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Weblog: December 1999

Friday, December 31 1999

It's the small things that piss me off

An article about Metrorail hours on Dec. 31, 1999, from The Washington Post reads: "Subway trains were ready to roll at 5:30 this morning, after a last-minute financial offer by D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams persuaded Metro to get moving early instead of 8 a.m. as planned."

A fine story, except - I read the sentence at 5:21am DC time, 9 minutes before the alleged events - "subway trains were ready to roll" - occurred. I love my hometown newspaper, but I don't need the news so bad that they have to make it up for me in advance... no matter how true it ends up being. (BTW: I'm using ntpd to get accurate times, which is to say, my computer's never more than a few seconds off the actual time.)

Tuesday, December 28 1999

Vietnam Vets and Hanoi Jane

From about.com's (I preferred it when they called themselves The Mining Company) year-end roundup: 'Hanoi Jane' Rumors Blend Fact and Fiction - a look at a mix of facts and fiction regarding Jane Fonda's support for and actions in North Vietnam during the Vietnam war. The long and the short of it: Vietnam vets in general are still angry at her actions during the War, but there are a bunch of lies regarding her actions that are being distributed as fact.

This all came up as a result of Jane Fonda being included in Barbara Walters' list of 100 Women of the Century.

Related personal note: flying out of DC back in November, deplaning, I had a conversation with a married couple, both of whom were Vietnam vets, and had gone to DC for Memorial Day. I didn't know quite what to say to them about the Vietnam War; but I just asked them about their trip, about how they felt gathering with other vets at the Memorial, and such. What do you say to a Vietnam vet? I'm not happy about the above-and-beyond-the-call-of-warfare things some (some would say many) U.S. military personnel did in Vietnam, but I don't want to dishonor those who went over to Vietnam and did the best they could in a difficult situation. I'm not a big military fan, but I realize one reason I enjoy such a high standard of living is because the U.S. can push around the little guys of the world. The couple seemed like decent folks, who'd just been through a very emotional few days. That's all. Except for links to POW info and VIetnam War info.

The Cyborg You'll Be

Ray Kurzweil, author of The Age of Spiritual Machines, When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence, has a good article in the December issue of Business 2.0. He talks about the coming of not only hyper-intelligent machines - which I'd been under the impression from other readings he considered a doomsday scenario of sorts, in which we've have to convince our mechanical children not to terminate us - but hyper-intelligent people, specifically scientists (I suppose every hyper-intelligent individual would decide to be a scientist?).

ahref.com tie-in: my review of Darwin Among the Machines (great book, I'm not sure how good my review is). Hardware and software are evolving differently than biological entities. Their evolution - the determination of which hardware and software is propagated, not self-propagated, but propagated due to being useful to humans, which are in a way the environment in which machines compete for resources - so far hasn't selected for intelligence (we haven't got it yet, have we?), but for utility to humans. Kurzweil articulates (well) what will probably happen: the things which we'll share the planet with will be machine-enhanced people; there will be no point in building a computer that thinks/works/acts like a human - we can take a computer's advantages (speed, configurability) and strap them on to a human. The only disadvantage such a hybrid would have would be the need to feed the biological flesh.

I'm rambling. About things that have been covered plenty in science fiction, but which I've just been thinking about more since reading Darwin Among the Machines and, now, this article.

If the PC never happened, you'd have no programmers...

Peter Coffee, ZDNet columnist (or was this column a one-shot deal?), thinks we'd be better off if PCs had never been invented (or at least never become a Big Thing); we'd have moved on to the next phase, information appliances and wireless Net devices, quicker, and not have missed a thing.

He is, of course, wrong.

The PC can be a confusing and over-powered thing for an ordinary user. But it's been the stimulus for the people who built the Web, and built much of the desktop software that inspired Websites. Without them, programmers would have had less control over what they were doing with their resources, and have had to submit to the rules (and charges) imposed by the keepers of the central machines they would've had to work on; this would've stifled many a budding coder and driven him/her elsewhere in life. (Yes, some people were born to code; others wouldn't have started programming if they didn't have their own private PC playground to start out in, though.) We had to move from centralized computing to decentralized, or we never would've gotten back to more rational, and less costly, centralized computing. The Web wasn't popularized by monoliths; it was popularized by many individuals, doing their own individual pages, on their own individual (or shared) personal computers.

And we still need decentralized computing; Web appliances won't do everything - specifically, won't teach everything. How is a high schooler going to learn to administer computer networks unless she's got the hardware and software to set up her own in her mother's basement? The alternative would be to force her to get some sort of apprenticeship with someone who already knows what the kid needs to learn. And a computer guild, we don't need.

Monday, December 27 1999

Watch a Bear Sleep?

It sounds neat at first, but looking at the picture, and thinking how long winter is, I expect it'll get real old real fast. Researchers (working for The Discovery Channel?) have set up an infrared camera inside a bear's cave in Minnesota; it'll broadcast pictures of the pregnant black bear all winter long.

A related site: watch paint peel.

Saturday, December 25 1999

Burn All GIFs: Interview with Don Marti

One of the people I met at Comdex in November was Don Marti, webmaster for burnallgifs.org, and also the guy who did the Operating System Sucks-Rules-O-Meter. I've posted an interview with him, concerning the LZW patent, software patents in general, and the future of Burn All Gifs at ahref.com.

Wednesday, December 22 1999

Is Your Cell Phone Killing You?

You use a cell phone? A mobile-industry-funded research project, started in 1993, suggests that cell phone users have higher incidences of genetic damage to blood, brain tumors, and cancers. The researchers' advice? Use a headset for your cell phone until someone proves there's no danger from the radiation. (Or until the industry comes out with lower-rad phones.)

There are links to a bunch of resources (commentary as well as scientific reports) regarding radiation effects from cell phones at Electric Words. The researchers, Wireless Technology Research, appear to have a website, but I can't access it.

Stephen Jay Gould, Creationist? Not.

The New Yorker (which currently doesn't put articles online) ran an article in which Robert Wright attacked Stephen Jay Gould for saying that intelligence is not necessarily an end-product of evolution; that it's just a miracle/accident that intelligence appears to have been selected for in our natural environment. Interesting dissection of the argument - or at least of the tenor thereof - at Feed Magazine, making me wish I had access to the primary sources.

Tuesday, December 21 1999

Different Genders, Different Brain Structures?

According to a Wired article, men and women tend to have different-sized inferior parietal lobules (IPLs). The article suggests - but doesn't quite assert - that the size of women's IPLs relates to their greater abilities to detect emotion, and the size of men's IPLs relate to their ability to perceive and visualize. There's also a question as to whether the differences are the result of nature (born with it) or nurture (brain development determined by environment) for which one of the researches posits a guess.

The abstract of the article on which the Wired article was based indicates a sample size of 15 pairs of individuals. Full article not available without subscription.

Monday, December 20 1999

Mo' Money, Mo' Money, Mo' Money

Something mentioned on Salon a while ago, and now again on ZDNet - the big run-up in the stock market (especially Nasdaq) isn't just due to confidence in corporations. In prep for Y2K, the Fed has been pouring lots of money into the economy. Which, experts say, will probably lead to turbulent investing times, and a market "correction," early in 2000.

Date vs. Friends

Steve Burgess articulates what I finally realized after a good-night (and, as it turned out, good-bye (for now)) kiss back in October. (No, I never gave The Speech.)

Seven Questions

Here's an idea I came up with years ago, but apparently someone else has implemented (quite well, I'd say, based on a cursory glance.) The site is http://www.sevenquestions.com/ - and Tom Mangan publishes a series of interviews with people in which they answer seven questions each.

(I'd actually thought interviewing non-connected people would be the best way to do such a site; Tom sticks with people he knows, or who email him. Or so his FAQ says.)

Friday, December 17 1999

The Poorman vs. MTV (and Loveline)

Gotta love the Stanford Daily.

In an article published back in June, 1999, an intrepid Daily/Intermission reporter interviews James "The Poorman" Trenton, original creator of Loveline. He did the show solo for 1 year, then 9 years with Dr. Drew (who he fingered for the show). Then he got fired, KROQ syndicated the show with Adam and Drew, and the Poorman's feeling screwed.

Poor man.

Wednesday, December 15 1999

MP3s: Old-Media Killer or DOA?

In the Seattle Weekly, Kurt Reighley argues that MP3s may be the final stop for music formats; record companies will have to stop switching music formats because we'll finally have one where the format (record or 8-track? psychedlic cover art or band picture?) is gone. MP3 = anti-format.

Thing is, though, I like cover art, and song lists, and lyrics, and stuff all over my music formats...

Roasted Bell Peppers Filled With Eggplant, Squash, and Basil

Due to popular demand: the recipe for stuffed bell peppers, based on a recipe from Fields of Greens, a great vegetarian cookbook. (I'm looking for recommendations on seafood books if anyone has one.)

Do the Peppers

• 6 medium-size red bell peppers
  
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  
• salt and pepper
  

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
   
2. Cut the peppers lengthwise; remove the stem, seeds, and membrane
   
3. Lightly brush the inside of the peppers with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper
   
4. Place cut side down on a lightly oiled baking sheet
   
5. Bake for 10 minutes
   
   

   Do the Filling

   
   
   
   
   • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
     
   • 1 medium-size yellow onion, chopped, about 2 cups
     
   • salt and pepper
     
   • 10 garlic cloves, finely chopped (alternate: garlic powder)
     
   • 2 medium-size eggplants, diced, about 4 cups
     
   • 2 medium-size yellow squash, diced, about 4 cups
     
   • 16 olives, coarsely chopped
     
   • 4 ounces Fontina cheese, grated, about 1 1/2 cups
     
   • 2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated, about 2/3 cup
     
   • 6 tablespoons basil
     
   
   
   
   
   1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
      
   2. Heat the olive oil in a medium-size skillet
      
   3. Add the onion, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a few pinches of pepper
      
   4. Saute over medium heat for 5 minutes
      
   5. Add the garlic and the eggplant and saute for about 5 minutes
      
   6. Add the zucchini, 1 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper and cook for 7-8 minutes
      
   7. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl
      
   8. Add the olives and Fontina to the filling
      
   9. Set aside 4 tablespoons Parmesan to sprinkle on top and add the rest to the filling
      
   10. Combine the basil with the filling
       
   11. Season to taste
       
   
   

   Do the Combo

   
   
   
   
   1. Lightly oil a baking dish
      
   2. Fill the roasted pepper halves with a generous 1/2 cup filling
      
   3. Place them in the baking dish, cover, and bake for 25-30 minutes
      
   4. Sprinkle with the reserved Parmesan cheese and bake, uncovered, for 5 minutes to melt the cheese
      
   
   

   Serves one WGFH social gathering (12 people)
   
   

   Cop Scandal in LA Could Affect 3000 Cases?

   The LA TImes reports that the LA public defender's office says that over 3,000 already-tried criminal cases may have to be examined, to determine if corrupt LA cops framed suspects and planted evidence. The officer at the center of the probe, Rafael Perez, began talking about police misconduct he'd participated in, and conduct he'd seen other officers engage in, in exchange for a lighter sentence on a drug dealing charge.
   

   Some of Perez's "misconduct": shooting and killing unarmed gang member Juan Manuel Saldana; and handcuffing, then shooting, then planting a handgun on Javier Francisco Ovando, who was sentenced to 23 years of jail as a result.
   

   FBI Report Says Crime Is Decreasing

   An FBI report shows reported crimes across the U.S. as declining by 10% from the first 6 months of 1998 to the first 6 months of 1999. Year-by-year reports are available at http://www.fbi.gov/ucr.htm.
   

