Misc. Ramblings

I may have posted about this kind of thing before but as computers are integrated into more and more areas of our lives the opportunity for mischief increases. In this post here, the site is saying certain Lexus vehicles may be vulnerable to computer viruses via Bluetooth cell phone connectivity.

Obviously, the phone would have to be infected or, at least, the conduit for an infection and the Lexus navigation operating system must be vulnerable to infection. These are two big ifs. But I guess it's just a matter of time before a proof of concept is done (if it hasn't been done already).

As the article points out, as scary as that may seem, what about aircraft? Especially as airliners become connected to the Internet. Can you imagine, for example, an 800-passenger Airbus navigation computer being hacked and fed incorrect altimeter data? Or how about medical devices, some of which may be running operating systems vulnerable to attack. Is it just a coincidence that EULAs for such devices specifically say they are not to be used in such applications?

Aloha!

Posted by DanS at 07:17 AM | Permalink

I had intended to write this post yesterday but was derailed by the tragic crash of a US Marine helicopter in Iraq. All aboard were killed, including 26 soldiers home-stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii and one US Navy medical corpsman from Pearl Harbor. Their stories are just starting to be told.

But the story I'm about to tell today is the story of 1st Lt. Nainoa Hoe. Lt. Hoe was not part of the helicopter incident but rather died a few days earlier. In reading fellow Daynoter Brian Bilbrey's post on Wednesday, Brian listed the names of three soldiers killed in Iraq, one of which was Hoe.

Brian's post got me to thinking that I should tell you folks a little more about who Lt. Hoe was.

It is sometimes easy to forget that each of these soldiers has their own story. Each has families, parents, and other relatives that care for them. Each had dreams of what they wanted to do with their lives once they got back to the Real World.

Lt. Hoe was no different. Hoe was a native Hawaiian and graduated in 1995 from the Kamehameha Schools, a school founded by Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop in 1887. From there he went to the University of Hawai'i (UH) where he graduated with an undergraduate degree in Management Information Systems and then on to a Masters in Business Administration. While at UH, Hoe enrolled in the ROTC program, rising to Brigade Commander in his last year (the highest leadership position possible). He graduated tops in his ROTC class and fourth nationwide (out of about 4,500).

In further recognition of his leadership qualities, Nainoa was named U.S. Army Pacific Reserve soldier of the year in 1998.

But besides the obvious leader he was, what kind of person was Lt. Hoe? People have described Nainoa as charismatic, serious, precise, well-mannered, and unassuming. But, at the same time, he loved to sing karaoke and be with his friends.

Perhaps it was some of these qualities that attracted the young woman who would soon become his wife. Emily (I love that name) said they met through the Internet in November 2003, exchanging photos and information in an online match-making service. At the time, he was stationed at Fort Benning, Ga., going through Ranger school with a goal of eventually working for the FBI as a special agent. She was a student attending a college in Oregon.

"When I saw his picture and saw his smile, there was something about it that really drew me in," Emily said. They arranged a meeting in Oregon, "and it was one of those love-at-first-sight kind of things."

They were married, in a simple ceremony, about six month later. On the beach in Hawaii Kai. At sunset. With just their parents attending. Just before being sent for additional training and then on to Iraq in October.

On Saturday, January 22, 2005, Lt. Hoe sent an e-mail to his wife telling her that he had just found out he would get a two-week leave in February. He was excited that he would get the opportunity to see her and that he wanted them to spend their time in Hawaii. The e-mail went on to say that "he was going to love me forever and how he couldn't wait to see me," Emily said.

Two hours later, while on foot patrol in Mosul, Iraq, where U.S. forces have been mounting stepped-up raids and patrols ahead of national elections scheduled for this Sunday, shots rang out. As if in slow motion, a spray of bullets came flying his way. And even though he had body armor on to protect his chest and back, a bullet struck him from the side, passing through a gap in the protective vest and into his chest.

He is survived by his heartbroken parents (Allen, a Vietnam veteran, and Adele), a younger brother (Nakoa, also in the military and being deployed to Iraq) and his loving 21-year-old wife - Emily.

Whether you support the war in Iraq or not, remember that there is a story behind each and every name on the list of soldiers. Remember that there is a price to pay for being in Iraq. And remember that, sometimes, that price is paid in the blood of soldiers like 1st. Lt. Nainoa Hoe. May he rest in peace and may his death not have been in vain.

Have a Great Weekend, Everyone - Aloha!

Posted by DanS at 07:14 AM | Permalink

Go Lava Dogs

Our thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of the Marines killed in the helicopter crash in Iraq. Twenty-seven of the killed were home-based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, located in Kane'ohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i.

