Nameless Rantings

New Digs

2007-10-08T23:27:00.000-04:00

For those of you who haven't seen the new blog yet, you can find it at http://daddydoctorate.blogspot.com/. The title is "Daddyhood and a Doctorate," and it focuses on (you guessed it!) impending daddyhood while pursuing a doctorate. Enjoy!

Irony is Beautiful

2007-04-09T16:59:00.000-04:00

I really hope this screenshot is readable because it is dripping with hysterical irony.

Abstinence Feels Good offers links to two different Florida-based abstinence education programs that offer such helpful advice like the "Freaky Fact of the Month." On the Hillsborough page, there's a poll that asks, "When should someone be sexually active?" One of the options is--and I am dead serious--"Never."

I just have no words...

On 10,000 and 300

2007-03-30T11:15:00.000-04:00

This week, I hit the 10,000 mile mark with my beloved Prius. Let me repeat that a little more clearly: I have driven 10,000 miles in the 4 months I have owned this car. Egad. If I keep this pace up, I will break 100,000 miles in the 3-4 year time frame. That is simply insane.

Looking back on the 10,000 miles, I love my car. It's comfortable, roomy, and it has some cool features, like the video screen where I can keep track of my mileage average. And that brings me to a quick point of discussion for the car.

When I tell people that I get an average of probably 45 mpg with it, they seem shocked. After all, the commercials say 60 mpg. However, the 60 mpg rating is for city driving, while 99% of the driving that I do is highway miles. The highway rating is 51 mpg, so I'm not far off. In fact, I could get 51 mpg if I drove 55 mph. But instead, I drive 75 or 65, depending on what part of my commute I'm on. Also, I've noticed that the weather affects the mileage. During the cold streak a few weeks ago, I was getting about 42-43 mpg. Now, I'm up in the 47-48 range. To make a long story short, based on my experience with the Prius, I do not believe that the mileage numbers are as inaccurate as some news stories suggest.

Another question that people ask is how much money I have saved in gas. That's a pretty easy calculation to make. Averaging 45 mpg over 10,000 miles means that I have used 222 gallons of gas. I'm not sure what the average price of gas was over that time, but I would say that $2.30 is probably not far off. That means I have spent $510.60 in gas since getting my Prius.

As a means of comparison, I used to have a Honda Accord. It was the 4-cylinder model, which meant it was very fuel-efficient, as far as non-hybrids go. I was getting somewhere between 25-30 mpg. I would say 27 would be a good average. Over 10,000 miles that would be 370 gallons, for a total cost of $851.

Thus, in four months, I have saved $340.40, which comes to $85 a month. That yields a 40% savings in gas costs alone. And that's when compared to a vehicle that is already very good with gas.

Net result: I love my car.

Full disclosure: There was a recent report that claimed the Hummer was greener than the Prius when you consider the total cost over the course of the lifetime of the vehicle. As with any report, you must look at the assumptions made. For starters, they calculated the estimated total lifetime on the Hummer was over 300,000 miles, while the total lifetime on the Prius was 109,000. In fact, the ~100,000 figure is Toyota's estimate of how long the hybrid battery would last, not the car itself. To date, no hybrid battery has had to be replaced, despite the fact that there are stories of Prius owners putting well over 200,000 miles on their vehicles. However, even if the battery did need to be replaced at 100,000 miles, does CNW believe that replacing the battery requires replacing the car? There are other problems with the report, as well, but let me just say this: Bad assumptions = bad science = good press.

So that was the 10,000 portion, now let me move on to 300. If you are not familiar, 300 is inspired by the Battle of Thermopylae, in which 300 Spartans led a small army of Greeks (estimated at 7,000), using the natural terrain of a narrow pass, held off the invading Persian army (estimated at 200,000) for three days while other Greeks to assemble their forces. In the end, a local resident betrayed the Greeks and told the Persians of another path, which the Persians used to attack the Greeks from both sides. The Spartans and an additional 700 Greeks fought to the end, while the rest were sent away. The battle was crucial in the Greco-Persian War, which was eventually won by the Greeks. This marked the beginning of the Golden Age of Greece.

The movie 300 is based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller. For those who have seen the commercials, you can tell that the movie remains true to its roots. Watching the movie is like seeing a graphic novel come to life. And the result is fantastic.

Let me state clearly that this is not intended to be a movie with Oscar caliber acting. In fact, the characters were all fairly trite cariacatures. You had the valiant king nobly fighting for his country, the invading tyrant, the scheming politician, the pitiful hunchback, etc. However, that was not what this movie was about. This movie was a masterpiece of visual imagery, plain and simple. The vibrant red of blood splattering contrasts with the brooding, lifeless, gothic, background of the landscape.

If you enjoy genres that bend the rules of reality in favor of visual effect, you MUST see this movie. The battles are violent, but beautifully done. The costume designs are as elaborate and exaggerated as any that you will find in a graphic novel. For instance, you can compare the ornate piercings of Xerxes with the simple robe of Leonidas.

300 was brutal and unapologetic in its orgy of violence. And it was magnificent.

Idiotic Patent

2007-03-19T11:21:00.000-04:00

I thought I had seen some very useless patents before, but this one really takes the cake. Someone applied to patent the linked list in 2002, and it was awarded in 2006. For non-geeks, a linked list is one of the simplest data structures that computer science students learn. A class in data structures is one of the first classes CS students take. Linked lists are the very first thing you learn about. As you can see from the WikiPedia page, they were first developed in the '50s. So why on earth is someone getting a patent for "inventing" a variation of it 50 years later?!? I've read through the text of the patent, and the variation is pretty trivial. This is why we geeks like to scream for patent reform...

Thriller on YouTube

2007-01-27T23:36:00.000-05:00

The wife and I stumbled across some funny stuff on YouTube a little bit ago. So here they are, three versions of Michael Jackson's "Thriller." First, the original:

I had to post that one because Brianne had actually never seen the video. Of course, considering how young she was when it came out, I guess that's understandable. However, the real reasons for this post are these two funny versions. First, someone recreated it (including the big dance scene), with Legos!!

The one that really made us laugh, though, was this last video. It's not the music to Thriller, but it is someone from India doing a variation on the dance. This had us rolling!

OK, time to end this. It's almost midnight on a Saturday night and we're both on our laptops. But at least I'm not reading about acrocentric chromosomes and centromeres!! :-)

First Letter to the Purdue Paper

2007-01-25T12:54:00.000-05:00

I picked up the Purdue Exponent for the first time the other day and found some of the typical hot-button topics on the opinion page. In particular, there was a letter that stated (among other things):

Marriage is a religious institution first. Every major religion has some variant of it. It just so happens that for reasons of inheritance, taxes and custody, the government keeps a tab on it. Let's just keep in mind that real marriage is a religious thing.

The "marriage" found in government hardly rises above the level of other government controlled entities. For instance, to get a driver's license you must meet a certain set of criteria[...] Few would call their license a "right." To call the legal status of "marriage" provided by the government a human right is probably giving it a little too much credit.

Here is my response:

Steven O'Keefe's letter regarding the gay marriage debate was perhaps the most arrogant and flawed argument regarding the topic that I have read. In Mr. O'Keefe's words, “real marriage is a religious thing.” According to his letter, since every major religion has a form of marriage, then every marriage must be religious. This argument assumes the converse of the original statement, which is logically unsound.

Mr. O'Keefe also inaptly compares civil marriage to a driver's license, which requires demonstration of ability and knowledge concerning driving. What unique skills must one show to get a marriage license? None.

Even more to the point, why does Mr. O'Keefe think he can be the arbiter regarding what qualifies as a “real marriage?” I have friends who were married by a justice of the peace in a secular ceremony. Would Mr. O'Keefe argue for denying them civil recognition since their marriage is not religious and, therefore, not real? I consider my own marriage to be an emotional, moral, and loving union, not a religious one. Mr. O'Keefe has absolutely no right to speak about what my marriage is and is not.

The point is that marriage means different things to different people. My Unitarian Universalist church performs religious marriage for gays and lesbians. The fact that federal and state governments decide which of these marriages qualify as authentic seems to be an encroachment of our right to freely exercise our religion.

Civil marriage offers many protections that help to strengthen a couple's bond. Denying these benefits to same-sex couples implies that their relationships are not worth preserving. Mr. O'Keefe needs to realize that his edict that all real marriages must be religious is inaccurate, arrogant, and very insulting to this married, spiritual person.

As a side note, I have to say I'm a little disappointed with the quality of writing in the Purdue paper. From what I've seen, both IU's and Michigan State's papers were better.

The Hiatus and an Update

2007-01-16T15:44:00.000-05:00

So, my lovely wife pointed out that I need to update my blog because I haven't done so in almost two months. Considering I've gone through a week of finals, a move from MI to Ft. Wayne, a move from Ft. Wayne to Zionsville, a minor surgery (with some pretty nasty recovery time), a lot of work to get the house settled, settling into a new school (with an hour commute), and a ton of reading for wireless mesh networks, OS, algorithms, C, and data structures, I think the hiatus was rather called for. :-) That was a lot of work just listing all of those things.

Now that I'm here and looking at my class load, I must admit that I do feel slightly overwhelmed. There is a definite difference between grad classes here than at my old school. Prereqs for MSU grad courses were essentially optional. The grad material was either completely different (e.g., the advanced OS course focused on algorithms for distributed systems instead of actually OS material), or the grad class covered the undergrad and grad material (e.g., my hellish AI class that had about a 1200 page reading assignment). At Purdue, the profs assume that you have actually taken the prereqs or are comfortable with the material. So my algorithms professor is not covering basic algorithms material (e.g., sorting, data structures, basic analysis, etc.), and my OS professor expects that we have a solid foundation of C and assembly language to start writing low-level constructs right away. It's fun and exciting, but it's going to be damn challenging.

In addition to those classes, I'm a TA for the undergrad course in data structures. That was one of the courses at IU that I definitely liked due to the mathematical nature of the material. I'm also working with my advisor on a research project. To get started, I'm looking into something called wireless mesh networks. It's pretty new stuff, so there's a lot of work to do.

Having said all that, I need to get on the road since my office hour is over. I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to post again, but now you understand why!

I'm Free!! ...Now What Do I Do?

2006-12-01T09:51:00.000-05:00

It is now official. Yesterday was my last day working for a particular corporate entity (think of the color blue). I have always been loathe to blog about my employer for many reasons, such as basic professionalism and concerns about job security. Even though they are no longer my employer, I have no intention to change my practice other than to offer a brief retrospective.

When I was hired in December 2000 (started work in June 2001), I had no idea that my career would follow the path that it did. I was going to work as a web developer creating dynamic pages using Java Server Pages. My experience creating PHP, Perl/CGI, and PHP applications in my undergrad years would dazzle my new employer and they would be falling over themselves to put me to work on a project. Or so I thought. Needless to say, the reality was quite different. In my first year, I got to put some PowerPoint slides together and do a little bit of testing. And I got to see exciting Iowa. I did eventually get to develop some JavaScript presentations and do some HTML development with a creative team.

I was not happy with my first year in the "real world." In fact, I hated it and had no idea what to do about it. Then, an opportunity fell into my lap. A co-worker pointed out a project in Vermont where the only required skill was Perl, my favorite language. It turns out that they did not even program in Perl, but that's another story. I eventually landed the position and worked in semiconductor engineering from June 2002 until yesterday. It was a rather odd position for me, as I had no experience with hardware, never took physics beyond high school, and never had an engineering class. But I got the position and did well.

Looking back, I'm certainly proud of some of the things that I accomplished as an engineer. I got to work on some interesting projects and learned more about computers than I could have hoped for. I also learned an extensive amount about myself, my capabilities, my interests, my passions, and my limits. I don't want to say that I am a completely different person than I was five years ago. Rather, I've found the person that I always was and should have been. That is my greatest accomplishment (well, besides snagging the most wonderful wife in existence) of the duration of my career. And now, it is time to move on.

It's rather odd that I am leaving my job at essentially the same time that I am leaving MSU. I did this intentionally so that I could have a clean break before starting Purdue. Certainly I have my trepidations. Am I making the right choices for my career and my life? Will I enjoy Purdue as much as I think I will? Can I succeed as a security researcher? I've spent much of my life believing that I am capable of more than what I have been doing. I remember my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Timms, told my mom that there's no reason I shouldn't get straight As, except that I hadn't put forth the effort. Part of the reason for that is that I relied on others to provide me with the necessary motivation. Give me a project to solve and I'll do it. Now, I want to sever the ties of motivational dependency. I have things I want to learn, new skills to try out, and new projects that I want to work on. It feels odd not having the obligations I previously clung to, but it is incredibly liberating. Thus, I am very excited about what the future holds.

So farewell, corporate behemoth. Thank you for the experience and for your support in my personal growth. As all employers do, you have your problems and you have the things in which you excel. After over five years of your ups and downs, I have learned that you are not where I belong, at least at this point in time. I wish you well, and hope to see more innovation from you in the future. I'm off to learn about security protocols and wireless mesh networks.

Zombies

2006-11-14T18:57:00.000-05:00

I must pass this one along. When I first watched this earlier today, I got the song stuck in my head because it's a catchy tune. The song is "Re: Your Brains" by Jonathan Coulton. "All we want to do is eat your brains // We're not unreasonable, I mean, no one's gonna eat your eyes." I just laughed when I heard those lyrics. I especially liked when the video started showing clips of zombie movies and videos, like Thriller, Shaun of the Dead, and 28 Days Later. Anyways, here's the video already:

State News Letter

2006-11-14T18:50:00.000-05:00

I just submitted a letter to the MSU State News in response to this piece by Andrea Byl. I should stop reading Byl's columns because I feel compelled to respond every time. Here's what I submitted:

Andrea Byl's recent column, “Get ready for Clinton, McCain in '08,” was a horrible piece of right-wing, biased rhetoric. First, she disrespectfully refers to Senator Clinton at one point as, “Hill.” Would Byl refer to Senator McCain in a column as, “Johnny Boy?” The article just gets worse from there.

Ms. Byl characterizes Senator Clinton's moderation as nothing more than a political tactic. On the other hand, Senator McCain's centrist tendencies made him “perfect,” giving him “the potential to nab Democrat, Republican, and independent votes alike.” Furthermore, Senator Clinton's reputation has gone from extremist liberal to moderate centrist. The same cannot be said of Senator McCain, who has moved steadily to the right in recent years. Moderates trying to win centrist votes do not pander to the Religious Right by giving commencement addresses at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University.

Ms. Byl also decries Senator Clinton's inability to launch any “great projects,” ignoring the fact that the Republicans controlled the Senate, House, White House, and Supreme Court. As a member of the ruling party, anything that Senator McCain proposed was inherently more likely to be enacted. As for his accomplishments, I find it rather disturbing that someone should be lauded for legislation that states that torture is bad. Has the Bush Administration made our expectations this low?

I also found Byl's reading of history ludicrous. Kerry lost in 2004 because he was “far-too-liberal.” Apparently, it had nothing to do with the Republican tactic of linking everything to 9/11 and terrorism, the use of dissembling proxies like the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and Kerry having the charisma of a turnip.

Byl then says, “the American public has shifted,” without offering any analysis as to how or why. I would suggest she look up Jack Abramoff, Ted Haggard, Mark Foley, “macaca” Allen, “man on dog” Santorum, or “heckuva job” Brown. She also may want to take note that the number of American troops killed in Iraq is quickly approaching the number of victims killed on 9/11. The American public has shifted because they
have learned that the current Republican leadership is grotesquely corrupt, and more interested in partisan politics and keeping power than in actually governing.

Ms. Byl, as you are a journalism senior, I hope that you are applying for jobs at Fox News. Your right-wing bias and inability to deal with facts will be put to good use in their “fair and balanced” reporting.

A Must-Read

2006-11-09T18:44:00.000-05:00

OK, I shouldn't be doing this. I should be working on my cognitive architectures assignment and trying to get a single full-night's rest. But, I am just too distracted by election results. Now that George Allen has conceded, the Dems have seized control of both houses of Congress. For the first time in six years, I'm actually thinking there may be hope for a sane future.

While surfing around for more commentary, I stumbled across this piece by the repugnant Ann Coulter. It really is an amazing work of denial. According to Ann, seizing control of both houses is a sign of the "death throes of a dying party." Wow. My favorite quote of all, though, deserves it's own blockquote:

So however you cut it, this midterm proves that the Iraq war is at least more popular than Bill Clinton was.

How do you respond to someone who takes a statement like this seriously?

Huzzah!!

2006-11-08T12:05:00.000-05:00

Ahhh, sweet, sweet victory...

I Think I Voted

2006-11-07T18:09:00.000-05:00

I pressed the buttons and saw it on the screen. But the machine was a Diebold, so there was no paper trail. I just have to hope that there's no programming glitch.

My First YouTube Post

2006-11-06T19:56:00.000-05:00

Via Andrew Sullivan:

A Fox News reporter willingly undergoes waterboarding. Notice, of course, that they let him up as soon as he starts to struggle. Somehow, I don't think the inmate at Gitmo are let off quite so easy.

"We don't torture," says George W. Bush.

Do a search for Yukio Asano, who was sentenced to 15 years hard labor for war crimes that included torturing U.S. soldiers by waterboarding during WWII. The Khmer Rouge, the Soviet Union, the Nazis. Is this the type of company that our country wants to keep?

"It's a no-brainer," says Dick Cheney, when asked if waterboarding would be acceptable if the U.S. government thought that an enemy combatant may know something of use.

What I think is the most chilling thing about that video is how calmly the reporters discuss the merits of waterboarding. The discussion includes this quote: "As far as torture [emphasis mine] goes, at least in this controlled experiment, to me this seemed like a pretty efficient mechanism." This is the reporter that underwent the demonstration. He minces no words and calls it what it is.

If the Dems fail to reclaim at least one of the two houses of Congress, I will cry. Because everything that made this country great will either be dead or, at best, comatose.

Crooks

2006-11-06T17:42:00.000-05:00

I found this thread on Slashdot, where conspiracy theories are not uncommon. But it links to several outside sources, like this one.

Here's the gist: The National Republican Congressional Committee have been placing automated calls to people who live in areas of competitive races for tomorrow's midterms. First, the automated calls to people on do-not-call lists are illegal in New Hampshire and other states. So the NRCC is blatantly ignoring state laws in their phone campaign, claiming that, as a national entity, the NRCC is not bound by state laws.

So the NRCC is harrassing people on do-not-call registries in arguably illegal ways. Here's the twist, of which only the NRCC is capable: The recordings at first give the callee the impression that they are coming from Democrats! In the New Hampshire calls, the first words are, "Hello. I'm calling with information about [Democratic candidate] Paul Hodes." If you hang up at this point, your number will be dialed again later. So it appears that Paul Hodes's campaign is harrassing potential voters. You only learn that this message is from the NRCC at the end of the recorded message!

Sneaky, vicious, immoral, and potentially illegal. The National Republican Campaign Committee at work.

Quote of the Election Season

2006-10-31T11:38:00.000-05:00

From a WaPo column discussing the proposed amendment to Virginia's state constitution to ban gay marriage:

A defender of traditional values quotes an anthropologist who believed that sexual orientation often changes over the course of a lifetime, and an advocate for gay rights rests his case on the idea that the church is better suited than the state to judge the quality of human relationships.

