Tumblin Around

Flashback to 1994

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:27:06 -0400

I’ve read a few hypothetical articles over the past few years about what life would be like without the internet. Now I am living that life, at least during the work week. The current project that I am working on doesn’t allow us to have world wide web access at our computer stations. So, for the most part, we sit, and do work, listen to music on headphones, and talk among ourselves. Luckily, we have access to e-mail on our computers which allows us contact with the outside world, and one shared community computer that has full internet access. Sadly, the e-mail is filtered, so cute tricks like surfing the web via e-mail don’t work, and swear words cause the e-mails to get shunted to never never land. Theoretically, I could ‘hack’ the machine by installing Firefox by usb, but the risk of detection is not worth it. So, what can we do by e-mail? Send e-mails, of course. That includes sending “texts” by email to phones, which is handy in keeping in contact with people, since they can sms back. I need to figure out if its possible to send updates to facebook or twitter via e-mail, but my initial investigations don’t look promising. Thankfully, tumblr has e-mail posting capabilities, and with any luck, the e-mail will get through and allow me to blog from my desk, which would be a nice outlet from daily workday grind. I’m just an ‘alt-tab’ way from an Outlook window, which will allow me to blog about my day. I can record my thoughts and feelings about the news…but wait, I don’t have access to the web, so I guess I’ll have to reference events broadly. I guess I can also talk about the interesting things that people say at work or blog about my “revolutionary amazing insights” that I have while I am at my desk working. So, if you have any ideas about how to survive with limited internet access, let me know by posting a comment. It will be appreciated! P Please consider the environment before printing this email. ***Privilege and Confidentiality Notice*** This electronic message contains information that is (a) LEGALLY PRIVILEGED, PROPRIETARY IN NATURE, OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED BY LAW FROM DISCLOSURE, and (b) intended only for the use of the Addressee(s) named herein. If you are not the Addressee(s), or the person responsible for delivering this to the Addressee(s), you are hereby notified that reading, copying, or distributing this message is prohibited. If you have received this electronic mail message in error, please contact us immediately at 212-907-0700 and take the steps necessary to delete the message completely from your computer system. Thank you.

It’ll Blow… (via joezandstra)

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:23:58 -0400

It’ll Blow… (via joezandstra)

Oy

Tue, 26 May 2009 17:00:34 -0400

On the Importance of Units | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine

Wed, 20 May 2009 14:26:53 -0400

On the Importance of Units | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine

Best Sarcastic Argument For Gay Marriage Ever

Sun, 17 May 2009 08:57:25 -0400

Check out the article here:

The Sanctity of Marriage | Politicker NJ

Open-mindedness (via QualiaSoup)

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 22:19:08 -0400

Open-mindedness (via QualiaSoup)

Conservatives ask, "Now WOT?"

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 07:22:00 -0400

Conservative bloggers are up in arms about a supposed Obama administration re-branding of the “global war on terror” to “Overseas Contingency Operation”.

The whole kerfuffle is over an alleged OMB e-mail memo that states:

“this administration prefers to avoid using the term ‘Long War’ or ‘Global War on Terror’ [GWOT]. Please use ‘Overseas Contingency Operation.’”

According to the OMB, the email does not represent official policy.

The term “Overseas Contingency Operation” has been around since 1997. A google search of military and government websites for “Overseas Contingency Operation” yields 100 hits, none that include any official memos or statements.

The term has been used by a Marine General in a letter and in an Air Force memorandum about force deployment in 1998 and 2000 respectively.

Of course, I couldn’t find any official statements by anyone in the Obama administration using the term “Overseas Contingency Operation” as a substitute for GWOT.

Why are conservatives up in arms about this? Its silly. The term is used in budgetary legislation that former Pres. Bush wanted…very very badly.

The Overseas Contingency Operations Transfer Fund (OCOTF) is a “no year” transfer account, that allows the DOD flexibility to meet operational requirements by transferring funds to resources based on actual execution experience as events unfold, without disrupting approved programs or force readiness.

Sounds exactly like the kind of stuff that our military needs, right?

Of course, this has nothing to do with logic. This is about politics and conservative angst that their framing of our foreign policy debate is being ignored.

Lets forget about names. Lets go out there, stop terrorisism and bring stability to the world.

Roll One Up, America: Obama Sushi Rolls

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:27:10 -0500

Roll One Up, America: Obama Sushi Rolls

The Future of Advertising? on TwitPic

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:39:49 -0500

The Future of Advertising? on TwitPic

Why Newspaper Columnists Shouldn't Give Legal Advice

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 09:39:00 -0500

“Sorry, Fred, but there’s no exemption for “hams” or citizen-band radio operators”. WRONG. Have you read the statute or consulted a lawyer about how the statute works? Ham operators are exempted. “The use of a wireless telephone or electronic communication device by an operator of a moving motor vehicle on a public road or highway shall be unlawful….For the purposes of this section, an “electronic communication device” SHALL NOT include an amateur radio.”

