Misc. Ramblings

Monday - 19 June 2000

They Come, They Go. Most of our PCs, servers, and related equipment are covered under service contracts. Some come under Inacom Information Systems. Which just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. So now we are scrambling to find another provider. Happy Monday to you also.

The Need for Speed. A lot of big time racing this weekend. First, Audi swept the first three places at the 24 Heures du Mans. While it is true that last year's winner, BMW, as well as Mercedes and Toyota were absent this year, it is still an accomplishment to finish, much less sweep, this race (see the story here).

Speaking of Sweeps. The Grand Prix du Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montréal saw Michael Schumacher win his fifth F1 race this season while his Ferrari teammate, Rubens Barrichello, took second. This, in pouring down rain (see the story here).

And finally, over in Detroit, the CART Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix ended with Brazilian Helio Castroneves beating Max Papis by 4.5 seconds.

We have some fiscal year-end spending to do (hey, it's only the 19th. There's plenty of time to put together the request. Get three quotes. And then do the Purchase Order. What? You want all of that done this morning? Hmmm. I guess I better get round to it. Right Now.).

***** Noon Update *****

OK. The request for software using year-end funds is done. We are requesting NetObjects Fusion 5 for HTML editing, the upgrade to WordPerfect Office 2000 (the legal profession still uses WP as the default), and Adobe Acrobat 4 for creating PDF files. And all it took was a two page memo indicating why we needed the software, three written quotes from various vendors, and an Act of Congress <G>. The Purchase Order now goes to our Fiscal Office to confirm there is sufficient funds available (there better be, they are the ones who told us to process now), then to our IT office to confirm this conforms with the Judiciary's standards, and then to our Administrative Director for final approval. Sheesh. Oh well, this is what I get paid the big bucks for (pushing paper, sharpening pencils, etc.).

Show Time. Thanks to Dan Bowman for reminding me that there is the matter of a game this afternoon/evening. A basketball game. Me thinks the Los Angeles Lakers will, playing on their home court, be looking for revenge. And they will find it in the form of the Indiana Pacers. I predict, being all knowing and all seeing, that the Lakers will trounce the Pacers and end the series. YMMV.

Welcome. There's a new member of the Daynotes Gang. Jonathan Hassell. You can find him here. Please join me in welcoming him by checking out his site. And be nice. He's new. Wait until he's settled in before showing your true colors <g>.

Mail Call. It seems to me I haven't published any mail for awhile. That doesn't mean I haven't received any, it's just that I've been too busy/otherwise occupied/lazy to do so. So here is a short one from someone who has not written in before (Attention! Hand Salute. Trivia Test: What is the only rank that, among the three services, is called the same thing? Points deducted for guesses and rude comments. See answer below.):

----- Original Message -----
From: Morse, Ronal B. (CAPT)~U
To: Dan Seto
Sent: Monday, June 19, 2000 8:44 AM
Subject: Auto Racing

Dan,

You neglected to mention Eddie Cheever's win at Pikes Peak in the IRL series in your open wheel roundup. First win for the Infinity engine in that series.

The CART race was a hoot! Sorry to see Paul Tracy pulled as he was charging hard, but I agree with the rule and hope they keep it in force. I'm not used to seeing Michael Andretti being quite so out of control...his car must have been a real handful today. I'm a Team Rahal fan in this series (Go Max!) Bobby sat in the adjacent seat in a coast to coast a few years ago and happily spent the entire trip answering questions and filling me in on his view of the CART vs. IRL split. BTW, was pleased to see that he is committed to getting the situation resolved. I know the Ganassi went to Indy this year with both Bobby and Roger Penske's blessing, and while Andrew Craig was never the cause of the split, with him gone it may be possible to come up with a plan.

I missed the start of the F-1 race and never figured out exactly what happened to Coulthard. I'm guessing there was a problem with his car coming off the grid but he started anyway? Thought this was verboten. I'm not particularly a Michael Schumacher fan but I do like to watch a master of almost anything do what they do best...so I can appreciate the aesthetics of his driving all the while pulling for my beloved (but under performing) Stewarts ^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h Jaguars.