Is this a great country or what?

Strange times we live in...

New Members in the Family

2006-10-29T23:00:00.000-05:00

No, Dad, we're not expecting. :-) But we do have two new members of the family to celebrate. The first is my beautiful new Toyota Prius. Such a fun car, and it gets likes 500 miles to the gallon. OK, it only gets about 50 miles to the gallon. That's all...

Second, and more exciting, the wife and I reached a deal to buy a house!! We made an offer on Wednesday, followed by 6 counter-offers. We finally agreed on a price, which means we will soon have a home to call our own. No more back and forth trips to Michigan. No more explaining why we have multiple apartments. Just the two of us in a beautiful house in Zionsville. Woo hoo!

And the added twist that makes the whole story funny... The call informing us of the counter-offer which we accepted arrived while we were signing the papers for the car. So yes, we bought a car and a house within about 15 minutes of each other. Well, ignoring all those details like closing and inspections, but you get the idea.

Such an exciting weekend. I don't think I can take many more of those.

In Better News

2006-10-17T18:04:00.000-04:00

Google is going green by using solar power for their main campus. Cool!

Habeas Corpus

2006-10-17T11:52:00.000-04:00

R.I.P. You had a good 800-year run.

I Got In!!

2006-10-14T12:55:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning, I went to check my email and found a new message waiting patiently in my inbox. It matter-of-factly informed me that I had been recommended for admission into the Purdue Computer Science Department, and I would be receiving an official offer from the Graduate School for admission as a Ph.D. student! I have been initially assigned to have Dr. Christina Nita-Rotaru as my advisor. Her research focuses on security aspects of wireless networks, a very interesting subject. This is fantastic news, and I cannot wait to start in January.

About a week and a half ago, I got a very promising fortune when eating at Panda Express. It was something along the lines of, "You will share good news with everyone you love soon." Indeed I have.

Now comes a whole range of life changes. First, Brianne and I will begin looking to buy a house in the Zionsville area so that our commutes are manageable. Then, we have to move everything from my school apartment in Okemos, MI, and our apartment in Ft. Wayne to our new home. In addition to that, we took a Toyota Prius out for a test drive yesterday and loved it. So it looks like I'll be trading in the Accord pretty soon. So many things happening all at once, and all of them are exciting and fun!

Unlucky Friday the 13th? Heh. Quite the opposite for us.

Update: The silver Prius has been reserved and should be arriving mid-November.

The End of an Era

2006-09-12T17:29:00.000-04:00

Today is the last day of my third decade of life. It's kind of hard to believe. I was filling out something earlier today that asked for my age, and I had to pause when I realized it would be different tomorrow.

Melodrama aside, I like to take advantage of life events to do a little introspection. For this instance, I started by attempting to sum up my entire philosophy into a single sentence:

There are no absolute truths.

Anything that I was taught growing up to be "truth" was in fact a clever, superficial construction masking the uncertainty beneath. Murder is always wrong. But I don't know that I'd be able to convict someone for killing Osama bin Laden. "i" before "e" except after "c". Either I'm dumb or I just legally broke that rule. 2 + 2 = 4. Not true in Z mod 3.

I'm playing semantic games, I know. However, that is the point. Every truth that I have ever learned is nothing more than a construct to describe something in relation to a particular frame of reference. None of them hold given across all environments. I.e., there are no absolute truths.

Yet, there's a problem. I have just asserted an absolute truth. Thus, my statement is specious. However, I cannot assert that there must be an absolute truth. In order to make that claim, I must have a hunch as to the nature of that truth. For starters, it must be tautological. That's great, but it doesn't really tell me much about the truth itself. However, that's all I can say given that I am trying to describe an absolute truth without loss of generality. Thus, this line of reasoning does not accomplish much.

So I could attempt to find an absolute truth. I must confess that I believe this is beyond my ability. As I described above, all truths I have thought I knew turned out to be lacking. Just as the word "table" is only an abstraction of this piece of furniture upon which my laptop rests, every thought seems to be a symbol of the underlying concept.

Some may accuse me of solipsism at this point, but that is not my goal. Instead, I simply want to express how amazed I am by everything. This may seem like a non sequitur, but I feel that our society (or perhaps all?) idolizes childhood and innocence too much. I am thinking specifically about the way that children can be awestruck by so many things. Try explaining the concept of a million to a six-year-old and you'll probably here something like, "Whoa! That's a lot!" We conflate "purity" with "goodness," and children are the purest of all.

However, it is the loss of purity that allows for a richer understanding. When that six-year-old says the word, "Whoa," the concept of a million is no longer a foreign thing. Instead, their mind has now been tainted in an irreversible way. The mental processes that associate "million" with "a large quantity" will not go away (barring exceptions like mental illness or death, but those are tangential discussions anyway). And that child's understanding of the nature of the universe has expanded. They can now use the idea of a "million" as a building block toward other pieces of knowledge that they were previously unable to grasp.

Obviously, concepts like "thought" and "knowledge" have been on my mind a lot recently. I guess being enrolled in an Artificial Intelligence course does that. My other class is Computability & Formal Language Theory. Both have been fascinating. For example, most people understand the idea of a computer program. You double click on your Mozilla Firefox icon, the computer does some stuff, and you can read this blog. But what is a program? What does it actually do? Is there anything that cannot be solved by a program? My Computability class deals with these types of questions, and, consequently, lets me understand things about programs that I had never thought of before. The more that I work with computers, the more I start to get a glimpse of how little I have actually learned about them.

Thus, we arrive at the point I've been struggling to make this entire time. In 30 years, I've learned a lot of facts. I've memorized formulas, written papers, tasted coffee, smelled dead skunks, gone crowd surfing at a concert, loved, proven that the square root of 2 is irrational, laughed at Monty Python skits, wept in the rain with a broken heart, read all 1400 pages of Les Miserables twice, felt the thrill of performing in front of 30,000 screaming fans. None of these things, in and of themselves, make me exceptional in any way. Yet, there is not, and never will be, another person who will experience this particular combination of events. And that does make me unique.

But all of those experiences and facts are just that. They are not wisdom. They are not truth. My perceptions of them has contributed to my understanding of the way the universe works. And yet, my understanding is nothing more than my own mental construct that serves as a mental abstraction of some underlying thing. What that underlying thing is, I cannot say. Is it an underlying ultimate truth? Is it God? Or is it actually nothing at all? I have no idea, and never will. And yet that does not detract from my pursuit to do so.

And we are back at the beginning. On the eve of my 30th birthday, the closest thing that I can say to sum up the collective wisdom of my time here on earth is this:

I know nothing.

On a Personal Note

2006-08-29T18:17:00.000-04:00

So, how much difference can a week make? As I have now learned, a lot.

Last Monday and Thursday, I made a couple of trips to visit Purdue. They have a large group of people that specialize in the field I'd like to join, computer security. I essentially made the trip to get a semblance of whether or not I had a snowball's chance of getting in. After meeting with six professors and one administrative person, I'm feeling pretty good. In fact, two of the professors strongly encouraged me to apply for admission in the spring of 2007 instead of fall! And one of them even invited me to have chocolate cake with the people in her lab. :-)

Two weeks ago, I was worried that I would not be accepted to any of my choice schools for a Ph.D. Now, I feel that I have a very strong chance of getting into one of the best security programs in the country. Of course, this is not a certainty. I still have to apply and impress the admissions committee. However, I feel much more confident now. Now, instead of spending the next eight months in a very undesirable situation where I must be apart from my wife, it seems possible that, in four months, I could be starting work toward a Ph.D. while seeing my wife every day!

The next several months are going to be extremely interesting...

Schneier on the British Terror Plot

2006-08-29T18:00:00.000-04:00

I found this post by Bruce Schneier to be extraordinarily interesting. It wasn't that there was anything there I hadn't heard before. What struck me as interesting was his use of the phrase, "pissed off." I've been reading his blog daily for about 9 months now. He is not the type of person to toss out borderline obscenities unless something has gotten very far under his skin. In fact, I think it may be the first one he has used since I've been reading.

As he points out in his post, the timing of the arrests seem to have resulted from the U.S. government, possibly for political reasons. Yet we have heard very little of this here. Instead, we get to hear story after story about a guy who didn't kill a little girl but thinks he did.

I share Schneier's anger about the arrests. I like the term that he frequently uses, "security theater." It refers to actions that make us feel safer while adding no real security. I'm sad to say that I think that's exactly what we'll have to accept until January 2009 at the earliest.

Congratulations!!

2006-08-19T17:29:00.000-04:00

To my wonderful wife, Brianne. This morning, she completed her first triathlon! It was a 500 yard swim, 10 mile bike ride, and 3 mile run. I am very proud of her.

Terror in the Skies?

2006-08-17T22:55:00.000-04:00

Remember that big terrorist plot about using some liquid explosives to destroy multiple planes? Turns out, it was highly unlikely to have succeeded.

The French

2006-08-17T15:27:00.000-04:00

I'm not quite sure what to make of this. French diplomacy was essentially what created the resolution and led to the ceasefire in Lebanon. Now they're refusing to send more than 200 troops. I'm sure the right wingers will just cast some aspersions regarding French cowardice. I just don't know. Are they playing a game? Or trying to prove a point that the U.S. has stretched our resources too thinly with Iraq? Or is this simply a ruse that gives them an advantage heading into the planning meeting? I just don't get it.

Cool Drawings

2006-08-17T12:54:00.000-04:00

This is very cool.

Hooray! Hurrah! Huzzah!

2006-08-17T11:58:00.000-04:00

For the most part, I have loved Tim Burton's work. Beetlejuice was one of my favorite movies when I was a youngster. I enjoyed Edward Scissorhands, but barely remember it. That one may warrant a re-viewing. I loved Batman, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sleepy Hollow, Big Fish, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. His cameo in Singles was hilarious.

At the same time, I admire Johnny Depp. He's extremely versatile and frequently odd. Benny & Joon, Sleepy Hollow, Chocolat, Pirates of the Caribbean, Finding Neverland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Odd director. Odd actor. Great pairing, yet again. Who else would you want acting and directing a musical that is subtitled, "The Demon Barber of Fleet Street?" Somehow, I get the feeling that this is going to be a very gory movie a la Sleepy Hollow with a 0% chance of seeing it with Brianne...

On Radicalization

2006-08-17T10:19:00.000-04:00

I am a liberal. Some might even say radically liberal.

But not really.

When I get into political discussions with my wife, my friends, etc., it typically seems like I am the most liberal in the group. I am pro-choice and oppose all legal restrictions, including mandatory waiting times, notification laws, etc. I believe in progressive taxation. I oppose the repeal of the estate tax. I support an increase in minimum wage. I hope that the tax cuts passed since Bush took office will be repealed so that we can have a balanced budget that includes proper funding for our troops, our schools, science and the arts. I opposed the invasion of Iraq from the beginning, knowing that it would ultimately make the U.S. and the world less safe, destabilize the Middle East, radicalize thousands, and distract us from more pressing concerns. I support embryonic stem cell research. I believe the importance of the First Amendment. I believe in the free exercise right of individuals, but just as strongly as I believe in the establishment clause and the separation of church and state. I have the radical idea that science standards should be established by scientists, not local school boards filled with evangelical Christians. Any legislator arguing to introduce Intelligent Design into the classroom should be removed from office. I would like to see funding equality for schools at least at the state level. Local funding leads to savage inequalities. I think that No Child Left Behind is a hideous piece of legislation, in the same realm as the atrocious Digital Millenium Copyright Act. I trust the scientists who argue that global warming is real. I support increasing fuel efficiency requirements. I would like to see a tax on fuel-inefficient vehicles and on gasoline that would be directly applied to scientific research in alternative fuels. I support ending the War on Drugs. I believe in Due Process, even if it applies to alleged terrorists like Jose Padilla. I believe that marriage is a wonderful institution, built on love, and that gays and lesbians should have full marriage rights. I believe in the right to privacy. I am inclined to favor single-payer insurance, though I'd like to see more data on it. In the meantime, I would support legislation that would force big box retailers to provide a living wage and benefits, like that recently passed in Chicago.

Those are just the ones off the top of my head. I don't see any of them as being particularly fringe. If you asked, I could probably put together some decent, calm, cogent posts on each and every one of those. However, given that I support candidates like Howard Dean and Ned Lamont, I know that many would label me as part of the "angry left-wing." I have a much better understanding of how I got to this point after reading what Ezra said. After years of fame and/or power for people like Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Joe Scarborough, Bill O'Reilly, Michelle Malkin, Michael Savage, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Tom Delay, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Rick Santorum, Antonin Scalia, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, and blogs like Little Green Footballs, Powerline, Instapundit, The Free Republic, etc., I can't help but scream. (No links to any of those because I just can't stomach it...)

When I started this post, I had intended simply to link to the two posts by Ezra Klein. As usual, though, my passions got the better of me and I had to go on and on. In summary, I would simply say that I was not always like this. I viewed myself as a moderate, and felt that I typically had a temperate disposition. However, since November 2000, it seems like fate and the Republicans have done all they could to make me cynical and disillusioned. I hope that 2008 brings hope of a new direction of leadership. Until then, I guess I just have to continue yelling.

Greatest Icon Ever

2006-08-16T12:43:00.000-04:00

I have to post this here, because it is great. I blatantly snagged this from another blog (can't remember which one...):

Chocolate

2006-08-14T15:53:00.000-04:00

No, not the yummy stuff. I mean the new phone from Verizon Wireless. I just upgraded my phone to it the other day, and I'm developing some pretty strong opinions. So here's my review:

The Good

Ignoring everything I describe below, I love this phone. It's Bluetooth enabled, which means you can get all sorts of wireless goodies (such as an ear piece) for it. It has an MP3 player, though you have to buy the memory chip separately. The camera takes the best pictures I've seen on a phone. The navigation touchpad is sleek. You don't have to press, just lightly touch. It takes a little getting used to, but once you do, it's great. The phone slides open to reveal the number pad at the bottom and the camera at the top. This is especially nice because it'll prevent scratches to the lens. The battery life seems pretty decent so far, which is good. I'd hate to wipe out my phone battery after listening to three songs.

So, as I said, the phone itself is a great little piece of electronics.

The Bad

The main bad thing I've found about the phone itself is the new proprietary interface, of which it only has one. That means my old car charger is out the window. As are normal headphones. It does come with an adapter for a 1.5 mm ear piece plug, but standard headphones use a larger 2.5 mm plug. Since it has the 1.5 mm adapter, I can still use my old ear piece. But I can only use that until the battery runs low, because there is only one port for both types of input. I understand the reasoning, as they're trying to push the Bluetooth capabilities. However, that means, in addition to the phone, I have to buy a new $30 car charger, a $30 "music essentials" kit (more on that in a second), an $80-$100 Bluetooth ear piece, and possibly another $100 Bluetooth set of headphones (so I can listen to music in both ears, not just one!). Of course, it also comes with almost no built-in memory, so I had to buy a $100 2 GB Micro SD chip.

The other bad thing about the phone is the volume factor. [I know this is going to make me sound like an old fogey, but c'est la vie.] The MP3 player has 15 volume levels. I am currently listening to the lowest level, and it's a few decibels louder than I would like it. Doing a very unscientific comparison (Chocolate ear bud in the right ear, iPod ear bud in the left), the lowest level on the Chocolate is roughly comparable to having the iPod volume at 1/3 of the total capacity. The upper half of the volume capacity on the Chocolate is excessive and frankly dangerous. Apple has faced a lot of criticism regarding the risk of hearing loss with the iPod. LG should have heeded these critics. Instead, they produce a louder player. That is utterly irresponsible.

The purchase of the "music essentials" kit is another annoying factor. If you buy the phone as-is with no accessories, you have no way to transfer music to your phone and no way to listen to it even if you could. Enter the kit, which contains driver software, USB cable, and some earbud headphones with built-in microphone. Of course, the driver software is proprietary and only works with Windows Media Player. So remember all those songs you bought from iTunes? Can't use 'em. Your laptop is a Mac? You're S.O.L. There's no way in hell I'm going to get it to work with my Ubuntu laptop without some serious reverse engineering. The proprietary issues that come with MP3 players are such a headache and do nothing but punish legitimate users. Hackers will always find a way around it. But that's a rant for another post.

So the net sum of the bad is that you better be ready to toss in a few hundred more dollars in accessories, and you better have a computer running Windows XP.

The Ugly

How can it get worse than the extra cash you have to throw in? Customer service. Or lack thereof.

The wife and I started at Best Buy, thinking the prices for Micro SD may be cheaper there. Um, no. They had the 1 GB chip for $79, but no 2 GB, which would have been over a hundred. So we were on to the Verizon store in Westfield. After waiting in line for close to 30 minutes, I finally got to the front of the line. They were out of 2 GB cards. So we were on to the Verizon dealer in Circuit City in Clay Terrace. We've previously had bad service there before, but we decided to give them a try anyways. We look around and see that they do have the chip. So we stand in line.

After about 10 minutes, a Verizon rep explained that they were doing training, so they were down to one terminal. We would have to stand and wait 15-20 minutes just to buy the chip. There were a few people getting in line behind us, as well. So how much of a moron do you have to be to force potential customers to wait exorbitant amounts of time while you ignore them to do some training? Anybody with an iota of common sense would put the training on hold for a short while and actually serve the customers that want to give you money. Disgusted, we left. An hour and a half trip (including waiting and driving time), and we get home empty-handed.

Then comes my lunch break today. I head to the Circuit City Verizon in Castleton. Waiting in line again. One person is helping customers. The other is doing inventory and checking e-mail! After 10-15 minutes she decides that it might be worthwhile to offer to help a customer. After checking, they're out of the 2 GB chip. She calls the other Verizon in Castleton, and asks for the 2 GB *Mini* SD chip. Note to salepersons in technology fields: It is important to know the difference between your own products. Mini SD and Micro SD are different. You know that brand new, hot product you're releasing? It only uses Micro SD! She says that the other store is out of the 2 GB, and that the other store claimed all Verizon dealers in the area were out of stock. Ugh. So I leave.

On a hunch, I decided to try the Clay Terrace Circuit City again, so I hop in for the 25 minute trek up there. Loathe as I was to give them money, they had the 2 GB chip. Fantastic! Well, not quite. Verizon was actually doing a promotion where you got the 2 GB chip and the "music essentials" kit for $99 (after mail-in rebate, of course!). It works out rather oddly. The 2 GB chip is marked at $129, and the kit is another $30. But you only pay the $129 in store, then you get a $30 rebate. Anyways, they have the chip, but they are out of the kit! I ask if they can call the store across the street because they have the kit, but not the chip. You know, work some kind of deal to serve your customers better. It turns out, they actually did have more in the back of the store after checking.

So now, after 3 hours of driving and waiting in line, I finally have the chip and can listen to music on my phone. This is ridiculous. The only company that I've heard of with worse service would be Dell (search for "Dell sucks" for stories). After my experience trying to buy accessories for this phone, I would think long and hard before buying another phone from Verizon.

Oh, and I get a corporate discount through my employer. I'm sure I'll have to call customer service again and gripe because the contract renewal probably wiped it out. That's what happened last time I got a new phone.

