My Cup Runneth Over. Pair.com, my host for this site did some changes recently to the mail server. They say the changes were to keep spammers from hijacking the server(s) and using them for their nefarious business. But it seems to have caused some unintended (I assume) effects.
So with that background, I should not have been surprised when I checked my email yesterday and found maybe 10 emails there. But surprised I was when I started reading some of the Daynotes sites and they remarked about getting upwards of 50 emails. If they were getting so many back channel emails, why wasn't I (we're all supposed to be getting these emails as we are on a mailing list)?
When I checked my mail this morning, my mail box was full of mail from Saturday, Sunday, and this morning. In fact, I had almost 150 emails waiting. Where were they yesterday? I can only assume it is related to the changes at Pair.com.
Having said that, I'm not sure I would have wanted to wade into the discussion. Much heat. Much talking past each other. Not much synthesis of thought. Not much acceptance of idea's that run counter to their own...ad hominem, ad nauseum, but not, unfortunately, ad rem.
The EP-3 Aries II/Orion Incident. Some of what I'm going to say may sound a bit harsh to some people, but so be it. While I am certainly concerned about the crew of the Navy EP-3 (here's a link to the anti-submarine version of the aircraft, which this was not. I include it only because the site seems very well done and includes photographs. Here is a link to the specific version that was involved.), I am even more concerned about the intelligence windfall the Chinese Communists (ChiComm) will reap from this incident.
I have to ask, why did the pilot of the EP-3 head straight for ChiComm controlled territory? Why didn't he/she head towards US forces in the area? Even if they could not have made it to friendly territory, isn't it the duty of the military to avoid capture? Wouldn't it have been better for everyone if they had just ditched in the sea, set demolition charges to blow up the plane, and awaited rescue there?
At this point, with the aircraft in ChiComm hands, it does not matter what "assurances" the ChiComms give as to not boarding the aircraft. We must assume that they have done so and are even now learning as much as they can about the technology used and the data gathered. Further, even if the plane is returned, we would probably have to blow it up since there would be no way of knowing for sure whether or not bugs have been added and that all have been detected and removed.
In the end, I really can't see the logic in what the US pilot did after the collision (unless you believe this is part of a bigger conspiracy, which I do not [or he was forced to land by the another Chinese fighter - Ed.]). And as far as I am concerned, it is another black mark on the US Navy Pacific Command (under whose control this aircraft apparently falls).
Now as to what needs to be done now, all I can say is it will have to be a diplomatic response. Why? Because the military does not have the intelligence (I'm talking about knowing where all of the crew is being kept) nor the assets to carry out a military extraction of the crew. What could have been done, but is now too late, is the firing of a cruise missile to blow up the plane. If collateral damage were kept to a minimum, the ChiComms could hardly protest the blowing up of our own aircraft. There would of course be the problem of having weapons over-flight into their territory, but that is a diplomatic problem. One they can't exactly use because they routinely fire missiles over Taiwan and near, if not also over, Japan.
What a way to start a week...
Before I forget. I don't do weekend postings so I didn't do one yesterday. But if I had, I could have talked about my new looF lirpA 12.5GHz CPU. What? Never heard of the looF lirpA 12.5? Well, now. This little beauty runs at 12.5GHz (with suitable cooling), thus blowing away anything made by Intel or AMD. It is compatible with all current operating systems although compilers will take awhile to catchup with its quad-cross-linked instruction set.
By the way, the term "chip" is somewhat of a misnomer. Perhaps slab is a better term. But notwithstanding its prodigious proportions, it will cost just sightly less than an arm and a leg. YMMV.
!aholA
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Tuesday - 3 April 2001
Daynotes Welcome. A hearty Daynotes welcome to the newest member of the Gang - Greg Lincoln. I haven't had the pleasure of reading very much of his intermittent postings but it appears he is an expert in the ways of Linux. Whether or not that is a Good Thing, I will leave it to you to decide <EG>.
Classless. Class starts up again tonight. But perhaps, only temporarily. Both the University of Hawai'i professors and the Depart of Education teachers are set to go on strike Thursday. If negotiations fail for both, there will be no public education in Hawai'i. For some, this would be a Good Thing. But for most people, it is a shameful situation to be in. Education is one of the better ways of improving your situation in life. While there is no guarantee you will do better, you certainly improve you odds. And if you don't have an education, your odds of doing well go down substantially. So to not pay well the people who are trying to educate our best and brightest is counterproductive. As Dr. K mentioned in one of his emails over the weekend, and I'm paraphrasing here; "If you think the cost of education is expensive, wait until to you see the cost of ignorance." Right on, Doc.
Speaking of Ignorance. Acknowledging that we don't know yet exactly what led to the EP-3 incident over the weekend, I have never seen such ignorant and impotent posturing on the part of a US President. Saying the Chinese "must" do this, or "shall" do that is just sanctimonious BS (excuse my French). Possession is 9/10ths of the law. They possess the plane and are doing exactly what we would do (and have done in the past). Namely, tearing the plane apart and downloading or reverse engineering everything there. Unless we are willing to use force of arms, which we are not, saying another country must do anything is just so much crap. On the other hand, should the crew be harmed...
Well, I have work on some stuff for class tonight so I gotta go - Aloha!
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Hump Day Wednesday - 4 April 2001
Second Generation. Intel has updated their well received 815 line of motherboards with two new versions: D815EEA2 and D815EPEA2 (see them here).
