2003331

Please comment here America, we've been friends a long, long time. Notwithstanding the occasional scrap (1812, but blame the brits for that), we've overall been the 'brothers' of North America. Therefore it's a shame to let our friendship fall apart. We're not quite sure when that decline began though. Maybe it was went you secretly sent nuclear subs into our northern waters to spy on the Russkies and didn't tell us, thereby making us a Cold War target when we were trying to avoid that role. Maybe it was when you arrested a Canadian for trading with Cuba while he was in Canada, even though we do not have the trade laws you have. Maybe it was the duties you've placed on our softwood lumber in violation of both the free trade agreement we have and international law, which ended up initially decimating 7% of our western economy (though since we increased production and lowered our unit cost to make up for that duty I see that your own wood producers are screaming at you). Maybe it was your general air of arrogance recently, your refusal to work with us instead of against us, or maybe your recent promotion to the 'only superpower' that increased your ego so much. Maybe it's the fact that it took international public pressure to get you to stop building powerplants right at the border so that you wouldn't have to deal with half the pollution they cause, and the acid rain that falls on much of the south-eastern region of our country. Maybe it's the fact that after Sept 11 our citizens took in as many stranded Americans as we could into our own homes and we never got a public thank you. In fact, maybe it's the fact that afterwards GWB didn't even mention us on his list of "America's Friends". Maybe it was even before that when he didn't make his first presidential visit to Canada like every other 20th century president. I guess it's just the fact that you haven't acted like a friend at all recently. I hope that will change so we can get back to working together. Posted by Greg @ 12:35 PM PST [Link]

2003330

First things first: Right action. I must thank my friends, without whom, Jen and I would STILL be moving our crap to this new place. Actually, that's untrue. I would have gotten fed-up and thrown away most of it. As it was I put a sign that said "FREE BIKE!" on my old mountain bike and left in my old parking spot. Someone will take it. Heck...without the sign someone would have taken it eventually. Anyway, I owe my friends a big debt of gratitude. If they move in future I will be first at their doorstep. That's the way things work in my honour system. ... I haven't been that tired in a good long time. I was so tired that I couldn't sleep, and that always sucks. The moving damage: my VCR That's it! There's a couple minor nicks on the pine furniture, but I think that improves it. ... anyway, 23 hours after the official end of the move, and I'm still tired so I'll leave it off today with a humourous thought: the local Save-On-Foods store's dairy section has canned 'moo' sounds that play when someone walks into the area. While some may think this is the height of comedy, I believe it to be the work of PETA who are trying to connect the plaintive calling of dairy cows to the milk that people drink in people's minds. But what do I know...I don't even drink the stuff. Posted by Greg @ 11:00 PM PST [Link]

2003326

Geekly.com will be offline for at least a couple days while I move, get internet access back, and do the necessary DNS changes. You have been warned! Do not delete your bookmarks! Do not take your life in despair! I remember Merritt, where I grew up, going to the river for swimming and 'tubing' many times. One day, when my friend Glen Tingle and I went there I got a little too close to the log jam and my tube and I were sucked under...I lost the tube somewhere underneath and I remember looking at the pure beauty underwater as the sun streamed blurrilly through the branches of the logs above me. For a moment I lost the fear I had of the sudden undertow and the moment of filtered sunlight still sticks in my mind of one of the best moments of my young life. I came out the other side without a scratch and my tube appeared a few minutes later. Posted by Greg @ 06:51 PM PST [Link]

2003325

Jen recently was having a situation where when she did a search on Google another not-quite-a-frame appeared on the left giving "Enhanced Search Results" that were really Google-stylized advertising. It looked kind of like: +-------+----------------+ | NEW | Search Results | +-------+----------------+ | | Results 1-5 | +-------+----------------+ 1. xxxxxxxx 2. xxxxxxxx 3. xxxxxxxx 4. xxxxxxxx 5. xxxxxxxx After a bit of research and emailing Google, I found out this is some [spy|mal]ware from an unknown source. Jen had recently installed something that also installed this (the only software she remembers being Winamp, though no guarantees that's it). If this is happening to you...close your browser, get to a command prompt, go to c:\windows\system, and delete sbsrch*.dll. Reboot. Late edit: Uh...forgot to say this affected Windows (multiple versions) and -at least- IE 6.0 Posted by Greg @ 07:39 PM PST [Link]