Regards

From: Dan Seto
To: Morse, Ronal B. (CAPT)~U
Subject: Re: Auto Racing
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 08:48:32 -1000

Sorry for the omission. Just too much this weekend and not enough time (to watch or to write about). If only we had this problem every weekend! Thanks for your comments.

Aloha - Dan

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Tuesday - 20 June 2000

Mini-Me. Well, actually it's Microsoft's Millennium Edition ("Me"). It's been Released To Manufacturing (RTM). This is the latest version of Windows intended for the home user (see the press release here). According to the release; "It improves the home computing experience by delivering enhancements in the areas of PC health, digital media, home networking and the online experience. Consumers will be able to purchase retail versions of Windows Me on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2000." PC Health (turn your head and cough)? Sheesh. Go read the release. And then pay your $109 for the upgrade.

Lakers Win! Lakers Win! As predicted in my Noon Update yesterday, the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team won the National Basketball Association championship yesterday. They didn't exactly trounce the Indiana Pacers (116-111), but win they did. See the story here from the Los Angeles Times.

A special congratulations to Shaquille O'Neal. The Most Valuable Player of the playoffs and the season. He started the season with a sense that he would have to be the leader of the team. And lead he did. Comparing what he did last year to this shows what can be done when someone of his talent matures and takes responsibility for finding a way to win.

Separation Anxiety. The U.S. Supreme Court, Monday, ruled 6-3 against a Texas school board's policy of allowing students to decide, by majority vote, whether to have a student-led "invocation" at football games, graduations and other school gatherings (SANTA FE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DIST. v. DOE (99-62) 168 F.3d 806, affirmed, see it here).

As a Christian, I am of two minds on this question. But I think, on balance, the ruling is the correct one. I fear the growing virulence of certain right-wing groups. These groups would force their version of Christianity on everyone else. This is not the forbearance of Christ. This is not the acceptance of the Lord who welcomed the prostitute, the disabled, the feeble minded, and the children into his flock. Forcing others to worship, as you do, is not Christ-like. So in the sense that the Court is protecting everyone's right to worship, or not worship at all, as you like, is the extent that I support this ruling.

***** Noon Update *****

Activestate Perl 5.6 build 613. Stop! If you haven't downloaded this version of Perl for Windows. DON'T! The Perl Package Manager (PPM) section is fatally broken. If you don't need the ability to install or update modules I guess you can go ahead and download this. But otherwise. DON'T. Yes, they have a "Hotfix" that updates PPM to version 1.1.4. But it doesn't work. The PPM commands install, verify, update, search, and query do not work both before and after installing the "fix". What's worse is that Activestate has known of these problems for at least two months but is not saying a thing about it on their website (except for what is displayed on the bug tracking server). If I were them, I would immediately pull this distribution and wait until all of the problems were resolved rather than letting people blindly download this thinking it is a stable release. An extreme WTF experience.

Aloha!

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Hump Day Wednesday - 21 June 2000

Activestate Perl. If you missed my noon update yesterday, please go and take a look now. I don't know if the problem with PPM is isolated or widespread. All I can say is that a quick look at the bug reports for this version indicates that I am not alone in my problems with this. Use at your own risk. Note again that this is the version for Windows.

Congressional Medal of Honor. The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the armed forces of the United States (see it here). Today, the US will try to make amends for what some would describe as discrimination against Americans of Asian descent by awarding this medal to 21 heroes of World War II (see the story here). Of the 21 22, 19 were part of the famed 100th Battalion or 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The 442nd's motto was "Go for Broke!" Hawaii slang for to not hold back anything, to give your all. And these men did.

The best known of these men is US Senator from Hawai'i, Daniel K. Inouye. "Though hit in the abdomen by a bullet that came out his back and barely missed his spine, he continued to lead the platoon and advanced alone against a machine gun nest that had pinned down his men.

