One-fifth of Web users prefer online news

This Nielsen report is no surprise to me... I get *all* of my news on the Web. My wife and I have a weekend subscription to the newspaper, but that's mainly for the coupons and ads that are in the Sunday edition. (And the comics. Don't forget the comics... though I read my favorites of those on the Web as well.)

The best part of online news, for me, is the customizability of the headlines I receive. I view all of my news headlines via RSS (Rich Site Summary, or Really Simple Syndication), and there are a bazillion RSS feeds to choose from, give or take about 3. You can see the feeds I view in my blogroll. A lot of people use RSS software on their computers, but I like using Bloglines because it keeps track of all the items I've read, so I never have to look through things I've already seen if I move to a diferent computer. Since I can use up to 4 different computers in a day (Mac and Windows at work, Mac and Windows at home), this is a great benefit. Also, when I make any changes to my personal list of feeds, they're updated on the server and I don't have to make those changes on each computer individually.

So, RSS is great. Huzzah! Web news is awesome! Check it out! (It's Saturday morning; just humor me.)

Browser-based attacks increase as viruses dip

Rather than attempt to trick computers, malicious hackers are now preying on computer users more than ever before. Computers equipped with virus detection software are usually able to intercept harmful code and nullify it before it has a chance to corrupt the computer itself. However, computer users do not have as watchful and objective an eye on their computers (many because they just aren't fully aware of what to look for) as software is capable of using. Hackers try pretend that they are agents of reputable companies by emulating their online presence, attempting to lure unsuspecting consumers with official-looking email (phishing) and genuine-seeming websites (pharming).

These sorts of attacks are much more personal in nature. While viruses could possibly delete all information for a hard drive, that sort of attack is benign next too a phishing scam that could possibly receive credit card numbers, social security information, and other identifying information.

The moral of the story is: look out! Don't visit sensitive sites via email... if you're genuinely worried that a notice is genuine, contact the company yourself rather than follow possibly fraudulent hyperlinks.

Forgotten Bach aria turns up

A ritornello aria by J.S. Bach for soprano and harpsichord was recently discovered in Weimar. Oddly enough, it was found in a shoebox.

And you thought all Bach did at Weimar was play the organ...

Seen in rec.humor.funny

There have been an average of 160,000 troops in theater (IRAQ) during the last 22 months, which has a firearm death rate of *60* per *100,000*.

The rate in Washington D.C. is *80.6* per *100,000*.

That means that you are 25% more likely to be shot and killed in our Nation's Capitol, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation, than you are in Iraq.

*Conclusion*: We should immediately pull out of Washington, D.C.

Jobs Has Easy Sell to Mac Faithful

The biggest recent tech news is Apple's announced switch to Intel processors. Based on Steve Jobs's keynote speech yesterday (that link goes to a streamed Quicktime movie of the one-hour presentation), the transition will all, theoretically, go swimmingly. I guess we'll see whether that's the case. After the problems even getting MakeMusic!'s Finale (my most-used Mac application) over to OSX in the first place I don't have the highest expectations for the port to Intel, but I guess I'll just have to wait to find out how that'll actually go in practice.

Laptops Outsell Desktops for First Time

For the first time, the majority of personal computers sold in a month have been laptops (53 percent). This is odd, considering the recent article describing ergonomic problems with notebook computers.

WRITE THESIS FAST

LOL... if you find humor in geeky academic stuff, this will certainly float your comedic boat.

Friday Afternoon Syndrome (FAS)

An interesting blog article about a common pehnomenon you never really notice until someone talks about it...

foldedspace.org: Get Rich Slowly!

The link goes to an article at another blog, "foldedspace," in which the blogger has laid out a combined summary of the best and most-often-referenced financial planning books. What he has to say makes a lot of sense, and it opens my eyes to a world of financial independence that I hadn't thought about before.

I had always thought that financial independence was merely the freedom from debt and the procurement of employment with a paycheck that sustains your way of life (while, of course, providing a bit extra for saving purposes). However, according to this summary of well-respected financial advice, independence is not fully achieved financially until income reaped from investments alone can sustain your way of life.

That's earth-shattering to me, as I thought my wife and I pretty much had "our financial house in order," as they say, already. We certainly do well, but the ability to live entirely off of investments sets a bar that we're quite a ways away from as yet.

Is it Really Reading?

This New York Times article discusses the current fad in audiobooks, and pits those in favor of "traditional" book-reading against the technology apologists who insist that listening to audiobooks is much the same.

I've never listened to an audiobook, but it's an intriguing idea. One of this week's guest editors at Lifehacker (my favorite tech blog, by the way: it distills all of the random stuff from The Morning News, del.icio.us popular, Gizmodo, etc. into one pithy easy-to-digest source) just did a piece today on audiobooks, and his review is summed up in his statement that, "[q]uite honestly, some audiobooks work, and some don’t." He comes up with a few rules for audiobook listening; among them are admonitions to try out audiobooks (on Audible or the iTunes Music Store) before you buy to make sure the narrator's style is appealing to you, and to refrain from attempting to "read" weighty works like those of Tolstoy in audio form.

I've looked around a bit, and if I end up trying out audiobooks I'll likely start with John Cleese's reading of C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters, which seems excellent both on the basis of user reviews and also the 15-minute sample at Audible.