June 28, 2005
Fortune of the Day
Insanity is hereditary. You get it from your children.
Holiday Map I
As guessed by Old Horsetail Snake and Kazza, the mystery photo was from the Parkes Radio Telescope. On the first day outward bound, we headed to Bathurst, Orange, Parkes and then Forbes:
Of course a map like that, with no scale, is somewhat hard to visualise... Parkes (where the Radio Telescopt can be found) is 365km (227 miles) from Sydney. The slowest parts are Sydney to Penrith (i.e. from where we live to the outskirts of Sydney) because of the traffic and then Penrith to Mt Victoria (not shown) as we climbed the Blue Mountains. The rest of the way was 100 or 110 km/hr (62 mph - 68 mph).
June 27, 2005
Fortune of the Day
The Third Law of Photography:
If you did manage to get any good shots, they will be ruined when someone inadvertently opens the darkroom door and all of the dark leaks out.
June 26, 2005
Photo of the Day
Apart from Peskie (who knows exactly where we went for our holidays), can anyone guess where this photo was taken?
June 25, 2005
Fortune of the Day
Found at The Gray Monk:
Experience is what helps us to make a different mistake the second time around.
June 24, 2005
Fortune of the Day
One man wanted to become a famous writer.
When his friends asked him what does he mean by 'famous writer' he answered: "I want my works to be read by many people, and when they read them to become so exited so they would scream and cry!"
And this man has achieved his dream. Now he is working for Microsoft, writing error messages!
June 23, 2005
Fortune of the Day
Half of being smart is knowing what you're dumb at.
Apologies...
I had a bunch of 'Fortune of the Day' all rolled up and ready to go (via trickle) but either I misunderstood the instructions (very likely) or trickle isn't working (possible), or I failed to sacrifice the right kind of goat (less likely). Whatever.
The end result is that you have all been waiting for some sign of life in the blog.... Did he cark it? Has he given up? Why is he talking about himself like this?
Well, late last week, after DF had her day surgery, we packed the kids in the car and departed for parts unknown. It is hard to update the blog from the middle of nowhere on a dial-up connection and even harder to show some photos. Anyway, we should be back by Sunday afternoon and in the meantime, I will try and juggle some stuff around to get a few posts up...
June 22, 2005
Fortune of the Day
If you don't like the way I drive, stay off the sidewalk!
June 21, 2005
Fortune of the Day
Drew's Law of Highway Biology:
The first bug to hit a clean windshield lands directly in front of your eyes.
June 20, 2005
Fortune of the Day
Windows - 32 bit extensions and a graphical shell for a 16 bit patch to an 8 bit operating system originally coded for a 4 bit microprocessor, written by a 2 bit company that can't stand 1 bit of competition.
June 19, 2005
Fortune of the Day
Micro$oft asks you "Where do you want to go?".
Macintosh gets you there today ...
June 18, 2005
Fortune of the Day
Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned.
-- Milton Friedman
June 17, 2005
Fortune of the Day
Unix is not The Answer.
Yes is the answer.
Unix is The Question.
June 16, 2005
Fortune of the Day
Don't lose
Your head
To gain a minute
You need your head
Your brains are in it.
-- Burma Shave
June 15, 2005
Fortune of the Day
Linux is only free if your time has no value
-- Jamie Zawinksi / founder of Mozilla.org
June 14, 2005
Fortune of the Day
Keep in mind always the two constant Laws of Frisbee:
(1) The most powerful force in the world is that of a disc straining to land under a car, just out of reach (this force is technically termed "car suck").
(2) Never precede any maneuver by a comment more predictive than "Watch this!"
Drought
Image from the Sydney Morning Herald
It is one thing to read about the drought, and another thing to actually experience it. This is a picture of Lake Pejar which supplied water for the inland city of Goulburn. The radio mentioned that even the swimming pools have been closed - the local swim schools have to shuttle their kids into Canberra by bus...
June 13, 2005
Fortune of the Day
Real Sysadmins don't play tennis, or any other sport that requires you to change clothes. Mountain climbing is OK, and real sysadmins wear their climbing boots to work in case a mountain should suddenly spring up in the middle of the machine room.
Happy Birthday Betty
This weekend, most of Australia (WA excepted) has a long weekend to celebrate the Queens Birthday. So: Happy Birthday Betty Elizabeth II. The thing that is strangest about this is that she was actually born on the 21st of April, 1926....
Actually, the Queen's Birthday Holiday is a movable feast, it is generally held on the second Monday in June (except in WA which holds it in September or October). The weekend is also the official start to the ski season...
Does anyone know why we celebrate QE2's birthday in June instead of April?
The answer is in the extended article, but try leaving a comment with your suggestions before checking the answer :-)
On the 4th of June, 1788 (about 4 months after the colony was established), Governor Arthur Phillip declared a public holiday to celebrate the birthday of George III (born 4 June 1738 and king at the time).
Note that some sites get confused with things like Edward VII (who celebrated his birthday in summer because it was more fun) and George V (born 3 June 1865) but there is no plausible link to Australia for either story.
What a pile of cow manure...
I just received some crap email which reads (in part):
Information on how to be removed from this mailing list can be found at the end of the e-mail.
I always wondered what happen to the Hare Krishna's. ....
*Legalese -- You are receiving this e-mail because you either submitted this email address to the PSS or someone else did it for you. We do not buy lists or gather them via software, nor will we ever give/sell your address to anybody. If you wish to unsubscribe, please reply with the word “Remove” in the subject header
What a load of codswallop. I couldn't care less what happened to the 60's cult which tried to brainwash a generation. There is no way that I would have subscribed to this absolute rubbish. So that means you did gather my email address illegitimately. Let me spell out my suggestions for world peace - eliminate all spammers and con-artists...
June 12, 2005
Fortune of the Day
Honesty pays, but it doesn't seem to pay enough to suit some people.
-- F. M. Hubbard
How Will I Die?
Found this quiz over at Ambient Irony....
 | You scored as Natural Causes. Your death will be by natural causes, though not by any diseaese, because that is another option on this test. You will probably just silently pass away in the night from old age, and people you love won't realize until the next morning, when you are all purple and cold and icky.
How Will You Die?? created with QuizFarm.com |
I was betting on an irate PC user taking offence to my Microslosh comments.
SCSI Cards...
I have had a lovely time today - the middle of a long weekend and I had to work. Got a call about 9:30 AM and then worked continuously on the problem from 10:30 to 7:30 PM. An ultra-scsi card, cable and tape drive that were tested on Friday refused to work on a client site.
In this case, the card is a Qlogic dual-Ultra LVD/SE card which has custom drivers (SUNQqus*). The tape drive is an IBM Ultrium 2 which also has special drivers. So the problem could be any of the:
- scsi card (LVD)
- scsi driver (Qlogic)
- scsi cable (Sun)
- ultrium tape drive (LVD)
- ibm tape driver (IBM)
The customer outage window ended with no resolution from the poor bloke on-site, even with me logged in from home. So we both headed into the office (around a Swans home-game crowd) and built another server to test all the parts we were able to remove (everything except the card). We tried an standard SE card (no problem), then an Ultra-Wide SE card (no problem), then another LVD/SE card (same card and revision as the one used in the morning). No problem. We tried all different combinations - no problem. So what next? Maybe the problem was a qlogic problem - given that the customer server also had a qlogic fibre card... Anyway, we headed back on-site with the LVD/SE card and also the UW-SE (just in case).
Part way there we were told the outage window had been delayed by 45 minutes - just enough time to park between Krispy Kreme and Starbucks :-)
Brought the server down, popped the existing card, plugged in the replacement, booted up and everything just worked. The only change was from one card to the other - both cards are the same part number, same revision, same firmware. Both cards worked in a test environment but only one works at the customer site.
Oh well, the customer is happy - but two engineers (one of them was me) have spent the whole day fooling around with SCSI cards...
Maybe I can organise some TIL (time in lieu) with the boss...
Apple vs Intel (Slashdot Poll)
Slashdot ran a poll on the Apple/Intel announcement. The result is interesting despite all the caveats:
This whole thing is wildly inaccurate. Rounding errors, ballot stuffers, dynamic IPs, firewalls. If you're using these numbers to do anything important, you're insane.
