Vista, don’t like it? Too bad!
It seems that for those individuals who do not build their own machines –that is, assemble them– there will be no choice when it comes to pick their OS.

Windows XP to be phased out by year’s end despite customer demand – Computer makers have been told they’ll no longer be able to get Windows XP OEM by the end of this year, despite consumer resistance to Vista and its compatibility problems.
�� … ⌘ Read more

iPhone is near, Leopard not so
For many Apple fans (me included) that were anxiously waiting for both products, this is a good and slight bad news. Good news, iPhone is on track and it will be delivered as promised. Slight bad news, we will have to wait a bit longer for the Big Cat to come out.

Apple - Hot News – iPhone has already passed several of its required certification tests and is on schedule to ship in late June as planned. We can’t wait until custome … ⌘ Read more

Canon PowerShot A640
Recently we decided to replace our old Sony little camera, since quite a few photos are going to be taken in the near future, and the poor Cyber-Shot we had really wasn’t up to the task. With an under $400 budget, I picked the Canon PowerShot A640, and the picture below is the first one I took, on total automatic mode.

More will come in the near future, as we will have our first real vacation in six years. ⌘ Read more

Thought of the day
If your weblog or site –in general– advertising is slowing down the load of pages to an almost complete halt, it is time to re-think and take a different marketing approach. Your writings and your advertising are been missing. You may as well cancel your hosting and print what you want to say, along with the advertisings. ⌘ Read more

GoDaddy and MediaTemple
Not long ago I was looking for a new collocation provider. I was with ServerBeach, as I am right now, but the friend I was teaming up with to share the expenses wanted to move from Linux to a Windows server, and I have nothing to do with one –Windows server, that is. Since I couldn’t afford to pay the fees on my own, I was off to find a new provider.

Having used Virtual Ser … ⌘ Read more

Small changes here and there
I have changed, once again, the theme around here, as you can see. Simple approaches have always been my favorites and this one excels in simplicity, hence the name I have given it, “Simplissimo”. It is a modified version of a WordPress theme based on an original Typo theme. As you can see, I have done slight (or not so slight) changes to make it mine. And still might … ⌘ Read more

Stop spamming, GoDaddy!
I have several domains registered at Godaddy. For the ones I care about, I have auto renew enabled. For those I am letting go, I don’t. Godaddy gentlemanly reminds me when those about to expire domains are about to do so… four months in advance! The email “reminders” do not cease from there on. And then regular mail (snail mail, that is) starts coming to my mailbox as well.

Don’t you get it, Godaddy? I do not want to renew those domains. If I wanted, I would have set auto … ⌘ Read more

Is there any difference?
Is has always amazed me how people or groups of people self segregate, while voicing their concerns about discrimination and inequality.

Some websites have come across lately that really puzzle me. To show a couple, Black Engineer and The Black Collegian. Why? It doesn’t make any sense to me. Are engineers different because of their ethnic background, or because of their field of knowledge? Shouldn’t all Coll … ⌘ Read more

Dabbling with OpenID
I have implemented OpenID commenting here, and I have gone one step further, by allowing commenting only after logged in, while using OpenID. This isn’t to avoid comment spam, which I think it will happen regardless. I am encouraging the use of the technology, which others might consider flawed (the CardInfo lovers, etc).

All OpenID providers are accepted, of course. I have even setup a small OpenID server of my own as well. Lets see how it goes. ⌘ Read more

Two visions?
Mark posted yesterday that he will be working for Google, since out of the “ two visions” of the web, he says, Google is the right one. I am not web savvy nor I really care much about it, but I am sure there is more than two visions on the web, there is not right and wrong, but many, many, many shades in between. But the way I see it, the bottom line in my mind: he is going to work for someone who will pay him very well. Yes, bottom line is all a … ⌘ Read more

More changes coming
For the first time I am working on creating a complete theme here. The last time I had a decent one was back when WordPress 1.5 was around, for which themes weren’t implemented as they are now.

No much have been happening in life. I don’t have much to tell right now, other that those minor breadcrumbs of life. Actually, I have a few things I want to write, if anything to keep record online of what happened. Those few things involve GoDaddy and Media Temple. But it will be a future top … ⌘ Read more

Post Katrina crime increase
Ever since after Katrina we have seeing crime increase to levels never saw before in Orlando. Crime has been so high, that it has placed our city on the top most 25 dangerous cities in the States. Orlando, City Beautiful, rated higher than Miami on crime. Every single day more than 4-5 people die victim of a violent crime. Others get injured. It seems other cities/sta … ⌘ Read more

It’s time to say goodbye
It’s almost time to say goodbye to 2006 and welcome 2007. This will be – I think – my last entry of the year. A few has happened to the Collantes’ family in 2006, but the most important thing is that we have kept together, and that we have being blessed in many ways. Kent Martin has brought joy to our lives, so much joy we did not know existed. He is the main reason I love life. He and my wife, Kim.