Summary

So, if you decided to skip over the details and jump to the end, here's the short list:

Great phone with wonderful features

Very expensive -- add on a couple hundred dollars for accessories

The volume level could stand to be a little lower

Atrocious customer service

Books

2006-08-10T17:07:00.000-04:00

I hate to follow up a dreadfully serious post with something so light-hearted, but that's the way things go some times. So here's a book meme that's floating around. If you feel inspired, complete it on your own and put a link in the comments (or a track-back).

1. One book that changed your life:
Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse. My first reading (I've read it probably five or six times) was my senior year of high school. In the year or two before that, my appreciation of literature went from frigid to a lukewarm simmer. This book turned it into a rolling boil. It's about finding your own path in life, and it just struck a chord at the right time.

2. One book you have read more than once:
Les Misèrables, Victor Hugo. I've read this 2-3/4 times (didn't quite finish the third time). I loved the added insight to the characters and the historical perspective that you don't get in the musical (did you know that Napoleon lost at Waterloo because it rained the night before?). But, oh...so...1400 pages...long...

3. One book you would want on a desert island:
Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson. If I were stranded on a desert island, I might finally have the free time to work through this mammoth work.

4. One book that made you laugh:
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams. It's Douglas Adams. He was a genius and had an hysterical sense of humor. If you've read the increasingly-inappropriately-named-trilogy (consisting of 5 books!), you know what I'm talking about.

5. One book you wish you had written:
Steppenwolf, Hermann Hesse. While Siddhartha turned me on to Hesse and was written in a simplistic narrative style, Steppenwolf was a challenging introduction to magical realism. Three narrators in the first 50 pages, a magic theater (for madmen only!), the protagonist reading a mysterious psychological biography, an infinite hallway of doors, and Mozart's laughter. Imaginative, erudite, passionate, poetic, and original.

6. One book you wish had never been written:
If I think of a better answer, I'll add it. But for now, I'd say that the world would be a better place if Mein Kampf had never been written.

7. One book that made you cry:
Night, Elie Wiesel. Absolutely, utterly horrifying. You can hear about how many millions were killed in the Holocaust, but nothing makes it more relevant than reading this depiction of what actually happened.

8. One book you are currently reading:
Computer Networking, James F. Kurose & Keith W. Ross. What can I say, I'm a nerd.

9. One book you have been meaning to read:
The Illuminatus Trilogy, Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson, or A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole. I've heard raves about both, but I've just never gotten to them. Maybe someday.

10. One book you wish everyone would read, and why:
1984, George Orwell. I find it very relevant in light of Gitmo, "extraordinary renditions," the Padilla case, the booming security and surveillance industries, the nanny state tactics of groups like Focus on the Family, Parents Television Council, et al, and the popularity of Fox News. While Orwell's vision of an authoritarian government was more relevant during the Red Scare, the themes of privacy, security, media manipulation and propaganda, and human rights are still important.

More Signs of the Real Apocalypse

2006-08-10T14:45:00.000-04:00

Sorry 'bout the title. I liked the cheesy juxtaposition with the previous post, and I frankly couldn't think of anything more relevant as a title.

I wanted to point out this article from the WaPo. I have been very concerned about the Israeli retaliation in Lebanon since it began. The first paragraph provides a nice compendium of terror issues throughout the Middle East and south Asia:

Two full-blown crises, in Lebanon and Iraq, are merging into a single emergency. A chain reaction could spread quickly almost anywhere between Cairo and Bombay. Turkey is talking openly of invading northern Iraq to deal with Kurdish terrorists based there. Syria could easily get pulled into the war in southern Lebanon. Egypt and Saudi Arabia are under pressure from jihadists to support Hezbollah, even though the governments in Cairo and Riyadh hate that organization. Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of giving shelter to al-Qaeda and the Taliban; there is constant fighting on both sides of that border. NATO's own war in Afghanistan is not going well. India talks of taking punitive action against Pakistan for allegedly being behind the Bombay bombings. Uzbekistan is a repressive dictatorship with a growing Islamic resistance.

The last two sentences were things I was not aware of. Of course, reading that quote within the context of the nascent "Shiite Crescent" only increases my concern.

The Bush administration has not been known for being competent in or enthusiastic for diplomacy (e.g., appointing John Bolton to the UN). It seems that a complete change of philosophy and tactics by the administration is the key to resolving this crisis. That thought provides no reassurance at all.

Another Sign of the Mental Apocalypse

2006-08-09T14:43:00.000-04:00

I went out for lunch today to Chick-Fil-A. The total cost for my chicken nugget combo came to $5.18. I had a pocketful of dimes and pennies, but no nickel. Thus, I gave the girl behind the counter $5.23. She put the money in the drawer with a perplexed look on her face. She commented that she knew I had change coming to me, but she's "really bad in math," in her own words. She actually called someone over to help her!

As a disclaimer, she could have had a learning disability, but I doubt it. Rather, I think that she was just a teen-ager who thought that math--even trivial math--was inherently uncool. I would also venture to guess that, as a young girl, she had one of those Barbie dolls that said, "Math is hard."

A Bad Idea from Homeland Security

2006-07-13T14:39:00.000-04:00

First, I promise that I will soon put up a personal post about the joy of my recent nuptials and my beautiful wife. Short story: Everything right now is dreamy, as she has said many times over.

Before I get to that, here's a quick post regarding the new emergency broadcast system proposed by Homeland Security. The DHS spokesman was quoted as saying, "Anything that can receive a text message will receive the alert." This just seems like a very bad idea to me. First, broadcasting that kind of warning would cause a very sharp spike in cell phone traffic, possibly (though not likely due to the small size of the message) overloading the network. And second, any bets on how long it would take before somebody hacks it?

Laptop Distro Upgrade

2006-06-10T18:48:00.000-04:00

I'll have to come back and flesh this review out, but I'm just putting a quick note down here that I just upgraded from Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) to 6.06 (Dapper Drake). Overall, it was a mostly seemless upgrade. The upgrade process did bomb, for some reason, with about 4 minutes to go (out of a process that took over 2.5 hours). From what I can see, the only problem that resulted are 1) some icons did not get installed (no big deal), and 2) files were not cleaned up. Before the upgrade, I have 7 GB free on my hard drive. Now I have 5.5. I think I'm going to have to look for some stuff to kill to free up some space.

Other than those issues above, I'm impressed with what I've seen so far. The boot process is quicker and appears to be a bit more reliable. I got the much-needed upgrade to Firefox 1.5. The one thing that I am really hoping for an improvement in is the wireless handling. After the reboot, I can connect to my router quickly and smoothly. I really hope that's worked out. Everything else looks good. I'll have to play around some more and see how things are working.

Great Music

2006-06-07T12:38:00.000-04:00

I feel like procrastinating a little bit before going to lunch, so I'm going to put up a quick post here. I saw a post a short while ago (can't remember where I saw it, sorry), that offered a ranking of the 10 best albums. I have to admit that I love lists like this. I always enjoyed those list-themed shows on VH-1. [Digression: I think one of my favorites was called, "The List." Each show had a theme (e.g., "greatest rock anthem," or "greatest make-out album") and the celebrities on the show would each give three nominations. After all the nominations, the celebs each vetoed one and the audience would then vote.]

So, this particular list included greats like OK Computer, Sgt. Pepper's, Revolver, Nevermind, and Dark Side of the Moon. All great albums, to be sure. Inspired by this, here are two very tough lists to make. My ten nominations for excellent albums (not best of all time, just great ones that people who love music should listen to if they never have):

Tori Amos, Boys for Pele

Coldplay, A Rush of Blood to the Head

Miles Davis, Kind of Blue

Live, Throwing Copper

Moby, Play

NIN, The Fragile

Pearl Jam, Ten

Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon

Radiohead, Kid A

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Californication

Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream

Stereolab, Emperor Tomato Ketchup

Yes, Close to the Edge

OK, so that's 13. It's my list, so I don't care. I can't pick any of those to take off the list anyways. Oh, and here are some artists for honorable mentions: Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Nirvana, 10,000 Maniacs, Billy Joel, Jimi Hendrix, the Clash. U2 and REM are disqualified because almost all of their albums consist of this odd, dichotomous blend of musical genius with unlistenable filler garbage. I cannot point to any of there albums that are great for more than half of the tracks.

Now, the other list. Ten great songs that I will never tire of hearing:

Billy Joel, "The Downeaster Alexa"

REM, "Losing My Religion"

10,000 Maniacs, "Because the Night"

Dave Brubeck, "Take Five"

The Clash, "London Calling"

Dire Straits, "Romeo and Juliet"

DMB, "Crush"

Annie Lennox, "Don't Let It Bring You Down"

The Moody Blues, "Nights in White Satin"

Seal, "Crazy"

Simon and Garfunkel, "America"

Tool, "Sober"

The Who, "Won't Get Fooled Again"

Yes, once again, that's 13 because I can't count and I don't care. I'm not going to bother with an honorable mention list, because that would take about 5 pages.

OK, time for lunch. Feel free to rattle off your own nominations.

Just In Case You Were Unsure

2006-05-23T11:07:00.000-04:00

The Pro-Life movement is not just about abortion. It is about establishing a legal fundamentalist Christian/Catholic sexual ethic.

If that premise [that God is always described in Scripture as the sole procreative decision-maker] is true, who has the right to say no to God? Who can say they have a better grip on timing than God? Pro-aborts are right. Contraception is next issue after abortion. And pro-lifers must work it through.

The Stuff Of Nightmares

2006-05-10T16:49:00.000-04:00

Just, please God, no.

And The Duh! Award Goes To...

2006-05-05T16:13:00.000-04:00

So, if you cut funding for family planning programs and push sex education that only teaches abstinence, the number of unplanned pregnancies rise? Amazing! Oh, but of course, it doesn't rise in all demographics. Just those that rely on public funding for family planning services, such as free or cheap birth control. And let's not forget that extra special side effect that higher rates of unplanned pregnancies cause an increase in abortion rates. Pro-life, huh? Because I haven't heard feminists and other social liberals screaming about this since Bush took office.

[Note: I apologize for the utter disregard for proper grammar in this post. I am so outraged at the "Democrats are pro-death and pro-abortion" rhetoric that has been thrown around for the past several years that I cannot a formulate calm, rational response.]

11. Is That Also Their IQ?

2006-05-04T13:07:00.000-04:00

I may not always succeed, but I try to avoid condescending remarks that imply someone with a different opinion is stupid. It's rude and an incredibly poor argument. Well, here is a case where I will not succeed. An article on Yahoo news reports the results of a survey regarding the trustworthiness of news sources. When asked to name the most trusted news source, the leading answer for American respondents was Fox News.

Utterly. Un. Believable.

I cannot fathom this. I simply have no words to express my dismay regarding this fact.

The positive spin of this, though, is that only 11% named Fox. I see that as a mixed blessing. In this country, there are many options. I would imagine that the responses for CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, the AP, Reuters, etc. would not be far behind that 11%. So that leaves some hope.

Hallelujah

2006-05-04T12:58:00.000-04:00

All I can say is hooray!! From the article:

In response to overwhelming demand, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release attractively priced individual two-disc releases of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Each release includes the 2004 digitally remastered version of the movie and, as bonus material, the theatrical edition of the film. That means you'll be able to enjoy Star Wars as it first appeared in 1977, Empire in 1980, and Jedi in 1983.

I wanted the trilogy on DVD, but I absolutely refused to buy it when I heard that Anakin's ghost at the end of RotJ was replaced with Hayden Christensen. Although, it could have been worse. They could have replaced it with Jake Lloyd...

Done

2006-05-04T11:30:00.000-04:00

Two semesters of grad school. Complete. In the record books. OK, well, the grades haven't been reported yet, but I do not have to contribute one additional iota of mental capacity toward finishing Advanced Operating Systems. I wouldn't mind doing more work for Security. Actually, I will be since that is the field of my thesis. But I am now done with that class.

Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......

I have learned a lot this year, and not all of it has been directly related to course topics. Rather, I have learned that I have no interest in doing advanced work in the area of computer science known as "Systems." I now understand that my primary area of interest is the mathematical and theoretical aspects of computer security. The ability to formulate the thought in the previous sentence is, by far, the most valuable piece of knowledge that I have accumulated in the past year.

At this moment, I now feel more confident and more able to pursue a Ph.D. than I previously felt. That is an exquisite feeling.

Required Reading

2006-04-11T13:54:00.000-04:00

There are many topics about which I feel very passionately, even if they don't affect me. One of those is abortion. I am adamantly pro-choice, and oppose passing legal restrictions such as parental/spousal notification, waiting periods, etc. I don't want to get into a full discussion of these topics, so I will instead offer a few questions for you to ponder: Who will these legal restrictions affect? Who would have an abortion without informing their spouse or parents? What is the result of making a woman who has decided to get an abortion wait longer? Discuss amongst yourselves...

The real reason I wanted to post about abortion is this article, which is getting a lot of mention in the blogosphere. It shows what happens when you have radical laws passed by well-meaning conservatives trying to protect a "culture of life." It really is a must-read. Here's a quote from the end: "I was there to see Carmen Climaco. She is now 26 years old, four years into her 30-year sentence. She has three children, who today are 11, 8 and 6 years old. [...] She'd had a clandestine abortion at 18 weeks[...]. It's just that she'd had an abortion in El Salvador."

Confidence

2006-04-07T15:33:00.000-04:00

I just spent a little surfing time lookat at the IU Taekwondo (TKD) Club page. It is sometimes amazing how many memories and old emotions can come welling up quite unexpectedly. And it is always a mixture of the good and the bad.

First, I laughed when I read this on the FAQ page: "Pre-tests are required for black belt candidates [...] to determine whether you are ready to test for promotion, or if you should wait." First, let me say that I was ready. I got solid scores on all parts of my exam, and I know that I earned my belt the day of that test. There is no doubt in my mind about that.

In my black belt class, there were 5 other students. I've never taken the time to think about who should and who should not have passed, but it was made clear to us that day that none of us would be getting our belts that day. The first part of the exam is made up of forms, also known as kata or poomse. Forms are set movements where you demonstrate your techniques. In our style, forms are critical. If you don't know your forms, you typically fail your test regardless of the rest of your techniques. If you nail your forms, you will most likely pass. I nailed my forms. 100% solid. There was one person who was asked to repeat one of them because of a mistake. The other 4 had to repeat multiple forms. You could sense a growing tension among the instructors, and they held a private meeting after the forms portion. We found out later that the meeting was on whether or not to allow us to continue. They decided to let us finish, but no belts would be awarded that day. Eventually, we did all get our black belts, but I couldn't help but laugh at the new pre-test requirement. I know that my class was a contributing factor to that.

Then, I looked around some more, and felt a resurgence of anger that I have not felt in a long time. Specifically, it came when I read this: "Mr. Thomas [...] has been a club instructor for since 1998." Well, yes and no. To recap the order of events, my black belt test was in Dec. 1997, and we were awarded them in Jan. 1998. Late spring 1998, the offer was made to Mr. Thomas and me to become co-instructors of the TKD club. The long-time instructor (who provided most of my training) had 2 small children and was finishing up his Ph.D. thesis. He had a lot of other priorities and did a lot of flip-flopping regarding whether or not he could commit. The 1997-1998 school year, he was rarely available. Shortly after Mr. Thomas and I were selected to become instructors for fall 1998, a flurry of emails were exchanged on a discussion list until the list had to be shut down by the head of the martial arts department.

Mr. Thomas had made a comment about "when Mike and I are instructors," and my old teacher began a series of attacks on our qualifications. And when I say, "our," I mean that almost all of those attacks were aimed at me. They were baseless, as people who knew me pointed out. Yet, they were more than that. There were also attacks that were personal in nature and completely inappropriate. To make it even worse, there were people on this list who did not know me (they were alums of the IU TKD program and had schools of their own), but were close to my old instructor. Needless to say, my reputation in their eyes was tarnished, and they made it clear that they would not have been happy to work with Mr. Thomas and me as the club instructors. To this day, I cannot fathom all of the motivations of my old instructor. There had long been a turf war between him and the head of the martial arts department. Perhaps I was simply caught up in the middle of those politics. Regardless, I have never felt as betrayed as I did when I read those emails.

The resolution of all of this was the department head stepped in and took ownership of the club. Mr. Thomas and I became relegated to assistant instructor status. I wish I could say that we went on to prove my old instructor wrong. But the truth is, the damage had already been done.

I've always had struggles with confidence. As I worked toward and earned my black belt, I was turning the tide. I knew that my techniques were good. I knew that I could teach well. I knew that others learned from what I said, because I saw it as their abilities improved. And to have my old instructor, a man whom I deeply respected and admired, turn around and discredit everything that I had accomplished was devastating. I did well as an assistant instructor, but I had lost my enthusiasm for it. That was fall of 1998. By spring of 1999, I was gone. That was the semester that I dropped all of my classes. That was the time when I really began to understand that I had a problem with my self-esteem.

I wish I could say I've fixed the problem. Sure, I've made corrections. And as I've matured, I've come to be more accepting of my flaws and know that I don't have to be perfect in everything I try. But that doesn't mean I don't struggle almost daily with issues of self-worth.

As I said at the beginning, it's amazing how all of this can come to the surface in such unexpected ways. Similarly, it's astounding how something as simple as email can have such unintended consequences.

Loss & Healing

2006-04-06T17:13:00.000-04:00

I've changed the title of this post several times now, despite not having written a word. I like this one. As some of you may know, today is the third anniversary of my Mom's death. It's hard to believe that it's only been 3 years. It feels like a lot longer than that. Yet, I still remember what it felt like when she hugged me. Or they way that she would playfully smack me on the cheek. It's hard to describe, but she would do these rapid little smacks at the rate of about 10 per second.

I think the last time I saw her alive was Christmas day 2002. I flew back to Vermont that evening because I had to work at Barnes & Noble the next day. I'm glad that my last memories of her were happy ones. On that Christmas, she had a 13 month old grandson, and she had her family there with her. There were plenty of smiles and love going around. On that day, everything about the future looked perfect.

Since that day, I've lost my Mom and my Grandma. One of my cousins has been diagnosed with breast cancer. One of my aunts had a stroke and almost died because of heart problems. My sister-in-law has had ongoing battles with a neurological problem in her leg. Life has been tough.

But also since that day, I've gotten engaged to the most wonderful woman. I've gotten into grad school and have started taking steps down the long path toward a Ph.D. I've learned to ski. I've gone skydiving. I've worked to deepen friendships that matter very much to me. Life has been very good.

So here I am, getting close to turning 30 and looking back on three years without my Mom. I wish I had some grand insights into the nature of life and what it all means, but I don't. I have learned more about how to identify the relationships that really matter and how to cherish each and every one of those. But I've never had any sudden enlightening moment. Each day that goes by is just that: another day. On the one hand, it means one less day that I have left to live, but it also means one more day of knowledge, experience, memories, and (hopefully) wisdom gained. That's the trade-off. I can't say that my Mom's death hurts any less now than it did three years ago. But it is easier to deal with that pain. I guess that's what healing is all about.

So, if you're reading this, here's my advice. Go find a loved one and give them a hug. Unfortunately, I won't see Brianne until tomorrow, so I'll just have to settle for giving that hug to the cat curled up on my lap.

Thanks, Mom, for 26 and a half happy years.

Net Neutrality and Regulation

2006-04-06T12:23:00.000-04:00

So here's a new post for you. Amazing, huh?

