July 29, 2002

Oh, the horror

Britney, Say it ain't so!!

I hope Oliver isn't mad at you.

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July 28, 2002

Union Square and the Statues

Union Square has reopened from repairs and a face-lift. i wonder if I ever go back to SF, if I will be harrased on the Square as much now as I was when I worked in SF. I also wonder if there will be different street performers. When I was there, the meme was statues - people would don full body paint and strike a pose and act like a statue until someone would "donate" some money. Then they would come alive and everyone would laugh. When I was in Europe a few months before moving to San Francisco, there were a few statues in each city, and many were very good.

Yeah, we would laugh for the first few performers, and then as the "statues" multiplied like jackrabbits, I dreaded walking on Geary past Union Square on my way home. Much like the proliferation of porn sites on the internet, the first few "statues" were fresh and interesting, and generally made money hand over fist. When copy-cats joined the pack, the level of skill, performance, body paint, and overall appeal diminished quickly. It wasn't pretty. So, I hope that Ole Willie Brown can eradicate the homeless like he said he would, and let good old white americans shop for over priced shoes [Niketown] and clothes [take your pick Nieman Marcus] in peace, while tourists can walk unmolested in shorts and T-Shirts.

Man, am I jaded.

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July 27, 2002

More of the meme

Is my Blog HOT or NOT?

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July 26, 2002

Code for, not everything is your business

I just want to reiterate this to people:

I have called everyone I want to call at this time.

I am happy.

In a different time and a different context, the end result could be different.

I have made my bed, and I am now sleeping in it.

Chill.

This cryptic message brought to you by JRP.

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July 24, 2002

Blogsearching

Hmm, BlogChalking is an interesting way to exploit google. I don't know what effect this will have, at all. Interesting, though. I wish there was a "google" type engine out their just for blogs. Hmmm...maybe I will write one...maybe not.

blogchalk: randy/Male/21-25. Lives in United States/Cincinnati/Clifton and speaks English. Spends 20% of daytime online. Uses a Fast (128k-512k) connection. Google! DayPop! This is my blogchalk: English, United States, Cincinnati, Clifton, randy, Male, 21-25!

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July 23, 2002

Hollywood to Hack your Computer

Hollywood can hack your PC accroding to a draft bill sponsored by Reps. Howard Berman, D-Calif., and Howard Coble, R-N.C. basically the RIAA and the MPAA want the ability to hack into your computer based on the "suspicion" of copyrighted materials exist on a computer. And guess what, if you try to instal a firewall or a script to stop this illegal intrusion on your computer, you would be breaking the DMCA and would be considered a hacker terrorist and recieve a life sentence. All for possibly downloading the crap that is on the radio these days. Thats right - you didn't even kill anyone and you are now in prison, and are being sold for a carton of cigarettes? Who says corporations have too much power?
Anyone whose computer was damaged in the process must receive the permission of the U.S. attorney general before filing a lawsuit, and a suit could be filed only if the actual monetary loss was more than $250.

According to the draft, the attorney general must be given complete details about the "specific technologies the copyright holder intends to use to impair" the normal operation of the peer-to-peer network. Those details would remain secret and would not be divulged to the public.
As usual, bring out the Heinlein quote:

"There has grown in the minds of certain groups in this country the idea that just because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary to public interest. This strange doctrine is supported by neither statue or common law. Neither corporations or individuals have the right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back."

-Robert Heinlein, Life Line, 1939

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Signs of the Apocalypse

Aother sign that the Apocalypse is apon us. Patrick J. Buchanan our favorite racist conservative, is sounding better every day. See, if you get Pat to talk about the constitution or law, he is a stand up guy [well, for Pat]. Don't get him talking about immigration, journalists, or atheists, and everything will be peachy.
First among them is why. Why, when Iraq was not involved in 9-11 and has never attacked us nor used biological or gas weapons on U.S. troops, are we launching this war on Iraq? Has deterrence failed us? How so? And who is the aggressor here?

Second, how many U.S. dead and wounded may we expect, and how many U.S. troops will be needed to occupy Iraq? Will we be welcomed as liberators, only to be reviled as occupiers? Will Iraq become America's West Bank? Will we need to re- institute the draft for soldiers to occupy Iraq, while sustaining all the other global commitments we have undertaken since the end of the Cold War?
Wow! Why is this not coming from the Left at all? Does it take questioning from the inside for debate to start? The neutered left cannot possibly have said this a few months ago, let alone before the corporate scandals erupted throwing the cloak of superiority off BushCo. Thank God someone that can capture the media's attention is questioning starting wars with a nation that has a terrible past, but is not even on our threat radar. With tearms such as "evil", "axis of evil" and "good - evil" you would think we would have learned from our mistakes in the past. Again, I will say that we are slipping back into the 80's. Popular culture is full of "fluff" music, the backward slide of rights, and corporate scandals> Shall I grow out m y hair now, or next month?

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July 22, 2002

Idiot legislation removed

National ID card and Operation TIPS removed from pending legislation from, guess who, House Majority Leader Dick Armey.
The TIPS program would have allowed volunteers, including letter carriers and utility workers whose routines make them well-positioned to recognize suspect activities, to report suspect behavior to the Justice Department. It was scheduled to begin next month in 10 cities, with 1 million informants initially participating in the program.

