Mailplane Version 2.0 Reviewed

by Bill Martens


As the amount of spam being received by our accounts increased, the more I redirected the accounts to a GMail account, allowing much greater SPAM deletion prior to receiving mails. This method of SPAM filtering unfortunately produced the side affect of needing an application which allowed control over multiple GMail accounts. Then came Ruben Bakker's Mailplane application to the rescue.


Over the past year or so, I have steadily followed the progress of what I consider to be the best GMail reading app developed. The Mailplane program is not only intuitive but allows easy control over all of the email accounts that I manage. It has allowed me the peace of mind that none of the SPAM that gets sent in will ever make it to my inbox. But in spite of the program being great, Ruben did not rest on good enough. Now he has released version 2.0 and made it all that much better


41 new updates were made to the program including Quick Links, Video Chat Support and full support of GMail 2 features. While most of us think this many changes could only come from Apple, think again. The new application is bright, fits into leopard nicely and even looks good now.


We started from version 1.6.x of the application and upgraded via the upgrade feature in the Mailplane menu. Not only did it pick up the upgrade immediately but it upgraded the application in less than 60 seconds.


Once restarted, the application came up and showed an email with a list of all of the new features included in the application. This allowed me to easily go through the feature list and see if there were any in particular that enthralled me. One such feature was the new Attach Folder and File Bundles feature in composing emails. No more clunky single file attachment nightmares. Now it can be performed in a single swoop.


Growl also seems to play much nicer with the application now. Many features related to notifications are among the half dozen items in the program related to notifications that been update. This in turn has made the application much less annoying when mail items come in while working.


While, I would like to say everything is wonderful, there is one new item that I do not like whatsoever. If you have any accounts that have over 999 new mails in it, the accounts tab shows the number as something that is not really readable. It puts the thousands digit followed by a comma and "..."; i.e. 1,.... I have a few accounts that have system notices in them and this was the one negative thing I found during my experience with the latest version.


Other than that, this version of the Mailplane application is not only a solid application but a well thought through and complete application. It certainly makes my life easier and I am sure will make yours easier too if you have numerous Gmail accounts.


What is best about this application is not just that it is useful but also that the cost wont break the bank. At $24.95 for a single license, it is well worth your hard earned money. If you have multiple machines like I do, you will particularly like the $15 family option that Uncomplex Ltd offers. The system requirements for the program make it easy to handle too. The program runs on either Mac OS 10.4.11 or 10.5.5 meaning it should work comfortably on any G4, G5, or Intel based Mac.


For those users who are still using Windows, I know that Ruben has been considering a version specifically for the Windows platform. (http://mailplaneapp.com/blog/entry/would_mailplane_for_windows_make_sense/). Obviously he is awaiting feedback from users prior to building that version though.


You can download the Mailplane application from the Uncomplex Ltd. website at: http://mailplaneapp.com/


Rating: 4 out of 5 Apples


About the Author

Bill Martens is the user group Ambassador for Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) and is also the production editor for Call-A.P.P.L.E. Magazine. (http://www.callapple.org)

Is Apple covering something up?

Last week, Apple Inc introduced a line of new machines with Die Cast Aluminum bodies. No more of the aluminum sheet metal that flexes and bends with the slightest pressure.

For my poor MacBook Pro, this has become a serious issue. Too much pressure from my arms on the right corner has left the CD band out of place and dipping down so I actually wound up having to cut it off in order for CD's and DVD's to slide in and out.

The Metal is warped in several places and bent in others. It makes me wonder if Apple has been receiving customer complaints about this, resulting in a new body type rather than fixing the issue. Get customers to buy the new machine when those of us with the 17" MBP already spent $3000 buying this computer. Nothing like spending another $3000 just to fix the problem.

I just wonder if I am alone in this analogy or if there are others out there with the same issue. If you have had similar issues, let me know.

9/11 -- Where were you?

I was asleep taking an early snooze on that fateful day when I was awakened by the ringing of a phone. Groggily I answered in a gruff tone which stated that I was annoyed at being woke up. A long time friend of mine was on the other end.

