2008 archive
Another Day Playing SysAdmin 3
This time it was getting the new Windows box on line, setting up the firewall, and verifying that it works properly as a print server for my network.
I also did a few things I always do to Windows XP computers.
I went into Control Panel–>Administrative Tools–>Services and disabled the “Security Center” nagware service. I have a firewall and I have an antivirus. If Microsoft “Securty [gag] Center” is too stupid to recognize the existence of the NetDefense firewall, it can go pound sand.
I went into Control Panel–>System–>Advanced–>Error Reporting and turned off Error Reporting. I have no interest in telling Microsoft anything about my computer usage. Goodness knows, they do enough sniffing on their own.
I went into Control Panel–>Date and Time–>Internet Time and changed the time server from Microsoft to a U. S. government server, although, heaven knows, the U. S. goverment has no more scruples about spying on citizens than does Microsoft.
My brain is tired.
Regularly scheduled imprecations and invective resume tomorrow.
On Top of Everything Else 3
The Family Windows box died.
“Hard Drive not found.”
Made sure everything was plugged in tight inside the box.
It was.
I ran out to Second Source and got another one. After a week-and-half playing IT Tech to my webserver, I really didn’t feel like playing bench tech to what is almost certainly a failed hard drive.
When I get a little energy, I’ll remove the harddrive, jumper it to slave, slap it into another computer, and see if I can salvage anything. All my important data is backed up in two or three different places, but I can’t say that about all the computer users in the house. . . .
I’m Back, and I’m Drinking Liberally To Celebrate 0
At Tangier, 18th and Lombard, Philadelphia, at 6 p. m.
Briefly speaking, my database went kerfluie. My two or three regular readers will remember a short period during which posts were appearing twice.
It mysteriously started and mysteriously went from every post to occasional posts. I checked the database using the admin tools, and they found nothing wrong, but I think that was when the problems started.
You will note that I’ve had to drop back quite a while to find a valid backup. I did try to muscle the current database into MySQL, but it was too far gone.
I don’t kid myself that my drivel is all that important, but I apologize to those who have put time and energy and thought into comments and whose comments are gone.
I’m still have some tweaking to do and you may see some minor changes in performance over the next few days, but pretty much what you see is what you’re gonna get.
For the geekily inclined, the gory details are below the fold.
I Know I Had It Here Someplace . . . Let Me Look . . . Oh! Here It Is! . . . John McCain Is a Conservative Hack 1
Eric Alterman & George Zornick in The Nation (emphasis added):
According to an extensive Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll taken in early May, only 27 percent of voters have positive views of the Republican Party, the lowest level for either party in the survey’s nearly two-decade history. A clear majority of voters in the same survey said they wished for a Democratic President. And yet, in what the Journal reporters termed a “remarkable” finding, McCain remained in a dead heat with Obama and Clinton in head-to-head match-ups. The authors’ explanation: “McCain’s image is trumping negatives such as the war and the economy.” More recent polls continue to show McCain running well ahead of any generic “Republican” candidate. It’s true that before the Rev. Jeremiah Wright became the most famous man in America, coverage of Obama had been extremely favorable. And McCain’s easy ride has seen some speed bumps in recent weeks, regarding both his army of conflicted lobbyists/advisers and a poorly received speech on the night Obama clinched the Democratic nomination. But decades of devotion to McCain’s causes and character are not likely to be erased overnight, even in the event of an unlikely U-turn on the part of most of the MSM.
Drumbeats 0
Will Bunch hears the rhythm.
Dept. of Injustice 0
If it’s old news, shouldn’t it be referred to as “olds” (it’s an AP story; all you get is a summary):
Bushies prefer political loyalty over competence.
And this surprises us how?
Meanwhile, the Demon Princess points out that, in the Bush World, the wages of virtue is demotion:
The Old Switcheroo 1
From ASZ:
Follow the link for the links to the evidence. Or something like that.
Business Reply Envelopes 0
I was fresh out of Publishers Clearing House brochures, but I figured the RNC could use some flyers from Haband.
Overt 0
Over at ASZ, Steve muses about what the phrase “overtly white” means, as the antonym to the phrase “overtly nonwhite,” as used below:
Neo-Nazi, skinhead and segregationist groups have reported gains in numbers of visitors to their Web sites and in membership since the senator from Illinois secured the Democratic nomination June 3. His success has aroused a community of racists, experts said, concerned by the possibility of the country’s first black president.
