Fiber in the Morning for Regularity

If I had some half & half this morning, I would almost be in bliss. But even if I had all I ever wanted for my coffee, MediaCom still doesn't have a good contingency measure for a power outage.

What, do you ask, is the relationship between half & half and power outages? I have a routine, if you will, every morning. I get up, make coffee, and drink it while I check my e-mail, read some news, and research whatever comes to mind. Back in the day, dad's place was the garage or the woodshop out back, or some room he can read in. I have my desk, inconveniently situated in the corner of the living room, in sight of everything. But it is my place for me to enjoy. Early morning is the only time I have all to myself to do what I do without interruption, whether it be surfing porn, reading about protein synthesis, or looking for another job. My sanity depends on this; the day is not right unless I can have at least 30 minutes to myself. So...

My cable modem is out this morning due to a storm in Valdosta last night that apparently knocked out power to their head-end down there. What they must not realize or care much about is that quite a few of their customers these days depend on the cable network for telephone service. Since I moved into this house and was forced to use MediaCom cable, my modem has been offline at a minimum of once per week. The first three weeks we paid for the service, there was none. It didn't work at all.

I am one of those customers whose home telephone depends on their cable network. I am not a customer of MediaCom's telephone service (I use Lingo; it's cheaper), but nonetheless, I would be very enraged about this, I'm sure, if I had a teenage daughter. For as long as I can remember, the telephone was never out when the power went down. This outage is unacceptable, given the frequency. As a technologist, I know that there is just about no way to make a large cable network as solid as the telephone system, so when we start gabbing over copper cable with UDP packets, it's time to take another perspective on the network. Here's my solution:

Some companies are beginning to toy with the idea of running fiber optic cable directly to the customer's house. While this could prove very expensive, it would provide a robust level of service and expand the horizon of the service capability. With the bandwidth that fiber optics can provide, companies can run just about anything over it, including television, telephone, and high-speed Internet service, all at once, to every customer. Maintenance, in my opinion, would become almost nonexistent (recovering the initial cost of implementation) and service interruptions could only be caused by (and this doesn't help me today) power outages or a physical break in the fiber. This would greatly reduce calls to the technical support desk and hatred of such a big dumb company.

But I would still be out of service today, since no one wants to provide backup power to a head-end that serves, by my estimate, ten thousand people. They'd better hurry up, or I'll... Never mind. There is no other company to choose. Maybe I should start one.

Party of One

Andy touched a topic today (don't really know when he wrote it, but it posted today) that touched a bit on something I've been applying a small amount of brain power to: the two sides of political battles of late.

In recent times, and probably since the beginning of time, the leftist folks have always hated those conservative, selfish bastards. I was once one of those leftist folks for a few days, and then I realized that I didn't ever like being in a category, just "one of those" as I was in the U.S. Army. I wrote sometime last year about labels and how I don't really like them, but I fit in with more liberals than I do conservatives. I like mostly the "world view" they have, though some liberals are downright hippies who would rather have an anarchy and not bathe.

But I don't think that was what I wanted to write about tonight. There was something I wanted to point out in the midst of all the Republicans saying "...it's those fucking Democrats who want to open the gates and let all the poor aliens in to eat all our food and take our jobs" and the Democrats saying "...those damn Republicans just hate all the Mexicans."

It's this (actually, it's questions):

• Which party is it that wishes for everyone in the world to be healthy and happy?


• Which one is going to get global conservation right so I don't have to invent a bubble for Anika to live in?


• Is there a party whose leaders don't lie, cheat, or steal?


• Which one accepts humans as they are?

Don't get me wrong - I'm all for the United States and its conservation, but do we have to ignore the political and social health of every other country while we do it? I believe that's why <insert name of popular terrorist organization> hates us. Well, that and we're mostly Christians.

So here we are, blasting each other with words and slashed tires. Republicans think Democrats are just a bunch of gay hippies, and Democrats think Republicans are Chevy-driving gun-toters. Or something like that. I believe President Bush, deep down, wants all conflict resolved. I think he'd really be okay if there were no wars and everyone was healthy, he could solve starvation and the spread of disease in Africa, and the world was perfect. I am willing to accept that G.W. would be fine with that, if that were all we had to worry about.

