WHAT THIS IS. . .

Just another pundit's squawk, obviously, and named after what a raven's call [159k] sounds like to me. I figure the bird (corvus corax) can fly a lot higher than I can, so I'll be counting on him to let me know what's just over the hill. We're still messing with the format, but expect a grab-bag of digital hoo-raw and anything else I can get away with. Okay? Here we go:

MORE REASONS TO PAINT YOUR TOES
Flying low over the titanium PowerBook G4 customers who've already received their bundles of joy, we (Corvus and I) couldn't help but notice the happier ones weren't wearing any shoes. Understandable, too, according to what I just read about static electricity and instant TiBook blackouts. Yup, the metal-encased PowerBook turns out to be more vulnerable to static shock than the old black plastic-bodied jobbies, surprise-surprise! According to Dan Knight, the knockout blasts of static electricity from his finger to the titanium shell only occur when he walks across his wooden office floor wearing shoes. Barefoot seems to work fine, however, which is both good news and bad depending on the venue. Hah! I can just see all those high-zoot executive types slipping off their shoes for a toes-on session with their cool new computers, hee-hee. . .

"Cool"? Well, my sources report that you'll want some sort of insulated pad between the TiBook and your thighs. Fair enough: in warm weather any laptop can be a trial for bare skin! And don't forget about the air intake for the cooling fan: it's at the back of the case on the bottom (don't ask). Could this have something to do with design compromises in the name of thinness? Another source says that grasping the TiBook in the vicinity of the CD/DVD drive results in some ugly noises as the spinning disk hits the metal shell.You want thin, you got it, but that also means a little less clearance all around. This will have to be dealt with, though. Maybe if Apple were to revive the old practice of driving over new PowerBooks, hmm?

The iBook, on the other hand, is anything but svelte. Heck, I think I could drive nails with it if I had to. Its inherent solidity and mass make for a tactile experience very different from that of the old PowerBook 540c I used to have. When I carried the Blackbird from room to room, it was like juggling a plateful of loose eggs: I just knew it was delicate and wanted to set it down gently. Well, the TiBook may have a metal case, but it's thin and flexes. Our tangerine iBook (TaBook?) doesn't flex anywhere, of course, and so far I haven't zapped it with sparks. Oh, and in case this hadn't occurred to you, the metal case of the PowerBook G4 blocks a few radio waves. That's right: AirPort reception is better in the plastic iBook, yow! This last point is really the only one that matters to yours truly, since I don't have a single DVD but have been known to venture rather far afield testing the range.

STUPID HTML TRICKS (How-To Dept.)
Your browser window has more room in it than you realize, I'll bet. Take a look at this itty-bitty animated GIF I made a long time ago:

This sucker is 118 x 78 pixels, as in <IMG SRC="images/NewDynRev.gif" WIDTH=118 HEIGHT=78>. But the dimensions can be changed for displaying on a Web page. . . Check out this example (hit your BACK button to return): HERE! Whoa! Not bad, eh? The three GIFs running on this page look like so:

<IMG SRC="images_folder/NewDynRev.gif" WIDTH=118 HEIGHT=8000 ALIGN=bottom>
<IMG SRC="images_folder/NewDynRev.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=8000 ALIGN=bottom>
<IMG SRC="images_folder/NewDynRev.gif" WIDTH=118 HEIGHT=8000 ALIGN=bottom></CENTER>

Note that I kept the original width for the first and third and jacked up the height for all three. 8,000 pixels seems to be as far as I can push Communicator (4.5), although I swear that 3.01 could be punched out more than that. You can do the same thing horizontally, too: HERE! The image tags for this one look like this:

<IMG SRC="images_folder/NewDynRev.gif" WIDTH=8000 HEIGHT=10 ALIGN=bottom>
<IMG SRC="images_folder/NewDynRev.gif" WIDTH=8000 HEIGHT=300 ALIGN=bottom>
<IMG SRC="images_folder/NewDynRev.gif" WIDTH=8000 HEIGHT=10 ALIGN=bottom>

All you have to do to have tons o' fun with any Web page is view and save the source code as a separate HTML document, say with SimpleText or Tex-Edit (you'll have to fiddle with your browser prefs to do this), then alter the pixel numbers in the image tags, save the changes, and drop the icon onto your browser icon or drag it into an open browser window (subsequent changes and saves can be displayed by clicking your Reload button). Either that, or make your own simple animation, stick it in a simple HTML file,and distort the heck out of it in your browser by playing with the <WIDTH> and <HEIGHT> attributes.

