The Great Mt. Dew Conspiracy

Forget everything else you might have read lately. This is serious.

Last week, Tom went to the grocery store (not the usual one we go to) and picked me up a 12-pack of Mountain Dew because I was dangerously low. I drank one, and it tasted funny. So I dumped it, drank another, and it tasted funny, too.

I figured that, hey, it's the store we don't go to very often, so their Mountain Dew stock doesn't rotate as quickly as the one I usually shop at. So yesterday I bought a 12-pack at the usual place, brought it home to chill overnight, and crack one open just a few minutes ago... and it tastes funny, too

Has anyone else noticed that their Mountain Dew tastes odd? Have they changed the flavor on us without notice? I haven't been able to find any announcement, but after the New Coke fiasco, it wouldn't surprise me if soda makers don't announce their changes now.

And if you know of anything that tastes just like Mountain Dew used to (and is non-diet), please let me know.

Quote of the day:

BSD is for people who love UNIX.
Linux is for those who hate Microsoft.

Thinking about going to the O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference, but can't afford the $195/night hotel rate? If you're a female non-smoker, let me know--I'm looking for a roommate.

Thinking about going to the O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference, but can't afford the registration fee? Save yourself some money by taking the discount mentioned on this page.

Don't you wish you could be the author of a best-selling JavaScript book? Then you too could get email like this:

Dear Tom Negrino or Dori Smith,

I'm writing to you because I hate the fact that the Javascript that I've learned from the 2nd Chapter in your book isn't working. I just bought your "Javascript Visual Quickstart" book today, August 15, and when I'm testing it in Internet Explorer 6.0 by writing a notepad file and changing it from txt to html and htm, it's not working. After several frustrating tries, I decided that I would first look at the FAQ page on your site, and then contact you. I've made a website, and if the Javascript works, tell me what it is that's wrong with my computer/browser. If not, to find the Javascript, -> View -> Source, and scroll to the bottom of the page to read my Javascript/HTML. If you can't find it write me back, and I'll create a blank page without anything on it. Thank you very much. Goodbye.

Sincerely,
CBergstrom@sbcglobal.net

Webpage to go to: http://www.angelfire.com/sc3/stupidstuff/jnowork.html

P.S. Please write back to me withing 3 days, or else I'm just going to return your $19.99 book, because I don't like to waste (almost) $20.00 just to find out that the Javascript which I've been trying to learn for 6 MONTHS now doesn't work. Thanks in advance.

My response cordially and professionally invited him to return the book--we don't take kindly to threats.

New Power Macs Fail To Catch Up With Intel, Other Pipe Dreams. Another great piece.

You've heard of Buzzword Bingo, right? Now there's Televangelist Bingo, just the thing you need to liven up those dull Sunday mornings. Sounds like something that would have come in handy back in the days when Tom worked as a camera operator for Christian TV station; nowadays, we're usually asleep when these things are on.

As has been noted many other places, Microsoft decided to pull down the free fonts they had previously offered for download. Whether or not you agreed with MS's decision that they (minus the corporate bs) did it because the Debian Linux folks were abusing their availibility, it was their right to stop offering what they'd previously given away.

On the other hand, as has also been noted in many places, the Internet sees such attempts as damage and routes around it. Consequently, you can find those same free fonts here or here, so if you need 'em, grab 'em while they last (Hat tip: Jeffrey Zeldman).

From the Science Desk, it appears that the speed of light isn't what it used to be, and anti-gravity propulsion may actually be possible. I've always said that I read science fiction because it insulates me from future shock. Time to double up the dose.

I edited this blog's description at the Eatonweb Weblog Portal, at Brig's request. So now, you get to rate it:

A quick glimpse into how I surf:

• Dave pointed to a joke from Mitch Wagner's cousin Beth.
• Mitch pointed to Bloggedy Blog, talking about how it'd been 20 years since Fast Times at Ridgemont High was released.
• Andrew of Bloggedy Blog pointed to this USA Today article from last January commemorating the 20th anniversary.
• The USA Today piece had a "where would they be now?" section that said:

If Jeff Spicoli were alive today, he'd probably be spending more Friday nights eating breadsticks at the Olive Garden than searching for tasty waves.

Linda Barrett would be a wealthy divorcee with three facelifts under her belt, while Stacy Hamilton would be toiling at a non-profit organization somewhere in the Northwest. Brad would own a chain of hamburger joints. Rat would be a dot-com millionaire. As for Damone, you could probably still find him scalping Cheap Trick tickets at the Ridgemont Mall.

To which, I find, I need to comment that no, Rat's not a dot-com millionaire, he's a computer book author.

Oh, and I should probably state for the record that while I've never met Andy, I did hang out with a bunch of guys from Clairemont High, class of '80 when I lived in San Diego from '85-'93 (and RIP, Scot).

