4.23.2004
Hiatus Inturuptus: The Departure...and Return of Leo Laporte to TechTV
Ok, I've been a baaad boy. I've allowed my personal problems to consume me and keep me from tending to my new blogging duties. I have long been a fan of Tech TV because of one of the people who had been there as long as I can remember: Leo Laporte, someone who has the innate ability to do as Aristotle taught us in Poetics "...To Teach, and To Please." He made us laugh, he taught us, and he inspired us to be more than we thought we could be. Without him, TechTV will go on, but it will be more of a rudderless ship with no lighthouse to guide it.
I didn't catch on right away. I began to notice that Leo was missing from his usual shows on a more frequent basis over the last few weeks. I was even impressed by the appearance of actor/writer Wil Wheaton as guest host for TechTV's Call For Help, but they're still using Leo's image as part of the opening credits and commercial break shots, not to mention the fact that he was mentioned by Wil and others on the show. It's as if they are all waiting for him to make a triumphant return.
This of course, is only because it turns out to be absolutely true! It appears that I am not the only one who values Leo as the "soul" of TechTV. Leo Himself attributes this to his loyal fan following, who bombarded TechTV with a lot of electronic criticism and concern over his departure. This has one guessing as to what's up with the management at Vulcan Ventures Programming, TechTV's soon-to-be ex-owners (as they just got bought out by Comcast).
Hopefully Comcast will be better able to appreciate Leo's value to TechTV than those bozos at Vulcan seem to.
Vulcan certainly doesn't seem to have a very clear idea of what makes good television, they show that rediculous Robot Wars so many freaking times a day, I sometimes want to make my own army of killer robots, and send them to do battle with Paul Allen and his cronies. Not to mention: why does TechTV have so many UK productions in the first place? As if the Brits have anything on us arrogant Americans when it comes to technology; hell, we INVENTED the freaking Internet, and we kicked those Brits back to England twice, not to mention bailing them out of two more wars to boot! Let the blimeys watch their BBC. We should have more American technology programming! Of course, I both digress and rant in a most ethnocentric manner.
Leo, I for one am glad to have you back where you belong. Now stay there!
© 2004, J.S.Brown
0 comments
I didn't catch on right away. I began to notice that Leo was missing from his usual shows on a more frequent basis over the last few weeks. I was even impressed by the appearance of actor/writer Wil Wheaton as guest host for TechTV's Call For Help, but they're still using Leo's image as part of the opening credits and commercial break shots, not to mention the fact that he was mentioned by Wil and others on the show. It's as if they are all waiting for him to make a triumphant return.
This of course, is only because it turns out to be absolutely true! It appears that I am not the only one who values Leo as the "soul" of TechTV. Leo Himself attributes this to his loyal fan following, who bombarded TechTV with a lot of electronic criticism and concern over his departure. This has one guessing as to what's up with the management at Vulcan Ventures Programming, TechTV's soon-to-be ex-owners (as they just got bought out by Comcast).
Hopefully Comcast will be better able to appreciate Leo's value to TechTV than those bozos at Vulcan seem to.
Vulcan certainly doesn't seem to have a very clear idea of what makes good television, they show that rediculous Robot Wars so many freaking times a day, I sometimes want to make my own army of killer robots, and send them to do battle with Paul Allen and his cronies. Not to mention: why does TechTV have so many UK productions in the first place? As if the Brits have anything on us arrogant Americans when it comes to technology; hell, we INVENTED the freaking Internet, and we kicked those Brits back to England twice, not to mention bailing them out of two more wars to boot! Let the blimeys watch their BBC. We should have more American technology programming! Of course, I both digress and rant in a most ethnocentric manner.
Leo, I for one am glad to have you back where you belong. Now stay there!
TANSTAAFL!
© 2004, J.S.Brown
0 comments
0 Comments:
4.18.2004
Please Excuse me if I'm not Writing Every Day
My current situation: I am unemployed. I am getting a masters degree. I am taking "side jobs" to help meet expenses. I am not writing as much as I would like. As soon as I can, I will get back on track here. Thanks for understanding.
© 2004, J.S.Brown
0 comments
TANSTAAFL!
© 2004, J.S.Brown
0 comments
0 Comments:
4.09.2004
Confessions of a Technocrat: Part 2
(Ok, I admit that "technocrat" might just be a fancy way of saying "techno-geek").
We left off yesterday with a discussion of alignments. This was just to give the average reader, who hasn't ever experienced D&D an idea of how complex it gets. Much of the character's traits are numeric, they are randomly generated and fit into a complex set of mathematical formulas rolled by dice (ah yes, the "good old days," when I had a marble bag full of dice). Dice make really decent random number generators, so long as they don't roll off the table. Programming a computer to generate random numbers is really easy, (and a computer is drastically less likely to roll off the table). The other nice thing about modern computers is found in adding graphics and sound to the experience.
In the old PnP world, the player had to rely on a Dungeon Master (DM) to act as a guide and intermediary, essentially setting the rules, the tempo, and being an omniscient force that reveals and withholds according to the player's choices. The game centered around a "campaign" or module, which was either created professionally and purchased, or designed by the DM themselves. In the New World Order of things, software often assumes the role of DM, events and mysteries unfold as the player chooses direction, strategy, attacks, and actions. The original modules for the computer were completely written by game developers, who mostly got permission to base their creations on the old PnP modules themselves. Turn-based RPG games were churned out for every imaginable platform available. The computer could handle all the numbers. It could be programmed and scripted to show the action graphically, it removed some sense of imagination and replaced it with something else.
This is not to say that there aren't any dedicated PnP players out there, people still play D&D the "old fashioned way," but they've had to make room for computer-based versions that owe their existence (and popularity) to the original. I am certain there are "purists" out there who believe that these new RPG's aren't the same thing as PnP, and they are right to a certain extent. For computer-generated RPG's to reach an acceptable level of complex, plot-driven adventure that is possible in the PnP versions, it takes a great deal of skill, patience, and determination.
The unique and exciting thing about Neverwinter Nights is that the adventure does not end with the Original Campaign, nor does it end whether the player chooses to play it by themselves (solo), or online with friends (multiplayer). The truly amazing thing about this game is the Aurora Toolset, which allows anyone who has the full software to build their own custom mods. This greatly extends the appeal of the game, because the game never really ends. There are always more modules being created and shared online. All a player with the game need do is download them. One of the more active places to do so is The Neverwinter Vault, sponsored by IGN Games. A whole community of people around the world contributing games, files, pictures, and other ideas to further enhance and develop the gameplay. The development company, Bioware, has made a significant portion of how the game itself was developed known, so more advanced builders and developers have been able to add custom content to the modules. One of the more ambitious endeavors is called the Community Expansion Pack, or (CEP). This adds new monster types, new character types, and all sorts of new objects and items that were not originally included with the game.
