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The Gospel of Tux.

http://www.gis.net/~cht/gospel.html

"And the sons of Marketing fashioned themselves Suits to wear, the better to lure their customers, and wrote grave and perilous Licenses, the better to bind the Systems."

Gospel of Tux

I believe you're wrong about Moissanite failing conductivity test.

No, Moissanite does fail conductivity, that's how it's tested- by electrical conductivity. It is silicon carbide and absorbs heat at the same rate a diamond does, this is why it passes diamond testers (which just report diamond or synthetic material based on thermal test) and why Moissanite testers use conductivity tests. Silicon carbide does not conduct electricity in the same way a diamond does, and so this (Moissanite tester) is used if the diamond test passes.

More information thatn you ever wish you had on Moissanite testing.

However with all the terrorism and patriotism nowdays, peasants can't afford to not cooperate, "just in case" you got blamed for being terrorist or unpatriotic.

Back in the "good old days" I had the nerve (or the foolishness) to play with the ire of a certain Kook of the Month. The man called his local police department (in Colorado) and the police department of my then-ISP. The cops never contacted me, but they did call the ISP.

The owner -- Bob Carp (spit), also of TheCIA.net -- left me a frantic voice message and did not even let me download my files -- so scolding was the urine running down his legs.

This was all in 1996, when Bush was in Texas, and Clinton was running the country... Oops.

Parts of the MBTA light rail, heavy rail, and commuter rail systems were upgraded or expanded as part of the mitigate package to offset increased pollution from autos on the central artery.

Of course everyone in the Boston area knows how well the Old Colony Restoration (especially the Greenbush line) was received...

There actually is a roguelike for the TI-89/92+/V200: CalcRogue.

One of the things they do is make sure that the "goodies" don't fall into free software. They and their friends are constantly inventing new formats and encryption schemes. When people actuall do break these schemes, as in the DeCSS case, they make sure it's against the law. The media players are all there, if they chose to use honest formats. The honest formats, such as ogg-vorbis, are royalty and patent free so they are also cheaper and should be chosen for ALL platforms if they were worried about the cost of software.

At the same time, they have to offer some kind of reward to those who would follow them into slavery. These gifts never amount to what free people can have, but big dubm companies can make some people feel special with small perks like "free" Napster subscriptions. The promisses are larger and less likely to apear as the demands become more constricting. The "heavenly jukebox" has been promissed for 10 years, but will never be. To get an idea of where this is going, see this page and start reading from " 'Lady Venus, if I may kiss this boy, so that he know it not, tomorrow I will present him with a pair of doves.'"

The promise and it's maker are dishonest, so is this deal.

There is only so long they can pull of their silly reactions. Eventually, the middle men in music will be eliminated. Radio and hard copy publishing are obsoleted in a reasonably networked world.

Here is the official webpage of the Classic Gaming Weekend.
This page seems to be working well, occasionally, even under the slashdotting.
Here is an attendee's web page with some details of the work he did.
And, of course, you should be aware of how many great people and groups there are out there keeping the memory alive with humor and aplomb, like these good friends.

...And I tried to submit a story about it at the time. I guess jonerik has more luck than me.

My origonal submission, I think it is still relevant:

The UK Patent Office celibates it's 150 year anniversary this week.

A BBC Radio news show has decided to commemorate this by holding a poll of the public's favourite, and least favourite inventions of the last 150 years. The poll closes on Monday 21 October, so vote now.

In the radio item on the subject, the inventor James Dyson (of vacuum cleaner fame) was interviewed (text, audio), and gave his favourite and least favourite inventions. There was also an interview of the patent office's director of copyright

It is interesting to note that James Dyson chose to highlight as his favourite invention the example of Rubber vulcanisation where (in his opinion) the patent system failed because the inventor Charles Goodyear was refused a patent and died in poverty despite the value of his invention.

Galaxy Internet Services sucks donkey balls!

There are more fonts here, here, and here
There is also a Windows utility to aid in writing in Elvish: Tengwar Scribe.

"Only a law enforcement agency has the right to [intercept communications], an ISP does not (unless you have specifically agreed to let them do this, and few would knowingly join an ISP that did)."

Oh, really?

AOL: (Note: Taken from a copy of the TOS circa 1998. I was unable to find a more recent copy.) AOL, Inc. does not access or disclose the contents of private communications (e.g., e-mail, instant messages, Member-created private rooms, oral online communications), unless it in good faith believes that such action is necessary (1) to comply with applicable law or valid legal process (e.g., search warrant or court order); (2) to protect the rights or property of AOL, Inc.; or (3) in emergencies when AOL, Inc. believes that physical safety is at risk.

Earthlink: EarthLink may disclose personal information about Visitors or Members, or information regarding your use of the Services or Web sites accessible through our Services, for any reason if, in our sole discretion, we believe that it is reasonable to do so, including: to satisfy laws, such as the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, regulations, or governmental or legal requests for such information; to disclose information that is necessary to identify, contact, or bring legal action against someone who may be violating our Acceptable Use Policy or other user policies; to operate the Services properly; or to protect EarthLink and our Members.

