Insomnia's Friends

Friday evening I got access to the Office 2010 Technical Preview release code, and fired up the FTP engines. Just under 2GB later it was sat on my hard disk, where I installed it on my main Windows 7 test machine. By the end of the evening we'd done one clean install, and one upgrade install (just to see if it worked).

Over the weekend I:

(a) baked a lemon/peach polenta cake with

marypcb.
(b) made a red chicken thai curry for friends whow were coming round for dinner (again with

marypcb).
(c) introduced those friends to The Middleman and Jennifer Crusie.
(d) reviewed Office 2010 and wrote two articles on it, for different audiences, coming in at around 5500 words - plus 22 different screenshots.

I think I got to bed at about 4 am this morning, before getting up to finish the screenshots and captions and take part in a call with a Microsoft spokesperson.

You can check out my words at ZDNet UK here

Charles Brown, editor of Locus, b. 1937 d. 2009

He was a swell guy. Affable, generous. As with so many things he, and his magazine seemed part of the ever present landscape. I think, at some point or another, about 20 years ago, my face ended up in a photo or two. I may have taken a photo, or two; for a friend, with their camera, which made it into the magazine.

If I'd been living in the area, I'd have tried for one of the many internships ($6 an hour, in 1989, the last time I thought about it) I saw being advertised. It was a perrenial at the Hugos. As I recall, the category, "Semi-pro zine" was created (amidst some drama) because there wasn't, at the time, anyplace else to put it.

We'll miss you Charlie, the neighborhood isn't the same without you.

TwitVid's a free app that tweets videos you shoot with your iPhone 3GS. And that's pretty much the long and the short of it. (Mostly short.) [TwitVid, iTunes]

Below from Voters for Peace. I sure would like a special federal prosecutor to investigate & prosecute US torture mongers, but I ain't holding my breath. I do not believe Obama wants a special prosecutor and will fire the Attorney General to prevent justice from being served. I do hope I am wrong on this one.

Addendum:
Here is what I wrote to Obama when I sent the action alert to him:

        So far, I haven't had many good opinions about your administration. I think you want to protect the criminals in the last administration. I think you feel good abut torture.

        Prove me wrong, please.

        We need a special prosecutor with TEETH. Those in government who approve of torture need to all be spending many years in federal prison, or turned over to the World Court.

        President Obama, Do the Right thing.

=======================================================

Reports over the weekend indicate that Attorney General Holder is seriously considering the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate torture and other abuses that occurred during the Bush-Cheney administration.

This would be a major reversal and indicates that our efforts for torture accountability are paying off. We are close to success but pressure is mounting to prevent prosecution. Please act now to write the President and Attorney General to urge a criminal investigation. Click here to take action
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1312/t/9050/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27616&key=10637945
Already, there is a strong reaction trying to thwart the appointment
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ynXcx2naA%2BHL0ugrY2RhDZDaH84hk8Vt
from leading Republicans like Senator John McCain and Rep. Peter King. McCain warned such a prosecution would give terrorists "more tools." And King urged a "scorched earth policy" of non-cooperation by Republicans on all issues.

In the White House, political advisors David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel oppose a probe because of the impact it might have on the president's legislative agenda.

But, under the law, the Attorney General has no choice. The Convention Against Torture was signed by President Reagan and is now the law of the land. It requires an investigation and prosecution if torture has occurred. There are no excuses. To revive the credibility of the Department of Justice as a law enforcement agency instead of a White House political tool, Holder must uphold the law.

( Read more... )

Highlights from my twitterings of late, for those of you who don't follow me there:

Joe sez, "The Neuros LINK is a set-top box that takes a unique approach: unlike most closed set-top boxes, it's built from the ground up to be open. In fact, it started its 'gamma' phase of life as a stripped down PC, with the vision to become more 'electronics-like' using a remote, navigable from the couch etc. A recent release of its software shows how it's evolving on that path, with increasing functionality available without a mouse and keyboard, largely with the help of a lot of third party open source software, like XBMC, etc."

Так как концерта не будет уже, то вопрос к владельцам билетов. Сдавали уже билеты? Куда сдавали? Поделитесь инфой, пожалуйста.

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