I believe this right/left bashing has to do with other issues that the two parties (in general) don't agree on. These days it's religion, the definition of life, and the definition of marriage, to sum it up. There's also the war and our involvement about the globe, but two guys wanting to get hitched gets better ratings.

This post is long enough, and I really forgot where I was going with it, so I may try to sum it up here:

The United States of America grants freedom to its citizens, and I interpret that freedom to be the liberty to choose and do whatever I want to, so long as it does not take away from someone else (okay, that leaves some gray lines, but fewer of them.) I won't really associate myself with a party because no individual fits every idea of his/her association. I am Ben: The Party of One.

Update: I just can't let this one go for some reason, but I don't want to keep babbling:

Republicans/Conservatives have their general characteristics, including, but not limited to: conserving the "American way," firearm support, support of the death penalty, opposition of abortions and homosexual marriage.

Democrats/Liberals have their general characteristics, as well, including, but not limited to: saving animals, conserving Earth, banishment of firearms and the death penalty, support of a woman's choice to abort, and the union of whomever.

The right-wing folks fight for my right to carry a firearm, but also to keep drugs out of my hand. In my opinion, that's conflicted freedom. I personally don't like guns, so I'll go witht the Liberals on that one, including the drugs. I've never even tried marijuana (hell, I can barely spell it), but I'd like to think I could if I wanted to grow it, roll it, and smoke it without the police busting down my door, marching past the arsenal of firearms, confescating my weed and throwing me in jail.

This is too complicated. Free but not free? Protected from self?

Daughter: Defined

I had a great time this morning with the all-inclusive responsibility of getting my daughter up and going with me. I have never done this before, but I must say I did a fair job with her hair:



She ate bread, as you may see. Let me assure you that this is a regular thing. We could have just as easily had oatmeal or grits, but this morning time was of the essence and bread was handy. She ate 85% of it on the way to Tifton. With milk.

I can't say enough about how she's so much more fun every day. Her vocabulary is growing and she loves to read (which reminds me that we need more books; Hand Hand Fingers Thumb is getting very ratty). As she becomes more active and responsive, she is beginning to tell us what she likes and doesn't (and the doesn't category certainly gets more drama applied to it) and bringing a more accurate definition of who she is. She used to be just "Anika, our daughter." Now the definition has changed, and it's "Anika, our daughter who gets in and out of bed by herself, doesn't like sour cream, loves to laugh for the fun of laughing, stomps in rain puddles, and fancies popcorn with mommy and daddy."

How to Add Hexadecimal

(Also titled as "I'm bored today.")

The MAC addresses on the LAN and WAN side of most home routers are exactly one increment apart. All we have to do is add one (1) to the value of the LAN MAC printed on the bottom of the router. Sometimes, though, we have trouble doing that addition in our head because the LAN MAC might end in F, the highest hex digit, meaning more than one digit in the number will change, kind of like 899 will roll over to 900 when adding one. So, there's an easy way to do this:

Start your calculator (using Windows XP in this example).



Switch to Scientific mode:





Change the base to "Hex."



Enter the hexadecimal value



Since the number 1 is the same in hex as it is in decimal, we don't have to do any conversions to increment this value by one. Just add one (1) by clicking the "+" and the "1" and the "=." Your new value will be displayed.



Cross-posted at techpickle.org.

How do you Spell That?

Anika is nearing the 18-month milestone and it gets more interesting every day. I put our daughter to bed and was helping Beth with her mathematics. I was on one knee at her desk, drawing a heptagon, when I saw Anika casually walk out of her room and smile at me.

"Shouldn't you be in the bed?"

"Yeah."

"Well why aren't you in it?"

"Ishy-ishh-lilll-lillsh-la-dat."

"Oh. Okay. Now go to bed. I love you. Night-night."

I walked her into her room and she put her bears to sleep before laying down herself. She's such a lovely little girl.

She was up five minutes later.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," I responded, "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

"Yeah..."

And so goes the almost nightly ritual. Hope you're enjoying this as much as I am.

Big Brother in Mountain View

I read an article at techdirt about Amazon.com getting in trouble over a magazine it had available related to cockfighting. Amazon.com says it's not liable because it's actually sold through a third party, and it's in their agreement that it is the responsibility of the actual seller to offer legitimate goods (or something like that). Anyway, in the comments were several other definitions of cockfighting that I don't need to mention, along with other complaints about Amazon.com and how they sell kiddie porn in Japan.

