Saturday, April 06, 2002

on the grassroots activism tip, we will be spending the
day downtown handing out our own home brew printed
copies this document stating that this referendum and
the ballots being sent out to the public should be shunned
and destroyed.

their ignorance will be fought at every turn. they are chumps; wimps
wuseys and facists pig dogs who can 'crawl over here and lick
my boots' fur shure like totally.
posted by john , 8:15 PM Þ 

ordered my very own fungal pet today
posted by a hymn in g to nann , 5:59 PM Þ 

SAN DIEGO, California (AP) -- Scientists said Thursday they have
discovered at least a half-dozen new insect species in Southern California,
among them the largest bug ever found in the region.
One of the five new species of insects discovered in Southern California.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/04/05/new.bug.ap/index.html
posted by Irdial , 3:07 PM Þ 
posted by mary13 , 8:37 AM Þ 

http://www.newdgrounds.com
It had to happen.
Or something....
posted by Irdial , 1:10 AM Þ 

test
http://mozblog.mozdev.org/ oh yes, now you can blog to blogdial from Mozilla without any pain; drag & drop urls from the slot in Mozilla, format your posts...Mozilla totally, and utterly rules the r00st!
posted by Irdial , 12:51 AM Þ 
Friday, April 05, 2002

barrie thanks for that super link. it will go right in the sampler.
i'm sure they can be put to good use somehow. danke!!
posted by john , 10:52 PM Þ 

RIP Frank Tovey aka Fad Gadget

The pioneering electronic artist has apparently passed away this Wednesday, April 3rd. More details to follow.

--

Here's an article released from Ananova about the news:

Tributes paid to Fad Gadget star

Tributes have been paid to underground music star Frank Tovey, who died earlier this week. The Fad Gadget star is believed to have died at his home on April 3.

He played at the Swedish Alternative Music Awards (SAMA) in Gothenburg on April 1, and was currently working on new material.

In a posting on his official website, www.fadgadget.co.uk, Tovey said he was planning to appear at music festivals this summer.

Daniel Miller, founder of Fad Gadget's record label Mute said: "Frank was the first artist I ever worked with on Mute, he made some very special and influential records and was an exceptional live performer.

"Frank played a big part in helping to lay the foundations of what the label was to become in the ensuing years, I will miss him greatly."

Fad Gadget was the opening act for the European leg of the recent Depeche Mode Exciter world tour.

Alongside Human League, Cabaret Voltaire and The Normal, Tovey was at the forefront of the Electronic Movement of the late '70s and early '80s.

--

www.fadgadget.co.uk | www.mute.com
posted by Ken , 4:24 PM Þ 

I couldn't resist....

"The press are scum I tell you they killed our Princess if I ever see anyone reading a tabloid I'll punch their fuckin' lights out see my baby boy? 'e was born the day after we called 'im Diano there was anuvver kid just born in the ward 'er parents called 'er Shelly I took 'er dad outside and said 'you call your girl Diana you treacherous scum!' an' I gived 'im a good smack broked 'is jaw, for Diana like, she would of approved. I cried all week I've gone down Kensington Palace with some flars and a message 'You was too good for the Paki even if 'e did own 'arrods' that bodyguard should of told the driver to slow down I tell you if I was the doctor I'd turn off 'is life support the shitbag deserves to die she was the best of the royals the uvvers are snooty scum I mean, alright, William and 'arry lost their mum but the nation demanded they come out and break down and collapse in tears for the camera and did they? Did they fuck! I blame the Queen Mum..."
posted by Alun , 3:26 PM Þ 

