A few random thoughts on shaving and razors

As much as I like my Gillette Fusion ProGlide Power Ultra-Turbo Incredi-Glide Performance Pro Series razor, I have to admit that the quantum leap in comfort came with the Mach 3 series. The 5 blade system is decidedly more comfortable than the 3 blade system, but the increase in comfort in moving from 3 to 5 blades is somewhat less than that experienced in moving from 2 to 3 blades.

I know there’s a lot of jokes about the number of blades in men’s razors, and it is pretty funny on the surface. But when you think about it, it makes perfect sense, and there is hard science behind it.

It’s the difference between sitting on a chair with a single exposed nail jabbing you in your backside, and lying down on a bed of nails. It’s also the reason that a Boeing 747 has 24 (or 18 on older models) modestly sized tires on it’s landing gear as opposed to only 3 incredibly huge tires.

by Paul on March 10, 2012 at 9:17am | Permalink
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Gatekeeper in OS X “Mountain Lion” looks like a step in the right direction

Rich Mogull writing at TidBITS:

There are three ways to attack a computer — gain physical access, hit it over the network, or trick the user into running something they shouldn’t. Macs are reasonably well protected against two of the three.

If you use a strong password and encrypt your hard disk using FileVault, only a sophisticated attacker can get in. Up-to-date Macs are reasonably secure against direct network attacks, and when vulnerabilities do crop up, a combination of anti-exploitation features makes it a lot harder for the bad guys (at least on Mac OS X 10.7 Lion). So for physical and network attacks, we Mac users are in pretty good shape.

But the third kind of attack? Well that’s a bit of a problem, since we humans, even the most paranoid of us, can fall prey to trickery. It’s a problem we haven’t had very good solutions for… until now.

There’s no way to completely protect users from themselves-even on iOS devices you can follow a link in an email that sends you to a fraudulent “phishing” website.

But, Gatekeeper is a step in the right direction that will help protect many Mac users from themselves, at least as far as downloaded software goes…

by Paul on March 1, 2012 at 8:17pm | Permalink
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Potliquor and what it tells us about iTunes

For anyone who still doubts the breadth and depth, or value, of iTunes, I present for your consideration the iTunes Artist Page for Potliquor. This small southern rock band from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, whose heyday, if you can call it that, was in the early 70s, is now on iTunes. So obscure is this band, many of my Louisiana friends may never have heard of them…

None of their albums (at least as of early 2010) have ever–EVER–been released on CD, and I should know: I had to purchase each of their four original LPs from rare and collectible music dealers, then send them off to a recording/sound studio to have the vinyl albums restored and converted to CD. I got them back, along with the high quality CD transfers, in October, 2010; a year and a half later, 3 of their 4 original LPs are available for digital download on iTunes.

Sadly, missing is their eponymous LP “Potliquor”, with the superb tracks “Right Street / Wrong Direction”, “Red Stick”, “Misery”, “Life Should Be a Laugh”, “Liar” and “Oh So Long”, among others.

But that Potliquor is on iTunes at all is nearly beyond belief.

by Paul on February 25, 2012 at 5:00pm | Permalink
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Boot Camp and Lion’s FileVault 2 full disk encryption

So I decided that this weekend was the time that I’d finally get around to applying Lion’s FileVault 2 full disk encryption to my Macs. Yeah, I know, I should have done it a LONG time ago, but hey–better late than never. The hurdle I had to clear was the Boot Camp partitions on my Macs.

When Lion first came out, I did some research and couldn’t find a definitive answer on FileVault 2 and Boot Camp, so I decided to wait. Turns out, it’s not a big deal.

All you need to do is make sure that your Boot Camp partition, which is to say Windows on your Boot Camp partition, has the latest Boot Camp drivers (v4) installed. The caveat is that you can’t find them on Apple’s Boot Camp Support site. You have to run Boot Camp Assistant in Lion and select “Download the latest Windows support software from Apple”.

Once that’s finished, and you’ve had the Boot Camp Assistant either burn the software to CD or save a copy to an external drive, why you can simply run Windows (I did this through VMware–you don’t have to reboot and start up Windows natively), and install the Boot Camp v4 drivers. Once that’s finished, you’re ready to setup FileVault 2.

To set up FileVault 2, just go to System Preferences, select Security & Privacy, and choose the FileVault tab. From there it’s a snap. Just follow the prompts, or, if you’d like to read a little more about it on the front-end, check out this document from Apple.

Piece of cake. Now, I have FileVault 2 full drive encryption, and I can run Windows either through VMware or by rebooting and starting up via my Boot Camp partition to run Windows natively.

