Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Pakistani Gun Market

YouTube, and video sites like it, continue to impress me as the alternative to traditional television broadcasting. I grew up in the 50's and 60's in USA when television was created. I'm now witnessing the birth of its successor.

This video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGlHgeqWLFc) is a fascinating tour of a gun market in Western Pakistan on the historic Khyber Pass.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Desktop Searching Tool

Wow. I justified to myself to get myself a new laptop. The family had a need for another in the family—to support my wife in her college career. I had my eye on the Sony TZ series. While absurdly expensive it is just what I want (small, light, long battery life, full-featured).

As part of the journey to that machine setup and running (it takes weeks to get a new laptop setup!), hesitated installed Google Desktop Search. And I never liked Microsoft's search tool either, even on Vista. I subscribe to James Fallows's blog (a writer best known for his work for The Atlantic), and he mentioned his supreme satistfaction with X1. See http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/12/more_yuletide_cheer_software_d.php.

I trust Mr. Fallows. I've been reading his work for years. He's on my list of people I'd love to have dinner with some day. So I downloaded the trial version of X1. It's terrific. They will get my $50 license fee.