Effectively the final results were 1/3 in favour, 1/3 against and 1/3 unsure.
June 11, 2005
Fortune of the Day
It is difficult to produce a television documentary that is both incisive and probing when every twelve minutes one is interrupted by twelve dancing rabbits singing about toilet paper.
-- Rod Serling
Pay more for less?
[From DragonFly ...]
Has anyone else noticed that the exclusive schools (which cost a lot) actually have shorter terms than public schools (which are free).
That puts them in the same category as women's bikini's - the briefer the material, the more they cost :-)
Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol sucks ...
One of the hot topics in the local press this last week has been the Kyoto Protocol. Australia is not a signatory to this and currently has no intention of joining because of the pain it will cause the nation and NSW in particular. Actually it is sort of interesting, the state with the most to lose (NSW) has a Labor government but the federal Liberal government is refusing to sign the protocol. The federal opposition (Labor) claims that they would sign it - which would completely stuff up the Labor party in NSW.
Burning brown coal ...
Why exactly is Australia (NSW) being so difficult about it? Well the problem is that most power generation in NSW is made via brown-coal fired power-stations. These produce the majority of the greenhouse emissions. To comply with the protocol would require NSW to change to some other form of power generation in a very short time period and the only viable alternative currently available is nuclear power. Hydro won't work given the complete lack of water, wind has proven to be successful, gas is very scarce on this side of the continent, etc.
Greens want nuclear power ...
It strikes me as very strange that the watermelons greenies, who are flogging the Kyoto protocol as the best thing since sliced bread are thereby encouraging the initiation of nuclear power. Remember that Australia has only one reactor - a medical isotope/research reactor - we do not use nuclear power and never have used nuclear power. Of course, now that the greenies want us to switch, they will be happy to have the nuclear waste buried in their own backyards - just so we can meet the greenhouse emissions requirements. From the economic perspective, at least nuclear power will be "cheap" because we have our own naturally-enriched uranium. Next step will be nuclear-weapons...
The serious question ...
So which is more important? Reducing the consumption of brown-coal (which reduces greenhouse emissions) or the management of nuclear waste (from the only viable alternative)? I know what I would vote for - more research into alternatives while we tell the UN to take a long walk off a short pier.
Army Cover Up
From the Sydney Morning Herald:
Moscow:The Russian Army has banned the bikini competition from its annual army beauty parade.
"Why should our lady officers get undressed?" asked Major-General Nikolai Burbyga, chairman of the judging panel. "Let's keep that a military secret."
The final of the Beauties in Epaulettes competition takes place on June 21 in Moscow. The 19 servicewomen had to show off their military skills to make it to the final.
June 10, 2005
Fortune of the Day
As an Englishman, an Aussie and a Scotsman are sitting in a pub, quaffing a few, three flies buzz down from the ceiling and lazily circle each drinker. Suddenly "buzzzzzzzzplooop", each fly does a kamakazi dive into a different glass.
The Englishman take a disgusted look at his pint, dips the fly out with a spoon, flicks the fly over his shoulder, and drains the glass.
The Aussie notices the fly as he puts the glass to his lips. With a quick puff he blows the bug out in a cloud of foam, and tosses the beer down in one gulp.
Then, as they both look on, awestruck, the Scotsman gently grasps the fly by its wings, lifts it out of his brew and shakes it off. Then, in a firm voice he speaks to the fly: "There y'are now laddie, safe and sound. NOW SPIT IT OOOOT!"
Schooling Decisions
This weekend is a long weekend (thanks Betty), and one of the issues we are going to thrash out as a family is about pulling OJ out of school. As regular readers would know, OJ has Asperger's syndrome* and this has caused a lot of problems at school. The problems are two-fold. Firstly OJ fails to met the schools expectations when it comes to behaviour - especially when he is either bored or over-stimulated (e.g. in the playground). Secondly, these situations escalate unless the teacher (or some other adult) is aware of the condition and knows how to deal appropriately with the problem.
Note that this does not, in any way, excuse the original anti-social behaviour. It just says that the standard adult response to such behaviour may not work in the way you would normally expect. In fact, it is generally disastrous and leads to a rapid escalation which results in all out warfare.
There are two teachers in particular who have worked hard to respond appropriately and this shows in his "communication book". The phrasing will be along the lines of "OJ did [insert something inappropriate] but after a discussion with [insert discerning teacher] he settled down and did [insert activity here]". The "punishment" may have been to miss out on an activity in which he was interested in but the point was that it was dealt with effectively. Most of the other teachers will end up with something like: "OJ did [insert something inappropriate] and refused to [insert some area of non-compliance or non-coopertion]. He then [insert escalation] and was rude to [insert some third party]. [Another adult] had to get involved and OJ [resisted arrest, caused a riot, etc]". The fundamental problem was the same but the results were different.
At the end of last year (Australian schools follow the calendar year) we seriously considered moving to another school but the principal asked us to "give the school another chance". The problem is recursive - OJ needs extension material (Asperger's children have very high IQs) but this is being withheld because of his behaviour. His behaviour is deteriorating because he is not getting extension material. Multiple meetings with the head-mistress and his class teachers have not been effective. Lots of promises are made but very little work appears to be done. We have tried to get outside help and assessment but by and large the headmistress feels that this is unnecessary. We have even offered to help pay for inservice training for the teachers (who are trying to help).
The last two weeks have been the worst in recorded OJ history. The problem is spiralling out of control and we need to find a solution immediately. We have investigated a number of other schools - one appears to be ideal but it would require moving some 60 km away, changing jobs and separation from DF's family. After much consideration it has been dropped as an option. Another nearby primary school has the resources and the skills but no vacancy.
Where does that leave us? Well, firstly DFJ needs to be enrolled now - she will almost certainly not be attending the school that has failed OJ. Secondly, we are probably going to apply to home school OJ for the rest of this year. The only other option is to place him in the public system and then demand the government resources he needs. In the Catholic system, we have asked but not demanded.
Anyway, your prayers over the weekend would be appreciated as we work through the problem and the probable changes in our routines.
[* Two classic illustrations of Asperger's:
1. DF told OJ at the swimming pool to "run and take your clothes off". He did. He ran and simultaneous took his clothes off. Very entertaining but not from his perspective.
2. (From the Wikipedia link above) When a teacher asks a child with Asperger's, "Did the dog eat your homework?", the child with Asperger's will remain silent if they don't understand the expression, trying to figure out if they need to explain to the teacher that they don't have a dog and also that dogs don't generally like paper. The child doesn't understand what the teacher is asking, cannot deduce the teacher's meaning, or the fact that there is a non-literal meaning, from the tone of voice, posture or facial expression, and is faced with a question which makes as much sense to him as "Did the glacier in the library bounce today?". The teacher may walk away from the experience frustrated and thinking the child is arrogant, spiteful, and insubordinate. The child sits there mutely, feeling frustrated and wronged. ]
Mac-on-Intel FAQ
MacSlash has the answers. Click on over to MacSlash | Mac-on-Intel Frequently Asked Questions for all the possible questions. My favourite gem has to be:Q: Will I be able to run System 6 software on Intel Macs? Apple will include Classic with 68k emulation, right?
A: Absolutely. And what a great idea too! Apple realizes the importance of running decades-old software that its users can't upgrade from due to stubbornness or misplaced sentimentality and so has invested millions in making sure you can bring your antique computer programs with you to the next Mac platform."
A New Munuvian
Looks like someone is getting ready to shift* (and to MT3 into the bargain).
[* Which may explain my absence this weekend as I do some work** on moving the posts...]
[** Which could further explain why I have only managed to move February 2003 of my own posts...]
Work Around the Problem
What do you do when you get spill something in your keyboard? You can try calling tech support, selling the computer on ebay, putting it in the dishwasher (please don't do that) or you can find a workaround:Yep. I had just gotten it back and was using it on long car trips to do the last round of substantive re-writes when a bit of Dr. Pepper sloshed out of my cup onto the edge of the keypad. Despite all my prompt action to remove all traces of the offending liquid and the delay in showing the effects, soon I noticed that I could not type 'a, z, q, 1, !, Q, A, [or] Z' or use CAP LOCK or TAB. I just could not face taking it back in for repairs, so have been lagging here and there using my workaround, a clipboard manager with all the necessary letters and characters ready to be pasted where they are needed. I'll quickly confess that when I was hitting CONTROL-V, it was to paste 'a' on more occasions than not.Now that is good old-fashioned ingenuity...
