i'm hanging out at the library waiting for my ee orientation to start. the no internet at home idea is working out pretty well for me, it at least forces me to get out of the house. been using the macs here a lot, there's never a line, people are totally scared of them. i've got no problem with them, actually i really like os x, i just fire up a terminal window and ssh into my server. i still don't like the single mouse button, if they'd put two on their laptops i'd buy one in a second.
at some point upgrading my server to freebsd 4.7 i broke my apache installation. today i finally got it working again and i'm able to update the blog.
been a while since i updated, blame the broken cgi scripts detailed in the other posting. i'm enjoying the lack of internet access, it's forced me to do other more productive things. like renting dvds from the blockbuster around the corner.
dan was a major help packing and cleaning up the katherine house. he ended up riding up here with me and helped me move the last of my stuff in. he went back down to reno last thursday, said he was going through the cash too fast. i can understand that i've been spending a lot more money than someone without a job should be. we were hitting all the bars and eating out every meal. i'd like to say i got better after he left but another friend from reno, molly, came up and i started the whole process over again. she left earlier, driving back before school tomorrow (technically, today).
i've got plenty to keep me busy before school starts though, i'm going to help bill spaceman with his bike zine and i've got to get my truck registered and insured up here. i'll stay busy.
From: Egad <egad@dasbistro.com>
To: Das Bastardos <dasbanter@dasbistro.com>
Subject: [Dasbanter] So You Couldn't Go To Burning Man ....
Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 10:13:07 -0700
So maybe you couldn't go to Burning Man, but Spock did. And he made a nice little newspaper too. He also kicked some mainstream journalistic butt, and said that Larry Harvey is super fat. So wallow in the paper that was named "Best Fucking Paper in Black Rock City" by Andrew Morton while he was stumbling drunk.
http://www.pigdog.org/features/ssm2002/ssm2002.htm
for a while i'd been thinking about how cool it would be to put up a website where other touring cyclists could post trip journals and photos. today i found out that someone else already built it. if you've got some time check out some of the journal entries on crazyguyonabike.com, i'll probably post some of my stuff up there later on. i've been trying to clean them up for this site.
it looks like push for voting reform started by the 2000 election has stalled. a bills made it through both the house and senate but it's stuck in conference. not that it's a surprise, like campaign finance reform it seems that both parties are looking at how their can make it easier for thier supporters to get out and vote.
one problems is some democrats seem to think it's unreasonable to require a first time voter who registered by mail to provide some form of identification, they're afraid it will discourage participation by black and hispanics. i'd propose that everyone should be required to present a government id to vote. i was amazed last time i went to vote that all i had to do was give them my name, i could have been anyone.
it looks like something will end up getting passed, but it'll probably be pretty watered down by the time bush signs it.
salon has a collection of people's inital reaction to 9/11. most of them aren't what you'd call pc.
my own reaction was mostly just marveling at what a brilliant idea it was. such an amazingly simple way to turning our own machinery against us. a poor man's cruse missle. mostly i was just annoyed as hell to see george bush floundering about trying to look presidential, the televised speech he gave just about drove me nuts. i'd rather listen to people grind their teeth while scratching a chalk board than sit through one of his speeches.
i've finallly gotten my burning man photos posted you should check them out.
other people we camped with also have their photos online:
in the nytimes today todd gitlin writes about the need for the left to step up and start setting policy instead of letting the rightwing wrap themselves in the flag and attack the freedoms it stands for. his main point is that liberals shouldn't shy away from being patriotic, it just needs to be, as he puts it "a patriotism of action, not of pledges".
personally i think woody guthrie is an excellent person to model a neo-liberal movement after. he was for the poor, workers, unions, women's rights. he hated facists, corrupt politicians and corrupt businessmen--i imagine he'd have a few things to say about our first mba president. the best thing about mr. guthrie was that for the problems he saw and all the anger he felt he was still an optomist. i don't think how many in the left today would feel comfortable writing land is your land?
the ill thought out and hastilly pasted usa patriot act of 2001 was used in july to charge a biology undergrad student with possessing a biological agent with no "reasonably justified" purpose.
satirewire is shutting down. bad week for me.
i wasn't going to post it until i was reasonably sure but it looks like bikee, the manufacture of my bike, has gone out of business. no one seems to know what will happen with parts and warrantee issues. it seems to have occurred extremely suddenly, their website is gone, phone service goes to a collection agency and none of their dealers were notified.
the only other recumbent manufacture that makes an entry level bike in the same price range is easy racers, or as my mechanic billy spaceman calls them cheesy racers. i don't really know what i'm going to do for my next bike now. i'd been hoping to get bikee to sell me a new bike at cost on some kind of sponsorship deal. who knows.
i guess i should note that i'm back from burningman. this year was one of the best i've ever had. the weather was great, our camp mates were great and we had enough beer to last the entire week. our (including dan) friends molly and shannen were able to come out for their first time on thursday. again very good year, the pictures will be up soon.
i came across a link to an excellent article on the future of spam fighting. update:here's another link to a paper discussing several methods of spam clasification.
esr (eric raymond) has created bogofilter, a program that puts the theory into operation. i'm going playing around with it to see if i'll start using it instead of spamcop as my primary spam removal tool.
esr is someone i've got a ton of respect for. he's the maintainer of the jargon file, which printed as the new hacker's dictionary, was my introduction to the programmer culture. he's also been a major force in the free software and linux movements. i'm amazed to see that he still has time to do something like this.