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Welcome to Orb Graffiti, a place for me to write daily about life and computers. Contrary to popular belief, the two are not interchangeable. EMAIL - I publish email sometimes. If you send me an email and you want privacy or anonymity, please say so clearly at the beginning of your message.. |
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May 20, 2001 - Updates at 0630,
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Good morning, and welcome to yet another Monday. It's been a busy and exciting weekend. We attended a three-digit birthday party as the highlight. But now it is Monday, and time to get to work. On tap for this week, I have to finalize arrangements with the moving company, deal with insurance (for our goods, in transit), and so on and so on. It'll be ... interesting.
I'm working also on getting out one or two more articles on the OpenOffice suite, over at LinuxMuse this week. Greg just posted an article on Crossover Office, from Codeweavers. I've given it a trial run or two myself over the weekend, and I'm favorably disposed at the moment. The stability of the product remains to be seen.
This afternoon, Marcia has first an appointment with the surgeon. He's going to take out the stitches, and examine his handiwork. Following that, we have a session with the physical therapist (or as our friend Jackie puts it, "Physical Terrorist"). I'm not sure which term is best, especially as my eye insists on seeing the word "therapist" as "The Rapist", which is flattering to no one!
Unless the Doc nixes the idea, we're going to shoot for Marcia driving herself to work tomorrow, and hereafter. Her truck has an automatic transmission, so she won't need that left leg for anything but moral support. She's certainly not up to driving a stick-shift yet.
Heh. Instead of writing this post as I intended, I'm answering technical questions over on the LinuxMuse message boards. You're welcome to come on over and read. Posting requires registration (but not subscription - that's voluntary, but much appreciated). Finally, I want to remind you that I am actively hunting for a full-time job in Maryland. We're moving there at the end of July; I'll be out in the first week of July, house-hunting, and can be available for interviews at that time. I've gotten a couple of good leads from people reading these pages already, and I'm very grateful.
Have a lovely day, see you around, here or there.
0930 - Picky, picky, picky. Marcia called to remind me that, beside just writing my post and putting it online, it would be a good thing if I also updated the redirector and the sitemap to match. Sigh. It must be Monday, folks. See ya!
1040 - An update is in order... I had formerly been under the impression that I was going to receive a printed on dead trees copy of the Byte Special Edition, along with my May issue of Dr. Dobbs Journal. May came and went, and last week I got my June issue of Dr. Dobbs. So I took it upon myself to ask Amy Stephens, Byte Managing Editor, about the Special Issue. Here's what she said:
I assume you are talking about the BYTE special issue. We were originally going to mail out the special issue with Dr. Dobb's Journal, but we took a change in direction and decided instead to create an online version of the special issue and make it available in PDF format. If you go to the Byte.com web site (http://www.byte.com/) you can sign up to download the magazine -- free! Sorry for the confusion. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
That covers that. I was looking forward to holding that familar logo in my hands once again. Oh, well. So if you wanted that yourself, there's your answer. Of course, on the Byte homepage, it doesn't SAY it isn't the printed on dead trees Special Issue didn't happen; The blipvert says this: Sign up now to receive your FREE issue! Why not say "Sign up here to download the PDF, as we cancelled the print run." My version at least appears to resemble the truth a bit more closely. Additionally, it might forestall more questions like mine. I've said as much in a reply to Amy.
TTFN!
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May 21, 2002 - Updates at 0730
Good morning. Wow, two updates to yesterday's post, both in the morning. I must not have been able to say everything properly the first time. It was, though, a successful day. I finished up the penultimate draft of the next OpenOffice.org article (on Calc, the OO spreadsheet) for LinuxMuse. After my editors have hacked their way through my ugly prose and made it beautiful, we can post it. Late today or tomorrow morning, methinks. Soon I'll start on the next article, about Impress, which is the presentation program (think PowerPoint) portion of OpenOffice.org.
I was reading an interview with Alan Cox (Linux kernel hacker, bright guy) on Slashdot yesterday, and one serious answer to a semi-flip question struck a chord for me. He said, "...you need to be actively helping and teaching other people that knowledge - which in turn also improves yours immensely. If you want the holes in your knowledge showing up try teaching someone."
