By Ryan McElroy
From adot’s notblog via Bernie Zimmermann, I learned that Adobe had released Acrobat Reader 7. And everyone’s biggest complaint has been adressed: it is much faster. No longer do you have to dread accidentally clicking a pdf link. It was so bad with version 6 for me that I disabled the plugin version, so I wouldn’t have to face the frozen browser syndrome while the acrobat reader of death opened up. Now, I might switch back – its hard to tell, as I’ve gotten used to saving the things, or having more of my screen to see them with. But at least Adobe Acrobat Reader 7 is fast enough to make the decision possible again.
Anyway, to make it easy for you, here is a link to just acrobat reader, with no extra installtion junk attached (like Yahoo companion, etc).
By Ryan McElroy
Stars have been added to protect the the innocentThe guilty…
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tcp 0 0 192.168.10.200:80 66.151.***.7:40173 TIME_WAIT
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tcp 0 0 192.168.10.200:80 24.94.87.***:42617 TIME_WAIT
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tcp 0 0 192.168.10.200:3000 67.160.**.91:1413 ESTABLISHED
tcp 0 0 192.168.10.200:3000 63.205.**.229:49369 ESTABLISHED
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tcp 0 0 192.168.10.200:3000 69.151.***.255:4544 ESTABLISHED
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tcp 0 2248 192.168.10.200:22 4.35.***.36:22376 ESTABLISHED
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tcp 0 0 192.168.10.200:3000 24.94.***.115:42619 ESTABLISHED
By Ryan McElroy
Take a look at this screenshot of what is, for some reason, my favorite game recently. If the server doesn’t crash or get shut down accidently, you can play it yourself.
I propose that we establish a time for everyone to get together and play the game at the same time. Its really a lot more fun with more people. What times are good for people? Maybe every Saturday night at midnight Pacific Standard Time? Let me know!
By Ryan McElroy
Is such a good movie. Go watch it.
By Ryan McElroy
A group conversation over a math project led me to this new task switcher, a very cool little power toy for Windows XP that resembles somewhat the task switching in Mac OS X, with a window preview to help you figure out which window you actually want to switch to, which is especially useful for when you have multiple instances of the same application open. I suggest it to any user of Windows XP.
By Ryan McElroy
Excellent article in today’s Parade magazine by Michael Crichton about the decades of false doomsday predictions he’s seen. It won’t be online until the 13th of December, 2004, but you can read it today by picking up a Sunday Seattle Times/Post-Intelligencer.
In fact, the trend of false doomsday predictions goes back further than even Mr. Chichton points out, but the author is working only from his personal recollections. In fact, way back in the 18th century (1798), Thomas Malthus published his Essay on the Principal of Population, in which he observed “that in nature plants and animals produce far more offspring than can survive, and that Man too is capable of overproducing if left unchecked. Malthus concluded that unless family size was regulated, man’s misery of famine would become globally epidemic and eventually consume Man” (berkley.edu).
As Crichton points out, doomsday predictions have been around for all time. Until we learn to generally ignore them (as Crichton recommends), we will continue to live in fear, and hurt ourselves with legislation reacting to problems that don’t really exist.
By Ryan McElroy
Today I went with Dan to see Pixar’s newest creation, “The Incredibles.” I am a big fan of Toy Story 1 and 2, and I thought A Bug’s Life was also very good. But I was disappointed by Finding Nemo – apparently it appealed to parents, but I found it lacking in the multi-layered storyline and humor that makes Pixars other titles so classic.
And this is where The Incredibles really shines, with a healthy amount of very appropriate social commentary and copious amounts of humor for young and old alike that didn’t feel like it was forced, as I felt Finding Nemo’s attempts at humor often were.
For good laughs, good thinking points, and a good time, I reccomend Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles.