Apple vs Intel (IV)
In the aftermath of the Apple announcement, a few people are actually starting to think about the rational consequences. One interesting point is made in Daring Fireball: Bombs Away:The question is not whether sales are going to be hurt; the question is how badly. Especially as we get closer to the release of Intel-based Macs next year, sales are going to drop. I’ve already heard from numerous people claiming they’re delaying planned hardware upgrades until the new Intel-based machines arrive. It doesn’t matter if such reactions are irrational or emotional or uninformed — what matters is that there exists X number of people who would have purchased new Mac hardware in the coming months, but who instead are now planning to wait for next year’s Intel-based Macs.
Apple’s attitude is clear: we’ll take a couple of quarters of weak sales now, and make it up for next year when the new systems ship. With growing iPod revenue, it’s entirely possible that Mac sales could take a complete nosedive for the remainder of 2005 and Apple could remain profitable. (It’s also possible that we will see some outstanding price cuts on existing product lines in the coming months.)I am looking forward to those price cuts. I plan to buy a G5 PowerMac when the price is right - it should last for 2 - 3 years and will provide a reasonable workhorse after then, even if I have to convert to running pure Darwin on it. The reason for picking the PowerMac is that I can put PCI cards in it to run a tape drive and possibly a fibre array at the same time as getting a fairly decent graphics card.
June 09, 2005
Fortune of the Day
Marriage is the only adventure open to the cowardly.
-- Voltaire
Freakonomics
A friend sent me a link to Freakonomics and the associated column in The New York Times. The column revolves around what happens when you teach monkeys about money and the results may not quite match your expectations:
But these facts remain: When taught to use money, a group of capuchin monkeys responded quite rationally to simple incentives; responded irrationally to risky gambles; failed to save; stole when they could; used money for food and, on occasion, sex. In other words, they behaved a good bit like the creature that most of Chen's more traditional colleagues study: Homo sapiens.
This guy deserves a medal...
Ever been on hold waiting for customer service? The episode that drove me nuts was being on hold with Tel$tra to complain about their cable modem service (which wasn't working). Every 15 seconds this voice would recommend that I log a call on-line instead of waiting. Yeah right. To do that I would need my connection to be working.
This guy in the UK took a different approach:
Gibbin told the Sun newspaper that he'd been on hold for an hour trying to order broadband when he cracked and started hitting buttons at random. This enabled him to change NTL's welcome message to something he felt was more appropriate. Hero.I can't tell you want he changed the message to on a family oriented site but I have to admit that it seems really appropriate given the long wait...
Television
Every now and then I catch and advert on the radio for a TV show that sounds really interesting. I start wondering about the wisdom of having no television*. This program or that program sound pretty educational really. And after all, the kids are going to get exposed to the electronic baby-siter at school, when they visit friends and even at Granny's house. Maybe I should relent and install an antenna after all.
Every time I start thinking like that, I come across something like this:
Last week's notorious episode featured bald, nose-pierced housemate Michael flopping out his penis and rubbing it against the back of the head of an unsuspecting Gianna, who thought he was just massaging her shoulders. The other housemates seemed to think this borderline sexual assault was a great hoot.
...
All this at 9.30pm, without a pixellated fig leaf in sight, while Big Brother's audience of kiddies watched - 33,720 children aged 12 and under and 85,070 children aged 13 to 17.
But that's fine by the Australian Broadcasting Authority, which oversees free-to-air television classification
...
Children are becoming more worldly with every generation, and most parents want them to be socialised and part of mainstream culture, which is healthy for society. But at some point, once that mainstream culture becomes debased because its guardians cease to protect basic standards, you can see a time parents will start to withdraw their children.
It won't just be odd clusters of home-schoolers but whole new schools and communities which isolate themselves from the degraded mainstream, leaving the jungle to the apes, as it were, and starting afresh like survivalists.
Thank goodness we don't have television. I don't have to worry that my kids might have accidentally stumbled on grown adults participating in sexual assault on prime-time television.
[* We do have a television in the house - hooked up to a DVD player but not hooked up to an antenna - we can watch movies (on DVD or video) but we can't watch television.]
Political Corruption
At the height of a political corruption trial, the prosecuting attorney attacked a witness. “Isn't it true,” he bellowed, “that you accepted five thousand dollars to compromise this case?”
The witness stared out the window as though he hadn't heard the question.
“Isn't it true that you accepted five thousand dollars to compromise this case?” the lawyer repeated.
The witness still did not respond.
Finally, the judge leaned over and said, “Sir, please answer the question.”
“Oh,” the startled witness said, “I thought he was talking to you.”
skipjack DOT info
I am getting behind on the blogroll updates again and that means some great sites like Skipjack are getting behind. Skipjack actually took time out to meet me for lunch when I was in San Francisco last year - he also explained some of the uniqueness that makes up California :-) From memory, the lunch was during the San Francisco equivalent of the Sydney Mardi Gras (might have been called the Gay Pride or something).
I think my original contact with Skipjack was during a discussion of kilts - he wore won when he got married ...
It is sort of interesting to realise that I have only met in person a very small percentage of my blogroll - I need to do something about that...
http://www.skipjack.info/
Ranchero
I met Brent at WWDC last year - in fact it was one of the highlights of the conference. I have written many bits of software but never a complete standalone product - certainly not like NetNewsWire. In fact, NNW (and MarsEdit) are the first bits of software that I install when I am testing new versions of MacOS X.
http://ranchero.com/
Tech Ronin
This is another blog with lots of geeky gadgets. Tech ronin also provides regular reviews of the various social networks and the latest palm devices.
http://tokerud.typepad.com/blog/
Technically Speaking
Tony's blog is full of really cool stuff - if there is a geeky gadget or a geeky happening, Tony will cover it. In fact his top article of the moment has a great picture of Chewbacca waiting to see the Star Wars movie...
http://tonytalkstech.com/
Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere
Sarpy Sam lives in Montana (and I have no idea where that is without looking at a map) on a ranch with a bunch of cattle. He provides a very different perspective on everyday issues (like artesian water). There are also some fantastic pictures like this one.
http://nowherethoughts.net/sarpysam/
Truth Laid Bear
Back before the Ecosystem, TLB was a normal blogger... He still has a regular blog that sometimes get overlooked in all the noise of the Ecosystem. It is worth checking his site out - especially as he seems to have all the up-to-date information about the release of Kerry's military records.
http://www.truthlaidbear.com/
June 08, 2005
Fortune of the Day
Linux is like a wigwam - No Windows, No Gates, Apache inside.
Apple vs Intel (Reactions)
I think this is a valid comment - check out Just a Thought - Decisions, Decisions... :'Yeah, that's possible. In fact, anything is possible, but opening the door to Intel does one thing for Apple that sticking exclusively to IBM can't: it give us options. There's nothing that says Apple can't have Intel AND PowerPC based Macs. If I diversify my processor line-up, then I'm not stuck depending on one vendor. And, truth be told, OS X runs great on Intel processors.' Steve looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, 'Yes, Intel and PPC Macs, for a while at least; see how it works out. If IBM comes through I can stay with the PPCs, if people like the Intel processors then I can make those too.'On the lighter side:
- PPC people drive like THIS, while x86 people drive like HTSI
- I freely and publically admit to being one of the people who said that no way would Apple be that stupid. I was wrong - Apple was that stupid.
- Man, it is cold in hell today. Brr. :P
- We are now living in the evil mirror universe
- Apple on Intel? Yeah, right -- that's about as likely as finding out who Deep Throat is...
Cab Drivers
Two cab drivers met. "Hey," asked one, "what's the idea of painting one side of your cab red and the other side blue?"
"Well," the other responded, "when I get into an accident, you should see how all the witnesses contradict each other."
Apple vs Intel (III)
Previous articles in this series are here and here.
I want to set a few rumours to rest and expand on the earlier theme. I have carefully watched the broadcast (twice) and read all of the publicly available material from Apple. I have not read any of the NDA material (yet).
No Dell hardware ...