Posted by DanS at 07:05 AM | Permalink

There is an important anti-spam update to MovableType. It closes a hole in the mail sending program that presently allows spammers to send unlimited e-mails through your installation.

You can download the complete MT program or just a plug-in. I'm getting the plug-in as I'm getting real tired of having to do complete re-installs every time MT makes a change to one file. But I digress as this is not the time to talk about MT's user unfriendly installations.

Anyway, if you are using MT, please get the update as soon as possible.

Posted by DanS at 07:52 AM | Permalink

Fellow Daynoter Rick Hellewell sent along this link to an interesting NASA photo of the Big Island of Hawai'i. The two big white spots are the snow-covered tops of the volcanoes Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.

Many people do not realize that we do get snow in Hawaii. At least, that is, on these two volcanoes. While it's not usually the kind of snow good for skiing, many people do enjoy snow boarding down the slopes. However, as there are no ski lifts, you have to walk or drive back up.

By the way, Mr. Hellewell is a computer security expert so you would do well to peruse his site. Highly recommended.

Aloha!

Posted by DanS at 07:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'm still at home trying to recover from the flu that will not die. I couldn't get to sleep last night until after midnight and got up four hours later coughing.

Hence, there isn't much of interest going on here at the Seto Shack today. Hopefully, I'll be back at work tomorrow and there will more interesting things to talk about. Or not. Tune in tomorrow to find out.

Aloha!

Posted by DanS at 07:42 AM | Permalink

Insert the standard disclaimer here. I am not a lawyer nor am I giving legal opinions. These are my own views.

While California is many times viewed as a liberal state, that is not true in all cases and in all counties. For example, the Orange County, California Court of Appeal has opined that women convicted of sunning themsleves while topeless must be listed on the Internet as being convicted sex offenders.

Why is tanning oneself considered to be a sex offence in this county? I have no answer other than to say when you insert sexual morals into the law, you start down a very slippery slope that soon leads to results like this.

The larger question is why is tanning oneself, while topless, legal for men but not women? Are male breasts not lewd but women's are? Yes, some men think of women's breasts only as sexual objects so, naturally, other men would love to suppress/cover/deny any such attraction.

But of all the things a county should have as a high priority, whether women are tanning topless should not be one of them. Of course, Orange County is a Republican stronghold so is should not be a surprise to anyone that an appeals court has ruled thus.

But what rationale is used to make this illegal? Is there a public health hazard from women's breasts? Will little children get cancer from seeing uncovered skin? Will Orange County men, as opposed to the men in Florida, Hawai'i, or much of the civilized world where topless sunbathing is not usually prosecuted, somehow become sexual deviants and begin attacking such women? Why do Republicans, who say they are for individual rights and keeping Big Government out of it are invariably so invovled in suppressing women's issues?

I don't have any answers to this question but I would stay out of Orange County if I were you because there be idiots seriously flawed people there. Come to Hawai'i instead.

Aloha!

Posted by DanS at 07:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'm still at home today but am feeling better than I was yesterday. Unfortunately, that's not saying much as all of my joints are still sore, I didn't get much sleep because of the caughing, and nothing I eat has any taste.

Speaking of feeling better, thank you to all of you who sent suggestions and/or links to possible solutions to my Thunderbird e-mail program problem yesterday. It is heartening to have so many people willing to help.

I read some of the support forum messages and determined that my prefs.js file had become corrupted. This probably occured the night before when I shut down and Windows did a blue screen dance of death.

Since I didn't have a backup of the prefs.js file (I know, my bad), I had to create a new profile and then copy the mail from the old profile into the new. This solved the problem and I am backup and running.

Again, a big mahalo to all of you who sent in suggestions.

Have a Great Weekend, Everyone - Aloha!

Posted by DanS at 07:28 AM | Permalink

I'm at home today fighting the flu. If that wasn't bad enough, when I started up the Mozilla Thunderbird e-mail program this morning, it asked me to create an account as there were none.

As you might imagine, this is not good news because Thunderbird is saying there isn't any mail since there isn't any account.

After backing up the profile folder, which has all the mail sitting right there, I tried re-installing Thunderbird.

No luck. I just can't seem to get Thunderbird to use the default profile with all my mail in it. Sigh.

I'll check out the Thunderbird forums to seem if others have reported this problem before and if there is a work around. If not, I guess I can always swich the some other program.

Aloha!

