evanmorris.com

Ford's funeral tones down regal touches, and Bush will miss Capitol service

Gerald Ford's state funeral is missing some of grandeur of the one for Ronald Reagan two years ago, a reflection of the 38th president's modest ways and lesser imprint on the country, according to further planning details released Thursday.

Part of it will be missing President George W. Bush, too. The president will not attend Ford's state funeral in the Rotunda on Saturday night, but will return to Washington from his Texas ranch on Monday, pay respects to Ford while his remains lie in state at the Capitol, and speak Tuesday at services for Ford at the National Cathedral.

Ford created a posthumous buzz with the release of interviews critical of Bush that he gave to two newspapers on condition they not be published at the time.

He told The Washington Post in 2004 and the New York Daily News in May that Bush was mistaken in his rationale for going to war against Iraq. He also said he was "dumbfounded" when he learned of Bush's domestic surveillance program.

George Bush, Troubled Teen. Disgraceful.

Posted by evan at 12:37 AM | Permalink

A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection

Executive Summary:

Windows Vista includes an extensive reworking of core OS elements in order to provide content protection for so-called "premium content", typically HD data from Blu-Ray and HD-DVD sources. Providing this protection incurs considerable costs in terms of system performance, system stability, technical support overhead, and hardware and software cost. These issues affect not only users of Vista but the entire PC industry, since the effects of the protection measures extend to cover all hardware and software that will ever come into contact with Vista, even if it's not used directly with Vista (for example hardware in a Macintosh computer or on a Linux server). This document analyses the cost involved in Vista's content protection, and the collateral damage that this incurs throughout the computer industry.

Executive Executive Summary:

The Vista Content Protection specification could very well constitute the longest suicide note in history.

See also this for a slightly less technical summary of the article.

Posted by evan at 12:26 AM | Permalink

Very Fine Lines - washingtonpost.com

No. Yes. No. No. Remnick picks up a cartoon of a corporate boardroom with a bunch of guys in suits sitting around a conference table with one chair occupied by a brain in a jar. The caption reads, "But first let's all congratulate Ted on his return to work."

" Ewwww!" Remnick says, half groaning, half laughing. "Bob!"

"It's great!" Mankoff says.

"It's horrible!" Remnick responds, laughing.

"What? A little brain in a jar?" Mankoff replies. "No animals were hurt in the making of this cartoon."

Remnick laughs. But he doesn't change his mind. "Not here," he says. It's a No.

Posted by evan at 12:30 PM | Permalink

George Orwell Was Right: Spy Cameras See Britons' Every Move

Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- It's Saturday night in Middlesbrough, England, and drunken university students are celebrating the start of the school year, known as Freshers' Week.

One picks up a traffic cone and runs down the street. Suddenly, a disembodied voice booms out from above:

"You in the black jacket! Yes, you! Put it back!'' The confused student obeys as his friends look bewildered.

"People are shocked when they hear the cameras talk, but when they see everyone else looking at them, they feel a twinge of conscience and comply,'' said Mike Clark, a spokesman for Middlesbrough Council who recounted the incident. The city has placed speakers in its cameras, allowing operators to chastise miscreants who drop coffee cups, ride bicycles too fast or fight outside bars.

Almost 70 years after George Orwell created the all-seeing dictator Big Brother in the novel "1984,'' Britons are being watched as never before. About 4.2 million spy cameras film each citizen 300 times a day, and police have built the world's largest DNA database. Prime Minister Tony Blair said all Britons should carry biometric identification cards to help fight the war on terror.

"Nowhere else in the free world is this happening,'' said Helena Kennedy, a human rights lawyer who also is a member of the House of Lords, the upper house of Parliament. "The American public would find such inroads into civil liberties wholly unacceptable.''

Yeah, well, she obviously hasn't been to the US lately.

More here.

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Deep-Frying Feast By Airport Managers Stokes Union's Fire - washingtonpost.com

Can deep-frying a turkey ever be a bad idea, especially at a holiday party?

It sure can, according to the air traffic controller's union, especially if the sizzling goes on inside administrative offices at Dulles International Airport. The union is blasting its managers for deep-frying a turkey last week in offices adjacent to the Dulles terminal and just a few hundred feet from the control tower.

An airport fire marshal made managers turn off the cooker.

Kieron Heflin, a representative with the air traffic controller's union, complained in a letter to management: "It has . . . come to my attention that the Dulles Management decided it would be a nice idea to DEEP FRY A TURKEY in the Dulles administrative quarters, surrounded by carpet, linoleum, an airport, aircraft, a control tower, thousands if not millions of gallons of jet fuel and thousands of passengers and employees."