To all – those who might read and those passing by (including bots and al … ⌘ Read more

Heavy Microsoft ads on Freshmeat
Freshmeat is, in their own words, “the first stop for Linux users hunting for the software they need for work or play.” and it also “offers a variety of original content on technical, political, and social aspects of software and programming, written by both Freshmeat readers and Free Software luminaries.”

I have been very surprised to see, more and more, Microsoft ads on Freshmeat. All over the place. Quite often. Fre … ⌘ Read more

Why Vista is not going in
I was talking —well, chatting— the other day with a friend of mine and he was telling me some bad experiences he had had with a Windows Media Center upgrade. That got me talking about Windows Vista, perhaps it is because Windows Vista Ultimate comes with it, I am not sure. Anyways…

I told my friend I am not installing Vista (although I have Windows Vista Ultimate —the final version of Vista, no beta, no RC, but final— as … ⌘ Read more

Wired News: Apple’s iPhone is Calling
Wired News: Apple’s iPhone is Calling

The most likely scenario, as Jupiter analyst Ian Fogg has pointed out, is that the iPhone will be a stand-alone device that will accept a standard SIM card. You’ll pop the SIM card out of your current cell phone and plug it into the iPhone. It’ll be just like buying an unlocked handset from Asia, except you’ll buy it at an Apple store instead o … ⌘ Read more

Winds of change
It seems winds of change had blown, brought by the mid-term elections. And yes, change was (is) what we needed. I am cautiously happy. After all, it is politics what we are talking about here. ⌘ Read more

Craigslist founder will not sell

The founder of craigslist, the free social-networking and classifieds Web site, said on Thursday he is not interested in selling out, just hours after MySpace.com was valued at $15 billion.

“Who needs the money? We don’t really care,” Craig Newmark said in an interview at the Picnic ‘06 Cross Media Week conference in Amsterdam.

“If you’re living comfortably, what’s the point of having more?” Newmark said.

[…]

… ⌘ Read more

Electoral signs: my approach
On every single election “season” I can see a multitude of signs and advertising that often remains until “natural decay” or the city gets them removed, 6 months –or more– after the elections are over. That really makes me mad. I would make it part of the process of being elected: if you win, you cannot take over office until you clean up all your garbage. And if they don’t, a hefty fine gets applied, they get ridiculed and their seat is up for claiming.

Thi … ⌘ Read more

The Military Commissions Act of 2006
David Wu, democratic congressman representing the state of Oregon reportedly said, referring to the Military Commissions Act of 2006 recently signed into law:

Let us say that my wife, who is here in the gallery with us tonight, a sixth generation Oregonian, is walking by the friendly, local military base and is picked up as an unlawful enemy combata … ⌘ Read more

Too busy, too much money or…
Our College is trying to re-design. Our web manager has been assigned to some other project of more importance (Dean’s order), so he can’t tackle the conversion of the existing website to a full blown CMS driven one. Other than the locals we have seeing and sit through presentations and proposals, I sent emails –very brief ones, but to the point– to Dan Cederholm, [Dan Bejamin](http://www.hivelogic.com/ “Da … ⌘ Read more

Three years ago
In light of everything happening in Asia, specifically on the Korean peninsula, I remembered what I wrote three years ago, more or less. It took them three years to develop something that can be tested (a bomb), or were they working already on it for a long time and our intelligence was ‘asleep’? If it was the first, they could already have a way to deliver it overseas, and if it is the secon … ⌘ Read more

God is bad
“Papá, if you get close to a shark, what would he do to you?” –Kent asks one day. “Well –I replied–, if it is hungry he will most likely attack you, try to eat you. If not, he will be scared and swim away. Sharks are by nature afraid of humans and will only come close to them if they are very hungry.”

“God is bad. Why would he make sharks, if they could hurt us?” –he asks again. “Sharks have a very little brain, they can’t make a difference from what’s right or wrong. They can’ … ⌘ Read more

We, the forgetful
I am often intrigued, saddened, worried, by the human “natural” forgetful nature. Since the beginning of time, we haven’t kept memories of lost, gone ones. Did any of you remember –or even knew of– your great-grandparents? How many generations do you have knowledge of? When you are gone, how many years will you be remembered? Why do we forget? Why? What can we do to change that? Going through a life of accomplishments –or lack of, it doesn’t matter– and ending up in the void. Isn’ … ⌘ Read more

Here without you - WoW
An amateur video composed of Word of Warcraft game scenes, which my kid loves dearly.

Here without you (Dimoroc and Redsword are on my server now!)

