What is particularly interesting is the last 10-15 seconds of the report.  This is the part almost no one seems to be reporting when expressing their false outrage over this report:

. . . this is an element of the story which has largely gone unreported.  There are two assessments.  One looks at right wing groups as you mentioned, and a second focuses on left wing groups.  Significantly, both were requested by the Bush administration, but not finished until President Bush left office.

But of course, that’s the kind of information entertainers like O’Reilly and Limbaugh wouldn’t want you to hear.

Technorati Tags: Right wing extremists, Conservative faux outrage, Faux News, More political lies

Like so many young women, Amy King always took great pride in her appearance.

Standing in front of the mirror to check her make-up before a night out, the 21-year-old would always try a smile – friends told her they loved the way it lit up her face.

Eight weeks ago, all that changed. The student from Plymouth was admitted to hospital where, in a single operation, she had every tooth in her mouth removed.

Amy, whose dental problems were caused by untreated gum disease, does not go out any more. And when she looks in the mirror she hardly recognises the face staring back at her.

This is absolutely an extreme case.  It is not indicative of how nationalized medicine does or does not work.  The problem here appears to be over the management of the nationalized dental care, not the mere fact that it is nationalized.  I point this out, because one cannot look at this one case and claim nationalized care programs do not work.  On the other hand, proponents of nationalized healthcare cannot wave this away as a complete aberration that should not be evaluated when discussing nationalized coverage.

According to the article, teeth extractions in the hospital are up a statistically significant amount.  There is also an increase in the time it takes to get dental care, as well as suggestions that more advanced problem cases are not getting proper treatment due to how the national dental contract works.  Furthermore, there is an increase in home-care for dental issues.  This article even mentions a specific case of a woman pulling her own teeth when she couldn’t get to see a national provider.  Ouch.

As I said above – I’m neither for nor against national healthcare programs.  I see problems and benefits for providing universal coverage as well as for staying with what we have now.  I don’t think it’s a simple problem, and anyone who tells you one side or the other is clearly correct can only say that because they haven’t studied the cost and benefits well enough.  I do believe there is a true push toward nationalized care here in the US that will eventually succeed.  I do believe there will be benefits for many people as a result.  I also believe that some people will be left worse than what they have now, and that while some people will pay less overall for this coverage, many will also pay more.  I think it’s an important discussion to have, but I also think that knowing more than just the facts that support your own side are vital.

And a final note – the story says that Ms. King doesn’t like to go out any more, nor to smile.  But honestly, looking at her picture I still think she looks great.

Technorati Tags: UK, England, Nationalized healthcare, Dentist, Teeth extraction

Commodore-64 portablized

Is there anyone else out there capable of pulling off the work Ben Heck does? Honestly, I’ve seen a few people do similar mods to portablize game consoles or vintage computers, but no one with the breadth of neat hacks that Ben has done. The latest bit from him is the rejiggering of “Classic” computer the Commodore 64.

While I can’t say I personally would want one, this really is a pretty cool project for folks who have to get their retro on. (via MAKEZine)

Technorati Tags: Ben Heck, Retro, Commodore 64, Hardware hacks, MAKEZine

So with lasers consuming the position as awesomerest of awesome everything, just what could I want to talk about to impress even the laser fan? Well, how about the most powerful laser EVAR? Could this thing lift a squirrel into orbit? I don’t know. But it is a shit-ton of power:

Scientists working at the National Ignition Facility of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, have built the most powerful laser in the world, capable of simulating the energy force of a hydrogen bomb and the sun itself.

“The system already has produced 25 times more energy than any other laser system,” said NIF Director Ed Moses.

These scientists worked more than a decade to come to this. They generate this power by combining 192 laser beams. And the whole facility is contained within a ten-story building that’s roughly the size of three football fields (American football, for my dear foreign readers). So just how much is 25 time more energy than any other laser, exactly?

NIF’s 192 laser beams, housed in a ten-story building the size of three football fields, travel a long path, about 1,000 feet, from their birth at one of the two master oscillators to the center of the target chamber. As the beams move through NIF’s amplifiers, their energy increases exponentially. From beginning to end, the beams’ total energy grows from one-billionth of a joule (a joule is the energy needed to lift a small apple one meter against the Earth’s gravity) to four million joules, a factor of more than a quadrillion – and it all happens in less than 25 billionths of a second.

Yep – fully focused and powered up, this laser could lift 4 million apples one meter off the ground. Hmmmm. That doesn’t sound nearly as cool as it should. Let’s try again – this laser could lift 1 apple 4 million meters off the ground! Might need more exclamation points, but I think you get the idea. And that estimate of the value of a joule isn’t quite accurate, but it does simplify it and still leave us close enough.

