posts brought to you by the category “simson”
Das eez kaput! Sometime around 2002 I spaced the entire database
table that mapped individual entries to categories. Such is life.
What follows is a random sampling of entries that were associated
with the category. Over time, the entries will be updated and then it
will be even more confusing. Wander around, though, it's still a fun
way to find stuff.
Simson Garfinkel : I pity the fool
Tortilla tortilla tortilla?
boulevard St. Laurent, Montréal, September
2003
The story began with a network security guy,
Excerpted : Is that a database in your pants?
Friday June 13 2003
Montreal
The other day I finished importing five years of email into a database
so I could do full text searches on it.
Because I have a potty-mouth, I discovered that out of a possible 32,
000 messages fewer than 400 contain both the words "fuck" and "shit".
<snip />
Part of my struggle ... was trying to remember how to set the auto-increment
counter for a field in one of the database tables.
Would that I were able to find what I needed in the docs, but I knew
that the answer was buried somewhere in an old email message. So I
typed...
$> findmail -date 2002 -term '(auto increment)'
...and, lo, there it was!
Some day, I'll make paintings about all this crap. You'll see...
Jarkko Hietaniemi : The Zen of Comprehensive Archive Networks
Matthew Wall-Smith : The Network Society: A Shift in Cognitive
Ecologies?
asc says: "By examining the psychodynamic effects on human cognition of the
adoption of the technology of writing we can logically assess and contextualize
the
potential effect of the massification of networked information systems on our
day-to-day thought processes. The identification of congruent, parallel and
differential affect between writing and network technologies demands that their
development be considered above and beyond the dictates and imperatives of
consumer capitalism, it demands that the Internet be thought of in terms of
public
infrastructure rather than saleable capital."
asc says: Dude, where's my car?
bendoh says: did a lawyer write that?
bendoh says: He should have put a smiley face at the end of that. It would've
made
it all better.
asc says: Academic.
asc says: Lawyers would almost certainly argue in favour of saleable captial
because then it would subject to all kinds of litigation.
bendoh says: I would not want to read that paper. It would make my head fall
off
and subsequently explode.
asc says: That would be a symptom of massification and the differential aspect
of
the network.
bendoh says: If I could think of anything remotely witty to respond to that
with, I
would say it.
asc says: Dude, where's my car?
bendoh says: hehe
A FreeBSD Operating System Security Checklist
The random pseudodictionary.com word of the day is : waterfall
effect
1. Used to describe how the sound of running water
induces you to pee. 2. May also be used to describe how when a girl
has to go to the bathroom every other girl has to go as
well.
ex. God, that table has all the cute guys. Let’s go
over there and talk about white water rafting. Ramona, you make the
appropriate noises. When they experience the waterfall effect,
we’ll steal the boys.
The random pseudodictionary.com word of the day is : grimble
1.Any movie in which, no matter how important the man's
job (stopping an assasination, saving the universe, generally
preserving life), his wife does nothing but gripe about how it's
breaking the family up and that he missed little Jimmy's birthday
again. 2. The act of a movie woman griping in this way.
ex. Sissy Spacek did nothing but grimble all the way
through the movie _JFK_.
The Gazoo : Revenge of the bloggers
Roy's creation - titled
Blogue Out: Portraits of a
Conflict
- is aimed at Radio-Canada's audience, people wondering why their local
programming has been interrupted. It started as a way to "tell the story
of the lockout from a personal standpoint," Roy says. "But during the
first weekend, I saw the opportunity to tell stories." ... "I wanted to
let the public know that we're not a bunch of fat cats," Roy said. "There
are fat cats within the CBC, but it's really not the majority of
employees locked out right now."
Alex Ulmanu : What about SMS journalism?
"What better use can one get for the old inverted
pyramid? Since journalism students learn that when writing news stories
they have to give as much information as possible in as few words as
possible, SMS seems to be the ultimate expression of journalistic
concision."
A little piece of happiness is knowing you're not completely alone
in the world...
"They told us CBC Radio doesn't create enough buzz.
