CyberCoyote - July, 2006

TIPS and TOPICS

Watch where you park. :-)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/5110742.stm

"The Safest Way to Run Suspicious Programs" (like that attachment you're just dying to run but don't completely trust):
http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,125187,00.asp#

CYBERSPACE

Cyberspace: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberspace

Know before you click.
http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20060622.html

"101 Fabulous Freebies" -- downloads, sites and services -- by PC World:
"If you thought that the golden age of free stuff ended when the dot-com bubble burst, guess again. The past few years have seen an explosion of giveaways -- both Web-based services and free software...."
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,124883,pg,1,00.asp

I'm writing this newsletter with my new left-handed keyboard. I'm right-handed -- why left-handed? Well, this keyboard puts all the extra keys on the left side. My mouse is now closer to the main keys, which greatly improves comfort. By using my left hand on the "Delete", "Page-Up", "Page-Down", "Home", "End" and other keys, I can also keep my right hand on the mouse. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner. :)
http://www.thelefthand.com/

"Google Pack" is an interesting collection of [free] programs. Be sure to click the "Add or remove software" link and select only the programs you want before you start the download. Paul Thurrott wrote a good, if not exuberant, review/guide for Google Pack.
http://pack.google.com/ -- download
http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/google_pack.asp -- review

WINDOWS

Windows Vista may be back on track:
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_5465_gallery_01.asp

"20 Reasons Why Windows Vista Will Be Your Next OS" -- lots of pictures, but a little long:
http://cybercoyote.org/url/194.html

Over on "Daring Fireball", there's an incisive discussion of competition between Microsoft and Apple. (Many people think the real competition is between Microsoft and Google.)
http://daringfireball.net/2006/05/confidence_game

DIVERSIONS

Never mind the fingers, watch your neck.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006290294,00.html

Henry seated in his first Ford:
http://www.nytstore.com/ProdDetail.aspx?prodId=2790

Just how fast is Warp-7 Scotty?
http://www.star-fleet.com/ed/warp-chart.html

Watching music while it's *performed* is more pleasing than just hearing it. This animation is both unique and delightful! (I ended up buying the DVD.) [best with broadband]
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5503582578132361295

YouTube - Amazing R/C airplane demo: "Precision flight of a radio-controlled airplane, indoors." [best with broadband]
http://cybercoyote.org/url/191.html

CYLINDERS

"Cylinder" has always been a *cool* word for me. Six-shooters were impressive with six of them. Our old dump-truck had four -- plus a hydraulic cylinder. I once watched some guy in Spar City change spark plugs in his 16 cylinder Cadillac.
http://cybercoyote.org/url/176.html -- 1931 Cadillac
http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/co/sparcity.html -- Spar City

Jay Leno has a 1932 "Twin Six" Packard Coupe, which of course means 12 cylinders. Mustangs, Spitfires and P38s also have 12 cylinders (V-12s). B29s had a total of 72 cylinders, but the "Spruce Goose" topped them all with 224 (that's 448 spark plugs to change). How does this relate to computers? Well, hard drives have cylinders too -- thousands of them. No spark plugs though.
http://cybercoyote.org/url/175.html -- Jay Leno
http://www.boeing.com/history/boeing/b29.html -- B29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_Goose -- Spruce Goose
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratt_%26_Whitney_R-4360 -- engine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cylinder_%28disk_drive%29 -- hard drives