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A Still Verdictless Life
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Thursday, October 31, 2002 |
Happy Halloween - the Trick or Treaters will be here soon!
4:58:24 PM 
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I can't believe October is over. I must be having fun, because time is passing more rapidly than ever. This is the fourth month of this website, and I now can't imagine not spending a few minutes reading/writing/reflecting each day. That's a surprise - who would have thought that the Internet, with its go-go culture, ADD-style context switching and fire-hosed content would foster a reflective activity?
While it has some downsides, I think weblogging has been very good for me. Writing focuses thought. And that's part of what I had lost in the years as a commuting corporate animal - focus. I was on automatic pilot, responding to the day's events based on experience and some innate ability, but not taking time to focus much on those events, either business or personal. I was so "focused" on getting through the day, that the events just streamed on by.
And of course the events and the people are what make the day worthwhile. The journey really is the reward.
8:28:25 AM
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Last night's wallet fiasco has a happy ending. Wallet has been found, and new plastic is on the way. Best news: no trip to the dreaded DMV.
8:08:08 AM
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Dave Winer has found another web time-waster. Googlism is a lot of fun, and it seems to retrieve what I call your "web fingerprint". Some people have lots of links (whorls), like Dave, and some people just don't have a presence.
7:48:49 AM
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Wednesday, October 30, 2002 |
Moron. I feel like a moron. I lost my wallet today, and all the various forms of ID and credit that were in it. I got distracted when I left the car parked (taking cell phone calls), walked away from the convertible, top down, and the wallet was on the seat. Tonight, as I was going out to Pitchfest (an event I was looking forward to), I find I have no wallet. Shit.
Many phone calls later I think our credit is safe, but I'm still a moron for leaving the wallet in plain sight.
5:47:38 PM
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This is a great site. If you love maps (I do), this site can keep you occupied for hours. The SJMN article about the site's creator is also fascinating reading.
6:40:01 AM
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Introducing Network Attached Encryption. Ingrained security [The Register]
I like this a lot. This is in line with my belief that we need more strong encryption, not less. Wireline encryption is an old idea, but like many old ideas is now realizable in cheap silicon.
6:07:51 AM
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Saw The Ring last night. It's really, really creepy. It starts slow - for a while I thought it was going to be another Blair Witch, but once it got going, it kept you on edge. I can't believe it's a PG-13. I think it'll give any kid some serious nightmares.
6:03:54 AM
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Tuesday, October 29, 2002 |
'Wire-free' electricity juices mobile devices. MobileWise working on wireless power for computing devices [InfoWorld: Top News]
This sounds pretty good to me. I've got way too many remotes, chargers, and miscellaneous device-specific gadgets-of-gadgets. It's getting out of hand. How about some integration across all this mess!
2:47:21 PM
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Add this to the joy of working solo: you *are* your own IT department. Discovered that we couldn't print from any of our machines, and had to spend an hour fscking with the print server and the network. Finally had to reinstall the print server software on the main computer. This "fixed" the problem, but I still have no idea what causes the problem. The Netgear print server just seems to hang every once in a while. Need a break...
2:43:25 PM
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Five hours later, the personal weather report is better. Deadlines moved back, cold in abeyance...progress is made. I may actually have some time to think and write.
Two new bits of music entered the house yesterday, and both of them are excellent, now on the top of the playlist. First is the new Beck disc, Sea of Change. It's a little slow, but is very listenable - almost hypnotic. The production quality is first rate. The other new disc is Aimee Mann's Lost in Space. Also very listenable, not a bad track on the disc. Both are recommended.
1:25:41 PM
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Feeling sick today, plus lots of client work to do. Result will probably be very little posting to this site.
7:57:32 AM
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Monday, October 28, 2002 |
Cool. A person I'm working with on one of my projects has published a first novel this year, Avatar Dawn. Looks pretty good.
Nice to see someone who has a good balance of corp-life, home-life, and creative work. Tough to do.
And check out his Amazon customer reviews. Wow!