Posted by DanS at 08:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

With the November elections in the past and the inauguration upon us, the Bush administration is letting everyone know that their three million vote lead is a mandate to stay the course. In fact, they say, not only is it a mandate for what he is doing in Iraq but also a mandate to continue on to Iran.

This startling claim is in a New Yorker article here that says US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said

This is a war against terrorism, and Iraq is just one campaign...Next, we're going to have the Iranian campaign. We've declared war and the bad guys, wherever they are, are the enemy. This is the last hurrah-we've got four years, and want to come out of this saying we won the war on terrorism.

While I agree the Bush administration won the election and that the majority of the voters voted to keep him in office. I'm not so sure about a mandate on his running of the war in Iraq nor adventures in Iran. Congress and the public was fooled by a bunch of hand waving about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq but what will the administration come up with in Iran? Times up. The answer is, now wait for it, weapons of mass destruction.

I'm not making this up. Weapons of mass destruction. Again. Expect to see a lot of additional hand waving, satellite pictures of milk tanker trucks, fertilizer factories, and aluminum pipes. Is it possible Iran is working on nuclear weapons? Probably. But then, so are most industrialized nations (if they don't have it already). The question is, do we invade every country that we think may try to get such weapons?

Apparently, the Bush administration is saying yes. But remember, Iran is a country, not a quasi multi-national religious group. It has a border, government, and people who aren't usually implicated in suicide bombings. If they have any rationality about them, then a policy of containment and assured massive relation, could work. Just like it worked for 40 years against Russia. Is it worth the chance we would take versus multi-nation wars? You decide.

Aloha!

Posted by DanS at 07:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I'm back. But I don't have much to say nor much time to say it. The Legislature opens tomorrow but we've already had two or three "informational" hearings. There's another one this afternoon that I have to go to (and help write testimony for).

Speaking of a house of cards, this guy has taken things a bit far.

Aloha!

Posted by DanS at 07:40 AM | Permalink

A lot of people dream about finding that One_Big_Idea. You know the one, the one that will make them unbelievably rich. The one that will put them in the top tax bracket, and be so rich as to not care about it. That one idea that will make them as big as Bill Gates, Robert Scoble or Doc Searls (just kidding there guys). Some actually do (find that idea).

But if they do, the secret they probably won't tell you is that it took going through 100 or even 1,000 ideas that didn't work to find the one that did. When that one idea does hit, everyone slaps their forehead and says "Of course. Anyone could see that would be popular." But you know, the even bigger secret is that no one could have predicted which idea was going to be the one that millions of people, making individual decisions independent of others (more or less) would sell. Because if they could, they wouldn't need to sift through the 999 that wouldn't work.

This is what I call the chaos theory of business. Even if you do all the things that the business schools teach. Even if you excel at management and can motivate your employees to do great things. Even if you are the most innovative person on the planet. No one can predict that one idea that will move the world. And anyone who says they can is either lying or trying to get you to buy his or her new management book (or both).

If this theory is correct, then it follows that there is no shame in trying a lot of different things and seeing if they sell or not. It kind of reminds me of the stock market. "Stock market?" you ask, shaking your head in bewilderment.

Think of it this way. Buying stocks is a form of legalized gambling. All other things being equal, you have no guarantee that any stock you buy will make a profit. Hence, you have no better than a 50/50 chance of making money on any individual stock. If this is true, then the smart play is to buy many stocks in many different areas (or not play at all - ed.). This is called diversification. It works, over the long run if it works at all, because while most stocks won't make money, a few will. It's these few that may cover the loses of the others and hopefully, make you better off than you were before. But since no one, including that ace Wall Street stock picker, can predict which ones will make money and which won't, you have to diversify. Note, insert disclaimer here, I am not giving stock advice nor making any kind of recommendations to buy, or not buy, any stocks, bonds, or other instruments.

So what's my point? I was reminded of all of this when I saw Apple's new iPod Shuffle. A lot of people are making fun of it and saying you could just put a yellow sticky note over the display of your old iPod and you would have the same thing. Perhaps. But I don't think so. While many people who already have an iPod or iPod mini may decide to pass, many others who couldn't see paying three or four hundred dollars for one of these players may, without or perhaps in spite of the help of such pundits, decide to buy one.

I wouldn't be surprised if it does well. But even if it doesn't, so what? Apple will come up with something else that will catch the fancy of millions of people. And as long as Apple has the confidence (and money) to continue to innovate they will prosper (and I have to eat a lot of crow because I was one of those, several years ago, who predicted Apple was going down the tubes).

Programming Note: I will be taking tomorrow off so that I have a long weekend (including Monday's US holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King). As usual, there won't be a post tomorrow and possibly none for Monday (although I may get round2it).

