Someone put dirt into our mailbox during the night, so I started to write about random acts. It is nice to live in a country where even this kind of little nuisance is uncommon. Cleaning up the mailbox was a welcome diversion, so all turned out well.

I edited my short list of books for those who are interested in learning to write. I used the new Watson Amazon tool for checking the author data on the books, because I was too lazy to start picking out the books from my bookshelf.

Add the date to the menubar in 10.2 [Mac OS X Hints]

I had used a previous hint for Mac OS X 10.1, but lost the modification when upgrading to Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2). I'll try this new trick - I like to see the date on the menubar.

No, No, No to Nokia's Videophone: "Nokia's new videophone may look good and feel good, but it isn't doing much for industry analysts, who predict the product will be a complete flop. By Elisa Batista." [Wired News]

This is interesting. It seems that Nokia has been quilty of hyping the product, which will not even be available for several months. The features certainly look all right, but it the use is too expensive and the services are not available, then this thing will flop.

Someone put dirt into our mailbox during the night, so I started to write about random acts. It is nice to live in a country where even this kind of little nuisance is uncommon. Cleaning up the mailbox was a welcome diversion, so all turned out well.

I edited my short list of books for those who are interested in learning to write. I used the new Watson Amazon tool for checking the author data on the books, because I was too lazy to start picking out the books from my bookshelf.

Add the date to the menubar in 10.2 [Mac OS X Hints]

I had used a previous hint for Mac OS X 10.1, but lost the modification when upgrading to Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2). I'll try this new trick - I like to see the date on the menubar.

No, No, No to Nokia's Videophone: "Nokia's new videophone may look good and feel good, but it isn't doing much for industry analysts, who predict the product will be a complete flop. By Elisa Batista." [Wired News]

This is interesting. It seems that Nokia has been quilty of hyping the product, which will not even be available for several months. The features certainly look all right, but it the use is too expensive and the services are not available, then this thing will flop.

Someone put dirt into our mailbox during the night, so I started to write about random acts. It is nice to live in a country where even this kind of little nuisance is uncommon. Cleaning up the mailbox was a welcome diversion, so all turned out well.

I edited my short list of books for those who are interested in learning to write. I used the new Watson Amazon tool for checking the author data on the books, because I was too lazy to start picking out the books from my bookshelf.

Add the date to the menubar in 10.2 [Mac OS X Hints]

I had used a previous hint for Mac OS X 10.1, but lost the modification when upgrading to Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2). I'll try this new trick - I like to see the date on the menubar.

Add the date to the menubar in 10.2 [Mac OS X Hints]

I had used a previous hint for Mac OS X 10.1, but lost the modification when upgrading to Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2). I'll try this new trick - I like to see the date on the menubar.

Add the date to the menubar in 10.2 [Mac OS X Hints]

I had used a previous hint for Mac OS X 10.1, but lost the modification when upgrading to Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2). I'll try this new trick - I like to see the date on the menubar.

Someone put dirt into our mailbox during the night, so I started to write about random acts. It is nice to live in a country where even this kind of little nuisance is uncommon. Cleaning up the mailbox was a welcome diversion, so all turned out well.

I edited my short list of books for those who are interested in learning to write. I used the new Watson Amazon tool for checking the author data on the books, because I was too lazy to start picking out the books from my bookshelf.

Add the date to the menubar in 10.2 [Mac OS X Hints]

I had used a previous hint for Mac OS X 10.1, but lost the modification when upgrading to Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2). I'll try this new trick - I like to see the date on the menubar.

Someone put dirt into our mailbox during the night, so I started to write about random acts. It is nice to live in a country where even this kind of little nuisance is uncommon. Cleaning up the mailbox was a welcome diversion, so all turned out well.

I edited my short list of books for those who are interested in learning to write. I used the new Watson Amazon tool for checking the author data on the books, because I was too lazy to start picking out the books from my bookshelf.

Someone put dirt into our mailbox during the night, so I started to write about random acts. It is nice to live in a country where even this kind of little nuisance is uncommon. Cleaning up the mailbox was a welcome diversion, so all turned out well.

I edited my short list of books for those who are interested in learning to write. I used the new Watson Amazon tool for checking the author data on the books, because I was too lazy to start picking out the books from my bookshelf.