11:12:42 AM
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SIs retool Web services. Frameworks enable service customization to tackle BPM concerns [InfoWorld: Top News]
It's nice to see that my old friend Craig Miller is still alive and kicking, quoted here about web services in the SI space. And, this is a good idea that The Firm could use some help with.
7:07:27 AM
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NYT. Safire makes the case that only those nations that sign-off on the Bush invasion of Iraq get access to the $ billions derived by the control of Iraq's oil after the war. One of the unstated goals here is that by glutting the market with Iraqi oil, we will deflate the main source of funding for terrorists. $15 a barrel oil would put Saudi Arabia on the ropes financially and make them less likely to fund terrorists that attack the US and Israel. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]
Jeez, this is the scariest thing I've seen/heard in a while. Sounds more like the formula for WW3 than for fighting terrorism.
7:02:10 AM
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Sunday, October 27, 2002 |
Ask and Ye Shall Receive
I struggled for over an hour today rewiring my ReplayTV and hiding it inside a piece of furniture. One big problem is no phone jack anywhere near said furniture - you've gotta connect the RTV to their servers by either phone line or Ethernet. The RTV has an Ethernet jack, but of course I have a wireless network, not Cat-5 in the walls. So, I'm stuck...until I saw this little gem on Gizmodo. Score! It's the perfect piece of gear for my problem.
6:51:48 PM
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Just learned that one of my favorite authors is coming to town. Jonathan Carroll, who not only writes like a madman but has a classy website, will be at Mysterious Galaxy on Nov 8th. Gotta go!
6:14:05 PM
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This is the geekiest thing I've seen in a while, and I like it. Scifaiku.
6:05:57 PM
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Mobile car ban drives Bluetooth. The government is gearing up to ban the use of mobile phones in cars which could prove the kickstart Bluetooth technology needs [BBC News | TECHNOLOGY]
Where there's a will, there's a way. Banning cell phones doesn't mean conversations are banned; just means one-handed driving is a bad idea (particularly in standard shift vehicles).
8:35:57 AM
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From JRobb and MIT Tech Review: Nice to see that the Palladium issue is still getting some press. This article isn't paranoid; this is the way it's going down, from all indications.
The good news: Microsoft-Hollywood connection will do what no competitor has been able to do - create a viable market for non-MS user platforms.
8:28:12 AM
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Saturday, October 26, 2002 |
More fun with The Dialectizer: A post from yesterday rendered in "Jive".
"It's Friday, and mah' rhydm be definitely off. Fridays feel likes Mondays, weekends feel likes any oda' day. Slap mah fro! One doodad I've lost by not joinin' de masses on some daily commute be de 5-2 rhydm uh de wo'k week. Ya' know? I gots some ton uh wo'k writin' t'do, and ah' keep puttin' it off. Procrastinashun be not some baaaad sign. 'S coo', bro. "
Cool indeed.
6:40:51 AM
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Whoa - just did a little more snooping on imdb, and found that Tuck is a remake, first made in 1980. I'd like to see that version too.
5:27:09 AM
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It's 4 in the morning - can't sleep. Might as well write.
I got halfway through a post a few minutes ago, but had a Microsoft moment - the laptop just locked up. Doesn't happen often, but it sure sucks when it does.
We saw Tuck Everlasting last night, based on great reviews at The Grid. Tuck didn't disappoint. It was a beautiful movie, a future classic.
It's not giving too much away to say that the movie is about living forever, and the bittersweet reality that would be. There's a scene where William Hurt is explaining to someone why living forever isn't as great as you might think, and it's one of the best scenes ever. (I've always liked Hurt, and his acting in this is very, very good.) He says something to the effect of "Don't be afraid of death. It's dying that gives meaning to living..."
The movie and its theme reminded me of Brad Pitt's melancholy character in Interview With a Vampire, or Christopher Lambert in Highlander. Movies and the stories behind them always seem to equate eternal life with a serious price to pay. A quick search on imdb yields 35 movies with the theme "eternal life", and they're all about vampires, flesh eaters, a few gods and a lot of monsters. Tuck is different. It's about simple, normal people, unchanged except for the fact that they're completely frozen in time. The price and the gift are just two edges of the same sharp sword - eternal life.