Someone provided a link to an example of this (which, of course, was in Japanese) and I, being curious about this claim and also in complete confidence that I would not see what this comment had implied, I followed the link to a book at amazon.co.jp.

Obviously, the person wasn't fluent in Japanese, and, to be a bit cliche, "judged a book by its cover." He didn't bother reading into it to see what it was all about. I think his comment about this 'book of kiddie porn' had something to do with "forcing her to take her clothes off."

Thanks to Google, I can read Japanese (BETA). Nothing on that translated page had anything to do with sex or violence. The front cover was admittedly a bit suggestive, but from what I gathered it was a book of pictures of a 12-year-old during summer. If you want to read the translated page (I swear it's not even legitimate pornography), click here.

Boy, that was long. All I really wanted to say is that since I've been to Google and translated one page to Japanese, it's throwing Japanese sources into my news column in the Google sidebar. Isn't that just creepy?

News Supported by Ads, or Ads Drawn to with News?

I read stories on Forbes every once in awhile, and every time I do I get frustrated with just how much of the page is dedicated to the actual report or story. See for yourself:

Troubleshooting Home Networks

We all know about wireless networks, and that most of us
should have our own router if we want to use more than one computer on the same
Internet connection. What a lot of
people don’t understand, though, is that being “connected” to a wireless
network doesn’t always mean that we’re connected to the Internet.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> For example:

 

Tech Support:style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Thank you for calling technical assistance,
how may I help you?”

Customer:style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “The Internet is broken.”

Tech Support:style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “How are you connecting to the Internet?”

Customer:style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “I have a wireless thingy in my closet.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> My computer says I’m connected and the signal
strength is ‘Excellent,’ but it still says ‘Page cannot be displayed.’”

 

This can happen for a number of reasons.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Let me try to help you understand what the
problem usually is. We’ll start with a
basic overview of how home networks are usually set up.

 

If you have high-speed Internet access, your connection to
the Internet at home is likely through a cable or DSL modem.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The modem is the device connected directly to
the TV cable (cable modem) or telephone line (DSL modem) and does the needed
modulation/demodulation for communication over your Internet Service Provider’s
(ISP’s) network (don’t get discouraged at this point – I know those were some
foreign words.) Techies like to refer to
this as the wide-area network, or WAN.
Your connection has an IP address, that is, an assigned set of numbers
used by the Internet to route traffic to your house.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Much like a phone number, but obviously a bit
different. I won’t go into the details
here, but I will say that your ISP usually assigns one IP address per customer,
and it always is given to the device connected directly to that modem.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Also, this IP address is what we call your
“public” address.

 

Those of you who use more than one computer at home
simultaneously probably have some sort of router.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> We will assume that you’re hip and have a
wireless router, and probably a laptop with which you roam about your home.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Your wireless router is connected directly to
your modem, which has been granted that single IP address from your ISP.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Now routers have lots of places to plug in
cables, but we’re only going to look at two of them.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> On the back of the average wireless router,
there are five RJ-45 connections (these look like wide telephone jacks).style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Four are right next to each other, and one is
separated from the pack.

 

That lonely RJ-45 connection is usually
labeled “Internet,” “WAN,” or both.
It is the WAN (remember, wide-area network = Internet Service Provider’s
network) interface, and should have a network cable (usually included with the
modem and with the router) connected from that port to the modem.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> This is the extent of your connection
directly to the Internet. Everything
after this concerns your internal home network, or local-area network (LAN).

 

The other four ports (the RJ-45 connections) are referred to
as the LAN. It doesn’t matter which port
you connect your computer to; they’re all the same.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Just pick one.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> You’ll need another one of those network
cables to connect your computer to the LAN.
If everything is on and working properly (and you’re all paid up with
your Internet provider), you should be able to access the Internet.

 

Okay, here we go…

 

This home router can do some pretty cool stuff if you really
think about it. It creates a whole other
network, just for you, and it allows everyone connected to it to use that one
single Internet connection. It grants
each computer an internal, or private, IP address so that it can manage each
connection separately. After granting
the IP addresses, it uses something called network address translation (NAT) to
properly route communications to and from the Internet for each user.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> For all your computer knows, it’s connected.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It is not connected directly to the Internet,
but it is connected to your home network, or the LAN.

 

This picture I’m painting concerns a “hard-wired” connection
(remember the cable from the computer to the router?), but the same goes for a
wireless connection. The status could
show “connected” and the signal level could be “Excellent,” but that’s only
your connection to your router, not the
Internet. You could think of your
router as a “gateway” to the Internet through which all traffic must pass. I’ve
gone through all of this to say that if
your router can’t access the Internet, no one in your house can, either.

 

There are a couple of reasons this could happen:

 

Reason #1: style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Your
modem is offline. Large networks,
especially cable and DSL networks, are exposed to many
elements and are fairly fragile. They
are susceptible to radio interference, heat and cold, lines being cut by
construction workers, lawn mowers, bad landlords, and the occasional car
knocking down a telephone pole.
Maintenance on the cabling that runs through your neighborhood can also
affect your service.

 

You can tell that your modem is online just by looking at
it. Cable and DSL modems always have a
series of indicator lights used for showing its own status.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> One light that is pretty standard is the one
labeled “Power.” If this light is not
lit, check the following:

 

1. That
   the modem is plugged into an electrical outlet,
   and the cord is firmly in place in the power connector on the back of the
   modem.


2. The
   electrical outlet you are using is live.
   Is there a tripped circuit breaker in the house? style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Is the power out? style='mso-spacerun:yes'> You can even go so far as taking the
   modem to another room just to plug it in and check the power connection. style='mso-spacerun:yes'> If none of this works, it could be that
   the power supply for your modem has gone bad, or the modem itself has
   ceased to live. Most customers
   rent/lease the modem from the ISP.
   Call tech support to get a replacement.

 

If the light is on, continue your investigation:

 

Some modems have a standby mode which breaks the
connection. If there is a standby button
on your modem, press it and see if the lights come back on.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I know that Motorola modems have a separate
light used to indicate the modem is in standby mode, but I’ve seen an RCA modem
that shuts off all the lights when in
standby.

 

Usually there is a light labeled “Online” or “Ready.”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> If it is not on, or if it is blinking at a
steady rate, there is a problem with your ISP’s network.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Before calling tech support, try this:

 

1. Make
   sure the telephone line (DSL) or cable (Cable Modem) is connected to the
   modem and to the outlet in the wall.


2. Unplug
   the power cord from the modem.


3. Wait
   20 seconds.


4. Plug
   the power cord back in and let the modem initialize.

 

That often solves the problem, but not always.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I recommend at this point that you wait about
an hour (if you haven’t done so already) before calling tech support.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> There may be maintenance in the area or some
other type of outage, and your ISP likely knows about it.

 

If that worked and your modem shows that it is “Online,”
congratulations.

 

If it was online to begin with, we can assume then that the
problem lies elsewhere, and it is not a problem with your ISP.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It is a problem with your network.

 

Reason #2: style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Your
router can’t access the Internet.
When the power goes out at my house and comes back on, everything comes
on at the same time, including the modem and my router.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> When the router comes on, it looks to the
modem for access and starts asking for its IP address.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The problem lies in this:style='mso-spacerun:yes'> it can take up to five minutes for a modem to
connect to the ISP and come online again.
During this time, the router can simply give up asking for an address,
because nothing is responding while the modem is situating itself.

 

So, what needs to happen is for the modem to come online, style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>then the router to power up and get
access right away.
Here is the fix-all for this situation:

 

1. Shut
   down everything. Turn off all the
   computers, and remove power from the modem and the router.


2. Wait
   two full minutes.


3. Apply
   power to the modem only.


4. Wait
   for the modem to initialize and come online. style='mso-spacerun:yes'> This could be a few minutes.


5. Apply
   power to the router. It will
   initialize and connect within about 30 seconds.


6. Start
   your computer(s). All should be
   well.

 

If this is not done in the prescribed order, it may not
work.

