209 days old / February 10th, 2008 @ 8:29 pm /
2 comments
On Martin Luther King Day I was downloading some photos I took when my HP Pavilion laptop took its last breath. It wasn’t long before I figured out that the motherboard had died. It would cost about $400 to get a new one, but I had no guarantee that I wouldn’t continue to have overheating issues. This laptop was about four years old. I had it serviced once when under warranty and just recently replaced an harddrive. I’m suspicious the old harddrive was damaged by the over heating laptop shutting off all the time. So with great sadness, I decided to move on. To replace my HP behemoth I purchased one Dell Inspiron with Ubuntu installed. By doing this I probably saved at least $300 by not getting Vista. This weekend I’ve spent a lot of time getting acquainted with the new laptop. For the most part I’m pretty pleased with what I got. I had been using Ubuntu now for nearly a year, so there wasn’t any learning curve here. I did find the printed documentation for the Inspiron entertaining since it was printed up for Vista. I would have thought that Dell would have customized some printed documentation for Ubuntu, maybe they only sent me the wrong one. Still I would assume that most Ubuntu users are tech savvy, so this shouldn’t matter too much. But this could all be changing. I’m continually encouraged by how much Linux has caught on over the last year. Also, Dell could make it easier to find the open source PCs on their site. It’s not terribly hard to find them if you know their there, but they’re clearly not getting the best real estate on the Website. In the end I believe I made a good choice, but it was still strange not to buy Vista. I have been using Microsoft operating systems going back to DOS 3.3 and Vista’s the first MS operating system I don’t plan to use.
Posted by scott vieira
241 days old / January 9th, 2008 @ 9:52 pm /
No comments yet
Now I find this story somewhat frightening! Recently our family moved from Comcast to AT & T for our broadband internet service. For awhile we had been having issues with Comcast’s service, particularly with the TV cable, but even more importantly their lack of good customer service. Furthermore, I was ideologically frustrated that Comcast was being accused of packet forging P2P transactions, which by the way they are now under investigation by the FCC. Of course the packet forging was meant to target pirates, but it indiscriminately targeted any P2P traffic. I can’t imagine it was very successful, however. DVD and music sales are still down, and according to the RIAA, for how many years now, pirating is still to blame. But this is besides the point, once we actually had another broadband competitor to choose from in our community. We chose AT & T. It was cheaper, promised greener pastures, and had, at least at the time, a less checkered past. Now I admit I was looking at that past with tinted glasses, but hey, I was desperate to make a choice, and my choice was not Comcast.
But today I read this story about how AT & T, and possibly other companies, such as Comcast and Microsoft, are saying it is time to start filtering the Internet for copyrighted content. You think the Internet is hard to use now. Wait until Microsoft is finished with it and you have to call them to authenticate the Genuineness of your Internet experience. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not wanting to encourage the exchange of pirated content over the Internet. Personally, I’m interested in supporting the open source software movement (Linux Rules!), my local library, and if I enjoy music, films, books, whatever, at least enough that I want to own them, then I want those talented enough to enrich my life rewarded. Note, however, this doesn’t include recording studios, the RIAA, MPAA, well you get the idea. Personally, I find most of these institutions antiquated, if not downright stifling of the creative experience, i.e., the MPAA (If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the documentary This Film is Not Yet Rated.) I feel like we are now suffering the reactions of a relentless absolute monarchy aware that it is under the throes of a political revolution (for my more youthful readers read entertainment executives vs. technological revolution, but with a lot more blood and guts). But the winner has yet to rise triumphantly, and we’re all adults here, we know that reality isn’t always a morality play in which the righteous persevere.
I going to say this, even though it isn’t really very profound, but filtering the Internet isn’t going to work. In fact it will be as successful as the Microsoft Vista authentication process. By the way you can download your pirated copy of Vista here. Well OK, I’m not really going to tell you, but you get the point. Besides I wouldn’t use Vista anyway, try out Ubuntu instead.
So what will happen? Filtering the Internet is going to interrupt services, indiscriminately block legitimate content and users, it will not stop pirates, can’t be enforced internationally, and what I find the most alarming, setting a precedent for censorship. We already deal with Internet filters at our libraries. I can also tell you how to circumvent them too, but you could find out how to do this yourself. Try doing some research, you can start with Google.