The writing and acting was good enough to make me rethink my opinion on living forever. I've always thought it would be great, even wonderful. Not a day goes by that I don't wish I could see the world 200 years hence, and witness all the wonders of that new age. But would I really want to outlive my wife, my daughter, every friend and acquaintance? The movie drives home the point that the scarcity of life, the fact that there's no guarantee that you'll get any more days, is what makes every day precious. If you were guaranteed an infinite number of days, what's the motivation for doing something (anything) with that day. The Tucks struggle with this.
The movie also made me think about something else. I've always had the opinion that a big part of life's purpose was preparing you for the end. It's a variation of my friend Jim Moore's saying "...growin' old ain't for sissies". The tough, tough things you have to face at the end of life - regrets, infirmities, loss of strength and mental capacity - are only tolerable due to the accumulated experience and wisdom of your years.
Tuck has me rethinking that opinion. Perhaps it's too negative. Perhaps we age simply because all things in the universe, including all life, experience entropy. It's just part of the design, and a fundamental part at that. The fact that we get three score and ten rather than 3000 is unfortunate, but...the design seems to work.
In any event, it's a movie that delivers the goods - it entertains and inspires. Go see it.
4:46:25 AM
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Friday, October 25, 2002 |
It's Friday, and my rhythm is definitely off. Fridays feel like Mondays, weekends feel like any other day. One thing I've lost by not joining the masses on a daily commute is the 5-2 rhythm of the work week.
I have a ton of work writing to do, and I keep putting it off. Procrastination is not a good sign.
7:25:25 AM
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Thursday, October 24, 2002 |
Wonderful article by Jon Udell about publish/subscribe architectures and how they fit in web services and the Internet. Jon's got the rare gift of clear, lucid writing about complex topics.
12:12:21 PM
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Weird. Since my earlier post about searching for the next gig, I've gotten phone calls from two current clients wanting my commitment to do another job (including the HP project). Looks like the search will be easier than expected.
11:56:27 AM
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Report: Web services a decade away. Cue up Ten Years After's, "I'd Love to Change the World." A market researcher says that it'll be a good, long while before the ultimate promise of Web services is fulfilled. [CNET News.com]
I'm with Dave - I really disagree with CNET and IDC on this topic. We're already starting to see lots of new capability based on web services, and it won't take a decade for app vendors to rebuild or encapsulate their products. Perhaps the bar is too high - we don't need an "ultimate promise" or anything revolutionary, we just need steady adoption of data-layer standards.
But IDC's gotta have something to write about. Enterprise IT is deadly dull right now, so I don't blame them for stirring the pot.
And here's an analyst report claiming that web services are gaining traction. Go figure.
8:54:12 AM
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I'm nearing the bust stage of the endless boom-to-bust cycle of the solo worker. My four active projects have dwindled to one, and I can see the end of that one coming soon. Time to dust off the contact list and start some serious networking.
Best prospect is a year-long gig with HP. The work doesn't look too technical, but does include a lot of complicated change management and communications problems. It would be fun to see the inside of a new company, particularly one changing as fast as HP seems to be.
It's also probably time to start the Pervasive Computing weblog.
8:45:00 AM
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Agony and Ecstasy
What a day yesterday turned out to be. First, a run-in with a nasty, spiteful person on one of my projects. Really upsetting. Then, an afternoon golf outing where I play way over my head, shooting 38 on the front nine. Just couldn't miss a putt. Topped it all off with a great World Series game, a nice dinner with friends, and a little too much wine. Today, it's back to reality.
8:31:50 AM
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Health Files on Tap for Migrants. Migrant farm workers' medical records often lie scattered among rural clinics like so many seeds in a field. A Web-based record-keeping system intends to put health data at these nomadic patients' fingertips. By Lia Steakley. [Wired News]
This is a *great* idea. Why not do this for everyone? I'd really like to have access to my medical records, and today I don't. And while I'm not a migrant farm worker, my records are also scattered among doctors in 3 states. There's a business opportunity in here somewhere.
