Robot Monkeys

There’s two problems with the address book. First, you can’t set a default email account for entries. It sort of uses the first email for each entry, but you can override it for distribution lists. The default address should be explicitly noted. Furthermore, it should be an easier way to set the default address instead of cutting and pasting the new address over the old address. That’s just dumb.

The second problem is that you can’t tag IM accounts correctly. Users are stuck with AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, and Jabber. Want to enter GTalk? Well, you’re going to have to know that GTalk is Jabber, and ideally enter the full GTalk path so that any Jabber client can connect to it. Want to add a Skype contact? Sorry. You’re SOL. That’s just dumb, especially when you consider that you can add your own labels to the front of the IM, like “home,” “work,” “summer home” or whatever. I don’t know Apple didn’t just add that level of customization to the provider labels.

Seems like there should be a plugin or something that fixes this, but I sure can’t find it.

I hated the original Budweiser ads, but you have admit that it’s pretty cool that’s the original cast.

16 year old kid who allegedly drove drunk and killed a cabbie is to be tried as an adult. He’s to be charged with vehicular manslaughter (among other things), which caries a sentence of 4 to 10 years depending to the particular charge.

The death of the cabbie is a tragedy to be sure, but we’re trying a 16 year old as an adult. This is a kid that can’t vote or join the army because he’s too immature, but commit a crime, that shows he’s totally mature. What the hell is wrong with us?

I remember when they made the big push to be able try kids as adults. It was only going to be for the “hardest of the hard.” The ones who have been in and out of juvie so much that it didn’t matter any more. It was going to be for the kids that were committing crimes at 17 and a half. Hardcore gang bangers and the like. But now? Hell, we’re trying sentencing 14 year olds with no prior record to 3 consecutive life sentence plus 120 years.

What the fuck?

The worst part is, this isn’t going to change because “you’re soft on crime” if you try to correct this absurdity.

Fuck.

Uses don’t understand how to use it. Not a surprise. I tried it an made the exact same mistakes. First, it’s not like MS Passport at all. You don’t use the user and password part. You use a separate blank. And what do you put there? A URL! What URL you ask? Any OpenID supported site. Just so you understand. You want to login to soccermomsonice.com with OpenID, so you find the OpenID blank and type in “yahoo.com”. Sure, you magically login, but it seems really strange, and it only works if you’ve already logged in to so OpenID site from that machine already. It must. How would soccermomsonice.com know that “yahoo.com” means you and not me, when you use my computer?

Destined to fail.

WiREDWired says:

Firms in Poland and Korea are running pod cars on large-scale test tracks, and there are plans to build a system for Masdar City near Abu Dhabi. Here in the States, Ithaca wants to make pod cars part of a long-term transportation program, and officials in Santa Cruz, California, have commissioned the design of a solar-powered pod system that would run between downtown and the beach.

Wha? Really? When? This is the first I heard of it, even though a giant hundreds of million dollar low demand solar powered mass transit system for only a few blocks would be right up The SC City Council’s alley. Googling around all I found was some talk about about “ultra light rail” back in 1996(!) and the SolTrain from 2001. So yeah. It’s dead.

New MacBooks were released today. Just reading the specs, this is what I think:

Keyboard

I was afraid when I saw the keyboard that Apple had done away with backlight keyboards. I love my backlit keyboard, and I couldn’t understand why they’d go with the same one as on the Air and the MacBooks. Luckily, the store.apple says that MacBook Pros still have a backlight.

Buttonless Mouse

Whatever. Normally I’d be a bit suspicious of this, but I suspect that it actually works well given Apple’s track record. Don’t know why they did this, nor why they made it out of glass, nor why they think someone will actually use a four finger gesture.

No 17 inch

That really sucks. Rumor has it that Apple is phasing out the 17 inch, Since they didn’t release one, nor mention them, I’m thinking that’s true. That’s quite unfortunate. I was looking forward to a new 17 inch.

Mini DisplayPort

Why? Now I have to buy another adapter that could get lost just to hook the thing up to a projector. It’s bad enough to have to carry around a DVI-to-VGA adapter just incase, but now I’d have to carry around two adapters, each sold separately. Fuck you Steve Jobs! Another $40 in adapters? Screw that.

Aesthetics

I liked the old all aluminum look on the Pros better.

It’s time for predictions. Stared states are going out on a limb.

Safest 279:
CA CT DE DC HI IL IA ME MD MA MI MN NH NJ NY OH OR PA RI VT WA
WI = 279

Eastern Timezone Win Assuming non EST States: CA OR WA HI IL:
ME NH VT MA RI CT NJ DE MD DC NY PA OH *VA* *FL*

Super Ambitious 372:
CA *CO* CT DE DC *FL* HI IL IA ME MD MA MI MN *MO* *ND* NH NJ NM *NV* NY *NC* OH PA RI VT *VA* WA *WV* WI

Pickups in order of likelihood with resulting EV total:
OH 272
IA 279
NM 284
FL 311
————
VA 324
CO 333
NV 338
NC 353
WV 358
MO 369
ND 372

Dare I say “landslide”? Absolute possibility. Oh, wait. You mean “landslide” in a figurative sense! Oh, then not a chance.

The Golden Gate Bridge Board voted to install suicide prevention nets. The nets will hang underneath the bridge and cost $40 to $50 million.

The GGB has been dubbed a destination site for suicides. So where will they go now? If they’re local, I’m thinking CalTrain.

via Bruce Sterling at WiREDWired