Apple Passes Google In Market Value

Today, Apple, worth $120B, passed Google, worth $119B.

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"Never Get Out of the Boat." - Apocalypse Now

"Never delete Safari." - Joe Moreno

Sounds obvious, but I never considered how important Safari is on Mac OS X (or having at least one Web browser) - especially since Mac OS X doesn't ship with any other Web browser.

Something happened to my father-in-law's iMac and Safari went missing. They're not sure if maybe they deleted it and emptied the trash or if the 10.4.10 update failed.

Regardless of how it happened - Safari was gone.

I tried, unsuccessfully, to curl apple.com/safari to get the URL for their download page but I gave up after about 30 minutes of parsing HTML and redirects with my eyes.

I was pretty stumped - I wanted to solve this problem right there on the spot without going home and downloading a DMG to a thumb drive.

As luck would have it, earlier that day, I had downloaded and installed both Safari 3.0b (public beta) and Firefox on one of my servers back home so I AFP'd into the servers and pulled the DMGs out of the trash.

So, I expected the story to end there after downloading both Web browsers. But, for some odd reason, only Firefox would install and run. Safari 3.0b installed couldn't be installed on the 10.4.10 volume. Well, at least having any Web browser is better than none - and Firefox isn't a bad one to have.

Once Firefox was installed I went to apple.com/safari and re-downloaded Safari 3.0b but it still wouldn't install. The installer simply said that Safari couldn't be installed on the Macintosh HD volume. So, I looked for Safari 2 to download. It seems that Apple not longer offers Safari 2.x as a download??? - only 2.x updates are available or the public beta of Safari 3.0.

Since my father-in-law was used to the Safari UI I downloaded Webkit and tried to install that. But, Webkit doesn't work without Safari. So, I manually copied the Safari 3.0b app onto my father-in-law's computer, via AFP, from my server. Although the Safari 3.0b app wouldn't run (it just bounced and then crashed with an undefined symbol error) it was enough to get Webkit up and running. Webkit was now working but not Safari - very odd.

I still wasn't satisfied so I manually downloaded System/Frameworks/WebKit.framework but that didn't fix the problem.

In the end, I remembered that I still had a server with Safari 2.04 and I manually copied that app to my father-in-law's computer and all seems to be working well.

Two questions come to mind:
Why couldn't I install Safari 3.0b on a 10.4.10 iMac?
Does Apple still offer Safari 2.x as a full download?

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Midlife Crisis

On my 40th birthday (Aug 4) I jumped out of a plane from two miles above Long Island.

Dessert

You have to treat yourself right.

Mom Skydiving (Not bad for 72 years old)

August 4, 2007 - East Moriches: Two miles above Long Island:

Three Years of Windows Uptime

I have an old Windows NT machine running a mail server which I only use when the main mail server goes down.

I couldn't remember the last time I rebooted it so I checked its uptime tonight:
26,850 hours of uptime.

Click to enlarge

Full screenshot:



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Blood Chit

What happens when you're shot down over enemy territory? U.S. Service Members carry what is known as a Blood Chit. Blood Chits have been around for centuries.
Basically, it's a notice, written in several languages, that members of the armed forces can present to local nationals in order to receive assistance. In return for the assistance the service member will tear off a corner of the Blood Chit which has a specific serial number that the local national can turn in for a reward.

Actual Blood Chit
(Click to enlarge)

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No More Legal BS

Enough of this legal BS:

This e-mail and any attachments may contain confidential material for the sole use of the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, please be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of this e-mail or any attachment is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please contact the sender and delete all copies.
Thank you for your cooperation

I'll concede that a clickwrap agreement should be honored for a software or services purchase. But these other "one way" notices and agreements that we find at the end of e-mails, etc. are out of hand.

Why do I need to agree to terms of service (ToS) just for visiting a Web site that's open to the public?
Why do I need to agree to ToS to use a public, municipal, WiFi hotspot?

Is it liability? That's ridiculous. No one is going to get hurt or killed if the ToS are violated.

I don't have to agree to any terms of service before I drive on public, municipal, roads. The legal rules of the road are good enough. Would the roads be any safer if I had to sign an agreement not speed, drive drunk, or text message each time I got behind the wheel?

Does YouTube's ToS keep copyrighted video from appearing on their Web site? Since it's already illegal to violate a copyright this "overlawyering" is just needlessly redundant.

Does Apple really need to qualify that iTunes is not suitable for use in the operation of nuclear facilities?
This reminds me of flight attendants telling you how to fasten a seat belt after the plane has already pushed back and it's taxing to the runway.

I don't have to agree to not kill, rape, or steal when I'm in the public shopping center.
The local mall is private property which is open to the public. If I enter the mall and start taking photos then mall security can make me leave (but, they can't confiscate my photos). Try taking photos in any mall and you'll be asked to leave (to realize my point do it in front of mall security). It's their property - similar to your own home - and they can kick you out.

What's next... signing a ToS agreement every time you enter the mall?

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