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GRAFFITI -- March 24 thru March 30, 2003>> Link to the Current Week <<Last Week << Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun >> Next Week Welcome to Orb Graffiti, a place for me to write daily about life and computers. Contrary to popular belief, the two are not interchangeable. About 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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March 24, 2003 - Updates at 0711 EST
Good morning. I had a busy, busy day yesterday. Marcia was up and out at the crack of 915, just about the time I was slurping down the end of my morning cup of joe. I decided that there was lots to accomplish, and the first thing on my list - that CVS tutorial - got back burnered while I waited for feedback on Saturday's efforts. So I hopped in the car and headed down to Home Depot. I was back a few minutes later with two flats of marigolds.
A little bit of prep work, and a spot of digging later I had marigolds down the front walk. They look a tad lonely now, but they should fill out nicely over the next month or two, and they'll give lots of color. The four plants that I didn't put up in front went onto the back hill, which needs lots of attention, too. When that was done, I went up the ladder and cleaned out the gutter. There wasn't much there, but better done now than in a storm while it's overflowing.
Once those outside chores were done, I headed in and looked at little piles of dog hair which accumulated over the last week. Sigh. The dog is shedding her winter coat. So I decided it was time and past time to help nature along just a bit. 
So out came the handy-dandy clippers that once sheared Princess, years and years ago. Now they're Sally's most hated electric implement. I made a pile of hair that was larger somehow than the dog??? When I was done with that torture, then I took care of claw clipping, and flea meds. Man, this poor puppy didn't want to be around me at all anymore... right up until the time that I took her for a nice long walk, at the end of the chores. Doesn't she look a lot more puppy-like when she's freshly shorn?
Of course, the chores weren't actually done, since there was dog hair everywhere. So I vacuumed the house, ran a final load of laundry (Marcia did 3 on Saturday)... then the dog got her walk, and I could relax. Relaxing took the form of handling some work scheduling and emails, then building the PHP and CSS layouts for a new version of the ETS website. We got into the evening, and it was only then that I discovered that the Riverworld movie that I'd intended to watch on the SciFi channel was on ... last night. Oh, well, it'll be back again on April 13. No, we didn't watch the Oscars. K19 The Widowmaker went into the DVD player. Marcia and I enjoyed that one.
I suppose I'd best leave this little puppy snoring under my desk, and get the trash out to the curb. Have a lovely day. Go USA!
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March 25, 2003 - Updates at 0721
Good morning. Our brave men and women continue the march to Baghdad, and watch as their adversaries take refuge among the civilian population in Basra. Hmmmm. It looks like an opportunity for the Iraqi civilian population to express their displeasure with the Hussein regime directly. It certainly would be a useful repudiation and activity on their part. Of course, they could aid and abet the troops who are using them as shields, in which case they'll suffer the same fate as shields - take the sling bolts and arrows first.
Speaking of shields, Greg forwarded me two stories. First, I was a naive fool to be a human shield for Saddam, By Daniel Pepper. That was followed shortly by this one: Group shows Iraqis welcoming U.S. By Arnaud de Borchgrave. Both interesting stories.
Last night, I got all the pieces to fall into place for the secured CVS installation that's the topic of the newest tutorial. I would tell you all about it, but that would defeat the purpose. I've got to write the last half of the tutorial yet, which is the client side, and should take me about another day or two tops. The tutorial will be submitted to IBM within a couple of weeks, and we'll see how long it takes to hit DevWorks. When it's posted, I'll let you know.
Today's a long day ahead. I've got two client sites setup for a half-day each, then I'm doing a site survey with Larry in the early evening for a potential new customer. So I'll be back in about 12 hours or so, and likely not up to doing much but that remains to be seen. Have a lovely day.
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March 26, 2003 - Updates at 0651
Good morning. I've got some feedback from Svenson as followup to the mention I made yesterday of disaffected human shields...
From: Jan Swijsen
Subject: shields
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2003 10:04:58 +0100<quote>
Speaking of shields, ...
</quote>For every Iraqi who's against Sadam you can probably find one that is for Sadam. Sadam has had 30 years to manipulate his population. 30 years of propaganda has effect.
And I suppose most Iraqi just don't care either way. They wory more about what they will eat next week then about who will bully them around next week. Because what ever the outcome most of them will still not be free to do and say what they want.
Regards,
Svenson.
True, true. In many ways, it's as we said about people in the USSR back in the bad old days. Many of them were perfectly nice people too, who love their children and stand in line for hours in order to not get any meat, just like us... Okay, well, not *just* like us, but nice enough as individuals. It was their government, and the beliefs/goals of the nation as a whole which determined the relationship (or lack thereof) with the West. This is also true: Who we are as Americans, and our "desire" to see other people enjoy the "freedoms" which we all too often take for granted, we will go to battle to depose a dictator and free a people. That's not an entirely bad thing. But observe what happens if you free a zoo full of animals. Many will die, and the rest will find a new zoo keeper. Virtually none will worry about freedom of speech or free and open elections. They know the way of life they know and that's the structure under which they are housed, fed and clothed. Badly and in fear, but that's how it is, that's what they know.
The downside of NOT trying to help such places is that they resent our apparent riches, our way of life, our style of living. There may be no winning, either way. But of such choices life and history are made...
Note that in no way am I saying that Iraqis are animals. I am, however, saying that the way of life that they know, whether they love it or not, will strongly affect how well they take to the ideas and plans we offer them after we've done with Saddam, nominally in their name...
This other message from Rick Hellewell has been sitting in a holding pattern, awaiting attention that I never gave it for some odd reason. Now, finally I offer it to you...
