A Penguin in the Orchard

Tom Chance nails it in this article on NewsForge. He clearly debunks the generally-held philosophy that easy administration is a good thing. Easy administration translates too often to the lack of a deeper understanding – something that’s critical to truly preventing and solving problems. Chance makes a great case that the ease with which many Microsoft products can be configured actually leads to further ignorance on the part of the user. In other words, the better path is not always (in fact, seldom) the easy one.

It’s often noted that the only thing worse than no security on a computer is poor security. For example, a poorly constructed firewall lures a user into believing that they’re secure when, in reality, they’re not. No additional measures are taken beyond the initial setup because the user believes that the machine is secure. That can leave an entire world of holes that they’re neither aware of nor concerned about.

Filtering software, a hot topic in schools and libraries the past few years, is no different. Because it has some effect in filtering undesireable sites, Congress has begun to require its use across the country. Our representatives have used their strongest weapon to mandate filtering – control of federal funding. Nando Times is running an interesting article today about the effect of these regulations on schools as the new school year gets underway. According to one San Francisco teacer, “This law doesn’t add anything to our classroom,” he said. “It creates troubles, distractions and barriers to learning.” I’d submit that, worse than that, the filtering protocols add an unjustified sense of security, in part because the makers of such software consider their filtering parameters to be proprietary data. No one really knows what’s being filtered. Once again, Congress has turned to a quick and ineffective “fix” to regulate morality.

There was some real sleight of hand going on at the UN on Thursday. It was cleverly done and, despite that fact that everyone could clearly see the palmed quarter, seems to have been pulled off successfully. The thing is, there are so many layers to this old political trick it’s unlikely that Dubya had much more to do with it than just the approval and delivery.
Read the rest of this entry »

Terry Gross just asked Steven Van Zandt if the male bonding that occurs onstage among members of the E Street Band is somehow planned. I laughed out loud in the car, thinking of “bonding rehearsals,” just as Van Zandt spoke the phrase. It’s the kind of borderline goofy question that Terry Gross asks that, occasionally, ends up leading to a very interesting answer. Van Zandt, in the serious part of his response, mentioned McLuhan’s view of the family. It’s something I’ve not seen, so I’ll have to dig up the reference. Above all, I found it interesting that such a seemingly goofy question could actually lead to an interesting answer.

And, yes. I’ll be in front of the TV for the premier of The Sopranos on Sunday night. HBO has, without doubt, the two best shows on television in The Sopranos and Six Feet Under. Would McLuhan call that an over-extension of technology?

Baseball game:
175 minutes

Sunday drive to in-law’s and back:
130 minutes

Indy 500:
210 minutes

Labor/child birth:
280 minutes

Traversing the Pentagon on foot:
240 minutes

Child’s birthday party:
180 minutes

Broadway play:
130 minutes

Debian install:
180 minutes

Allman Brothers Band concert:
150 minutes

College basketball game:
140 minutes

Computer repair:
120 minutes

The destruction of the World Trade Center and the loss of 2,801 lives on 9/11/01 took 102 minutes. How much have we done in our lives that took longer?

Handspring has released the newest Treo Communicator. These devices just get cooler every day. I looked hard at the low-end Treo a month ago, but it was only a half-hearted look. I’d pretty much already decided on the Zaurus. The Treo 300 looks to be even smaller than the previous versions and combines the PDA with SprintPCS service. The drawback to these Palm-powered color PDAs has always been the color itself. It pales in comparison to its Strongarm-based competitors. I’ve been living wireless at home the past few days with the Zaurus and, despite the killer look of the Treo 300, am convinced I made the right choice. Embedded Linux simply smokes.