"Turn on the TV!" was all she said. I was wondering what could be so important. Nothing was planned by NASA so we could not have lost another shuttle. No wars were ongoing so I figured it had to be a take over of another bank as I was involved in the financial industry at the time.

"A plane hit the world trade center" she said to me and as I turned on the TV and tuned in CNN, her words began to sink in. I was still groggy as I laid down on my couch but the sleep was slowly fading from my body.

"Oh My God" was all I could say. I knew people in there. Many people. Oh my, oh my. It could not be possible. As we sat there wondering what was going on, another plane slammed into the second tower of the World Trade Center. I jumped from the couch as the sounds echoed through the TV and the Announcer started to calmly say that a second plane had struck the World Trade Center.

"Jesus! Did you see that?!" I asked knowing full well she had seen. I had to gather my wits at this point. I knew my former company, Goldman Sachs had moved out 18 months earlier but all the people from Knight Ridder were in there. Having worked with many of their people in the Market Data installations that we performed on many trading floors around Tokyo, I was suddenly flush with worry that they people I knew were in imminent danger.

We both sat there with the phones to one ear, taking in everything visually and from the announcers on the TV. It was so overwhelming that tears began to flow. America was under attack. The news flashed the news that one more plane had hit the Pentagon. Gees, I thought to myself. How many planes are going to crash?

By this point I was looking for answers which I knew would not come any time soon. It was to be another two weeks before I totally understood the relevance of that moment but like millions of other people around the world, I became very engrossed in the reporting, looking for any new tidbit of news that could explain exactly what happened.

Of course, the whole time, I was also secretly hoping that it had all been a dream and that I would wake up from this nightmare sometime soon. But the news reports continued, another plane crash in a field in Pennsylvania. That was four planes. Out of the 6000 or so in the US actually in the air at that time, why these four planes.

News, more news, and more. I couldn't get enough. I was addicted and I had to have answers. I laid on that couch for the full two weeks not sure why this happened but then suddenly I started watching the first baseball games that were being played after the attacks. It was then that I too woke up and said I had to go on. Friends died but now we were going after the bad guys and we were going on with our lives again.

It was these moments of realization which pushed forward the agenda which I had been afraid of when Bush took over the presidency. Hunan Island and 9/11 had just been a minor precursor to what the world was about to witness. Shock and Awe. But I thought that had already occurred but then the building exploding in downtown Bagdad on live TV told me we were in this war now. Grainy green colored videos of battles with the tracers floating gracefully towards their targets with devastating effect. Military hardware and building erupting into a ball of flame shooting black smoke and fire skyward. It was these images which stuck with me.

I decided to go do what I could for my country and even though I was too old to be in the military there were still plenty of civilian positions available, especially as we ramped up for war. I was to do my part as were many in my family and those of my friends who I grew up with. Now all these years later, I wonder if it had been worth it.

We are still in the wars, no end in site. People have forgotten why we started these wars and they have become apathetic again. But all we have to do is look to Islamabad and we suddenly realize that the baddies are still out there and we need to go forth and kick some butt in that old fashioned American style. And lest we forget, 9/11 is the reason for it all.

IOC Diciplines Swedish Wrestler

I wrote this response to an article by Bill Plaschke about the IOC disciplining wrestler, Ara Abrahamian. (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2008/08/and-you-thought.html)

"Hey Plaschke, You got this one right. The IOC has become a bunch of loser old men sitting in chairs making judgments on the athletes of today, only interested in their cushy little jobs and not in real promotion of athletics.

And by the way people, China also agreed to abide by the code of conduct and balked on that when it inconvenienced their totalitarian rule over the country. The IOC stood by and did squat and then everyone says oh, it is ok...its China.

Well, NO, it is NOT ok. It is pure BS and the same reason why many of us who grew up with the boycotts of the 1980's and being affected by those boycotts cant stand anything the Olympics stands for now because it doesnt stand for the athletes except for people like Michael Phelps.

Personally, I think we should have given the Olympics to a more deserving country where freedom of speech and basic human rights are not squashed at the drop of a hat. after watching the farce of a torch relay and the heavy handed security guards (special Chinese Police) made me just absolutely abhor watching any news of the Olympics. It the IOC was really interested in abiding by the Olympic charter, they would have called the Chinese on their farce, but then, the IOC is only interested in letting the government of China write their own rules for the Olympics and making tons of money."