1. This announcement does not mean that you can run MacOS X on Dell hardware. Apple makes it very clear that MacOS X will only run on Mac boxes (presumably not called PowerMacs). The inverse situation was played down but not rejected outright in discussions - in other words it *may* be possible to run Windows (Longhorn) on a Mac. This may not be a good thing. Think OS/2 or BeOS where the software vendors relied on *emulation* rather than porting...
No immediate changes ...
2. There is no immediate end to the PowerMac line. In fact, Apple went so far as to suggest that the standard computer life-cycle (two years) meant that a drop in purchases would not happen for some time yet. (I would tend to disagree on the life-cycle - most of my computers are older than two years.) Apple also clearly indicated that Powerbook G5 was simply not going to happen but there would be additional PowerPC products rolling out during the transition. I take this to suggest that there may be another iteration of the PowerMac tower and/or the Xserve.
Not everything converts ...
3. The new machines (PentMacs?) will be quite different to existing systems. The boot-prom code (which is the same as what Sun use) will not be present (at least in it's current form). There are some code specifics which will not port in Xcode, nor be emulated in Rosetta. At least some of this code relates to the vector processor in the G5. In fact the stuff that won't port looks suspiciously like the very things that distinguish the Apple PowerPC from the IBM Power4 family - but that may be a simplification.
It is still the wrong decision ...
4. Steve made it very clear that he is doing this because of the "future" roadmap provided by Intel. This is very poor reasoning given that the move is throwing away AltiVec and the other "power" features that Apple has been promoting. If Apple are seriously prepared to give up those features, then the debate is not one of PowerPC vs Pentium - instead, Apple should be looking at the roadmaps for Pentium, Power4, UltraSparc, and whatever AMD are pushing. Once you reject the special features of the existing G5, then all bets are off and it seems pretty unlikely that Intel, with such a poor record with Itanium and it's failure to meet Moores law with the Pentium, could seriously have the best roadmap.
Where does that leave us? Apple is still making a daft decision and it is possible that between now and 2007, things will change. Perhaps as Intel fails to meet yet another roadmap (what happened to the Itanium roadmap), Apple will pull away or consider other alternatives. Having created a multi-platfom distribution mechanism, it seems pretty unlikely that adding more architectures would cause that much problem :-)
June 07, 2005
Fortune of the Day
Real SysAdmins don't backup...
...they archive somewhere on the web!
Apple vs Intel (II)
Apple
boards
the
Titanic OK. I was wrong. Without being too technical, let me try to explain why this third bad decision is probably the dumbest of all time...
RISC vs CISC?
In the world of processors, there are basically two types: CISC and RISC. Once upon a time there was a lot of debate about which was better, the bottom line is that RISC is simpler (and faster). This simplicity increases the complexity of coding (in assembler) which offsets the additional speed inherent in the chip. Nobody today really cares one way or the other except for one small thing: electron tunnelling. This is a problem that creeps into very dense electronic designs. Like CISC processors. The problem is what has stopped any real increase in the Pentium line. The problem has not yet affected RISC chips like the PowerPC series which still have another two or possible three iterations (each iteration is a doubling of performance).
Moore's Law
What does that mean in practical terms? It means that Moore's law (that performance doubles every eighteen months) does not hold any longer for Intel (current expectation is perhaps one more iteration without a significant technology change). On the other hand, the PowerPC has more potential growth - if pushed (by IBM), it will outstrip the Pentium easily.
Why doesn't Intel do RISC? Well they tried. It was Itanium. It was a disaster. That is why Intel are still tinkering with the Pentium.
Non technical comparison?
How about a non-technical analogy? Imagine, you are on a slow hydrofoil. You know that hydrofoils are going to get better and a hydrofoil is still faster than an ocean liner. Nevertheless, you commit all your passengers into climbing aboard the Titanic.
Short term results...
Why, at this point, would anyone buy a PowerPC-based Mac? Why would I replace my old G3's with a G5 - knowing beyond all doubt that the machines will be obsolete in less than a year - not just slower but actually incompatible. This will immediately harm all Mac sales.
It will also annoy IBM - Apple's partner. The one company that is actually innovating in the world of computer chips (unlike Sun and Intel). There is no incentive for IBM to make any more improvements to Apple's version of the PPC. There is no reason to push chip shipments and resolve any difficulties. In fact, Apple had better have a fairly significant stack of processors up their sleeve...
Finally (for this section) there will be a whole bunch of software that gets delayed. Why strive to port something to the Mac when you will have to re-port it in twelve months time.
Long term results...
The long term results are worse. Apple will have committed to a processor with no future. In 2 to 3 years they will be scrambling to move to AMD or SPARC or whatever. Possibly even back to PowerPC - in the meantime, the market will have moved on and instead of being able to dictate to IBM (as they do now), Apple will have to adapt to whatever they can get.
There will be intense pressure to allow customers to run MacOS X on non-Apple sanctioned hardware (i.e. Joe Blog's home-built PC's) which will destroy profitability as Apple looses the cross-subsidy between hardware and software. Some "pundits" were pointing out that MacOS X is cheaper than windows - that is only due to the cross-subsidy.
What about the shareholders?
If I was a shareholder (hang on: I am a shareholder), I would be praying that IBM would just buy the company and stop this stupidity before it starts. The whole thing is insane - insane because it will destroy profitability now, insane because it destroys future CPU growth, insane because it will destroy what makes the Mac great. The Mac will become no more than another PC vendor and MacOS X will join the legions of niche Unix implementations for Intel boxes.
In Flight Food
A flight attendant on a United Air Lines cross-country flight nervously announced: about 30 minutes outbound from LA,
"I don't know how this happened, but we have 103 passengers aboard and only 40 dinners."
When the passengers' muttering had died down, she continued, "Anyone who is kind enough to give up his meal so someone else can eat will receive free drinks for the length of the flight."
Her next announcement came an hour later. "If anyone wants to change his mind, we still have 29 dinners available!
June 06, 2005
Fortune of the Day
A pessimist is a man who has been compelled to live with an optimist.
-- Elbert Hubbard
Apple vs Intel
I have carefully read all the predictions and the rumours and I am afraid that it still doesn't add up. Moving to a commodity platform would remove the last big advantage that Apple have and would make the operating system prohibitively expensive.
Yes, the rumours come from very important sources. Yes, there is the DRM/Hollywood argument. Yes, it is technically feasible. But none of that is enough to make it a done deal.
I think Steve has only made two mistakes at Apple (the second one was the cube, what was the first one?) and committing to a complete migration to Intel would be his third.
The more probably bet is that Apple is launching some other product or some other add-on that uses Intel chips. It might even fit inside a Mac but it will not me a replacement for the core of a Mac.
Who knows, maybe I am wrong - we should all know around 10:30 AM PDT (3:30 AM AEST).
Horse Riding
A blonde tries to go horseback riding even though she has had no lessons or prior experience. She mounts the horse unassisted and the horse immediately springs into action. It gallops along at a steady rhythmic pace, but the blonde begins to lose her grip and starts to slide in the saddle.
In terror, she grabs for the mane but can't seem to get a firm grip. She tries to throw her arms around the horse's neck, but she slides down the side of the horse anyway. The horse gallops along, seemingly impervious to its slipping rider.
Unfortunately, the blonde's foot has become entangled in the stirrup. She is now at the mercy of the hooves as her head is struck against the ground over and over again.
As her head is battered against the ground she is moments away from losing consciousness when, to her great fortune, the K-Mart Manager sees her and unplugs the horse.
MacOS X on Intel ???
Funniest comment to date has to be a comment at the MacWorld Forums by Leicaman:
In A.D. 2005
War was beginning.
Jobs: What happen ?
Schiller: Somebody set up us the bomb.
Tevanian: We get signal.
Jobs: What !
Schiller: Main screen turn on.
Jobs: It's You !!
Otellini: How are you gentlemen !!
Otellini: All your base are belong to us.
Otellini: You are on the way to destruction.
Otellini: What you say !!
Otellini: You have no chance to survive make your time.
Otellini: HA HA HA HA ....
Jobs: Take off every 'zig' !!
Jobs: You know what you doing.
Jobs: Move 'zig'.
Jobs: For great justice.
