Reverend Matthias

2:26pm: MS misreads the signs

I'm glad, the ads take the pressure off Apple. They don't need market pressure forcing their prices lower. The MacBook for $999 is a steal, considering how much more you get than you would with a PC. And besides, I like being part of an elite club :)

Apple Legal Demanded Microsoft Stop Laptop Hunters Ads

Thursday July 16, 2009 12:52 AM

According to comments made by Kevin Turner, Microsoft's Chief Operating Officer, Apple's legal department reportedly contacted Microsoft to stop running the Laptop Hunters ads. According to Turner:

And you know why I know they're working? Because two weeks ago we got a call from the Apple legal department saying, hey -- this is a true story -- saying, "Hey, you need to stop running those ads, we lowered our prices." They took like $100 off or something. It was the greatest single phone call in the history that I've ever taken in business. (Applause.)

I did cartwheels down the hallway. At first I said, "Is this a joke? Who are you?" Not understanding what an opportunity. And so we're just going to keep running them and running them and running them.

Microsoft's Laptop Hunter ads have been the source of a lot of discussion here on MacRumors. The ads present customers who are looking for a laptop within a specific budget, and specifically target Apple's higher price points as compared to the PCs featured in the ads.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

10:20pm: Just trying out the ljapp

Well, it looks reasonably good. I'll try posting a photo.

--Matthew

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

6:00am: Oh man, I wish we'd lost the cold war...

10:44pm: 10 years of Dr. Manhattan

10:28pm: My new house
My new house. :)

11:41am: How to "pop-'n'-lock"
Learn now!


I now have 30mbps internet all to myself.... thank god I can finally load ridiculous videos off the interweb at bitch-ass-fast speed! :)

--Matthew

10:20pm: The History of the Internet

History of the Internet from PICOL on Vimeo.

9:59pm: Panic!
( Breaking News: Series Of Concentric Circles Emanating From Glowing Red Dot )

11:36pm: RNC White Album track list
Anyone know the track listing for that RNC "White Album" that's pissing people off so much?

7:12pm: Social Networking vs. email
Interesting essay I found on Slashdot:

It used to be that normal users got an e-mail account from their ISP, and hardcore users either paid a monthly fee for POP3 service from elsewhere, or ran their own server. Many Slashdotters run our own servers, obviously, but that option isn't available to the masses. The trouble with using an account from your ISP, of course, is that when you switch ISPs, you have to change e-mail addresses, which is a HUGE pain in the ass - and when your ISP gets bought out and renamed, they force you to change e-mail addresses even if you never change ISPs willingly. This has happened enough that people have caught on, and realized that ISP-provided e-mail is a bad choice. Additionally, ISPs are in the business of providing connectivity; they're not really focussed on providing good e-mail service, so many of them do a poor job.

So, when the average consumer decides not to use their ISP's e-mail service, they turn to a free option (because really, when there are free options out there, who would pay money?). The free ones are all ad-supported, so they pretty much have to be web-based. Sure, some of them have started offering POP3 access, but they don't make this obvious, because they want everyone to use their webmail service and see all those banners.

As a result of this, when the average user thinks of "e-mail", they think of visiting a web site, entering their login credentials, and viewing a web page that lists all of their messages, then clicking one to display it, on a web page. To them, this is how e-mail works. Many of them have never known anything else. Maybe they use Outlook at work, but without an IT department maintaining an Exchange server, they don't feel this option is available to them at home; Outlook is viewed as a work-related tool along with custom in-house applications and any other specialized tools related to their job, not something they could use on their own. They've never heard of Thunderbird or Eudora. Windows Mail (formerly Outlook Express) came preinstalled on their computer, but they wouldn't know what to do with it; like Outlook (which also came preinstalled with Office), these programs ask for settings information about an account that the user doesn't have.

So, when "e-mail" means logging into a web site, what does it matter whether that web site is Hotmail, Yahoo, MySpace, or Facebook? They all offer a similar interface. They all show you a list of friends you can communicate with, but on Hotmail and Yahoo it's called an "address book" and it's more difficult to set up and use than Facebook or MySpace.

