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October 2005 - Posts

No, I Am Not One Of The Village People

Posted Monday, October 31, 2005 10:42 AM by johnmont
I decided to dress up for Halloween as a contractor . I should have painted the tools gold so that I could have said I was a government contractor. But everyone thinks I'm dressed as one of the Village People. What do I have to do -- start overcharging Read More...
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The Truth About Blogs

Posted Sunday, October 30, 2005 9:46 PM by johnmont
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The Art of Writing Headlines (Sucks)

Posted Sunday, October 30, 2005 9:38 PM by johnmont
Something Scoble wrote about reminded me of being an editor: the more controversial a headline is, the more likely people are to read it. I can remember BYTE's "Is Unix Dead?" cover story and the controversy it stirred up a decade ago -- and it wasn't Read More...
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Wiring a Kiln or "So That's What 200 Amps Smells Like"

Posted Thursday, October 27, 2005 10:32 PM by johnmont
Recently, my wife found a great deal on a Skutt 41" oval kiln that a school had to get rid of. It had never been used, and they were offering it for $1200 (a great deal). So we borrowed a friend and a pickup truck and retrieved it. The next task was to Read More...
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RTM is Here: Time to Remove Betas

Posted Thursday, October 27, 2005 5:46 PM by johnmont
In general, Microsoft doesn't support upgrading from one beta or CTP to another (the user-friendly instructions are to reformat), nor from beta to RTM of Visual Studio and .NET Framework. Fortunately, Dan Fernandez helped create a tool to aid in the uninstallation Read More...
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An Ad, but a Funny Ad

Posted Monday, October 24, 2005 9:14 PM by johnmont
Everyone once in a while, Microsoft does a good one. Check out this LiveMeeting ad . Read More...
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Evolution of the Cathedral

Posted Wednesday, October 12, 2005 10:50 AM by johnmont
In his post about the changing cathedral and bazaar , Jon Udell asserts that the cathedral and the bazaar are both changing. And of course, they are -- that which stands still, dies. At the same time, my core point is that the "sharp edges" I'm talking Read More...
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Are You Dumb?

Posted Tuesday, October 11, 2005 7:48 PM by johnmont
A game to play with the sound turned low so nobody can hear whether you're dumb or not. Read More...
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Supersonic Flight

Posted Monday, October 10, 2005 11:03 PM by johnmont
I guess the Concorde never made back what it cost to research and develop it. I suspected that, but didn't know it. Read More...
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VB .Next

Posted Monday, October 10, 2005 10:56 PM by johnmont
Good article on eWeek on VB "9." Read More...
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I Suppose It's Kind of Like Goodwill or the Salvation Army

Posted Monday, October 10, 2005 10:53 PM by johnmont
Britney Spears is selling her used clothing on eBay for charity. You know, somewhere in here, there's a really snappy one-liner that's just not coming to me. Read More...
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Text Your Teapot

Posted Monday, October 10, 2005 10:47 PM by johnmont
Engadget picks up some interesting items, among them this teapot that you can send a text message to in order to turn it on. Read More...
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What? No Captain Underpants?!

Posted Monday, October 10, 2005 10:40 PM by johnmont
Evidently book banning is still in style. I thought that went out with goose-stepping and invading Poland. Read More...
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Brilliant Serenity

Posted Monday, October 10, 2005 10:32 PM by johnmont
After admitting to Bill Dunlap, the C++ product manager, that I was a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, he turned me on to Firefly , a series by Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy. Firefly was killed midseason, but I couldn't figure out why. It was well-written Read More...
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The Myth of the Once-Readable DVD

Posted Monday, October 10, 2005 10:30 PM by johnmont
I'm getting kind of a kick out of reading Ed Bott's stories documenting how he's trying to clarify some comments taken out of context. I worked for Ed for about three years at PC/Computing and can assure that a) he's a real person b) his name really is Read More...
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At the Heart of Science Fiction

Posted Sunday, October 09, 2005 10:42 AM by johnmont
I've been reading a bunch of sci fi for the past couple of months ( John C. Wright , Richard Morgan , Chris Moriarty , etc.). At the heart of a lot of it is the idea that, once we can harness something greater than simple fossil fuels, we will be able Read More...
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Yuck. And Let Me Repeat, Yuck

Posted Sunday, October 09, 2005 10:38 AM by johnmont
Sucking blood from your daughter's thumbs . Mega-yuck. Read More...
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Oh, The Irony

Posted Sunday, October 09, 2005 10:36 AM by johnmont
A headline on CNN caught my eye: Clinton inducted into women's hall of fame . That's only because it took me a seond to figure out which Clinton: the safe bet (Hillary) or the ironic bet (Bill). Read More...
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Shrunk/Shrank and Other Grammatical Observations

Posted Sunday, October 09, 2005 8:56 AM by johnmont
Found a useful Web site for my previous post. Nice for a grammar nut like me. Read More...
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You Need a Better Tape Measure

Posted Sunday, October 09, 2005 8:54 AM by johnmont
Everest shrank ? Read More...
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Comcast DVR Trick

Posted Sunday, October 09, 2005 8:50 AM by johnmont
My Comcast DVR learned a new trick: to skip back after fast forwarding. If you're like me, when you watch TV on your DVR you fast forward through the commercials and overshoot the start of your TV show by 10-30 seconds. Well Comcast addressed that with Read More...
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Andreessen Posts on Ning

