Wednesday, February 22, 2006

The Pharaoh

Let me know which of these you like better and why:

Normal .Mac photo album
New iWeb 1.0.1 photo album

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

New Grant System Excludes Mac Users

What if the federal government were about to give away more than $400 billion in grants, but only people whose computers ran on Microsoft software could apply?
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Critics note that in contrast to the domination of PCs in the business community, Macs constitute about one-third to one-half of the computers scientists and academicians use.

Wired News: 2005 Vaporware Awards

Several wags nominated our vaporware story itself for an award. Yeah, we know it's late. Apologies for that. But we never promised it in 2005, so it wasn't eligible anyway.
Always a fun annual read, especially considering how many repeat offenders there are. And I'm satisfied that a product I nominated made the list.

U2 dominates 48th Annual Grammy Awards

In typical award-show fashion, producers, in their apparent zeal to introduce Recording Academy Chairman Neil Portnow, cut U2's Album of the Year acceptance speech short just as Mullen stepped to the microphone.
Larry never talks! And the one time he's going to, he gets cut off! Now he may never speak publicly again! Way to go, producers!

Tartakovsky Directing Dark Crystal Sequel

Award-winning animation director Genndy Tartakovsky, who created the hit series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Samurai Jack and Dexter's Laboratory, will direct Power of the Dark Crystal, the much anticipated sequel to The Jim Henson Company's 1982 classic fantasy film. The announcement was made by Lisa Henson, co-CEO of The Jim Henson Company and a producer on the film.

Coldplay in Sacramento

liveDaily.com Review: Coldplay in Sacramento, CA

Grammy voters are wack. Coldplay is arguably today's most important rock band, currently touring in support of arguably the best mainstream rock record of last year, and the group deserves to go head-to-head with the likes of Kanye West and Mariah Carey in the major categories.
I agree completely. Personally, I think "X&Y" is more deserving of an Album of the Year nomination than U2's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb."
Besides getting ... roughly 20 great Coldplay tunes, fans also got the chance to see Fiona Apple open the show. Most, however, could have done without her presence.
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When Apple finally left the stage, following a version of "Fast as You Can" (also from "Pawn"), she received a resounding ovation--but not for the reasons an artist would hope.
I disagree. Most of the folks surrounding us were either quite enthusiastic in their response to Fiona's set, or they were simply tolerant. I've been to concerts where the crowd dislikes the opening act (P.J. Harvey opening for U2 in Portland) and they don't give resounding ovations.
After a so-so stripped-down segment ... the band decided it was time to wind up "Clocks." Just like on "Parachutes," the song came across like a prime example of elegant songwriting delivered with extreme passion.
Um, "Clocks" is not on the album "Parachutes." Messing up easily-checkable facts like that puts the whole review in question.

It was a great show, by the way: a good setlist with very impressive visuals. Their combination of heart and incomprehensibility (what's with the cover art?) has cemented their position as the shared child of U2 and Radiohead.