Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Reds put Griffey on disabled list By CBC. [CBC | Baseball News] It is time for Junior to hang them up. 8:52:58 PM    comment []

Oracle: Open-source could bring new customers. Oracle isn't just looking to buy up open-source technology; it sees the software as a route to new customers, according to company executives. Oddly, this is not such a crazy notion.  If you think about it, Oracle already has large in-road in the Open Source Community in the form of its "Oracle TechNet" program (OTN, not to be confused with the Microsoft program of the same name) where they have been giving out hints and tips for installing and running Oracle software on Linux for more than 5 years now.  In fact, when most vendors were still trying to decide what to make of the Open Source movement, Oracle, along with O'Reilly and several other companies were already well entrenched and leading the way when even RedHat seemed new to the game. By acquiring Novell, Oracle gets a top tier Directory Service, that is also multi-platform with out the limitations of Active Directory or LDAP, but with all the functionality, a Linux distribution with a large following and a company with a history of strong engineering and support (even though their marketing has lagged far behind).  It would certainly bring more to the Oracle table than RedHat in the long run. 8:49:44 PM    comment []

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

A magic way to make billions By DONALD L. BARLETT, JAMES B. STEELE The wording is so bland and buried so deep within a 324-page budget document that almost no one would notice that a multibillion-dollar scam is going on. Not the members of Congress voting for it and certainly not the taxpayers who will get fleeced by it. And that is exactly the idea. [CNN] In a world where petroleum is a scarce commodity (but less expensive the coffee), the Federal Government of the United States is paying people to create snake oil and pass it off as energy and then artificially adjusting the price of the real thing so that the snake oil vendors can get more of my money.  I am sorry but someone needs to spell this out in big bold block letters.  The Dubai port deal is a minor issue next to this raping of the tax payer.  We are worried about terrorists?  People the terrorists are sitting on padded leather seats under a white dome handing out your money to any fool who can make it look like they are doing something beneficial.  You need to be mad as hell about this.  Because in the end, it is programs like this that ultimately will lead to the downfall of the US economy.  Go back and read my postings on the bankrupting of America...I will wait...but the country cannot wait too much longer for you to get smart 8:55:34 PM    comment []

LOS ANGELES - The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday it has launched an inquiry into possible price fixing in the burgeoning online music industry. [Yahoo News] It will come as little surprise that I almost fell off my chair when I read this one.  Price fixing?  In an industry that has very few acts that can put out two singles in a row, much less two albums (CDs for the spuds in the group).  In an industry that is going after everyone and his mother for illegal distribution?  Price fixing?  Please, throw the book at them, lock them up and take away the key.  And pass me my Payola$ album...er...mp3 files. 8:47:12 PM    comment []

Monday, March 06, 2006

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A small-town police chief was accused in a federal lawsuit Thursday of  stopping a would-be rescuer from performing CPR on a gay heart attack victim because he assumed the ailing man had  HIV and posed a health risk. [Yahoo] While some people have become enlightened, it is amazing that there are still ignorants among us.  What is worse, is they are doing nothing to help themselves.  A police chief in West Virginia - can you get any more stereotypical?  It would be funny if it was not so sad.  This is someone who is supposed to be educated?  Now, everyone is innocent until proven guilty and the chief in question is saying it is a lie.  About which part is still up for discussion.  The man in question was HIV positive, but there are protocols for dealing with this disease in a rescue situation that reduces the chance of contamination.   It still does not excuse the actions if they turn out to be true. 10:26:43 AM    comment []

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - A veteran Presbyterian minister told a church judicial panel that she knew the faith's position on gay marriage, yet felt called by God and her conscience to call the unions between two lesbian couples marriage anyway. [Yahoo] While the issue of gay marriage can be discussed from a purely religious view as wrong, it is nice to see a person of faith who gets it.  If marriage is about the bond between two people who love each other, then the sex of those two people should not matter.  At the risk of throwing religion at the religious, if man was created in god's image... Just think about it for a while, you might understand. 10:21:21 AM    comment []

