The little Pentium II laptop I bought for my son has been a real hit with him. He has discovered some of the old Windows 95 games (which run perfectly on Windows 98) like Myst and Chessmaster 4000. So today, I reformatted the hard drive and reinstalled a brand new, clean copy of Windows 98 (the one that came with the computer had been customized a bit - no networking capability, etc.). Which is when I found out that when Microsoft abandons a product, it does so with a vengeance. You can't get an update of any sort from them through Windows Update and the only one I tried to manually download crashed - hard. Internet Explorer 7 does not run on Windows 98 (hence I am using Firefox only at this point.)
But there are unofficial update "service packs" for this old software out there and they appear to work very well indeed. It's a shame that Microsoft has abandoned all the older operating systems - not everyone can afford to upgrade and they are actually hurting themselves in the long run. The older computers and systems could be "feeders" to the newer systems if they remain usable. It isn't a really smart long-term move on their part, I think.
On the other hand, I may just try to make this little old computer into a dual boot system using Xubuntu (a stripped version of Ubuntu meant for older systems). It will take a larger disk drive to do that, but hey, maybe that's the way to go. Ubuntu appears to want to support older computers.
There have been a lot of headlines about the huge amounts of cash being raised by the two top Democrats in the race, Hillary! and Obama. But there is also an astonishing amount of money being raised by the Republicans - and Mitt Romney, surprisingly, I think, is by far and away leading the pack.
BOSTON - Mitt Romney blew away the top-ranked Republican presidential candidates in fundraising during the first three months of the year, reporting he had raised an astonishing $23 million. Rudy Giuliani and John McCain (news, bio, voting record), favored in the polls, trailed far behind.
The former Massachusetts governor's first-quarter tally put him on a financial par with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, the leading Democratic candidate. On Sunday, she reported raising $26 million.
"People are having a positive reaction to him and are willing to open up a vein for him," David King, a professor at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, said of Romney.
Former New York Mayor Giuliani, who has amassed a sizable lead in national popularity polls of GOP candidates, reported raising $15 million this quarter — more than McCain, but still considerably behind Romney.
McCain's $12.5 million appeared to be another sign the Arizona senator's campaign is flagging.
Whoever wins, it will be a record breaking amount of money spent. And it is still a long ways off. If Fred Thompson does enter the race, they numbers will get very squirrelly very quickly, too.
Whoever wins the 2008 presidential election will have a serious problem facing them right from the start. ABC News is reporting that Iran may have nuclear weapons by 2009. At the same time some folks in Congress are busily trying to undercut the presidency, the mullahs are off to the nuclear races. Putting internal politics ahead of the national interest may pay unintended dividends sooner than a lot of people seem to realize.
Iran has more than tripled its ability to produce enriched uranium in the last three months, adding some 1,000 centrifuges which are used to separate radioactive particles from the raw material.
The development means Iran could have enough material for a nuclear bomb by 2009, sources familiar with the dramatic upgrade tell ABC News.
The sources say the unexpected expansion is taking place at Iran's nuclear enrichment plant outside the city of Natanz, in a hardened facility 70 feet underground.
A spokesperson for the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, declined to comment citing the "extreme sensitivity" of the situation with Iran.
Iran has already declared its above-ground operations at Natanz have some 320 centrifuges.
The sheer foolishness of the left is stunning. They keep right on with their attacks in the face of a growing international threat with no regard whatsoever of the damage they are doing to the US and the entire West. I have been warning about this for some time, now the chickens appear to be heading to roost. It isn't quite too late to wake up, but it is very, very close to being out of time completely.
Back in the day, the media pretty much loathed Henry Kissinger as a tool of the even-more-loathed Nixon administration. Funny how they rehabilitate him as an expert when they like - or can twist - what he is saying these days.
TOKYO: Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who helped engineer the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam, said Sunday the problems in Iraq are more complex than that conflict, and military victory is no longer possible.
He also said he sympathizes with the troubles facing U.S. President George W. Bush.
"A 'military victory' in the sense of total control over the whole territory, imposed on the entire population, is not possible," Kissinger told The Associated Press in Tokyo, where he received an honorary degree from Waseda University.
The faceless, ubiquitous nature of Iraq's insurgency, as well as the religious divide between Shiite and Sunni rivals, makes negotiating peace more complex, he said.
"It is a more complicated problem," Kissinger said. "The Vietnam War involved states, and you could negotiate with leaders who controlled a defined area."
I really don't think anyone really thought that a pure military solution was ever possible, short of completely annihilating the opposition and anyone else who got in the way. That is not - and has never been - the way America operates. (Unlike a lot of other nations - some of whom the left appears to admire). The solution has always been a lot more complicated than a strictly military one. And that is exactly what Kissinger said - the AP headline is seriously misleading. What he actually says if you read the quotes is that it is a lot more than force that needs to be applied. This is a surprise? This is a shocking "exclusive" revelation?
(As an aside, I never much cared for Kissinger, his style or his way of doing business in the world. Which, of course, means nothing, but I thought I'd mention it.)
Debra Burlingame, sister of Charles F. "Chic" Burlingame, pilot of American Airlines flight 77, who was murdered on 9/11, writes a very powerful piece in today's New York Post about the way the Congressional Democrats are putting public safety second. The topic is the recent amendment offered by Republican Peter King to shield the public from legal blackmail by folks like the six flying imams.
