Tired of "Merry Christmas"? Is it time to start wishing people a more inclusive holiday well wishing? Something nice and secular?

A poster at one of Sandy Mohachy's favorite stores proclaims "Feliz Navidad" and "Happy Hanukkah" but not "Merry Christmas."

"How depressing it is," says Mohachy, 62, of Newport Beach. "How can we Christmas shop if the stores aren't recognizing Christmas?"

[ OC Register x ]

I say fight the Sandy Mohachy's of the world and wish everyone a Feliz Navidad, that'll show her. Forget her "Christmas" and celebrate Navidad! Can't we just celebrate a Navidad that we can all get behind? A secular, non-denominational, non-threatening, peaceful Navidad?

And, I think for a while now, alternative French underground culture has been elevating the importance of "Nöel" over Christmas too. Perhaps it's time to jump on their bandwagon?

We're hiring at Doceus (my workplace) still, but we've shifted what we're looking for:

• Solutions Architects
• Senior Developers
• Developers

So if you do ColdFusion or C#.NET and are looking for opportunities, there is a good chance we have something at your level open.

There are likely dozens of ways to gain access to another computer across the Internet. The sort of thing you wish to do when home or at work when you need to use the other PC. Some cost money, others are hard to use, etc. etc.

I've been thinking, for a while, that it might be nice to gain access to my PC, but it's on cable broadband, behind a few NATs or so, and probably costs money or some such.

Then, just yesterday, a business issue arose that it would have been darn handy to have that access. And I thought, well I better get some AccessMyPCFromAfar.com account, or what-have-you.

Enter: Hamachi (courtesy Steve Sajous):

With Hamachi you can organize two or more computers with an Internet connection into their own virtual network for direct secure communication.

Hamachi is fast, secure and simple. It is also free.

[ Hamachi: Stay Connected ]

All I can say is:

I love it when a plan comes together

[ Hannibal ]

MicroSoft has stated:

In June 2003, the Microsoft Macintosh Business Unit announced that Internet Explorer for Mac would undergo no further development, and support would cease in 2005. In accordance with published support lifecycle policies, Microsoft will end support for Internet Explorer for Mac on December 31st, 2005, and will provide no further security or performance updates.

Additionally, as of January 31st, 2006, Internet Explorer for the Mac will no longer be available for download from Mactopia. It is recommended that Macintosh users migrate to more recent web browsing technologies such as Apple's Safari.

[ Internet Explorer 5 for Mac ]

So, please stop using IE, and switch to Safari or Firefox.

Props to Big G, a Mac user, who, to the best of my knowledge, doesn't use IE, unless he has to.

My mobile life is getting better. Gmail now has a mobile-optimized interface:

Now you can access your Gmail messages from the web browser on your mobile phone or device. Read and reply to your Gmail messages any time, anywhere.

[ Google Mobile ]

Apparently extensions for Firefox are easy to write, and hard to make unstable. There are dozens of dozens of them by now, and just a few have "improved" Firefox to the point where I might not use IE except for the few IE required sites that I use (mostly internal facing sites).

For example:

Tab Mix Plus is a spin on the original Tab Mix. Like Tab mix, it enhances Firefox's tab browsing capabilites. It comes included with features such as duplicating tabs, controlling tab focus, undoclosetab and many more. While it may look similar it has a lot more features and added functionality like tab clicking options. Unlike Tab Mix however, it is Mac compatible.

[ Tab Mix Plus ]

Well, I don't know "Tab Mix" from a whole in the wall, but this extension lets you do pretty much anything you can think of to tabs.

Grossberg's beloved Greasemonkey is installed, but I haven't found too much use for it yet. There are tons of "Web Developer" helper extensions, but ColorZilla caught my eye:

With ColorZilla you can get a color reading from any point in your browser, quickly adjust this color and paste it into another program. You can Zoom the page you are viewing and measure distances between any two points on the page. The built-in palette browser allows choosing colors from pre-defined color sets and saving the most used colors in custom palettes. DOM spying features allow getting various information about DOM elements quickly and easily. And there's more...

