Plato's Magical Mystery Cave

Random photo

2012-02-16T06:06:00.001-05:00

photo, a photo by bostonlinuxandunix on Flickr.

BLU Meeting: Whole Disk Encryption

2012-02-15T19:20:00.018-05:00

This month's meeting is a series of "lightning talks" by several speakers.

First off was Jerry Feldman's presentation, which lasted about 15 minutes.
Jerry's talk was about general issues common to all whole-disk encryption
software.

Next up was Ned Harvey, from 7:15pm to 7:58pm, who compared a number of
disk encryption suites:

TrueCrypt
Microsoft'd BitLocker
Apple's OSX Encrypted DMG, SparseImage and SparseBundle
Apple's FileVault 1 and FileVault 2
EncFS, Boxceyptor, Encfs4win, CryptKeeper

Some of Ned's discussion:

how hardware AES crypto chips improve performance
biometrics and TPM
need to save TPM's 40-char key -- needed e.g. when motherboard gets replaced, to activate new TPM hardware on the new motherboard
impact on backup/restore
using crypto with DropBox to share with coworkers

next up was Bill Ricker, from 8:01pm to 8:29pm, discussing a new paper on a weakness in RSA public key generation

"Ron was wrong, Whis is right" (Arjen K. Lenstra and James P. Hughes)

New research: There's no need to panic over factorable keys--just mind your Ps and Qs

Impure Math

2012-02-15T12:10:00.002-05:00

(an old classic I ran across on USENET in 1983)

Once upon a time (1/T), pretty Polly Nomial was strolling

across a field of vectors when she came to the boundary of a

singularly large matrix. Now Polly was convergent, and her mother had

made it an absolute condition that she never enter such an array

without her brackets on. Polly, however, who had changed variables

that morning and was feeling particularly badly behaved, ignored this

condition and made her way in amongst the complex elements.

Rows and columns closed in on her from all sides. Tangents

approached her surface. She became tensor and tensor. Quite

suddenly, two branches of a hyperbola touched her at a single point.

She oscillated violently, lost all sense of directrix, and went

completely divergent. As she reached a turning point, she tripped

over a square root that was protruding from the Erf, and plunged

headlong down a steep gradient. When she rounded off once more, she

found herself inverted, apparently alone, in a non-Euclidean space.

She was being watched, however. That smooth operator, Curly Pi, was

lurking inner product. As his eyes devoured her curvilinear

coordinates, a singular expression crossed his face. He wondered, was

she convergent? He decided to integrate improperly at once.

Hearing a common fraction behind her, polly rotated and saw

Curly Pi approaching with his power series extrapolated. She could

see at once by his degenerative conic and his dissipative terms that

he was bent on no good.

"Arcsinh", she gasped.

"Ho, ho", he said. "What a symmetric little asymptote you

have. I can see that your angles have lots of secs."

"Oh, sir", she protested, "keep away from me. I haven't got

my brackets on."

"Calm yourself, my dear", said our suave operator. "Your

fears are purely imaginary."

I, I, she thought, perhaps he's not normal but homologous.

"What order are you?" the brute demanded.

"Seventeen", replied Polly.

Curly leered. "I suppose you've never been operated on?"

"Of course not", Polly replied quite properly, "I'm absolutely

convergent."

"Come, come", said Curly. "Let's off to a decimal place I

know and I'll take you to the limit."

"Never", gasped Polly.

"Abscissa", he swore, using the vilest oath he knew. His

patience was gone. Coshing her over the coefficient with a log until

she was powerless Curly removed her discontinuities. He stared at her

significant places and began smoothing her points of inflection.

Poor, poor Polly. The algorithmic method was now her only hope. She

felt his hand tending to her asymptotic limit. Her convergence would

soon be gone forever.

There was no mercy, for Curly was a Heavyside operator.

Curly's radius squared itself. Polly's loci quivered. He integrated

by parts. He integrated by partial fractions. After he cofactored,

he performed Runge-Kutta on her. The complex beast even went all the

way around and did a contour integration. What an indignity - to be

multiply connected on her first integration. Curly went on operating

until he had satisfied her hypothesis, then he exponentiated and

became completely orthogonal.

When Polly got home that night, her mother noticed that she

was no longer piece-wise continuous, but had been truncated in several

places and it was to late to differentiate now. As the months went

by, Polly's denominator increased monotonically. Finally, she went to

L'Hospital and generated a small but pathological function that left

surds all over the place and drove Polly to deviation.

The moral of our sad story is this:

"If you want to keep your expressions convergent, never allow them a

single degree of freedom."

-the end

-Aunty Derivative

Sad Story

2012-01-18T07:32:00.001-05:00

A woman had 50-yard line tickets for the Super Bowl. As she sat down, a man came along and asked her if anyone is sitting in the seat next to her. "No," she said, "the seat is empty."

"This is incredible," said the man. "Who in their right mind would have a seat like this for the Super Bowl, the biggest sporting event in the world, and not use it?"

Somberly, the woman says, "Well... the seat actually belongs to me. I was supposed to come here with my husband, but he passed away. This is the first Super Bowl we have not been to together since we got married in 1967."

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that, that's terrible. But couldn't you find someone else - a friend or relative or even a neighbor to take the seat?"

The woman shakes her head, "No, they're all at the funeral."

(Reposted from Mike Lindsay on FB)

Christopher Hitchens RIP

2011-12-19T18:18:00.002-05:00

Christopher Hitchens, champion of rational thought and vocal opponent of superstition, lost his battle with cancer on December 15. He will be missed.

Sam Harris expresses it better than I could: The Blog : Hitch : Sam Harris

Union Rules Hookers

2011-11-27T21:29:00.004-05:00

(Originally heard this from a college buddy back in 1983)

A dedicated Teamsters union worker was attending a convention in Las Vegas and decided to check out the local brothels. When he got to the first one, he asked the Madam, "Is this a union house?"

"No,' she replied, "I'm sorry, it isn't."

"Well, if I pay you $100, what cut do the girls get?"

