Top Searches in Germany, Tuesday at 3am.

Scary.

Two cool (and underreported) things about Snow Leopard.

I recently upgraded my various Macs to Snow Leopard, Apple's streamlined new operating system. So far two things have caught my eye, both of them very nice surprises.

1. System Perl is now version 5.10.
2. The Activity Monitor now shows Safari Plug-Ins such as the disastrous resource-hog Adobe Flash as separate processes.

So now when your fans start going nuts over a YouTube video, you can see exactly who's to blame. As usual, Adobe is to blame. I have yet to try killing the Flash process to see if it can be done without affecting the rest of Safari, but I'm hopeful it might. As for the Perl, here are the geeky details:

kfrost@mbp ~/bloc $ perl -V
Summary of my perl5 (revision 5 version 10 subversion 0) configuration:
 Platform:
   osname=darwin, osvers=10.0, archname=darwin-thread-multi-2level
   uname='darwin neige.apple.com 10.0 darwin kernel version 10.0.0d8: tue may 5 19:29:59 pdt 2009; root:xnu-1437.2~2release_i386 i386 '
   config_args='-ds -e -Dprefix=/usr -Dccflags=-g  -pipe  -Dldflags= -Dman3ext=3pm -Duseithreads -Duseshrplib -Dinc_version_list=none -Dcc=gcc-4.2'
   hint=recommended, useposix=true, d_sigaction=define
   useithreads=define, usemultiplicity=define
   useperlio=define, d_sfio=undef, uselargefiles=define, usesocks=undef
   use64bitint=define, use64bitall=define, uselongdouble=undef
   usemymalloc=n, bincompat5005=undef
 Compiler:
   cc='gcc-4.2', ccflags ='-arch x86_64 -arch i386 -arch ppc -g -pipe -fno-common -DPERL_DARWIN -fno-strict-aliasing -I/usr/local/include',
   optimize='-Os',
   cppflags='-g -pipe -fno-common -DPERL_DARWIN -fno-strict-aliasing -I/usr/local/include'
   ccversion='', gccversion='4.2.1 (Apple Inc. build 5646)', gccosandvers=''
   intsize=4, longsize=8, ptrsize=8, doublesize=8, byteorder=12345678
   d_longlong=define, longlongsize=8, d_longdbl=define, longdblsize=16
   ivtype='long', ivsize=8, nvtype='double', nvsize=8, Off_t='off_t', lseeksize=8
   alignbytes=8, prototype=define
 Linker and Libraries:
   ld='gcc-4.2 -mmacosx-version-min=10.6', ldflags ='-arch x86_64 -arch i386 -arch ppc -L/usr/local/lib'
   libpth=/usr/local/lib /usr/lib
   libs=-ldbm -ldl -lm -lutil -lc
   perllibs=-ldl -lm -lutil -lc
   libc=/usr/lib/libc.dylib, so=dylib, useshrplib=true, libperl=libperl.dylib
   gnulibc_version=''
 Dynamic Linking:
   dlsrc=dl_dlopen.xs, dlext=bundle, d_dlsymun=undef, ccdlflags=' '
   cccdlflags=' ', lddlflags='-arch x86_64 -arch i386 -arch ppc -bundle -undefined dynamic_lookup -L/usr/local/lib'


Characteristics of this binary (from libperl):
 Compile-time options: MULTIPLICITY PERL_DONT_CREATE_GVSV
                       PERL_IMPLICIT_CONTEXT PERL_MALLOC_WRAP USE_64_BIT_ALL
                       USE_64_BIT_INT USE_ITHREADS USE_LARGE_FILES
                       USE_PERLIO USE_REENTRANT_API
 Locally applied patches:
       /Library/Perl/Updates/ comes before system perl directories
       installprivlib and installarchlib points to the Updates directory
 Built under darwin
 Compiled at Jun 24 2009 00:35:27
 %ENV:
   PERL5LIB=""
 @INC:
   /Library/Perl/Updates/5.10.0/darwin-thread-multi-2level
   /Library/Perl/Updates/5.10.0
   /System/Library/Perl/5.10.0/darwin-thread-multi-2level
   /System/Library/Perl/5.10.0
   /Library/Perl/5.10.0/darwin-thread-multi-2level
   /Library/Perl/5.10.0
   /Network/Library/Perl/5.10.0/darwin-thread-multi-2level
   /Network/Library/Perl/5.10.0
   /Network/Library/Perl
   /System/Library/Perl/Extras/5.10.0/darwin-thread-multi-2level
   /System/Library/Perl/Extras/5.10.0
   .

