Journal Dec 2005

21 Dec 2005

All best-of's on AAR till the new year, so here are some interesting sites I looked up today.

-res

• Elevenses
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevenses
  Mentioned by Fenchurch in the HHGG Quandary Phase
• Aspire's LAN Party Proud X-Qpack Case | Tom's Hardware
  http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/23/aspires_lan_party_proud_xqpack_case/index.html
  I've got this case, but the power supply seems to be failing, according to reviews on newegg.com. I've still got to figure out what to do with this.
• Aspire USA   Aspire X-QPACK Aluminum Case w/ 3 Window-blue
  http://aspireusa.net/product.php?pid=145&xcSID=8ee2ac228489198a1a7e7654bf0075d5
  The actual specs for the X-Qpack case.
• "SHARE AND ENJOY"-b Ash Grey T-Shirt
  http://www.cafepress.com/00ps.20046872

16 Dec 2005

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Call from Al in Kuwait
• 0900: Wayne Gilman from AA news breaks on public transportation strike
• 1030: Audio of Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) on fake war on Christmas
• 1030: David Cole on anti-torture ban
• 1100: Tom Oliphant on GOP corruption
• 1100: Today's underbelly story: plain old hypocrisy: W weighing in on Tom DeLay; W telling Brit Hume that DeLay is innocent
• 1130: Tim Westergren of pandora.com, a website that helps people find new music favorites based on their current favorites.

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1200: Randi's last broadcast day of the year! Randi reads her gift list to various political figures and countries, and the media
• 1230: Chris Bliss of mybillofrights.org, asking for max $100 donations to build a Bill of Rights monument in the Texas Supreme Court house
• 1300: PATRIOT ACT sunset provisions expire! Frist makes an anti-Dem speech and then votes with Dems?
• 1300: Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) keeps a mini copy of the Constitution in his left shirt pocket
• 1330: Audio of Sen. Byrd's speech

Other news and opinion from the day:

• Renewal of Patriot Act Is Blocked in Senate
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/16/AR2005121600221_pf.html
  Efforts to renew the USA Patriot Act collapsed in the Senate yesterday, when four Republicans joined most Democrats in blocking action on a volatile issue that pits anti-terrorism efforts against civil liberties protections.
• The word of the day is...
  http://shows.airamericaradio.com/alfrankenshow/node/3968
  HECKUVA: W gives Donald Rumsfeld the "Kiss of Death" by saying he's doing a "heckuva good job."
• Microsoft's new browser will come with increased security
  http://www.tgdaily.com/2005/12/16/microsoft_ie7_security/
  At long last, MS will release a real update to IE, so even die-hard IE users will benefit from Mozilla's push to Firefox. I somehow doubt that a significant portion of the switchers to Firefox will come back to IE just for IE7's tabbed browing (posers) and increased security, because Firefox is still much more secure by being separated from the operating system, having wide extensibility across operating systems, and being easy to install and update.

15 Dec 2005

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0930: Marine Col. Andrew Horne, Iraq war vet running as a Dem for Congress in KY in '06
• 1030: Jeralyn Merritt of TalkLeft.com on the Novaks
• 1030: Rachel recommends reading the Saturday papers, the least-read paper of the week, in order to find stories politicians want to hide/bury.
• 1100: Today's underbelly story: the Perpetual Going Out of Business Sale: the Bush administration keeps saying that we can't leave Iraq because there are still a couple more things to do.
• 1130: Phillip Tetlock on levels of expertise

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1430: Randi recommends the documentary: Secret History of the Credit Card (PBS Frontline). I watched this, and it's very eye-opening. I recommend it too.
• One of Randi's recommended shops: Clothing of the American Mind, where an unspecified percentage of clothing sales go to progressive organizations -- note the endorsements (and clothing modeling) by actresses Jamie Lee Curtis, Evan Rachel Wood, and Anne Ramsay.

Other news and opinion from the day:

• Do-It-Yourself Cheers and Jeers: Thursday
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/15/71014/577
  Bill's poll results on dKos members. Kinda random at times.

