On the Retina display:
No, I can't see the difference. I'm sitting at home watching a semi-pixellated version of the keynote streaming over the internet. I'll have to take your word for it.

On Wi-Fi:
Seems like the venue should be able to provide priority access to Steve. Get him on a different network or something.

On FaceTime:
Everyone has to get an iPhone 4 now so we can do this.

Irony: MPEG LA, holder of the H.264 patent portfolio uses Flash on their home page.

“In preparation for CES, we optimized our network in Las Vegas…. Our network engineers on site continue to take steps to optimize our network as needed for the large number of mobile broadband customers at CES.”

I can't begin to comment on how stupid I think this is. Optimizing is the wrong action to take.

Fixed-scheduled productivity

Trying to decide if I can or should change my behavior to improve in this area.

I do? Oh, yes. I do.

Thanks for reminding me.

My blog, called Serial, is back and now includes a bunch of links that were originally posted to Facebook.

My old iMac startup time: 129.8 seconds. My new Mac’s startup time: 46.4 seconds. Difference: 83.4 seconds, 155% faster!

• Bertrand Serlet’s accent is too strong for a keynote.
• Bertrand advanced to the slide with Snow Leopard’s price before he said the price out loud. He did that several times. He should have said the price as he put it on screen, not before.
• The guy who did demos for Bertrand had his back to the crowd. Demonstrators never did that before, they were always facing to the side.
• None of the presenters handled applause very well. They either weren’t prepared for it or waited for it and it never came.
• I loved the reaction when Scott said "support for MMS is coming later this summer on AT&T." Everyone understood that AT&T was the bad guy.
• Why did everyone laugh when Scott said Safari?

So, I went to my computer, ready to pop in a Netflix DVD and while away the hours with mindless entertainment, when I discover my disc has a crack. You’d think they could detect that sort of thing before the mail it to me, but alas.

No problem, this give me a chance to check out that (not-so-new-anymore) Instant Queue thing. "Movies start in as little as 30 seconds." Yeah, right.

1. I’m on a Mac, so I had to run Windows via Boot Camp.
2. For some reason, my copy of Windows is suddenly afraid that it’s not Genuine. It wants me to activate. I fear for the worst, because the last time I installed Windows, my Activation Key has to be activated over the phone. By talking to a real person. Who asked me if the software was installed on any other computer, to which I responded "No" and we were merrily on our way. Anyhow, it turns out to be a simple little check up.
3. I usually use Firefox, but once I logged in to Netflix, I was informed that I have to use Internet Explorer for this feature.
4. There is a special plugin that Netflix requires to play video. Okay, fine, download and install it.
5. You have to allow the plugin that you just installed to run in the browser now.
6. My DRM is out of date. I have to download an update.
7. The video player browser plugin now informs me that I actually need Windows Media Player 11 to watch video in my browser. Would have been nice if you’d checked on that back in step 3, so we could have all updated together.
8. Windows Media Player 11 Setup informs me that Windows has successfully been update. But it couldn’t have been that successful, because I now have to restart. Let’s hope I remember to start Windows and not Mac OS.
9. I actually thought we might be ready to go at this point. But no. Another component of Windows Media Player needs to be updated.
10. That didn’t take too long. Now are we ready? Yes, choose something to watch.
11. No, wait, the media file can’t be found. I try another.

Finally. That was only thirty minutes. They got the 30 part right.

I wonder if the folks at Apple monitor the press that they get in the days leading up to a new product announcement to find ways to reduce the information leakage. There are always rumors, but they seem to be increasingly accurate as of late. I can’t imagine that Apple takes kindly to having their grand announcements spoiled, so I wonder if they debrief after an event and make plans to be more secretive next time.