Gee, look at that date - 5/21/01 - The last time I blogged was so long ago. I had initially started this project to keep my writing skills up to date. You know, practice makes perfect and all that noise. It just hasn't turned out that way. With life being so busy, I haven't had time to stop and comment out loud on the news or anything else that's going on in my life. Well, I just thought I'd drop a line to say hey. So many interesting things are going on though. The economy isn't going strong. New technology is still going strong though... Seagate has a 180 GB hard drive out now, and IBM is working on technology that will bring 400 GB hard drives to us very soon as well! There was an article out there on the net explaining how the breakthrough they came across will help to continue the Moore's Law progression of hard drive space, where previously there was thought to be a physical barrier in just how much a hard drive could hold. Invent, invent, invent...amazing what they can do nowadays.
Another interesting thing was something I read about in The Rapidly Changing Face of Computing. It's about how twisted fiber optic cable can have more tensile strength than the steel core they use in electrical cables. Right now, electrical cables carry current on the aluminum cover around a steel core. But the electrical lines have a maximum diameter that is restricted by the strength vs. weight problem of the steel core. With a fiber core, not only would they be able to make thicker electrical lines (Californians are cheering now!) to carry more current, but the core itself might become useful to deliver bandwith along with the electricity. Hmmm, can you say "fiber to the household"? Of course, the U.S. isn't about ready to replace all the electrical lines in the country, but for new homes in the future, this could show a lot of promise.
Also, you'll notice by the webcam a new backdrop. My wife bought some nice cherry bookcases, a desk and a filing drawer for my office space. You'll see the bookcases behind my ugly head. Let me know if it gets too messy.

Ummmm.....DUH!?!?! The Day the Rebates Died is an article on Wired News talking about how CyberRebate has filed for Chapter 11. And a BIG "I could have told you that!" to all the consumers who are crying and carrying on. What really aches is knowing that there are folks out there who have been willing to risk THOUSANDS of dollars at a time on this!
The Wired article pretty much says it all with regards to what CyberRebate was and what's going on, but I've just got to say that this was just so OBVIOUSLY some type of Ponzi scheme that I would never have risked more with the company than I thought I had already gained from past free purchases.
If you want to play the game, you make a small purchase and get your money back. Repeat once or twice. Now, add up the true value of those three purchases, and that's how much money you should risk at any one time in new purchases. That way, when the scam has run its course and you are out some $cash$, you at least have sufficient product to show for it.
Of course, your best bet is just NOT to play! I try never to trust a company that doesn't have a valid street address, a working telephone customer service line and a sensible business plan. All three failed when I went to look at CyberRebate.

Well, it isn't here yet, but that may not matter at all. Internet connectivity at my home PC (Road Runner on Cox Communications of Fairfax) has been on a very bad streak lately, with 5 outages this month at the Springfield/Burke routers. I've called and complained and I get NO satisfaction. If anyone has any idea where I could turn to make sure that these people get on the ball, please, let me know. Does the FCC monitor cable companies and their compliance? Would this be an FTC issue? How would you go about resolving it?

Watch this page to see when I get Ruins of Kurnak, the Everquest expansion! When I do, I'll be loading up and playing a lizardman. Recently, I've been monitoring the stores for any good computer games. I haven't found any that interest me as much or have the replayability of Everquest. It may depend on your personality, but this game is one of the most addictive and bona-fide fun things to do with your computer! I can't wait for my expansion kit to get here! Check out what's so exciting at The Everquest Home Page. If you have ever played an online MUD, be prepared to take it to the next level!

At work, we've gone to this new antivirus product that offers more flexibility for the system administrators called Sophos Anti-Virus. We've had mixed luck in getting it to work right with Office 2000 and IE 5.5 machines, though. One thing I liked about McAfee is that it didn't clash at all with our local configurations. When will a company come out with a simple to use, simple to update, simple to install, effective and price-concious antivirus package fit for an enterprise? It seems that software, in a rush to be first to market with any type of new or better technology, make tradeoffs in testing their products. It's a shame that they don't 'build em like they used to' anymore....rant, rant, rant, rant..etc..

Well, vacation is over. While we were in Los Angeles, we went to:

Day 1.Universal Studios: Hollywood. My brother went with us to the Universal Studios park. We took the tram ride and saw the Terminator 3-d show. We also ate lunch at Wizards. We expected a walk-around close up magician but there wasn't one. It was also kind of rainy that day, which sort of put a damper on everything.

Day 2.Sea World. We drove to San Diego to visit Shamu and the other Sea World shows. They were all amusing, and I got some fantastic photo ops here! There was also a show here referred to as 4-d. We went in and it was a 3-d show, augmented by things like water spray and wind that was built into the seating. It made the show seem more alive and more interactive, as long as you didn't mind getting a little wet or scared by wind rushing behind your head to simulate flying bats. While driving to San Diego though, I was following the Magellan 750 in the rental car, and it took me on a toll road. That would have been fine, had I known that the tolls are paid in the middle of the highway. What I thought was an exit turned out to be the toll booth, which I should have pulled over for. We'll end up being mailed a ticket (as I drove right under some gadget with cameras on it).

