Misc. Ramblings

One of the counter-culture slogans of the sixties and seventies was to question authority (another was "Better dead than Red." This takes on new meaning in the conflict between Red and Blue states. But, I digress). According to this Wired article on the events of September 11, a study found that those who relied on their own judgment and sources of information, and therefore evacuated the towers rather than listened to 911 operators who told them to wait for rescuers to reach them, survived. Those that waited, died.

In addition, the common procedure for passengers of a hijacked plane, at that time, was to do nothing and wait for authorities to deal with the situation. Fortunately, the passengers of United Flight 93, hearing, via cell phones, of the attacks, disregarded the procedures and took independent action.

The bottomline seems to be that in an emergency, each citizen must make their own assessment of what to do rather than to rely on authority. This is at the same time empowering and frightening because of the possible consequences. However, free people everywhere are willing and able to make such decisions and this study, for one, seems to say we are usually right.

Aloha!

[Insert disclaimer here] If something between 40 to 60 percent of death penalty cases are reversed on appeal because, perhaps, the person is actually innocent, does that mean we should get rid of the appeal process? If you are Republican Congressmen Dan Lungren and Jon Kyl the answer appears to be yes.

It seems these two men want to "streamline" the legal process by eliminating or sharply reducing the ability to appeal death penalty verdicts. Surely it must concern them that innocent people would be killed. But based on their bill, it seems the focus is that the sentence will be carried out more expeditiously.

According to a source in the article, most reversals are based on: "egregiously incompetent lawyering, prosecutorial misconduct or suppression of evidence, misinstruction of jurors or biased judges or jurors," said the study published in the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies."

The solution, in my opinion, is to get rid of the death penalty. Once someone is executed, you cannot correct an error. Hence, judges and juries are very circumspect when sentencing someone to death. If there wasn't such a need to be so cautious, cases could move much more efficiently through the system (if that's what the two men are actually concerned about).

The word photography has as its roots the Greek words phos (light) and graphos (written, drawn, or recorded). Taking things literally, this set of Flickr images paints with the light from the common sparkler.

A Newsweek report on the MSNBC site indicates President Bush's White House Deputy Chief of Staff and political strategist Karl Rove may have been the source that identified a Central Intelligence Agency undercover agent. According to the report,

The controversy began three days before the Time piece appeared, when columnist Robert Novak, writing about Wilson's trip, reported that Wilson had been sent at the suggestion of his wife, who was identified by name as a CIA operative. The leak to Novak, apparently intended to discredit Wilson's mission, caused a furor when it turned out that Plame was an undercover agent. It is a crime to knowingly reveal the identity of an undercover CIA official. A special prosecutor was appointed and began subpoenaing reporters to find the source of the leak.

Whomever is the source of the leak should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Revealing the true identity of a CIA undercover agent puts the life of not only the agent in jeopardy, but also anyone who the agent had ever worked with. It is not overstating things to say people's lives may have been but at peril because of Washington beltway political shenanigans.

NASA is rightly proud to document the success of its Deep Impact mission to comet Tempel 1. Locally, the Keck Observatory, on the island of Hawai'i, has released preliminary data. However, since the data are in the hundreds and thousands of megabytes in size I've decided not to download it. The initial report indicates the infrared spectrometer picked up the impact debris immediately and found the following:

"The IR continuum began to brighten immediately after impact, and brightening continued for the next hour. Spectral lines of H2O appeared almost immediately, and continued to brighten thereafter. The first instrument setting (28 minutes on source) revealed spectral lines of H2O (7 hot-band lines)), C2H6 (5 Q-branches: RQ2, RQ1, RQ0, PQ1, and PQ2), and CH3OH (many lines). The second setting (24 minutes on source) yielded additional hot-band lines of H2O,along with lines of HCN (six lines), C2H2 (tentatively two lines),CH3OH (many lines) and OH prompt emission."

Aloha!

Speaking of soldering irons, the IEEE Spectrum website has an article on how to upgrade your cheap affordable DVD player and make it work like one costing thousands more. Before I get too far, note well that these modifications are not for you Sunday solderers out there. You must make potentially dangerous modifications to the power supply and other high voltage areas of the DVD player. Some of these areas can hold an electrical charge large enough to cause injury or death for months after the unit has been unplugged from the wall outlet. Hence, unless you know what you are doing, do not even think about trying to make these modifications. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk. The door is a jar.

That said, the changes consist mostly of switching out cheap capacitors with high quality units. By making these changes, the author of the article says he obtained cleaner, better sound and truer image colors from his DVDs. These claims must be taken with a grain of salt since no double blind, scientifically controlled studies were done. He didn't even try to measure, using various calibrated test instruments, the alleged better sound and picture. But if you really like modding stuff, and are qualified to make these changes, this could be your cup of tea.

The Popular Science website has a how-to article on assembling your own portable WiFi hotspot. Everything fits neatly into the backpack but, my goodness, the equipment sure is expensive. The parts list includes a wireless gateway costing $700USD and a backpack going for $230. Surely, there are people out there who can do better?

