Half-empty bottles of Southern Comfort scattered throughout a sparsely furnished suburban living room. The smell of week-old vomit lingers in the stale air. A woman, passed out in her own filth, is sprawled in the middle of the room, erupting into violent convulsions at an hourly rate. Her shaking hand reaches to turn on the television, and a handsome young black boy appears on the screen. Her life is forever changed.
That passed-out woman was me, 14 years ago. My life had fallen apart. All I had was alcohol and head lice. It was that day, that day I first laid eyes on your pudgy, boyish face, that I decided to get myself back on track. I owe it all to you. Yes, things were difficult, but I knew that you'd be there for me, every Saturday at 8 PM. You got me through it all. I owe my life to you, Mr. Coleman.
When Diff'rent Strokes went off the air, I was devastated. By then I had conquered my addiction to alcohol and had moved to a penthouse in New York City and adopted two scampish boys from the ghetto. But life was not the same without you. The only thing that kept me going was the hope that you would have a new show, a show to bring laughter into the hearts of millions and inspire other alcoholic crackwhores like me to go straight. Alas, there was no show. And, until the highly disappointing SFW in 1995, there were no new movies either. You've abandoned me, Gary. Why?
The loss of Diff'rent Strokes left a hole in my heart that will never be repaired. I tried, oh god, I tried. I've watched every one of Todd Bridges' talk show appearances, I've rented every one of Dana Plato's porno movies, and while the porno movies are enjoyable, they don't compare to you, Todd, and Dana working together, on Diff'rent Strokes. I yearn to see your sweet face again, to hear your joyful laugh just once more. Every night, I cry myself to sleep while thinking about you.
You've done so much good, just by coming into our living rooms every week and sharing your life with us. America needs and loves you. I don't wonder why America is going to hell in a handbasket. I know why. It's because there's a hole in America's collective heart. In the hole's place used to be a little boy named Gary. We admired him for overcoming kidney disease and we cherished the happiness he brought us through his television show and numerous made-for-tv movies. But he is gone now. Where is he? I do not know.
I implore you, on behalf of the United States of America and God, to return to television. With your help, the world can be a place of peace and harmony once again. We love you.
Posted by JonKatz on 10:45 Tuesday 20 November 2001 from the information-wants-to-be-free-(and-is) dept. An open information society is inevitable. I was a little surprised last week to receive a forwarded e-mail from Junis, who lives in a small town 35 miles southwest of Kabul. This weekend, a movie theater and video store opened up again in Kabul (renting Independence Day), Afghan TV cranked up, and so did the Net. Americans understand all too well that our techno-driven culture produces wonders and dangers, but it's one of the most popular social and political forces in the world. Passion for pop culture relentlessly undermined repressive governments like Poland, East Germany and the former Soviet Union. The world, it turns out, really is porous now. Technology and information will squeeze through every closed nook and crevice. The Taliban never made a dent in the attachment this Afghan programmer and his friends had for it.
When his message came, the Taliban had just fled, Northern Alliance soldiers had taken over his village, and everybody rushed to barbers to cut off their beards and to nearby holes and hiding spots to dig up their Walkmen, VCRs, TVs, CD players, and -- in Junis's case -- his ancient Commodore, one of four in the village. Cafes had popped up all over, with impromptu dances and parties everywhere.
Junis's e-mail -- routed to Kabul, then Islamabad, then London -- was a reminder that there are civil liberties, and then there are civil liberties. Computers had been banned under penalty of death by the Taliban (except for the Taliban themselves), along with music and TV. Junis, a computer geek obsessed with Linux, had first e-mailed me years ago while I was writing for Hotwired. He was genial and obsessed with American culture. He loved martial arts movies, anything to do with Star Wars, and rap. He was perhaps the Taliban's prime kind of target. (Now he's furiously trying to download movies he's missed and is mesmerized by open source and Slashdot.)
"I could still see the dust of the pick-up trucks carrying the Taliban out of my village," he wrote, "and some friends and I went and dug up the boards of a chicken coop where I had hid the computer. They might have beaten or killed us if they'd found it. It was forbidden, although they used computers all of the time." He claims American commandos are skulking around dressed as Northern Alliance tribesmen.
Junis describes life under the Taliban as brutal, terrifying and profoundly boring. What the people in his town -- especially the kids -- missed most was music, posters of Indian and American movie stars (he'd kept his own decaying poster of Madonna), and American TV. Junis missed the fast-changing Web and sees, he says, that he has fallen "forever behind," and that programming is more complex than ever. But at least "Baywatch," which everyone in his town acutely missed, is back, and there's already a lot of talk about "Survivor." Junis predicts "Temptation Island" will be the number one show in Afghanistan within a month.
If the world needed another demonstration of America's most powerful weapon -- not bombs or special forces but pop culture -- it got it again this week. People all over the planet fuss about whether this healthy and democratic or corrupting and dehumanizing, but people's love for American techno-toys, TV shows, music and movies is breathaking. Watching TV pictures of tribesman on horseback, it's easy to forget that technology reached deep into this culture as well. Junis says phone service around Kabul remains spotty, but reporters, U.N. workers and foreign soldiers are wiring up. He's already made his way to some sex sites, and wishes he had a printer.
There are many computers in Afghanistan, Junis said, many in clusters in cities like Kabul and Kandahar (news reports have frequently mentioned that Bin-Laden's organization used both e-mail and encrypted files to communicate). Computer geeks are already hooking up with one another all over the country; Junis isn't the only Afghan e-m
Folks are reading too much into this snippet.
on
Bill Gates On Linux
·
· Score: -1
Gates has never been one to put all his cards on the table. He is known to make ambiguous statements designed to put his competitors off balance. When Linux becomes a viable competitor, dollar-wise...money will change hands. MSFT has 43 billion in the bank. That is more than the total funds of everyone you know, to 5 degrees.
