Misc. Ramblings

For you chem or physics majors out there, herewith is the "Table of Condiments that Periodically Go Bad."

Aloha!

Business 2.0 has a list of what they call "101 Dumbest Moments in Business." I didn't read the whole list but I wanted to add one to it anyway.

During the 1980's, toursits from Japan flooded Hawai'i. They came with their pockets full of yen and spent librerally. Some businesses, focusing on short-term profits, decided to take advantage of the Japanese by over charging them. Sometimes, these businesses marked up items several thousand percent. While it may be a coincidence, most of these businesses were multinational corporations, not local companies.

For awhile, these managers were thought to be geniuses because their profits far outshone their competitors. Indeed, institutional investment managers fell over themselves trying to buy stocks in these companies. Money was to be made and seemingly everyone wanted their share.

But eventually the Japanese realized, not being as stupid as the managers thought they were, that they were being overcharged and took their business elsewhere. The economic bubble burst and these high flying managers went down in flames while the local business, that had always sought to give long-term value to their customers in the hope of earning their repeat business are doing just fine, thank you very much.

While there are no guarantees in business, those that focus on building long-term relationships through dealing in a fair manner with their customers will probably still be around 10 years from now. Learn well this lesson and you won't end up on any Business 2.0 dumbest list.

There are a lot of good things about using MovableType but comment spam is not one of them. So I've tried doing the usual stuff like installing MT-Blacklist and the latest MT updates. But to no avail. I've even deleted the comment templates but somehow the span still gets posted.

One of the ways to try to combat this is to close comments after a period of time. Unfortunately, in MT you have to do this manually, post by post. For me, with over 300 posts, this is not an option. So I looked around to see it there was an easier way of doing that. Eventually, I settled on trying to issuing the following SQL command (although there is a add-in module that purports to do this for you it didn't work for me):

update mt_entry set entry_allow_comments = 2 where TO_DAYS(NOW()) - TO_DAYS(entry_created_on) >= 10;(That's one long line of commands.)

The intent was to close all comments older than 10 days. In order to to issue this command, I needed to login to the MySQL command line interface. At pair.com, the host for my site, the instructions to do this is as follows:

username@server% mysql -hdb14.pair.com -uusername -p username_dbname

Enter password: [enter password here]

Note the part about entering a password. That's very important as you will see (he says with great foreboding in the CNN voice...of...doom).

In order to open the database, pair.com wants you do use a password. This seems logical enough because without one, anyone can enter anything they want (like spam). But, since the database did not have a password [see update below], I needed to add one. Pair.com has a handy web interface for doing so. So I did.

The problem is, by setting a password, no one else can read or write to the database. No one. That means when MovableType tries to access the database it can't because it doesn't have permission to do so. Since MT can't write to the database, I can't either (at least not through MT, I could use MySQL directly but that kind of defeats the purpose of having MT in the first place).

All together now...SIGH.

So, this explains why you are reading this in a plain page like I used to use. I emailed pair.com yesterday with an urgent request for help. But as of this morning (afternoon in Pittsburgh where pair is located) I have received no response. So much for their speedy service.

I'm way too busy right now to spend any time on this so this will have to do for now. Sorry.

UPDATE. During my 45-minute lunch break, I was able to re-read the installation instructions for MT. There, I found that a password was in fact used for the database when I installed it. Being that it's been over a year since that occurred, I had no recollection of that nor what the password was (not that it matters since I changed it yesterday when I typed in a new one).

So, the question was how to update MT with the new password. Reading farther into the installation instructions I found the file to edit. You can find it for yourself if you need to but I'm not going to make it easier for l33t hax0rs to change it so I'm not going to mention it here. Suffice to say I set the rights so that only I can read/write to it.

Once that was set, all was well. Although I'm still a little wary about having that file with the password in it...Sigh.

Aloha!

This story says a teenage hacker (Isn't it redundant to say 'teenage hacker'? - ed.) broke into the Fermi National Accelerator Lab in Illinois triggering a nuclear terrorism alert while the break in was traced to a U.K. youth. The youth used the computer to store downloaded films and music.