Originally, builders were essentially "stuck" using the same objects, maps, monsters, and other items that were created by the original design team from Bioware. Many were able to use this original content with great skill and ease. People are never satisfied. Some of the more advanced builders started slowly creating their own custom content for their mods. Soon this became very popular with builders and players alike. It became possible to download much of this custom content in files called "hak packs." As the community outcry for custom content grew, it became difficult to keep all these files in order. It also meant to play one module, a player often had to download more than one file, let alone know which folder to put the files in so the mod would run correctly. It was a great big hassle. So you've got a lot of whiny nerdlings crying for more custom modules to play, and also whining that they've got to download and place all these additional files in different game folders. The idea to centralize the "best of the best" into a single download is a sound one.
As you can see this whole RPG scene is an incredibly complex one, and I've barely scratched the surface as far as the computer gaming world goes. I could go on forever with the details, but it is best to leave things simple. The idea is to give the reader a taste of "Technocratic culture," not make them feel inferior before a completely alien language and society that exists all around them. People feel disassociated enough these days. I consider much of the apathy in our society today to be a direct symptom of feeling that there is too much to keep up with, too much to do, and not enough time to do it all, so we start to try and simplify. We retreat back into ourselves until we no longer notice (or care) that there is anything or anyone around us of value. We lose touch, we lose a sense of connection, and we lose something of ourselves without even knowing it. This is why it is important to look under the surface of the mirror, deeper than just the reflection. The Technocratic Revolution has already been decided. The Technocrat society is already here. Many people have no idea they are members, still many more can't see it at all (and probably don't want to).
© 2004, J.S.Brown
0 comments
We left off yesterday with a discussion of alignments. This was just to give the average reader, who hasn't ever experienced D&D an idea of how complex it gets. Much of the character's traits are numeric, they are randomly generated and fit into a complex set of mathematical formulas rolled by dice (ah yes, the "good old days," when I had a marble bag full of dice). Dice make really decent random number generators, so long as they don't roll off the table. Programming a computer to generate random numbers is really easy, (and a computer is drastically less likely to roll off the table). The other nice thing about modern computers is found in adding graphics and sound to the experience.
In the old PnP world, the player had to rely on a Dungeon Master (DM) to act as a guide and intermediary, essentially setting the rules, the tempo, and being an omniscient force that reveals and withholds according to the player's choices. The game centered around a "campaign" or module, which was either created professionally and purchased, or designed by the DM themselves. In the New World Order of things, software often assumes the role of DM, events and mysteries unfold as the player chooses direction, strategy, attacks, and actions. The original modules for the computer were completely written by game developers, who mostly got permission to base their creations on the old PnP modules themselves. Turn-based RPG games were churned out for every imaginable platform available. The computer could handle all the numbers. It could be programmed and scripted to show the action graphically, it removed some sense of imagination and replaced it with something else.
This is not to say that there aren't any dedicated PnP players out there, people still play D&D the "old fashioned way," but they've had to make room for computer-based versions that owe their existence (and popularity) to the original. I am certain there are "purists" out there who believe that these new RPG's aren't the same thing as PnP, and they are right to a certain extent. For computer-generated RPG's to reach an acceptable level of complex, plot-driven adventure that is possible in the PnP versions, it takes a great deal of skill, patience, and determination.
The unique and exciting thing about Neverwinter Nights is that the adventure does not end with the Original Campaign, nor does it end whether the player chooses to play it by themselves (solo), or online with friends (multiplayer). The truly amazing thing about this game is the Aurora Toolset, which allows anyone who has the full software to build their own custom mods. This greatly extends the appeal of the game, because the game never really ends. There are always more modules being created and shared online. All a player with the game need do is download them. One of the more active places to do so is The Neverwinter Vault, sponsored by IGN Games. A whole community of people around the world contributing games, files, pictures, and other ideas to further enhance and develop the gameplay. The development company, Bioware, has made a significant portion of how the game itself was developed known, so more advanced builders and developers have been able to add custom content to the modules. One of the more ambitious endeavors is called the Community Expansion Pack, or (CEP). This adds new monster types, new character types, and all sorts of new objects and items that were not originally included with the game.
Originally, builders were essentially "stuck" using the same objects, maps, monsters, and other items that were created by the original design team from Bioware. Many were able to use this original content with great skill and ease. People are never satisfied. Some of the more advanced builders started slowly creating their own custom content for their mods. Soon this became very popular with builders and players alike. It became possible to download much of this custom content in files called "hak packs." As the community outcry for custom content grew, it became difficult to keep all these files in order. It also meant to play one module, a player often had to download more than one file, let alone know which folder to put the files in so the mod would run correctly. It was a great big hassle. So you've got a lot of whiny nerdlings crying for more custom modules to play, and also whining that they've got to download and place all these additional files in different game folders. The idea to centralize the "best of the best" into a single download is a sound one.
As you can see this whole RPG scene is an incredibly complex one, and I've barely scratched the surface as far as the computer gaming world goes. I could go on forever with the details, but it is best to leave things simple. The idea is to give the reader a taste of "Technocratic culture," not make them feel inferior before a completely alien language and society that exists all around them. People feel disassociated enough these days. I consider much of the apathy in our society today to be a direct symptom of feeling that there is too much to keep up with, too much to do, and not enough time to do it all, so we start to try and simplify. We retreat back into ourselves until we no longer notice (or care) that there is anything or anyone around us of value. We lose touch, we lose a sense of connection, and we lose something of ourselves without even knowing it. This is why it is important to look under the surface of the mirror, deeper than just the reflection. The Technocratic Revolution has already been decided. The Technocrat society is already here. Many people have no idea they are members, still many more can't see it at all (and probably don't want to).
TANSTAAFL!
© 2004, J.S.Brown
0 comments
0 Comments:
4.08.2004
Confessions of a Technocrat: Part 1
Please Note: It's spring break. I'm unemployed, and I am getting my masters degree. I may miss a day or two here and there.
I am most definitely a computer enthusiast. I suppose the first time I showed even a spark of interest in them happened when I was just 4 years old. This was way back in the "dinosaur years" of room-sized servers and dumb terminals. The PC wouldn't arrive for another 10 years at least. The Internet was still a DARPA sponsored experiment between four western universities. Things were indeed at a primitive state compared to today.
I was a veritable dynamo as a child. My mother's hair started turning gray about the time I was born. She would eventually develop very keen "mother senses," but they hadn't had time to fully develop at this point. To say I was a challenging child would be to say Mt. Everest is a "big hill." Keeping up with me was a full-time job in and of itself (Mom, you've got my nomination for sainthood). Let me put it to you this way: I may have been the first kid in America to be fitted with a dog harness and a leash.
So I'm four, and my mom brings me to work at her travel agency one day. Keeping me in a seat wasn't about to work. I don't know what she expected to do with me there. Before long, I found my way into the room with all the big humming machines. Somewhere in this room was the "red button," (and yet another reason why server rooms and network closets should always be locked). The "red button" seems to exist in a lot of places (why I don't know). It's the button that one is NEVER, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, to be pushed. Hah, I couldn't read at 4, and I was only so-so at following verbal directions at best. I bet you can figure out what happened next. Of course I pushed the "red button."
