An Illinois man was fined $250 and placed under court supervision for one year for sitting in his car on the street with a laptop and piggybacking off his neighbor’s WiFi connection. I don’t agree with this guy being fined and humiliated like this.

This case is akin to having a neighbor with a really strong sprinkler system (wireless router). If I realize that the sprinkler system sprays beyond his yard (private domain) onto the street (the public domain), I should be able to park my car there and get a free wash. I am technically not stealing the water, just using it. Sure, water isn’t free (neither are high-speed Internet connections), but the neighbor sprayed his water into the public domain and that makes it public.

Of course, if this guy was in his car attempting to gain access to his neighbor’s computer instead of simply getting access to the Internet, then he should get a much more severe penalty. But my understanding is that this was a case of frivolous web-surfing on someone else’s connection. All San Francisco residents have done that once or twice. In any case, I am curious to see how this plays out going forward. Stay tuned.

Apparently, when Bill Gates gets nervous, he rocks back and forth like an autistic savant. This video clip claims to be actual footage of Bill Gates being questioned by U.S. anti-trust lawyers in 1998. Needless to say, he doesn’t seem to be enjoying the entire process. Even funnier is that at the end of the clip there is an ad to obtain a set of DVDs of the entire deposition. Who the hell would want eight hours of the richest man in the world rocking back and forth like a child? Now that I think about it, I bet Larry Ellison has multiple copies of this DVD collection.

The official response from Microsoft regarding the recent Xbox 360 hack:

The core security system has not been broken. However, it is reported that the authentication protocol between the optical disc drive and the console may be attacked, which if accurate could allow people to play illegally copied games. Our security team is aware of this and we are investigating potential solutions to this issue. The Xbox 360 platform was designed to be updated, and we are prepared to respond appropriately should any unauthorized activity be identified.

Everyone should keep in mind that Microsoft invests a great deal of time and effort to ensure that Xbox gamers enjoy the most powerful and exhilarating game experience available today. Genuine and unmodified Microsoft Xbox products provide gamers with the reliability, security, support and dynamic gaming experience that they expect. Microsoft works with a large group of legitimate business partners to sell and service genuine Microsoft Xbox products. Microsoft does not authorize or support any products or companies that modify or change the Xbox console in any way.

Reading between the lines you can tell that they’re pissed. XBL auto-updates will surely go out to thwart this. It reminds me of the DirecTV programmers vs. hackers battle that raged for years until alas the DirecTV folks beat the pirates, or the lazy ones anyway. Stay tuned.

The blogrolling.com website’s slow response time, down time, and overall malaise was completely killing my home page load times. Last night, I finally had it with the poor perfomance and decided to start using blo.gs to update and track my blogroll. Adios blogrolling.com, you won’t be missed.

The new version of Windows, named Vista, has been delayed to January 2007.

Check out this video of the first Xbox 360 firmware hack. Also, more details here.

Pacman finds fame and self-destructs in this video biopic.

Captain Crunch, a phone phreaker and hacker from the 1970′s, has his own podcast that talks about information security issues and trends called Crunch TV. It’s funnier than all shit to watch. I mean, just seeing anyone over 25 doing a podcast is pretty odd, and this guy is just old. On a side note, Steve Dougherty, the guy that helped authorities put Captain Crunch away in 1977, works for my firm. This is definitely an old school geek fest.

On Friday, Merrill Lynch predicted the launch of the PlayStation 3 console could be delayed by 6 to 12 months from its current spring 2006 window. This could result in a Fall launch in Japan and an early 2007 launch in the U.S. Merrill also predicted the manufacturing cost of the console could be much higher than previous estimates of around $500 per unit. Try more like $800 per unit after accounting for a $100 loss per unit. Based on these news, Sony saw its stock price sink 3.6 percent today, dropping to 5,300 yen ($45) per share.

Did you hear that? It’s as if millions of voices (of Sony fanboys) suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. Yeah, it looks like the Xbox 360 will have an 18-month head start on Sony, not just a 5-month lead as previously thought. I knew that there was no way Sony could sell its console in the $400 price range with all of the features that they’ve been touting. Read ‘em and weep fanboys–no new playstation until next year. Oh, I’m afraid the Xbox 360 will be quite operational when your games arrive.

Popular Science ran an article that shows what could be the future of air travel. This is not a blimp. Unlike a blimp, which is filled with enough gas to become lighter than air, this aircraft will be filled with enough helium to lift two-thirds of its weight. Rearward propellers, in conjunction with small wings, will produce enough forward speed and lift to keep the aircraft flying. With a range of several thousand miles and a top speed of 174 mph, the aircraft will be able to fly cross-country in 8 hours at a height of 8,000 feet.

Like a cruise ship, it would have amenities such as luxury staterooms, restaurants, even a casino. This all sounds great except for the fact that unlike airplanes, this aircraft would fly below the weather, and be subject to rainstorms, tornadoes, lightning, and whatever else the clouds want to throw at it. Snow? Hail? I wouldn’t want to be on this thing while it’s being buffeted by strong winds. We’ll see if this ever materializes.

I took a set of pictures today at Yerba Buena Gardens that I converted into an HDR image using Photomatix. It really has to be seen to be appreciated. Incredible vibrant colors and detail–check it out.