I can't believe that any computer exposed to the Internet would have critical security matters stored on it but who knows? As far as I know, if information needs to be secured, the system is not only not connected to the Internet, it's not connected to anything so no one from the outside can get in. In addition, the system is situated in a room surrounded by copper shielding so nothing can get out.

I'm currently working on writing the first draft of the Salary Commission report. This is complicated by the fact that they have not yet made a recommendation. Not wanting to let that hold them back, they gave me a week to write the first draft. So I gotta go.

Aloha!

I'm down with the flu this week. I'm coughing, I have a sore throat, my nose is running, and all my joints and muscles ache. Other than that, I'm feeling fine. 8=}

If its wasn't for the report I'm working on I would be at home resting. Back to work I go...Oh, by the way, good luck to the three people from Hawai'i who made it through to the final 32 of American Idol. They are Camile Velasco (ahem, very easy on the eyes), Jasmine Trias (word is, this is the one to watch, even though she hasn't had any "face time" yet), and that whale of a man - Jonah Moananu (just kidding Jonah!).

Aloha!

Stories of Mac Fanatics are legion. So if you are stupid bold enough to take jab at them you should not be surprised when they live down to their reputation. This story from Wired gives the details of a perfect hoax: Take one brand new G5, gut it, and replace the internals with PC components. Then post it on Overclockers to rub the Mac Maniacs noses in it. Step back and watch the hilarity ensue. Only, that's not what the guy actually did but the damage, according to the Mac Mordors, was already done. How dare this guy deface a Mac?

The tea leaves indicate that the Gecko-based browser Firebird 0.8 will make it out the door on Monday. Don't ask me why it's taking so long for the bird to rise since Mozilla 1.6 went gold several weeks ago. In any case, check it out on Monday.

I hate to point fingers, but the MorningPaper leaves itself open to such criticism when it reports, as front page news, that police shot a woman driving a stolen car saying the women was trying to give up, by raising her hands, when she was fatally shot in the head. At least, that's what was reported for days after the incident. Interspersed with these reports were interviews with the woman's relatives saying how good a person she was and how unfair and unjust it was that the police shot her.

Comes now the coroner's report which indicates, using forensic science, that in fact at the time of the shooting, one hand was on the wheel and the other was on the shifter. So much for trying to give up. She was actually doing what the officers said she was doing, trying to kill them and thereby escape taking responsibility for her life. Of course, this story is buried inside on page "B-3". Oh, she was also on crystal methamphetamine (sp?), commonly known as "ice", at the the time.

Leaving aside the tragedy that was her life, and I don't wish to cause yet more pain for her family and friends, this is why people loose respect and trust not only for the newspapers, but also the police as well (since not as many people will read page B-3 as opposed to the front page). This is a huge disservice to the community. If the apparently mistaken accusation deserves the front page, then so does the truth. YMMV. Insert my disclaimer here.

Have a Great Weekend Everyone - Aloha!

As this article says, if someone gave you $650USD would you (a) Buy food for three or four months, (b) pay the gas and electric bill for a year, (c) purchase a really nice digital camera, or (d) buy Adobe Photoshop?

For everyone who chose a, b, or c, go to the article and read about a few alternatives to Photoshop. For all those who chose (d), what are you doing here reading this blog?

Aloha!

You know, sometimes I just have to be amazed by the inventiveness of some people. Like the guy who decided it was a GoodThing(tm) to make an Mp3 player in the form of an AK-47 ammo magazine. That way, I guess, you can listen to the Grammy winners while you bust a few caps</gangsta_rap>

Well, Mozilla released the update to their browser but have changed its name. Again. What was once Phoenix, then Firebird, is now Firefox. I hope they realize that Firefox is probably not available either but surely they know this? Maybe not. If not, maybe it's time for them to hire one of those fancy agencies that come up with product names for stuff by making up words like Altima, Acura, Accenture, or Pentium. Or go here and generate one for free. Like Optilogo, Rapidene, or Misc Deltaco...

