A collection of things
A collection of things
Fixing the MT bookmarklet for Safari :: The Daily Journey :: JayAllen.org
An interesting little story about the effect TiVo could have on the mind.
An email I sent to a list I'm on, in responce to AOL cutting Mozilla loose.
[NOTE: I've since read things that make it sound like Netscape is not yet, officially dead. Mozilla is out from under AOL though]
Every analyst in the business saw it coming. Not a sole was surprised.Number 1 and 2 from blogdex this morning:
1. AOL Cuts Remaining Mozilla Hackers
2. the Mozilla Foundation launchedBasically, the short of it is, Netscape has been officially killed, to
the average user (silly PC users, at least) IE now looks like the only
browser on the market.But, underneath the surface, bubbling up on computers all over the world
like some super virus, there lies the only software package currently
available today that has a true chance to slay the giant, Mozilla. Now
free of it's corporate bonds, Mozilla is free of restrictions, free to
innovate, free to do... um, pretty much what they've been doing all
along. :)As part of the AOL/Microsoft settlement, Microsoft "had to give" (I'm
sure it was hard for them) AOL royality free access to IE for 6 or 7
years. When word leaked, every software analyst on the planet was
counting the days till AOL killed Netscape, and cut Mozilla loose, in a
cost cutting measure. But, what would happen to the open source Mozilla
project? The development community was quick to jump in. "AOL/Netscape
is not that vital to the project anymore" they said. "They just give us
domains and server space for builds, which other companies have already
promised to give us." they said. "Mozilla will live on no matter what"
they said. And today, they delivered. Kudos. And for this, I'm
acctually happy. In the short run, MS has won, but in the long run,
they may have just signed their death warrent in the browser wars,
because now it's a geurilla war. Now, the oposition will take the
market away machine by machine. And they won't give them back. Sooner
or later, the emporer will bow before the will of the people.A moment of silence though for the fallen. Netscape was the sole direct
decendant of the mighty Mosaic, from which all browsers came. It showed
it's age in recent years, as younger, more nimble browsers ran loops
around it, but it still commanded a certain kind of respect from those
who knew the history. In it's death throws, it birthed Mozilla, and for
that, we are grateful. Mozilla will live on in the proud tradition of
it's forefathers honoring thier memory. It will avenge the murder of
it's ancestors, by the pretender to the thrown. And one day, people
will know what good software is.So raise a glass, one and all. We mourn for the past, and toast to the
future. We will avenge the fallen, and rejoice the new born. They
think they have won, but we have just begun. Now the war is on our
terms, and we can not fail. We will not fail. And we will not stop,
not until the pretender has been crushed and the world has been shown
the true power that comes from the will of the people!SOLIDARITY!!!!
I guess we'll start with the newest finds and work back, figuring in threads of thought as I go along.
I acctually was in the process of getting some work done today, at work no less, when the president of the company and our HR person stopped by. Thier in town for some big gala thing. And since I've never met either, I figured I'd talk to them. Nice women, and I don't regret the conversation, but little work got done when they left. Instead, I started wondering around web sites. In the process I came across an interesting little comic called, Business As Usual. It's fun, you should go read it. There isn't much, but may be there'll be more.
Something about the comic reminds me of Ein Stuck Natur. And that's another comic you should read.
Back to BAU though, Kate also gets props for attending Radford Univ. Which was the first college I went to. I only lasted three semesters and only got 15 credits out of it, but oh well. I was still there.
On the tech front, Lisa Rein has video footage of Alan Kay's presentation at the Emerging Tech Conference a few weeks ago. His presentation was broken up into three areas:
1) Pointing out how little has changed in software over the last 40 years. This was depressing. Basically, we still don't have access to software that the people at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center invented back in the 60's. People just forgot about all the cool things that PARC invented and decided it wasn't important. Well, damn them!
2) A demo of kids (around 10-11 years old) working with Small Talk. Building little systems and playing with them. The point was to teach these kids about science in a way that wasn't just memorizing facts. This was cool as hell, and instilled in me, being a systems geek, a need to get a copy of Small Talk, or Squeak, the updated version of Small Talk, running on a machine. I need to investigate that.
3) A demo of Croquet, which is Alan's new product. This looks cool as hell. And it's funny that I see this now, as I'm in the middle of reading Neuromancer. I'm not sure what this could be used for though. Not that that's a bad thing. I'm a believer in the old ethos of "invent it, then figure out what to do with it." It's just not high on my priorities of download right now. Maybe once it's in beta stage.
A few days ago I was poking around some news sites, and came across the The Religious Movements Homepage @ The Univeristy of Virginia. I really need to play around with this more, but they list Discordianism, so they get props.
And speaking of religious links, I rediscovered The Gnosis Archive after the post around the Wandering Bishops, and what a fine archive it is.
