Netcat:


Socat:


( 'socat -h' OMG )

I love scotch. Scotchy, scotch, scotch. Here it goes down, down into my belly...
--- Ron Burgundy

The Glenlivet 12, on the rocks. So damned good.

Kyocera designed. $599. Microsoft Technology. Look out, road warriors.

Eight-large of memory, 2.4 under the hood. 16 hour battery life.

Connect it to your satellite-enabled Zune!

( Introducing the Microsoft UltraTRON 10K )

Originally published at Contemplate Infinity. You can comment here or there.

Kyocera designed. $599. Microsoft Technology. Look out, road warriors.

Eight-large of memory, 2.4 under the hood. 16 hour battery life.

Connect it to your satellite-enabled Zune!

( Introducing the Microsoft UltraTRON 10K )

Well, I read the announcements today during lunch, and this evening watched the streaming video, and looked through the updated Apple site.

Not a good WWDC. They demoed some great technology, but there was a lot of hand waving and maneuvering. There are still a lot of unanswered questions and things left unsaid. It leaves you anticipating some things, but also wondering what exactly is going on at 1 Infinite Loop, and not in the usual good way.

I’d like to just touch on a few things that didn’t resonate too well with me. I’ll be covering topics in, generally, reverse order since I just finished watching the video, and the end is freshest in my mind.

1- The iPhone software development “solution” is not. They basically said, “haha, no, but you can write a webapp and it looks almost the same and will catch strings it recognizes so you can do maps, email, and make calls!” Sorry, guys, this doesn’t make up for a lack of a SSH client. Provide one, or open up the device so someone else can write one. Until then, the iPhone is a very hard sell for me, especially at the price. Also, it’d be nice to have additional functionality when you were off the network, eg on plane.

2- OK, speaking of iPhone price, we know its costs, know what it can do, and we knew it was coming out on the 29th. There are still a lot of questions about what the plans will look like. I assume the details haven’t been finalized yet, and that’s why they were absent… but what a damn shame. You’d figure this close to release they’d be able to give someone a heads up. Honestly, if the price of the *contract* is really affordable (say, $40-50/month for a normal 500/5000 minutes + “unlimited data”, ok… I could do that, compared to a normal unlimited data plan with the same minutes being, oh, $80-100 normally, at least from the GNU at&t. And the iPhone is nice.. so for price I could overlook not having SSH. My current phone doesn’t.

3- Safari. Ok, you released it to Windows. Good thing for 1, since you’re telling people “webapps or GTFO” except.. when the topic was brought in, regarding Marketshare. A graph was displayed with IE 78%, Firefox 15%, Safari 5%, and everything else, 2%. “Well, we dream big. We would love for Safari’s marketshare to grow substantially.” At which point, IE stayed unchanged and Safari extended to cover the entire remaining 22%.

PUMP. YO. BRAKES. I thinks you just ran over the fox, fool!

Firefox is the only truly cross platform browser he mentioned. I can’t run IE or Safari on my Linux desktop, you insensitive clod! Bastard guy! It’s the most popular open source, extensible browser on the market, and it’s making a great difference with sites’ web standards compliance. You want to target their audience? Also part of what makes Firefox so successful is the whole community making extensions for it. Safari can’t touch the breadth of capabilities Firefox can do via extensions — on all the platforms firefox supports!

And why didn’t they dip at all into IE’s share? Target them. Not only so then you wouldn’t be playing opposite the open source good guy (bad move..) but also because you’d be more likely to swing iTunes-using iPod-having otherwise 100% IE users more likely than getting someone who’s made a switch to Firefox.

Ugh.

4- I don’t like the new default background and the translucent menubar in Leopard.

The translucence would be a nice option in the desktop/screensaver control panel, but on by default? Also, I always appreciated the subtle default background of Mac OS X. It was plain and clean enough to be suitable in any environment, business or home, and it was always something that could be changed easily by the user anyway. Now, it’s something I’d start to feel compelled to change on a default system installation in a commercial environment.

