Did I miss a Saturday post? Probably!

[Later] In fact, yes I did. Bummer. Now I have a gap in my calendar for the 18th November.

I would have managed to slip in under the deadline of midnight - since the Conversant server seems to run a minute or so behind my Powerbook's time - but I've noticed that when I have Frontier and/or Radio Userland running in the background my Powerbook becomes unresponsive for 30 seconds or so on the stroke of midnight. So, just as I was about to post the first line of this message as Saturday's contribution midnight struck on my machine and, like Cinderella, it seemed to rush off somewhere else to do someone else's bidding. I guess it's the 24-hour daemon(s) kicking in.

Why I should bother missing a day is an interesting psychological question. Anyhow not much happened today and 11:55pm was the first time I'd logged in - hence the lack of a jotter entry.

The hack furby challenge has been won!

The prize of two hundred and fifty dollars was won by Canadian computer consultant Jeffrey Gibbons, who submitted the winning prototype by Fedex. The design is being published to the public under the terms of the competition, and orders are being taken for a "Hack Furby" kit over the Internet.

"The cash prize is just a token," explained van der Linden, "The real prize is the bragging rights to the accomplishment, and the benefit of sharing it with the world. Computer Science departments can now base their real-time programming courses on this very low-cost equipment."

leJOS: Java based OS for Lego RCX

Like its predecessor (TinyVM), leJOS is a tiny Java (tm) runtime. It functions as replacement firmware for the Lego Mindstorms (tm) RCX, a programmable brick which is part of Lego's Robotics Invention System (tm) (RIS). The RCX contains a Hitachi H8300 processor and 32 Kb of RAM (of which 28 Kb are safe for the firmware to use). We have plans to port leJOS to other small devices.

<muse>Sounds like this would be a cool way to teach embedded systems!</muse>

NME news:

HMV have refused to stock the new single by THE OFFSPRING in the UK after the band decided to give the track away as a free download on their official website

Via San Diego Don's InfoNode news of a well written 'OS X on Intel' rebuttal. FWIW, I think it would be a big mistake for Apple to undermine their own product base - PowerPC Macs - by releasing OS X for IA86.

College students tell how well they learn

Among the findings were:

• Fewer than 15% of students come close to studying two hours for every hour they spend in class, an established measure of proper class preparation.
  
  
• Almost one in five freshmen said they "never" made a class presentation during their first year, and 46% never discussed readings or ideas with a professor outside of class.

eCompany Now - Magazine Article - Essay Question: The Web is Transforming the University. How and Why? (Please Use Examples.)

This man runs the largest private university in the United States. You may never have heard of the University of Phoenix, but it's using the power of the Internet to lay siege to the ivory tower. To its students, UOP is a godsend. To critics, it's sacrilege. And to prestigious institutions from Columbia to Stanford, it's a new business plan.

The following was forwarded by e-mail to me by a colleague. I thought some of the readers of this site would like it ;-). And a warm welcome to any new readers that come by way of the link on Dave's http://www.scripting.com/ site:

NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF INDEPENDENCE

To the citizens of the United States of America,

In the light of your failure to elect a President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchial duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories. Except Utah, which she does not fancy.

Your new prime minister (The Rt. Hon. Tony Blair, MP for the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a minister for America without the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded; A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up "aluminium". Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.

Generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up "vocabulary". Using the same twenty seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication; Look up "interspersed".

2. There is no such thing as "US English". We will let Microsoft know on your behalf.

3. You should learn to distinguish the English and Australian accents. It really isn't that hard.

4. Hollywood will be required, occasionally, to cast English actors as the good guys.

5. You should relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The Queen", but only after fully carrying out task 1.

We would not want you to get confused and give up half way through.

6. You should stop playing American "football". There is only one kind of football. What you refer to as American "football" is not a very good game.

The 2.15% of you who are aware that there is a world outside your borders may have noticed that no one else plays "American" football. You will no longer be allowed to play it, and should instead play proper football. Initially, it would be best if you played with the girls.

It is a difficult game. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which is similar to American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like nancies). We are hoping to get together at least one US rugby sevens side by 2005.

7. You should declare war on Quebec and France, using nuclear weapons if they give you any merde. The 98.85% of you who were not aware that there is a world outside your borders should count yourselves lucky. The Russians have never been the bad guys. "Merde" is French for "****".

8. July 4th is no longer a public holiday. November 8th will be a new national holiday, but only in England. It will be called "Indecisive Day".

9. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and it is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.

10. Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy.

Thank you for your cooperation.

The above letter is, of course, satire and should not be take seriously ;-). I'm pretty sure that Keith Calder's response is in the same spirit. It starts:

We welcome your concern about our electoral process. It must be exciting for you to see a real Republic in action, even if from a distance. As always we're amused by your quaint belief that you're actually a world power. The sun never sets on the British Empire! Right-o chum!

But as George Bernard Shaw said:

"England and America are two countries divided by a common language."

which I would paraphrase now as "England and America are two countries divided by a different sense of humour (not to mention spelling!)." ;-)