The Office TV Show Series on NBC Is Back 04.10.2008 9PM EST
Topic: Miscellaneous
4:48 pm EDT, Apr 10, 2008
DINNER PARTY 9/8c TV-PG 04.10.2008
GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER - Pam (Jenna Fischer) and Jim (John Krasinski) find they have run out of excuses and are forced to go to Jan (Melora Hardin) and Michael's (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) house for dinner. When Andy (Ed Helms) and Angela (Angela Kinsey) are also invited to dinner, Dwight's (Rainn Wilson) jealousy gets the best of him. Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, Oscar Nunez, Phyllis Smith, Paul Lieberstein, Mindy Kaling and Creed Bratton also star.
Until recently, most Comcast systems passed all HD as is from the content provider, without any added compression or quality reduction. In response to competitive pressures from DirecTV and Verizon FiOS, Comcast recently decided to sacrifice some quality to improve quantity. By early April, most Comcast systems will recompress and degrade their HD, much like DirecTV and Dish Network do on their MPEG-2 channels. This creates room for new HD channels without the need to eliminate a significant number of analog channels.
Previously, Comcast allocated a maximum of two HD channels per 38.8Mbps QAM, so each channel had the full 19.4Mbps available if needed. Now, with the addition of new channels, Comcast is squeezing three HD channels into each 38.8Mbps QAM. Furthermore, some existing QAMs with two HD channels are being recompressed in preparation for new channel additions.
But what does that mean? How much difference is there, really?
To find out, I decided to compare the quality of the same programs on Comcast and Verizon FiOS. I recorded the same program from the same channel, at the same time, on both Comcast and Verizon FiOS in N. VA. I compared the size and bitrate of each MPEG-2 recording, as well as the subjective quality with video.
When I was in Pittsburgh visiting my parents last weekend I got to see Verzion FiOS in action. All I can say is WOW!
I'm working on a presentation for work. The first slide has Bruce Lee on it and a quote from Enter The Dragon. I have a feeling this powerpoint is going to rule!
Disclaimer: This is what happens when you work on a presentation while drinking several pitchers of Stella in a Mellow Mushroom.
I’ve noticed that marketing departments of some information security companies like to throw around the limitations of Turing’s problem to sell their consulting services. I agree that a human brain must always be involved during security assessments (a fool with a tool is still a fool), so much so that I consider assessment tools to only be a first-pass sweep for vulnerabilities during any security assessment.
It is impossible to build a house using ONLY a hammer. But it sure helps to have one, along with all the other necessary tools.
MIT professor and Web star Walter Lewin swings from pendulums and faces down wrecking balls to show students the zany beauty of science.
Walter Lewin is not merely dangling at the bottom of a 15-foot pendulum. He is swinging high and wide, his rapt audience of 300 counting off each cycle. At 71, he's likely missed his window for a shot at Cirque du Soleil, but the Netherlands-born MIT physics professor seems happy with his own high wire act -- revealing to students, in the most unorthodox ways, the beauty of science.
MIT professor Walter Lewin's elaborate physics demonstrations are a hit in the classroom and online.His pendulum ride comes at the end of a lecture on Hooke's Law, in which he proves the pendulum's period, or time that it takes to complete one cycle, is not affected by the mass at the bottom -- in this case, his own body. He will also, on other occasions, suck helium and continue his lecture sounding like a Dutch Daffy Duck to highlight the differences in the speed of sound in certain gases. He'll shoot across the classroom stage astride a bicycle mounted with fire extinguishers to demonstrate a rocket's change in momentum. "It took me a decade to come to the realization," says Lewin at his MIT office, "that really what counts is not what you cover, but what counts
* Sometimes, people get drunk and drive, or get drunk and abuse others. Therefore, we should outlaw all alcohol (rather than just outlaw drunk driving and assault).
* Sometimes, the media libels people and destroys their reputations. Therefore, we should outlaw all freedom of the press (rather than just proscribe libel).
* Sometimes, children get a hold of cigarettes or pornography. Therefore, we should outlaw all smoking and pornography (rather than just outlaw the act of selling cigarettes or porn to minors).
* Sometimes, men rape women or molest minors. Therefore, we should outlaw all sex (rather than just outlaw rape and child molestation).
* Sometimes, people use drugs (prescription or recreational), get addicted and then steal or act violently. Therefore, we should outlaw all drugs (rather than just outlaw theft and violence).
* Sometimes, people force women against their will to work as prostitutes. Therefore, we should outlaw all prostitution (rather than just outlaw forced prostitution and human trafficking).
Hands on: Mozilla's new Prism brings web sites to the desktop
Topic: Miscellaneous
1:07 pm EDT, Mar 11, 2008
Prism makes it possible to launch web sites from the desktop and load them into a simple browser window without all of the extra features and functionality of a regular browser. This is advantageous for users because it allows them to run those sites in a separate process from their regular Firefox browser and interact with the content without any unnecessary distractions. Prism also allows web application content to be customized in some ways to make it more conducive to desktop use.
Good for helping to prevent your Gmail account from being CSRF'ed.
