Archive for June, 2007
AIDS Cure?
Friday, June 29th, 2007
“Consequently the virus becomes inextricably linked to the host, making it virtually impossible to ‘cure’ AIDS patients of their HIV-1 infection,” Engelman explained.
That could change if the enzyme developed by a group of German scientists can be made safe to use on people.
That enzyme was able to eliminate the HIV virus from infected human cells in about three months in the laboratory.
The researchers engineered an enzyme called Tre which removes the virus from the genome of infected cells by recognizing and then recombining the structure of the virus’s DNA.
AIDS came out about the same time I was hitting my teens, and I remember it put a damper on “things” in high school. Maybe my generation and beyond will finally get a shot our own ‘summer of love’ sometime soon. 
Simple Coding Breakthroughs
Tuesday, June 26th, 2007
> params.result
[xpconnect wrapped nsILocalFile @ 0x58aa3a0 (native @ 0x57b4140)]
>params.QueryInterface
>”"+params.QueryInterface
UNDEFINED
..
..
..
..
..
>”"+params.result.length
65
DOH!
A little parenthesis containing the actual type at the end of the output would have saved some time. :\
iPhone
Tuesday, June 26th, 2007
Pogue does up what I’d consider the most accurate review yet, though there are more to come for sure. Overall I give Apple a great deal of credit, they’ve managed the rollout of this perfectly while in the process doing something no other cell company has done – centered on the software, rather than the hardware. I can’t remember ever seeing a cell phone ad where the carrier shoved Symbian or Windows Mobile up in your face and asked “doesn’t that just blow your sock off?”. As a software developer I like the statement this makes.
Will I buy one? No, it’s missing a set of key features I have been wanting in a cell phone for a long time. But still, Apple’s done a great job overall on the release. They’ll also help push the mobile software industry forward which will be welcome. All in all, regardless of its success or failure, the iPhone will have a positive impact. You’ll get no complaints from me on that.
Odierno
Friday, June 22nd, 2007
“I think if everything goes the way it’s going now, there’s a potential that by the spring we will be able to reduce forces, and Iraq security forces could take over,” Odierno said. “It could happen sooner than that. I don’t know.”
Should we really be broadcasting the idea that we’re “ready to get out” but we’re not sure what’s going to happen? I can’t blame political ‘white flag’ pressure on this – Odierno should have simply kept his big mouth shut.
Vista Doing Well On Security
Friday, June 22nd, 2007
Interesting report. I like the fact that he’s included applications like IE when totaling up the numbers, although I’m not seeing the two Windows Mail bugs in his report. Regardless, over the last six months Vista is undeniably doing well on security, better than the other consumer oriented operating systems available. I think if you combine this fact with the idea that hackers have probably been tearing their hair out for over a year looking for holes, Vista’s doing really well.
Also came across this rather negative blurb by PC World, which I think shows just how much some individuals hate the fact that Vista is out and doing so well. I love the comment by the supposed expert –
“Alternatively, force Microsoft to include all vulnerabilities in common third-party software,” he added. “For example, the thousands of exploitable ActiveX controls that… vendors include with a Windows system.”
I’d say skip 3rd party vendors but definitely include applications Microsoft develops in house. The Active-X control comment though shows just how little this ‘expert’ knows about Internet Explorer’s security sandbox. Vulnerabilities in 3rd party controls are mitigated by the sandbox since their access to the system is severely limited.
Even with tripe like this in the press, I think Vista has a number blow out years ahead of it. Arguably the best operating system available on the market, possible for quite some time to come.
Jobs
Thursday, June 21st, 2007
Interestiong read on Jobs over on New York Magazine. I was surprised by this –
…the carrier Jobs chose to deal with exclusively—for the next five years, no less—is the “new” AT&T, formerly Cingular, which is widely seen as having the slowest network and the worst technology of the major players. (It’s safe to assume the terms of the deal were the most favorable on offer.)
Some critics have wondered why Apple didn’t release the iPhone as an “unlocked” device that could be used with any carrier. “No way,” says a venture capitalist who knows the cell-phone market inside out. “The mobile business is the best business in the world, and the operators are not going to be willing to let any device manufacturer take on their subscribers. Nokia has been trying to establish a direct relationship with the customer for twenty years, and they haven’t been able to do it. You have no choice but to do a deal with the devil. And you know it kills Jobs to have to do that deal.”
So apparently Jobs went out to all the best carriers, and got shot down. So he ended up having to go to the worst, and had to sign a 5 year exclusivity deal. No doubt, that had to really piss him off.
Hazzaa!
Thursday, June 21st, 2007
Not sure how I missed this – Starcraft ][! No release date yet, sometime this fall maybe. The video on the site is absolutely incredible! YouTube also has smaller versions that don’t require DIVX.
Obama’s Earmarks
Thursday, June 21st, 2007
At least he published them, which is more than most of the loosers in Washington can say. Must be fun throwing around hundreds of millions of our money like that. Sheesh.
The Blame List
Thursday, June 21st, 2007
I was talking with an old friend recently who was lamenting why life hadn’t turned out as well as she expected. I asked her to write down a list of all the things and people she blames for her situation. Her “blame list” went something like this -
1) my parents
2) my disability
3) my ex
4) “Tom”
5) “Lisa”
6) “Bob”
7) the government
8) …
I think in general, folks who make “blame lists” like this tend to not be very happy in life, and for the most part probably haven’t achieved the things they dreamed of when they were kids.
People who produce a much simpler “blame list” like this -
1) Myself
tend to be much happier in life. These folks may still have regrets, or things they have failed to accomplish. However, for them my friend’s list wouldn’t be a list of people to blame, it’d carry the title “Things I have failed to overcome”.
The only advice I was able to give my friend was to try and get comfortable with the second version of the “blame list”. Once she’s able to do that, I think there’s a good chance things will start to turn around.
Clever Advertising
Wednesday, June 20th, 2007
NextNature has more.
