Jean-Paul (Tokyo): I think that's all.
Cyrille (Hong-Kong): No, that's not all.

Jean-Paul (Tokyo): Je pense que c'est tout...
Cyrille (Hong-Kong): Non, ce n'est pas tout.

Three hours ago, at 18:24, an earthquake measured six (on seven) on a Japanese scale, (and seven on the Richter scale) did hit Miyagi prefecture (near Sendai city). There were no victims apparently.

Tokyo, nearly 400 kilometers south, was hit too (I was in the office, on 15th floor, when it happened). It was not very strong, but quite long :-(

The full earthquake data is here, but I don't know how long this link will be valid...

François (Hong-Kong): Putain, ca va trop vite, c'est pas normal...
François (Hong-Kong): Shit, it is going too fast, there must be something wrong...

I am sailing, I am sailing,
home again 'cross the sea.
I am sailing, stormy waters,
to be near you, to be free.
-- Rod Stewart

I am going to sail again in two weeks! This will be in Phuket again, for the third time in less than one year time, but isn't it a nice place?
This time, I will probably sail on Fi-Tuen. It looks a nice boat!

Nothing is really 100% decided yet, but it is very likely this will happen, as I need to take a lot of holidays these coming months...

Mozilla Firebird 0.6 has been released a few days ago. Firebird is the new name for the phoenix project, but, as next versions of Mozilla will be based on this branch, it is likely that Firebird will soon be renamed again (probably -and simply!- Mozilla Browser).

Firebird is certainly the best browser available today!

The standalone equivalent mail application, thunderbird, can also be downloaded, but I will wait a little before using it (I need at least GnuPG support, which is not yet included). Thunderbird will be the official mail application for Mozilla too, and will probably be renamed too (Mozilla Mail?)

Bruno (Tokyo): Il faudrait quelque-chose de plus compliqué... qu'un truc simple.
Bruno (Tokyo): We should do something more complex... than something simple.

XXX (Paris): On va faire un test en prod aujourd'hui.
XXX (Paris): We will make a test in production today.

We have got one more week before the end of the world, according to the japanese men in white group . They previously announced that May 15th should be the end for all of us, but eventually decided that the apocalypse was postponed one week (next Thursday). Cool, isn't it?

What will you do during your last days?

Two months after suing IBM for $1,000,000 (saying that IBM included Unix technology into Linux source code) SCO sent a warning letter to the top 1,500 companies. More links are available here.

This letter explains that there is a risk in using Linux, because of Intellectual Property issues.

Some private comments:

They did not show any portion of the source code (when know, if any, it will be so easy to remove!).

SCO was anyway going to die, and their IBM suit did not have the expected results (many claim that they wanted IBM to buy them). Today, it is obviously too late! By the way, in the worst case, IBM could always buy SCO, and dismantle it!

SCO web site is itself running Linux. Did they receive the letter too? Will they sue themself?

This article , and this one (and so many others, hehehe!), explain how Microsoft could:

First, two weeks ago, announce that they will build Windows-powered public toilets, with broadband internet access, good audio system, etc...

Then, this monday (two days ago) announce that it was a hoax. A Fools Day Joke made one month too late (but calendars were never their strong point, anyway).

Eventually, yesterday, change their mind again, and decide that it was a real project that was killed by the management...

Whaooo... I already knew the W$ toilet paper, but this real story is even better. Where do you want to go today?

I was hosting, at home, a few web sites, for friends, colleagues, and family. At least until last month.
I asked them all to find another provider because of my coming departure from Japan in a few months...
Only one is still hosted today (Jeff, do it NOW!). When that one will be removed, I will feel comfortable when the time will come to shut down the server...

I hope the service was not too bad during these years ;-)

Bruno (Tokyo): Sylvain, tu es viré.
Bruno (Tokyo): Sylvain, you are fired.

Nicolas (Sydney): Il faut éviter les blagues grasses.
Nicolas (Sydney): We must avoid bad jokes.