Month: October 2007
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Lucky!
Tonya Engst over at Tidbits was the happy recipient to a brand new copy of Mac OS X 10.5 ‘Leopard’. She purchased her copy through the Apple Store and no doubt elected the most speedy delivery option. However I in my infinite foresight decided to support Ric Ford of Macintouch and pre-ordered at Amazon back in July. Each time the ship date for a new OS comes ’round I always try to opt for the speediest most sure method of getting boxed product into my hands.
Round 1: Back in the days of Cheetah, I stupidly waited the day of release for 10.2 to purchase said item at our Local CompUSA. By the time I got there on Saturday morning, they had a waiting list 150 signatures long. So I bailed out, and decided to purchase at University computer store.
Round 2: Panther, I pre-ordered through the Apple Store, but elected to get the next day shipping. However the next day after the release on the Apple Store website delayed the shipment until the following Monday. Again, I was feeling a little taken advantage of by Apple as they lured me into the more expensive shipping, but didn’t deliver the earlier receipt of the product. So I gave up on the Apple Store.
Round 3: Tiger, I pre-ordered through Amazon but not through Macintouch and hoped to get the pre-mature all to early shipping that some Amazon customers had claimed they had gotten with each release. For 10.3 and 10.2 I kept reading that Amazon purchases always got shipped early. Apparently Apple went out of its way to curb this unwarranted reward to Amazon customers. So Amazon closely hewed to the Apple Rule of Law and I paid a high price to get 2nd day shipping again. And I didn’t receive merchandise until 5 days later from the release date. Worse yet, co-workers got it the day of release due AppleCare UpToDate program.
Today: I pre-ordered again, through the Amazon link on Ric Ford’s website back in July. I originally chose to get FREE shipping. I figured if I don’t get early shipments on the day of release, I might as well get it at the lowest price. $109.00 tax free, shipped to my door within 5-7days of release was good enough for me. Then my selfishness got the best of me. Apple Stores worldwide were going to have boxed product ready to go at 6pm on Friday evening. I was again going to be the last one in line to get the new OS X release. So I realized, “Hey I can change the shipping on my order right?” So I made it next day Air, and paid the premium price of $17.25 for the premium shipping. And still no sign on Amazon’s website that it has shipped. Oh, woe is me.
So to Tanya and Adam Engst I say, good for you. Hopefully all the years of editing and maintaining tidbits.com has probably paid off handsomely in getting new products on time. I just wish I could once in my life get the new version of the OS early
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FRONTLINE: showdown with iran: analysis: the “grand bargain” fax – a missed
You have to ask yourself as we slowly gear up for more military action, this time aimed at Iran, how did we get here? In this line of questioning some very important players answer some questions about olive branches offered by Iran leading up to the Iraq invasion and just afterward. Was Iran willing to broker some kind of peace with the U.S.?
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KPBS to the Rescue
San Diego area affected by Fire Thanks KPBS for using Google MAps to it’s maximum possible good.
At a time when the federal authorities are desperately tied up with firefighting, information becomes all the more important. This was especially true for people in the middle of Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, and anyone in Manhattan during Sept. 11, 2001. I applaud this PBS station in its effort to get the information out there for EVERYONE to see. This mash-up on Google is by far the best use of a public Web 2.0 app that is more or less free. People need this info in one place, updated regularly until all the fires are contained. It gives the sense that somebody does know what’s going on, and that panic isn’t the only logical response to such a widespread emergency. My heart goes out to everyone who has been evacuated, who has lost property, who has lost a pet, who has lost a family member. Fire crews will contain these fires, there is hope, it will end. -
Epigenetics way more interesting than genetics
Your environment has an effect on your genes. It’s been proven by medical studies treating cancer patients with drugs that remove the methylating groups from their genes. This is without a doubt the truest benefit from having sorted out the genetic code. First we learned the code, now we understand the operating system the runs above that code. You might consider the Human Genome project a big deal. But the epigenetic enterprise is truly the biggest dividend being paid today by the work done by Craig Venter and the National Institute of Health (NHS).
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Tokyo International Forum
Next time in Japan, I’m taking a swing by the Tokyo train station and walking a few blocks over to the Forum. I’ve seen so many pictures I feel like it would be pretty cool to see it in person as well.
Carpet Bomberz Inc. 