Mt. Molelog

The C10K problem

Lots of interesting discussion on handling a large number (>10000) of connections at once, including some information on various poll/select replacements and the next-gen threading packages coming into play.
http://www.kegel.com/c10k.html

2003-02-02 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::Linux

Everyone knows it's dildo

http://www.digitalmeca.com/dildo.shtml

2003-02-01 00:00:00 | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | Old::Humor

How to launch a PWC

http://www.geocities.com/wskmirror/launchingpwc.jpg

2003-01-28 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::Humor

Who wouldn't want to bowling balls onto the Bonneville salt flats?

For their part, society members emphasise they are not eccentric. For a start, they will not just limit themselves to bowling balls: they will also drop putters' shots and rocks. As Wiggins said: 'Everyone likes to drop things from planes.'

2003-01-27 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::Bizarre

Combimouse

A combined keyboard/mouse system, not yet actually available.
http://www.combimouse.com/index.htm

2003-01-27 00:00:00 | Comments (13) | TrackBack (0) | Old::ComputerMods

Freedom To Tinker: Source Code and Object Code

Freedom to Tinker takes a stab at defining 'source code' and 'object code', concluding with

A more clearly stated rule might say "Code is constitutionally protected speech if it is human-readable," which is essentially the same as saying "... if a human reader can extract meaning from it." Now we have a rule that is complete and consistent, but we no longer have the illusion of a bright line rule.

While I agree, I don't think the last bit is forceful enough; there's not only no bright-line rule, there's no rule at all.

After just a few months practice, I can now read disassembled gcc-compiled MIPS code about as quickly some professional C programmers can read C code. Yes, there's an intermediate tool there -- the disassembler -- but there are intermediate tools between humans and any digital data.

Even the disassembler is optional; I've known people who could read 6810 and 6502 object code straight from the hex dump; luckily there's not much need for that any more, but I'm sure it's something I could learn.

More generally, anything a processor can process, a human can simulate and extract meaning from.
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/archives/000035.html

2002-09-06 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::politics

Footnotes to History- by James L. Erwin

http://www.buckyogi.addr.com/footnotes/

2002-08-31 00:00:00 | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0) | Old::history

Saudi Arabia - International Parental Child Abduction

Why are we allies with a country that requires exit visas to leave, much less one where women need the permission of their husband or father to apply for such a visa?
http://travel.state.gov/abduction_saudi.html

2002-08-31 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::politics

Left-Wing Lingo, Ideologies and History

A chart showing the splits, alliances, differences and history of the american left, 1900-2000
http://dsausa.org/archive/Docs/Lingo.html#history

2002-08-29 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::politics

Read Comments

I expect this poem will be all over the 'net within a week or two, and I know I'm not first (Making Light, Honeyguide and Pigs & Fishes already have it), but it's worth reading.

2002-08-20 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

BME: Body Modification Ezine - The biggest and best online bod-mod site since 1994

http://www.bme.freeq.com/

2002-06-09 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::Bizarre

coolchecks.com

They no longer have the great name Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Fine Banknotes, but coolchecks still make cool cheques.

2002-06-09 00:00:00 | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | Old::MiscMiscMisc

And remember -- someone drives the cart

http://www.gencor.ca/imv/bovine9.jpg

2002-06-09 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::Bizarre

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Daniel Weintraub: Surprise culprit in price rigging

Who was rigging California's high energy prices? Well, it may have been Enron -- but at the request of the state.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/2515931p-2984188c.html#top

2002-05-06 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::politics

The Morning News - Pascal

http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/stories/pascals_wagering.shtml

2002-04-28 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::Humor

The Unofficial Audrey Home Page

http://www.sowbug.com/audrey/

2002-04-11 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::Audrey

Audreyhacking.com :: Hacking the Audrey

http://www.audreyhacking.com/

2002-04-11 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::Audrey

I-Appliance BBS

BBS

2002-04-11 00:00:00 | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0) | Old::Audrey

lnb

Satellite TV, LNBs, multiswitches, and elliptical dishes, oh my.
http://www.geocities.com/jfaje/lnb.html

2002-03-20 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::ConsumerElectronics

Newcomb's problem

http://slate.msn.com/?id=2061419&device=

2002-02-01 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::politics

Unqualified Offerings

Jimmy Carter brought down the Soviet Union?

2002-01-21 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

Maplin Products Page

2002-01-15 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::Tools

NIST Internet Time Service

http://boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/service/time-servers.html

2002-01-10 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::science

English Spelling Rules

http://www.zompist.com/spell.html

2002-01-02 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::language

Leftist Parties of the World

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/4192/abbr.html

2002-01-02 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::politics

Hannukah

Hannukah is alive and, erm, not quite well, in Kabul. The opening night was celebrated in the synagogue by both of the Jews remaining in the city. Unfortunately, they hate each other.