While buying equipment off-the-shelf is a quick way of reaching your goal, I like to think there are electronic geeks experts out there who can come up with home brew equipment that will work as well, if not better, at a lot lower cost.

Aloha!

The US Public Broadcast System (PBS) is running a series based on the Jared Diamond book Guns, Germs and Steel. The Pulitzer Prize winning book, first published in 1997, sparked a debate regarding the relationship between "geographic, cultural, environmental, and technological factors which have led to domination of Western culture in the world."

Diamond's view provides a new way of understanding the world by trying to answer the following questions:

• Why were Europeans the ones to conquer so much of our planet?
• Why didn't the Chinese, or the Inca, become masters of the globe instead?
• Why did cities first evolve in the Middle East?
• Why did farming never emerge in Australia?
• And why are the tropics now the capital of global poverty?

The answers he found are provocative. According to his theory, what you could do, to a great extent, depended on what resources were available to you. And what resources were available to you was, to a great extent, based on luck (or geography).

For example, in order to progress from a hunter-gather society to a farming one, you must have plants and animals that can be usefully domesticated. Lacking such resources, he contends, no matter how intelligent you are, you cannot progress up the ladder towards what we now call Western civilization (such that it is).

Animals dramatically increase the productivity of farming, through their meat, milk, leather, dung, and as beasts of burden. Without them, farmers are trapped in a cycle of subsistence and manual labor.

Of all the animal species in the world, only 14 have ever been domesticated. 12 of these are native to Eurasia. One, the llama, is native to South America - and the farmers of New Guinea managed to domesticate the pig. But pigs can't pull plows, and until the arrival of Europeans in the twentieth century, all New Guinean farming was still done by hand.

Whether you agree with his theories or not, it is, I believe, a different way of viewing history and perhaps a useful way of predicting the future.

Aloha!

The Pew Internet & American Life Project site has an interesting study on users reported changing Internet behavior in regards to spyware/adware.

The report indicates people responding to their survey say they no longer open attachments unless they know it is "safe", are more likely to read through the user agreement/disclaimer/privacy statement, have stopped going to questionable sites, and 18 percent said they've switched to a more secure web browser.

That said, it appears what users actually do is somewhat different from what they report. For example, while 50 percent say they may have spyware/adware on their PCs, when their PCs are scanned, more than 80 percent actually were infected. And while more may be reading the user agreements than before, a full 72 percent still don't. In one instance, where a company set up a fake user agreement that included a $1,000USD reward to the first person to claim it, 3,000 people clicked on through before someone actually read it and claimed the reward.

It appears that while people's awareness of spyware/adware may be increasing, the great majority are still unable or unwilling to do much about it. Clearly, a better job must be done in educating people about the problems associated with spyware/adware and solutions to mitigate the problem.

Aloha!

You can now download Novell's client for Linux (still in beta). I haven't tried it myself because it seems closely tied to their distribution (SuSe 9.3 and/or Novell Linux Desktop 9) and I'm, for now, using Xandros. You can read the install instructions and other information here.

But if you are using Linux as your desktop and need access to Netware servers, this is one way of doing it. Whether it is the best way depends on what version(s) of Netware you are trying to connect to and what Linux distribution you use. As, it seems, with many applications in Linux, if you aren't using the exact environment they specify, you probably won't be able to install, configure, or run the application. Thus, my warning that you be using SuSe 9.3 if you are going to try this software.

Aloha!

Firefox 1.0.5 hit the wires yesterday. The release notes list over 10 security fixes, including the proverbial execution of arbitrary code. Please review the notes and then decide whether to update. I strongly suggest you do, but only you can decide.

I've talked before about the differences between Sam's Club/Wal*Mart and Costco. I've noted how Costco treats its employees with respect by paying a living wage and benefits while Sam's Club/Wal*Mart rabidly adheres to its anti-union, poverty-level benefits and wages while awarding their executives multi-million dollar salaries.

One must wonder how Costco stays in business with such cut-throat competition. But according to this article, Costco's CEO Jim Senegal says: "We pay much better than Wal-Mart. That's not altruism. It's good business." Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti goes on to explain: "From day one, we've run the company with the philosophy that if we pay better than average, provide a salary people can live on, have a positive environment and good benefits, we'll be able to hire better people, they'll stay longer and be more efficient."

Who'd a thunk it? Treat people well, earn their trust and, more likely than not, they will work harder and be more productive than people who are treated like chattel who are one step above slaves.

Because Costco's employees are more productive ($795 of sales per square foot, versus $516 at Sam's Club), Costco's labor costs are actually lower than Wal*Mart's as a percentage of sales. What's more, its labor and overhead costs (classed as SG&A, or selling, general and administrative expenses) are 9.8% of revenues, compared to Wal*Mart's 17%.