"Mr. Armey believes there are other and better ways to involve citizens in the protection of the homeland," said Richard Diamond, the congressman's press secretary. "There are traditional ways of pitching in, helping out, like becoming a volunteer firefighter."

The 216-page bill, sponsored by Mr. Armey, Texas Republican, also bars the creation of national identification cards, despite President Bush's support for them. "Authority to design and issue these cards shall remain with the states," Mr. Armey said.

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July 21, 2002

The Opera and a Close Friend

Last night I went to the Cincinnati Opera's presentation of Elektra, based on the tragedy by Sophocles. I went with a few close friends who needed to go for their Introduction to Opera class. We had to take two cars down, because no one knew how many student tickets were on sale, and if there was a limited supply those who were in the class had first crack at them.

Here is a short synopsis of the opera:

Richard Strauss's Elektra traces the emotional struggles of its title character, a young woman whose father has been killed by her mother and her mother's paramour. Elektra obsessively plots to avenge her father's death, but upon its achievement is herself destroyed.

This was my first opera, even though I have been to many different plays, musicals and the like. My first reaction to the production was that the actors and actresses did not have the vocal depth and volume to overcome the wonderful orchestra conducted by Sebastian Weigle. Elektra, the daughter of Agamemnon was played by Deborah Polaski who I believe is a CCM graduate - who is making her hometown debut in this production, was stiff in her blocking and movement. Her overall vocals were average - her performance overall seemed forced and over-dramatic. Chrysothemis [Elektra's sister] played by Inga Nielsen performance was moderately improved than her fellow lead actress, but extraneous blocking and an unfortunate case of non-harmonizing with Elektra made a less than stellar performance.

Overall the opera was produced fairly well. The set contained a central tower, which the actors entered in and out of via a drawbridge. Downstage of this was two sets of angular fissured, "rocks" that was converted at various scenes for different themes. At the end of the opera, Aegisth [played by Kenneth Garrison] is led through the "forest" by Elektra the angled spires symbolized the decent into madness. At the beginning of the opera, the rocks are together - a jagged landscape for murders. As the opera progresses a fissure opens up for Elektra's decent into despair.

In many productions the details are the important issue that get wither overlooked or forgotten. Case in point was the drawbridge on the tower. When the bridge came down gracefully, a handrail would shoot out and destroy the fantasy any suspension of disbelief. Another point of contention was the overall blocking of the production. Many of the secondary characters would appear in the background [upstage] and move slightly or interact with other character. This blocking, albeit small and upstage, distracted from the foreground action and was annoying enough that I started not to watch the upstage action in fear of just seeing useless blocking.

Overall I thought it was a good performance for Cincinnati. The real depressing part involved the patrons who came to last night's performance. Don't people know what evening-wear is? It means no short sleeves, no sweaters, and by god, no cargo pants.

Let me say this right now, and for the men only - because the women got it last night and they usually have better fashion sense then men anyway: Eveningwear to the opera, theatre or arts even requires the correct attire. On opening nights the men must wear tuxedoes and all other times a shirt, tie and nice slacks must be worn. If it is too warm for a sport coat or similar, you can leave that at home. Yeesh, the fashion police were out in force last night.

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Christmas in July

Musical hero Wesley Willis wants us all to have a Merry Christmas.

Shamelessly ripped off from memepool.

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The Muppets and Weezer

Do your like Pepe, the King Prawn? Or even Kermit the Frog? Is nostalgia tugging at your sleeves when you watch the Muppet Show on PBS during the day? If so, you should see the new Weezer music video featuring The Muppets and Weezer performing.

The best part is Gonzo, Pepe [the King Prawn] and Kermit in Weezer shirts.

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Apple Switch Campaign Parodies

Did you like the Ellen Feiss Apple Switch Ad? Well, the parodies are already coming out, so to say. Ben Brown shows us how much better his new Mac's ports are, than his PC's.

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July 20, 2002

MeFi and TrackBack

So MeFi has added the TrackBack feature to it's codebase to add functionality with MovableType blogs. I think this addition will bring the much needed critical mass to the TrackBack system. My one big problem with TrackBack, is that not many poeple with MT use it, and other blogs do not have TrackBack compatibility. Maybe with enough mass otehr Blog tools will reverse engineer the TrackBack like Matt did, and we can spread the system.

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Watch what you say

I'm not a fan of Shrub [everyone knows that] but this proposistion sickens me. Why on earth is this a good idea? I really hope that this is a joke. The idea would be to elect Gore to the House of Representatives and at the same time elect enough Democrats to the House to give them a majority. Then the Dems would vote Gore as Speaker of the House. The kicker then would be to assasinate Bush and Cheney so that the succession called for in Amendment XXV in the US Constitution would be invoked. How asinine. Talk like this gives too much fuel to the Right's assertion that us Lefties are just a bunch of wacko's that just want to tear the republic apart. Why not work to get Gore elected in the first place! That this shows up in MeFi is obnoxious.
As evanizer wrote:

 So we're posting anonymous messages from other sites advocating the assasination of the president to the front page now?