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Dropouts say their schools expected too little of them  By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY A survey of high school dropouts offers a surprising view of why they don't finish school. It finds that more than six in 10 were earning C's or above when they dropped out, and nearly two-thirds say they would have worked harder if expectations had been higher. [USAToday] The article goes on to say the following:   For instance, 69% of dropouts say they weren't motivated, and another 47% say classes weren't interesting. That is simply another way for students to say that their basic skills weren't up to the task of high school-level work, Greene says. "Being in school seems like a big waste of your time because you don't understand what's going on. You can't understand the material that's being assigned to you." Sorry to disagree with Mr. Greene, but I do.  As one of those who could have said the same thing.  I found school boring, so I did not bother trying.  My parents intervened and sent me to private school where the classes were not only interesting, they were challenging.  I was behind in some areas, but only because the basics had not been taught, rather than because I did not understand the material. In fact, I was expected to do things that I had not been asked of before.  Where the answer had been good enough before, now I had to show the work, explain the conclusion and document everything.  I also found a great lack of structure.  I am a self-starter, but that does not mean I do not like structure as well. Now the study is hardly scientific.  600-odd people is hardly statistically significant...in fact, I would not even say it is a study, but it is a beginning that needs to be  developed and continued.   A better question, though is asking, what are our children being taught and how are they being taught.  In this day of standardized tests, one has to wonder if they are being taught any skills at all. 7:36:03 PM    comment []

Kid Rock: Stapp 'Idiot' for Losing Tape (AP). AP - Kid Rock blames Scott Stapp for losing a sex video showing them with several strippers, but appreciates Stapp for[Yahoo! News: Top Stories] Is this not the pot calling the kettle black?  I think idiot is a term that applies to both of them. 7:30:01 PM    comment []

James Bond Is a Fake. Who comes to mind first when you hear the word "spy"? James Bond, of course, and that's an insult to spies the world over. The tech gadgetry we associate with 007 turns him into a mere cartoon. It's time for George Smiley to come in from the cold. Commentary by Tony Long. This column is available as a . [Wired News: Top Stories] Of course James Bond is fake.  Like all good summer movies, it is about escapism.  If I wanted to watch a real spy thriller, I would...oh wait, there are not that many out there.  I wonder why? 7:28:41 PM    comment []

Pilot Killed in Crash was Talking on Cell Phone. The pilot of a small plane that crashed last week was on his cell phone before he clipped a high-tension line, sending the aircraft into a fatal tumble, the National Transportation Safety Board reported. [WTOP / Local / Local Stories] Perhaps it is time to question whether or not cell phones are a good idea. 7:26:01 PM    comment []

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Kaine Says Metro Funding Measure is Not Dead. On WTOP's Ask the Governor program, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine said the before the legislature ends the issue of a dedicated funding source for Metro will come up again. [WTOP / Local / Local Stories] The governor and the legislature better find a way to resurrect it - the entire Metro funding model relies on all three jurisdictions to come up with a permanent funding scheme.  With traffic so bad it takes and hour for a 20 minute trip (on a good day) it is time for the people that can ignore it to wake up and face facts.  The metro Washington area is always a good accident away from being in complete gridlock.  Terrorism has nothing on a truck overturning on the beltway. 12:07:22 PM    comment []

Compulsory water meters allowed. A water company is told it can force householders to accept water meters, in a landmark government ruling. [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition] I don't think I knew this.  Here in North America, the water meter, like the gas meter and the electric meter are all a part of the normal bill paying way of life.  To not pay for water and sewer is almost an alien concept. 11:42:09 AM    comment []

