Me'oe ka maluhia (May you have peace,)
Ke aloha a me ka hau'oli (love and happiness)
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And to start off the New Years right <g>, a report of a bug in KDE 2.0 for those who are using Caldera OpenLinux eDesktop 2.4. For those specific people, if you are having problems running KMAil and or KNode, you need to perform the following workaround (found at http://www.kde.org/info/2.0.html):
cd /opt/kde/lib
rm libmimelib.so
ln -s /usr/lib/libmimelib.so.1.0.1 libmimelib.so
rm libmimelib.so.1
ln -s /usr/lib/libmimelib.so.1.0.1 libmimelib.so.1
Utterly KeWl, But Useless Tip. From the December 19, 2000 issue of PC Magazine comes something that can be used at trade shows or to impress your clueless boss - using your own logo on the flag screen saver:
First, obtain a bitmap image of your company logo. Right-click the desktop and choose Properties. Click the Screen Saver tab and select the screen save called 3D Flying Objects. Click Settings, and in the Style pull-down menu select Textured Flag. Then click Texture... and browse to the location of your logo bitmap. You can change the size and resolution of the image using the sliders. When you're set, click OK and then Preview. You now have a flag screen saver with your company's logo proudly fluttering on your monitor.
Speaking of Logos. Clarence Lee. Most people may not know the man behind the Chinese Lunar New Year stamps (it's the year of the Snake this year) but if you're interested in seeing the new stamp, and learning a little about the man behind the stamp, you can read an article from the Honolulu Advertiser here. Note that the link will probably expire at the end of the day.
Speaking of Designers. Ever thought about why things look the way they do? It's because someone designed them to be that way (well, at least the manufactured things). The Los Angeles Times (see it here) has a profile on a Pasadena, California company that designed everything from sugar shakers to dictation machines for medical doctors.
Well, the [delicious - Ed.] smells from the kitchen tells me breakfast is almost ready so I gotta go. Everyone here at the Seto Shack wishes you a Happy and Prosperous New Year! - Aloha!
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Tuesday - 2 January 2001
Y2K+1. Hmmm. I knew this was the real new millennium. But who would have thought that date related bugs would still be lurking out there? So here comes this story from InfoWorld (see it here) that says trains in Norway came to a halt on Sunday.
All of Norway's modern high-speed Signatur trains ground to a halt Sunday, hit by a year-2000 problem that surfaced one year late, the daily Dagbladet newspaper reported Monday. The 13 long-distance Signatur trains -- and 16 new airport express trains -- refused to start on Sunday morning because the on-board electronics were unable to recognize the date Dec. 31, 2000, according to the newspaper.
Let the Sunshine In. A New York Times article indicates that the veil of secrecy covering the deeds, and sometimes misdeeds, of some medical doctors may be pulled back a little.
Reversing a policy that has kept medical errors secret for more than two decades, federal officials say they will soon allow Medicare beneficiaries to obtain data about doctors who botched their care.
Speaking of Full Disclosure. The Times also has an article (see it here) on how some businesses are increasing profits while not raising prices. How do they do that? They give you less, while charging the same price as before. The practice has become so common that there is now a word to describe it - "weight-out."
From potato chips to diapers, manufacturers are giving you less, but charging you the same as before. The article goes on to say that the practice is becoming more common recently because people are resistant to price increases, but are clueless as to how much is in the package of candy they buy.
Subjective Ratings. And finally, this article (see it here) about a researcher who is challenging the way many psychological studies are done.
As Dr. Bartoshuk describes it, the problem is simple but easily overlooked. It creeps in, she says, when researchers use a common measurement technique, the rating scale, to compare different people's subjective experiences. Undetected, it can produce distorted or even backward results. The problem can be corrected if studies are properly designed to take account of the relative nature of the subject's responses.
Aloha!
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Hump Day Wednesday - 3 January 2001
Spare Change. Got a spare $8,000 USD laying around? If so, check out the Sony PFM-42B1 Super-Slim Monitor. It has a 42-inch plasma screen at 1024 X 1024 and is only 3.25-inches thick. This model is so new it's not shown at Sony's US site yet (here) but you can take a look at some of their other models. On the other hand, if you can read Japanese, you can read all about it on their site in Japan.
Blue Light Special. For those of you who don't have a spare $8,000 laying around, Kmart is getting into the PC branding market with a $750 USD model that includes:
Intel® Celeron© processor at 633MHz
32MB RAM (standard) or 64MB RAM
7.5GB Hard Disk Drive
CD-ROM and Floppy Drives
56K Built-in V.90 Modem
15" Monitor
Lexmark Z12 ColorJetprinter
Speakers, Mouse and Keyboard
Microsoft Windows 98
Microsoft Works Productivity Suite
BlueLight.com Internet Service
Obviously, going to Dell or Gateway will probably get you a more capable PC (32MB of RAM? Oh, puhleeze), but for the really, really technology challenged, perhaps it has a place. And where is that place? Where else but http://www.bluelight.com?
The Grinch that Stole Your Privacy. Thank you once again to the the Privacy Foundation for funding research into MS IE browser "extensions."
We downloaded 16 Internet Explorer browser extensions and watched them work," the report notes. "A number were well behaved. But others seemed to outright exploit our hospitality, watching and reporting our every move in the browser, some intercepting data sent to competitors and others reporting back to headquarters on pages we 'securely' downloaded using Secure Socket Layers."The research focused on the ways that the browser extensions collected user information; how the data flowed back to the company's database; and finally, how the data capture techniques matched the privacy policies of each company.
The 61 page study, in pdf format and 334-kb in size, can be downloaded here. Be afraid. Very Afraid.
I have a Legislative hearing to go to on the state's economic outlook for the next six years so I gotta go - Aloha!
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Thursday - 4 January 2001
Running on Empty. I have to call two states on the East Coast first thing this morning (Connecticut and Massachusetts). Why? Well, remember my ruminations about doing things bass ackwards (see it here) and how a certain administrator wanted a review of court organization that would support his idea of what is most efficient (but not give a balanced view of the subject)? Guess what. It blew up in his face when he tried to pull a fast one on the Judges. The Judges immediately threw back in his face all the negatives that can occur with such a system. Something he was not prepared to refute because he had only a one-sided review.
It's difficult not to say he deserves everything he got. But the problem for me is that he is now blaming me for the predicament he is in. Sigh.
So, I apologize for the short post but I gotta go - Aloha!
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Aloha Friday - 5 January 2001
It's Friday!
What's in a Name? The morning paper has a column on people's names (see it here. Note the link expires at the end of the day). From Pua Ting (as in poor thing, get it?) to Fanny Goo (No, I'm not going there). Another example are eight daughters named, in order - Dodo, Rere, Mimi, Fafa, Soso, Lala, Titi, and wait for it, Octavia! And the number one interesting name, drum roll please, Dr. Yee Ha.
I have to follow-up on some things relating to yesterday's cluster fiesta ('scuse my French) on court organization. Interestingly enough, the contact person for Connecticut is one Aaron Ment. He is a Judge. Think about it. Until then, I gotta go - Have a Great Weekend Everyone - Aloha!
© 2001 Daniel K. Seto. All rights reserved.