Perhaps reflective of this, Costco's executives walk the walk when you compare their CEO salaries to Wal*Mart's. Costco's CEO gets $350,000 a year, Wal*Mart's CEO gets $5.3 million. It seems Wal*Mart executives feel they have to pay themselves well to hire and keep the best executives. But when it comes to employees, said employees are fungible, so why bother.

But, as this article appears to show, the business bottom line is that if pay a living wage and treat your employees with respect, you can hire and keep good employees. These very same employees, if management does its part, can make you profits beyond your dreams.

Aloha!

Many people think that living in Hawaii must be paradise. In many ways, it is. But as a few people find out each year, not everything is sweet and light. According to this article (scroll down to the police reports):

A 50-year-old visitor from Connecticut was allegedly robbed twice in less than five minutes yesterday while walking along Ali'i Drive in Kailua-Kona.

Derrick Schull told police he was walking south along Ali'i Drive at about 3:25 a.m. just north of Lunapule Road when a dark-colored sport utility vehicle stopped alongside him. He said three dark-complexioned males in their 30s got out and demanded his wallet. The suspects then forcibly took the wallet and its contents and drove off in a southerly direction.

About five minutes later, the victim said, four males walked out of some bushes, confronted him and demanded his wallet.

When the victim told them he had no wallet, the two young adults allegedly punched and kicked him before fleeing the area.

The victim suffered minor injuries and refused medical attention.

Ali'i Drive is the main road in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawai'i. To be accosted twice, much less once, on a main street just reflects the problems associated with illegal drug use. The users quickly begin a life of crime, if they haven't already, to get money to buy their drugs. As these people become bolder, I think we will see more and more of these kinds of incidents.

Heck, Honolulu city hall was broken into and computers stolen. Twice. In one week. If city hall isn't safe, where is? That said, it doesn't mean we should all stay in our homes and never leave. These kinds of incidents are not the norm, life does go on. So get out there and live your life as you choose. Just be aware that, sometimes, bad things happen.

Judging by the number of blog anti-spam utilities; the problem of blog comment spam seems to be wide spread. Unfortunately, none of the utilities are perfect. All will have problems. My own solution was to close comments after about five days because, it appeared to me, the spammers had been targeting older posts. Perhaps in the hope that I wouldn't notice them.

But, as time went on, the spammers altered their tactics by targeting comments newer than five days. I even got some for posts made that day (they must either monitor the various blog aggregators or maybe they have bots that subscribe to RSS feeds). At that point, I started using a MovableType plug-in called SpamLookup. Among other things, it does the following:

Filters inbound comments for all installed weblogs.
Filters inbound TrackBack pings for all installed weblogs.
Checks IP address of sender against DNSBL services.
Checks mentioned domain names against SURBL services.
IP match test for TrackBack pings.
URL count limit.
Dynamic proxy checking.
Moderation word list.
Block word list.
Passphrase requirement for comments and/or TrackBack pings.

So far, it seems to be doing a good job of keeping the bad guys out while letting legitimate comments in.

I bring this up because yesterday, when trying to leave a comment on another site, I got blocked from doing so. The comment was to someone who had just purchased a new Motorola Razr V3 cell/mobile phone. The comment I tried to leave is below:

Whoooot! A black V3! They just recently began officially selling those here in the US. While I like my silver V3, there is something sexy about the color black...[/drooling]

The only problem I've had with my V3 is that the display screens are unusable when I'm outside and it's sunny.

Otherwise, it works great for me.

Comment Submission Error

Your comment submission failed for the following reasons:
Your comment was denied for questionable content.

But as you can see, I got an error saying my comment was "denied for questionable content." Oh well, I guess my content is sometimes questionable ;). But this is the first time a computer confirmed it!

To test if my version of SpamLookup would give a similar result, I copied my comment into my own weblog. Interestingly, SpamLookup didn't find anything wrong and let the comment through.

Be clear, I'm not complaining about anything. Comment spam is a very difficult problem to solve and no automated system will be correct 100 percent of the time, including SpamLookup. So, I guess, I shouldn't be surprised if different configurations give different results.

As to whether it is Miller or Novak or some other person who should be in jail for publishing the name of a CIA undercover operative, all I can do is agree with blogger Andrew Sullivan:

"For the partisan right, outing CIA operatives in wartime is the patriotic thing to do. There's only one real option worthy of Bush: give Rove the Medal of Freedom."

Not.

As I've said before, [rant="on"] I don't know who revealed the name but whomever it is, he or she should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. If you think me partisan for saying that, so be it.

But I believe partisan politics has no place when it comes to the security of our nation and any who say identifying our CIA operatives, during a time of war, doesn't weaken our security is either a fool, a Republican sycophant, or both. I don't care if it turns out to be Senator Clinton herself who leaked the name, whomever did should be prosecuted.

And lest we forget, the leak itself was apparently based on partisan politics to try to spin the Nigerian uranium weapons of mass destruction theory of President Bush. And lest we also forget, I seem to remember that the British author of the Nigeria report used by the UK to justify invading Iraq committed suicide when his name was published. Yet some cling to the report without a healthy bit skepticism as to its conclusions.