Day 3. Unbelievingly, it was scheduled to rain in Anaheim and Buena Park, so we visited the CA ScienCenter, a science museum. Of course, while there, we saw the 3-d IMAX show Galapagos, about the Galapagos Islands. It was a very interesting show, as well as the awesomeness of IMAX 3-D effects. We didn't even see all of the exhibits in the center, and there was a space museum next door that we didn't even touch on. We could have spent more time there for sure.

Day 4. Well, we went to Knott's Berry Farm. This park is very large with lots of different things to do for all ages. While we were there, they had extra things going on to celebrate Easter. Knott's Berry Farm apparenly has the rights to use the Peanuts characters, and Snoopy was everywhere. They gave all the kids these light up beagles headpieces, very cute... They had shows about native American Indian dances and culture, a wild-west action show [which was more comedy than action....weak!] and a saloon show we only caught small sight of. For extra dough (which I shelled out), you could pan for gold which was interesting to do. It's interesting how much work they go through for so little return.

Day 5. Disneyland is the flagship of local entertainment in this area, especially if you have a small child like we do. The park is the most expensive one in the area (but not by much). The park is well taken care of, and most of the employees seem to generally like staying in character, so it was fun. The only thing I found to be weak was 'Innoventions'. Maybe because I read so much about new things in Wired and other tech magazines, I felt that Tomorrowland was basically Todayland. Perhaps I am being too critical of the exhibit. What would have been nice to see would have been exhibits about what new polymers and plastics are capable of, or how molecular computers will work. Of course, that would bore their audience for the most part.

Day 6. Griffith Observatory and Griffith Park. My son went on the pony rides, and we all went to the planetarium show here. The show was about Venus, and our perceptions from the past and our observations now. It is very interesting to watch science at work, and the show was enlightening in how our thinking can be so sharply affected by observation, even on a planet thousands of miles away from our own. To think that early observers thought there might have been life on Venus!! For the evening, we went to Medieval Times. We even paid the extra money to sit down front for this dinner show! It's a fantastic horse and knight show. They bring out show horses and then bring out fully clad knights and well-trained war horses who battle to the 'death' for the right of chamionship and to do battle with the Black Knight. There are only 7 of these places in the country, but it's a show worth seeing at least once in your life. The atmosphere can be very pushy [take your picture, sell it to you for $8 - three times in one night], but if you can turn a cold shoulder easily it's not overbearing. Make sure you bring cash to tip the waiter though! I paid for the tickets with a credit card, but that was before the show. At the end, you'll want cash for the bar and to tip your server. I, and therefore my server, came up about 5 bucks too short of what I should have paid him. The tickets are less than Disneyland, but only slightly so. And there are plenty of opportunities to spend money here. You can pay to be knighted, purchase a sword in the giftshop, or go dancing afterward in the Knight Club [sign up for the later show].

All in all a good vacation....I'd recommend it to anyone, but bring lots of ca$h with you. Everwhere you turn you're being pandered to, and occasionally you'll just HAVE to buy something.

Took a flight to Los Angeles yesterday. It was slightly bumpy, but no more than I've been bumped around on some of the short red-eyes I've taken to Boston. The landing was perfect, but JUST before the landing, we looked out the window. It was a GORGEOUS sight! It looked like a huge electronic circuit. Los Angeles and the surrounding area just stretches on for MILES and MILES of gridded light! Los Angeles architecture is very different from what I am used to on the East Coast, and it's a very curious site. I'll keep you posted with what we're doing on vacation, so stay tuned!

You'll notice over in the right-most column that I have added a newsfeed. This newsfeed comes directly from a syndication-type javascript, so it's always fresh. It's a syndication of computer security news, as you may know this reflects my current interests. I think you'll enjoy this. I'm still playing with the site to see what works and what doesn't, so I might change this too. Good reading....

Here's an article on Asperger Syndrome: What Is It? that contains the diagnositic criteria and a down-to-earth explanatior for the disorder. I promise I'll stop using the word disease. Sorry if I offended anyone.

Disease of the DAY! Asperger's Syndrome is an 'autism lite' as it has been called. People who have it are frequently misdiagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, which I spoke about a year ago on this web site. At the time I thought I might have ADD, and I even went and tried some Ritalin. Certainly a lot of the indicators applied to me. Now, reading about AS, I'm trying to find the distinguishing factors that would mean the difference between the two. AS talks alot more about social dysfunction than ADD did (in fact ADD patients are frequently violent?). I'll do some more reading, but AS is my new pet disease.
Do you think the psychologists invent these diseases so they can stay in business? or is the classification of such personalities as a disorder or disease possibly damaging to those who are 'afflicted'? What are the psychological ramifications of even diagnosing someone with ADD or AS? Is it truly a disorder, or are 'normal' people lacking something that ADD/AS folks have? Is empathy a necessary emotional trait to being a human being?