It was a handheld shot, so some parts of the image are a little blurry. You can really notice it on the floor in the lower right quadrant of the picture. Still, for a handheld Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB) shot, I managed to get amazing detail after combining the three exposures. All in all, I am really happy with HDR and the Tone Mapping feature of the Photomatix software. Either way, next time I am definitely taking a tripod.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) refers to the combining of multiple digital camera Low Dynamic Range (LDR) images into one HDR image that makes much more detailed images possible. As far as I can tell this is digital photography’s Holy Grail. A post-exposure processing program that does this is Adobe Photoshop Creative Studio 2.0, but a better program is Photomatix. Go to the Photomatix website to see exactly how the program works, and go to Flickr and search for the “photomatix” tag to see some amazing examples of the program at work. Here’s a night shot of my living room that I took to test it out. I can’t wait to take some pictures throughout San Francisco to make into HDR images.

This is so revolutionary that I would guess that in five years HDR processing will take place within the digital camera. I predict that HDR will be a native feature for most consumer and prosumer SLRs. Until that day comes though, we’ll have to settle for post-exposure processing.

I just saw the December 17, 2005 airing of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Jack Black, off the TiVo. During the show they aired a SNL Short titled “Lazy Sunday.” Starring Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell it is a rap video about two friends waking up midday on Sunday to go watch the Chronicles of Narnia and it must be seen to be believed. The geek factor was high and it was perfectly executed. I liked it so much that I bought a t-shirt that says, “Mr. Pibb + Red Vines = Crazy Delicious.” Go to the SNL homepage and click on the “videos” section of the page to see the short. Here’s an alternate link just in case.

A software engineer named Mikey Sklar decided to place an $2 RFID chip into his own hand and documents it in detail on his website. Here’s a snip:

DIY RFID human implants are on the rise. I have found over sixteen instances of midnight engineers implanting RFID tags in their hands. The general excuse is for automation purposes. Examples such as unlocking a computer screen saver or opening doors that have been outfitted with electric deadbolts.

Here is another person that beat Mikey Sklar to the punch earlier this year, and the granddaddy of them all, Professor Cyborg, Kevin Warwick, who had an RFID tag implanted in his arm in August, 1998. This is fascinating to read–I had no idea. All via BoingBoing.net.

Thanks to the Sarbanes-Oxley act Steve Ballmer did not receive a free Xbox 360 from Microsoft on launch day. Under financial disclosure rules, Microsoft would have to classify a free game console as income for Ballmer. The premium version of Microsoft’s next-generation game machine carries a $400 price tag. Although the cost of the Xbox 360 pales to Ballmer’s salary and bonus of nearly $1 million and his stock holdings of $11.3 billion (as of today’s close), it would still have to be explicitly disclosed in SEC filings. In order to avoid this, executive management and insiders in the company probably did NOT get an Xbox while other “regular” employees most likely did. At least you can rest knowing that the Ballmer kids aren’t playing an Xbox 360 in their 8,600 square foot home.

The blog style was too bland and I was missing the orange and yellow of this template, so I changed it back. If I do decide to change the blog template again it will have to be to something equally as colorful as this one. I’ll see if I get around to doing that during the Christmas break.

I am truly disappointed with the “bug” that has caused XBL Gold Subscription card users who use a Microsoft Passport account with another Microsoft Premium Service, such as MSN Music, Hotmail Plus, Etc., to receive the following error message:

“Your account has been suspended due to a problem with your payment option. Please use a different payment option or update your current information in Account Management.”

This has occurred to several users, including several Zero Hour attendees, and we have been discussing the issue on the Xbox Forums. Sadly, initial users that experienced this issue were told by Xbox Live Support Staff to delete their accounts from their hard drive and recover them. Not only did this NOT fix the issue, but everyone’s saved games were lost without warning.

The consolidated Xbox Forum thread that is tracking this issue is located at the following link. The consolidated thread has links to all of the other threads regarding the issue as well as a list of users that are experiencing the problem.

The fact that the Xbox Live Support Staff have no idea how to deal with the issue and are giving users conflicting information is very frustrating. Not everyone that experiencing the issue is a member of the Xbox Forums, so who knows how many Xbox Live Gamertags are affected. Most disappointing of all is that it seems that the most loyal Microsoft users—those with other Premium services—are the ones experiencing the problem.

I was told by support that “they are working on the problem,” but they don’t know how long it will take to fix. I sent a letter detailing this problem to the Xbox Live Director of Programming, Major Nelson, to see if it will expedite a solution–we’ll see if that makes a difference. Until then, I won’t be able to answer any messages on or play on XBL. This totally sucks ass!

Earlier today in Virginia, a thief robbed an EB Games store by demanding two Xbox 360 systems at gunpoint. The police responded quickly and apprehended the thief shortly after the robbery. This is proof positive that mass hysteria has set in surrounding the release of the console and people are doing anything to get their hands on one. Crazy.

Few stores in the city will be open for the launch of the Xbox 360 console tonight at midnight. Best Buy, where I am getting my console, will close tonight at its normal time and simply will open early tomorrow for those lined up to get one of the 40 non-pre-ordered consoles that will be sold there. People who pre-ordered will go to the store before it opens to the pubic to pick up their systems. Many stores are bracing for the onslaught and excitement is in the air.