- He said he'd sign an extension to the late Assault Weapons Ban if it reached his desk.
- Consolidation of a number of Federal agencies into the Dept. of Homeland Security.
- Federalizing airline security workers into the TSA. WTF?
- The PATRIOT Act.
- Signing the McCain-Feingold "Campaign Finance Reform" (AKA Incumbent Protection Act) even after saying that it was probably unconstitutional (passing the buck to SCOTUS, which in turn dropped the ball).
- Not sacking a bunch of neo-cons after they mismanaged the aftermath of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Why I'm not enthusiastic about Bush
Since I've recently taken shots at Kerry, I might as well explain why I'm not thrilled with Bush:
Ack!
If you tried to read this blog between about 1430 - 1450 EST today you probably got a bunch of gibberish. I was attempting to add some links in my right pane and something got mangled.
We now return you to your regular programming.
We now return you to your regular programming.
Heinlein said it well
If you are part of a society that votes, then do so. There may be no candidates and no measures you want to vote for ... but there are certain to be ones you want to vote against. By this rule you will rarely go wrong.
--in "The Notebooks of Lazarus Long," in his masterpiece Time Enough For Love.
This is why, although I am far from pleased with the job W has been doing as president, I will cast my vote for him come November. Really, I'll be voting against Kerry. There is no way in hell I could vote for a man who:
- Has what, a 20% attendance record at his current job?
- Despite his recent protests, is an inimitable foe of the Second Amendment.
- Waffles his position on every issue.
- While a commissioned officer in the USNR met with enemy officials in war time.
- Defamed American servicemen wholesale in sworn testimony to Congress.
- Would make American interests subordinate to those of the UN.
What handgun are you?
Well, according to one source, I'm a Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum.
(Image edited out 'cause it FUBARed my formatting.)
"Smith & Wessen .44 Magnum. You are old school. Fat
Sheriff Deputies fancy you. Reliable but not too practical."
What handgun are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Actually, I prefer the K-Frame Model 15 Combat Masterpiece .38 Special, or the Model 625 .45 ACP if an N-Frame. Both are more pleasant to shoot and more practical.
(Image edited out 'cause it FUBARed my formatting.)
"Smith & Wessen .44 Magnum. You are old school. Fat
Sheriff Deputies fancy you. Reliable but not too practical."
What handgun are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Actually, I prefer the K-Frame Model 15 Combat Masterpiece .38 Special, or the Model 625 .45 ACP if an N-Frame. Both are more pleasant to shoot and more practical.
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Sad news
Upon checking my email when I got home tonight I heard the sad news that fellow Daynoter Mike Barkman has passed away.
My deepest condolences go out to his family. May he rest in peace.
My deepest condolences go out to his family. May he rest in peace.
Lycoris picks up e-Smith SME Server
Long-time readers (all four of you) will know that I run the mail server for Building-Tux.com on e-Smith SME Server. In a nutshell, SME is a Red Hat-derivative that in about 15 minutes lets you take a whitebox PC and turn it into the functional equivalent of a Cobalt Qube, complete with POP/IMAP/SMTP for email, DNS, DHCP, firewalling/router functionality, and file/print services. It's been rock solid for me. The current uptime on mail.building-tux.com is 249 days. Likewise, an e-Smith box that I setup purely as a file server for a client just sits there and runs, with extended power failures being the only cause of downtime.
Last year, Mitel, the company which owned the commercial version of e-Smith spun off the unsupported version, which was hosted at Contribs.org. Not much has happened with the free version of the platform since then.
So, it was good to hear that the moribund e-Smith was bought by Lycoris. Hopefully, this will cause more folks to give it a shot. I hope it takes off.
Last year, Mitel, the company which owned the commercial version of e-Smith spun off the unsupported version, which was hosted at Contribs.org. Not much has happened with the free version of the platform since then.
So, it was good to hear that the moribund e-Smith was bought by Lycoris. Hopefully, this will cause more folks to give it a shot. I hope it takes off.
Powerpoint
Up until today I've avoided ever creating anything in Powerpoint, although I have of course viewed more than my fair share of PPT presentations. I've never cared for PPT, due to the same sorts of things discussed in "Powerpoint Makes You Dumb."