To a Slashdotter, the idea of communicating with the world exclusively via MySpace sounds like some sort of torture dreamt up in the darkest circles of Hell, but the average person doesn't know any better. They have absolutely no idea why we would be in any way opposed to doing the same thing. They don't see why being able to run any e-mail client we want is important; they don't even know what that means. They don't care that we run our own servers; they don't know what that means either, except that it's something really geeky. If we don't want to use MySpace, they think it's probably because we're anti-social.

So, for those of you thinking e-mail will someday be replaced with something better... the future is now. Social networking sites are here, and they're already replacing e-mail.

--Matthew

12:41am: She doesn't realize our places are changed.. it's cute ;)

4:33am: I remember seeing this question and giggling
A task in the University Physics coursebook by Young and Freedman concerns Arrakis (#16.38): On the planet Arrakis a male ornithoid is flying towards his mate at 25 m/s while singing at a frequency of 1200 Hz. If the stationary female hears a tone of 1240 Hz, what is the speed of sound in the atmosphere of Arrakis?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrakis#Arrakis in popular culture

1:05am: "Shapiro went down like an accordion in sneakers"
My dad in the news

http://www.newstimes.com/ci_7287337

ABOVE the fold!

1:13pm: What they're after is economy of manpower.

2:34am: 2007 Breakthrough Awards - Top Innovators
There are some really cool ideas demonstrated here.. including telescoping helicopter blades. Of course, for a scientist Mr. Farhan Gandhi commits a deadly sin: he utters the phrase "centrifugal force" as a legitimate force. Simple bastard. Watch him blaspheme: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4224761.html?series=37

11:36pm: What a stereotype..

• Russian serial killer uses the promise of free vodka to lure his prey, keeps a log of his kills on a chess board
  http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/09/14/russia.trial.ap/index.html

10:22am: Medical Sounds
I recall seeing these on a movie or tv show recently-- I can't recall exactly, but I remember one character asking another what they were for, and being told that they go in your hair. That's a novel use for 'em, but they're meant to stretch the urethra.

http://www.stationhouse.com/outpost/includes/h_images/medical_sounds.jpg

--Matthew

10:19am: Russian Scientists Discover Radiation-Absorbing Mineral
http://www.russiatoday.ru/news/news/13304

*cough*bullshit*cough*

9:20am: World of Warcraft
I refused to like this game, even as I handed over $19.99 for a copy with a free month of playing.. but it's rather addictive.

Anyhow, check out the caption for the last image; it is mostly a large green square.
https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/basics/death.html

--Matthew

6:41pm: Couple of videos
From my father: http://www.break.com/index/how-to-untangle-mp3-headphones.html

And closer to home, Requiem for a Snack

11:35am: Overheard in NYC
REAL CLASS: http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/010706.html

10:19am: Looks like Worf's son is a hood in real life, too
http://imdb.com/name/nm0095176/
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gFhZV0h6uj6UFvo300GbLwqmmiTA

3:50pm: fresh
Today was a very good day. Pooh would be proud, glad to know his secret's shared.

I forgot that I rarely take down my away message. Tonight I did and made a new friend, of ( sorts. )

The sky was brilliant tonight. The cloud cover over the hills held me as I walked home from Jeff's. The moon blazed through, bright, eager. Expectant? I tried to share it with my roommate, but he told me it must mean the apocalypse is coming, giant robots to destroy the earth. An odd fellow. So I called Danielle at 1 am -- asshole that I am -- but the sky needed to be seen, and I knew she'd appreciate it.

9:08pm: Welcome to the Hellmouth
I'm sitting out on my front stoop, talking to my flatmate, a fine gent named Jarrad, via AIM.

Jarrad [9:05]: you do realize we are like 10 ft away
Matthias [9:05]: yea
Jarrad [9:05]: hokay
Matthias [9:05]: welcome to WPI

10:57am: 9 Most-Typecast Actors
About Sammy L.:

Samuel L. Jackson will fuck you up, motherfucker, and that’s about all you need to know about him. He is the quintessential threatening black man, screaming obscenities roughly 47 percent of the time he is onscreen (the other 53 percent is divided roughly between kicking ass and scoffing at whatever white guy is suggesting that he bother taking names).

http://www.cracked.com/index.php?name=News&sid=2275