Bah. Enough of this. Give Rove the Medal of Freedom and President Bush and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld the Nobel Peace Prize.

Not.

Have a Great Weekend, Everyone - Aloha!

One of the core paradigms of the Internet is the idea that it is a public bazaar (see the Cluetrain Manifesto, by Levine, Locke, Searls & Weinberger, especially the chapter on "Markets are Bazaars") where not only conversations can occur, but are facilitated by its very structure. In reference to this, and yesterday's post on blog commenting, I often wonder why MovableType doesn't have threaded commenting with automatic email notification (with the text of the comment) going to the person who's comment is being replied to.

As it stands now (although I don't know if this is different in MT 3.2beta), if someone leaves a comment, MT automatically emails me the text of the comment. This lets me know that a conversation may have begun and also allows me to reply, via email to the comment (if the poster left their email address).

But this is where the public conversation ends. From that point forward, the conversation continues via (more or less) private email. This continues unless I copy and paste the conversation into my blog comments. Thus, a large and perhaps important part of the public conversation may be lost.

Further, if there are multiple people commenting on a post, it sometimes becomes confusing as to what is being commented on. That is, is the person commenting on the original post or someone else's earlier comment? Unless the author of the latter comment explicitly says so, it may be unclear and the conversation becomes muddled, if not completely confusing.

I suggest that threading would take care of the problem of what is being commented on and that automatic emailing of replies to comments could let people know that the conversation is continuing (or not, as the case may be).

I dunno, just my two cents on something that has bothered me about MT, and many other blog software systems, for a long time.

Some utilities try to do everything. Others do only one thing. All try to solve problems that have bothered someone enough that they wrote a solution for it.

For example, I don't know how many times I've moved the mouse pointer over a window and tried to scroll the page, only to realize I had not yet clicked on the window first to shift focus to it.

Comes now a free Windows utility called KatMouse that allows you to use your scroll wheel mouse where ever your pointer is. Even if you haven't first clicked on that window. While, I think, there are other utilities that mimic a Unix-like behavior of keeping the focus based on where the mouse pointer is, this utility adds other options -- such as being able to scroll sideways.

Be forewarned that this utility has been around for awhile and apparently hasn't been updated recently (and has some bugs). But if you think this could solve a problem you may not have realized you even had, feel free to download it.

Fellow Daynoter John Doucette posted some bad news on Wednesday. His dear wife Emma has been diagnosed with skin cancer. I don't know what the prognosis is but I'm sure some good thoughts and prayers sent his and Emma's way would be appreciated.

Whatever happens, I hope John and Emma know they have friends who care.

[Insert disclaimer here. I am not a lawyer. These are my own opinions.] This week will mark one of the most important debates for Hawai'i since statehood. Today, Congress will hear the so called "Akaka Bill." The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005, is commonly referred to by the name of the Hawai'i senator, Daniel Akaka, who introduced the bill. This measure would further the process whereby the US would eventually recognize native Hawaiians in ways similar to, but not exactly like, native Alaskans or native Americans.

Broadly speaking, the bill provides three points:

It establishes the Office of Native Hawaiian Relations in the Department of the Interior to serve as a liaison between Native Hawaiians and the United States. It establishes the Native Hawaiian Interagency Coordinating Group to be composed of federal officials from agencies which administer Native Hawaiian programs. Both of these provisions are intended to increase coordination between the Native Hawaiians and the federal government. And third, the bill provides a process of reorganization of the Native Hawaiian governing entity.

The bill is seen as the second of many steps to recognize certain legal rights that, it is said, Hawaiians either never relinquished or were illegally taken from us. Chief among those rights is the third point mentioned above, the ability to form our own "governing entity", much as native Americans have formed their own. What form that governing entity would take is not spelled out in the bill.

Nonetheless, the process of recognizing these rights began with the enactment, on November 23, 1993, of Public Law 103-14 150 (107 Stat. 1510), commonly referred to as the "Apology Resolution" which states, in pertinent part, that Congress:

(3) apologizes to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the people of the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893 with the participation of agents and citizens of the United States, and the deprivation of the rights of Native Hawaiians to self-determination;

(4) expresses its commitment to acknowledge the ramifications of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, in order to provide a proper foundation for reconciliation between the United States and the Native Hawaiian people; and

(5) urges the President of the United States to also acknowledge the ramifications of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and to support reconciliation efforts between the United States and the Native Hawaiian people.

This is a very complex undertaking and as is made even more so by certain people who spread misunderstandings, distortions, and outright lies. I don't know if justice will finally be done, but this effort is as close as Hawaiians have ever been. Imua

Aloha!

A 15-year old Hawaii girl won the national PGA junior amateur championship over the weekend. No, her name isn't Michelle Wie, it's Stephanie Kono. Stephanie is one of several young women from Hawai'i doing well in the golf world. Although she is not getting the press of her more famous fellow Punahou High School student, she is perhaps as talented.