Anyone have any haiku before the axe falls? I'd write one, but I'm still reeling from both the desperation and stupidity of this post...

Nothing to see here, etc.
EDIT

I am surprised how many people are searching google and finding this page. Let me make this clear, the power of our country is that we don't just go off assassinating people we do not like or do not agree with. Assassination is wrong. Anyone who advocates it will probably be meeting some members of the FBI and quite possible the Secret Service. Great Job!

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July 18, 2002

Big Brother will help secure your computer

It seems that those who, on one hand want to mess with our rights, on the other hand want to protect our computers from hacking by writing and giving it's citizens software to make Windows secure. One question [of many] that comes to mind is, "Isn't that what Microsoft is supposed to do?". I mean come on! Why not just give Microsoft millions of taxpayer dollars upfront, instead of more business and more money from the side effect of this "solution". In the mean time, if you want something secure [and really only those who have "state" or "business" secrets need it] use Linux or you might find BackDoor.exe and KeyLogger.exe in your windows file soon.

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July 17, 2002

When they took normal citizens away, I said nothing...

M.W. Guzy speaks plainly about the current situation and our civil rights.
The other two nominal Americans nabbed thus far in the present conflict, John Walker Lindh and Yaser Esam Hambi, arguably forfeited their claim to citizenship by fighting on behalf of a foreign power. Each was captured by military forces in a combat zone.

Padilla, on the other hand, was born in Brooklyn, raised in Chicago and arrested by civilian authorities at O'Hare Airport. As we're all equal before the law, his legal status is the same as any other citizen's. If he can be forever detained by executive order without so much as a hearing before an independent magistrate, so can anybody else. When your liberty is insured solely by the goodwill and competence of those in charge, you live in a police state...

Meanwhile, conservative critics ask why I would go to bat for this guy and question where my loyalties lie. The answer to the latter inquiry is that they lie with the American Republic and its rule of law. Which is why Padilla matters.

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Word

Are you Uptalking?
Do you use HRT? More and more people do these days. All over the world, in fact - in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand - and it's on the increase over here, too. Naturally, it's mainly young people that use HRT: teenagers, of course, but more and more pre-teens are doing it as well. There are even some adults who have either grown up using it or who are getting HRT off their kids.

Excuse me? HRT stands for high-rise terminals. What did you think I meant? It's the technical term for "uptalk" - the way kids speak so that every sentence ends with an interrogative tone so that it sounds like a question even when it's a statement? Like that, in fact.
Like, dude...whatever.

I'm outie.

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Be Careful Of the Blue Screen of Death for your...Car?


from the irony is NOT dead, and always better in real life dep't.
 Volvo's Safety Car is run by Windows 98. Let me say that again, Volvo's Safety Car is run by WINDOWS98. For anyone who did not have the pleasure of running Win98, let's just say that I hope the Volvo does not need to be running for more than 2 hours at a time, or new parts installed, or the owner of the car needing a reliable car
But for all that, the car has five separate computer systems (running Windows 98, by the way), and a trunk so full of electronics you can forget about the golf clubs.
Great, five ways for this car to Blue Screen.

Insert pithy comment about Blue Screen of Death, or Safe Mode, or even Plug and Play, here:

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Beer & Space - my newest thesis idea

Beer and America recalls the link between Americans and thier beer. This is a great story, because the founding on the Revolution was based in the local Tavern. In fact, one of the first communal building in a new town was not the church, but rather the tavern. The tavern acted as the city hall, boarding house, information space, and demonstration space. It was shared space that was held communaly between all of the townspeople. Shame that today's taverns are so heavily regulated and taxed that the local tavern is still looked down on by many as just a place for people to get pissed and hook-up. Thank you prohibition and Christianity [City on a Hill, anyone and Blue Laws] for limiting my drinking time.
From the site

Beer had been part of America from its first settlement by Europeans. Or, more precisely, the lack of it had. The Mayflower, which was headed south, had to make an unplanned stop near wintry Plymouth because, as William Bradford noted in his journal, "We could not now take time for further search or consideration, our victuals being much spent, especially our Beere." (Their hogsheads of ale, a crucial provision on long voyages since water would not keep, had been maintained by the ship's cooper, John Alden, who decided to stay on in the New World.) Forced to drink fresh water, always a cause for nervousness in those days, one colonist, with either pride or surprise, found that "those that drink it be as healthful, fresh, and lusty as they that drink beer." Farther south in Virginia there was more bitterness about being stranded without good English ale: "There remained neither taverne, [nor] beer house," wrote a new immigrant. "Had we beene as free from all sinnes as gluttony, and drunkennesse, we might have been canonized for Saints."

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Stoned and using an Apple

Is Ellen Feiss Stoned [.mov or quicktime] in the Apple Ad, or is she just a hot student stereotype that Apple tried to co-opt? Either way, the ad was pulled today.

You be the Judge!

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July 16, 2002

100 Years and Cooler

Willis H. Carrier, 100 years ago (1902) today, he invented modern air conditioning. Thank god. Read the complete news release [pdf].
Interesting quotes:

 When Willis Carrier designed his first air conditioning system in 1902, his customer was a frustrated Brooklyn, N.Y. printer who couldn't print a decent color image because changes in heat and humidity kept changing the paper's dimensions and misaligning the colored inks.