Of course, the real question is whether a “CB Radio” is an “amateur radio”. A mobile CB radio looks substantially similar to an amateur radio setup. They both use antennas on top of the car. Some amateur radios can broadcast and receive CB band. Both can use handheld or handsfree microphones.

Furthermore, it is not illegal to use a cell phone in your car. In order to use the cell phone, it must be hands free. The only time it is legal for you to use your hands is to begin or end the call. This is analogous to using a Ham/CB handheld mic, since it only requires you to hold down a button to start a transmission, and then pressing it again at the end.

And here is the kicker. New Jersey will be hard pressed to show that it can regulate the use of either CB or Ham radio equipment because there are very strong arguments that a) only the US Congress can regulate the use of these devices because of their use in interstate commerce, and b) that federal rules and regulations have preempted the field, and that state laws outlawing the use of Ham and CB frequencies while driving usurp the federal governments power to regulate the airwaves.

The purpose of the statute is to prevent drivers from using cell phones, pdas or laptops or other distracting electronics devices. Ham and CB radios have been used in cars for decades and there is little to no evidence that they cause accidents.

@ski22: Scanners, not CBs, are used to monitor public safety frequencies. A scanner is a hands free device.

NorthJersey.com: CB radios included in ban on hand-helds

My previous life as a soldier in the Polish Army

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:18:17 -0500

My previous life as a soldier in the Polish Army

Words of Wisdom: Make sure you always look upstream before...

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 10:02:22 -0500

Words of Wisdom: Make sure you always look upstream before drinking from a river.

Check Out My New Blog!

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 21:28:53 -0500

[T]he Treasury lacks the statutory authority to direct TARP dollars to Detroit automakers. While the purpose of the EESA is to restore liquidity and stability to the financial system by promoting home ownership, jobs, and economic growth, it does not grant the Treasury unfettered spending discretion. Auto manufactures are not financial institutions and therefore do not qualify for assistance under TARP.

Read my new blog at:

Linux Lawyer: President Bush’s Auto Bail Out is Illegal

I’d put this up in front of my house via www.venganza.org

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 09:51:07 -0500

I’d put this up in front of my house

via www.venganza.org

Lisa Jackson should not be the next head of the EPA

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 11:46:00 -0500

Lisa Jackson’s track record in New Jersey should disqualify her from serving as the next EPA administrator. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) has stated that “the decisions, rulings, and actions produced under Jackson’s administration at [the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection] have been nothing short of appalling.”

Her appointment is political suicide for Obama if he wants to keep sportsmen of all political leanings in his good graces. Jackson’s controversial bear hunt shenanagans and delay in the adoption of fishing code regulations until the spring of 2008 is further evidence of her ineptitude.

Solderbynumbers.com

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 13:35:02 -0500

Solderbynumbers.com

Epic.

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:25:00 -0500

Epic.

"The largest recorded nested bird roast is 17 birds, attributed to a royal feast in France in the..."

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:57:49 -0500

“The largest recorded nested bird roast is 17 birds, attributed to a royal feast in France in the early 19th century (originally called a Rôti Sans Pareil, or “Roast without equal”) - a bustard stuffed with a turkey, a goose, a pheasant, a chicken, a duck, a guinea fowl, a teal, a woodcock, a partridge, a plover, a lapwing, a quail, a thrush, a lark, an Ortolan Bunting and a Garden Warbler. The final bird is small enough that it can be stuffed with a single olive; it also suggests that, unlike modern multi-bird roasts, there was no stuffing or other packing placed in between the birds. This dish probably could not be legally recreated in the modern era as many of the listed birds are now protected species.”

- Turducken - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fedora 10 KDE on VirtualBox

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:36:00 -0500

Installing Fedora 10 on VirtualBox was a snap. The installer was straight foward and absolutely painless. The live cd worked flawlessly. The installer did not ask any unusual questions and partitioning was handled smoothly.

On reboot, Fedora asked some simple questions about set-up. I was surprised that the time was wrong, however, and I set up the time servers using NTP, which isn’t very newb friendly, but it was still simple.

As I was logging in and writing my review notes, I had typed my username and password at the login screen but did not hit enter; so I was pleasantly surprised that it timed out my login and cleared my password to prevent unauthorized access.

Annoyingly, Firefox was not installed by default, so I found the Add and Remove Software program in System Settings. For some reason, everytime I would hover over a program I wanted to add, it showed a minus sign over the plus sign, which was very confusing. I think that the GUI for the interface here could be improved. Also, what is up with Firefox’s Website Services Agreement? I do not like EULAs in my Linux, thank you very much.

The system did its security updates nicely as well.

I tried to get mouse integration working but Guest Additions was not supported natively, so I tried to install it from scratch, with no luck, even after installing Linux Kernel Headers and Build files as well as gcc. Why isn’t VirtualBox better supported? Boo.

Lack of VirtualBox Additions is a killer for me. I want to be able to use Fedora fullscreen and completely integrated into my XP environment, but alas, no such luck, especially since it seems to be such a nice distro.

Fedora Project

via cache.gawker.com

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 10:55:13 -0500

via cache.gawker.com