14 Dec 2005

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1000: David Brock on MSM reporting Lieberman's dissent from Dems vs. Hagel's dissent from the GOP.
• 1100: Satellite/cell phone call from Al in Kuwait

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1200: Pentagon spying on antiwar groups

Other news and opinion from the day:

• War on Christmas Fraud Exposed: The Silent Night "Rewrite" That Wasn't
  http://thinkprogress.org/2005/12/14/silent-night-fraud/
  FNC participates in a complete fraud.
• Hannity's Hypocrisy: Criticizing Colleges For Taking Money From Saudi Prince Who Funds Fox
  http://thinkprogress.org/2005/12/14/hannitys-hypocrisy/
• Former Fox News Channel Producer Tells the Real Story Behind "Fair and Balanced"
  http://www.ideagrove.com/blog/2005/12/former-fox-news-channel-producer-tells.html
  Exposition, Outfoxed style.
• If Fox News Had Been Around Throughout History.
  http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1ldyn/id2.html
  No doubt. Linked from ideagrove post above.
• Do-It-Yourself Cheers and Jeers: Wednesday
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/14/71630/438
  Great late-night humor on Iraq, the Bush administration, and Christmas.
• Ford makes the right decision
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/14/173516/65
  ...on supporting gay civil rights.
• Tonsillolith
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonsillolith
  I always wondered what those things were. It's been a mystery to me since I first found one while in junior high. I got them in my tonsils sporadically over the years until now, not knowing what they were. After I found a particularly nasty one yesterday with other particles (like sand, probably from food) in it (first encounter with that type), I decided to find out once and for all. It took me over an hour to do the web research because I had no idea how to describe it, but I found it eventually. So here it is in a few seconds, the tonsillolith, or tonsil stone. I guess I should use mouthwash more often.
• tonsillolith Google Image search
  http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=tonsillolith&btnG=Search&sa=N&tab=wi
  Kinda disgusting, but not that much. Now you can see why it's so hard to describe in words for doing a regular Google search. I always thought it looked a little like the weird biomass that Lex Luthor formed from Superman's DNA in Superman IV. I even tried cloning myself with one of my tonsilloliths and Alka Seltzer. Hey, I was a preteen back then.

13 Dec 2005

Like a few before me, I'm conducting an experiment on a free Apple product (mac mini in this case) promotion (clicking that link refers me, and I'd need 10 takers). No, not one from SPAM, which I delete with the "Spam" button, but one from dumbcriminals.com, where the proprietor tried the offer and got his Mac Mini and described his process (not a regular dumb criminal story). Unfortunately, I didn't help him with his referrals since he'd already gotten his Mac. Another site, studio2f reported a successful completion and delivery: Update: Free Mac Mini works?!?, using a different site, macminis4free.com, and thoroughly evaluated the process (which took over two months). Related is the gadgeteer's fully documented free iPod project.

So, if you want to try to get a free Mac Mini through this offer and help me in the process, try my referral link, where all you would need to do (like me) is try a free offer (I did the BMG thing (12 CDs for the price of one (and shipping on 12)), just like I did in college successfully) and refer 10 friends likewise. The offers are Star Club Rewards, Video Professor, BMG, Discover Card, Advantage Spanish, Blockbuster Online, Date.com, Sports Weekly, and Globat.com, and you'd have to complete the free trial portion, if there is one, or the full subscription, if there's no free trial, or keep a credit card for at least a month or so. Fraud is controlled (i.e. trying to cheat the free offer disqualifies everything). Of course, be safe and use online-only credit card numbers or disposable (but valid) email addresses, and only try an offer you really want.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Rachel Maddow filling in for Al until he comes back from the Middle East with the USO.
• 0930: Kent Jones: "The unexpected success of Brokeback Mountain with its story about gay cowboys already has Hollywood scrambling to make movies featuring the cop, the Indian, the biker, and the construction worker!"
• 1000: Melanie Sloan on GOP ethics problems
• 1030: Borzou Daragahi of LA Times on pro-US propaganda
• 1030: Story buried on Friday afternoon: Secret Scary Santa of PATRIOT Act provision spying on citizens, DIA secrecy expansion
• 1130: Paul Krugman on Wal-Mart
• 1130: Kent Jones