7:46:16 AM
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Wednesday, October 23, 2002 |
Israeli experts pinpoint more holes in IE. Detail nine new security vulnerabilities in IE 5.5 and 6.0 [InfoWorld: Top News]
Just when you thought you were safe. And what would Microsoft do without independent testing?
Worse, I tried to follow one of the suggestions of the Israeli team and disabled Active Scripting in IE. Turns out that Radio's posting editor no longer works when I do that. Natch.
8:02:56 AM
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ID Chip's Controversial Approval. Despite an FDA investigator's public disapproval, the agency OKs an implantable chip for humans -- as long as it's for security and safety reasons. By Julia Scheeres. [Wired News]
This is pretty big news. Computer implants in humans have been a science fiction staple for years, and here we have the beginning. Watch for the lunatic fringe of Revelationists and apocalyptics to be all over this as "Mark of the Beast".
7:51:45 AM
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Tuesday, October 22, 2002 |
The game got boring, so I checked the blogosphere, and what do you know - there's Dave Winer blogging from seats at the ballyard, with people commenting from their couches all over the country. A little strange, but cool. Sort of a blogcast.
8:52:29 PM
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I've got a lot of gear, but I've got a long way to go. These guys (and one woman!) are over the top. Makes me feel positively normal.
8:48:05 PM
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One background topic keeps running in my brain these days - the choice between (1) keep going as an "independent" consultant, or (2) join up with a bigger firm. It's burning up a lot of personal CPU cycles.
Perhaps it's harder to reverse 20 years of habit than I thought. There are things I miss about the corporate life. I miss some of the people. I miss my old assistant, Kelli (sorry, perhaps I should say my "previous assistant"). I miss the feeling of being on a large team, and the opportunity to be a star player on that team. I miss the richness of interaction, the occasional brush against a good idea. I miss the debate. I miss taking customers out to play golf on someone else's budget.
But there was so much wrong with it. There's a longer list of things I don't miss:
- The commute
- The infighting among managers and corporate politics
- The endless rounds of poorly organized, unproductive meetings
- Business travel on crazy schedules
- People arguing over who gets which office, with me as arbiter
- Complacent acceptance of shoddy work
- My tendency to believe that by working harder and harder, I could fix all those flaws
So how does it all net out? I'm happier now (and poorer, financially). I work less. I think more. I play more golf. Sounds pretty great, so why I am still in conflict?
10:05:15 AM
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I never, ever, in my wildest dreams, thought I would find myself agreeing with Senator Robert Byrd of WV, the pork king himself. But this NYTimes piece on the impending war decision has me shaking my head yes. Democracy works in the US because of checks and balances among the three branches. As lame as Congress may be, taking Congress out of the "declaring war" decision is a terrible idea.
9:18:17 AM
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Here's a surprisingly complex issue, deep linking, well-described in New Architect. The issue involves protection of brand, copyright, and spells trouble for news aggregators. The article convinced me that policies against deep linking have validity, and may be inevitable. Hopefully, there's a middle ground.
Once again the net mirrors the physical world. After all, even our friends use the front door to enter our home. Can't have them just materialize in the bathroom, can we?
7:32:32 AM
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I've always wanted to join the Churchhill Club. With SD-SF airfares so cheap these days, I think I will. Looks like a good investment in time and career.
7:10:02 AM
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Smart Fatigues Hear Enemy Coming. What's better than a bullet-proof vest? How about one that warns you that a bullet's coming your way? Special fabric could soon alert soldiers to pending danger. By Katie Dean. [Wired News]
This is a new twist on wearable computers. I like it!
6:49:13 AM
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Monday, October 21, 2002 |
It's finally happening - Microsoft operating systems in automobiles. Now we can all look forward to:
- Freeway driving where 20% of all cars stop working randomly, particularly at high speed or with lots of passengers. Most cars can be restarted after disconnecting the batteries and waiting a few minutes.
- Error messages on the dashboard like "Fatal exception: engine_mon_2, no restart possible. Restart now?"
- Planning for an extra 10 minutes every time we go anywhere. The car takes a while to boot up and shut down.