China Shooting Self in Foot

Over the past few weeks here, the Beijing Olympics have looked less and less desirable for those attending. First, the journalists were being censored after being promised unfettered access to the Internet. Then the air became a major issue and the fact that four American cyclists arriving with US Olympic Committee issued masks on, caused the Chinese to take offense and the US Staff chastised the athletes. Now, Olympian (Notice I did not say former) Joey Cheeks has been refused a visa, as just added fuel to the fires already burning in Beijing.

China for it's part, opened up the reporting during the earthquake only to shut it down again when people started asking why only schools collapsed while government buildings in the same area went unscathed. Then they started jailing folks for even asking the questions. Journalists were given the boot from the country again.

Tibet and Turkmenistan have become issues with several bombings and the protests against China's over bearing repression of the regions. Granted, for it's part, China has highlighted the problems by trying to associate them in the same way with 9-11 with the war against terrorism. But this is all home grown issues that China's repressive hands have created for themselves and in no way bears any resemblence to the 9-11 and 7-11 terrorist attacks that occured in the US and the UK. You are talking instead about people who just want their home lands back and want to live in peace.

What is saddest about all of this is that China was even granted the Olympic games in the first place. The Olympic charter is supposed to promote peace and harmony, yet China's human rights record alone should have been enough to sink their application back 6 years ago. But instead, people thought China would clean up its act both ecologically and socially. Instead, they have become so repressive that now they even are brazen enough to block Olympians from attending the Olympics and to try and say that if you speak out against anything China doesn't like, you will be booted from the country or refused entry.

I take issue with the US Olympic Committee not supporting Joey Cheeks, but then, when has the USOC ever done anything that was supportive of the athletes. It is time to boot out the old cronies that are running the show in many of these cases including the IOC which has also failed to support the athletes instead bowing to China's repressive tactics.

People have forgotten all about Mexico City where U.S. athletes made political statements. Yes, they were chastised for it, even booted off the Olympic team in an era where tolerance was in low supply, but it had the effect that was required. It is time once again for a Mexico City type revolt on the part of the athletes and this revolt should continue until the Chinese back down from their idiocy. I also think it is time that the leaders of democratic countries around the world throw their weight around again and threaten boycott (This may be too late as we have already sent most of the athletes to the games).

Beijing Backs Down

Just a day after the uproar over the censorship of the Internet that I mentioned in my previous post, Beijing appears to have relaxed the Internet censorship according to this Time article (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1828587,00.html) But is is a bit too late to get the stink back in the horse?

What is amazing to me is that the Chinese government says free unfettered access, but what they mean is free and unfettered as long as you dont want Falun Gung or Free Tibet sites. The government apparently have made the relaxation complete through out the entire country. But the fact that they still block these sites tells me that they are afraid that if they let the Internet completely open, they will lose the strict control they have enjoyed for many years.

The earthquake sympathy is finally wearing off and the reality that Beijing is the biggest farce in the history of the Olympic games is just becoming apparent. Hopefully, the rest of the world will wake up with the few that have already been enlightened.

China Censoring, IOC helping censorship!!!

A while back, I wrote that they should move the Olympics on the grounds of the crackdowns in Tibet and the jailing of journalists as well as other areas of ill will towards people. Now I have found one more reason why we should not support the Olympic games in China...Censorship. While, the IOC had originally announced to the world as had China that the censorship would be lifted for journalists, this has not and will not be the case for the duration of the games.

Several reports on ZDF's Heute and CNN's Headline News programs have shown evidence that China is censoring the journalists right in the Olympic press pit. They even blocked access to the ZDF's website which makes it nearly impossible for the Germans to turn in reports.

Now it turns out according to this report in reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/olympicsNews/idUSPEK15086520080730) that the IOC agreed to allow China to clock certain sites and censor the traffic. Not only does this go against the Olympic charter but it makes the IOC a total joke. They display with the Iraq national team was so pitiful, I thought to myself, where is this going? Now I know where it is going. The IOC has given in. They no longer press China on tough issues and they wont press for changes in the censorship.