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1200: C-SPAN CEO Brian Lamb's love story.
• 1330: Call from Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)!
• 1430: Randi makes the excellent case against the death penalty in favor of life in prison without possibility of parole and a study of the criminals and the causes of violent crime.
• Death Penalty: Amnesty International's Human Rights Concerns
  http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/index.do

Other news and opinion from the day:

• DCCC responds to RNC's attack ad
  http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/12/13.html#a6299

12 Dec 2005

I spent the weekend doing laundry while reading Al Franken's new book and going to the Kennedy Space Center while listening to my backlog Al and Randi shows.

Here's one of my favorite excerpts from Al's book so far:

p. 68: ...I think John [Kerry] was about to address the criticism from some quarters that his campaign should have spent every dime that it raised, and maybe even gone into debt, rather than leaving $15 million in the bank on Election Day. I'll bet his response would have been that the leftover money was being kept as a strategic reserve, which would have been a godsend if they had to fight a recount battle. Think about it. If Gore had saved a little dough for Florida, he might be serving a second term today, 9/11 might been averted, and our troops would already be returning home triumphantly from Darfur.

Ahh, if only. And obviously, we couldn't avoid the date 9/11/01, but maybe we could have avoided the unavenged terrorist attack that happened that day.

I was only at the Kennedy Space Center for half a day (and by myself), but it was fun and informative. I saw the IMAX movie about moon exploration, a kid-friendly show about Mars exploration called Mad Mission to Mars, another kid-friendly exhibit about robots in space called Robot Scouts, and Astronaut John Fabian in the Astronaut Encounter, a Q&A format with real astronauts. I asked what he did before NASA, and he was a military pilot.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Al back in NYC, tomorrow, the Middle East with the USO!

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1200: Randi to be on Q&A (C-SPAN) on 18 Dec, 8pm ET (repeat at 11pm ET)
• 1300: Does anyone remember New Orleans or other Katrina victims?
• 1400: Arnold denies clemency to Crips founder and current anti-gang activist and peace advocate Stanley "Tookie" Williams.
• Schwarzenegger Declines to Halt Execution of Gang Founder
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/12/AR2005121200102.html
• 1430: Randi: the death penalty is a deterrent to prisoners reforming while in prison.
• 1500: Randi mentions the BBC documentary, The Power of Nightmares showing how the neocons came into power courtesy of radical Islamic extremists, starting with Reagan.

Other news and opinion from the day:

• RNC Web Ad: Are Democrats Waving White Flag In Iraq?: Controversial ad implies Dean, Boxer & Kerry advocate "retreat and defeat." We supply background.
  http://www.factcheck.org/article364.html
  Funny, Randi said something about this on the day the ad came out. I don't know if she saw it or predicted it, but at least GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham (SC), while disagreeing with those Dems, denounced the ad.

09 Dec 2005

I've been struggling with having the program PuTTY (a terminal (TTY) emulator program) always show up under the Windows taskbar (on the top of the screen for me), obstructing PuTTY's titlebar, except at work where I use a higher resolution. (Most other Windows programs start centered, remember their last position or use the proper method to position their windows out of the way of the taskbar.) So I decided to try to fix it myself by adding code to the freely available source (for version 0.58) and maybe sending my code to them. I finally fixed the problem by having PuTTY save is window position into a data file (in the user's home directory) and restoring it on the next session. Unfortunately, the maintainers of PuTTY don't care for such a feature, so in the spirit of the open source community, I decided to post my fix here (gzipped diff file for window.c in the window directory of the source code, just the gzipped replacement for window/window.c) along with my own binary executable (compiled under Cygwin with MinGW) (just download and run; it will use your current host profiles saved in the Windows Registry). Enjoy!