What you probably didn't know is that this had some sort of "cascade effect" over a computer network that affected travel agencies and airlines up and down the entire Eastern Seaboard. In 1974, computer networking was still in its infancy. Most of them had to be built with parts and components that weren't originally designed for that purpose. Nobody gave a moment's thought to network security, or what might happen if button "x" or "y" were pushed. Needless to say, following this incident, my invitation to be with mom at work was revoked for several years to come.
Since then, I have learned to do more useful things with computers and software. In college, I worked in a computer lab for several semesters. I have spent time as a helpdesk technician on the phone for an ISP, for Dell, and for various private industries. I've been a field technician for several companies too. In my last job, I learned how to be a software analyst and a programmer. I guess it would be fair to say I've come a long way in 30 years.
Besides using computers for more productive pursuits, I also enjoy using them for leisure. The realm of computer gaming is one that I am pretty familiar with. I've got an impressive library of computer games that I've beaten over the years. Some of them I've traded in for newer titles, others have become so old that they won't even work on my current PC.
I tend to gravitate towards the Action-Adventure, Strategy, First-Person Shooters, and Role Playing types of games. I never was big into physical sports, so I never really found it all that interesting to play them on a computer. Also, the only console I ever owned was an Atari 2600. Given the choice between a full-fledged PC that can do so much more than play games and a "box" that hooks up to a Television and might also be used to play DVD's, I'd rather have the PC every time. Why spend the extra money for something that only plays games when I can save it to add more to my computer? Admittedly, some pretty spectacular titles are made for consoles, but to me, that is a way of trying to control games. By taking away the computer aspect, players have less control over the games and are more subject to the whims of console manufacturers. But that's just my opinion.
Anyway, my latest obsession has been two Role-Playing Games (called "RPG's") by a company called Bioware. The first one is called Neverwinter Nights and the second Star Wars, Knights of the Old Republic. I will deal with these two in order.
Neverwinter Nights is based upon Dungeons and Dragons (known as D&D, or Paper and Pencil - PnP), yet another one of my childhood fascinations. The game is set up so you generate a character, equip them, and do battle with monsters, villains, and other assorted characters. You have a lot of choices concerning how your particular character goes about things. Your character (through you) has to solve a series challenging puzzles, interact with various "virtual" characters, and carefully maneuver through treacherous situations to survive. This is not a "blood and gore" (the term used in the community is: "hack and slash") game, this is a game where the player has to think on his (or her) feet, consider the consequences, and take action accordingly. Bioware to date, has created the Original Neverwinter Nights Campaign, (called NWN OC) and two expansion sets: Shadows of Unrentide, (called SoU) and Hoardes of the Underdark, (called HotU). Each of these campaigns is based upon D&D PnP modules written years before. They take place in a world setting called Forgotten Realms in a land called Faerun. If all of this seems overwhelming and confusing, don't worry. Basically, what we have is a place where people can be things they can't be "in real life" (IRL). It's a totally made-up world that regularly gets filled up with made up characters, adventures, and monsters of every imaginable type.
One plays this sort of game best by being that has various similarities to the player, but also has various differences too. Quite often, I play female elven characters (not going to get into a deep psychological analysis of this) that are generally good, but sometimes "blur the lines a little." To be quite honest, I've never played a "pure evil" character in my life. When talking about what sense of morality and ethics a player has, we are discussing something called "alignment," (sometimes "faction"). Alignments are really basic tendencies of a character. Given a situation, the character will act in accordance with a certain set of principles, or not. Whatever the case may be, there are three primary alignment traits and three secondary alignment traits. The primaries are: Lawful- generally adheres to law in any situation, Chaotic- generally does whatever they feel like regardless, and Neutral- decides on a case-by-case basis when it is appropriate to act and when it is not. The three secondary traits are: Good: cares about others, wants to help and protect those weaker and less fortunate, and despises suffering, treachery, and deceit, Evil: doesn't care about others, uses people to get what they want, and willing to do whatever it takes to further their own objectives and goals, and Neutral: generally seeks to find the balance between the two extremes, cares about others, but recognizes that some amount of suffering is necessary (not to mention inevitable), and that some people cannot (or will not) be helped. My characters tend to be Lawful Neutral, Neutral, or Neutral Good. Lawful Good and Chaotic Evil just tend to be too extreme for me. This is true of my real life tendencies as well (I don't think this makes me a bad person, just a pragmatic one).
To Be Continued.
© 2004, J.S.Brown
0 comments
I am most definitely a computer enthusiast. I suppose the first time I showed even a spark of interest in them happened when I was just 4 years old. This was way back in the "dinosaur years" of room-sized servers and dumb terminals. The PC wouldn't arrive for another 10 years at least. The Internet was still a DARPA sponsored experiment between four western universities. Things were indeed at a primitive state compared to today.
I was a veritable dynamo as a child. My mother's hair started turning gray about the time I was born. She would eventually develop very keen "mother senses," but they hadn't had time to fully develop at this point. To say I was a challenging child would be to say Mt. Everest is a "big hill." Keeping up with me was a full-time job in and of itself (Mom, you've got my nomination for sainthood). Let me put it to you this way: I may have been the first kid in America to be fitted with a dog harness and a leash.
So I'm four, and my mom brings me to work at her travel agency one day. Keeping me in a seat wasn't about to work. I don't know what she expected to do with me there. Before long, I found my way into the room with all the big humming machines. Somewhere in this room was the "red button," (and yet another reason why server rooms and network closets should always be locked). The "red button" seems to exist in a lot of places (why I don't know). It's the button that one is NEVER, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, to be pushed. Hah, I couldn't read at 4, and I was only so-so at following verbal directions at best. I bet you can figure out what happened next. Of course I pushed the "red button."
What you probably didn't know is that this had some sort of "cascade effect" over a computer network that affected travel agencies and airlines up and down the entire Eastern Seaboard. In 1974, computer networking was still in its infancy. Most of them had to be built with parts and components that weren't originally designed for that purpose. Nobody gave a moment's thought to network security, or what might happen if button "x" or "y" were pushed. Needless to say, following this incident, my invitation to be with mom at work was revoked for several years to come.
Since then, I have learned to do more useful things with computers and software. In college, I worked in a computer lab for several semesters. I have spent time as a helpdesk technician on the phone for an ISP, for Dell, and for various private industries. I've been a field technician for several companies too. In my last job, I learned how to be a software analyst and a programmer. I guess it would be fair to say I've come a long way in 30 years.
Besides using computers for more productive pursuits, I also enjoy using them for leisure. The realm of computer gaming is one that I am pretty familiar with. I've got an impressive library of computer games that I've beaten over the years. Some of them I've traded in for newer titles, others have become so old that they won't even work on my current PC.
I tend to gravitate towards the Action-Adventure, Strategy, First-Person Shooters, and Role Playing types of games. I never was big into physical sports, so I never really found it all that interesting to play them on a computer. Also, the only console I ever owned was an Atari 2600. Given the choice between a full-fledged PC that can do so much more than play games and a "box" that hooks up to a Television and might also be used to play DVD's, I'd rather have the PC every time. Why spend the extra money for something that only plays games when I can save it to add more to my computer? Admittedly, some pretty spectacular titles are made for consoles, but to me, that is a way of trying to control games. By taking away the computer aspect, players have less control over the games and are more subject to the whims of console manufacturers. But that's just my opinion.
Anyway, my latest obsession has been two Role-Playing Games (called "RPG's") by a company called Bioware. The first one is called Neverwinter Nights and the second Star Wars, Knights of the Old Republic. I will deal with these two in order.
Neverwinter Nights is based upon Dungeons and Dragons (known as D&D, or Paper and Pencil - PnP), yet another one of my childhood fascinations. The game is set up so you generate a character, equip them, and do battle with monsters, villains, and other assorted characters. You have a lot of choices concerning how your particular character goes about things. Your character (through you) has to solve a series challenging puzzles, interact with various "virtual" characters, and carefully maneuver through treacherous situations to survive. This is not a "blood and gore" (the term used in the community is: "hack and slash") game, this is a game where the player has to think on his (or her) feet, consider the consequences, and take action accordingly. Bioware to date, has created the Original Neverwinter Nights Campaign, (called NWN OC) and two expansion sets: Shadows of Unrentide, (called SoU) and Hoardes of the Underdark, (called HotU). Each of these campaigns is based upon D&D PnP modules written years before. They take place in a world setting called Forgotten Realms in a land called Faerun. If all of this seems overwhelming and confusing, don't worry. Basically, what we have is a place where people can be things they can't be "in real life" (IRL). It's a totally made-up world that regularly gets filled up with made up characters, adventures, and monsters of every imaginable type.
One plays this sort of game best by being that has various similarities to the player, but also has various differences too. Quite often, I play female elven characters (not going to get into a deep psychological analysis of this) that are generally good, but sometimes "blur the lines a little." To be quite honest, I've never played a "pure evil" character in my life. When talking about what sense of morality and ethics a player has, we are discussing something called "alignment," (sometimes "faction"). Alignments are really basic tendencies of a character. Given a situation, the character will act in accordance with a certain set of principles, or not. Whatever the case may be, there are three primary alignment traits and three secondary alignment traits. The primaries are: Lawful- generally adheres to law in any situation, Chaotic- generally does whatever they feel like regardless, and Neutral- decides on a case-by-case basis when it is appropriate to act and when it is not. The three secondary traits are: Good: cares about others, wants to help and protect those weaker and less fortunate, and despises suffering, treachery, and deceit, Evil: doesn't care about others, uses people to get what they want, and willing to do whatever it takes to further their own objectives and goals, and Neutral: generally seeks to find the balance between the two extremes, cares about others, but recognizes that some amount of suffering is necessary (not to mention inevitable), and that some people cannot (or will not) be helped. My characters tend to be Lawful Neutral, Neutral, or Neutral Good. Lawful Good and Chaotic Evil just tend to be too extreme for me. This is true of my real life tendencies as well (I don't think this makes me a bad person, just a pragmatic one).
To Be Continued.
TANSTAAFL!
© 2004, J.S.Brown
0 comments
0 Comments:
4.06.2004
Rites of Spring: Remembering Baseball
Ah yes, springtime. Even in the desert, the smell of freshly cut grass makes one begin to think of ash wood bats, broken-in leather gloves, hotdogs, beer, and all the sights and sounds of baseball.
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was 1981, my father took me by train from Albany NY to the true Shrine of Baseball. No, not Cooperstown, that would happen a few years later. This day, we went to the heart of the Bronx, and I got my first glimpse of Yankee Stadium. Just thinking about that day still gives me goose bumps. Walking out into the open air just outside the canopy and seeing the site of so many great moments in baseball, for an 11-year old, I thought my life was now complete. Not only did I get to see "The House that Ruth Built," I also watched the Yankees pounce all over Kansas City.
For me, going to Yankee Stadium was like being in the presence of all the greatest players who ever wore the pinstripes. Few teams in the history of baseball have the enviable record of the "Bronx Bombers." That was the very first time I had ever been to a major league baseball game, and even after all these years, it is still indelibly etched into my psyche.
What is it about baseball? I wish I knew. In today's high-speed world, most people don't have the patience for "America's Past-time." People seem to crave more action; they gravitate towards more "physical" sports. Baseball still holds a spell over me. Maybe it is because my father and stepfather grew up during the "glory years" of baseball, when players were not paid outrageous sums of money, they played because they truly loved the game. Baseball games were a part of the American psyche during the 20th Century. They took up the better part of an afternoon, more if there was a double-header. A game took as long as it took, and people liked it that way. We stopped to enjoy the moment a little more then. Baseball players were the heroes of hard-working Americans; it remains "our sport."
From time-to-time, I catch specials on HBO on the history of baseball. There's the When it was a Game series, and then there are specials that focus in on one specific team. Just today I saw Curse of the Bambino, about the Boston Red Sox and over 70 years of heartbreak over a team that can't quite seem to get over the legacy of having traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees all those years ago. Yet the fans come out of hibernation every spring with a renewed sense of hope and vigor that: ".... Maybe, just maybe, this year will be the year. A part of me cheers for their loyalty. It is the same loyalty towards the underdog that helped form this nation, and certainly New England was an important part of our collective heritage. That spirit is alive and well in the hearts and minds of Boston fans.
As I grew up, my family moved from Upstate New York to Pittsburgh PA, now we lived in a true "sports town." It was a Pittsburgh tradition for boys to skip school to attend the Pirate's spring opener every year (this trend got so bad, that the Pirates organization started rescheduling their openers so they started in the evenings). "The boys" and me would go and watch "The Bucs" play, usually they lost, but we didn't care. We went because it was part of the rites of spring that must be observed. It was one of the few male-bonding rituals that I couldn't ignore, because it was in my blood.
I remember watching Bull Durham not long after I finished Navy boot camp. Movies on base were free for sailors, and I was desperately low on funds because I was contributing to my G.I. Bill, and only an E-2 at the time. I went to this movie with little in the way of expectations. It would not have been a movie I would have chosen to go to, but it was what was playing and beggars can't be choosers. What happy coincidence that this move was playing; I fell in love with the movie, and it renewed my love for the game.
The more I watched, the more I realized how important baseball was to people. It is more than just a game; it is a passion, a thrill, something that links us to our past with an undeniable sense of hope and renewal. It is a modern rite of spring. Just as the plants and animals come to life once more, we too come to life. Every year, the slate is wiped clean: "our team" has another chance. They might go all the way. Baseball isn't played with bone-crushing brute force. It isn't played with finesse and style. Baseball takes its own time. It cannot be rushed or hurried. It demands that anyone who watches slow down and make a deliberate choice to be entertained at its own speed.
More people seem to be unable to make the sacrifice baseball demands of them. They have too many pressures to be several places at once. Their cell phones, pagers, and PDA's are filled with appointments, To-Do's, important calls and meetings, all the trappings of a society that has given too much in the name of urgency and self-importance. We have forgotten the magic of a Sunday afternoon spent cheering on our favorite teams. Now we can check our favorite team via the Internet in between other endeavors. It isn't that we don't have the time; we no longer make the time. Time makes us. That is the tragedy of baseball. It reminds us of the simpler things in life, but we no longer wish to be reminded. We have trouble savoring the moments because we are already looking forward, planning, thinking; waiting impatiently for it to arrive. Like so many things in life, Baseball is about the journey, not the destination. If we forget how to enjoy baseball, we have forgotten how to enjoy what it means to be Americans. That would be tragedy beyond words.