Kono, playing in the girls division at the Westfield Junior PGA Championship in Westfield, Ohio, shot a one over par 72 on Saturday to win the national 17 and under championship by two strokes.

She showed what she was made of by leading the tournament from beginning to end. Something that few golfers are able to do (although Tiger Woods did exactly that at the British Open this past weekend). Most golfers would rather be coming from behind on the last day than out in front and defending against everyone because, it is believed, there is less mental pressure. But some people just seem to have the nerves to keep out front and let everyone else try to match their play. Stephanie seems to be one of those. If only Michelle could take some lessons from her classmate!

Anyone who's been following the ethanol for fuel debate probably already know this but it's nonetheless important to note that this study shows that it takes more energy to produce the ethanol than you save by using it in place of oil.

Let me repeat the obvious, it takes more energy to produce ethanol as a fuel for vehicles than is saved by substituting it for gasoline. Note, this is just the cost of producing the ethanol (not including the three billion that U.S. big agriculture receive in subsidies from the US tax payers).

The other loss is that ethanol has less energy per unit burned. This mean you have to burn more of it to go the same distance for a given unit of gasoline. Which, of course, means you have to buy more of it to go the same distance you would otherwise.

Don't get me wrong, I believe our dependence on oil is a strategic risk and a not so hidden cost. In addition, burning gasoline has many negative environmental effects. That said, it is difficult to make a rational case that substituting ethanol for a portion of gasoline makes sense -- economic, environmental, or otherwise.

Let's be clear, the whole point of switching to ethanol is a way of transferring money from tax payers to agriculture interests. Big agricultural interests. The kind that buy and sell politicians.

There is even an effort here to force people to buy ethanol laced gasoline so that the failing agriculture businesses here can prolong the inevitable.

Speaking of Republican bias, the local TV stations led off their broadcasts with the Akaka Bill story. Several of them even sent local reporters to Washington to cover the story. While I can not watch all three major stations at once, it seemed each of these spent about two minutes reporting the deeds of the Republicans. But the Republican run local TV station did not say why the Republican hold was put in place and spent about a meager 15 seconds, total, on the story saying only there could be a vote sometime this week.

While it is true there could be a vote, it is also said to be true that if pigs had wings they could fly. The point is right wingers love to say how the media is left leaning and therefore doesn't report in a balanced way. Well, I've got news for them, if it's not a GoodThing for liberals to do, why aren't these people up in arms when conservatives do the same thing? Can you say double standard?

Even the morning papers seem to reflect the conservative leaning line. The Republican run newspaper seems to think a non-story of the possible closing of Pearl Harbor, so that a shipyard in Maine can be saved is more important than the future of Hawaiians. So, it seems, that leaves no space on the front page of their website and, I think newspaper, for the Akaka Bill. On the other hand, our other morning newspaper sees fit to have a front page, above the fold article on the bill and second on the list on their website.

While, if Pearl Harbor were closed, that would definitely be front page news, it is not going to happen. There is no way, unless Maine's two Republican senators put their state's economic well-being ahead of our nations security, will Pearl Harbor close. I wonder if they believe our Canadian neighbors to the North will be lofting a few missiles our way? If so, Mainers need to seriously rethink who they vote for. We are more likely to be hit by a missile from Florida, than one from Ottawa.

If Pearl Harbor does indeed end up on the base closing list, all I can say is Republicans have devolved into the lowest form of life on this planet -- politicians.

In the mean time, let's have some truly balanced reporting.

Imua!

I talked yesterday about how Hawaiians were as close as we have ever been to moving forward with recognition as an indigenous group via the Akaka Bill. Unfortunately, the forces of evil Republicans have once again shown their true colors by blocking the debate in Congress.

Once again, Republicans have stolen what is rightfully ours.

Once again, Republicans have kept us from exercising our inalienable rights to self-determination.

Once again, Republicans have broken their word.

It is ironic that only two weeks ago, on July 4th, we commemorated the 229th anniversary of the signing of Declaration of Independence. Yet, these Republicans would deny us the very rights enshrined therein. I wonder if these Republicans realize they are only fueling the fires of those who have no trust nor faith in the US political process and having fueled these fires, do they understand the logical and predictable consequences?

Let it be on their heads.

The folks over at Mozillazine are saying there will be an update to Mozilla and Thunderbird just days after releasing version 1.0.5. The new version, numbered 1.0.6, to be released sometime this week fixes some things inadvertently broken when 1.0.5 was released (among other things, Enigmail PGP for Thunderbird stopped working).

The site reports that, based on the problems found in the English version of 1.0.5, all work on the localized versions were halted and will go directly to 1.0.6. The unfortunate fallout is that the most current non-English version of Mozilla/Thunderbird is still 1.0.4, which has at least 10 security vulnerabilities (including, as noted earlier, execution of arbitrary code). Hence, foreign users are up in arms that they have to use version 1.0.4 while English users already have 1.0.5 (albeit with its own problems).

