A day or two old, but interesting: every Vista computer can (via the magic of PNRP and IPv6) have its own domain name. Basically, anyone using Vista can relatively easily host their own website with a domain name using IIS, as well as access anyone else's website who is doing the same.
I'm sure someone will try hosting some awesome site with no router and their firewall turned off and no antivirus...
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Chumby: Hackerdom Comes Full Circle
I stumbled upon this article at NewsForge while trawling Google Reader and immediately became interested. I'd heard about the chumby earlier when viewers of Diggnation learned that Kevin Rose was one of the lucky recipients of a test model. What really interested me, however, was this (admittedly long) quote:
The first thing that struck me, besides how damn cool the chumby is, is that they are essentially offering a framework - a do-it-yourself kit. I was immediately reminded of the beginnings of personal computing as we know it, when hobbyists of the 1970s were able to build their own computers from parts readily available at Radio Shack and other places and subsequently program the machines themselves. Software was distributed on discs and in magazines. It was a golden age of sharing and invention. Not too long ago I read an article involving an interview with Steve Wozniak and the history of Apple and various things like how Segways are awesome; the pertinent point was that the reason the Apple took off is that it stripped away the hobbyist element and allowed anyone with a wad of cash to have their own gosh-darned, working, mainstream computer in their home, no soldering or programming experience necessary. Now, thirty years later, companies are innovating by returning to the hobbyist roots of computing.
"Grand experiment in trust"? Please.
If you let them build it, they will come.
"We've taken a very different approach to creating a consumer electronic device," [head of software Duane Maxwell] says. "Rather than layering DRM and fighting a losing war with hackers attempting to repurpose the device, we've decided to trust the community to an extraordinary degree. The anti-DRM crowd has waved the 'trust the customer' banner for a few years now to no avail, but we're actually going to do just that. At this point, the hackers, developers, and users can destroy chumby by doing exactly what the big media companies are deathly afraid of. So this is a grand experiment in trust to which we've committed our careers and millions of dollars."
The first thing that struck me, besides how damn cool the chumby is, is that they are essentially offering a framework - a do-it-yourself kit. I was immediately reminded of the beginnings of personal computing as we know it, when hobbyists of the 1970s were able to build their own computers from parts readily available at Radio Shack and other places and subsequently program the machines themselves. Software was distributed on discs and in magazines. It was a golden age of sharing and invention. Not too long ago I read an article involving an interview with Steve Wozniak and the history of Apple and various things like how Segways are awesome; the pertinent point was that the reason the Apple took off is that it stripped away the hobbyist element and allowed anyone with a wad of cash to have their own gosh-darned, working, mainstream computer in their home, no soldering or programming experience necessary. Now, thirty years later, companies are innovating by returning to the hobbyist roots of computing.
"Grand experiment in trust"? Please.
If you let them build it, they will come.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Also, Keith Olbermann
He asks the questions that need to be asked.
Pertinent quote:
Here's to two years of Bush complaining how Congress won't let him pass bills anymore.
Pertinent quote:
Saddam Hussein will get out of Iraq the same way 2,832 Americans have and thousands more.
He’ll get out faster than we will.
Here's to two years of Bush complaining how Congress won't let him pass bills anymore.
Midterm Election 2006
So, the results are mostly in. Notable:
Pretty exciting stuff. Now, control of the Senate hinges on the results of the Montana and Virginia races. Unfortunately for the voting public, the Virginia election probably won't be known for weeks as it's almost certain to be recounted a billion times (hello Florida?). At least the House is pretty concrete now.
Looks like the terrorists win this time, Mr. Bush.
- Strickland defeats Blackwell for governorship of Ohio.
- Sherrod Brown takes the Senate seat of Mike DeWine.
- Issue 2, raising the minimum wage, passed by a good margin, as did Issue 5 (SmokeFree Ohio).
- Issue 3, bringing gambling to Ohio, failed, as did Issue 4; both lost by a fairly wide margin.
Pretty exciting stuff. Now, control of the Senate hinges on the results of the Montana and Virginia races. Unfortunately for the voting public, the Virginia election probably won't be known for weeks as it's almost certain to be recounted a billion times (hello Florida?). At least the House is pretty concrete now.
Looks like the terrorists win this time, Mr. Bush.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
New Vistas
I downloaded Vista 5744 and am currently trying it out on my Inspiron. All I can say is, it runs a crapton better than the first release candidate did and actually includes drivers for most of my hardware. Quake 3 won't run, though...
So, birthday. I guess I'm 20 years old now. My mom and sisters came to Case and brought some goodies as well as a present and birthday cake. The present was a pair of AKG K81DJ headphones, which are performing admirably. We then went shopping for random odds and ends (a new umbrella since my old one got shredded via wind, and new warm slippers), followed by dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. I then proceeded to have the most expensve steak I've ever eaten. Spoiler: it was delicious.
Laura got me a Digg t-shirt, which is awesome.
Now to continue doing nothing...
So, birthday. I guess I'm 20 years old now. My mom and sisters came to Case and brought some goodies as well as a present and birthday cake. The present was a pair of AKG K81DJ headphones, which are performing admirably. We then went shopping for random odds and ends (a new umbrella since my old one got shredded via wind, and new warm slippers), followed by dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. I then proceeded to have the most expensve steak I've ever eaten. Spoiler: it was delicious.
Laura got me a Digg t-shirt, which is awesome.
Now to continue doing nothing...
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Content-Free
I was debating whether I wanted to use my Vox blog or this one. Vox seems nice but seems too group- or family-oriented and MySpace-y in the whoring of audio and movies, which is kind of a turn-off. I guess I'll be sticking with trusty Blogger from now until whenever.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Some Notes
- To the person now in posession of my laundry bag: you're welcome.
- To the accursed electric drying machines that utterly failed to dry my vestments: curse you.
- To my courses and their myriad professors: curse you guys, too. For serious.
- fenixdrakken@11:31 PM: our quote never made it on bash.org did it
supcolono@11:31 PM: fuck them
Monday, October 09, 2006
A Perspective on Customer Support
Fixing computers I can do. Taking calls I can do. Talking to people I can do.
What I can't do is confront people who call asking like I have the entire work history of the company because they are very important and we had an appointment with them and this would be a disaster if it weren't academia and I'm tech support, why can't I help them?
I fix computers, I'm not Raptor Jesus.
What I can't do is confront people who call asking like I have the entire work history of the company because they are very important and we had an appointment with them and this would be a disaster if it weren't academia and I'm tech support, why can't I help them?
I fix computers, I'm not Raptor Jesus.
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