Computer hardware manufacturers are really starting to come around.  For a long time, everything was only supported by Windows, but I'm now seeing more and more Mac support.  In fact, some even claim to support the Linux environment.  This makes me pretty happy.  But it's still not a perfect, blue-sky world.  I had to do a double take when I saw the requirements for the new NAS I'm considering.

For the uninitiated, you can't run the specified browser on Linux any more than you can mix oil and water.

I really don't know what to make of this poor attempt at describing the speed of a computer chip.  The analogy may be accurate, but it sure doesn't do much to help the average guy grasp the concept.  In a nutshell, this IBM engineer describes a chip that can execute 5 billion instructions per second like this:

"Hold your index finger out in front of your face. In less time than it would take a beam of light to travel from your knuckle to your fingertip, the new IBM chip would complete one task and start looking for the next."

Oh.  Of course.  Wow - it's faster than...the bird?

Let's face it, if you don't understand that 5 billion is a really big number, then your grasp of a fundamental physical constant isn't going to shed much light on the subject (pun most certainly intended).

Posting a joke on your blog is a sure sign you're desperate.  Especially a political joke.  But I just couldn't resist this one...

Donald Rumsfeld is giving the president his daily briefing. He concludes by saying: "Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed."

"OH NO!" the President exclaims. "That's terrible!"

His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the President sits, head in hands.

Finally, the President looks up and asks, "How many is a brazillion?"