Galaxy (my ISP): Galaxy treats e-mail messages as private. Exceptions are those permitted by law, including under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (the "ECPA"). The ECPA permits Galaxy limited ability to intercept and/or disclose electronic messages, including, for example (i) as necessary to operate the system or protect Galaxy's rights or property, (ii) upon legal demand (court orders, warrants, subpoenas) or (iii) where Galaxy receives information inadvertently which appears to pertain to the commission of a crime.

Emphasis mine in all.

Anyway, my point is that you'll be hard-pressed to find any ISP that won't snoop on your communications if it feels it needs to. And as the bolded statements prove, they can do so for any reason they want to.

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I use Linux Napster (Home Page). It only seems to connect to Napster's official servers. How do I switch to an OpenNap like Napigator in Windozes?

Thanks. :)

Your isp's local news server.

My ISP's news server is Deja. Check it out: http://galaxy.news.gis.net.

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Gnapster

gnome-napster

GTK Napster

iNapster

jNapster

Knapster

Linux Napster Client

Jnap

OpenNap

Would anyone like to throw some review of the different Napster implementations available for Linux? Or should I just run Napster over VMWare? ;)

EraseMe

Hmm... if it costs about $13/user to provide 15 hours/mo of ISP service, then how can Galaxy Internet Services afford to let me be online about 180 hours a month for only $9.95?

The only reason I stayed with them is because, well, my options were limited. See, I don't have a credit card. Of the two other ISPs I considered, one didn't have a local access number (AT&T), and the other didn't take checks. They do now, though. Of course, since I'm between jobs right now, things are a little tight financially, which means I won't be switching right away. (I'd need to pay them $75, which gives me 6mos of unlimited access. Minus a $15 setup fee, that's $10 a month -- not bad)

(P.S. Yeah, this means I won't be switching this week like I said... within a month, though)

Anyway, the reason this merger -does- make a difference is, despite the impression you may get from the fact that I use AOL, I prefer to support the "little guys" whenever possible. Now, the ISP I'm looking at isn't that little (check out www.gis.net - coverage in most of New England) but they're a heck of a lot smaller than AOL. Now that it's AOL Time Warner, and they own pretty much Everything, I don't think they'll be needing my money anymore. Goodness knows I need it more than they do.

Does anyone make a keyboard that has the following two characteristics?

1) Built-in trackpoint type erasor pointer, and
2) clicky, mechanical keystrokes?

A small company that goes by the name of International Business Machines.

Not seven days ago, I bought an IBM Trackpoint II Keyboard. It includes a built-in eraser pointer between the G, H, and B keys, with two buttons below the space bar (flush with the case). The keyboard itself is that oh-so-sexy IBM clicky feel -- buckling spring.

IBM Part Number 13H6705. "Manufactured for IBM by Maxi Switch", according to the sticker on the bottom.

Cost me $35. Reseller info:

ReEntry - Computers, Peripherals, Electronic Equipment, etc.
Peadbody, MA, USA 01960
Phone: (978)532-3337
Fax: (978)532-3338
Web: http://www.gis.net/~axxxion
Email: axxxion@gis.net

I'll even pay a finders fee ($10 fair?) to the first person who can send me information which leads to the arrest and capture of an appropriate 'board.

No charge. ;-)

Does anyone make a keyboard that has the following two characteristics?

1) Built-in trackpoint type erasor pointer, and
2) clicky, mechanical keystrokes?

A small company that goes by the name of International Business Machines.

Not seven days ago, I bought an IBM Trackpoint II Keyboard. It includes a built-in eraser pointer between the G, H, and B keys, with two buttons below the space bar (flush with the case). The keyboard itself is that oh-so-sexy IBM clicky feel -- buckling spring.

IBM Part Number 13H6705. "Manufactured for IBM by Maxi Switch", according to the sticker on the bottom.

Cost me $35. Reseller info:

ReEntry - Computers, Peripherals, Electronic Equipment, etc.
Peadbody, MA, USA 01960
Phone: (978)532-3337
Fax: (978)532-3338
Web: http://www.gis.net/~axxxion
Email: axxxion@gis.net

I'll even pay a finders fee ($10 fair?) to the first person who can send me information which leads to the arrest and capture of an appropriate 'board.

No charge. ;-)

http://www.gis.net/~nite/

First of all, I may be redundant, but I would like to emphasize the napster has been here for quite some time, there is a Linux port of napster, and the RIAA already has sued napster, as shown in this article.

Now that I have said that, I still have to wonder why napster is getting so much press as the next big mp3 thing. I have used it many times, and occasionally still do, and I find it to be nothing more than a glorified http search. Here are listed some the biggest flaws I found in napster. Note: I don't want to start a flame war, I honestly want to know why napster is such a big deal considering its vast problems.

1. Quality of mp3's - Napster is cool in that it lets you specify bitrate, but to be honest, that doesnt mean much at all. Try searching for a popular band, say Nirvana at "atleast" 128... you'll find 100's, but then try searching at "at least" 192, you'll find like 3 at most. Its search engine is a little bit better, but it doesnt change the fact that most of napster's content is regurgiated ratio ftp stuff, and the rare high quality songs are just renamed mp3 group releases (apc,bkf,rns,ksi,etc...) that are much quicker to get on irc. It's cool for the people that just want to find a quick song regardless of quality, but really no use for anyone who is knowledgeable about mp3.

