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Monday - 6 November 2000
Short Week. This week is going to be short work week. Tomorrow, election day [as if we didn't know -Ed.], is a state holiday. And Friday is Veterans' Day. Posts on both days will late [if at all - thank goodness for small favors - Ed.]. The following item is for all 12 of my local readers. Others can just move on down the column.
Tomorrow, non-Hawai'ians will have their first chance at voting for Office of Hawai'ian Affairs Trustees. As some of you may remember, a non-Hawai'ian brought a Federal law suit against OHA saying their voter rules were discriminatory based on race. The lower courts said no, it wasn't. But the Supreme Court, in a not very well reasoned opinion, disagreed and said, yes it is (is someone from South Africa, African? Think about it).
So, not only can non-Hawai'ians vote for OHA trustee, but they can also run for office themselves. Now some groups are saying even if you have the legal right to vote, you shouldn't. Vote that is.
I say hogwash to that. While I disagreed with the Supreme Court decision, it is the law of the land. Including this one. Therefore, I say it is a citizen's duty to research the backgrounds of all 96 individuals running for OHA. Look at their records. Ponder upon what they say is important and why you should vote for them. Then vote for the best person. Regardless of whether the voter, or the candidate, is Hawai'ian. </SERMON>
Stem Cells Branch Out. The Los Angels Times (see it here) has an interesting article on a couple of studies coming out of the Society for Neuroscience conference in New Orleans. Currently, stems cells are harvested from fetal tissue or human embryos. Obviously, there is a strong debate as to how ethical this is. But up to now, there didn't seem to be another source of these cells, which are used in experimental treatment of incurable brain ailments and spinal cord injuries.
Now comes research to suggest that "stem cells isolated from adult bone marrow can convert into neurons quickly and can be grown in almost unlimited supply." There is a long road to travel before the practical application of the research is possible. But at least the journey has begun.
Even though it is a short week, there is a lot to do. So I gotta go - Aloha!
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Vote Tuesday - 7 November 2000
VOTE VOTE VOTE
A Beautiful Day. The weather so far this morning is turning out to be terrific. Sunny and warm. A great day to do the most positive thing many people will ever do. Vote.
So get out there and vote for someone (or something in the states that have referenda). I say vote for someone because just voting "no" on everything doesn't solve anything. If you are going to say no, you have to then come up with an alternative that you feel is better than the one you have.
For example, if there is a question about raising taxes to help shore up the local school system and you vote no. Then you better come up with an alternative plan to solve the problem. Otherwise, you have absolutely no right to complain when the test scores for the children in your county are lower than other areas.
Another example. Say there is a referendum on building electrical power plants. And you vote no. Unless you have an alternative, you have no right to complain when there are rolling blackouts this summer due to demand being higher than supply.
To my simple mind, it comes down to your outlook in life. Do you put others before yourself? Or do you look out for number one, first, last, and always? Most of us live in communities. For better or worse. The better communities work together to solve problems. The worse fight each other trying to "protect" their turf. The difference is the outlook of the individuals in that community. Think about it. And then go out and vote.
And to our voters here in Hawai'i:
E alu like mai! E alu, e kui lima! Pono kakou e kako'o i na 'oiwi.
Work in unity! Cooperate, join hands! We should all support the Hawai'ians.
ALOHA!
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Hump Day Wednesday - 8 November 2000
1,555 Votes in Florida. Who knows what the final outcome of the presidential race will be? But personally, I think we should not waste time and just give it to Bush. Remember, George Dubyah's brother is the Governor of Florida. And if the past is any indicator, whatever the results of a recount, a box of uncounted ballots would be "found" in a back room somewhere. With just enough "votes" for George to "win". So let's just get on with it already.
On a related note, what kind of idiot came up with the idea of allowing the counting of absentee ballots, as long as they are postmarked by election day? Since when do we count on the US mail? Even out here in the Pacific, we aren't that stupid. If you mail it too late to have it delivered by 6:00pm of election day, that's your problem. To hold the entire election process hostage to people who are too lazy/busy to mail it in earlier is pure folly.
How fast is fast? Dave had an interesting reaction to my note here about how the prices on certain AMD Athlon CPUs had dropped dramatically recently. His advice? Don't buy. Yet. You can read his column here. My reaction to it is below:
From: Dan Seto
To: Daynotes Mailing List
Subject: Re: Dream Box
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2000 06:35:15 -1000You may also want to think about the fact that a "dream" system very rarely, if ever, is the most cost effective solution. Before we get too far into talking about buses, MOBOs, chip sets, and CPU speeds, you have to remember that the point is to pick your *applications first*. Then the horsepower to run them. For most home applications (including maybe MS Office and a few graphics intensive games), paying a premium for the latest, greatest, fastest component will not be survive a careful price/performance analysis. Nor for that matter, a cost/benefit analysis. Thus the best advice is to usually go with the second or third fastest CPU (and matching components) available. Will waiting some indeterminate time into the future get you a faster system? Yes. But how fast do you need it to run your applications? If you get caught up in that trap, you would never buy a system because something faster will always be just around the corner.