My avoidance of PPT ended this morning, when my boss asked me to create a presentation on (a) why we need to affiliate with a domain registrar, and (b) who I think we should choose. Ah, well.
It took me an hour or so to whip up a draft PPT presentation with about 30 slides. It's easy to use, which is one reason why it's so popular. I'll go back and look at my draft again either later today or tomorrow morning, then send it to my boss for approval.
My avoidance of PPT ended this morning, when my boss asked me to create a presentation on (a) why we need to affiliate with a domain registrar, and (b) who I think we should choose. Ah, well.
It took me an hour or so to whip up a draft PPT presentation with about 30 slides. It's easy to use, which is one reason why it's so popular. I'll go back and look at my draft again either later today or tomorrow morning, then send it to my boss for approval.
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Jeanne
It may not be all that much compared with what the folks down in Florida have been dealing with, but starting this afternoon, Jeanne took a big dump on the Philadelphia area. My street was completely submerged for about an hour; asphalt is just peeking through now. We got a fair amount of amusement watching some of the neighborhood kids raft down it.
A few minutes ago I spoke with a friend who picks up the train for his daily commute into center city Philadelphia at SEPTA's Miquon station. I'd offered to come get him in my Expedition, but the station is at a low elevation down near the Schuykill River and apparently it's waist-deep. So, with everyone else, he's getting back on the train and they'll go to another station where somebody will be able to pick him up.
A few minutes ago I spoke with a friend who picks up the train for his daily commute into center city Philadelphia at SEPTA's Miquon station. I'd offered to come get him in my Expedition, but the station is at a low elevation down near the Schuykill River and apparently it's waist-deep. So, with everyone else, he's getting back on the train and they'll go to another station where somebody will be able to pick him up.
Monday, September 27, 2004
Zonked
I am still taking Benadryl to cope with the itching from the damn poison ivy, so I'm a bit zonked out today. I took a half day since I wasn't being all that productive anyway. I may or may not post again later today.
Sunday, September 26, 2004
Poison Ivy
For the last week or so I've had a case of poison ivy, which has been driving me up the wall. It's on my forearms and ankles/feet. I've been taking Benadryl and using a hydrocortisone cream, both of which help to keep the itching under control most of the time. The Benadryl unfortunately is also causing me to walk around in a haze. Yesterday I started putting witch hazel on the rash a couple of times a day and that helps for a bit, too.
Today I went out to the drug store and bought a tube of Calagel, which included a trial size of tecnu, a cleanser meant for getting out the uroshial oil that causes the rash.
I also found this site, which has a lot of information on poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac.
The funny (?) thing is I don't even know where I came into contact with the poison ivy.
Today I went out to the drug store and bought a tube of Calagel, which included a trial size of tecnu, a cleanser meant for getting out the uroshial oil that causes the rash.
I also found this site, which has a lot of information on poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac.
The funny (?) thing is I don't even know where I came into contact with the poison ivy.
Friday, September 24, 2004
Big Bad John
(I'm no Bush fanboy, but this hits the mark WRT to his opponent.)
Every mornin' on the Hill you could see him arrive
Standing six-foot-four, weighing one-twenty-five
Kinda' scrawny at the shoulders and lacking a spine
And when he spoke at all, it was mainly to whine
(Big John, Big John) Big Bad John
Nobody seems to know what's in John's soul
His 'beliefs' are based on the latest poll
'Though he'll say what it takes to get your votes
It's the leftist agenda that he really promotes - Big John.
Some one said he came from Boston town
Where he joined the Navy and gained renown
'Earning' three purple hearts and one bronze star
The home folks said, "This boy will go far"
(Big John, Big John) Big Bad John (Big John)
Then came a day back in '71
When he renounced all the medals that he had won
Then turned against his country and his Navy friends
And sold them out for his own selfish ends (Big John)
He appeared before Congress and on left-wing talk shows
Giving aid and comfort to America's foes
It was clear to see whose side he was on
Some say he helped cause the fall of Saigon - Big John
(Big John, Big John) Big Bad John (Big John)
He claims to be for the working poor
Yet he owns 5 mansions from shore to shore
He never had to work a day in his life
'cause he learned it helps to have a wealthy wife! - Big John
Now he wants to be our next President
and Commander-in-chief of those he resents:
The American soldiers who fight and die
To give him the freedom to tell us his lies
(Big John, Big John) Big Bad John (Big John)
Thousands have sacrificed their young lives
To help ensure that our nation survives
A vote for Kerry is a slap in the face
To all the brave soldiers that he's disgraced
FADE (Big John, Big John) Big Bad John (Big John)
--Unknown
Every mornin' on the Hill you could see him arrive
Standing six-foot-four, weighing one-twenty-five
Kinda' scrawny at the shoulders and lacking a spine
And when he spoke at all, it was mainly to whine
(Big John, Big John) Big Bad John
Nobody seems to know what's in John's soul
His 'beliefs' are based on the latest poll
'Though he'll say what it takes to get your votes
It's the leftist agenda that he really promotes - Big John.