Here's a kind of weird, but pretty cool, Shockwave example. You'll need the latest Shockwave version, which only took a minute for me to install. Ah, the wonders of broadband.

The Scrum has a story about, yes, rational members of the Green Party in Minnesota, but the story is balanced by the nutty Green members in the same state. Also of note is Mr. Loyalty and Integrity, Ralph Nader, recently describing himself in a speech as an "independent," not as a Green. The front page of the site also has a bit about Richard Gephardt's preparations for another presidential run. I can imagine virtually no circumstances in which I could support such a paleoDemocrat as Gephardt.

Here's a great lead for this article: Fake Forum - Bush's economic forum belies its pretense.

This afternoon at the President's Economic Forum in Waco, Texas, President Bush and Vice President Cheney sat side by side on the stage of a packed auditorium for more than an hour. That's the first time they've been that close together for that long in public since Sept. 11. Evidently they're no longer afraid of terrorists. What they're afraid of is Americans.

Aug. 10: Slashdot says Dell No Longer Selling Systems w/o Microsoft OS

Aug. 13: News.com says Dell Computer is making Windows optional for some of its business desktops

If you read the fine print, it's all a scam that Dell's running to get around MS's stupid licensing scheme that doesn't allow Dell to ship machines without an OS. Which should, of course, be illegal, but that would require a Justice Dept. that would actually do something about a convicted monopolist.

Salon calls it Gamers to forfeit identities to sell video game. Me, I look at the proposal and say, hey, that's a good way for Sean to earn some college money. That and all the video games he can play? Where does he sign up?

I've received a number of responses, both public and private, from both men and women, to this post. All of it sums up unanimously as: Dave's ignoring you because you're a chick.

Please note that I'm not saying this; what I'm saying is that this is the feedback that I've received.

What I find interesting is how this ties in with previous things I've said here about how conferences don't hire as many women as speakers as I think that they could. If there really is a group of probable attendees (either male or female) that are less interested in attending because they don't want to be taught by women, well, then imo that's a valid reason to not invite women to be speakers. Running tech conferences is primarily about putting butts in seats, not about changing the world.

Should it be the case that people (of whatever gender) don't want to listen to women? Of course not, but I have to live and work here in the real world.

Then there's the question about why there aren't more women attendees at tech conferences. I suspect that these two issues are related, but I'm not sure how. I'm going to have to think about this some more, and I'd love to hear your opinions, too.

Can we kill the "Macs are more expensive" meme already? I've been bitching about this one for years, and Glenn Fleishman has run the numbers comparing Apple's newest machine vs. an equivalent Dell. Result: Apple is several hundred $ cheaper. And I gotta say, I'm stunned that a machine that lists for over $3K doesn't come with Firewire. How're you going to hook up your new iPod? And you want one, I know you do.

How many people are doing blogger ecosystem stuff now? I knew about myelin: blogging ecosystem and The Truth Laid Bear ecosystem, but this is a new one on me: organica. Found via my referrer logs.

Are you interested in and excited by the promise of digital television? Not so fast, bub: the same people who tried to kill radio, VCRs, MP3s, and digital video recorders only want you to have digital television their way, under their rules. And they're perfectly willing to destroy innovation in the computer industry in order to get their way. Cory Doctorow does a great job of explaining the looming nightmare in this week's TidBITS: Can the Digital Hub Survive Hollywood?

I know people who just love RSS aggregators, and they're showing up more and more often in our hit logs, so every few months I try one out. This time around it was Ranchero's NetNewsWire. After about an hour of fussing with it, once again I just don't get it. Why is it a multi-step process to subscribe to a newsfeed? Why, once I get a newsfeed, do I just find out that hey, they've updated their web page, so I have to go check it out anyway, because the RSS aggregator doesn't give me enough info?

I know I'm missing something, because really smart people love these things. But it sure doesn't work in any way that I'd consider intuitive, so I'm stuck.

BTW, this shouldn't be taken as a poke at either Brent or NetNewsWire--that one hour I spent on it showed it to be considerably more promising than the alternatives that I've checked out previously. Most of them got thrown in the trash fairly quickly. But overall, I suspect that I'm just not getting this application area.

From More Room Throughout Coach: the Website of Free Miles and Free Markets this meme, Impeach Norm Mineta. Most people, at this point, are saying, "Who?" But he's right when he says that airline travel has not been made demonstrably safer by having National Guardsmen in camo in airports, or by having grandmothers take off their shoes, or the "random" searches of 12 year-old kids.

Dave says:

Cory Doctorow, Glenn Fleishman and Matt Neuburg are speaking at the O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference, Sept 30 thru Oct 3, Santa Clara, CA.

So what am I, chopped liver? Session 1,  Session 2,  Session 3