Let Microsoft drop you into Fischer Price on first boot. I’d rather my mac maintain a level of decorum, at least out of box.
5- Leopard. Again, the absence of new information.

One year ago at the last WWDC, Jobs spoke about the presence of top secret features that couldn’t be demoed or even mentioned. “See you next summer at WWDC 07!” OK, word, sounds exciting! So, here we are. One year later. Leopard feature-complete demo! Throw down on the top secret, Steve! Cough it up!

Ten things… right, right, ok. Well, after about #3 or #4, I was hearing a lot of stuff that had already been covered in previous demos. Some items were examined in slightly more detail, and there were a lot of nice innovations displayed, but the totally new stuff demoed came down to a refreshed desktop, dock and finder, plus quick look (certainly a very important piece of software since it’s hooked from iChat, Finder and Time Machine, etc.) and stacks.

Good stuff, yeah, and I’m looking forward to it… but top secret? Where’s the secret sauce, Steve! That was a lot of time spent covering old material.. at a developer’s conference! This isn’t Macworld — no need for a review! Most developers know what was previously discussed.

That’s not to say I don’t appreciate the new features and updates. Some, eg Mail, I’ll probably benefit over and over from. The notes that get synced to LDAP and hook with iCal would be pretty sweet, and the RSS reader looks rather nice as well. Ironically, regarding iCal, it had several very nice and much needed updates (eg, the floating edit window instead of being in the window tray, and the scheduling conflict tool) , but no mention of it was made. http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/features/ical.html

Anyway, top secret? Hype backfires, Steve. Something with less hyperbole last year would’ve served you well today. Say what you mean, don’t blow hot air up peoples’ asses.

Anyway, I think that pretty much sums it up for me. The above is a lot of venting and sounds rather negative. I still massively love my Powerbook G4 laptop and the dual G5 workstation with 20″ cinema display I use at work, and I can’t wait for Leopard’s release, but as far as WWDC07 is concerned, I think a lot of people are wondering about what’s going on behind closed doors at Apple.

The market seemed to agree. Apple’s stock fell 3.45 points ($4.30 down to $120.19) although it has risen .99 points in after-market trading to 121.38.

Originally published at Contemplate Infinity. You can comment here or there.

Well, I read the announcements today during lunch, and this evening watched the streaming video, and looked through the updated Apple site.

Not a good WWDC. They demoed some great technology, but there was a lot of hand waving and maneuvering. There are still a lot of unanswered questions and things left unsaid. It leaves you anticipating some things, but also wondering what exactly is going on at 1 Infinite Loop, and not in the usual good way.

I'd like to just touch on a few things that didn't resonate too well with me. I'll be covering topics in, generally, reverse order since I just finished watching the video, and the end is freshest in my mind.

1- The iPhone software development "solution" is not. They basically said, "haha, no, but you can write a webapp and it looks almost the same and will catch strings it recognizes so you can do maps, email, and make calls!" Sorry, guys, this doesn't make up for a lack of a SSH client. Provide one, or open up the device so someone else can write one. Until then, the iPhone is a very hard sell for me, especially at the price. Also, it'd be nice to have additional functionality when you were off the network, eg on plane.

2- OK, speaking of iPhone price, we know its costs, know what it can do, and we knew it was coming out on the 29th. There are still a lot of questions about what the plans will look like. I assume the details haven't been finalized yet, and that's why they were absent... but what a damn shame. You'd figure this close to release they'd be able to give someone a heads up. Honestly, if the price of the *contract* is really affordable (say, $40-50/month for a normal 500/5000 minutes + "unlimited data", ok... I could do that, compared to a normal unlimited data plan with the same minutes being, oh, $80-100 normally, at least from the GNU at&t. And the iPhone is nice.. so for price I could overlook not having SSH. My current phone doesn't.