"He tossed two hand grenades with devastating effect before his right arm was shattered by a German rifle grenade at close range," according to the senatorial bio. "Inouye threw his last grenade with his left hand, attacked with a submachine gun and was finally knocked down the hill by a bullet in the leg."

"After 20 months in Army hospitals, Inouye returned home as a captain with a Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second highest award for military valor, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster and 12 other medals and citations."

Upon returning to the US, while in San Francisco, he went to get a hair cut. He was dressed in his uniform, chest covered in campaign ribbons. Shirt sleave pinned up where his arm used to be. And was told that the establishment did not serve "Japs." And so it goes.

Where do these kinds of men come from? Men, whose country they are giving their last full measure for, is at the same time interning their families, friends, and relatives in prison camps. In some of the most desolate areas of the US. Men, who fight a war with bravery and self-determination, while their homes were being sold at auction. And their businesses sold for fire-sale prices. Where do these men come from?

They come from small towns that most people have never heard of. These ordinary men. Doing extra-ordinary things. Thank God for these men.

See more of their stories here (note that the link will probably expire today).

The 21 men are:

Staff Sgt. (later 2nd Lt.) Rudolph B. Davila, 7th Infantry, for actions on May 28, 1944, at Artena, Italy.

Pvt. Barney F. Hajiro, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, for actions in October 1944, at Bruyeres and Biffontaine, France.

Pvt. Mikio Hasemoto, 100th Infantry Battalion, for actions on Nov. 29, 1943, at Cerasuolo, Italy (posthumous).

Pvt. Joe Hayashi, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, for actions in April 1945, at Tendola, Italy.

Pvt. Shizuya Hayashi, 100th Infantry Battalion, for actions on Nov. 29, 1943, at Cerasuolo, Italy.

Sgt. Daniel K. Inouye (later Captain), 442nd Regimental Combat Team, for actions on April 21, 1945, at San Terenzo, Italy.

Tech. Sgt. Yeiki Kobashigawa, 100th Infantry Battalion, for action on June 2, 1944, at Lanuvio, Italy.

Staff Sgt. Robert T. Kuroda, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, for actions on Oct. 20, 1944, at Bruyeres, France (posthumous).

Pfc. Kaoru Moto, 100th Infantry Battalion, for actions on July 7, 1944, at Castellina, Italy (posthumous).

Pfc. Kiyoshi K. Muranaga, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, for actions on June 26, 1944, at Suvereto, Italy (posthumous).

Pvt. Masato Nakae, 100th Infantry Battalion, for actions on August 19, 1944, at Pisa, Italy (posthumous).

Pvt. Shinyei Nakamine, 100th Infantry Battalion, for actions on June 2, 1944, at La Torreto, Italy (posthumous).

Pfc. William K. Nakamura, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, for actions on July 4, 1944, at Castellina, Italy (posthumous).

Pfc. Joe M. Nishimoto, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, for actions on Nov. 7, 1944, at La Houssiere, France (posthumous).

Sgt. (later Staff Sgt.) Allan M. Ohata, 100th Infantry Battalion, for actions in November 1943 at Cerasuolo, Italy.

Tech. Sgt. Yukio Okutsu, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, for actions on April 7, 1945, at Mount Belvedere, Italy.

Pfc. Frank H. Ono, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, for actions on July 4, 1944, at Castellina, Italy (posthumous).

Staff Sgt. Kazuo Otani, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, for actions on July 15, 1944, at Pieve di S. Luce, Italy (posthumous).

Pvt. George T. Sakato, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, for actions on Oct. 29, 1944, in Biffointaine, France.

Tech. Sgt. Ted T. Tanouye, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, for actions on July 7, 1944, at Molina a Ventoabbto, Italy (posthumous).

Capt. Francis B. Wai, 34th Infantry, for actions on Oct. 20, 1944, at Leyte, Philippine Islands (posthumous).

Postscript. A 22nd name was added at the last minute. My apologies to all for not having it in the original list.

Tech. Sgt. James K. Kubo, for actions on Oct. 28, 29 and Nov. 4, 1944, at Biffontaine, France.