They want a radio service that has people talking
around the water cooler."
The Connection on the NYC Jewish Museum's "Mirroring Evil"
exhibit.
"Taking ownership of horror is unnerving, and the
show has set off a furious debate over Holocaust imagery, over how far
you can stretch an artistic representation of this history before it
becomes evil itself."
The dictified dictionary.com word of the day is : lenity
Lenity \Len"i*ty\ (-t[y^]), n. [L. lenitas, fr. lenis soft,
mild: cf. OF. lenit['e]. See {Lenient}.] The state or quality of being
lenient; mildness of temper or disposition; gentleness of treatment;
softness; tenderness; clemency; -- opposed to {severity} and {rigor}.
His exceeding lenity disposes us to be somewhat too severe. --Macaulay.
Syn: Gentleness; kindness; tenderness; softness; humanity; clemency;
mercy.
web1913
lenity n : mercifulness as a consequence of being lenient
or tolerant [syn: {lenience}, {leniency}, {mildness}]
wn
The random pseudodictionary.com word of the day is : griswald
"a tourist (from the "Vacation" movies, said dismissively
by native Floridians)"
ex. Could those griswalds wear any more
cameras?
The random pseudodictionary.com word of the day is : neutron
(adj) describes something extremely impressive. Origin -
since the neutron bomb is the most destructive bomb, describing
something as "neutron" means that it is more impressive than something
that is just "the bomb."
ex. I went to see the Ween concert last night. It was
neutron!
see also :
neutron dict-ified
The random pseudodictionary.com word of the day is :
hypernormous
Beyond big.
ex. The rock star was making hypernormous amounts of
money.
The 24 Hour Plays
"The process begins at 10pm the night before the
show, when a group of about fifty writers, directors, actors and
designers gather at a theater for the latest round of what has become a
highly anticipated ritual. After everyone has been briefed (and
Polaroided), the writers are left alone to each compose a ten-minute
play. At 7am, the directors return, read the plays, make their bids, and
begin casting. The actors arrive at 8am, meet with their respective
writer/director teams; rehearsals start promptly at 9am. Tech rehearsal
runs from 5 to 7:30pm - doors open at 7:45. At 8pm, ink barely dry, the
new plays are performed for a live audience."
Me : sbook5-xsltools 0.1
The dictified dictionary.com word of the day is : furbelow
Furbelow \Fur"be*low\, n. [Prov. F. farbala, equiv. to F.
falbala, It. falbal[`a].] A plaited or gathered flounce on a woman's
garment.
web1913
furbelow n : a strip of pleated material used as a
decoration or a trim [syn: {frill}, {flounce}, {ruffle}]
wn
Radio Crankypants #3 : Well, I got it work on an old Mac.
The dict-ified dictionary.com word of the day is malapropos
| source : web1913 | Malapropos \Mal*ap"ro*pos`\,
a. & adv. [F. mal [`a] propos; mal evil + [`a] propos to the
purpose.] Unseasonable or unseasonably; unsuitable or unsuitably. |
source : wn | malapropos adj : of an inappropriate or incorrectly applied
nature [ant: {apropos}] adv : at an inconvenient time; "he arrived
inopportunely just as we sat down for dinner"; "she answered malapropos"
[syn: {inopportunely}] [ant: {opportunely}]
The dict-ified dictionary.com word of the day is asseverate
| source : web1913 | Asseverate \As*sev"er*ate\,
v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Asseverated}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Asseverating}.] [L. asseveratus, p. p. of asseverare to assert seriously
or earnestly; ad + severus. See {Severe}.] To affirm or aver positively,
or with solemnity. Syn: To affirm; aver; protest; declare. See {Affirm}.
| source : wn | asseverate v : state categorically [syn: {assert},
{maintain}]
Ken Simpson : Pyinline
"allows you to put source code from other
programming languages directly "inline" in a Python script or module. The
code is automatically compiled as needed, and then loaded for immediate
access from Python. PyInline is the Python equivalent of Brian Ingerson's
Inline module for Perl"
The dict-ified dictionary.com word of the day is profuse
| source : web1913 | Profuse \Pro*fuse"\, v. t.