Of course, that assumes the laser wouldn’t instantly vaporize the apple. But maybe if it’s a zombie dinosaur apple, it will survive the trip.

Technorati Tags: Lasers, 1.21 Gigawatts!, Apples, Zombies, Ninja, Pirates, Dinosaurs, I’m too fascinated by memes

But in all that reading, research, study, training, and other learning, one of the coolest things I ever consumed was the OSSTMM project. Rather than try to explain this project, I’ll just snag the introductory text from the project home site:

The Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual (OSSTMM) is a peer-reviewed methodology for performing security tests and metrics. The OSSTMM test cases are divided into five channels (sections) which collectively test: information and data controls, personnel security awareness levels, fraud and social engineering control levels, computer and telecommunications networks, wireless devices, mobile devices, physical security access controls, security processes, and physical locations such as buildings, perimeters, and military bases.

The OSSTMM focuses on the technical details of exactly which items need to be tested, what to do before, during, and after a security test, and how to measure the results. New tests for international best practices, laws, regulations, and ethical concerns are regularly added and updated.

The version I read when I first found this was 2.2.  It has been years since I used it, and I periodically check in for updates on the version 3.0 release.  I haven’t seen an update on the web site, and I’m not a team member/subscriber to the service, so I didn’t expect I would know unless I checked in on my own.  Well tonight, while catching up on email, I get this message from the project:

Hi,

Maybe you forgot us Six years is a long time to work on a single version of a project. That time is coming to an end and the OSSTMM 3 has been fully researched, completely re-written, and is nearly ready for press.

OSSTMM RC15, the Beta draft has just been uploaded for Silver Team members and OSSTMM RC20, the Alpha draft has just been uploaded for the Gold Team, partners, and team members.

All tests have been fully edited as well as most chapters. It contains the new, more usable format and descriptive content with greater explanations to make it easier to use. It also includes a full chapter
on Analysis.

Only a few chapters are missing. Chapter on RAV Calculations is still partially unedited and the Trust Metrics chapter is still incomplete. End chapters for templates and other extras are still incomplete. The unedited and incomplete chapters have been clearly labeled for completion.

We have a full color cover with an animal symbol ready to go, an OSSTMM security picture for the back cover, templates, and many graphics still to be added for the public version. Further examples,
graphics, and tips and tricks will go into the print version.

It feels so good to be so close to completing this version!

Sincerely,
-pete.

I’m really looking forward to getting this update. As a non-member, I know I will still have to wait. But as a consumer of all things open source, I expect it to be worth it. And I intend to review the final version and try to offer feedback, in the manner I hope most open source consumers at least try to do. Even if I have nothing to offer, I believe just making an honest effort to contribute is an important part of being in the community.  If I were still actively in security, I would probably subscribe, but it’s hard to justify the expense at this moment since I’m not doing security any more (but would like to – hint, hint)

If you are in to computer security at all, I can recommend the OSSTMM as a good resource for testing guidance.

Technorati Tags: OSSTMM, Open Source security, Security

Looks here like there is a story out on a new type of laser. While studying laser generation from a device called a quantum cascade laser, scientists noticed that a secondary laser with some unusual properties was generated.

ScienceDaily (Dec. 22, 2008) — A Princeton-led team of researchers has discovered an entirely new mechanism for making common electronic materials emit laser beams. The finding could lead to lasers that operate more efficiently and at higher temperatures than existing devices, and find applications in environmental monitoring and medical diagnostics.

In particular, this new type of laser apparently requires less energy to produce than a traditional laser. While the story in question makes no mention of strapping these frikkin’ lasers to frikkin’ sharks’ heads, I suspect a lower power draw would come in quite handy in any world take-over attempts based on such a premise. Assuming the scientists in question can figure out how to create this secondary laser without the primary laser still being there, of course.

The new laser phenomenon has some interesting features. For instance, in a conventional laser relying on low momentum electrons, electrons often reabsorb the emitted photons, and this reduces overall efficiency. In the new type of laser, however, this absorption is reduced by 90%, said Franz. This could potentially allow the device to run at lower currents, and also makes it less vulnerable to temperature changes. “It should let us dramatically improve laser performance,” he said.

The device used in the study does not fully attain this level of performance, because the conventional, low-efficiency laser mechanism dominates. To take full advantage of the new discovery, therefore, the conventional mechanism would need to be turned off. The researchers have started to work on methods to achieve this outcome, said Franz.

So work is still underway. And has been for a while, in fact. Word from the brains behind this work is they actually discovered this effect sometime last year, but have been working on perfecting or improving it since then. My current suspicions are if this doesn’t end up in shark-based warfare, it will be part of the coming robot uprising. And I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords (unless the zombies take over first).

