Vista update warning

Typical.

"Microsoft is warning Windows Vista users that a forthcoming service pack for the operating system may stop some third-party programs working.

The software giant has released a list of programs that may be broken by the SP1 update for Vista.

Most of the software hit by the upgrade are security programs that prevent Windows users falling prey to viruses, trojans and booby-trapped webpages.

The Windows Vista update will be released to the public in mid-March." -- bbc.co.uk

So not only will the forthcoming Vista update break some 3rd party software, but six of the twelve programs listed protect against viruses and malware. Geee, why not break a few firewall programs, too? That way Microsoft can chop off all three components of home computer security.

These aren't software from no name companies, either; the list includes security software from Zone Alarm and Trend Micro.

Programs hit by Vista SP1:

• BitDefender AV
• Fujitsu Shock Sensor
• Jiangmin KV Antivirus 10
• Jiangmin KV Antivirus 2008
• Trend Micro Internet Security
• Zone Alarm Security Suite
• Iron Speed Designer
• Xheo Licensing
• Free Allegiance
• NYT Reader
• Rising Personal Firewall
• Novell ZCM Agent

Technically, Microsoft may not be obligated to make sure Vista is compatible - that's up to the 3rd parties - but my guess is that a large number of Vista users affected will blame Microsoft, rightly or wrongly. I hope Microsoft is making every effort to help 3rd parties update their own software to reflect changes with Vista SP1.

Florida finally accepts evolution

I have to admit I was shocked when I read this article:

"TALLAHASSEE, Florida - Florida's State Board of Education has voted to use the term "scientific theory of evolution" in its new science standards, the first time the word "evolution" has been included.

Florida's current standards require the teaching of evolution using code words like "change over time."

Religious conservatives oppose the teaching of evolution or want schools to also teach religious ideas of creationism or intelligent design, which says the universe is so complex that science alone cannot explain the origins of life.

A Gallup poll released in June said America is about evenly split over whether evolution is true, despite decades of overwhelming scientific evidence that it is." --msnbc

It's not like I'm not aware of the large number of Americans who fail to give credence to the theory of evolution despite the scientific evidence. Nevertheless I'm always dismayed and surprised whenever I'm reminded of this fact. Learning that an actual state board of education had been playing word games in refusing to use "evolution" in its science standards was extremely disappointing and depressing.

84% of Americans believe global warming is occurring; despite the scientific evidence behind evolution being even more robust than that behind global warming, only 15% believe humans evolved without divine intervention.

Ugh. We can add that 30% of this year's candidates for the Republican nominee for President of the United States don't believe in evolution, either. Double ugh.

Street-race crash kills seven

Earlier today in Prince George's County, MD:

"ACCOKEEK, Maryland (AP) -- A car plowed into a crowd that had gathered to watch a street race on a suburban road early Saturday, killing seven people and injuring at least four, police said.

Seven people were killed when a car veered into a crowd that had assembled to watch an illegal street race.

Witnesses said they had just watched two cars in the illegal street race speed past when a car without any lights on came up behind them and veered into a crowd of about 50. [...]

A white sedan hit people standing on the side of Route 210 around 3:40 a.m., Prince George's County Police Cpl. Clinton Copeland said, but it wasn't clear whether that was one of the cars involved in the race. [...] Route 210 has two lanes in each direction and traffic lights about every 150 to 200 yards in Accokeek, about 20 miles south of Washington."-cnn.com

Yahoo > Google

Once again despite Google's so-called dominance as a search engine, in my view Yahoo definitely comes out on top. Using the search term "2004 vw golf r32" on Yahoo, my website comes up listed as numero uno. :o) With Google, on the other hand, I don't show up for at least the six first pages.

Yahoo came out on top versus Google a while back, as well (Yahoo versus Google). Using the same search term now as I did then, "2004 golf r32", I come up at number four rather than the fifteenth placement of a couple years ago. With Google this blog shows up at 39.

Nifty, eh? I'm easily amused.

Volkswagen ads

Here are some Volkswagen ads I've uploaded. Two for the VW Polo and another for the 2008 VW MkV Golf R32. I think the first one is the funniest. :o)




Some more R32 and VW ads and VW videos

Gmail and aliases

Today I learned that a single gmail account has unlimited aliases - a very useful feature. E-mail aliases are a great way to keep track of which and where websites distribute your e-mail address.

How does this work? If my e-mail address is "email@gmail.com", then any e-mail addressed to "email+xxxxx@gmail.com" will be sent to the former address. As an example, if a website, say "checkers.com" requires an e-mail address, I could give them "email+checkers@gmail.com".

Any email checkers.com sends me will be sent using "email+checkers@gmail.com" but I'll still receive their e-mail by logging into my "email@gmail.com" account. With the appropriate use of filters this will make organizing e-mail much easier. Furthermore, if checkers.com were to give my e-mail address to another website, I should be able to know that it was checkers.com (and not some other website I signed-up for) that shared my e-mail address by virtue of the "sent to" field, as long as I give an unique alias to each site - easily done since as mentioned above gmail allows unlimited aliases.

Pretty neat, eh? Well, at least I think so. :o)

Site visitors in January 2008

Here are the top 5 site visitors, listed by countries, in January 2008:

1) USA.
2) Canada.
3) an European country.
4) Great Britain.
5) Australia.

Full list of visitors for January 2008.

Visitor data for previous months.