I just read this article regarding the defeat of a Democrat-backed amendment proposal to require telecommunication providers to offer "Net neutrality." The idea behind Net neutrality is that telcos must focus solely on passing all bits through at the highest speed possible without regard for what the nature of those bits are. The telcos, such as Verizon and AT&T, have lobbied very hard to defeat Net neutrality. And, for now at least, they have won.

First, let me note that the defeat of this proposal does not outlaw Net neutrality. It simply does not require it. As usual, conservatives are applying the "free market" ideal without acknowledging basic facts. The article quotes Grover Norquist as saying Net neutrality regulation "would begin down the dangerous path of Internet regulation." I.e., requiring Net neutrality could lead to an overzealous FCC stepping in and regulating content, censoring controversial ideas, etc., etc. As usual, the free market ideal is the answer to everything. The government should not interfere.

The flaw in this thinking is that we are simply trading in one kind of regulation for another. Now, it is not the government who will be regulating content, but monopolies. When I lived in Vermont, I had one choice for cable access: Adelphia. If I didn't like their service, well frankly, tough luck. My free market choice was to submit to monopolistic price gouging or go without cable service. I did have other alternatives, such as Verizon DSL (another monopoly) or dial-up. This is far from the ideal of free market competition. What makes this especially bad is the fact that you have monopolistic interests as an intermediary to information access. A free and democratic society requires open access to information. This open access is incompatible with absolute free market capitalism, when monopolies interfere. In this case, a government of the people, for the people, and by the people, has a duty to intervene and offer a compromise.

I've been speaking about general access, but what do all these vague generalities have to do with Net neutrality? In arguing against Net neutrality, the telcos are claiming that their motivations are to prioritize certain services, such as streaming video, to make them commercially viable (see this article). OK, sounds reasonable enough, but what is the problem? And if it is really about providing better service, why are so many tech companies (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, eBay, Amazon, etc.) in favor of Net neutrality? The answer is money. In order to fund this prioritization, content providers would pay the telcos a premium access fee to use the high speed capabilities. Is anyone naive enough to think that SBC, Verizon, etc., will offer this premium access out of the goodness of their hearts?

What makes this especially laughable is that telcos are also service providers. Let's say Verizon decides to prioritize VoIP traffic. (I think they offer VoIP, but I'm not entirely certain. Assume they do for the purposes of this example.) Getting this premium access ensures that VoIP calls go through with more clarity. Obviously, charging a market-set premium access fee will benefit Verizon and hurt Skype. So if you live in Vermont with Adelphia cable access, and Skype is in California with Comcast internet access, you (and it will be you) now have to pay Verizon for your call to go through. Or Skype could choose to not pay the premium, and you would get worse service than if you had VoIP through Verizon. Obviously, this is a game that only benefits the telcos. It allows them to use monopolies in one market (control of the data transfer lines) to benefit their other services. This is exactly the reason that anti-trust legislation has long been on the books.

Allowing telcos to prioritize data transfer as they see fit will lead to increased costs borne by the consumer, increased barriers for small companies to compete, and further centralization of information control in the hands of large providers. Free markets are good when the economic theory aligns with the reality. In the case of internet access, that is not the case.

Monday Random Ten

2006-02-27T17:40:00.000-05:00

I was busy having a fun visit to DC on Friday (thanks again, Christina and Ben for showing me around), so I didn't get around to posting. Besides, it's my blog, I can do what I want. Hehe... So here's the quick random 10:

1) Dave Matthews Band, "Lie in Our Graves" - Sure, he's trite and frat-boy-rock, but I still like most Dave, especially earlier stuff. Crash was just a good album to listen to, due in large part to Carter's drumming...

2) Aerosmith, "Kings and Queens" - Classic Aerosmith is always a good thing.

3) Steve Reich, Sextet, 5th Movement - Few people have the ability to appreciate mallet percussion minimalism. I happen to be one of those few. Organized chaos is one of my favorite musical styles, and that's probably the best way to describe minimalism. Random, repeated notes, but it all fits together to create a harmonious whole. Interesting that I've never noticed the way this piece has both very even rhythms and jazzy, rocking ones...

4) Radiohead, "Everything is in its Right Place" - Wow. I was planning on listening to Kid A when this was finished, and here's the opening track. I cannot rave about this album enough. Each track contrasts with the previous, adding a new layer of sound. But it's all synthesized. "Robot rock" is one way that I've heard it described. If you like experimental music that really is a masterpiece of style blending, check out Kid A.

5) Toad the Wet Sprocket, "I Will Not Take These Things For Granted" - In high school, I traded with my friend Tony, giving him my Alice In Chains Dirt CD for his Toad Fear CD. He couldn't get rid of Fear fast enough, simply because the lyrics contained the words "God damn" at one point. Tony was very religious and blasphemy was very serious to him. Best CD trade I ever made, though. I loved every track of it and became a big Toad fan for a long time. Just great, pleasant stuff.

6) Led Zeppelin, "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" - Very uncharacteristic Led Zeppelin tune. It's kind of like a bluegrass/country jam, but in a good way. I have never been timid about voicing my complete disdain for country, but this is just such a fun song. Makes me want to tap my foot to the beat. It's because of tunes like this that I've always thought Zeppelin was even better than people gave them credit for. They were talented musicians that could write and play any style of music.

7) Sergei Rachmaninov, "Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini," Variation XVII - Short little filler section. Variation XVIII is the famous one. If you've heard of this piece, you no exactly what part I'm talking about.

8) Medeski, Martin & Wood, "Sasa" - The iPod has good (and very diverse) taste today. MMW's kind of an acquired taste for people who aren't really into jazz. Sure, I was pissed when I saw them and they didn't play an encore. But getting this CD for free from a friend made up for it.

9) The Clash, "Bankrobber" - Not my favorite Clash song, but not a bad one either.

10) PJ Harvey, "Down by the Water" - This was a big radio hit for her (mid-90s), probably the only one she ever had. She's a bit too freaky/alternative for mainstream radio, but she's always had a pretty loyal underground following. I saw her open up for Live in the summer of '95. She puts on a great live show and I became a fan.

OK, that's it for today... I'll probably post something real later this week.

A Headline Too Good to Pass Up

2006-02-17T17:03:00.000-05:00

They changed the headline on the page itself, but on CNN's main page, the title of this story is "Shooting victim apologizes to vice president." I kid you not. Cheney shoots the guy. Then the guy apologizes to Cheney. Wow. And I thought this was just a joke.

Friday Random Ten and Links

2006-02-17T12:43:00.000-05:00

First, the fun stuff. Take the iPod, hit "Shuffle Songs," and we have...

1) Pink Floyd, "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 3" - Part 2 was the famous "We don't need no education" song. Nothing special about part 3...

2) Les Miserables, "Wedding Chorale / Beggars at the Feast" - Now we're getting some fun mixes of tunes. I love Les Mis, and the Thenardiers are always among the most fun parts. Not musically great, though.

3) Sting, "The Hounds of Winter" - Probably my favorite track from Mercury Falling. Pleasant, quintessential Sting song.

4) Igor Stravinsky, "The Firebird: Infernal Dance of Kaschey's Subjects" - I love, love, love Stravinsky and especially the Firebird suite. This is a great, aggressive piece with a lovely flowing melody about halfway through that is sprinkled with brash repeated notes.

5) Harry Connick, Jr., "It Had to be You (Instrumental)" - Fun piano jazz. This is from the When Harry Met Sally soundtrack. It's all Harry Connick, which means it's all good.

6) Rush, "Leave That Thing Alone" - See, after I criticize the iPod for picking bad tracks, now it starts picking good ones. Counterparts is far and away the best of the latter day Rush albums. This is a cool instrumental jam from it.

7) Nickelback, "Someday" - Got it from iTunes. I like Nickelback enough to listen to their radio songs, but not enough to buy a CD.

8) Live, "Freaks" - Any song with a Henry Miller reference thrown in is a great song by my judgment.

9) Rush, "La Villa Strangiato" - Another Rush instrumental. This one from the late '70s/early '80s (don't remember). It's a 10 minute track of about 25 different musical styles. Great prog rock, though.

10) Miss Saigon, "What's This I Find?" - Thuy confronts Kim and Chris. I had the fortune of seeing Lea Salonga reprise her role as Kim on Broadway a couple years ago. It was part of the celebration of the musical's last 6 months on Broadway before closing. She was incredible. The rest of the cast... Well, let's just say that there's a reason it was closing.

Bonus track - Belle & Sebastian, "If You're Feeling Sinister" - I was going to stop at 10, but I let the shuffle continue and this came up. I had to include this one because of an hysterical line: "She was into S&M and Bible studies. Not everyone's cup of tea, she would admit to me." I smile whenever I hear that, because, well, I'm weird that way. I like mixtures of speciously conflicting imagery.

Now for the stuff that's not as much fun. Links to some serious stuff:

WaPo conservative George Will once again rips the Bush administration a new one for its complete disregard for the law.

Liberal blog Daily Kos has very disturbing photos from Abu Ghraib. Warning: some pretty graphic stuff. These are definitely not the timid pictures of people on leashes or human pyramids. But it is important to see what actual results from the leadership of our currently elected government.

And lastly, the Department of Homeland Security warns Sony that the rootkit style of DRM "protections" may result in legislation and regulation. I'm glad to see DHS getting involved, but I'd like to see some sterner language used.

A Real Life Transformer

2006-02-12T14:58:00.000-05:00

This is frickin' great! A four-wheeled vehicle that changes into a two-legged walking robot. Can I just say how much I loved Transformers growing up? And how much I want this thing on this video?

Wow

2006-02-11T02:02:00.000-05:00

In research my Oscar/Brokeback posts, I did a little looking around on IMDb. I can't believe it's been 6 years since the Dilbert animated series. I remember the hype about this when it was coming out. I can't believe that was that long ago. Wow...

Brokeback Mountain

2006-02-11T01:19:00.000-05:00

So, in my previous post, I mentioned that I hadn't seen Brokeback Mountain yet. Well, now I have. I thought the movie was excellent and is very deserving regarding the best picture Oscar. I feel even more strongly that Ang Lee should win best director. The cinematography is breath-taking, and Lee's vision is wonderful. Of his other movies, I've seen The Ice Storm (only once, and that was a while ago) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Lee is without a doubt one of my favorite directors (Curtis Hanson, Bryan Singer, and Tim Burton are some of the others that come to mind). Whenever he gets the chance to use nature as a visual aid, there is no one who can capture it as well. His movies are remarkably beautiful to watch. Whenever I think of Crouching Tiger, the first image that pops into my mind is the way the bamboo trees would flow in the wind. With Brokeback Mountain, obviously, it is the majesty of the mountains. Cold and austere, yet ever present and comforting.

The acting was also very good. If it were not for Capote, I would say that Heath Ledger should get the Oscar for lead actor. He was surprisingly good. Any other year, I would say he would win. Not this year, though. Hoffman's portrayal is simply too perfect to be beaten. Jake Gyllenhaal was less than great at the beginning of the movie, but he improved a lot as the story progressed. I don't know exactly what it was at the beginning. He seemed to be trying too hard. I'm not sure. And, of course, there's also Michelle Williams for supporting actress. She was very good. Of the acting categories, supporting actress seems to be the one that is the most competitive. Hoffman should have lead actor locked up. Clooney won the supporting actor Golden Globe, but none of the Oscar nominees really stick out as that great. I think I actually liked Randy Quaid in Brokeback more than I liked any of the nominees. Felicity Huffman will most likely win lead actress. But for support actress, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, and Catherine Keener are all deserving. I haven't seen North Country, but I know that Frances McDormand is always brilliant, so she probably has a shot, too. I think the award will go to either Weisz or Williams, but I think this category is very close.

OK, so enough of Oscar talk and back to the movie itself. What I loved about this movie is the indirect story-telling. If you wanted to learn how to create a movie to tell a story without relying on dialogue, this is the quintessential case study. If I remember correctly, the word "love" is never uttered by anyone in the movie. Yet that is what it is all about. And the ending. Poetic brilliance. The love that Ennis had for Jack allowed him to learn to love his daughters. If that seems a little obscure, go see the movie. It'll make more sense.

This movie, like I mentioned in regard to Munich, succeeds because of the emphasis on the inherent drama of human relations. There are no easy answers. There is no simple love story without the context of the world around us. I read somewhere that that is one of Ang Lee's signatures. He likes to create stories of love that cannot be as a result of external forces. That certainly is the case here. The world is not perfect and we must make the most of every opportunity to experience love.

So, yes, I am officially on the bandwagon now. Brokeback Mountain is my pick for the best film of the year.

Oscar Thoughts

2006-02-10T12:07:00.000-05:00

Since the Oscar nominees came out a couple weeks ago, here are some related thoughts and judgments. First, this will be the first year that I will have seen all of the movies nominated for best picture. I haven't seen Brokeback yet, but I think I'll go this weekend since I'm on my own. (Brianne's heading to Cincy to pick up her dress and the bridesmaids' dresses.)

Of the four that I have seen, I can say that all of them are very good movies. Typically, when I see the nominees, there is at least one, sometimes two, movies nominated that just don't quite seem as good as they should be. Master & Commander, A Beautiful Mind, Gladiator, Jerry Maguire. Those are a few off the top of my head that were good movies, but they just did not really seem like great movies. I think this year's pick for that distinction would be Good Night and Good Luck. Yes, it's very good and thought-provoking, but it's just not on par with the others. While Strathairn's performance was excellent, there wasn't much for the supporting cast to work with.

You can't say the same thing about Capote. Yes, it's a bit unbalanced because of Philip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal (I give him a 99% chance of winning, and deservedly so), but the supporting roles were also done very well. Catherine Keener was very good, though I think I'm pulling for Rachel Weisz in supporting actress.

Crash was probably the most well-balanced of the movies nominated. The acting all around was good (though no contenders stuck out). I've always thought that Sandra Bullock was a better actress than the roles she typically plays. I'm not saying she's Helena Bonham Carter or Frances McDormand, but rather that she's capable of better roles than Speed and While You Were Sleeping.

Munich, which I saw recently but didn't talk about here, was excellent. Of the four that I've seen, I think I would pick Munich as being the best. It was surprisingly apolitical. Yes, it made political points (terrorists do bad things, governments do bad things, that whole cycle of violence thing), but it never really picked a side. It did not try to justify the Olympic murders or the revenge killings. I think what I particularly liked was how human the Israeli assassins were, especially the role portrayed by Eric Bana (very good, very underrated actor). They are not Ethan Hunt or James Bond. They are real people with wives and children that get hired by their government to go on an assination mission.

After I see Brokeback (if it lives up to the hype), I'll see how my picks change.

On a related note, I really like the Oscar database. It's very easy to use and a quick way to get information about past winners and nominees. Whenever I look back there, I find several movies that were highly acclaimed at the time and have been all but forgotten (Billy Elliot, Babe, Mr. Holland's Opus), some that I never saw but feel I should (Bullets Over Broadway, Good Fellas, Hannah and Her Sisters, Gods and Monsters, Saving Private Ryan, Adaptation, Maria Full of Grace), underrated, great movies I am glad I saw (Hotel Rwanda, In America, City of God, Shine), some WTF nominations (Beauty and the Beast for best picture, Tom Cruise for Jerry Maguire, Joan Cuasck for In & Out, Julia Roberts for Pretty Woman, Gloria "Old Rose" Stuart for Titanic), and some how-the-hell-did-that-beat-the-other victories (Gump over Shawshank, Gwyneth Paltrow over Cate Blanchett in 1998, Julia Roberts over Ellen Burstyn in 2000, A Beautiful Mind over Fellowship of the Ring for directing or picture, Sean Penn over Johnny Depp and Bill Murray in 2003, Tim Robbins over Djimon Hounsou in 2003). Oh, and no best picture nomination for Glory?!? Wow.

My top five favorite Oscar winners:

Frances McDormand (actress, Fargo)

Al Pacino (actor, Scent of a Woman)

Anthony Hopkins/Silence of the Lambs (actor and best picture)

Marissa Tomei (supporting actress, My Cousin Vinny)

Denzel Washington (supporting actor, Glory)

Honorable mentions: Halle Berry (actress, Monster's Ball) and Marcia Gay Harden (supporting actress, Pollock)

Friday Random Ten

2006-02-10T11:00:00.000-05:00

OK, it's a common, silly meme, but I've often thought it would be interesting to see what came out of my iPod by setting it to random. My musical tastes are fairly wide and bizarre, so let's give it a try...

1) Red Hot Chili Peppers, "My Friends" - One of only two (with Aeroplane) from the Dave Navarro era that I can listen to.

2) Moulin Rouge, "Like a Virgin" - Probably the worst song from the movie, I never really cared for it.

3) Coldplay, "Speed of Sound" - Ah, guilty pleasures. Yes, I confess. I like Coldplay. I've never really understood the backlash against them. Sure, a lot of it sounds similar, but it's pleasant to hear.

4) Belle & Sebastian, "Me and the Major" - Fun song. B&S are a very interesting group. It seems that everyone who's heard them loves their music. But not very many people have heard them...

5) Annie Lennox, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" - I like this version just as much as the original. The tinkling sound that plays the instrumental theme is a little annoying, but her voice is so lovely that I can forgive that. The random harp notes are oddly nice, too. This is one of my favorite Annie Lennox songs.

6) Dave Matthews Band, "Spoon" - Nice tune. I never play it intentionally, but whenever it comes on, I enjoy it.

7) Rolling Stones, "Beast of Burden" - I've never been a huge Stones fan, but this is one I've always liked.

8) David Lanz, "Improvisation: Near the Still Waters of Amsterdam" - If you're looking for some relaxing solo piano stuff, pick up "Return to the Heart." Very soothing music.

9) Rent, "Rent" - I love Rent. Yes, it's melodramatic. Yes, there's something a little silly about having finely tuned singers on top of a rock beat. But it's just so much fun.

10) Peter Gabriel, "Blood of Eden" - "Us" is such a great CD. This song is one of the reasons why.

OK, so there was nothing too bizarre this week. Part of the reason for that is that I have very little classical stuff on my iPod (I've still got a lot of ripping to do and not a lot of time to do it...). We'll see what comes up in future samples. Only 2495 more songs to go...

My Shortest Post Ever

2006-01-31T11:54:00.000-05:00

Damnit!

On A Personal Note

2005-11-22T03:24:00.000-05:00

I should go to bed, but I still want to say a little bit more here. I haven't had the chance to post for a while, so I want to take advantage of the momentum.

I've been rather listless lately. I really need to get an assistantship next year. Continuing to work for my team remotely has been more draining than I expected. It's just a bit of a distraction. It's very hard to switch from that work to coding C++ or assembly language or completing formal methods projects. Four hours tomorrow then I'm gone until next week. That'll be nice.

Adding to the downer lately (and kind of related to the previous paragraph) has been this feeling that I'm not doing anything. Yes, Brianne and I are making wedding plans. I cannot complain about that in anyway. She is wonderful and I love the time we get to share. And, yes, I am studying. So I'm getting some of that personal development. But I'm not doing anything with that. I'm attending lectures Monday through Thursday for 2 easy (to me, anyways) undergrad courses and 1 grad course that I just can't see the use for. I want to start playing around with some electrical engineering type of stuff. I.e., get out a Dremel, a circuit board, some components and build something. I very much would like to write more. Not just blogging, but also fiction. I want to take classical guitar lessons. I want to get a good electric piano and start playing again. I want to play around with composing a little bit.