They include, among other features:
Digital Video Output (DVO) supports flat panel, digital CRT or TV-Out cards (D815EEA2 only)
Ultra ATA/100 disk support for faster disk access
Intel® Rapid BIOS Boot speeds up the Power On Self Test (POST)
Instantly Available PC (Suspend-to-RAM) enables advanced power saving features
Intel® Active Monitor monitors system’s temperatures, power supply voltages and fan speeds
Buy'em if you can find'em.
Reading Tea Leaves. I promise this is my last item on the EP-3 incident (for today anyway). What we are seeing now is how well have relations between the US and China been cemented over the last eight years of the Clinton administration. The former administration made a lot of noise about how we needed to give favored nation status to China, etc. Well, now we get to see if any of that made a difference at all.
If the Chinese return the crew and aircraft in the near future, we know the Clinton policy worked. If however, the Chinese start making noises about putting the crew on trial, or otherwise delaying their release, we will have confirmation that it was for naught.
Either way, this is a real life experiment. The only thing left is the conclusion.
Speaking of Experiments. Even though there may be a strike at the University of Hawai'i tomorrow, we will still be meeting for class. So, I better get going on my 20-minute presentation on, now wait for it: "Is there a relationship between recidivism and age, economic stratum, and/or education in Hawaii's male felony theft offenders population?" I know, this will keep you up late at night until you know the answer but you'll just have to wait for the book. Or maybe the motion picture.
Aloha!
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Thursday - 5 April 2001
Strike! Even as I write this, picketers are walking the lines around all public schools, colleges, and universities in Hawai'i (see the story here from the New York Times). As one professor said when interviewed this morning, at this point, it's no longer about money. It's about respect. It's about deciding what direction education should take. It's about, yes, vision. These people have been working without a contract for two years. The first "offer" they got was for no pay increase and a cut in health and retirement benefits. Gee, if this is how a Democratic Governor treats people, imagine what a Republican would do [the guillotine? Nah, too French. A firing squad. Americans love guns. - Ed.].
New GM SUVs Unsafe at Any Speed. According to this article in the Los Angeles Times, General Motors has temporarily stopped production of their 2002 Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy and Oldsmobile Bravada SUVs due to a suspension part which, if it fails, could cause the loss of vehicle control.
Spokesman Mike Morrissey said the problem lies with a component in the lower control arm of the front suspension. The automaker has not received any reports of accidents or injuries from the problem, he added."If that component were to fail, it could cause a loss of vehicle control," Morrissey said. "We've captured a couple of incidents at the dealerships before the vehicles were delivered where the assemblies had failed."
Maybe we should give some to the Chinese as presents.
PS. I'm glad to see Brian's better half is doing well. Hey Brian, take good care of her, she's a keeper! <G>
I'm still working on the research design part of our presentation for next week so I gotta go - Aloha!
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Aloha Friday - 6 April 2001
It's...Friday!
Bulb Burned Out. Pacific Gas and Electric, California's largest utility, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday in federal court.
"The regulatory and political processes have failed us, and now we are turning to the court," Chairman Robert D. Glynn Jr. said. "We expect the court will provide the venue needed to reach a solution, which thus far the state and the state's regulators have been unable to achieve."
Hmmm. With all due respect to the Chairman and the California courts, lotsa' luck. Any court process is slow and deliberative. How will this solve things for this summer (just a short while away)? Answer: It won't. So Dan Bowman, what was that about Costco having generators?
Intel Motherboard II. Just a quick update
on my posting on Wednesday regarding the updated motherboards
from Intel. The big news is you get the faster ATA-100 IDE
interface [later versions of the D815EEA have the faster interface - Ed.] and a bunch of other stuff for a new lower price! I
don't have an official list price but the street price at
priceleader.com (and no, I'm not endorsing this or any
other retailer) is $124.48 (USD). Compare this the older
D815EEA priced at $136.00. The bad part is you probably won't
be able to get your hands on one for awhile. So, if you're in
the market for a mobo right now, what to do? Simple, go buy
the older version. The differences between the old and the
new aren't that big a deal. So if you need one now, get the
D815EEA. But. If you can wait a month or two, or if you need
the faster IDE interface or updated video and sound, then get
the newer version when it's available. As for me, I've
already got a D815EEA with a 933MHz PIII. But my next project
will have the D815EEA2 (which I will use for a Linux 2.4
machine to play with). YMMV.
Speaking of Intel and Prices. The EU (rhymes with the sound you make after Benson and the Boyz come to visit your garden) is looking into alleged predatory practices on the part of Intel. According to a Los Angeles Times article (see it here):
European Union Commission spokeswoman Amelia Torres said the Commission was reacting to two separate complaints, at least one from a U.S. company, received late last year regarding alleged abusive marketing practices by U.S.-based Intel.Torres said the investigation involves allegations of loyalty rebates offered to Intel customers and exclusive purchasing obligations on personal computer manufacturers or retailers.
Intel spokeswoman Gail Hall in London said the company was cooperating fully with the EU's requests for information. "We believe that we conduct our business in a fair and lawful manner ... and that's what will be discovered yet again," she said.
Rat Fink. Sorry to see that Ed "Big Daddy" Roth passed away recently at the age of 69 (see these sites here and here). He was the king of the kalifornia kar kustomizers. He was a hot rodder before there were hot rods. He was probably most popular in the sixties but was still working on building cars up until his death, two days ago. Go gett'um Big Daddy.
Have a Great Weekend Everyone - Aloha!
© 2001 Daniel K. Seto. All rights reserved.