It’s important that our Internet providers, in this case the few broadband providers in the U.S., remain neutral about the bits of information flowing through their networks. Why am I not feeling optimistic about this? There is a lot of money involved here, and, unfortunately, money doesn’t always flow in the same direction as intellectual freedom.
Posted by scott vieira
256 days old / December 25th, 2007 @ 9:43 pm /
2 comments
Alright, I had no where to go but down. Congrats to my oldest son, Andrew, who defeated me at chess tonight! I kept on waiting for him to make a mistake, but the only one who seemed to be making mistakes tonight was me. This was the one game that I had remained undefeated, he totally slaughters me when it comes to video games. But I do like a challenge, I might even have to blow the cobwebs off the old chess books. Here’s to another reminder of old age.
I hope everyone had a great Christmas and is enjoying a nice holiday season.
Posted by scott vieira
265 days old / December 16th, 2007 @ 10:31 pm /
No comments yet
!!!Spoiler Warning!!!
Ok. I don’t usually comment on the television I’m watching, but tonight I can’t resist. My wife and I finished with the season finale of Dexter’s second season. The first season took me for a ride. I started off finding the show’s concept hard to swallow, then I was hooked, by the near end I couldn’t imagine how it would all come together, at least believably. But it did. This year I wondered how the second season could beat the first.
But the second season was just as strong. Now Dexter was being hunted by the Miami PD and the FBI. Furthermore, the series introduced a new character, Lila, who had some secrets of her own. Totally unlike myself, I was on pins and needles for tonights episode. Well, the show didn’t waste any time. Detective Doakes was killed by Lila in a way that closed the case on Doakes, albeit falsely, as the Bay Harbor Butcher, but not before Lila learned Dexter’s secret. Lila realizing Dexter planned to kill her, attempted to burn him and Rita’s children. Meanwhile, Lila fled to Paris thinking she had finished off Dexter. I thought the episode would end here. It should have ended here. What a great story arc for a new season! It reminded me of Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis Professor Moriarty. This would have been great, but it didn’t end this way. Instead, all of a sudden Dexter is in Paris and he kills Lila in a totally undramatic ending, even though there is no way Dexter could have found her there. She lived in Miami on an alias, and would have had alias in Paris. If it was this easy, the police would have tracked her down as a serial murder/arsonist. I know that this isn’t the only time the series has done something unbelievable, but I thought this was pretty bad. Overall, I have to say I’m disappointed. If the show would have ended a few minutes earlier, it would have been great. In summary, you could see the death of Doakes coming, but I will miss his character. Lila would have been great in future episodes as a nemesis that shared Dexter’s soul, what a wasted opportunity.
Posted by scott vieira
272 days old / December 9th, 2007 @ 12:14 pm /
No comments yet
Isn’t it convenient for the Founding Fathers to be dead? It’s of course much easier to attribute our ideas to them when they aren’t around to disagree. I’m continually amazed and enlightened by Fundametalists that find so much solace in cherry picking the written thoughts of these very liberal, intellectually free-spirited men. Adams, Washington, even more so Franklin, Jefferson, and Madison–these anti-monarchical, French Enlightenment influenced fathers of our nation–would of course be joining the likes of Chuck Norris, Pat Robertson, American Family Association, and Focus on the Family in supporting the cultural conservative agenda of the Republican party.
Here is a recent discussion taken from Newsweek between Mitt Romney and the press:
“I’m wondering why you didn’t mention non-religious people in your speech yesterday, number one, and also what you meant by ‘freedom requires religion’?” asked a reporter.
An important point–but Romney deflected. “I’m paraphrasing something that’s been said both by John Adams and George Washington,” he said. “Which is that, in their view, for a nation like ours to be great and to thrive… that our Constitution was written for a people of faith and religion. It’s a very extraordinary element and foundation for our nation. I believe that’s the case.”
Unsatisfied, another reporter pounced. “Do you think an atheist or non-believer or non-spiritual person can’t therefore be a free person?” he asked.
“Of course not,” Romney responded. “That’s not what I said.”
“But you said ‘freedom requires religion’?”
“I’m talking about the nation,” Romney snapped. Next question.
Posted by scott vieira