 

Reason #3: style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Your
router still can’t access the Internet.
Lightning can be a real pain sometimes.
I’ve seen computers that have fallen prey to lightning strikes hitting
the cable networks, which in turn can ruin the modem, the computer, or
both. Check the lights on the modem
related to PC or LAN. This is the
connection from your modem to the router.
The corresponding light on the router is usually labeled “Internet” or
“WAN.” They should both be class=GramE>on, and possibly flickering.
If not, try the following:

 

1. Try
   another cable between the router and the modem.


2. Connect
   a computer (must be powered on) to the modem and check the PC light on the
   modem. If it still does not light,
   the modem is likely at fault.


3. With a
   network cable, connect a computer (again, it must be on) to the
   Internet/WAN port on the router and check the light. style='mso-spacerun:yes'> If it does not come on, it may be the
   router, or both the modem and the router.

 

Reason #4: style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Logical
Problems at the ISP. I won’t
call them hackers, because most hackers aren’t evil.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I will refer to evil hackers as Technologically-Advanced
Rogue Degenerates, or TARDs.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Sometimes those TARDs
have a field day with someone, and try to crash whatever ISP their victim may
be using. You might be on the same ISP,
or even be that victim. Other things can
happen though, such as a server crashing or a
disgruntled employee gone mad. These
things we cannot help, but rest assured that someone is working on it.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Call tech support just to see what the
problem is. Also, you might want to make
sure your payment wasn’t late.

 

Conclusion

 

As you may imagine from reading this far, many things must
be in place for the Internet to work and for your home or office network to
operate. I probably haven’t covered
absolutely everything in this article, but from my experience, this covers the
majority (and I mean majority, like 97% for home users) of the problems related
to Internet access that I had to help customers correct while I did technical
support at an ISP. I still encounter these
same things with the people I meet and serve, and not much outside of this ever
arises in the residential arena.

 

Many things can affect wireless networks, radio interference
being the main culprit. Other factors
can affect connectivity, but that is not the scope of this article.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I will soon write about wireless network woes
in another post here.

Cross-posted at techpickle.org.

Shout Out

My good friend Andy and I go way back.

No we don't.

We just know each other but never talk. I included him the other day when I blasted out a mass-mail announcing the move from blogger and never heard from him. I did confirm today, though, that he does check his e-mail, because the link on his site has been updated. To return the favor, I added his RSS feed to my Random Feed box in the sidebar.

Andy is such a professional blogger that I forget he's also an Army officer. He wins awards, gets invited to write at other blogs, and is summoned to interviews. He is very insightful, as he was when we used to hang out. He knows a lot of stuff (and now I assume does a heck of a lot of reading) and seems to be quite concerned with the political state of the world.

He has become somewhat of a celebrity as his hit counter is nearly 250,000 at the moment! I realize that's not many for a popular website, but if you'll look at the latest count at my blogger site, you'll see a vast difference. Keep it up, Andy, and feel free to comment here anytime.

Improv Night at the G8

Actually it was morning, but I missed it!

See, the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over."

-George W. Bush

Update: I appreciate the fact that Bush actually thinks about what's going on. Seems to me he has to be forced to explain himself every time he's in public, and that he doesn't actually consider much in private. This shows that Bush seemingly cares about something and proposes a solution, or something close to it.

Update II: I saw some of the video and while I haven't changed my mind that Bush actually thinks about what's going on, he still isn't very professional, even in an event in which all leaders are known to be audited by their every move. I mean, he was smacking his food with his mouth wide open when he said "...get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over." One can barely understand him! That's not to be a judgement on his entire character as an American president (jury's still out on that one).

And the fact that he didn't want to speak at length because it was a long trip home is just plain shitty. If he's got something to say, then damnit, he should go right out and say it, because after all, he is the "leader" of a global superpower, isn't he? Shouldn't he have some clout at these meetings?

Having Babies to Escape Poverty?

A new study in the UK has found that teenage pregnancy is better than a dead-end job. While I'm not a teenage girl nor do I even know one at this time, there are better ways of fixing one's future than having a baby in high school.

I knew one girl in high school who got pregnant. She didn't choose to get pregnant (she did, however, choose to have sex, but did so without the intention of bearing a child^*) and was criticized for the entire time she carried. It was big news in my town; the girl dated one of my brother's friends and we saw her almost every day. She did quite well through the pregnancy and the birth, finished high school and is reportedly living a life above poverty. I don't think she's better for it. More experienced, yes. Better off than having gone to college, no.

But times as they are, I'm not sure exactly what they think in middle school these days. The world's technology keeps us so connected to each other electronically that we're very removed from the real world, especially when one is young and impressionable. If life sucks so badly that a young teenage girl would rather have a baby than find another way to make herself succeed, parents need to be just a little bit more involved.

My mother is the executive director of a children and youth organization down in this area. I'm sure she'd have something to say to these kids pregnant at 13.

Then again, given the same educational environment I had in middle and high school, I might have chosen to have a baby and seek assistance from the state. That's exactly where my education led me, until the Army recruiter stopped by my work one day. The Army saved me, in a way. I didn't know what a bachelor's degree was when I finished high school. The majority of the teachers didn't give a crap where we ended up because they thought they already knew (and as you may guess, no one was success-bound.) I honestly don't know who the school counselor was, and I vaguely remember some kind of broad assessment telling me to work with my hands. That's it. All through high school I could see the end of it and nothing past. Nothing was there to prepare me for college; no one mentioned the possibility. I don't remember ever being challenged there; no real goals were set, temporary or long-term. I suppose I was destined for the Army, as the girls were destined for pregnancy, shitty marriages and the rest of their lives confined to one region of the United States.

Teachers need to wake the hell up, and parents need to open their eyes. Who's gonna take care of you when you're too old to wipe your ass, the high-school dropout you ignored?


_{* to my knowledge.}

Numero Uno

I used to do like many others and put my own name into Google from time to time. And probably like so many others, I failed to find myself on the first page. As far as I know, I'm the only Ben Rehberg in this country, and I should show up in at least the first ten listings!

Well, I do now. I've had this domain since 2003 and it's never seen very much activity until now. The blog being here makes a bit of noise every time I update it, and when my friends change the links to here, Google and the other engines will crawl this site a bit more.

Oh, and the "Earlier Entries" box is filling up. I was right - ten posts.

Of All People!

Pete Coors? Who would have ever imagined he was a drinker?

Hot Enough

I remember back in the early 80's when I lived in Nebraska someone saying that the sidewalk that summer was "hot enough to fry an egg." I don't remember this very vividly, though; I was five or six years old.

Now I've heard that some of the more powerful laptops today emit high levels of thermal energy (read: they get hot). This HP TC1100 tablet PC gets pretty warm sometimes, and I think my Dell Inspiron 1100 actually started to cook the meat on my palms if I typed at it long enough.

Well, here's news. Engadget says someone actually cooked an egg on a new MacBook. Literally hot enough.

Now here's a moneymaker: underwear that protects you from your laptop! Watch your packages, boys.

Mission Complete

It was 9:17 this morning on my atomic clock when I saw and heard confirmation of "wheels stop" on Discovery at Kennedy Space Center. They traveled 5.4 million miles, repaired the heat shield using a 50' boom, and returned the space station's crew to a full complement.

I wish I was there. That stuff sounds like so much fun, it might not seem like so much work (though it is a full ton of it). I currently have a job that isn't very challenging; the only exception to that is finding something to do when there's no training. That can prove taxing; which is why I'm home this morning watching the space shuttle land on NASA TV via Akamai/Yahoo:



I think now I'll work on some more work-related stuff here, where it is comfortable and more user-friendly.

As I Sit...

Discovery will land in a couple of minutes. I am still fantastically amazed at the level of engineering employed in these missions. I just heard "...wiggle the right data probe" just after they announced the shuttle was moving at Mach 4.6.

I'm not picking on them. I love those people.

Little trivia: STS-41B (Challenger) was the first shuttle mission to land at Kennedy.

More Video Fun

Launch in external player

I don't know why Firefox doesn't display this video the same way that IE does. The code instructs the browser not to play the video automatically, but Firefox obviously doesn't listen. If you're using Firefox, I'm sorry, but you're going to just have to sit there and watch it every time you open this post, or just press stop.

On the other hand, if you're not using Firefox, there's a link to get it at the bottom of the sidebar.

NEWS

This is the new location for Random Thoughts, a blog by Ben Rehberg. This post will remain at the top of this blog until October 2006.

I think I'm all done with the build here. Those of you who link to Random Thoughts should think about changing the link! Random Thoughts will not be updated as of July 16, 2006. The official link to here is http://www.benrehberg.com/

Thanks for visiting!