2003324

There are many things I escape to...talk radio, That 70s Show, time with Jen, the UserFriendly board, this. I keep thinking that I wish I had more time, or that I'd spent more time doing things that would last a long time or improve myself. It's that 'climbing mountains' guy-thing, where every man is expected in some way to do something that Leaves A Mark In The World. In some ways that's really sick. Rather than concentrate on just being good, we concentrate on either doing something external to ourselves or on being 'someone'. I think of the most powerful people in the world and can't help but feel a smidgen of pity. They all fought their way to the top for nothing or to fulfill a power-rush. I can't see that George W. Bush became President of the US or that Bill Gates built Microsoft and became the richest man in the world to make the world a better place. And I don't think it either case it was greed for power or money that brought them to the place that they are. They seek immortality for their own selfish reasons. They may be 'rich men', but they are poor 'men'. Posted by Greg @ 08:02 PM PST [Link]

2003323

CNN is REALLY bugging me. None of the things that I think are interesting and important going on in this current situation are showing up. The coverage is so impaired and biased that it's completely disgusting. Things like: A 26 year veteran, State Department Award for Heroism winner, "Deputy Chief of Mission in our Embassies in Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan (briefly) and Mongolia" resigns, citing "administration's policies on Iraq", "administration's lack of effort in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict", "administration's lack of policy on North Korea", "administration's policies on Unnecessary Curtailment of Rights in America", she writes a letter of resignation to Colin Powell. Article here The Lieutenant Colonel Tim Collins speech below Fighting on the streets of Iraq's second city 'leaves 77 civilians dead' Info that the US expected a 'walkover' in a badly-planned situation that turned into a battle. I have an idea...spread the word that the US (and other country) citizens deserve real news, and have access to it from other sources if CNN won't give it. The best way to do this is to go to CNN and search for the above items and others that you feel are important on their site. They won't be able to ignore their own records of what their visitors want. Posted by Greg @ 10:11 PM PST [Link]

Purposefully, I haven't been talking about the war in Iraq here. There are good reasons to stop Hussein, there are equally good reasons to not go to a suffering country and bomb the hell out of civilians. I don't wish to get into a debate about the points on either side. One thing I can agree with is that if people are going to have to be in this fight, then they should be doing it as honourably as they can. That's why I like this speak by Lieutenant Colonel Tim Collins: We go to liberate not to conquer. We will not fly our flags in their country. We are entering Iraq to free a people. The only flag which will be flown in that ancient land is their own. Show respect for them. There are some who are alive at this moment who will not be alive shortly. Those who do not wish to go on that journey, we will not send. As for the others, I expect you to rock their world. Wipe them out if that is what they choose. But if you are ferocious in battle, be magnanimous in victory. Iraq is steeped in history. It is the site of the Garden of Eden, of the Great Flood and the birthplace of Abraham. Tread lightly there. You will see things that no man could pay to see and you will have to go a long way to find a more decent, generous and upright people than the Iraqis. You will be embarrassed by their hospitality, even though they have nothing. Don't treat them as refugees for they are in their own country. In years to come they will know that the light of liberation in their lives was brought by you. If there are casualties of war, remember, when they woke up and got dressed in the morning they did not plan to die this day. Allow them dignity in death. Bury them properly and mark their graves. It is my foremost intention to bring every single one of you out alive. But there may be people among us who will not see the end of this campaign. We will put them in their sleeping bags and send them back. There will be no time for sorrow. The enemy should be in no doubt that we are his Nemesis and we are bringing about his rightful destruction. There are many regional commanders who have stains on their souls and they are stoking the fires of hell for Saddam. He and his forces will be destroyed by this coalition for what they have done. As they die they will know their deeds have brought them to this place. Show them no pity. It is a big step to take another human life. It is not to be done lightly. I know of men who have taken life needlessly in other conflicts. I can assure you they live with the mark of Cain upon them. If someone surrenders to you, remember they have that right in international law. The ones who wish to fight, well, we aim to please. If you harm the regiment or its history by over enthusiasm in killing or in cowardice, know it is your family who will suffer. You will be shunned unless your conduct is of the highest for your deeds will follow you down through history. We will bring shame on neither our uniform or our nation. It is not a question of if, it's a question of when. If we survive the first strike, we will survive the attack. As for ourselves, let's bring everyone home and leave Iraq a better place for us having been there. Our business now is north. Posted by Greg @ 08:19 PM PST [Link]