I've known that for a long time, and and that's the principle behind the continuing education that you all provide me. Through my writing about Linux here and now also on LinuxMuse, I get to explicitly discover and fill the holes in my on-going explorations. That's also why I so enjoy getting feedback from you, especially when I've only managed to put a thin veneer of tissue paper over a crevasse in an explanation. Often it's because I've made an assumption about how something works, and gotten away with it due to fortuitous circumstance. Then you pull me back onto the straight and narrow. I thank you for the opportunity to learn with you, and learn more in sharing what I find with you.
I've seen this latest testimony from Microsoft's Jim Allchin getting quite a bit of play here and there, but I really, really appreciate how Bob Thompson reacts to the whole thing, in his Tuesday post. So perhaps the dissenting states, and indeed the entire justice system ought to just back off of spending any more time and money prosecuting Microsoft. Instead, the US government ought to issue the GAO software equivalent of a State Department travel advisory. "Don't use Microsoft software, it's not safe." Hell, we don't know if the next thing out of a Microsoft executive's cake hole is something like "Microsoft Operating Systems shouldn't be used by children under three, as an accidental source code disclosure might present a choking hazard." Bah. The contortions that Microsoft goes through to protect their hegemony are going to be their downfall, you know...
Marcia's trip to her second post-operative followup with the surgeon resulted in her stitches coming out, and one very pleased, though cautiously optimistic, doctor. Marcia is now driving again, firmly getting around on one crutch, and leaving that behind for occasional short trips of five to ten feet. I'd give her another week of exercise and physical therapy before she leaves the one crutch behinid. She's doing very well, and I know she appreciates all the kind words and happy thoughts she's received from y'all.
Now I'd best finish starting my day. Today is moving company and insurance day. Additionally I'm continuing my search for work, either short consulting jobs here (or remotely), and for permanent employment once we reach Maryland in August.
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May 22, 2002 - Updates at 0800,
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Good morning. I suppose a small post is in order. The problem is that my brain apparently hasn't anything interesting to say this morning. I've put up an article about OpenOffice.org's Calc (spreadsheet) component just a little while ago over on LinuxMuse. This article is the wingman this week, as Greg got first off the tarmac Monday with a writeup on the subject of Codeweaver's Crossover Office.
All things considered, Linuxmuse is doing well. We have modest registration (and even more modest subscription rates, hint, hint). We're having fun though, and are glad to be sharing our experiences with you in that forum.
I cancelled the rental truck yesterday, and contracted with Movex (http://www.movex.com/) to handle our cross-country jaunt. This way we can drive our cars, while someone else drives the chattel. For us, Movex provides a considerable savings over renting and fueling a truck on our own. I understand that the playing field is a little more level on shorter distance moves, but this rocks. I did an extensive web search, looking for complaints about their service. I could only find a compliment.
Today I've got to read the all the forms, lock down the date, and make the rest of the commitment to get that process rolling. I've also been mulling my approach to a potential job prospect back in Maryland. I've got a bit more research to do there, then I'll send that missive off.
Greg had some... issues with Red Hat 7.3. I have a date with the CD burner to give this freshly released distro a tryout in the very near future. Wish me luck. And with that, I'll leave you for now. I'll be back later when my mind decides to join us. Take care...
0910 - I just read yet another article about using a felt-tip marker to defeat copy-protected audio compact discs, this one on CNN. I must not have thought the implications through entirely... I just got an interesting email in my box from the Free Software Law mailing list I'm on:
[fsl-discuss] CNN/Reuters challenge to DMCA?
Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 15:45:16 +0000
From: "M. Drew Streib"
To: fsl-discussNOSPAM (at) lists.alt.org----- Forwarded message from Brad Thompson
----- 'Copy-proof' CDs cracked with marker pen http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/industry/05/21/bc.media.cd.piracy.reut.reut/ind ex.html
CNN has published an article from their London desk that details how to defeat the new audio-CD copy-protection scheme by using a felt-tip permanent marker to obscure the copy-protection track on the outside of the CD.