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Bastille Day and memories

Two years ago and a day I was in a crowded street celebrating Bastille Day in San Francisco on Claude Lane. A thousand of my newest friends and I were there, and I met many new people.

Now I am in Cincinnati, working away. One year until graduation. 365 Days too long away.

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Trebuchet and PBS

NOVA showcased a great show tonight dealing with the trebuchet - a giant medieval siege engine built by Wayne Neel, a professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Military Institute and Frenchman Renaud Beffeyte and an international team of carpenters, masons, and black smiths. They built two different trebuchets - one on wheels and a fixed lead counter-weight and the other with a hinged bucket that is filled with rubble - and took turns launching them. This is what makes PBS great - they present history coming alive with a bit of Battlebots and Junk Yard Wars mixed in.

While we are on the topic of trebuchet, you can even send away for a kit to build your own trebuchet! Who needs water balloon launchers, when you can you can have your own Warwolf - the early 14th century machine that King Edward [yes the same one] attacked with at Stirling Castle in 1304. I'm sure we could find a nice spot for that on top of the Alms Building to ravenge all of the fraternities and sororities, unlike last years seniors who could only hit the ones across the street.

Update - 02 June 2005
Check out Trebuchet.com for all of your DIY Trebuchet info like plans, T Shirts, and the knowledgeable Message Boards.

Update 15 July 2005
Check out this Desktop Trebuchet Experiment and Karen's Trebuchet for ideas for making your own Trebuchet.

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Kevin Smith blogs

Jersey Girl Diary by Kevin Smith is another great forum for Smith to pontificate. Quotes follow:

But I'm not gonna lie: the biggest advantage to shooting in Philly is the Cheese Steaks. The whole fucking flick can go straight-to-video for all I care, so long as I get to chow down on Cheese Steaks for the next few months.

His name is Zsigmond. Vilmos Zsigmond.

So one of the world's greatest D.P.'s is shooting one of the world's least-visually-inclined director's new flick.

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July 15, 2002

Pleasantville

I love the scene in Pleasantville where the teenagers go into the library black and white and exit in color. Information set you free, if you want it.

Unfortunatley, many in the world have stopped learning, stopped caring, and have closed thier mind to other ideas. Their lives may be simpler, as it is in the film, but they are missing out on life and living, while mearly existing.

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TIPS and the Secret Police

title="The The Sydney Morning Herald :: US planning to recruit one in 24 Americans as citizen spies">The The Sydney Morning Herald reports on Operation TIPS [Terrorism Information and Prevention System] which purports to sign up 1 million ordinary citizens to spy on their fellow citizens. Luckily for us the world media isn't as complacent and under the government heels as American media is, or we wouldn't have these quotes:

As with the Patriot Act, TIPS is being pursued as part of the so-called war against terrorism. It is a Department of Justice project.

Highlighting the scope of the surveillance network, TIPS volunteers are being recruited primarily from among those whose work provides access to homes, businesses or transport systems. Letter carriers, utility employees, truck drivers and train conductors are among those named as targeted recruits.

A pilot program, described on the government Web site www.citizencorps.gov, is scheduled to start next month in 10 cities, with 1 million informants participating in the first stage. Assuming the program is initiated in the 10 largest US cities, that will be 1 million informants for a total population of almost 24 million, or one in 24 people.

From the Washington Post story:

Operation TIPS will, in the pilot stage, involve a million workers, who, "in the daily course of their work, are in a unique position to serve as extra eyes and ears for law enforcement." It will offer them "training . . . in how to look out for suspicious and potentially terrorist-related activity." It will also provide "a formal way to report" that activity "through a single and coordinated toll-free number." This description, which is essentially all we know about the program, poses more questions than it answers.

But having the government recruit informants among letter carriers and utility workers -- people who enter the homes of Americans for reasons unrelated to law enforcement -- is an entirely different matter. Americans should not be subjecting themselves to law enforcement scrutiny merely by having cable lines installed, mail delivered or meters read. Police cannot routinely enter people's houses without either permission or a warrant. They should not be using utility workers to conduct surveillance they could not lawfully conduct themselves.

Since when did we all end up in an Orwell novel? So I would have to register for this program, which is not like a neighborhood watch program, so that I can be investigated. Then, like an old lady on a porch, I go about my business and report anything "suspicious". Nice. Well, right now there is a guy who plays electric bass without his shirt on - everyday. That is pretty damn suspicious, maybe he is part of the militant wing of some sort of terrorist organization.

Think that is irrational? Right now anyone with any sort of head wrap is instantly under suspicion. What about in a few years, when our fears are turned on another group? Kids who play video games, kids who wear trench coats, hackers, outcasts, homosexuals. How much is this not analogous to pre World War II Germany? With this program, normal citizens will be able to collect information about citizens, especially in their own home, thus circumventing the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution and extending the arm of law enforcement where the Constitution and the courts have limited them.

And just to make more analogies, read this from the The Sydney Morning Herald:

Historically, informant systems have been the tools of non-democratic states. According to a 1992 report by Harvard University's Project on Justice, the accuracy of informant reports is problematic, with some informants having embellished the truth, and others suspected of having fabricated their reports.

