It's a trap...

The sign isn't really broken I tell ya!

Jonas Bull

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First Death by Killer Robot

Australian man was killed in an apparent suicide by a killer robot he built using plans from the internet.

Installing Linksys WRT54G with AT&T DSL

For those trying to install WRT54G type wireless routers with AT&T DSL among others.

One problem, the main one, is that the DSL modem and the 54G try to occupy the same IP networks. Easy fix: change the router IP to 192.168.10.1 or something other than 192.168.1.n

Second problem is that Windows Vista won't run the installer correctly. This is a little tougher. (XP gets confused sometimes too, but only if it was alredy in bad shape.) There is no way to get by that without spending hours restarting the install.

the fix: skip the setup program and point your browser at http://192.168.1.1 and use the web interface!

Jonas Bull

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Breakin at my office

Took my time getting this edited down:

The breakin was somewhat unexpected, but shouldn't have been. They took 8 Sony Vaio laptops for which serial numbers have been spread to local fuzz and pawn shops. The laptops were all essentially brand new and had asset tags (which have no doubt been removed). They were also in bags with stitched logos, but the bags are no doubt trashed.

In addition, they took two Sony Vaio UX series micro PC's which weren't new, but had no useful information on them.

Finally they stole a katana-style sword that I had made the blade for myself. This pisses me off. You can rest assured I'll be looking for that, and it is easily, easily recognizable.

Here is some graffiti the idiots left... thanks for the fingerprints!

They also hosed down a computer room with a fire extinguisher. Big mess, true, but didn't even slow down the servers. Idiots.

Jonas Bull

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Jack's b'day

Jonas Bull

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Arther C. Clarke, 90, dies

So long, old friend, and here's to seeing you again someday.

The model of hard sci-fi writers the world over, best known perhaps for inspiring the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (which I didn't see until later in life) was a highly influential force in my early reading and ultimately in my philosophy and world-view.

Although commonly known among sci-fi enthusiasts and others, Clarke's three laws of prediction:

1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

were not actually the part that influenced me.

Ultimately, the implications for human life and its interaction with technology was always what gave me pause.

For example, in the Odyssey series, humans tend to consider the monoliths "godlike", yet Clarke tells us (from the Bowman+Monolith persona) that they were merely machines. Machines which had developed programming errors over time. In other words no matter how amazingly impressive the technology, your faith does not belong there; technology can and will fail.

Also we see that humans, no matter the clothing or the technological trappings, are still pretty much human. Human nature still creates conflict and confusion. Over and over, the implications for the future are that we can and will adapt and survive, if only barely. And we will invariably do so while maintaining the same basic humanity that we have now. Which is not necessarily what we would like to believe it is.

So perhaps these are Clarke's other laws:

Technology is fallible.

Humans will be human.

:: Edit::

On a related note, Kurzweil and company, should make a note of these while making claims about what human-machine integration will do for us.

I don't dispute or even discourage the fact that such things will happen... I just don't think it will be the cure for all ills the Kurzweil Contingent would have us believe.

Ceramic tile...

So this weekend we laid ceramic tile in the foyer.

Jonas Bull

Sent via Palm Centro

KE5HKV weather station

Jonas Bull

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Jasmine growing on a fence in MS

Jonas Bull

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Yeah, but they ad-match...

And as discount salvation chains go, they do have the best selection.

Jonas Bull

Sent via Palm Centro

Who is Ayanna?

Ayanna is a singer/songwriter, R&B, rap, soul.

Ayanna has written songs you have heard, even if you haven't heard her sing one.

Ayanna is "almost famous."

Ayanna was no one to me, I'm more My Chemical Romance and AC/DC than R&B.

But I met her today, in the parking lot of Walgreens.

I'm also not the kind of person who gets scared by a group of young men in a parking lot handing out fliers, but I am exactly the kind who thinks "ah jeez, this'll take 5 or 10 minutes".

But the young man (younger than me anyway) who met me coming out was nice enough, wasn't pushy, and had a pleasant manner. So I listened. I was almost disappointed when he asked if I wanted to buy a CD ($10, not bad) but I thought, what the heck.

Then he tells me, hey you want to meet her? And I thought, "In for a penny, in for a pound"

And sure enough, there she was, gorgeous, naturally. She was pleasant and friendly, very slightly self-effacing.

So I listened to the newly autographed CD, and you know it's pretty good.

Anyway, that's my brush with fame. Check her out at http://www.myspace.com/ayannaworld

Ok, "web Developers" listen up

I know you got an "A" in Intro To Computer Programming, and yes, Adobe Flash MX does make it easy, but look, that isn't enough to claim you know what you are doing.

In the past week or two I've run across dozens of sites which insisted on a particular browser/flash version level. Ok, I guess we'd never make it without the latest greatest gizmo on your website (oh you haven't actually changed ANYTHING?) But seriously.

There are a couple of sites that don't actually care what version of Flash you have (even though that's the message you get) but will absolutely not work unless you have IE7.

This morning I get one condescending enough to "allow" firefox, but requires a version greater than 1.5. Unfortunately in "I Passed VB.net but Failed Arithmetic" world 1.5 is greater than 2.0.
I might also point out that in several cases the only thing that was actually"incompatible" was the browser detection script.

Get a clue guys. You can be a little more compatible if you try.

I for one have never understood "bottled water"

...just don't take my diet cokes!!