This is in direct violation of section 1201.2(a) and (c) of the DMCA by distributing a technology that is marketed for use in circumventing a copy-protection technology. CNN and Reuters must know this. They seem to be relying on the sheer absurdity of the anti-copyprotection solution to defend themself from prosecution.
It also points a bright spotlight on the reason why no security algorithm should be developed in a vaccuum. No single team can see all of the possible ramifications of a situation, and only through detailed and widespread analysis of a technology can its usefulness be ascertained.
Sony and key2audio are strangely silent on this topic. Perhaps they are lobbying for legislation to outlaw the sale of felt-tip pens in record stores.
Comments?
-Brad Thompson
----- End forwarded message -----
This looks like it's going to be an interesting thread to follow. More as time goes by...
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May 23, 2002 - Updates at 0727
Good morning. Yesterday, I received an email from a reader that prefers to remain anonymous. They sent me a link to an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, entitled "Consumers say movers are taking them for a ride". Mmmm. Lovely. After reading this article, I'm tempted to just run all of our belongings through a chipper/shredder then bagging it all and sending by UPS (the shredding makes for maximum compactness, and at least we did it ourselves). Sheesh, the article makes moving sound like a nightmare altogether. I did look through the links that article provides, and the vendor we've chosen, a load aggregator/broker called Movex, out of Tampa, isn't listed among the assorted blacklists. From a linked site off the DOT page, I've come up with one question about their liability insurance that needs answering. Then we're ready to lock down the contract (and it's a contract, not an estimate, so that's cool).
Here's an email following up on my teaser about Red Hat 7.3 yesterday...
your look at RH 7.3
Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 19:46:52 -0500Brian,
This morning you posted this comment:
"Greg had some... issues with Red Hat 7.3. I have a date with the CD burner to give this freshly released distro a tryout in the very near future. Wish me luck."
O.K., I wish you luck...
. Anyway, I have been slowly poking around in RH 7.3 Pro and at SuSE 8.0 Pro. The box that I tried to load Mandrake 8.2 on has an IDE Raid chipset that creates havoc with RH 7.3 and Mandrake 8.2 even though both SuSE 7.3 and SuSE 8.0 installed on it. I have RH 7.3 running on two other boxes, but will have to put Mandrake 8.2 on another box in order to see what they did with StarOffice 6.0. Anyway, I am looking forward to your comments re RH 7.3 as well as those of Greg.
I saw this morning where RBT was complaining about his evaluation copy of RH 7.3 Pro not including technical support -- guess he wants his cake and wants to eat it too...
. My copy of RH 7.3 Pro cost me $199 + TX state tax + shipping. I got it from Red Hat but could have saved a few bucks from another vendor. At least Red Hat sent a $20 rebate coupon with it, and I do have tech support if I avail myself of it. I have it installed, so I'm not sure how much tech support I am entitled to past that point, if any. I put RH 7.3 Pro on a server that I built and as soon as I recover from some niggly health problems that culminated in Day Surgery yesterday, I will pursue a Samba install using Chapter 27 of your (and Tom's) book as my primary reference. I have a lot of other stuff related to Samba, but your book provides the clearest "1,2,3... do it this way and here are the gotchas" that I have found... So thanks again for the book.
Beginning the first week of June I will be out of town for combined business/vacation trips for several weeks following which I will get a high speed internet connect. I don't know if I will have Samba up before leaving or not... We'll see.
Incidentally, SuSE 8.0 includes openoffice.org so I took a good look at after reading your article. I printed your article and a friend is reading it now. When I get it back, I will look up some stuff that I read about Ruby that you may find interesting. I will print your new article re openoffice Calc on LinuxMuse this evening and read it.
So, to conclude this little drill, thanks to you for Graffitti, thanks to you and Tom for your book, and thanks to you and Greg for LinuxMuse.
Again, I am looking forward to your evaluation of RH 7.3 as well as Greg's comments. There a number of reviews out there, but I particularly value your viewpoint along with those of Greg and Tom.
Ciao. ...bob
On Wednesday 22 May 2002 17:46, you wrote:
> The box that I tried to load Mandrake
> 8.2 on has an IDE Raid chipset that creates havoc with RH 7.3 and Mandrake
> 8.2 even though both SuSE 7.3 and SuSE 8.0 installed on it.I've always understood that some things are more difficult in the Open Source world than others. This includes hardware raid support, since drivers end up relying either on excellent reverse engineering, or chipset vendor support to make things work right.
