ghoststrider

So far, I've been getting some responses over my remarks regarding Climategate, notably here. On one hand, some explanations have been forthcoming. OTOH...it's really not enough. I don't understand MXD and will have to take some time to look into it, but it really feels to me that the defenders of what went on are just glossing over things rather than actually confronting them. They're tripping over themselves to maintain their doctrine, and from my point of view almost--not quite, but almost--resemble fundamentalist Christians desperate to maintain their worldview. They're just a hell of a lot more sane. As I've said, however, I intend to give the scientists the benefit of the doubt in this, so its not really hopeless. It's just that the responses I've gotten so far are...depressing.

Moreover, looking at media reports and some livejournal comments, everyone is hooked on the word "trick." To be honest, from my own examination of the criticism, the "trouble with 'trick'" is only a tiny, tiny part of our argument, and yet they're frothing at the mouths declaring that we're all hung up over that word. Frankly, the irony is astounding: they're the ones all hung up on it. While I'm sure Limbaugh and Beck are saying incredibly inane stuff, I don't really count them; they're in a special league. So what we're left with is a stupid deflection attempt that the media has bought, hook line and sinker. And it just further reinforces my disgust in mainstream journalism (which is, oddly, why I'm in the computer room now: I'm looking for news articles to bring into class to discuss.)

EDIT: It just gets more and more damning. Jacoby of the Boston Globe avoids any use of the word "trick" and goes through several of the emails, showing the depths these so-called "scientists" sunk themselves to. At this point, it no longer matters whether or not global warming is really happening or if its being caused by humans; now the chief issue is the damage these people have done to science's credibility. They're given critics of science--like, for example, creationists--new ammo to bludgeon people with. It's disgusting. I really hope the investigation into the CRU finds the core of this rot and then concludes that it should be disbanded. Hopefully, this episode will put a check on the more excessive elements of the global warming movement and spare us some hysterics, at least for a few years.

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In other news, remember that psystar scandal I talked about a year ago? Basically, a company decided it was going to make Mac clones by taking the software, using an open-source hack (against the creator's wishes), and then put the Mac software onto off-the-shelf, cheap as dirt hardware. Well, they got sued by Apple, and after their long and tiring campaign...they lost. Seriously, who didn't see that? Raise your hand, please. Ah yes, you in the corner, the one eating a taco. You're an idiot. Thank you.

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Oh, and Japanese dramas are terrible. I'll tell you about it later, after my head stops hurting.

Apparently somebody was selling Hackintoshs on eBay, most likely prompted by Psystar. There were two originally, but both have been pulled. Is Apple finally flexing its muscle?

I really hope not. At least, I hope Apple doesn't swing the banhammer down on home builders. My home builders, I mean those people constructing Hackintoshs and Frankenmacs, not people building villas out in Ordos, China. I'm actually thinking of building one (a Hackintosh, I mean) this summer.

Hear me out. I am not a Mac freak or zealot. I am simply a person who is very disappointed in Windows (the only example I like is XP SP2) and I'm interested in building my own computer. Dad wants to build a hydrogen engine for his truck over the summer, so while I might not get to building a Frankenmac, it would be awesome. Plus, it seems to natively support dual-booting, so I can put Windows XP on there (ssh, we can get a downgrade license) and when I'm done building it, I can give it to my parents to fiddle with. I probably won't need it, especially if I upgrade this Alienware like I said I would. Like I said, I like Windows XP. I just don't like everything else they've come out with.

Oh, and OpenOffice 3.0 is coming out! Yay! Everyone needs this office software, because it simply kicks Microsoft Word in the balls, castrates it, and then leaves it on the side of the road to die. v3 will have native OSX capability too, for you Mac users, and it can also run on Linux. There is no operating system OOO can't run on. I write all my fiction and school projects in OpenOffice. Can you tell I am pimping OpenOffice? You can't? You're stupid. Get OpenOffice today and give a big "F-U" to Microsoft Word.

Remember how I was talking about Psystar some time ago? Oh yeah, baby, I'm back on the topic again, especially since the first examples have arrived. Why anyone was dumb enough to pay for one is something more surprising than Psystar itself. Apparently this thing is louder than a Mack truck doing 100 MPH on the New York State thruway (Hey! I made a funny!), since OSX won't link with the fan controllers. Some days my Alienware Aurora acts up and runs the fan full bore, but usually its kinda quiet. Like now, audible, yet not annoying. Anyhoo, one thing that breaks any sort of deal for me (besides the fact that its, yanno, a frickin` Mac) is that the "DHCP lease drops every 15 minutes and you have to manually reset it in prefs." I'm not sure what that means, exactly, but from what I can glean it has to do with Internet connection, and if my internet is dropping every 15 minutes I cannot use the computer. (Then again, it doesn't sound that different from my college connection.)

[Disclaimer: On the other hand, CNET Reviews gives it a 6.9 out of 10. Hmm...]