- Days when we just stay home, as a virus exploiting all Microsoft Autos makes driving particularly hazardous. The virus keeps the digital speedometer showing 55, at any speed.
I can't wait.
3:40:35 PM
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I want to go to this, even if I have to pay for it myself. Pure geek heaven, held in the ashes of Silicon Valley.
7:55:33 AM
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Unbelievable. Sickening, in fact. Living proof of the sometimes-insane results of our justice system.
7:49:04 AM
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Apple's road less traveled. Technology strategy maps a path to the enterprise's front door [InfoWorld: Top News]
More weight on the side of investing in a new iMac. I keep holding off, but I also keep wandering into tech stores and playing with the Macs.
And there's probably a new business idea here, too. How about a Mac-centric SI or VAR firm with services for small-medium businesses, working up to enterprise clients? Could be fun.
7:11:27 AM
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Crash test penguin? Chrysler meets Linux. DaimlerChrysler buys 108 dual-processor Linux workstations from IBM to run car-crash simulations, highlighting the spread of the low-cost "cluster" supercomputer technique. [CNET News.com]
Creating Beowulf clusters and then tuning applications to run on them is a very specialized skill. There are likey a few good startup company ideas in this - it's somethig I would enjoy doing. I wonder if there's a strong medical tie-in. Hmmmm....
7:05:50 AM
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Sunday, October 20, 2002 |
NY Times reports that the West Wing is losing viewers. Say it ain't so.
7:19:11 PM
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Now watching the slo-o-o-o-ow Worlds Series game 2. Two hours into the game and they're in the fourth inning. Thank goodness I'm watching it time lagged and can skip through all the commercials and boring bits.
Replay TV makes football absolutely fun to watch again. Jury's still out on baseball - the FF points aren't as obvious.
7:01:01 PM
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Just spent a very enjoyable 90 minutes watching the entire Chargers football game, courtesy of the new Replay TV. I just got it yesterday, and already see how it can dramatically change TV viewing for the better. To top it off, the Chargers beat the Raiders in OT. Yeah!
6:53:58 PM
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If my family were a nation, today I'd secede. In spite of this, it was good to see my Nashville brother this week. He understands.
12:21:08 PM
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Saturday, October 19, 2002 |
Was reading online stereo equipment reviews this AM, and got mis-directed into one of the more aggressive porn sites I've ever seen. At least seven new browser windows popped, reinstantiating as quickly as I closed them. Plus, some new techniques were used. An nasty animated banner appeared across the bottom of the screen, completely browser independent. Two of the windows had false close boxes, and clicking them just led one deeper into the maze. Took me five minutes to clean up the mess.
I'm a fairly savvy online user, and to get so easily trapped in a porn web is *really* annoying. I have to wonder what non-technical users do in such a situation. Shutdown? Plus, this is exactly the kind of thing that gives fuel to the "let's legislate the Net" movement.
I guess I better get some popup filtering software.
9:51:00 AM
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Another stunningly bad weather day in Socal. How to explain the 14 straight days of overcast skies and cool damp air? Have we been secretly transported to Seattle? Is it the influx of Starbucks, with all their foam machines fouling the air? Or is it just karma, wherein we get repaid for being smug so often about not scraping snow from windshields?
9:41:45 AM
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Friday, October 18, 2002 |
Dan Gillmor reports on Microsoft's recent earnings report. These are truly amazing numbers: $4 billion in profits on $7.7 billion revenue. In one quarter! Plus, they have $40 billion cash. I'm sure they can't even imagine how to spend their incoming cash or accrued equity. All you can do is laugh (sickly).
11:38:55 AM
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Yesterday was a no-post day because I exercised some discipline. One of my client projects involves writing a detailed technical/marketing proposal. It's on an aggressive schedule, so I needed to make some real headway. The writing's not terribly creative, you have to grind it out, but along the way I realized: I'm getting paid a nice sum to sit and write. This is something I always dreamed about, and here it is. So if this site doesn't get updated as often for the next week, there's a good reason.