"All your G5 busses are belong to us." - Paul Otellini
[Ed: For those who have no idea what this is about, check out this story.]
Swans def. Carlton
Some of you may have been wondering why there have been no stories about my favourite football* team - that would be because they kept loosing :-(
Well, they finally had a win (against Carlton) - final score: Sydney 18.8 (116) vs Carlton 14.7 (91). Somehow that places them sixth on the ladder ...
[* Note this is "Real Football"(tm) also known as Aussie Rules. It is not that padded up, advertisement delayed, drawn-out agony called football in the USA. Nor is it the raw brutality and thuggery of Rugby League...]
Cross-City Tunnel Delayed
According to the SMH:
Sydney's much-hyped Cross City Tunnel will not open next Sunday, as widely advertised, in a major embarrassment for the Carr Government.
The Sun-Herald can reveal the opening of the 2.1-kilometre tunnel has been delayed until late July, contrary to an advertising campaign inviting Sydneysiders to join the June 12 walk-through before it opens to traffic.
Given the past performance of the current State government, I suspect that the problems was one of changing specifications - one week before it was due to open, they decided to advise the developers that the tunnels was for cars instead of pedestrians :-)
French vs English
Two years ago (to the day), I posted a joke about the English vs the French and then last night I found this lovely quote on MajorityRights:
We French hate the perfidious English. We French have always hated the perfidious English. We French hate the perfidious English for being ... perfidious. And English. And for positively refusing to be invaded by Germans when we French managed it so effortlessly. Twice.
Check out the whole post - it is worth the effort :-)
Via PixyMisa...
100 Things About Ozguru
I am sure that I used to have one of these hundred thing lists but I can't find it - not even with the help of Google and the WayBackMachine....
The trick is top reveal some things but not too much - and to try and stop it being too boring...
I don't think I succeeded...
So here goes:
- Where?
- I was born on the 17th of April at Nepean Hospital (in Penrith on the western outskirts of Sydney)
- My first home was in the Blue Mountains
- Later I lived in the rural-urban fringe on five acres
- I tried living in residential college at university and ended up with glandular fever
- When I recovered, I lived in a theological college (Anglican)
- Then I shared a flat with some other students until I got married
- We tried living at Strathfield for six months but we missed the Eastern suburbs
- We have lived within walking distance of UNSW ever since
- Also within walking distance of Randwick Racecourse
- Despite living two minutes from the beach, we almost never go there
- Relations
- I have only one (younger) sister
- I have four (younger) brothers
- I have three sisters-in-law (all married to my brothers)
- I have one ex-sister-in-law and one ex-brother-in-law
- I have two children - one boy, one girl
- My father died (or cancer) two days before my daughter was born
- She was not expected to live but did
- My mother is still living
- None of my grandparents is still alive
- Two great-aunts and one great-uncle are
- Study
- I was at university for a very long time
- A lot of my study was part time
- I managed to accumulate four degrees and a teaching certificate
- The most interesting subject area was Cognitive Science
- The least interesting was Accounting
- I dropped out of my doctorate after two years (part-time) to spend more time with my family
- That was ten years ago
- I have now enrolled in a Theology certificate at ACU
- I hope to become an Acolyte this year
- Down the track I would like to become a Deacon
- Career
- I always wanted to be a pilot so I could fly
- I am colour-blind (blue-green) - which ruled out that career
- My second choice was to be a teacher
- I have tutored at university
- I have taught at TAFE
- Both were fun but the pay was pitiful
- While at uni I concentrated on Computer Science
- With minors in Geography and Maths (both teaching subjects)
- I got involved in UNIX administration, I am still doing UNIX support
- My first UNIX support job was in East Chatswood
- My current job is just across the storm drain from that building
- I have worked in a defence-related job
- I have worked in the finance industry
- I have worked in the public service
- I am too old to be on-call 24x7 for UNIX support
- Travel
- I have been to all the Australian states except WA
- I have not been to the Northern Territory either, but that is not a state
- I have been to New Zealand a number of times (including my honeymoon)
- I have been to the UK once
- The British were not as friendly as I expected
- I have been to parts of Western Europe
- Europeans are friendlier than I expected
- I have been to California twice
- I have been to New York once
- Americans are much nicer in person than the media suggests*
- Religion
- My grandpa was a Baptist minister
- I started off Baptist
- When we moved to the rural-urban fringe, there was no Baptist church within coo-ee
- We became Anglicans
- I went to a Baptist High School
- I was baptised there
- And then confirmed in the Anglican church
- My girlfriend (later wife) was a Catholic convert
- I tried to talk her out of it (and failed)
- In the process of trying, I also became a Catholic (and was re-baptised and re-confirmed)
- Animals
- We have no pets at the moment (unless children count)
- I would like to have a pet bird (Budgie or Cockatiel)
- My kids would like to have a dog
- I used to breed ducks
- I used to milk a cow every day
- Hobbies
- I like blogging (most of the time)
- I have been doing it since February 2003
- My biggest problem is my spelling
- And the fact that I can't type as fast as I can think
- This could be because I have no feeling in the end of my right index finger
- I enjoy playing strategy/empire-building games
- After I win, I then work out how to cheat so I can play it again faster
- Sometimes my cheats get published :-)
- I enjoy difficult logic puzzles (like Sudoku)
- I usually solve them by writing a program to do it for me
- Reading
- I am a very fast reader
- I used to have almost photographic recall
- My favourite author is Terry Pratchett
- I think I have all of his books
- I like books that have more than one level in them
- I also like Anne McCaffery
- And Heinlein
- StarTroopers (the movie) was an abomination (because it ignored the second level in the book)
- When I travel, I usually read something like Grisham
- I would prefer to read the book than see the movie...
- Things I am good at
- I am good at Unix (after more than 20 years I ought to be)
- My best computer language is Perl
- I can also code in C (with more effort and lots of swearing about strings)
- I have written commercial quality code in Perl, C, Pascal, and Cobol
- I usually don't admit to the Cobol in polite company
- I have more than a passing acquaintance with at least another dozen computer languages
- I think I am a reasonable teacher (and I enjoy it)
- I used to be a reasonable hacker (in the old sense)
- I am a reasonable gardener (except when there is a drought)
- I am lousy at human languages - despite intense coaching
[* One American suggested that this was because they export all the bad ones overseas which makes the rest of the world think all Americans are like that...]
June 05, 2005
Fortune of the Day
In time, every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out its duties.
-- Dr. L.J. Peter
[Ed: Also known as the Peter Principle]
European Constitution
Personally, I couldn't care less about what happens to the European constitution except for two points, one of which is raised by Pixy Misa (who has kindled summarised all the key points which means I don't have to read the umpteen million pages) and the other is raised in the comments.
Firstly - I cannot see how the UK could possible vote for the constitution when it clearly states "The Treaties on the Accession of the Kingdom of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ... shall be repealed." - it is none of their business. Besides, my understanding is that the Queen would have to agree to that and I doubt that she would.
Secondly - once Europe, unifies, they must give up their independent rights in all the international bodies. It would no longer make sense for say France and Germany to have seats in the UN - there would be just one seat for the whole EU. Otherwise you could argue that each state in Australia and/or the USA would be entitled to a seat...
The 'Net is like that...
Back when I was an undergraduate, I used to use this thing called the 'Net - except that it wasn't called the 'Net yet. Instead it consisted of different bits that hadn't joined together - there was mail and remote access (via MHSnet in Australia) and then there was Usenet. Usenet was the Oracle. No, wait a minute, Usenet included the Oracle. The Oracle was cool - you could ask the Oracle questions and get great answers back like this one:
The Usenet Oracle has pondered your question deeply.(you can read more about the Oracle here and here).
Your question was:
{ How can I keep burglars out of my house? They took my underwear
{ last time.
{
And in response, thus spake the Oracle:
}
} To encourage the burglar to keep a distance from the house in the first place
} place extra large feeding dishes by the front door and label them Thor and
} Lightning - or -
}
} Prominently display a sign warning that Lucy, your pet boa constrictor has
} run of the house when you are gone - or -
}
} Leave a fresh change of underwear in a discreetly labeled brown paper bag out
} by the mailbox so the burglar won't have to break in to get it.