Had a nice UFie meet with a bunch of local folks. The best part of it was that it wasn't all the locals I knew from the last meet or other ventures. One of those people, known as 'swisscheese' reminded me that I always wanted to learn Esperanto, so I signed up for the free, volunteer-provided, tutor-assisted, course that I found here. Looks pretty cool, miaopinie. I got a Googlewhack! s e l e c t i o n i s t     a n a m n e s i s (spaces included to avoid corrupting my 'whack :) Posted by Greg @ 12:54 AM PST [Link]

2003321

We're in pretty good moving-shape today...Lots of boxes lined up against the wall and my desk has never been cleared so well. It's truly amazing how much crap you can throw away during a move. This is stuff that you have around you all the time...living in your junk drawers or cluttering up your living space. Today I threw away about 30 food delivery menus for places that I've never ordered food from in the year or so that they've been in my junk drawer, and that's just one small example of the things that I could easily live without. I really do want less stuff, not more. There are a few things I'd like to improve (like our crappy futon couch), and a few things I'd trade for other things (I'd like a good kite, and would be willing to get rid of other hobby materials to make room for it) but we don't really need any more things. We both wish we could start moving our stuff in tonight instead of a week from tomorrow. Given the opportunity we'd likely stay awake all night and pack a bed over there. Posted by Greg @ 11:41 PM PST [Link]

Been busy...while I've pledged not to go into details about my work (not even saying who I work for, for fear of it coming back to haunt me), I'd like to talk about something related to the work I do and some recent experiences I've had. DDoS's (Distributed Denial of Service attacks, info here) and DRDoS's, (Distributed Reflection Denial of Service attacks, info here) are one of the nastiest attack forms on the net. They basically take the internet form of a drive-by shooting, or even worse, take the form of a drive-by shooting where the people with the guns drive around the block repeatedly until the victims are all dead. Or another example...the attacker is basically a schoolyard bully who doesn't relent until the victimized kid doesn't get up again. Without going into details, I've been hit by a number of these...with a well orchestrated attacks there ain't a darned thing the victim can do about it. The attacks are so anonymous and distanced from the perpetrator that it is nearly impossible (if done intelligently) to trace it back (especially with the resources of a small company - it took months for the FBI to trace back the DDoS attacks that happened a while ago to Amazon, Yahoo, E*trade, etc.). The companies involved lost millions, the government spent millions in trying to trace the attacker, and none of it is ever recoverable. No 'theft' occurred, and so nothing could be paid to the victims. The majority are perpetrated by intelligent people. This is not a sort of attack that 'script kiddies' are likely to perform (or if they do, they are not smart enough to cover their tracks well enough). It's obvious though that intelligence does not equate to wisdom. Knocking others down does not make you rise up. Doing this to impress other technologically-aware people is pointless, as they won't care or remember in a remarkably short time. Hitting a big company or the government or the root servers of the internet just brings on millions of dollars worth of security experts to hunt you down. Hitting a small, vulnerable company or organization or individual is so overpowering that there cannot be any real challenge to it, and you end up hurting a lot of unintended victims (the hosting company, the bandwidth provider, the techs who go without sleep trying to recover the systems, the website users who probably are more like you than you think). Basically...if you go big, you can't win forever...if you hit small, you are being a bully. Either way there is no gain for the attacker. Pointless. Posted by Greg @ 01:50 AM PST [Link]