From: Rick Hellewell
Subject: "Live in Interesting Times"
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2003 10:37:37 -0800Was making my daily rounds of the Daynotes site, and came upon your ancient Chinese curse.
Actually, that quote ("May you live in interesting times") doesn't seem to be an ancient Chinese curse. Coincidentally, I discussed that very quote in my Wednesday "Digital Chokes Daynotes" post. And I have a link to the person that did two years of research to find the quote.
The whole story is on a link on my pages: http://digitalchoke.com/daynotes/2003/2003-03-16.htm#wed . And, as a bonus, you'll find a link to a guy who is scamming the Nigerian Scam guys...quite funny, it has pictures and voicemail messages from the scammer.
Rick Hellewell
[email protected]
Yesterday was a long, long day. I got in here finally at about 1945, got the dog out, fed, and out again, made myself some dinner, then headed out to the store to pick up a few things we needed. I would have done so on the way home, but I figured that Sally needed to uncross her legs more than I needed not to make a second trip out. By the time I was settled, it was 2100, and I was done. I don't really have any excuse, though, for being this tired. People work hard and kept going, all the time. I'm just cranky, I guess.
Now to shower and start all over again. Have an interesting day, eh?
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March 27, 2003 - Updates at 0711
Good morning. I was remiss yet again. Michael Mills, my cohort up at the Rockville site - the guy that got me this gig with The NERDS Group - He got married on Tuesday. We all worked until about 3, then wandered across the street to the courthouse, where we met up with his lovely intended, Patty, and Mike's folks. By 4 the deed was done. Mike took the rest of the afternoon off. There's a picture up on Mike's site.
Last night I bashed out another 9 or 10 panels on the CVS tutorial. I really suppose that I should have finished up, but I ran into a hitch. Not one of the SSH clients for Windows can apparently handle just opening a forwarding tunnel to an account that doesn't have a login shell. Here's one revelation that I won't make you wait for... use Cygwin. Select OpenSSH during the package selection step, and Bob's your ... well, you know.
Right now, XMMS is playing Robben Ford's Tired of Talkin', from a KFOG Live from the Archives disc of a few years back. Once that tune is done, there is trash and recycling to get out to the curb, then I'm off to Rockville. So I bid you adieu.
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March 28, 2003 - Updates at 0711
Same time, different day. Rockville all day yesterday, LUG meeting last night. Tired, tired tired. Nothing worth posting that I can find with these sand-filled eyes... You have a good day, okay?
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March 29, 2003 - Updates at 0830
Good morning. I'm reading of a suicide bomber in Iraq, and I'm thinking about Footfall. We're not going to be able to help the Iraqi people if they don't want to be helped. We may just be able to accomplish the original mission - remove Saddam's government from power, then move on. The good thing there is that the message is clear. Fuck with us, be removed (one way or another). That's a good message to leave.
On the Linux side of things, I've installed the 2.5.66 development tree kernel here on Goldfinger, the dual Athlon box. Only the OV-511 webcam and the USB networking aren't up and running - I've been having it running since last night without any errors. Why, you ask? Well, in order for the kernel crew to release the new kernel, it needs testing. So I'm doing so. And with my success, perhaps you'll be encouraged to do so, too.
This morning we've got to get the dog back to the vet's for yet another blood test, this time for kidney function. This is a by-product of keeping her on Rimadyl, an arthritis drug that gives her much improvement in flexibility and comfort while moving about. So I'd best started. Have fun today.
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March 30, 2003 - Updates at 0900
Good morning. Today I offer for your consideration Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, mathematician and computer scientist (among other roles). She worked for the Navy on the Mark I and Mark II ordinance computers through the end of WWII. She invented the compiler, and her work also lead to the development of COBOL. Books about Admiral Hopper are mostly out of print these days - that's a good reason to get back to the Library and make use of that resource that so often goes unregarded and unremarked in this day and age.
By this time next week, I'll have set all the clocks forward an hour, and then I'll spend a week with my sleeping patterns destroyed by a minor clock change. But for now I'll simply note that unlike the folk-wisdom, for us March is going out like a lion, not a lamb. We've had rain and wind for the last two days, with more scheduled for today. Lightning and thunder punctuated much of our evening yesterday, although most of that was off in the distance, with the closest strike being perhaps 2-3 miles off.
Here is just one thing I've seen recently, and the effect of my mind upon it... We've all see those bumper stickers lauding children in schools "My Kid is an Honor Student at Saint Swithen's Gifted Academy" and "My Kid Thrashed Your Honor Student Soundly". But the other day I was driving along and saw one that started "My Child is on a Roll at..." and here's what my brain saw:
Yes, yes, I know I'm not well, but I apparently do occasionally provide amusement to those around me, I'm told.
I've pretty much finished my work on the CVS tutorial that I've been talking about. It's now in the hands of another for tweaking to fit the specific environment that the setup I described is destined for. This is a tutorial for one thing, yes, but it is also a design of a sub-system designed to meet specific customer requirements. I'm sure that I've managed to build a tutorial that (when IBM publishes it) will enable you or anyone to set up a secure (both network- and system-wise) CVS server, quickly and easily. That's a good thing. I'll get it back in a week or so for a final read through, then we'll get it into IBM to go through their mill. I do hope that it comes out well at the other end of that process.
Now Marcia's off to spend the day convincing other people to buy better sewing machines, so I'd best wrap this up and get started on the chores I've got laid out. That and I also have a few further experiments to do on that (reviled in some quarters) French Linux distribution. Have a great day. Go USA!!!
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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 © 1999-2003 Brian P. Bilbrey.