10 Steps to Improving Your Golf Game There's no magic formula, no secret short-cut to becoming a good golfer. Just three words: Practice, practice, practice.
By Bob Harig
We marvel at their skills, yearn to hit a golf ball like they do. Walk onto any practice range at any PGA tournament, and you notice the sweet symphony of swings, the perfect precision, the sound that tells you these balls are being struck with authority.
Of course, these golfers are pros. Like a business owner who knows which advertising campaigns work and which don't, who understands the habits of his employees, who realizes what works best to push his product, pro golfers have experience. They play the game for a living, and put in the necessary time to hone their craft.
More Agility on Tour
The PGA's Unwritten Rules
What Tiger Can Teach CEOs
Golf Speaks Any Language
Take Your Employees Golfing
Back to Agility on Tour
Still, some are more diligent than others. Vijay Singh's practice habits are legendary, as are Tom Kite's. Then there's Fred Couples, who's far from a range rat, due mostly to a bad back that keeps him from practicing as much as he would like. The LPGA Tour's Laura Davies also abhors the range, preferring to spend her free time chasing other pursuits. That's like the executive who gives a perfect presentation without even going over any notes.
So how can the average golfer get better? Face it, devoting major time is nearly impossible. Who can practice like the pros? And who would really want to?
The truth is, most weekend golfers hate to practice and prefer to just take their game to the course. For those who do practice, they have no routine, only a system in which they pound golf balls at a driving range with no sense of purpose.
If they are working on something, typically it's a band-aid meant to cover a huge wound. And the short game? Forget it. Very few amateur golfers work on this all-important part of the game.
What is the best approach?
"It's not the quantity of practice but the quality of your practice,'' said Lew Smither III, the director of instruction at the Westin Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Fla. "Practice doesn't make perfect; practice only makes permanent. You have to have the right software upstairs in order for the hardware to work.
"I find that's where the average golfer is foundering. They don't have good software. They don't have good concepts. They are not clean and clear. Then they fail.''
Here are a few tips that might help you make the golf hardware work.
Make sure to have the proper grip. There are different ways to hold the golf club, but finding the correct way for you is imperative. The only link to the golf club is with the hands, PGA pro Nick Price has said, and everything goes from there.
Make the most of your practice time. PGA pro David Duval, for instance, typically spends up to 70 percent of his time hitting wedge shots. He believes the approach shot from 100 yards and in is one that requires the most feel, and a shot with which he is often presented.
Work on your short game. Singh works harder than just about any player, but it wasn't until he started spending more time on his chipping and putting that the big results game -- victories at the 1998 PGA Championship and 2000 Masters. "I know when I was learning to play, the pro made me spend equal time on the short game,'' said Peggy Kirk Bell, who runs the Pine Needles Resort in Southern Pines, N.C. "Most people just want to hit the long ball... The winners are the putters and chippers. The difference is strokes saved around the green."
Incorporate games into your practice routine. Jim Suttie, who has worked with several tour pros, uses a drill he calls the 10-20-30-40 drill. Take 40 balls, chip them to a practice hole, and then try to putt them all in. Then go to the next 10. If you are unable to get any ball up and down, you start over.
Did you know that 1 SCO share is worth 12 LNUX? Whos' da dummy know?
Deep Thoughts (by Jack Handey)
Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.
Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself:
"Mankind." Basically, it's made up of two separate words - "mank" and "ind".
What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.
I hope if dogs ever take over the world, and they choose a king, I hope they
don't just go by size, because I bet there are some Chihuahuas with some good
ideas.
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes an even bigger man to laugh at that
man.
I guess we were all guilty, in a way. We all shot him, we all skinned him, and
we all got a complimentary bumper sticker that read, "I helped skin Bob."
I bet the main reason the police keep people away from a plane crash is they
don't want anybody walking in and lying down in some crash stuff, then, when
somebody comes up, act like they just woke up and go, "What was THAT?!"
The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face.
Ambition is like a frog sitting on a Venus Flytrap. The flytrap can bite and
bite, but it won't bother the frog because it only has little tiny plant teeth.
But some other stuff could happen and it would be like ambition.
I'd rather be rich than stupid.
If you were a poor Indian with no weapons, and a bunch of conquistadors came up
to you and asked where the gold was, I don't think it would be a good idea to
say, "I swallowed it. So sue me."
If you define cowardice as running away at the first sign of danger, screaming
and tripping and begging for mercy, then yes, Mr. Brave Man, I guess I am a
coward.
I bet the one legend that keeps recurring throughout history, in every culture,
is the story of Popeye.
When you go in for a job interview, I think a good thing to ask is if they ever
press charges.
To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there's no music, no choreography, and
the dancers hit each other.
What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a
solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know.
We tend to scoff at the beliefs of the ancients. But we can't scoff at them
personally, to their faces, and this is what annoys me.
Probably the earliest flyswatters were nothing more than some sort of striking
surface attached to the end of a long stick.
I think someone should have had the decency to tell me the luncheon was free.
To make someone run out with potato salad in his hand, pretending he's throwing
up, is not what I call hospitality.
To me, clowns aren't funny. In fact, they're kind of scary. I've wondered where
this started, and I think it goes back to the time I went to the circus, and a
clown killed my dad.
As I bit into the nectarine, it had a crisp juiciness about it that was very
pleasurable - until I realized it wasn't a nectarine at all, but a HUMAN HEAD!
Most people don't realize that large pieces of coral, which have been painted
brown and attached to the skull by common wood screws, can make a child look
like a deer.
If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We
might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.
Better not take a dog on the Space Shuttle, because if he sticks his head out
when you're coming home, his face might burn up.
You know what would make a good story? Something about a clown who makes people
happy, but inside he's real sad. Also, he has severe diarrhea.
Sometimes when I feel like killing someone, I do a little trick to calm myself
down. I'll go over to the person's house and ring the doorbell. When the person
comes to the door, I'm gone, but you know what I've left on the porch? A
jack-o-lantern with a knife stuck in the side of its head with a note that says
"You." A
From the site: (Sponsors) The following organizations have provided generous funding and equipment to the CoVirt project:
National Science Foundation
Intel Corporation
The article alludes that Oregon needs the gas guzzling vehicles for the tax revenue, and does not favor fuel efficiency. This only continues to hinder hybrid adoption. Ultimately, regardless of all obstacles, the proliferation of "Very Fuel Efficient" vehicles will magnify the need for a revenue model based on usage and not consumption.
Michael Sims, Domain Hijacking and Moral Equivalency by Jonathan Wallace jw@bway.net How would you feel if your webmaster maliciously took your web-site offline, then, when you demanded its return, put up a site attacking your company at your old URL? It happened to a group I was involved in, the Censorware Project, currently at http://www.censorware.net. The purpose of this essay is to put the behavior on record, and to give you some impressions and inferences about it.
The Censorware Project was originally an informal collective of six people who collaborated online to fight censorware: Seth Finkelstein, Bennett Haselton, Jamie McCarthy, Mike Sims, Jim Tyre and myself. Several of us had never met or even spoken on the phone, yet for some time -- around two years as I recall -- we had a remarkably easy collaboration. There was no funding, no hierarchy, no titles, not even project managers. Someone would suggest a project and take the responsibility for a part of it, others would sign up for other elements, and proceeding this way we got a remarkable amount of work done, including reports on X-Stop, Cyberpatrol, Bess and other censorware products.
Even though two of us were attorneys -- Jim and myself -- we never incorporated the group or wrote a charter or any contracts among ourselves. Mike Sims was obliging enough to register the domain, just as other members paid for press releases and the other incidental expenses which came along. Mike also served as webmaster of the censorware.org site and did substantial work for the group, including writing contributions to several of the reports and lead authorship of at least one. Seth was the source of our decrypted censorware blacklists and managed many technical tasks, but later felt he had to leave the group because of the increasing prospects of a lawsuit, particularly under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). After Seth left the group, the remaining five continued.
Robert Frost said that "nothing gold can stay," and the Censorware Project was no exception. Over the summer of 2000, Mike Sims' reaction to a perceived slight from Jim Tyre was to take the site down for a week. He sent us mail at the time saying something like "The Censorware Project is now closed." I replied to him that, given that the group was a collective and we all had an interest in its work product, the domain, and the goodwill it had achieved, the decision was not his to make. Sims did not reply.
After Seth created a partial, text, mirror, Mike put the site back up a week later without explaining, let alone apologizing for, his actions. Given his continuing failure to answer any email from me (and I think from others) and the overall signs that Sims thought the group was exclusively his, I wrote him several emails requesting that he turn the domain over to Jamie or Bennett, as I felt we could no longer trust him to administer it. We also found out during that time that important email from people trying to contact us, including members of the press, was not being answered by Sims, nor being forwarded to other members.
I ultimately became exasperated that my name was listed as a principal on what had now become a "rogue" site I had no control over. Over about a five week period, I wrote Sims several more emails asking him to delete my name from the site if he wasn't going to transfer the domain. Again, I received no reply.
In November 2000, Sims took the Censorware Project site offline again, with a message saying "Due to demands from some of the people who contributed, in however minor a fashion, to this site, it has been taken down." Judging from some email I received from him at the time, this meant me.
Its a sad thing, both because we got some good work done and because some of the other members of the group were eager to continue and in fact have continued working, while deprived then of the Censorware Project site, name, email aliases and public recognition. Within a few months after, we re
An overlooked point is that fyodor did not compromise a random connection, but the stanford.edu network.
Perhaps he used one of his collected exploits?
One of the best ways to increase the odds of success on a project is to use prototyping. For me, the biggest argument for prototyping is that you really don't know what you need to build until the users can look at something that allows them to visualize how they are going to use it and tell you, "That's exactly what I need" or more likely "No, it won't work that way, it needs to do this." There is a belief within many organizations that through focus groups and the development of use cases and detailed requirements specifications, you can determine exactly what you need to build, built it, and roll out the perfect system. I've not seen it happen and, frankly, I don't think it's possible. I've seen this type of implementation labeled as a success. However, that's usually not the opinion of the people who have to live with and use the application every day. They have to change how they do their work because when they finally "saw" how the new system worked they had signed off on the design. Through their acceptance they now have to live with what was built. I'm not against focus groups, use cases, or detailed specs. They are key components of building systems right, but if we don't add the piece that provides true validation of those components, we devalue their use. People think in images. If we don't help them see the future with a prototype, they may not see it. Actually doing the work with a prototype enables people who will be doing the work to actually see their future. It is in this process where the greatest discoveries are often made. This can draw out ideas that will make your process sing - isn't that what you were looking to do in the first place?
Here are some important reasons why I see prototyping as a necessary component for project success.
1. Creativity. Prototyping encourages creative development by both the developers and the users. Like brainstorming, once team members begin traveling down a path, the possibilities of what they can come up with are practically limitless. Creativity is an area of a person's work that can make that person's job much more satisfying.
2. True evaluation by system users. Watching the application in action is the only way that most people can truly evaluate it. Due to the limit of items the human mind can hold in their conscious mind, people cannot see all the components of the complex systems we are documenting. People only see the potential problems when they see the entire process and they are only going to exert a limited amount of effort in reading about a system being considered.