When it was a Game Triple Play
© 2004, J.S.Brown
0 comments
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was 1981, my father took me by train from Albany NY to the true Shrine of Baseball. No, not Cooperstown, that would happen a few years later. This day, we went to the heart of the Bronx, and I got my first glimpse of Yankee Stadium. Just thinking about that day still gives me goose bumps. Walking out into the open air just outside the canopy and seeing the site of so many great moments in baseball, for an 11-year old, I thought my life was now complete. Not only did I get to see "The House that Ruth Built," I also watched the Yankees pounce all over Kansas City.
For me, going to Yankee Stadium was like being in the presence of all the greatest players who ever wore the pinstripes. Few teams in the history of baseball have the enviable record of the "Bronx Bombers." That was the very first time I had ever been to a major league baseball game, and even after all these years, it is still indelibly etched into my psyche.
What is it about baseball? I wish I knew. In today's high-speed world, most people don't have the patience for "America's Past-time." People seem to crave more action; they gravitate towards more "physical" sports. Baseball still holds a spell over me. Maybe it is because my father and stepfather grew up during the "glory years" of baseball, when players were not paid outrageous sums of money, they played because they truly loved the game. Baseball games were a part of the American psyche during the 20th Century. They took up the better part of an afternoon, more if there was a double-header. A game took as long as it took, and people liked it that way. We stopped to enjoy the moment a little more then. Baseball players were the heroes of hard-working Americans; it remains "our sport."
From time-to-time, I catch specials on HBO on the history of baseball. There's the When it was a Game series, and then there are specials that focus in on one specific team. Just today I saw Curse of the Bambino, about the Boston Red Sox and over 70 years of heartbreak over a team that can't quite seem to get over the legacy of having traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees all those years ago. Yet the fans come out of hibernation every spring with a renewed sense of hope and vigor that: ".... Maybe, just maybe, this year will be the year. A part of me cheers for their loyalty. It is the same loyalty towards the underdog that helped form this nation, and certainly New England was an important part of our collective heritage. That spirit is alive and well in the hearts and minds of Boston fans.
As I grew up, my family moved from Upstate New York to Pittsburgh PA, now we lived in a true "sports town." It was a Pittsburgh tradition for boys to skip school to attend the Pirate's spring opener every year (this trend got so bad, that the Pirates organization started rescheduling their openers so they started in the evenings). "The boys" and me would go and watch "The Bucs" play, usually they lost, but we didn't care. We went because it was part of the rites of spring that must be observed. It was one of the few male-bonding rituals that I couldn't ignore, because it was in my blood.
I remember watching Bull Durham not long after I finished Navy boot camp. Movies on base were free for sailors, and I was desperately low on funds because I was contributing to my G.I. Bill, and only an E-2 at the time. I went to this movie with little in the way of expectations. It would not have been a movie I would have chosen to go to, but it was what was playing and beggars can't be choosers. What happy coincidence that this move was playing; I fell in love with the movie, and it renewed my love for the game.
The more I watched, the more I realized how important baseball was to people. It is more than just a game; it is a passion, a thrill, something that links us to our past with an undeniable sense of hope and renewal. It is a modern rite of spring. Just as the plants and animals come to life once more, we too come to life. Every year, the slate is wiped clean: "our team" has another chance. They might go all the way. Baseball isn't played with bone-crushing brute force. It isn't played with finesse and style. Baseball takes its own time. It cannot be rushed or hurried. It demands that anyone who watches slow down and make a deliberate choice to be entertained at its own speed.
More people seem to be unable to make the sacrifice baseball demands of them. They have too many pressures to be several places at once. Their cell phones, pagers, and PDA's are filled with appointments, To-Do's, important calls and meetings, all the trappings of a society that has given too much in the name of urgency and self-importance. We have forgotten the magic of a Sunday afternoon spent cheering on our favorite teams. Now we can check our favorite team via the Internet in between other endeavors. It isn't that we don't have the time; we no longer make the time. Time makes us. That is the tragedy of baseball. It reminds us of the simpler things in life, but we no longer wish to be reminded. We have trouble savoring the moments because we are already looking forward, planning, thinking; waiting impatiently for it to arrive. Like so many things in life, Baseball is about the journey, not the destination. If we forget how to enjoy baseball, we have forgotten how to enjoy what it means to be Americans. That would be tragedy beyond words.
When it was a Game Triple Play
TANSTAAFL!
© 2004, J.S.Brown
0 comments
0 Comments:
4.03.2004
The Infinite Many - The Web as a Digital "Collective Unconscious"
We all consider ourselves individuals, yet there are somehow aspects to ourselves to which we cannot attribute to our development, our environment, or our general personality. There are things about every one of us that just seem to be "there." We do not often acknowledge it, but every one of us has a "dark side," to our personality. We can act in a way that is inconsistent with "civilized behavior," if circumstances should unfold in a certain way. We begin to "carve ourselves up" into pieces, parts, aspects, and categories, and often we forget that the disassembly means nothing if we do not put it back together and view the whole.
One of the more interesting ideas of the 20th Century was postulated by Carl Jung, a psychologist and one-time student of the pioneer of Modern Psychology, Sigmund Freud. Jung championed the idea of something called the collective unconscious. Theoretically, this is an aspect to our personality that we are unaware of and cannot be acquired via experience or environment. They are the thoughts and feelings which exist "beneath the surface" of our psyche, and even our unconscious mind is not aware of them. Jung believed the Collective Unconscious was genetic in nature, primarily inherited through our ancestors. Jung's observations went much further. He saw the common "threads" of mythology and literature across cultures with vastly different languages and mores. These common threads were too similar to be mere coincidence, so Jung theorized that some portion of these commonalities is a birthright, no different than skin pigment, hair color, or eye color.
The crossroads of the collective unconscious and common mythologies brings us to another interesting individual by the name of Joseph Campbell, a literary scholar whose lifework was to collect and weave these common threads into a most amazing book called The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which discusses the commonalities between various mythos across many cultures, eventually demonstrating that they are all an archetype of a single hero, whose story reinvented itself, over and over, as the varied tribes of humanity dispersed to cover the world.
So we have a psychologist and a literary scholar, a man of the mind and a man of letters, whose theories seem to fit together in an ecclectic jigsaw, saying that some portion of us that we are consciously unaware, was a gift from our forbears, and ties us all together in a tapestry as old as time itself. Yet this seems to be only a starting point, a crysalis cacoon phase of our development, for we have found a way to reinvent our collective unconscious yet again. As a caterpillar slumbers and dreams of becoming a butterfly, so we have changed. Through the use of a vast network of interconnected, interwoven computers, we have created a "physical" representation of all there is about us. When we look into it, we see our reflection as if it were a sort of "digital mirror," and it contains the sum total of our ideas, our feelings, our fears, our triumphs, our tragedies, our heros, our villians, and all points in-between. Of course I speak of the very World Wide Web upon which this very post resides.