Have a Great Weekend, EveryoneAloha!

Posted by DanS at 07:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In all the hoopla yesterday about Apple's new MiniMe, I mean Mac Mini, there was little notice that the iTunes music client has been updated to version 4.7.1. Note that updating to this version (and 4.7 before it) will make it more difficult for you to exercise your fair use rights as it pertains to listening to music you bought on any device of your choice. According to a posting on this site, using the new version of the client can lead to music you paid for becoming unplayable (if not actually deleted). As almost always, there are workarounds.

But I am getting tired of the constant gamemanship that seems to be going on over at Apple so I think I'm going take a look at alternative ways of buying the music that I want to hear rather than what entertainment conglomerates want to sell to 16-year-old girls.

Posted by DanS at 07:47 AM | Permalink

Also being updated is Opera's browser to version 7.54u1 (Aside: I've never seen a numbering system like that). It's a security update so if you are using Opera, you should probably take a look at getting the update. When there, I also noticed they may be close to releasing the next major version of Opera. When that might happen I can't say, but I would think it's going to be Real Soon Now. In the mean time, you can download the Opera 8.0 beta 1 if you want. YMMV. Use at your own risk. Toilet bowl brushes should not be used for personal hygiene.

Aloha!

Posted by DanS at 07:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I guess it had to happen. A Lego case. In fact, more than one. See them here.

Posted by DanS at 07:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

As warned yesterday, before doing any of the following, understand that there is no warranty whatsoever (insert Disclaimer here). You follow these instructions at your own risk. While they worked for me, it might be because I was facing in the right direction and said the magic words just right. In addition, these instructions assume you are using IPX to access the Netware servers and not IP. While the instructions may be similar, they may or may not be the same. I can't say for sure because we don't use IP to access the Netware servers. And finally, these instructions assume you have at least a minimal understanding of Linux and Netware. If this isn't true, stop now because if you make a mistake, it is possible to screw up not only your PC, but also your Netware network.

That said, a version of CrossOver Office (based on WINE) is included and installed in Xandros Desktop 2.5 Business Edition. I don't know if that is true in the other versions of Xandros so if you aren't using the Business Edition you are on your own.

Inserting the install CD and clicking on the Lotus Notes R5 install file automatically executed CrossOver Office which created a fake Windows environment for Notes to install to. Note here, as I've emphasized several times yesterday, as far as I know, you MUST be running as root for the install to work. If you aren't, the install will run until it's time to copy files to the Netware server. At that point, you will get an error saying the directory is read only.

Otherwise, the Notes install runs and appears just like it does in Windows. However, since I'm using NCPFS to access the Netware servers, and Linux does not use the idea of letters of the alphabet to represent drives (or volumes in the case of Netware) getting to the Data directory of the Netware server is a little different than in Windows. Fortunately, CrossOver Office creates a pseudo "Z:\" drive that you can use to navigate to your mount point (mine is /mnt/netware). From there, you just drill down to wherever your Lotus/Notes/Data directory is found and install to there (assuming you are doing that type of install).

Once the Data directory is identified, the install program begins copying files to there and a fake c:\ directory. The copying across the network to the Netware server seems substantially slower than in Windows. In fact, it took more than five minutes but eventually finished. It's a good thing you only need to do this once!

Once the installation is completed, you access Notes by clicking on Launch --> Windows Applications --> Programs --> Lotus Applications --> Lotus Notes. The Notes client should then start-up and you will need to do an initial configuration, as you would in Windows (again remembering the fake Z: drive is where you start to navigate from).

Once configured, the Notes client operates as it would under Windows. Although, screen updates are slower, but not so slow that it's unbearable. I did see one strange thing, when I first sent a test message, I used the network address book to lookup a name. I found the name, but when it pasted in to the "To:" section of the email, all I got was %#$@W%$!. I'm not sure why that happened and when I tried it again I didn't have that problem.

Otherwise, I am very pleased that Lotus Notes is running under a version of Linux. The final barrier to switching from Windows, for me anyway, is getting a replacement for Office that can translate Word and WordPerfect files better than StarOffice 7 or OpenOffice currently does. I understand that OpenOffice 2 will be out in Q2 so perhaps the wait is not long.

One last note, before you shut down, you MUST use the ncpumount -A command to unmount your netware connection. If you don't, and you then reboot and try to login via Windows, your Netware server may still see you as logged in and therefore refuse to let you login again. I know this runs counter to what one How-To says but it's wrong (at least in our environment). Linux does NOT cleanly unmount your connection when you shutdown. You must do that yourself before you shutdown. So use the above command to logout of all Netware connections before you shutdown.