Someone put dirt into our mailbox during the night, so I started to write about random acts. It is nice to live in a country where even this kind of little nuisance is uncommon. Cleaning up the mailbox was a welcome diversion, so all turned out well.

I edited my short list of books for those who are interested in learning to write. I used the new Watson Amazon tool for checking the author data on the books, because I was too lazy to start picking out the books from my bookshelf.

Someone put dirt into our mailbox during the night, so I started to write about random acts. It is nice to live in a country where even this kind of little nuisance is uncommon. Cleaning up the mailbox was a welcome diversion, so all turned out well.

I edited my short list of books for those who are interested in learning to write. I used the new Watson Amazon tool for checking the author data on the books, because I was too lazy to start picking out the books from my bookshelf.

Someone put dirt into our mailbox during the night, so I started to write about random acts. It is nice to live in a country where even this kind of little nuisance is uncommon. Cleaning up the mailbox was a welcome diversion, so all turned out well.

Someone put dirt into our mailbox during the night, so I started to write about random acts. It is nice to live in a country where even this kind of little nuisance is uncommon. Cleaning up the mailbox was a welcome diversion, so all turned out well.

Someone put dirt into our mailbox during the night, so I started to write about random acts. It is nice to live in a country where even this kind of little nuisance is uncommon. Cleaning up the mailbox was a welcome diversion, so all turned out well.

Someone put dirt into our mailbox during the night, so I started to write about random acts. It is nice to live in a country where even this kind of little nuisance is uncommon. Cleaning up the mailbox was a welcome diversion, so all turned out well.

osOpinion writes: "And product activation on Windows XP
arguably seemed to imply that all Microsoft users were potential thieves who could not be trusted to abide by their licensing agreements.

To rub salt into the wound, Microsoft has used Windows XP and Passport as a way to start controlling how users manage their data and computers. Now, the implication is that we're not only thieves, but also incompetents who need a big brother to watch over us and manage our data.

In spite of Microsoft's extensive PR campaign extolling the advantages of the company's new model, anyone who understands computers can appreciate the potential dangers of Microsoft's strategies."

Well said, but even this is only part of the picture. Microsoft is at its best in difficult situations, and this is probably once again a situation where the behemoth will eventually win the game, set, and match.

Last post for today. I have done some experiments with the new options available in Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2). For example, you can set more view attributes for the Finder desktop than were available previously. Also, the settings take effect more smoothly than previously. Now a lot more information fits on my desktop.

I'm also practicing the Command-< shortcut for cycling windows. Takes some practice to get used to, but at least it seems to work in all Aqua programs. This is something I have missed. Of course, the key combination Command-~ has been available on US keyboard, but it doesn't help with "foreign" keyboard layouts.

One feature which I also have learned to like: the automatic spell checker for English, which works also within OmniWeb, even inside web forms. This helps in catching trivial miss-spellings, but of course is not a substitute for reading what you have written.

osOpinion writes: "And product activation on Windows XP
arguably seemed to imply that all Microsoft users were potential thieves who could not be trusted to abide by their licensing agreements.

To rub salt into the wound, Microsoft has used Windows XP and Passport as a way to start controlling how users manage their data and computers. Now, the implication is that we're not only thieves, but also incompetents who need a big brother to watch over us and manage our data.

In spite of Microsoft's extensive PR campaign extolling the advantages of the company's new model, anyone who understands computers can appreciate the potential dangers of Microsoft's strategies."

Well said, but even this is only part of the picture. Microsoft is at its best in difficult situations, and this is probably once again a situation where the behemoth will eventually win the game, set, and match.

osOpinion writes: "And product activation on Windows XP
arguably seemed to imply that all Microsoft users were potential thieves who could not be trusted to abide by their licensing agreements.

To rub salt into the wound, Microsoft has used Windows XP and Passport as a way to start controlling how users manage their data and computers. Now, the implication is that we're not only thieves, but also incompetents who need a big brother to watch over us and manage our data.

In spite of Microsoft's extensive PR campaign extolling the advantages of the company's new model, anyone who understands computers can appreciate the potential dangers of Microsoft's strategies."