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Al live in Chicago (Steppenwolf Theatre)

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1200: Air Marshal story (continued from yesterday) now that Randi has gathered some more solid facts

Other news and opinion from the day:

• Portable USB Drive Apps
  http://kk.hopto.org:8080/wiki/index.php/Portable_USB_Drive_Apps
• Open source Win32 MIDI editor
  http://ztracker.sourceforge.net/

08 Dec 2005

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Al live in Ann Arbor, MI (in studio)
• 1100: Wayne State University Dean Frank Wu on MCRI (just like CA's CCRI with same sponsor Ward Connerly)

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1200: John Lennon's full FBI file still not released (last ten pages)
• 1230: Coulter booed off stage at UConn
• 1230: "Narnia" marketed to Christians
• 1300: Conservative George Will criticizes "No Couch Potato Left Behind" subsidy for digital TV purchases. Also, Japan recommits troops in Iraq. Hmmm.
• 1330: Call from Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-CA)
• 1400: Randi: tax cuts in a time of war, cuts to capital gains and dividends taxes, changes to alternative minimum tax, and subsequent cuts to food stamps, school lunches, Medicaid, and student loans, all GOP plans benefitting the rich on the backs of the poor. Dems have put forth better plans, rejected by the fiscally irresponsible, uncompassionate GOP Congress.

07 Dec 2005

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Al live in Duluth, MN
• 0930: Christy Harvey on Saipan, Bushes saying "Happy Holidays"

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1330: Randi fights the good fight and encourages Dems to do the same in bringing the troops home, the best thing for Iraq, for America, and for our allies: here's your window of opportunity to stand up -- Bush's 32% approval, the war's majority opposition, and a majority in Tom DeLay's district supporting an unnamed Dem instead of DeLay (which, according to Al recently, has an influx of displaced Katrina victims).
• 1430: Call from Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI)

Other news and opinion from the day:

• Bebot by Black Eyed Peas - Lyrics and Translation
  http://www.bughaw.com/?p=51
  apl.de.ap's BEP song in Tagalog.

06 Dec 2005

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Al live in Madison, WI
• 0900: It's Al's second day on American Forces Network. Al (to audience): say hi to the troops!
• 0900: Mayor Dave Cieslewicz (D) on the environment and the Kyoto Protocol
• 1000: State Rep. Mark Pocan on gay marriage/civil unions and Wal-Mart
• 1030: John Nichols on Tom DeLay: his approval rating is 36% in his own district. Cheney is 19%.

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1200: O'Reilly's war on Christmas; Randi: it's American corporations that have destroyed the meaning of used Christmas (for commercial gain). What do trees, wreaths, ornaments, snow, and egg nog have to do with Christ's birth or birthplace?
• 1230: Caller notes that he feels his Christian beliefs are stronger because he doesn't need the government to affirm those beliefs life right-winger seem to.
• 1230: Randi: If you really want to put the Christ back in Christmas, why not have kids tell someone dressed as Jesus what they want for Christmas? Because they'd ask for peace on earth so that their daddy can come back home from Iraq, and we [referring to the right-wingers] can't have that. The right-wing wants Alito to save Christmas, but there's already a real savior for Christmas: Jesus. And the right-wing's push to help corporations instead of the poor is contrary to the Christmas (Nativity) story where there was no room at the in.
• 1330: Randi: The snowflake has nothing to do with Christmas, it was Israel! Both the Cristmas tree and the Easter egg come from pagan rituals and customs. The founding fathers didn't have holidays as days off; it started in 1870. If you want to celebrate Christmas, don't do it with trees or misteltoe or go shopping, go to church!
• 1400: Bush and Cheney's "matinee" speeches.
• 1430: Randi read's FNC's many different "Al Qaeda #3s."

05 Dec 2005

First day in Florida, but I need to catch up on sleep lost from yesterday. Yawn!

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Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Al live in Minneapolis

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1200: Is America paying attention to Saddam's trial?
• 1300: 9/11 Commission heads say we're still not prepared for another attack.
• 1330: Call from Steve Young

02 Dec 2005

Firefox 1.5 released!!! Time to upgrade!

I'll be in Florida for training for work for the next two weeks. When I come back, I should be ten times as productive at work (and caught up with pictures, reading, journal entries, etc.).