3. Find problems and possibilities early on. As we've learn through the years, the most costly problems are those that go undetected the longest. The earliest we find something, the less our cost. That's a core component of TQM-Total Quality Management: find the costliest errors early. A prototype allows you to develop an application with only the resources (cost) that make it verifiable so that it can be reviewed by those with the right domain knowledge to either correct errors that are identified or uncover additional opportunities that were previously not considered. Successfully blend solid strategic thinking and tactics- spend the correct amount of effort up front to ensure you are building the right solution before you spend the big dollars to build it right.
Yes, folks do raise some valid concerns about prototyping so let me take a crack at responding to the three that I have heard the most often.
1. "Is it done yet?" (Raised expectations). When users see something that looks real, there is a belief that it must be just about ready to use. The best way to handle this is to make sure that everyone is aware of the process so that when you remind them that there is still plenty to do, they are not totally shocked and are somewhat accepting of that idea. If they are told up front how things will progress and the benefits of doing things this way, they tend to be all for it. Keep them aware of all progress -- even the parts that they can't see -- with regular sta
Ogg mah boalls for the CLIT
on
Ogg Now An RFC
·
· Score: -1
VA Software Announces SourceForge Enterprise Edition 3.3 Tuesday May 6, 8:04 am ET
FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2003--VA Software Corporation (Nasdaq:LNUX - News) today announced SourceForge(TM) Enterprise Edition 3.3 -- the latest release of its flagship Development Intelligence application. SourceForge integrates development, collaboration and management tools, and enables organizations to create a central repository for all software development information and activity.
SourceForge 3.3 introduces integration with PVCS Version Manager from Merant; SourceForge also integrates with other leading software configuration management tools such as Rational® ClearCase® and CVS. By giving users the flexibility to select their SCM tools of choice, SourceForge Enterprise Edition unifies development activity without disrupting work. SourceForge makes it easy for project administrators to create and manage multiple SCM repositories through its intuitive web interface.
Also new in SourceForge 3.3 are "gated communities" -- the ability for administrators to create and manage groups of users with access restricted to certain areas. Gated communities provide an out-of-the-box solution for organizations working with outsourced development contractors, partner organizations or customers whose access should be limited to specified groups of projects and development information.
Enhancements in SourceForge Enterprise Edition 3.3
SourceForge 3.3 includes multiple enhancements of existing functionality, including:
Broader Integration with Enterprise Environments and Tools. SourceForge 3.3 introduces webDAV integration, which allows users to publish and maintain project web sites directly through SourceForge; LDAP integration, which makes it easier for IT departments to manage SourceForge user accounts; and native integration support for Merant® PVCS Version Manager, which provides organizations with additional flexibility in choosing an SCM tool that works with SourceForge. More Powerful Administration Tools. Support for gated communities in SourceForge 3.3 gives organizations the ability to manage user access to specified groups of projects. Gated communities provide a way for organizations to collaborate with contractors, partners or customers without sacrificing security -- useful for managing today's highly distributed development teams. Improved Issue Tracking. SourceForge 3.3 provides a clearer, more comprehensive understanding of critical development data by allowing users to view and track relationships and dependencies across issues. For example, project requirements, bug reports and enhancement requests may be easily linked with other information managed by SourceForge tools, such as documents and task assignments. New tracker power search functionality makes it even easier to find key information and resolve issues quickly. "SourceForge Enterprise Edition makes development teams more efficient and helps them build quality software on time and on budget. SourceForge 3.3 makes it even easier for development managers to track and manage project teams -- and vastly improves the individual developer experience and productivity as well," said Colin Bodell, senior vice president of product development, VA Software. "We look forward to continuing to work with our customers to make SourceForge the central repository -- and unified control center -- for all their development activity."
Bodell added: "The reality of today's software development teams is that they tend to be geographically dispersed, follow different processes, and use different tools that typically are not integrated. This leads to significant inefficiencies, cost overruns and delayed projects. SourceForge integrates with an organization's existing tools, while providing a comprehensive set of tools and resources to fill in any capability gaps."
SourceForge Enterprise Edition 3.3 will ship later this month. Further in
Slashdot Mirror
A sanctimonious DOE DB contractor on one hand and a technopietistic cybersquatting slashdot editor on the other. Please visit my balls and SCWEEENG.
I like my coffee black.
It ain't mine but always a fun read.
Dear Mr. Coleman,
Half-empty bottles of Southern Comfort scattered throughout a sparsely furnished suburban living room. The smell of week-old vomit lingers in the stale air. A woman, passed out in her own filth, is sprawled in the middle of the room, erupting into violent convulsions at an hourly rate. Her shaking hand reaches to turn on the television, and a handsome young black boy appears on the screen. Her life is forever changed.
That passed-out woman was me, 14 years ago. My life had fallen apart. All I had was alcohol and head lice. It was that day, that day I first laid eyes on your pudgy, boyish face, that I decided to get myself back on track. I owe it all to you. Yes, things were difficult, but I knew that you'd be there for me, every Saturday at 8 PM. You got me through it all. I owe my life to you, Mr. Coleman.
When Diff'rent Strokes went off the air, I was devastated. By then I had conquered my addiction to alcohol and had moved to a penthouse in New York City and adopted two scampish boys from the ghetto. But life was not the same without you. The only thing that kept me going was the hope that you would have a new show, a show to bring laughter into the hearts of millions and inspire other alcoholic crackwhores like me to go straight. Alas, there was no show. And, until the highly disappointing SFW in 1995, there were no new movies either. You've abandoned me, Gary.
Why?
The loss of Diff'rent Strokes left a hole in my heart that will never be repaired. I tried, oh god, I tried. I've watched every one of Todd Bridges' talk show appearances, I've rented every one of Dana Plato's porno movies, and while the porno movies are enjoyable, they don't compare to you, Todd, and Dana working together, on Diff'rent Strokes. I yearn to see your sweet face again, to hear your joyful laugh just once more. Every night, I cry myself to sleep while thinking about you.