While many people have refused to comment, I have chosen to take a stand here and now. I DO NOT support the Olympics in China. Period! While, my father was angry when carter canceled the US team going to Russia in 1980, I instead have a different suggestion. Create an alternative games for countries who do not want their athletes going to the smog infested capital of the world, where journalists are beaten, jailed and censored unlike anywhere else in the world.

We should also disband the IOC and create a new organization run by athletes for athletes. No more BS from political groups and governments. It is time that athletes are allowed to compete as athletes and not as pawns of their governments.

As for my idea of the Alternative games, they could be planned for any place in the world with the infrastructure willing to host them and would welcome all Olympic qualifiers. This would allow people to take part and perform in a grand stage without the politics of the IOC or the restrictions of the Chinese who obviously are trying to politicize the entire Olympic movement, just as Hitler did in 1936. Enough is enough and I again say "NO Olympics for China!"

Is the Washington Post aiding the Enemy?

I was horrified to find an article in the Washington Post, suggesting that we should negotiate with the Taliban instead of sending more troops to Afghanistan. But then I looked at the source of the article. It was written by a Dr. Ali Ettefagh in Tehran, Iran. While I normally would not have made anything of such an article, the whole premise that we should negotiate with the Taliban just absolutely shocked me. It amazes me even more that the Washington Post would endorse in any way shape or form the policy that the article is espousing.

One need only look back 10 years when the Taliban were firmly in control of Afghanistan and blowing up religious symbols that had stood for a thousand years. They basically put the people and the country of Afghanistan into the dark ages, yet they themselves were allowed to use technology. Women were not allowed to be educated and strict Islamic extremist law was implemented, complete with public executions in facilities that were build for peaceful sporting exhibitions.

These are the same group of people that Dr. Ettefagh is suggesting that we negotiate with. All we need to do is take one look at some of the film from that era prior to 9/11 from Afghanistan and jump up and shout a resounding "No Way In Hell!"

While I am one who is definitely concerned with journalistic freedoms, I also have family members and friends who are currently fighting over seas and everything that they have fought for seems to be forgotten by the one paper that is supposed to be the supporter of American freedoms. My friends have died there and the things they gave their lives for, most of us take for granted. It is not a war about anything materialistic as has been suggested by many outlets. It is a war about doing the right thing. This is something that people who have become obsessed with President Bush have forgotten.

The article, http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/ali_ettefagh/2008/06/understanding_a_changing_talib.html, which does not even seem to matter to anyone at the post, is obviously pushing a very Iran centric theme. Negotiate till people are blue in the face. But the author tries very hard to compare the wars fought by the US after 9/11 to the drug wars of the 1990's.

The complete and utter failure of Dr. Ettefagh to understand that this is no 1990's drug war and that this is a war for the freedom of the Afghanistan people, only serves to highlight the fact that this article should not have been in the Washington Post in the first place. If this had happened during any other war we have fought over the history of the US, heads would have rolled and the owners of the paper would have been thrown in jail for treason.

Our papers in America are no longer the bastion for the red, white, and blue but are now the mouth pieces of our enemies and the Washington Post is right at the top of that list. Maybe the next time Bush names the Axis of Evil, he can include the Post in the list. While I do not necessarily agree with the policies of our government, I certainly do not endorse the undercutting of our brave men and women in uniform the way that this article does. It is a total dis-service to them and should be called for what it is; pure and utter rubbish which does not belong in a paper that would be read by the American people.

Plurking the Karma Thing

It is kind of funny that I have been using Plurk (http://www.plurk.com) for the past month and have come to the realization that people are very much rank and rating oriented. Everyone complains about their Karma as it is called on the site.

Everytime people’s Karama reached a point where they got the benefits of having high karma (usually just colors and emoticons), they complained louder. The funny part is that over 30 percent of the messages on the site were about the Karma.

I find the whole rules thing with Plurk a bit annoying as well. It seems to me that just because someone has something interesting to micro blog, they should not be penalized for posting it just because they have posted more than 30 times in a day. But they do penalize you.

