I'm typing this from my ThinkPad T40.  That's the main PC I use.  I like it because it's not super fast so I don't get too far ahead of what others are using and it's portable.

But behind me here is my Dell G4 which is a 3.6 Ghz monster with 2 gigs of RAM and 400 gigs of hard drive space, ATI X800 Pro.  That's my gaming rig.  Next to it I have a 2.8 Ghz machine that I use Multiplicty on (unreleased Stardock product we're working on that you can find here https://www.stardock.com/products/multiplicity/) to control both at once.

Chilam was kind enough to let me port over this msstyle into WindowBlinds format.  Now, the screenshot you see here is just a colorized version of it (one of the reasons why I like this on WindowBlinds is that I can make it any color -- and it's MUCH faster as a WB skin than an msstyle).

It's default color is Longhorn blue.

Our neighborhood pond is frozen over and so I decided to take my sons out to see it.  The oldest just turned 8 and it was quite a treat for him. 

The 4 year old, however, had a melt down because he couldn't get his gloves on just the way he wanted. After repreated attempts to help get his gloves on he had had enough and refused to try any more. But he wouldn't go outside without them.  Do I live the 4 year old in the house by himself to take the bigger one over to the pond or have us all stay in the house because the 4 year old is having a melt down?

I decided to leave him alone and let him cry it out. The pond is very close to the house and the 4 year old needs to learn that he can't always have his way. So we went out and played on the ice for a few minutes after making sure it was safe (the pond is only 2 foot deep anyway).  Another week of this kind of weather and I'll get the hockey sticks out. 

Hopefully by then the 4 year old will have more patience in putting on his gloves.

Gad I get tired of seeing calls for nerfing based on the experience of PvP players.

I play as a Paladin and I can see where in a straight up dual that a Paladin would be tough to kill. But most of those Paladin powers are usable only once in a long while (lay on hands is good once per hour for instance). 

Just annoys me to think that the PvP players might be able to get their "nerf" requests taken seriously based on something as artificial as a pre-arranged duel.  Most of the time I'm running around half my Paladin powers are re-charging and unavailable. And at that point, I've got relatively low DPS compared to a warrior.

There are far more "unbalanced" things in WoW than Paladins and I don't think most of those need to be fixed either.

Typical conversation with a PvP:

PvP: "Yea, those Paladins are totally out of control man, it's totally unfair."

PvP2: "Dude you are so right. They get a gazillion lives and advantages others don't get."

PvP: "Damn straight. BTW, here's that enchanted Battle Axe of Glory +30 strength that Harvey from the Guild found last night by using Thotbot to keep killing that elite Drake over and over last night since he doesn't have a life.  Normally you have to be a level 55 guy to even get into that area alive and you're only a level 20 but the axe only requires level 20 to use. So here you go. Go bash that damn Paladin, he's only got a regular Stone hammer. Them the breaks for not belonging to a l33t guild like ours.."

In other words, before complaining about "nerfing" the Paladin because he can heal himself or something let's keep some perspective. In terms of player imbalance, guilds and such are far more unbalancing on a day to day basis than any healing power.

We have extended the number of people who can create personal pages.  Before only WinCustomize subscribers could create personal pages.  Now, Active Stardock customers can as well (if you have an active Object Desktop.net subscription or purchased a Stardock product in the past year).

Your personal pages allow you to have a home page here on WinCustomize complete with your own sub-domain.  We will be adding even more features to them in the next few weeks such as personal photo albums, custom HTML areas, and more.

Here's mine: http://frogboy.wincustomize.com

Do you know why we love the computer industry? Because only in the computer industry do we get to have hard core smack downs.  It's one big industry video game where Microsoft has to fight off various "bosses" as it climbs the ladder to tougher and tougher opponents:

Microsoft vs. IBM

Microsoft vs. Netscape

Microsoft vs. AOL

and now..

Microsoft vs. Google

Each time, the opponent is tougher, more seasoned and each time the restraints on Microsoft greater.  And Google is smart.  From the very start Google has been about the smartest, most clever company I've seen on the net. Almost all their ideas are brillian.  Clever search engine. Text ads, you name it, it's all been done with incredible intelligence. 

So can Microsoft's new search engine beat it out? I have my doubts. I've been trying out MSN Search and it doesn't compare at this point.  Here's a simple search: "Brad Wardell".  On MSN Search I get some interview on a gaming site as the # 1 pick. On Google I get my blog page. So whatever algorithm Microsoft is using, it hasn't quite come together yet.

And so far, Google has been benevolent.  The power that Google has is frightening. They could flatten almost any net based business (including ours) just by changing their algorithm a bit to push us off the first page on a number of things. Even as it their use of open directory, which is incredibly outdated, is a source of frustration to us.

So what's next for Google? Check out this article on Technology Review for a very lengthy and thorough analysis...

Just because Microsoft has said it will comply immediately with a European Court judge's order to follow specified antitrust remedies doesn't mean life will be a bowl of cherries for Microsoft's partners, developers and even its competitors.

Industry watchers said they will be watching exactly how Microsoft makes good on the court-ordered removal of Windows Media Player from its Windows desktop operating system, and its publishing of communications protocols designed to make Windows better communicate with competitors' products.

Microsoft-Watch.com has a full article on the the repricussions of the EU decision to force Microsoft to pull its Media Player from the base OS. Including this quote:

"Forcing Microsoft to unbundled Windows Media Player is a bad decision for consumers," said Brad Wardell, president and CEO of Stardock Corp., a Windows software developer. "The universal availability of a capable media player as part of the OS enables software developers, consumers, and media professionals to make certain assumptions about what they can put into their software, make use of on a website, or distribute on the Internet."

Wardell said it will be crucial to see what kinds of underlying media technologies and files, rather than simply Windows Media Player itself, Microsoft unbundles from Windows.

"There's a lot of 'stuff' that Windows Media Player includes with it that developers routinely make use of to create things like inter-office radio, media streaming, etc. Developers like us put up .WMV files onto our websites as tutorials about our software because we can assume that Windows XP users have Windows Media Player," Wardell said.

Read the whole thing at Microsoft-Watch.com.

Editorial: That isn't to say that I think Microsoft should be able to toss anything they want into the OS. They are a monopoly. However, the courts need to weigh the pros and cons of these things more carefully. Having a basic ability to play music and video as part of the OS is different than throwing in anti-virus or Internet search.

Apple appears to be preparing to release a flash memory version of the iPod.  The iPod is a media player device that has historically used micro-hard drives in their devices. The typical iPod has 20 gigabytes of space on it with the mini-iPod having 4 gigabytes (that's what I have).

A flash based iPod would likely make it smaller and lighter.

Apple was also not the first to offer hard-drive-based players when it debuted the first iPod in October 2001, but it now commands the lion's share of that market. In the U.S. retail market, the iPod accounted for more than 80 percent of sales in the 12 months ended this October, according to The NPD Group. That's up from about two-thirds market share in the same period a year ago and a 40 percent share in its first year.

Read the whole thing.

One option on the sites page is to have it display the photo of the personal page user on there.

You can see them here:

https://www.wincustomize.com/siteindex.aspx?d=&s=1&sort=4&p=1&searchtxt=&pt=2