To pour out; to give or spend liberally; to lavish; to squander. [Obs.]
--Chapman. | source : web1913 | Profuse \Pro*fuse"\, a. [L. profusus, p.
p. of profundere to pour forth or out; pro forward, forth + fundere to
pour: cf. F. profus. See {Fuse} to melt.] 1. Pouring forth with fullness
or exuberance; bountiful; exceedingly liberal; giving without stint; as,
a profuse government; profuse hospitality. A green, shady bank, profuse
of flowers. --Milton. 2. Superabundant; excessive; prodigal; lavish; as,
profuse expenditure. ``Profuse ornament.'' --Kames. Syn: Lavish;
exuberant; bountiful; prodigal; extravagant. Usage: {Profuse}, {Lavish},
{Prodigal}. Profuse denotes pouring out (as money, etc.) with great
fullness or freeness; as, profuse in his expenditures, thanks, promises,
etc. Lavish is stronger, implying unnecessary or wasteful excess; as,
lavish of his bounties, favors, praises, etc. Prodigal is stronger still,
denoting unmeasured or reckless profusion; as, prodigal of one's
strength, life, or blood, to secure some object. --Dryden. | source : wn
| profuse adj : produced or growing in extreme abundance; "their riotous
blooming" [syn: {exuberant}, {lush}, {luxuriant}, {riotous}]
Chris Radcliff : Perl for the Web
"...provides tools and strategies to improve the
performance of existing Web applications in Perl. It also provides
principles and ideas that help Web programmers create an extensible
framework for future growth. The full text of the book is offered right
here."
Me : Blogger.pm
developerWorks : Automating UNIX system administration with
Perl
"A big reason that UNIX administration is
challenging is that every UNIX vendor believes standards are for
weak-minded fools. ... If you are serious about automating system
administration, cfengine is a tool you should know. Ignoring cfengine is
a viable option only if you like to spend your days in the vi editor."
via
qube corner
The dict-ified dictionary.com word of the day is crux
| source : web1913 | Crux \Crux\ (kr[u^]ks), n.;
pl. E. {Cruxes} (-[e^]z), L. {Cruces} (kr[udd]"s[=e]z). [L., cross,
torture, trouble.] Anything that is very puzzling or difficult to
explain. --Dr. Sheridan. The perpetual crux of New Testament
chronologists. --Strauss. | source : wn | Crux n 1: a small conspicuous
constellation the the southern hemisphere in the Milky Way near Centaurus
[syn: {Southern Cross}, {Crux}, {Crux Australis}] 2: the most important
point [syn: {crux of the matter}]
The dict-ified dictionary.com word of the day is penury
| source : web1913 | Penury \Pen"u*ry\, n. [L.
penuria; cf. Gr. ? hunger, ? poverty, need, ? one who works for his daily
bread, a poor man, ? to work for one's daily bread, to be poor: cf. F.
p['e]nurie.] 1. Absence of resources; want; privation; indigence; extreme
poverty; destitution. ``A penury of military forces.'' --Bacon. They were
exposed to hardship and penury. --Sprat. It arises in neither from penury
of thought. --Landor. 2. Penuriousness; miserliness. [Obs.] --Jer.
Taylor. | source : wn | penury n : a state of extreme poverty or
destitution; "their indigence appalled him"; "a general state of need
exists among the homeless" [syn: {indigence}, {need}, {pauperism}]
If you'll indulge me in a brief One Year Ago Today moment,
The FreeBSD Corporate Networker's Guide : Printserving
Big thanks to everyone who's sent along birthday wishes.
Last night, we went for dinner at a little
Italian place around the corner. The food was delicious and the decor
looked like it was straight out of the Ikea for Monarchists catalogue.
The funniest part of the evening was reading the guestbook where *every
single* person made a comment, polite or otherwise, about the atrocious
spelling on the menu. Never mind "grilled smallots", what are "wails
stuffed with veal" ?