2003319

Googlism is a cool thing. It takes a quick search and then finds out interesting bits of info about that. 'Kickstart', my usual internet nickname brings up the following: kickstart is the fastest -- I prefer 'easy', thank you. kickstart is a seven -- Out of.....? kickstart is a stand -- That's 'kickSTAND' not kickSTART! kickstart is for you -- If only the girls in high school knew this kickstart is highly versatile and can handle projects that involve up to 1 -- Not very versatile then, am I? kickstart is based on a simple concept -- IE. "omnipotence" kickstart is £5 per year and there is a £2 charge per meeting that you attend -- And that's just to rent me for the day! False advertising! kickstart is a powerful -- ....do I really wanna know what that sentence ends with? kickstart is an initiative of the united states advisory council on the national information infrastructure -- But don't blame me for the stupid parts. kickstart is in the normal position -- Yeah, nothing kinky please. kickstart is about giving opportunity to young people -- Yeah, but still nothing kinky please kickstart is specifically designed to assist -- Helpful, aren't I? kickstart is at the west yorkshire playhouse -- £5 for a year's shows kickstart is basically the front -- But I'm helpful, so I also 'got your back' kickstart is being used at cern -- They forgot the 'ab' kickstart is a results -- And grammar is not his strong suit. kickstart is sofi approved -- Wow...I've never been religious, but I may start now. kickstart is amazing -- Yeah, yeah, I bet you say that to all the mods. kickstart is een hulpmiddel voor het ontwikkelen van een projectplan -- Ummm...thank you? kickstart is a cool way of doing things -- Would you like to come up and see my etchings? kickstart is for people aged between 16 -- Is that '1' and '6'? kickstart is installed on your computer -- i 0wnzors j00! kickstart is configured -- see above kickstart is working fine -- see above * 2 kickstart is a sam -- Greg, actually kickstart is stored -- I gave that up years ago...OH! 'stoRed'! kickstart is a new concept in video exercise -- In the same way that 'shampoo' is not real poo kickstart is completed -- I don't feel dead. Posted by Greg @ 09:10 PM PST [Link]

2003317

When we were kids my brother and I had bunk beds and I had the lower bunk. With the right beds and a big blanket you can make a cool hammock for a kid by tying it from the under-bed supports, so I did this a lot. One of the other things I did was sneak out of my room and peek around the corner of the livingroom and watch TV where my parents couldn't see me. About that time the commercials for 'It's Alive' were on. The above is all set up for the real story...one night I was sleeping in the hammock, woke up and snuck out to see what my parents were watching. The 'It's Alive' commercial came on TV and it freaked me out, so I went back to the bedroom...only to find a large lump in my hammock and the hammock swaying slightly back and forth. I was scared so I hit it, which caused it to swing away, then back at me...which of course nearly made me pee myself in fear. I screamed blue murder, bringing my parents running, only to show that the vile creature which attacked me from my homemade hammock was my pillow. Posted by Greg @ 10:07 PM PST [Link]

2003316

What qualifies people as 'heroes'? I'd say that it's fighting against more powerful entities just because you know the cause is just. New Mexico Rocks! Posted by Greg @ 01:09 PM PST [Link]

