Rants & Raves
Risk Analysis: NOT!
I just read a letter to the editor in my local newspaper. It begins,
Are you kidding me? Jefferson Middle School says that no kids can bring peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch because there are kids with peanut allergies?
Peanut butter is dangerous to the 1.3% of Americans who have peanut allergies. We should certainly […]
Casualties of War
For several years, my son planned to join the Army. As a father, I had mixed emotions: pride that he wanted to volunteer for a very tough job and fear that he would be killed… or worse. He and I had several discussions about the dangers; largely fruitless because teenagers believe they are immortal and […]
Paranoia Is Not Safety
Our country is founded on several key values and two of the most important are the right to vote and the belief in presumed innocence. Several school districts in St. Charles county, Missouri, seem determined to teach some important lessons to their students vis รก vis these rights:
United States citizens of voting age are presumed […]
Express Lanes Ignore Real Problems
President Bush announced a “plan” to get holiday travelers to their destinations closer to on-time this holiday season. CNN.com wrote it up in, Skepticism about holiday air travel ‘express lane’.
Bush announced a series of technical measures Thursday to reduce air traffic congestion and long delays that have left passengers stranded and turned holiday travel into […]
$1,300,000,000,000
Yesterday I discussed $20,900,000, the amount of money that the families in my sons’ high school have spent on the Iraq war since 2002. The war has cost each of the 1,000 families $20,900.
Let’s try this from the Iraqi perspective. The total cost of the Iraq war will have been $1.3 trillion during the years […]
$20,900,000
CNN.com reports, in War costs could total $1.6 trillion by 2009, panel estimates,
…[the] Joint Economic Committee [of Congress]… estimated $1.3 trillion in war costs by the end of 2008 for Iraq, and the remainder [of the 1.6 trillion estimate] for Afghanistan…. The committee calculated the average cost of both wars for a family of […]
New Home Theater Projector
Woo hoo! Just six years after Candy and I upgraded our stereo system to a 5.1 home theater system, we replaced the 27″ television with an Optoma HD72 projector. The picture we now see has diagonal measure of approximately 90″. The improvement is so dramatic that I could easily become a couch potato. Everything seems […]
Stunningly Poor Judgement
Unless you live under a rock, you are already aware that John P. “Pat” Philbin, FEMA’s director of external affairs, faked a press conference on Tuesday. All of the questions asked were posed by FEMA employees; there were no independent reporters present.
This required such incredibly poor judgment at so many levels that I can only […]
Dictate or Facilitate?
Few will argue with me when I suggest that the best way to lead a meeting or resolve a dispute is to help all of the participants both express their views and hear the thoughts and feelings of the others. It has been many, many years since anyone thought that anything from families to committees […]
In Bad Company: St. Peters, O’Fallon, and St. Charles
It is almost never good when your locality is mentioned in the same sentence with Detroit.
USA Today’s article, City Council pays for lessons in civility, takes an in-depth look at acrimonious squabbling on the Ashland, OR city council and includes,
More recently, public fireworks have been reported on city and county panels in Detroit; San Francisco; […]
Those Born 1930-1979
TO ALL THE KIDS
WHO SURVIVED the
1930’s 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s !!
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes.
Then after […]
Talk to Humans at Netflix
Netflix is bucking the customer “service” trend, abandoning email “service” and replacing it with real human beings, based in the United States (not outsourced) on the telephone. These good folks are available 24×7 and their phone number is prominently displayed on Netflix’s web site.
The New York Times has an article on it, At Netflix, Victory […]
Oshkosh AirVenture 2007, Part 2
I’m home from AirVenture in Oshkosh and ready to go back again. Sunburned. Tired. Sweaty. Twenty pounds heavier in the belly and $_____ lighter in the wallet. Full of memories of new friendships, long and winding conversations, glistening airplanes, cool new toys tools.
I saw more awesome airplanes than any guy has a right to see […]
A Penny Per Email
Spam disgusts me. It has rendered free email, one of the most heartfelt examples of human cooperation, completely untenable.
I have been relying on email, for business and personal connections, since I worked at TRW in 1980. I used to run a medium-sized UUCP hub at FileNet in Orange County, CA on a VAX 750 named […]
Ignore Safety, Reduce Airline Costs
There is a tempest brewing in the Washington tea cup. Congress has to pass a bill that provides funding for the FAA by the end of September or the FAA ceases to exist.
Background
The airlines and the FAA are pushing hard to reduce the costs imposed on airlines while increasing the costs for pretty much everything […]
Presidential Bumper Sticker
A friend saw this bumper sticker on the back of President Bush’s limo. Unfortunately, my friend didn’t have a camera so I don’t have a photograph.
IRAQIS: DEMOCRATIC OR DEAD
One thing I’ll say for Bush, his agenda is right out there in plain site. No hidden agendas for him, no sir!
Saying “Christmas”
I thought it was OK to say “Christmas” this year. I thought we had gotten through all of the silliness about whether you can or should or might say, “Merry Christmas” to another person without first receiving written permission to extend that wish.