Technorati Tags: Lasers, Frikkin’ sharks, Throw me a bone, Robots, Quantum something I don’t understand, Science Daily

On December 9, federal agents arrested Democratic Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich on charges that he had put president-elect Barack Obama’s senate seat up for sale–though not on eBay, which probably would have made things a lot easier. The Blagojevich portrayed in the 76-page criminal complaint is, according to the New York Times, a “[d]elusional, narcissistic, vengeful, and profane” man who has been under investigation for years. They’re not kidding.

You want corruption?  They did it old-school in Chicago.  “Here’s a powerful position.  How much you pay me to get it?”  Plain.  Simple.  Direct.  Like was done in Capone’s time.

The really touching thing about this scandal is we also get to find out what kind of family the Blagojevichs have.

111 a. On or about November 27, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH, his wife and daughters, and BLAGOJEVICH’s chief of staff JOHN HARRIS ate Thanksgiving dinner together. BLAGOJEVICH’s wife asked BLAGOJEVICH to “please pass the potatoes.” BLAGOJEVICH asked what his wife was willing to give him for “the f—ing potatoes” because “these f—ing things aren’t f—ing cheap.” HARRIS said that BLAGOJEVICH’s wife might donate $250,000 to Friends of Blagojevich in exchange for the potatoes. BLAGOJEVICH’s wife said she thought that was a high price for a spoonful of mashed potatoes and asked BLAGOJEVICH to carve the turkey instead. BLAGOJEVICH said “What am I, your f—ing butler?” and reminded her that “I don’t f—ing work for free.” HARRIS asked BLAGOJEVICH to consider carving the turkey in exchange for a helping of BLAGOJEVICH’s wife’s cranberry sauce. BLAGOJEVICH said he “hated f—ing cranberry sauce, you stupid f–k,” and reminded his wife that the “only reason we have this f—ing turkey in the first place” was because Senate Candidate 5 had personally delivered it to the BLAGOJEVICH residence that morning. BLAGOJEVICH’s wife said BLAGOJEVICH could take Senate Candidate 5′s turkey and “shove it up your a–.” BLAGOJEVICH said she could have the turkey “but if you feel like you can do this and not f—ing give me anything, then I’ll f—ing go.” HARRIS volunteered to carve the turkey if BLAGOJEVICH did not want to and the group returned to eating in silence.

Not only is he an inspiring, honest, upright public servant, he also is a loving, caring, good-natured provider for his family.  Most areas of the country have tiny little bribery or abuse of power corruptions going on.  In Chicago, they show the rest of the country what a government employee should do to abuse power and stamp out democracy.

Technorati Tags: Blagojevich, Old school corruption, Chicago, Capone’s way, Family man

In recent discussions on the future viability of US auto manufacturers, one of the topics to come up was the UAW job bank program.

According to that document, the basic guarantee from the 1987 agreement is that no eligible employee will be laid off over the term of the agreement, except under the following specific circumstances. 1)Reduced customer demand, a maximum of 42 weeks over the life of the agreement (commonly known as loss of marketshare); 2)Acts of God or other conditions beyond the control of management; 3)Conclusion of an assignment known in advance to be temporary; and 4) Plant rearrangement or model changeover.

Eligible employees can not be laid off because of new technology (robots), sourcing decisions, or company-implimented efficiency actions. There are generally three states of layoff: temporary layoffs where workers know their return date, indefinite layoffs where workers get 48 weeks of unemployment benefits and a supplemental from their employer equal to 100 percent of your salary. After 48 weeks workers are reemployed by the Job Bank, at which time they receive 95 percent of their salary.

Now if you are like me, you’ve never heard of this program before very recently. Ultimately, what the program is used for is to keep paying some number of UAW union members a worker’s salary while they don’t work. This is part of a program implemented in the 80s as a concession by auto manufacturers to the union to get support for productivity improvement efforts. In other words, the union realized that improving worker efficiency would mean fewer workers needed, so brought in this program as a way to keep paying some of the people who lost their jobs as a result.

How much does this cost the auto manufacturers? Well, we don’t know for certain, but looking back a few years gives us at least some idea:

General Motors Corp. has roughly 5,000 workers in its jobs bank. Delphi has about 4,000 in its version of the same program. Some 2,100 workers are in DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group’s job security program. Ford had 1,275 in its jobs bank as of Sept. 25.

. . .

Detroit automakers declined to discuss the programs in detail or say exactly how much they are spending, but the four-year labor contracts they signed with the UAW in 2003 established contribution caps that give a good idea of the size of the expense.

According to those documents, GM agreed to contribute up to $2.1 billion over four years. DaimlerChrysler set aside $451 million for its program, along with another $50 million for salaried employees covered under the contract. Ford, which also maintained responsibility for Visteon Corp.’s UAW employees, agreed to contribute $944 million.

Now let’s look at what the auto manufacturers are asking for. GM alone is requesting $4 billion to finish this year plus an additional $8 billion in cash to start 2009 and a $6 billion line of credit in case more is needed. The claim from the head of the company is there is a chance for GM to fail completely if a bail-out for the last few weeks of the year does not come through.

If GM alone continued the jobs bank program at the 2005 rate when renewing their UAW contract in 2007, we are talking about somewhere around $550 million per year. Let’s call it $600 million due to inflation, although this is honestly just a nice round number I pulled out of the thick, magical fog around my head. Suddenly, I can see one way to cut the need for about 7.5% of the requested bail-out funding for next year. Can anyone else? It is true that UAW representatives agreed to eliminate this program, but until I see it happen, I’m counting that cost as part of GM’s ongoing cost of running the business.

On top of the jobs bank program, there is talk of cutting workers’ wages. While I would personally think it makes more sense for everyone to take a pay cut than for some people to get full pay while others lose their jobs, I don’t know how pragmatic those who have to make this decision will be. There are sure to be workers who will vote against wage concessions and take the gamble that they will remain employed and someone else will be let go instead.

Just these couple of things makes me wonder aloud, as I have done many times before – Why would a logical worker choose the gamble that best benefits him/herself with the high-probability downside of ALL employees losing all financial rewards, when the option that costs all workers somewhat evenly has the high-probability upside that MOST workers keep their jobs? Am I just being a blind romantic (in the literary sense) here, or am I overlooking something that makes the selfish choice smarter than I’m seeing it?  I can actually see a reason why the workers would have fought for this in the 80s.  But I just can’t see why it still exists.

Technorati Tags: Auto industry bailout, UAW, Pragmatic, GM, Unions

Since September, D.C. residents have been allowed to register magazine-loaded semiautomatic handguns as well as revolvers. The legislation banned magazines that are capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

Yesterday’s legislation would also require firearms owners to take a safety course and undergo a background check every six years.

After the vote, council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) said in a statement, “Today’s vote puts the District at the forefront of using regulation to reduce gun violence, rather than the simpler, prior approach of hoping that an outright ban will be effective.”

I am not a firearm owner, but to me the 2^nd amendment is pretty clear on the right of ownership. While my limited reading of the recent legislation seems to follow the letter of the law, I think there is some question as to following the intended rights protection inherent in the amendment. I have to question my visitors who partake of this right – doesn’t it seem that the proper way to reduce gun violence to implement much harsher penalties for misuse? Rather than making legal owners suffer under laws illegal users will just ignore, isn’t it smarter to make sure the chance of repeat offense is reduced? Increase jail time for theft of a firearm. Increase jail time for theft carried out via firearm. Tack on additional sentencing mandates for homicides carried out by firearm.

I don’t directly benefit from loosening firearm restrictions for legitimate users. I do, however, know that if someone tries to rob a McDonald’s or a bank while I am there, I want to have the hope of someone in the facility being a legal carrier. My interactions with those that carry suggests to me that I am safer with them around than with most police.

Technorati Tags: Firearms, 2nd amendment, Washington DC, Right to bear arms

Is betting on the assassination date of a newly elected President free speech? I would say yes, although it sure is poor taste. Is offering a betting pool on the assassination date and then saying Let’s hope someone wins similarly protected? I would argue that it is not. This changes expressing an expectation that an assassination will occur to something that instead looks to incite violence in a manner long ruled illegal. Or at least to be dangerously close to that. To me, the betting alone seems legal and protected, even if offensive and remarkably stupid. Including the indication of hoping for a successful assassination does not seem reasonably protected speech.

The Town Council in Standish condemned the sign on Thursday in a 6-0 vote and declared it reprehensible at a meeting where some residents defended the store owner, saying he had a right to free speech even if in bad taste, local authorities said.

. . .

The sign in the Oak Hill General Store asked customers to place a $1 bet on the date of Obama’s assassination, and said “Let’s hope someone wins,” the Portland Press Herald reported. It was called the “Osama Obama Shotgun Pool.”

Am I way off here? Is this something that should be allowed? If you say yes, would you believe the same if this had happened 4 years ago, and the betting were instead for what date President Bush would be assassinated? If you say no, am I being too lenient in believing that the betting pool itself is legal without the Let’s hope someone wins quote? Where is the line on talk about expected/anticipated assassinations of our leaders?

Technorati Tags: Obama, Assassination, 1st amendment, Betting pool, Inciting violence, Free speech

Acevedo’s story is one that was never supposed to be told. “We had to sign an affidavit … [saying] we never went through what we went through. We weren’t supposed to say a word,” he says.

The U.S. Army Center of Military History provided CNN a copy of the document signed by soldiers at the camp before they were sent back home. “You must be particularly on your guard with persons representing the press,” it says. “You must give no account of your experience in books, newspapers, periodicals, or in broadcasts or in lectures.”

I am not here to question silencing those who have suffered through such events. I have worked in a classified environment, and I fully understand and respect the need to initially treat sensitive matters as classified. The military says the reason for secrecy is to protect escape and evasion techniques and the names of personnel who helped POW escapees, and I have absolutely no reason to question that. I do, however, think there is a need for an office responsible for reviewing
these cases after the fact. This is a story that is well worth knowing, and the events Mr. Acevedo describes seem to have no impact on the need to protect that the military says is the case. Certainly, 60 years after the war, I would can’t imagine why he needs to be kept under confidentiality agreement. Understand I’m not saying I know that it is fine for him to talk – I just can’t come up with a reason based on what I’ve read and learned that would support keeping confidentiality in effect.

That said, see some more below the break about Mr. Avecedo’s experience, and learn a little about how his agreement hurt him in the shortterm.

Born July 31, 1924, in San Bernardino, California, Anthony C. Acevedo is what is known in today’s parlance as a “citizen child” — one who was born in the United States to parents from Mexico.

A Mexican-American, he was schooled in Pasadena, California, but couldn’t attend the same classes as his white peers. “We couldn’t mix with white people,” he says. Both of his parents were deported to Mexico in 1937, and he went with them.

Acevedo returned to the States when he was 17, he says, because he wanted to enlist in the U.S. Army. He received medical training in Illinois before being sent to the European theater.

I just wanted to highlight this. Mr. Acevedo’s history is one of the reasons I don’t accept any immigration arguments about how easy it would be to just ship them all home (to quote many people I know). While we as a nation need to get a handle on illegal immigration, I don’t see that it’s some simple matter with a simple solution.

Acevedo sees it differently. For a soldier who survived one of the worst atrocities of mankind, the military’s reaction is still painful to accept. “My stomach turned to acid, and the government didn’t care. They didn’t give a hullabaloo.”

It took more than 50 years, he says, before he received 100 percent disability benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Sadly, this is something that happens more often than I would think just bad military record-keeping would cause. Even our veterans involved in wars and affected in ways that are publicly known fall through the cracks of the support structure we have in place for them. This is something to always hope for improvement. We, as a nation, have a moral obligation to our troops and veterans, don’t we?

Despite everything Acevedo endured during the war, little had prepared him for his own father’s attitude toward his capture. “My dad told me I was a coward,” he says.

“I turned around and got my duffel bag, my luggage, and said, ‘This is it, Father. I’m not coming back.’ So I took the train the following day, and I didn’t see my parents for years, because I didn’t want to see them. I felt belittled.”

Whether this was from his father not knowing the full extent of what he went through or just because he dad was a sucky parent, we’ll never know. But no matter the cause, I would argue it is inappropriate behavoir for a parent.

The U.S. prisoners, Acevedo says, were given 100 grams of bread per week made of redwood sawdust, ground glass and barley. Soup was made from cats and rats, he says. Eating dandelion leaves was considered a “gourmet meal.”

If soldiers tried to escape, they would be shot and killed. If they were captured alive, they would be executed with gunshots to their foreheads, Acevedo says. Wooden bullets, he says, were used to shatter the inside of their brains. Medics were always asked to fill the execution holes with wax, he says.

This is just one of the many bits of information about Mr. Acevedo’s ordeal that makes it worth reading. There is so much horrifying information like this in the article. These men were treated so
horribly. And as I said above, while I respect the need to protecting information initially, after 60+ years I agree that it is time for these stories to be released. Let us know what our war heroes have done.

There is much more in the full article than what I can cover here. Already, this is far longer than I would normally write. Please read the full story, and learn about Mr. Acevedo’s daily diary which he used to document every death and sickness, as well as the recognition he got from other survivors at a recent gathering of WWII prisoners and liberators. It’s a moving story, even if holocaust deniers claim such things never happened.

Technorati Tags: World War II, WWII, Buchenwald, Concentration camp, Horrors of war

I got my brown, 30 gig Zune when the first generation product was shipped. I got a very good price on it. The large hard drive available for the low price ($99 shipped) made it appealing, and I heard that the screen quality was very good (it is), which appealed to me. When my Zune arrived, I was looking forward to hooking it up and loading audio, video, and podcasts, and trying it out. So I loaded the drivers, plugged the device in, and waited.