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Thursday - 22 June 2000

Open the Pod Bay Doors, HAL. The journal Nature has an article on an electronic circuit that mimics the wiring of the human brain in some respects. The circuit, developed at Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs, combines both digital and analog processing by using artificial neurons that either excite or inhibit each other based on responses, or feedback, from other neurons. The abstract is below:

Digital selection and analogue amplification coexist in a cortex-inspired silicon circuit

RICHARD H. R. HAHNLOSER, RAHUL SARPESHKAR, MISHA A. MAHOWALD, RODNEY J. DOUGLAS & H. SEBASTIAN SEUNG

Digital circuits such as the flip-flop use feedback to achieve multi-stability and nonlinearity to restore signals to logical levels, for example 0 and 1. Analogue feedback circuits are generally designed to operate linearly, so that signals are over a range, and the response is unique. By contrast, the response of cortical circuits to sensory stimulation can be both multistable and graded. We propose that the neocortex combines digital selection of an active set of neurons with analogue response by dynamically varying the positive feedback inherent in its recurrent connections. Strong positive feedback causes differential instabilities that drive the selection of a set of active neurons under the constraints embedded in the synaptic weights. Once selected, the active neurons generate weaker, stable feedback that provides analogue amplification of the input. Here we present our model of cortical processing as an electronic circuit that emulates this hybrid operation, and so is able to perform computations that are similar to stimulus selection, gain modulation and spatiotemporal pattern generation in the neocortex.

Mail Call.

From: Dan Seto
To: J.H. Ricketson
Cc: Dan Bowman
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2000 11:20 AM
Subject: Aloha!

If it's not Dan Bowman referring to "the land of Kona Gold" it's your signing off with "Aloha." What's next? [name deleted to protect the guilty] going native and wearing a hula skirt (the mental image sears the mind <g>).

----- Original Message -----
From: J.H. Ricketson
To: Dan Seto
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2000 8:50 AM
Subject: Re: Aloha!

Just that it brings back fond memories of the 4 glorious months I spent at MCAS Kaneohe Bay in '53, and the evenings spent drinking under the Banyan tree in the courtyard of some hotel in Waikiki.

go ki gen yo!

JHR

----- Original Message -----
From: Dan Seto
To: J.H. Ricketson
Subject: Re: Aloha!
Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2000 09:10:53 -1000

Hmm. Probably the Moana or the Royal Hawaiian (the "Pink Palace").

As to MCAS Kaneohe, I think I've been on base only once. This was in high school when I was in the ROTC (the high school I was attending, the Kamehameha Schools, required four years of ROTC). The Marines gave us a tour of the facilities. Including rides on the amphibious assault vehicles (hot, noisy, and wet).

----- Original Message -----
Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2000 15:36:18 -0700
To: Dan Seto
From: "J.H. Ricketson
Subject: Re: Aloha!

The Moana! That's it! the name I was searching for. The RH and Canoe Club were a bit rich for a young 2dLt's blood. I have often said that when I die, given a choice between Heaven or Hawaii (unlikely - I know my destination!), I would choose Hawaii. I know what that's like! Wouldn't find many of my friends in Heaven, either.

Regards,

JHR

And then this from Chris Ward-Johnson on my use of a border for my pages these past few weeks.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Seto
Sent: 21 June 2000 18:28
To: CWJ
Subject: Re: Congratulations
Phil,

Here. Here. Well done young chap. We are honored by your being a member (as opposed to Chris who just makes us look like a bunch of ....Well, you know what - <G>).

----- Original Message -----
From: chriswj
To: Dan Seto
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2000 9:15 AM
Subject: RE: Congratulations

Hey, what did I ever do to you? Apart from pointing out the horribleness of your wallpaper.