Present Justice Department procedures mean that informant reports will enter databases for future reference and/or action. The information will then be broadly available within the department, related agencies and local police forces. The targeted individual will remain unaware of the existence of the report and of its contents.

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Yahoo agrees to take money over human lives

Yahoo, and some 300 other ISP's, have agreed to "filter" [read censor] content that Red China [sorry, the People's Republic of China] finds objectionable or subversive. Salon.com says:

Those who sign the pledge must refrain from "producing, posting or disseminating pernicious information that may jeopardize state security and disrupt social stability." The prohibition also covers information that breaks laws and spreads "superstition and obscenity." Members must remove material deemed offensive or face expulsion from the group.

The "Public Pledge on Self-discipline for China Internet Industry" has attracted more than 300 signatories since its launch March 16, said a spokeswoman for the Internet Society of China, who identified herself only as Miss Sun.

In light of Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, et al, one would think that corporations in general would be more sensitive to their image, and in general, start to foster some corporate citizenry. But, of course, the corporation is beholden to no one but their shareholders. Morals and ethics do not end at the Boardroom threshold; rather the corporation must be held as accountable or higher because of the sheer mass of humanity they represent in shareholders, clients and employees.

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US officially above the law

The UN Security Council voted unanimously to exempt U.S. peacekeepers from war crimes prosecution for a year Friday, ending threats to U.N. peacekeeping operations. The frustraiting issue, is that this shows how duplicitous the United States is; the "War Crimes Tribunal" is only invoked when the host country in which the crime takes place refuses to prosecute the offence. Ironically, America investigates itself more often than all the rest of the world, combined. This interrogation always unfolds in the public stage.

Just look at all of the "scandals" we have had in the past four years: Whitewater, Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky, Gary Condit, Enron, WorldCom, etc. etc. etc. We love seeing trials and justice. That is why I think this "amnesty" is not needed and adds to the long list of issues that I get asked when I go abroad. I want my country held accountable in the eyes of the world. Why does the Bush Administration want to hide?

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to exempt U.S. peacekeepers from war crimes prosecution for a year Friday, ending threats to U.N. peacekeeping operations.

The vote culminated one of the most contentious disputes between the United States and its closest allies as well as countries around the world that support the International Criminal Court.

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Online Collaboration

You and We is an online collaboration where users submit text and images and they are randomly broadcast. The simplicity of the site and the chance juxtapositions between the photos and overlapping text is amazing.

My quotes [all original thank you]

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July 14, 2002

Forty-Eight Things: the Meme continues

Seen at title="davidmsc">davidmsc | all tomorrow's parties | href="http://www.throughyoureyes.com/archives/00000354.shtml"
title="throughyoureyes">throughyoureyes | href="http://www.electricbugaloo.com/feh/2002_07_13.html#000245"
title="electricbugaloo">electricbugaloo | href="http://www.annessa.net/2002_07_01_annessaboogie_archive.html#78913138" title="anessa's blog">annessa | and possibly others

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Death and rebirth

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, MetaFilter is being reborn.

Happy 3rd Birthday, MetaFilter.

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Starting

A beautiful woman has shown us her affection and caring tonight. Our lips are still tingling from the sensation. Maybe this is a beginning. With any luck, it is.

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July 13, 2002

Augusta says: you need both balls and sticks to play

Chairman Johnson stated yesterday that to play at Augusta National you would need, well, a johnson, to be a member.

The National Council of Women's Organizations sent a letter to the Chairman on June 12 after it was reported [surprise] that of Augusta's 300 members, none are women.

"Augusta National, built on a former nursery in northeastern Georgia, opened in 1932. The Masters was created in 1934 and has become the most famous golf tournament in the world. It usually gets the highest television ratings, too."

In a defiant statement about the privacy of Augusta National, chairman Hootie Johnson lashed out at a national women's group Tuesday for urging the club to have female members before next year's Masters.

"Our membership alone decides our membership -- not any outside group with its own agenda," Johnson said in a surprisingly long and angry statement.

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July 12, 2002

A blur forms in Switzerland

The blur building forms, then title="blur :: dissapation">dissapates.

"The building doesn't suggest new construction techniques," said Usman Haque of Pletts Haque, a British architectural interaction design firm. "It proposes new ways of thinking about architecture, opening up our minds to what architecture can be. More and more, people are realizing that architectural design doesn't involve just bricks and sticks and static forms, that it doesn't need to have specific boundaries.

"It also makes us question where lies the difference between architecture and non-architecture ... and if there is no difference, then what is architecture? It's a question that has been turned around and around throughout the last 30 or 40 years."

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July 11, 2002

Justice

Mitchell Crooks [the man who videotaped the Inglewood cops beating a black youth] was taken into custody on warrants issued in northern California for petty theft and drunken driving. Authorities also served him with a subpoena to testify before the Los Angeles County grand jury. Nice coincedence, right?

