Wednesday, December 31, 2003
It's the End of the Year as We Know It!
... And I feel fine. To end off the year here is the mother of all lists. Have a happy new year!
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/31/2003 05:10:34 PM
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Tuesday, December 30, 2003
IE 6.0 Won't Let Me View Source
I noticed that for the last few months that IE 6.0 has stopped letting me view source on webpages. I finally did something about it today, if you are having the same problem follow this advice:
1. Make sure notepad.exe is still located in your \Windows directory and is working right. If it is missing or got replaced by a 3rd party app, restore it from your Install-CD. The View Source command does tie into Notepad.exe, with Notepad missing or being defective, it can't work.
2. In Internet Explorer, go to Tools|Internet Options|General and delete the Temorary Internet Files. While you're there, make sure you Temporary Internet Files folder isn't too big, we noticed the problem occurs more often the bigger our folder was. Reduce it in size if you have this problem frequently.
3. If that is still not working, go to the \Windows\Temoprorary Internet Files folder on your harddrive and delete the files manually - incl. the index.dat file.
These steps cleared up the problem for me, at least temporarily.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/30/2003 01:52:18 PM
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What do Michael Moore, Jack Black, Gus Van Sant, James Carville, Janeane Garofalo and Moby All Have in Common?
They are the celebrity judges that will choose a winner from 1 of the 15 finalists in MoveOn.org's anti-Bush political ad contest. Since the liberal advocacy group started the contest last October they have received more than 1000 ads all recorded in an effort to unseat President Bush.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/30/2003 01:36:05 PM
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Saturday, December 27, 2003
Jeff Milner Movie Review - Peter Pan
Last night instead of driving home to Canada in a blizzard, Anna, her siblings, and I went to see Peter Pan at the Jordan Commons Megaplex Theater. This Peter Pan movie closely follows the book version of the Peter Pan story. This was the best Peter Pan movie I've ever seen - (only Peter Pan movie I've ever seen, if you don't count the Disney Cartoon or Disney's Hook). I was quite looking forward to seeing it, however I felt a little disappointed when I actually got into the theater to watch it. Perhaps it's because I'm too old (or to stubborn) to appreciate the idea of a flying boy talking to mermaids and fighting pirates but it seems to me that had I seen this movie at the age of 10 or even 14 I would have appreciated it a lot more. The Action / Adventure aspects of this movie were great but there was more to it than that. There was a subtle Romance / Coming of age story. Being that it was a PG movie there was a surprising amount of sexual tension between Peter and Wendy. The thing is though, that it was all done so discreetly that it's hard to pin down what it is about the movie that makes one think there even is any sexual tension. Anyway not to go off on a tangent but it seems like a story that someone going through adolescence could really appreciate. I think the reason I haven't given this movie a better review is that I just saw the Lord of the Rings Return of the King before this movie and frankly the two just can't be compared and perhaps that is clouding my judgement.
Peter Pan will make a lot of money at the box office, it was sold out for many of the shows here in Utah and we were lucky to find seats once in the theater. If you are looking for a good flick and have already seen some of the other must see movies at the theatre then go see Peter Pan, otherwise just wait for it on video.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/27/2003 12:17:00 PM
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Secord Worst Blizzard in Utah's History
I'm stranded in Utah. Truth be known we probably could have left this morning. Yesterday morning though, we would have been lucky to get out of the driveway. The snow just wouldn't stop. Power was out for some of the houses and traffic lights in the valley but luckily the power has been on here except for one or two quick blackouts and then right back on again.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/27/2003 10:38:33 AM
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Wednesday, December 24, 2003
Christmas Eve
It's almost Christmas. I've been having a great time down in Utah with Anna and her family. Apparently due to the fact that Holmans are so excited to open presents, we are going to do that tonight instead of waiting for Christmas morning. It will probably make for more photogenic subjects so I won't complain. On the one hand I wish I was at home with the family, but on the other hand I'm EXTREMELY happy I won't have to go through that stupid Christmas program at my Aunt and Uncle's. Every year they make us all sit around reading the Nativity Story and singing Christmas songs. I'm seriously glad to get away from it.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/24/2003 05:01:30 PM
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Wednesday, December 17, 2003
I'm in Disneyland
So here is the quick recap of what I've been up to in the last week or two. I left Lethbridge on Monday morning at around 6:00am. I must have had a historic border crossing - it is the first time an American border guard has ever been truly nice. He even smiled when I said I was going to Disneyland and wished me a nice trip. I arrived in Sandy, Utah at about 5:00pm so I made good time. Traveling with the dog was no trouble at all and we were both happy when we finally saw Anna! I stayed with the Holman's for a week and then Anna and I took off for sunny California. Sunday was our first day in Disneyland - but it turned out to be more rainy than sunny. Monday and Tuesday were both nice weather wise, but I have been getting sick with a mild cold. That of course hasn't stopped me from going to Disneyland. Today we are going to take in the parks as usual but at 2:45 this afternoon we are going to watch The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King. I must say we are both pretty excited. Tomorrow will be our last day in the magic kingdom. At least for awhile.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/17/2003 11:11:47 AM
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Monday, December 08, 2003
It's Official - I'm done the semester!