WES DOES GOOD
That would be Wes George, whose columns now reside at MacWEEK. His latest effort, "Beyond the Speed Bump" (a term he uses correctly, unlike 95% of all Mac writers), features a long discussion of the "techno-cultural force[s] underlying the continued growth of our increasingly networked global economy." Wes's main point is that accelerating productivity and innovation rates are all but guaranteed for some time to come. And don't write off the personal computer, either! What, you think we're all going to sit around and rent garbageware from Uncle Bill or let some sleazy corporation store all our personal data?!

My take on this is that BIG long-range processes are underway throughout the world that could mean we won't recognize the place in a decade or so. This doesn't necessarily mean we'll turn into a society of Web-surfing junk buyers and delivery-truck drivers, either. Networking the hitherto powerless is going to shine a light into some awfully dark corners, and that's where we'll be able to fight back for the planet, for one thing. And is there anything else worth caring about?

Anyway, the real reason I mentioned Wes this week is that he pulled the "digital lifestyle" thorn out of my paw with just one phrase! I really hate corporate greedheads trying to bamboozle us into thinking we need things we never missed before, but I have to admit that I dig the "holistic systems" concept:

". . .it's not surprising that Apple isn't anxious to add to the plethora of digital widgets swarming the market. Rather, it is focused on providing software-based Mac hub solutions which--by centralizing and extracting full value from these digital devices--empower end users. Steve Jobs sees Apple not simply as a hardware manufacturer, but as an innovator offering holistic systems."

Much better than "lifestyle" doo-doo, the mere mention of which causes me to see if my wallet's still there.

WHAT I ATE FOR BREAKFAST
I have no idea how long we'll keep this up, but for now, here's a rough snapshot of the week just past. Seems like it might be useful.Maybe not! Anyway, here ya go:

MONDAY, 2-12: Spent half the day trying to "customize" the HTML in the column template thoughtfully provided by Applelinks publisher Joe Ryan. Is there some reason I can't let well enough alone?

TUESDAY, 2-13: Joe is cool with starting the new column right away! Great, just have to decide if "GRACK!" is what I think it is. There's more than a few letters' worth of difference between "stupid" and "stupendous," after all.

WEDNESDAY, 2-14: Lousy Internet connection this Valentine's Day. Takes 30 seconds for Applelinks to download, if at all. What on earth is going on? (Oh wait, maybe there's a phone message. That "beep-beep" dial tone always gives AirPort fits! Nope, that ain't it. Blame Qwest!)

THURSDAY, 2-15: Internet's full of idiots today, geez. All those cultists reading Rodney's squeezable TiBook editorial at MacObserver are giving him hell! These morons would complain about someone pointing out that the safety on a new pistol doesn't work. "Well DUH, just don't point it at your head or a friend when you pull the trigger!"

FRIDAY, 2-16: Took a break this afternoon to take a hike down into the gorge, but we never got there. The entire length of Cebolla Mesa Road was PUDDING. . .had the unique experience of driving down the road sideways! My poor truck. If we had gotten stuck, there would have been no way to get out until nightfall when the mud refroze.

WHAT, US SPY?
You have to see this. The FBI finally got hip to all the commotion caused by its "Carnivore" software's easy-to-abuse monitoring of email traffic, right? So what did they do, STOP? (Hahahaha!) Well, no. They decided to call it "DCS1000" instead. Geez. (Hey, if my sources are correct, none of this matters anyway, because the National Security Agency and a host of Defense Department teams already know what everybody all over the world is saying to each other. You can either be sure not to email anything you don't want the authorities to read or just figure you're too small a fish to get caught in the 'Net, har!)

Senior Applelinks editor and columnist John H. Farr had lots of fun putting this new column together and plans to take no prisoners in future forays. He also wants everyone to know that his own Zoozone site now includes a daily image feature called FotoFeed -- bookmark it and see a new picture every day!

Meanwhile, FARR SITE fans take heart: you'll find links to newly-formatted classic episodes and answers to most of your questions on the Zoozone's FARRFEED Farr Site Menu page. (To find out when and where *new* FARR SITE columns will appear, please click here to subscribe to the Farr Site News.)

Audio Credits: embedded 44k file, European Birds -- Sounds and Sonograms; 159k file, Doug von Gausig's Bird Sounds Page. Tell 'em "GRACK" sent ya!

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