http://blogs.msdn.com/brentphillips/archive/tags/Lighter+Side/default.aspxTags: Lighter SideenCommunityServer 2.1 SP1 (Build: 61025.2)http://blogs.msdn.com/brentphillips/archive/2006/10/08/AC_2F00_DC.aspxMon, 09 Oct 2006 09:59:00 GMT91d46819-8472-40ad-a661-2c78acb4018c:807464brentphillips1http://blogs.msdn.com/brentphillips/comments/807464.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/brentphillips/commentrss.aspx?PostID=807464<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><FONT face=Calibri>For those about to rock...or...for those about to flip a light switch, dry your hair, or watch a show on the tube, this might be of interest.</FONT></P><FONT face=Calibri size=3> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">As you may or may not know, <A href="http://www.ansi.org/meetings_events/wsw06/wsd_fact_sheet.aspx?menuid=8" mce_href="http://www.ansi.org/meetings_events/wsw06/wsd_fact_sheet.aspx?menuid=8">World Standards Day</A> is coming up on October 11. So to honor the big event, I decided to read up on the first major standards war in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> history. <A href="http://www.amazon.com/AC-DC-Savage-First-Standards/dp/0787982679/sr=1-1/qid=1160375219/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-6709184-5234416?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books" mce_href="http://www.amazon.com/AC-DC-Savage-First-Standards/dp/0787982679/sr=1-1/qid=1160375219/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-6709184-5234416?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books">AC/DC</A> is an excellent and short read that describes the battle for ‘hearts and minds’ between Thomas Edison’s camp promoting direct current electricity, and those supporting Westinghouse’s Alternating Current. Not unlike the battles that often take place today,<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN>there was extensive use of questionable scientific research, deceptive marketing, and heated debates among academics, scientists, and industry leaders. In the end, we see both standards prevailing, although the outcome is pretty one-sided (and <A href="http://www.ge.com/en/" mce_href="http://www.ge.com/en/">both</A> <A href="http://www.westinghouse.com/home.html" mce_href="http://www.westinghouse.com/home.html">companies</A> seemed to have done well with both anyway). I will not spoil the story for those who want to take a look, but I will offer that before the end you will get through scenes that inspired the land of Oz itself, the first use of the electric chair, a host of dead animals (not for the squeamish), and an innovative rat zapper. I will never look at electronic gadgetry in quite the same way...</SPAN></P></FONT><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=807464" width="1" height="1">GadgetsLighter SideReadingStandardshttp://blogs.msdn.com/brentphillips/archive/2006/08/21/Lighter-Side.aspxMon, 21 Aug 2006 18:43:00 GMT91d46819-8472-40ad-a661-2c78acb4018c:710985brentphillips2http://blogs.msdn.com/brentphillips/comments/710985.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/brentphillips/commentrss.aspx?PostID=710985<P>I will keep an ongoing compile for this one if anybody cares to chime in...</P> <P>We have all seen it. At center stage, the pseudo-hip and edgy teen 'star' of "Dodge Ball the Movie" (and now defunct series&nbsp; 'Ed') hops out of a box and introduces himself as a Mac, while a seemingly clueless and timid older gentleman introduces himself as a PC. Ouch!</P> <P>The ad goes on to suggest an extensive amount of out-of-the-box interoperability for Mac systems - offering immediate results for any number of personal productivity work flows - while the PC fumbles along, attempting to keep up...Slam! I think 'dodge ball' even speaks Japanese in one of them...</P> <P>So it’s been a long time since I owned a Mac (learned how to program on an Apple IIe as a kid before&nbsp;my mom bought&nbsp;an early&nbsp;256K b/w box-model), and I have nothing against them per se. When I look at the ad, however, and then looked at my HP Media center laptop I really start to wonder if they've picked the wrong argument. Granted - I know they are going for the Gen Y/Net boomers crowd (or whatever the gen xers are calling them) - but with some of the new hot-aesthetic PC's coming onto the scene (think <A href="http://www.alienware.com/">alienware</A>) and the number of things that can plug into them -&nbsp;Apple might need to rethink its angle.</P> <P>All this being said, I am curious to know how many things plug into a pc. My guess is thousands, but I'm really not sure. If anyone has the answer let me know.</P> <P>My current config includes the aforementioned laptop, an Edirol adapter for my electric guitar, a Wacom drawing tablet, a mouse, printer, flash drive (and until we see <A href="http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2006Aug/gee20060821038099.htm">Zune</A>) an iPod.</P> <P>&nbsp;</P><img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=710985" width="1" height="1">InteroperabilityLighter Side