While I guess it's fair to object to the way Mozilla did things by delaying the release, since it apparently made a management decision not to release the localized 1.0.5 versions, perhaps the angry hoards could be a little less personal about the attacks.

[Insert disclaimer here] Sometimes I hear about companies promising things that I wonder how they could possibly do what they promise and still stay in business. This is one of those times to take what they are saying with a grain of salt and know that I have not bought, used, or seen what they are selling.

But as a public service for those intrepid souls who like to live on the bleeding edge comes PhoneGnome. They say, as I understand it, you can make PhoneGnome to PhoneGnome calls for free, but if you call a non-PhoneGnome number, you may have to pay what they call "low Internet calling rates" from whichever one of three different services you choose to sign-up with.

Note, as I understand it, you don't pay a fee to PhoneGnome, only to the service you sign-up with. Whether this is cheaper than any of the other voice over IP options available I don't know. But from what I can see, the main advantage is that you use your "normal" (land line) phone to make the calls but have them routed via whichever is the cheapest way to get there.

Note also that although PhoneGnome may not have a direct monthly cost, you must buy their $119 USD hardware (I guess you would call it a modem although I'm not sure what they call it). YMMV.

And finally, Scotty has been beamed up. Actor James Doohan, who played the role of the engineer on the TV series Star Trek passed away today. He was 85 and reportedly suffering from pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease. May he rest in peace.

Imua!

Thirty-six years ago today, man first walked on the moon. Perhaps, in my lifetime, we may yet go back.

The sad saga of the Akaka Bill continues. According to our one non-Republican newspaper, there are two "holds" on the bill. Both placed by Republicans. One of the holds is supposedly based on a concern that Hawaiians might legalize gambling. Of course, this hold is from the senator from, now wait for it, Nevada. As in Las Vegas, which happens to be in Nevada. Surely, this is not a conflict of interest. Right? Surely he has the best interest of native Hawaiians in mind. Right? Surely he isn't concerned that casinos in paradise would drain profits away from his state. Right?

The article is silent on the reason for the second hold. But it doesn't matter. If these holds are released, either others will come or amendments will be made to the bill such that no one will vote for the bill because of the amendments.

As far as I can see, this bill is dead for this year and probably any year in which the Republicans are in power. The good senator Akaka has been trying for six years. He has listened to the opposition and amended the bill, multiple times, to address their concerns. This year, the Republican leadership committed to moving the bill to the floor for a hearing and vote. And yet. It hasn't happened.

While one can never predict what politicians will do, it is not likely this promise will be kept. Sigh. Unless something positive comes of this, I don't think I'll be commenting more on this (hold down the cheers - ed.).

It seems to me, there are two kinds of bloggers. Those who talk about everyday subjects and those that write about out-of-the ordinary subjects.

But one example of someone who can do both is Wil Wheaton. His recent post on gambling in Las Vegas is excellent (I've linked to one but there are a series of good ones there). If I may be so bold to say that I think this is some of his best writing, so far.

Wheaton has a knack of setting the scene and drawing readers into his world. He makes it easy to see things through his eyes. To experience his feelings as your own would be, if you were in his shoes (and if you're in his shoes, he says to tell you he wants them back. No questions asked.).

Wheaton kind of reminds me, in a good way, of the writings of author James Thurber. Readers are propelled forward into a world few will ever actually experience. But the trip is nonetheless interesting.

Although I get no amusement out of gambling, Wheaton obviously does and writes about it in ways that transports the reader into Wil's world. The sights, sounds, and impressions paint a picture of what it would be like to be there. Good stuff, this.

No, this is not a picture of the newest Star Trek starship. It's a CD player. A tube CD player. What does it cost? The Shanling T300 lists for $6,995 USD. You can read a review here or check out the manufacturer site here.

I'm no audiophile, so I can't tell you if it makes any sense to add tubes to a digital player. But then, who said anything audiophiles do make any sense? Especially if they pay almost $7,000 for a CD player. I mean, to people who pay hundreds of dollars for half-a-metre long patch cords that are made of "five nine" copper/silver/gold plate and covered in graphite mesh to reduce "resonances", spending this kind of money for a CD player sounds reasonable.

But for me, I'll trot on over to the local hardware store and buy 14-gauge lamp cord and make my own.

Aloha!

My wallpaper for the week comes from Abi Taylor's website where she is experimenting with macro-photography using her new Canon EOS 350d camera.

Although she says she's not an expert photographer, I think she is being too modest. A careful perusal of her photographs reveal a good eye for detail and composition. As she gets more experienced, she will get even better.

Gee, a new Canon camera. A new Motorola Razr V3 (in black, natch). A plasma wide-screen HDTV. Do I see a pattern here? ;>

In any case, if you have a few minutes, check out her site.

Firefox and Thunderbird 1.0.6 hit the wires yesterday. If you are using either or both, please check out the mozilla site and determine whether to update. If you do, it is suggested you first uninstall your earlier versions and then install the latest.