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Long live CSS

A friend emailed me today saying that this site was looking weird. It seems that the right hand side bar was showing up below the right hand text. Perplexed, I fired up Microsoft Explorer, and everything was fine. Then I looked at the page through Mozilla and I found out that he was right. I fired up the old ftp program and my trusty text editor, and fiddled with my css files. In less than five minutes the problem was solved, and because I use xhtml1.0-compliant and css-compliant code, I did not have to re-edit every page of my site. Without css, I would have had to edit [by hand] over 200 pages, and those are just in the new version of the site. So css saved me over 16.6 hours of editing time.

[5 minutes per page * 200 pages = 1000 minutes / 60 minutes = 16.6 hours]

So if you aren't sure about whether or not to code to href="http://www.w3.org/" title="The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential.">w3c standards, think of what you could be doing for 16 hours of your life.

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July 10, 2002

McCain for President

As you all know, I am about left as you can go. Left and libertarian - a strange combination. But I would vote for John McCain in a second. Today, he made the rounds on the media he has been pushing for the resignation of Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt, accusing him of an inadequate response to the accounting scandals plaguing corporate America.
"While Mr. Pitt may be a fine man, he has appeared slow and tepid in addressing accounting abuses, and concerns remain that he has not distanced himself enough from his former clients," McCain, an Arizona Republican, wrote in The New York Times.
Pitt, a former Wall Street lawyer with prominent clients including major accounting firms, became head of the SEC last August. The fox is in the chicken coup and Farmer Bob is either not aware, or totally aware of impropriety.

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Boom and Bust

The Wall Street Journal discusses Boom and Bust cycles and the connection between times of plenty and "accounting controversies":

Accounting scandals and bankruptcies, in fact, are one important reason that it can take the stock market years to recover fully from a bubble.

"This is not an isolated event," says Ray Dalio, president of Bridgewater Associates, a money-management firm that oversees investments worth $35 billion. "This is something that will spread" as many companies' accounting practices are examined. "Many more stories will come out. The examination will inevitably turn
up more cases of aggressive accounting and there will be a penalty for that aggressive accounting."

The title="Washington Post :: The Conservative Bubble Boys">Washington Post has another view of the cycle:

The bubble did it. Or so goes the newly fashionable, no-fault explanation for the cascading corporation scandals now posing a clear and present danger to the U.S. economy. "The '90s were a period of excess," intones head White House economist Lawrence Lindsay.

What I don't get, is why title="msnbc :: Going After Greed">BushCo. are so surprised at all of this. The fact that the Republican Party are now pushing for regulation of the industry is not an indication of the GOP suddenly becoming socially responsible, but another way to institute lax regulation and enjoy the positive press. Much like Clinton did to the GOP, BushCo are doing to the hapless Democrats, who are amounting as much resistance as Custer did years ago.

Public interest group Judicial Watch filed a title="">civil suit today against Halliburton Energy, their auditing firm (20 questions) and their former CEO, Vice President Dick Cheney, alleging that they overstated revenues, thus defrauding their stockholders. With BushCo. commenting on the trial of Halliburton trial [and that trial ending as a "Not Guilty"], and Cheney appeared in an Arthur Anderson video, saying:

The video, which fell into the hands of the Wall Street Journal, was made in 1996 when Mr Cheney was at Halliburton and showed his personal relationship with Andersen.

In it, he describes how Andersen gave advice "over and above" what would normally be expected from auditors.

In a short section of the video, Mr Cheney says: "I get good advice, if you will, from their people, based upon how we are doing business and how we are operating, over and above the normal, by-the-books auditing arrangement."

I don't know what Cheney and BushCo. had to do with Arthur Anderson or Halliburton, but there is more than enough probable cause to start an investigation over these charges. If this was Clinton, he would have been impeached already, which shows you how much the Republicans have used Spetember 11, the economy and general apathy to quiet the Democrats and any dissension. I was watching CNN and MSNBC today, and as the different hosts queried a member of Judicial Watch, the one common question was:

"Is this prudent during this time of War and soft economy?"

How insulting. Why not say that the 1st Amendment is valid until you start to speak out against the majority rule. This is absolutely the right time to question authority. These are the people who let Enron, Arthur Anderson, Tyco, KMart, WorldCom break the law and layoff millions of employees, all the while thier upper-management get nice "parachute" policies and sell off their stock and rake in millions. Think I am crazy, just ask href="http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/06/26/pledgeofallegiance.ap/" title="cnn.com :: Pledge of Allegiance ruled unconstitutional
">Michael A. Newdow - the man who brought the suit against the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, who has received numerous death threats after the decision.

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Baseball fan strike

MLBFanStrike.com is an organized group of Baseball Fans Nationwide who have come together to boycott Major League Baseball because of the continued threat of a Players Strike.

Join them, if you will, in not attending any Major League Baseball game on Jull 11, 2002. Myself, I will just watch baseball throw itself out of the game, again.

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Italians Censor American Websites

"Italian police closed down five U.S.-based Web sites that had been blaspheming Catholicism with a combination of pornographic pictures and offensive statements about the Madonna, police said Tuesday." The man, apperantly is from Italy [Rome] and was arrested in 2000. Why this is only making the rounds now, is anyone's guess.