What I've NEVER understood is how, once one distribution gets things right, the others don't pick up on it in a flash, or at least for their next release. Your experience here, for one example. Another is how well Lycoris (nee Redmond) Linux handles client-side Samba. Clean and easy, looks like a nearly stock *Network Neighborhood*-style environment that makes it easy for transitioning Windows users. But no other distro's managed to pick that one up. Why? I surely don't know.
> I saw this morning where RBT was complaining about his evaluation copy of
> RH 7.3 Pro not including technical support -- guess he wants his cake and
> wants to eat it too...Nope. Bob is a widely read technical author with several strong selling titles under his belt. He draws a lot of traffic to his website, and his books sell well enough that even in a technical book down-market, O'Reilly is still bringing out a second edition of PCHIAN. Generally, it's in a vendor's best interest to ensure by any and all means possible that Bob's user experience is of the best quality. That's why Bob is used to getting high level inside support for products.
It's just like Jerry, who gets Microsoft product managers and actual programmers calling, when he has a problem with this product or that. The vendor realizes two things. One is that if they get it working for Jerry, then people will read about it, and see that it works. Second, if they *don't* get it working for Jerry, he'll say that, too. Then why buy it?
> ...as soon as I recover from
> some niggly health problems that culminated in Day Surgery yesterdaymmm. Get well soon!
> So, to conclude this little drill, thanks to you for Graffitti, thanks to
> you and Tom for your book, and thanks to you and Greg for LinuxMuse.(You're welcome)^3
.brian
On that note, I'd best get to work. I've burnt the ISO images, and had one successful RH 7.3 install on the laptop. It pretty much picked up everything, but I need to do some testing, then replicate my install a couple of times to get some solid notes down on the distribution. Then Greg and I will meld our experiences into a seamless whole for another LinuxMuse article. Plus I've got more OpenOffice.org stuff in the pipeline, and other fun stuff. Take it easy!
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May 24, 2002 - Updates at 0645
Good morning. Well, I've learned one thing I like a lot about the new Red Hat release. Selecting high security really is. Nothing is open from outside. Running nmap yields a bunch of "filtered" ports for services that aren't even running on the box. My, doesn't that just slow down Kid Cracker, eh? And even though I left an opening in the firewall for SSH, it isn't running yet. I'll have to enable that manually. I'm much pleased by this turn of events.
Speaking of security, a while back I wrote that I would stand and applaud the distribution that doesn't start any services at all without permission, and says so explicitly. Someone, perhaps Jon Hassell, wrote and reminded me that Gentoo does exactly that. Well, almost. They don't say so explicitly (and neither does Red Hat). Beyond that little niggle, I'll do my stand and cheer routine now. Bravo!
Of course I have a complaint suggestion... Not that this is a slam on the distribution, just a suggestion for ease of use. I had to manually select a check box to tell Red Hat to leave a port open for a running SSH server, during installation. Don't you thing the installer could have popped up a box saying, well, you've selected firewall openings for X, Y and Z. Would you like to configure and start those services now? I know, it just makes too much sense, doesn't it?
So what else is new and interesting? Something about Microsoft making a big marketing push at the Pentagon, and claiming that Open Source/Free Software is insecure. I'm sorry, but didn't Jim Allchin just mention Windows and threat to National Security in the same sentence this week, under oath? Sure, he was talking about only if we "opened" the Windows codebase. Well, from a National Security standpoint, I guess we'd need to have everyone that works on Windows code go through the wringer of a Federal security audit. Microsoft programmers and management, of course. But then also channel partners, third party developers, etc. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Do you want to work on Windows code? You'll need Top Secret, Federal Poly and that Microsoft Coffee Service Engineer certificate.
