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Linked List: February 1, 2007

Thursday, 1 February 2007

Lev Grossman in Time:

To sum up: Vista is a perfectly respectable new iteration of Windows. They’ve even, finally, come up with a decent way to make laptops sleep and wake up again, which XP was never very good at. The fact that it took Microsoft over five years and $6 billion dollars to create Vista is — and I mean this quite seriously — an embarrassment to the good name of American innovation, but it’s perfectly fine.

iConcertCal ★

A couple of DF readers have emailed to recommend this:

iConcertCal is a free iTunes plug-in that monitors your music library and generates a personalized calendar of upcoming concerts in your city. It is available for both Windows and Mac OS X.

Clever idea, that’s for sure. Rafe Coburn digs it.

Back ★

Leander Kahney, writing about running Vista on a Mac with Boot Camp:

There’s a bunch of interface features I wish Apple would copy. …

I like the way Windows Explorer file browser has a “back” button, web browser style.

I wonder what these buttons in the Finder do?

Back and Forward buttons in Finder browser windows.

TJ: ‘What Did I Learn From the MOAB? Not Much’ ★

TJ has a good rundown of each of MOAB’s 30 bugs. And The Macalope has more.

Google Ad Revenue Continues to Surge ★

Miguel Helft, reporting for The New York Times:

Google is also showing fewer ads on each search, but those ads are more relevant to users, are clicked on more frequently, and hence, generate a better return for both Google and for advertisers, he said.

This is a powerful combination, because it makes everyone involved happy: users (who see fewer ads per page and who are more interested in the ads they do see), advertisers (whose ads are more likely to be clicked), and Google (who’s making money hand over fist).

Hack to Enable Higher Resolution Video Chats in Skype ★

Simple XML config file hack. (Thanks to DF reader David Scott.)

BBC Considering Streaming Media Formats That Would Only Work With Microsoft Software ★

Terrible idea.

Two Plead Not Guilty to Boston Bomb Hoax Charges; Tell Reporters They Will Only Take Questions About Haircuts From the 1970s ★

I love it:

In a news conference, Rich told reporters he had advised his clients not to discuss the incident. Stevens and Berdovsky took the podium and said they were taking questions only about haircuts in the 1970s.

When a reporter accused them of not taking the situation seriously, Stevens responded, “We’re taking it very seriously.” Asked another question about the case, Stevens reiterated they were answering questions only about hair and accused the reporter of not taking him and Berdovsky seriously.

Reporters did not relent and as they continued, Berdovsky disregarded their queries, saying, “That’s not a hair question. I’m sorry.”

Update: Video here.

Fake ★

El Jobso is back.
“Friggin’ lawyers” threat was fake.
Show him the money.