"The house gets $80 and the girls get $20", she answered.

Offended at such unfair dealings, the union man stomped off down the street in search of a more equitable, hopefully unionized shop. His search continued until finally he reached a brothel where the Madam responded, "Why yes sir, this is a union house. We observe all union rules."

The man asked, "And if I pay you $100, what cut do the girls get?"

"The girls get $80 and the house gets $20."

"That's more like it!" the union man said.

He handed the Madam $100, looked around the room, and pointed to a stunningly attractive green-eyed blonde. "I'd like her", he said.

"I'm sure you would, sir", said the Madam. Then she gestured to a 92-year old woman in the corner, "but Ethel here has 67 years seniority and according to union rules, she's next!"

An Amazing Deal On IPads!

2011-11-14T23:34:00.000-05:00

http://www.jumbojoke.com/an_amazing_deal_on_ipads.html

I've always wanted an iPad, but could never afford one. Now this is an amazing deal! Just $1, and it's totally legitimate! I already have mine!

If you are interested in getting an iPad I know someone who has a bunch that he has to get sold off immediately.

These are legit -- not off the back of a truck! They are from a canceled hospital contract due to Government cutbacks in health care.

Obviously, the numbers are limited -- he has just 20,000 iPads, and at $1 in original packaging, you know they're going to go really fast.

I got mine already -- the photo of one satisfied customer is below!

Get back to me as quickly as you can if you want one too.

We can show kids how to really save money. Who doesn't have a buck lying around to get in on this great deal?!?

- - -

What?

Oh, "iPad", "eye pad" -- what's the difference?

Coat of Arms finalized!

2011-11-14T05:34:00.002-05:00

At long last, after learning all sorts of cool things I can do with the Gimp,

I finally completed the design for my personal Coat of Arms!

Hooray!

Now I need to find a place that will produce a nice hand-painted plaque with

a customer-supplied design. The services I've run across have no mechanism

to handle a customer-supplied design; they only offer packages where they

design the thing themselves based on the customer's last name.

My research into heraldry traditions revealed that a coat of arms was supposed

to be different for each individual, though each son's version was based

on his father's (and grandfather's, great-grandfather's, etc.) design in a specific

manner. Then when the father died, the eldest son adopted his father's design

but the other sons continued to use their modified versions.

The various traditions also morphed over time and weren't really followed

consistently in many cases, so ultimately I decided that it's entirely appropriate

for me to design my own coat of arms based on my ancestral lineages, and

to evolve the heraldric traditions in accordance with societal evolution that

has occurred since medieval times.

In today's society, women are no longer thought of as second-class citizens.

In light of that, I've incorporated both my father's (Abreau) and my mother's

(Moran) family crest designs into my shield. I've affixed a "mullet" (5-point star)

to indicate that I'm my parents' third son; I've replaced the armored helmet

with a blue fedora; and instead of choosing an animal to represent my basic

virtues, I chose instead two of my intellectual heroes: Thomas Jefferson,

and Charles Darwin.

Blink, and you miss it!

2011-11-05T16:14:00.002-04:00

Well, it finally happened. On October 31, when I was distracted and didn't think to check the clock, the official headcount of the population of our planet crossed the 7 billion mark.

There are now more than 7 billion human begins living on the third rock from our Sun!

We passed the 6 billion mark on October 12, 1999. The 5 billion mark was crossed on July 11, 1987. The 4 billion mark is estimated to have been reached in April 1974, and the 3 billion mark in July 1959.

Pretty soon it will be standing room only!

Introducing: Plato's Magical Mystery Cave

2011-11-01T08:01:00.007-04:00

Time for a fresh new perspective! "Perdition's Obsessive Compulsion", an oblique reference to the legend of Captain Van der Decken and the "Flying Dutchman", has now been renamed "Plato's Magical Mystery Cave"! Hooray! :e

On Dennis Ritchie: A conversation with Brian Kernighan - O'Reilly Radar

2011-10-31T09:57:00.000-04:00

On Dennis Ritchie: A conversation with Brian Kernighan - O'Reilly Radar:

'via Blog this'

Dennis Ritchie Day - O'Reilly Radar

2011-10-31T09:47:00.000-04:00

Dennis Ritchie Day - O'Reilly Radar:

On 10/30/11 let's remember the contributions of computing pioneer Dennis Ritchie.

I don't have the convening power of a Governor Brown, but for those of us around the world who care, I hereby declare this Sunday, October 30 to be Dennis Ritchie Day! Let's remember the contributions of this computing pioneer. (Tim O’Reilly)

'via Blog this'

IPv6 Baby Steps

2011-10-18T02:33:00.002-04:00

Been doing some research on how to proceed, now that my first IPv6 tunnel is working.

The "Seven Deadly Traps" whitepaper recommended finding an IP address management (IPAM) tool to manage allocation of IPv6 addresses. After installing and testing several opensource implementations, I found that phpipam works well.

Tried installing OCS Inventory NG, too, but I'm having some difficulties getting it running properly.

Checking out some IPv6 info resources at ARIN.net. Found the following checklist at First Steps for ISPs

Work Toward Native IPv6

After you have accomplished this, it is time to begin the planning and education process which will result in offering native IPv6 Internet access services at all PoPs where you currently offer IPv4 Internet access. You will need to run dual-stack on your backbone and servers, and will need to push IPv6 all the way to the edge. Here are some pages which will help with that.

Who says men don't have a sensitive side?

2011-10-17T20:33:00.001-04:00

Teddy Bear Collection

A woman meets a gorgeous man in a bar. They talk, they connect, they end up leaving together.

They get back to his place, and as he shows her around his apartment, she can't help but notice the soft, sweet, cuddly teddy bears in his bedroom!

There are three shelves with hundreds and hundreds of cute, cuddly teddy bears, carefully placed in rows covering an entire wall! It was obvious that he had taken quite some time to lovingly arrange them and she was immediately touched by the amount of thought he had put into organizing the display.