I just visited Kohls.com and was shocked, dismayed and apalled to see a […]
Hack the Vote: Steal the Election
It’s almost Halloween (and election day) so it’s time for scary stories. I firmly believe that the scariest stories are the ones that also happen to be true. Being the nasty guy that I am, I bring you a tale which should terrify you to your democracy loving core: Ars Technica’s How to steal an […]
Ace at The Rep
Candy and I just saw Ace at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.
A high-flying, world premiere musical, filled with humor, heart and a dazzling new score! An unexpected gift and visits from a mysterious Army aviator named Ace send troubled 10-year-old Billy Lucas soaring from 1950s St. Louis on a journey around the world.
Almost everything […]
LibraryThing
I’m addicted to LibraryThing. It only took a few hours and I only have a start on cataloging my library. This is great stuff!
Must sleep… must sleep… must ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzz
Oshkosh AirVenture 2006
Jack Hodgson and his friend Phil wrote, Oshkosh is like sex. I can never get all I want but sometimes I get all I can take… and you should shower afterwards. Oh, how true!
I have wanted to attend the Oshkosh AirVenture air show all of my life and I finally made it last week. OK, […]
Give Yourself $100
CNN.com reports, “Every American taxpayer would get a $100 rebate check to offset the pain of higher pump prices for gasoline, under an amendment Senate Republicans hope to bring to a vote Thursday.” You can read the rest of the article in, Senators to push for $100 gas rebate checks.
Cool! The government is going to […]
The Torn-Up Credit Card Application
Halloween horror story in March.
Read The Torn-Up Credit Card Application.
Buy a shredder.
‘Nuff said.
Nikon D200: First Impressions
I just upgraded from a Nikon D70 to a Nikon D200 camera: WOW what a difference. I have been too busy taking pictures to write about pictures but here are the things that leaped out at me first:
Available light image quality is vastly improved. I had been jealous of my son’s D50’s quality and the […]
Trust & Privacy
You may have noticed that I am “somewhat” concerned about erosion of our privacy. Here is another example, reported by ThinkProgress.org. Mind you, I am not picking on the GOP here; I am sure that the Dems are just as bad in other places and times. I just want you to be aware that it […]
“Big Brother” for Real
Have you ever read George Orwell’s book, 1984? Fifty-six years ago, Orwell created a fictitous world where Big Brother (the government) delved so deeply into its citizens lives that it could completely control them.
Do you remember when, two years ago, Congress shut down the Total Information Awareness program because it collected too much private information […]
Who is in Charge in the White House?
Since I wrote yesterday’s article on trust, it is becoming widely apparent that Cheney’s staff managed most, if not all, of the press on this incident independently from Bush’s staff. Articles such as the New York Times’ Handling of Mishap Creates Strain in the White House have the details.
The disconnect between Bush’s and Cheney’s staffs […]
Who Can We Trust?
When my children were small, I taught them to tell the truth. They learned that they need to be truthful with the little things in life so that they will have credibility when it comes to the bigger things. I also helped them see that it is far better to volunteer information about something they […]
“Years of Dubya” Tees
These are too much fun to ignore. Visit DubyaTees.com to pick up your own Years of Dubya tee shirt.
These are cleverly produced and offered by my friend Pete.
Create an e-annoyance, go to jail
Create an e-annoyance, go to jail
Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime.
It’s no joke. Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity.
It’s a good thing that I disclose my full name on this site, otherwise I […]
Human rights inquiry into airline policy
The report that men are not allowed to sit next to unaccompanied children on two airlines (Air New Zealand and Qantas) is so ridiculous (and infuriating) that I thought it was a joke when I first heard about it. Unfortunately, as reported by Stuff, it is not. In Human rights inquiry into airline policy, Stuff […]
Sony BMG’s Costly Silence
BusinessWeek online reports in Sony BMG’s Costly Silence
SLOW TO ACT? Sony BMG is in a catfight with a well-known computer-security outfit that became aware of the software problem on Sept. 30 and notified the music company on Oct. 4 — nearly a month before the issue blew up. F-Secure, a Finland-based antivirus company that […]
Laptop Will Not Hibernate
This is so frustrating. I have this nifty new laptop that I have upgraded to 1.25 GB of memory and it will not hibernate. Virtually all of the time, I get a bubble that says, “Windows - System Error, insufficient system resources exist to complete the API,” just like in this screen snapshot which […]
Clueless Republicans
Gargh! SPACE.com’s article includes, “A group of Republican lawmakers led by Mike Pence of Indiana last week said the $104 billion to replace the shuttles with a new spaceship and rockets to carry astronauts back to the moon ought to be canceled to help pay to rebuild the hurricane-wrecked Gulf Coast.”