…and waited…

…and waited…

…and finally decided to go have dinner and figure out later why the player turned on, caused my system to give the Windows “you’ve got hardware” beep, then turned off. After the 10^th or 11^th on-and-off cycle, I figured I’d gotten bum hardware, but didn’t want to troubleshoot until I had eaten. I checked on dinner (pizza that night, as I had hardware to toy with), saw it wasn’t ready, so came back to my geek-cave to try again. The Zune was still taunting me by turning on, making Windows beep, and turning off. I waited for the pizza instead. After dinner and cleanup time, I returned to start debugging. The Zune was on, showing the charging icon, and the Zune software was loaded. Apparently, the device ships with a fully drained battery, and it turns on as soon as it is plugged in. Since the battery is drained, there isn’t enough juice to get the device running, and there’s no smarts or circuitry built in to keep it from booting until there is enough power to keep the thing on. Hmmmm. Not happy with my first impression.

I go through configuration, get a couple hundred songs loaded, and look for some video to try the screen out. Here comes problem number two – the software for the Zune won’t convert standard AVI files to a format the Zune will play. I can accept that, but it seems odd that this thing was pushed as a music and video player, but didn’t understand the most common video format I can recall seeing on the internets. Through the magic of search, I found the SUPER video converter, which I used (and still use) to convert from AVI to MP4 format that Zune kinda, sorta, maybe understands. I convert my videos, put them in the directory that the Zune software is monitoring, and wait almost 15 minutes each for my 22 minute, already converted MP4 videos to get converted in to whatever format the Zune uses. This takes place on a dual-core Windows system with 2 Gig of memory and nothing running except Firefox. Why does it take almost as long to convert as to watch, after I’ve already converted it once? I don’t know. And I’m not so forgiving of not having video conversion software if I have to two-step it.

And the above doesn’t even take into consideration the fact that when I do find a video podcast in the Zune marketplace that I want to view, the system still has to convert it after downloading it before putting it on the Zune.  Shouldn’t downloadable content already be in the right format, when the downloading service is the official marketplace for the device?

Music, video, and podcasts loaded, I take the sucker to work the next day, ready to glow with happiness in my audio-isolated listening Nerdvana. The Zune played music fine. Everything sounded great. I had no problems. Until I tried to stop listening to music and start watching video. I clicked down on the control wheel, intending to go from the “Music” to the “Video” option. About 1.5 seconds later, the display updated. I clicked the center button to get to my video listing, and another 1 to 1.5 seconds passed. I got to the videos list, tried to choose one, and every click to go down the screen was followed by a 1 to 1.5 second pause. I got annoyed with the interface. Once I started my video, it played fine, but it took me another day or two to figure out that leaving wireless turned on while working in an area without wireless networks caused massive interface lag. That problem no longer happens, but the fact that the Zune ships with wireless enabled and it slows down the interface by several seconds made me like the device just a little less.

Now, let’s turn to the first disagreement I have with ExtremeTech over the Zune: the Zune software interface (here compared to the iPod interfacing iTunes):

Zune desktop software, by comparison, is sleek and highly visual. It’s clean and well organized, fast, and makes browsing music and videos into entertainment by itself. Toss in the greatly enhanced social aspects (syncing friend’s recently played lists, browsing what they have been playing, messaging, checking out users with similar tastes) and the cool Mixview for discovering new music, and it’s actually hard to go back to the boring spreadsheet-like lists and boxes on iTunes. And yes, the Zune marketplace has all sorts of MP3 tracks available, podcasts and video podcasts, TV shows and movies, etc.

The desktop software interface, while indeed highly visual, is too busy. I’ll give them well organized, but there’s just so much ‘stuff” on display that it takes longer to see the “What” that you need to get around. It’s not worse than iTunes, but I don’t see it as being any better, either. And the stupid interface is lacking in some necessary basic user-friendliness that web browsers exhibit. Say I want to find a particular podcast, like the latest Countdown with Keith Olbermann which I enjoy watching. I go to Podcasts, choose News, choose Politics, then scroll through the list until I see Countdown. I click on that, realize I’m on the audio podcast, so I click the back button so I can find the video podcast. I’m back at the top of the list of political news podcasts. That’s a problem in some categories where there are 3 or 4 screens worth of choices to scroll through. Now I have to scroll again and find where I was, then continue on in hopes I finding where I want to be. While trying out a dozen or so podcasts recently, I got real tired of scrolling. And so far as I can see, there’s no bookmark option so I can return to that podcast’s listing in the future, should I want to easily download something to watch or listen to again.

The interface is perhaps one of the best Microsoft has ever developed, and easily on par with the click wheel on iPods.

