Gecko Bloggle

Issue: Network mapped drives that were “working just fine yesterday” are no longer available, but directly connecting to \server\share works just fine. Net Use commands don’t work, and the error “The drive could not be mapped because no network was found” is given in Windows shell or DOS commands.

Possible Solution: Workstation service not running. Started it, and drive mappings work again.

Aliens, man, aliens.

I’d put this out there as a reply on one of the boards out there, but I have to sign up to reply, so I’ll just reply here.

First hit for this error, when pasted into Google in quotes, is this one, which sadly, has only one reply (are your NIC drivers working?)

Hope this helps someone out there some day.

Is it just me or is the “USB Memory Drive In A {fill in the blank}” phenomenon getting a little old?

Seriously: $41.77 (plus shipping for another $14) for A 128MB USB Memory Drive in A Plush Crocodile

I could probably buy a small stuffed crocodile for about $4.00, and cram a $20 dollar USB drive down its throat.

I have no problem with the USB drives that look like other things (like Swiss Army Knives, or Watches), but c’mon.

I have a feeling the Beanie Babies folks are behind this, somehow.

Via Slashdot, the tech sector’s CNN, (or at least National Enquirer)

An anonymouse reader writes “Tom’s Hardware has a feature up on the makings of Tron which may interest latent fans. Through interviews with the creators they explore the makings of Tron, from how it came to be picked up by Disney to how the effects were put together (‘While the majority of the film takes place in the computer world, only 15 minutes worth of footage actually used CGI’, because it would have taken years to make the film otherwise). They then explore why the film flopped at the box office. ‘It was like we put LSD in the punch at the school prom and it was just way more than they can handle,’ said Steven Lisberger.”

If you thought the conversations about Star Trek, Star Wars, and The Matrix got heated (when comparing special effects to plot), check out the commenting threads going on for this story.

One comment [edited here] struck home for me, especially, from tinkertim

I saw Tron, opening night, and its one of the things that made me really, really want to figure out how those nifty looking typewriters with screens could do so much. I didn’t know what memory was, I didn’t know what a processor did, I barely understood how a calculator worked and if you said Binary I’d say “Sure, I have a Huffy!”.
We’re always looking at value as something monetary. Tron made me go get my first trash-80 (Err Tandy TRS-80 heheh) and later my first Commie. I wanted to know how those things worked.
The value of the film wasn’t how much it grossed , if you want to calculate that, then calculate the life time earnings of those who got into computers partly because of seeing it and you may be surprised :)
However only 15 minutes of CGI? I somehow (not sure why, because I know what was available then) thought most of it was CGI.. but yes, that would have been very very difficult at the time. My bubble sort of broke reading that article, never really thought about the making other than being fascinated as a child with the results.
Entertainment isn’t entertainment to most if it requires too much thought.
Tron got to be the pavement others were able to ride in on. So wallet aside, I don’t think the film was a flop. I was too young to remember any hoop-la coming from Disney about the film.. I wonder how it would have done if it had been underplayed before release.
Cool article, if you can wade through the advertisements :)

I remember getting sucked into this movie almost as badly as Star Wars: The Master Control Program made me tremble with fear, and when the old guy died, I’m pretty sure I teared up.

I’m *such* a geek.

{to the tune of “If I had a million dollars”}

If I had $200, I wouldn’t have to reach for the cord…
If I had $200, I’d poke myself in the ear ’cause it cosssssts more…

Logitech Wireless Headphones for iPod

Heaphones that are that latest “sport” style.

But cordless.

With remote ON THE FREAKIN’ EAR.

Sign yourself up for the mailing list of Mil Millington, and have a quick read-through of the latest while you’re at it.

He’s pretty funny, as some English folks are. His wife’s INSANE (have a spin through Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About some time for a laugh – or a cry, depending on how insane/German your partner may be).

So yeah. Go there.

Via We-Make-Money-Not-Art (which, if it weren’t for Slashdot and my own site, would probably be my homepage).

ScrambledHackz (Click here to see what it’s about)

sCrAmBlEd?HaCkZ! is a Realtime-Mind-Music-Video-Re-De-Construction-Machine.

(click the picture to see a snapshot of some of what’s going on)

What’s THIS song?

Or even, what language is it in?

I stumbled across it by accident, but the filename’s all messed up.

In the latest Smirnoff Ice ad, there’s this jazzy little tune with a vocal sample “That girl’s got rhythm” in it.

Tried googling around, and checked Smirnoff Ice’s web site that listed the music for a lot of their ads, but not this particular one.

Anyone?

TIA

Via We-Make-Money-Not-Art
Data Transcriptions

Looks very cool.

An amalgamation of image and text parsed from the BBC’s live internet news service is algorithmically recombined into a semi-abstract visual array, which is then back-projected onto a suspended screen situated in the lowest well of the staircase. Beneath the screen, a surround sound system emanates a seemingly garbled newscast. On the ceilings, geometric abstract patterns are painted directly onto the surfaces. These images are visual translations of the equations responsible for creating the real-time audio/visual elements of the installation – scribed in a data-language that, like the fundamental components of the media itself, is opaque to human perception.

None of which I understand, of course, but this is neat.

Go see my buddy Moxie’s blog…