I just upgraded to Apple’s OS X Leopard operating system and ran into a problem that seems to be causing quite a stir. To Apple’s chagrin the problem has been dubbed the “Blue Screen of Death” (BSOD). It appears that the new OS has a few problems and unfortunately they stall the computer at the point when it is displaying the signature blue startup screen. Windows users may be familiar with the BSOD. I’m not sure about all versions of Windows, but most display a blue screen with an error message on it when the operating system encounters an error from which it cannot recover. They are a bad thing. And while the Leopard BSOD is not exactly the same as the Windows BSOD, it is a bad thing as well.

Apple has adopted an age old technical support tactic at this point: blame some other party for the problem and walk away. The current response from Apple can be found here where they blame some third party software called “Application Enhancement.” I, however, have no idea what that software is and am certain it is not installed on my computer. Still, I ran into the BSOD on my computer.

This is how it went down for me. I would try to restart the computer only to wait nearly 20 minutes to see a login screen, and when it did finally appear it had no memory of my user account. It presented me with “Other. . .” as a user name and when I changed it to my user name and entered my password it failed to log in. This went on for hours, providing me plenty of time to think about the situation and try to research the problem. Having dealt with OS X for a couple of years now in a networked environment I have learned that it has some issues when it comes to networking. So, when my computer finally presented me with usable login screen I was prepared with a well simmered hunch about a possible “cause” of the problem. I had altered my hosts file (/etc/hosts) so that OS X could see some other computers on my network using friendly names. I had a feeling that this networking related file change could have caused my computer to “crash.” When I checked my hosts file I found that I had entered the correct IP address but mistyped the name. This by no means should cause a computer so much trouble, but with OS X I was pretty sure this was the cause. I corrected the spelling and restarted the computer. Sure enough, problem solved.

During my online search for a solution I found out something that I hadn’t previously noticed. Apple uses an image of a computer monitor with the Windows BSOD on it to represent any Windows computer on the network – kind of childish in my opinion. The irony in this situation is that the only operating system I could get to run on my Apple computer was Windows. Go figure.

I was recently referred to an interesting blog post titled “9 to 5 = average” in which the author laments the lack of passion in the world of designers. While much that is said seems reasonable, it leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth.

Now, I’m not a “creative,” or a designer by trade, but I don’t think the discussion of work and passion are exclusive to traditionally creative endeavors. . . And while I believe that passion will often move you to work more than the government-portioned work period, I also believe that many confuse passion and obsession. One drives for some good for the sake of an inherent beauty, the other drives for notoriety for the sake of vanity, insecurity or some other self-obsessive drive. The two are often hard to distinguish because their effects are so similar. However, if your “passion” leads you to estranged relationships it is more likely that this is an obsession than a passion.

Inherent to human existence is relationship and because of this I believe that most things that destroy or damage relationship should be avoided no matter how glorious their appearance or how much notoriety they draw. I also don’t subscribe to the notion that business is some sort of different plane of existence. Too often I have heard that “in business” such and such. . . Usually this is the preface to a reason that you can do harm to another because of the “harsh realities” of business.

When it all comes down to it, business is just another form of relationship. Our pursuits of profit, achievement or excellence should all be measured within the greater context of the relationships that are business and the relationships which business affects directly or indirectly. Sometimes that may look like “bad” business decisions.

If these things make me less “successful” in business, so be it. Hopefully I will sleep well and have friends when I die.

Take a minute to visit the Global Rich List. You can enter your annual salary and they’ll return some statistics and supporting graphics to show where you stand in relation to the rest of the world. Very, very interesting information.

The only thing that skews the data is that there is no scale for cost of living. Someone who makes $6,000 per year might be in the top 14% of the world’s population, but where does that put them in a country like ours where agriculture and other resources are not widely accessible without land ownership?

Their calculator makes nice use of AJAX (or equivalent) to update the page information without reloading, and they use some animated effects to move a red “this is you” indicator up and down their population graphic (you have to change your income level to see this). They also integrate your calculated hourly rate into the persuasive paragraph on the bottom half of the page.

Nicely done, and not a little sobering.

(via MikeNothum.com)

I married into Michigan Football fandom, but the rest is my fault. Some day I’m going to post a picture of myself wearing every piece of Michigan apparel that I own, just to demonstrate the insanity. Anyway, this is a good week to be a Michigan fan.

This is the banner that the folks at MGoBlue.com have on their Big Game landing page. The concept is good, but I give it a B- for graphic design.

As a side note, these are arguably the two best helmet designs in college football. Ohio State’s color scheme and simple design is great, and their buckeye award stickers give an immediate, qualitative indication of the relative impact of each player on the team. Michigan’s winged helmets are easily the most unique and recognizable in all of football. They were designed in 1938 by legendary coach Fritz Crisler and had an immediate emotional and practical impact on the struggling program. I’ll write more about that in a future post.

Some details about the Big Game this weekend:

• The winner will earn the outright Big Ten championship and a trip to the BCS national title game.
• This is the first time Michigan and Ohio State have met as the top two ranked teams.
• Since the “Big Game” was moved to the last weekend of the conference season, the schools have met twice when each team was undefeated and untied (1970, ‘73) and another time as unbeatens (1975).
• This will be the third time Michigan plays in a matchup of the top two teams in the country. U-M lost at home to top-ranked Notre Dame in 1943 (35-12) and at No. 1 Iowa in 1985 (12-10).
• This will be the 38th meeting between the top two teams in the AP poll since its inception in 1936.
• The No. 1 team holds a 22-13-2 edge in those games.
• U-M has won 42 Big Ten titles, while OSU has claimed 30.

(via MGoBlue.com)

Don’t they make actual fortune cookies anymore? Most of my “fortunes” lately are more like “statements” or “recommendations.” Maybe fortune-cookie writers have been affected by those new laws that make it easier to sue for fortune malpractice.

Whatever. Here’s one I got a few months ago: