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Tired of your parents embarrasing you by showing people your baby pictures? Turn 'em over to the cops! Salon has a commentary on people overreacting to pictures of nekkid kids, leading to charges of child pornography. I won't claim that any form of sexual exploitation of children is anything but evil. But a false accusation of such activity, no matter how well-intentioned, can ruin people's lives.
Added Monday, January 31, 2000
The new Risks Digest is out (according to more sites that I caqn remember), and talks about an unfortunate side effect of some web blocking software: Blocking anything with the roman numeral 30. After all, XXX must mean a pr0n site, right? Couldn't have anything to do with the St. Louis Rams' incredible triumph in Super Bowl XXXIV! (So ends my brief moment of local team boosterism.) The Society for Creative Anachronism, which sometimes uses a dating system based on the founding of the Society (the current year is A.S. XXXIV), has run into the same problems. I've also had blocking software triggered by randomly-generated alphanumeric GUIDs used by some sites. I don't have a high opinion of blocking software anyway; Peacefire is a good resource on the problems with censorware.
Added Monday, January 31, 2000
...why are there going to be at least ten sequels? Game company Square has announced the next three episodes (IX, X, and XI) of its Final Fantasy console RPG series. As far as IX goes, I don't mind going back to roots high fantasy from the science-fantasy settings of the games I'm familiar with, but I'm disappointed that Square may be going for cartoony "super deformed" characters rather than the more realistic models of VIII. Anyway, IGN PSX has several stories about Square's press conference event, including info on their online plans for the PlayStation 2. Nothing about any plans for a Final Fantasy Tactics sequel, which I'd love to see.
Added Monday, January 31, 2000
My first entry in this weblog concerned some speculations about one of my fave TV shows, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Well, IGN Sci-Fi has the latest info from series creator Joss Whedon about upcoming events on the show. Warning: this article includes major spoilers.
Added Monday, January 31, 2000
This ain't exactly new, but I thought I'd say a few words about They Might Be Giants, one of my all time favorite bands. Fun, quirky, energetic music like nothing else I've ever heard. They have had a pretty loyal following, if not much mainstream success, for several years. Now they're getting more well-deserved attention for things like the theme song (and a few other songs) on the fantastic new show Malcolm in the Middle, as well as a song in The Spy Who Shagged Me (which, unfortunately, didn't make the soundtrack). Anyway, in amongst all the panic and fury form the music industry over the MP3 music format, they had the guts to release several of their old albums in MP3, as well as a new, MP3-only album, Long Tall Weekend. If you know about the Giants, Weekend has a few of the big crowd-pleasers from their awesome live shows, as well as new material; if you don't know them, check out a few samples.
Added Monday, January 31, 2000
Like Baylink, I hope this is a joke: a page on the evils of, umm, "self-gratification". Unfortunately, this guy doesn't seem to be: right-wing New World Order paranoia.
Added Sunday, January 30, 2000
According to consultant Richard M. Smith, just because you don't see a banner ad doesn't mean DoubleClick isn't watching. This FAQ discusses "Web Bugs", which use a single-pixel invisible "spacer GIF" image to provide the same tracking ability as DoubleClick's banner ads. Gillmor is carrying a letter from Smith about web bugs on Lycos, as well as the unfortunate news that the direct link to the DoubleClick opt-out page no longer works. He does mention a longer, more complicated route to the opt-out optin, though.
Added Sunday, January 30, 2000
Consultant Mike Kuniavsky has some interesting things to say about user interfaces and open source. GeneHack, which directed me to this link, is less impressed. Still, both make some good points. A discussion has started at Slashdot; unfortunately, the predominant opinion seems to be the usual "If they're too st00pid to use it, it's their problem" party line.
Added Friday, January 28, 2000
According to Wired, scientists believe that radiation from Saturn may provide the right conditions for life on Europa. Supposedly, Europa's icy shell covers an ocean of liquid water. Despite the obligatory 2010 reference, the best book I've read that raises the possibility of native Europan life is Charles Sheffield's Cold as Ice.
Added Thursday, January 27, 2000
Lovely. Web advertising firm DoubleClick is once again using its banner ads to track our movements about the net. At least Dan Gillmor has found the torturous path to DC's Opt-Out Page so we don't have to. Assuming, of couse, that they aren't using this opt-out preference as more profiling data.
Added Wednesday, January 26, 2000
(From Robot Wisdom:) I've been pretty impressed overall with what I've seen about the new Mac OS X user interface, but some people are starting to wonder if all the eye candy may be covering up a bitter taste. This MacWeek column seems pretty balanced. On the other hand, /. is carrying a pointer to a more critical view. And on the gripping hand, the guys over at Ars seem more interested in looking under the hood. I'm primarily a Winows user and programmer (trying to learn a bit of Linux on the side), but I'll freely admit to the occasional fit of Mac envy. Hey, if Jobs can drum up a bit more application support, I might seriously consider a Mac for my lab.
Added Wednesday, January 26, 2000
More on the use of digitally inserted images in television broadcasts. Unfortunately, the New York Times, who broke the story, seems to have moved the original to is (free) signup-required archives. For those who missed it, CBS substituted its logo for a couple of background signs in Dan Rather's New Year's Eve broadcast. If the networks can change the look of Times Square in real time, how soon can we expect them to start altering the news? The "Trojan Sheep" of my title comes from an episode of the old Max Headroom TV series in which the show's resident geek used video editing technology to put words in the mouth of a politician in a TV interview.
Added Wednesday, January 26, 2000
From USA Today, dead trees edition: A company named Xenote is working on a keychain-sized gizmo to allow you to "bookmark" songs you hear on the radio. Press the button, and it records the station you're listening to (via RF emissions) and the time, which it can later use to identify the song, if the station is a participant. They have other applications in mind for the future, using bar-codes and GPS. Sounds cool, but I'm already starting to wonder about privacy implications. There are other companies who are a bit too interested in your listening habits.
Added Tuesday, January 25, 2000
The local paper is carrying an article about how phrases from popular culture become part of our language, and how ephemeral some of them are. Personally, the first time I tried the latest craze in pseudo-Mexican food, I started using "Drop a Chalupa" as a euphemism for a certain biological waste-disposal function. (Now, aren't you glad I shared this with you?)
Added Tuesday, January 25, 2000
Found this article via Ars: Thresh's Firing Squad, the tech site created by the Quake champ, has a nice article on The Future of PC Memory. This appears to be one of the next major battles between closed (Rambus) and open (Double Data Rate) specifications.
By the way, while I'm on the subject, I've been trying to figure out what's so great about "CAS2" SDRAM. A little searching turned up a guide to SDRAM that answered my questions. Basically, I don't overclock, therefore CAS2 isn't worth paying extra.
Added Monday, January 24, 2000
I went to Wales a few months ago on a vacation in the British Isles. I did not see the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch while I was there. However, since I came back, I have run into the longest place name in Britain every couple of weeks in some context or another. I know my life is strange, but how it got strange enough to encounter bizarre unpronouncable Welsh place names on a regular basis is beyond me. I have a theory about the Welsh language: some group of invaders made off with every vowel that wasn't nailed down, leaving the Welsh no option but to use words with four L's in a row.
Added Saturday, January 22, 2000
Dan Bricklin has been writing about using bold text to highlight important passages for skimmability, and has started getting some opposing reactions. You might notice that I've tried it on a few recent entries; I thought it might help make things a bit clearer than some of my more cryptic headings. (What is "Trojan Sheep" about? STD protection for perverted highlanders?) I'm still trying to decide if bold text is right for my style, though. As Dan Gillmor wrote yesterday, "This medium is still new, and we're all feeling our way through it. That's part of what makes it so much fun."
Added Friday, January 21, 2000
BOFHcam led me to a Bastard Programmer from Hell with the worst hardware failure story I've seen in along time. As much as I'd like to, seems a bit of a stretch to blame this one on Microsoft. Must have accessed the HCF instruction.
Added Friday, January 21, 2000
Found this site while trying to cobble together a working computer from components purchased from a cow orker. Motherboard HomeWorld has the ususal news, reviews, and tips you'd expect from a hardware site, but is also the home of an endearing creature named Spot. Spot is a search engine for the HomeWorld's database of motherboards, and a godsend for hobbyists like myself who buy cheap used parts in the hope that we can find documentation later. A few attempts at plugging in various part-like numbers led me to a reasonable guess at the make and model of my secondhand motherboard. A few more clicks led me to a PDF of the manual on the manufacturer's site.
Added Friday, January 21, 2000
Only a day after Transmeta revealed its super-secret Crusoe processors, Hannibal over at Ars Technica has written the first in-depth analysis, and a good one at that. Hannibal not only looks at what the new chips and accompanying "code-morphing" software can do, he also reads between the lines to speculate on Transmeta's plans for the future. Almost makes me wish I'd spent more time on the hardware side of my Computer Engineering major.
Added Thursday, January 20, 2000
Spectra Science has created a coating for optical media to make self-destructing DVD's. (You're hearing the Mission: Impossible theme now too, aren't you?) The laser used by the player starts a chemical reaction that will destroy the disk after a set time, from minutes to days, and then you have yet another coaster. These guys seem to think they've learned from the failed DIVX system's mistakes; I doubt it. This tech deserves to lose.
Added Thursday, January 20, 2000
As you can tell from the quote at the bottom of the page, I love the sound of some of the terms in the Jargon File. 'Considered Harmful' is one; 'Scratch Monkey' is another. Every now and then, I search for some of these odd terms on the web. As a result, I have found a different, more detailed, and (to my mind) more believable version of the scratch monkey story. At least they didn't try to fold the monkey.
Added Thursday, January 20, 2000
...as a matter of fact, it's all dark. At least, it will be Thursday (1/20/00) night during the lunar eclipse. Starts about 9 PM CST; no special eyewear needed. Props to randomWalks and rebecca's pocket. (And Pink Floyd, if you didn't get the "dark side" reference.)
Added Wednesday, January 19, 2000
Scroll on down to January 12 for Dan Bricklin's excellent comments on fact-checking in weblogs. Right now, I won't pretend to be doing any better than "off the top of my head" comments on these pages. I'd like to do better as time passes, but don't count on it; more to the point, please don't take my ravings too seriously. I made a few mistakes in earlier comments, now archived, especially the one about digital video editing. If I find mistakes before I archive, I'll try to correct them. Once I do archive, I can't.
Added Wednesday, January 19, 2000
Well, I've archived my first batch of posts. Too bad that archives my overall page layout as well; I plan to fix up the page layout Real Soon Now. No way to propogate those pages back to the archive, though. As much as I appreciate the creator (Andrew?) of Pitas for creating this system, this is one reason I want to develop my own weblogging system RSN. The main reason, though, is as an exercise, both in programming and in page design.
Added Wednesday, January 19, 2000
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