So, I'm reading a NYT article about Intel, ( http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/29/technology/29intel.html?adxnnl=1&oref=login&adxnnlx=1101791735-KEyDjzA0gnJ28avwGhNFog/ ) and the section:

"One of those big bets came into sharper focus last month when it announced it was investing in Clearwire, a digital wireless start-up being led by Craig McCaw, a cellular telephone pioneer.

Clearwire hopes to capitalize on the unproven long-range version of the WiFi digital wireless standard called Wi-Max and Mr. Otellini clearly hopes the technology will be a disruptive one.

If his vision is correct, the big losers will be today's voice telephone companies.

"Voice is going to be free as a result of all of this, which the carriers don't like to hear, but that's essentially where it's going," he said."

made me think about how POTS companies could survive. It's really simple: don't sell POTS, sell DSL and make POTS a value-added service or simply add it on free.

It's not a pefect solution, but it could happen.

Nevemind the fact that as we all integrate the internet into our daily lives there will be a significant portion of the population that won't or can't be included. (Did you notice the quick caveat urban?

(I am currently on a 28.8K dialup connection because, due to location, there is no other alternative. There isn't even cable tv in this neighborhood!)

So, AT&T, start selling DSL and throwing in POTS service. Tell people POTS is great because it's less vulnerable to power outages (I live in NY state, and when my store lost power we still had phones during the blackout of 2003). Charge a little extra for the DSL because they're getting phone service with it. I think people would buy it.

Some thoughts:

If the oil supply is limited, and solar/electric isn't cutting it, why aren't we seeing more biodiesel? I want to see more of these: http://wired.com/news/autotech/0,2554,65054,00.html

The best thing is, the infrastructure is already there, and unleaded could be phased out like regular gas was (I never drove a regular gas car, but I remember the tail end of the Regular gas era).

Also, if we have to depend on electric power, why not nuclear? it is the cleanest, as long as it isn't mismanaged and toyed with. As far as the fuel, is throwing it into the sun still not an option, and if so, why? It seems too easy, so I wouldn't mind knowing why we can't do it.

Just some thoughts. Thank you.

Yeah, well,

Everything is on hold. I got a job (started last week) and everythign is on hold while I get situated at the new job. Above and beyond that I have to deal with my (very nice, very generous) friend's 28.8 dialup because there is no other choice.

Otherwise life is great because I'm out of pizza and into newspapering.

I only wish there was a better way to get my daily dose of slashdot.

Well, I have been fussing with Mandrake (and now Fedora Core 1 via Linux for Dummies) and my eyes are open wider than they have ever been before.

Support. There isn't any official support from ATI for my AIW Radeon 7500- the driver support starts at 8500. This means I have to go to the OS community, and no disrespect, but it's a pain in the ass.

I have learned my lesson, the next purchases I make will be carefully checked against the HCL for whatever distro I choose (which may well be RH FCx due to the structured guidance I'm getting from LfD).

It's really really unfortunate about the lack of support for my card because I'm getting used to Linux. I love being able to compile a package in a terminal on one desktop while surfing on Firefox on another desktop. I had a moment last night in WinXP where I wished I had another desktop becuase I had so many windows open.

I saw the article for the new Cherry linux http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/08/24/1247236&tid=137&tid=106&tid=218 keyboard and I can't wait until it hits the US shores. I will seriously consider picking it up because linEAK is not working for me on Mandrake 10.0 (probably my fault, but that's small comfort).

It's so close to luser-proof. I spent some time last night recalling the days of DOS and Win3.11 and how hardware configuration was such a nightmare- it's analagous (to me) to the maturity of GNU/Linux now.

And by luser-proof, I include myself. I had thought of myself as capable and able, which I am, just not with Linux. Yet.

All that being said, I don't see myself 'upgrading' to Longhorn. I have tasted the future, and it is sweet.

Now, I have to go install an Ogg plugin for Nero.

Getting the hang of ./configure
make
make install

Although it is hard to tell a CLI how to browse to /usr/lib/gtk when it needs to be in your $PATH.

I'm working on it. I'm getting better at it. I gave up on glib and xmms for now, Totem is doing just fine right now. In fact, it is entirely sufficient for playing mp3s from /mnt/win_c.

I... I miss WInamp. At least I dual-booted my box and I can still get to XP.

... is easy installation of programs.

Yesterday I installed Firefox.

That's all I did, for hours.

Today I am trying to install linEAK.

But since I didn't install any development tools (development tools? I'm not going to write any code) I can't install linEAK because it needs gcc.

I think.

I miss installers. They just work, 99% of the time. I do remember when it was hit and miss (Win3.11 and dos era) but this is ourtageous.

Now I am going to attempt to reinstall Mandrake because i have tried four time to use the rpms and I keep getting error messages regarding emacs (I never use it, I will likely never use it and I already hate it anyway) and the rpms don't seem to be installing.