3- Safari. Ok, you released it to Windows. Good thing for 1, since you're telling people "webapps or GTFO" except.. when the topic was brought in, regarding Marketshare. A graph was displayed with IE 78%, Firefox 15%, Safari 5%, and everything else, 2%. "Well, we dream big. We would love for Safari's marketshare to grow substantially." At which point, IE stayed unchanged and Safari extended to cover the entire remaining 22%.

PUMP. YO. BRAKES. I thinks you just ran over the fox, fool!

Firefox is the only truly cross platform browser he mentioned. I can't run IE or Safari on my Linux desktop, you insensitive clod! Bastard guy! It's the most popular open source, extensible browser on the market, and it's making a great difference with sites' web standards compliance. You want to target their audience? Also part of what makes Firefox so successful is the whole community making extensions for it. Safari can't touch the breadth of capabilities Firefox can do via extensions -- on all the platforms firefox supports!

And why didn't they dip at all into IE's share? Target them. Not only so then you wouldn't be playing opposite the open source good guy (bad move..) but also because you'd be more likely to swing iTunes-using iPod-having otherwise 100% IE users more likely than getting someone who's made a switch to Firefox.

Ugh.

4- I don't like the new default background and the translucent menubar in Leopard. :-)

The translucence would be a nice option in the desktop/screensaver control panel, but on by default? Also, I always appreciated the subtle default background of Mac OS X. It was plain and clean enough to be suitable in any environment, business or home, and it was always something that could be changed easily by the user anyway. Now, it's something I'd start to feel compelled to change on a default system installation in a commercial environment.

Let Microsoft drop you into Fischer Price on first boot. I'd rather my mac maintain a level of decorum, at least out of box. :-P

5- Leopard. Again, the absence of new information.

One year ago at the last WWDC, Jobs spoke about the presence of top secret features that couldn't be demoed or even mentioned. "See you next summer at WWDC 07!" OK, word, sounds exciting! So, here we are. One year later. Leopard feature-complete demo! Throw down on the top secret, Steve! Cough it up!

Ten things... right, right, ok. Well, after about #3 or #4, I was hearing a lot of stuff that had already been covered in previous demos. Some items were examined in slightly more detail, and there were a lot of nice innovations displayed, but the totally new stuff demoed came down to a refreshed desktop, dock and finder, plus quick look (certainly a very important piece of software since it's hooked from iChat, Finder and Time Machine, etc.) and stacks.

Good stuff, yeah, and I'm looking forward to it... but top secret? Where's the secret sauce, Steve! That was a lot of time spent covering old material.. at a developer's conference! This isn't Macworld -- no need for a review! Most developers know what was previously discussed.

That's not to say I don't appreciate the new features and updates. Some, eg Mail, I'll probably benefit over and over from. The notes that get synced to LDAP and hook with iCal would be pretty sweet, and the RSS reader looks rather nice as well. Ironically, regarding iCal, it had several very nice and much needed updates (eg, the floating edit window instead of being in the window tray, and the scheduling conflict tool) , but no mention of it was made. http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/features/ical.html

Anyway, top secret? Hype backfires, Steve. Something with less hyperbole last year would've served you well today. Say what you mean, don't blow hot air up peoples' asses.

Anyway, I think that pretty much sums it up for me. The above is a lot of venting and sounds rather negative. I still massively love my Powerbook G4 laptop and the dual G5 workstation with 20" cinema display I use at work, and I can't wait for Leopard's release, but as far as WWDC07 is concerned, I think a lot of people are wondering about what's going on behind closed doors at Apple.

The market seemed to agree. Apple's stock fell 3.45 points ($4.30 down to $120.19) although it has risen .99 points in after-market trading to 121.38.

damacus@obfuscated ~ $ uptime
 22:53:01 up 370 days,  2:11,  6 users,  load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00

Kenneth Branagh's rendition of Hamlet, from 1996, is going to be released on DVD on August 14, 2007. About time... damn. I'm still waiting for it to appear on Barnes & Noble's site to preorder*. Right now their coming soon DVD section only covers up to July 31st.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005JLCI

* B&N doesn't have a patent for one-click shopping. I try to give them my business over amazon whenever possible. With a membership card, B&N costs about the same, and sometimes less than, Amazon.