And, since we all know how much I hate PDFs, it's no surprise I jumped on PDF download. Before I have to read the millions of patent IDs that PDFs are covered by, or risk the instability of a PDF in-place reader, I can use this puppy to download the PDF to my desktop.

Next step: learn how to write my own, so I can create a handy "Blog This" extension like I have for IE.

FLCL is a unique and somewhat esoteric production whose myriad oddities are often bewildering. This is compounded by the suckerpunch pace at which the plot progresses. Its hyperactive, occasionally juvenile, and illogical style can be misinterpreted, generally causing strongly polarized opinions of its value.

But the Best Buy guy made you buy some extra crap you didn't want? Seems that may be against their own policy:

Specifically, customers in some Best Buy stores were told that they were required to buy additional Xbox accessories or services if they wanted one of the sought-after Xbox 360 consoles, even though we advertised the Xbox 360 console alone. I want to be very clear that Best Buy does not condone pressuring customers to purchase items they may not want or that may not fit their lifestyle. In fact, these behaviors are in direct conflict with our desire to serve customers' needs better than anyone else, and our values of honesty and integrity.

[ Open Letter to Customers ]

And they're putting Gimbels catalog right in each store, so you can comparison shop without even leaving Macy's, uh Best Buy...

French beverage company Pernod Ricard SA agreed to sell Dunkin' Brands to Thomas H. Lee Partners, the Carlyle Group and Bain Capital four days after bidding closed in an auction for the U.S. fast food company - owner of the Dunkin' Donuts chain, Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlors and Togo's sandwich stores.

[ Forbes ]

Interesting, but how does that affect me?

Washington, D.C.-based Carlyle, with $35 billion under management, is the largest of the three successful joint bidders.

Ah. But still, what does that mean? More Dunkin' Donuts? Better Dunkin' Donuts? I've made no secret of my preference of Dunkin' over Krispy Kreme. KK may have the best yeast raised, glased doughnut around, but DD makes up for that in sheer variety.

I've felt for years that DD has seemed to go a bit downhill (at least in the DC area), and certainly the number of locations has shrunk (as apposed to the KK mini-factories). I hope this helps turn around DD as a brand. As for the other 2 major holdings of DD? Baskin Robins and Togos? I'm more of a Ben & Jerry's or Häagen-Dazs kind of guy, and I've never eaten at Togos...

I enjoy the Starbucks DoubleShot, but I've found that even years after launching, it is difficult to find. The shelf life is rather short, and so few places actually carry it regularly, you can't count on it being there for you. I don't, however, enjoy the bottled frappuccinos as much. They are far too sryupy, and only good in a pinch when nothing else is available. If only we had more options...

Well soon we may. Coke is getting into the canned/bottled coffee fray in the US (starting with "10 southeastern states).

Coke Consolidated, the nation's No. 2 Coke bottler, is selling coffee under the "Cinnabon" name as part of a strategy to innovate with new products. The company is working with the line's maker, Brain Twist, to launch it at $1.99 per can in three flavors: caramel nut latte, cinnamon vanilla latte and espresso & cream. The drinks will be sold in cans.

[ Charlotte Observer ]

Though, the press release does make this odd statement:

"We think the Cinnabon brand is synonymous with warm dough and sweet frosting and we're bringing consumers a new experience in coffee drinks," said Lauren Steele, Coke Consolidated spokesman.

I'm not sure that I want a warm doughy coffee with sweet frosting.

Being the 'net junkie I am, I do a ton of shopping online.

With the addition of eBay’s vast selection, MSN Shopping continues its march towards becoming *the* place to find what you are looking for and buy it with complete confidence.

[ MSN Shopping Insider ]

Continues? I didn't even know MSN did shopping. And I thought froogle was "*the*" place...

Some sort of talent show at some sort of highschool:

[ Google Video ]

And no one is getting beat up!

And if you don't recognize the music, or appreciate the jokes, make a couple purchases [1 & 2], spend a few months playing, and you'll be part of the in crowd too...

Props to Big G for the link.