In any case, the download page starts here. Be aware that the thundering herds are at the trough so downloading the 6MB install file may be slow until the dust settles. Of course, a 6MB file is just a bug patch to Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser so I guess I shouldn't complain...

Sorry, no post today. I'm working on my report and need to do a bunch of stuff...

Aloha!

September 21, 2004. Mark that date on your calendar right now. Okay, finished marking it? Right, that's the date that the original Star Wars trilogy will be made available on DVD! Its been what, 25 years since the first Star Wars movie hit the screens of movie theaters but no DVD. Until September 21 (did you mark your calendar as I asked you?)

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi will be available in a four-disc set that includes a bonus disc filled with all-new special features -- including the most comprehensive feature-length documentary ever produced about the Star Wars saga and never-before-seen footage from the making of all three films. Each of the three films in the Star Wars Trilogy has been digitally restored and re-mastered by THX for superior sound and picture quality.

Aloha!

Ever since I first saw the grandfather of all dog shows, the Westminster, I've wanted to go to New York and see it. Alas, I probably will never do so but I do get to watch it on TV each year.

Of course, I had lost hope that any manly dog would ever win in my lifetime. I mean, I saw poodles and pekinese but no Labrador or German shepard. Indeed, I've seen rats larger than some of the winners (and they probably had more courage than the winners. Heck, some of those dogs pee on themselves when they see their face in the mirror). Indeed, most winners easily fit into the silver bowl trophy and many have jumped in and done just that.

So you can imagine my joy this morning when I woke up to find that a Newfoundland had won the 128th annual Westminster! Yes! All 150lbs (~68kg) of him. Now, that's a dog. Oh, he doesn't fit in the silver bowl so I guess he'll just have to use it as his water dish...

Some people may be confused. Especially when it comes to Microsoft and security. As you may know, Microsoft recently changed how often it releases security patches to its products. Up to now, patches were released as they were ready. On average, this seemed about one a week.

Now, what they do is bunch the patches in one mega-patch and release that once a month. For example, there are four patches (three for PCs and one for Macs) in this month's submission.

So, what's the confusion? Well, it seems some people, seeing only one patch a month, appear to be saying that MS has finally learned how to secure their products. But I think this is at least very premature, and perhaps wrong. As far as I can see, there are about as many security patches are before (one a week), even though they only release them once a month.

In fact, there is a case to be made that by delaying the release of patches, as they are doing, MS is actually making cyberspace less secure then if they were to release patches as soon as they are ready since the vulnerabilities are left open, even though a patch is available.

In my opinion, this is all cosmetics. It's about appearing to be doing better when, in fact, you may not be. In any case, I think it's too early to say for sure, one way or the other. By the way, one of the patches is for something that some people are calling the most critical error that MS has ever had. You decide if MS is doing better. YMMV. Insert disclaimer her.

Sorry, no post today. I have a legislative hearing tomorrow morning so things will be sparse around here today and perhaps tomorrow. I'll try to have something worthwhile tomorrow but no guarantees (or your money back - ed.).

Aloha!

Over at Larry Lessig's site he has a copy of a letter to the editor by Christine Bolzan talking about the whole CBS Super Bowl debacle. It's a short letter and starts thusly:

We Americans need to rethink whether CBS and its parent company Viacom should continue to be trusted to broadcast on our publicly owned airwaves.

That pretty much sums up my thinking about CBS right now. The heads of this company have shown that they are unfit to be entrusted with the public's airwaves and should be removed immediately.

Have a Great Weekend Everyone - Aloha!

Okay, maybe not. But I think the reaction from MS pretty clearly shows you how they think in the Valley of Mordor Redmond. MS is getting all hysterical about how people will take the code and write viruses or steal their deep, ultra-secret way of creating icons. On the other hand, the Linux kernel code has been available for years and I don't see anyone using it to write viruses. Instead, people use it to find bugs and then provide the code to fix them.

