January, 2015 archive
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Teach the children, teach them politeness.
(snip)
Initial indications were that the girl either shot herself or was shot by a 4-year-old sibling, according to police.
Cavalcade of Spots 2
An acquaintance of mine called me for help with her Win 8.1 computer; it had gotten really slow since New Year’s Day.
When I got there, I found the kind of Windows malware mess that you read about on rabidly partisan Linux websites–adware and pop-ups just flooding in, a true cavalcade of spots. It took me three and a half hours to wrestle that puppy into submission.
Thump the Other Cheek 0
Words fail me.
Droning On 0
Expensive toys:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been flying surveillance drones for nearly a decade, launching them from bases in Texas, Florida, North Dakota and Arizona. It currently has nine Predator B models — a modified version of the MQ-9 Reaper drone flown by the Air Force — and has plans to more than double the size of its drone fleet to 24 as part of a $443 million expansion.
Regency Club, Membership Benefits 0
When you are white and Republican and “’a good and decent man’ who served in the military,” sentencing guidelines go out the window, regardless of how much public trust you violated or how many wives you threw under the bus.
Pah!
Hacks and Computer Hacks 0
The rush to blame North Korea for cracking Sony Entertainment’s network is increasingly looking misguided. In Japan Times, Leonid Bershidsky considers the weakness of the attribution:
Now, the hacking and anti-hacking communities will forever doubt the FBI’s judgment and alternative versions — especially the well-developed one from Norse, the reputable security firm, involving laid-off Sony employees — will circulate.
Whoever hacked Sony — and this point, it’s wise to reserve judgment — the lesson for governments and other hacker targets, is that there is no point in publishing one’s suspicions unless a lot of detail can also be released.
Hucksters on the Hustings 0
Dick Polman explains the fascination:
With Huckabee in the mix, the likeliest scenario is that he and his rightward rivals would divvy up the evangelical electorate – essentially cancelling each other out, in terms of vote percentage. That would make it easier for a center-right guy like Bush to finish on top – not in Iowa, but in the subsequent big-state primaries, where the GOP’s center-right electorate is considerably more sizeable.
One quibble: There is no such thing as a “center right.” There are the racist right, the culture-warrior right, and the business right (often the three overlap), and there’s nothing center about a one of them.
The only thing “center” about the “center right” is that it knows not to be overtly racist and misogynistic in public. It uses code words instead.
More at the link.
One for All and All for Me 0
This is not a surprise.
A study in Japan shows that Homo economicus makes up only a minority of the population, but a minority with a wide range of unusual personality traits, including a touch of psychopathy.
More at the link.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Practice makes polite.
Deputies say the 62-year-old man whose name has not been released, was raking his yard when he was shot.
“Target practicing.”
Yeah.
Right.
QOTD 0
Carl Yastrzemski:
. . . if I have my choice between a pennant and a triple crown, I’ll take the pennant every time.
Pitchers and catchers report in the third week of February.
Make TWUUG Your LUG–Rescheduled 0
Because our Fearless Leader is sick, the meeting has been rescheduled to Thursday. FL expects to be better by them.
Learn about the wonderful world of free and open source. Learn how to use computers to do what you want, not what someone else wants you to do.
It’s not hard; it’s just different.
What: Monthly TWUUG Meeting.
Who: Everyone in TideWater/Hampton Roads with interest in any/all flavors of Unix/Linux. There are no dues or signup requirements. All are welcome.
Where: Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital in Norfolk Training Room. See directions below. (Wireless and wired internet connection available.) Turn right upon entering, then left at the last corridor and look for the open meeting room.
When: 7:30 PM till whenever (usually 9:30ish) on Thursday, January 8. (Note: TWUUG normally meets on the first Thursday of each month.)
Directions:
Lake Taylor Hospital
1309 Kempsville Road
Norfolk, Va. 23502 (Map)
Pre-Meeting Dinner at 6:00 PM (separate checks)
Uno Chicago Grill
Virginia Beach Blvd. & Military Highway (Janaf Shopping Center). (Map)
