Oops, if this is true this may be a killing blow to all of you MicroSoft fanboys out there. According to Computer World a tech-worker on the oilrig crashing windows systems may be part of the problem that eventually let to the spilling of oil. And we’re not talking a little Dr.Watson, an occasional “general exception”… we’re talking about a full-blown BSOD (blue screen of death). Well maybe we learn a little lesson here. Never use a computer system for critical mission computing that can’t even keep itself alive for longer than half an hour… If this doesn’t teach us then maybe this will… one day…

Oooh I know, you don’t have to put it in the comments: i’m a tremendous nerd but I couldn’t help myself. Today my (combined) incoming mailbox hit a magical number… check this:

See? 6502 messages… 6502!! The MOS technology 6502 CPU… The CPU of my first actual computer I got way back in 1982 1983. The amazing Oric-1. Oh whow.. that brings back some sweet memories. And ofcourse my bible, the holy book called “Programming the 6502″ by Rodnay Zaks… Oh those were the days.. anyway.. I better start reading some mail now….

In the meanwhile feast your eyes on some 6502 floating point assembly routines written by Steve Wozniak (of Apple fame).

Some call me a hater, others call me a fanboy… well the truth is somewhere in the middle… I hope… Anyway, I love this new Mac ad.

Whahahaa… nice. The EFF (electronic frontier foundation) has filed a request at the DMCA to allow jailbreaking of Apple’s iPhone. Users must be able to install any software they wish.. not just the software apple approves of.
Just this week apple removed any voice-based application from the App Store to protect their exclusive deal with AT&T because it “duplicates features that come with the iPhone”. This just proves the necessity of people having the right to install any software they want.
Soooo Apple had to respond to the DMCA why jailbreaking would be bad…. well.. hold on tight.. according to Apple the iPhone is not just a phone… it’s a weapon of mass-disruption. I call “FUD“

Now this has to be the ultimate mod for a macbook. EdsJunk cracked his MacBook open and added a second monitor to it. So instead of the dull backlit apple logo you can now display anything on it. Here’s a video of the result… oh boy…

Next year we will celebrate the 30th birthday of PacMan. Namco released PacMan in 1980 and is now preparing a new episode to release next year. I really wonder what the new game will be like. I really didn’t like the earlier spawn-offs like Pac-land. It sucked in ways in which something has never sucked before…

Let’s wait and see what they come up with. I hope they prove me wrong when I think that the original idea is still the perfect game. Well to be honest I liked Ms. PacMan better because of the different mazes but the idea is still the same. How about playing a little game of PacMan yourself?

Oh this is, or can be, great news for Seinfeld fans. The complete star cast of the sitcom Seinfeld will reunite on multiple episodes of ‘Curb your enthousiasm‘ which is also written by Larry David and he plays the lead role as well. Individual characters from Seinfeld have appeared on the show before but not the entire group. So hopefully some good scenario’s are prepared to justify the reunion. Can’t wait for these episodes… due in fall. So here you have something to look forward to to overcome the long hot dull summer.

Yes, today is a beautiful day for all unix fans around the world. In Unix we measure time in seconds since 1 januari 1970… and today that will go beyond 1234567890. How nice. The javascript clock below is counting… don’t miss it.

countdown

Download the clock javascript code

For those who missed it: there are some screenshots below
(more…)

Some days ago Apple introduced the new MacBookPro, you can read a nice report on engadget. is available from apple. People expected a little more from the new MacBookPro and there’s hope. See the introduction of the revolutionary keyboard-less notebook from Apple:

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Har har har… you might think the IT industry at large may have learned a small lesson from the millennium bug (Y2K bug). Well most professionals probably did but Microsoft still manages to screw up bigtime. In this case the Zune 30GB version has a leap-year bug. It will not start up properly due to the bug. Fortunately there is a fix at hand… Just let it run out of battery capacity. Recharge the battery and start it after noon GMT and your Zune will be fine. You got to love those Microsoft products.

With the Zune you get the full Microsoft experience. Think of continues thrill and exitement the Zune is offering you… is it going to work or will it blow up in my face? It’s like rebooting after a blue screen of death… you’ll never know whether your system will successfully restart or not. Microsoft gives just that little more excitement…

Do you still feel comfortable with Microsoft products being used in nuclear submarines?… Happy New Year, enjoy it as long as it lasts.

Er zijn altijd mensen die, als ze iets nieuws hebben, willen weten hoe het in elkaar zit. Dus ook met de nieuwe MacBook’s van Apple. In deze prachtige reportage wordt de hele laptop uit elkaar geschroefd. Let vooral eens op dat über-sexy moederbord, custom engineering for the world!

Eerlijk gezegd viel de introductie van de nieuwe MacBook’s me een beetje tegen. Natuurlijk zijn de beeldschermen een stuk verbeterd maar daar blijft het eigenlijk wel bij. Wat dat betreft is er geen enkele reden om je oude MacBook Pro weg te doen en een nieuwe te halen. Voor mensen met een 17″ MBP valt er sowieso niets te upgraden. De 17″ heeft geen opvolger en het ‘oude’ model blijft gewoon in de verkoop.

I like most of the Mac commercials although the last batch isn’t that great. However I still like this one. It makes me smile everytime I watch it. “I’m pleased to say that I’m error-free for nearly a week”.

I used to think that I was a liberal guy. Let people enjoy their freedom as long as they don’t invade other peoples freedom, that kind of stuff. Same goes for freedom of speech and press. I even wrote a post (dutch) against the Dutch government who plan to ban the game “Manhunt 2″ in the Netherlands. But now there is a game that is so terrible that it must be forbidden. It’s not the violence. I can handle violence in video games. It’s not about drinking and driving. It’s not the explicit language, I can handle bad mouthing. It’s not the nudity. I even demand nudity in games. Heck, I played Ms. PacMan for years hoping she would do a strip act at level 99.

No no no, none of that. It’s the insult and stigmata against a certain part of the world population. Poking fun at one’s religion is not funny and should be outlawed. I hope all consoles will freeze. What game I’m talking about? “Grand Theft Auto IV”. Here are some shocking screenshots from the game. Those who are not lightly insulted can see the screenshots below. Remember: the screenshots are from the game and they are not funny. NOT FUNNY!

(more…)