I’m working on some real post content, but in the meantime… remember, remember the 5th of November.

And, now that I’ve opened up comments again via OpenID, I’ve hit a snag – spammers are using OpenID accounts to spam from. Damnit. Time to see if there are any flags/features I can tweak with Akismet.

The Dacia Sandero is coming to the US! No, not really.

Seriously, though, the WordPress app for the iPhone has been updated, and now doesn’t bomb out when trying to log into the administrative interface for this blog. (The problem started when I switched to OpenID authentication awhile back.) So I will be writing more!

I’ve also been working on updating the theme for this blog – a lot of people never see it, as they use Google Reader, but it’s time for a change, and the new themes for WordPress 3.x are nice.

Yeah, Microsoft just posted huge profits, and they are releasing IE9 soon, and life is gravy for them. But really, who cares? Microsoft has lost the mindshare battle with the geeks in IT. Plently of people use Microsoft products, but I honestly can’t remember the last time anyone spoke about them around the workplace with anything more positive than apathy. Microsoft is known for making bloated, expensive, buggy products you have to use because some bureaucrat somewhere forced the issue. That is a sure-fire way to make the people implementing the technology hate it.

Further, I don’t know anyone other than my friends who are serious gamers who are planning on buying a new Windows-based computer. Vista was a disaster in the consumer space. The pundits are now asking if the consumer side of Microsoft is dying.

Now, to put all of this into perspective, Microsoft is a massive company with a massive pile of cash. 10 or so years ago, Apple was a small, failing computer company that had run 7 consecutive quarters where they posted a loss. They are now the biggest technology company in America, and if they pass Exxon/Mobile, they will be the biggest company in America – with no other qualifications.

Microsoft, you can reinvent yourself and make products people care about again. But you have to actually do it. Get to work.

In less than 30 hours, I’ll be in Portland, Oregon, for Jason Miller’s wedding. This is going to be a good weekend. I think I’ve got everything I need – camera, clothes, cash and a card. I’ll be back Monday night – so no news or update till then.

Limewire is dead. For those that don’t know, it was a very popular P2P client that took off back in the late 90s, shortly after Napster exploded onto the Internet. I’ve not used Limwire since about this time ten years ago, but it’s still strange to think it’s finally gone. It’s also strange to think about what’s changed in the music business in the last ten years. There wasn’t a legal way to buy music online. There was no iPod. CD players that could play MP3’s was the hot new technology. Video streaming flat out stank, unless you liked watching Real Player buffer endlessly. Big hard drives were 16GB.

Time keeps on slipping into the future…

Over the weekend, I came up on 90,000 images captured with my D200. The camera is now 4 years old, and showing signs of age. Notably, the rubber grip on the right side of the camera (where you hold it) has started to come away from the rest of the camera. A little glue should do the trick to get it back together, but it’s a sign. It’s time to make a decision about my next camera.

I want to wait a little while longer. Currently, DPreview only has a preview of the D7000 up, which is one of the contenders for my hard earned cash. I could get a D7000, a decent micro/macro lens, and a couple of extras for the camera with my funding. Or, I could get a D700, today. No frills, no extras, but it would be my entry into a FX class sensor, and probably a lot more camera that I can chew off for awhile. What I’d really like is the D300S replacement to be released with the D7000 sensor. More pro-level features – like I’ve become accustomed to with the D200 – and still a lot cheaper than the D700, or it’s replacement. Of course, with the D300S replacement and the D700 replacement, there’s no way of knowing when they will hit the streets.

So, do I get the camera that is everything I want, other than FX (the D7000), or do I play the waiting game to see what happens next?