You've done so much good, just by coming into our living rooms every week and sharing your life with us. America needs and loves you. I don't wonder why America is going to hell in a handbasket. I know why. It's because there's a hole in America's collective heart. In the hole's place used to be a little boy named Gary. We admired him for overcoming kidney disease and we cherished the happiness he brought us through his television show and numerous made-for-tv movies. But he is gone now. Where is he? I do not know.
I implore you, on behalf of the United States of America and God, to return to television. With your help, the world can be a place of peace and harmony once again. We love you.
Sincerely, The Future Mrs. Gary Coleman
Posted by JonKatz on 10:45 Tuesday 20 November 2001
from the information-wants-to-be-free-(and-is) dept.
An open information society is inevitable. I was a little surprised last week to receive a forwarded e-mail from Junis, who lives in a small town 35 miles southwest of Kabul. This weekend, a movie theater and video store opened up again in Kabul (renting Independence Day), Afghan TV cranked up, and so did the Net. Americans understand all too well that our techno-driven culture produces wonders and dangers, but it's one of the most popular social and political forces in the world. Passion for pop culture relentlessly undermined repressive governments like Poland, East Germany and the former Soviet Union. The world, it turns out, really is porous now. Technology and information will squeeze through every closed nook and crevice. The Taliban never made a dent in the attachment this Afghan programmer and his friends had for it.
When his message came, the Taliban had just fled, Northern Alliance soldiers had taken over his village, and everybody rushed to barbers to cut off their beards and to nearby holes and hiding spots to dig up their Walkmen, VCRs, TVs, CD players, and -- in Junis's case -- his ancient Commodore, one of four in the village. Cafes had popped up all over, with impromptu dances and parties everywhere.
Junis's e-mail -- routed to Kabul, then Islamabad, then London -- was a reminder that there are civil liberties, and then there are civil liberties. Computers had been banned under penalty of death by the Taliban (except for the Taliban themselves), along with music and TV. Junis, a computer geek obsessed with Linux, had first e-mailed me years ago while I was writing for Hotwired. He was genial and obsessed with American culture. He loved martial arts movies, anything to do with Star Wars, and rap. He was perhaps the Taliban's prime kind of target. (Now he's furiously trying to download movies he's missed and is mesmerized by open source and Slashdot.)
"I could still see the dust of the pick-up trucks carrying the Taliban out of my village," he wrote, "and some friends and I went and dug up the boards of a chicken coop where I had hid the computer. They might have beaten or killed us if they'd found it. It was forbidden, although they used computers all of the time." He claims American commandos are skulking around dressed as Northern Alliance tribesmen.
Junis describes life under the Taliban as brutal, terrifying and profoundly boring. What the people in his town -- especially the kids -- missed most was music, posters of Indian and American movie stars (he'd kept his own decaying poster of Madonna), and American TV. Junis missed the fast-changing Web and sees, he says, that he has fallen "forever behind," and that programming is more complex than ever. But at least "Baywatch," which everyone in his town acutely missed, is back, and there's already a lot of talk about "Survivor." Junis predicts "Temptation Island" will be the number one show in Afghanistan within a month.
If the world needed another demonstration of America's most powerful weapon -- not bombs or special forces but pop culture -- it got it again this week. People all over the planet fuss about whether this healthy and democratic or corrupting and dehumanizing, but people's love for American techno-toys, TV shows, music and movies is breathaking. Watching TV pictures of tribesman on horseback, it's easy to forget that technology reached deep into this culture as well. Junis says phone service around Kabul remains spotty, but reporters, U.N. workers and foreign soldiers are wiring up. He's already made his way to some sex sites, and wishes he had a printer.
There are many computers in Afghanistan, Junis said, many in clusters in cities like Kabul and Kandahar (news reports have frequently mentioned that Bin-Laden's organization used both e-mail and encrypted files to communicate). Computer geeks are already hooking up with one another all over the country; Junis isn't the only Afghan e-m
That is all...suck my balls.
Gates has never been one to put all his cards on the table. He is known to make ambiguous statements designed to put his competitors off balance. When Linux becomes a viable competitor, dollar-wise...money will change hands. MSFT has 43 billion in the bank. That is more than the total funds of everyone you know, to 5 degrees.
10 Steps to Improving Your Golf Game
... The winners are the putters and chippers. The difference is strokes saved around the green."
There's no magic formula, no secret short-cut to becoming a good golfer. Just three words: Practice, practice, practice.
By Bob Harig
We marvel at their skills, yearn to hit a golf ball like they do. Walk onto any practice range at any PGA tournament, and you notice the sweet symphony of swings, the perfect precision, the sound that tells you these balls are being struck with authority.
Of course, these golfers are pros. Like a business owner who knows which advertising campaigns work and which don't, who understands the habits of his employees, who realizes what works best to push his product, pro golfers have experience. They play the game for a living, and put in the necessary time to hone their craft.
More Agility on Tour
The PGA's Unwritten Rules
What Tiger Can Teach CEOs
Golf Speaks Any Language
Take Your Employees Golfing
Back to Agility on Tour
Still, some are more diligent than others. Vijay Singh's practice habits are legendary, as are Tom Kite's. Then there's Fred Couples, who's far from a range rat, due mostly to a bad back that keeps him from practicing as much as he would like. The LPGA Tour's Laura Davies also abhors the range, preferring to spend her free time chasing other pursuits. That's like the executive who gives a perfect presentation without even going over any notes.
So how can the average golfer get better? Face it, devoting major time is nearly impossible. Who can practice like the pros? And who would really want to?
The truth is, most weekend golfers hate to practice and prefer to just take their game to the course. For those who do practice, they have no routine, only a system in which they pound golf balls at a driving range with no sense of purpose.