Aloha!

Posted by DanS at 07:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

These are my random experiences in installing Xandros 2.5 Business Edition on a Dell Optiplex GX260. Your experience may vary. Remember to backup you data. Use at your own risk. Insert disclaimer here.

First, why install Linux? For me, I've been wanting to switch for sometime. For awhile, its been clear that MS considers its customers as thieves that must be beaten into submission. For example, charging $300 for Windows XP Pro (an outrageous overcharge). Requiring activation on Office (to me, the first step towards renting software). All its so called DRM BS. Add to this the steady drumbeat of security vulnerabilities and it quickly becomes a chore rather than a pleasure to work with Windows. My bottom line is I need to use tools that help me do what I want to do rather than making it more difficult. Windows no longer does that.

So, to start, I decided to boot both Windows XP Pro (which was already installed) and Xandros. Before installing Xandros, I did a disk scan to check for hard disk problems that can cause data loss, then ran defrag to compact the files as much as possible so that when Xandros changed the partition size things would go as fast as possible, and finally backed up my data to ensure I had a way back just in case it all went down the tubes.

Once done, I rebooted with the Xandros CD in the drive and began the install. I took the default installation as I wanted to see how well that went. Along the way, the install asks if you want to create a boot/rescue disk. I highly recommend that you have one since it only takes one floppy disk, a few minutes, and allows you to boot-up should things go horribly wrong.

All went well until it came time to install the printer (HP 2200d LaserJet PCL6). The install identified the printer correctly but nothing would print. So I manually changed the driver to the 2200d PostScript and all was well.

Later in the install, the First Run Wizard allows you to change the default look/feel behavior of the desktop. I chose Windows to see how someone who knew how to use Windows, but not Xandros would do. Unfortunately, doing so crashed the Wizard (signal 11) dropping me back into KDE. You can restart the Wizard by going into Launch--> Applications--> System --> First Run Wizard so all is not lost. But the stability of Xandros/KDE/Linux comes into question.

Changing from the default 32K colors to TrueColor requires a KDE restart (which means you have to save all your work before doing this as all applications will close). One wonders when KDE will catchup with Windows, which allows you to change color depth on the fly.

In any case, in poking around, I found that Xandros defaults to the Reiserfs file system. Whether that is a good thing I will leave up to you to decide. But if the custom install allows you to pick the default file system, you might want to choose something else.

So far, I've been unable to get Xandros to recognize all the keys on my MS Natural Keyboard Pro. This keyboard includes keys such as mute, volume control, back, forward, prev track, next track, and others. None of these keys seem to work in Xandros.

When doing a Xandros Network install, there sometimes is displayed an input box with two buttons (enter and close). I don't know what the input box is for but ignoring it seems to work just fine.

While fonts have gotten a lot better, they still aren't as good as ClearType in Windows. Fonts just aren't as smooth and therefore aren't as readable.

I have yet to install our default email program - Lotus Notes R5 for Windows. In order to do this, I need to get access to our Novell Netware servers. I will detail below how to do this in Xandros. Otherwise, things are moving along and as I know more I detail my results.

Posted by DanS at 07:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Before doing any of the following, understand that there is no warranty whatsoever (insert Disclaimer here). You follow these instructions at your own risk. While they worked for me, it might be because I was facing in the right direction and said the magic words just right. In addition, these instructions assume you are using IPX to access the Netware servers and not IP. While the instructions may be similar, they may or may not be the same (especially when you get to the point of mounting the server. I can't say for sure because we don't use IP to access the Netware servers). And finally, these instructions assume you have at least a minimal understanding of Linux and Netware. If this isn't true, stop now because if you make a mistake, it is possible to screw up not only your PC, but also your Netware network.

That said, backup your data/applications first. Don't come crying to me if something goes wrong and you loose the next_great_novel that you've been working on for the last 10 years.

So, enough with the warnings. In Xandros you need to use Xandros Network to install the NCPFS utilities (you will need to type in your root login or already be logged in as root). Assuming this went well, go to the next step.

Open a shell window and once at the command line, SU to root (if you aren't already).

Once there, type in:

ipx_configure --auto_interface --auto_primary=on

Assuming no errors occurred, type in slist and you should see a listing of the Netware servers available to you. If this worked, you should then create a mount point by changing directory to /mnt and making a directory (The Linux command is mkdir. I created a directory called netware but you can call it whatever you want).