Yesterday was a nice day :) Started off sleeping in, which was a joy after a week of work. Not that I get up extra early during the week, but getting an extra 1.5 hours makes a huge difference in my calmness. We woke up, had our morning tea, played on the computer for a bit, then showered and left... ...first stop! Bank. We had to pay a $75 fee to the government to extend Jen's visitor visa so that we can do her application for residency. This is a painfully long process, and an expensive one. Not including the $75 we just paid, by the end of this our total fees will be around $1500. That we are married makes no difference to the process. ...next stop! Toys'r'Us. We went to buy a couple kites. I bought a kids dragon kite for myself and Jen got a semi-cellular delta-shaped kite. They didn't have much selection or the extra string I wanted. ...next stop! Food. Usually on gaming night we go for Subway, but this week gaming night was cancelled so we bought some sandwiches on the way. I always get the same thing...foot-long roast chicken sub on wheat bread cut-the-old-way, meatball sauce on the bottom instead of cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, lots of jalapenos, and the only sauce is hot sauce. Jen is not so predictable. ...then to Garry Point park in Steveston! My dragon kite required more wind that initially was there, but after running back and forth and making the chinese people look at this silly fat white man I managed to get it up off the ground. My initial concern with the amount of string I had was well-founded...it didn't get up very far. Jen, on the other hand, got her kite up immediately, had plenty of string and flew it like a pro. Oh...the envy I experienced! :) For a while we both flew our kites at the same time, but then Jen decided to put on her coat and in the process lost grip on the kite string. Looks like the wind up where the kite was was stronger than we thought because that kite took off like a rocket, dragging the string down on the ground while Jen ran after it. It bounced its way all the way across Garry Point park, eventually bouncing its way across Scotch Pond (a boat dock with some history) and onto a fishing boat. While I slowly walked over and tried not to laugh, Jen looked around for a way to get her kite back. Once I got there we tried all sorts of things...walking around to see if someone could open the two locked gates to let us get to the kite (though getting it would involved entering someone's boat, which is something I really don't like doing - just because boats are open to the world doesn't mean they shouldn't be treated like a locked car); I even made a few checks to see if I could grab it with my kite and pull it over, though with the inability of the dragon kite to fly unless pelted by gale force winds this was Not Gonna Happen. Eventually we gave up and walked back to the car, watching someone with a Flexifoil power kite and a kite board for a bit before we left. As we pulled out we saw that the kite was no longer flying...it must have fell over to the swampy cattails and bullrushes next to Scotch Pond. We didn't even try to recover it after that. On our way out we got in touch with Ken and Lori and had a nice dinner (avec biere) with them at the Big Rock Brewing Company...and followed them home for a show of Ken's real kites. Now I know I've got to spend more money :-) That's the way the day started, and that's the way it ended. It just took a long way 'round to get there. Posted by Greg @ 12:05 PM PST [Link]

2003314

Actually...the indian food we just had wasn't all that good, but food (and lots of it) reminds me of Homer Simpson. Maybe indian food should remind me of the convenience store owner Apu Nahasapeemapetilon in the same cartoon. Is that statement predjudiced? No clue. The food was ok. I ended up eating a bite of dairy products (cheese & potato filling in a dumpling sorta thing), which I hate doing because it makes me feel so crappy, but hopefully one bite won't bother me so bad. Saying that, the last dairy allergy symptom I had was caused by a margarine brand that contained some small amount of lactose, so you never know what will set me off. That event in itself was interesting, since I just knew based on the way I felt that I was having some sort of reaction and it took a few days to track down what it was. I felt vindicated once again, after all the crappy doctors that have told me that a dairy allergy can't cause the symptoms that I experience (namely: bloating, body aches, depressive mood swings). I could understand psychosomatic symptom concerns if I was aware that I was eating dairy products, but these situations pretty much rule that out. 15 days until we move to Steveston! 15 days until I halve my commute time and have a nice place in a decent neighbourhood! 15 days of packing! Yay!! Posted by Greg @ 09:58 PM PST [Link]

2003313

That subject line is the way I look at the world...not overwhelmingly nice or evil, but swayed either way by those who either react in the same animal way an unevolved cold-blooded creature would or randomly flit between one chaos choice and another. Today was a discussion on Fark.com (unlinked on purpose) that followed a news article about a girl with a severe facial birthmark who wasn't promoted and her McDonald's manager allegedly said she "might make babies cry or scare customers off". While I am understandably disgusted with her manager, I am more disgusted with the people who post in the discussion forums on the site. Some quotes: Dear God what it that THING?!?! Now THERE is a face for radio if I ever saw one. that's not a birthmark, that's evidence of alien ancestry. I don't mind if she cries at the grill, as long as she cries quietly and doesn't get any tears on the food. She should be killed! I do believe if I had to order a hamburger from her I would vomit. Yes it's insensitive. But babies WILL cry upon seeing her face. Scream even. She looks like a monster. And now I know that Fark is populated by a bunch of that first 40% and very few of the second. Now I make my choice and not visit or support the site. Their link, once on my sidebar, is now removed. There are places on the internet where moderation is appropriate, and this is definitely one. It's a shame that the people who spout this sort of hate aren't punished by the rest of society and instead are protected by laws intended to protect freedom of political speech. I've always been a big proponent of free speech, especially the right of people who I disagree with to state their opinions and try to change the world to something that makes it better in their eyes. It probably won't be better in my eyes, but that's their right to fight for. I think though that when stupidity and cruelty reigns, that just like on the global scale powerful nations can take out bully dictators, there should be methods of stopping bullies in our environment. Posted by Greg @ 09:40 PM PST [Link]