On vacation now, typing this from beautiful Sterling, Virginia. ⌘ Read more

Why?
While visiting South today I found, once again, this quote that I like so much:

The first question which you will ask and which I must try to answer is this, ‘What is the use of climbing Mount Everest?’ and my answer must at once be, ‘It is no use.’ We shall not bring back a single bit of gold or silver, not a gem, nor any coal or iron. We shall not find a single foot of earth that can be planted with crops to raise food. It’s no use. So, if you cannot understand that there … ⌘ Read more

Blue Security has gone down
Blue Security has announced it has ceased their anti-spam operations. From their website (which could be down as I type this):

As we cannot build the Blue Security business on the foundation we originally envisioned, we are discontinuing all of our anti-spam activities on your behalf and are exploring other, non spam-related avenues for our technological developments. As much as it saddens us, we … ⌘ Read more

Do not phone and drive
It infuriates me the idiots who think (and insist) that driving a car while talking on their mobile phones represents no problem for them or those around. Well, it does, fools! I have done it, I confess –although I have stopped doing so for a while, unless it is a real emergency– and I know what I am talking about. A driver handling a phone conversation while driving is impaired. It is!

So, for the stupids out there still using their mobile phones to keep their idiotic conversat … ⌘ Read more

Nazi crimes archives set to open
BBC News: Nazi crimes archives to set open.

The 47 million files hold Nazi records of forced labourers, concentration camp victims and political prisoners. They have been used to help people trace their relatives, but were kept closed to protect victims’ privacy. Many people felt the files should be opened to historical researchers to ensure the details of the Holocaust ( [Nazis genocide](http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/genocide/holocaust_overview_01.s … ⌘ Read more

Why e-mails are so easily missunderstood
Very interesting read and, in my case, it has proven to be as close to truth as it can be. Go read the whole thing, it is worth it.

Though e-mail is a powerful and convenient medium, researchers have identified three major problems. First and foremost, e-mail lacks cues like facial expression and tone of voice. That makes it diffic … ⌘ Read more

Gmail for Domains
Yesterday I received my invitation to move my Collantes.US domain over Google, to handle all mail by using the Gmail interface. That is Google new beta testing of hosted email for corporations or midsize companies. I don’t have a midsize company, but have a big family, so I qualified. Collantes.US, of course, is way too valuable for beta testing, but I have several more domains I can use, so I decided to resubmit my request. This morning a new message inviting the new domain was on my Gmail inbo … ⌘ Read more

Neoseeker: IBM will not use Windows[…]
IBM will not use Windows Vista - but will move to Linux desktops - Neoseeker News Article: IBM switching to Linux desktops in Germany according to a Linux Forum 2006 presentation by their head of open source and Linux sales in Germany. ⌘ Read more

You can’t do that!
Technology, Technology news, Times Online

“I can’t believe that your company would allow people to make money from something that you allow people to have free access to. Is this really the case?” she asked.

“If Mozilla permit the sale of copied versions of its software, it makes it virtually impossible for us, from a practical point of view, to enforce UK anti-piracy legislation, as it is difficult for us … ⌘ Read more

Confussed
I have not written for a long time. I am in a state of confussion and change. I feel the urge to redefine life and things around me, I just don’t know how and when to start. And that urge to redefine does not relates to this weblog, even though the weblog falls into the category of “things around me.”

I am around, I am not dead (Kim and Kent need me). I am trying to find my way. ⌘ Read more

The Chocolate Imbecile
I can’t get it out of mind. How a person can be so idiotic? The major of New Orleans, Ray Nagin said, among other things:

“Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it’s destroyed and put stress on this country”

[…]

“Surely he doesn’t approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses.”

[…]

“But sur … ⌘ Read more

BBC goes WoW again!
Although this new “interview” involves only Horde players, the latest BBC article about WoW is awesome and it gives some very sutil but good insides of the game.

I’ts popularity can be primarily attributed to its accessibility. The game is easy, plain and simple.

It’s more forgiving than most other online role-playing games on the market, and does not take as much dedicated playing or “grinding” to reach the top level. It appeals to a casual market and a broader spect … ⌘ Read more

BBC and WoW
From one article on today’s BBC Online news:

Occasionally gryphons and hippogriffs swept majestically overhead taking their riders to elsewhere in Azeroth or, as it is also known, the World of Warcraft (WoW).

At the edge of the computer screen chatter constantly scrolled past as other WoW players sought members forguilds, buyers for magical items, help with quests or engaged in idle banter.

Go and read: [A Walk in the World of Warcraft](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4294122.stm “ … ⌘ Read more

Still playing
Yes guys and gals, still playing WoW and loving it. Tryggr on Argent Dawn is already at level 48 and things are getting harder. Lots of quests can’t no longer be done alone and it is hard to find good players to group.