And don't get me started on the XMMS rpm. Just don't go there tonight.

edit: I have reinstalled, totally, and found the xmms selection in the setup and don't forsee any problems anymore.

For the newbie:

to change directory:
cd /home/
cd /home/andy/documents/
If you're in /home/ you can change to /home/andy/ by typing cd ./andy

To execute a command in a given directory (that isn't in your path): ./firefox-installer-bin

This is really need to know stuff. It sucks that it's so basic that no one even realizes they're doing it.

http://rute.2038bug.com/node1.html.gz is very useful. There's some good stuff there. It's where I found http://gwww.google.com/linux. Oh, the joy.

As a funny aside, I have found you can avoid the horrid color scheme at "it.slashdot.org" with lynx. And I mean horrible; it makes my eyes bleed. The color scheme, not lynx.

Okay: here's the instructions to install Firefox 9.3 on brand new mandrake 10.0:

Download it. Remember where you saved it. Open a terminal (there's a shortcut on your taskbar) and change to the directory you saved the file. At the prompt, type "tar xvfz [file]" where [file] is the whole name of the file. I copied and pasted the name of the file into the terminal so that I would get it right. (Use the mouse to copy and paste, keyboard shortcuts won't work for copy and paste.) Whip out Konqueror by clicking on the Home icon on your desktop. Browse to the directory firefox-installer and double click on the shell script "firefox-bin." That should get you set up.

I chose standard installation because I had tried the custom install before and that didn't work out.

I found this thread immensely useful: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?s=&forumid=8&threadid=213710

Which I found thru google.com/linux

(Get out your plain text url extension!)

Please feel free to argue and/or correct me.

I have a very fresh Mandrake 10.0 and I thought I installed Firefox, but apparently I didn't.

Not only that, my journal page is broken, _broken_ in Konqueror. So very broken I reloaded the page 5 times before I tried scrolling down to see if anything showed up.

There's six columns of... columns on the right hand side, and the backdroung around the text entry box is black.

This is what I want right now: a simple explanation of what is analagous to what in terms of filesystem architecture. No, not FAT vs FAT32 vs NTFS vs ext2 vs ext3, journaling or not.

No. I just want file:/ and file:/usr/bin explained, and why didn't anyone tell me about /home/home/andy? Two homes? Of course that's not how it really is, but that's what it looks like.

Program Files = ?
Docs and Settings\Andy = /home/home/andy/documents
Windows\ = / ?
c:\ (root) = ?

If Firefox is installed, where is it and why can't I find it? I am going thru withdrawal, seriously. I'm shaking. It could be frustration over Konqueror (very nice, but NOT FIREFOX) and such, but seriously, I want my PLain Text URL extension, and I want to start putting my bookmarks into one file, instead of three different bookmark file unique to each application.

There's an idea: every time you add a bookmark, have Firefox add the bookmark to your Favorites folder so you can just go Start > Favorites to open a bookmark. Same deal with Linux- update the various bookmark files at program shutdown.

Mandrake 10.0 Community doesn't have a 4th install CD, but the software comes set up to look for it if you want to instal, say, XMMS.

That went well, after I found a forum post that told me how to tell Mandrake that it wasn't available.

Now, that being said, Mandrake 9.2 had a ways to go, and I just couldn't make a go of it before. 10.0 looks a lot better, feels better, and so far configures better than 9.2 ever did.

I love the fact that I was able to easily change my screen resolution, install XMMS on only the second try, and use Konqueror like IE/Windows Explorer.

I really really really love the fact that Mandrake can read my NTFS disks, and that I don't have to do wild and crazy things to get my mp3s and mpgs transferred. It looks like I can just leave them. That's good because I have too much stuff to just move it around.

Okay, I have to go off and find out how to install programs that don't come with the original distro. Wish me luck!

I was all ready to go off on something and then I found Greplaw and started reading along

ooh, shiny!

War on drugs. So I picked up Penn & Teller: Bullshit on BitTorrent. It was interesting what they had to say about the War on Drugs.

Here's for you SAT fans. IMO,
War on Drugs : Marijuana as Prohibition : Alcohol
I have felt this since college, probably about the time I first tried pot (shocking!).

Vice squads : Prostitution as Prohibition : Alcohol. It's interesting how prostitution is legal in some localities, and not others. I caught a Sex in WW2 program on the History Channel over the weekend which dealt with the prostition trade in Hawaii during WW2 and some of the trials and tribulations of the prostitutes.

As I grew up, and had a chance to think about the world around me (something I actually learned in college- how to observe and think) I realized that there was very little actual harm in these simple pleasures of the flesh. Much harm came when such pleasures were controlled - taken away.

People want what they want; it is this simple. If they can't get it in one place, they will get it from another place. If you make something illegal, then people will break the law to get it, or use it. This goes for guns, drugs, porn, even rations during wartime.

Disclaimer: I beleive in moderation; to throw open the gates and declare a free for all would be in haste. There are certain things I am not comfortable with, like child porn, heroin and AK-47s. Now, that's out of the way.