The whole process couldn’t have been easier. Plus, FileVault will start the encryption process, then force you to reboot, and then it will continue the encryption in the background so that you can still use your Mac while the drive is being encrypted. Awesome!

by Paul on February 19, 2012 at 2:42pm | Permalink
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MacDonald Murders +42 years

On this day in 1970, the wife and daughters of Army Green Beret physician Jeffrey MacDonald were murdered at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

This is a fascinating, if terribly sad, case. If you’re even slightly into “true crime” you couldn’t pick a better case to read about. And, if you think you know about the case because you’ve read Fatal Vision by Joe McGinniss, or saw the “made for tv” movie based on the book, then you are sadly mistaken…

At the very least, you should read Fatal Justice: Reinvestigating the MacDonald Murders by Jerry Allen Potter and Fred Bost, before passing judgment.

Ideally, you’d watch a 1989 BBC documentary that was shown in the U.S. on PBS titled “False Witness“. Unfortunately, it isn’t available on home video. (I was fortunate enough to obtain a copy from one of the filmmakers).

Another resource of interest is The MacDonald Case website.

by Paul on February 17, 2012 at 5:11am | Permalink
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Giants defeat Patriots, 21-17, in Super Bowl XLVI

Associated Press:

INDIANAPOLIS — Eli Manning and the Giants one-upped Tom Brady and the Patriots again, coming back with a last-minute score to beat New England 21-17 Sunday night for New York’s fourth Super Bowl title.

It was a rematch of Super Bowl XLII, when Manning led New York past New England to ruin the Patriots’ bid for a perfect season.

This was the first Super Bowl with two starting quarterbacks who previously won the big game’s MVP award — and they took turns being brilliant. Manning became the first QB to open a Super Bowl with nine consecutive completions. Later, Brady put together a run of 16 completions in a row, breaking another Super Bowl mark.

But in the end, it was Manning who directed the nine-play, 88-yard drive that put New York ahead when running back Ahmad Bradshaw scored the winning touchdown.

What a great game! Congratulations to Eli Manning, MVP of Super Bowl XLVI, and the New York Giants!

by Paul on February 5, 2012 at 10:49pm | Permalink
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The Day the Music Died

Wikipedia:

On February 3, 1959, a small-plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, killed three American rock and roll pioneers: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, as well as the pilot, Roger Peterson. The day was later called The Day the Music Died by Don McLean, in his song “American Pie”. The plane crash has been called the first and greatest tragedy rock and roll has ever suffered.

There would be others, but this was the first.

For my money, J.P. Richardson, aka “The Big Bopper”, while by all accounts an amiable fellow, was something of a novelty act. Ritchie Valens, of course, was an important figure in early rock ‘n roll, and without question, the importance of Buddy Holly simply cannot be overstated.

by Paul on February 3, 2012 at 5:46am | Permalink
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AFC, NFC Championship Games Set

The AFC Championship and NFC Championship will be determined next Sunday, January 22nd, when the Baltimore Ravens travel to play the New England Patriots (at 2:00 p.m. Central on CBS), and the New York Giants travel to play the San Francisco 49ers (at 5:30 p.m. Central on FOX), respectively.

by Paul on January 15, 2012 at 7:52pm | Permalink
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Derrick Mason retires from NFL after 15 seasons

Associated Press (via ESPN):

Mason plans to pursue a career in broadcasting and has appeared on NFL Network recently.

“I’m spending some time at home and doing as much as I can to really get entrenched in some broadcasting network whether it be nationally or do something here locally,” Mason said. “I enjoy it a lot.”

Other than not winning a Super Bowl after playing in one with the Titans when they lost to the St. Louis Rams following the 1999 NFL season, Mason said he leaves the game with no regrets.

“I leave it healthy and able to run and walk and not take a half-hour or 45 minutes to get out of bed,” Mason said. “I don’t have lingering pains as of now. Me leaving now, even though it didn’t happen the way I wanted it to happen, I had a good run. It was fun while it lasted.”

Derrick Mason: what a great player, consummate professional and man of character. He retires after 15 seasons as the all-time leading receiver for the Ravens, and for the Titans he is the 5th all-time receiver and is 2nd all-time in total combined yards. He twice went to the Pro Bowl, twice was selected an All-Pro, caught 943 passes for 12,061 yards and 66 touchdowns, and in 2000 broke the then-NFL record for all-purpose yardage in a single season, which stood until this year (Darren Sproles). That, my friends, is a career

It has been an absolute pleasure watching Derrick play the game.

by Paul on January 10, 2012 at 8:31pm | Permalink
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Alabama’s D embarrasses LSU as five FGs, late TD seal national title

Associated Press:

In this postseason of high-scoring shootouts, one of the greatest defenses in college football history carried another title back to Tuscaloosa.
[…]
LSU didn’t cross midfield until there were 8 minutes left in the game. The Tigers finished with just 92 yards and five first downs.
[…]
Jeremy Shelley tied a bowl record with five field goals and the defense did the rest, posting the first shutout in the 14-year history of the BCS. It was the Tide’s second BCS title in three years.

Go Bama! Roll Tide!

by Paul on January 10, 2012 at 5:11am | Permalink
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