2001-12-15 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::religion

Toys & Novelties from Archie McPhee Online

Archie McPhee is a good all-around source for novelties and weirdness, either in-person in their Seattle store, or on-line.

2001-12-09 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::MiscMiscMisc

Ashcroft Defends Antiterror Plan and Says Criticism May Aid Foes

[NYT; registration required, or use cpunks/cpunks]
Ashcroft is systematically destroying the 4th and 5th amendments of the US contitution, and what are Kennedy and Schumer upset about? That he's not also destroying the 2nd, and that he has actually read one of the laws he's supposed to administer.

"Why is the department handcuffing the F.B.I. in its efforts to investigate gun purchases by suspected terrorists?" asked Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts.

Mr. Ashcroft said that he believed the law that created the national directory of gun purchase applications could not be used for anything other than an audit of the system.

"I believe we did the right thing in observing what the law of the United States compels us to observe," he said.

Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, suggested that Mr. Ashcroft's reasoning was incorrect and the decision reflected the administration's opposition to gun control. "You're looking for new tools in every direction an d I support most of those," Mr. Schumer said. "But when it comes to the area of even illegal immigrants getting guns and finding out if they did, this administration becomes as weak as a wet noodle."

With friends like these, who needs Ashcroft?

2001-12-07 00:00:00 | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

Denver Post.com - The quietest bombings ever

Censorship works? Evidentally the Japanese were somewhat successful in bombing attacks on WWII, but the successes were kept quiet enough that even they didn't know about them.

2001-12-05 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::history

Apple iPod on Linux

http://neuron.com/~jason/ipod.html

2001-11-23 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::ConsumerElectronics

Man Killed in Collision with Duck

http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=786563&pic=none&TP=getarticle

2001-11-21 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::Oklahoma

Editorial: Fewer nukes, but a scary strategy

Arms reduction treaties, good! Long and drawn out arms reduction processes, good! Actual arms reduction? bad! Or so this editorial says. I wonder what the Star-Tribune's position was in the heyday of the unilateral disarmement protests?

2001-11-16 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::politics

UT Library Online - Perry-Castañeda Map Collection - Afghanistan Maps

The University of Texas has a superb collection of maps; their Afghanistan page includes historical maps, standard contemporary maps, and an up-to-the-day set of maps on the current conflict. Superb!

2001-11-15 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

All-Negative, All the Time

Y'know, I think I've heard this somewhere...

2001-11-14 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

| KEN . LAYNE . DOT . CON |

Ken Layne says some things I wish I'd found the right way to say.

For those who cry "Cultural Imperialism," I'll have you know I'm drinking Barcelona wine tonight while smoking Turkish cigarettes, watching English news on a Japanese teevee, reading an Israeli Web site, digesting a Sicilian dinner and typing on a computer built in Taiwan. I live in a U.S. city where Spanish is the dominant language, unless you go down the street to Koreatown, or over to the Russian neighborhood on Fairfax, or to my corner liquor store run by multilingual Armenians. My neighborhood is full of Central Americans and old gay men. I vote in a Roman Catholic Church, a block away from the huge Sikh temple. I eat the world's best sushi and tacos de carnitas , my wife is half-Jewish, and I'm finishing an e-mail to my Albanian Muslim friend in Macedonia (we ran a failed business together and shared his family's house in Skopje).

Am I less American because of all this internationalism? A victim of Global Imperialism? Did Nick Cave (Australian) or Leonard Cohen (Jewish Canadian) or Muhammad Ali (black Muslim war protester from Kentucky) or Ibrahim Ferrar (black Cuban) or Serge Gainsbourg (alcoholic French pedophile Eastern European Jew) or Steve Earle (hillbilly anti-Death Penalty activist) or Salman Rushdie (Muslim Indian novelist weirdo who hangs around with Irish Jesus-Freak egomaniac Bono) or Greta Van Susteren (Scientologist AOL-Time-Warner news anchor with a Dutch name) ruin me? Did Afro-Cuban records break my Free Will? Did Bob Marley steal my white Anglo birthright, just because I listened to his lovely lilting stoner songs about African Kings? Did Joey Ramone ruin me because I wasn't a long-haired Jewish punk singer from Queens? Did Shaq make me feel short and pale and nervous? Of course not! Shaquille O'Neal is the King of Los Angeles. I just live here.

2001-11-14 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

Image Upgrade

Rebrand the Earth!