I spent most of the time I have for a post this morning trying to respond to a comment left by fellow Daynoter Phil Hough. Unfortunately, my response got bounced. Several times. From two different email servers (pair.com and gmail.com).

So I took a look at the email address Phil left in his comment and compared it to what he has on his site and noticed it was different. Hence, I decided to respond to the address on his site rather than the one he left on the comment and that seems to have gone through (at least it hasn't come back at the time of this writing). Crossing fingers that it went through.

Sorry Phil if it doesn't but I tried.

In any case, all I have time for are a couple of links:

"Vista" is what the next version of Microsoft's operating system will be called. It used to be codenamed "Longhorn" but now you can call it Vista. You can visit the Windows Vista site here. But I'm not sure if the 2006 ship date will be met and, if so, what features will ship when it does. While I'm sure there will be a lot of changes under the hood, I've heard that there won't be much that you won't be able to get in Windows XP. But all of that is just speculation and we will have to see what happens.

As a follow-up to my latest post on Wal*Mart's anti-union tactics, I got an email from the Deputy Director of Communications of an outfit called American Rights at Work. She tells me they've created a website www.walmartworkersrights.org that details what she says is "the retail giant's unfair practices in the workplace and a platform for activists to communicate their opposition to Wal-Mart's anti-union behavior."

I don't know who she is nor who pays for the site but with that disclaimer, feel free to check it out.

Have a Great Weekend, Everyone - Aloha!

Over the weekend, a missing hiker from Texas was found after six days of wandering the lava fields on the Big Island of Hawai'i. It seems the 41 year-old man decided to see the lava flowing into the ocean. At night. Alone. Without telling anyone where he was going or what he was going to do.

Rescuers spent days combing the barren waste land trying to find him but it was a 15 year-old boy, flying in a tour helicopter, that finally saw the man's distress signal.

The Boy Scouts have a saying about always being prepared. Perhaps this is the lesson to take from this man's predicament.

Aloha!

The sports pages have given rise to many thoughtful treatise on the human condition. Books and movies have chronicled the exploits of those who take up a sport. Sports have even been described as a substitute for combat or a reason, in the case of the Olympics, to halt wars.

This article from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin is a reflective examination of how former US National Food Ball League coach Jerry Glanville went from Iraq to coaching the defense for the University of Hawai'i football team.

In March of 2004, Glanville and eight others went to Iraq as part of a "NFL Alumni Association trip..., traveling to three, four camps a day, all day, late into the night. Visiting thousands of young United States servicemen, seeing them operate under pressure in the field in the middle of a war."

Coming out of the experience, Glanville felt impelled to get involved with what he calls "the greatest generation in the history of the world." A generation of young people who are willing to go anywhere and do anything they are asked of.

Thus began his quest to start coaching again. It didn't matter to him where, just as long as he could work with this generation of young people he had gotten to know and admired so much.

Speaking of fellow Daynoters, Phil Hough has mentioned, several times, a TV series called TopGear. The series, set in the UK, reviews several types of motor vehicles, although they favor the high performance end of the spectrum.

Recently, a US cable channel called The Discovery Channel picked up the series and started broadcasting it on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The listing of shows doesn't exactly match the current offering across the pond but Phil tells me it sounds like what we see is similar to the current series so perhaps the episodes aren't too old.

In any case, whether the shows are current or two or three years old, I can't wait until the episode reviewing the Ferrari F60 runs. I don't know for sure, but I think the F60 was called the "Enzo" when it was released in the US in 2002. The F60/Enzo took its cues, in great part, from the then current Formula 1 cars. This Ferrari, or almost any Ferrari, has always been my favorite dream car (as in only in my dreams will I ever own one).

If you are into performance automobiles, check you local listing for TopGear. It's TopStuff.

Fellow Daynoter Rick Hellewell sent this link about flesh eating caterpillars. The first of this type of caterpillar was initially identified here in Hawaii. I happened to see a short story on this on a local TV station and all I can say about the creature is that it's really creepy. Nudge, nudge. Creepy. Get it?

Thank you to Rick for the link (Disclaimer: he had nothing to do with the pun - ed.).

When I heard about something called high definition radio I said to my self: "Self, they have to be joking." I mean, it's like that commercial for a cleaning product that gives you high definition windows.

But then, I read this Wired article about high definition radio and I saw the error of my ways. There really is such a thing but I've heard it referred to as digital radio.

But as nice as digital radio probably is, the problem with almost any new technology is the chicken and the egg question. Here in Hawaii, we don't have any digital radio stations (on the other hand, we do have chickens and eggs). So, I'm not likely to buy a $250 digital radio. In fact, I won't be buying either one of the satellite radio (XM or Serius) receivers because we don't get either signal out here in the Pacific.

Why don't we have such services? Perhaps two reasons.

I think it's partly the cost. It takes a bunch of money to come here and set something up for a relatively small population (about one million, not including chickens or eggs). But little do these companies know that we are so starved for selection that when almost any new store opens here, it quickly becomes the number one in gross sales across the entire US. Whether it's Krispy Kreme donuts or Costco warehouse, their number one stores in sales, nationwide, are here.