Take a look at the command below but do not type it in until you've read and understood the notes that follow:

ncpmount -S SERVER_NAME /mnt/netware -U CN=USER_NAME.OU=ORGANIZATIONAL_UNIT.O=ORGANIZATION

Notes:

SERVER_NAME should be replaced with the name of the Netware server you wish to login to.
netware should be replaced with the name of the directory you created earlier.
USER_NAME should be replaced with your Netware login name for that server.
ORGANIZATIONAL_UNIT should be replaced with your, now wait for it, organizational unit. Note that if you have more than one OU, you start at the lowest unit and proceed upwards. For example, OU=OFFICE.OU=DEPARTMENT.OU=DIVISION.OU=COMPANY.OU=COUNTRY.
ORGANIZATION should be replaced with your organization.

An example of what the command might look like would be:

ncpmount -S DEWEY /mnt/cheetum -U CN=HOWE.OU=ROOM51.OU=FOGGY_BOTTOM.OU=VIRGINIA.O=USA

Now that you understand what needs to be substituted in, go ahead and type the command, changing what needs to be changed to reflect your particular network.

If all is going well, you should then be asked for a password. Go ahead and type it in and hit the enter key. If that worked you should now be logged in to the Netware server. If, however, you get a "No such entry (-601) in nds login" error, this is telling you that, probably, the context is wrong (all that CN, OU, and O parts above). If you get that error, check the spelling of everything in the command. If it's correct, then perhaps you need to reverse the order of the context. That is, type the command like this:

ncpmount -S DEWEY /mnt/cheetum -U O=USA.OU=VIRGINIA.OU=FOGGY_BOTTOM.OU=ROOM51.CN=HOWE

Hopefully, you will now be logged in and you can find the Netware directories starting at your mount point (change directory to /mnt/netware if you aren't there already).

A last note, all of this stuff seems to work only, if it does at all, if you are logged in as root. Whether this is a good thing is up to you to decide.

My next challenge is to get Lotus R5 Notes for Windows working in Linux (which is the point of getting access to the Netware servers.

UPDATE:

Before you shut down, you MUST use the ncpumount -a command to unmount your Netware connection(s). If you don't, and you then reboot and try to login via Windows, your Netware server may still see you as logged in and therefore refuse to let you login again. I know this runs counter to what one How-To says but it's wrong (at least in our environment). Linux does NOT cleanly unmount your connection when you shutdown. You must do that yourself before you shutdown. So use the above command to logout of all Netware connections before you shutdown.

Aloha!

Posted by DanS at 07:46 AM | Permalink

There is an update to the free Adobe Reader. Version 7.0 seems to run faster than version 6.X so you may want to install it when you have the time. If you have the full professional version (as opposed to the free reader), you may want to upgrade to version 7.0 Professional (upgrade costs $159). If you decide to stay with version 6.X (either version), you should probably update to version 6.0.3 due to a security update. YMMV.

Posted by DanS at 07:31 AM | Permalink

I finally got a comment spam yesterday. The first in months. So I've made some changes in my MovableType configuration (see this Six Apart Guide to Comment Spam). I don't know if any of the changes will be helpful but I've done what I can without making it even more difficult for people with disabilities to use the site. That said, if the bad guys get past these changes, I will try installing a CAPTCHA-based challenge and response technique. I really don't want to do that since it breaks accessibility, but it may come down to that or close all comments.

Yes, I could use TypeKey exclusively, but how many people would be willing to register through them just to leave a comment? For myself, I don't bother leaving comments on Blogger or MT sites that require registration so why should I assume others would do so here?

Anyway, I've done all I can do. If you notice anything broken, which is certainly possible (I've already gotten a 500 error when testing comments so I know something is causing intermittent problems), email me using the link on the right-hand side of the screen. Mahalo in advance.

P.S. I'm going to be offline for awhile. I'm installing Xandros Desktop 2.5 for Business. Testing may take some time so don't expect quick email responses (not that I did that anyway).

Have a Great Weekend, Everyone - Aloha!

Posted by DanS at 07:29 AM | Permalink

Are you stuck in a job where no one knows who you are or what you do? Do you want to move up in the corporate world? If you answered yes to both of these questions its time to get moving.

First, you need to get out more. By that I mean you need to take on assignments that will take you into other peoples' spheres of influence. For instance, some people hate PC support or being on special cross-department projects or committees. But if you think about it, each situation brings you into contact with other people, especially higher management, and gives you the chance to help them do something they want done. This is a recipe for getting your name out there where it might help when promotions come along.