2. Server Connections - I have frequent problems getting on the server, I find large amounts of lag when trying to join the channels, and I noticed something else odd. Whenever I leech from a "hot list" site of mine that is online, and I reconnect to the server, the hot list site is no longer to be found online. This has prevented me from getting a lot of complete mp3's/albums.

3. Downloads - Maybe it's just me, but downloading seems a lot slower running through napster's servers. Same goes with viewing lists. If it's not the servers fault, it could be the clogged upload on the other box (see point 4), but I'm on dsl and a rarely get >isdn speeds even when downloading from a t3. Also, why isn't there a way to save queues in case a user logs off in middownload... that would save me lots of time, and why it isn't in is beyond me.

4. Upload control - Herein lies the huge problem. Napster is about sharing, and I'm cool with that, but it gives you NO control over outcoming file transfers. Whats wrong with letting someone limit the amount of downloading users on their box? Whats wrong with killing a user in middownload to save bandwidth? It can really add up on high speed, high content boxes which tend to be targeted en masse for downloads. I can see why colleges are cracking down on napster and blocking it... napster refuses to allow upload limits, the resnet box uploads vast amounts of mp3's, and the college network will obviously experience some drop in speed as this adds up. It's the person's own computer and files... they should have the right to control access to it. I usually put my files in a dummy directory to avoid being leeched to a halt while downloading because of napster. Which brings to me another point... that devious close scheme... if you click the "X" icon to exit, napster only minimizes. For someone inexperienced, this leaves their box continuing to upload files without the user's knowledge. Yet another reason colleges such as UIUC would ban napster... I bet students "closed" napster and it u/led and consumed lots of bandwidth without the student being able to tell it was only minimized. Sure I want to encourage sharing, but deception and force is NOT the way to do it. I trust that users would rather share their files if given some control than hide their archives to avoid napster's ridiculous "sharing enforcement" scheme.

I'm not totally dissing on napster, because I have found some cool stuff there. But, it still has a long way to go from the buggy program it is now. Maybe when some bugs are fixed, people will be closer to their little online cyber-music community. But right now, napster seems more like hype and hoopla, and private ftp sites and irc will remain my methods of choice for getting mp3's

The linux version is available at:
http://www.gis.net/~nite/

Maybe a little pressure could get the napster guys to OS this.. (-;

Sean

It's text-only, and I've not had a chance to
look at it yet, but it is available at http://www.gis.net/~nite/.

To stop this blatent attack on our privacy you can do the following things:
Get logmaster.c (in the MISC directory) which is written by HKhalsa and monitor whoever trys to get into your machine.
Second, whenever you get someone trying to get on your computer, get their IP address and post it on as many skript kiddie IRC channels as possible.

Let the fun begin!

Heya,

I'm just going to tell you a quick story about my first day back in school after my April Vacation. I dress weird, you can say I'm a freak, or just weird. This is what I look like just about everyday at school. Because of this, I was assaulted. For many many years since about fifth grade, i've been the object of ridicule because i'm very defenseless. I'm now a junior in high school, everyday I get made fun of or joked about. I've got the reputation in my class for the mostly likely student to bring a gun to school and kill people. This is very untrue, I wish to harm no one. In fact i'm a real peacefull guy. I just don't get treated as a human being. Since i've been through all this ridicule i've learned to ignore it. (BTW in my picture, i'd like to explain that i have a very serious "ANTI-TREND" deal going on. I hate dressing like anyone else because $50+ for a pair of pants that has the name "Tommy" on my ass just isn't worth it.)

Anyways here's what happened today. A fellow student noticed me standing in the doorway of an empty room, he began shouting at me saying stuff like "Hey! Here's that psycho kid!" and "He's in the trench coat mafia, watch out he has a gun." I know he was just messing around with me, but it was just getting ugly at that point. I told him to back off and he began to grow violent with me. It all went off when he first spat right in my face. I stood my ground and didn't flintch, I grew angry myself at that point. He then demanded that i appologize for being disrespectful to him. Just right there, that's BULLSHIT! One of the most disrespectfull thing one can do is spit in another mans face. Yet I still stood my ground.... After a few more mins of him taunting me, I was fed up and told him to "Leave me the hell alone." Being the punk he was, he quickly threw his hand to my throat and began choking me. I could tell he wasn't 100% serious about choking me to death because I was still able to breathe through my nose. After about 4 seconds of this I immediatly ripped his hand off my throat and once again told him to leave me the hell alone. I guess he grew tired of me and so he left. Before leaving the room he walked over to me and punched me in the side of my throat/neck area. I was very lucky he didn't get a HARD hit on me, or else I would have died right there from a colaspsed windpipe. He then walked out of the room. I was left in the room with saliva running down my face and finding it difficult to swallow anything.

Now let me ask you this. At what point did I do anything wrong?

BTW... this guy can be labeled "A jock."

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prm@alignment.net