7:51:14 AM
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Open road, open spectrum. Reflecting on Kevin Werbach's fabulous essay on open spectrum, Jeremy Allaire notes a fascinating parallel to the formative era of the Internet: ... [Jon's Radio]
Yes. Yes. Yes. I think/hope that broadband wireless using open spectrum is the Next Big Thing. It works, it makes sense, it's viral, it solves a nasty problem (last mile). So what if the business model isn't clear. Was the business model for the Net clear in 1990? (Is it today?)
7:46:46 AM
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This article from Yahoo highlights a personal dilemma of mine. The article has the CIA telling us that al Qaeda is a bigger threat than ever. It's more grist for the GeorgeW war mill. My dilemma is that I don't trust anything the government says any more. My dilemma is that I don't trust the "evidence" or the reasoning behind the current push to war.
On one hand we have 9-11-01: an overt act of war, for which someone and perhaps some country should pay. I'm for it; find the ringleaders and introduce them to the next life.
On the other hand, we have my entire life's experience with Federal Government and its limitless ability to corrupt people. I lived through Nixon and Watergate (a Republican you couldn't trust). I suffered through Clinton (a Democrat you couldn't trust). I currently suffer with the likes of Feinstein and Boxer "representing" my interests as a Californian. My entire adult life, the government has apologized every year for the lies and crimes committed 20 years previous.
My dilemma is that I suspect in 20 years, we'll hear the apology for the lies and bungling associated with Gov's handling of the current situation.
So is al Qaeda still a big threat, and are we justified in moving to a broader-scope war? Very likely, we'll never know for sure. That's a dilemma.
7:33:16 AM
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In Secrets and Lies, Schneier uses a quote from Yogi Berra that I just love:
"In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is."
I think that accounts for the lameness of most analysts. It helps to have done something once upon a time.
7:17:51 AM
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Wall St. cheers Sun job cuts. 4,400 down - 35,000 to go [The Register]
This piece by Andrew Orlowski has a grim headline, but I like Andrew's secondary message. Sun is working hard, and the analysts aren't too bright. Just as a month ago, I still wonder if I should buy some Sun...
7:09:53 AM
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What's Really New in Wireless?. The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association tradeshow offered some surprises, like a Bluetooth-enabled headset for cell phones. Also: Christina Aguilera faceplates and Worldwide GPRS roaming with Deutsche Telekom. Elisa Batista reports from Las Vegas. [Wired News]
This is a conference I had planned to attend, but it looks like I didn't miss much. "Christine Aguilera faceplates..." !?! Things are worse than I thought.
7:04:53 AM
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Wednesday, October 16, 2002 |
I don't like their website (all Flash), but Dipo's concept for ubiquitous RF-enabled location tags is very cool. A high tech solution to an ageold problem. Where did I leave my keys? Oh yeah, they just called my cell phone and checked in...
9:51:05 AM
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Bruce Schneier on the US government's mishmash of a national cyberspace security plan:
The worst part of it is that some of the people involved in writing the document were high-powered, sincere security practitioners. It must have been a hard wake-up call for them to learn how things work in Washington. You can tell that a lot of thought and effort went into this document, and the fact that it was gutted at the behest of special interests is shameful...but typical.
Thanks to Karlin Lillington [[ t e c h n o c u l t u r e ]] for pointing this out. I'm currently re-reading Schneier's Secrets and Lies, the best book ever on net security. Schneier knows more about this space than anyone, period. So if he's unhappy with the Fed stance on cybersecurity, we've got a problem.
My take on the issue: encrypt everything. Strong encryption should be available (and usable, which is the current problem) to everyone. Freedom of speech and privacy depends on it. The right to communicate privately is, IMHO, a more important right than the right to bear arms. And strong encryption is the only way we'll retain net privacy.
7:58:17 AM
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Music Reviews
I'm in a bit of a rut, writing only about tech things I read elsewhere on the net. Boring, even for me. So here's some non-tech commentary. I've been listening to four new CDs. Here's my take.