   Monday, December 13 1999

   I eat you to death...

   At Salon.com: an investigation into how much the typical human can eat before the stomach bursts and death follows quickly. 4 quarts used to be the accepted figure; one researcher reached this conclusion by stuffing food into a cadaver's stomach until it popped. More recent investigations reveal different answers, though...
   

   And then there's the Tale of Two Marathons - a fat man's account of the gastronomical delights he partook of on the day of the New York City Marathon, as his wife and brother-in-law ran the race.
   

   WTO in Seattle Redux

   At the beginning of the month, the World Trade Organization met in Seattle. There were a helluvalotta protests; and conflicting news reports from various "media." Over a week has passed, though, so the news has turned back to presidential elections and whether Net retailers will make any money this holiday season.
   

   Reading some of the accounts, I'm reminded of some of the anti-Gulf War protests that happened in California in the early 1990s. TV stations constantly, and consistently, showed footage of vandalism occuring in downtown SFO; Usenet posts from people who were actually there indicated that the vandals were not affiliated with the protesters, but just a bunch of guys using the confusion as an excuse to wreak havoc.
   

   Then there was a "march" I participated in myself, after the cops who were tried for the beating of Rodney King were acquitted; though I felt more like an observer than a marcher. Maybe a hundred people from Stanford campus walked into Palo Alto in the dark, made speeches, and went home. The march "organizers" were careful to keep everyone walking on the sidewalks only and off the streets; chanting in unison; and, basically, neither doing any damage nor stopping the flow of everyone else's daily life. Whereas I thought one of the purposes of a protest was to disrupt the status quo.
   

   
   

   
   
   • FAIR's coverage of media coverage of the WTO
     
   • Eyewitness accounts from protesters, forwarded to RRE
     
   
   

   Why diamonds?

   Robin Edgerton, at Stay Free!, claims that it's only in the past century that diamonds have gained status as a valuable stone.
   

   
   

   
   In 1947, De Beers ad agency came up with the massively successful slogan "A diamond is forever," which implied that diamonds dont crack, break, or lose value. (They do.)
   

   
   

   Read the article. Read the zine. Buy your girl or guy a subscription to Adbusters instead of a ring.
   

   Tuesday, December 7 1999

   Better to print in black and white

   Got this one from Red Rock Eater News Service: the color copiers and printers made by large manufacturers are set to put an (invisible) ID in all the copies and printouts they make. So, electronic fingerprints aren't the only way you can be traced through your documents; you can also be traced by the color documents you create. Xerox receives, and complies with, several requests per week to determine the machine the created a color document.
   

   Sunday, December 5 1999

   Too many .com-mercials

   I'm putting this here instead of at ahref.com because I've got too many article links there for the past week: the ever-insightful Scott Rosenberg blasts .companies for sending VC money straight into the pockets of media companies with ill-advised TV and radio buying.
   

   Christmas clip art on ahref.com

   New, on ahref.com: Christmas clip art, provided by JoAnne Dagostino of The NetStar. Personally, I prefer the Victorian-style pageset to the "retro" pageset.
   

   Friday, December 3 1999

   Do Porn Sites Make Money?

   Do porn sites make money? Hard to say, since (as far as I know) none of them are publicly traded. But they probably don't make as much money as people think they do. According to this Salon article, the online porn poster boy, Seth Warshavsky of Internet Entertainment Group (IEG) consistently orders employees to overcharge customers and reactivate closed accounts, can't meet payroll, and generally just does bad at business.
   

   A businessman lying about making money? What's next - politicians lying about how government works?
   

   Thursday, December 2 1999

   Judge Judy "Let 'Em Die" Sheindlin

   Maybe it's making a mountain out of a molehill.
   