Posted by evan at 2:29 PM | Permalink

Salon.com Audio | "A Child's Christmas in Wales"

Years and years ago, when I was a boy, when there were wolves in Wales, and birds the color of red-flannel petticoats whisked past the harp-shaped hills, when we sang and wallowed all night and day in caves that smelt like Sunday afternoons in damp front farmhouse parlors, and we chased, with the jawbones of deacons, the English and the bears, before the motor car, before the wheel, before the duchess-faced horse, when we rode the daft and happy hills bareback, it snowed and it snowed. But here a small boy says: "It snowed last year, too. I made a snowman and my brother knocked it down and I knocked my brother down and then we had tea."

"But that was not the same snow," I say. "Our snow was not only shaken from white wash buckets down the sky, it came shawling out of the ground and swam and drifted out of the arms and hands and bodies of the trees; snow grew overnight on the roofs of the houses like a pure and grandfather moss, minutely -ivied the walls and settled on the postman, opening the gate, like a dumb, numb thunder-storm of white, torn Christmas cards."

Dylan Thomas reading, in mp3 files.

Text here.

Posted by evan at 1:30 AM | Permalink

Cute Overload, of course.

Posted by evan at 4:22 AM | Permalink

The Buckeye Lake Beacon, Newspaper for Buckeye Lake, Ohio

Buckeye Lake Police Blotter:

• Dec. 9: A West 4th Street man reported that someone shot his truck with a paintball gun.
• Dec. 9: Officers were dispatched near to the Jett laundromat on a domestic violence incident between a mother and daughter. The mother was trying to keep the daughter from running away from home.
• Nov. 9: A Cliff Street woman reported her home was shot with a paintball gun.
• Nov. 9: An Albanese’s Food Gallery employee reported two customers worked together to shoplift nearly $200 worth of items. The female thief said she was going to her car to get her credit card to pay for the items. She never returned and another thief sneaked the groceries out of the building while she was gone.
• Nov. 10: A West 1st Street man reported someone shot his home with a paintball gun.
• Nov. 10: A Grandstaff man reported someone shot his home with a paintball gun. In various paintball related reports, the paint is described as “pinkish orange.”
• Dec. 12: Officers pulled over a Glouster woman whose vehicle’s license tags had expired last June.

Posted by evan at 10:56 PM | Permalink

And I promise never to come back.

Wisconsin Man Runs Over, Eats Seven-Legged Transgendered Deer

Posted by evan at 2:32 PM | Permalink

Forbes.com -Mac Envy

Daniel Lyons, 12.12.06, 10:41 AM ET

Are Apple computers better than Windows PCs? The guy who led development of Microsoft's new versions of Windows apparently once thought so.

In a January 2004 e-mail to Microsoft chiefs Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, Vista boss Jim Allchin said he would buy a Mac if he wasn't working at Microsoft.

Allchin, who is now a co-president of Microsoft, was complaining to Gates and Ballmer that Microsoft had lost its way in developing Vista and lost sight of what customers wanted.

The e-mail has become public since it was cited by attorneys in Iowa who are pursuing an antitrust case against Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft.

Allchin oversaw development of Vista, the new version of Windows. The new operating system looks a lot like Apple 's OS X operating system. This hasn't escaped the notice of Apple executives who delight in pointing out similarities.

On Monday night, after reporters began making inquiries about the e-mail, Allchin published an item on a Microsoft blog in which he claimed the e-mail statement was being taken out of context.

He said that he'd made the comment about buying a Mac "for effect," that the e-mail was nearly 3 years old and that he was trying to shake things up at Microsoft. "We needed to change and change quickly," Allchin writes. Today, he says, "Vista has turned into a phenomenal product, better than any other OS we've ever built, and far, far better than any other software available today."

Allchin has announced plans to retire from Microsoft after the commercial version of Vista ships at the end of January. Note to employees of Apple retail stores in Bellevue, Wash., and Seattle: On or around Feb. 1, be on the lookout for a white-haired man wearing a Groucho mask, furtively purchasing an iMac.

Posted by evan at 6:07 PM | Permalink

Lawmaker aims to allow the blind to hunt

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A Texas lawmaker is aiming to allow the blind to hunt. Texas State Representative Edmund Kuempel has introduced a measure that would allow blind people to hunt any game that sighted people can currently pursue.

He hopes it will be passed after the legislature reconvenes in January though he does not expect it to come into affect until 2008.

"This opens up the fun of hunting to additional people, and I think that's great," Kuempel told Reuters.

[more at link]

Posted by evan at 6:00 PM | Permalink

Yes, You Can Surf in Cleveland, Before the Brown Water Freezes - New York Times

“Surfing Lake Erie is basically disgusting,” said Bill Weeber, known as Mongo, 44. “But then I catch that wave and I forget about it, and I feel high all day.”

Scott Ditzenberger hoped to experience the same feeling when he heard that the first blizzard of the winter was pounding across the Midwest.