Cha-Ya: Ja ja, naja, chacha-yaya.

If you're not a vegan yourself, it's easy to forget that vegans must consume their body weight in vegetable matter every four hours just to survive.

Fortunately, places like Cha-Ya are here to remind you.

Cha-Ya is a little Japanese veggie joint near my home in the Mission District. I've walked by a million times, and today I finally overcame my annoyance at their inappropriately prominent indoor cash machine and stopped in for lunch.

The first bit of good news is that there was no discernible hippie infestation. Granted, I was probably the only one there not the proud owner of a yoga mat, but my immediate neighbors were a charming and very urban lesbian couple, and a lawyer having lunch with a soldier.

The next bit of good news is that the food is actually quite yummy, if perhaps a bit more attached to the deep-fryer than I'd like. And the portions are almost intimidatingly large, until you remember it's all just flowers and leaves.

I had the lunch combo with an excellent pot of green tea (bagged, for you snobs) for $15 with tip. For that I had a very nice miso soup, a very filling and well-presented plate of deep-fried tempura veggie sticks, a large spring roll with mushrooms and more, also deep-fried, and a bowl of rice.

About half way through I thought it would defeat me, but then I remembered there are twice the nutrients in the severed head of a single sea kitten, and found the strength to continue. I didn't finish the rice, which was just plain white rice, but I polished off the rest and went waddling up the street to buy wine.

The tempura was very light. The veg sticks included carrots, yams, asparagus, something potato-like that probably wasn't, and mushrooms that might have been tofu. It came with a tasty "Tempura sauce" which was not in itself battered nor fried. It was very hot at first, and by the end was perhaps a bit too cooled, so I think there's an art to scarfing it all at the right moment.

The warm spring roll was very veggie, with tofu and mushrooms and green beans and more, served with a sweetish dipping sauce. This one actually got better as I ate more of it.

I didn't take a camera, as I'm still working up the courage to pose as a famous restaurant critic and intimidate the owners into giving me free booze. Maybe next time; for now, no pics. Unfortunately it's not that easy to find any online, as vegans generally don't use technology, are invisible, and are said to lack the opposable thumbs necessary for camera operation; in addition, Cha-Ya apparently just means "tree-spinach."

I'd recommend Cha-Ya to anyone compelled to veganism by the usual weaknesses of digestion or logic, but I'd also recommend it to ordinary foodies. I thought my selection was, as mentioned, a little on the fried side, and it could have been happier après dégustation, but I look forward to going back for some soba with mushrooms and tofu.

NOTE: Cha-Ya the Japanese Mission Vegan Joint is not to be confused with Chaya Brasserie. The former is a sedate little veg diner with no web site; the latter is an upscale Japanese Fusion chain in LA and SF with a really annoying Flash website. I go by that one pretty often too, and may yet drop in.

Do you like catfish?

If you think catfish are cuddly little things, some freakish combination of cat and fish -- and who wouldn't think that? -- then think again!

Feast your eyes on this monster of a catfish caught in Lake Bileca (Bilecko Jezero) in Republika Srpska aka the Serb Republic aka Serbian Herzegovina.

All's I can say is: yummy! And I wish I'd been there. And next time I go to Bileca I'm bringing a fancy camera just in case we catch a ten zillion pound fish. Or cat.

Here's the giant catfish link: http://biztos.com/bileca/catfish/

Sync early, sync often.

Update: the phone wasn't stolen after all, I somehow lost it and it somehow didn't ring when called. But this post has some interesting ideas anyway.

It's entirely my own fault. I had my iPhone in an outside jacket pocket, without being aware of this fact, in a bar, at night, in a not-so-great neighborhood, in big city in a recession, while speaking a foreign language.