   BUT - according to a news article in an Australian newspaper (reprinted at the above link) Judge Judy said this to Australian fans about IV drug users: "Give 'em dirty needles and let 'em die." According to FAIR, the only US media outlet to comment on this incident was Arianna Huffington, middle-age babe of right-wing politics. (Judge Judy also released a statement on her own website.)
   

   Now - I hope you caught Arianna Huffington in bed with Al Franken back in - was it 96? - on Politically Incorrect. (They even got Barney Frank, who AFAIK is the only openly gay member of Congress, to do a threesome with them.)
   

   Last link in this overloaded entry - a 1996 Mother Jones interview of Al Franken.
   

   (No - I lied. Anyone want to tell me why Greek Arianna's the director for the Center for New Black Leadership?)
   

   Wednesday, December 1 1999

   Song: Rancid. Album: Ultra-Obscene. Artist: Breakbeat Era

   
   

   Drunk and your words don't
   
   show on your face, I
   
   wait for your face to break.
   

   Vicious and clean, the
   
   edge of the razor,
   
   Hunt and then raise your blade.
   

   
   

   Track 2.
   

   Tuesday, November 30 1999

   Search of the day: "clean a whiteboard"

   I've got this whiteboard. It's a real-world item (not a software program) on which I can write things with markers - unfortunately, up until today, I'd been using "regular" markers that don't clean off the board easily. Wet cloths, and soap and water, weren't effective in cleaning it; so I turned to the Web.
   

   First stop: Ask Jeeves. Question I posed: "How do I clean a whiteboard" (I left out the ending questionmark, and I also left out the obligatory "asswipe" that I tend to add to the end of Ask Jeeves queries.) The results: poor. The questions which my man Jeeves thought were close to the one I was asking, in order:
   

   
   
   1. How can I clean my home in an environmentally friendly way?
      
   2. How can I fight clutter around the house?
      
   3. How do I remove a stain from my clothes?
      
   4. What does the computing term whiteboard mean?
      
   
   

   Second stop: Deja (The Site Formerly Known As Deja News.) Searched for the phrase: clean a whiteboard". Results: poor. The newsgroup postings Deja thought would interest me, in order:
   

   
   
   1. Re: screen cleaning - a guy suggesting that if your toddler writes on your TV screen with crayons, you should buy him a magic marker
      
   2. Canada - jokes about Canada (and not very nice ones)
      
   3. Mercedes - jokes about Mercedes cars (and not very good ones)
      
   4. Re: Whiteboard presentation - info on SmartBoard, a high-tech whiteboard which I'll never buy
      
   5. Re: Interactive whiteboards - about electronic whiteboards
      
   6. Vino rules - jokes about wine
      
   
   

   Third stop: MetaCrawler. When I searched for "clean a whiteboard" (phrase search returned 0 results), all I got were references to whiteboard software - basically, chat room type things.
   

   The web sucks because search engines suck. Or is it really true that there are no good sources on the Web which talk about cleaning a whiteboard? Suggested solution: a search engine should accumulate various answers into groups, based on similarities in the answer set; in this case, there'd be a set of answers all dealing with software, a set dealing with cleaning, a set dealing with humor (all those joke answers on deja.com), ... a set dealing with REAL WHITEBOARDS. Let the user decide which set is most relevant, and show those answers.
   

   (I finally decided to go ahead and use nail polish remover, despite not being sure it wouldn't hurt the board.)
   

   Datlow's science-fiction webzine on hiatus

   Event Horizon, a science-fiction webzine that was a bit different from other such efforts in that it had a major SF name as editor, has gone on hiatus - as in, it's not publishing for a while. It happens all the time to dead tree science-fiction mags, I suppose.
   

   They've still got plenty of good stories up right now, though; especially worth a look - their SuperStrings, collaborative fiction experiments with professional authors.
   

   <<Nov 1999

   Jan 2000>>

   
   

About this site

This is the personal web site for Edward (Ed) Piou. Consisting mainly of a blog (operational since 1999) and various photos.

Some online projects I'm working on

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