1. http://www.strangehorizons.com/2004/20040405/badger.shtml
2. Not drivel and not funny "Eats, roots and leaves". Or at least the charming English version. http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1861976127/202-6687966-7504627
3. Thank you to Dr. Fox for giving us 8th row tix behind the oppo dugout on Saturday night.

...
...
...

It's time to rationalize my blogsprawl - livejournal, blogspot, dosimplethingswell and others are all coming together.

Visit me, prithee, at www.dosimplethingswell.com

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer
in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht
frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae.

The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit
porbemls. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as
a wlohe.

Waht do yuo maen yuo dnot fnid it itinitesretnig !!!

How many others are out there, who may have blocked ports 135, 137 and 445; who maintain a DMZ and firewall; who have Norton/Symantec/who knows what they're called utilities on their computers and who have fallen prey to the cunningly forged return:/reply-to: headers from the sodding Sobig Virus.

I salute the cunningness of the writers who took that approach - no longer can my mac-wielding counterparts sniff haughtily and say "hah - it's a microsoft problem". It's an SMTP problem people. SMTP is based on trust. SPAM and viruses are based on mean spirited evil minded, cunning-as-a-ferret bastards.

I salute their brainwork with this cunning innovation. I'd also like to take the opportunity to inspect their brainwork up close and in person, preferably by peering through the eyeless holes that I've gouged out of the front of their faces. yes, ladies and gentlemen, I'm one of the countless many who have been deluged with 550 bounces from mail servers all over the globe. Sadly, my mail vendor can't cope. However, for those of you who operate (or cause to have operated) sendmail, this link may help.

-- dhk

The Scout Walker Karma Sutra

I was delighted to find the following in my inbox this morning. How exciting! I can hardly wait!! Disappointingly, there's no way for me to reply!!! Perhaps one (or both) of my loyal readers can tell me how I can take advantage of this wonderful opportunity!?!?!?!?

DEAR SIR/MADAM:

I AM MR. DARL MCBRIDE CURRENTLY SERVING AS THE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE SCO GROUP, FORMERLY KNOWN AS CALDERA SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL, IN LINDON, UTAH, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. I KNOW THIS LETTER MIGHT SURPRISE YOUR BECAUSE WE HAVE HAD NO PREVIOUS COMMUNICATIONS OR BUSINESS DEALINGS BEFORE NOW.

MY ASSOCIATES HAVE RECENTLY MADE CLAIM TO COMPUTER SOFTWARES WORTH AN ESTIMATED $1 BILLION U.S. DOLLARS. I AM WRITING TO YOU IN CONFIDENCE BECAUSE WE URGENTLY REQUIRE YOUR ASSISTANCE TO OBTAIN THESE FUNDS...

... where are they all? Were all seven killed? Mysteriously vanished? Or are they hiding along with the weapons of mass destruction?

Arm yourself with a spectrographic analyzer and search your favorite audio tracks for embedded demonic images (or not).

The Moscow Times has an interesting article about the response of the Russian Deputy Communications Minister when he was spammed by some piece of crap organization.

He spammed 'em back - but by attacking and overwhelming their phone service.

Alas, Poor Modem and AutoDialer, how much we miss you!

This is San Francisco, dammitall, and I want *us* to be the poster children for how community Wi-Fi gets implemented.

What has raised my bile and tickled my gall, you ask? This article from the San Francisco Chronicle .

I think it's high time that we strap together some of the equipment vendors who populate our part of the world; some of the software vendors building access, security and infrastructure applications on top, and some of the service wholesalers who are also located here in Baghdad By The Bay.

This blog's a nexus for a bunch of different postings in different places, so please feel free to
a) post away
b) not be ticked off if you see something you've posted elsewhere be replicated here. I'll do my best, I promise, to include appropriate attribution.

Thoughts?

.. but this has *got* to be one of the worst gigs to pull.

So we've all seen smartcards and we know why they don't work. The Visa trials up on the upper west/east side of Manhattan, failed experiments in New Zealand and even our friends in Germany, those Teutonic models of, well, Teutonic efficiency, couldn't make it work.

There are any number of reasons why, but the short answer is chicken and egg-- no apps that make them tellingly (and compellingly) different from what's out there already. And don't tell me about digital cash. Cash is king, baby, for those who need or prefer it, and you can't tell them (or me) anything different. Negotiable, anonymous, fast and easy. That's the killer app.

