(Berke Breathed)

I ran into a problem getting JDeveloper 11g installed on my OSX 10.5 machine. Partway through the installer you must tell it where your JDK is, and when you do it reports "Error, Invalid Java home". It took me a little while to locate some

Last year, after a couple of years using Phanfare to host my family photos, I closed my account and moved it all to Smugmug. I actually opened two accounts at Smugmug, one for my family media and one for this, my personal hobby site.

From the beginning, Phanfare was a great photo hosting site. Although there were some limitations, they absolutely nailed family photo hosting. Gorgeous web galleries, uncluttered by corporate branding. Comprehensive slideshow features. Clean, implicit timeline-based organization. And a cross-platform desktop client, making managing the site painless and streamlined. This is an all-important feature, because if it’s not easy, I simply don’t have time to do it.

So why the switch?

Got a letter yesterday from AT&T, indicating that we need to start looking for another phone provider, as their CallVantage VoIP service is being shut down at some point this year.

I've been using FreeNAS, a terrific open-source NAS based on my favorite server OS, FreeBSD. I'm running it on an MSI Wind PC, a tiny silent desktop based on an Atom processor. It's hosting a couple terabytes on my home network at very fast gigabit speeds, and also serves my iTunes library to the household.

I've been using MotionBox for video hosting for a month or so now, with good results. They support HD video, have fast rendering, and allow unlimited storage (and video length, and embeds) for a reasonable flat fee. Their flash player, while having a few warts, is pretty darn good. The video quality is really superb.

In trying to regain some sense of order in my home video recordings, I've been going through and systematically capturing and archiving some older DV tapes. Unfortunately, some of these tapes weren't even labeled. Moreover, a tape may last a month or two in the camera, and obviously contains a number of events.

I give you the website of CDC Software. A site that only a salesperson could love, it was clearly generated amidst a lofty cloud of smoke by repeated automated queries of the Web Economy Bullshit Generator.

Now, that's not unique, though they do elevate it to high art.

What prompted this post is the frustration I experienced when I, as an interested prospective customer, tried to research one of their products.