Origin Story

Every superhero needs an origin story.

Occasionally people ask me about the origins of my nickname BDFL (Benevolent Dictator For Life). At some point, Wikipedia claimed it was from a Monty Python skit, which is patently false, although it has sometimes been called a Pythonesque title. I recently trawled through an old mailbox of mine, and found a message from 1995 that pinpoints the origin exactly. I'm including the entire message here, to end any doubts that the term originated in the Python community.

I now find myself contemplating the existence of a Bizarro GvR.

So What's "Cuil" Supposed to Mean Again?

Macworld:

Maybe Cuil’s founders tried to find an Irish dictionary using their site and couldn’t. Searching on Cuil.com for “Irish English dictionary” fails to turn up a link to such a dictionary in at least the first six pages of results.

Ouch.

Dropbox is Better

I finally got an invite to the Dropbox beta program and having been trying it out for a few days now. It's minimal but it's lightweight and the web interface is clean and easy to use. It works quickly and quietly in the background and that's possibly the best compliment I can give any backup solution. It doesn't however, support all the features that MS Live Mesh provides.

Using Live Mesh, you can remote access any windows desktops in your cloud from any other device, including any Active X capable browser. Of course this leaves out Firefox, Safari and Opera. File access is supported for those browsers however, so they got that going for them. You can also add any folder on your Windows desktop to your "mesh" whereas you have to move files and folders to your Dropbox to have them sync.

Both of these services provide file backup and sync from multiple devices (desktops, laptops, Live Mesh promises mobile support). A file, once added to your "mesh" or your Dropbox, is immediately copied to the service's online system, and from there propagates down to each of your other devices. With Dropbox, and I'm imagining Mesh works similarly, if a file is modified only those modified bytes are transmitted. This reduces the amount of time and bandwidth the service needs to keep things in sync.

For right now, if you're on Mac or if you don't need the ability to remotely access your other devices I heartily recommend Dropbox. Live Mesh just feels bloated and clunkly in comparison.

Force Gmail to Connect Using HTTPS

From the Official Gmail Blog:

We've added an option to Settings to always use https. If you don't regularly log in via unencrypted wireless connections at coffee shops or airports or college dorms, then you might not need this additional layer of security. But if you want to always use https, then this setting makes it super easy. Whenever you forget to type https://mail.google.com, we'll add the https for you. If you already have the https URL bookmarked, using this setting will ensure you access your account via https even when you don't use your bookmark. Any http link to Gmail (for example, the one at the top of Google.com) will be automatically redirected to https."

Home Economics

Jamie Lee Curtis:

"I am glad that I was given these skills as part of a basic, public school education. I want that for all children. So that whether they end up a political leader, scientist, teacher, artist or homemaker they all are given the best education possible so that they can develop their God given talents and abilities and flourish and thrive as adults."

I love to cook and I believe that sharing good food is an absolutely vital aspect of the human experience. It's a travesty that so many children in this country are being raised by parents who couldn't even put together a good casserole if their life depended on it.

Read the original article (The Huffington Post).

iPhone Game Delisted Due To Security Concerns

"...because it's pretty much unfeasible to test each application to make sure they're not sending out your private data."

How exactly is it unfeasible for a company like apple to test the functionality of software written for their proprietary device in a proprietary development environment? They control the horizontal and they control the vertical. They chose to make themselves responsible when they decided to make the app store the only way to legitimately ship iPhone software and they screwed up letting this slip through.

Read the original article on Gizmodo.

Honest Music Consumers Get Screwed Again (and Again)

And the RIAA wonders why people steal music. From the YAHOO! email:

After September 30, 2008, you will not be able to transfer songs to unauthorized computers or re-license these songs after changing operating systems. Please note that your purchased tracks will generally continue to play on your existing authorized computers unless there is a change to the computer's operating system.

(Via Read Write Web)

Older Than Dirt

So I turned thirty last week. Not exactly an event I wanted to announce from the rooftops (so instead I write about it on the internet?), but it beats the alternative. A few friends came out to celebrate and it was quite nice even though I caught a massive amount of flak for drinking Patrón on the rocks (with fresh lime of course — it's so good when it hits your lips). I do have a tendency to "dish it out" more than I "take it" so it was probably justified.

Oh, and the wedding went well. Not quite as planned, though I received nary a death threat and even a few compliments on the service so it must not have been too painful for those who attended. Even after years of performing both in small-time garage bands and in the theater, it was definitely the most nerve-racking experience of my life. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. McKinney (I did my best)!