And that's not what smart cards are for.

In fact, if you take it one step further, maybe smartcards do make sense in a place where the lack anonymity confers value; where negotiability has less value than you might think and the ease and convenience of cash is outweighed by other benefits that accrue. There are models that attempt to run that way - airline frequent flier miles as one example, but they all suffer from the tipping point problem: until there's a sufficient number of applications to use this stuff, no one will use (or build) them.

So, why not stimulate that process? We couldn't do it on a federal scale partly because it was too large and we couldn't do it on the vendor side, partly because it was too small (and also conferred no benefits); so why not try it on a smaller/larger scale?

It seems to me that one way to do it would be for city governments to give them to residents (or visitors, but that's a digression that we need not worry about), and that anyone who has a business license in that city can also give them to their customers. Obviously, if I already have a card from Merchant (A) and CPA (B) offers me one, I don't need his card. But I am still interested in his details and -- oh, that's what the smart card does. It allows me, at a minimum, to have a directory of people with whom I do business. Suddenly, it's becoming interesting and useful to me.

The next thing that happens is that I start to throw away the stored value cards that I have - the one for Starbucks, the one for Peet's and the one for Border's. Stored value cards are cute for gifts and those of us who are allergic to change, but let's face it: in the main, they're a convenience rather than a compelling switching premise Either you like the coffee or you don't.

Inexorably, this smart card thingie is replacing a bulging wallet and that's a good thing. Of course, Peet's on Polk (and a big shout-out to the cuties that work there) has invested in the smart card reader which suits me fine; although I grumble when I go to Peet's on Fourth Street in Berkeley because they don't have a reader. So they get one, and, surprise, surprise, since the Peet's application is interchangeable/readable by both sites so are the other apps - Border's, Starbucks, ToysRUs and, sadly but inevitably, the parking meters.

More apps that make sense - library cards for the middle class and service cards for those unlucky enough to need the help of the city's public service and support organizations. Discounted parking rates (because you live there) and even (preferential) access to Wi-Fi hotspots (for those of us who believe that public access is a utility and should be provided along with water and electricity).

Suddenly, this smart card has a swag of features that are real benefits to me. What's wrong with *that*?

This article here talks about a hack to the Linux XBox O/S and describes how the hack is hidden within (the header of) a JPEG image that's stuffed into the code as a sort of Easter egg.

You can see (presumably un-stegged) images of Tux here.

Excellent article, courtesy of /. on storage systems, log-structured file systems, smart disks and open source databases.

http://www.acmqueue.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=43

The US Patent Office lists the following patent:

An insulating paperboard container is disclosed including a container body having a side wall and a bottom wall with the one side wall including a base layer and an insulating layer on at least a portion of the base layer, preferably on an inside surface of the side wall. The insulating layer being selectively adhered to at least a portion of the base layer such that the selective adhering of the insulating layer to the base layer creates air pockets between the insulating layer and the base layer with the air pockets being expandable in response to contact with a heated liquid. Such a container is formed from an insulating stock material comprising a paperboard base layer and an insulating layer overlying at least a portion of at least of one surface of the base layer with the insulating layer being selectively adhered to the surface of the base layer forming enclosed regions between the base layer and the insulating layer. In order to ensure the formation of pronounced air pockets between the insulating layer and the base layer, the paperboard base layer may be debossed, creating debossed regions with the insulating layer being adhered over the openings of the debossed regions.

My own examination of representative samples of same had me wondering whether it was the debossed elements or the obverse pieces which were the insulators. So there you go.

This is a public service announcement

This is not a band. It's a larger-than-life size exhibit. I kid you not.

The horrifying details may be found here.

1. Get a small dog
2. Love the small dog lots and lots
3. Insist that he sleep in his crate.
4. Feel bad for the small dog when he's sick
5. Invite the small dog to sleep on the bed, because he's sick.
6. Enjoy having the dog there. Make it part of your habit
7. Have the little fellow sleep on your bed.
8. Sleep in.
9. Have the little fellow pee on your bed; and you; and also on your spouse a little bit.
10. Repeat steps 7-9 as required.

http://www.planettribes.com/allyourbase/ayb2.swf
'Nuff said.