...more recent posts
I recently loaned a Paul Laffoley book to a friend, and this has apparently turned out to be quite a big deal. Her enthusiasm has caused me to take another look, and while this probably comes as no surprise, I am way into this guy. Anyway, I dug back through my amazingly unlabeled video tape archive, and eventually found the tape I shot of his speech at the disnifo.con conference (last fall?) He is completely over the top, and it's funny to hear myself laughing nervously at some of his more unbelievable claims, but I'm very impressed that he appears to actually be trying to say something. As soon as I get my video set up back on line I'll make a little mpeg of this talk (or at least an mp3, it's pretty long.)
Parlez-vous jabber? This sounds like a very good thing for a protocol I am really routing for. Tres bien.
One of my favorite sci-fi devices that might actually be realized in my life is the space elevator. I've talked about this before, but now apparently we're a step closer. Cool.
Well, I have the new system up and running at datamantic.com. Plans are fairly fluid at the moment but I guess the idea is that datamantic is where I can quickly make people pages so they can try out the system while I try to convince them that they need their own dedicated server running this software. I'm trying to make sure there is a clear split between any potential business side of things, and the rigorously uncommercial site we have here. One page is already up and he seems pleased so far. More to come. And of course, we will get this site switched over very soon, as there are more people to add here as well, plus I know some of you (steve,frank) are waiting on me. Soon.
Mozilla 0.9 has been released. I'll let you know later if I get it working. The roadmap now has May 23 as a freeze for 0.91, and then any release after that has at least a chance of being crowned 1.0 (the real thing.) Anyway, sometime this summer. No sense rushing now that so many have given up hope. Better to get it right.
For no apparent reason (or maybe because I've told a few people about this site and there's nothing too interesting on this page,) here are some of my favorite posts elsewhere on the site: here, here, here, here (700K,) and here. Of course there are lots more, but that's a little taste of what's going on.
Blast from the past. My first ever excursion into the online world happened from my basement while in junior high school. I would dial into the Top Cat BBS with my 300 baud modem equiped IBM PCjr. Those were the days! Anyway, some nut has compiled an abolutely huge list (that's a /. induced mirror, the permanent site is here) of all these old (pre-internet) bulletin board systems. Over 77,000 listings. Western Massachusetts, where I lived, has over 200 entries. And low and behold, the tiny little Top Cat BBS is listed about half way down the page. Apparently it ran until 1991. When I was on I think there were only 4 or 5 members. Maybe it got larger later. Not very interesting to anyone else, but this sure took me back to how it all began. Thanks to my Mom for originally hooking me up.
Here's a nice quick overview of some different google search features.
We took the weekend off and spent some great time out on Long Island. Our friends in Sayville have a very nice house on a well tended little patch of paradise. I got to work for a few hours (well, 20 minutes at least) in the garden. This sort of work is so foreign to me that it is really fun. Probably the level of fun is tied somehow to the 20 minute part. Anyway, a little break away from the computer was good for the head. The air is so different out there. Very clean. I'd probably go into shock if I got to some place where the air really is clean.
Still a few little problems brewing in the new system, but I think all the big stuff is hammered out. Not sure how to go about making the change over. I guess I'm not in a real big hury. Bought a new domain and I think maybe I'll put that up first. My other project (the one for someone else) is about to go live as well. Should be a busy week as usual. Hope I can stay on top of the wave.
Well, this stuff is almost boring at this point; if only it weren't so important. Last week Microsoft sent another shot the open source way through a speech given by VP Craig Mundie, claiming once again that Microsoft owning everything is somehow better for everyone than having lots of competition. Huh? Anyway, I don't recommend the Mundie speech unless you're looking for examples of very poor reasoning. It's the same kind of logic that the RIAA, and the MPAA, and every other group that profits from selling the creative works of others tries to make: strong intellectual property rights are fundamental to creative output. It's the old, "nobody would make any music if they weren't going to get paid" argument, which is so patently false I wonder how some of these people can actually make it with a straight face. Ever heard of history? How about 10,000+ years of cultural development that had nothing to do with strong intellectual property rights. How about the very foundation of western science with its reliance on sharing of information? (peer review anyone?) We're all richer by sharing, and anyone arguing anything else is trying to...
Oh forget it. Read the response to Mundie from Linus "benedict" Torvalds himself:
"I'd rather listen to Newton than to Mundie. He may have been dead for almost three hundred years, but despite that he stinks up the room less."