OK, that's enough for tonight.
NoteTaker isn't available for Windows
iTunes isn't available for Windows
Kung-Log isn't available for Windows
Safari isn't available for Windows
NewNewsWire isn't available for Windows
Fetch isn't available for Windows
The biggest problem I'm running into now is that I'm going to blow my next pay check on software. I've already got two or three trial versions sitting on my machine, and I need to get those paid for with this next pay check. The only complaints I have so far are the video options and the Office layout. The office problem I hope will be resolved by me poking around at settings and figuring things out. But, for the moment the text comes up a bit light in Word which causes me to have to strain to read things. And the delete feature in Excel is annoying. I'm used to being able to just highlight a block of cells, hit delete and it's gone. Instead, it looks like I've got to highlight the section, then pull down the edit menu, slip over into a sub menu, and then hit clear contents. I wouldn't mind having to simply remember a new set of keystrokes, but there doesn't seem to be a keystroke for deleteing a group of text. That's annnoying.
The video side might be fixed in a month or two when I drop down the cash for the full version of quicktime, so I'll hold off on making a full bitch now. But, not being able to go full screen on quicktime is annoying. Esspecially since every other video package out there has a full screen option available for it. Of course I do need to do some more hunting around for video stuff. Download codecs annd that kind of stuff so I can play my fansubs on this machine. That will deffinetly make this laptop a nice buy. Being able to watch a little fansub when I'm visiting my folks or listen to some music. I'm already enjoying being able to carry my ipod around instead of having to lug a big pile of CDs. And my car already looks cleaner, not having jewel cases scattered all around.
So, yeah to Apple. I never thought I'd buy one, but now I'm happy that I did.
Notes from Cory Doctorow about Will Wright's talk at PPC Forum. This reminds me why i wanted to get a master's in System Engineering. I love this kind of stuff.
So, I've been getting used to this new laptop and the Mac OS. On the subject of the laptop itself, I'm enjoying the freedom that I have now. This has become my primary computer period. I'm using it at work and at home. This is nice since it gives me more freedom in what I do and where I do it. In short, I just feel more connected since I'm seeing the same interface no matter where I am. No issues of being at my "work" PC or my "home" PC. Now I'm just using my laptop.
Mac OS X is another little treat. I'm still learning the ins and outs of the OS, but I'm pretty happy with what I see so far. I'd forgotten how much I like the multi window interface. I haven't used it since college when I had access to UNIX workstations running X Windows. The touchpad is a little annoying since it makes getting around the screen a little more involved then it should be, but that's an issue with laptops period. And I think as I become more accustomed to a touch pad and start to learn all the keyboard commands for everything, this will become less of an issue.
In other news, about a week ago I was randomly going through porchparty.com and I came across an interesting profile in the Freaks Down Here section. I emailed the woman in question and got a responce from her earlier this week. One of the things that I found interesting about her responce was the mention of the 4th and 5th dimension and it's interactions with this dimension and our lives. This struck me because it's something I've given a lot of thought to over to last couple of years.
The idea that I've been playing with is that the 3rd dimension that we live in, does not exist in a bubble. Instead it is being acted on by dimensions above and below it. I'm not sure of the exact nature of this interation. I figure there are two possibilitiies.
1) Dimensions exist in different realms, but that actions in one realm can be a factor in actions in the realm. I guess to easiest way to explain this would be to say that a cause in another dimension, while having an effect in that dimension can also have an effect in this dimension. Another way of looking at this would be to apply a new vector to chaos theory. Not only can the butterfly wings in one part of the world have an effect in another part of the world, but it can also have an effect in another dimension.
2) This dimension is only a 3rd dimensional manifestation of a multidimensional world. We are not aware of high dimensions because we are unable to perceive things in the correct manner. Just how A. Square is only able to perceive A. Sphere in 2-d terms in the novel Flatland. Now, there are two sub thoughts that go with this theory.
a) 3-d entities (us) are completly seperate from entities that exist in other dimensions. Meaning that a 3-d entity is completly distinct from a 2-d or 4-d entity.
b) 3-d entities are simply 3-d manifestations of multidimensional entities. We are just unaware of the fact that we are in fact multidimensional beings.
While I'm not sure exactly what theory is correct, I'm currently leaning towards 2.a as the most likely of senarios. The reason for this is because the theory works on many levels.
1) The subject of magick. And yes, that k is in there for a reason. I use that spelling to differentiate stage magic from occult magic. Anyways. The metaphor that I have found most interesting for magick is that it is finding a way to tap into elements outside of this dimension and effect those elements in some way that causes a particular effect in this world.