Friday rant...... the queen mum gawd bless 'er!!!! First there is the monarchy issue, which I won't even start to talk about. Then there is this thing going on today in London, with over 60 streets, bridges and what-not closed off, police everywhere... all sorts of shit going down. An extremely old lady has died, and her poor family must miss the old dear. I know I was very upset at the death of my own grandmother. But, despite tradition, it's sickening to see thousands and thousands of people queuing for hours - some even camping overnight, apparently! - to see a dead womans body dragged through the streets! And not only this, but to get her family dolled up and make them walk behind her whilst everyone stares! Don't start with the bollocks about 'paying respects', what kind of respectful person would buy a carboard telescope with a Union flag on it from a street vendor to get a better look at the coffin? Plenty, by the looks of things. And once this is over, you have the chance, if you're quick (3 days only folks!) to stare at her body! Welcome to 21st century Great Britain (isn't it just). Now I know this open coffin thing is a common practise, and each to his own, but its the public's reaction and appetite for these things that really grates. Fake sentimentality, fake 'friendship'.... 'I've known her all my life'.... Maybe this is a case FOR the royals getting a few bob, as an entertainment company, pleasing the masses. Enough. Don't these people realise how stupid they look? Its all about money. The Queen wants to shed the 'sponger' tag, at least to some extent, by paying a bit of tax and voluntarily becoming self-funding. Coming from the worlds richest bitch thats a nice gesture. Anyway, this requires good press and positive exposure. The spin-off from this, and the ripples of the 'Diana effect' are that the press sees an easy buck to be made every time something minor happens involving the royals, let alone a major event like an old womans death. So the public are whipped into a frenzy of patriotic royalist flag-waving reminiscence whilst Fleet Streets finest make a quick bundle out of 'Special Souvenir Issues' and the like.
Somewhere sometime soon the eyes of the public must be opened. However, when tabloid filth like the Sun and the Mirror, along with middle-England conservative TRASH SCUM DOGS like the Mail and the Express, ably assisted by the Daily Torygraph, push this into peoples faces for their own benefit..... And the Sun and Mirror sell over 7 MILLION copies per day, read by at least twice that many..... So who is going to rip off the collective eyelids of the public? And this extends far beyond making a few quid off the back of the royals (whose in-bred backs are getting well-scratched into the bargain). The Sun (see it for yourselves....)can rightly claim to have won a general election for the tories, and to have ensured massive labour majorities in the subsequent two votes..... and labour will not have a vote on the Euro until they know the tabloids are backing them. And follow the money (as a film I've never seen said) and you'll get to Murdoch and his brain-washing satellites, using the power over goverments and people to make even more money and broaden his interests in the media and make sure that regulations of the press and nice and ineffective. Newscorp, Fox Entertainment.....tentacles everywhere! Its a conspiracy!!!!!!
Have a lovely weekend. And Gawd Bless the Queen Mum!
posted by Alun , 1:35 PM Þ 

"Britney Spears is an anagram of Binary Presets"

thanks to a scabrous mailing list for that one.
posted by Irdial , 12:54 PM Þ 

Here is a webpage full of corporate anthems. I have no idea why anyone would want to record this disgusting tripe, and how the performers actually managed to keep straight faces and their dignity about it. They're probably all wallowing in some cheap drink. Poor bastards.
Not for the faint of heart.

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/specials/2002/it-anthems/
posted by Barrie , 8:29 AM Þ 

Yeah Baby!
posted by Irdial , 2:32 AM Þ 

what does the "distance: 1 miles" bit mean? is that on the clock? i don't believe it.

my mum bought a toyota corrola at christmas and my step dad got an MR2 recently. a red one. and my mum has started wearing leather trousers too. mid life crisis me thinks.
posted by alex_tea , 1:34 AM Þ 
posted by captain davros , 12:14 AM Þ 
Thursday, April 04, 2002

"Late this spring the version of Microsoft Office running on machines in
the school will be upgraded. It will go from the current, Office 97, running
over the network, to Office XP, installed locally on the machines. This will
be a good thing, once accomplished. There will be training sessions for the
new office products, run by Alistair Tait's team at some point."
--eeech! why bother. is the icon that pretty looking? and why was it running over
the network to begin with????

xp is truly pathetic with it's bells and whistles. that auto correct feature is mind
bogglingly annoying as it is with all of their software. funny as i just got a call
yesterday to go to 'very large xyz inc.' that is considering doing a back end
upgrade to .net. now mind you it pays mega $$$'s but .net?? they should have
kept the name blackcomb and inforever beta release as an experiment, zeeech!
people need to slow down and stop jumping to waste their money...and their time.
this client would be spending so much money for a untested product that it should
inturn lower their customers already inflated bills and keep their existing infrastructure.
hell there is no problem that throwing hardware at it can't fix or at least consider the
other options for a software solution. i don't even know any people who know .net yet.
2000 will for sure be my last microsoft os in the professional arena.
.net=.poowaste
and "a certain amount of free spce is required on the C: drive" --last i checked you
could install software any damn place you want. and if not possibly run:
convert c: /fs:ntfs; empty the temp folder; uninstall the 40 bonsai buddies and
relocate or archive any non essential data. roaming profiles save space and don't slow
things down too much. i am guessing that there is at least a 4gb drive in an pII
optiplex gx1 already. whatever it's not my business anyway but "Basically, if you
open an Access database created in 97, you will be able to add data. you will be
asked if you want to update the format when you save the database. If you say
yes to this, the database will no longer be accessible to anyone using versions
of Access prior to XP. If you say no, the format will remain the same, and Access
97 users will still be able to access it."
--this better be posted everywhere in dripping red letters!!!!!!!!

the whole project sounds under researched and like a disaster waiting to happen.
all my best thoughts are will you alun.
posted by john , 9:04 PM Þ 

This is how it ended:
http://209.11.43.220/editorandpublisher/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1454789
posted by Irdial , 7:01 PM Þ 

Yes indeed; it might be the case that its impossible for a company to make money out of selling a free OS, this does not mean that Linux will go away or not continue to be developed.

What these companies should do is think about saving money, and then donating a small part of it to keep Linux application development moving at a rapid pace.

I donate to software developers whenever I can, because if enough people do it, suddenly, they are able to make a living out of developing software and giving it away.

Ask K. Mardem Bey of MiRC fame; he makes a good living out of MiRC. There is no reason why a group of developers cannot be set up that works on office productivity applications for Linux and that is supported by, say, 1000 companies world wide...hmmmm lets do the math:

1000 companies donating $500 per year = $500,000

how many developers could we keep alive for that amount of cash?

Of course, each of these donating companies could request features and have them implimented. This, and government sponsorship of Free Software is probably the way to go. Universitys should really be getting behind the push of Free Software, and courses should be run world wide that teach programming and use Free Software as the bench that is taught on. The resulting software would get better and better each semester, more and more new applications and drivers will be written.

It could rock!
posted by Irdial , 5:37 PM Þ 

An example of a bad bad disfunctional route map bit of a plane has just hit my e-mail......
What a joy it is to have such an efficient IT department. A true pleasure.
And I just can't wait to use the upgrade!


From: DXXXXXX WXXXXXX
To: ITD_ALL
Date: 4/4/02 4:57pm
Subject: OFFICE XP upgrade

To all ITD staff and students: Important information about upcoming changes to computing in the school. Please read in entirety.

Late this spring the version of Microsoft Office running on machines in the school will be upgraded. It will go from the current, Office 97, running over the network, to Office XP, installed locally on the machines. This will be a good thing, once accomplished. There will be training sessions for the new office products, run by Alistair Tait's team at some point.

The local install means that Office will be available even if the network is down.

There will be more information nearer the time, which is expected to be late May or early June. The plan is to complete the process before the building works start (in case of any unexpected network problems during the necessary moves).

Access data base users will need to understand some of the issues with the new software, and we will cover that separately.

*******IMPORTANT*******

Not all machines will be able to run this upgrade, due to space, memory and processing power requirements. In the next few weeks we will be trying to identify machines that will need alterations to them, or that will not be able to handle the upgrade at all.

There are three categories (that we are aware of at the moment):

Machines that will not be able to handle Office XP
Machines that will need more memory purchased
Machines that will need to be reinstalled to allow the upgrade to take place (a certain amount of free spce is required on the C: drive).

In some cases machines will need both memory and a re-install. A lot of the older machines (Dell Optiplex Gx1s and Gxas) will need to be re-installed completely (the partitions need to be changed). We will need those people to co-operate with taking any data that may be locally installed off to a safe location. We have recently created "images" of the standard machines, which means that when we do the re-install, we will not need to take the machine into our office, and the whole process should take less than an hour (hopefully considerably less).