Also, some brave fool has suggested that Dell should sell Macs. I call him a fool because obviously it should be Alienware selling Macs. Think about it: an Alienware Liger would pick up a lot of attention and would make Mac gaming something actually worth considering. Except for the obvious fact that, yanno, they'd be Macs.

Not that any of this will matter if Steve Jobs has his way. They're gonna need lawyers, sweet lawyers, to save their butts.

Linux gaming computers are apparently acceptable though, especially if you're a Totally Unreal whore. Eight Virtues PC Sales would love to sell you an Ubuntu gaming computer for roughly $600. Considering that id Software and Epic Games are totally okay with Linux (plus the existence of Wine) I suppose these could be a good investment. But I dunno...

I was going to post my review of Iron Man here, but then I would totally slaughter f-lists, and I'm tired. I'll post it later. Ciao.

This keeps getting more hilarious and disturbing at the same time. Hilarious because, well, its just hilarious. Disturbing because it is now enveloping my blog in its hilarity. So, I've decided to make two entries, one on the Psystar debacle and one about something a classmate said to me that I find interesting. (I've also created a Psystar tag to track this madness.)

Okay, first off, Psystar is still willing to go to court, and it might have a cheerleader as well. The Great and Wonderful Wizard of Woz says "I like the price, so I may get one." This article, from Ars Technica, also comments on Apple's strange silence, and speculates on the reasoning--perhaps Apple is just going to release a tweak to OSX Leopard that will prevent it from working on Psystar computers.

Or maybe the whole thing is just an elabroate hoax? Charles Arthur, from the Guardian's technology beat, got some pretty strange information. While the web doman for Psystar has been held since 2000, and switched hosts in 2005, it hasn't actually gotten any web hits whatsoever until a few weeks ago. And calling up Psystar itself got him some pretty bizarre answers: all redirections to an email address, no HR department, no message machine (He pressed the button to leave a message and got "Error"--almost sounds like Windows ME), and what might be the strangest of all, in the span of a few hours, it's address changed completely. "OK, that's got to be the weirdest thing I've ever seen in years of covering technology," Arthur says, and even though I haven't covered technology (although that would be an awesome journalism job) I have to agree--that is bizarre. And in comments, it turns out that address is being used by a t-shirt company. Maybe they're using Psystar computers? Hmm.

This leads me to two conclusions, both of which take Apple's silence into account. Either Apple is punking the Mac community--not likely--or Apple is using Psystar as a way to gauge consumer reaction to Mac clones. Apple might even sell a few OpenComps through Psystar, making some profit on the side (though giving customers the option to install Ubuntu might not work for them.) Then, yes, of course, there is the possibility that Psystar is not some Apple project and really is a bunch of people who want to make Mac clones, but that doesn't sound half as exciting as Apple trying to pull a prank.

Anyways, I'm just going to follow this to satisfy my own morbid curiosity. And its funny.

I gotta admire a person for their temerity in the face of overwhelming adversity. I also admire those who bring costs down. Put those two together, and I'm starting to root for Psystar.

Continuing the coverage of "OpenMacgate," Psystar is now taking Apple to court. Whoo boy! Looks like dat posse gonna be comin to town! (The Apple posse, I mean.) I'm very interesting in seeing how this turns out, because if Psystar wins (not bloody likely) then we're likely to see a deluge of Mac clones flood the market. This should, obviously, bring costs down, but also would threaten Microsoft's hegemony. Whether or not Linux systems could capitalize on this remains to be seen.

Still, I'm not sure what all the hullabaloo is about. Smart computer users (and those experienced with the Wiki) would realize all they need to do is snag a copy of Darwin and a barebones computer and voila, you have a virtual Macintosh on your desktop.

Pfft--that's the sound of me making a raspberry. Why? Well, because of this:

Psystar announced Monday OpenMac, an Intel-based computer built from industry-standard parts that the company claims will run an unmodified version of Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard." The company achieves this by using a EFI V8 emulator that it said tricks a Leopard installer CD into thinking the OpenMac is a genuine Mac. Shortly after making its announcement, the company's Web site went down, and it remains inaccessible as of this writing.

Probably got hit with a ton of C&D letters this morning. Anyways, its probably Apple's fault for overcharging their products. The Macintosh's market share is, what, 10%? Not even? Most of that is due to it being hard to get a Mac, both because of distribution and cost. Not that the cost really gets you anything better than a PC. On the other hand, Psystar's plan was a great deal more idiotic than Apple's. Pretty much breaking the EULA is just asking for it. Not that I support EULA's, but be realistic. You think Apple would let you go through with that? C'mon. Don't be stupid.

If I really wanted a Macintosh-like system, though, I would go with Darwin or OpenDarwin. Not that I have any need to, of course--XP and Xubuntu are just fine with me.

Now what is strange are my deluge of computer-related postings recently. Hmm...

[Via Slashdot.]