Mark Knopfler's The Ragpicker's Dream: Good but not great. Occasional riffs reminiscent of Dire Straits, but on this disc Knopfler wanders around a bit among bluegrass, blues, and light rock. It's a strange disc. I think it'll grow on me, but first listenings weren't great.
James Taylor's October Road: Awesome. Great. Beautiful. JT's voice just gets better with age (if that's possible), and these songs, mostly written by him, are poetry. To think we almost lost this guy 20 years ago to heroin - what a personal comeback he's made. Buy it.
Bruce Springsteen's The Rising: I didn't like it when I listened to it on the home system, but I've moved it to the car, and it's great road music. The 911 tribute song, Empty Sky, is one of those parasitic tunes that you just can't get out of your head. Not the Boss's best effort, I'd have to admit.
Van Morrison's Down The Road: Another great, great disc. I could listen to this one over and over again (and I do). He's another one who just gets better with age. Beautiful lyrics, Van's distinctive voice and cadence. And talk about poetry - each and every one of these songs is worth reading. Here's an excerpt from "Man Has To Struggle":
"Man makes his money and they call him rich
Deep down inside he knows that life's still a bitch
Man tries to keep things but they're taken away
Man has to struggle all the live long day
Man has to sweat and toil his life filled with trouble
Man got to step and fetch it on the double
Man has to work so hard to make it all pay
Man has to struggle all the live long day
Man keeps on moving 'cos he can t keep still
Man has to set his goals and climb up the hill
Man sees the mountains and the deep blue sky
Man has to struggle till the day that he die
Well yes siree Bob them there's the breaks
That's how it is my friend don't make no mistake"
Anyway, the VM disc is highly recommended. But I guess that was obvious.
7:39:49 AM
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Tuesday, October 15, 2002 |
Wal-Mart cues up a rival to Netflix. The retail behemoth is testing a new DVD subscription-rental program, further clouding the future of Netflix and its Web-based mail-order DVD service. [CNET News.com]
Let's all go out and support Netflix, please. Rent some DVDs from them. The last thing we need is Borg-Mart absorbing another retail service and killing the pioneer.
8:59:44 AM
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Wearables: More Than Sci-Fi Stuff. Wearable computers are showing up in operating theaters, on museum tours and at archeological digs. Still, geeks ask: Where are the games? Manny Frishberg reports from Seattle. [Wired News]
God help me, I'm probably ready for this. I'd wear a computer with the following specs:
1. Primary I/O is via a phone-style earpiece/mike. Uses a compact, semi-coded vocabulary for commands.
2. Small form factor, no bigger than a wallet - something I can stuff in a pocket.
3. Automatically connects to whatever network is present - WiFi, cellular, Bluetooth, whatever.
5. Customizable with cached content, downloaded during sessions linked to a PC and/or portal.(Imagine: I'm on a new golf course, and I say "How many yards to the flag?" Because the device has GPS, and has a copy of the course layout, it gives me the yardage.)
6. Interfaces seamlessly with my home and car processors. Imagine: I get in my car and ask "Traffic report for I-5". Based on that I decide to take back roads. I then say "Play Bruce, random cuts", and the wearable device streams my collection of Springsteen songs to the car's sound system.
Yep, I'm ready for a wearable computer. Games optional.
8:52:47 AM
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Monday, October 14, 2002 |
Did you ever have one of those days when you couldn't seem to get any work done? This is one of those days.
4:30:34 PM
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I hadn't heard of geek cruises before, but it sounds like fun. Worth looking into...
2:58:52 PM
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Former FBI chief takes on encryption. Louis Freeh is urging lawmakers to limit encryption products that don't include backdoors for government surveillance. [CNET News.com]
Arr-r-r-rgh! Somebody needs to put a muzzle on this guy. Louis Freeh thinks encryption should be controlled by The Government, and that private citizens should give up their rights to privacy on the net because of potential misuses by terrorists, pornographers, and other unsavory types.
Freeh was wrong when he was FBI Director, and he's wrong now. I for one am unwilling to give The Gov open license to snoop on any communications media, particularly one as powerful as the Internet. This is like saying "...we want the keys to all homes, all safety deposit boxes, all autos, just in case."