One more funny change is with the Karma growing as well as the number of users on the web site, they have begun to throttle those plurkers whose Karma is over 60. Real nice. You cant have anyone reaching 100 otherwise the balance and the game would be pointless.

For me, I just ignore all of it. I find that the conversations posted are 90% of the time well worth the dozen or so replies. You will find that the items on the site with the most replies are generally things of value although occaisionally, one of my food or coffee plurks draws more replies than the news plurks that I have become known for.

When Social Networking began to become an item, many people thought of Facebook or Myspace, but these days it is more about Twitter (http://www.twitter.com) and Plurk and for good reason. No bulky items cluttering the user’s pages and the sites are all about communicating. If we had these sites 10 years ago, the world would be much more at peace. It is funny but I have rarely seen anything negative in my adventures of Plurking or being onTwitter. Maybe we should make all world leaders join just to see how they would handle it or make it a pre-requisite for becoming president.

For those of you who follow me on the social networking sites, I have added a partial list of the sites I am on. You can find me there and feel free to give me a holler or a request to be a friend.

My Social Networking Sites
Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/semipro)
Plurk (http://www.plurk.com/users/semipro)
Pownce (http://pownce.com/semipro/)
Bright Kite (http://brightkite.com/people/semipro)

My personal Sites
Virtual Apple II (http://www.virtualapple.org)
Wazoom.com (http://www.wazoom.com)
A Voice from the Minor Leagues (http://football.wazoom.com)
Bill Martens Photography (http://photo.wazoom.com)

World Records on the Internet

Today, Firefox is attempting to set a world record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours with the release of their newest version of the Firefox Browser. While this attempt is seen on the surface as just a really cool idea, it has serious undertones for the Internet at large.

With an approximate 30-50 million users all trying to download the same software from the same servers all in the same day, I can see some serious slow downs on networks occurring very rapidly. Until now most of these type of slowdowns have been related to social networked viruses that made their way through the home computers and office PC's of millions of users all over the world.

But this slowdown that will result will be the direct result of people purposely trying to download a new software package. Having just upgraded to FF3 RC3, I, for one will not be participating in the download. This is not because I don't want the latest version but it is primarily due to the fact that I do not want to contribute to the willful destruction of the Internet as we know it. Besides, I can download the new release tomorrow or the next day and it is not going to make much difference in my experience with Firefox.

Slowdowns in places like India where the Internet is already at a crawl, could place so much burden on these locations that they will be cut off from the rest of the world for several days. I am sure there are several multinational conglomerates around the world that will not appreciate the inability to communicate with these offices.

While I have not seen anyone take the same approach as I, I am sure that once the Internet starts to slow down, people will either give up on the Internet for the day. However, there are those who can not escape having to use the Internet. Financial institutions all over the world already use the Internet as their primary resource for communications but if they suddenly can not send or receive trades, updates or End of Day items, there could be some serious hell to pay. The losses financially could balloon into a number of the sort that we have been seeing with the Sub-Prime losses all over the globe.

My recommendation is that while this type of thing is fun and it is cool to say you set a record or were part of the record, I am saying, "Just say NO!"

URLS:
Get Fire Fox -- http://www.getfirefox.com
World Record Attempt -- http://www.spreadfirefox.com/en-US/worldrecord/

Is Mars Getting Closer?

Ok, I have to admit, the headline is a bit misleading. But it is more of a question of are we getting any closer to going to Mars? We have robots and rovers there but so far, not a single man has gone to any other planetary body since 1974 when Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmidt left Mare Serenitatis.

But this week, nasa at least got the ball rolling with the awarding of the design of the next generations spacesuits to a Houston based company, Oceaneering International, Inc. (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/main/spacesuit.html) Of course, this is only half the battle but at least if the guys go anywhere they will have new spacesuits. It almost reminds me of the old Jose Jimenez jokes that Bill Dana did on the Steve Allen Show back in the 1960's. "Why, I even got a helmet and gloves!"

All joking aside, this is serious business. And with a $180 million contract, this type of business will provide a ton of good high paying engineering jobs. If the whole Mars trip costs $200 billion by the time man lands on Mars, this will be an adventure well worth it in economic growth and hopefully a bit of restored pride in both NASA and the US.