}
} A somewhat more reliable method of discouraging unwanted visitors is the
} installation of a fancy and frequently obnoxious alarm system. This does
} require the spending of significant dollars but has one very positive
} effect. It will reduce your disposable income to a level that will ensure
} that you have nothing worth stealing.
}
} You owe the Oracle a nice reliable baseball bat. (it won't keep burglars out
} but it certainly bolsters the confidence.)
Now I think I have wandered away from my point but actually that was my point. The great thing about Usenet was that you never knew quite where any path of exploration would lead. You might start out reading about something relevant but before you knew it, you had stumbled across something completely pointless and unrelated but nevertheless fascinating. The bad thing about Usenet is that some bugger spammed it in 1994 (10 years after I got on-line).
Anyway, the Internet took over from Usenet but the best (and worst) thing is still that ability to lead into the great unknown. Still, every now and then, the process turns up a real gem and today was one of those days. While chasing up some entries in the blog roll, I clicked a few accidental links and found an article about a commencement address which quoted this speech by someone receiving a doctorate:
I am honored to be here and to receive this honorary doctorate. When I think back to the people that have been in this position before me from Benjamin Franklin to Queen Noor of Jordan, I can’t help but wonder what has happened to this place. Seriously, it saddens me. As a person, I am honored to get it; as an alumnus, I have to say I believe we can do better. And I believe we should. But it has always been a dream of mine to receive a doctorate and to know that today, without putting in any effort, I will. It’s incredibly gratifying. Thank you. That’s very nice of you, I appreciate it.Sounds a lot like something Groucho Marx would say (I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members) but in this case it was someone I had never heard of. Mind you, I still think it was funny and an interesting side-track.
Comment Spam
Well, the posting here has been going for over a week and still no spam - not even one. Mind you the rock garden won't get any more spam either :-)
I have posted a final fortune-of-the-day at the old blog (plus a followup joke). Now I just have to transfer 3360 posts over to munu :-(
I have also caught up with my blogroll commitments (3 added per day until I get through the whole list)...
About This Blog
This is a really quick introduction - to save the reader from having to comb through hundreds and hundreds of posts to get some idea of the idiot who put all this together.
First there is me: Ozguru. I started playing with Unix-like systems (OS9) in 1983 and went to university to become a teacher. Somewhere along the way I got sucked into the IT industry and I have not managed to escape yet - mainly because my preferred occupations don't pay as well :-) Over a period of more than 20 years I managed to acquire 4 degrees and a reasonable amount of Solaris expertise - hence my current work is as a team leader (speciality Solaris). I also play around a lot with Mac's - but only since MacOS X because that is really UNIX underneath :-)
Next up (in terms of history) is Rofl - who studied with me at uni. He is currently a consultant earning frequent flyer miles by travelling between Singapore and various places in Australia. He no longer posts regularly.
When Rofl "retired", his position was filled by Peskie (and to a lesser extent by Ravages) - they try to post something in the LOL category every day (or thereabouts).
My family, who sometimes get a mention, are in the extended entry...
I tend to try and avoid being too specific about the individuals in my family. A long time ago when I was a relatively new blogger, some b*st*rd threatened my kids - hence things about my family tend to be somewhat vague and lacking in specifics...
My spouse is DragonFly (DF). We have been married for ages and ages (but I can't tell you how long). When not looking after the kids (see below), DF works as an interpreter/translator. She speaks three languages other than English - no prizes for guessing that all three are Chinese (Cantonese, Chiu Chow, and Mandarin).
We have two kids: OJ (Ozguru Jnr) and DFJ (DragonFly Jnr). OJ gets a fairly regular mention because he has Asperger's - which can occasionally interfere with regular pursuits like blogging.
New Tourist Destination
If you like living dangerously, a new tourist destination has opened up. According to the SMH:
Basra declared itself open to foreign visitors this week but instructed them to be vigilant, dress like locals and hire armed escorts. "Then there is a 70 to 80 per cent chance you will be OK," beamed Abdul Razuqi, the head of the tourism office in Iraq's second city.
Hmmmm. Note sure I really like the odds and the government seems to agree:
The Department of Foreign Affairs says Australians should not travel to Iraq. Tourists who ignore that warning will find Basra's museums gutted, theatres shut, streets reeking with rubbish and sewage and waterways littered with capsized vessels, including Saddam Hussein's yacht.
All the same, it indicates a huge change in Iraq - a change for the better - and a change that would not have happened without the coalition of the willing and the sacrifices of a large number of young men and women ....
the rock garden
I first met the author of "the rock garden" via email and comments - in fact I think it was before he had a blog of his own. If I remember correctly, he was the one that got me involved with solving the Google Labs Aptitude Test (at one stage I was in the top 5 google searches for that phrase - now I am not in the top 50 but "the rock garden" is at #41).
The posts tend to be (a) technically interesting and (b) flows of consciousness - the combination makes quite an enjoyable read ...
http://www.pycs.net/users/0000337/
Kazza the Blank One
I first met Kazza recently when she commented on a post and then soon afterwards, won one of the random competitions on the blog. I had intended to offer her a guest post on the old blog but it coincided with the shutdown of my local server so I have not yet had the chance of doing it. As far as I know, I have not met Kazza but as she is in Sydney, it is always possible that our paths may overlap someday :-)
Kazza's post about 100 things is making me think that I ought to do something similar...
http://blog.kazza.id.au/
Interested-Participant
I first met Interested-Participant in an experimental shared blog - now nicknamed 'Dead Parrot'. The shared blog was not a success but most of those involved have kept in touch with each other.
Interested-Participant manages to find the strangest (and most interesting) stories in the American news - not the big articles that find their way into GoogleNews but all the ones that are likely to be interesting to read :-)
http://interested-participant.blogspot.com/
On The Third Hand
This blog raises an interesting problem for the XFN code - it is more than one blogger. The two that I am familiar with are: Kathy K who recently celebrated her 21st birthday, and MommaBear (who seems to have been fairly quiet lately). Both ladies have been regular correspondents and very encouraging when blogging gets tough. Kathy in particular has many hints and tips of a technical nature...
http://site-essential.com/
A.E. Brain
I forget just how I came across Mr. Brain - but his site has always been a fascinating read. I used to drop by regularly to read his posts on cognition and thought - a sort of followup to my studies in CogSci.
Then when we found out that OJ had Asperger's Syndrome, Mr. Brain was extremely supportive with suggestions and encouragement.
In addition to his work on his own blog, Mr. Brain also regularly posts at The Command Post.
http://aebrain.blogspot.com/
All AgitProp, All the Time...
On the radio last weekend there was some discussion about how the denizens of the North American continent didn't really understand some forms of Australian humour. In particular, cynicism and sarcasm were mentioned. Well, I personally disagree and I doubt that anyone could point to a better, more highly tuned, example that Paul Jané. Apart from being Frozen in Montreal, Paul is infamous for two things: his ability to dish it out to nitwits and his love of Zils.
Paul flies the 'Red Ensign' - an indicator that he would like Canada to return to the days when it was not (in Paul's words) Bananada.
http://fim.ondragonswing.com/
June 04, 2005
Fortune of the Day
If a President doesn't do it to his wife, he'll do it to his country.
Diplomatic Dilemma
Looks like the Australian government is facing an interesting problem. A Chinese diplomat is seeking asylum in Australia - he is prepared to provide evidence that the Chinese government has been kidnapping Falun Gong members (with Australian passports) and taking them to China to face trial. He claims to be a target now...
The problem is that our largest trading partner is China...
Will we have the guts to do the right thing?
Tiananmen Massacre
Sixteen years is a long time... I was a part-time tutor at university, an overseas student in one of my tutorial groups, flew home to China to join the peaceful protests. Nobody knows what happened to him... How can anyone think that students staging a sit-in constitute grounds for using tanks and machine guns?
Mind you, it was not the first time in Chinese history that the students have died to convince the emperor that he was wrong...
Present
The wife had a birthday and her husband wanted to know what she desired. She said she'd like to have a Jaguar.
He didn't think it was best for her.
But, she begged and begged until he gave in and got her one.
It ate her.
June 03, 2005
Fortune of the Day
Q: How many IBM CPU's does it take to do a logical right shift?
A: 33. 1 to hold the bits and 32 to push the register.