2003312

Mmmm...sushi...*slaverslaverslaver*... Tonight's dinner was the pure geek staple...all-you-can-stuff-down-your-gullet sushi at Yokohama Japanese Restaurant in Surrey. In the Vancouver area there are tons of all-you-can-eat sushi places, but Yokohama is one of the better ones. Other places I've been have served fish that was warm and dried or was still frozen in the middle. To use one of my favourite words: vile. Jen tells me I talk funny :) Well, she doesn't say it exactly that way, but she does point out that she is starting to say things that I say often, like perfect! or true 'nuff! or that's cool. This leads me to analyze the way I talk and maybe start changing my words so I am not so predictable. One thing I don't wanna be is predictable, though I like people to think I am dependable, which means I have to project an aura of chaotic stability. Hmmm....I like that term: 'chaotic stability'. I wonder if I can slip it into conversations more. :) Oh, by the way, those killer Iraqi drones? They're made of balsa wood, duct tape and weed-whacker engines. Geez...with what my friends and I have in our various storage rooms, I'm sure we could build something more deadly than this! What idiot considers this a weapon of mass destruction? Posted by Greg @ 10:37 PM PST [Link]

2003311

Cory Doctorowcoined the term Whuffie, which I have talked about before...it's a term for a loose compilation of reputation, generosity, knowledge and other vapourous things that you can earn by being involved. I earn Whuffie by being involved with UserFriendly, OmniCode, Perl Beginner Yahoo group, and a few other things. I figure another way to earn Whuffie is to reward people for their efforts (which also earn Whuffie). So today I sent some cash over to Noah Grey, who developed this Greymatter blogging system. That's the right thing to do! Posted by Greg @ 08:48 PM PST [Link]

2003310

Gas is now 91.9 center/litre!!! Gah!!! I believe this is the first time gas has crested 90 cents in BC ever. I was going to fill up my tank on the way home, but I've decided to hold off until the morning to see if it comes down at all. This morning it was 83.7 center/litre and I foolishly didn't fill up. Now, admittedly, I'm doing something that annoys me about other people...I'm fussing over a few cents. I have a 30 litre tank and I've got enough gas to get by for another day if I have to. If I filled up this evening, I'd only have spent $2.40 more than I would have if I filled up this morning. A tank of gas lasts me about a week, so the difference is not going to kill me financially. Still, it pains me to see gas this high when A) We are paying for gas that is made from oil that was pulled from the ground more than a year ago yet current events are pushing the price up, B) Canada produces more oil that any of the middle eastern oil nations, and C) it's so bloody obvious that the gas companies are in cahoots to keep the price up. When hydrogen fuel cell cars are available and refueling them is not so impossible, I'll certainly be looking into them. Especially if I can figure out a decent way of refueling them myself. I'm sure someone will figure out a way. Bush Sr is giving the Shrub a spanking over his form of 'diplomacy': The former President’s comments reflect unease among the Bush family and its entourage at the way that George W. Bush is ignoring international opinion and overriding the institutions that his father sought to uphold. Mr Bush Sr is a former US Ambassador to the UN and comes from a family steeped in multi-lateralist traditions. Although not addressed to his son in person, the message, in a speech at Tufts University in Massachusetts, was unmistakeable. Mr Bush Sr even came close to conceding that opponents of his son’s case against President Saddam Hussein, who he himself is on record as loathing, have legitimate cause for concern. Of course, it's not on CNN. You can find the article over at The Times Online Posted by Greg @ 08:06 PM PST [Link]