Soon Blizzard will allow characters moving, from server to server as well as accounts merging. I might decide then to move to another server. I am not sure it is going to be a PvP one, Anthony :-)

I know, you are bored with my babbling about WoW. You will not know exactly what … ⌘ Read more

The reason of my absence
I have not been posting anything in here, and I am afraid it might not happen for a while now. The reason I have been (and will be) away is Wow ( World of Warcraft). I have been playing WoW for almost a month now and my character has so far reached level 41.

If you are playing WoW, I am on Argent Dawn, RP Server and my main character is Tryggr, a dwarf warrior. Get in touch! ⌘ Read more

Microsoft Security Bulletins
This is the second time that I receive a Microsoft Security Bulletin and, since Microsoft uses PGP to sign their bulletins, I have decided to check their signature validity. I don’t know if this has been a flaw in the past as well, since I delete those bulletins without even reading them most of the time, but in the two occassions I have checked them, they had failed to verify, since the signature is bad.

[-- Begin GPG Output (Wed Jul 13 08:30:48 2005) --]
Sign ... ⌘ [Read more](https://collantes.us/2005/07/13/microsoft-security-bulletins/)

Worse hurricane season?
With Dennis –the hurricane, that is– Florida has had 5 hurricanes in less than a year. And it seems it could get a bit worse.

LOXAHATCHEE, FL – A wildlife expert in south Florida says turtles may be giving us a sign that the hurricane season ahead is going to be a bad one.

Lyle Thomas said he’s noticed turtles at the edge of the Everglades have nested just about as high as they can in earthen levees.

Thomas operates Loxahatchee Everglade Tours and sa … ⌘ Read more

Britons, our brothers and sisters
Once again some (insert some lots of bad words here) terrorists have tried to affect the civilized world by detonating bombs and killing innocent people. They’ve cause pain, allright, but their final goal has failed, as it will always do. Britons are not afraid, civilized world is more united because of those dumb (some more bad words here).

We are more united than ever. United Kingdom of England and North Ireland, all our love and support from the other side … ⌘ Read more

Mention two
My parents are visiting. They got here July 3rd and on July 4th dad was telling me they needed to leave the coming Friday. My old people are really something, but that is not what I wanted to post about.

My father talks, continuously, a lot. He will start with a simple answer to a question I asked and go on into various topics and anecdotes that seem not to have an end. One of tonight twists brought up his statement (seconded by my mother’s) about President George W. Bush: “He is a very good Presiden … ⌘ Read more

Downing Street Memo
I have known about this since it was released to the News media, but I haven’t comment about it here. I am providing a link to the contents of the Memo (pretty small read, I assure you) as they showed on the Times Online on May 1st, 2005. Draw your conclusions. I just want to quote a few parts of it. … ⌘ Read more

USA PATRIOT Act
A lot has been said and written about the “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act”, commonly known as USA PATRIOT Act, but they are quite diverse interpretations —some biased—, mainly because the whole Act is written on 300 pages of legalese. Recently I found the Electronic Frontier Foundation page about such Act, which sums it up in the following points (as far as why should … ⌘ Read more

Happy Birthday!
Today, a few years ago, a wonderful person –at least very wonderful to me– was born. A few years later I was lucky enough to meet her and become her husband.

Today Kim reaches a new milestone and it is with love that Kent I have to say: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! ⌘ Read more

Terri’s autopsy: What does it means?
The results of Terri Schiavo’s autopsy were released today. BBC News reported:

Examiner John Throgmartin said there was no evidence of trauma or strangulation prior to Schiavo’s collapse. The autopsy also could not prove that she was suffering from an eating disorder at the time – her diminished potassium levels at the time could have been affected by emer … ⌘ Read more

No more Freedom Fries?
It was really interesting to read on the BBC News:

A pro-Iraq war US congressman who campaigned for French fries to be renamed “freedom fries” is now calling for US troops to return home from Iraq. Republican Representative Walter Jones is to introduce legislation demanding a timetable for the withdrawal.

[…]

“I just feel that the reason of going in for weapons of mass … ⌘ Read more

Not guilty!
This is just news:

Singer Michael Jackson has been found innocent on all 10 charges of child abuse at the end of his trial.

The singer strenuously denied the charges of molesting a 13-year-old boy. There were cheers from his fans outside the court as the verdicts were read.

He was also cleared of giving the child alcohol and conspiring to kidnap him and his family. – BBC News

Now, let’s sue those “parents”. B … ⌘ Read more

They advertise with the best
Imagine my surprise when I saw the following Google Ad showing under one of my posts this morning:

[Was a screenshot of a Microsoft MSN advertisement on Google]

I guess Microsoft knows who is the best, right? I mean, the only way to see that advertising (other than serving adds on your own web space) is by searching the web using Google. I think it is funny… and interesting. ⌘ Read more