Some one said he came from Boston town
Where he joined the Navy and gained renown
'Earning' three purple hearts and one bronze star
The home folks said, "This boy will go far"
(Big John, Big John) Big Bad John (Big John)
Then came a day back in '71
When he renounced all the medals that he had won
Then turned against his country and his Navy friends
And sold them out for his own selfish ends (Big John)
He appeared before Congress and on left-wing talk shows
Giving aid and comfort to America's foes
It was clear to see whose side he was on
Some say he helped cause the fall of Saigon - Big John
(Big John, Big John) Big Bad John (Big John)
He claims to be for the working poor
Yet he owns 5 mansions from shore to shore
He never had to work a day in his life
'cause he learned it helps to have a wealthy wife! - Big John
Now he wants to be our next President
and Commander-in-chief of those he resents:
The American soldiers who fight and die
To give him the freedom to tell us his lies
(Big John, Big John) Big Bad John (Big John)
Thousands have sacrificed their young lives
To help ensure that our nation survives
A vote for Kerry is a slap in the face
To all the brave soldiers that he's disgraced
FADE (Big John, Big John) Big Bad John (Big John)
--Unknown
This just doesn't make sense
By now you no doubt are aware that former pop star Yusef Islam, nee Cat Stevens, was denied entry into the US due to alleged links with terrorists. What I want to know is if he indeed has such links, why wasn't he arrested instead of deported???? If he has links he could be a source of intelligence.
The whole affair is just bizarre.
The whole affair is just bizarre.
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Damn disgrace
Tonight was back to school night in Philly, where my wife teaches 4th grade. Her school is predominately poor, predominatly black, North Philadelphia. She has 32 kids in her class (which in and of itself is a disgrace but not the subject of this rant).
Out of 32 kids, how many of them had their parents attend tonight?
Four.
That is a damn disgrace, but it's pretty much the same story every year.
There is more to being a parent than popping out kids and letting the gummint send you a welfare check. But the dysfunctional culture that has been fostered in areas like where my wife teaches discourages stable families. A large part of this can be laid at the feet of LBJ's "Great Society," which may have been noble in intent but the unintended consequences totally fucked up a large portion of our society. By making mothers ineligble to receive welfare payments if the father was around, the social welfare types broke up a lot of families, and once broken, the odds of the next generation forming stable families was pretty much shot. It's a self-perpetuating cycle, creating more and more wards of the state, even when those wards are adults. This cycle started before the welfare reform of the '90s but hasn't been broken.
Compounding that is popular urban culture, which doesn't hold learning in high regard, the War On (Some) Drugs that incarcerates a huge chunk of black American males, and no wonder the current situation exists.
There is no easy fix, but a good start would be to get rid of the current version of Prohibition. At least that way a lot of these kids' fathers would be in the neighborhood instead of in prison. As for instilling a sense of parental responsibility, that I have no idea how to do.
Out of 32 kids, how many of them had their parents attend tonight?
Four.
That is a damn disgrace, but it's pretty much the same story every year.
There is more to being a parent than popping out kids and letting the gummint send you a welfare check. But the dysfunctional culture that has been fostered in areas like where my wife teaches discourages stable families. A large part of this can be laid at the feet of LBJ's "Great Society," which may have been noble in intent but the unintended consequences totally fucked up a large portion of our society. By making mothers ineligble to receive welfare payments if the father was around, the social welfare types broke up a lot of families, and once broken, the odds of the next generation forming stable families was pretty much shot. It's a self-perpetuating cycle, creating more and more wards of the state, even when those wards are adults. This cycle started before the welfare reform of the '90s but hasn't been broken.