I wonder if we could […]
Political Cronyism
Joseph, in The Corpus Collosum, is waving the banner in support of the Anti-Cronyism and Public Safety Act, which would prohibit the President from appointing unqualified individuals to critical public safety positions in the government. Cronyism certainly is not new. I’ll bet that the second caveman to make fire was the brother of the guy […]
Nuclear Weapons in the Schoolyard
I was concerned to read, “The Pentagon has drafted a revised doctrine for the use of nuclear weapons that envisions commanders requesting presidential approval to use them to preempt an attack by a nation or a terrorist group using weapons of mass destruction. The draft also includes the option of using nuclear arms to destroy […]
Bush Takes Responsibility
I am not a Bush fan but I do want to acknowledge his courage and leadership in these statements, made today:
President Bush said Tuesday, “To the extent the federal government didn’t fully do its job right, I take responsibility.”
Full details from AP here.
Now that you have accepted responsiblity, Mr. Bush, what will you do to […]
U.S. agency blocks photos of New Orleans dead
Update 9/11/05: Persuaded by a CNN law suit, the feds have backed down. Feds Drop Media Ban on Katrina Recovery
Following is the remainder of my original story:
A Can’t-Do Government
Paul Krugman of The New York Times writes what I have been wondering, but much more eloquently, in A Can’t-Do Government
Here is a little sample:
Yesterday [Thursday, September 1] Mr. Bush made an utterly fantastic claim: that nobody expected the breach of the levees. In fact, there had been repeated warnings about exactly that risk.
So America, […]
The Problems with the RFP
I used to co-own a small software company and RFPs became so burdensome and expensive to answer that we eventually adopted a policy of refusing to reply. Yes, it cost us business opportunities but I believe that, in the long run, we were spending more money answering the silly things than we made on the […]
Celebrate Freedom of the Press
There are many freedoms here in America and I am often guilty of taking them for granted. Today is different.
On this day in 1735, freedom of the press was established with an acquittal of John Peter Zenger. The writer of the New York Weekly Journal had been charged with seditious libel by the royal governor […]
Giving back to open-source
Hats off to Smugmug’s Chief Geek, Don MacAskill, for his open letter, Giving back to open-source. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone viewed open source developers and software in the same light?
A Journey Through Military Justice in Iraq
What happens when an innocent American citizen is arrested in Iraq in 2005? He spends 55 days in prison, never gets to see a lawyer, and is only released after the ACLU, the Los Angeles Times and the The New York Times get involved. Fifty-one days after arrest, the Detainee Status Board at Camp […]
You Cannot Fail
In this article, Reuters describes a group of British teachers which wants to replace “fail” in classrooms with “deferred success.” I’ll have to remember that one.
Sorry, officer. I didn’t fail to observed the speed limit. I have simply had deferred success with the speed limit.
Yeah. That’s the ticket…. :P
Global Economy in My Mailbox
The notion of a global economy does not usually protrude on my life above the level of background noise. Today, however, I received a postcard that made me notice just how small our world has become. A Korean company (Temco, if you are curious) actually sent a postcard from Korea to my PO box in […]
Email forwarding amounts to ritual gift exchange
I have two reactions to Email forwarding amounts to ritual gift exchange from NewScientist.com
Doh! I knew that! How do I get paid to do “research” like this?
Isn’t that interesting? I’ll bet there are a lot of people who never thought of that.
I am a bit fascinated that people actually study this stuff. I have always […]
Deserve a Driver’s License? Prove It!
According to the Post-Dispatch, getting a driver’s license in Missouri is getting a whole lot more difficult and time consuming. From the article:
To renew Missouri drivers license
Beginning Friday, customers at Missouri license offices must provide proof of citizenship, proof of identity and proof of residence. The fee for a regular drivers license is $10 for […]
Co-existing With a Web Designer
I found this on Craiglist and figured that it was alternately hilarious and thought-provoking. I wish I knew who the original author was so that I could give credit where it is due.
Oh, yes, before I forget. If you find yourself taking this too seriously, breathe and get a clue. :P
Enjoy!
I’ve been providing web services […]
Got Encryption Software? Better Get a Lawyer!
News.com reports that Minnesota court takes dim view of encryption, presuming that the presence of encryption software on a computer may be viewed as evidence of criminal intent.
“We find that… the existence of an encryption program on his computer was at least somewhat relevant to the state’s case against him,” Judge R.A. Randall wrote in […]
Bug Fixed: One Reason Why Open Source is Cool
Ever wonder about why people like me continually rave about the wonders of open source software? One reason is because bugs get fixed really fast. Witness some of the security flaws in Firefox which were reported recently and patched within a few days.
Here is a more personal example. I had been having a problem with […]
HOWTO Open a Kensington Laptop Lock with a Toilet Paper Tube
Were you thinking of using a Kensington lock to secure your laptop computer? You might want to reconsider.
Thanks to Boing Boing for this pointer to a demonstration of how to open a Kensington laptop lock with the cardboard tube from a roll of toilet paper.
Here is the two minute long, 7.5 MB WMV video.
Chris Vogel […]
Pay Microsoft Twice
Microsoft today announced the beta test of Microsoft OneCare. In case you haven’t heard of OneCare, this is Microsoft’s anti-virus “solution.”
Doesn’t it seem odd that MS builds insecure software and then wants to sell us a second product to secure it?
Isn’t this like buying a brand-new-but-broken safe from the store and then paying the same […]