There were small bears all along the bottom shelf, medium-sized bears covering the length of the middle shelf, and huge, enormous bears running all the way along the top shelf.

She found it strange for a young bloke to have such a large a collection of teddy bears, especially one that's so extensive, but doesn't mention this to him, and actually is quite impressed by his sensitive side. All the while thinking to herself, "Oh my! Maybe this guy could be the one! Maybe he could father my children!"

She turns to him. They kiss... and then they rip each other's clothes off and make hot steamy love.

After an intense, explosive night of raw passion, the woman rolls over, strokes his chest and asks coyly, "Well, how was it?"

The guy says: "Help yourself to any prize from the bottom shelf."

Reinstalled RequestTracker

2011-10-17T08:55:00.003-04:00

Back in the spring we had a disk failure on the BLU server, and I never reinstalled a few of the subsystems that had gone unused for a long time. One of these was the RT helpdesk system.

I needed RT again for the IPv6 project, so I reinstalled it yesterday afternoon. Couldn't get the dependencies working for the latest tarball (version 4.0.2) so I ended up using the pre-built package (version 3.8.8) from the yum repo.

Alas, there's a boatload of new features in 4.x that I'd like to use, but I needed something operational immediately. Hopefully the newer version will get packaged for EPEL in a few months.

The Science Channel Videos: Through The Wormhole: Machine Planet

2011-10-16T15:07:00.002-04:00

Machine Planet (video hosted by Morgan Freeman)

Baby's First IPv6 Tunnel

2011-10-16T13:59:00.005-04:00

Yesterday I registered for an account at SixXS, got the account details, and then requested a heartbeat tunnel.
This afternoon I received the config details for the tunnel. I set up the tunnel on Lachesis and was then able
to successfully ping6 a few IPv6 addresses and browse a few IPv6-only websites.

Woo-Hoo!!!

(Apologies to any Minbari who may find that expression offensive or confusing :)

-------------------------------

Details:

Installed the AICCU software on the CentOS 6.0 server: "yum install aiccu"
Edited the config file "/etc/aiccu.conf" with my tunnel config info. Set the username, password, protocol (tic), server, and tunnel_id. Left the rest of the file as-is.
Ran "chkconfig aiccu on" and "service aiccu start" to bring up the tunnel.
Ran "ping6 ipv6.google.com" to ping an external IPv6 address. Success!!!
Connected to the server via vnc over an ssh tunnel, and started firefox.
Did a google search for IPv6-only sites.
Browsed to "http://ipv6.cybernode.com/list-of-ipv6-only-sites" for a list.
Tested connection at "http://v6.testmyipv6.com". Success!!!

The site linked to a free whitepaper: "The 7 Deadly Traps of IPv6 Deployment and How to Avoid Them". Next step is to read through this.

Progress on IPv6 project

2011-10-15T09:11:00.004-04:00

Status so far:

Allocated a server for a BLU IPv6 testbed at our colo facility. Needs hard drives.
Talked to colo customer support; turns out they don't provide any IPv6 support.
Asked for recommendations on BLU discussion list.
Recommendation #1: Do a hybrid IPv4/IPv6 system, instead of a pure IPv6-only system
Recommendation #2: Use the SixXS.net tunnel broker to connect to the IPv6 Internet
Registered for a SixXS account for the project
Requested a heartbeat-type tunnel from my SixXS account

--------------------

Details:

Browsed to https://www.sixxs.net/main/ and read through the "10 Easy Steps to IPv6" page. Determined that the best type of tunnel for my purposes is a Heartbeat tunnel.
Used the SixXS direct signup link to register for an account.
Once I received the account, I requested a heartbeat tunnel.

Red Hat Takes Its Hat Off to Dennis Ritchie

2011-10-14T22:52:00.000-04:00

Red Hat Takes Its Hat Off to Dennis Ritchie

October 14, 2011

by Tim Burke, Vice President Linux Engineering

It is with sad hearts that the Red Hat community mourns the passing of computing pioneer Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie. Dennis Ritchie was the principal designer of the C programming language and co-developer of the Unix operating system, working closely with Ken Thompson, his longtime Bell Labs collaborator.

Many of us have a proud history of involvement in the UNIX operating system well before the emergence of Linux. To the UNIX world, Ritchie and Thompson were as influential as Linus Torvalds is today to the Linux community. Unix and C's direct and spiritual descendants cannot be counted, but include Linux, Android, Mac OS, iOS, JavaScript, C++, the genius of the internet, and a planet of developers. The major impact of UNIX is not so much in the elegant code itself but rather in the culture of sharing work across industry and academia that became UNIX’s hallmark. Prior to UNIX, operating system code was locked in corporate vaults – inaccessible to the masses. UNIX flung open these doors by allowing code to be shared among software engineers across the nascent computer industry, ushering in an unprecedented wave of collaborative development – and, at the same time, liberating many applications from being locked into a single proprietary hardware vendor.

UNIX code was also shared with universities where it became the foundation of the learning and advancement of operating system practices. Similarly, the C programming language became a staple of the computer science classroom. Many of us literally grew up in Dennis' technical shadow and still have his book, The C Programming Language, co-authored with Brian Kernighan and more fondly referred to as K & R, on our shelves. It remains a source of inspiration and practical help to programmers to this day.

Most of what we do is heavily influenced by Dennis’s outstanding contributions – both in the technical arena and as a founder of the concept of community development. We at Red Hat look with awe and reverence on his legacy.

PXE Dust at Midnight

2011-10-05T01:37:00.000-04:00

The new PXE install server is finally working! The final problem turned out to be an SElinux issue with Apache.

It seems Apache doesn't like to serve files from an iso image mounted on a loopback device, unless you set the SElinux context in the mount options:

mount -o ro,loop,context=system_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t Cent OS-6.0-x86_64-bin-DVD1.iso dvd1

Isaac Asimov on Mysticism

2011-09-21T13:50:00.003-04:00

"I wonder how many people go for these mystical, nonsensical things simply because they must go for something, and this is the only thing available.