Where else can we find such a rich representation of all that is best and worst about us than on the web? The web is virtualy infinite in its dimension. It appears far larger on the inside than it appears on the outside. Nobody knows its true boundaries for certain. We have fed it all that we are and all that we might be to the point that none of us can claim to know it all. Most of us never become aware of even the smallest percentage of it. Yet it holds a clear representation of a collective unconscious. Its formlessness extends beyond the horizon, and yet each of us may touch it, leave some small mark upon it that our descendents may somehow come to know what we were by what we left them.
Collective Uncionscious
Campbell's Myths
World Wide Brain
© 2004, J.S.Brown
0 comments
One of the more interesting ideas of the 20th Century was postulated by Carl Jung, a psychologist and one-time student of the pioneer of Modern Psychology, Sigmund Freud. Jung championed the idea of something called the collective unconscious. Theoretically, this is an aspect to our personality that we are unaware of and cannot be acquired via experience or environment. They are the thoughts and feelings which exist "beneath the surface" of our psyche, and even our unconscious mind is not aware of them. Jung believed the Collective Unconscious was genetic in nature, primarily inherited through our ancestors. Jung's observations went much further. He saw the common "threads" of mythology and literature across cultures with vastly different languages and mores. These common threads were too similar to be mere coincidence, so Jung theorized that some portion of these commonalities is a birthright, no different than skin pigment, hair color, or eye color.
The crossroads of the collective unconscious and common mythologies brings us to another interesting individual by the name of Joseph Campbell, a literary scholar whose lifework was to collect and weave these common threads into a most amazing book called The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which discusses the commonalities between various mythos across many cultures, eventually demonstrating that they are all an archetype of a single hero, whose story reinvented itself, over and over, as the varied tribes of humanity dispersed to cover the world.
So we have a psychologist and a literary scholar, a man of the mind and a man of letters, whose theories seem to fit together in an ecclectic jigsaw, saying that some portion of us that we are consciously unaware, was a gift from our forbears, and ties us all together in a tapestry as old as time itself. Yet this seems to be only a starting point, a crysalis cacoon phase of our development, for we have found a way to reinvent our collective unconscious yet again. As a caterpillar slumbers and dreams of becoming a butterfly, so we have changed. Through the use of a vast network of interconnected, interwoven computers, we have created a "physical" representation of all there is about us. When we look into it, we see our reflection as if it were a sort of "digital mirror," and it contains the sum total of our ideas, our feelings, our fears, our triumphs, our tragedies, our heros, our villians, and all points in-between. Of course I speak of the very World Wide Web upon which this very post resides.
Where else can we find such a rich representation of all that is best and worst about us than on the web? The web is virtualy infinite in its dimension. It appears far larger on the inside than it appears on the outside. Nobody knows its true boundaries for certain. We have fed it all that we are and all that we might be to the point that none of us can claim to know it all. Most of us never become aware of even the smallest percentage of it. Yet it holds a clear representation of a collective unconscious. Its formlessness extends beyond the horizon, and yet each of us may touch it, leave some small mark upon it that our descendents may somehow come to know what we were by what we left them.
Collective Uncionscious
Campbell's Myths
World Wide Brain
TANSTAAFL!
© 2004, J.S.Brown
0 comments
0 Comments:
4.02.2004
Cars that Drive Themselves-DARPA's Grand Challenge
The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, or DARPA (they originally funded the project that created the Internet), recently sponsored a grand challenge in which design teams from around the nation were invited to build autonomous land vehicles (cars and trucks with no human drivers) and race them in the desert between California and Nevada. The prize was one million dollars. I watched TechTV's coverage of the race and I was impressed, however, none of the entries made it further than 8 miles from the starting point. Considering all the challenges involved, I am not terribly surprised at this outcome. One hopes that they gained valuable data to help advance the concept of an autonomous land vehicle along.
Try to imagine creating an autonomous computer program (and the machinery) that can do all the things we would normally do behind the wheel of a car or truck. The permutations are endless. How will it know where it is (it's not like it can stop and ask for directions)? How will the vehicle react to people or animals in its path? What happens if the navigation system is unable to pinpoint its location? What will it do if it cannot negotiate the terrain? What will it do if it encounters an obstacle? Is it allowed to "call for help" from a human (or another machine) if it can't resolve a situation? Will it know to stop or avoid hitting humans or animals?
It seems to me that the vehicles in this race were totally reliant on GPS and had no backup system for self-correction. The designers were so focused on maintaining the GPS coordinate sets that they didn't consider providing the automated "drivers" with collision avoidance or adjustment mechanisms. It's as if the folks based their designs on the idea that the vehicles would be operating on a large empty parking lot: Perfectly flat and void of any obstacles or potential interference with their navigation systems. It's definitly a starting point, but it is obvious that there are a lot more factors to be added in as this idea evolves.
Navigation is not just about where you are on a map, but being able to correct for the unknown obstacles in the terrain as well. I want to know if it would be possible to create a sensory package using a combination of methods the way humans have five senses, so that the vehicle could "sense" obstacles and make local corrections to compensate for them, and then do an update fix on it's GPS location. My idea for a sensory package would be some form of sonar, radar, infra-red, and perhaps some sort of imaging. I guess we're looking at some way of allowing the AI to use more than just GPS as a source of navigation. Imagine if it could use star charts at night to aid in navigation, or be programmed to store key image elements of the terrain to know where it has already been.
The other thing I would want to design is some method of having the vehicle stop if it is unable to use it's sensory input or GPS fix, and run some self-diagnostics. If it cannot resolve it's own problem, it should be able to send a signal to indicate a malfunction, or request human assistance.
Some ideas I have thought of have to do with the way wireless networking works. The newest wireless standard is called 802.11g. What happens is, if you have a wireless card in your laptop that uses the "g" standard, and someone nearby (whom you've authorized) loses their direct wireless connection, they can request to "borrow" yours until their own connection becomes stable again. You'll never notice the difference. My idea would be that these autonomous ground vehicles are deployed along with aerial drones such as the Preadators, manned airplanes of various types, manned ground units, even footsoldiers, who all have some sort of electronic GPS system that the autonomous vehicle can contact to help it get a better fix on its location. I even thought that the autonomous vehicle itself could have a payload of small sensors it can "drop" that it can use as a "fix marker" of some sort. Like a tracking bug, it would be able to determine the distance from the marker and use that to better pinpoint its current location.
Probably my ideas are nothing new or original. This Grand Challenge seemed to be more about trying out vehicle configurations and basic AI to handle the simple GPS navigation issues. Perhaps as a result of this experience, more thought will be given to obstacle avoidance and redundant navigational backups, and remote sensory packages. Whatever the reasoning, it is an interesting problem to consider. Just the thing to bring out the geek in me.
DARPA Grand Challenge website
© 2004, J.S.Brown
0 comments
Try to imagine creating an autonomous computer program (and the machinery) that can do all the things we would normally do behind the wheel of a car or truck. The permutations are endless. How will it know where it is (it's not like it can stop and ask for directions)? How will the vehicle react to people or animals in its path? What happens if the navigation system is unable to pinpoint its location? What will it do if it cannot negotiate the terrain? What will it do if it encounters an obstacle? Is it allowed to "call for help" from a human (or another machine) if it can't resolve a situation? Will it know to stop or avoid hitting humans or animals?