Posted Saturday, October 08, 2005 10:46 PM by johnmont
I'm not sure why I decided to pick a fight , but Alex Barnett chose to answer my questions, and actually got Marc to respond on his blog . Read More...
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Google and Sun: Room for Interpretation

Posted Saturday, October 08, 2005 4:39 PM by johnmont
I just noticed an article in the NY Times about how the vapidity vaporousness announcement made by Sun and Google has lead to some very different interpretations. When you have no real news, I guess it's better to be vague, that way at least you get to Read More...
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Gentlemen, Start Your Icons

Posted Saturday, October 08, 2005 3:55 PM by johnmont
A minor flame war about whether Microsoft should introduce a "non-standard" icon to IE to represent RSS feeds. I particularly like the post about how Halo 2 rocks. Read More...
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Will Blogs Kill Traditional Press, Part XXVII

Posted Saturday, October 08, 2005 10:37 AM by johnmont
Dan Gillmor has a piece on the changes that blogs wreak on PR. I worked in the computer trade press for a long time. I can remember having a hard time believing that readers would want anything more than a monthly magazine. PC Week proved me wrong. I Read More...
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I'm Glad He Said It, Not Me

Posted Saturday, October 08, 2005 10:33 AM by johnmont
Dave Winer had an unpositive reaction to Google's latest try at understanding blogs, mentioning that it " appears not to have been touched by human beings before it was introduced to the world ." Ouch. Read More...
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This Job May Make You Go Blind

Posted Friday, October 07, 2005 8:34 PM by johnmont
I have no further comment on this one . OK, maybe one comment. But I'll keep it to myself. OK, I won't: Geez, guys, what were you thinking? And what's worse is the comment from their supervisor: "The officers didn't cross that line of engaging in intercourse Read More...
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Does This Mean Two-Minute TV Shows?

Posted Friday, October 07, 2005 8:30 PM by johnmont
A hybrid microwave/TV . Read More...
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Gilder-stern is Dead

Posted Friday, October 07, 2005 8:28 PM by johnmont
Charles Fitzgerald eloquently puts George Gilder in his place. Read More...
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Why ning?

Posted Friday, October 07, 2005 8:08 PM by johnmont
Not to complain or anything, but I don't get Ning . For the past fifteen minutes, I've been clickning through hotornot-like scenarios. Some of them are hysterical (try "Which driver has the smaller penis?") and some are mundane (Which is the better beer?). Read More...
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Superplatforms and Commodities

Posted Friday, October 07, 2005 9:52 AM by johnmont
I'll continue one argument I was having with Jon in the open, just to see what happens. The premise: Open collaboration can relentlessly commoditize things that require a lot of work -- like deep integration -- just because it can mobilize the resources. Read More...
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Why I Blog About Meaningless Things

Posted Friday, October 07, 2005 9:34 AM by johnmont
I was having an email conversation with Jon Udell the other day about the concept of the "superplatform." The first time I saw the term, it was in a Burton Group report claiming that Microsoft had a pretty good one. <aside> I've been at Microsoft Read More...
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As Seen on TV

Posted Thursday, October 06, 2005 8:17 PM by johnmont
A couple of weeks ago, my wife was on Jeopardy. Of course, I joined her, flying to LA to watch the taping of the show. In the process, I learned a few things: The show organizers recommend you stay at the Ramada. I recommend you don't. My feet didn't Read More...
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Just Read It for the Last Paragraph

Posted Thursday, October 06, 2005 8:16 PM by johnmont
It's this kind of humor that I find the best -- something hovering on the irony/satire line. Read More...
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The World is a Strange Place

Posted Thursday, October 06, 2005 8:12 PM by johnmont
Though not much for art, and definitely not much for graffiti, I'm dying to give the FatJab a try. Read More...
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Security Signoff

Posted Tuesday, October 04, 2005 9:19 PM by johnmont
Visual Studio 2005 and .NET Framework 2.0 just passed their final security review in preparation for launch. This is yet another gate these products pass on their way to shipping: a complete review by the Secure Windows Initiative Team. I can almost smell Read More...
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March Toward Launch

Posted Tuesday, October 04, 2005 12:59 PM by johnmont
Yesterday, our customers signed off on our release candidate. In case you don't know, the VS and .NET Framework development teams have a customer board building applications on our beta software and we need them all to say we're good to go before we can Read More...
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Seattle No Longer the Lap Dance of Luxury

Posted Monday, October 03, 2005 9:23 PM by johnmont
Seems the city council decided that lap dances were bad. Now, I'm not a big attendee at strip clubs, so I don't know if this is a big deal. But c'mon fellas: don't we have something important to think about like how we can get yet another monorail bill Read More...
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Call It 32 Inches

Posted Monday, October 03, 2005 9:20 PM by johnmont
My father in law walked up the street to a construction site where they were lowering a house back onto its new foundation and asked them how far apart to place the foundation bolts. Turns out that the builders didn't know where to make the foundation Read More...
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Nuts, Bolts, and Fathers-in-Law

Posted Sunday, October 02, 2005 4:30 PM by johnmont
My father-in-law is in town. Ostensibly he's here to spend time with my wife, but when a guy shows up at my door and hands me a DeWalt belt sander, I know that he's really here for some quality tool time. See, that's what happens when you spend too much Read More...
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