The same thing bothers me about mysticism that would bother me about con men. It doesn't seem to me to be right to sell a person phony stuff, and take money for it. And this is what mystics are doing. They're selling people phony knowledge, and taking money for it.

Even if people feel good about it; I can well imagine that a person who really believes in astrology is going to have a feeling of security because he knows that this is a bad day, so to stay at home.

But nevertheless, a guy who's got phony stock may look at it, it's nice and shiny, and has scrolls and all gold lettering and stuff, and as long as he doesn't have to do anything with it, he feels real rich looking at it. But that's no excuse; he still has phony stock.

And the person who buys mysticism still has phony knowledge."

(Isaac Asimov)

"Downers Grove" (Emo Phillips)

2011-09-20T14:18:00.003-04:00

Lyrics to Emo Phillips' song, "Downers Grove"

-----------

I like to shop in downtown Downers Grove

It doesn't take big bucks, and everyone there really is nice

I went to the bakery just the other day

I said to the girl, "Do you have a zwieback?"

She said, "I always slouch this way"

I went to the pet shop, said, "I want a parrot"

The Guy said, "How 'bout a cockatoo?"

I said, "No thanks, just a bird"

I went into the clothing store and I made up my mind

I wasn't going to let any pushy salesman pressure me into buying

something I didn't need...

So after I bought the kilts

I went to the hardware shop

I said, "This riding lawnmower's stupid"

They said, "Next time, you get on top"

I went to the gas station, said, "Fill 'er up, Harry"

The guy said "Regular?"

I said, "No, put on a gorilla suit

And dance like a fairy"

I went into Gus' Artificial Organ and Taco Stand

Said, "Give me a bladder, por favor"

The guy said, "Is that to go?"

I said, "Well, what else would I want it for?"

I was walking down the street

something caught my eye

and dragged it fifteen feet

That's why I like to shop in downtown Downers Grove!

Class Warfare and a Shrinking Economic Pie

2011-09-19T19:16:00.000-04:00

"If there has been class warfare, My class won" (Warren Buffet)

I disagree with his conclusion. Buffet's class got more than its share
of the pie, but the overall size of the pie is shrinking. In absolute
terms, both classes are losing; Buffet's class is just losing at a
slower rate than ours.

Also, the entire pie is shrinking precisely because the rich class
has been preying on the rest of us for the past three decades. Like
termites, they've eaten away at America's economic foundation to the
point where the whole economy is at risk of collapse.

Children and superstition

2011-09-19T19:06:00.000-04:00

"You say you're worried about children; I'm not worried about children, I'm worried about 'grown-ups'.

"These are the ones who vote. These are the ones who tell you, 'the world is coming to an end in 2012!' Kids don't say that, grown-ups do.

"Grown-ups say 'read me my horoscope and tell me when I'll find money tomorrow!' Grown-ups say this, not children. Children do not read horoscopes. Children are perfectly happy counting through the number 13. Children aren't afraid to walk under ladders. They see a black cat cross their path and they say 'look! kitty, kitty' and want to pet it, not run in the other direction.

"Children are not the problem here!"

(Neil deGrasse Tyson)

Good Luck, Mr. Gorsky!

2011-08-23T13:57:00.001-04:00

When Apollo Mission Astronaut Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon,
he not only gave his famous "One small step for man; one giant leap
for mankind" statement, but followed it by several remarks, including
the usual COM traffic between him, the other astronauts, and Mission
Control. Before he re-entered the lander, he made the enigmatic remark
"Good luck, Mr. Gorsky."

Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival
Soviet Cosmonaut. However, upon checking, they found there was no Gorsky
in either the Russian or American space programs.

Over the years, many people have questioned him as to what the "Good luck,
Mr. Gorsky" statement meant. On July 5, 1995, in Tampa Bay, FL, while
answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26-
year-old question to Armstrong. He finally responded. It seems that Mr.
Gorsky had died and so Armstrong felt he could answer the question.

In 1942, when he was a 12-year-old kid, Neil was playing baseball with his brother in the
backyard. His brother hit a fly ball which landed in front of his
neighbors' bedroom window. The neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky. As
he leaned down to pick up the ball, he heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at
Mr. Gorsky, "Oral sex? Oral sex you want? You'll get oral sex when the
kid next door walks on the moon!"

(Note: this is an urban legend)

Investment 101

2011-08-07T21:26:00.000-04:00

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you would have $49.00 today!

If you purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG, you would have $33.00.

If you purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers, you would have $0.00 today.

But, if you purchased $1,000 worth of beer, drank all the beer, turned in the aluminium cans for recycling, you would have $214.00.

Therefore the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle.

Harry S. Truman 1947

2011-08-06T23:27:00.000-04:00

"Republicans approve of the American farmer, but they are willing to help him go broke.

They stand four-square for the American home--but not for housing.

They are strong for labor--but they are stronger for restricting labor's rights.

They favor minimum wage--the smaller the minimum wage the better.

They endorse educational opportunity for all--but they won't spend money for teachers or for schools.

They think modern medical care and hospitals are fine--for people who can afford them.

They consider electrical power a great blessing--but only when the private power companies get their rake-off.

They think American standard of living is a fine thing--so long as it doesn't spread to all the people.

And they admire of Government of the United States so much that they would like to buy it."

-- Harry S. Truman 1947

Great Italian Sex

2011-08-06T22:04:00.000-04:00

The Jewish man said, “Last week, my wife and I had great sex. I rubbed her body all over with schmaltz (chicken fat), we made passionate love, and she screamed for five full minutes at the end!”

The Frenchman boasted, “Last week when my wife and I had sex, I rubbed her body all over with butter. We then made passionate love and she screamed for 10 minutes!”

The Italian man said, “Well, last week my wife and I also had sex. I rubbed her body all over with olive oil. We made love, and she screamed for over six hours!”

The other two were stunned. The amazed Frenchman asked, “What could you have possibly done to make your wife scream for six hours?” The Italian said.............

”I wiped my hands on the bedspread.”

Ya know it's a recession when...

