...more recent posts
I know a few of you, like me, are on dial-up accounts through inch.com. Things haven't been going too well for the last few days. Some sites load fine, others are either painfully slow, or won't load at all. My traceroutes show lots of problems all over the map, but most notably in the bbnplanet.net system. This fits with the internet traffic report which is still reporting a bbn problem in Washington D.C. (100% packet loss washdc1-br1.bbnplanet.net.) However, inch isn't noting that as a problem. They say
"08/08/00 11:31 The slow connections problem continues to be a circuit between Chantilly, VA and Chicago and involves Sprint. This indicates that the circuit must be used for peering (exchanging traffic) between the 2 networks. We've been assured that they have been working on it constantly, as it is affecting numerous customers in the mid-atlantic region."Either they are missing something, or Sprint owns bbn? Is that right? I guess probably that is the case since VA seems to be about the right location. Man, if you are on the east coast, you really don't want to have a problem between you and MAE-east. Trust me. Arrrrgggghhhh. What about you non-inchers? Any noticable problems lately?
unearthing "prehistoric" central park.
Apparently 60 Minutes did a piece on Echelon last night. Did anyone see it? (Is that show still really popular?)
Here's a mass email from Michael Moore about the upcoming election. I never know what to think about this guy. Basically I agree with him on most issues, but like I said, I'm never sure what to think about him. Maybe I've just been brainwashed by the anti-Moore publicity campaign. Still, I think he's on target here. I saw Nader on Meet the Press this morning and I thought he sounded very reasonable. Even electable, although I know the odds aren't too good on that one. If the internet does play any role in the election, I'd have to think it would be to Nadar's benefit. Are emails (political spam?) like this going to do any good?
buckle in. we visited this shop yesterday and there's more than the web site shows...
more later
From the micro-informative television news watchers at the Tyndall Report comes this great political story (last story on this page.)
"DOUSE THE FLAMES In Dade County Fla municipal elections, a firefighter candidate stumbled across a rule that county workers cannot hold elective office. 'If he wins the election, he loses $200,000 in retirement benefits,' warned NBC’s Kerry Sanders. Too late to take his name off the ballot, what is a candidate to do? 'He is running the ultimate negative campaign. This candidate does not want to win. He hopes he will be able to say what few would ever want to say: I’m A Loser!'"I'll bet he wins.
Everything is running very slow this morning. The internet traffic report is picking up a few problems (like the completely dead router at washdc1-br1.bbnplanet.net - 100% packet loss - perfect score!) At first I thought our hosts at he.net might be suffering a DoS attack, but now it looks more widespread. Be patient.
Dave, I thought you were supposed to be blogger point man? I have to find out about new stuff on *riothero? What's the scoop on newsblogger?
Referring to the last paragraph of dratfink's 7/26, gobs of fyre, I'm a prude, I admit it, but even if I weren't wouldn't those be kinda strong words for a bestselling author of adolescent children's books? Ms. Rowling's suggestion that someday Jesus will suck the greasy cock of the devil seems, I don't know, at least a little inappropriate, a little bitter. Did her mum run off with the clergyman and leave her on the steps of the orphanage?
As Malaclypse the Younger stated: "Tis an ill wind that blows no minds." (Yes, that link was basically an excuse to post the aphorism.)
Now that the major party conventions have been reduced to media events, the media are no longer interested. I'm thinking there's a message in there, somewhere. Once upon a time, the three networks all provided gavel-to-gavel coverage, suggesting that these were important events, which everyone should watch. In fact, they didn't leave you much choice. Old timers wax nostalgic about smoke filled rooms, public floor fights, and the days when things were actually decided at the conventions. Now it's all scripted in advance, and the networks treat the conventions like unpaid advertising, which is pretty much what they are. I guess PBS and cable will give you more coverage, if you really want it, but the Arianna Huffington fronted Shadow Conventions look to provide a more promising podium.
From the Kesey archives, here's an 800k .mov file of Neal Cassidy driving the bus and talking the talk.
eat the purple people eaters!!
Our friend Guido Hardt has an art opening tomorrow (Thursday, 7/27, 6-8) at 456 Broadway, near Grand. Two person show. Don't ask me why a German named Guido is showing at the Chinese-American Gallery, it's multiculturalism, ok? He does interesting work out of architectural motifs and aerial views. Worth checking out, even if you can't make the opening.
we need a page of these
jim are you and dave and alex in this??-----
net.people: The Personalities and Passions Behind the Web Sites
by Thomas E. Bleier, Eric C. Steinert
Paperback - 320 pages (May 2000)
CyberAge Books; ISBN: 0910965374 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.70 x 9.95 x 7.97
Amazon.com Sales Rank: 43,317----or do i have to wait for net.people 2
a pattern language v. astounding websites
I was walking home yesterday down Essex street and I passed a very disturbed and rather large young man wearing a white t-shirt adorned with huge black letters, apparently written in marker, presumably by him (I'm equating his rather deranged aura with the impossibly bad penmanship.) True or not, the shirt was definitely a one-off home made piece. It said, rather to the point, "Kill all homosexuals. Die faggots die." We had a moment of eye contact in which I expressed my disapproval. Nothing too serious (I'm a bit ashamed to admit) but enough that I was a little scared he was going to start something with me (that sort of eye contact being a pretty aggressive act in some sub-cultures.) He decided to keep walking. Anyway, it sort of freaked me out, because I don't usually see stuff like that in NYC. Then today I found this story, which didn't particularly make me feel better or worse, but it made some sort of impression. There are a lot of fscked-up people out there, and a even more "normal" ones (peaceful ones?) rather scared of the first group. (Really nice design on that site too, as is usually the case with Derek Powazek's stuff.)
Yes, we were down for a little bit this morning. Nothing too serious. I guess it's the case that the database (Mysql) needs to be rebooted every so often. Since it does seem to keep its data intact I can live with this. As always, I'm very impressed by Hurricane Electric as a web host.
amsterdam (KLM) has a new airline that hubs out of london called ...Buzz Airline, my bosses bag was so heavy it had to be taged with a big label "Heavy Buzz" i saved it for a souvenier...the motto is "Fly With Buzz"??...and its a la carte you pay for air only, drinks food etc are all pay for on plane...
google now offers 12 language choises including "custom"??!!
might have to check this out!!-- Seven Hills Berlin 14 May -29 October-----"Move over Millennium Dome. Berlin trumps it all with their biggest futuristic exhibition ever at the Martin Gropius building. Fun for all, this is a high brow Disney World complete with a virtual voyage through an ancient library, dolphins and robots to play with and the chance to mix genes on a monitor.
It has cost a fortune - 28 million DM to be precise - so check out the extravaganza.
There are seven zones: Jungle, Outer Space, Dream, Civilisation, Knowledge, Credo and the Centre. Each has interactive exhibits, glorious special effects and the very latest in science and technology. The idea is to compete with the technological wonders on show at the Hanover World Expo. Decide for yourself on the winner!"
For the 12th of July, two sides of the deeply spiritual Irish coin. Maybe Clinton should have the IRA negotiate with the PLO, and Israel with the Orange. Might make more progress that way.
But why did I find the Spam Haiku site looking for this stuff?