Baby Got Book

Homeland Security Offers Details on Real ID

From the summary (which links to the article):

"C|Net is running an article on the DHS's requirements for the Real ID system. Thursday members of the Bush administration finally unveiled details of the anticipated national identification program. Millions of Americans will have until 2013 to register for the system, which will (some would argue) constitute a national ID. RFID trackers for the cards are under consideration, as is a cohesive nation-wide design for the card. States must submit a proposal for how they'll adopt the system by early October of this year. If they don't, come May of next year their residents will see their licenses unable to gain them access to federal buildings and airplanes. The full regulations for the system are available online in PDF format. Likewise, the DHS has a Questions and Answers style FAQ available to explain the program to the curious."

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/02/25/tomb_arc.html?category=archaeology&guid=20070225073000

Much more information in this story released Sunday. It provides another link to their main page for the topic, http://www.discovery.com/tomb, as well as provides the date and time of the documentary -- Discovery Channel, Sunday March 4th, 9PM ET.

http://time-blog.com/middle_east/2007/02/jesus_tales_from_the_crypt.html

Holy crap. I wonder what we'll be hearing about this on Monday.. Also, amazing how many comments this has received thus far. Article pasted below in its entirety.

February 23, 2007 6:55
Jesus: Tales from the Crypt
Posted by Tim McGirk | Comments (725) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This

Brace yourself. James Cameron, the man who brought you 'The Titanic' is back with another blockbuster. This time, the ship he's sinking is Christianity.

In a new documentary, Producer Cameron and his director, Simcha Jacobovici, make the starting claim that Jesus wasn't resurrected --the cornerstone of Christian faith-- and that his burial cave was discovered near Jerusalem. And, get this, Jesus sired a son with Mary Magdelene.

No, it's not a re-make of "The Da Vinci Codes'. It's supposed to be true.

Let's go back 27 years, when Israeli construction workers were gouging out the foundations for a new building in the industrial park in the Talpiyot, a Jerusalem suburb. of Jerusalem. The earth gave way, revealing a 2,000 year old cave with 10 stone caskets. Archologists were summoned, and the stone caskets carted away for examination. It took 20 years for experts to decipher the names on the ten tombs. They were: Jesua, son of Joseph, Mary, Mary, Mathew, Jofa and Judah, son of Jesua.

Israel's prominent archeologist Professor Amos Kloner didn't associate the crypt with the New Testament Jesus. His father, after all, was a humble carpenter who couldn't afford a luxury crypt for his family. And all were common Jewish names.

There was also this little inconvenience that a few miles away, in the old city of Jerusalem, Christians for centuries had been worshipping the empty tomb of Christ at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Christ's resurrection, after all, is the main foundation of the faith, proof that a boy born to a carpenter's wife in a manger is the Son of God.

But film-makers Cameron and Jacobovici claim to have amassed evidence through DNA tests, archeological evidence and Biblical studies, that the 10 coffins belong to Jesus and his family.

Ever the showman, (Why does this remind me of the impresario in another movie,"King Kong", whose hubris blinds him to the dangers of an angry and very large ape?) Cameron is holding a New York press conference on Monday at which he will reveal three coffins, supposedly those of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother Mary and Mary Magdalene. News about the film, which will be shown soon on Discovery Channel, Britain's Channel 4, Canada's Vision, and Israel's Channel 8, has been a hot blog topic in the Middle East (check out a personal favorite: Israelity Bites) Here in the Holy Land, Biblical Archeology is a dangerous profession. This 90-minute documentary is bound to outrage Christians and stir up a titanic debate between believers and skeptics. Stay tuned.
--Tim McGirk/Jerusalem

There are a lot of cool pictures of a data recovery shop in this TomsHardware article: http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/14/raid_recovery/index.html

I would love to have access to that lab about now. I have a crapped out 60GB IBM Death^H^H^Hskstar 60GB (IC35L040AVER07 p/n 07N7404 which could use recovering. I'm sure they have some of those in their stash of common HDD models. (Ironically, we had a hard drive of the EXACT SAME MODEL AND PART NUMBER which died at work about a week ago.)

