TheJonas

My New Shack

2008-08-18T13:24:00.003-05:00

I got a 12x24ft storage building a few days ago. Since then I put in a dividing wall to separate a storage area from a work area for me. I' have insulated, added AC, wired, and put in spot lights and worklights at strategic locations. Plus moved most of my stuff in. I still need to run one more 120VAC line to the "front" wall.

I put in a moveable ladder to the loft.

I am a SQL Gilgamesh

2008-08-07T10:29:00.002-05:00

I'm a wild man. A wolf boy. Tarzan, raised by apes.

I have had very few classes in computer science, certainly none in database design or anything like that. I just happen to be good at certain types of puzzle. Computers, meaning the physical box, are one specific manifestation of this type of puzzle. Software and ordered data are a more general manifestations. When my undergrad degree in anthropology wasn't paying the bills, it was a greater than zero probability that I would land in the computer industry.

I pushed my aptitude and am now quite proficient in many areas. I have gathered a wide variety of knowledge and skill from a variety of sources, much of it first hand experience. Very little, though, aside from some introductory level courses, was anything like "formal" education.

Thus, when compared to "classically trained" information technology guys, I am hairy and unkempt, wild-eyed, spattered with gore from the hunt. I am clothed in animal skins. I carry weapons and the seeds of violence in my breast.

The civilized look at me and say "from thence we came; see how we become." I have been in the presence of these clean, well-dressed people, listened to their carefully cultured words, and often felt ashamed of my ignorance and lack of breeding, felt an outsider and an outcast. In the virtual cities of programming blogs and MSDN mailing lists I am little more than a curio, something occasionally pointed to and snickered about, but more often ushered away by well-mannered security staff lest I upset the shrunken head of Turing, or the bust of Von Neumann, or the portrait of Babbage.

Even in the less restrictive parts of town, I am a figure from the outside. In the linux user group coffee shops I am tolerated, sometimes held up as the archetype of the noble savage. Yet when I try to speak or help I am once again pushed aside, kept from the newbies, and reminded of my inferiority. Even in the sometimes violent BUGTRAQ bars, I am seen as an intrusion, a threat to the civilized who come here to pretend to barbarism. Considered to be barely capable of civilized speech, I am either patronized or challenged constantly.

And yet... And yet, I can do things which none of them can do. Having survived by my own wits I can readily see the flaws in over-complication and dependency. Having lived by my hands I know what it means to work hard for my supper- then stop and enjoy the feast. Having done without I can do more with less. When the wild things encroach upon the streets of the civil, it is I who hunts them.

Growing up in the wild, I know that there will ever be more unknown than known. The civilized make great professions in manipulating the known, building elaborate, delicate structures. Yet in the end I can face the unknown, fighting to know that which is wild and dangerous.

At the dawn of IT civilization, I am a throwback, a creature of which stories are told, yes, but feared and reviled. I am among the last of my kind, a dying breed.

Show me your monsters. I shall slay them.

Def Leppard & Joan Jett And The Blackhearts

2008-08-04T14:55:00.002-05:00

Quite a show! Enjoyed by all us "old folks."

Places I want to go

2008-07-26T14:48:00.002-05:00

Everyone should have a list of things to do, places to go, before they die. More importantly, or equally, you need a plan to get you to those places. I don't really have one yet.

However, I'm not doing the planning here. Here I'll start listing the places to go. In no particular order, not at all exhaustive:

-The Devil's Swimming Pool - Vide o

-Teotihuacan

Ringtones

2008-07-17T11:07:00.002-05:00

I'm putting my homebrew ringtones up on myxertones.com

It's a great and FREE place to get ringtones for your phone. If, for some reason they don't work for your Sprint phone, download to your PC and send them through the Rumkin uploader Those guys at rumkin do it for free too, so send them a donation!

New York Hot Dogs in Hattiesburg,MS

2008-05-16T13:49:00.000-05:00

It's true! now there is a push cart New York-style hot dog vendor in Hattiesburg.

good hot dogs, good price, and good coversations.

Jonas Bull

Sent via Palm Centro

How to tell it's a Monday

2008-05-12T10:15:00.000-05:00

i'm fine, btw, and as far as I know, the other guy is going to be ok too.

Duncan Ray Hatten, Stone County Supervisor Found Shot This Morning

2008-04-29T15:48:00.006-05:00

He was found about 10am by his son, the Wiggins Fire Department Chief.

The Stone County Sheriff's Department as well as elements of the State Highway Patrol are investigating the apparent homicide.

Also unconfirmed were reports that a suspect is still in the area and being sought on foot and by air.

UPDATE: An arrest has been made, inside sources say, although the official word is simply that the SO is "speaking to" someone.

Also he was shot in the chest, apparently as the result of a labor dispute.

Duncan Ray was a distant relative, and besides being a fixture of Stone County, he was, for many years one of my father's best friends. "He was closer to me than my own brothers."

Stop the car first!!

2008-04-24T19:14:00.000-05:00

Jonas Bull

Sent via Palm Centro

Faith, hope, love, mercy, and... Oh yeah, threats!

2008-04-22T08:02:00.001-05:00

Jonas Bull

Sent via Palm Centro

2008-04-11T21:58:00.000-05:00

It's a trap...

2008-03-28T07:17:00.002-05:00

The sign isn't really broken I tell ya!

Jonas Bull

Sent via Palm Centro

First Death by Killer Robot

2008-03-24T09:39:00.001-05:00

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

2008-03-20T19:51:00.000-05:00

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

Sent via Palm Centro

Breakin at my office

2008-03-20T19:39:00.001-05:00

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

Sent via Palm Centro

Jack's b'day

2008-03-19T20:33:00.000-05:00

Jonas Bull

Sent via Palm Centro

Arther C. Clarke, 90, dies

2008-03-19T10:21:00.003-05:00

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:

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.
The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
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...

2008-03-16T11:24:00.000-05:00

So this weekend we laid ceramic tile in the foyer.

Jonas Bull

Sent via Palm Centro

KE5HKV weather station

2008-03-14T10:52:00.000-05:00

Jonas Bull

Sent via Palm Centro

Jasmine growing on a fence in MS

2008-03-14T10:50:00.000-05:00

Jonas Bull

Sent via Palm Centro

Yeah, but they ad-match...

2008-03-12T07:29:00.001-05:00

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

Jonas Bull

Sent via Palm Centro

Who is Ayanna?

2008-03-11T15:18:00.003-05:00

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

2008-03-10T08:50:00.002-05:00

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"

2008-03-05T12:08:00.001-06:00

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

Duty Calls!

2008-02-29T14:18:00.002-06:00