So I deserve no sympathy. iPhones are stolen from better people every day.

However, it does get me thinking about a few things.

Always remember you have no automatic sync.

Of course you know that you have to connect your iPhone to your computer in order to synchronize your contacts and such. And of course it's annoying, so of course you put it out of your mind.

I just lost a week's worth of vacation pictures, and one very important phone number. I can recover about three of the pictures, which I had e-mailed to people, and I'm pretty sure I can get the phone number through a mutual friend.

But if I'd just bothered to sync once a day I would be in much better shape. And I did charge the phone, so I have no excuse: I was simply too lazy to bother with a daily sync.

Identity theft: what to do about the risk?

I was using a PIN code to prevent easy access to my iPhone. I was able to deactivate the number and reset my e-mail password without incident.

But there's still a large amount of personal data on that phone, most of it unencrypted. E-mail, address book, photos, bookmarks...

I think it's reasonably safe to assume the thieves will reset it, hardware unlock it, and sell it for about $500 on the local grey market. There's plenty of demand, and identity theft is hard work.

On the other hand there's no way to be sure somebody won't do the work and have acces to that frighteningly detailed archive of your life.

In principle this is no different than having your notebook stolen. And that's a good reminder: always encrypt your home directory and always back up your important data. (Note to self: use FileVault on the private Mac just like I do on the work Mac, as soon as I get home.)

But the iPhone doesn't have FileFault, at least not that I'm aware of. I never gave it much thought, but now it strikes me as a really bad idea to not encrypt application data in (at least) Mail and Notes.

The lack of unlocked iPhones makes theft worse, not better.

Finally, I'm convinced that theft would be a much smaller problem if provider-neutral (SIM-unlocked) iPhones were readily available.

I am quite sure that most of the gray market in iPhones is for people who want to use them with other carriers. This is particularly true in Europe, where the entire network is GSM and 3G coverage is excellent, but Apple only partners with (usually) a single carrier in each country.

It would also make life a lot easier for the theft victim. I'm still traveling for two weeks, and now I have to travel iPhonelessly.

If I could easily buy an unlocked iPhone, I could use it for the rest of my trip and then get my SIM card replaced as soon as I return to the US. It would vastly reduce the inconvenience to me, the customer, and it would make money for Apple.

But of course it would make less money for AT&T.

*Sigh* - off to ebay to look for my stolen phone.

Apple is behind the social networking curve.

I know Apple isn't a "social network" and I know it's not a "Web 2.0" company (the ongoing slow-motion train wreck that is MobileMe notwithstanding).

I don't care. Apple is still my favorite technology company.

But I just had an experience that illustrated just how far behind the Web curve Steve, Tim &co are.

I was using NetNewsWire to read the latest computerite news on my iPhone. This is, I'm informed, a fairly standard way of staying informed.

I came across a post on Daring Fireball that really wanted to be opened in Safari. And so I did. And indeed, it was awesome. And I wanted to post it to Facebook, and --

This is not possible.

Fine. I went to the laptop and made it happen. Voila, just like in 1998, use the computer for the computer things and don't forget who's who.

How sad. How absurd. How simple to add a "Share Link" option after "Mail Link to this Page." Let the user configure it to use Facebook or MySpace or both or something else, as long as the (public) API is respected.

Cost to Apple: $0.00 (I guarantee Facebook would send them a dozen engineers to do the work).

I would say it's not Apple's problem, but there is a precedent: Google Maps links open in Google Maps, and YouTube links open in YouTube, and of course I would never imply anything like a conflict of interest with Apple's valued board member and competitor-on-many-fronts Mr. Schmidt.

I hope to see this soon. And if Apple really doesn't want to keep Safari up to date in these things, fine: as long as they give us the option of choosing our default browser in the iPhone Preferences.

Easy to Book.

I just booked a hotel, which is something I don't do terribly often.

And while researching hotels on the wonderfully informative, horrendously designed TripAdvisor I found someone mentioning easytobook.com.

Off I went, and I was very pleasantly surprised. I ended up booking through them. It was easy.

http://www.easytobook.com/

And I got a very good deal. I recommend it.