No, not in the search field. Bing has that sown up quite nicely. I'm talking about getting the version of the software you want.

I had a request to install Google Earth on some machines here at work. Why, don't know considering who will be using it but that's my orders and I carry them out.

So I go to earth.google.com and get the message that I can download Google Earth 6. I select the option and find that 6 is a beta but, and this is key, they do offer the stable 5.2 version.

Obviously I select the stable version because this is a production environment. I also uncheck installing of Chrome and making Chrome my default browser.

I check the "Yes, I Agree" option and right before I click the button to download I notice something. My option for 5.2 is not available. In fact, I am now forced to download the version I didn't want.

Thinking I'm missing something, I go through the entire process again but this time, I watch how the screen changes before my eyes.

Yup, it doesn't matter if I want the 5.2 version, Google is going to force the 6 version on me. In addition, I am forced, yes, forced, to accept that Earth will check for updates automatically. I cannot unselect this option. There was another option I could not unselect but I'm so pissed I can't remember what it was.

So I forgo getting the beta and ask around at work until I find someone who has kept one of the old installers to use.

So there you have it. Google is officially as sucky as Microsoft when it comes down to getting the file you want.

This is precisely why I don't have gmail or signed up for anything Google-related. I don't want them to tell me what I want, I know what I want. Don't tell me otherwise.

Ok, so the title isn't telling you anything you didn't already know. However, this is a somewhat critical issue for those of us who get mod points.

Apparently, even though I have set my threshold to -1, I don't see anything below 1.

Having searched through all the nooks and crannies of the craptacular 2.0 (or is it 3.0 now?) version, there are no other settings to set to see low posters.

Normally this wouldn't be an issue as most people at 0 or -1 are just trolling, but on occasion there is that one comment which is unfairly knocked and I like to upgrade them.

Yeah, I COULD send an email and ask that this be looked into, but what are the chances that this would be given a high priority when one considers how much they listened to people about the new design.

So for now, those of you who get a 0 or -1 mod, sorry, I can't help you.

We all realize that Fox's distortion of reality is well known. We also know that terms such as "homicide bomber" or "homicide shooter" are an attempt to "update" ones vocabulary.

However, it seems that in their effort to widen their distortion field, they have unilaterally removed an entire country from the world map.

I give you (via Minyanville), the new map of the Middle East

*first turn on javascript so I can write in Journal*

Once again we are graced by the sights of young, nubile asian women in what are mostly Hooters outfits. Oh, and there are cars in some of the pictures as well.

Photo link

*turns off javascript when done posting*

Trying to get newly imaged machines on the network is an exercise in bullshit. After the initial settings (turn off restore points, turn off OS selection, etc) and restarting, without exception when I changed from local machine to network the message about creating the domain list comes up.

Bullshit, bullshit, BULLSHIT! There is no need to create the ENTIRE domain list when all you need is to log onto your local domain. Having to wait MINUTES for the information to be updated is just BULLSHIT!

It's like dealing with the bad programming of certain games (*cough*Alpha Centauri*cough*). I don't give a flying fuck if the odds are against me. Make the fucking attack! I've turned off all notifications, just fucking attack.

It's the same thing with this shitty domain list creation. Just fucking log onto the current domain. There is only one option. Create the list later.

And while I'm pissed off, fix this shitty Journal system. You don't need javascript to write in a form field. Stop trying to make things edgy and 2.0ey. This is why I changed from 2.0 back to 1.0, ok Taco? This is my message. Simplicity. Not a continuous bombardment of moving and flying out menus, threads and whatnot.

Fuck I hate programmers. This is why I will never be involved in a project dealing with programming something. I don't want my name associated with this shit.

And no, I did not get things off my chest. This is only the beginning.

From time to time I mention the Japanese and the unique differences they have compared to us (most aren't obese for instance). From time to time I also mention finding articles related to anime such a life-size Gundam or the Argo.

This time, I have come across something so disturbing (in a good way) that it truly boggles the mind. I'm sure you are all familiar with anime and the characters therein. If not by name, you can at least recognize when you see an anime-drawn character. In particular, the women of anime are drawn as having HUGE round eyes (except if they're evil in which case the almond shape persists), thin, lithe bodies and possibly lots of bouncy hair.

In that regard, I give you a real anime woman! No, not the first picture, the second. And third. And fourth. And so on. The main page for her is http://blog.crooz.jp/xx1xx/

So who is she? Believe it or not, she works at the Wakatsuki Chinatsu concession in the teen paradise of Shibuya 109. At least according to this article from whence I came across her blog.

Seriously, does she or does she not look EXACTLY like the women of anime (including the adult variety)?

I don't read kanji but if you hover of the various links, you can at least get an idea of where you're going. Start below the Hair Nail link to see the articles and the associated pictures.

As a rule, I don't watch commercials. As soon as I see one, I change the channel. However, there are a few that I do watch and with the sequel to Tron coming out, I've noticed a few promoting the movie.

Let me say straight away that if the commercials are representative of the movie, the remake is a failure. With the exception of blue and red lighting around the edge of things, everything I've seen leads me to believe this is going to be one big shitfest of explosions interspersed with some touchy-feely scenes (though one apparently doesn't get to touch Olivia Wilde).

And speaking of Olivia, the few words I've heard her speak are delivered in as bland a style as is possible. There doesn't seem to be any emotion behind her words.

While the first movie was ground breaking, this one seems to another in a long line of movies which takes a perfectly good story and tramples the lineage into dust. I'm looking at you Transformers. >:

Based solely on the commercials, I fail to see one redeeming reason to watch it unless it comes out on television.

