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Paying the piper...
After opening the store this morning and working there for a couple of hours, I allowed the apparent shortness of the assignment due tomorrow morning to lull me into a false sense of I've-got-some-time-to-spare security. A mere 9 pages (with hardly any text on the first two pages) eventually weighed in at just over 3,000 English words, which is a respectable day's work.
Earlier this afternoon, though, I spent some time with my Linux eSlate, running Red Hat 7.2. The first problem was to see if there was a way around having the machine croak when both my Linksys (wire) network PCMCIA card and my Lucent (wireless) network PCMCIA card are inserted at the same time. Red Hat didn't like that setup when I was installing 7.2, and it doesn't like it once the system is installed, either (possibly something in xinetd causes the machine to hang).
When I have one card at a time in place, the parameters I get using cardctl show that both cards have the use of interrupt IRQ 3. Further, the base address of my wireless card is smack dab in the middle of the i/o range of the Linksys card, but since this reflects the state of affairs with only one card in at a time, the information may not be all that useful.
I settled for figuring out how to fix an apparent installation "gotcha" associated with Linux not recognizing the CD-ROM drive (the one that worked perfectly well to install the system). If memory serves, the comand that implements the fix (run as root) is: /sbin/depmod -ae
X still works, BTW!
* * * The cooler we bought on eBay arrived today. The thing is huge! Drew tried to get the center's maintenance guy to come help get it inside the door (the transport company left it on the sidewalk), but couldn't get hold of him. Finally, the manager of the Alco store came by with a small hydraulic lift to help us out (there was no way two people could manhandle that cooler by themselves... no way!). The thing started making noise like a Sherman tank when I plugged it in, so I quickly unplugged it. I'll wait until tomorrow for things to perhaps settle down, when at least I'll have more time to assess what might be the matter (or not) with the unit.
The big plus with owning our own cooler is the ability to sell whatever we want from it. Back when we had the Coke cooler, the Durango distributor was selling us 20-oz. bottles of refreshment for well over a dollar a bottle, which I couldn't quite understand (nor could the distributor quite explain), especially since the larger outfits around here (gas stations, supermarkets) were apparently able to make a profit selling the same bottles for less than a buck each. Seeing as how the cooler belonged to the distributor, my choices were limited. Now..., but there I go again... digressing, as usual.
* * * The state of Pennsylvania has passed a law requiring any ISP that serves Pennsylvania customers to block kiddie porn sites, which will be identified by the state attorney general's office. On the surface, it would seem as if the legislation has its heart in the right place, but if there was one God of the Copybook Headings that Kipling missed, it was "the road to hell is paved with good intentions."
Writing about this law in The Register, Tom Greene notes that kiddie porn sites change URLs on a daily (and sometimes hourly) basis, which means that by the time the URL is propagated to ISPs around the country, the slimeballs purveying the stuff will no longer be there. He then asks:
Unfortunately, well-reasoned arguments aren't very popular with politicians. No, that's not right... well-reasoned arguments are simply becoming less relevant, as generations taught what to think (in what passes for a system of public education) replace generations taught how to think.
Expect to see this kind of madness to spread from state to state. It will initially be undertaken under the banner of fighting child pornography, but this kind of capability is just too good to keep in a bottle like that, dontcha know.
Cheers...
Earlier this afternoon, though, I spent some time with my Linux eSlate, running Red Hat 7.2. The first problem was to see if there was a way around having the machine croak when both my Linksys (wire) network PCMCIA card and my Lucent (wireless) network PCMCIA card are inserted at the same time. Red Hat didn't like that setup when I was installing 7.2, and it doesn't like it once the system is installed, either (possibly something in xinetd causes the machine to hang).
When I have one card at a time in place, the parameters I get using cardctl show that both cards have the use of interrupt IRQ 3. Further, the base address of my wireless card is smack dab in the middle of the i/o range of the Linksys card, but since this reflects the state of affairs with only one card in at a time, the information may not be all that useful.
I settled for figuring out how to fix an apparent installation "gotcha" associated with Linux not recognizing the CD-ROM drive (the one that worked perfectly well to install the system). If memory serves, the comand that implements the fix (run as root) is: /sbin/depmod -ae
X still works, BTW!
The big plus with owning our own cooler is the ability to sell whatever we want from it. Back when we had the Coke cooler, the Durango distributor was selling us 20-oz. bottles of refreshment for well over a dollar a bottle, which I couldn't quite understand (nor could the distributor quite explain), especially since the larger outfits around here (gas stations, supermarkets) were apparently able to make a profit selling the same bottles for less than a buck each. Seeing as how the cooler belonged to the distributor, my choices were limited. Now..., but there I go again... digressing, as usual.
Writing about this law in The Register, Tom Greene notes that kiddie porn sites change URLs on a daily (and sometimes hourly) basis, which means that by the time the URL is propagated to ISPs around the country, the slimeballs purveying the stuff will no longer be there. He then asks:
So, will this reduce the amount of KP circulating on the Web? Will it protect children from exploitation by pornographers? Obviously, it will do neither. It's pure self-congratulatory legislation with no appreciation of the practicalities, and no hope of accomplishing anything worthwhile.Well said.
It will, of course, accomplish Internet censorship for PA residents, which may later be expanded once the necessary tools are in place; it will tax the resources of ISPs struggling to comply with impossible demands; and it will impress the uninformed with Pennsylvania's devotion to child protection.
But it will not make the slightest dent in the trafficking of this filth.
No online KP haven is going to be put out of business merely because it can no longer accommodate the diseased sexual desires of Pennsylvania's perverts. No pornographers will be prosecuted -- only ISPs will be. No KP sites will be disabled; and no online archives will be erased. Trading via IRC, ICQ and AIM will go on unimpeded.
Business will be burdened with extravavant requirements and Draconian penalties; and the public will be burdened with censorship, all for no good reason. The Pennsylvania legislature has pulled a terrific fast one here. It's granted censorship rights to the state on the pretext of child protection. It's created a superficial image of concern over KP, while laying responsibility for it as far from the source, and from itself, as humanly possible.
Unfortunately, well-reasoned arguments aren't very popular with politicians. No, that's not right... well-reasoned arguments are simply becoming less relevant, as generations taught what to think (in what passes for a system of public education) replace generations taught how to think.
Expect to see this kind of madness to spread from state to state. It will initially be undertaken under the banner of fighting child pornography, but this kind of capability is just too good to keep in a bottle like that, dontcha know.
Cheers...