2011-08-06T22:03:00.000-04:00

Ya know it's a recession when...

I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.
Wives are having sex with their husbands because they can't afford batteries.
CEO's are now playing miniature golf.
Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 Congressmen.
A stripper was killed when her audience showered her with rolls of pennies while she danced.
I saw a Mormon with only one wife.
If the bank returns your check marked "Insufficient Funds," you call them and ask if they meant you or them.
McDonald's is selling the 1/4 ouncer.
Angelina Jolie adopted a child from America .
Parents in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and learned their children's names.
My cousin had an exorcism but couldn't afford to pay for it, and they re-possessed her!
A truckload of Americans was caught sneaking into Mexico.
A picture is now only worth 200 words.
When Bill and Hillary travel together, they now have to share a room.
The Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas is now managed by Somali pirates.
I was so depressed last night thinking about the economy, wars, jobs, my savings, Social Security, retirement funds, etc., I called the Suicide Hotline. I got a call center in Pakistan, and when I told them I was suicidal, they got all excited, and asked if I could drive a truck.

Evolution of the GOP

2011-08-04T12:25:00.000-04:00

"When I was a kid and Eisenhower was the president, my whole family was happily Republican. Then I grew up, and Nixon dragged us through Watergate and Ronald Reagan proved what a disaster Voodoo economics really is, and then George Bush proved it again.

"Now the Tea Party/Repubs believe they are the true voice of America, with paranoia rampant in their fact-free universe. The Republican Party has gone off the deep end and has plunged into some kind of madness. This is not even the party of Bill Buckley…it’s the party of wild-eyed nut jobs like Michelle Bachman, Sarah Palin and Herman Cain.

"The Republicans seem to have a death wish. I have often argued that they need to suffer an apocalyptic political defeat in 2012 so they can re-examine what it really mean to be conservative in the reality-based world. We need to have a real, conservative voice in our national dialog, but these guys/gals are not it. They are so deeply irrational, suffused with flagrant hypocrisy, and drunk on the No-New-Taxes Koolaid, that you can’t even have a meaningful discussion with them.

"I wish I could find a reasonable Republican to debate, but I don’t know any."

-- Robert Post

Cannibal Restaurant

2011-07-29T05:30:00.001-04:00

A cannibal was walking through the jungle and came upon a restaurant operated by a fellow cannibal. Feeling somewhat hungry, he sat down and looked over the menu...

Tourist: $5.00
Broiled Missionary: $10.00
Fried Explorer: $15.00
Baked Democrat or Grilled Republican: $100.00

The cannibal called the waiter over and asked, "Why such a price difference for the politicians?"

The cook replied, "Have you ever tried to clean one? They're so full of shit, it takes all morning."

My mother told me to behave...

2011-07-28T16:16:00.000-04:00

My mother told me to behave.

How should I do that?

During childhood i saw Tarzan going around naked, Cinderella coming home after midnight, Pinocchio lying, Batman driving 240km/h, Sleeping Beauty staying in bed all day long, Little Red Ridding Hood talking with Wolf even if Mother told her not to, Popeye having weed, Snow White living with seven men, Aladin getting high...

And they all lived happily ever after!!!

(found on Google+)

Little Teeny Eyes

2011-07-15T10:16:00.000-04:00

Little Teeny Eyes

Oh we got a new computer but it's quite a disappointment

'Cause it always gave this same insane advice:

"OH YOU NEED LITTLE TEENY EYES FOR READING LITTLE TEENY PRINT

LIKE YOU NEED LITTLE TEENY HANDS FOR MILKING MICE."

So we re-read the instruction book that came with the computer

But it kept on printing crazy stuff that reads

Like: "YOU NEED LITTLE TEENY EYES FOR READING LITTLE TEENY PRINT

LIKE YOU NEED LITTLE TEENY SHOES FOR CENTIPEDES."

So we got an expert genius and he rewrote all the programs

But we always got results that looked like these:

"OH YOU NEED LITTLE TEENY EYES FOR READING LITTLE TEENY PRINT

LIKE YOU NEED LITTLE TEENY LICENSE PLATES FOR BEES."

Then we tested each resistor, every diode and transistor,

But our EElectronic brain just raves and rants:

"OH YOU NEED LITTLE TEENY EYES FOR READING LITTLE TEENY PRINT

LIKE YOU NEED LITTLE BRANDING IRONS FOR BRANDING ANTS."

Now we're looking for a buyer for a crazy mad computer

That will only give out crazy mad advice

Like: "YOU NEED LITTLE TEENY EYES FOR READING LITTLE TEENY PRINT

LIKE YOU NEED LITTLE TEENY HANDS FOR MILKING MICE."

(Tom Digby, written 1/27/66)

A Utah Phillips Tribute

2011-06-14T04:30:00.000-04:00

Wood shop interior

2011-06-03T01:28:00.000-04:00

1:28 AM.

Lots of interesting 3D art at BlenderArtists.org!

(originally posted on Memories from the Pandorica)

Goodbye, Sarah Jane :-(

2011-04-22T20:25:00.001-04:00

I just heard that Elisabeth Sladen died on April 19, of cancer. Elisabeth was the actress who played the role of Sarah Jane Smith, companion of Doctor Who back in the '80's, when Tom Baker was the Doctor.

I loved the 2006 episode "School Reunion" where she ran into the Doctor again, during David Tennant's time, and enjoyed her spinoff series that followed.

Elisabeth was still active up to the end. I will miss her.

Current Location: Home
Current Mood: sad
Current Music: Karma Chameleon-Culture Club-Billboard Top Hits: 1984

(originally posted on my LiveJournal site)

Deepest Sender

2011-04-22T19:06:00.000-04:00

Another blogging client, implemented as a Firefox plugin. It's called "Deepest Sender", and it appears that it works for Blogger and LiveJournal. So far, so good.