The problem is that I lack both the confidence and time to invest in these things. The time issue is obvious. I'm a full-time graduate student who is also working 20 hours a week in a very stressful, demanding job, while maintaining a relationship with my fiancee who lives 4 hours away. Not many free moments to give up there. As for the confidence...

I've always felt that others expected great things out of me. That pressure led to a bit of egocentrism and possibly some delusions of grandeur. In other words, because everyone had such high expectations for me, I must be capable of turning water into wine myself. However, the older I get, the more I realize that I don't know. I will never understand the intricacies of evolutionary biology. I will never be able to compose an opera. I will never be president. I am okay with all of that. But I feel that I am capable of more than I am doing now. I think about people doing creative things and feel inadequate. Jonathan's in a band with a couple of CDs recorded. Keira Knightley (she was on the Daily Show earlier) is an amazing actress, yet she's only 20. I'm going to be 30 next year. What have I got to show for myself? I can't help but feel utterly paralyzed by fear. I frequently talk to others and mention something that I had just learned, only to find out they have known that for years. For example, I'm starting to look into tinkering around with electronics in ways that teenage geeks do. I'm terrified that whichever creative outlet I attempt, I will fail. I sometimes even wonder if getting rejected from 5 out of 6 CS grad programs was a sign. Perhaps I don't have the creativity and ingenuity that it takes to get a Ph.D.

I think of all this and my mind goes back to Brianne. She worries when I start speaking like this. Her fear is that I will get stuck in one of these funks at some point in the future. I do my best to reassure her that it's only temporary. (I know she'll read this, but I need to get it out.) The honest response would be to admit to her that if this is a small concern for her, it is a mind-numbing terror for me. She thinks me brilliant and strong. I worry that one day I'll be exposed for the coward and idiot I fear that I am. Irrational fears, I know. But still there, nonetheless. I am also scared that she will misinterpret any of this. Yes, I want my obituary to identify me as "husband of Brianne, and father of children X, Y, and Z." However, I do not think I can be content with just that. I need to feel complete so that I can contribute just as much to our union.

This quote (a longtime favorite) seems applicable: "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them."

Links Roundup

2005-11-22T02:45:00.000-05:00

Comedian Bill Hicks on Creationism. Funny stuff.

Charles Krauthammer, in an unusually good column for him, on Intelligent Design.

The top 20 geek novels. I've read numbers 1-4 and 17. I also own 9, 13, and 19 (kind of own number 8 if you count Prelude to Foundation). I'm kind of surprised by a few omissions here. No Tolkien. No Timothy Zahn Star Wars novels. No Kafka. No Bradbury. No Samuel Delany. I guess for some of those, it depends on your definition of geek.

The FDA decision regarding Plan B was politicall motivated. Gee, imagine that. I never would have guessed. I mean, it's not like the scientific advisers overwhelmingly approved it. OK, enough snark.

President Bush is getting a little desparate for speech material. I saw on another site where he used the same speech a third time. Maybe if he just repeats it 500 more times some idiot will buy the lies again...

A long article on avian influenza. It still doesn't look good. Pharmaceutical companies don't seem to be making enough vaccine. "We really don't see the pandemic itself as a market opportunity." In other words, it comes down to money. Preparing for a pandemic isn't profitable.

Bottled water is causing tooth decay. Well, not directly. It's just that people are drinking less tap water and, thus, getting less flouride. Gotta love unintended consequences.

Texas was apparently a little overzealous, and executed a man now possibly believed to be innocent. The lone eyewitness and co-defendant both are recanting, claiming they were pressured by police. Well, if that's the case, the police can just release the falsely accused. Oh wait, they can't...

So, that's enough for now...

Sony Follow-up

2005-11-22T02:00:00.000-05:00

This post is an addendum to my earlier post regarding the way that Sony's DRM technology (i.e., the stuff that tries to keep you from making copies) installs a rootkit, a very dangerous piece of software. First, this article points out that security researcher Dan Kaminsky has found the "probable existence of at least one compromised machine in roughly 568,200 networks worldwide." Note that's the number of networks, not computers. There could be multiple computers on each network infected. Oh, and that was as of November 15th. Or you can look here for a visual representation of the areas infected.

As if the rootkit wasn't bad enough, the patch is worse than the original problem. To get the patch, you visit a Sony website. The site installs a program called CodeSupport on your computer. CodeSupport is then used to remove the rootkit. Sound good? Well, not according to Princeton CS professor Edward Felten:

CodeSupport remains on your system after you leave Sony’s site, and it is marked as safe for scripting, so any Web page can ask CodeSupport to do things. One thing CodeSupport can be told to do is download and install code from an Internet site.

CodeSupport does no verification of the source. Any website can make a request to CodeSupport to install programs onto your computer without your knowledge or consent. Um, Houston, we have a problem. This is supposed to be a fix?

And it gets even more fun for Sony and First4Internet (the company that wrote the original DRM software licensed by Sony). It appears this software uses copyrighted code. The code in question is a program called LAME and demux/mp4/drms.c. They are licensed under the LGPL and GPL, respectively. The GPL is a licensing scheme that requires (among other things) that the original code authors be given credit. No such reference exists in XCP (the DRM software). While the GPL has never been tested in a court of law, Sony and/or First4Internet could be looking at copyright infringement charges. We'll have to wait and see about that...

And, to make it oh so wonderful for Sony, the Texas attorney general has filed suit with them for all of this nonsense. Texas is seeking $100,000 per violation. The RIAA (which represents recording labels and companies like Sony) like to try to sue people for some egregious amount (more than $1000) per song illegally downloaded. Given the relative damage between a single illegal download and the installation of a rootkit, I say, "Go Texas!" A couple thousand computers infected could produce a fine in the hundreds of millions of dollars. I have no pity for them at all.

This last note is a little unrelated, but not entirely. When companies like Sony pull some sort of crap like this, they are not just hurting themselves. Sony, after all, is a large, respected name. If you can't trust them, who can you trust? Perhaps that helps to explain why less than 1 in 5 people trust websites to handle personal information properly. You don't say.

Update: I meant to include this link in my post, as well. If you thought the rootkit and the patch were bad enough, try checking out the EULA (i.e., the terms that you supposedly agree to whenever you install software). A couple of the gems:

If you file for bankruptcy, you must delete all digital copies of the CD.

If the CD is stolen, you must delete any copies you have on your computer.

You cannot hold Sony-BMG liable for more than $5, no matter what happens.

Man, I can't stop laughing over here...

"More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones."

2005-11-18T18:41:00.000-05:00

Due to popular demand, here is another movie review for you...

Today, I caught a matinee of Capote, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman. For those unfamiliar with the movie, the story is that of Truman Capote as he researches and writes his true crime masterpiece, In Cold Blood. I think that this is one of the best character study films I've ever seen, if not one of my favorite movies overall.

Hoffman's performance was sublime. During the screening, I completely lost any previous role he has played. Every posture, every gesture, every pause, every line, was perfectly crafted. Hoffman's Capote was entirely egocentric and arrogant, but definitely human. For most of the film, he is completely remorseless about how he manipulates both people and events. What I found remarkable was that he truly did not care if Perry Smith, the convicted murderer, was guilty or innocent. The only thing that mattered was his book, which he claimed would be "the nonfiction book of the decade." Capote was aloof to everyone and everything around him.

Perhaps the most telling scene is after Capote gives a reading from his book. Capote and others are celebrating backstage when a member of the audience stands in the doorway, awestruck, and tells Capote that his descriptions of the murderers was truly horrifying. Capote thanks him and continues the celebration, ignoring how obviously disturbed this person was by the book. After the guy leaves, Capote calls out for him to come back. He wants to hear more praise of how moving his book is.

Capote's egocentrism is complete until he realizes that these are people's lives and Smith will be executed. Capote wants to be perceived as good and insists that he did everything he could do to help them. His grief is sincere, but too little, too late.

While the movie is not perfect (I would have liked to see more of the initial interaction between Capote and Smith before Capote leaves Kansas), it was extraordinary. Many movies with an obvious lead acting Oscar contender sometimes suffer because of a lack of balance. One example would be Philadelphia. Tom Hanks was great, which made the rest of the cast seem that much worse. Capote does not suffer from that problem. Clifton Collins, Jr., playing the role of Smith, was mesmerizing. Chris Cooper, Catherine Keener, Bob Balaban, and Bruce Greenwood were all very good.

My previous favorite for best actor this year was David Strathairn in Good Night, and Good Luck. He has been quite readily replaced. I cannot see how Hoffman cannot win for this superb performance. In case you were wondering, the quote used as the title of this post was Capote's inscription on his last unfinished novel.

Little Factoid That Only Interests Me

2005-11-15T17:01:00.000-05:00

I caught part of a Drew Carey Show rerun last night. Diedrich Bader, who plays Drew's friend Oswald, was wearing a shirt with the Medeski, Martin, and Wood logo on it. This is the second time I've seen him wearing a MMW shirt on the show (no, it wasn't the same episode). I don't think this is a coincidence. As a side note, when I looked him up on IMDb, that was the first time that I noticed his character's full name is Oswald Lee Harvey. The best stuff is always in the details...

Priceless Quote of the Year

2005-11-10T12:05:00.000-05:00

As some of you may have seen, Sony is in a little bit of trouble. It started with Mark's Sysinternals Blog reporting that if you try to play certain Sony music CDs on your computer, the CD installs a rootkit. Oh, and to boot, if you discover and try to uninstall it, you're left with a dead PC. From the Register article:

A 'root kit' generally refers to the nefarious malware used by hackers to gain control of a system. A root kit has several characteristics: it finds its way onto systems uninvited; endeavors to remain undetected; and then may either intercept system library routines and reroute them to its own routines, or replace system executables with its own, or both - all with the intention of gaining system level ownership of the computer.

What makes Sony's CD digital media software particularly nasty is that using expert tools for removing the parasite risks leaving you with a Windows PC that's useless, and that requires a full reformat and reinstall.

So a rootkit is very, very, very bad. Evil hacker type of stuff. But this quote is priceless (I've seen it quoted several places, but have not listened to the audio myself...I should just to be safe): "Most people, I think, do not even know what a Rootkit is, so why should they care about it?" That's from the head of Sony BMG's Global Digital Business. Yes, because if you don't know what something is, then it can't hurt you, right? Unbelievable. Oh, and apparently, Sony is still being uncooperative about letting users get a patch.

As I said before, Sony's in a bit of trouble with several lawsuits getting filed. I hope they get their asses nailed to the wall for this ridiculous nonsense. I would say, take the amount that Sony claims to be losing because of piracy (even though that number can be debated), then quadruple it for violating criminal hacking statutes.

Update: The first trojan horse to take advantage of Sony's screw-up has been found. So let me reiterate the main point of all of this. Sony, being overzealous about piracy (the damage of which many people believe to be overstated), is directly responsible for exposing people's computers to security holes. I would love to see an agressive attorney general (Eliot Spitzer, maybe) send a nice billion dollar class action suit Sony's way. The costs lost to piracy will pale in comparison. If you're worried about whether or not this affects you for a CD you've bought, check here. They have a list of CDs, as well as some pictures of what to look for here (note the little "Content Protected" logo).

Who Needs Reality-Based Reality?

2005-11-09T23:29:00.000-05:00

This is truly unbelievable. Apparently the Bush administration doesn't believe in transcripts that are accurate. Check out this page. It's the press briefing from October 31. Here's what the transcript says a short way down the page:

Q Whether there's a question of legality, we know for a fact that there was involvement. We know that Karl Rove, based on what he and his lawyer have said, did have a conversation about somebody who Patrick Fitzgerald said was a covert officer of the Central Intelligence Agency. We know that Scooter Libby also had conversations.

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't think that's accurate.

Watch the video on the same page. Apparently McClellan can speak at supersonic speeds. Those three words, "I don't think," are never spoken. They are a figment of the imagination of the transcriber. But having them in the official transcript sure does come across as an attempt to un-speak McClellan's words. Nah. Our highly moral government would never stoop to such levels...

What a Wacky Week

2005-11-09T16:56:00.000-05:00

First, Peyton breaks the Foxboro curse, sending the defending champs to 4-4. Cool.

Then, Kansas decides to go all stupid again. I'm guessing what happened last time they did this will happen again: Last time, all the board members that pulled this crap got voted out in the next election. I would also like to direct you to this comments page. Crooked Timber is cool, I recommend them. You've got to love a blog that makes comments like, "Unfortunately they didn’t adopt my suggestion that science be further redefined to include sitting at home drinking a beer and watching the game on TV. This would have greatly enhanced my weekend contributions to science." Seriously, though, I do like that Crooked Timber's discussions tend to be, on the whole, more civilized than most blogs...

Speaking of voting education board members out for pushing intelligent design, some good folks in Pennsylvania did just that. Eight pro-ID Republicans out. Eight Democrats in.

And, yesterday's election results show a lot of victories for Democrats. Of course, Ohio and Texas had to ~~be idiots~~ make poor choices as usual. As a whole, though, could this be a sign of things to come? Could we be making the first few steps out of the modern Dark Ages? Could I make any more hyperbolic extrapolations based on a single day's off-year election results?

Update: I just saw yet another wacky story. Thai officials held a wedding ceremony for two pandas. No word yet from American fundamentalists ranting about the "sanctity of marriage" and how it should be protected from the moral dangers of sex with animals... Damn, I hate it when I can't think of a clever wording for a witticism.

Another Movie Recommendation

2005-11-07T02:58:00.000-05:00

Go see Jarhead. It's a nice bitter war flick without the war. But it has some very funny parts to it. There were some classic parts, like when Swofford shows up for "bugle auditions" that are actually the recruiting session for the scout snipers. Or the strip tease in front of the news team. Funny stuff.

Oh, and just a little side note for the many reviewers who say that the story doesn't go anywhere, that is the point. Did you not understand why they included the scenes from Apocalypse Now as a contrast? The movie is based on the book of the same name, written by Anthony Swofford himself. Yes, it is autobiographical. He was making the point that modern war isn't like the Iwo Jima invasion or Normandy or any other large-scale ground forces war. Why risk the casualties when you can have a jet come in and blow everything all to hell?

Avian Influenza

2005-11-07T02:47:00.000-05:00

I just wrote my first opinion letter to the State News (Michigan State's daily newspaper). Here are the contents:

As a liberal outraged by many Bush administration policies, I was disappointed to read the staff editorial, “Ill Intention.” In writing the piece, the State News staff has contributed to the cheap politicization of science.

Avian influenza (H5N1) poses a very grave threat and demands immediate preparation. Since early 2004, the virus has spread from southeast Asia into parts of Europe. That's quite a distance since it has primarily spread through saliva, nasal secretions, and feces. While most human infections have been through direct contact, there have been rare cases where the virus has been passed from one human to another.

That's all in the past. From the CDC's web site: “[B]ecause all influenza viruses have the ability to change, scientists are concerned that the H5N1 virus one day could be able to infect humans and spread easily from one person to another. Because these viruses do not commonly infect humans, there is little or no immune protection against them in the human population.” Our immune systems cannot fight this virus, which could lead to a mortality rate as high as 50%. A highly communicable version of H5N1 would be horrific. “Last time we checked, Asia was still pretty far from the United States,” was your snide remark. It gets a lot closer when an infected person boards a flight from Istanbul to New York.

No one can say for sure if a pandemic is imminent or inevitable. That does not mean that we cannot prepare for the worst. Vaccines and anti-viral medicines take time to invent and to manufacture. The proper response to this rare move should be a reminder that this is only a first step. A good next step would be funding for the teaching of evolution (not intelligent design) in science classrooms to further our understanding of the way that viruses can change. That knowledge could help us fight viruses like H5N1.

While I can appreciate that the timing of this announcement is curious, this acknowledgment dignifies the Bush administration's attempts to make science yet another political playground. There are topics that are far too important for this. Avian influenza is one such topic.

If you want some more information, you can check out the CDC's page that gives some basic facts. Or, check out Mike, the Mad Biologist. As he describes in a recent post, I don't have faith in him, just trust.

Polyamory and Marriage

2005-10-25T17:07:00.000-04:00

I found this post rather interesting. It does a nice job in pointing out why same-sex marriage and polyamorous/polygamous marriage are two separate issues and there is no slippery slope from the former to the latter. The most interesting aspect is that the writer discloses that his/her living arrangement could be considered a polyamorous marriage.

Quick Movie Reviews

2005-10-25T01:09:00.000-04:00

I had mentioned Good Night, and Good Luck and A History of Violence as two movies I wanted to see. I have now seen them both. As a friend pointed out, there are parts that are not easy to watch. The violence is raw and real. I agree that Viggo Mortensen should get an Oscar nomination for this one, but I don't know that it necessarily deserves to win. The acting overall is very good, especially Jack, the son. The one major complaint that I have with the movie is the shortness of the conflict with William Hurt. I thought the movie was developing very nicely up to that point. The scene in the mansion was far too hurried and came across as sloppy filmmaking. I wanted more development there and more build-up. I did absolutely love the final scene when the protagonist returns home.

David Strathairn in Good Night, and Good Luck gets my nomination for best actor. This was a phenomenal movie. Yes, Clooney's politics are obvious. Yes, it is evident that he is trying to make a statement on the current Republican government. However, the points and parallels are all valid. "We do not defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home," and "We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty" are two quotes that are very timely. The fact that these words were spoken long ago does give the movie more weight and validity. Strathairn's performance was beautiful. And his speech at the beginning of the movie regarding the corrupting influence of sponsorship on television as powerful. I see Oscar nominations and probable wins for this movie.

And lastly, I am now the proud owner of Batman Begins, the best superhero movie that I can think of. Good acting. Well constructed story. And so much brooding darkness. Fantastic.

A Backlog of Stories and a New One

2005-10-24T22:49:00.000-04:00

First, Rosa Parks has died. This courageous woman needs no introduction. Rest in peace, Ms. Parks.

Now for some technology-related stories. As any reader of this blog probably knows, I am generally against anything that hampers technological innovation. One of the biggest problems in this area is patent infringement. A couple of recent cases made this evidently clear. First, BlackBerry users may have their service shut off. Research in Motion, the company that makes the BlackBerry, is a Canadian company. The software running their email system is based in Canada. But the U.S. patent is owned by NTP Inc., based in Virginia. NTP has no Canadian patents. They also have no assets besides their U.S. patents. The only word I can think of for companies like NTP is predatory. They have no interest in developing technology, just profit by litigation.

I have no problem with individuals patenting an invention with the intent to license the patent or sell it to a company. I've ranted about the business plan of "file a patent, let someone else put in the work of actually developing the product, then sue their asses off." Courts need to step in, identify this predatory practice, then offer an adequate compensation. Not half a billion dollars, as was the case with Eolas v. Microsoft.