This clearly points out the differences between the two philosophies. While I'm not saying there should be only one way of doing things, nor am I saying there shouldn't be any trade secrets, I am saying releasing the code for Windows 2000 isn't going to end the world as we know it.

See the story here.

No post today as this is a U.S. holiday.

We live in a very cynical time and I know people can get especially jaded when it comes to politics. I mean, when it comes to things like political "dirty tricks", surely everyone does it. Right? But the truth is, no, not everyone does. Not everyone stoops to lies and innuendo to win. Not everyone believes the end justifies the means.

It's sort of like when you were in high school and you thought everyone was "doing it." Except you, of course. But they weren't. In fact, the great majority weren't.

But to believe that everyone does dirty tricks in politics reduces respect for the process and leads to lower voting rates. For a republic, this is a very dangerous thing. If people disengage from the political process, it leaves only the hardcore power brokers to do as they will. If you believe nothing else, believe that the power brokers, whether they call themselves Republicans or Democrats, don't care what is best for you. What they care about is what's best for themselves. But I digress.

I've been involved in politics for 30 years and the only dirty tricks I've seen seem to be the trademark of certain people. These people tend to call themselves Republicans. Before you go running off into the night screaming, let me say I don't believe these people are true Republicans. Rather, these people wrap themselves in that word like cowards wrap themselves in the flag - both hoping to draw attention away from their lack of courage, ethics, and morality.

So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a "photograph" is making the Internet rounds that purports to show U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry standing next to Jane Fonda at a 1970 anti-war rally. First, let's be clear that Kerry, a war veteran, came back from Vietnam a changed man. He went there, from all reports, to serve his country and he did so with distinction. But he came back and protested the very war he had participated in as being unjust and based on false pretenses.

Did he speak out against the war? Yes. Did he speak at a rally that Fonda also attended? Yes. Did the photo capture him standing next to Fonda at this rally? Nope. The picture is a fabrication merging two photos taken at two different locations on two different dates. There are already other fabrications floating like dirt on the waters. Don't believe them.

As for me, up untill I saw the fabrication, I was undecided as to who I would vote for at our Hawai'i Democratic Party caucus next week Tuesday. I am no longer undecided...Give Peace a Chance. Kerry for President.

Aloha!

Some paraphrased questions, from Honolulu Advertiser editorial columnist David Shapiro. Think about them when U.S. citizens go to the polls in November:

1. Did President Bush exercise sound judgment by going to war in Afghanistan and Iraq?

2. Is the cost of the wars worth the record federal budget deficits that will tie our hands when we need to spend money on other areas (including security)?

3. Has the preoccupation with the Middle-East blinded us to the real and possibly present danger from North Korea?

4. Having instituted regime change, no matter what we now do in Afghanistan or Iraq, aren't both headed towards civil war?

5. What are our goals, how will we achieve them, and how will we know when we have met them?

Aloha!

What is 5.8" x 4" x 1" (148mm x 101mm x 26mm), weighs 1 lb. (450g), runs Windows XP Home or Pro, and has a 5.6-inch (14cm) screen? The FlipStart PC.

It's being pitched at people who need the portability of a handheld, but the ability to run all Windows applications without the weight of a laptop. No word yet on pricing or availability.

Speaking of substantial patches, StarOffice 7 has a 16MB patch that came out in December. If you are using StarOffice you may want to download the patch. To help you figure out if you need to, the ReadMe is here and the download itself starts here.

Aloha!

OpenOffice 1.1.1 is scheduled for release on March 8th ( see the timeline here). This is a substantial bug "issues" fix and will probably be worth the download. Check their site around that time just in case things slip a bit.

I see that Dan Bricklin has resigned from Interland and has returned to Software Garden. Bricklin is perhaps best known for his co-authorship of the seminal spreadsheet program VisiCalc.