It seems that the Italian government signed a special treaty with the Catholic Church (in the 1920s) which is also written into the Italian Constitution (dated 1947) and it obliges Italy to act against people who dare to slander the common religious sentiments. What irks me, is that Italians closed down a site based in the US! This is very troubling from the perspective of anyone, anyone publishing on the internet.

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July 9, 2002

Edward Scissorhands

Or, how suburbia [and by extension America] loves conformity and percieved safety

This paper discussed the movie Edward Scissorhands [1990] and the reflection of religion, the corporation and society has on the formation of the city. Polemical in nature, it is not a denouncement of religion, instead it acknowledges the powerful role of religion in society, and how this important part of life shapes our space [and place] in the world.

Edward Scissorhands is the collection of fables and fairy tales not only from the collective history of man, but also from recent American experiences. The classic Frankenstein and Pinocchio story is contrasted with the distinctly American thrill of the new and the allure of progress with the paranoia of the other. The highly stylized neighborhood does not cover the daemons of distrust and isolation that are so eloquently played to by the "Christian" fundamentalist, nor does the blind search for success cover the fractures in the interpersonal relationships of the characters. In the last review, even love cannot triumph over the power of conformity.

Continue reading "Edward Scissorhands"

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July 7, 2002

MPAA and Broadcast Flags

The EFF discusses the MPAA's href="http://bpdg.blogs.eff.org/archives/000148.html" title="MPAA FAQ on Broadcast Flag">FAQ on Broadcast Flag and thier distortion [and obfusation] of the truth. The MPAA wants to include "Broadcast Flags", a type of watermark, in thier bid to institute copy- and rights-restriction into media. Why this is good: tracking of media would be, generally benifitial. Why is this bad: the type of control being discussed would make Hollywood the govorning body, and would make any third-party innovation impossible because the MPAA would have the keys to the "gate" and regulate which method of watermarking is legal. Scary, huh? Weel, your DVD player and all of your DVD's [not to mention your CD's] would become illegal. Scared now, well do something about it.

Excerpts:

Q: Does the broadcast flag stifle innovation in technologies like
broadband?

MPAA answer: On the contrary, protecting content, broadcast or otherwise, will spur the availability of high definition content and thus spur innovation for the systems, devices and services needed to deliver and support them in a broadband environment.

EFF comment: A government mandate requiring a certain technology tends to spur investment in that particular technology, at the expense of other technologies which are forbidden. There is no doubt that the BPDG rules would result in the development of certain technologies, but other technologies would be "off-limits". The threats to innovation posed by controlling technologies which someone might use to infringe copyrights are real and well-known. (History is full of examples of useful new technology which would have been stymied if anxious copyright holders had had their way.)

One example of innovation threatened by the BPDG rules is GNU Radio, an open source software defined radio implementation which allows digital TV signals to be interpreted by software. Because this software can receive digital TV signals, it might qualify as a "Covered Product", but because it's designed to be modified by users, it isn't "Compliant".

To take another example, the components a hobbyist or experimenter would need to develop his or her own PVR or other video-recording device are sold openly today, but would probably be restricted from public sale by the BPDG's rules.

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One for the Bulls

Bulls : 6
Bull Runners : 0

Well, those pesky protesters (close-up) must be happy now.

Today six bull runners were hurt during the first run at Pamplona. The gripping photos of the event are pretty cool. Note to self: Self, if I ever do this, run in the front and keep running. No one will call you a pansy, really.

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Anti RAVE bill in congress

From the "what-first-amendment-to-the-constitution" department

It seems that Senators Durbin (D-IL), Hatch (R-UT), Grassley (R-IA) and Leahy (D-VT) introduced a bill on June 27th entitled the RAVE Act which stands for, "Reducing Americans' Vunerability to Ecstacy" - S 2633 RS [ thomas | people ] This act would fine people or companies that organize or host events "featuring loud, pounding dance music" up to $2,000,000, and allows promoters to be jailed for up to 20 years, without requiring officials to prove that any of the attendees actually possessed drugs.

Continue reading "Anti RAVE bill in congress"

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Fun with server logs

Here are some weird google searches that brought people to this site:

And finally, the list of searches where google pinged this site:

vakue? I need to spell check more often.

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Under the hood

Here are the recent stats and information about grubbykid.com
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July 6, 2002

Solar cells go organic

The Economist has a story about organic solor cells and thier ability to flex and take the shape of whatever they are applied to. However, there are drawbacks:
These new solar cells are not without their problems. To be commercially viable, their efficiency still needs to be doubled or tripled from present levels. Nevertheless, both research teams are convinced they can make the leap within the next few years. Alan Heeger, who shared a Nobel prize for the discovery of electrically conductive plastics, agrees. "Ten per cent [efficiency] is possible," he says.

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Justice and western thought

Senior Judge Alfred Goodwin discusses his ruling on the Pledge of Allegiance. A cantakerous old man [who is Republican] states:
"I never had much confidence in the attention span of elected officials for any kind of deep thinking about important issues," Goodwin said. "When they pop off after what I call a bumper strip headline, they almost always give a superficial response."
I love the old and thier ability to speak thier mind.