Fred Evans : Cyberspace and the Concept of Democracy
"I argue that the Internet's status as a
"virtual" rather than actual reality (its status as a serendipitous form
of what phenomenologists call an epochéor a "placing within brackets" of
our standard beliefs) reveals some of the more important aspects
underlying democracy. In particular, the Internet's virtual status
indicates that society is what I term a "metamorphosing multi-voiced
body." This implies that democracy off-line and online must support the
interplay or solidarity among the "voices" of this body (as opposed to
their mere plurality) and simultaneously respect their heterogeneity. It
must adopt the "interplay of equally audible voices" as its political
ideal. Because this interplay among voices produces new discourses,
democracy's valorization of the multi-voiced body must also affirm the
metamorphosis that society's creativity brings about." see also
Derek
Powazek : The C-word
Slice of life : "What is weblogs anyway?
sounds kinda foul... like a big electronic turd."
BugTraq : Arbitrary file disclosure through PHP file upload
Yahoo : "NetDocuments Uses AvantGo Mobile Internet Service
to Allow Document Viewing On Palm Devices and
Web-Enabled Phones. ... With AvantGo, selected documents from a person's
NetDocuments folders can be viewed and read while on the go traveling,
visiting clients or customers or simply reviewing documents sent by
others. NetDocuments converts the original document format into HTML on
the fly and sends it to the person's mobile device via the AvantGo
service. An SSL connection is maintained to ensure complete privacy and
encryption of the documents while transmitted over the Internet."
MaxSQL
"is a MySQL distribution compiled with Sleepycat
software's BerkeleyDB support for transactions. MaxSQL will be released
under the GNU GPL licence as soon as BerkelyDB transactional tables are
sufficiently stable and functional to pass our test suite. The release is
scheduled to the end of August."
International Panel of Eminent Personalities : Report on the 1994
Rwanda Genocide
"But when it came to trying to understand the
actual act of killing, we confess our total failure. We acknowledge from
the outset this failure. We have grasped the insidious process by which
people were stirred up. We understand how they were manipulated and how
they came to accept the demonization and dehumanization of others.
We studied the literature, some of it highly controversial, that attempts
to account for collective human breakdowns in which ordinary citizens
turn into monsters. We have arrived at a certain comprehension of
the complex series of factors at work. But we do not pretend for a
moment that we have reached any understanding of the act of one neighbour
or one Christian or one teacher actually hacking another to death.
Perhaps, some day, answers will emerge. But for now, we are able to
offer little illumination on the first questions that so many people
reasonably ask."
Question
Are there any services online where you can query
for NIC handles? I know that you can type a (meatspace) name into the
existing domain name tools and get an answer. The problem is that it
returns both the domains and the handles and I'm wondering if someone has
already gone to the trouble of filtering out the former.
Let me know
.
Jason Kottke : Hello, hexagonal iMac-inspired goodness.
For a counter-point to this thought, take a
stroll to your local library or magazine store and pick up the current
issue of Harpers. They've reprinted a convocation speech delivered by
Mark
Kingwell
. Smooth things, he argues, are tools of The Man and will only lead us
down the road to greater homogenization and servitude. He also recently
wrote a piece for Saturday Night extolling the virtues of concrete,
unfinished of course. Unfortunately, SN has revamped their website
without
first finishing the archiving system
.
MacOS Rumors on QuickTime 5
"QuickTime VR will be enhanced with true
three-dimensional "sphere" VR rather than today's "circular" QTVR
environment." mmmmmm...
spheres
Am I really supposed to get excited
Rex Murphy
"The Canadian Alliance suffered this week, not
from the non-entry of an Ontario candidate. That can be remedied. It
suffered from the consideration -- as outlined at this strange press
conference -- that the principles of accountancy trumped the accountancy
of principles. Fundraising preceded commitment."
NY Times : For Museums, Internet Art Is a Tricky Fit
"Alas, she discovered that the art in the room
was silent for the moment. The noise she had heard was just the gallery's
computer being restarted -- again." The strangest part though is the
following : "But an RTMark member said the address was changed on the
Whitney site, from rtmark.com to www.rtmark.com, so that the
reprogramming was defeated and the group's standard site was displayed
instead.", which suggests someone needs to read the
apache
docs.
