is the Internet trying to tell me something?
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Dept. of Snow. We has it.
As you've no doubt heard, we're getting our first snow of the season.
And, it's time for a morning stroll
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Corollary to the Basic Laws of Stupidity
Re: The fourth basic law from The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity
Meanwhile, there are people who will sell you an attic bedroom that has only half of a floor:
Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular non-stupid people constantly forget that at all times and places and under any circumstances to deal and/or associate with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake.The corollary:
It takes just one stupid person to undo the work of a thousand very smart people.The ASTM-International has a subcommittee on furniture safety. The Consumers Union, the folks who bring your Consumer Reports, is working with ASTM to come up with safer designs for furniture. They're looking at standards to make furniture tip-proof and to establish a standard for shatter-proof glass in tables.
Meanwhile, there are people who will sell you an attic bedroom that has only half of a floor:
Open Source, insert foot
As I've mentioned several times, I've been running Linux (Ubuntu) on my laptop since late last year. For the most part, it's been terrific. My system starts up much more quickly, runs all of the software I need, and, although this may not seem like much of a feature, shuts down in a matter of seconds. We have a desktop system that runs Vista; it can take five minutes or more to shut down the system.
There are a few quirks. Adobe Flash takes a bit of extra setup because my systems is 64-bit. Some devices are finicky. If you search for help online, you'll find five different ways to accomplish a task, but that's if you don't search very hard.
In addition to keeping up with the technical information regarding Linux, I also try to keep current on topics related to open source software. There are very interesting legal, technical, and political threads in the blogosphere. A few companies, such as Black Duck Software, are making a living by helping other companies manage intellectual property, including licenses and copyrights, in a complex software development world.
Yesterday I attended, or, rather, tried to attend, a webinar on Unraveling the Complexities of the GPL. GPL is the GNU General Public License. The GPL is the North Star for discussions related to open source software.
Without a troubled thought, I connected to the designated website at the appointed time and learned that the web conferencing software, gotomeeting.com, doesn't support Linux.
Grumble, grumble. Fortunately, I have a virtual image of Windows 7 by way of VirtualBox. With a quick scramble, I started the virtual machine, connected to the web site, downloaded the conferencing software, and joined the presentation five minutes late.
After the meeting, I had an email exchange with the Black Duck marketing director. I explained my problem. The director empathized but said that most of their users ran Windows or MacOS.
Shortly after the presentation, I received an announcement of the next meeting:
There are a few quirks. Adobe Flash takes a bit of extra setup because my systems is 64-bit. Some devices are finicky. If you search for help online, you'll find five different ways to accomplish a task, but that's if you don't search very hard.
In addition to keeping up with the technical information regarding Linux, I also try to keep current on topics related to open source software. There are very interesting legal, technical, and political threads in the blogosphere. A few companies, such as Black Duck Software, are making a living by helping other companies manage intellectual property, including licenses and copyrights, in a complex software development world.
Yesterday I attended, or, rather, tried to attend, a webinar on Unraveling the Complexities of the GPL. GPL is the GNU General Public License. The GPL is the North Star for discussions related to open source software.
Without a troubled thought, I connected to the designated website at the appointed time and learned that the web conferencing software, gotomeeting.com, doesn't support Linux.
Grumble, grumble. Fortunately, I have a virtual image of Windows 7 by way of VirtualBox. With a quick scramble, I started the virtual machine, connected to the web site, downloaded the conferencing software, and joined the presentation five minutes late.
After the meeting, I had an email exchange with the Black Duck marketing director. I explained my problem. The director empathized but said that most of their users ran Windows or MacOS.
Shortly after the presentation, I received an announcement of the next meeting:
At the web site, I learn that still there's no joy to be had.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The professor, bird dogs, and German social analysis
And then, without missing a beat, he'd assign us a chapter from On the Pragmatics of Social Interaction: Preliminary Studies in the Theory of Communicative Action by Jürgen Habermas with chapter titles such as, and I quote, "The Phenomenological Constitutive Theory of Society: The Fundamental Role of Claims to Validity and the Monadological Foundations of Intersubjectivity."
I like the guy, but sometimes he was too smart for my own good.
Here's a link to an interview with Dizard.
OntheCommon.com - Notes from Queen Lake in October
OntheCommon.com:
Most rituals have humble, practical origins.
When Sandra first visited the camp, she wondered about the old spoon that was on the window sill on the front porch.
'That's the official spoon,' I said.
'The official spoon?'
...
Most rituals have humble, practical origins.
When Sandra first visited the camp, she wondered about the old spoon that was on the window sill on the front porch.
'That's the official spoon,' I said.
'The official spoon?'
...
Why he just spent three days changing my passwords on over 300 Web sites
Why I just spent three days changing my passwords on over 300 Web sites « Something better to do: "If you’re using the same password on multiple Web sites, then stop it right now. Really."
In a similar vein, the author reports on these web sites, Password security hall of shame « Something better to do as having particularly bad password policies.
In a similar vein, the author reports on these web sites, Password security hall of shame « Something better to do as having particularly bad password policies.
Monday, October 12, 2009
A Changed Generation - Wait. What?
A Changed Generation « The Official Blog of The Jordan Levy Show: "Little has been said or written about a new and different generation."
Let me Google that for you.
Let me Google that for you.
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