Mike's List
Logging In

I GOT HUGE FEEDBACK on my inane piece about "on line" vs. in "in line," mostly from people in the Northeastern United States either advocating their use of standing "on line" or swearing they've never heard that usage. Some passionately defended their unique cultures and dialects, while others said they wish I would move on to more important topics.

I've since learned that use of "on line" in New England is actually quite rare and that blame rests squarely on the shoulders of New Yorkers. However, even that is a radical oversimplification.

One reader sent me an interesting link showing the results of a Harvard dialect survey, in which researchers asked people all over the United States how they say things, including whether they say "on line" or "in line."

As you can see from the map here (red shows "on line" and blue shows "in line"), "on line" is concentrated in the greater New York metropolitan area and Boston (as well as small populations in the midwest and, of course South Florida, which is really just an extension of New York City). Vast expanses of New England and Mid-Atlantic States fall squarely in the "in line" camp.

Another reader raised an equally insignificant question about whether "login" or "logon" is correct. Those are just two of six variations (the others being "log in" (two words), "log on," "sign in" and "sign on," and of course their logging out variants.

Mike's List Labs conducted extensive frequency-of-usage research on the subject (I ran Google searches to find out how many hits each received). Here are my unsupportable results:

login - about 45,700,000
logout - about 2,700,000
logon - about 1,900,000
logoff - about 249,000
log in - about 5,890,000
log out about 1,250,000
log on - about 2,410,000
log off - about 534,000
sign in - about 5,240,000
sign out - about 645,000
sign on - about 1,280,000
sign off - about 397,000

"Login" (one word) and "logout" (again, one word) are the clear winners of this unofficial popularity contest, so that's what I'm going with. If Google says so, it must be true.

On a completely unrelated note, I've re-created my system for processing subscriptions, unsubscriptions and changes of address. Check it out and let me know how it works for you!

Meanwhile, I've made no changes in my easy contribution page, but thought I would shamelessly seize this opportunity to ask you for money! (A small contribution goes a long way toward supporting ad-free content and your favorite fun technology newsletter!)

The Lego People Must Be Stopped!

Lego construction has become so sophisticated that software developers are creating CAD (computer-aided design) programs for building stuff with Legos: MLCad, LeoCAD, LDraw and even Lego CAD from the Lego company itself. The software irresponsibly encourages the Lego enthusiasts by helping them envision, design, build and even create instructions for Lego models. Some of these people have gone to dangerous extremes with the software.

Your Tax Dollars At Work: BattleBots Meets the Baja 500

DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency -- the people who brought you the internet) is inviting inventors to compete in a 250-mile robot race across the mountains and deserts between L.A. and Vegas! The race, called the DARPA Grand Challenge, will take place on March 13 of next year and is designed to accelerate the development of autonomous ground vehicle technology for the military. The route, according to the official web site, will be traversable with a standard four-wheel drive vehicle, but -- here's my favorite part -- "obedience to traffic signs, signals, conventions, and rules is not required." A cash prize of $1 million will be awarded to the winner. I'll cover details about the race as they emerge.

Unanticipated Convergence

They're building flashlights into everything these days. The New Motion Muzic AERA is a flash USB disk, MP3 player, voice recorder and LED flashlight combo gadget. Meanwhile, Nokia's 5100 cell phone sports an integrated hands-free speaker, stereo FM radio, thermometer, timer, calorie counter, stopwatch and -- what else? -- a flashlight. And, finally, rumor has it that an Easter egg in the The T-Mobile Sidekick mobile communicator turns its jog-dial white enough to be used as a flashlight (press menu-F from the jump screen). The Sidekick is currently free at Amazon after rebate and service activation.

Japan's Softbank BB Corp. plans to sell a cordless Internet Protocol (IP) phone called the "BB Phone Station" starting this month. The gadget, which is being built by Sharp, will function as a normal cordless phone, but will also feature a built-in ADSL modem and 802.11b wireless LAN broadband router! Using the wireless router will require a subscription to Japanese Yahoo ISP services. It will be available on the Yahoo! Japan web site for a little less than $400 or can be rented for about $14 per month.