Current Location: Baypath
Current Mood: thirsty
Current Music: Not In Love

(originally posted on my LiveJournal site)

Qumana and Blogger

2011-04-22T18:35:00.001-04:00

Trying Qumana as a blogging client, it won't load old posts from this blog. Will it allow posting? Seems to work fine with LiveJournal...

Powered by Qumana

Departure of the Mysterious Non-Smoking Man

2011-04-22T18:14:00.000-04:00

He Who Shall Not Be Named came visiting from Another Land for a few days. He's heading home to his Secret Lair this evening, with gifts for his family. Adios, until next time!

The video from Wednesday's BLU meeting was somewhat spotty; the camcorder had been in photo mode, and we didn't catch the error until well into the meeting. Fortunately, we were recording the audio separately, so at the very least we can post the audio.

Current Location: Home
Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: Welcome To The Jungle-Guns-N-Roses-Greatest Hits

(originally posted on my LiveJournal site)

Google Video, R.I.P.

2011-04-22T10:22:00.002-04:00

Last week I received notice that Google Video will no longer host videos, and that my immense archive of BLU meeting videos will be deleted in early May.

I downloaded my archive in it's entirety, to Pegasus, and then proceeded to upload all five of them to YouTube. Alas, YouTube required me to split them into 15- minute segments before it would accept them.

Over the weekend I searched through a bunch of old removable-IDE drives that I had used for backups in the past, and I found several more BLU meeting videos that had never been on Google Video. I copied them to my laptop, then transferred them to Pegasus during this week's BLU meeting.

When I uploaded them to YouTube, I discovered that YouTube now allows me to upload them as a single file, and I no longer have to split them into 15-minute chunks. Hooray!

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPad.

(originally posted on my LiveJournal site)

Blogging from the iPad

2011-02-25T12:41:00.001-05:00

Found a LiveJournal app for the iPad, and giving it a try. Works OK, but suffers from the inherent suckiness of the on-screen keyboard. Would probably be fine if I had a good Bluetooth keyboard. At the moment I don't have *any* Bluetooth keyboard at all.

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPad.

(originally posted on my LiveJournal site)

G'Kar's "Declaration of Principles"

2011-02-24T10:51:00.001-05:00

(from the Season 5 opener of "Babylon 5")

The universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice.

The language is not Narn, or Human, or Centauri, or Gaim or Minbari

It speaks in the language of hope

It speaks in the language of trust

It speaks in the language of strength and the language of compassion

It is the language of the heart and the language of the soul.

But always it is the same voice

It is the voice of our ancestors, speaking through us,

And the voice of our inheritors, waiting to be born

It is the small, still voice that says

We are one

No matter the blood

No matter the skin

No matter the world

No matter the star:

We are one

No matter the pain

No matter the darkness

No matter the loss

No matter the fear

We are one

Here, gathered together in common cause, we agree to recognize the singular truth and this singular rule:

That we must be kind to one another

Because each voice enriches us and ennobles us and each voice lost diminishes us.

We are the voice of the Universe, the soul of creation, the fire that will light the way to a better future.

We are one.

Are you sick of highly paid teachers?

2011-02-23T12:16:00.001-05:00

Are you sick of highly paid teachers?

Teachers' hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 or 10 months a year! It's time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do - babysit!

We can get that for less than minimum wage.

That's right. Let's give them $3.00 an hour and only the hours they worked; not any of that silly planning time, or any time they spend before or after school. That would be $19.50 a day (7:45 to 3:00 PM with 45 min. off for lunch and plan-- that equals 6 1/2 hours).

Each parent should pay $19.50 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children. Now how many students do they teach in a day...maybe 30? So that's $19.50 x 30 = $585.00 a day.

However, remember they only work 180 days a year!!! I am not going to pay them for any vacations.

LET'S SEE....

That's $585 X 180= $105,300 per year. (Hold on! My calculator needs new batteries).

What about those special education teachers and the ones with Master's degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage ($7.75), and just to be fair, round it off to $8.00 an hour. That would be $8 X 6 1/2 hours X 30 children X 180 days = $280,800 per year.

Wait a minute -- there's something wrong here! There sure is!

The average teacher's salary (nation wide) is $50,000. $50,000/180 days == $277.77/per day/30 students=$9.25/6.5 hours = $1.42 per hour per student -- -a very inexpensive baby-sitter and they even EDUCATE your kids!)

WHAT A DEAL!!!!

Make a teacher smile; repost this to show appreciation for all educators.

Waiting for Series 6...

2011-01-10T14:23:00.002-05:00

Finished up the Total WHO Marathon just in time for Christmas! I had begun months ago with the first 26 seasons, from 1963 to 1989, then caught Paul McGann's 1996 movie, then raced through the Chris Eccleston and David Tennant years, and finally watched "The Pandorica Opens" and "The Big Bang" on Festivus Day, December 23.

Just in time for "A Christmas Carol" on Dec 26. Kazran Sardick, half-way out of the dark!

Now the long wait for Series 6, which should begin airing in the Spring...

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Good King Wenceslas

(originally posted on my LiveJournal site: The Pizza Delivery Weasel)

Writer's Block: Immerse yourself in an online sport.

2010-12-18T20:23:00.004-05:00

LiveJournal "Writers Block" topic:

If you could immerse yourself in an online sport and get a real workout, what activity would you want it to be?

My response:

Synchronized Thumb Wrestling :-)

(originally posted on my LiveJournal site: The Pizza Delivery Weasel)

Grumble

2010-11-01T01:13:00.001-04:00

Just tried out ScribeFire to post. FAIL! It lets me read my posts, but fails when I try to publish a new post.

Czy wesołe święta złowieszczej, duchy i czekoladki!

2010-11-01T00:05:00.002-04:00

Tried to say "Happy Halloween" to a couple friends from Poland, but it seems Poland doesn't exactly have a word for Halloween. Thanks to Google Translate, I came up with the greeting

"Czy wesołe święta złowieszczej, duchy i czekoladki!" ("Have a happy holiday of spooky ghosts and chocolates!")

I figure that this captures the fundamental essence of the holiday!