Monday, February 20, 2006

Bush: U.S. on Verge of Energy Breakthrough (AP). AP - Saying the nation is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that would "startle" most Americans, President Bush on Monday outlined his energy proposals to help wean the country off foreign oil. [Yahoo! News: Top Stories] Excuse me, but this is a President that would not know what a scientific breakthrough was if it was explained to him in small words with cartoon pictures.  Now he is spouting about some major breakthrough on the horizon? A better question is why is Detroit still telling us that they cannot make a car that can get more than 20 miles to the gallon? There are a dozen ways to convert energy.  Most are inefficient and waste more energy than they convert.  There has been so little investment in improving the efficiency that for the President of the United States to stand in front of a group and say that the nation in on the verge is about as funny as saying we just landed a man on Mars.  Frankly, I am more inclined to belive they captured Bin Laden than I am to think that the oil companies are really even trying. 8:44:25 PM    comment []

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Justice Ginsburg Goes It Alone (AP). AP - It will be a different scene Tuesday when the black-robed justices of the Supreme Court emerge from behind a red, velvet curtain and take their seats at the mahogany bench. [Yahoo! News: U.S. National] Yet once again, I look at my calendar and it says, quite plainly, that this is 2005, not 1905 or 1805.  So, the questions on the floor remain.  1) Other than Harriet Myers (who I contend was a token, not a real candidate) there was not one single female that was as qualified or more than Justice Alito to sit on the Supreme Court?  2) There were no people of ethnic diversity that were qualifed?  For the next ten years and possibly longer, the key judicial decisions in the United States are going to be made primarily by white men.  Am I the only one who has a serious problem with this? 2:27:09 PM    comment []

Amateur Radio's Role Gets Favorable Mention in Post-Katrina Report. The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), the Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) and the HF digital e-mail system Winlink 2000 all got positive mentions in a post-Katrina report from the US House of Representatives. US Rep Tom Davis (R-VA) chaired the panel. References to ARES, MARS and Winlink appear in "A Failure of Initiative"--the final report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to investigate the preparation for and response to Hurricane Katrina. [ARRL Amateur Radio News] And you think the government is capable of keeping you in touch?  Remember, When all else fails... 2:22:04 PM    comment []

Microsoft confirms USB bug that drains laptop batteries. Microsoft has admitted that an unfixed USB flaw in Windows XP SP2 drains laptop batteries and said no easy fix will be available anytime soon. [Computerworld News] In a statement through its public relations firm, Waggener Edstrom Inc., Microsoft also admitted that the flaw, which lies in the ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) driver of Windows XP SP 2, will remain without an easy-to-apply fix indefinitely. The ACPI is part of the operating system's power management scheme for USB 2.0, the latest standard for USB peripheral ports on notebook computers. No, really, it was not just you...there really was a bug.  You knew it all along right.  As did most of us with four hour batteries getting two hour life out of them...<sigh> 2:18:25 PM    comment []

Firm Sues to Block Foreign Port Takeover [WTOP / National / Stories] Why is this suddenly an issue?  I understand why it is an issue, the question, for those who did not read it is why is it suddenly an issue NOW?  This has been going to happen for the better part of six months now.  This sale was approve a long time ago and more importantly, it was big news then.  But there was no hue and cry, no wailing, no gnashing of teeth at the time.  So why is it suddenly such a new maker?  Could it be that our politicians were busy doing other, more important things? I cannot imagine what.  Frankly, at the moment, there is very little I can say that the politicians have done since Bush II took office in 2000, other than waste taxpayer money that is. 2:12:40 PM    comment []

Google rejects DOJ bid for search info. Google has formally rejected the U.S. Justice Department's subpoena of data, arguing the demand violates the privacy of users' Web searches and its own trade secrets. [Computerworld News] There is little question that the Federal Government does not get it, never will get it and should give up trying.  This is the same government that things the Patriot Act will somehow magically reveal who is and is not a terrorist and some how protect the citizens against the bad acts that a terrorist might want to shower upon us.  Trying to protect web surfers against themselves is a bit of a waste of time and money.  The government would be better off expending the money in the Department of Education in a surf smart campaign rather than a witch hunt out of the Department of inJustice. 2:07:17 PM    comment []

© Copyright 2006 David Lane.