2001-11-10 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::Humor

bones

Have you ever wished you had a nice model of a skeleton, complete with movable joints and little strings to control it with? Wouldn't it be nice if it would let you design your very own walk? Well, now you can.

2001-11-09 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::JustCool

Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics

MathWorld, a wonderful mathematics resource, is back, no thanks to CRC Press.

2001-11-06 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::Mathematics

Topps Entertainment | Enduring Freedom | Home

Every war needs trading cards! Collect the entire set!

2001-11-06 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

Afghanistan After the War - Don't give them democracy. Give them capitalism. By Steven E. Landsburg

Why freedom matters -- economic freedom, that is. Political freedom matters too, but for other reasons, and it can't take the place of economic freedom.

2001-11-06 00:00:00 | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

Hijackers' Meticulous Strategy of Brains, Muscle and Practice

The NYT has a nice article on the planning that went into the September 11th attacks.

2001-11-04 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

New York Times Special Report: The C.I.A. in Iran

The NYT has a special report on the CIA's role in the 1953 Iranian coup.

2001-11-01 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::history

John Ashcroft Briefs the Press on the Terrorist Threat By Timothy Noah

What a useful warning the AG gave us!

A: I'm just saying that if you happen to die along with a great many other people within the next 48 hours, don't say I didn't warn you.
Q: But-
A: Because I did.
Q: And therefore-
A: And therefore citizens should take steps to avoid being the victim of a terrorist attack.
Q: Such as?
A: In a free society, that's a matter of individual choice.

2001-11-01 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

Victory for DVD Code Cracking

A California court has decided that source code is 'pure speech' and thus has full 1st amendment protections against prior restraint. It's not a complete victory (there's still a trial scheduled to determine whether a trade secret was violated), but it's a big step in the right direction, and the first IP victory in a while.

2001-11-01 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::DMCA

sweetcode

I've wished for a long time for a version of freshmeat that didn't every silly special-purpose reimplementation of a three line shell script not worth saving even once. sweetcode is an attempt at such a thing.

2001-10-28 00:00:00 | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | Old::FreeSoftware

Reason magazine -- November 2001, Free Radical: Christopher Hitchens interviewed by Rhys Southan

Christopher Hitchins on the primacy of principle over position:

But there is no such thing as a radical left anymore. Ça n'existe pas. The world of Gloria Steinem and Jesse Jackson, let's say, has all been, though it doesn't realize it, hopelessly compromised by selling out to Clintonism. It became, under no pressure at all, and with no excuse, and in no danger, a voluntary apologist for abuse of power.

It couldn't wait to sell out. It didn't even read the small print or ask how much or act as if it were forced under pressure to do so. I don't think they've realized how that's changed everything for them. They're not a left. They're just another self-interested faction with an attitude toward government and a hope that it can get some of its people in there. That makes it the same as everyone else -- only slightly more hypocritical and slightly more self-righteous.

2001-10-28 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::politics

Robert A. Levy on war & ID on National Review Online

I can't believe we're now living in a world where people have to write long essays about why national ID cards are a bad idea, but we are. And they are.

2001-10-25 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

Copies of 3 Anthrax-Tainted Letters Are Released by Justice Dept.

The justice department has released copies of three of the anthrax letters. The ones to media figures warn the recipients to take penecillin, while the one to Daschle tells him to die. Were the media ones really intended as publicity/warning, with the gov't one intended to do damage?

2001-10-24 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

Against Rationalization

Christopher Hitchens speaks out against leftist rationalization, blaming the WTC attacks on US foreign policy.

But the bombers of Manhattan represent fascism with an Islamic face, and there's no point in any euphemism about it. What they abominate about "the West," to put it in a phrase, is not what Western liberals don't like and can't defend about their own system, but what they do like about it and must defend: its emancipated women, its scientific inquiry, its separation of religion from the state. Loose talk about chickens coming home to roost is the moral equivalent of the hateful garbage emitted by Falwell and Robertson, and exhibits about the same intellectual content.

The bit in the next paragraph about a $43million subsidy to the Taliban isn't quite accurate, though, no matter how many times it gets repeated.

2001-10-24 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

Insurer Sues to Limit Its Payout for World Trade Center

Were the WTC devestated in a single incident with two parts, or in two separate incidents? The answer to that question is worth $3.5billion.

2001-10-22 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

They Rule

They Rule is an interactive system for exploring the (interlocking) directorates of the Fortune 500. It requires Flash 5, but it's actually worth it for this.