2) Aliens. I can't remember the name of the person who came up with the theory, but there is a theory that extraterristrial entites are in fact extradimensional. Instead of being from another planet, they are beings from a higher dimension. This makes even more sense if you go with the one universe, multiple dimensions theory. The reason being that these entities can then have two causes/purposes for existing in our dimension.
a) They are exploring lower dimensions, in a similiar maner to Grant Morrison's experiments. The common look to these beings simply being fiction suits that they have constructed.
b) They are in fact a leak between the dimensions. The result of a faulty filter in certain people's subconcious. This would account for the disorenting effect of contact. These people are litterally coming into contact with something they are unable to comprehend.
The other interesting thing about the alien idea is the physics. Much has been made of flying saucers that defy the laws of physics. If these crafts are in fact bleed through from a higher dimension, then this is a step in explaining how these craft can move against the laws of nature. Simply put, they are not goverened by our laws.
The idea is that different dimensions have different sets of rules. What's the purpose of gravity in a dimension that does not have depth? Obviously as you move into higher dimensions new laws will come into play. And those new laws could look to break our laws when applied in our dimension. For instance, the right angle turns that some craft have been reported to make could be caused by a manipulation in time that does now allow us to see the full movement of the craft. Many sceintists theorize that the 4th dimension is time. That these entities will experience time in the same manner that we experience depth. In short, they experience the entirety of time in a moment. Time is not a series of individual points to them, as it is to us.
There's another idea in here about religion and god, but it's just not coming to me right now. I'll have to wait on that for another time. Hope you enjoyed. I've got a feeling that there will be more of this type of writing in the future.
I'm writing this entry from my desk at work. What's so special about that? Well, I'm not using the machine that work has provided for me. Instead I'm using an Apple iBook that I ordered last week and arrived today.
Five years ago there was no way I'd switch. I was doing tech support at the time and Apples suck when it comes to doing support. Laptops are even worse. Now though I don't do tech support and so I don't care. Instead, I'm having fun with new gadgets. :)
Interesting bit from Doc and Dave: World of Ends
The most interesting little bit is number 6:
"Money moves to the suburbs.
If all of the Internet’s value is at its edges, Internet connectivity itself wants to become a commodity. It should be allowed to do so.
There’s good business in providing commodities, but every attempt to add value to the Internet itself must be resisted. To be specific: Those who provide Internet connectivity inevitably will want to provide content and services also because they connectivity itself will be too low-priced. By keeping the two functions separate, we will enable the market to set prices that will maximize access and to maximize content/service innovation."
Um, how is this not in direct contradiction of the free-fi arguement? If connectivity is a commodity and selling commodities is good. Is there a distinction with free-fi that I'm not seeing?
Glenn Reynolds on the free-fi debate. In particular, I think the following quote is misleading.
"Wireless Internet access is cheap and easy to provide (I have it at home, and so do countless other Americans)..."
There is a flaw in Glenn's logic here. Wi-fi is cheap and easy for a residential connection. But, scale it up to a hot spot and it becomes more costly and complicated. The more populair the hot spot becomes the more strain is going to be put on the pipe. The more strain on the pipe the worse data rates will be. With deteriating data rates, the hot spot looses popularity and it's appeal. Try and sell a business owner on a plan that involves sinking more and more money into it, or become a flash in the pan.
Again and again, I keep coming back to the freenets of the 90's. And I don't see how this will end up any differently. May be if Glenn or Doc or Dave or someone can explain how wi-fi will escape the freenet syndrome I'll be more accepting of the utopian idea. I'd love to get proven wroung on this, but I fail to see the point of getting my hopes up untill this issue is dealt with.
Joho the Blog: Wifing the Hotels
This post from Dave made me think of a point that I want to make clear regarding the previous post. Wi-Fi in hotels is not Free-fi, since you must first buy a product before being able to use the service. (at least in spirit, let's ignore the hacks for clarity's sake). This is more in line with Doc's "public toilet" analogy, at least around here. And this is a possible fork, but I still think Free-fi will ultimetly be either marginalized or die.
I'm with LameList on this discussion. And I think Doc's "Think of pay-fi as the Net's equivalent of the pay toilet" analogy does him a disservice.
The only "public" toilets around here that I can think of are either fast food joints, Best Buy/Borders/Home Depot type places and malls. The only one that can be seen as truely public would be the mall, since the stores ask that you buy something, but just don't/can't enforce it. With these exceptions access to the toilet involves making a purchase.
And, I think this is likely going to be the issue with Wi-Fi, you will end up paying some kind of fee to a provider that will allow you to roam around certain areas, similiar the the cell phone industry. Wondering outside of the provider's area will either result in a loss of coverage or being charged a roaming fee.
I think free-fi outside of the grassroots community will be rare and an exception. Yes, you'll see it in and around colleges and tech heavy areas to a certain degree. But, I think over time even that will slip in popularity and be replaced by pay networks when a provider based network gets going.
So, my take-away quote: Free-fi will go the way of freenets.