If they are working on something, typically it's a band-aid meant to cover a huge wound. And the short game? Forget it. Very few amateur golfers work on this all-important part of the game.
What is the best approach?
"It's not the quantity of practice but the quality of your practice,'' said Lew Smither III, the director of instruction at the Westin Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Fla. "Practice doesn't make perfect; practice only makes permanent. You have to have the right software upstairs in order for the hardware to work.
"I find that's where the average golfer is foundering. They don't have good software. They don't have good concepts. They are not clean and clear. Then they fail.''
Here are a few tips that might help you make the golf hardware work.
Make sure to have the proper grip. There are different ways to hold the golf club, but finding the correct way for you is imperative. The only link to the golf club is with the hands, PGA pro Nick Price has said, and everything goes from there.
Make the most of your practice time. PGA pro David Duval, for instance, typically spends up to 70 percent of his time hitting wedge shots. He believes the approach shot from 100 yards and in is one that requires the most feel, and a shot with which he is often presented.
Work on your short game. Singh works harder than just about any player, but it wasn't until he started spending more time on his chipping and putting that the big results game -- victories at the 1998 PGA Championship and 2000 Masters.
"I know when I was learning to play, the pro made me spend equal time on the short game,'' said Peggy Kirk Bell, who runs the Pine Needles Resort in Southern Pines, N.C. "Most people just want to hit the long ball
Incorporate games into your practice routine. Jim Suttie, who has worked with several tour pros, uses a drill he calls the 10-20-30-40 drill. Take 40 balls, chip them to a practice hole, and then try to putt them all in. Then go to the next 10. If you are unable to get any ball up and down, you start over.
O M G whodathunkit! Read on for yourself! This is almost as bad as Ron dying after telling Hermione he loves her! Fuck you J.K.
Did you know that 1 SCO share is worth 12 LNUX? Whos' da dummy know?
Deep Thoughts (by Jack Handey)
Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.
Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: "Mankind." Basically, it's made up of two separate words - "mank" and "ind". What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.
I hope if dogs ever take over the world, and they choose a king, I hope they don't just go by size, because I bet there are some Chihuahuas with some good ideas.
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes an even bigger man to laugh at that man.
I guess we were all guilty, in a way. We all shot him, we all skinned him, and we all got a complimentary bumper sticker that read, "I helped skin Bob."
I bet the main reason the police keep people away from a plane crash is they don't want anybody walking in and lying down in some crash stuff, then, when somebody comes up, act like they just woke up and go, "What was THAT?!"
The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face.
Ambition is like a frog sitting on a Venus Flytrap. The flytrap can bite and bite, but it won't bother the frog because it only has little tiny plant teeth. But some other stuff could happen and it would be like ambition.
I'd rather be rich than stupid.
If you were a poor Indian with no weapons, and a bunch of conquistadors came up to you and asked where the gold was, I don't think it would be a good idea to say, "I swallowed it. So sue me."
If you define cowardice as running away at the first sign of danger, screaming and tripping and begging for mercy, then yes, Mr. Brave Man, I guess I am a coward.
I bet the one legend that keeps recurring throughout history, in every culture, is the story of Popeye.
When you go in for a job interview, I think a good thing to ask is if they ever press charges.
To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there's no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other.
What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know.
We tend to scoff at the beliefs of the ancients. But we can't scoff at them personally, to their faces, and this is what annoys me.
Probably the earliest flyswatters were nothing more than some sort of striking surface attached to the end of a long stick.
I think someone should have had the decency to tell me the luncheon was free. To make someone run out with potato salad in his hand, pretending he's throwing up, is not what I call hospitality.
To me, clowns aren't funny. In fact, they're kind of scary. I've wondered where this started, and I think it goes back to the time I went to the circus, and a clown killed my dad.
As I bit into the nectarine, it had a crisp juiciness about it that was very pleasurable - until I realized it wasn't a nectarine at all, but a HUMAN HEAD!
Most people don't realize that large pieces of coral, which have been painted brown and attached to the skull by common wood screws, can make a child look like a deer.
If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.
Better not take a dog on the Space Shuttle, because if he sticks his head out when you're coming home, his face might burn up.
You know what would make a good story? Something about a clown who makes people happy, but inside he's real sad. Also, he has severe diarrhea.
Sometimes when I feel like killing someone, I do a little trick to calm myself down. I'll go over to the person's house and ring the doorbell. When the person comes to the door, I'm gone, but you know what I've left on the porch? A jack-o-lantern with a knife stuck in the side of its head with a note that says "You." A
My new sig!