200339

Moving is easy, planning it is more difficult. Today we've stayed at home to get some stuff done. My task this morning was figuring out who has our address, and which ones of those need to get our new one. It's surprising how many companies and government agencies know where I live, what my phone number is, what my cell number is, and even what my email address is. It's also surprising how few places I decide should not be updated. I'm a horrible slave to the system and as much as I'd like to keep that info secret, the services these organizations provide is important to me. The worst part of all of this is that I am sure even those places that I did not update will eventually be able to track me down anyway. There is just too much information sharing between disparate places. ...I am looking forward to changing my phone number though...maybe the telemarketeers will have to take a break. Speaking of which...I was once one of them. For about a year I sold 'duct cleaning' over the phone, calling people and interrupting their dinners to prey on their fears of dust, mites and bacteria living in the chambers that supply warmth throughout their house. I gave it up after calling a woman to follow up on a conversation I'd had with her husband, only to find out that between the two calls he'd been killed in a car accident. I still remember the pain and tears in her voice, and the money wasn't worth ever doing that again. I moved on to calling businesses to sell emergency medical oxygen supply canisters for offices, but the drive was gone and I was ending up making two calls a day before I was let go. Months later I tried to work at a charity, begging donations over the phone...I lasted one day before I told them that I couldn't do it. I even told them to keep their money. I could never do anything similar again, though I no longer fear talking to -anybody- on the phone. For those who I called: My apologies...I really hate that part of my life. Posted by Greg @ 02:25 PM PST [Link]

200338

Pico is being a pain in the butt recently, apparently having all the signs of being lonely. Getting another cat is not an option, but we're looking at what we can d to alleviate his nocturnal whining. Here are some good hints to train your cat. We're going to give a try to keeping him awake during the day (well, this will really fall on Jen while I'm at work) and we've already been spraying him with water. I am the terror who stalks in the night, I am the blogger who links to Darkwing Duck quotes! Since we are moving to one of the prime kite-flying areas of Greater Vancouver, I'm looking at buying a kite. The trouble is, my experience is only with the cheap plastic $2 kites that you can get in Walmart. Right now I am liking the looks of the first one on this page, but am still looking...I want something that is all of challenging to fly, beautiful to watch, and not worth hundreds of dollars. I suppose I could make one? Posted by Greg @ 11:09 AM PST [Link]

200336

Courtesy of Rick Mercer Colin Mochrie from "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" CBC Television On behalf of Canadians everywhere I'd like to offer an apology to the United States of America. We haven't been getting along very well recently and for that, I am truly sorry. I'm sorry we called George Bush a moron. He is a moron but, it wasn't nice of us to point it out. If it's any consolation, the fact that he's a moron shouldn't reflect poorly on the people of America. After all it's not like you actually elected him. I'm sorry about our softwood lumber. Just because we have more trees than you doesn't give us the right to sell you lumber that's cheaper and better than your own. I'm sorry we beat you in Olympic hockey. In our defense I guess our excuse would be that our team was much, much, much, much better than yours. I'm sorry we burnt down your White House during the war of 1812. I notice you've rebuilt it! It's Very Nice. I'm sorry about your beer. I know we had nothing to do with your beer but, we feel your pain. I'm sorry about our waffling on Iraq. I mean, when you're going up against a crazed dictator, you wanna have your friends by your side. I realize it took more than two years before you guys pitched in against Hitler, but that was different. Everyone knew he had weapons. Finally on behalf of all Canadians, I'm sorry that we're constantly apologizing for things in a passive-aggressive way which is really a thinly veiled criticism. I sincerely hope that you're not upset over this. We've seen what you do to countries you get upset with. Thank you. Posted by Greg @ 09:47 AM PST [Link]

