I’m going to start posting here again, now that I have a (semi)reliable access to the internet. In a day or so I’ll talk about moving into my new apartment. I’m sure you’re looking forward to it.
Archive for News
Migration
I’ve decided to move all the posts from my old site to this one, so you should be able to find them all here. It was a pain to do, but I hope to hang on to every post I can so that I have a sort of history. I imagine it will be fun to look through all of this stuff 10 years from now.
Where are they coming from?
Out of boredom, I decided to check my web stats. I noticed a surprising trend. More people are visiting my site today than there were six months ago. ThatÕs right third viewer: whoever you are, give yourself a pat on the back.
Seriously though, IÕm getting at least double the hits I had back in November when I tried to post every day, and sometimes now I donÕt post for weeks at a time. I donÕt think this trend can be entirely accounted for just by the people I know checking my site twice as much as they used to. Maybe they do this, but I canÕt imagine why, or what kind of psychiatric help they would require.
Apparently I have discovered the secret to making my blog successful Ñ donÕt post very often, if at all. After all, who comes here to hear me talking about myself? Using this knowledge, and current trends, I constructed this graph:
So now I play the waiting game. No more posts from me. You can’t argue with my logic. I have a graph.
IOU
I really should be working on one of my seemingly hundreds of assignments before they’re due this weekend. On the plus side, that includes some writing projects which I plan on posting here when they’re finished. Until then, you’ll just have to wait.
Your Rights, Or Lack Thereof
Sony, in their infinite wisdom, is now releasing CDs with auto-installing rootkits. You read that right. Rootkits. Now what the hell are rootkits? That’s a good question.
As defined by wikipedia: A root kit is a set of tools used by an intruder after cracking a computer system. These tools can help the attacker maintain his or her access to the system and use it for malicious purposes. Root kits exist for a variety of operating systems such as Linux, Solaris, and versions of Microsoft Windows.
Scared? You should be. Sony Records is now releasing their CDs with special copyright protection that hides drivers and software on your system, hopefully without you noticing. Even worse, when you find out about these (via special software that can view these files as they try to hide) and try to delete them, you end up breaking your ability to play CDs because they replace your CD drivers with ones they created. All of this to “protect” the artists…
In other parts of the world, some people are telling first-hand stories of being searched as they go into movies. That’s right. Searched. Like: “We’ll have to confiscate that cell phone, sir, now please step over here while we scan you with a handheld metal detector.” Even worse, people standing in the corners of the theater taking video of you watching the movie, to ensure there’s no funny business.
I for one, say it’s gone too far. Next time you buy a CD with this underhanded copy-protection, return it. If you soon find your home theater requires a search, deny them that privilege, especially if they didn’t tell you you were agreeing to one at the ticket office. Fight the power, people. Tell these people that if they want to destroy our rights when we make legitimate purchases, we’d be more than happy to go back to the illegitimate ones.
[Sony Records](http://www.cnet.com/4520-6033_1-6376177.html?tag=nl.e501)
[MPAA screws music experience](http://www.politechbot.com/2005/11/04/how-the-mpaa/)