While politicians like to complain about the costs, they all know that these are the types of jobs that cant be shipped over seas or farmed out to third world countries. These types of jobs also allow for economic prosperity. It was the whole space program in the 1960's that caused the economy of the US to boom, even in a time of war. In spite of our fighting in Vietnam, we were still able to cause the average American consumer to actually have a high level of confidence in the basic economy, all the way until the oil shock hit.

Unfortunately, we are in the middle of another oil shock that is shaking the foundations of almost every country in the world, but this is primarily due to the fact that while the oil companies are making record profits, the workers have not benefited int he same way. If the US doesn't find a way to distract the American consumer at this point, all may be lost. Especially the space program which is the first to be cut any time that there are funding issues elsewhere.

In my book, if we make it to mars on the schedule that President Bush laid out, then it will be an absolute miracle worthy of the stories that are still told about the men who went to the moon. Will this be Bush's legacy? The man who brought Mars closer to us? Dont bet on it but hopefully as more contracts are awarded to US companies, we will find that the date of the trip and man setting foot on Mars will get closer with or without all of the external circumstances.

ABC Sportscaster Jim McKay Dead

No one can forget the Wide Wold of Sports intro for ABC Sports or the way that Jim McKay was a mainstay in the world of announcing at a time when the sports world needed someone like him.

He announced almost any major sports event and the ones most people remember him for are 1972 and 1976 Olympic games. In 1972, the Israeli athletes were murdered and he was the one voice which came through with a sound of reason amongst the madness that followed the incident.

In 1976, it was he who presided over the games, announcing as Jim Walker won the 1500 and Bruce Jenner won the decathlon.

He began sports casting in 1961 and was a main stay in tv broadcasting during an era long ruled over by the great news casters of his day. But it was Jim McKay who with stood all the ups and downs and became beloved by many in his time.

We thank you for the memories Jim and wish there were others like you. Jim McKay was 86.

My new twitter like toy, Plurk

Over the past six months or so, I have posted over 3000 messages on twitter, put up with the ups and downs of the site and grown to love the site in spite of its short comings. That was until this week when I discovered the promised land of social networking micro blogging sites.

Plurk, has a flavor much like that of twitter, in fact most of the twitter folks are there. There is one distinct difference. Plurk allows you to take part in a pure conversation directly in the users plurk, creating a near real time conversation between many people, much like the party lines of old.

While it has a ways to go to be perfect, Plurk is definitely a step up from the singularity of the twitter world. It allows you to follow multiple discussions all within the same time frame with by the minute break down of the Plurk chain, making it easy to find discussions you are taking part in. Another nice feature is the fact that the handling of the microblogger follows similar patters to the twitter ones.

If you havent tried out Plurk yet, you should. Just a bit of fore warning. It is addictive and you will find yourself among the sleep deprived of your fellow Plurkers. But until you get to the point of completely screwing up your sleep patterns, have fun and enjoy the graphical interface.

URL's
My Plurk -- http://www.plurk.com/user/semipro
My Twitter -- http://www.twitter.com/semipro

Space Ambassadors Needed

Ever wanted to tell someone about going into space and be an evangelist for Space? Now you can. The National Space Society and Virgin Galactic are starting a space ambassador program or as they say on their website, "Space Ambassadors can be anyone — you just have to have a passion for space and the ability to effectively communicate that excitement to others. Teachers and artists are particularly encouraged to apply. Membership in the National Space Society is not required to participate, but is encouraged! "

Check it out at https://www.nss.org/cgi-bin/register/tdregister?$Origin=SpaceAmbassadors

They say on the web site that one lucky ambassador will be chosen to fly. Gosh, maybe I have a chance to go up after all :D

Netaudio Ads...Real or Scam?

Several months ago, I wrote a blog entry on this site about having joined the Net Audio Ads craze that was hitting. While it all seemed like it would be the latest and greatest way to add monetization to my web sites, it has panned out to be anything but.

Over several weeks, the idea went from a few people signing up to viral and then to Net Audio Ads being on the blink to them back tracking on the fees, to them not starting the service to the people who signed up thinking that there was a large advertising machine behind the group being asked to sell advertising.