You can probably think of other situations that at first glance look like something to avoid, but if looked at as an opportunity, can be turned to your advantage. The main point is, you want to plant that seed in management's mind that you are someone who has expertise and can get things done because in the end, it's who knows you and what you know that could get you that promotion.

Aloha!

Posted by DanS at 07:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I have yet to see a comprehensive, balanced, and dispassionate review of the CBS/Dan Rather memos. Even at this late date, I think there is more smoke than fact.

But no less than the Columbia Journalism Review has published an article on the subject.

Unfortunately, all that I can get out of it is that Republicans had a strategy to deflect criticism by attacking everything and anything via blogs (well, duh). Some of said blogs being created, funded, and written by Republicans (double duh). The result of which produced postings that ignored inconsistencies in their stories but attacked Democrats and their fellow travelers "like witches in Salem, while Bush's defenders forged ahead, their affinities and possible motives largely unexamined."

These attacks effectively killed the real story: President Bush got preferential treatment while in the National Guard.

But I agree with the CJR's final conclusion that CBS should not have gone with the original story because the documents could not be substantiated (which is not the same thing as saying the documents were forged).

Aloha!

Posted by DanS at 07:48 AM | Permalink

Part of what I do at work is answering questions. Sometimes that's easy to do and sometimes it's not. But one of the hardest things to do is to do a comparison of U.S. state courts statistics.

Each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico has its own court system. Each, as it should, is tailored to the special needs of its area. New York, being one of the older systems around, has town and village justice courts, city courts, district courts, surrogates' court (no, I don't know what types of cases it hears), county courts, and several other types of courts. And unlike any another state that I know of, New York calls it courts of general jurisdiction its Supreme Court (which is why, when you watch "Law and Order" on TV, most cases are tried in that court) and what everyone else calls their Supreme Court, New York calls Courts of Appeal.

As you get to newer states, like Alaska or Hawai'i, you see much more streamlined court structures. Both have only four (courts of limited, general, intermediate appeal, and last resort) levels.

Within each court, are judges. But when is a judge not a judge? When you have chancellors, commissioners, domestic relations commissioners, domestic court commissioners, magistrates, masters, marital masters, masters-in-equity, or referees.

So when I am asked a seemingly straight forward question like "What is the average caseload of a judge of general jurisdiction across America?" I quake in fear and loathing knowing I will be treading across dangerous ground. In order to answer such a question, I need to know the total caseload and the total number of judges.

The first problem is defining what is caseload? Do you want the number of cases filed, terminated, or pending? Or do you want the number pending plus the number filed, minus the terminated? Or do you want just filed minus terminated? Once you decide that, you have to define what you mean by terminated. Does that mean a case has come to verdict? Or do you include those who have pled guilty before or during a trial? What happens if the case is appealed? Is the original case terminated but a new case is opened?

But wait, as they say on late night TV commercials, there's more. What is a judge? As noted earlier, not all cases are heard by what is termed a judge. Do you include cases heard by chancellors but not masters? Or magistrates but not referees? All? None?

Very quickly, trying to answer the simple question posed earlier becomes a nightmare of footnotes because each state does its job in a different way so trying to compare statistics across states can become almost meaningless.

And yet. Comparisons to other states, or in this case national statistics, are potentially powerful tools for, among other things, managing a courts system, for determining and justifying the need for additional resources, and for planning. So, we do such comparisons. Just remember, when you do it, that you are treading on shaky ground. And include a lot of footnotes.

Aloha!

Posted by DanS at 08:03 AM | Permalink

I've said it before, and with the present administration in Washington I may be saying it a lot in the future, if your policy fails, never try to weasel out of taking responsibility for it (i.e., a failed policy) by saying no one could have foreseen the outcome at the time the decision was made.

Why? Because there will be people who did, in fact, foresee the outcome. For example, I've talked before about former U.S. Army General Eric Shinseki (disclosure: he is from Hawai'i). In a devastating article by Frank Gibney, President of the Pacific Basin Institute, Gibney notes General Shinseki's thoughts on, among other things, the number of troops that are required in Iraq, the limits of those forces, the difference between acquiring territory and holding said territory, multi versus unilateralism, and what the General calls complicators (outside, forces that can cause you to divert your own forces). Below is a mirror of Gibney's article so that it will remain in the public eye rather than disappear behind an advertising vault's door.

When Donald H. Rumsfeld swooped down on the Pentagon in 2001 as President Bush's secretary of Defense, Gen. Eric Shinseki must have looked like a natural ally to him. Like Rumsfeld, Shinseki wanted to "transform" the armed services and had announced his plan for changing the Army when he became chief of staff in 1999.