Apparently, Mr. Bricklin is a hands-on kind of guy that would rather be creating something rather than managing it. So he left the relative security of a large company, where he was Chief Technology Officer, to become President of a software company with two products for programmers. Talk about leap of faith. But I have to admire the man for following a path that he finds mentally/spiritually rewarding, if not financially so. Best wishes to him in his new endeavor.

Are you required to show your ID to a Deputy? In some jurisdictions, the answer is probably yes. But the question to be heard before the U.S. Supreme Court on March 22nd is whether there a Constitutional right, under the Fourth Amendment, against having to do so? See the story here

A New Jersey woman, sued by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for allegedly swapping music files online, has in turn counter sued the organization under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The act, heretofore mostly used against organized crime syndicates is appropriate, according to her attorney, because the RIAA is using scare tactics to extort money from the individuals it sues.

See the story here.

Have a Great Weekend Everyone - Aloha!

Encouraging news to hear that progress is being made on developing a vaccine against one type of lung cancer. The article states non-small cell lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. with more than 150,000 people dying from the disease each year. But preliminary results, of a very small sample, indicates some success. Of the 43 patients in the study, three had full remission and seven had the disease stabilize and not increase in size.

This very short article says flat panel monitor shipments will, for the first time, surpass those of CRTs this year. According to the post, abundant supplies of the LCD panels will drive prices down over the next few years.

I hope the prediction is true as I would like to replace my aging 17-inch monitor at home with a flat panel model. I've really gotten used to 17-inch panel I have at work from Dell. The colors are great, there is no smear and no defective pixels to be seen. The only thing I've been waiting for is the price to drop below $300 for a good one. Perhaps next year.

The Salary Commission meeting is this morning so I gotta go.

Aloha!

For those of you in the UK or the Netherlands who enjoy building electronic kits, here's one that's supposedly the digital equivalent of the famed Enigma coding machines used during World War II.

Aloha!

Polaroid announced the June availability of the new x530 digital camera using the Foveon X3 direct image sensor. See the camera here at the Foveon site.

The X3 technology reportedly mimics how images are captured on film by using three layers, one for each of the primary colors rather than one layer with specific colors captured at specific sites. Thus, the X3 technology is apparently "the first and only image sensor that captures full color at every point in the captured image." The results of which can be seen in this gallery of photos. Of course, the proof would be to directly compare images taken with a film camera vs. the X3 technology vs. other digital cameras. Perhaps someone will do this, if it hasn't been done already.

In either case, the photos look very good.

Note this post is about religion so if you are offended by that, please click on through and come back tomorrow.

I am a Christian. Because I want to worship the Lord as I see fit, I jealousy guard against other people's efforts, Christian or otherwise, to force me to worship, or not, how they think I must. This means I am against Sunday laws, invoking God's name (often in vain) in governmental affairs, and efforts to amend the Constitution to establish a State religion. It's this last strategy, attacking the authority of the courts, that I want to talk about today (insert disclaimer here).

Many people who call themselves Christians are upset. They are upset about the possibility of gay people getting married even as they themselves get divorced, multiple times. They are upset about having to remove religious symbols (the Ten Commandments) from the steps of the courthouse even as they constantly and happily violate all of those Commandments. They are upset about not being able to push their religion in public schools (prayer) even as they don't believe in prayer itself. They are violently upset over women being able to choose whether to have children even as they kill those who disagree.

But the courts have been the last blockade against their hateful attempts to force other people to act as they wish. The Executive branch is now held by one of their own. The Congress is controlled by their fellow travelers. Having passed laws to push their hate filled agendas, they find themselves blocked by "activist" courts.

Time after time their blatant attempts to get around the Constitution have been struck down by the courts. There has been much gnashing of teeth and renting of cloaks over this. So far, the courts alone have held against their attacks, although it is but a matter of time before the appointments or election of like minded judges will work their way up, if they haven't already, to the Supreme Court.