2001-10-22 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::Finance

This Modern World: Right-Wing Fanatics Controlling Us?

http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2001/10/22/tomo/story.gif

2001-10-22 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

Silence of 4 Terror Probe Suspects Poses Dilemma (washingtonpost.com)

How do you get information from a terrorist who has already demonstrated that he's not afraid to die? According to the Washington Post, the FBI is having an internal debate on exactly that question.

Among the alternative strategies under discussion are using drugs or pressure tactics, such as those employed occasionally by Israeli interrogators, to extract information. Another idea is extraditing the suspects to allied countries where security services sometimes employ threats to family members or resort to torture.

Those are all awful answers, but are there better ones?

2001-10-21 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

PCProgress

PCProgress has the 40gig Toshiba 3.5"/9mm drive I've been waiting for in stock, and has a good price on the Maxtor 80gig/5400rpm drive, and several people on the PJB100 mailing list have ordered from them with no problems, so I'm giving them a try. I just ordered a 40gig upgrade for my mp3 player and an 80gig upgrade for my ReplayTV2020 (although I may keep that and try it in the 40x0 if it ships on time).

2001-10-21 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::ComputerRetail

Congressional Succession Amendment

Representative Baird has introduced an amendment dealing with congressional succession in a national emergency. If 25% or more of the House is dead or incapacitated, state governors have 7 days to appoint temporary members, with elections to be held within 90 days.

I don't think the first clause is phrased well; appointments are to take place within 7 days of a members' death or incapacity, but only when 25% are incapacitated. If 25 members die a day for 9 days, the 25% mark is hit, but it's not clear the first 50 to die (in days 1 and 2) can be replaced; it's no longer within 7 days of their death.

2001-10-20 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::politics

Microsoft's Digital Rights Management Scheme - Technical Details

Microsoft's DRM2, their second attempt at a Digital Rights Management system, has been broken. It's important to remember when hearing the phrase "Digital Rights Management" that the rights being managed aren't the customers -- who aren't supposed to ever know how the software they bought and paid for works -- but rather someone else's.

Documenting this is probably a violation of the DMCA. Selling a music player without something like this would be a violation of the SSSCA, if it were to become law. Remember: your computer exists for the benefit of the RIAA and MPAA, not you.

2001-10-20 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::DMCA

Am I a christian or muslim nut-job?

http://funnystrange.com/quiz/

2001-10-20 00:00:00 | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

In Field Hockey, a Twist on Title IX

Should girls good enough to make the team be allowed to play on (boys) highschool football and baseball teams? If so, then shouldn't boys good enough be allowed to play on (girls) highschool field hockey teams? This NYT article (username:cipherpunks, password:cipherpunks works, I think) discusses the backlash in Massachussetts.

2001-10-20 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::GenderRelations

Pippy

I'd rather have perl, but pippy is Python for PalmOS.

2001-10-20 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::PalmOS

Douglas W. Jones's chad page

Amazing! Actual research into failure modes for Votomatic machines. It looks to me like these machines should be retired pronto.

2001-10-19 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::politics

WTC Tourist

And here are even more pics of that elusive ubiqitous tourist.

2001-10-18 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

TouristOfDeath.com

It seems that unlucky tourist has really gotten around over the past few centuries.

2001-10-18 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

Dictionary of Slang Drug Terms

"Bones" is drug slang for smoked cocaine. Evidentally every word in the english language is drug slong for something.

2001-10-17 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::language

A few things I know about LISP Machines

Some good tips on buying a LispM.

2001-10-16 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::ComputerHistory

The Dumbest Invention in the World

D Magazine has an interesting article on the :CueCat, the momentaraily ubiqitous marketing insanity of mid-2000.

2001-10-16 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::ComputerIndustry

Lady Liberty, taliban style

http://pix.cloudband.com/alex/talibantastic/ph1.jpg

2001-10-15 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

oh, fuck it.

http://www.explodingdog.com/august6/fuckit.html

2001-10-15 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

October 10, 2001: Wiretapping Provisions of Anti-Terrorism Legislation

[from Crypto-Gram] The ACLU has a very nice comparison of the wiretapping provisions of various versions of the anti-terrorism bills working their way through congress.

2001-10-15 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

Freedoms Curtailed In Defense Of Liberty

Freedoms Curtailed in Defense of Liberty:

U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who advocated permitting the CIA to engage in various illegal activities during a recent Tonight Show With Jay Leno appearance, stressed the importance of not merely submitting to freedom-curtailment policies, but also blindly agreeing with them.

2001-10-15 00:00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Old::September11

Margaret Manuel Larason

My grandmother Margaret died this morning.

2001-10-09 00:00:00 | Comments (0) |