Just now, Slashdot posted a story about the continuing attempted predations by Hollywood on consumers, the technology industry, and the Internet. Go read Hollywood Wants to Plug the "Analog Hole" by Cory Doctorow on the EFF "Consensus at Lawyerpoint" site. Then, if you're even partially as outraged as I am, then get over to the Juciciary Committee comment site, and make your voice heard. Also get on the horn to your local Senators and Congresscritters. Finally, let your vendors know what you think - it's with the compliance of computer and chip companies that the Hollywood buggy whip manufacturers can rape our technology industry. Oh, and did you go see Attack of the Clones? Mmmm. You're helping Hollywood buy Washington, so that they can own your computer, your TV, your radio and everything that's connected to it. Yeah, that means that they'll own you, too. Just say no, dudes and dudettes.
[5 minutes later] This is not a simulation. This is a real attack. Go read this comment by Frank Horowitz on Doc Searls' site. Just another whacking brilliant idea on how to respond to the real attack of the clones.
I'll be back when there's more to say. To borrow from Scoop Nisker, if you don't like the news, go out and make some of your own.
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May 25, 2002 - Updates at 0910
Good morning. It's gonna be a busy day today. We've guests coming over for supper, so I've got a boneless leg of Aussie lamb in an extreme rosemary/garlic marinade. The whole house smells of garlic. That's a good thing, isn't it? That said, let me get rolling with some pictures for you.
The vegetable garden is coming along very nicely. A few of the carrots are close enough to ready that we're starting to nosh on them a bit, as you can see on the left. At right, the zucchini that's been going in pots for the last couple of months isn't doing very well. They're not ... thriving. That said, we've already had a couple of meals from them. As you can see that there's more there on the plants, ready for incorporation into tonight's supper, as well. The beans have climbed to well over my head - they're starting to flower now. And the tomatoes are simply lush. Lots of flowers, and lots of fruit. Some should be ripening within the next two to three weeks. Then we'll have tomatoes coming out of our ears from that time until we leave for Maryland. The new plot of squash and cucumbers in the ground at the end of the yard is growing enthusiastically, but may not yield anything for us, by the time we leave. Ah, well.
Also out in the yard, we've got this pair of plants along the fence. It looks like some variant of Taro (Elephant Ear), but I can't be sure. At left is a flower stalk from one of the plants, and on the right is a closeup of one of the flowers. In this picture from a couple of weeks ago, you can see the leaves of the plant in question, poking in from the left. Any thoughts as to what the plants really are? I've looked online a number of times, and I've never come across a picture of anything with the correct leaf shape, nor that flower stalk, which looks a little cactus-y.
Finally for now, here's a trio of pictures from recent days. Here's the action below, from left to right. While I was cleaning up my office, Tux and mini-Tux were acting in a supervisory role from my new office chair. Sally didn't supervise, she just took yet another nap. That's her official job around here. Then, at right, a shot of the wing a-building from last night. I've got a ways to go, to finish this scale F6F-3 Hellcat, but progress is being made.
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Now I'd best get on with my day. Take care, see you around!
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May 26, 2002 - Updates at 0700
Howdy and welcome to Far Too Early on a Sunday Morning. Don't ask me why, I just work here. I have just succeeded in recommending a Linux distribution to someone before 0700 (and before my first cup of coffee). I think I need to go sit on a mountain top for a few weeks...
Nah. By the way, our best wishes go out to Avivit and her lovely new husband, Moshe Bar. I was nattering with him on IRC not 18 hours before the event, and yesterday they tied the knot. She's been very good for him, since they met. He works slightly saner hours, and is generally a lot healthier and happier these days. That's simply excellent. (I should know, my Marcia does this for me, too).
We had supper here last night with Myrna and Roger. Lots of fun, good food (I grilled a boneless leg of lamb for the main course). I'm still digesting, and slow as a result. I guess I'll take a break from this, and come back later. Take care!
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Visit the rest of the DAYNOTES GANG, a collection of bright minds and sharp wits. Really, I don't know why they tolerate me <grin>. My personal inspiration for these pages is Dr. Jerry Pournelle. I am also indebted to Bob Thompson and Tom Syroid for their patience, guidance and feedback. Of course, I am sustained by and beholden to my lovely wife, Marcia. You can find her online too, at http://www.dutchgirl.net/. Thanks for dropping by.
All Content Copyright © 1999-2002 Brian P. Bilbrey.