This is the kind of no-brainer legislation that every member of Congress should vigorously support. Yet House Democrats reacted to King's proposal as if he'd thrown a bomb into the House chamber itself.
According to witnesses in the gallery and on the floor, Speaker Nancy Pelosi displayed a classic deer-in-the headlights look as the Democratic leadership went into a huddle - plainly eager, not to embrace this common-sense measure, but to sidetrack it.
Meanwhile, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, took the floor to oppose King's motion - and to defend the lawsuit against John Does. "We should be tolerant," he argued; people shouldn't be singled out because they "look different."
In fact, the flying imams triggered concerns by a variety of unusual actions, as well as words that roused the concern of another Arabic-speaking passenger. Witnesses say that House members started booing Thompson.
Finally, a member of the leadership realized how this would look to Americans watching on C-SPAN: Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) was seen staring at Thompson and repeatedly drawing his hand across his throat - an urgent signal to get off the floor.
With Democrats realizing they couldn't argue against King's measure, it went to a vote, and passed, 304 to 121
Every one of those 121 votes aimed at defeating protection for "John Does" was a Democrat - indeed, more than half of all Democrats present voted "nay."
The completely bogus assertion that people were singled out because they "look different" is classic misdirection. Not one description of the events in Minneapolis last November indicate that anyone reported the six imams because of their looks. Rather it was because of their antics. They were clearly acting well outside the bounds of normal, acceptable behavior. (That they were also doing so with the full intention of provoking a response should also be obvious. Note that nothing remotely like this has happened before or since the incident.). And those Democrats who voted against this amendment should be asked to explain their votes by their constituents. Because it sure does look like they are putting the safety of the general public in a distant second place.
The big question right now is whether Fred Thompson is actually going to enter the race for the Republican nomination. That question has a lot of already announced candidates from both parties very nervous, indeed. Robert Novak writes that Thompson is serious and may very well enter the race. Wild cards can make the game interesting.
Thompson was surprised by the reaction to his statement that he was "giving some thought" to running. In the first Gallup Poll that listed Thompson (conducted March 23-25), he scored 12 percent — amazing for someone out of public life for more than four years who has not campaigned. More important is his backing within the political community. Buyer's remorse is expressed by several House members who endorsed Romney, the former Massachusetts governor.
Thompson's popularity reflects weakness among announced Republicans, as reflected in the Gallup survey. McCain, no longer an insurgent but still not accepted by conservatives, is stuck at 20 to 25 percent. Former New York mayor Giuliani has dropped precipitously, from 44 to 31 percent, amid attacks on his ideology and personal life. Most startling, despite a well-financed, well-organized campaign, Romney has fallen to 3 percent.
Sophisticated social conservative activists tell me they cannot vote for Giuliani under any conditions and have no rapport with McCain or Romney. They do not view Sen. Sam Brownback, representing the social right, as a viable candidate. They are coming to see Thompson as the only conservative who can be nominated. Their appreciation of him stems not from his eight years as a U.S. senator from Tennessee but from his role as Manhattan district attorney on the TV series " Law and Order." The part was molded to Thompson's specifications as a tough prosecutor, lending him political star power.
Fred Thompson's voice alone is worth quite a few votes at the polls. Which sounds kind of silly, but is actually quite true. That and his name recognition already has some Democrats screeching and wailing about "equal access" to the media - primarily because of his Law and Order re-runs. Those are wildly popular and widely watched. The sheer volume of the early screeching shows just how nervous Thompson makes the folks chasing the Democratic party nomination. Even just saying he was considering the run has already sharply altered the poll standings of the announced Republican candidates. This could get very interesting, very soon.
Coney Island, the iconic beachfront amusement area in Brooklyn, New York, opened yesterday. For its last season. Coney Island will disappear at the end of the year, the victim of "progress". Real estate developers will turn the famous area into something different - rumored to be a Las Vegas style attraction complete with condos and timeshares. But the icon will disappear.
"This is a very emotional day," said Carol Albert, whose family owns the 45-year-old Astroland park, home to the Cyclone and other thrill rides.
"It's breaking our hearts" to be closing the park, Albert said, but added that the plans would yield "a new, exciting and improved Coney Island."
Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz vowed, "We're entering into the best days. The promise is not only to preserve Coney Island, but to make sure that the best days are yet to come, both preserving and expanding" its scope.
He then broke a bottle of egg cream, a New York concoction of chocolate syrup, seltzer and milk, on the roller coaster's front car before a raft of dignitaries, including Miss Cyclone, piled in for the heart-stopping inaugural plunge.
Developer Thor Equities plans a $2 billion amusement, retail and residential project along the boardwalk. The plan, which some reports have characterized as "Vegas-style," includes more than 20 new rides.
Besides amusements, it envisions entertainment, what it calls a "family hotel" and indoor water park, retail spaces and residential condos and hotel timeshares.
It is kind of ironic reading this just a few days after I posted about the old amusement parks in upstate New York when I was growing up. The old Roseland Park disappeared only to be replaced by condos and other real estate developments. So this is your last chance to visit the old Coney Island before "progress" changes it forever into something transplanted from Las Vegas.
Geek Stuff | Gaius Monday, 2 April , 2007 | 
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