2004 June | Keys Corner

The better Office software

By John, on June 30th, 2004

OpenOffice.org have just taken a major step for Mac OS X users, by releasing their first update to OpenOffice.org, their freeware competitor to Microsoft’s Office suite, in roughly a year. You can download OpenOffice.org 1.1.2 for OS X from here. So far, so excellent.

Unfortunately, in their effort to provide a user-friendly installation, . . . → Read More: The better Office software

The Lost Art of Eating

By John, on June 28th, 2004

There are some things which I am happy to consider lost to history. For example, this passage describes a 16th century papal feast:

They serve wine that a woolen rag wouldn’t deign to lap up (as Juvenal puts it), which, if you’re insane enough to drink it, will make you vinegary, watery, corrupted, . . . → Read More: The Lost Art of Eating

Unwiring the last mile

By John, on June 26th, 2004

The IEEE approved IEEE Standard 802.16-2004, more commonly known as the WiMax standard, on Thursday this week.

WiMax is a standard that will give similar funcionality to computer users, as we have today with Wireless LAN (WLAN) – but instead of having a range limited to typically 20 – 50 meters (maybe a . . . → Read More: Unwiring the last mile

Tour the Gulags

By John, on June 25th, 2004

You can now tour the Gulags where Stalin incarcerated people who opposed his government. The weather is so perishingly cold that you can only visit in June and July each year. The price is a bargain �400 for a 12-day trip.

I wonder how long we will have to wait to visit America’s . . . → Read More: Tour the Gulags

Russians change weather for concert

By John, on June 22nd, 2004

When Paul McCartney performed in St. Petersburg last Sunday, it looked like it was going to rain, so the organizers dispersed the clouds by having them sprayed with dry ice at a cost of $40,000.

Apparently this in not the first time the Russians have practiced weather modification – the clouds were also . . . → Read More: Russians change weather for concert

Whoops…

By John, on June 20th, 2004

Given the amount of high-tech electronic navigation equipment in modern airliners, you do wonder how this can happen.

Surfing the internet

By John, on June 20th, 2004

Intel has produced a a surfboard with integrated WLAN laptop, which will allow surfers to check their emails, surf the web, and even record footage of themselves catching the best waves.

The laptop doesn’t sound in the least bit usable, at least not unless your name is Duncan Scott, but it should generate . . . → Read More: Surfing the internet

Why DRM is bad – for everyone

By John, on June 18th, 2004

The opinions of the music / film industry and the paying customers on DRM (Digital Rights Management), or copy protection, are diametrically opposed to each other. Microsoft has been an active developer of DRM technology and wants to incorporate it into its next generation operating system. So it was interesting to see that Cory . . . → Read More: Why DRM is bad – for everyone

One third of Americans were without health insurance in last 2 years

By John, on June 16th, 2004

Nearly 82 million Americans under the age of 65 (one third of all the people in this age group) were without health insurance at some point in the last two years. More than two-thirds lacked cover for more than 6 months; more than half were uninsured for more than 9 months.

One quarter . . . → Read More: One third of Americans were without health insurance in last 2 years

The European election results

By John, on June 14th, 2004

The Leader of Ukip, Robert Kilroy-Silk, (Ukip – The UK Independence Party – wants to take the UK right out of the EU), which got 16% of the British vote, has vowed to “wreck the EU Parliment”, which I doubt he will succeed in doing, given that his party only got 12 seats. He . . . → Read More: The European election results