Fun stuff.

EDIT: A post on slashdot worth a read, regarding the company profiled in that article. :-) http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=223852&cid=18126372

(from http://xkcd.com/c210.html)

Yeah, THIS is what America needs... Subliminal McDonalds advertising on TV. I have serious issues with marketing. It's a double-edged, morally and ethnically ambiguous sword, like networked technology (see the video in my last post - convenience and ubiquitous access vs. privacy) and nuclear technology (power vs. bombs).

Marketing is indeed important -- the industry is incredibly large and provides a living to many individuals and families. It supports research in mind sciences. It helps the economy by increasing brand and product awareness. However, I take exception to advertising that takes advantage of the subconscious at that level. Sure, most marketing does involve plays on the subconscious mind, however they are long enough that you can consciously process what you're seeing. Didn't some movie theater(s) get in trouble back in the day for advertising concessions via subliminal messages? (Peripherally, I also think marketing to young children is ripe for abuse.)

I wonder how many people will try to rationalize these, "hey, its instant instead of 30s to 1min!" The problem is that this argument carries no water. Consider a 5 second advertisement, like "Blah, Inc is a proud sponsor of X." Short enough to not be a bother.. and far longer than a fraction-of-a-second slight-of-hand. Bah.

Finally... lol @ a McDonalds advertisement in the middle of a gourmet food show.

A video about the REAL ID Act.

vision distorted by atmo
sound a transient vibration
electrochemical interactions
with the cosmos, of the cosmos
life lived infinity ways

beyond the realm of perception
elctromagnetic waves dance
scaling the spectrum
particles in superposition

this single instance in an epoch
where observation and reality meet
these sensed dimensions, cohesive

yesterday and today, bound by causality
yesterday relegated to a memory
today spins from the known
riding the crest of time's vector
as the spectre of chance and uncertainty
silently work, bound by natural law,
within the natural world,
as the universe evolves around us.
as we evolve around the universe.

(Taken from the project page.)

About:
The MP3 Streaming DownSampler for PHP is written with cable modem/DSL users with low upstream caps in mind. Using LAME, it dynamically downsamples a requested MP3 to a bitrate which can be streamed. It doesn't use temporary files, so you don't have to take the time to do any batching, and you just give it a directory with symlinks to your music in a place the Web server can reach. The interface is simplistic and fast, meant for immediate plug and play access.

Release focus: Major feature enhancements

Changes:
This version features Ogg Vorbis streaming downsampled support, regular expression searching, a jscrip folder browser, shuffling/random playlists based on tree location, and Javascript-free PDA support (people have streamed from palm Treos and other handheld computing devices). The documentation and style have been tweaked. There are now tar download options, Altavista image art lookup, and display theme options.

Author:
Damacus Porteng

For more info, view the freshmeat page. Website (with additional screenshots) and direct download are linked from within.
http://freshmeat.net/projects/mp3sds/?branch_id=34511&release_id=232055

It's an awesome app if you have a Linux or Mac OSX machine with PHP support.

"Resolve"

a thought doesn't imply intent, action, nor decision.
i think for myself and draw my own conclusions.
i welcome discourse on opinion and especially evidence.

because i may agree with one of your points..
..doesn't mean I'm behind your cause
..or that I agree with your other points.

because i may disagree with one of your points..
..doesn't mean i don't understand it.

when i've come to a decision after deliberation..
..only fresh evidence and opinions are welcome.
rehashing prior arguments or appealing fallaciously..
..is insulting, pointless, and counterproductive.

do not try to manipulate me. do not test my resolve.