Now the only thing that ever plays on my blog is an ad for Net Audio Ads. In April, when I looked, I had made a whole penny off my ads. That's right folks, 1 red cent!!! Now when I look, they don't even give me credit for that one. The funny thing about that is, I get more in one click through on Google Ads than I have ever gotten from Net Audio Ads.

My feeling is that the way they hyped the site and the service far too much and basically the only thing they are left with now is no ads. And while this seems to be the way it is, I haven't removed their ad module from the blog because I want to see this story to the end.

I don't know if anyone else has been following this or had experience with this group but I would definitely be interested in hearing how other have made out with it.

A new openess in China?

Over the past week or so since the big 7.9 magnitude earth quake in China, we have seen scenes of the destruction and the suffering unlike any we have seen out of China before. One might ask, is this just a convenience to get the sympathies of the world or is the open reporting for real?

It has been amazing with reports by phone, satellite, and even video phone, seemingly coming to the world without impunity from all of the reporters there. Never before have we seen this aspect of a country that has become synonymous with human rights abuses and closed borders.

It is refreshing to see this, but then comes the ultimate question of "will it last?" Once can only hope that it does last. And now that the country goes into a three day mourning period with more than 35,000 people dead, 200,000 plus injured and millions left homeless, the situation is far from over there.

The only thing that has been a bit like the old days is China's refusal to accept most aid but that has been changing too with a team of search and rescue experts from Japan being allowed in to help in recovery efforts. Also, the world has generously offered stocks of food and water and China, unlike burma has been readily accepting this help and distributing it with no holds barred.

Everyone thought that the Olympics would change China. My feeling is that maybe it takes an act of God to change China and now that we have one, China seems to be changing very rapidly. Even dissension and questioning of the government has been allowed very openly after more than 7000 schools collapsed throughout the country. The reporting of this dissension has also been freely allowed and almost encouraged.

While China is still communist, one can only hope that now that the country has seen one of the worst natural disasters in human history, that the country can truly change and become the real world player that it has the potential of being.

Double Amputee Allowed to Compete

Over the past two years, many news reports have covered Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee record holder in the 100,200, and 400 for disabled athletics. Many of the articles I have read have not been so favorable on him competing against able bodied athletes and fulfilling his dream to compete in the Olympic games in Beijing.

Oscar was born with several deformities which cost him his legs at the age of 11 months old. Obviously with the advances in technology, he can now compete on a fairly level playing field with other runners. Not disabled athletes but able bodied ones. This is the way it should be. However, not everyone feels that way and after the way the International Association of Athletics Federations ruled, it is obvious that they didn't feel that way either.

The IAAF ruled that Oscar Pistorius had an advantage over his able bodied competitors because his prosthetics gave him an advantage of having to expel 25% less effort over the same distance. Yet, in spite of this supposed advantage, he has failed to automatically qualify for the Olympics. In the IAAF testing, it is unknown exactly what they based this judgement on but one can only assume that they based it on him being completely whole in body which he is not.

Now, finally after all the wrangling and testing and the sheer hell that these people and organizations have put Oscar through, The Court for Arbitration of Sport has made a decision that he can compete for his country. Luckily, this decision is final and there is no appeal for the IAAF at this point.

Because of his failure to qualify automatically to compete, it is highly likely, according to some reports, that he will go to Beijing as part of the South African 4x400 meter relay team which is allowed to take 6 athletes to the games to compete. I sincerely hope that Oscar Pistorius does well and performs his best there as the whole world will now be watching. Not because the man will break any world records, but because he is now joining the ranks of the able bodied athletes after being forced into a classification most of his life that he neither asked for nor had any choice in.

To all the nay sayers in the world, who thought that Oscar Pistorius was not capable of competing or that he had a technological advantage, I say "go Oscar Pistorius!!!"

WWDC Sells Out....What????

WWDC, the developers conference for Apple which is held each year at Muscone Center in San Francisco, apparently has sold out. While the exact number of tickets available for the conference is not known, it is a bit odd that there were 6000 some attendees last year and it wasn't sold out but this year, it is sold out at 5000.