I just finished writing up my last paper of the semester. Now the only thing in my way to the greatest Christmas vacation ever is the 12 to 14 hour drive to Utah. It's 3:30AM and I am considering just leaving right now. Anna sure would be surprised if I got there a few hours in advance, and it would be nice to not just have to go straight to bed when I get there. That's it, I'm packing right now and I'm on my way. Utah and California - here I come!
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/8/2003 03:38:10 AM
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Sunday, December 07, 2003
The Walmart Stampede
I didn't want to write about the so called Walmart Stampede where Patty VanLester was apparently trampled by frenzied shoppers. I figured the story was a bit suspicious. Whether or not she was trampled isn't as interesting to me as the coincidental fact that this is not the first time for something like this has happened to poor unfortunate Patty VanLester and her sister. They should have learned over the years not to shop at such dangerous and negligent stores.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/7/2003 05:42:57 PM
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West Valley City - Home Sweet Home AKA Gansta's Paradise
Via Fark:
"Man steals cop's gun during fight, runs away, changes his shoes, gets shot, refuses to die, so police run him over with a truck." I wish the article would have been more specific as to why they hit him with the truck but anyway I am posting this for two reasons, one because I am going to Salt Lake tomorrow and secondly because I used to live a couple of blocks away from where it happened.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/7/2003 05:18:14 PM
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New Media Final Flash Project Update
I'm done my net.art final project. It's not much but let's not forget what's truly important - it's done.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/7/2003 05:13:35 PM
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Nickname
The swim team likes to say, "It's Milner-Time" right before I swim. It's kinda my nickname - if you can call it that. It's a good thing they don't speak latin or my new nickname might be Colymbosathon ecplecticos.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/7/2003 04:06:26 PM
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Saturday, December 06, 2003
Christmas
You know, this phone is what I really want for Christmas, but a new DVD burner would also be cool - and probably a lot less money. Just posting this in case anybody that cares wants to know what I would like for Christmas.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/6/2003 10:03:43 AM
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All About Mormons
South Park ran a really funny episode in November titled "All About Mormons".
From the South Park Studios Website:
"A Mormon kid moves to South Park and Stan has to kick his ass. But when Stan and his dad meet their new Mormon neighbors, they become fascinated with how genuinely nice they are. Meanwhile the other boys mock Stan relentlessly for wimping out."
If you missed it, you can probably get a copy of the whole episode off of the FastTrack network (download Kazaa Lite). Just search for "SouthPark - 712 - All About Mormons.avi".
Or if you want, you can check out the "audio only" version of the South Park Joseph Smith Story.
I think pretty much the greatest thing about this episode is that is gives people who don't know anything about the church a background into how the church started. As someone that knows from personal experience, they tell the Joseph Smith story pretty much just like they do if you were to have the Mormon Missionaries come into your house and tell you the story, except for the part where they call Martin Harris dumb. Mormon Missionaries would never call him dumb - unless they were calling him dumb because he gave his wife the unpublished transcript, then they might but other than that - no way. This episode also portrays what nice people Mormons are - based on some of the Mormon families I know it's so accurate it's scary.
Update: http://www.suprnova.org has finally released this episode as a torrent. Get All About Mormons(XviD-lol).torrent now (the actual file is an AVI). It's May 2nd, 2004 so who knows when this link will stop working.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/6/2003 09:51:26 AM
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Friday, December 05, 2003
Another Project Done
I just finished my final script for Writing for New Media. It's not an entire story, just a couple of scenes. I need to run and print it now, but I'm really getting close to be done for REAL!
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/5/2003 01:02:08 PM
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Thursday, December 04, 2003
3 Days and Several Projects to Go
Only 3 more days and a few more school projects stand in my way for leaving to Utah. Anna wants me to bring the dog - which pretty much means I'm bringing the dog. I'm really sick of the dog. Would you like a really nice dog? I just don't have time or interest in giving her the attention she needs.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/4/2003 10:58:11 PM
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Wednesday, December 03, 2003
How to Make a Diamond
From Wired:
"Armed with inexpensive, mass-produced gems, two startups are launching an assault on the De Beers cartel."
Wired writer Joshua Davis reports that two companies, Gemesis and Apollo are synthetically producing diamonds. Apollo's diamonds have reached a level so close to traditionally mined diamonds that they are almost indistinguishable. In fact they are only identifiable because of the fact that they are too perfect.
This leads to the inevitable question, "How will consumers feel about them? The mystique of natural diamonds is anything but rational. Part of the allure is their high cost and supposed rarity. Yet diamonds are plentiful - De Beers maintains vast stockpiles and tightly controls supply."
One gem wholesaler states, "If you go into a florist and buy a beautiful orchid, it's not grown in some steamy hot jungle in Central America. It's grown in a hothouse somewhere in California. But that doesn't change the fact that it's a beautiful orchid."