Until that darkest of days, these people are trying to remove the jurisdiction of the courts by amending the Constitution. The first is the well publicized and President Bush supported amendment to ban marriages between gays. Note that it goes farther than just getting married. These people are opposed to gays. Period. So it doesn't matter if you want to call it "civil unions" or anything else for that matter. They consider gays evil and want to outlaw them.

The second is the "Religious Liberties Restoration Act". This bill is intended to ensure the courts do not have jurisdiction over, among other things, display of the Ten Commandments. Note that they don't care if you break all of the Commandments, just that they be allowed to display them in government buildings without the courts ordering them not to.

The third prong of their attack is the " Constitution Restoration Act of 2004". This one says "Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Supreme Court shall not have jurisdiction to review, by appeal, writ of certiorari, or otherwise, any matter to the extent that relief is sought against an element of Federal, State, or local government, or against an officer of Federal, State, or local government (whether or not acting in official personal capacity), by reason of that element's or officer's acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government."

In addition, if that wasn't sweeping enough, the courts are prohibited from interpreting the Constitution in any other framework other than "...constitutional law and English common law." What this boils down to is legal precedent from other jurisdictions, save from English common law, would be prohibited. The apparent reasoning behind narrowing the definition is to enshrine the very thing the framers were trying to avoid by coming to America from England, the freedom to worship, or not worship, as you saw fit without the interference of a State religion.

In these dark and uncertain times it is easy for people to seek what they think is the safety of religious symbols. But if the sacrifice of Christ taught us anything, it was that the symbols of the past were but a way of pointing to His coming. That these symbols were signs that God was with us and would someday send His Son to take on our sins so that, through grace, we could enter into the kingdom of God. It is dismaying to me to see people confusing the symbols with God Himself and to try to get around the courts to do so.

Aloha!

From: Jon Barrett
Subject: Foveon sensor
Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 14:29:18 -0500

The Foveon X3 is the sensor used in the Sigma SD9 and SD10 DSLRs. You can compare it with other cameras here: http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM. One problem - since no one uses exactly the same algorithms for compression, and no one uses the same sensor sizes, finding two cameras with comparable images (same nominal pixels, same compression ratio, same image multiplier/display size) is a bear. Closest camera I was able to find in terms of file size was the Canon PowerShot G5, a 5 MP camera, while Sigma claims a 10.5+ MP equivalent because of their technology. At that, there should be a LOT more difference between the two of them. In terms of "native" linear image size (finding two pictures which looked about the same size on-screen when the "full image" was brought up), it looked closer to the Canon 1D, a 4 MP camera.

My visual take on it is it's like Olympus' claims that lenses for digital cameras have *unique* needs (beyond the (usually) smaller sensor area) that normal SLR lenses can't cope with. A wonderful marketing ploy, but is it any more? I don't think so - by the time you get into this price and pixel range, there are just too many things affecting the outcome, and the sensor's only one of them.

Jon
Kensington, MD

From: Lawrence See
Subject: Tri-color imaging
Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 11:39:53 -0800

Good day, Dan

Re the Foveon imager, I guess that you knew that "broadcast" video cameras have always been Tri-color but through the means of three sensors and a complex optical color splitting system (some current "prosumer" cameras offer this as well). Doing most of the heavy electronic processing on the sensor chip is pretty impressive, though.

Best regards,

Larry See

NPR has an interesting audio story on coin tossing. Many statistics textbooks use the coin toss to illustrate random chance. As it usually goes, the books talk about how if you toss a coin enough times, you will get heads 50 percent of the time and tails 50 percent of the time. But NPR says in reality, things are not so neat. They say the randomness, if there is any, seems to be introduced by the person tossing the coin. If the coin is mechanically tossed, that is if it is tossed the same way every time, it will land the same way every time. Thus, they are saying coin tossing may not be a random event. Extrapolating from this, you could say if a person could master tossing the coin in a particular way, they could bias the outcome.

I'm working on the draft report of the salary commission (about 75 pages, single-spaced) and hope to have it done for their review tomorrow or Monday. So I gotta go.

Aloha!

Have a Great Weekend Everyone - Aloha!