Poetry Pages are Back!

Many people have been asking me about my poetry pages lately. Well, they are coming back slowly. Basically I've been editing them and getting rid of all the crud MS FrontPage put in them years ago. I'll be adding them to the site a few authors at a time, until the entire archive is up. Today I've added W.H. Auden, James Beattie, and William Blake

audblog audio post

An Interesting Quote

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger." -- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials Quote authenticated at: http://www.snopes.com/quotes/goering.htm

PCWorld.com - Are the Feds Reading Your E-Mail?

PCWorld.com - Are the Feds Reading Your E-Mail? Senator's are pushing a new bill to require greater oversight of the FBI, when it's spying on US citizens.

Digital Needle - A Virtual Gramophone

Digital Needle - A Virtual Gramophone This cool piece of software will allow you to scan an record, and play it back on your computer. The sound is pretty distored, but I think it's still cool.

Wired News: Cisco's Power Grab: Wireless LANs

Wired News: Cisco's Power Grab: Wireless LANs Another article on Cisco's Wi-Fi antics.

The Photographer's Right - A Downloadable Flyer

Your Rights When Stopped or Confronted for Photography The right to take photographs is now under assault more than ever. People are being stopped, harassed, and even intimidated into handing over their personal property simply because they were taking photographs of subjects that made other people uncomfortable. Recent examples include photographing industrial plants, bridges, and vessels at sea. For the most part, attempts to restrict photography are based on misguided fears about the supposed dangers that unrestricted photography presents to society. Ironically, unrestricted photography by private citizens has played an integral role in protecting the freedom, security, and well being of all Americans. Photography in the United States has contributed to improvements in civil rights, curbed abusive child labor practices, and provided information important to investigating crimes. These images have not always been pretty and often have offended the sensibilities of governmental and commercial interests who had vested interests in a status quo that was adverse to the majority in our country. Photography has not contributed to a decline in public safety or economic vitality in the United States. When people think back to the acts of terrorism that have occurred over the last forty years, none have depended on or even involved photography. Restrictions on photography would have not prevented any of these acts. Similarly, some corporations have a history of abusing the rights of photographers under the guise of protecting their trade secrets. These claims are almost always bogus since entities are required to keep trade secrets from public view if they want to protect them. Trade secret laws do not give anyone the right to persecute photographers. The Photographer's Right is a downloadable guide that is loosely based on the ACLU's Bust Card and the Know Your Rights flyer. It may be downloaded and printed out using Adobe Acrobat Reader. You may make copies and carry them your wallet, pocket or camera bag to give you quick access to your rights and obligations concerning confrontations over photography. You may distribute the guide to others provided that such distribution is not done for commercial gain and credit is given to the author. http://www.krages.com/ThePhotographersRight.pdf BERT P. KRAGES, ATTORNEY AT LAW 6665 S.W. Hampton Street, Suite 200 Portland, Oregon 97223

Maybe I should think twice about using Ebay.

"When someone uses our site and clicks on the 'I Agree' button, it is as if he agrees to let us submit all of his data to the legal authorities. Which means that if you are a law-enforcement officer, all you have to do is send us a fax with a request for information, and ask about the person behind the seller's identity number, and we will provide you with his name, address, sales history and other details - all without having to produce a court order. We want law enforcement people to spend time on our site." -- Joseph Sullivan, eBay's director of "law enforcement and compliance," explains the fine print behind the company's privacy policy.

Cisco lets chipmakers in on Wi-Fi tech | CNET News.com

Cisco lets chipmakers in on Wi-Fi tech | CNET News.com Hmmm...

Wired News: Why Did Google Want Blogger?

Wired News: Why Did Google Want Blogger? I'm sure we all need another article about Google and Blogger. But, I'm interested in the topic since this site is managed by Blogger.

Wired 11.03: Stripped for Parts

Wired 11.03: Stripped for Parts With all the talk of organ transplants, it's good to see an article that looks at the other side: The Donor.

DVDRHelp.com

DVDRHelp.com This is a neat site with a ton of information about making your own video cds and dvds.

A Soldier's Viewpoint on Surviving Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Attacks

This article is great. Everyone shoule read it. Here is an excerpt: Since the media has decided to scare everyone with predictions of chemical, biological, or nuclear warfare on our turf I decided to write a paper and keep things in their proper perspective. I am a retired military weapons, munitions, and training expert. Lesson number one: In the mid 1990s there were a series of nerve gas attacks on crowded Japanese subway stations. Given perfect conditions for an attack less than 10% of the people there were injured (the injured were better in a few hours) and only one percent of the injured died. 60 Minutes once had a fellow telling us that one drop of nerve gas could kill a thousand people, well he didn't tell you the thousand dead people per drop was theoretical. Drill Sergeants exaggerate how terrible this stuff was to keep the recruits awake in class (I know this because I was a Drill Sergeant too). Forget everything you've ever seen on TV, in the movies, or read in a novel about this stuff, it was all a lie (read this sentence again out loud!). These weapons are about terror, if you remain calm, you will probably not die. This is far less scary than the media and their "Experts," make it sound.

750 Women Go Nude in Protest

750 Women Go Nude in Protest. I would be more interested in protest if they did things like this in the US. Wow...

infoSync : Review: Sony CLIE PEG-SJ33

infoSync : Review: Sony CLIE PEG-SJ33. Here is a review of Sony's newest Palm powered handheld.

infoSync : First 3G phone from Sony Ericsson

infoSync : First 3G phone from Sony Ericsson. This phone is pretty cool. It's the first Video phone I've seen from the company. It has USB, Memory Stick, IrDA, but apparently no Bluetooth.