“I haven’t seen this much anger in a long, long time,†said Billy Roper, a 36-year-old who runs a group called White Revolution in Russellville, Ark. “Nothing has awakened normally complacent white Americans more than the prospect of America having an overtly nonwhite president.â€
What the heck does that mean? If I’m having a hard time figuring out what “overty white†means, I’m having the devil of a time figuring out what “overtly nonwhite†means, especially as concerns Barack Obama. Let’s not parse this too much, but Obama is just as much white as he is black. Is that What Roper refers to, afraid that people will come back at him with the line I just used? “Overtly nonwhite,†then, means to him the mere color of his skin? Well, duh! That’s exactly what Roper means as he mangles the language, something the Harvard educated Obama is not likely to have done.
Well, this looks to me like what “overtly white” means in the context of Mr. Billy Roper’s statements and beliefs:
Racial slurs in bold, yellow print were found on the lawns of homes of black and Hispanic families sometime Friday night, said county police spokesman Cpl. Trinidad Navarro.
The nearby children’s playground was marred with the words KKK, Jews and racial epithets as well as toilet paper.
Link to the full Washington Post story here.
Bushonomics 1
Bonddad looks at the long(er) term:
In addition, this isn’t going to end anytime soon. Inventory is still sky high and consumer demand is still hampered by massive debt and low confidence.
(snip a discussion of consumer confidence)
Short version: this is bad news all the way around. Period.
Link to the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index here.
Ray, who’s off working on his post on how hedge funds work, thinks the Republicans are trying to stave off the crash the fruits of their economic failures until January 21, 2009, so they can then pretend that their policies of the last umpty-ump years had nothing–nothing!–to do with the results thereof.
Who Should You Trust? 0
The Booman asks a good question.
Underwear in the News 0
Her bra was an attention-getter:
Berchtesgaden, Germany police officer Lorenz Rasp said that he helped lift Jessica Bruinsma, 24, of Colorado Springs to safety by helicopter on Thursday after she caught the attention of lumberjacks by attaching her sports bra to a cable used to haul timber down the mountain.
H/T Karen for the link.
Tipping Point 0
The Associated Press reports that persons who depend on tips for a substantial part of their income are hurting, because their customers are hurting.
Remember that the minimum wage for the folks in food service is, well, minimal.
Bushonomics: Making the rich richer and the poor poorer in myriad ways.
I Won! (Updated) 0
Todd recorded his podcast in a live feed today.
I listened and joined the chat room.
When the time came, he asked us listeners to put our phone numbers into the chat room. Then he pumped the numbers into a randomizer.
And my phone rang.
Oh, yeah, and there was a monetary prize, just for answering the phone.
Now, if Opie others had been paying attention, they could have joined the fun.
I think I’ll go to Delaware Park tomorrow. I once hit an Exacta there for $237.00. Maybe my number’s about to come up again.
Addendum, Later the Next Day:
You can listen to the show here. If you really want my high-pitched whine of a voice (which Opie endured for must of a week), Todd called me about 58 minutes into the show.
My podcatcher hasn’t brought down the show yet.
John McCain Is a Conservative Hack Who Is Compelling Me To Drink Liberally 0
(I was going to link to an article about Candidate McCain, but the website appears to be down. Never fear, I’ll certainly be linking to it later).
I will be drinking liberally tomorrow at Tangier Restaurant, 18th and Lombard Philadelphia, Pa., starting at 6 p. m.
Rule of Law 0
The Federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has ruled that the Current Federal Administration can’t jail someone just because he wants to, however he trumps up the evidence:
In a ruling decided Friday but released today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that Huzaifa Parhat, an ethnic Chinese Uighur captured during the early stages of the U.S. war in Afghanistan, was inappropriately designated an enemy combatant at a hearing known as a “combatant status review tribunal.” The court said the United States can no longer hold him.
It is time for Mr. Bush to recognize that this country has a president.
Not a king.
But he won’t.
I Send Mail 3
The Geek News Central podcast is relentlessly non-political. Nevertheless, in Friday’s show, Todd asked his listeners to let him know what they think about opening up ANWR and the continental shelf for oil exploration.
So I did:
You asked for comments about opening up ANWR and the continental shelf for oil exploration.
No.
According to the discussion on this episode of the Diane Rehm Show, opening these areas would have little or no effect on current or future oil prices or on U. S. oil reserves.
The discussion indicated that one of the reasons for pressure to open these areas from the oil companies, who already have oil leases for areas that they have not yet started to explore or use, is the oil companies’ stock prices. One of the factors that affects their stock prices is how many reserves they have. In short, their interest may not be primarily oil supplies, so much as Wall Street supplies.
Opening up these areas would do little or nothing to help the everyday person and lots to help the rich get richer with paper profits.
The policy that got us into this mess is ably dissected in this article from The Nation.