It seems to me that the vehicles in this race were totally reliant on GPS and had no backup system for self-correction. The designers were so focused on maintaining the GPS coordinate sets that they didn't consider providing the automated "drivers" with collision avoidance or adjustment mechanisms. It's as if the folks based their designs on the idea that the vehicles would be operating on a large empty parking lot: Perfectly flat and void of any obstacles or potential interference with their navigation systems. It's definitly a starting point, but it is obvious that there are a lot more factors to be added in as this idea evolves.
Navigation is not just about where you are on a map, but being able to correct for the unknown obstacles in the terrain as well. I want to know if it would be possible to create a sensory package using a combination of methods the way humans have five senses, so that the vehicle could "sense" obstacles and make local corrections to compensate for them, and then do an update fix on it's GPS location. My idea for a sensory package would be some form of sonar, radar, infra-red, and perhaps some sort of imaging. I guess we're looking at some way of allowing the AI to use more than just GPS as a source of navigation. Imagine if it could use star charts at night to aid in navigation, or be programmed to store key image elements of the terrain to know where it has already been.
The other thing I would want to design is some method of having the vehicle stop if it is unable to use it's sensory input or GPS fix, and run some self-diagnostics. If it cannot resolve it's own problem, it should be able to send a signal to indicate a malfunction, or request human assistance.
Some ideas I have thought of have to do with the way wireless networking works. The newest wireless standard is called 802.11g. What happens is, if you have a wireless card in your laptop that uses the "g" standard, and someone nearby (whom you've authorized) loses their direct wireless connection, they can request to "borrow" yours until their own connection becomes stable again. You'll never notice the difference. My idea would be that these autonomous ground vehicles are deployed along with aerial drones such as the Preadators, manned airplanes of various types, manned ground units, even footsoldiers, who all have some sort of electronic GPS system that the autonomous vehicle can contact to help it get a better fix on its location. I even thought that the autonomous vehicle itself could have a payload of small sensors it can "drop" that it can use as a "fix marker" of some sort. Like a tracking bug, it would be able to determine the distance from the marker and use that to better pinpoint its current location.
Probably my ideas are nothing new or original. This Grand Challenge seemed to be more about trying out vehicle configurations and basic AI to handle the simple GPS navigation issues. Perhaps as a result of this experience, more thought will be given to obstacle avoidance and redundant navigational backups, and remote sensory packages. Whatever the reasoning, it is an interesting problem to consider. Just the thing to bring out the geek in me.
DARPA Grand Challenge website
TANSTAAFL!
© 2004, J.S.Brown
0 comments
0 Comments:
When Your PC has that "Not So Fresh Feeling"
To an extent, I have been an IT professional for more than 10 years. I remember the frustrations of dialing up with less-than a 28.8 modem, let alone a 33.6 or 56k. Yet besides those unfortunate souls who cannot find cable or DSL where they live, I cannot fathom why anyone would still be using dialup to connect to the net.
I have had cable now since 1997. My wife is a notorious penny-pincher (she can squeeze 'em until they scream) and even she sees the value in being able to "click-and-go." No waiting for the modems to dial up (2 of our 4 PC's don't even have a telephone modem), just BOOM; site is up faster than it takes for you to read this.
I've got solid defenses. I'm certain if someone wanted to spend the time, they could eventually crack them, but most of the time, it is far easier to look for that person who doesn't know any better. I have a four-port cable/DSL router on my system. It allows me to split my line to all four of our computers (two desktops and two laptops), and yes, all four of them can be online at the same time without any noticeable speed problems, and it doesn't cost me anything extra per month.
There is only one group of people who leave me with less enthusiasm then dial-up folk. AOL users. No self-respecting IT person I've ever known would let AOL NEAR his or her PC. It is the same old story over and over again. Every time they release a new version, people race to update to it, and then the problems begin. AOL "takes over" the system and makes changes to it, it conflicts with certain types of hardware, it doesn't like some feature of this program or that, or the virus protection thinks its a virus...yadda yadda yadda. I could make a living off of solving AOL version update issues. Half the time, AOL users call up their own tech support and they don't even know what the problems are or how to fix them!
The first thing to do if you really want to stop having problems with AOL- uninstall it and call your local cable or phone provider and get broadband. All those "pretty tools" AOL includes bloat the operating system beyond belief and drag down system performance until it's at a standstill. Windows is bad enough to put up with when it's working correctly. Adding AOL to Windows is like simultaneously pouring gasoline and gunpowder onto a raging forest fire.
Most people don't realize what it is that causes their systems to become slow, unstable, and unreliable. They run Windows for years, installing programs, downloading files, reinstalling programs, never once considering how much wear and tear this actually puts on the Windows Registry. Sooner or later, even if the user runs regular maintenance, Windows will become so unstable that it will crash more than it runs. Then it's time to totally reformat the hard drive and reinstall Windows from scratch. I generally do this 2 to 3 times a year, just to clean off the "clutter." You'd be amazed at how much faster my system runs just after I've done a clean reformat-reinstall. Just like anything else, a computer can accumulate waxy build-up. Sooner or later, it'll be time to clean house.
When it comes to E-mail, a surprising number of people have used Outlook Express or Outlook, simply because either one or the other (or both) came bundled with their PC's. I would venture to say that 75-85% of all computer viruses written today are transmitted via Outlook Express or Outlook, simply because so many people use it. This is exactly why I don't. I always had a thing for Netscape, but even I had to run away from it screaming when 6.0 came out. That's why I was so happy to find Mozilla. Mozilla is a free browser based upon the old Netscape Communicator 4.5 I used to love. Communicator had a browser, e-mail program, and Web page composer, address book, all in one. It was the greatest thing since sliced bread and the unbreakable plastic comb.
With everyone optimizing websites for Internet Explorer, it became too problematic to use Netscape for browsing, but I continued to use it's E-mail program until I found Mozilla. Mozilla is part of the Open Source movement. Anyone who wants to can learn how it works and create tools and plug-ins that enhance what it can do. There are all sorts of neat add-ins and plug-ins for Mozilla. It pretty much had all the things that made Netscape Communicator 4.5 such a great and powerful tool. But of course, this is not where my story ends.
The Mozilla team has been hard at work on a new browser and E-mail program. They call their new browser Firefox and their E-mail program is Thunderbird. I recently downloaded and installed these programs and I can honestly say that they are 10 times better than anything Microsoft could ever hope to produce. They are very easy to use and set up. I was up and running with them in minutes. I followed instructions on their site to create a simple file that allowed me to link my old bookmarks right into Firefox. Thunderbird is a full feature E-mail program that kicks the crap out of Spam, and provides all sorts of great tools for working with messages. The best part about it is I am NOT using Outlook Express or Outlook, which makes me less vulnerable to viruses written specifically to exploit Microsoft products.