Jef Van Royen, a senior scientist at the Diamond High Council, disagrees. He contends that, "If people really love each other, then they give each other the real stone. It is not a symbol of eternal love if it is something that was created last week."
The article continues by pointing out that selling diamonds as gemstones is just the tip of the iceberg. Next up: the computing industry, where diamonds could theoretically be used as semiconductors.
Silicon processors are limited by the fact that as processors get faster they also get hotter. Eventually the technology will lead to processors that get so hot as to melt the silicon.
Diamonds on the other hand could handle the heat. In order to form microchip circuits, however, positive and negative conductors are needed and diamond is an inherent insulator - it doesn't conduct electricity.
From the article:
But both Gemesis and Apollo have been able to inject boron into the lattice, which creates a positive charge. Until now, though, no one had been able to manufacture a negatively charged, or n-type, diamond with sufficient conductivity. When I visit Butler in Washington, he can barely contain his glee. "There's been a major breakthrough," he tells me. In June, together with scientists from Israel and France, he announced a novel way of inverting boron's natural conductivity to form a boron-doped n-type diamond. "We now have a p-n junction," Butler says. "Which means that we have a diamond semiconductor that really works. I can now see an Intel diamond Pentium chip on the horizon."
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/3/2003 11:15:49 PM
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Canditites turn to Web for Election Edge
The interenet is changing the way election campains in the States are run. Of course if you are a miserable failure then you probably want to stay as far away from that thar interweb as possible.
Search the web for miserable failure.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/3/2003 08:44:01 PM
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All I Want for Christmas is a New Cell Phone
Quite possibly the coolest cell phone yet. Actually I don't know how it compares to other phones but it looks pretty cool to me.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/3/2003 08:12:41 PM
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Trouble Brewing in Sandy, Utah
Anna's family has just moved to Sandy, Utah. I hope they realize what kind of controversal people they are now living with.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/3/2003 06:10:09 PM
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David Cronenberg on Alias
Via Amy's Robot Blog:
David Cronenberg was on Alias last night, playing a neuroscientist with an experimental method for recovering lost memories through the use of drugs and lucid dreaming. The episode itself is almost an homage to Cronenberg's ideas and visual style...as Sidney undergoes DC's process, the show turns into one of the more visually and conceptually cinematic bits of TV I've seen in a while, full of Cronenberg's illogical logic, layered realities, and of course the requisite bit of Cronenberg's nonsensical corniness. In any case, before the experiment gets started, DC's character offers a nice little monologue about simulation, postmodernism, lucid dreaming, and fake bacon. Because [Amy is] nice people, [she] offers you this:
David Cronenberg on Alias talking about postmodernism and reality [mp3, 2.5 mins, 1.8 mb]
If you missed him this week, he'll be on next week, too.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/3/2003 05:33:23 PM
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Google Toolbar Installed
My Google Toolbar is now installed! Try it for yourself. The Google toolbar makes it extrememly easy to make blog posts while simultaneously surfing the web.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/3/2003 05:05:07 PM
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New Mimail Worm Targets Anti-Spam Sites Update
Apparently the MiMail Worm is also targetting Disney Sites. Now I REALLY hope that guy falls off a cliff... or gets hit by a bus.... or gets hit by a bus at the bottom of a cliff ... or maybe a really fast train. Whichever.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/3/2003 09:54:25 AM
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Japanese Train Sets A Speed Record Of 581 kph
Via Slashdot:
Last night a high-speed magnetically levitated Japanese train set a new record of 581 kph, topping its own record set just last month. The new Maglev high speed had real passengers on board this time. They proved that the distance between Osaka and Tokyo can be covered in one hour's time. However, we wouldn't see real trains for a while now since the cost is prohibitively expensive at this time. They expect that the cost would come down over the next 20 years. This seems to be the future of transportation, at least in Japan. Here is a detailed article from The Japan Times.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/3/2003 09:19:11 AM
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Tuesday, December 02, 2003
Celebrity Athiests
While surfing the Random Website Generator I found a site dedicated to maintaining a list of Celebrity Athiests. Of most interest I found Steve Benson's article kind of interesting, mostly because it lead me to his article: Good-bye to God (Editorial Cartoonist's Journey From Jesus to Journalism--and Beyond).
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/2/2003 07:56:29 PM
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New Mimail Worm Targets Anti-Spam Sites
Anti-spam organizations have become the target of a new Internet worm that tries to knock their sites offline using denial-of-service attacks. The worm/virus comes as an attachment to an e-mail purporting to be from a woman named Wendy who details an erotic encounter and then offers naked photographs.
Clicking the attachment triggers the virus which then sends itself to other email addresses stored in the infected computer and then allows a massive amount of data to at a later time to the Anti-Spam site. The flood of useless data renders their services unavailable.
If there is one thing that I hate worse than regular spam, it's email spam. And if there is one thing that I hate worse than email spam, it's email spam that's actually a worm / virus. I hope the guy that wrote this virus gets hit by a bus, or falls off a cliff - whichever I'm not picky.
posted by Jeff Milner at 12/2/2003 04:06:17 PM
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