Yes, the screaming begins anon. There are a lot of people here, a lot of snark to get through.
’nuff said.
Where are my earplugs?
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Not watching commercials = crime!
Well, if HR2391 gets passed using a TiVo might become a thing of the past (at least for me).
According to Wired …
The bill would also permit people to use technology to skip objectionable content — like a gory or sexually explicit scene — in films, a right that consumers already have. However, under the proposed law, skipping any commercials or promotional announcements would be prohibited.
Of course a sane mind things: Um, you can’t have it both ways … unless the lawmakers require a “C” chip (my own idea) that would note the “Commercial” flag that will be included in the broadcast signal and prohibit use of the fast forward button in DVR’s.
While they’re at it … why not add a “M” chip to automatically block “Morally” objectional content. Not for those who would object, of course, for everyone. Far easier to prevent everyone from seeing the questionable content than just those who might find it objectionable.
Naturally these chips would store any attempts to bypass their usage (like pressing the FF button to get past a commercial) and report the incidents to the proper authorities (since it would be considered a copyright violation).
Ah, it’s a wonderful world we live in.
Seussical – The Musical!
My friend Earle was in a play recently… Susical … which is a musical based on various Dr. Seuss stories.
It was quite entertaining … and Steve & I were conscripted into doing some photos for the troupe. Last week we did a bunch of candids while they were getting made up. Yesterday, in addition to actually seeing the performance, we did the cast photo.
It came out quite well, IMHO … I had to go up on a big elevated platform so I could get a downward looking shot.
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Fedora Core 3
Redhat has released Fedora Core 3!
As a service to those who read this blog (and others), I am providing copies of the i386 version of the Fedora Core 3 DVD for the nominal fee of $5 (covers media and postage).
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Clean memory
A few minutes ago I moved the laundry from the washer to the dryer … after I started the dryer I noticed a thunking noise. Usually this means some coins were left in a pocket and was rattling around in the dryer.
So I fished around in the dryer to find the rattling items … and I found a compact flash memory card. It apparently had been left in a pocket after one of our photo expeditions.
Considering it had been washed I figured it was toast. Scratch one Lexar 256mb 40x CF card 🙁 .
Just for grins, however, I decided to put it in the reader to see if anything was recoverable. Lo-and-behold … the card appears to be working fine. Even chkdsk reports everything OK.
Cool.
Why Fallingrock?
Ok, this is going to sound kind of sappy … but when I was on the trip to Colorado where I met Ginny (my wife), while driving in the mountains, I saw a sign that said “Falling Rock”. It kind of stuck my fancy.
It’s the kind of name that really means nothing … has nothing to do with my profession or hobbies.
When the domain ‘fallingrock.net’ opened up, I grabbed it.
Black-bodied Digital Rebel
Oh this just sucks!
Canon’s EOS Digital Rebel, the camera that put the excitement of SLR digital photography into the hands of consumers, will now be available for a limited time in a new black body
Black-bodied Canon Digital Rebel (EOS 300D): Digital Photography Review
When I got Ginny her Digital Rebel I had HOPED to get her one with a black body … so it would be easier for us to tell our cameras apart.
After doing research I determined that I coudln’t get one outside of Japan, so I ordered the normal one.
Now, of course, they release the Rebel with a black body.
Comment spam
Sigh
I’ve been getting hit with a lot of comment spam recently … pain in the a–.
I found a nifty plugin, however, that let’s me dump comment spam based on certian criteria. Pretty nice.
So far it has worked well … although I had some confusion when I was testing it … because I happened to get some new spam just before I implemented it. I thought the test spam had just been held for moderation instead of being dumped alltogether.
A bit of research, and another test, showed that the plugin was working fine.
Escape Hybrid
Ginny and I test drove the new Ford Escape Hybrid SUV today. It runs on both gas and electric power.
It’s quite a nice ride … very roomy, comfortable , nice pickup, smooth ride, good feel.
Kind of disconcerting, however, when the gas engine shuts itself off a few minutes after you turn it on.
I’m going to give this vehicle some serious thought when we go car shopping next year (the RAV is about at the end of it’s useful life, I think).
Only a few things really give me pause…
- The four wheel drive model does not have a high range and low range. This means it’s not all that useful if you get stuck in snow.
- The battery is included in the full vehicle warranty … which is 8 years or 80,000 miles. Unforunately, I tend to drive MORE than 10,000 miles / year. The RAV is 8 years old and I have 165,000 miles on it. I’m not sure if there is a extended warranty option
- It’s new technology … and largely unproven. Not sure if I want to be a ‘beta’ tester for a car. The RAV had been available at least 1 year before I got mine.
- Rather pricey … for a SUV. $28,000 is the base price (Not 100% sure on that). I could probably get a similarly equiped SUV (minus the hybrid, plus proper four wheel drive) for about $22,000.
Well, it’s certianly something to consider … we’re not going to be looking for a new car until next spring (unless something bad happens to the RAV).
Mailing list runs afoul of Rolex
As a mailing list operator, I found this item quite interesting …
Rolex wants spam removed from list archives.
It has come to Rolex’s attention that your company is the Bulletin
Board operator for http://lists.freeswan.org. Your Web Page enables the
following vendors to advertise and conduct sales of counterfeit and
infringing Rolex watches bearing the Rolex Trademarks:Vendor Exact Location of Counterfeit Rolex
Watch Posting on
http://lists.freeswan.org Web Site/
Bulletin Board
Now two things immediately come to mind about this…
- Obviously Rolex’s attorney’s lack clue one when it comes to the source of this ‘violation’. I suspect they are using some kind of web robot (or even Google) to find references to ‘Rolex’ spam on web pages and, thinking the site is actually responsible for the spam, tries to strong arm the content off.
- Why do mailing list operators leave their posting policy wide open? It’s really not unreasonable to require that only people who subscribe to the list are allowed to post. This is the policy for ALL my mailing lists.
Obviously this kind of thing isn’t going to effect me … as non-subscribers are not allowed to post on my lists. But the total lack of knowledge on the part of Rolex is disturbing.