Compounding that is popular urban culture, which doesn't hold learning in high regard, the War On (Some) Drugs that incarcerates a huge chunk of black American males, and no wonder the current situation exists.
There is no easy fix, but a good start would be to get rid of the current version of Prohibition. At least that way a lot of these kids' fathers would be in the neighborhood instead of in prison. As for instilling a sense of parental responsibility, that I have no idea how to do.
A horse is not a vehicle in Pennsylvania
...at least according to the PA Supreme Court. However, Justice Michael Eakin dissented, thusly:
"A horse is a horse, of course, of course,
but the Vehicle Code does not divorce
its application from, perforce,
a steed as my colleagues said.
"'It's not vague,' I'll say until I'm hoarse,
and whether a car, a truck or horse
this law applies with equal force,
and I'd reverse instead."
Why the browser should not be part of the OS
From C|Net this morning:
Microsoft pretty much has its users by the balls if they want to continue using Internet Explorer. It's actually too facile to just say, "Use Mozilla." Even if you run Mozilla -- either the full suite or just Firefox -- on Windows, IE is always present, since it's integrated into the OS. (99%+ of users aren't going to be able to install Win98 Lite.) So, the exploitable code is still there.
Nor is it realistic to say that everyone should upgrade to XP. First, it costs money that many don't have. Many older PCs that run Win 9x or 2K fine don't have enough horsepower to run XP. They may or may not be upgradeable, but if so, that still costs money. Finally, many businesses use applications that will not run properly on XP.
First, Microsoft used its monopoly to get 95%+ of Internet users to run IE, then abandons a huge chunk of them. Nice ethics. This is exactly the kind of conduct which shows why an appplication should not be part of the base OS. It's also a good argument for open source -- if the source was available, it's more than likely that someone would come up with fixes for IE's security flaws, given the size of the installed base.
Microsoft this week reiterated that it would keep the new version (more secure - DM) of Microsoft's IE Web browser available only as part of the recently released Windows XP operating system, Service Pack 2. The upgrade to XP from any previous Windows versions is $99 when ordered from Microsoft. Starting from scratch, the OS costs $199.
Microsoft pretty much has its users by the balls if they want to continue using Internet Explorer. It's actually too facile to just say, "Use Mozilla." Even if you run Mozilla -- either the full suite or just Firefox -- on Windows, IE is always present, since it's integrated into the OS. (99%+ of users aren't going to be able to install Win98 Lite.) So, the exploitable code is still there.
Nor is it realistic to say that everyone should upgrade to XP. First, it costs money that many don't have. Many older PCs that run Win 9x or 2K fine don't have enough horsepower to run XP. They may or may not be upgradeable, but if so, that still costs money. Finally, many businesses use applications that will not run properly on XP.
First, Microsoft used its monopoly to get 95%+ of Internet users to run IE, then abandons a huge chunk of them. Nice ethics. This is exactly the kind of conduct which shows why an appplication should not be part of the base OS. It's also a good argument for open source -- if the source was available, it's more than likely that someone would come up with fixes for IE's security flaws, given the size of the installed base.
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Windows XP SP2 CD
Today's mail brought the XP SP2 CD that I ordered a couple of weeks ago from Microsoft. MS wants everyone to install SP2 so badly, they're sending out the CDs for free, and encouraging you to share it with your friends.
MS is also suggesting that before you install SP2, you go to http://www.microsoft.com/sp2install "for latest recommendations."
MS is also suggesting that before you install SP2, you go to http://www.microsoft.com/sp2install "for latest recommendations."
Vendor follies
A big portion of my job involves dealing with outside vendors who are looking to sell us their products or services. The vendors run from being really on the ball to complete idiots, and the area in between.
For example, one rather large web hosting company is interested in having us partner with them for the hosting we outsource for our commercial customers. They were supposed to get me a demo account so I could login and try out their online control panel, site creation wizard, etc. Their VP of Sales called me this morning to see if I'd tried them out yet, and I had to inform him that no, I hadn't received the account info. It's possible that my employer's spam filters blocked the email but I kinda doubt it. Anyway, I had them resend the info to my Gmail address, and finally got it.