No. It is not. Not even close. It’s slow, and much less precise.

(Here’s the happy-hug-time stuff) On the plus side, the Zune pass option, a $15 per month subscription, just got upgraded so you can get unlimited music downloads for listening, and you get to keep 10 songs per month. These songs can be moved to other computers, burned to CD, or put on other media players you have. That’s just cool, and I’ll be signing up for this feature next time I hit the Zune marketplace (tonight, after I get this posted, in fact). In addition, Microsoft does well by regularly updating the desktop experience and the device firmware, and the recent addition of games will go far for picking up more gadget geeks who have otherwise held off, I’m sure. It just needs to get easier for users to add games made for the Zune which are available for download elsewhere on the net.

I agree with ExtremeTech that Microsoft performs best when playing catch-up. I agree that the Zune most emphatically will be getting better and capture greater market share. And I fully expect that the Zune will be a strong contender for best media device if Microsoft keeps working and improving it like the company normally does when trying to break in to a market. But to praise the poor user interface and desktop experience at the present time I think is inaccurate. And had I an account on ExtremeTech, I would contribute some of these thoughts to the discussion, but the last thing I need is yet another website or discussion board account, so I’ll stick to putting my disagreement on my own site where only 2 other people will have to subject themselves to it.

Technorati Tags: Zune, Technology, ExtremeTech, Wrong

All that said, what follows below the break is some of my personal history in joining this movement, which hopefully sheds some light on why I care so much about the status and health of Open Source overall.

I am a long-time user of Open Source and freely redistributable software. Long ago, based on the recommendation of a friend (hello, Jay, wherever you are), I started using Linux at home. I still remember downloading via zmodem the 4-disk installation set for SLS Linux (most likely you’ve never heard of it, as it didn’t last very long – I think due to lack of update cycles, at least compared to a number of other then available distributions). I never got it working right, because it didn’t have proper driver support for my SCSI card (an UltraStor 34F, if you must know) and I didn’t know nearly enough to resolve the problem at the time. So I looked for and found a distribution that came with the drivers I needed (SlackWare), downloaded and installed it, and all was wonderful. I came in to the Linux flock on Kernel 0.99pl14, registering with The Linux Counter project sometime not long after it went live. This was geek heaven, as running Linux really got you down close to the system and made you learn what you were doing to get everything running right – back then, I didn’t care if Linux was usable by the so-called “typical” computer user.  It worked for me, and it kept me sharp on maintaining a Unix-like system.

For the next few years, I dual-booted, playing The 7^th Guest (sample game play video), Descent (reborn as DXX-Rebirth project), Doom, and other games in DOS or Windows, and rebooting into Linux to do “real” work, such as email, Usenet (there was not much on the World Wide Web for socializing and mass communication back then), and accessing and working on some Solaris systems I had guest accounts on.

After getting married, living on a limited budget meant sharing a computer with the wifey-person after some of her hardware crapped out on us. Her need for a regularly available work computer at home meant I needed to stick to a one-OS computer. And since the wifey-person was totally non-technical (the implication here being that she might be slightly technically inclined now), and many of the available productivity tools were less capable for her needs than the commercial stuff she knew at the time, that OS had to be Windows. Because of this, I was in Linux withdrawal for a few years. I still read the Usenet Linux groups and tried to help others (at that time, a busy group might get 300 messages a day – totally manageable for a single day’s readings), but I fell behind on Linux knowledge and skills. Clearly, action was required.

At this point, I started getting in to hardware in a way I’d never done before. I researched Linux driver development for all kinds of then-modern hardware, figuring that to save money I needed to build my system piece-by-piece. I was a huge believer in the need for SCSI drives at the time, because the IDE standard was just too unreliable for burning CDs. Burn protection that prevented bad disc burns when the system fell 3 milliseconds behind on feeding data just didn’t exist at the time. The irony here is that I bought a bad Philips SCSI burner that failed on discs over about 400 Meg, replaced it with a bad SCSI burner purchased on eBay, and then no longer really needed to burn discs after finally getting a reliable SCSI burner from a local store. In the end, though, I built a decent Linux capable system for a few hundred dollars (a crazy-low price at the time), got Linux running (not difficult since I’d researched my equipment needs first), configured X-Window to work (crazy hard, given the required technical details necessary to configure everything), and started looking about for software to make my efforts worthwhile.

And this brings me to where I want to start talking about what I call the Kudos society. I will be writing about tools I use, tools I’ve looked at using but do not for some reason, things I and others can do to contribute to support this community, and what I hope to do to help in the future.