Well said, but even this is only part of the picture. Microsoft is at its best in difficult situations, and this is probably once again a situation where the behemoth will eventually win the game, set, and match.

To celebrate the finishing of our book on numerical methods (written in Finnish), I'll post the cover picture here.

The book was sent for printing today, and the second edition will appear in two weeks. Editing and writing the book has been a rewarding experience, although it has sometimes been a bit tiring. But I managed to browse through the book one more time, and found additional five missprints. That is not too much in a 415-page book. I made the corrections also to the PDF version of the book available online.

Apple: MS media player shows anti-standards behavior [MacCentral]

I think Apple is on the right track here, and Microsoft is up to the old tricks: copying, corrupting, and extinguishing alternatives. But it is not at all clear that openness and standards will actually win.

Watson update adds Google search, Jaguar support [MacCentral]

As I already noted, this is a nice update. Well done, Karelia!

Credit Card Theft Feared In Windows Flaw: "Microsoft issued a security alert, calling the flaw "critical." The flaw affects how more than a dozen Microsoft products, including programs for Windows and the Macintosh, handle digital certificates, which are used to certify the authenticity of a Web site or of software code." (CNET News.com via MyAppleMenu) [MyAppleMenu]

It seems that the world is increasingly insecure, at least to users of MS software. However, I hope we are not going to start demanding too much from technology: the reliability of systems depends most of all on the people using and caring for them.

Apple Offers Free Gifts To .Mac Members: "Apple has started offering .Mac members 100 free 4x6 Kodak prints through the iPhoto print service and a free copy of the popular puzzle game, Alchemy Deluxe." (MacMinute via MyAppleMenu) [MyAppleMenu]

I didn't find any mention of the Kodak prints, but the game was available. Haven't tried it, though. Most important fact is that Apple has addressed some of the original shortcomings of the .Mac service: problems accessing the site, difficulties with the Backup package, etc.

Math = beauty + truth / (really hard): "Explaining what the winners of the world's top awards in mathematics actually do isn't as easy as adding 2+2. But we'll give it a try." [Salon.com]

This is an easy-to-understand description of the work the recent recipients of the Fields medals have done in mathematics.

I just upgraded to Watson 1.5.5 and downloaded the Google and Amazon
tools. Impressive work! It was easy to configure the Google
account (I had a license key ready, but anyway...). Both tools are easy to use and very nice looking.

I sent email to Dan Wood at Karelia thanking the company for a job well done. This product is becoming more and more indispensable.

Mac OS X Hints contained the following hint.

Run a screensaver on your desktop with the command (all on one line)

/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/
ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine -background

The writer also recommended the Marine Aquarium screensaver. I tried this, and it works, but is too heavy on an older Mac. You need a Quartz Extreme capable Mac and a fast processor to enjoy the experience. But the Marine Aquarium screensaver is a good buy regardless. Have been using it for some time without any problems whatever.

There is a detailed review of Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2) at Ars Technica. The review contains many practical hints, a clear explanation of Quartz Extreme, and many other useful items.

If you have a Finnish keyboard, you can use with Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2) the key combination Command < (or Command >) to cycle windows. This works in Mail, OmniWeb, etc.

I made some modifications to the weblog templates. I hope everything was updated correctly. I'm not yet completely familiar with all aspects of Radio. For example, I'm using the blogroll macro, and have not yet discovered how to get the pages updated automatically when the .opml file is updated. I have to rename the .opml file and then the update takes place immediately.

Found today a site with lots of information about a dangerous modern cult:

http://www.xenu.net/

A must for science fiction readers. ;-)

"A website: anything you read in a browser.
A weblog: a website with a calendar." (From the "Radio" documentation.) Nice definitions, if a bit loose.

I read today through some documentation about Radio:
What is a Weblog? and
Of Weblogs and Websites. Should have read this already in the beginning of using Radio.

The Greek have a problem with playing computer games:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=5206

ACM Ubiquity had an interesting article titled The Somatic Engineer. The social skills of engineers are certainly lacking also in Finland. Would this be the way to train students to handle confrontations and difficult situations in the workplace?

Another positive Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2) experience: Grading Jaguar.

