My next disgruntled comment about our government pre-dates Mr Obama but I don't fault Mr Bush either. The Department of Homeland Security, the people charged with protecting us, has lost a few guns. They've ended up in the hands of gangs and criminals. These guns were lost because many were not properly secured, left in unlocked cars, and so-on. How many is a few? 200. As the article says, "It reflects the competence of the officer." Nice work, guys. If an officer loses a gun because of incompetence, fire the officer. Seriously.

Speaking of security, Reuters has an interesting article on Apple's security. Fake Steve Jobs picked up on the article as well and has a snarky title to go with it. Blogger's spell checker dislikes the word 'snarky' for the record. And while we're on the subject of Apple — don't you love how I related the threads together — there's this great piece from Fake Steve Jobs.  The point on his Apple vs Google comparison is also worth considering: We charge $99 per year for a MobileMe subscription. Google gives you the same stuff and all they ask for is, um, permission to totally invade your privacy and to “monetize” your personal information. You think your personal information is worth less than $99 a year? Then you’re getting a hell of a deal with Google. The rest of us would rather spent $99 and keep the contents of our email to ourselves. That is absolutely true, and don't forget it. Google isn't any better or worse than any other company. You get their products for free, but you give something up for them. That's why I don't use Gmail and why I disabled Buzz. It's not why I'm abandoning Blogger, though that is soon to happen if I can get it worked out.

In an unusual move one of the largest Seti@Home crunchers in the world has offered himself up for auction. He's #21 in the world. Steve from our team bid $200 to lure him to our team and I threw in another $50 — donations go to the Seti@Home coffers. The thread is here. I posted that yesterday. Today I got an e-mail from someone saying "Good … he'll be your burden if you win. We don't want him anymore" Interesting. How harmful can having someone on a team where most members don't know each other, where we have no forums, where we don't talk, nor even email regularly. Weird. Sour grapes perhaps? Dunno. Mostly amused, I guess. If I were a dick, I'd send the email to the guy we're bidding on. But I won't.

Next up, a rare work-related post. We don't have a work blog or I'd put this there. We will have a press release at some point but it's not ready. Together with a Taiwanese partner, I've designed a new screw. We took the German version of their screw, added some special features, and made some adjustments for the US market, and did a few other things to ensure the best performing screw money can buy.

It's fully patented and the parts are due in about two weeks. A few of my friends have seen this page. It was available for weeks, but it was private until it was released earlier today. It's now on-line for everyone to view. I can't begin to tell you how awesome this screw is. I've played with the prototypes. We've got about a quarter million or so coming in on the first order and we're very much looking forward to seeing how the market reacts. If any of my friends want a handful to try at home — they're especially great on decks — shoot me an email and I'll bring you some. I'll give blog readers a 15% discount for orders placed prior to their arrival at dock if you mention the blog when ordering. There is a video of the screw as well (scroll to the bottom of the SKT page).

I'll quote from our page: "The features of the patented SKT-II® BiMate screws are many: from the specially designed patented SKT-II® BiMate cutting notch, to the self piercing point, the screw is designed for rapid installation. The special angle, asymetrical High-Low thread grips the wood surface preventing slippage and the low thread is serrated to prevent the wood from cracking. In addition, we've added a type-17 auger point to help in applications that require it. We've incorporated a Quadrex® drive which means you can use a Quadrex® bit, a Phillips bit, or a Square (Robertson®) bit without trouble. And, on top of that, on screws 1-5/8" and longer we've added a type-U knurl above the thread to increase performance. It's self-countersinking with not four, but six (6) self-countersinking nibs. To guarantee no corrosion problems will manifest themselves, this part is made out of 316 (A4) stainless. The screw is then dry-waxed for lubricity. And to be sure you're getting the real patented SKT-II® BiMate screws we've headmarked the part with both the SKT mark and the A4 mark."