BTW, I love "free-fi. Its such a fun little word.
The Wireless Future (Aaron Swartz: The Weblog) has some interesting predictions.
On Apple's Airport hubs:
"Apple gets tired of releasing new, faster wireless hardware (AirPort, AirPort Extreme, AirPort Insane, AirPort Illegal). So they release one box, software upgradeable to use whatever new protocols and frequencies become available. As consumers clamor for more bandwidth the FCC opens up more spectrum, making the adjustable boxes more valuable."
This I like a lot. It provides a nice neat solution to issues of standards and changes in the network. This idea would allow the network to grow in a more organic fashion. Esspecially if the software upgrades are relatively cheap. Upgrading to the latest and greatest will no longer be an issue of cost. Or at least not as much of an issue. It will also allow the network to experiment more. Allowing the network to adjust to new standards and then switch back if there are issues.
On the nature of the net we've got:
"Meanwhile the boxes are getting stronger too, able to push bits for farther distances. They’re cheap and popular enough that all of San Francisco is covered a forest of overlapping wireless. It’s time to unify them. The next software upgrade turns this collection of hub-and-spoke networks into one large mesh, letting packets bounce from one base station to another, perhaps stopping at a few laptops in between.
This giant network becomes the home to a high-bandwidth file sharing network. The RIAA and MPAA look on in horror. There’s no ISP to go after, if they shut down one node the packets just bounce thru a different path. “At least it’s just San Francisco,” they think.
Brewster buys a faster Internet connection and opens it up to this giant wireless network. Everyone in SF cancels their cruddy cable and DSL service, and uses real high-speed two-way Internet connections, running their email and web servers from home, like the creators intended."
I like the idea, but I'm not sure about it being centralized around San Fransico. First major deployment of a wireless mesh network will likely happen at some universities. They have traditionally been the leaders in connectivety. Then into places like San Fransico and other techie type cities. I think SF will be a leader because of it's high saturation of techies, but I doubt it will be limtied to just them before things get nasty.
In the end Aaron says the ISPs get pissy over loosing thier business to free networks and try to get legislation passed. This sparks a huge out cry from the general population and the politicians get spooked. It all ends with:
"By then it is too late. The people own the Internet now. When there is censorship, the software routes around it. As long as there is a client and a server, they can communicate. No more DMCA takedown notices, no more Carnivore boxes, no more $40/mo., no more “capped upstream”, no more “running servers is not permitted”. The Internet is remade in its original image."
I've longed beleaved that the internet should be a utility like phones or water. And I like the idea of a freenet. I just think that the country is becoming more and more capatalistic, more and more concerned with trying to make a buck. And I think in the end we just need to get used to the idea of having to pay for connectivity.
One senario that Aaron didn't mention was competiion between free networks and pay networks. Personally, I think corporations will get more and more interested in the idea of hotspots and try to set more of them up. Probably with a "roaming" type fee attached to them for when you wonder into a competitor's hotspot. I think as these companies start setting up hotspots they will start to run into freenets that are squatting on various locations. A legal battle of the rights to a location will ensue and eventually the corporations will be given the rights to the location because they want to make money, and making money is good. And no one likes those damn hippie commies who give shit away anyways.
Ultimetly, I think freenets were squeezed out on the land lines. And I think they'll be squeezed out in wireless as well.
It's a nice dream though.
(Thanks to Doc for the link. He also provides this study as well. And for that, I owe him a drink if I ever meet him. I know some people who will be very interested in that data.)
So i spent about 2-3 hours today completly immersed in the recent news of Google's purchase of Pyra Labs. It's an interesting sensation to just allow the information to flow through you for that long. Not trying to process anything, but instead allowing everything to accumulate in my subconcious so that it can be processed later after several days/weeks/months/years of chewing and evaluating.
I think I need to do more work on this. See what happens when different types of music are played (today it was Rush). I think tomorrow I'm going to go for some Asian dance music, that should allow for a more complete immersion. Though, I'm also wondering what effect something that is information dense would do. Perhaps some Boredoms or the Saul Williams CD.
Another though occured to me as I drove home. Am I ramping up again? It's getting close to three years since my dealings with theories on subjective reality resulted in a minor nervous breakdown. Have I been recouping from that experience? Licking my mental wounds, assimulating the knowledge gleaned, and preparing for the next step? Am I entering the next step? This could prove interesting if so. Judging by current interests it would be something that's extremely dense with information. Hmmm...
But, how will such a thing unfold in the new situation? Previously there has been some kind of community (real or virtual) for me to at least spew thoughts, at most to pull me back from going over the edge to fast. The blog provides a perfect place to spew, but what about pulling me back? Perhaps the relative isolation that I've been in since the last time was not the best of circumstances to heal? Oh well, to late to second guess now.