Star Wars
I know that I am going to seriously damage my Geek Credibility but I have to admit that Star Wars doesn't do anything for me. On the other hand, I have fond memories of Lego and the combination is sort of interesting. Check out the Star Wars Orchestra conducted by none other that Luke's dad (also known as Dearth Dude*). There is a longer video floating around (Revenge of the Brick) which has some cool uses of the Force to disassemble and reassemble space ships but they cut short the orchestra.
If I had been a customer - I would have been logging support calls just after the release of Revenge of the Sith to see if there were any engineers left :-)
[* Or am I mixing up Star Wars and Strangerhood.]
Travel
I dunno about you, but I enjoy travelling. I have been to a number of countries (Austria, Belgium, California*, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Monoco, NZ, UK, USA, etc) and one of the things that makes travel interesting is that things are different. Think about that for a moment. If the whole world was full of people just like your neighbours, you wouldn't need to travel any more (you would also have a lot more fighting). Sometimes the differences are exhilarating (e.g. the way Italians wave their arms all the time), sometimes they can be depressing (e.g. the price of Mac's in the USA). The point is that they are different and that gives a nice contrast when you come home again.
That difference stems from a number of things but a key component is the culture and government of the place you are visiting. A smart traveller considers that and makes the appropriate allowances. For example, it would be smart to learn at least a few phrases in the relevant foreign language. It would also be worth checking what special rules apply - which side of the road do they drive on (even pedestrians need to know this)? Can you be jailed without a charge? Is their legal system innocent until guilty, guilty until innocent, or guilty unless you can afford the lawyers? Are the police likely to help a stranded traveller or arrest them? Are bribes the norm?
An even smarter traveller things about drugs. I have to take medication - every day for the rest of my life. It keeps me alive. It is only available in Australia by prescription (i.e. authorised by a doctor, purchased from a registered pharmacist). That drug is banned in some countries. Before I leave, I get a letter from my doctor explaining why I have it, how may tablets I take per day and how many I am carrying with me. The letter goes with my passport. I take two lots of tablets - one in my carry-on luggage, the other in my main bag - just in case I loose one. Both lots are in prescription bottles with my name and the drug details on them. If asked at customs, I show them the letter. I have never had a problem yet.
As a traveller, I also used to make sure that I locked my bags. Now, it is no longer possible to do that in some places (like the USA). Given that, when I arrive at my destination, I take care to listen and answer the questions carefully:
Q: Is this your bag?
A: Yes.
Q: Did you pack it yourself?
A: Yes but the bag is unlocked and has been out of my possession since I left Sydney.
Q: Would you mind opening the bag?
A: I would prefer that you open the bag, so that anything that has been added to the bag can be tested for fingerprints...
The other interesting observation is that Sydney airport does not have any parking remotely close to where you get on a plane. You walk for miles (or seem to) with your bags. You *know* how heavy your bags are. If the bags feel heavier at the other end - you would be suspicious. A kilogram might not be noticed but 4 or 5 would certainly show up when the bag itself only weighs 8 or 9 kilos.
What is the point of this post? I have refrained from commenting on the Schapelle Corby case while it was before a court - unlike the mainstream media, I did not want to inflame an already tense situation. I think there are a number of key points that the media is playing down in an attempt to boost the story (some of which are addressed above). The situation has got to the point where some complete and absolute moron has sent some kind of (possibly harmless) powder to the Indonesian embassy in Canberra.
Point 1: Indonesia is not Australia. Their law is their law. She has been tried under their law and been found guilty. End of story.
Point 2: Indonesian law finding an Australian guilty is not a reason for withdrawing aid from Indonesia. Especially not aid given after the tsunami disaster.
Point 3: The evidence against her was pretty damming. Her defence was circumstantial. If you want to help her, find evidence for the appeal or try to help the prime minister arrange a prisoner-trade (i.e. she serves her sentence in an Australian jail).
Point 4: Don't go making things worse by "retaliating". Try to think rationally for a moment and imagine that an Indonesian national broke Australian law (e.g. a people smuggler or a drug smuggler). How would you feel if the Indonesian media (and people) were clamouring for the release of a convicted drug smuggler in Australia?
[* I am not sure that California counts as a country or as part of the USA. Isn't California a state of mind?]
More Faith
I have been catching up with my reading and I came across this very funny story which caused a near disaster on the computer. I just had to bring it to you...
I heard a story years ago which, I hope, will bring a lot of comfort to those who are taunted with the "if you had more faith..." issue. I was listening to a lady who called a radio pastor. The pastor was a wise, grandfatherly gentleman who has that calm reassuring voice that can melt all fear. The lady, who was obviously crying, said, "Pastor, I was born blind, and I've been blind all my life. I don't mind being blind but I have some well meaning friends who tell me that if I had more faith I could be healed." The pastor asked her, "Tell me, do you carry one of those white canes?" "Yes I do," she replied. "Then the next time someone says that, hit them over the head with the cane," He said. "Then tell them 'If you had more faith that wouldn't hurt!'"
Silence is Golden
[From Spike...]
Clovelly Public School has its priorities right in delivering a "well-rounded education". This week a nine-year-old pupil asked his mother: "Are you familiar with a comedian called Graham Kennedy, Mum?" Slightly bemused, the mother later discovered her son's teacher, Gary Scales, a former NIDA student and, according to several parents, "absolutely divine and funny", had the class observe a minute's silence for Kennedy. "If only there were more Mr Scales in Australia," the smitten mother reports.Maybe the teacher just wanted a minute of silence...
Identity
[From Column 8...]
"While trying to obtain a birth certificate for my 16-year-old daughter to get her L plates, I discovered why it is so difficult for Australians to prove their identity," writes Kathleen Swinbourne. "In order to obtain a driver's licence or a passport you need a birth certificate. But in order to obtain a birth certificate you need a driver's licence or a passport. Of course, if you don't have either of those, you can use your firearms licence, or your security guard/crowd control licence, combined with your veterans' affairs card. I mean, don't all 16-year-olds have these?"
FAQ #2
I have had three people ask the same question, so I guess that counts as an FAQ...
Q: How do you get those Chinese characters to appear in MT2?
A: The answer is actually in the extension to this post but it is reproduced here...
In the original article, the "Why?" was actually written in Chinese (dian1 jie6) but for some reason or other, MT refuses to allow the characters and replaces them with more question-marks. To get around this, I had to look the character up in the character palette and get a unicode number. This then has to be converted into a decimal number before MT will have anything to do with it.
So, open the character palette and select 'Traditional Chinese). Use Apple-Space to switch keyboards (to Pinyin). Type (dian1) in the search box and press enter. Hover over the highlighted character with the mouse and copy the unicode character code onto a bit of paper (9EDE). Switch back to the Aussie keyboard and open the calculator. Switch to programmer mode, select hex, type in 9EDE and then select decimal. The result should be 40670. Put this in your document with 點 ...
In case you were wondering, "點解?" (dian1 jie6) is a Cantonese verbal exclamation which means "Why?".
June 02, 2005
Fortune of the Day
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, margarita in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming ~ WOO HOO what a ride!
[Signature in an email from Cyn...]
Selective Amnesia
Now for some variation, I would like to add an Indian blog. Chandrachoodan from Selective Amnesia has been around for a while in different places - even to the extent of having a guest spot on my blog and a test blog on my old server. For a different perspective on life and things that matter, pop over an visit (when he gets back from Bombay).
http://www.selectiveamnesia.org/
Read My Lips
From a southern belle to a southern gent... Tiger lives somewhere in the state of Texas and is one of the prime movers behind "The Blogs O' Texas" and also USURP (United Society of Unusually Responsible People).
Apart from being a lawyer (insert lawyer joke here), Tiger is also becoming an author... I have already committed to buying (and circulating) some of his output based on the extracts he has published on his blog.
He regularly posts the 'Nightly Navel Gazin' Report™' and worries about a lack of comments.
http://tig.mu.nu/
Kat's Stuff
Now I have never met Kat personally... but I have spoken to her on the phone (when I was in New York). I don't think that counts as "met"... Kat has a beautiful (sexy) southern accent - think any Hollywood movie with a Southern Belle and you have the tone and phrasing down pat.