Recently, I was given an old IBM Aptiva that needs a new hard drive. I plan to purchase a bigger one for my current PC and put one of my old ones into the Aptiva. I'm going to try running the Linux operating system on it.
Linux has many advantages over Windows; first and foremost, it's completely FREE (yes, it doesn't cost you anything but time). The other neat thing about Linux is that it is part of the Open Source project, meaning the source code for Linux is available for anyone who wants to figure it out and write programs for it (try that with Windows). This has produced an operating system that is surprisingly robust and free of bugs.
A vast majority of the people who use Linux also make improvements to it and share them regularly, there is no waiting for the mega conglomerate to release it's next service pack to fix why something won't work, as is the case with Windows. Linux is also popular because not too many people write viruses that affect it, in fact, I've yet to hear of a single virus. Linux used to be clunky looking, but today, it looks very much like the Windows environment. Many people would barely notice the difference, except maybe for no "blue screens of death." Of course Linux is based upon one of the most stable operating systems ever created by man: UNIX.
So what have we learned today? Dialup sucks, Broadband Rocks, AOL isn't worth the hassle, Outlook Express and Outlook are easy targets for viruses, Mozilla, Firefox, and Thunderbird are much better products, and Linux is quickly looking like a better choice over Windows.
The Angst of Dialup
The Broadband Revolution
AOL Watch
How Computer Viruses Work
Vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook Could Allow Code Execution (828040)
Outlook and Outlook Express
Mozilla Firefox Browser
Mozilla Thunderbird Project
The Many Flavors of UNIX
If You Don't Do Windows (Try Linux)
The Open Source Initiative
© 2004, J.S.Brown
0 comments
I have had cable now since 1997. My wife is a notorious penny-pincher (she can squeeze 'em until they scream) and even she sees the value in being able to "click-and-go." No waiting for the modems to dial up (2 of our 4 PC's don't even have a telephone modem), just BOOM; site is up faster than it takes for you to read this.
I've got solid defenses. I'm certain if someone wanted to spend the time, they could eventually crack them, but most of the time, it is far easier to look for that person who doesn't know any better. I have a four-port cable/DSL router on my system. It allows me to split my line to all four of our computers (two desktops and two laptops), and yes, all four of them can be online at the same time without any noticeable speed problems, and it doesn't cost me anything extra per month.
There is only one group of people who leave me with less enthusiasm then dial-up folk. AOL users. No self-respecting IT person I've ever known would let AOL NEAR his or her PC. It is the same old story over and over again. Every time they release a new version, people race to update to it, and then the problems begin. AOL "takes over" the system and makes changes to it, it conflicts with certain types of hardware, it doesn't like some feature of this program or that, or the virus protection thinks its a virus...yadda yadda yadda. I could make a living off of solving AOL version update issues. Half the time, AOL users call up their own tech support and they don't even know what the problems are or how to fix them!
The first thing to do if you really want to stop having problems with AOL- uninstall it and call your local cable or phone provider and get broadband. All those "pretty tools" AOL includes bloat the operating system beyond belief and drag down system performance until it's at a standstill. Windows is bad enough to put up with when it's working correctly. Adding AOL to Windows is like simultaneously pouring gasoline and gunpowder onto a raging forest fire.
Most people don't realize what it is that causes their systems to become slow, unstable, and unreliable. They run Windows for years, installing programs, downloading files, reinstalling programs, never once considering how much wear and tear this actually puts on the Windows Registry. Sooner or later, even if the user runs regular maintenance, Windows will become so unstable that it will crash more than it runs. Then it's time to totally reformat the hard drive and reinstall Windows from scratch. I generally do this 2 to 3 times a year, just to clean off the "clutter." You'd be amazed at how much faster my system runs just after I've done a clean reformat-reinstall. Just like anything else, a computer can accumulate waxy build-up. Sooner or later, it'll be time to clean house.
When it comes to E-mail, a surprising number of people have used Outlook Express or Outlook, simply because either one or the other (or both) came bundled with their PC's. I would venture to say that 75-85% of all computer viruses written today are transmitted via Outlook Express or Outlook, simply because so many people use it. This is exactly why I don't. I always had a thing for Netscape, but even I had to run away from it screaming when 6.0 came out. That's why I was so happy to find Mozilla. Mozilla is a free browser based upon the old Netscape Communicator 4.5 I used to love. Communicator had a browser, e-mail program, and Web page composer, address book, all in one. It was the greatest thing since sliced bread and the unbreakable plastic comb.
With everyone optimizing websites for Internet Explorer, it became too problematic to use Netscape for browsing, but I continued to use it's E-mail program until I found Mozilla. Mozilla is part of the Open Source movement. Anyone who wants to can learn how it works and create tools and plug-ins that enhance what it can do. There are all sorts of neat add-ins and plug-ins for Mozilla. It pretty much had all the things that made Netscape Communicator 4.5 such a great and powerful tool. But of course, this is not where my story ends.
The Mozilla team has been hard at work on a new browser and E-mail program. They call their new browser Firefox and their E-mail program is Thunderbird. I recently downloaded and installed these programs and I can honestly say that they are 10 times better than anything Microsoft could ever hope to produce. They are very easy to use and set up. I was up and running with them in minutes. I followed instructions on their site to create a simple file that allowed me to link my old bookmarks right into Firefox. Thunderbird is a full feature E-mail program that kicks the crap out of Spam, and provides all sorts of great tools for working with messages. The best part about it is I am NOT using Outlook Express or Outlook, which makes me less vulnerable to viruses written specifically to exploit Microsoft products.
Recently, I was given an old IBM Aptiva that needs a new hard drive. I plan to purchase a bigger one for my current PC and put one of my old ones into the Aptiva. I'm going to try running the Linux operating system on it.
Linux has many advantages over Windows; first and foremost, it's completely FREE (yes, it doesn't cost you anything but time). The other neat thing about Linux is that it is part of the Open Source project, meaning the source code for Linux is available for anyone who wants to figure it out and write programs for it (try that with Windows). This has produced an operating system that is surprisingly robust and free of bugs.
A vast majority of the people who use Linux also make improvements to it and share them regularly, there is no waiting for the mega conglomerate to release it's next service pack to fix why something won't work, as is the case with Windows. Linux is also popular because not too many people write viruses that affect it, in fact, I've yet to hear of a single virus. Linux used to be clunky looking, but today, it looks very much like the Windows environment. Many people would barely notice the difference, except maybe for no "blue screens of death." Of course Linux is based upon one of the most stable operating systems ever created by man: UNIX.
So what have we learned today? Dialup sucks, Broadband Rocks, AOL isn't worth the hassle, Outlook Express and Outlook are easy targets for viruses, Mozilla, Firefox, and Thunderbird are much better products, and Linux is quickly looking like a better choice over Windows.
The Angst of Dialup
The Broadband Revolution
AOL Watch
How Computer Viruses Work
Vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook Could Allow Code Execution (828040)
Outlook and Outlook Express
Mozilla Firefox Browser
Mozilla Thunderbird Project
The Many Flavors of UNIX
If You Don't Do Windows (Try Linux)
The Open Source Initiative
TANSTAAFL!
© 2004, J.S.Brown
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