Article IV of The Constitution says "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. "
It's there for a good reason - power corrupts, and that goes double for governments. Mr. Freeh, take your scaremongering tactics elsewhere.
2:55:51 PM
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Here's another reason the tech downturn, at least in the pro-services segment of the market, may be more of a paradigm shift than a downturn. It may be permanent. Article from Line56.
8:49:39 AM
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SVN: This is a sobering article about the effects of the protracted "downturn" in the tech business. This kind of thing keeps me up at night, wondering if I'm really an idiot for turning solo in an economy like this. On the other hand, it's going well, so...But I sense the desperation that's out there. I know people like those in the article. It's bad.
A similar article, also in Silicon Valley News.
8:08:16 AM
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" The atomic, subatomic and galactic structure of things today. On the last day of the digital identity conference I spent an hour with Phil Becker, co-founder (with Andre Durand) of Digital ID World. By the end I felt like Peter Finch in Network, whose skull was pried open by Ned Beatty in order to receive the cosmology of money: ..." [Jon's Radio]
Jon Udell has written a rambling but thought-provoking piece on digital identity. I'm with him - I think this single issue is the most important thing happening in the business/tech world today. Sometime soon, the conversation needs to swing around to the rights of online individuals, as opposed to the rights and ID of content and copyright holders.
This is also the kind of issue that could cause a third American Revolution. The first was over taxation and independent governance, the second was over slavery and culture. In all the time since, we've come close to revolution (Vietnam era protest and government corruption/stupidity) but have always managed to patch things up. I hope this time will be the same.
One Big Problem: the issue is too arcane and abstract for most people to care about, which is why the RIAA-types are winning. How can we personalize the issue?
7:56:59 AM
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Part of my wasted Sunday was an hour spent wandering around the local CompUSA. The mission was to buy some paper and ink for the HP 920, but I'm incapable of a simple purchase in any computer store. Wandering around looking and lusting is mandatory. Some observations:
1. The price of good quality inkjet printers needs to fall only another 20-30%, and it will be cheaper to buy an entirely new printer than to buy the ink refill for the old printer. The ink for the 920 cost $65!! I've watched tech gear product cycles accelerate for 20 years, and I've never seen a product category churn as fast as inkjet printers.
2. External hard drives are now cheap enough to use as casual storage. I saw 120 GB drives for less than $200.
3. They're practically giving away 802.11b network gear. And, the price of 802.11a gear is now the same as 11b a year ago (about $250 for the access point, $100 for the NIC).
4. I really, really want a Mac, but am loath to make the investment of time and brain cells learning an entirely new environment. I want one because of their beautiful design and OS X.
7:31:03 AM
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It's a slow Monday morning, after an even slower Sunday. The market's still wobbling; most of the blogs I read aren't updated yet; all the projects I'm part of are in the end stage. Today it feels like fall has really hit. Time to get busy and find the next customer/project.
7:08:52 AM
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Saturday, October 12, 2002 |
"BlogStreet's Top-100 is good source for RSS feeds." [Scripting News]
Thanks, Dave. I was looking for this. Since beginning to use Radio's News Aggregator, my daily surf is much more efficient (and enjoyable).
8:50:00 AM
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Friday, October 11, 2002 |
Broadband lessons to be learned. A recent mission to South Korea¸ which has the highest penetration of broadband connections in the world¸ revealed interesting lessons for the UK. [BBC News | TECHNOLOGY]
Fascinating stuff here. I love the ties between education and broadband. Can you imagine doing that in the US ("all homework must be submitted online...")? Sometimes it feels like our culture is stagnant, adrift in the philosophical L5 point between liberals and conservatives.
7:20:35 AM
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DVD reaches rental milestone. Black Hawk Down becomes the first film to be rented more on DVD than VHS as sales of DVDs continue to surge. [BBC News | TECHNOLOGY]
I can't believe it took this long. I guess I'm a little disconnected from the norm - I thought *everyone* watched DVDs exclusively by now.
7:11:39 AM
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Thursday, October 10, 2002 |
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