Monthly Archives: October 2003

How's *This* For a Fast Download

Posted on October 24, 2003 by Kevin

We’ve recently switched from a Sprint T1 line here at work to Cogent’s all fiber optic network. 100 Mbit/sec for $1000/month. That’s 66 T1’s (a T1 is ~1.5 Mbit/s) for around what you’d pay for a T1.

While downloading iTune for Windows, I managed to get a screenshot of the IE download status – yes, that’s 1.39 Megabytes per second!

I wish I could get Cogent at home… :-)

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POLAPOLAPOLAPOLAPOLAPOLAPOLAPOLAPOLA

Posted on October 22, 2003 by Kevin

A picture of a picture of a picture…

All began in 1996 in Bretany, France.

On a beach I photographed with a the SX-70 a polaroid showing sand and stones. Again the resulting picture was photographed with the Polaroid-camera.

The distances in space and time became greater.

The previous polaroid is allways the basis for the next one and so on …

In the meantime more than 130 pictures are telling of – sometimes very personal – moments in the last seven years.

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It Sounds Like a "Daily Show" News Item

Posted on October 22, 2003 by Kevin

How can anyone take PETA seriously?

Animal Rights Group Wants City Name Change

RODEO, Calif., 1:24 p.m. PDT October 21, 2003 – Animal rights activists want the East Bay town of Rodeo –and pronounced ro-day-oh — to change its name to Unity.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says the name recalls the sport of rodeo. They claim rodeo animals are abused and mistreated. If Contra Costa County supervisors vote to change the name, PETA says it will donate $20,000 worth of veggie burgers to local schools.

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Fascism

Posted on October 21, 2003 by Kevin

I see the word “Fascism” being casually tossed around lately by people of the Far Left persuasion. “Bush is a fascist”. “America is a fascist state”. I’m not sure if they actually know the definition of the word, so here it is just in case they stumble across my web site (thanks to dictionary.com):

fas·cism   Audio pronunciation of "fascism" ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (fshzm)
n.
  1. often Fascism
    1. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the
      opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
    2. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government.
  2. Oppressive, dictatorial control.

[Italian fascismo, from fascio, group, from Late Latin fascium, from Latin fascis, bundle.]
fas·cistic (f-shstk) adj.

Word History: It is fitting that the name of an authoritarian political movement like Fascism, founded in 1919 by Benito Mussolini, should come from the name of a symbol of
authority. The Italian name of the movement, fascismo, is derived from fascio, “bundle, (political) group,” but also refers to the movement’s emblem, the fasces, a bundle of
rods bound around a projecting axe-head that was carried before an ancient Roman magistrate by an attendant as a symbol of authority and power. The name of Mussolini’s group of revolutionaries was soon
used for similar nationalistic movements in other countries that sought to gain power through violence and ruthlessness, such as National Socialism.

Sorry, while Bush is fairly right-wing (much much more than our leftist friends), he doesn’t fit the definition. Check out this guy for a real fascist. It’s also interesting to note that Fascism was born out of Socialism…

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” – Inigo Montoya

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Everything You Wanted to Know About CIDR

Posted on October 20, 2003 by Kevin

If you ever do any networking, you’ll probably need to know about the CIDR notation.

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Hell Has Frozen Over

Posted on October 16, 2003 by Kevin

Apple has finally released iTunes for Windows! I’ve been hitting reload every 15 minutes today waiting for its arrival. So far it seems to be excellent. I’ve also finally had the opportunity to download music from the iTunes Music Store and I’m already hooked. Just finished downloading:

  • “Blasphemous Rumors” and “Master and Servant” by Depeche Mode
  • “I Want You to Want Me” by Cheap Trick
  • “Things Can Only Get Better” by Howard Jones
  • “Cult of Personality” by Living Color
  • “Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, I Andante Tranquillo” by Bela Bartok
  • The entire “Shout: Best of Tears for Fears” album

All for ~$16.00. And it all sounds great.

My iPod is very very happy.

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What's Special About This Number?

Posted on October 16, 2003 by Kevin

Number fun!

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The Absolute Minimum Every Software Developer Absolutely, Positively Must Know About Unicode and Character Sets (No Excuses!)

Posted on October 14, 2003 by Kevin

Joel Spolsky has written a very good article on Unicode and why you should be using it.

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Ask a Bear with Searing Gas Pain

Posted on October 12, 2003 by Kevin

I don’t know why, but I find this hilarious…

Posted in Amusements | Leave a comment

LG VX6000 – One Month Later

Posted on October 8, 2003 by Kevin

(Well, more like 1 1/2 months…)

OK, so I’ve had an LG VX6000 camera phone for a while now. I use it daily as a cell phone, and almost as often as a camera and web browser. Here’s a list of pros and cons for anyone thinking of buying one.

Pro

  • Small and light-weight.

  • Clear reception.
  • Easy to use.
  • It’s great to always have a camera with you – you never know when you’ll need one.
  • MSN web portal has links to many useful sites.
  • Voice memo feature is handy, esp. if you’re forgetful like me.
  • Ringer can use polyphonic MIDI files and converted WAVs (via QCP format).

Con

  • Camera only stores 20 photos.

  • Photo quality is far from excellent.
    • Photo quality is fuzzy.

    • Strange “dark band” artifacts if insufficient light.
    • Hard to determine what the camera will auto-focus on, esp. if subject is far away.
  • Phone tends to drop connection a bit too often.
  • Lack of good PC software for contact list maintenance, photo xfer, etc.
  • No way to upload your own apps – everything must come from Verizon’s “Get It Now” service, and nothing is free.
  • Battery life is too short – needs recharging daily.
  • Stock poly ringers are OBNOXIOUS!

Overall I’d recommend this phone, but I’m sure something better will be out soon.

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