Is this a limitation being placed on the number of people by Apple or is it real? Who is to say, however, after my experience with last year's conference, it almost doesn't seem to matter.

We went to last years conference looking for meat and potatoes developers information yet, got spoon fed apple sauce marketing crap from companies all over the spectrum. The ever elusive developers information on the iPhone was not only non-existent but the short run through that they did in the keynote, which supposedly had information available on the WWDC web site wasn't even available until the conference closed. Not much good for any question and answer sessions with the Apple developers when you have them right there.

But of course, with the popularity of the Mac increasing as a computing platform, it is no real surprise that they would say it is sold out. However, I find the numbers to be just a bit too artificially set and it is with doubting heart that I believe this is any more than just a marketing ploy. Of course with past history as an example, this is no real surprise.

The only real surprise is that it took a year for them to add the iPhone track to the program. This track should have been made available in last years conference when the iPhone was the entire focus. But instead, Steve chose to come on and say that we didn't need an SDK. Then in February, he decided we did. Now as the throngs of the Apple faithful clamor to Muscone with hopes of seeing the next generation iPhone and other goodies, will they be once again disappointed the way we were with a second round of Leopard stuff that wasn't really relevant to developing much of anything.

To this accord, I say "Please, Apple, make up your mind, quit faking the numbers, and get the meat and potatoes on the table for us real developers to eat."

Apple Camera Nabs Thieves...err...Stupidity nabs thieves

I have read several articles this week that Apple store employee, Kait Dupalga of White Plains, NY, had her MacBook stolen and recovered it by remotely capturing a photo of the thieves using it. While many stories on the net had everything from this being miracle work, to the Mac having anti-theft devices, it is amazing how few people check their facts before actually publishing a story such as this.

First, the Mac does not have an anti-theft device. The fact that the Mac was remotely accessible was due to Back to My Mac remote access that is part of the $99 a year .MAC package offered by Apple, Inc.

Second, this is no miracle. When you have stupid thieves who use a computer as is, they are bound to get caught. These idiots didnt even change anything. They just fired it up and using the browser, were shopping for beds.

Third, It begs the question why the owner had no security set on the computer. No passwords, nothing. If Ms. Dupalga had been smart, she would have installed a security package such as Lojack or Undercover. But she did no such thing.

All I can say is she got lucky. Extremely lucky. The fact that she was able to get the shot of the guys and that it was someone her room mates knew and recognized, obviously payed dividends. But if you want real security on your system, get one of these programs and install it.

Back to My Mac -- http://www.apple.com/dotmac/backtomymac.html
Undercover -- http://www.orbicule.com/undercover/
LoJack for Laptops -- http://www.lojackforlaptops.com/
Verey I For Mac -- http://www.bak2u.com/verey.php

Where are the militaries of the world now?

When countries have felt threatened in the past, they have rushed in their militaries with lightning speed. Such was the case in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq and other hot spots. But the Burmese people who have one of the largest despot militaries is seeing no such help.

We will send billions to Africa in aid, but barely a trickle to Burma. And not only that, the aid that is being sent is now being stuffed into military warehouses to support their military rations or marked with the names of generals of the regime and then handed out. It is odd that these jokers think that the people will be fooled about where the aid came from when the box is clearly marked, Kingdom of Thailand, China, India, US Aid, or others.

It sickens me to think that the big countries are going to sit by idly and let the Junta in Burma kill 2 million people. It is time for these countries to quit fighting over the wealth of the world and for them to step up and to fight for the humanity of the world. I am surprised that the US has not resorted to aid shipments in the manner which it took with Yugoslavia in the 1990's. Drop pallets of MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat for you non-military types) and water rations from C-130's flying over head and let the people have them. Protect these flights with F-18 fighters and Navy carriers and tell the Junta straight up that if they interfere, we will destroy their military and military bases in a fortnight. (this could be done since they seem to conglomerate in certain areas).

It is high time that the crimes that are being committed against the Burmese people cease and that the real aid begins to happen. The Burmese have suffered long and hard at the hands of these idiot generals and it is time that it comes to an end. The US, UK, and all the coalition forces or NATO or other militaries, should step up and make this mandate happen immediately.