A Trip to Italy

2010-10-28T08:13:00.000-04:00

Been watching the old Doctor Who episodes from 1963. They went from 1963 AD to 100,000 BC, then to Skaro to meet the Daleks for the first time, then the TARDIS is almost destroyed! After fixing the problem, they run into Marco Polo and get stuck for a while.

Once they get away from Marco, they run into an alien planet with acid oceans and glass beaches. Following that, they get tangled up with the Aztecs. Back to another alien planet after that, to be trapped by telepathic aliens. Home again to the French Revolution, which wraps up Season 1.

Partway through Season 2 now, and they're about to drop in on Nero, presumably to watch Rome burn...

Current Mood: amused

(originally posted on my LiveJournal site: The Pizza Delivery Weasel)

15 Albums

2010-09-02T20:24:00.001-04:00

The rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen albums you've heard that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag fifteen friends, including me, because I'm interested in seeing what albums my friends choose. (To do this, copy and paste the text of this note, click "+write a note" directly above and to the right of this note, cast your fifteen picks, and tag people in the note -- directly below.) Quickly, and in no particular order...

John Abreau

Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
Pat Benatar - Crimes Of Passion
Laura Branigan - Touch
Aerosmith - Greatest Hits
Weird Al Yankovic - all albums
Orleans - Orleans II
Big Daddy - Cutting Their Own Groove
James Taylor - Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon
Simon and Garfunkel - Bookends
Manhattan Transfer - Down In Birdland
Lovin' Spoonful - Do You Believe In Magic
Fleetwood Mac - The Dance
Lionel Richie - Greatest Hits
Emily RIchards - I Should Be FLying
Genesis - Invisible Touch

The Alternative Polka - "Weird Al" Yankovic

2010-07-31T20:59:00.000-04:00

What's the deal with Microsoft Office 2010?

2010-07-15T21:05:00.000-04:00

Gotta test it first, then discuss with the boss to decide when we upgrade everyone. I've suggested OpenOffice in the past, but that always falls on deaf ears. Everyone is apparently addicted to Outlook. Even the Mac users are eagerly awaiting Outlook on the Mac, which they expect in 2011.

Of course, the Mac users are also pushing the iPad as an essential new business tool.

Hopefully the time travel project won't be unduly delayed by the Office Upgrade Treadmill. We're already 10 years behind schedule. CEO thinks we can make it up in the end. Once the technology is working, we can party like it's 1999 again, because it will be.

Just hope there are no more screwups like last time; otherwise we could be partying like it's 1599!

(originally posted on my LiveJournal site: The Pizza Delivery Weasel)

Writer's Block: Fan love

2010-05-08T18:21:00.002-04:00

LiveJournal "Writers Block" topic:

Who is your favorite TV character of all time? Why did s/he make such a big impact on you? Do you collect any memorabilia? Did s/he inspire you creatively in any way?

My response:

Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod. The show explored the concept of honor, and showed a man of peace struggling to cope with a very violent environment. I found the show during my teens when I was still figuring out who I wanted to be, and Duncan became one of my biggest role models.

I've collected replicas of a few of the swords he used on the show, a pendant of the Watcher logo, and of course the DVDs of the show.

(originally posted on my LiveJournal site: The Pizza Delivery Weasel)

Flock on Windows?

2010-02-10T15:43:00.001-05:00

Drivel fails to connect to Blogger; keeps crashing. C'est la vie!

Trying something else...

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Getting to know each other!

2009-07-31T00:03:00.001-04:00

(From Muge on Facebook, who got it from Steve...)

To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your title as "Getting to know each other!", tag 25 people including me (tagging is done in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.

1. What time did you get up this morning?
8:15

2. How do you like your steak?
Medium; it should be a bright pink in the center. Smothered in suateed onions and portobello mushrooms.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Transformers 2

4. What is your favorite TV show?
Of all time? Probably "Newhart". Dick Loudon of the Stratford Inn was one of the funniest characters ever!

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
Some place that has never heard of mosquitos. Is there any such place, other than Antarctica?

6. What did you have for breakfast?
A 5-oz can of Spicy Hot V8, a glass of orange juice, and a packet of Maple & Bown Sugar instant oatmeal.

7. What is your favorite cuisine?
Indian

8. What foods do you dislike?
Most types of seafood

9. Favorite Place to Eat?
Hilltop Steak House

10. Favorite dressing?
Balsamic & Basil Vinagrett

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
a horseless carriage, made by that Buick guy...

12. What are your favorite clothes?
Jeans, sneakers, and a loud Hawaiian shirt

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
I'd love to borrow a time machine and take a whirlwind tour of ancient history!

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
Sorry, I wasn't listening; I had to grab a pitcher and top off that cup.

15. Where would you want to retire?
Canada. Or maybe new Zealand.

16. Favorite time of day?
Late night, when it's quiet and I actually have a little free time.

17. Where were you born?
In a hospital? I think it was the Carney Hospital in Dorchester.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Beach volleyball! (cue the "Benny Hill" music)

19. Who do you think will not tag you back?
Um... Roger Daltry?

20. Person you expect to tag you back first?
The one you would least expect...

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?
Who? Who's on first!

22. Bird watcher?
Sure, that's right; a bird watcher! Nudge nudge, know what I mean, say no more!

23. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Most definitely a night owl.

24. Do you have any pets?
Not any more, alas.

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?
My cousin Mike will be driving down from Montreal for a visit next month.

26. What did you want to be when you were little?
When I was 5, I wanted to be an astronaut. Later, it turned out I *really* wanted to be... a lumberjack!

27. What is your best childhood memory?
I remember joining a parade in Dorchester when I was 3 years old. Lucky my mom had previously taught me to memorize our phone number!

28. Are you a cat or dog person?
I love cats. Dogs are too needy.

29. Are you married?
Not at this time.

30. Always wear your seat belt?
Yes.

31. Been in a car accident?
My last car accident was in 1986, on the steepest part of Depot Street in Sharon, during a heavy snowstorm.