Another vendor, this one a domain registrar, called me yesterday to follow up on a conference call we had last week. I was first told to inquire about their solutions a month or so ago, and sent off an email requesting info. I didn't hear anything from them for a few weeks, which is not cool. (I don't normally refer to my employer by name. Hint: it's a BIG cable company and ISP.) When we finally had a conference call with the vendor, they couldn't meet a number of our requirements without bringing in a third party.
I don't know about you, but I'm not interested in having my outsourced vendor outsource something to yet another party in order to meet a requirement for something they should be able to handle itself.
So when this guy called me back yesterday I was not favorably disposed towards his company after having to tell him several times that no, I am not ready for another conference call, and I'll call or email him if I want any more info. High pressure sales tactics do not work with me.
In contrast to this wanker, I had a very pleasant experience dealing with another domain registrar. They responded to my initial email promptly, met 100% of our requirements right off the bat, and set me up with a demo account which includes a web page control center that they already co-branded for me. Instead of trying high pressure sales tactics, they sought to meet and exceed our expectations. That, folks, is how you make a sale, and that's why I've strongly recommended to the PTB here that we go with them.
For example, one rather large web hosting company is interested in having us partner with them for the hosting we outsource for our commercial customers. They were supposed to get me a demo account so I could login and try out their online control panel, site creation wizard, etc. Their VP of Sales called me this morning to see if I'd tried them out yet, and I had to inform him that no, I hadn't received the account info. It's possible that my employer's spam filters blocked the email but I kinda doubt it. Anyway, I had them resend the info to my Gmail address, and finally got it.
Another vendor, this one a domain registrar, called me yesterday to follow up on a conference call we had last week. I was first told to inquire about their solutions a month or so ago, and sent off an email requesting info. I didn't hear anything from them for a few weeks, which is not cool. (I don't normally refer to my employer by name. Hint: it's a BIG cable company and ISP.) When we finally had a conference call with the vendor, they couldn't meet a number of our requirements without bringing in a third party.
I don't know about you, but I'm not interested in having my outsourced vendor outsource something to yet another party in order to meet a requirement for something they should be able to handle itself.
So when this guy called me back yesterday I was not favorably disposed towards his company after having to tell him several times that no, I am not ready for another conference call, and I'll call or email him if I want any more info. High pressure sales tactics do not work with me.
In contrast to this wanker, I had a very pleasant experience dealing with another domain registrar. They responded to my initial email promptly, met 100% of our requirements right off the bat, and set me up with a demo account which includes a web page control center that they already co-branded for me. Instead of trying high pressure sales tactics, they sought to meet and exceed our expectations. That, folks, is how you make a sale, and that's why I've strongly recommended to the PTB here that we go with them.
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
AR-15 Ergonomics
One of the best features about the AR-15 rifle is the generally excellent ergonomics. If you are a righty, the ergos are better than pretty much anything else available. If you are left-handed like me, however, there are a couple of things that can be tweaked to improve the ergos.
The stock AR-15 safety/selector switch is perfectly positioned to be operated by the right thumb of a RH shooter. However, there's no corresponding lever for us southpaws, unless you add an aftermarket part. Both ArmaLite and DPMS sell ambidextrous safeties for AR-15s. Since the DPMS unit is about $10 cheaper, I ordered one this afternoon. I was pleasantly surpised to see that UPS Ground shipping is included in the $29.95 price.
The other items that need to be fixed for lefties are the magazine catch and bolt release. However, I find the bolt release easy to release with my left index finger, and I can deal with using my right hand to release the magazine. Buffer Technologies does sell an ambidextrous mag catch, for those who want one, though.
The stock AR-15 safety/selector switch is perfectly positioned to be operated by the right thumb of a RH shooter. However, there's no corresponding lever for us southpaws, unless you add an aftermarket part. Both ArmaLite and DPMS sell ambidextrous safeties for AR-15s. Since the DPMS unit is about $10 cheaper, I ordered one this afternoon. I was pleasantly surpised to see that UPS Ground shipping is included in the $29.95 price.
The other items that need to be fixed for lefties are the magazine catch and bolt release. However, I find the bolt release easy to release with my left index finger, and I can deal with using my right hand to release the magazine. Buffer Technologies does sell an ambidextrous mag catch, for those who want one, though.
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