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July 5, 2002

Trackback

Right now, we are attempting to include a new feature entitled Trackback, where it is profiled at TrackBac k Development: Feature: TrackBack. I am not sure how this is helpful or useful. I don't know, maybe it is an easier way to cross-link to other blogs. personally I would like to have metadata available as a feature so that I can make a aggredizer and start to organize blogs. Now I just hack the excerts and parse it with perl...it doesn't work quite yet, but it is on its way.

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Ground Zero

Saturday Gov. George E. Pataki announced that he favors not building [nytimes :: registration req'd], on the ground zero site.

From the article:
"We will never build where the towers stood" - Gov. Pataki

In addition to calling the place where the towers stood "hallowed ground," Mr. Pataki said the footprints "will always be a lasting memorial for those that were lost." He added, "Their sacrifice must be remembered for all times to come, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that happens."
Finally someone not running out to plop an ediface on that site. This our chance to kit the urban fabric back together in Lower Manhattan, while at the same time provide a memorial and park to those lost. Not an ediface or statue, but a living park that remembers that day and allows New Yorkers [and the wolrld] to remember the past and also live in the present. This is a chance for an integrated urban environment that celebrates not just business but life and humanity.

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Linking Illegal

Well...sorta.

The ruling today [in Danish] was actually a preliminary injunction againt NewsBooster from "deep-linking" stories, bypassing the "front" page of the Danish Newspaper Publisher's Association Member's websites. This is only a preliminary injunction, and only applies to Danish citizens. Continue reading "Linking Illegal"

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July 4, 2002

US Servicemen through the years

History of U.S. Armies in Uniform - GI Joe uniformed pictures and informative text make this site a useful resource.

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Photos

Nice photos from David Gallagher.

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Quotes on Liberty

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." -- Benjamin Franklin

"Be not intimidated...nor suffer yourselves to be wheedled out of your liberties by any pretense of politeness, delicacy, or decency. These, as they are often used, are but three different names for hypocrisy, chicanery and cowardice." -- John Adams

"The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money." -- Alexis de Tocquevile

"Man exists for his own sake and not to add a laborer to the State." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." -- H.L. Mencken

Thanks ed

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Suck[sess]

And we are back. How dumb is Roxio Software? Lets release a product that will kill millions of consumer's computers. Nice. Note to self;

Self, never, ever buy anything from Roxio. Ever.

If this happened to my mother, all hell would have broke loose. At least I can google an answer and not freak out. So everything is A-OK, and back on track for game playing and pr0n viewing. Full steam ahead!

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Happy Birthday

I went to see fireworks last night, for the first time in at least four years. I was reminded how awe inspiring they can be. I was also reminded that things will be ok; there will always be the children that gaze with wonder at the world seeing the beauty, even when the only adjective they can apply is "gorgeous".

Happy Birthday America

For all the bitching I do about the current state of America, this is the greatest country on Earth. The fact that I can complain, admonish, cajole and question my leaders makes this country great. I hope that our current leaders realize that:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

- Declaration of Independence [download VERY HIGH- RES COPY]

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Online [sorta]

Well, it pays to have 3 or 4 old computers laying around where you can scavange drives from. Right no I am using an old Maxtor 2.7GB harddrive I bought 3 years ago as my boot drive. I will try to burn off my important info and then set to fix my primary harddrive. At least I can get on the internet to find out problems, like this message from Microsoft or this alert from Roxio that states:

If the system is hanging you may need to wait until Windows finally boot (may take up to 4 hours) then follow the update instructions above.

That is just great, thanks Roxio.

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July 3, 2002

System [of a] Down

For those of you expecting an email or any information, and haven't recieved it, I am not being tight with my info, but my computer is on the fritz. It seems that my box will not boot past the second Microsoft Windows 200 splash screen. I have to spend part of my 4th of July fixing it. If you need to contact me, email me at jrpinthehouse@[spamcatcher]hotmail.com [edit wisely]. Happy Birthday indeed.

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July 2, 2002

The Music I Want to Hear

From David A. Brent, MD:

...we got together one humid, sweltering August day in Philadelphia to talk about music for what turned out to be the last time. I asked him, "Jim, who are you listening to these days?" His curt and surprising answer was "Me." I asked, "Don't you think you have anything more to learn from the great masters, like Duke, Monk, and Mingus?" He gave me a withering look and replied, "You don't understand. The music I want to hear hasn't been written yet. And I'm going to write it."

What music do I want to hear?

I want to write and produce music that tells my life
I want to design spaces for people to live in and cherish
I want to be a caring husband [to a yet to be determined wife]
I want to be in a position, professionally, where I can paint, sculpt, design on the web, design furniture.
I want to raise horses
I want to give something back to my fellow man through art and architecture

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July 1, 2002

More thought on Pledge of Allegiance

A new twist in the whole Pledge fracas, rebecca reminds us that history's precedents are not always right or just:

Originally, the pledge was said with the right hand in the so-called "Bellamy Salute," with the right hand resting first outward from the chest, then the arm extending out from the body. Once Hitler came to power in Europe, some Americans were concerned that this position of the arm and hand resembled the Nazi or Fascist salute. In 1942 Congress also established the current practice of rendering the pledge with the right hand over the heart.
And as rebecca points our, we ahve more important issues to worry about

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