Depending on your definition of "real". For those of you who watched the original broadcast series, StarBlazers was probably the first anime you saw. You watched as they fired the Wave Motion Gun for the first time and saw it obliterate a floating island. You held your breath as the relentless assault of the Gamalons threatened to destroy them. Your eyes, like mine, were probably as big as saucers as they found out they had to go into the Gamalon homeworld and take them out before they could acquire the device from Trelana.*

Now, for a mere $277, you can own The Argo. Well, a 1:625 scale model at least. One thing it has going for it is that it's metal, not plastic. Judging by the picture, it seems to be very true to the series.

I still have a soft spot for the final confrontation of The Argo inside planet Gamalon. When I decide to watch the show, I do so at night, lights off, volume up. The effect of The Argo's main guns firing every which way, the exploding bombs and rockets trying to find their mark, the sound of everything, is something that I thoroughly enjoy.

Installed a new PC for one of the higher ups and was going through the process of configuring the newest version of Firefox (3.6.11). I wasn't able to do a copy and paste into the new, empty, profile directory of the users profile so I had to create one from scratch. After that, I figured it was easier to just go to the four web sites and rebookmark them rather than trying to do a copy and paste.

However, in my travels, I found that the option to not submit crash reports would not stay unchecked. I would uncheck it, click OK then come back in and it was rechecked.

I don't want to submit crash reports from this user's PC. They wouldn't know what to do with them anyway.

So I went to look for the 3.6.10 version. Found the ftp link but get this server message:

ISA Server: extended error message :

200 Switching to Binary mode.
200 PORT command successful. Consider using PASV.
550 Permission denied.
ï½

If one follows Mozilla's own directions on how to get an older version, you can't (at least I can't). Add in the fact that a simple checkbox won't stay unchecked and that when you delete some of the extraneous entries in the bookmark directory you are still left with lines, one begins to wonder if Taco and Company are giving advice to the Mozilla folks.

No, I'm not submitting a bug report. I'm not creating ANOTHER account somewhere just to let them know. This is my bug report. Anyone with connections or who has an account can submit it for me.

And more P.S. Taco

Your journal system still sucks. Having to turn on javascript is asinine. Get off yours and drop this nonsense!

Everyone reading this should be aware of what the Nigerian 419 Scam is all about. You've probably received one or two of them (I've only ever received one). As more and more people wise up (or the older ones die off, depending on your point of view), these scams, while still raking in millions, are becoming less and less effective.

So, in good Evolutionary style, those who want to make you part with your money have come up with their newest ploy. I give you, the Enron letter.

P.S. You still haven't fixed the glitch in your Journal system, Taco. One still has to enable javascript to write a title. I deal with incompetency, stupidity and laziness from my co-workers on a daily basis. I shouldn't have to deal with it on a web site which is supposedly run by folks in the know.

Ok, so it's not really named after me, but I was looking for a decent pizza place in lower Manhattan (if you know of any, let me know) and happened to see the following name at 55 Broad Street:

Wombat Financial Software

Funny how those things come about, isn't it?

And what is it with this javascript requirement to write in the journal. Come on Taco, quit being like your proverbial namesake (shitty).

First, let me say that /. is becoming more and more annoying as it tries to be on the cutting edge of shit for its web design. I had to turn on javascript to write this as not having it turned on wouldn't let me type anything.

With that little bit out of the way, nearly everyone I told the following piece about me seems shocked, especially when it is revealed that I am employed in the IT field. What is so shocking that people's mouths fall to ground in surprise? What is so unbelievable that they have to call their friends to spread the news?

I don't own a cell phone. Just as some on here will say they don't have cable, I don't own a cell phone. My job doesn't require it, nor do I want or need one. I don't want people to be able to contact me at a moment's notice. I most certainly don't people to be able to track me down.

And I'm not the only one. As the following article relates, many people, of both high and low stature, don't have cell phones. And it's not because they're luddites. They don't have one because they don't need one. Which is something I have said all along. The number of people who truly need a cell phone is insignificant compared to those who own one (or more) phones. Besides, as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of La Verne says in the article, "He says he has never overheard a cell conversation that wasn't banal."

So when you find out someone doesn't own a cell phone, don't think they're living in a backwards mentality. Think of them as being on the cutting edge of being a power broker.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38646066/ns/business-bloomberg_businessweek/

I'm not talking about some reproduction made in the basement of an agoraphobic teenager. No, I'm talking life-size, possibly functional, Gundams. You know, the kind that go bang and boom as they destroy things.

For your viewing pleasure: Gundam!

It's been 15 years since Bill Gates wrote his book, The Road Ahead, in which he talks about how technology would shape the future. In the intervening years, technology has changed most aspects of our lives for better or worse. So how did Bill Gates do on his predictions? The Atlantic takes a look at the good and bad of some of his prognostications. Overall, it appears Bill let optimism guide his thoughts, except when it came to the Internet"

Go ahead, get on my case about harping about the evils of smoking. You may like to smoke, but I don't want you around me when you do. And if do you come around me, take a shower first. Just don't expect a good night kiss.

With that out of the way, it seems the country with the largest amount of smokers has potentially come up with a use for the filters of used cigarettes. You drop them in water, extract the volatiles from the water and use those volatiles to coat the inside of oil pipes and prevent them from rusting.

Weird, huh? Use known carcinogens to prevent pipes which carry oil from springing leaks. Who knew?!