We don't yet know how many machines will need to be re-installed or upgraded. Once we have identified the machines, we will contact users individually.

I will be sending a separate short mail out with some questions we need answered from everyone to make the process of identifying machines as easy as possible.

Machines that will not run the upgrade will have other options. Exactly what these are are still being decided upon, but will probably include citrix access for weaker machines and/or continuation of Office 97 (which may shift to a local install).

There will be issues for continuing to use both on shared Access databases, and people using these will need to make sure they understand the issues. Basically, if you open an Access database created in 97, you will be able to add data. you will be asked if you want to update the format when you save the database. If you say yes to this, the database will no longer be accessible to anyone using versions of Access prior to XP. If you say no, the format will remain the same, and Access 97 users will still be able to access it. You will not be able to change the fields in a database without changing the format. All other Office programs will not change the format.

DXXXXXX WXXXXX, Senior Computing Officer
posted by Alun , 5:21 PM Þ 

Make a version of the plane that lets some people go where they need to go. Some people might pay to take that flight. Make many versions going to many places. Charge EasyJet prices. But I agree with Irdial Discs, saving money IS making money for most companies. Spend where you want to, not where you're forced to.
Make a plane so everyone could automatically post under the name 'vitriolic' when we discuss MS.
posted by Alun , 4:00 PM Þ 

I think he meant how are they going to make a profit from developing free software... Using free software in your business makes all kinds of sense, but I can see it could be hard finding a business model that is sustainable if you don't make money on your product. *shrugs*
posted by Mikkel , 3:24 PM Þ 

How about saving money by not having a machine that crashes 8 times a day, destroying your work and loosing yor company many man hours in downtime?

How about saving your company money by not having to pay for per seat licences?

How about saving money by not having to have your equipment made obsolete every three years because a new bloated OS and version of Office has been released?

and the rest!
posted by Irdial , 2:18 PM Þ 
Wednesday, April 03, 2002

"The question for companies is how to make money on a free
operating system."
-hire techs to outsource to xyz inc.
posted by john , 11:48 PM Þ 

from http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1507000/1507908.stm

This sums up what I feel about Linux and the whingers that moan how hard it is to install/use.

If Operating Systems Ran The Airlines...



UNIX Airways
Everyone brings one piece of the plane along when they come to the airport. They all go out on the runway and put the plane together piece by piece, arguing non-stop about what kind of plane they are supposed to be building.

Air DOS
Everybody pushes the airplane until it glides, then they jump on and let the plane coast until it hits the ground again. Then they push again, jump on again, and so on...

Mac Airlines
All the stewards, captains, baggage handlers, and ticket agents look and act exactly the same. Every time you ask questions about details, you are gently but firmly told that you don't need to know, don't want to know, and everything will be done for you without your ever having to know, so just shut up.

Windows Air
The terminal is pretty and colorful, with friendly stewards, easy baggage check and boarding, and a smooth take-off. After about 10 minutes in the air, the plane explodes with no warning whatsoever.

Windows NT Air
Just like Windows Air, but costs more, uses much bigger planes, and takes out all the other aircraft within a 40-mile radius when it explodes.

Linux Air
Disgruntled employees of all the other OS airlines decide to start their own airline. They build the planes, ticket counters, and pave the runways themselves. They charge a small fee to cover the cost of printing the ticket, but you can also download and print the ticket yourself.

When you board the plane, you are given a seat, four bolts, a wrench and a copy of the seat-HOWTO.html. Once settled, the fully adjustable seat is very comfortable, the plane leaves and arrives on time without a single problem, the in-flight meal is wonderful. You try to tell customers of the other airlines about the great trip, but all they can say is, "You had to do what with the seat?"
Lee, UK
posted by alex_tea , 2:14 PM Þ 
posted by Alun , 12:22 PM Þ 

maybe she's born with it? doesn't explain the weird backwards vocals though...
posted by alex_tea , 11:56 AM Þ 

Like a dancing flame on a bed of nails...
posted by Irdial , 10:26 AM Þ 

Thanks for the tips akin. I got most of the software stuff working now - the GPGMail and the GPGKeys program. Got my keys imported too.
I'll read the rest later, as it is time to rest (and I am not in X at the moment).