Wired News: Discovering a Secret of Long Life

Wired News: Discovering a Secret of Long LifeLOS ANGELES -- Scientists for the first time have identified a common genetic mutation in people over 100 years old, a finding they say could be a key to discovering a way to avoid the ravages of aging. In a study conducted at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, researchers found that centenarians were five times more likely than others to have the same mutation in their mitochrondrial DNA.

News - Wireless HiFi over WiFi from Linksys next month?

News - Wireless HiFi over WiFi from Linksys next month? I'm doing this now, with an iBook. But it would be really cool to get rid of the computer, and have a dedicated device.

Intercot: Walt Disney World Information Guide - Epcot

Intercot: Walt Disney World Information Guide - EpcotAnother tribute to Horizons. This one with a video.

Horizons at WDW EPCOT

Horizons at WDW EPCOT This site has a tribute to my favorite ride at EPCOT center in DisneyWorld. Horizons.

The Columbia Tragedy

The Columbia Tragedy site has a nice collection of political cartoons made in response to the loss of the space shuttle Columbia.

Perspective: Ashcroft's worrisome spy plans - Tech News - CNET.com

Perspective: Ashcroft's worrisome spy plans - Tech News - CNET.com This is a good article talking about the new Domestic Security Enhancement Act.

Wired News: Mitnick Amused By Website Hacks

Wired News: Mitnick Amused By Website Hacks What goes around comes around...

Wired News: New Mac Tool Is Kon-Fabulous

Wired News: New Mac Tool Is Kon-Fabulous This tool looks really cool. I hope that someone does something similar in windows.

Office for Macs to get Exchange update - Tech News - CNET.com

Office for Macs to get Exchange update - Tech News - CNET.com OS X will finally get naitive access to Microsoft Exchange. This article is a little heavy-handed when talking about access to exchange now. All I do on my mac is run the old OS9 version of outlook. It works great under OSX and I don't have any problems accessing my companies exchange data.

Manned Spaceflight

Why manned spaceflight? Survival of the species. We cannot stay confined to Earth, because the risks are too great and we deserve to survive. Our window of opportunity is short. Unmanned spaceflight has its place and we'll continue to deploy communications satellites and other resource-saving tools that way, but the only way we're going to get better at getting people off the planet and back is to practice, learn, and improve. So why can't we stay confined to Earth? Just look at the trends. In the distant past, a hungry lion could slay a small tribe. In the 1300s, black death could wipe out entire villages. In the last century, a single bomb could destroy a major city. You can see where the curve points. In an era of demented bigots thinking God is commanding them to kill civilians, and with evolution in fields like nanotechnology and germ warfare, the threat can outstrip even the amazing rate of population growth and before long will have the potential to end the life of our entire species. If we can spread to the nearby planets and solar systems, we might be able to outrun the waves of self-destruction so that our brief time here has the potential to mean something in the longer term. If we kill ourselves, we lose. If our population-growth and resource-consumption rates outstrip the supply of materials we need to escape the Earth's gravity, we'll be this millennium's replay of those who felled enough trees on Easter Island that ships could no longer be built. Again we lose. Do we deserve to survive as a species? To be sure, we've got more than a fair share of hate and bigotry and inequality and suffering, but we've also got love and honor, sacrifice and curiosity, intelligence and honesty, and the sense of wonder and a sense of humor. I say we deserve a shot to see what we'll be when we grow up. Suppose you don't buy those arguments. You think humanity would just be a boil on the butt of the galaxy. Or you disbelieve the population-growth curves, or, worse yet, you point out that war and starvation have a way of keeping the population in check. Excuse me, but that's a solution? If you're in that camp, at least think about simple quality of life -- as long as life lasts here in this increasingly precarious world. War after war has been fought over resources. Opinions vary, but I look at population-growth curves and shrinking mineral and natural-gas reserves and I'd be willing to bet the curves will continue to accelerate. Despite those people who say everyone alive could fit into the state of Texas, my idea of living doesn't center on having my own paved two square meters and eating piped-in gruel. Each new frontier gets more difficult and costly to explore, but each one dramatically broadens our knowledge and expands our resources. Forget about trivialities like Velcro and Tang. This next frontier might unveil new energy sources or merely a continue the growth in the knowledge base that has doubled our lifespan, reduced our work week, allowed us to make significant repairs to our bodies, and created microwave popcorn. Without exploring our world, a desert tribe might never have known that just over the hill was a lush valley packed with shade, lush plant life, and water. Who knows what lies ahead for us? Maybe the meek will inherit the Earth. The brave are likely to discover places even more beautiful and exciting. The debt to those explorers and their families is one we'll never be able to repay. The very least we can do is say thank you. John E. Stith, Copyright 2003, Earth. This piece may be freely reprinted as long as attribution is maintained.

PCWorld.com - Dell Drops Floppy Drives in New PCs

PCWorld.com - Dell Drops Floppy Drives in New PCs Dell is finally dropping the floppy disk drive in its computers. Apple did this a few years ago, and I hope it's only the start for Dell. Maybe next they will drop the serial port, and parallel ports as well. That would be great.

PCWorld.com - RIAA Site Under Attack--Again

PCWorld.com - RIAA Site Under Attack--Again Maybe they should just take their site down ;-)

Justice Dept. Drafts Sweeping Expansion of Anti-Terrorism Act

Justice Dept. Drafts Sweeping Expansion of Anti-Terrorism Act Premier Bush and Comrade Ashcroft are working very hard to make this the People's Republic of America. Read the latest Anti-Terrorism Act, and decide for yourself what kind of police state you would like to live in?

Saltire : Blogging by Steve MacLaughlin

Saltire : Blogging by Steve MacLaughlin Steve, has put together a very comprehensive report on this morning's Columbia disaster.