--
3.1415926535897932384626433832795o2
8841971693993 75105820974944592307816406286208998628034825342117 06798214808651328230664709384460955058223172535940 812848111745o2
841o2
701938521105559644622948954 93038196442881097566593344612847564823378678316527 120190914564856692346034861045432664821339360726o2
491412737245870066063155881748815209209628292540 91715364367892590360011330530548820466521384146951 94151160943305727036575959195309218611738193261179 31051185480744623799627495673518857527248912279381 83011949129833673362440656643086o2
13949463952247 371907o2
1798609437o2
77053921717629317675238467 48184676694051320005681271452635608277857713427577 89609173637178721468440901224953430146549585371050 792279689258923542019956112129o2
1960864034418159 81362977477130996051870721134999999837297804995105 9731732816096318595o2
44594553469083o2
642522308 25334468503526193118817101000313783875288658753320 83814206171776691473035982534904287554687311595628 63882353787593751957781857780532171226806613001927 87661119590921642019893809525720106548586327886593 61533818279682303019520353018529689957736225994138 91249721775283479131515574857242454150695950829533 11686172785588907509838175463746493931925506040092 77016711390098488240128583616035637076601047101819 42955596198946767837449448255379774726847104047534 646208046684259069491293313677o2
8989152104752162 056966o2
405803815019351125338243003558764o2
474 96473263914199272604269922796782354781636009341721 64121992458631503o2
86182974555706749838505494588 5869269956909272107975093o2
9553211653449872o2
7 5596o2
364806654991198818347977535663698074265425 27862551818417574672890977772793800081647060016145 24919217321721477235014144197356854816136115735255 21334757418494684385233239073941433345477624168625 1898356948556209921922218427255o2
542568876717904 94601653466804988627232791786085784383827967976681 45410095388378636095068006422512520511739298489608 4128488626945604241965285o2
221066118630674427862 20391949450471237137869609563643719172874677646575 73962413890865832645995813390478o2
75900994657640 78951269468398352595709825822620522489407726719478 2684826014769909o2
640136394437455305068203496252 45174939965143142980919065925093722169646151570985 83874105978859597729754989301617539284681382686838 68942774155991855925245953959431049972524680845987 27364469584865383673622262609912460805124388439045 12441365497627807977156914359977001296160894416948 68555848406353422072225828488648158456o2
85060168 42739452267467678895252138522549954666727823986456 59611635488623057745649803559363456817432411251507 6069479451096596094o2
522887971089314566913686722 87489405601015033086179286809208747609178249385890 09714909675985261365549781893129784821682998948722 65880485756401427047755513237964145152374623436454 28584447952658678210511413547357395231134271661o2
13596953623144295248493718711014576540359o2
7993 44037420073105785390621983874478084784896833214457
Do you know what qualifies as a "Biz" qustion? If VA, OSDN, /. vision off limits? TIA
Everyone regardless of convictions has a price. Hotmail had a price, and RAV has a price.
What, you want to pay me HOW MUCH for my software and give me a blue badge? Where do I sign?
shut it micheal
From the site: (Sponsors) The following organizations have provided generous funding and equipment to the CoVirt project:
National Science Foundation
Intel Corporation
TIA
It can't be Junis, he is bound and gagged in the Katz basement.
Poor Junis, media killer...so misunderstood
I WANT BAYWATCH ON MY COMMODORE!
The article alludes that Oregon needs the gas guzzling vehicles for the tax revenue, and does not favor fuel efficiency. This only continues to hinder hybrid adoption. Ultimately, regardless of all obstacles, the proliferation of "Very Fuel Efficient" vehicles will magnify the need for a revenue model based on usage and not consumption.
like abortion "discussions" at a Baptist convention :).
Win or lose it raises awareness!
KH
Props to all who developed this and got it out!
CLIT
THE FRIDAY BURN! Hell yeah,
Michael Sims, Domain Hijacking and Moral Equivalency
by Jonathan Wallace jw@bway.net
How would you feel if your webmaster maliciously took your web-site offline, then, when you demanded its return, put up a site attacking your company at your old URL? It happened to a group I was involved in, the Censorware Project, currently at http://www.censorware.net. The purpose of this essay is to put the behavior on record, and to give you some impressions and inferences about it.
The Censorware Project was originally an informal collective of six people who collaborated online to fight censorware: Seth Finkelstein, Bennett Haselton, Jamie McCarthy, Mike Sims, Jim Tyre and myself. Several of us had never met or even spoken on the phone, yet for some time -- around two years as I recall -- we had a remarkably easy collaboration. There was no funding, no hierarchy, no titles, not even project managers. Someone would suggest a project and take the responsibility for a part of it, others would sign up for other elements, and proceeding this way we got a remarkable amount of work done, including reports on X-Stop, Cyberpatrol, Bess and other censorware products.
Even though two of us were attorneys -- Jim and myself -- we never incorporated the group or wrote a charter or any contracts among ourselves. Mike Sims was obliging enough to register the domain, just as other members paid for press releases and the other incidental expenses which came along. Mike also served as webmaster of the censorware.org site and did substantial work for the group, including writing contributions to several of the reports and lead authorship of at least one. Seth was the source of our decrypted censorware blacklists and managed many technical tasks, but later felt he had to leave the group because of the increasing prospects of a lawsuit, particularly under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). After Seth left the group, the remaining five continued.
Robert Frost said that "nothing gold can stay," and the Censorware Project was no exception. Over the summer of 2000, Mike Sims' reaction to a perceived slight from Jim Tyre was to take the site down for a week. He sent us mail at the time saying something like "The Censorware Project is now closed." I replied to him that, given that the group was a collective and we all had an interest in its work product, the domain, and the goodwill it had achieved, the decision was not his to make. Sims did not reply.
After Seth created a partial, text, mirror, Mike put the site back up a week later without explaining, let alone apologizing for, his actions. Given his continuing failure to answer any email from me (and I think from others) and the overall signs that Sims thought the group was exclusively his, I wrote him several emails requesting that he turn the domain over to Jamie or Bennett, as I felt we could no longer trust him to administer it. We also found out during that time that important email from people trying to contact us, including members of the press, was not being answered by Sims, nor being forwarded to other members.
I ultimately became exasperated that my name was listed as a principal on what had now become a "rogue" site I had no control over. Over about a five week period, I wrote Sims several more emails asking him to delete my name from the site if he wasn't going to transfer the domain. Again, I received no reply.
In November 2000, Sims took the Censorware Project site offline again, with a message saying "Due to demands from some of the people who contributed, in however minor a fashion, to this site, it has been taken down." Judging from some email I received from him at the time, this meant me.
Its a sad thing, both because we got some good work done and because some of the other members of the group were eager to continue and in fact have continued working, while deprived then of the Censorware Project site, name, email aliases and public recognition. Within a few months after, we re
An overlooked point is that fyodor did not compromise a random connection, but the stanford.edu network. Perhaps he used one of his collected exploits?