Amazon Mechanical Turk provides a web services API for computers to integrate "artificial, artificial intelligence" directly into their processing by making requests of humans. Developers use the Amazon Mechanical Turk web services API to submit tasks to the Amazon Mechanical Turk web site, approve completed tasks, and incorporate the answers into their software applications. To the application, the transaction looks very much like any remote procedure call: the application sends the request, and the service returns the results. In reality, a network of humans fuels this artificial, artificial intelligence by coming to the web site, searching for and completing tasks, and receiving payment for their work.

[ Amazon Mechanical Turk ]

The 3 largest issues I see with this are:

1. Getting computers and internet connections in front of people who could make a living at these rates in the poorest of countries
2. Relying on this process for anything requiring a high level of QA
3. Handling the latency of the request if your HIT driven task become unfavorable

However, I can see the potential here, though I'm not sure what it has to do with Amazon, except that they already have the architecture to handle and route micropayments.

Oddly I found this via Seth Godin's blog, who thought it was a joke...

No indeed, finally a good Thai restaurant just around the corner from me.

Sakulthai Restaurant
408 south vandorn st.
alexandria, va 22304

[ sakulthai ]

For those who know the neighborhood, this is the spot where Thai Hut used to be. The menu had this enticing item:

10. Crispy Duckroll *** Must Try ***
Crispy duck, scallions wrapped with roti skin served with chef's special sauce.

So I had to try it, right? Incredible. On top of that I had the standard Tom Ka Gai and the Ka Prow Beef (28. Chicken Galanga (Tom Kah Kai) and 37. Fiery Basil respectively) and both were rather good. The Ka Prow was sufficiently spicey, and the Tom Ka was the best I've had in a long time.

In a city with as much Thai as DC has, Sakulthai does good enough with the standards, and offers enough specialties of their own, and in a much more pleasant atmosphere than Thai Hut ever seemed to have.

8:27am EST (5:27am PST) I go to pull up some music, and perhaps tame my increasingly sour mood this morning, and:

Our apologies,
RHAPSODY is currently down for scheduled maintenance and upgrades.


This maintenance period will be over at approximately
5am PST, Wednesday Nov 30th


We apologize for any inconvenience. Please check back soon.

That can be added to the list of:

• My building and the unannounced, unexplained, unfriendly mess that our front door has become
• Dig Dug: Digging Strike and the complete lack of a "delete profile" or "start new game" option
• Getting a lecture, with your lunch, about the correct way to request toppings for your sandwich
  

But I certainly expect more things to crop up.

And, in the time it took me to rant, Rhapsody is back up...

Update: added to the list

Some colleagues work better or feel more comfortable with a task if they can actually talk about it, and it's unwise to force them into an electronic exchange.

[ CareerJournal | Is Emailing Nearby Colleagues A Sign of Office Dysfunction? ]

And some of us appreciate email and IM for what they are, and don't want to be forced into a verbal exchange. Verbal communications are synchronous, and achieving synchronized in the office can be a complete waste of time. 9 times out of 10, IMHO, when I hear "wouldn't this be easier to talk it out" I believe what is really being said is "my time is more valuable than yours, so I want to monopolize you as a resource and force you to synchronize with me".

The worst offenders of this seem to be sales folks. If I send an email to inquire about your product, don't send me an email requesting my phone number to call me because "it would be easier". If it was easier for me, I would have called you. And since it is potentially my money, I would expect the courtesy of choice of method to communicate would be left to me.

Props to Joe G

[PSP OS 2.6] supports WMA (though it doesn’t support PlaysForSure, WMA9 Professional, and WMA9 Lossless, d’oh!), RSS (we hear that includes enclosures, i.e. podcast time on your PSP!), and some other incremental developments.

[ Engadget Gaming ]

And if you have an old laptop gathering dust in your closet, you might be able to get a real good deal on that PSP.

I'm a fanboy, but now an online one:

This is your view into the pulse of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. The games, the players, the scores, highlights… it's all here.

[ Nintendo WiFi ]

Headed out the door on vacation, so you don't see my scores posted yet, but soon. I'm not sure if it lists it under my DS name "Kearns" or my Nintendo profile name "NADKDC" but if you are playing worldwide Mario Cart DS, keep checking your rear view mirror, 'cause I'm already there...