Her blog has a lot of posts which follow a stream of consciousness which are always both fascinating and funny. Take the time to pop in and visit her.
Oh and congratulate her on her recently-graduated daughter (must be adopted given that Kat sounds about 21...)
http://www.katsstuff.com
CSS Fixed
I think all of the CSS problems (on the main page and the single entry pages) are now resolved. Now I know you are all dying to know how I solved it...
I asked someone who knows more about web technology than I will ever learn. A colleague on the night shift took one look at the css code in his break and said: "What is that doing there". The official MT template has a setting: 25%px. Safari reads this and figures it is 25%, Firefox seems to thing it means something quite different. Oh well, problem resolved. Thanks GH.
Virus Alert
[From my cousin - thanks J.]
G'day....everyone needs to know about this virus....
Alert. There is a dangerous virus being passed electronically, orally and by hand.
This virus is called Worm-Overload-Recreational-Killer (WORK). If you receive WORK from any of your colleagues, your boss or anyone else via any means DO NOT TOUCH IT. This virus will wipe out your private life completely. If you should come into contact with WORK put your jacket on and take 2 good friends to the nearest pub. Purchase the antidote known as Work-Isolator-Neutralizer-Extractor (WINE).
The quickest acting WINE type is called Swift-Hitting-Infiltrator-Remover-All-Zones (SHIRAZ) but this is only available for those who can afford it, the next best equivalent is Cheapest-Available-System-Killer (CASK). Take the antidote repeatedly until WORK has been completely eliminated from your system.
Forward this warning to 5 friends. If you do not have 5 friends you have already been infected and WORK is controlling your life. This virus is DEADLY (Destroys-Every-Available-Decent-Living-Youngster).
Update 05-05-05: After extensive testing it has been concluded that Best-Equivalent-Extractor-Remedy (BEER) may be substituted for WINE but may require a more generous application.
More CSS Problems
According to a comment from Pete on this article, the sidebar is turning into a "bottom bar" for his browser. No worries, I came across a hack for windows when I was looking for something different. Now, where is google. Ah yes, I was thinking about the excellent Learning MovableType blog which recommends (in this article)that you change: width: 700px; into width: 702px; in the section labelled #container {.
Unfortunately, my stylesheet uses: width: 90%; so that didn't work. Anyone else got any ideas?
Headlines
My apologies, but these are all headlines off www.fark.com, a random selection:
- Man has fight with his wife over money, ends arguments by setting fire to $670,000 on the front lawn. No word on how they plan to solve child custody issues
- Giving people a whiff of a key chemical can make them more inclined to part with their cash. In other news, U.S. government introduces a new cologne, "Eau du Military Funding"
- In retrospect, there should have been a lot more steps between 1) borrow forklift, and 2) steal ATM
- Police notice driver when she hits a curb with her car. Really take notice when they realize she's naked
- Pakistani rioters fail to understand that "The Colonel" is not actually affiliated with the U.S. military, nor is his restaurant a base of operations
- UVA study shows that "cool" kids more likely to get drink, smoke pot and steal. Go ahead, click on the link, everybody else is doing it
June 01, 2005
Fortune of the Day
When properly administered, vacations do not diminish productivity: for every week you’re away and get nothing done, there’s another when your boss is away and you get twice as much done.
– Daniel B. Luten
Advanced CSS
One feature that seems determined not to work is the advanced CSS for the XFN coding in the blogroll (which is still under construction).
According to the doco, I should be able to use:
a[rel~="met"]:after {content: " *";}The blogroll is being rebuilt entry by entry. The way it now works is that the is a category on the blog called 'Blogroll'. The entries have to be formatted in a particular way (see this post) with the URL in the extended entry and the xfn tags in the keywords section. The blogroll is then constructed by summarising all the posts in the Blogroll category. Nice and easy. The only downside is writing all those blogroll entries. I am setting myself a target of three per day (six done today). Preference given to those leaving comments :-)
Oh, the individual archive page should now be working - and have a similar look and feel to the main page. Three templates down (main, css and individual archive). Lots more to go.
Pull Quotes Test
I was trying to dig up and implement the pull-left and pull-right CSS code that O wrote a very, very long time ago. Unfortunately, I wasted an hour looking and then discovered that the MT3 css that I was using already had the relevant bits added.....
What is Lorem Ipsum?
Neque porro
quisquam est
qui dolorem
ipsum quia
dolor sit,
consectetur,
adipisci velit...
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
The test text above came from MadFishWillie...
Tan Lucy Pez
Following up on a (kind) comment, I found a blog which unashamedly admits to simply being a commentary on other blogs:
I have this BLOG so that I can comment on other BLOGS. It's a very boring BLOG.
The winning point, however, was the excellent money-raising idea in this post :-)
http://www.tanlucypez.blogspot.com/
TechTip: X11 and Solaris
Q: I am using X11 on a Mac to connect to a Solaris server - all the fonts look like cr*p.
A: Easily solved. The Sun implementation of X11 fully supports the xfs (X Font Server). There are scripts on the Sun server to start this (see xfs(1)). Next you need to make a change on your Mac. As root (use sudo) edit the file /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc. Just before the line that reads:
# start some nice programsinsert a new line that reads:
xset fp+ tcp/address_of_sun_server:7100The next time you start X11, the X11 server will collect any Sun specific fonts from the Sun server.
Note that if you are trying this on some other platform, the port number may not be 7100. According to this document, it looks like HP uses 7000 as the port.
FAQ #1
These used to be called 'Reader Questions' but I can't remember what number I am up to -- so I decided to start again.
Question: What the h*ll is a "Ornithorhynchus Anatinus"?
Short Answer: Duck Billed Platypus.
Long Answer: What sort of geek has enough time to read my blog, notice that my Ecosystem Status is 'Ornithorhynchus Anatinus' but doesn't have enough time to paste the phrase in Google? I suspect the real question is actually about how most people in the Ecosystem don't get cool animals like that - they get boring things like Rodents (this blog), or Primates (my old blog). Well the truth of the matter is that I doctored the normal javascript so that I could do this. The relevant code reads:
<center>
I am a
<br />
<a href="http://www.truthlaidbear.com/showdetails.php?host=http://ozguru.mu.nu" target="_blank">
Ornithorhynchus Anatinus
</a>
<br />
in the
<br />
<a href="http://www.truthlaidbear.com/ecosystem.php" target="_blank"> TTLB Ecosystem
</a>
<br />
</center>
The original idea came from Tiger.
Old Horsetail Snake
Mr OH Snake is a regular visitor (and often leaves comments). His blog is one of the funniest you can find on the web. One recurrent theme in the posts is a desire to make money:
Lots of people commiserate with Ol' Hoss the Ancient in his single-minded pursuit of The Almighty Dollar, of which I need plenty to finance my Hoss-carryin' rocket ship to the Saggitarius Galaxy, where I will be brought back to life, Ted Williams-style. (Naturally, if I don't die I will probably donate all my money to a worthy cause, like maybe a porn site that doesn't get a lot of hits.)
Somehow that seems like a worthy cause :-)
Many of the posts also have a short "word for the day" as well. I especially liked:
My favorite word today is groper. n. loislaneism. Def.: A small dog trained to sniff your private parts.
http://www.oldhorsetailsnake.blogspot.com/
Men...
Seeing this comment from Ozg, inspired me to go and find another Cynical Cyn joke to post:
A man wanted to get married. He was having trouble choosing among three likely candidates. He gives each woman a present of $5,000 and watches to see what they do with the money.
The first does a total make over. She goes to a fancy beauty salon gets her hair done, new make up and buys several new outfits and dresses up very nicely for the man. She tells him that she has done this to be more attractive for him because she loves him so much. The man was impressed.
The second goes shopping to buy the man gifts. She gets him a new set of golf clubs, some new gizmos for his computer, and some expensive clothes. As she presents these gifts, she tells him that she has spent all the money on him because she loves him so much. Again, the man is impressed.
The third invests the money in the stock market. She earns several times the $5,000. She gives him back his $5000 and reinvests the remainder in a joint account. She tells him that she wants to save for their future because she loves him so much. Obviously, the man was impressed.
The man thought for a long time about what each woman had done with the money he'd given her. Then, he married the one with the biggest boobs.
Men are like that, you know.