Lessig on Freedom: Use It or Lose It: "Trying to rally the troops--will anyone do more than listen?" [Linux Journal]

Another article about the Lessig speech. This time the piece focuses more on the content of the speech than on the way it was presented. Time gives perspective, perhaps.

A Perl script to automate screen captures [Mac OS X Hints]

Seems a straightforward solution to automating screen captures. Have to try at some point.

Today I finished editing the second edition of our book titled Numerical Methods in Practice ("Numeeriset menetelmät käytännössä", written in Finnish). The book is available on the web in PDF format at the address

http://www.csc.fi/oppaat/num.kayt/

There are two PDF files: the whole book, about 6.3 MB, and the introductory chapters plus appendixes, about 800 kB. There are 415 pages in the book, only 29 more than in the first edition. New topics include wavelets, the Fourier transform, and adaptive FEM. The printed version will appear this Fall.

Postmodernism generator produces research papers you could try submitting to sociology journals...

Last summer I was refereeing, editing and organizing a conference. I notice that Springer had recently updated the data on the proceedings.

The name of the book is "Applied Parallel Computing: Advanced Scientific Computing", and it has 612 pages. Springer wrote nice description of the proceedings: "The 50 revised full papers presented together with nine keynote lectures were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in the proceedings."

Actually, the timetable was strict and it was lucky we managed to do the refereeing, editing, author correspondence etc. on time. However, the resulting book was much better than I expected in the first refereeing phase.

I started to wonder about the algorithm used in the Mail spam filter on Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2). There is also a tool called bogofilter
(http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/bogofilter/). This software is based on Bayesian statistics. See article "A Plan for Spam" by Paul Graham
(http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html).

So far the spam filter of Mail has generated one false positive in 15 mails, and it missed two or three spam messages.

Lycos finance: "Software security widely used for Internet banking and e-commerce can be easily circumvented, and customer accounts at several of Sweden's largest banks remain at risk as a result, a computer expert said on 26 Aug 2002. The Swedish hacking expert, who is well known in computer security circles, but asked not to be named, demonstrated to Reuters how it was possible
within minutes to break through security on Web server SSL software from Microsoft Corp. He showed how to crack the security systems for Internet banking, breaking into three of Sweden's big four banks in quick succession. He was then able to show how to conceal his tracks, making detection difficult afterward." [Source: Peter Andersson, Reuters, 26 Aug 2002; PGN-ed]

Hugo Awards have been given. I wish I had time to read even some of the awarded fiction.

Intellectual Property Duties: "William Blake didn't stop writing in 1818. It just looks that way because his antejerusalem manuscripts were destroyed after his death and before his most fervent admirers were born." [via http://boingboing.net/]

Blog Drone writes: "Tom had bought a bottle of vodka while we were in line so we brought that back up to his room with some juice from the soda machine. Being given a revelation from god while we were talking on the phone-one that she felt a strong urge to pass on to me. Getting here a different way would mean almost certainly being a different person :-( You will almost certainly fail to live up to these ideals so you will be acutely disappointed in yourself. And you will most certainly never be so crass as to physically threaten me with your crude little toys. But he will be in southern california next weekend when im there and that could most certainly be amusing. This was when i was living in southern california and my mom was still married to my real father. When i was living in nice the entire postal system went on strike? That means that while i was living in my moms house i bought an average of 150 comics a year... That means that i only have 2 12 books left to read this semester. It breaks me to be so far from him but i only have a month left then we will have each other :-(

Yes it was an awful thing to do but she probably didnt mean it to embarass me. I think her coming was definitely a positive thing she awakened a lot in me even if it was painful at first and thats probably why it was so :0 I think i need to apologize to u for not being overly happy when i got off the phone with u last nighti was feeling a bit of my jealousy issues coming up. Okay let me think about what i need to do so that i can sort it out in my head and be all organized and stuff ;) As the days passed i began to think about what she had said. But it is done and i am glad even on the days when my love of you is so consuming i cannot eat. I been before but it is different when you got nice places to stay and eat and all that :* I have ready the story of b and my ishmael before but i want to get all his books in hardcover.