Charles C. Mann : Bugged
Wherein the author coins the phrase "Microsoftian
uselessness".
SAGE : Perl Practicum
"From 1993 to 1997, ;login: published a series of
articles "intended to demystify some of the more occult aspects of Perl
programming" (to quote from the introduction to the first article,
published in August 1993). We are pleased to present the entire
collection here."
SANS : Consensus Roadmap for Defeating Distributed Denial of
Service Attacks
Honeylocust : Linux got me kicked out of Wal-Mart
"She told us that wasn't allowed, so we'd have to
leave or she'd have to take [the pictures]. Afterward we wondered what
would have happened if they'd tried to search the computer. Would they
have had anyone who could have figured out how to log in?"
Eye : There's a lot of money in dick
Susan L. Lukesh : Email and the Potential Loss to Future Archives
and Scholarship
Adbusters : Creative Resistance Contest
"DIRTY AIR. ALTERED FOODS. MISINFORMATION. LOSS
OF IDENTITY. These are problems most people just can't warm to. If you're
a graphic designer, art student, ad agency team, or multi-media pro, you
have the skills to help solve them. Adbusters wants you to sell ideas,
not just products. So we're running a contest. Send us your best social
marketing concept - storyboard, poster, print-ad, spoof, or any other
creative détournement." This has always struck me a dangerous way to
confront The Beast, but atleast Adbusters has the courage
to address the
issue
.
Andrew Shapiro
"In the context you mention -- protecting kids
from sexual material while safeguarding the free-speech rights of adults
-- I want to invite the reader to think about how commercial middlemen in
society have traditionally helped us to strike this balance."
Mark Stevens on the MOMA's "Fame after Photography"
"As fame yields to celebrity, so does art to
artist, character to personality, and memory to nostalgia."
M.J. Milloy on the St.Jean parade
"After that it dissolved into nothing more
exciting than acres and acres of marchers holding up the clean logos of
corporations: Vidéotron, Hydro-Québec, la Caisse de Depôt.... The
organizers, having stripped the parade of its more overt nationalist and
separatist emblems, had replaced them with the symbols of Quebec?s
corporate elite." It's fascinating and scary how this stuff works. In
<a href = "http://www.commonreader.com/2/2159.html
">Faust's Metropolis</a>, Alexandra Ritchie notes
that, many Germans following World War II, translated their national
identity from one of cultural heritage into one of money making.
Cool! I just got my BeOS 4.5 CD in the mail
I hope that it is more stable than r4. I honestly
felt like I was using MacOS 7.5.x some days.
I went to the Brooklyn Museum of Art website
to get the dates for the "Sensation" show. I was
pleasantly surprised to see the number of good shows this year,
notwithstanding the obligatory Impressionist exhibition. Now to figure
out how to get to New York three times this summer...
wtf?
-
dude, where's my car
This document uses
CSS
kung-fu and a small amount of JavaScript for rendering its
contents. Efforts have been made to separate the form from the
content so if you are viewing this in a text-based browser it
shouldn't be an issue.
On the other hand it may look funny if you are viewing it in a
browser with incomplete
CSS
and/or JavaScript implementations. Internet Explorer 6 comes to
mind.
It's not that I don't love you. However, my time is limited and
I no longer feel very good about spending it working around any one
browser's inconsistencies with little, or no, confidence that they
will ever be fixed or otherwise made more inconsistent at some
later date.
On the other hand, if something is down-right
unreadable
please let me know and I will endeavour to fix it.
-
yes, we have no bananas
This page may not validate. It's not that I don't care, it's
just that I'm not aware of it yet. Part of the reason that I
rewrote the entire back-end for managing this site is that the old
stuff made it too easy for these kinds of mistakes to slip through
the cracks.
See also :
W3C::LogValidator.pm
-
it's the software, stupid
Use the source, Luke.
Whoa.