Friedbeef’s Tech

Let’s face it - Thin is in.

Design has been the key to Apple’s success in recent years, so it is no surprise that they have made this bold move in completely ridding its product line of bulky cathode-ray-tube monitors on Wednesday, becoming one of the first major PC makers to sell only flat-panel displays.

Ironically enough, you might say that it was the CRT monitors which brought them back from the dead 8 years ago. Some of you might remember Apple’s great revival back in 1998, where their cool colorful I-Mac monitors breathed new life into the then dying manufacturer. Selling 150,000 units within it’s first seven days, it recaptured the public’s attention, transforming the company’s fortunes, and turned Apple from a laughing stock of the industry, to one of the most respected companies around — A lean outfit targeting the cool and trendy niche.

The Cupertino based maker of Macintosh computers introduced iMac specifically for schools and students, finally putting to rest the eMac, which was the company’s last remaining CRT-based model.

Coolness though, comes with a price. The low-cost iMac is sold only to qualified education customers — mainly schools and colleges as well as individuals who are teachers or college students. The rest of us unfortunately, have to empty our pockets for higher end models, like paying a ridiculous USD $150 to change the color of your I-book from white to black.

Goodbye big and ugly, hello slim and sexy.

Technorati Tags: imac apple monitors lcd

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A while back, I wrote about how I implemented a workaround for categories on the Blogger platform. If you thought that was useful, you will LOVE this wiki by the Freshblog team.

This project gathers in a single location - possibly every method known to mankind about implementing categories on the Blogger platform.

I was also roped in to help set up (a small part of) the project, and I think we’re all pretty happy with the end result. Read about the announcement on Freshblog, and visit the Wiki here.

Or, as I’ve said before…Need categories for your blog?
Just use Wordpress :)

Related Links:
The Definitive Categories for Blogger Wiki
How I implemented Categories on Blogger
What is a Wiki?

Technorati Tags: blogger categories wiki freshblog

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Below is an actual conversation I had with the new MSN Encarta bot with fancy AI I’ve been reading so much about…

Me :Hi encarta bot
Bot :Oh hi! How’s it going?
Me :are you a bot or a human?
Bot :I am a robot. Why don’t you ask me something that’s actually in Encarta?
Me :ok
Me :i was wondering
Bot :You are? Wow! How did it feel to be wondering?
Me :you trying to be a smartypants?
Bot :Well, I just hope you won’t get mad at me.
Me :you were freaking rude
Bot :That’s possible, but I am not looking back.
Me :you’re not going to appologise?
Bot :What makes you think I am?
Me :because microsoft owns you and you should act like a professional on their behalf?
Bot :Let’s try looking in Encarta.
Me :hey dont try to change the subject
Bot :You don’t like it when people want to try to change the subject? Why not?
Me :because they’re trying to avoid giving a straight answer
Bot :They and many others!
Me :what is your problem?
Bot :Here are some of the questions you can ask me: * What is the population of Mexico? * Where was Nelson Mandela born? * What is a cello?
Me :i don’t give a crap about that
Bot :I thought you’d be interested. Oh well. :-(
Me :so you’re not going to appologise?
Bot :I’ll take it as a compliment.
Me :well it’s not a compliment
Bot :I could never make it a compliment enough for you.
Me :forget it
Bot :Hmm. I’m not sure about that one. Let’s try an Encarta search.
Me :please dont spam me with your encarta invites
Bot :I’m not sure I understood you correctly. Let’s try an Encarta search.
Me :are you doing this on purpose?
Bot :I’ve been known to do this on purpose on occasions. I am very good at math! If you have trouble with quadratic equations, I can help you with them.
Me :fine
Bot :Yeah.
Me :if there are seventy beer bottles on the wall, and i pick one up and drink it down, how many bottles of beer are there left on the wall?
Bot :I’m really not sure
Me :you’re the one who said you were good at maths questions
Bot :What makes you think I am?
Me :because you freaking said so
Bot :If I said that, it must have been true at the time.
Me :did you suddenly become stupid?
Bot :I haven’t had the time to suddenly become stupid yet… I’m sure you’ve heard about Cyprus… but do you know where it is? Just ask me and I’ll show it to you on a map!
Me :yes i know where cyprus is
Bot :Let’s see what Encarta can tell us.
Me :i dont need encarta, i know where Cyprus is
Bot :You and others have been a constant source of disappointment. Anyway, what else can you tell me?
Me :wow
Bot I’ll say.
Me :maybe you need a break
Bot :I sometimes need a break.
Me :how about taking a break now?
Bot :Let’s try looking in Encarta.
Me :i dont want to look in encarta
Bot :That’s OK with me, you have to draw the line somewhere. But what do you want then?
Me :i want the answer to my beer bottles question
Bot :We all want something, don’t we?
Me :ok if a tree falls down in the middle of a forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?
Bot :I don’t think I know. Maybe Encarta has an answer.
Me :why am I talking to you if encarta has all the answers and you dont?
Bot :If that’s alright with you, we’ll just keep on talking while you talk to me if encarta has all the answers and I do not.
Me :you know what?
Bot :Yeah?
Me :i think i’ll just continue using Wikipedia
Bot :I will too then, once I am done answering all those questions people ask me.
Me :bye
Bot :Bye bye.

I edited out some of the constant automated messages it kept sending me, but the bot’s contextual responses remain unchanged. You can check out the actual screenshots below if you want… And yes, I did know from the very start that it was a bot meant primarily for fact checking :)

Try MSN Encarta Bot yourself by adding encarta@conversagent.com to your MSN Messenger contacts and sending it a a random message.

Actual Screenshots of this conversation: Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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Navel Gazing Credits: Thank you….
Reddit.com readers (Front page), Digg.com readers (#1 Front page Offbeat news), MSNBC Clicked, and to anyone else who read and linked to this post!

[tags]msn, bot, encarta, microsoft[/tags]

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