AppleWorks RIP

So AppleWorks is officially dead. Good riddance. I've never liked its interface, ever since I got my first Mac in 2000 with OS 9. It got left further in the dust with the migration to OS X.

I like a word processor that gets out of the way. I want to be able to turn most everything off, including the rulers, how the text is going to lay out against the margins on the printed page, everything. I just want to see the text with minimal interruption. AW didn't let you do that.

I've picked up a copy of the latest Pages. Here's hoping it lets you do something like that in its word processor mode.

Dollar coin MIA

So has anyone actually seen one of these coins? It's been six months since the release of the Washington coin and I haven't. The Madison coin was released in May. The Jefferson coin will be released tomorrow.

By having a rotating design on the new dollar coins, the Mint is hoping to keep interest high and avoid the famous flops of two previous dollar coins - the Susan B. Anthony, introduced in 1979, and the Sacagawea, introduced in 2000.

Yeah, right.

When worms attack

Gotta love this article title: "New Worm Attacks Mac OS X".

The first sentence of the piece? "An anonymous hacker claims to have created a worm that targets Intel versions of Mac OS X."

Anyone else see a disconnect?

Hybrids wane, diesels gain

the number of customers considering buying a hybrid has declined over the past year, partly due to a realization of the actual mileage that hybrid cars are likely to achieve. [...] J.D. Power also attributes the drop in hybrid interest to an increase in the number of clean diesel vehicles; the study found that the number of new car buyers considering a diesel had nearly doubled over the past year.

With fleets of new diesel cars bound for the U.S. over the next few years and the demise of some hybrid models, is this the beginning of a gear-change in the alternative-fuel economy? (Crave)

One's gotta hope! I think hybrids are fine, but the enthusiasm given to ethanol ("flex-fuel") vehicles at the expensive of infinitely more flexible and efficient diesel automobiles here in America has been an absolute crime.

Eco prizes

There's something wrong with an eco contest that has an SUV as the prize.

I don't care if it's a hybrid. SUVs still pollute more than autos. Which pollute more than a bus.

Eliminating trialware

Dell on Tuesday became the first big computer maker to try to address customer frustration and anger over “trialware” – the often superfluous and frequently unwanted software that comes pre-installed on most PCs. (Financial Times)

You mean the first big computer maker other than Apple? There are usually a couple trials on a new Mac, like Microsoft Office or iWork, but it's not the mess that the common PC buyer has to put up with. It seems at least one Windows PC maker is waking up to the fact that the out-of-the-box experience matters.

Live Earth

The last thing the planet needs is a rock concert.

The Who's Roger Daltrey

Have You Prayed for bin Laden Today?

Speaking as a Christian, they are not our enemies. God loves the world. And in my new book, Secret Believers, we propose the question, "Have you prayed for bin Laden today?" That question should shock a lot of Christians. Of course we haven't! That is why he is what he is. We have an evangelical black list of people we don't want to see in heaven and put bin Laden on top. Saddam Hussein is probably second.

[...]

We in the West are following or believing in the God of revenge as much as every Muslim does. So there's no need for us to sit on a pedestal. We have to come down to the foot of the Cross and learn from Jesus. He came to forgive, and he came to die. I have seen this attitude in many Christians in Gaza. It gives me hope for the future.

Brother Andrew

Domestic partnerships & health care

Would domestic partner benefits matter so much to people if health care wasn't so expensive?  I'm inclined to think not.  If it didn't cost so much to shoulder health care costs on one's own, who cares whether the government (or your employer) considers your relationship legit?

Hilton on the media

"I was shocked to see all of the attention devoted to the amount of time I would spend in jail for what I had done -- by the media, public and city officials," [Paris Hilton] said.

"I would hope going forward that the public and the media will focus on more important things like the men and women serving our country in Iraq and other places around the world." (AFP)

Hear hear.

For an example of how nuts the media has gone, check out this Jay Leno clip commenting on the MSNBC coverage.