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Firefoxy form widgets in Firefox 2.0

For those of us used to Philippe Wittenberg's elegant Firefox widgets thanks to Aaron Madion-Kay's Firefoxy app, a Firefox 2.0 compatible version has yet to be released.

If you're lucky enough to own a shiny new Intel Mac, you have the option of downloading an Intel optimized 2.0 build with Firefoxy form widgets courtesy of Neil Lee over on BeatnikPad.

However for those of us still squeezing the power out of a G5 Mac, there is no ready-made build or solution for a Firefox 2.0 build with Firefoxy form widgets.

Until now...

Actually, Aaron Madion-Kay is very helpful on his Firefoxy site in describing where the widgets are located within Firefoxy. While I'd love to be able to offer a new build of Firefoxy, I'm hoping I can offer the next best thing, which is a little video clip demonstrating how I copied the form widgets into Firefox 2.0 by right clicking and selecting "show package contents". Click on the screenshot below to view the short demonstration (2.5 MB Quicktime .mov)

Last.fm + Pandora = Music Heaven

Really digging Pandora and Last.fm. Between these two great services you have all you need to discover and listen to great new music (as well as your favorites).

Did I mention they were FREE?

Midwest Product v2

Finally found the band's info page on the Ghostly International site. Oddly enough there's no link to it on the label's home page and there doesn't appear to be navigation of any sort. So, without doing a Google search there's really no way of finding out that they are indeed on Ghostly's site. Tsk, tsk...

Anyways, here's the link.

Midwest Product

Been a long, long while since I bothered posting (it's not like anyone reads this anyway!), but I feel compelled to write something about a band I've been listening to for the past few months—Midwest Product.

They're an instrumental outfit based in Michigan and frankly it's not easy to gather much info about them. Their website is located at midwestproduct.com. One gets the impression they'd like to remain an enigma. Maybe they'd be open to a site redesign (hint, hint)?

So what do they sound like? Chances are you may have heard one of their songs in one of the recent Hummer commercials. That's what inspired me to find out who they were. Anyways, you could do worse than to imagine early New Order meets Metro Area with a pinch of Radiohead (Kid A) thrown in for good measure. In other words a very cool balance of electronic and live instruments. Good beats to move to along with arrangements that keep the ear and brain interested.

I hope they come to New York in the near future as I'd most definitely check them out.

Now if only they were looking for a lead singer...

Adobe to Buy Macromedia for $3.4 Billion

IF this goes through, could this spell doomsday for Designers and Developers?

I've been trying very hard to see the "bright side" of this monopoly, but it ain't happening.

One can only hope that this will inspire new upstarts to compete with the Adobe/Macro megacorp and kindle innovation.

Device lets you out-Fox your TV

From the Seattle Times...

It's not that Sam Kimery objects to the views expressed on Fox News Channel. The creator of the "Fox Blocker" contends the network is not news at all.

Kimery says he has sold about 100 of the little silver bits of metal that screw into the back of most televisions, allowing people to filter Fox News from their sets. The Tulsa, Okla., resident also has received thousands of e-mails, both angry and complimentary, as well as a few death threats since the device debuted in August.

"Apparently the making of terroristic threats against those who don't share your views is a high art form among a certain core audience," said Kimery, 45.

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Formerly a registered Republican, even a precinct captain, Kimery became an independent in the 1990s when he said the state party stopped taking input from everyday members.

Kimery now contends Fox News' top-level management dictates a conservative journalistic bias, that inaccuracies never are retracted, and what airs is more opinion than news.

"I might as well be reading tabloids out of the grocery store," he said. "Anything to get a rise out of the viewer and to reinforce certain retrograde notions."

A Fox spokeswoman at the station's New York headquarters said the channel's ratings speak for themselves. For the first three months of this year, Fox has averaged 1.62 million viewers in prime-time, compared with CNN's 805,000, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Kimery's motives go deeper than preventing people from watching the channel, which he acknowledges can be done without the Blocker. But he likens his device to burning a draft card, a tangible example of disagreement.

And he's taking this message to the network's advertisers. After buying the $8.95 device online, would-be blockers are shown a letter that they can send to advertisers via the Fox Blocker site.

"The point is not to block the channel or block free speech but to raise awareness," said Kimery, who works in the high-tech industry.

Kimery doesn't use the device; he occasionally feels the need to tune into Fox News for something "especially heinous."

Business could pick up since the blocker was alluded to in a recent episode of the ABC drama "Boston Legal." The show's original script mentioned Fox News, but ABC removed the references.

The boisterous conversations on Fox News may be why the station is so popular, said Matthew Felling, media director for the Center for Media and Public Affairs, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media watchdog group. And despite a perception that Fox leans to the right, Felling said, that doesn't mean people who lean left should tune out.

"It's tough to engage in an argument when you're not participating in it," Felling said. "It's just one more layer in the wall that the right and the left are building in between each other."

14 Defining Characteristics Of Fascism

Gil C. Schmidt posted this on discuss04.com and I found it to be a bit of an eye-opener. So much so, I thought I should mirror his post here. Gil's comments are in parenthesis following each of Dr. Britt's 14 characteristics.