32. Any pet peeves?
Nuts, loonies, people who'd rather believe something silly like UFOs or ghosts, and refuse to actually think critically.

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings?
White onion, green pepper, mushrooms, sausage, and pepperoni.

34. Favorite Flower?
Roses.

35. Favorite ice cream?
Crescent Ridge Chocolate is a true classic.

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Wendys for burgers. Bertucci's for pizza.

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
Once, with my mom in the back seat criticizing my performance. Aced it the second time, with a college buddy in the back seat.

38. From whom did you get your last email?
Last one from a human? Gina Pepin. Last one of any type? An automated notice from Facebook.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
I have no credit cards, I cancelled them all in 2002. Now I only use debit cards.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?
Hopped in my car a couple Saturdays ago with a friend and drove aimlessly for a while. Then we stopped for a pizza.

41. Like your job?
Sure, I enjoy it.

42. Broccoli?
As long as it's not overcooked. It should be a bright green, and still slightly crunchy. Tasty addition to fetucini alfredo, especially when you also add grilled checken breast.

43. What was your favorite vacation?
Not strictly a vacation, but I took a 4-week truck driving class in Kentucky a few years ago. Met a bunch of interesting folks down there, and had a lot of fun.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
My cousin Louis.

45. What are you listening to right now?
"Make Love To Me" (T'Pau, "Red")

46. What is your favorite color?
Sky blue

47. How many tattoos do you have?
If you count all of them? All totaled, I'd say Zero.

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz?
Don't know yet.

49. What time did you finish this quiz?
about midnight

50. Coffee Drinker?
Occasionally, but I prefer tea.

random iTunes list

2009-07-29T01:49:00.001-04:00

(from a friend on facebook)

Once you've been tagged... (1) Open iTunes or other mp3 player. (2) Go to SHUFFLE songs mode. (3) Write down the first 15 songs that come up--song title and artist--NO editing/cheating, please. (4) Choose 20 (or so) people to be tagged. It is generally considered to be in good taste to tag the person who tagged you.

If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about your musical tastes, or at least a random sampling thereof.

(To do this, go to "NOTES" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, enter your 15 Shuffle Songs, Click 'Preview' below to tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click Publish, the little blue box at the bottom of your screen....)

Lionel Richie - Stuck On You
Johnny Rivers - Sea Cruise
God Fearing Man - Key Chain
Laura Branigan - The Lucky One
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - You've Been In Love Too Long

Abba - Chiquitia
Peet Seeger - Sweet Potatoes
Paul McCartney - Mrs. Vanderbilt
The Steve Miller Band - Fly Like an Eagle
Shania Twain - Black Eyes, Blue Tears

Alanis Morissette - Baba
Edie Brickell - Little Miss S.
Bruce Springsteen - Drive All Night
Larry Berger - Sweet Apple Wine
Weird Al Yankovic - You're Pitiful

Installed Fedora 11 on my netbook

2009-06-14T00:52:00.000-04:00

I finally got a chance to put Fedora 11 on my Aspire One netbook. I had hoped to show it off at our Installfest a couple Saturdays ago, but alas, the Fedora release schedule slipped a couple weeks, and it wasn't available until long after the Installfest.

During the post-installation, after I added the rpmfusion repos, I ran across Logjam again, and I recalled creating a Livejournal account long ago. Looks like another year has come and gone.

This coming Wednesday we're celebrating the 15th anniversary of BLU, the Boston Linux & Unix user group. It's been 12 years since The Boston Computer Society dissolved. I miss the days we used to spend at the BCS Resource Center. It was kind of like a continuation of college life. But all things eventually come to an end, alas.

But enough fun for one day. I still have unfinished chores to take care of before going to sleep.

Current Mood: complacent

(originally posted on my LiveJournal site: The Pizza Delivery Weasel)

LogJam client looks decent

2008-02-10T18:49:00.001-05:00

Trying out another gtk client, looks nice so far.

Just ran across some old Bob Newhart clips on youtube. Mostly standup routines with Dean Martin, from back before I was born.

Newhart season 1 is *finally* coming out on DVD, in a couple weeks! I’ve been waiting years for this to be released.

Tags: gtk client fedora rpm

Current Mood: cheerful

(originally posted on my LiveJournal site: The Pizza Delivery Weasel)

Flavor of the Month

2008-02-10T04:16:00.000-05:00

Is there anything tastier than chocolate chip scones and lapsang-souchon tea?

(originally posted on Baypath Update)

Holidays are coming up soon

2007-11-19T06:43:00.000-05:00

Gotta get the house tidied up, some old friends are flying back to Boston for the holidays.

Looks like it’s been about a year since I created this account, and I haven’t posted anything since creating it. C’est la vie.

Can’t spend a lot of time on this, as it’s time to get ready for work.

(originally posted on my LiveJournal site: The Pizza Delivery Weasel)

A New Beginning

2006-11-30T02:47:00.000-05:00

Trying out blog client called "drivel"; looks like a decent client.

Current Mood: relaxed

(originally posted on my LiveJournal site: The Pizza Delivery Weasel)

Blogging tools: Drivel

2006-11-29T18:55:00.001-05:00

Heh. Drivel seems to be a decent client for creating blog entries. Not so great with Blogger, though; it won't let me set a section title.

Fedora Core 6

2006-11-29T18:50:00.001-05:00

It's about time I upgrade to Fedora Core 6. The VMware issue was resolved long ago; I had to download some sort of patch, something-all-all.tgz; don't recall the details.

Testing Beta with Gmail Login

2006-11-29T16:03:00.001-05:00

Unfortunately, Drivel won't let me enter an "@", which I think I need to make this work.

(originally posted on Baypath Update)

Wotta Revoltin' Development!

2006-04-17T23:30:00.000-04:00

What the heck is the problem? I upgrade to Fedora Core 5, and all of a sudden VMWare won't install; it keeps claiming that the kernel sources don't match the installed kernel. So now I can't run VMWare at home, and I don't dare upgrade my machine at work.

Ah well. I suppose life would get boring without the occasional challenge.