But mostly, I guess, it's because there's no competition. Almost all the radio stations are owned by the same company so why spend money to differentiate yourself from the other guy?

Speaking of the Japanese, Sony Corporation, that paean to proprietary closed formats and non-competitive practices, is reported to be party to a payola scandal. It appears that Sony may have violated state and perhaps federal law by paying radio stations, through intermediaries, to play their music. The report says Sony must pay a $10 million dollar fine and stop the illegal practices. I am shocked. Shocked I say, that Sony would stoop to such practices.

Aloha!

On a lighter note, I thought the Japanese were wild about vending machines but some folks over in the UK may have topped them. It seems pub patrons in Bath can now get their pints and crisps then go over to the vending machine and get their sex toys. Whoa. Sex toys? Yup. Sex toys.

This article here says four pubs have agreed to have the vending machines installed and are reporting a brisk business. While the idea has not exactly spread far and wide, it does open itself to penetrating questions as to its appropriateness.

Joel Spolsky, he of the "Joel on Software" site, has a longish article on quality versus quantity when it comes to programming and software companies.

The common belief is that when you're building a software company, the goal is to find a neat idea that solves some problem which hasn't been solved before, implement it, and make a fortune. We'll call this the build-a-better-mousetrap belief. But the real goal for software companies should be converting capital into software that works.

For the last five years I've been testing that theory in the real world. The formula for the company I started with Michael Pryor in September, 2000 can be summarized in four steps: Best Working Conditions --> Best Programmers --> Best Software --> Profit!

It's a pretty convenient formula, especially since our real goal in starting Fog Creek was to create a software company where we would want to work [Emphasis in the original]. I made the claim, in those days, that good working conditions (or, awkwardly, "building the company where the best software developers in the world would want to work") would lead to profits as naturally as chocolate leads to chubbiness...

What a concept: Having the best employees saves time and money while, at the same time, increasing profits through the creation of great products. In order to get and keep these employees, management must create and maintain an environment in which employees want to work. There are a lot of deep psychological underpinnings to all this but the bottom line is that it works - if, that is, what you want to produce is the best. It doesn't work if who you want to sell to are Wal*Mart-type customers. His software is not free (other than a free trial version) nor even cheap (but then, nothing from Apple is cheap either). But there's another old saying: You get what you pay for.

According to this article, starting yesterday, Microsoft will require you to register your copy of Windows 2000 or XP before you will be allowed to download

"updates, such as the updated versions of its media player or graphics program, glitch fixes and other features the company may issue 10 or more times a year...

Older systems don't require validation for updates.

Security updates are not part of the system. They can still be downloaded free without the validation process.

Needless to say, according to the article, the update registration system has already been hacked.

The article goes on to say, the registration system is part of a larger effort to add copy protection to more media and devices. When this expanded copy protection system is in place, Microsoft will control PC functions such as the ability to forward email.

In my opinion, Microsoft is driving its customers to Linux and Apple by treating them (it's customers) like thieves. As for me, I already dual boot into Linux on a daily basis. As applications for Linux slowly mature, it's just a matter of time until I won't need Windows at all.

Aloha!

I have a bunch of stuff to do today so I don't have a lot of time this morning so here are a few quick links:

Opera 8.02 was released. The change log says there are three security fixes and a few bug fixes. If you use Opera, you may wish to upgrade as soon as possible.

According to this article, a Idaho attorney's license to practise law was suspended for 11 months. The attorney allegedly asked one of his clients to pose in the nude, in lieu of his regular fee. The client did so, in fear that she would not otherwise be able to get representation in her divorce proceedings.

As if the Lamborghini Gallardo wasn't exclusive enough, they've come out with a special edition (SE). I don't know what's so special about the SE but it "is equipped with a permanent 4WD, 6 speed gearbox, aluminum space frame, ESP and ASR, ABS, ABD, air conditioning, as well as two front and two side airbags...In Europe it will be available at a list price of € 141.500, -- excl.VAT."

Aloha!

My next wallpaper for the week is from fellow Daynoter Phil Hough. Phil has been a regular at the photofriday site. The photo below is his latest submission.

Good job, Phil!

Have a Great Weekend, Everyone - Aloha!

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a series of articles on Microsoft's so called "trusted computing" (MS speak for they don't trust you). There are four articles, all of which illustrate the movement towards a point where you no longer control your PC (link here).

Even when there is no law forcing MS to implement some of these DRM efforts, MS appears set to appease Hollywood by implementing them anyway. Go and read all the articles and think about what it means to you and then decide whether your best interests coincide with Microsoft and Hollywood.

First up, congratulations to the Hawaii Judiciary Internet site team. The Hawaii site has been chosen as one of the top 10 judiciary sites in the US for 2005 according to JusticeServed.com.

The Internet team has worked very hard in making the site useful for court users and I'm sure they will be pleased by the recognition.

Again, congratulations to the entire team!