Fourteen Defining Characteristics Of Fascism
By Dr. Lawrence Britt

Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

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Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
(U.S. under Bush: Close)

Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
(U.S. under Bush: CHECK. See Abu Graib & Guantánamo.)

Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
(U.S. under Bush: CHECK.)

Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
(U.S. under Bush: CHECK)

Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.
(U.S. under Bush: CHECK. See 2004 Election Results in 11 States with anti-gay marriage proposals.)

Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
(U.S. under Bush: Close, but not very much so. Maybe.)

Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
(U.S. under Bush: CHECK. See latest Alert Level.)

Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.
(U.S. under Bush: CHECK.)

Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
(U.S. under Bush: CHECK! CHECK!)

Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
(U.S. under Bush: Close, but just beneath my CHECK level.)

Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.
(U.S. under Bush: Not really: Attacking intellectuals is seen as a weak method of arguing against liberal ideas, and higher education in the U.S. is a provider of brain power to conservatives, as well as liberals.)

Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
(U.S. under Bush: Close, and on the tipping point for some time.)

Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
(U.S. under Bush: CHECK! CHECK!)

Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
(U.S. under Bush: CHECK! CHECK! CHECK! CHECK! The Court determined that the last three “CHECKS” were discarded for not being sufficiently clear as to intent.)

State of Alert - new Radio 4 video

My brother-in-law's band, Radio 4, has a brand new video making the rounds on MTV2 - and it's a damn good one.

From Anthony:

Roman here. Since I am currently under the weather and have very little to do, I am writing to request that you vote for our new video "State of Alert" on MTV Europe. I know it may seem that voting will get you nowhere these days, but you can exercise some of your anti-Bush sentiments by voting for this video. The song "State of Alert" is an indictment of the Bush regime and their willingness to use the fear of America to further their agenda and win elections (I still can't believe that happened). The video was expertly directed by our buddy Chris Cassidy and is by far the most overtly political thing that Radio 4 has done on screen. We are very proud of his work on this one. Since this voting is for MTV overseas it would be nice for Europeans to see that most of us are far from supporting this awful, awful man who is still our president.

You can check out the video using the following links...

RealPlayer: hi-bandwidth lo-bandwidth
Windows Media Player: hi-bandwidth lo-bandwidth

Please make sure to vote for State of Alert on the MTV 2 NME chart.

No, it's not a Rorschach test...

It's actually a 2004 election map that Tufte would be proud of.

Maps and cartograms of the 2004 US presidential election results by Michael Gastner, Cosma Shalizi, and Mark Newman of the University of Michigan is a must see for all, especially those of us recovering from post-election depression.

2004's Scariest Halloween Costumes

Absolutely hilarious!

A Do-It-Yourself Guide to This Season's Quickest, Least Expensive, and Spooky-Ookiest Halloween Costumes - by Dan Savage and David Schmader. Photographs by John E. Hollingsworth.

Energizer Quick Switch: Now That's A Flashlight

Flashlight Takes Batteries of Any Size

It's amazing that it took this long for someone to design a flashlight that could take batteries of any size. kudos to the dude who thought this one up. come to think of it, it was probably a woman.

The G5 is here!

It finally arrived today. i had it delivered to my office to ensure that someone would be here. But because things have been hectic here at work I haven't had a chance to crack open the box. Can't wait to get home later tonight and hook this baby up!

I'm going to have to stop by Staples to pick up a Firewire cable so that I can use Target Disk Mode to copy the files on my G4 over to my G5.

I'm also wondering if i should partition the drive (250 GB) before I do anything. I think this would require a reinitializing the drive and a reinstall of all software - which quite frankly could be a PITA and a huge chunk of time.

anyone have any advice?

Funny T-shirt & site

sweetjesusihatebilloreilly.com

I had to buy one. :)

Apple misses another ship date

The funny thing is that I expected this email to come yesterday - the day before the revised ship date. When it didn't arrive I became excited that my new G5 might very well be shipping today. The fact that Apple sent this email late in the day of the revised ship date is somewhat sadistic.

Note to self: do not mark August 30th down in your calendar.

To Our Valued Apple Customer:

Thank you for ordering the Power Mac G5!

The demand for this item has been incredible. We are shipping them as quickly as possible, but cannot meet the ship date we previously estimated for you. We now expect to ship your Power Mac on or before August 30th. Your satisfaction is important to us and we appreciate your patience and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this delay has caused you.

Please rest assured that we fulfill all orders in the order they are received.

rest assured my a$$...

The Scenic Route

I drive by this view in Somers, NY several times a week and since summer started I've been telling myself that I have to bring my camera with me so that I can capture the vibrant colors.

I finally did on Friday and luckily enough it was a sunny day. In a classic display of Murphy's Law, as soon as I started taking pictures with my Nikon Coolpix 990, the low-battery warning light came on. What then happens is that the camera automatically shuts off.

So for several minutes I did this dance of turning on the camera and trying to focus and take a picture before the camera shut off.

I wasn't too successful, but I think the above shot came out pretty decent. I'll have to buy some AA batteries and try it again another day...