I dont want to get all traditional on you or anything. I dont want to fight i dont want to cause trouble all i ask is a little love and a little peace. But i dont want to hate her because i used to not hate her. I dont want to ignore breast cancer until someone i love dies from it or even worse i get it. I dont want to be a 30 year old woman in a wheel chair wrearing a diaper because i pee my pants ;-) Life value and mortality i dont want to be miserably living and blind to what society has created like the other robots of the world.

We have two but i dont want to use the other one. I dont want to watch something that will make me cry and then make me angry. I enjoy first-run episodes of the practice generally but i dont want to watch them in reruns :-( I could use the practice. Wondering if i could use your idea of using the last sentence of each entry as its tittle.

Time for bed,
-- Catty"

Blog Drone generates random blog entries with smileys put in. Nice work, nonsense. ;-) [via http://boingboing.net/]

Of PowerPoint and Pointlessness: "The number of teachers using PowerPoint presentations in class is on the rise. This raises a question among education theorists: What is the point? By Joanna Glasner." [Wired News]

I still remember those days when the lecturer wrote his notes on the blackboard from memory, and proved complicated theorems before the classroom without any aids to the memory. Is this gone? And is it a bad thing?

I believe that Learning by PowerPoint will be increasingly common, and generate increasingly worse results. Those students who have personal access to more experienced colleagues will probably do all right, but those who only have access to the PowerPoint presentations and similar things will not learn much about studying the world.

Saving Money With Open Source. "Apple is the first vendor to bet the farm on BSD. By making Darwin the core of OS X, Apple has made the biggest corporate commitment to OSS so far." (The Star via MyAppleMenu) [MyAppleMenu]

It is interesting to note that also the Open Source part of Mac OS X gets attention. However, most of the attraction to the system is caused by the graphical user interface, the iApps, and all those nice little tools Apple has packaged with the system. So, Mac OS X is a mixture of open and closed, and this seems to work quite well. I hope that also "pure" Open Source versions of Mac OS X software will be developed.

Good Reasons To Upgrade To OS X 10.2: "I almost hate to say it, because I too was bothered by Apple's pricing policy, but after using 10.2 for a couple of weeks, I'm sold: If you use Mac OS X, upgrading to 10.2 is a worthwhile investment." (San Francisco Chronicle via MyAppleMenu) [MyAppleMenu]

Today I finally finished my one-page article about Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2), including two screen captures. My experiences are quite similar to the experiences above. However, I have been a very satisfied user of Mail for some time now, and the new spam filter seems to work much better than I expected.

However, I do think that the pricing of Jaguar is a bit steep for those who have been early adopters of the system. But at least you have to option of the five-machine family license.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) and the right-wing politics are on friendly terms. Perhaps "right" means a different thing here than it used to mean.

Extremely RDM-ruled commercial world and the socialist system have much in common: the notion of "who owns ideas". In the DRM world only non-owned ideas are free; in the socialist system only state-owned ideas were free.

Today I received an email reminder from Radio: I have 15 days of the trial period left. I'm not yet sure I'll continue using Radio.

iTunes3 changes pane focus on hover [Mac OS X Hints]

This is also a kind of useful feature. I used this with Mail in Mac OS X 10.1, but didn't try out with iTunes. Nice if also other applications behave this way with scroll mice.

Drag and drop text from the Terminal [Mac OS X Hints]

This is a nice new feature of Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2). What other things are still to be discovered?

I started to draft a new article about good books on writing. I don't have all the books with me, so I had to postpone writing the complete details about the books. Have to consult Amazon to edit the article further...

I'm inclined to think that writing is a craft which can't be taught. It can be learned, however.

Today I edited my column for an IT magazine. I'll edit it once more later on, because there are still a couple of weeks to the deadline.

I have now written columns regularly to the magazine for two years. This has been an interesting time. I have managed to try out many different styles: I have written essays, short stories, and a movie script. I have discussed in the columns women in the IT world, Grid, Open Source, quality of software, IT as a pollutant, and many other topics.

I usually draft the columns several weeks in advance. When I edit the text for publication it may change completely. Some column drafts have never seen print. Currently I have half a dozen column drafts waiting for the final polishing.

Today I discovered a new form for a column. I think this one will be one of the best I have written so far. The idea needs polishing, but that is usual. This column will probably appear in the beginning of the next year, so there is plenty of time. I have two column drafts already waiting for polishing and publishing.