“I was so excited I could barely sleep last night,” said Mr. Ditzenberger, 35, who quit his job as a lawyer in August to spend more time surfing and to film a documentary about Cleveland’s surf community.

Posted by evan at 12:23 PM | Permalink

Rot in Hell, Augusto.

Posted by evan at 5:59 PM | Permalink

Goldberg Variations - Google Video

Video can be downloaded in .avi format at link above.

Posted by evan at 8:18 PM | Permalink

Marksman Called In To Kill Kingstons Pigeons (from Surrey Comet)

Posted by: Roland Runtfarmer on 12:29am Thu 30 Nov 06
What a lot of fuss over nothing. Everyone knows pigeons can't be killed, they are immortal and immune to bullets. Where I come from we worship the pigeon deity and never look them in the eye as this can turn a man to stone. I can only warn the gunman chappy that if he should lift a finger against but one bird he will incur their never ending wrath and more than likely burn in **** for his actions.

I would not risk it myself, it's just not worth it. Leave it !!! Many have tried and even the mightiest have failed! The only way that may have some effect is to tie them down and chant incantations while you flay their hides with an stout oaken branch blessed by a high priest of Nayhead. Mr McNally, the orchestrater of this ill thought out plan I say unto you beware the consequences of your actions against the blessed ones.

Posted by: Fancy Coo-Coo on 12:57pm Thu 30 Nov 06
I'm horrified at the very idea anyone might want to harm these gentle creatures. I myself was raised by pigeons after being abandoned in Trafalgar Square as a young nipper. Therefore I know how noble and generous a species they really are. If anyone were to kill a pigeon in this way, it would be as though they are slaughtering one of my own family. It's murder, I say!

Posted by: Free Willy on 3:24pm Thu 30 Nov 06
I know what you mean, reader. I was raised by yaks but I'm sure the experience was similar. How about a council worker cull instead.

Posted by: Michael Hunt on 4:17pm Thu 30 Nov 06.
Pigeons can be very intelligent creatures. This is because they are actually bred from dolphins and can travel vast lengths underwater as well as through the air. I warn you now Council folk, if you so much as dare remove or cull any pigeon from Kingston or the surrounding local I shall withhold my council tax! I'm prepared to go to prison to save these beautiful specimens of birds so just forget it ok?

Posted by: Joseph Jacobs on 4:51pm Thu 30 Nov 06
What about dogs? Surely these vermin are more of a pest than lovely pigeons. Any dog seen fouling our beautiful Royal borough should be shot on sight. Great. Tiddly tum te de.

Posted by: Mr Snorter on 4:57pm Thu 30 Nov 06
Pigeons are kind and caring. Two come and visit me each day and tell me things. They told me not to discuss this with anyone so none of you say anything if they should ask you. OK?

[much more at link]

Posted by evan at 1:59 PM | Permalink

Microsoft Issues Word Zero-Day Attack Alert

Microsoft on Dec. 5 warned that an unpatched vulnerability in its Word software program is being used in targeted, zero-day attacks.

A security advisory from the Redmond, Wash., company said the flaw can be exploited if a user simply opens a rigged Word document. ...

There are no pre-patch workarounds available. Microsoft suggests that users "not open or save Word files," even from trusted sources.

Golly, I've been saying that for years.

Why not try Open Office?

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Driven to desperation by Yo-Yo's incessant babbling about a fly he caught last summer, Fuzzy contemplates the stairwell.

Posted by evan at 10:12 PM | Permalink

File this under Things You Don't Ever Want to Do.

Bright and way too early Monday morning, we drove to the OSU MS Clinic in Columbus, where I was to have a lumbar puncture (better known as a spinal tap) done. This is a procedure where they first numb your lower back and then stick a long needle into your spinal column, suck out a bit of the fluid, and send it to a lab to be analyzed. YUCKAROOTIE.

Actually, it wasn't bad at all. I didn't feel a thing, and it took all of five minutes, max. Then I stared at the ceiling for an hour (to make sure the rest of my oil wasn't draining out) and went home after (I love this part) being instructed to drink lots of coffee.

All was well until about four hours later, when I developed the Headache from Hell, a full-blown migraine complete with sensitivity to light and sound as well as balance problems. This is apparently a well-known side-effect of the procedure, so I wasn't surprised, but I had been warned against taking aspirin (bleeding, you know). So I figured I'd just tough it out by whimpering on the bed for a few hours.

It didn't get better. It got a lot worse. It felt like someone was pounding the top of my head with a Louisville Slugger. I was also strangely sleepy.

Now the truly bad part: this lasted for three more days. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I had a blinding headache that Tylenol and Motrin barely dented. I was totally dysfunctional. The only relief came from lying flat on my back, so I spent hours on the couch in my office watching TV.

As of now, it seems to be going away, but I still have a rather bad headache centered behind my right eye.

Posted by evan at 4:29 PM | Permalink