main feature was being able to display Webshots encoded images. I stayed with version 1.9 (last update was v1.9.2) because Webshots had requested they remove the 'Image Export' feature from the application (which I notice exports at a lower resolution - damn!) It all came to an end when Webshots resumed their Mac support (after dropping it a few years back).

Anyway, I paid the Thoth and Swaptop shareware fees years ago (and the Webshots once only Premium fee) so I feel compelled to keep using them.

Tolerance is...

While George W. wants to change the U.S. Constitution to suit himself, Walter Cronkite weighs in on the same sex marriage debate...

"We who believe this are compelled to ask: Where is the tolerance, where is the Christian spirit in the effort to criminalize the personal choices of our fellow citizens, personal choices that do not physically threaten others?"

It's about time someone of importance spoke these words. Maybe now more people will actually think for themselves and not sit back and have someone dictate their personal moral standards into law.

I think Wil Wheaton also wrote an excellent piece on the subject. While Bush is saying a sacred institution is under threat, Wil says since this whole debate started his marriage doesn't feel threatened at all.

Well sue me! ...er, no. Just joking.

I followed this pointer from the smart guys at Lost Remote...

Do bloggers need libel insurance? That's what these guys recommend. With a new weblog popping up on the Internet every 7.8 seconds (true), sounds like a racket to me. But they do have some good legal advice about online publishing....

Billy

I'm on a weeks leave which has given me some spare time to catch up on a few things, including my mounting book collection. Last time I was on leave I spent five days in Sydney catching up with a friend. On the way home the flight included a short stop in Melbourne. At a book store I bought Pamela Stephenson's biography about her husband Billy Connolly. I started reading it with enthusiasm in the airport terminal. Over the weeks I'd pick up the book and read a bit more... and I mean a "bit", like a page or three but no more. Sometimes, whole weeks would go by before I'd continue.

Anyway, after three and a half months, today I finally finished it.

Before reading 'Billy!' I only knew Billy Connolly as a funny strange guy I'd seen occasionally on TV. Now, having read Pamela's book I have a better understanding of this hugely successful comedian. The cover notes say it better than I ever could...

... From a troubled and desperately poor childhood in the docklands of Glasgow he is now the intimate of household names the world over.... In this extraordinary book, Pamela Stephenson combines the very personal with a frank objectivity that makes for a compellingly moving, yet hugely entertaining, biography.

Lucy in the sky...

If anyone's ever promised you the sun, the moon and the stars, tell 'em you'll settle for BPM 37093. The heart of that burned-out star with the no-nonsense name is a sparkling diamond that weighs a staggering 10 billion trillion trillion carats. That's one followed by 34 zeros.

Festivale

Each year in Launceston we have a food and wine festival that's very popular with the locals. Festivale is on this weekend and runs for three days. Tony and I went last night. We have so much fun we're going again this afternoon.

Happy Valentines Day

Each year I try to grasp the concept of Valentines Day but never quite figure it out. Anyway, happy Val's day to all those people I secretly admire.... you know who you are!!!

When too much news... is never enough!

I haven't launched my RSS reader (NetNewsWire Lite, btw) for about a week, so no sooner had I creamed over the announcement of The Simpsons movie, I found heaps of other newsy bits that caught my eye.

- NASA officials adamantly defend the decision not to perform any more service missions to Hubble -- which means one of the greatest scientific instruments in history will die as early as 2007.

- Some months ago I was delighted to see a new tv mini-series remake of an old favourite show, Battlestar Galactica. Sci Fi Channel thought it so successful they're now going to make a 13 episode series based on the mini-series.

- Hey ya... Linus and Lucy lip-synching to OutKast? Hilarious! Watch the vid.

- I've been following closely the making of Oliver Stone's new epic film Alexander The Great. News just in... Colin Farrell (who plays Alexander) has injured his foot. Is he just getting into character or somethin'? Alexander had far worse injuries than that. :)

Aye Carumba!

Don't have a cow man! At long bloody last they are going to make The Simpsons Movie. Here's a few details from Empire.

Garageband

I'm often asked when or if I'd upgrade from a Macintosh G4 to a G5. My answer has always been that I'd change when the software out-grew the hardware. Up until now that hasn't been a problem. The 450Mhz processor and the extra RAM I've installed have done the job effortlessly.

Then along came Apple's latest version of iLife.

One of the Apps in this intregration suite requires at least 600Mhz in processing power, of which I don't have. Garageband is a really cool piece of software if the system can take it. Mine won't.

This is the first application that hasn't been able to run successfully on my box. I guess I can do without Garageband for a while. I'm going to wait about 12 months before I upgrade to a G5. By that time there maybe a few other power hungry apps that will make the change worthwhile.