200335

One of the things I've really enjoyed about working in Richmond recently is the sunsets I see on my way home. Today the sky faded from purple to orange to grey to black to blue. Very amazing, but since I was driving and I didn't have my camera with me, I can't share it. All I can suggest is that when you get a chance come to Richmond in the spring and see them. Lots of thoughts in my head recently. I've got about a million and one ideas for products, services, business models, and ways to make money and I don't have the resources (time, money or contacts) to bring any to fruition. What is a guy like me to do? A few of the ideas might even be patentable but I don't know how to go about patenting them or how much that process would cost. Any internet resources to find the above information are for people who want to make money off my ideas. You'd think with the love of innovation in my society it'd be easier to do these things. Posted by Greg @ 09:42 PM PST [Link]

200334

...been working on moving all my crap over to a cheap-ass 200Mhz computer to do the home serving for me. Unfortunately, I had problems getting it all to work so this blog and Jen's were kind of half out of commission for a day or two. Some interesting things to note: Debian doesn't turn a damned thing on for you, even if it makes sense to do so. Take the Apache webserver for example...the Alias directive allows you to link over to a directory on your server that is not in the directory specified as your 'webserver' directory. The configuration file that you use to make this happen is only editable by root, and you have to actually use the command (and therefore know what it is) to have anything happen. By default the command isn't used. Yet, the -ability- to use it is turned off by default. So in order to do what you want, you have to turn on the ability, then turn on the command, then reboot the server. All of the above require that you are root, so it doesn't make sense to not turn the ability on by default because if you are worried about someone using it in negative ways, well, they are root, so they can pretty much screw your server in a 1000 ways anyway. This is 'protecting the user from himself' in the worst way, which is something I utterly hate about the Windows platform. So...I switched to linux to get away from that crap, only to find that the distro I have to learn for work does it. Other distros do not. Hence, I will prefer other distros. Anyway, that's my rant...spewed out whole and un-edited and probably not even understandable. I've been reading the best page in the universe. We got the apartment! We got the apartment! I'm going to live in a cool place instead of a drug-infested, crime-ridden, 'neighbourhood' in Surrey. We're going to be living in Steveston (Living in Steveston means never having to say you're Surrey!) right on the damn ocean. How damn cool is that?! ...an I'm going to get a tattoo...an drink lattes...an start smoking pungent indian cigarettes...an buy a beret...an talk about the neo-beourgeois...and decry the capitalist imperial hegemony...an subscribe to a communist newsletter...an leave it on my coffee table (made of un polished wood or painted black with cigarette ash streaks) so that all my aquaintances will know how cool I am... Just kill me now...Really, I just want to have a place I can relax at. ...an maybe spew some non sequiturs on occasion... Posted by Greg @ 10:27 PM PST [Link]

200332

Yesterday was a big up-and-down day...it started off getting up early and driving towards Tsawassen, only to find out along the way that the apartment we were heading off to see wasn't actually going to be emptied in time for us to move. Since we had much time to kill before our next appointment, we decided to investigate the area around it. It turns out that it's right next to one of the coolest places in the lower mainland...Garry Point park in Steveston. :) Actually, I restate that...the park is somewhat L-shaped, and the apartment is right in the corner of the L. Excellent location, every day we could walk down and have tea on the oceanside rocks, or find a bench and watch the people who bring out their huge fancy kites (though I think I'd like to join them - I love kite-flying). During the summer we could see the Tall Ship festival within a two minute walk of our front door. All year round we could get into model boat building events, or rent a sailing dinghy for the day for full-size water enjoyment. It's a lot closer to work, and no bridges or tunnels along my commute. A little more expensive, but then again there is much less crime than where we currently are. It's worth it. Now we have to wait and see if we get the place. Jen and I will be sorely disappointed if we don't. Posted by Greg @ 10:00 AM PST [Link]

LINKS and STUFF

Aspectus - This is Illiad's (of Userfriendly fame) other project, which is like Slashdot in some ways and like a personal blog in some ways, but cooler than either. Needs more content, and more visitors, but that'll come.

RED MEAT - Oh my. I imagine there is a FBI file on the artist. I never, ever want to meet him. But I will glory in his comic strip. Brilliance and intelligence wrapped up in the tattooed skin of a circus freak and tied with a bow made of blown O-rings.

Imparte.com - Rich's site. Not going to talk about it until he says I can. But go visit anyway.