Along similar lines, here's a great story about the demise of eDonkey. Sam Yagan, president of MetaMachine, the company that made eDonkey, appeared before Congress with the following introduction: "...I am not here as an active participant in the future of P2P, but rather as one who has thrown in his towel and with no interest in replaying past issues..." He continues, "The Grokster standard requires divining a company's 'intent,' the decision was essentially a call to litigate. [...] Whereas I could have managed to pay for a summary judgment hearing under Betamax, I simply couldn't afford the protracted litigation needed to prove my case in court under Grokster." In other words, he felt confident in the legality and technological advancement that eDonkey offered, but his small company did not have the resources to fight the giants from the RIAA and other large corporations. Thus, patent litigation is stifling innovation instead of encouraging it.

Note that I used "intent" in regard to Research in Motion specifically to contrast it with the "intent" required by Grokster. I used that word to point out that the burden of proof should be reversed. MetaMachine and Research in Motion put a lot of time and money into developing real products. Thus, the burden of intent should not rest on their shoulders. Rather, NTP should be required to prove that they intended to developer a handheld e-mail device. Similarly, the RIAA should be required to demonstrate that eDonkey is intended as a product that promotes piracy and has no legitimate commercial value.

Now for some quickies...

U.S. cybersecurity could be the next FEMA. I've read plenty of stories regarding the general problems facing security experts. This one deals specifically with it in regard to the U.S. government. Quick telling stat: Since the Department of Homeland Security was founded 4 years ago, there have been four consecutive officials in charge of cybersecurity. There was never a single position specifically for cybersecurity, but rather it was included among the duties of another DHS official. That post has been vacant since January.

A U.S. Marine now works for Al Jazeera. If you haven't seen Control Room, it was a good documentary. The Marine featured in the movie is the one who has now taken the job. I'm glad to see this. I don't want to imply that I agree with everything (or even most of) that appears on Al Jazeera, but I like that they're making the symbolic attempt at least. Now if we can just get Ward Churchill a gig at Fox News...

This one is from the annals of creepy thoughts. According to an FCC policy document, "consumers are entitled to run applications and use services of their choice, subject to the needs of law enforcement." [Emphasis mine.] So you can use Vonage or Skype, as long as the FBI maintains the ability to tap your calls. If they can't do that, no software for you.

A last post regarding the concerns of RFID. Imagine wearing a shirt with an embedded microchip that is intended to prevent theft. Well, then someone decides to monitor that chip to see where you shop. Then they just start tracking your movements in general. Sure, it sounds like a bit of paranoia. But the concerns are legitimate. Some technology needs regulation and needs hinderance.

Wonderful Cinematic Moment

2005-10-20T01:42:00.000-04:00

I just finished discussing this scene (as I watched it) with Brianne and feel like describing this again here. Near the end of Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? for Philip K. Dick fans...), there's a character shift in Roy Batty (yes, I know in the book it's Baty) that is sheer beauty. Oh, and yes, this is the Director's Cut, so I don't have to deal with those annoying voice overs. The work speaks for itself.

Roy (an replicant, a.k.a. android) and Deckard (the copy who's trying to "retire" the replicants) had been chasing each other through the abandoned building, trying to kill each other. Deckard realized he was no match for Roy and tried to jump to another building to get away. He didn't quite make the jump and grabbed onto a ledge, clinging for life. Roy successfully makes the leap. This is the beginning of the moment.

Roy, squatting over Deckard, says, "Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave." Roy, being an replicant, had been a slave to human masters. But replicants were not merely machines or robots. They were built with two distinct features: 1) The ability to learn and to develop emotions (making them more like humans), and 2) A four year life span (drawing the line between human and replicant). Roy served his masters as a slave, but also realized he was a slave to time. He could only experience a small amount of life because of the built-in life span.

As Deckard's grip is slipping, Roy smiles. He knows that Deckard is experiencing that fear first-hand. Deckard had been afraid that Roy would kill him. Now, he is afraid that he is going to die anyways because he can't hold on. His hands slip. At that moment, Roy grabs Deckard's arm to prevent him from falling. The hand Roy uses has a nail sticking out in both directions (more on that in a moment), which means that nail also stabs Deckard in the forearm. The evil, villainous, murderous replicant is saving the cop's life. Cue the dramatic '80s music (hey, this was made in like 1982, ok...).

After setting Deckard down safely on the roof, Roy begins a wonderful speech where he describes some of the fantastic things that he has seen. The speech culminates in, "All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time...to die." Then Roy's head drops. The replicant is dead.

This scene, I will be man enough to admit, always brings tears to my eyes. I know, it's sci-fi, and genre works aren't supposed to be profound and moving. That's a testament to the magnificence of this movie. Roy began his "life" as an emotionless robot. As he learned to feel, he learned how wondrous life can be. And in this climax, the hunted became the hunter became the forgiver. He learned that every single moment of everyone's life is precious. While his life would soon be over, he had the ability to grant Deckard more time and chose to do so.

But what always gets me about this scene is that last line. "All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain." When a person dies, every memory, every emotion, every experience, every laugh, every cry, every fear, every celebration...they're gone forever. To me, that is a reminder to savor every moment. To be thankful every morning when you take that first wakeful breath. To be glad even when you experience pain, because that pain is a reminder that you are alive. I think that is the significance of the fact that Roy uses the arm with the nail sticking out. Deckard simultaneously gets to experience the joy of salvation and the pain of the injury. But both of those are signs of life.

All of this changes the character of Roy from villain to a pitied figure. He has committed murder, but I can't help but feel sad that he dies. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. This scene captures the sublime essence of life better than any other than I can think of in any movie. And that line is hauntingly melodic. The only line relating to death or loss that I like more is, "I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil."

Last thought on Blade Runner: This may be the only movie (at least, that I can think of right now) that I enjoy more and think is artistically better than the book from which it is drawn.

86!!

2005-10-17T23:53:00.000-04:00

I know, I should be studying. And I know, this blog has turned into NFL central as of late. I'll have non-football posts soon (I've bookmarked several stories I'd like to comment on), but that'll have to wait.

As of tonight, Peyton Manning to Marvin Harrison. 86 touchdowns. NFL record for a QB to receiver combo. It was a perfect pass to represent their style. The pass was at the sideline and most receivers would have gone out of bounds. But Harrison has such remarkable body knowledge that he knew to drag one foot and get the other one down to be in bounds. And to celebrate, Harrison (who has all the other 85 balls from touchdown passes) gave the ball to Manning. No show boating. No fancy dance. Just understated knowledge of a job well done. A very classy pair of gentlemen. Shortly after, Harrison almost made it 87 on a great effort there, but got stopped at the 1.

Besides all the record talk, I have been impressed by the Colts' showing tonight. The Rams got off to a quick 17-0 start. They scored on their first drive, then Rhodes fumbled the kick-off. You could tell he was looking to scoop it up and run when he should have just fallen on it. Mental error. Then Jason David slipped to give Kevin Curtis a 57 yard touchdown. Since then, the Colts have outscored the Rams 45-3. The Rams losing Marc Bulger to a shoulder injury did create a huge shift in momentum, I will grant.

But the Colts have simply dominated this game. They've controlled the pace. They've caused fumbles. They've picked off passes. Cato June has two. He leads the NFL in interceptions with 5. He's a linebacker, for God's sake. Linebackers are the guys who hit. They don't pick off passes. That's what the cornerbacks and safeties are for. Cato June is my hero. Well, along with Manning, Harrison, Stokley, Wayne, James, Mathis, Freeney, Reagor, Sanders, Harper, Simon, Diem, Glenn, and Saturday. Yeah, I think that's enough of them.

I don't want to get my hopes up too high this year, but it's hard not to. This Colts team is showing me (almost) everything that they've needed. They are patient and mature, not letting the early 17 point deficit affect their focus. They are making the stops that they need to make. They are forcing mistakes from their opponents. They are doing what needs to be done to win games, not break records. Whenever the Rams were looking for (and solidly covering) that TD pass to Harrison, they ran the ball or gave it to Wayne. That's the difference between last year and this year. Records mean nothing. Wins mean everything. It looks like Manning's learned that lesson.

The one area that could still use some improvement is their run defense. They're still soft there, though Corey Simon is helping a lot. I don't know how they could really improve that aspect a lot without sacrificing their pass defense, though. It's a tough balance to find.

After all that, the Colts are now 6-0 for the first time since 1958. Congratulations, guys!

Follow-up Silly NFL Thoughts

2005-10-16T19:09:00.000-04:00

The Colts are in the AFC South with Houston, Tennessee, and Jacksonville. Baltimore is in the AFC North with Cincy, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland. The Dolphins are in the AFC East with Buffalo, New England, and New York Jets. I don't know. If I were thinking of "East Coast," I would be more likely to think of Baltimore than Miami. And if I were to think "South," vice versa. Indy to Pittsburgh is about 6 hours. Baltimore to Cincy is about 9. Of course, that's not even mentioning the lifetime from Miami to Foxboro. Wouldn't that make more sense geographically?

The NFC is even worse. Dallas is in the East, and Carolina is in the South! Need I point to a map to show the idiocy of that decision?

Week 6 NFL Thoughts

2005-10-16T18:02:00.000-04:00

Since I'm too distracted by this Denver-New England game to study Formal Methods, I'll put some thoughts down here.

I'll come back to Denver and New England later. First, I just want to comment on the current standings of teams. The East divisions in both conferences are remarkably wide open. In the AFC, New England's dominance looks to be gone (with some caveats, see below). Buffalo has looked pretty good from what I've seen and I think they're the Pats' biggest challenge. The Jets between last year and this year look like a team heading into a decline, while the Fins are playing surprisingly well. In the NFC, I've seen mixed performances by all of those teams. The Eagles' clear dominance of the NFC is also gone. I'm not saying that the Eagles and the Pats are going to lose their divisions. Maybe, maybe not. But their glaring dominance isn't there this year.

How bad is the NFC North? The Bears and the Lions are tied for the lead. That's pretty bad. The fact that one of those four teams is guaranteed a playoff spot makes for a pretty easy pick in that wild card game. On the other hand, in the South, you've got the Falcons, Panthers, and Bucs slugging it out. I would rather see all three of those teams in the playoffs than see any of the NFC North. I would almost say the same that I would rather see any of those three in over the entire NFC West, but I don't feel as strongly about that.

In the AFC, the Broncos and the Bengals are both looking damn good. The Bengals have the better record, but I'd pick the Broncos between those two. The Bengals had 2 incredible first games (6 interceptions each), but have looked human ever since. The Broncos look more consistent. In the South, my beloved Colts are looking solid (did I mention that 3 Colts are tied for the 1st, 4th, and 7th most sacks in the league?). Can't get complacent because the Jags are right there, and they're tough. I'm looking forward to MNF football tomorrow night. Colts host the Rams. I know what I'm doing.

OK, so now my Broncos-Patriots thoughts (it's now 28-3, Broncos, with 10:36 left in the 3rd). Or rather, my Patriots thoughts. I spent a lot of time and emotion last year arguing against the idea of a Patriots dynasty. I will fully admit this was inspired by a deeply rooted antipathy against the "nice guy" Patriots. (As a side digression, one of those "nice guys," Logan Mankins, got kicked out of today's games at half-time because he *punched* a Bronco in the stomach after the play was over. Classy.) While I will recognize my bias influenced my analysis, I still stand by that analysis.

The argument for the "dynasty" is simply the fact that they won 3 Super Bowls in 4 years. That's a very good point. However, the 2001 season was dominated by the Rams, who also thoroughly dominated that game. The Pats didn't win it. The Rams lost it. They gave it away with 3 turnovers. Yes, the victory still goes to the Pats, but they were the underdogs who got lucky. 2002? They didn't even make the playoffs. 2003, I will completely acknowledge that the Patriots were the best team in football that year. They were aided in that infamous playoff game against the Colts by the referees not calling the illegal contact on the Colts receivers (which led to the over-reaction last year in calling every single touch). But that does not take away from the fact that the Patriots were far and away the best team in football in 2003. Then, last year, they were aided by a very soft schedule. You give a good team a soft schedule and they'll end up with a 14-2 record and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Again, the Patriots were very good last year, but not dominant. Considering the injuries that plagued them last year, what they accomplished was due, in large part, to the coaching genius of Bill Belichick, Romeo Crennel, and Charlie Weis (see this year as a contrast). So, if you want to call it a dynasty, it was essentially one of 2 years. I think that does a lot of disrespect to the previous dynasties (the '60s Packers, the '70s Steelers, and the '80s/early '90s 49ers). Dynasties don't miss the playoffs.

Having said all that, now I get to this year. I have to say that I am saddened by what I'm seeing in Denver today. Again, injuries are killing the Patriots. Perhaps Tedy Bruschi coming back will help. But losing Weis and Crennel, along with Antowain Smith, Ty Law and others, missing Bruschi, Troy Brown, and Rodney Harrison...it looks to be taking a toll. I must admit that I am a little saddened. Tom Brady and Adam Vinatieri are two of the best clutch players to have played the game. There's still a lot of season left, but starting the season at 3-3 (which looks likely) doesn't bode well. Next week, they're hosting Buffalo. I like the Pats' odds there, but I think that'll be a close game. A 3-4 Pats squad. I think that would clinch my disbelief in the idea of a Patriots dynasty.

The other reason is that I would like the Colts to beat a stronger Pats squad. Considering they're playing in Foxboro, it is anything but a definite win. It's going to be a tough game, I have no doubt. But beating a 7-0 or 6-1 Patriots would mean a lot more than beating a 3-4 version.

As for the Colts, I like their odds of having home-field advantage in the playoffs. Eleven games remain, but that includes the Rams, the Titans, the Cardinals, the Seahawks, and 2 against the Texans. The other games include ones at New England, at Cincy, hosting the Steelers, and at Jacksonville. Those 4 are going to be tough. Watching this New England game, I think the Broncos are the team that I would fear the most in the playoffs. Their offense is making big plays and their defense has shut Brady down entirely.

So, those are my thoughts based on the games I've seen so far this year. Then again, it's only week 6. Six weeks ago, people were talking about the Vikings' Super Bowl chances. They're now 1-4...

Update: It's now 4th Quarter with 9:00 remaining, Broncos 28-13 and New England in striking distance. This isn't over yet. Not with a QB like Brady. But I still have the same thoughts that Denver is overall looking tougher than NE.

Update: OK, now it's over. Denver woke back up. The two plays of the game: The blitz on Brady on the Pats' last possession on 2nd and 10. It forced a rare intentional grounding by Brady, which is 10 yards and loss of down. So it's 3rd and 20. Next play, a pass by Brady to Deion Branch, who gets clobbered mid-air by 3 Broncos to break up the pass. Two guys hit him, while the third takes out his feet. That was a close call, because he almost came down on the back of his head (upper back instead). That could have been bad. Glad to see he got up with no injury.

This Looks Fantastic

2005-10-06T23:37:00.000-04:00

Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote. Watch the trailer. I cannot believe that is him. This looks like a superb film.

While I'm at it, here are some more movies I want to see:

Good Night, and Good Luck -- Starring George Clooney, it's the story of how Edward R. Murrow stood up to Joseph McCarthy.

Everything Is Illuminated -- It's got Elijah Wood in it, which means I give it better odds of being good (or at least interesting) than not. (To explain that, I think that Wood is a good--though not necessarily great--actor, but he manages to sign on to excellent, often thought-provoking films. E.g., Sin City, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Ice Storm, The War--even if he was still young for that one.)

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress -- I read the novel by Dai Sijie and enjoyed it. It's about the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

MirrorMask -- I've been looking forward to this one for a while. The critics haven't liked it, because the plot is apparently paper thin. However, from what I've heard, it's a fantastically beautiful work, which I think is more of the purpose. I'm glad to see it will be opening in more cities (Indianapolis in early November) soon.

Pretty Persuasion -- I loved Evan Rachel Wood in Thirteen, as disturbing as that movie was to watch. In this one, she teams up with Ron Livingston, James Woods, and Jane Krakowski. Looks like a biting commentary on race and gender relations in modern America. Very dark comedy in the style of Election

Thumbsucker -- Oddball comedy with a cast list a mile long.

A History of Violence -- Viggo Mortensen as the man with the hidden past. William Hurt is supposed to be a mobster. I'm not sure how I feel about that. But the story seems interesting.

Lord of War -- Hey, they can't all be artsy, fartsy films. Every now and then, you just need a nice, let's-blow-some-stuff-up flick.

Domino -- See my comments on Lord of War. And it has Keira Knightley.

Jarhead -- Based on the bestseller about a Marine in the first Gulf War. Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Jamie Foxx, and Chris Cooper. Good cast for a bitter war flick.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -- Dragons. Fun.

The Libertine -- First, it has Johnny Depp, who is one of my favorite actors (I love odd, quirky roles, which are his trademark). Plus John Malkovich and Samantha Morton, who starred in one of the best films in recent years, In America.

OK, that's enough for now. And I didn't mention The Constant Gardener, because I've already seen that one. If you haven't seen it, do so. Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz are both wonderful.

This Isn't Good

2005-09-30T02:19:00.000-04:00

Apparently, the US Patent & Trademark Office indicated recently that it will be reaffirming the validity of US Patent 5,838,906. The patent is owned by the University of California, with licensing through Eolas Technologies. Eolas used this patent to get a $521 million judgment against Microsoft. Microsoft's case is pending before the Supreme Court, but there's no indication which way that will go.

So what is this patent and why is this a bad thing? The patent was filed in 1994 and granted in 1998. The title is, "Distributed hypermedia method for automatically invoking external application providing interaction and display of embedded objects within a hypermedia document." What does this mean? Basically, it covers browser plugins. So, if you're using Internet Explorer and you click on a link to a Word document, IE launches a plugin to display the document inside your browser. Or if you're using Mozilla Firefox and click on a link to a movie, the mplayer or Quicktime plugin launch and play the movie inside your browser. Every browser uses plugins like this.

This essentially gives Eolas a stranglehold on the future of the web. They can refuse to license the patent to a browser company. Any company trying to release a browser without plugins wouldn't stand much of a chance. And the fact that the original judgment was half a billion dollars is simply ridiculous. Computer software is incredibly complex and can involve the use of hundreds or thousands of patents, most of which are not enforced. If you had a hundred or so patents like this with half a billion dollars in judgment, Microsoft wouldn't be around for very much longer.

And, of course, I haven't even touched on the lack of validity of the patent. It turns out a programmer named Pei Wei demonstrated the Viola browser in May 1993, a year before the patent was filed. So why wasn't this considered prior art (which would make the patent invalid)? The demonstration was done on a standalone computer and was not hooked up to a network. Never mind that any computer science researcher understands that a client/server demonstration can apply to a network just as easily as on a standalone computer.

It's cases like this that make me worry about getting more into the technology industry. It's starting to feel like anything I can do in the future will violate a patent. Perhaps that should be my business plan. Spend a month or so coming up with something technical sounding enough to get a very obscure patent, then wait for a company to put years of work and a lot of money to develop a profitable application of it (not knowing about my patent). Then, after they've done all the work and I've done very little, sue them for millions, then retire young and wealthy. Sounds like a plan to me...

While You're Reading...

2005-09-25T03:02:00.000-04:00

Here are a few interesting stories and posts. I don't really have much to add, so I'll just put the links here:

A funny (may insightful) post about how conservatives make themselves feel morally superior to liberals. An excerpt:

"You can throw in loving America, believing in God, and watching sports, if you like, and you do like. Now comes the most important part. This is the sign that you are a true saint on earth. You go about loudly approving of it all. It doesn't truly count unless you talk about how good it is to be good in the ways you happen to be good. From there, the next step is easy. You simply have to believe that Liberals don't approve of any of it."