Also, that fly thing is both hilarious and INCREDIBLY disturbing. Somehow enslaving even little flies is wrong.

Christy Turlington can serve me breakfast on her naked belly. *cough*

I wish I had more to say, but the day's events passed without need for comment.
posted by Barrie , 7:51 AM Þ 
posted by Claus Eggers , 4:19 AM Þ 

yes yes to mr. a.manning!

found a copy of the virtual sex comp on buzz today. does anyone
need it? let me know if you are interested.
posted by john , 1:23 AM Þ 
Tuesday, April 02, 2002

http://www.spies.com/cgi-bin/kfjcdb-print?253336
KFJC new album review (December 6, 1995)
This isn't simply ambient, and it is not ambient dub. Anthony Manning puts together synth sounds with eccentric modifications for an ambient plink sound. Take two tabs, don your snorkel gear and swim with reef fish as they come into and out of focus, and the drugs move you back and forth with the ocean, and as the bubbles sparkle all around you as they head for the surface, you will understand the structure of the sounds. Bassy motions are the swells, and lighter synth sounds are the bubbles. Even the cover can convey the music. If you are hopelessly religious conservative, stare at the cover while listening to the music at loud volume.
posted by Irdial , 11:22 PM Þ 

posted by alex_tea , 7:21 PM Þ 

Akin, you are talking about the V/VM guys, right?
I have never met them, and as far as I know they are OK dudes. <--- Akin's comment

yes indeed, that was my voice :] ./a
posted by Claus Eggers , 7:21 PM Þ 

Lest anyone misunderstand, that has (had) NOTHING to do with any of the utterly sterling people who post here.
Without exception, you all rule.
But you know this.
posted by Irdial , 4:10 PM Þ 

posted by john , 11:06 AM Þ 

What is a parasite?

Someone with no thoughts of thier own, feeding off the lives and works of others without giving anything back. Someone whose only aim is to destroy without any offer of a replacement way of life.

These people offer nothing, yet want you to pay them to continue to live, destroy insult, mock, and pray for death.

The contribute nothing, make no beauty, have no philosophy save what they have copied like slaves from real people.

They behave as if they are self created, have no mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, when in fact, they do. They cherish them like any other normal person, yet, encourage people to behave in inhuman ways, while they themselvs secretly lead sentimental and emotionally normal lives.

There is nothing wrong with strong words. There is nothing wrong with advocating anything at all, as long as it is real and not a time wasting, illusory fraud that would be better off not existing.

There is very little time in the life of people; personally, I dont like to have my time wasted by fake people and thier infantile posturing. Go away and make something real. Stop polluting the world with your tired, second hand and utterly dull blatherings.

You loosers.
posted by Irdial , 10:29 AM Þ 


You can use your old pgp keys in gpg,

http://enigmail.mozdev.org/download.html

is where the mozilla integration project can be found; it works very well indeed.

http://www.max.hi-ho.ne.jp/tomio-a/HowToMakePairKeys.html

is where you can bone up on gnupg and Japanese on the same page :]

this is more like it:
http://macgpg.sourceforge.net/

paydirt:
http://www.sente.ch/software/GPGMail/
posted by Irdial , 10:21 AM Þ 

Finally got around to installing gpg on mac os x.
Still don't quite understand it. I miss the old PGPkeys program. Blah!!
posted by Barrie , 5:47 AM Þ 
posted by Claus Eggers , 3:08 AM Þ 
Monday, April 01, 2002
posted by Claus Eggers , 8:27 PM Þ 

hm

pierre fournier
posted by Mess Noone , 8:02 AM Þ 
Sunday, March 31, 2002

mmm ..... try again ....... starlogo
posted by a hymn in g to nann , 10:03 AM Þ 

posted by a hymn in g to nann , 10:01 AM Þ 

posting no worky

go

http://www.l-m-c.org.uk/texts/ostertag.html
posted by Mess Noone , 9:28 AM Þ 
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