Follow-up on the thing we talked about before:

Jobs did acknowledge that the company is still struggling to decide if third-party developers will be able to create software that will run on the iPhone. It’s a decision Apple “is wrestling with,” according to Jobs.

[link]

-t, I have a RAZR, but I have no idea how to help you. Sorry.

What do people know about the AT&T U-verse? I got a thing in the mail about it yesterday, and it sounds not only much cheaper but better than Comcast. They have a DVR that can record FOUR channels at once! I'm skeptical because it all sounds too good to be true. Save fifty bucks a month AND get a magic DVR? Really?

They don't appear to get G4, which is kind of lame.

P-C - In the fine print it says "purchase of AT&T U-verse TV required." Who knows WTF that means?

Oh, wow. That's so weird! I'm looking at the demo stuff, and apparently this magical DVR is part of the TV.

Oh wait wait. Jon, "AT&T U-verse TV" means that you have to buy the cable bundled with the Internet. They don't do the Internet separately, is the thing. The TV thing comes as receivers, like you'd expect. Okay.

I'm trying to figure out what the catch is. Besides the lack of G4.

I'm really wondering about this thing, but at least if I don't decide to do it, I can honestly tell Comcast I'm thinking of switching, so please give me a good deal if you want to keep me.

I am suffering from a computer Catch-22. I was trying to load an upgrade to my virus program, and, after deleting the previous version, the install refused to go on until I deleted "WindowsDefender.msi." There is no such file on my computer. I tried to uninstall Windows Defender, and it said those files were not available. I tried downloading Windows Defender, and it said that it couldn't go on until I had deleted (you guessed it) WindowsDefender.msi, which I can't delete because IT DOES NOT EXIST. It also suggested I consult my tech support group, so here I am. The only option I can think of is restoring the previous version of the anti-virus software (PC-Cillin) from a backup, which still doesn't solve the upgrade question. I did contact the PC-Cillin people, who said it was a Microsoft question.

::head desk::

FYI - more info about 3rd party apps and Iphone:

[link]

Ginger,

Check your search. There should be an advanced search for hidden files and folders

If I've ever recommended ehostpros to anyone here, I'm sorry. I take it back.

Their hosting is fine, but their domain management is crap. I've been trying - unsuccessfully - to transfer my last few domains from ehostpros to Dreamhost. There's no option anywhere on the domain management access page to unlock a domain, and when I ask tech support about it, the response has been along the lines of "LA LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU."

I'll break them down eventually, but in the meantime, UGH.

I ended up buying two Titanium flash drives. One 4GB, for general toting of stuff, and one 2GB which is password-protected and therefore Windows only.

I did the U3 technology that lets you take your world with you in your pocket, but am sad that it doesn't extend to the Mac. I did find Portable Firefox which isn't U3, but is nifty in that it comes with an OS X executable and a Windows one that both use the same bookmarks, etc. Close to my dream.

I grabbed a few U3 apps above and beyond what came with the drive--Putty and OpenOffice and Firefox. But I haven't had a chance to explore the world of U3 or other portable apps yet.

But, dammit! Why not have cross-platform password protection? Grr.

eta: Gah! Why am I having a hard time finding mention of cross-platform Portable Firefox? Mine is! I tried it. Weird.

A little article about humans, computers and chess:

In the old days, chess programs went around killing enemy pieces at every opportunity. Their human opponents understood that in chess, like war, other factors often matter more: territorial control, mobility, initiative, reach, coordination, supply lines, impregnability, and safety from decapitation. By trading material for these advantages, the humans won. So, programmers taught the machines to recognize and consider the same factors.

Unable to win with their old tricks, human players learned new ones. They played quirky openings to throw computers off-script. They plotted attacks a dozen moves ahead, beyond the machines' range of calculation. They hunkered down in defenses that to a computer looked impregnable. They cluttered the battlefield with obstructions, making it harder for computers to see threats or payoffs. They left irrelevant pieces on the board to absorb the machines' attention. It was a whole new game layered on top of the old one. The humans named it "anti-computer chess."

Now programmers are adding a third layer: anti-anti-computer chess. They're teaching machines to break old habits, see through clutter, and force the wide-open bloodbaths at which computers excel. In 2003, Deep Junior flummoxed Kasparov with a kamikaze attack unprecedented in computer annals. Last year, when Kramnik forced Deep Fritz off its opening script, the program invented a new variation and went on to win the game.

[link]

The gist of the article is humans and computers, working together, will achieve unprecedented blah blah blah....