Bottled water leads to more cavities. Why? Bottled water doesn't have fluoride like tap water does...

A great post from a Christian on why premarital sex is a good thing. The short summary: Marriage is about more than just sex and the two shouldn't be conflated.

The six dumbest ideas in computer security. It turns out that making your computer network completely open by default is a bad idea. Wow, can't imagine why...

One perfect reason why I have a serious problem with the Catholic church: Cardinal Bernard Law actually got a vote to become Pope. Disgusting.

Why invading Iraq was a bad idea. Now that there's a serious concern with Iran, how are we going to do anything? We don't have the resources to have wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran simultaneously. And I don't see that we'd have quite the international backing either. Spoiled international political capital. That's the new definition of Iraq.

Saturday Night College Footbal Thoughts

2005-09-25T02:01:00.000-04:00

It was a good day. Michigan and Purdue lost. Notre Dame and Michigan State won. I can't really ask for a better day. Two players I have been very impressed with are State's Javon Ringer and ND's Darius Walker. Ringer is a freshman who is averaging almost 7 yards a carry (6.9 to be specific). Granted, of his 52 carries, he only had 4 during the ND game, which is the only team State's played with a decent defense. If he builds off of the talent he has, he could be good.

Walker, on the other hand, is averaging about 4.5 yards per carry. Seems less impressive when compared to Ringer's 6.9, but Walker's got a much tougher job. He's the main RB for ND with Powers-Neal as a backup. Ringer's the second of a very strong 3-man rushing squad for State. State's offensive line has also seemed a lot more consistently solid to me. The Irish line can give Brady Quinn 10 seconds of coverage or half a second on any given play. They've just seemed to provide a lot less consistent protection.

So, with all those disclaimers, I do really like Walker. He's tough and he's smart. He knows when to stutter-step to by some time and he knows when to power ahead. He's opened the season with 4 consecutive 100+ yard games. And he can catch the ball when he's needed. His versatility reminds me of Edgerrin James in many ways. This guy will be good.

QB Brady Quinn, on the other hand, has been less than spectacular. To his credit, he's tough, quick, smart, and evasive. What I don't like about him is his passing. He throws a lot of balls either behind his receiver or at their knees. He just happens to have receivers with very good hands. Stovall and Fasano are both solid, and Samardzija is damn good. Take away any of those guys and Quinn's numbers would be hurting.

After all that criticism of the Irish QB, I would still argue that ND is a better squad than State. I watched ND-State game. There were two things that lost the game for the Irish. First, they went to half-time 2 minutes early. The game was tied 17-17 when the Spartans got the ball back with about under 2 minutes left. The Irish defense looked like they checked out for the half and completely collapsed, leading to a State touchdown and a 24-17 lead at halftime. Second, 18 seconds into the second half, Sir Darean Adams picked off Quinn and ran it back for 7. 31-17 State lead. The Irish battled back from a 21 point deficit to tie the game before losing in OT. They did this by playing good, solid defense. The Spartans have a good offense, but ND shut them down. State switched to a soft, prevent defense and the Irish exploited it masterfully. A lot of that difference, I believe, comes from the coaching style. John L. Smith is a lot more of a conservative, college style approach. Use the offense behind Drew Stanton to score a lot of points, then play it safe. Charlie Weis just came from the New England Patriots. He takes risks (went for it several times on 4th down). And he knows how to keep a team focused on getting the work done. That was how they came back. The OT put the nail in the coffin, but the combination of the TD before the half and the interception-turned-TD made the difference. Take those 14 points away and this would have been an Irish victory.

"Inevitable Disclosure"

2005-09-07T02:55:00.000-04:00

Imagine that you're working for company X. You decide that it's time to move along to something else. So you interview for and get a job at company Y. The people at company Y are thrilled because you have demonstrated programming skills and problem solving ability. So you turn in your notice at X and prepare to start at Y. Then the lawsuit comes. Companies X and Y, it turns out, are competitors. Company X has decided that, no matter how hard you try, it is inevitable that you will rely on company trade secrets while working for company Y. Thus, your screwed. You can't go back to X, but the court has ruled that you can't work for Y. What do you do?

That is what happened to Dr. Kai-Fu Lee when he left Microsoft to work for Google. According to the article, "Courts making inevitable disclosure rulings tend to bar a worker from a new position for a year or less, but the concept conceivably could keep someone from taking a new job in their field forever." If you quit your current job to start another one, would you be able to live with no income for a year before being able to start? At Microsoft, Dr. Lee founded a research center in China. He was hired by Google to run its China operations. These responsibilities are different enough that there should be no concern of inevitable disclosure. The court disagreed.

These arguments have typically been used sparingly in the past, but the trend is that they have been catching on. Formerly, it was only executives who potentially had to fear these suits. However, the argument is working its way down the ladder. As some court decisions have been written, chief scientists and engineers may soon be at risk. That is not a good sign for workers' rights. Maybe we should all just stay dumb so companies won't think we know anything worth sharing.

The Patent Problem

2005-09-07T02:08:00.000-04:00

A week or so ago, there was an article that Creative Technology has been awarded a patent for an MP3 player user interface. They applied for the patent in January 2001. This demonstrates one of the major problems with current technology patents. First, the approval took 4 and a half years. That is an incredibly long time in the tech world. According to Moore's law, the speed of processors doubles every 18 months. The time from Creative's application to the approval was three full iterations of Moore's law doubling. Thanks to that delay, the market-dominating iPod could legal problems for Apple. That wonderful gadget that Apple has had on the market for 4 years now is in violation of the patent.

Another issue is the patent process in general. This article does a good job of describing the issues. One particular fact that I found interesting was that Apple's woes can be traced to the fact that its patent application for the iPod's user interface was rejected. Apple filed the application in 2002. It was rejected because of a similar pending application by Microsoft. However, that application was submitted after the iPod was already on sale. So Microsoft tries to patent something that Apple already has on the market, then Apple also tries to patent it. Apple, the original inventor, is rejected because of the "prior art" submitted by Microsoft? It doesn't make sense to me either.

And, last, but not least, you have the idiocy of the patent itself. The patent states that the user interface "enables selection of at least one track in a portable media player as a user sequentially navigates through a hierarchy using three or more successive screens on the display of the player." How is this an innovation? Computers are built on a basis of hierarchical files. Every CD ripping program I have ever seen organizes files this way. You select the artist, then you select the disc, then you select the track. That's 3 selections, which leads to a natural representation as 3 screens. There is absolutely nothing highly innovative about applying this to a portable player. It is an obvious application of an existing idea.

The end result of such patent awards is that filing paperwork is rewarded more than innovation. Apple has created a sleek device that has completely dominated the market. Creative has not been able to compete. However, they will cash in on millions because they filled out the paperwork for an obvious software application first. Theoretically, they could refuse to license the patent to Apple. That would obviously wreak a lot of havoc on Apple's sales. The USPTO should be a lot pickier about the patents it awards to ensure that it is properly rewarding creativity and innovation instead of bureaucracy. A good place to start would be rejecting the 99.9% of software patent applications that are obvious extensions to anyone in the tech field.

While I'm Still Up

2005-09-02T02:20:00.000-04:00

As you can see, I have a little case of insomnia. I've now finished my first week of classes (and am ahead on my reading and homework...woo hoo!). I have a feeling that this semester will actually be relatively light, as two of my classes are undergrad level. That's the pain of having done a B.A. instead of a B.S. I have a bit of work to make up before I can get to fun things, such as Pattern Recognition and Security. I have no classes tomorrow, and only 2.5 hours to finish for my job for the week. Hence, the insomnia isn't a problem tonight.

What brought on this second post was this article on CNN. The FEMA chief is apparently saying that the victims of Katrina bear some of the responsibility for their situation. Others have written on the role that class played in this. If you have no car, live from paycheck to paycheck with no extra money to spare, and have no insurance to replace your goods that might get stolen or destroyed, are you going to abandon everything you have because the government has called for an evacuation?

Of course, I'm sure others were thinking, "It won't be as bad as they're predicting. After all, we have these levee that have been designed to keep the water out of the city." Oh yeah, the levee. But I thought I heard a while ago that there was money to fix and reinforce the levees. Ignoring that, "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees." Regardless, I'm sure the President is busy doing all he can to help the victims.

Joseph Hughes has some further righteous indignation regarding President Bush's actions in the past several days. On Monday, he gave a speech where he spent 200 words on Katrina, followed by 800 words on Iraq. He declared the area a disaster zone, pointing out how dangerous Katrina was as a category 5 hurricane. Then he left to go out west for two days to discuss Medicare and Iraq. He called up 3,500 National Guardsmen in Louisiana, as well as 850 in Mississippi and 350 in Alabama. Compare that with the 30,000 and 6,000 National Guardsmen the first President Bush sent to Florida to help when Hurricane Andrew struck. Andrew killed 23 people in the U.S. The death toll of Katrina is estimated to be in the thousands. This is leadership? This is compassionate conservativism?

And then, to top everything off, you have Fred Phelps. In case you don't know Fred Phelps, he is a Baptist minister that goes to the funerals of gays with signs reminding the mourners that their lost loved ones are burning in hell. Real classy guy, let me tell you. Well, good old Fred put a new page up on his site, titled Thank God for Katrina. I thought I had seen another post somewhere about other religious groups blaming New Orleans' sinful culture for the destruction wrought by Katrina. It's dispicable. I am tempted to put a flippant, ironic come back here, but I will not out of respect for the victims of this tragedy.

Oh, and if you haven't donated, here is another link to the Red Cross's home page. You can do so there. There's also a list of places and ways to help on this page.

Hurricanes

2005-09-02T01:24:00.000-04:00

In the aftermath of Katrina, there's been a lot of talk about global warming and whether or not it has contributed to the severity of hurricanes in recent years. One the denial side, Jonah Goldberg argues that the numbers of category 3,4, and 5 hurricanes haven't increased. He points to this data and says, "[e]ven a casual glimpse at the data provided by the national weather service shows that big hurricanes (categories 3,4, and 5) haven't increased over the 20th century." The problem is that global warming is subtle and you have to do a bit more than just a "casual glimpse."

Using that same data Goldberg points to, I did an analysis of the average strength of hurricanes per decade. Disclaimer: I did make two changes to the data for the 2001-present decade. First, after looking through the climate reports for 2001-2004, I found that there should be 3 category 1 (Gabrielle, Gustav, Claudette) and 3 category 2 (Lili, Isabel, Frances). I also added the two from this year (Dennis as a 4, Katrina as a 5). Here are my findings:

1851-1860 = 19 for 1.9
1861-1870 = 15 for 1.5
1871-1880 = 20 for 2
1881-1890 = 22 for 1.9
1891-1900 = 21 for 2.1
1901-1910 = 18 for 1.7
1911-1920 = 21 for 2
1921-1930 = 13 for 2.2
1931-1940 = 19 for 2.4
1941-1950 = 24 for 2.1
1951-1960 = 17 for 2.2
1961-1970 = 14 for 2.4
1971-1980 = 12 for 1.8
1981-1990 = 15 for 1.8
1991-2000 = 15 for 2.3
2001-2010 = 11 for 2.5

Look at that data. In the past 100 years, we've had two decades that averaged below an intensity of 2. Three of the four highest averages are in the past five decades. Granted, the 2001-2010 average must be taken with a grain of salt because the decade is only half over. I also find it curious that the two decades with the lowest averages (1971-1990) immediately followed the founding of the EPA and the beginning of federal work in protecting the environment. And, of course, there were the gas shortages in the '70s. I don't have the training or the research to state that these correlations mean anything. I simply find these facts interesting.

I am not a climatologist and make no claim to be one. However, from the reports that I have read, I firmly believe that global warming exists and is a factor in the increasing intensity of hurricanes. When I look at the data above, I see a general trend, despite the dip in the '70s and '80s. I think the only thing that would convince Jonah Goldberg would be a category 5 developing a voice box as it passes over his house, calling out "Global warming did this." Even then, he might think it was just the wind and a coincidence.

Update: I just wanted to put a little note in here about the data referred to above. Those are counts of the numbers of hurricanes that hit the mainland U.S. with that category. Hence, Ivan gets counted as a 3, even though it spent a lot of time as a 5 (to which Cuba and the Cayman Islands can attest). So a definitive analysis on trends of hurricane severity would rely on additional data, most of which is not available. Somehow, I doubt people in 1875 were keeping track of the severity of hurricanes that never made it out of the Atlantic.

Backpedal A Little Faster

2005-08-24T19:08:00.000-04:00

As you probably know by now, Pat Robertson is backpedalling and apologizing for his remarks that the U.S. should assassinate Venezuela's democratically-elected president Hugo Chavez. I don't have a lot to add to this other than what others have already said, but I can't pass up this opportunity to ridicule Robertson for his typical BS apology. His apology says, "I didn't say 'assassination.' I said our special forces should 'take him out.'" Of course, "take him out" can mean things other than "kill the bastard." Furthermore, "I was misinterpreted by the AP [Associated Press], but that happens all the time." For a refresher, here's what he actually said: "If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think we really ought to go ahead and do it." So, you can see, he never used the word "assassination." Only "assassinate." He was clearly misinterpreted and taken out of context. Damn that liberal Associated Press and their lies.

Many Things, Some Good, Some Bad

2005-08-24T13:05:00.000-04:00

First, as some of you know already, I am now officially engaged, as of August 12. The wedding will be next June. So, I'm very excited about that.

Second, it is pretty evident that posts lately have been rather scarce. Part of it, I'm sure, is that I haven't been in much of a mood to rant lately. It's that whole bliss thing. Being happy sometimes makes it hard to rant. On a related note, I've spent a lot of time travelling between Indy and Lansing, splitting my time about evenly between the two. When in Indy, I haven't been on the computer except at work. And I've had to focus more to keep my hours down.

Another major reason is that grad school starts next week. Frankly, I'm terrified. I've only done limited programming in C, and it's been a while since I've worked in Java. And don't even mention Assembly. I've spent the last couple months frantically rereading my undergrad texts and trying to relearn those languages. I feel extremely unprepared and don't know how I'll get everything done that I need to.

This obviously leads to the question of the future of this blog. I currently have it planned that I will be doing most of the work for my job Monday through Thursday. The weekend is reserved for homework, visiting the fiancee, and wedding planning. I'm thinking about setting a regular schedule for posting. Perhaps I'll save a week's work of items and blog about them all on a Monday or so. Obviously, school and work (I still need money to be able to eat) will come first. I've enjoyed putting my posts together (especially when I get comments), so I don't want to stop altogether. We'll see how it goes.

Now, on to real news that may have slipped through the cracks. First, a couple of weeks ago, the director of a Florida library was suspended because a registered sex offender used the library's computers to access child pornography web sites. City Commissioner Robert Billingsley is also pushing for the director, Sue Martin, to be fired. Martin had sent a letter to Billingsley stating that access is monitored and "suspicious use" is checked against the user's Web usage history. It does not say that any such suspicious use is reported, though I suspect it may.

I find this whole incident rather disturbing. Ms. Martin is the director of a library. Is it her job to enforce criminal law and punishment? Is it her job to do background checks on every patron of the library to provide better monitoring? Is it her job to compensate because the criminal justice system is not adequately tracking sex offenders? If a Muslim from Syria comes into the library and does a search on explosive material, should she report that? Never mind that he is a student pursuing a degree in materials science. I've always found the term "police state" interesting. In dystopic novels like 1984, the police state functions because everyone making up the state are police. Children report thoughtcrimes of their parents. Librarians report anything resembling suspicious information access of their patrons.

I don't know all the details of the incident. The article, in fact, states that the commissioner declined to comment on why he thought Ms. Martin had "not done enough to prevent the incident." My gut reaction, though, is that the police are overcompensating for their failures in preventing the deaths of Jessica Lunsford and Sarah Lunde.

I seem to be on a roll with police today, because here's another scary story. Over the weekend, a Utah rave was busted in a very heavy-handed manner. There's some video footage here. And many posts here. Assault rifles, tear gas, police dogs, camouflage, throwing people to the ground and kicking them. Seems a bit much to break up a party. Add in confiscation of cameras and camera phones to limit the evidence. According to the police statement, the organizers did not have a mass gathering permit since there were over 250 people attending. In fact, they did, as confirmed by the Utah County Health Department. However, they did not know that there was a similar permit required, which would detail security plans and event details. It looks like that one small slip will doom the organizers.

What I found especially disgusting was the treatment of the security guards hired for the event. The guards searched cars and people coming into the event, confiscating alcohol and drugs. I.e., the organizers were trying to be responsible and have a clean, legal party. In an ironic twist, these guards were then arrested for illegal drug possession. "[Security guards] have no legal statutory authority to take and hold controlled substances. It's against the law for them to have them." That quote comes from Utah County Sheriff James Tracy. Would he say the same thing of security guards hired for a Ticketmaster-sponsored event? Somehow, I doubt it.

The Wonderful DMCA Revisited

2005-08-12T15:37:00.000-04:00

I have ranted many times over the stupid piece of legislation known as the DMCA. Go back and search my archives if you want more information on it. I just wanted to post a couple of recent stories relating to the DMCA that I have come across recently. Today, there is this story about Real's fears of legal repercussions for their Harmony technology. If you buy and MP3 from Real and try to transfer it to your iPod, Harmony is what makes it work. That is because Apple has a proprietary DRM technology called (ironically enough) FairPlay. FairPlay is intended to ~~block out competitors and form a monopoly~~ ensure that your MP3s were legally purchased. FairPlay only allows MP3s created with no DRM or MP3s downloaded from iTunes to play on the iPod. Of course, the intent is transparent enough. If FairPlay was actually intended to fight piracy, the iPod would not allow MP3s lacking DRM to play. So FairPlay is anything but.

On a more ridiculous note, FedEx is using the DMCA to sue a guy who made furniture out of their boxes. His website is kind of funny. He has pictures of the furniture he has made. Seriously, now. This is a violation of the DMCA? That piece of legislation is such garbage.

Why Was This Discussion Not Held Before?

2005-08-08T11:14:00.000-04:00

Back when it was only being discussed, I had a post about why extending Daylight Savings Time was a bad idea. Now, after the energy bill has passed, CNN has a story about the trouble this change could cause. So why was this never mentioned before now? Duh! If you change what the official time is, there's a lot of stuff that would need to be fixed to pick up that change.

I'm not trying to be Chicken Little on this. I don't think the sky is falling. As Jonathan pointed out in his comment on my original post, Y2K was a lot of fuss and wasted money over what turned out to be a mostly minor problem. My point is that there wasn't much of a problem with Y2K because people started working on it a few years in advance. There was a lot of work put into fixing the problem. The success of that endeavor left some companies feeling they had been swindled into spending a lot of money on a minor problem. That could be why this problem is not receiving adequate attention.

One example of this in daily life is your VCR. Many VCRs automatically adjust for DST and there is no easy way to update how this is calculated. So you have it set up to record a show at 9:00 PM every Wednesday. When the new DST goes into effect, you have a couple of choices. First, you can manually adjust the time on your VCR. You look around your home to fix all the clocks that need manually set and notice the VCR time hasn't changed. So you set it ahead an hour. Three weeks later, you have to remember to set it back an hour because the VCR has adjusted itself to compensate for what was the old DST. The second option is to just update that recording time. Again, same problem. Three weeks later, you have to fix it again.