Regards

Chris Ward-Johnson
Chateau Keyboard - Computing at the Eating Edge
http://www.chateaukeyboard.com
Dr Keyboard - Computing Answers You Can Understand
http://www.drkeyboard.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Seto
Sent: 21 June 2000 21:28
To: chriswj
Subject: Re: Congratulations

Well, there you go. Answered your own question <g>

Aloha - Dan

----- Original Message -----
From: Chris Ward-Johnson
To: Dan Seto
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2000 9:36 AM
Subject: RE: Congratulations

I've got something you might like: \1999\mar\friday_march_19.htm

Regards

Chris Ward-Johnson

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Seto
Sent: 21 June 2000 21:56
To: cwj
Subject: Re: Congratulations

Chris,

Thanks. That's very kind of you. Assuming the image (the bathroom wallpaper, not you as a cub reporter) is not copyrighted, I will try to reduce the size and use it as a border.

Aloha - Dan

----- Original Message -----
From: Chris Ward-Johnson
To: Dan Seto
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2000 10:14 AM
Subject: RE: Congratulations

Glad to help. Remind me to turn graphics off in my browser when I read your notes tomorrow.

Regards

Chris Ward-Johnson

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Seto
Sent: 22 June 2000 01:17
To: cwj
Subject: Re: Congratulations

You don't need to wait for tomorrow. See the attached link for a special version of my posting:

http://seto.org/diary/2000/jcwj1.html

Aloha - Dan

----- Original Message -----
From: Chris Ward-Johnson
To: Dan Seto
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2000 11:01 PM
Subject: RE: Congratulations

That is so ugly. I bet you love it. Now imagine what it was like having a (quite small) bathroom covered with that - on the walls, the ceiling and even the door. Good grief.

Regards

Chris Ward-Johnson

----- Original Message -----
From: Dan Seto
To: cwj
Subject: Re: Congratulations
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2000 06:32:47 -1000

Chris,

It is so absolutely gruesome that I love it. It's the kind of thing that my wife would pick if I wasn't there to grab her by the arm and drag her away. Having said that, on the ceiling? Hmmm. Maybe not. That's where you put the mirror.<g>

Aloha - Dan

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Aloha Friday - 23 June 2000

It's Friday!

Boy Oh Boy! A Big Hawaiian Congratulations to Daynoter John Doucette. You see, he's been living week-to-week, working on a contract basis. Now, he's got a "regular" job. With benefits. And we hope, a future. The best of luck to him as he joins the ranks of the living dead.

Feeling Lost? OK, so they've almost finished mapping the complete DNA sequence of humans. Why am I not happy about this? The potential for good is tremendous. Unfortunately, so is the potential for evil. Oh well, the Genie is out of the bottle and all we can do is hope that the information will be used wisely. See the story from the Los Angeles Times here.

Dennis Miller. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha.

***** Noon Update *****

MS.NET, the Next Generation. OK. So we now know what the Next Generation Windows Services is to be called. MS.NET. Hmmm, I still think it's crazy to trust your business to the reliability of your interenet connection. By that I mean if you use a copy of MS Office located on a server in Washington state, as opposed to having a copy loaded locally on your PC, you deserve all that you get when your connection goes down and you can't finish that memo that management wanted done yesterday.

Maybe I'm missing something here. But doesn't this look awfully like the debate between having your applications and data on a mainframe vs. running things locally on your PC? And wasn't this decided, almost 20 years ago, when the first IBM PC rolled off the line? Yes. Yes. The MS Whitepaper (see it here) says the Internet is the cure to the problem of the mainframe debate. Not the problem. And to that I say; "Big Lie. What Big Lie?"

Now, I fully understand that MS.NET will include other applications which may well be so atttractive that people will want to use this service. But unless the Achilles heal of lost connectivity is solved, you would have to be crazy to depend on it.

PS. To illustrate my point. Pair.com was unreachable this morning for at least two hours. No support.pair, no email, no ftp, no telnet, no nothing. If even this well run company can not keep their connection(s) (or perhaps more specifically UUNet's connections) up and running, how do you expect MS to do it? Even assuming they chose to take on that task, which they do not. Trust MS if you want. Close your eyes and cross your fingers you may. But don't come crying to me if this doesn't work.

Have a Good Weekend Everyone - Aloha!

© 2000 Daniel K. Seto. All rights reserved.