Let's collectively genuflec to the cutting edge communion that is the military-industrial complex. They gave us the internet (Arpanet -history buffs), and now a noise cancellation device for cell-phones; from tank to SUV.

The Aliph Jawbone represents a much appreciated breakthrough. The communications industry, seemingly controlled by marketing minions who tout style over substance, glitch and glamour over function, just might pay attention. The development of a noise cancellation headset that works with a number of major cellphone vendors should point the way toward a thorough analysis of the communications environment that the Japanese call Keitai (pronounced: kaytie).

cell-phone mobile-phone keitai jawbone

I should have known better. I thought the browser incompatibility wars were over and done with once Content Management Systems (like Moveable Type) took control of display. I am so naive.
When I checked the look of this blog in IE (which you should never use yourself, dear reader) the banner was missing and the newly defined Radio Blog was all out of whack.
The look is mostly uniform now and the tunes are crankin'.
But maybe this lot is just not enough for your eclectic tastes. Check this:



A desktop player that avoids annoying timeouts from the lastfm server. More importantly if you're like me you can't resist clicking on the profile icons of online lastfm users. It's an addiction. I am weak. MyLastFM doesn't make me stronger but it puts the cork back in the bottle.

lastfm mylastfm radioblog radio blog

This morning I was listening/reminiscing to Jaco Pastorius.
For those who missed his bright light this time around here is his discography with Joni Mitchell, Weather Report, Pat Methany, etc.:

I heard him with Weather Report in Miami - 1976. Oh he was so beautiful, at the top of his game. This was the first time I heard a bass sing.
A decade later I met him backstage at the Lonestar in NYC.

My band Pacific Orchestra was about to go on when he stopped backstage. Cocaine and alcohol had kicked his ass. He looked so haggard and worn, smelled of booze and sleepless nights.
Jaco grabbed our bass players ax, played the Star Spangled Banner like Hendrix effortlessly, and popped the cap off a bottle of beer with his teeth. We had heard that he was living on the street, playing a lot of basketball in the park, and had become a pariah in the club circuit for crashing performances. The man was sick and no one, not his fans, not his lovers, could help him.

He moved back to Fort Lauderdale in hopes of stitching the shreds of his life together but he was killed by a bouncer at a local club.

You can read excerpts from an interview with his wife, Ingrid, below:

Most importantly - listen.
These are phrases of passion and intelligence. Try these

Continue reading "Jaco "

Earlier this week we were teased with an inch dusting, but today fierce winds will push dunes of snow against our front door. How could I ignore such a clear cut message.

I'll cloister inside, spin smoothies, rip the wrapper from Halo2 and get killed over and over again by a 9 year old. I'll woodshed some soca and help my daughter with a new website creation, "Ranch Good Days" in Colorado.

Santa screwed the pooch this past Christmas and forgot to bring my eight year old

a Digital Blue Camera
I have to hand it to the old guy 'cause when he realized his mistake he sent out an elf, dressed in brown like a UPS man, to hand carry the gift to our doorstep.
This was Eli's first movie, starring my foot..

For the purposes of this investigation I limited my inquiry to these criteria that fit my specific needs (and maybe yours as well):

1/ freeware
2/ can search network drives
3/ no spam or hidden components introduced by installation
4/ can search email personal folders

The desktop search tools that meet these criteria are:

Copernic Desktop Search
Blinx
Microsoft Desktop Search (beta)

Copernic Desktop Search: Grade B+
Copernic is a fast and easy install. Neither Ad-aware or Spybot discovered any hidden components after installation.
Copernic indexing interface is highly configurable and user friendly. It indexes Word, WdPerfect, pdf, html, rtf, Excel, Powerpoint, and many other standard documents types.
This is the only application I found that can also index Outlook personal folders and contact lists.

Comparison review of Copernic/Google

Positive review of Copernic

Received highest rating in Desktop search comparison by ZDnet

Blinx: Grade C
Although Blinx is typically rated as highly as Copernic, it fails to index WdPerfect files.

Microsoft Desktop Search: Grade C-
The recent release of the beta version of Microsoft Desktop Search is a huge improvement over the the cludgy Microsoft Indexing Service, but many caveats remain.
1/ indexing took twice as long as some of the other products
2/ html pages are not included in the index
3/ the desktop search bar is integrated with the websearch toolbar that attaches to your browser.
4/ Email search is not fully functional in this version

Microsoft Indexing Service: Grade D
This rarely used component of the Windows operating system lies within the Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Services and is, by default, set to manual. In my test of the “service” last month I found a substantial drain of system speed and only a modest increase in the speed of the “find” command.

Google Desktop: does not fit criteria (cannot index network drives)
Although GD does not index network drives I include these comparisons because of the popularity of the application. GD has a clean and user friendly interface, but does not allow users to select folders to index, nor does it index email unless it has been opened on your system.

blinx copernic google toolbar