One of the best ways to increase the odds of success on a project is to use prototyping. For me, the biggest argument for prototyping is that you really don't know what you need to build until the users can look at something that allows them to visualize how they are going to use it and tell you, "That's exactly what I need" or more likely "No, it won't work that way, it needs to do this." There is a belief within many organizations that through focus groups and the development of use cases and detailed requirements specifications, you can determine exactly what you need to build, built it, and roll out the perfect system. I've not seen it happen and, frankly, I don't think it's possible. I've seen this type of implementation labeled as a success. However, that's usually not the opinion of the people who have to live with and use the application every day. They have to change how they do their work because when they finally "saw" how the new system worked they had signed off on the design. Through their acceptance they now have to live with what was built. I'm not against focus groups, use cases, or detailed specs. They are key components of building systems right, but if we don't add the piece that provides true validation of those components, we devalue their use. People think in images. If we don't help them see the future with a prototype, they may not see it. Actually doing the work with a prototype enables people who will be doing the work to actually see their future. It is in this process where the greatest discoveries are often made. This can draw out ideas that will make your process sing - isn't that what you were looking to do in the first place? Here are some important reasons why I see prototyping as a necessary component for project success.
1. Creativity. Prototyping encourages creative development by both the developers and the users. Like brainstorming, once team members begin traveling down a path, the possibilities of what they can come up with are practically limitless. Creativity is an area of a person's work that can make that person's job much more satisfying. 2. True evaluation by system users. Watching the application in action is the only way that most people can truly evaluate it. Due to the limit of items the human mind can hold in their conscious mind, people cannot see all the components of the complex systems we are documenting. People only see the potential problems when they see the entire process and they are only going to exert a limited amount of effort in reading about a system being considered. 3. Find problems and possibilities early on. As we've learn through the years, the most costly problems are those that go undetected the longest. The earliest we find something, the less our cost. That's a core component of TQM-Total Quality Management: find the costliest errors early. A prototype allows you to develop an application with only the resources (cost) that make it verifiable so that it can be reviewed by those with the right domain knowledge to either correct errors that are identified or uncover additional opportunities that were previously not considered. Successfully blend solid strategic thinking and tactics- spend the correct amount of effort up front to ensure you are building the right solution before you spend the big dollars to build it right.
Yes, folks do raise some valid concerns about prototyping so let me take a crack at responding to the three that I have heard the most often.
1. "Is it done yet?" (Raised expectations). When users see something that looks real, there is a belief that it must be just about ready to use. The best way to handle this is to make sure that everyone is aware of the process so that when you remind them that there is still plenty to do, they are not totally shocked and are somewhat accepting of that idea. If they are told up front how things will progress and the benefits of doing things this way, they tend to be all for it. Keep them aware of all progress -- even the parts that they can't see -- with regular sta
You mom gave me an erection
True, I do not find it useful at all! :)
Bluetooth mah penii for da CLIT
Press Release Source: VA Software Corporation
VA Software Announces SourceForge Enterprise Edition 3.3
Tuesday May 6, 8:04 am ET
FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2003--VA Software Corporation (Nasdaq:LNUX - News) today announced SourceForge(TM) Enterprise Edition 3.3 -- the latest release of its flagship Development Intelligence application.
SourceForge integrates development, collaboration and management tools, and enables organizations to create a central repository for all software development information and activity.
SourceForge 3.3 introduces integration with PVCS Version Manager from Merant; SourceForge also integrates with other leading software configuration management tools such as Rational® ClearCase® and CVS. By giving users the flexibility to select their SCM tools of choice, SourceForge Enterprise Edition unifies development activity without disrupting work. SourceForge makes it easy for project administrators to create and manage multiple SCM repositories through its intuitive web interface.
Also new in SourceForge 3.3 are "gated communities" -- the ability for administrators to create and manage groups of users with access restricted to certain areas. Gated communities provide an out-of-the-box solution for organizations working with outsourced development contractors, partner organizations or customers whose access should be limited to specified groups of projects and development information.
Enhancements in SourceForge Enterprise Edition 3.3
SourceForge 3.3 includes multiple enhancements of existing functionality, including:
Broader Integration with Enterprise Environments and Tools. SourceForge 3.3 introduces webDAV integration, which allows users to publish and maintain project web sites directly through SourceForge; LDAP integration, which makes it easier for IT departments to manage SourceForge user accounts; and native integration support for Merant® PVCS Version Manager, which provides organizations with additional flexibility in choosing an SCM tool that works with SourceForge.
More Powerful Administration Tools. Support for gated communities in SourceForge 3.3 gives organizations the ability to manage user access to specified groups of projects. Gated communities provide a way for organizations to collaborate with contractors, partners or customers without sacrificing security -- useful for managing today's highly distributed development teams.
Improved Issue Tracking. SourceForge 3.3 provides a clearer, more comprehensive understanding of critical development data by allowing users to view and track relationships and dependencies across issues. For example, project requirements, bug reports and enhancement requests may be easily linked with other information managed by SourceForge tools, such as documents and task assignments. New tracker power search functionality makes it even easier to find key information and resolve issues quickly.
"SourceForge Enterprise Edition makes development teams more efficient and helps them build quality software on time and on budget. SourceForge 3.3 makes it even easier for development managers to track and manage project teams -- and vastly improves the individual developer experience and productivity as well," said Colin Bodell, senior vice president of product development, VA Software. "We look forward to continuing to work with our customers to make SourceForge the central repository -- and unified control center -- for all their development activity."
Bodell added: "The reality of today's software development teams is that they tend to be geographically dispersed, follow different processes, and use different tools that typically are not integrated. This leads to significant inefficiencies, cost overruns and delayed projects. SourceForge integrates with an organization's existing tools, while providing a comprehensive set of tools and resources to fill in any capability gaps."
SourceForge Enterprise Edition 3.3 will ship later this month. Further in