Then, of course, there are the mission critical large applications where exact timing is required. Let's say you work for a small company, and your direct deposit goes through at 5:00 PM. You also have a bill that gets automatically debitted at 5:30. If your company doesn't fix their computers, that 5:00 deposit would then become a 6:00 deposit. You end up with a $20 overdraft charge because your debit goes through before your deposit, even though both occur on the same day. (Yes, this has happened to me before, so it can happen.)

And let's not forget Canada. Currently, the Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones are the same for the U.S. and Canada. If Canada chooses not to adopt the same changes, this could be a major hassle for scheduling. If you work in New York and schedule a teleconference with someone in Montreal, are you sure the time is the same? You're both on Eastern time, but those may be out of sync for 4 weeks out of the year.

I think the best quote in the CNN article comes from Lauren Wernstein, a veteran technologist (whatever that means): "Missiles won't be launching but it's still going to cause a lot of hassle." Where Y2K may have had a lot more hype than it actually deserved, this change is probably getting less notice than it deserves.

I Think I Like This Decision, But I'm Not Sure

2005-08-05T16:38:00.000-04:00

So the NCAA has banned American Indian mascots from postseason tournaments. As the title of this post makes clear, I'm uncertain exactly how I feel about this. Overall, I do like it. Most teams with American Indian mascots typically have white guys dressed up in hideously caricatured outfits running around acting like fools. And then they're joined in be the crowd doing the tomahawk chop.

To their credit, some schools, such as the University of Illinois, do at least attempt to be authentic. The infamous Chief Illiniwek is wearing authentic regalia presented to the university by Sioux Chief Frank Fools Crow. His dance is supposedly based on an actual celebratory dance. However, I don't know that I would consider this picture to be the most dignified pose for the Chief.

It seems that the near authenticity is actually what makes it so bad. Imagine halftime at Notre Dame. Out comes a girl dressed up in priest's robes. She's swinging around--I have no idea what the proper term for this item is--an urn hanging on a chain, spreading the smoke from the incense inside. During part of her routine, she jumps and does the splits midair. She ends with a somber moment, going through the motions of blessing a round disc of unleavened bread and eats it. Do you think that Catholics would feel honored by this display? Somehow, I doubt it.

My reservation about this is due to the idea of mascots in general. A school or team picks a mascot for many reasons. One reason is to display strength. So would Sparty be offensive? I don't know how representative his outfit is of the clothing of the people of Sparta. Sparty, like most mascots, is simply a person in a ridiculous costume trying to rally support from the fans.

So which would be better for schools with American Indian mascots? An almost-but-not-quite authentic Chief Illiniwek, or someone with a bunch of feathers on their head looking ridiculous? Is there any middle ground in the discussion? For example, could U of I keep the Illini as their name, but take the Chief out of the halftime performance? Like I said before, I'm not really sure.

Appalling Evidence of Torture

2005-08-03T15:26:00.000-04:00

This via Balkinization. The Washington Post has a lengthy article about the death of Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush. The Major General was captured ~~during a raid~~ after walking onto a base to negotiate the release of his sons. He then died ~~of natural causes~~ after being brutally beaten multiple times. It's simply disgusting to read. It's becoming increasingly clear that the use of thuggish, stand-in torturers (in this case the Scorpions) has been systematic. And it looks like a handful of low level troops are going to take the fall for actions they were led to believe were authorized from higher levels.

My question is this: If an Iraqi Major General is not protected by the Geneva Conventions, who is?

A Change of Heart?

2005-08-01T12:49:00.000-04:00

I saw the news item last week and just this article about Bill Frist endorsing government funded stem cell research. Perhaps I am being too cynical about this, but I cannot help but feel that this decision is political opportunism. According to the article, Republicans close to Frist said he "came to his decision after consulting with scientists at Stanford University and elsewhere and watching biomedical research advance overseas." Frist's move to endorse the bill shocked and infuriated many Christian conservatives that have long been his supporters. He is opposed to abortion and all federal funding for abortion. So why would someone so opposed to abortion side with the more liberal view in that gray area of stem cell research? These two facts may give some indication: Many stories mention Frist as a potential 2008 presidential candidate. In addition, the article above points out that "recent polls [show] that some two-thirds of Americans support embryonic stem cell research and a majority favor fewer restrictions on taxpayer funding for it."

Perhaps Frist truly does believe in supporting stem cell research. I can't shake the feeling, though, that he is trying to establish a false record as a moderate, similar to Bush's "compassionate conservative."

Windows Vista

2005-07-22T12:15:00.000-04:00

Yes, that's the new name of Microsoft's new version of Windows, formerly code-named Longhorn. Are they serious? That name sounds incredibly dumb to me. I don't know if it's just me, but the name "Vista" used in relation to a computer strikes up the image of Arnold's "Hasta la vista, baby." Maybe they intended that. Now, instead of seeing the infamous blue screen of death, it shows Arnold and plays that sound clip. If that's the case, it may be an appropriate name after all.

Aren't Activist Judges Supposed To Be Liberal?

2005-07-21T12:24:00.000-04:00

I just read this post over at Balkinization from about a week ago. It's interesting to see these numbers to show how what conservatives say they want and what they actually want are two different things. Consider what Bush said when nominating Roberts. He said that Roberts will not "legislate from the bench." You know, those darned activist judges who continually strike down the laws that our fair Congress passes. Yeah, the ones who get in the way of the legislature's attempts to establish our rabidly capitalistic theocracy mandated by that overwhelming majority of 51%.

So, looking at the current court, who are the activists? When a law is challenged, these percentages reflect the judges' propensity to strike down the law:

Thomas 65.63%
Kennedy 64.06%
Scalia 56.25%
Rehnquist 46.88%
O’Conner 46.77%
Souter 42.19%
Stevens 39.34%
Ginsburg 39.06%
Breyer 28.13%

So the 3 extreme right-wingers (Rehnquist, Thomas, and Scalia) are far more likely to usurp the power of Congress than the most liberal (Stevens, Ginsburg, and Breyer). I was kind of surprised to see Kennedy ahead of both Scalia and Rehnquist, but he is also fairly conservative himself.

The interesting (but obvious) observation is that this once again demonstrates that Bush is either a fool or a liar. He wants someone who won't legislate from the bench. But Scalia and Thomas are his ideal judges. Those two are more likely to strike down legislation than to defer to Congress. Which is Bush? We here at Nameless Rantings prefer to follow the esteemed example of Fox News. We report, you decide.

Absence and a Link

2005-07-20T12:03:00.000-04:00

Okay, so moving is a very involved process. Hence the fact that I haven't posted in a while and it'll probably be another week before I can get back to this thing. In the mean time, here's a link regarding the Roberts nomination. Some good points there...

Justice?

2005-07-08T13:26:00.000-04:00

Sven Jaschan, the author of the Sasser worm has been convicted and sentenced to 21 months' probation. No jail time. No huge fines. He did settle 4 civil suits for under 1,000 Euros each. But Jaschan does have a nice cush job with an antivirus company. Looking at comments on Slashdot, a user there says it best:

Create a Worm, cripple thousands of businesses, get convicted, no monitary fine, get a 2 year Jail sentence [suspended...probation only] and 30 Hours of Community service, do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

Steal a Movie, get fined Thousands of dollars, go to Jail for dozens of years, never expect to use a computer or have any rights or freedoms again.

But It's In The Dictionary...

2005-07-07T16:40:00.000-04:00

I read this post and was so utterly astonished that I had to reprint the letter in question in full here. It all started with Ouachita Parish Police Juror Mack Calhoun saying, "If I ask for six trucks they came they didn't try to Jew me down." That caused a nice little brouhaha in Louisiana. But then, wordsmith J.O. Antley came to the rescue:

In reference to Mack Calhoun's statement, where he used the word "jew" in discussing the purchase price of an item, I have waited for people in his district to come out in his defense. I have known Calhoun for many years. I know he is a fine Christian man. He would never do or say anything to offend anyone.

The word "jew" in negotiation prices has been used in our family since I can remember. It is hard for me not to say it in normal conversation. The full definition of "jew" from the dictionary is as follows: 1. To persuade to take a low price by haggling: with down. 2. To get a better of a bargain.

We need more public servants like Calhoun to stand up for what is right.

J.O. Antley

West Monroe

It turns out Mr. Antley is correct. "Jew" is in the dictionary with nearly that meaning (specifically the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language):

jew (joo)
tr.v. Offensive jewed, jew·ing, jews

1. To bargain shrewdly or unfairly with. Often used with down.
2. To haggle so as to reduce (a price). Often used with down.

Obviously, Mr. Antley failed to look up "Offensive" in that same dictionary. Ignoring that, I'm going to apply Mr. Antley's logic here: Mr. Antley is an ignorant, anti-Semitic idiot. Mr. Antley couldn't possibly be offended by me saying that because those words are, after all, in the dictionary.

I read this and felt that I had to agree with Mike the Mad Biologist. This is the hardcore Republican base. This is the Southern strategy. Yes, the Republican party is the party of the big tent. They have room for everyone, even anti-Semites and racists. That is why I can't vote Republican. I cannot, in clean conscience, vote for a candidate who welcomes such people as supporters.

A Moment Of Silence

2005-07-07T09:59:00.000-04:00

...for those killed in today's brutal acts of murder in London.

Now All Together, "Well, Duh!!"

2005-07-07T09:47:00.000-04:00

A week ago, I commented on Microsoft's talks to buy Claria. Lo and behold, what do I see today? Microsoft's AntiSpyware application has downgraded the threat rating of Claria. Now, when the AS program finds Claria, its default recommendation is "Ignore" instead of "Quarantine." Is anyone surprised by this? All I can say is watch out for Service Pack 3.

A Good Sign

2005-07-06T12:05:00.000-04:00

I applaud the American Academy of Pediatrics for this decision despite opposition from the Bush Administration and conservative groups. Personally, I give much more weight to the opinions of Drs. Jonathan Klein and S. Paige Hertweck (you know, doctors working in pediatrics and gynecology) than to Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families at HHS (note the lack of "doctor" before his name).

The article mentions the Medical Institute for Sexual Health being opposed to the move. Looking at that group's web site, I find that they were founded to confront the "global epidemics of nonmarital pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease." Nonmarital pregnancy is a global epidemic? If they had said teenage pregnancy, I could have seen them as potentially a science-based group. However, the choice of the word nonmarital leads me to believe this is a Christian-based group pushing a moral agenda.

Anyways, applause for the American Academy of Pediatrics for following science instead of politics.

Be Afraid! Evil Hackers Everywhere!

2005-07-06T11:04:00.000-04:00

So, I just finished reading this article about the new type of evil Wi-Fi hacker: the wardriver. Frankly, this article is garbage. Wardriving has been around for quite a while now. I think I first heard the term about 5 years ago. The article is filled with fear-inducing references to kiddie porn, fraud, and bank account theft. Mix that in with a few high-level details about wireless networks and you have an insightful technology article, right? Wrong.

The article gives no useful advice on security. Just a bunch of worst-case scenarios. Here's some simple advice for those of you concerned about these security issues. Use common sense!! Would you go to a coffee shop, call up your bank on a cell phone, and say (in a very loud voice where everyone can hear), "Yes, my account number is XXXXXX and my social security number is 999-99-9999." Of course not. You don't want to share private information like that. Similarly, if you're using a public network, you shouldn't even consider doing anything that you would worry about other people listening in to. You never know who is looking at the laptop screen over your shoulder.

Here's some advice for security at home. First, secure your wireless router. The instructions are in the box. They are easy to follow. If you don't, you are broadcasting everything related to any web site you are access. That include usernames, passwords, bank account numbers, etc. So secure your wireless. Or, when you're doing something where you really want more security, disable your wireless and connect through an ethernet cord. Or, if you want 100% security, don't do anything on the computer at all. There will always be a trade off between security and convenience. Accept that and move on. Securing and encrypting your wireless is probably good enough for most people.

The article above mentions Benjamin Smith III, who was parked in his Chevy Blazer outside Richard Dinon's home, "hacking" into Dinon's (open and public) wireless network. First, there was no hacking. Hacking involves bypassing security mechanisms. So how can it be hacking if there were no security mechanisms? The absolute worst part of this article is the end:

It remains unclear what Smith was using the Wi-Fi for, to surf, play online video games, send e-mail to his grandmother, or something more nefarious. Prosecutors declined to comment, and Smith could not be reached.

"I'm mainly worried about what the guy may have uploaded or downloaded, like kiddie porn," Dinon said. "But I'll probably never know."

All we know for sure is that Smith accessed the network. Now, through the inclusion of this last quote, Smith is cast as a possible kiddie porn peddler. This is sloppy reporting, getting close to slander.

Now, on to wireless networks for a real discussion. Wireless routers generally come setup for public access. I.e., if you buy a router and plug it in, anyone can access your network. The responsibility is yours to turn on the security mechanisms. Smith has been charged with unauthorized access to a computer network, a third-degree felony. However, Dinon had kept his router set to the public settings. So, if you advertise your network as being public, how can someone take "unauthorized access?" Dinon knew how to turn on the security features of his router, but chose not to do so. "I never did it because my neighbors are older." He, Dinon, is the one at fault. If he wanted to give his neighbors access but not others (such as Smith), he should have turned on the features, then talked to his neighbors. It is absolutely not reasonable to label the network as public then complain because the public uses it.

My favorite gem from this article, though, comes from Kena Lewis, spokeswoman for Bright House Networks in Orlando: "It's no different if I went out and bought a Microsoft program and started sharing it with everyone in my apartment. It's theft." This is describing the wardriver who latches onto someone else's network. The only problem is that the analogy does not apply. The person buying the Microsoft program and sharing it is the person not securing their wireless network, not the wardrivers. Let's borrow the RIAA's lawyers with their strong arm tactics. These owners of wireless networks are hardcore pirates who need to be threatened with tens of thousands of dollars in fines!!

Another false analogy I've seen in other places has been that your wireless network is private property. I wouldn't just walk in to your house and eat your food if you left the front door unlocked, would I? Then what right do I have to use your broadband connection? The problem with this analogy is the boundary. For me to eat the food in your kitchen, I have to cross the threshold of your property line. I have to enter your door. For me to access your wireless network to surf the web, all I have to do is sit on my couch. I.e., your network is encroaching on my living space. If you have an apple tree that crosses our property lines and it drops apples on my property, do you have the right to forbid me from eating those apples? I can't imagine there's a court anywhere that would convict me of theft for those apples. So how could it be different for wireless?

John Dvorak, a famous tech writer if you don't know him, has a great article discussing this issue. His view: "We must put the burden of responsibility on the broadcaster, not the end user. It has to be made clear that people sending open connections all over town should be responsible for them." I couldn't agree more.

We'll Miss You Sandra D.

2005-07-05T12:06:00.000-04:00

I saw the news last Friday right after it was posted, and my immediately felt a twinge of fear-induced nausea in the pit of my stomach. As you probably know by now, Sandra Day O'Connor announced her resignation from the Supreme Court. I have nothing but respect for Justice O'Connor, long the voice of the middle. Frequently the deciding vote on a split decision, she did a very good job of balancing the interests of society and the individual. On occasion, I disagreed with her conclusions (e.g., FCC v. Brand X), but I generally understood her views and had to respect them. The voice of compromise on the SCOTUS will be sorely missed. Her resignation is what I have been fearing for 5 years.

Her resignation begs the question of who will be her replacement. The BBC has a good rundown of some of the main contenders. This seems to be the list that I have typically seen. I can't believe that I would actually be hoping for Alberto Gonzalez. Yeah, the guy that said torture was okay. But he is the most moderate of the bunch, considered "too moderate" by many conservatives. (As side note, I always smirk when I hear "too moderate." Talk about double speak. "Too" means "excessively." But "modereate" means "not excessive." So "too moderate" means "excessively not excessive." In truth, "too moderate" is code for "we want a fucking nutjob activist.")

Consider the alternatives for the abortion issue. John G. Roberts has argued that "government-funded doctors and clinics could not talk to patients about abortion." Michael McConnell has "called for a constitutional amendment to ban all abortions." Notice, that is all abortions. What's that? You were raped? We don't care. You must care that baby to term. Quite crying. You probably deserved it for wearing that slinky red dress. Or Emilio Garza, who wrote in an opinion, "Ontological issues such as abortion are more properly decided in the political and legislative arenas." BULLSHIT! Abortion is more properly decided between a woman and her doctor.

Aside from the abortion question, consider that we could end up with J Michael Luttig. He struck down domestic violence legislation, deciding that Congress had overstepped its bounds. Luttig has been criticized by other judges for "being swayed on ideological grounds rather than judicial argument." Or McConnell, who doesn't believe the federal government should have a role in protecting civil liberties or workers' rights. Just what this country needs. Replace a moderate voice of reason guided by compromise with a radically conservative activist judge.

I was hoping that Justice O'Connor would hold on for a few more years. I could have dealt with Bush appointing a replacement for Justice Rehnquist, with whom I almost never agree. Depending on whom Bush ultimately nominates for O'Connor's successor, this could rank near the top as having the most lasting damage on the American populace.

Too Good For Words

2005-06-30T11:07:00.000-04:00

I had to laugh when I saw this article about Microsoft's talks to buy Claria. I mean, wow. I'm flabbergasted. Perhaps the two most despised companies in the tech world could be merging. Microsoft, with its horrendous security mechanisms. And Claria (formerly Gator), one of the most notorious spyware companies to have existed. I guess this way Microsoft can profit off of their shoddy security.

Seriously, though, the article gives a hint where some of the motivation could be coming from: Claria's BehaviorLink software. Claria pays programmers to bundle their software in with programs (e.g., Kazaa). Then marketers pay Claria to have ads pop up on your computer. BehaviorLink tracks your Web surfing habits to Claria can help the marketers customize the ads for your particular habits. The current solution is to avoid installing any software that has Claria bundled. Now imagine Microsoft bundling this software in with Windows. Egads. What's that I hear? Could that be the sound of Apple execs offering prayers that this deal goes through?

Addendum: I was just reading the comments on Slashdot about this. There's a comment that's just too good not to pass along. Here's the exchange:

Original post: "What are they thinking, don't they realize what this is going to do to their image? Microsoft, the company cherished for it's warm human point of view and high quality software, associating itself with such a low-life company."

Response: "'...the company cherished for it's warm human point of view and high quality software...' I think you misspelled 'crap.' It's a common typo, they [sic] keys are like, right next to each other."

That just made my day...

Tom Cruise Is An Idiot

2005-06-29T14:40:00.000-04:00

So, I normally wouldn't bother with drivel such as this, but I have to comment on this article in which renowned astronomer (*cough* *cough*) Tom Cruise declares that aliens exist.

When asked if he believed if they exist, he replied, "Yes, of course. Are you really so arrogant as to believe we are alone in this universe? Millions of stars, and we're supposed to be the only living creatures? No, there are many things out there, we just don't know."

So let me get this straight. We don't know. But he can say definitively that they exist. Wow, scientology must provide the brain with some awesome powers of omniscience. I need to get me some of that. And people suggesting we could be alone are arrogant?

Please, someone give me the 5 minutes I wasted reading that article and commenting on it back...