Sony Corp. unveiled a battery powered Linux-based handheld file server that connects PCs, PDAs and laptops via 802.11b. The FSV-PGX1 features a 20G-byte 2.5-inch hard drive that can be shared by up to 250 users simultaneously. When you plug the FSV-PGX1 into an Ethernet network, all connected computers can share that networks server and internet connections. You could use the FSV-PGX1 for collaborative computing with chat and e-mail exchange, say, on an airplane or during a meeting at someone else's company. Like all good things, the FSV-PGX1 will initially be available only in Japan. If they decide to let us foreigners in on the fun, I'll let you know.

I've covered a lot of useless mouse convergence products, including a mouse printer and a mouse phone. Now I've discovered a mouse radio! The $35 MouseCaster from SmarTec gives you a tiny, cheesy FM radio to listen to while you're clicking your way through the internet. Software that comes with the mouse features a control panel that lets you set up to 28 stations and auto-scan for more.

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Found Video

I first reported the existence of illegal "cell phone guns" more than two years ago, with a follow-up on September 6. French police recently uncovered two more of the guns during drug busts in Elbeuf, Seine-Maritime, according to the Agence-France Presse. Here's a video of one in action.   

Mike's List on the Radio

Craig Crossman's Computer America features Mike Elgan every Thursday night. The show is now TWICE as NICE! Craig's new format is two hours each night instead of one, running from 7pm to 9pm SVT (Silicon Valley Time). Listen to Computer America on your local Business TalkRadio station or over the Internet every weeknight. Don't miss Computer America!

The Art Gallery

Parking Spots is a user-contributed "art gallery" of toy cars held up close to the camera, so they look almost like real cars parked on the street.  

Wacky Web Site

Type a letter -- any letter -- and watch this strange site form the letter in slow-motion. You can also grab the letter with your mouse pointer and rotate it, even while it's in motion.   

Twisted Games

Wrath

Snow Bowling

Extreme Pinball

Crash

LEtters

Gotta-Get-It Gadgets

The Yamaha CRW-F1 CD-R/RW burner burns not only data but CD labels using Yamaha's DiscT@2 Laser Labeling System. Text and graphic can be "tattooed" on the media's unused data surface after the data or music has been written. Why do you "gotta get it?" Because Yamaha announced last week that it's getting out of the CD-R/RW business! This is your last chance!

Here's the ultimate handheld for rugged, outdoor type people, clumsy goofballs who are always dropping their gadgets or anyone else who wants an indestructible PDA. The waterproof Recon from Tripod Data Systems is a 200 megahertz or 400 megahertz Windows CE .NET handheld with up to 128 megabytes of RAM. It sports a USB port, two CompactFlash slots, weighs 17 ounces, and "exceeds military specifications for drop, vibration and both high- and low-temperature operation," according to the web site.

Don't Try This At Home

If you're looking for a dorky way to celebrate Abraham Lincoln's birthday, why not build a PC out of Lincoln Logs? Here's how.

Last Week's Mystery Pic

No, it's not "an electron microscope photo of an inverted nipple," "human skin grown in a lab" or even "Harry Potter's cloak of invisibility" as suggested by some readers. It is in fact a high-resolution digital scan of the eye of Michelangelo's David. The statue was scanned as part of the Digital Michelangelo Project. A team of 30 faculty, staff, and students from Stanford University here in Silicon Valley and the University of Washington spent an entire academic year in Italy scanning Michelangelo's sculptures and architecture for posterity. Congratulations to ME for coming up with a Mystery Pic so hard that nobody could guess it!

Mystery Pic o' the Week

What is it? Send YOUR guess to [email protected] (be sure to say where you live). If you're first with the right answer, I'll print your name in the next issue of Mike's List!

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