But Shinseki's notion of transformation differed substantially from Rumsfeld's. To the new Defense secretary, transformation meant greater reliance on technology, not troops, to achieve goals; to Shinseki, it meant more intensified training, featuring highly mobile medium-light brigades of mechanized infantry capable of a variety of missions.

Their philosophical clash became public when the United States went to war against Iraq. The preemptive attack relied on overwhelming air power and deployed a bare minimum of ground troops. Asked by a Senate committee to estimate the number of troops needed for the operation, Shinseki said "several hundred thousand." Rumsfeld's office immediately denounced the number as "wildly off the mark." But the disastrous experience in postwar Iraq has proved the general right: Security remains elusive because the numbers of U.S. and coalition forces on the ground are inadequate.

Since his retirement in June 2003, Shinseki has restricted his public appearances to foreign policy and university audiences. Early this month at Pomona College, he outlined his policy for a post-Cold War Army equipped to deal with a multitude of duties.

Here are some excerpts:

• The Army's job: "During the 1990s, we used the Army for many nontraditional tasks — humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, wildfire control and peacekeeping, among others — but the Army's nonnegotiable contract with the American people is to fight and win wars. We grow our own leadership — thorough troop training is our most vital mission — but we need about 180,000 new people each year, so recruiting is a vital task. For a professional Army, it must not slip."

• The limits of force: "In my time in uniform, the use of force was often not the preferred solution; neither was it necessarily the first option considered…. Once the use of force is sanctioned, there's almost no turning back…. Lethal force involves blunt trauma and surgical strikes, [which] better describe a military planner's range of options than they do the effects produced on the ground…. We can pinpoint targets with total accuracy … as long as they don't move."

• Military occupation: "If your forces are in Baghdad, you own it. And that means you own the water, the electricity, the public buildings — and public order. If the task is to create a secure environment, troops on the ground are needed."

• Multilateralism: "Unilateralism as a stated policy is bad. The U.N. and this country have had our differences, but we need its cooperation and support."

• Crisis management: "I was personally involved … in dealing with explosive crises in East Timor and Bosnia. The U.S. needed to help get Indonesia right and to link whatever happened in Indonesia to a comprehensive long-term strategy for the region. In Bosnia, the effort at peacekeeping took a long time, but after nine years the forces needed there greatly diminished — from 20,000 to 8,500. How long would it take to stabilize Iraq?"

• Threats and complicators: "In the Bush administration's first appraisal of defense needs, reference was made to 'asymmetric threats transcending geography.' Little was said about the kinds of 'complicators' that those of us who lived abroad in the 1990s were watching. These complicators — the best term we could find at the time — included transnational criminal organizations, international narco-trafficking, the surge in terrorist incidents involving Muslim extremists and the suspicion of ongoing proliferation of weapons-of-mass-destruction technology. The nagging question for which the Army had no answers was, 'What happens if the four complicators merge into a larger transnational threat? Whose responsibility will it be to deal with that kind of danger?' "

• Force levels. "We need to have enough forces on the ground to deter and hold crises where they are. You can't fall into the trap of organizing for specific missions and then being unable to perform other missions when the conditions change very quickly — and in places like Kosovo, they can change in 20 minutes. You may find yourself having to go very quickly, intellectually and physically, from what was a peacekeeping mission to fighting a war — and preparing the troops for this [shift]. And with the missions multiplying, you cannot go on fighting a 12-division war with only 10 divisions available."

What puzzled many of us who had listened to Shinseki was the contrast between his emphasis on careful military planning and how shortsighted the administration was in preparing for the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath. Before the war, Shinseki's Army planners were not once consulted by Rumsfeld's office. The State Department's planning proposal for postwar Iraq was similarly ignored by the administration.

It was a case of an outside group of civilian neoconservatives moving into the Pentagon and arrogantly taking over the military. Heedless of any advice to the contrary, Rumsfeld's "shock and awe" attack gained an apparent quick victory at the cost of postwar policy. Some 20 months after the fall of Baghdad, Iraq remains in pieces, with anti-American fervor strong and our military victory tarnished by a stubborn insurgency and the needless brutalities at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.

If this is what Rumsfeld's idea of "transformation" has brought us, it's a pity we didn't try Shinseki's.

So what did General Shinseki get for being right? He was fired forced to retire by Secretary Rumsfeld. While it might be somewhat presumptuous to say US troops are dying because of the Bush/Rumsfeld administration's failed policy, it wouldn't be far off the mark.

Aloha!

Posted by DanS at 07:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)