Harness these things: legitimize them and tax them. Tax the f*** out of them if you have to- it's what we're doing to cigarettes already.

Limits? Mirror the DWI laws, or expand them to include the new drugs. No driving while stoned, on Coke or while having sex with a prostitute. These combinations are too dangerous to other people. Harness the demand to create new tax revenue, de-criminalize non-violent offenders, and bump violent dealers and pimps out of the picture.

Which is the end to close the circle. Power abhors a vacuum, and who is the biggest bully on the street? the government, unequivocally. Play nice with the other drug dealers and also pay your taxes, or we will jail you.

Hey, it's how Al Capone went down. Income tax evasion. Al Capone? He was a violent, murderous Chicago gangster during Prohibition. He controlled liquor in Chicago.

And Prohibition failed because it was simply impractical and unpopular. Which doesn't surprise me, because it's what gave Capone traction in the first place: he was willing to break the law to supply something a whole lot of people wanted. And he'd break your face (rather, probably kill you) if you got in his way.

I will likely never own a land line until I get married.

When I get a land line, there will be two requirements:

1. Always on. During the blackout of 2003 it was nice to at least communicate with people without worrying about whether the phone would work.

2. 911 compatability. I don't know how it works now - if it's done by looking up the phone number in a reverse phone book, but 911 systems can figure out where the call comes from. I understand that VoIP can't do this right now. It needs to whether by GPS or a similar protocol.

So I finally reinstalled Mandrake 9. I had trashed it because the UI (Gnome or KDE) was too different from Windows, the keyboard shortcuts I live and die by just didn't work the same.

WHY?

I knew it was a shitty excuse, but I just couldn't get it to work right. And then the killer: XawTv didn't want to cooperate. It would scan for channels, and for all I knew, I was damned if I couldn't get it configured correctly the first time.

So after a little html practice at http://www.tips-tricks.com/ I finally felt like digging down through the various user profiles and configuration files to get to the bottom of the problem. Xawtv had scanned for broadcast, not cable, and I eventually found scantv.

Not that html had given me the answer, but merely emboldened me to take on a little challenge; poke around a little under the hood.

Small victories. Baby steps.

I have found a solution for all of us who might need or want random passwords.

Bottle cap codes from sweepstakes.

It's so simple. I have been collecting Mountain Dew caps for their Dew U promo and entering the codes online. Today it occurred to me that these (seemingly) random numbers would make for great passwords.

Cheap, easily replaceable, and you could probably leave it on your desk and no one would know the true purpose of the cap.

While I wouldn't use this method for the CIA or NSA, it would be cool for, say, my free internet email accounts.

Seriously,
Outsourcing is a good thing. I remember growing up with the droning of the 'trade deficit' the US had, how we imported more than we exported. The concern was that we were losing factories and industry overseas, mainly to Japan.

The concern now is that computer science jobs, namely programming jobs, are fleeing to other countries to cheaper labor with the possibilty of leaving millions of good people without jobs.

Well, this is going to suck for a little while. But please understand this: it will be good. It may take a few years, but it will be good.

Outsourcing will bring money to poor countries. Over time, middle classes will develop and they will (hopefully) have enough purchasing power to buy goods manufactured in the US.

Gradually, as we chase cheap labor across the globe, I hope we help spread money, by way of wages, to developing contries.

In the US, even the poorest can't get turned away wt the ER. There is welfare, there is Medicare and other social safety nets to help catch people before they hit total rock-bottom. Hopefully, developing countries will be able to provide these services with the added money coming in from outsourced jobs.

As to the recent news that US schools simply aren't turning out graduates with the proper qualifications, ( Outsourcing Report Blames Schools, Wired, http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,62780,00.html ) the blame lays solely upon schools and students. Not companies looking for employees or lazy politicians, the blame is on schools and students.

I don't know what to tell you to do in the meantime. That answer I don't have. But I wish you the best of luck.

So far:
Rockin' the job. Yawn.

Excercise? yeah, well, keep going on that one.

typing? slowly. very slowly. very, very slowly coming along. It's more a matter of a few keys that my fingers can't seem find.

Alcohol. 99.9% success. Broke down and got a 6-pack of Labatt Nordic, the NA beer. Yeah, well, I missed that wonderful beer flavor. Would have toasted my dad's hiring after a long jobsearch, but I had to work and I missed the family dinner.

Zero progress on credit card due to lack of new job.

Ah well, can't complain too much. I'll get there.

Okay,
New Year's Resolutions

Continue doing well in my current job. Not easy when I don't really care.

Excercise more. Like a few sit-ups or push ups in the morning. Nothing too big, just manageable.

Get better with the no-look typing. I type fine, if I can look at the keys.

Here's the biggie: No alcohol until I get another job. I'm looking for a career change into the area of my college degree. (Imagine that- using my college degree?!).

Get the credit card under control. Won't be easy (giving it up) but I've gotta do it.

That's it. A couple big ones, but I think I can do it.