First, my term “The Kudos Society.” It’s not really accurate to refer to the entire Open Source movement with this term, but what I’m really talking about is the tendency for so many to work on projects where there often isn’t real benefit beyond scratching an itch except recognition and appreciation from others.  I know there are people who get paid for working on Open Source projects. I know there are people who do the work on these projects who remain anonymous and avoid the recognition the projects could bring. And there are people who use Open Source project contributions as something of a resume to help get paying work. But generally speaking, most of the developers I see on Open Source projects are working on things as a side project to their “real” job, or are working on whatever because they have the time and skills necessary.

To me, these people seem, in essence, to be working primarily for Kudos – “Thanks for your good work.” I appreciate this attitude (even if I am incorrect in my perception), and do try to find ways to support the Kudos projects I use or would like to use. And with that large, rambling introduction, I’ll point to my “The Kudos Society” pages for my thoughts, my experiences, my attempts to contribute, and my recommendations.

Technorati Tags: Open Source, Free software, The Kudos Society

It has plagued scientists and politicians for decades, but scientists now say global warming is not the problem.

We are actually heading for the next Ice Age, they claim.

British and Canadian experts warned the big freeze could bury the east of Britain in 6,000ft of ice.

There can be little doubt, given the inverse relationship between global warming and worldwide number of pirates (read beginning just above the graph half-way down the article) that these events, the increase in piracy and the return to an ice age, are related. This is simply the environmental impact of a poor world economy, I suspect. As it gets harder for people to earn a few dollars by working, they’ll look to earn a few hundred million dollars from stealing massive tankers. That’s just forward-thinking economics, really.

In response to the multiple looming crises, several world governments have taken to combating piracy. For example, an Indian warship has recently sunk a pirate “mother ship” to fight piracy.

An Indian naval vessel sank a suspected pirate “mother ship” Wednesday in the Gulf of Aden and chased two attack boats into the night, officials said, as separate bands of brigands seized Thai and Iranian ships in the lawless seas.

A multinational naval force has increased patrols in the region, and scored a rare success Tuesday when the Indian warship, operating off the coast of Oman, stopped a ship similar to a pirate vessel described in numerous bulletins. The Indian navy said the pirates fired on the INS Tabar after the officers asked to search it.

If the global temperature goes up next week, you’ll know why. Besides, the Indian government is apparently forgetting the trickle-down effect that the $100 million ransom will have on the global economy is the Somali pirates get the money they are asking for. I’m betting it could show up as early as next month in your pay check. If you get a little pay bump or a Christman bonus, remember to thank a Somali pirate.

Technorati Tags: Piracy, FSM, Pastafarian, Global economy, Climate change, Global warming, Global ice age, Trickle down economics

The theory emerged in part from thinking about events other than mutations that can change gene behavior. And it suggests entirely new avenues of research, which, even if they prove the theory to be flawed, are likely to provide new insights into the biology of mental disease.

. . .

Their idea is, in broad outline, straightforward. Dr. Crespi and Dr. Badcock propose that an evolutionary tug of war between genes from the father’s sperm and the mother’s egg can, in effect, tip brain development in one of two ways.

In short, it sounds like when one parent’s genes overpower the other sufficiently, it can affect brain development.  Which parent’s genes exert a greater influence will change how the brain develops.

A strong bias toward the father pushes a developing brain along the autistic spectrum, toward a fascination with objects, patterns, mechanical systems, at the expense of social development. A bias toward the mother moves the growing brain along what the researchers call the psychotic spectrum, toward hypersensitivity to mood, their own and others’.

Ah Ha!!!  Psychotic!  And that’s their word, not mine.  I’m sure many men, at this point, would be nodding their head and saying “Of course that pushes the brain towards psychotic.”  Except, of course, most of us man can’t really focus long enough to get this far in the story. 

Better said by NY Times:

In short: autism and schizophrenia represent opposite ends of a spectrum that includes most, if not all, psychiatric and developmental brain disorders. The theory has no use for psychiatry’s many separate categories for disorders, and it would give genetic findings an entirely new dimension.

But before putting too much stock in this theory, realize it has early critics.  And it has early problems worth working through before giving too much confidence in the end concept.

“The reality, and I think both of the authors would agree, is that many of the details of their theory are going to be wrong; and it is, at this point, just a theory,” said Dr. Matthew Belmonte, a neuroscientist at Cornell University. “But the idea is plausible. And it gives researchers a great opportunity for hypothesis generation, which I think can shake up the field in good ways.”

The full story at the NY Times delves deeper in to the thinking behind the theory, how the authors game up with the idea, and why it might or might not develop into something useful.  I just wish I knew enough to make better sense of it and have more of value in commenting on it.

Technorati Tags: Brain development, Brian disorder, Psychotic, Autism, Schizophrenia