For example, when my wife needed a new PC a couple of months ago, I recommended a 600 MHz Celeron to her. And for what she does with it - i.e., surfing the net, it's plenty fast enough (at a price, including monitor, of less than $800). Would I recommend a Celeron for someone setting up a WAN? Of course not, because the applications and up-time requirements are entirely different. Remember, it's what are you planning to run on the system that determines what kind of hardware to pick. YMMV.
Just my two cents.
Aloha
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Thursday - 9 November 2000
We're Number Three! Sometimes it's good not to be number one. The morning paper indicates that Hawai'i has the third most expensive homes in the US with a median selling price of $299,800 USD. The average selling price, nation-wide, is $142,800. What? The two higher areas than Hawai'i? The San Francisco Bay Area at $371,600 and Boston at $356,000. Lucky we live Hawai'i.
Old Tricks. If you can't trust an archeologist, you can you trust? The Los Angeles Times has an article (see it here) about an archeologist in Japan who seemed to have an uncanny ability to find prehistoric artifacts where none had been found before. Textbooks were re-written, based on the startling finds. For twenty years his fame grew.
Then one day, someone saw him dig a hole, and place something in to the ground. This person tipped off a newspaper. Reporters were sent to shadow the man. And sure enough, they caught him on tape planting artifacts. Only to "discover" them later that day.
There are various theories as to why he did this. He says he was only "struggling to make achievements." Others say "He's a symbol of a salaryman who's under strong pressure to answer to people's expectations." And finally, some say the damage done to the public's trust in science is broken. "We're talking about the origins of Japan here," said Yoshiaki Tanaka, retired archeology professor at Shimane University in Matsue. "It's that important. This is criminal and can never be forgiven."
The Hand Writing is on the Wall. Or the tablet, in this case. MS is set to demonstrate, at Comdex next week, a tablet PC that uses a stylus as the input device - not a keyboard. Mr. Bill, himself, will demonstrate the device (see the New York Times article here).
Some are saying the state-of-the-art is still not good enough for recognition of hand writing. While others, including Dan Bricklin, say "If Microsoft is willing to follow the curve of increasing computer hardware performance, then eventually they'll get there."
Mail Call.
From: Jan Swijsen
To: Dan Seto
Sent: Thursday, November 09, 2000 3:56 AM
Subject: Just my two cents.Just my two cents. That'll be 2 dollar cent I guess, converts to around one Belgian frank. <g> So let me add a frank of my own.
Determining the applications before deciding what hardware to buy is the obvious and correct thing to do. However ... When people asks me what to buy (happens more often than I like), I always ask what they want to use the box for. And I hardly ever get a straight answer. Most often the answer is something like "writing letters and such" (such could mount up to whole novels but they don't say) and "keeping accounts" and of course "for the internet and e-mail".
Then I usually ask "No games?" to which the answer is always the same "well, heu..., maybe occasional."
My conclusion. Most novice users have no real idea what they are going to run on it (apart from the obvious text processing and surfing).
My advise is always : If you are not going to run games just get a 'slow' processor and a good big screen and plenty of RAM. If you are going to run games (yeah, occasional my foot) get the fastest processor and graphics card and pick a smaller screen.
My first advise is also to wait, saying that prices are about to fall. The real reason is that waiting a bit takes the impulse out of buying, giving them a chance to think things out. This often keeps them from falling for the 'enticer' boxes (with prices around $500/600). Not that they are worthless computers but all too often one corner too much was cut. (64MB but no free DIMM, integrated video, Winmodem, warranty, ...)
--
Svenson.----- Original Message -----
From: Dan Seto
To: Jan Swijsen
Subject: Re: Just my two cents.
Date: Thu, 9 Nov 2000 06:33:56 -1000I guess what I was saying was I make a decision based on cost as the main criterion (others may use different criteria). So, even though I play games, maybe two or three times a year, I didn't think it was important to get the fastest CPU or video card. In fact, I don't see any reason, right now, to upgrade from my 400 MHz Celeron. It does what I need it to do, without any problems. YMMV.
As to your point about having people wait, like sort of a cooling off period. That is a very good idea. I've seen people get all worked up and rush out to get something. Anything. On the other hand, even the "cheap" PCs, like the $800 Sony VAIO that I recommended my wife get, are ready to run almost anything. Including games. In fact, it can even edit video clips without dropping frames (software pre-loaded). So even the bottom of the lines are stocked with some pretty good PCs.
Anyway, thanks for your comments.
Aloha!
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Aloha Veterans' Day Friday - 10 November 2000
Veterans' Day. It's Veterans' Day across the US (and Canada, as Rememberance Day) tomorrow. Time to reflect on the sacrifices of those who risked their lives in the defense of their country (see the link here for a history and origin of Veteran's Day).
It is difficult to understand, much less describe, the uncommon courage these men and women have. But for whatever the reasons, and for whatever the motivations, we can but only give to them and their families, a heart-felt thank you.
As this is a state holiday, I am not working today. If the weather stays clear and sunny, I will probably go to the beach and then start my Christmas shopping (yikes! Is it that time of the year already?).
Take care of yourselves and have a great weekend everyone! - Aloha!
© 2000 Daniel K. Seto. All rights reserved.