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Al live in Dallas at the Hard Rock Cafe
• 0930: Skit of Saddam's trial with audience participation, featuring Jim Morris
• 0930: Christy Harvey on Iraq
• 1000: Lou Dubose on DeLay, Abramoff
• 1030: Jim Schermbeck and Mark Birnbaum on Earle, DeLay and redistricting
• 0000: David Van Os

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1200: O'Reilly's crap on The Today Show with Katie Couric (whom Randi used to admire until she gave right-wingers a pass)
• Today's All-Spin Zone: NBC gave O'Reilly forum to compare advocates of withdrawal from Iraq to Hitler appeasers
  http://mediamatters.org/items/200511300009
• 1200: Audio of Pentagon's propaganda in Iraq (Lincoln Group, $100M contract) on Hardball
• 1200: Randi's exit plan for Iraq: Congress passes a law that W gets no more vacation time but gets 1 week for every 100,000 US troops sent home
• 1230: Audio of O'Reilly's war on Christmas
• 1300: Audio montage of O'Reilly on the crazy train (set to Ozzy's Crazy Train)
• 1300: Bush family history: Neil (bankrupting Silverado, CO S&L for $60M), Jeb (Broward, FL S&L, Medicare fraud), Marvin (no one knows), W (surprise puppy of the litter)
• 1330: O'Reilly's list of people afraid of him (who actually have the integrity to refuse to appear on his "No Facts Zone" show)
• 1400: Audio of Olbermann's announcement of "Worst Person in the World": O'Reilly sweeps!
• 1430: Call from James Bamford, author of The Man Who Sold the War in Rolling Stone

Other news and opinion from the day:

• Prescott Bush - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prescott_Bush

01 Dec 2005

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Al live in Atlanta
• 0930: David Sirota on the Dukester, success with Santa Fe's living wage

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1200: W's fantasy world
• 1300: Audio of Murtha making good points and comparisons of Iraq (where we stepped in) and the American Revolutionary War (where France helped us)
• 1330: Call from James Wolcott on propaganda in Iraq
• 1530: Call from a sensible and knowledgeable, pro-US Muslim American

Other news and opinion from the day:

• O'Reilly sweep: Olbermann gives O'Reilly bronze, silver, and gold medals for "Worst Person in the World"
  http://mediamatters.org/items/200512010004
  He deserves it! Read why.
• Micro Persuasion: Wikipedia is the Next Google
  http://www.micropersuasion.com/2005/11/wikipedia_is_th.html
• The Beatles: Complete Scores
  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0793518326/qid=1133475507/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-3189236-2044627?n...
  On my wishlist, unless you want to do some real good and forgo a present in favor of giving to a charity helping victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which I would also accept, as a present of support for my values.
• Squeezebox For In Home Music Distribution | DenGuru
  http://www.denguru.com/2005/11/30/squeezebox_for_in_home_music_distribution/index.html
  This THG sub-site has a review on this great idea for listening to network-available music without a PC. Squeezebox's server software runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux and is open source. A bit pricey at $299, but has a bright display and both 802.11g and ethernet connectivity as well as RCA outputs to any stereo with RCA inputs.
• Disney Song Lyrics
  http://www.fpx.de/fp/Disney/Lyrics/
  Complete lyrics for songs from selected Disney animated, theatrically released films.

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Past Journal Entries: 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001

2006 Journal Entries: Aug Jul Jun May Apr Mar Feb Jan

Common and favorite references and their acronyms:

• Daily Kos (dKos): http://www.dailykos.com/
• New York Times (NYT): http://www.nytimes.com/
• Washington Post (WaPo): http://www.washingtonpost.com/
• Randi Rhodes: http://www.therandirhodesshow.com/
• Media Matters for America (MMFA): http://www.mediamatters.org/
• Center for American Progress (CAP): http://www.americanprogress.org/
• CAP blog (Christy Harvey, Judd Legum): http://www.thinkprogress.org/
• Moby's journal: http://www.moby.com/journal/
• Sojourners: http://www.sojo.net/
• Tom's Hardware Guide (THG): http://www.tomshardware.com/
• Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF): http://www.eff.org/
• SourceForge.net (SF): http://www.sourceforge.net/

• My referral link for a free Mac Mini (legit): http://www.freemacmini.com/?r=160454 (why this is here)