Update: This post was at the top of my blog created with bBlog and is only included here for purposes of completeness.

What's Wrong?

There never is anything in the "Earlier Posts" section. The call to display this list is "{recentposts skip=10}." Hm. Maybe I have to have posted at least ten entries to this blog before it displays "earlier posts." Especially since the first eight or so have been posted during the same 24-hour period.

Sunday Morning

The calendar thing is a bit tricky. I don't even know how to call it up. I'm also having problems with the landing page at benrehberg.com. I can change my web server to serve up the blog when you go to www.benrehberg.com, but for some reason it's not working. I put a quick redirect page up front (first time I'd ever needed one; it took five minutes when it should have taken 30 seconds).

I've notified my readers at Random Thoughts to update their links, and I'll send an e-mail to a select few whom I know have links to me.

In other news, It's Sunday. It is going to be a slow day today because I was up until nearly 4 a.m. getting this blog configured. My wife is building a tent out of sheets for our daughter, and my parents are coming over. They're getting ready to move in the middle of next month and they're in a hissy on what to do with all of their stuff.

I would be too. My dad built the place he's currently in and still has all the equipment needed to keep it up. He's moving from a 3000 ft^2* home on 25 acres to a three-bedroom apartment in the city. I really feel for them.

Sorry I don't have any global news today. It's Sunday, people. Get to church.

Just kidding.

_{* estimated square footage and acreage.}

Easier Than I Thought

All is moved from blogger. The archives of Random Thoughts can be found here. Happy reading!

This Blog has Moved

Hi. I'm moving my blog to my personal site, benrehberg.com. I'm tired of wondering what the hell to do with the place and I have wanted to control my own blog for a while now, so I'm copying Scott and moving to my own domain. Please update your bookmarks. The official URL is

http://www.benrehberg.com

Don't forget it.

Thanks for visiting! See you there!

Now I just need to figure out something to do with the other two domains...

Third Post

This is the third post to this blog, and I can't tell if the "Earlier Posts" section is being filled out. Anyway, it's very late and I think I'm going to call it a night.

Maybe I'll play with the calendar before I go...

Testing... Testing...1.2.3.

I am just testing the image posting thingy. I have to host my own pictures now and this is how it's done:



She's so darn cute! Enjoy!

Update: I had to shrink this image because it was HUGE. The main window didn't resize it. I could have resized the image display with HTML, but scaling the picture allows a faster page load. I still kinda like this. Now if I could just get my AdSense ads on here...

Update 2: Done with AdSense placement...

I Finally Found It!

I finally found this damn thing! I've been wanting to display a good-looking blog at the front of benrehberg.com for a long time now (because I am a horrible web designer and don't have the patience) and I got it!

It took the right Google search to find this, and setup was easy! Scott, you really should try this. It's called bBlog, and it does everything for you. It has everything, so far as I can tell, including trackbacks, commenting, and RSS feeds. Random Thoughts is no more from this point on, unless I really screw this thing up.

Update (9/5/2006) Looking back, it wasn't such a grand experience. Judging by the fact that you're now reading this same post powered by Blogger, I have failed in my endeavor to escape the masses, but succeeded in my goal to have my blog here at my site instead of rehberg.blogspot.com. Thank you very much.

Review: Brokeback Mountain

I finally saw Brokeback Mountain and I can see why the conservatives and other homophobes hated it or refused to see it at all. It was a slightly slow movie, but interesting throughout. I found it interesting that there wasn't even a kiss before the first (ahem) love scene. That struck me as just plain weird. Every love scene in every other movie has the two in question lip-locked as they tear each other apart.

One has to admit that it took a bit of acting ability to pull the two main roles off. I mean - I'm no homophobe (nor am I homosexual), but it would be tough for me to make it look genuine while kissing another man, caressing him as if he were my wife. That's probably because I'm a geek, not an actor. Props to them.

And I honestly forgot that Heath Ledger is Australian and has an obvious natural accent. He did a magnificent job with the speech for his part. Jake Gyllenhall didn't have to change too much to play Jack Twist (he looks funny with a mustache), but he did a great job. I always thought for some reason that he is older than I am, but he's actually younger than my wife is. For someone to pull off this type of role at age 25 is just fantastic.

Even though most of the filming took place in Alberta, I could still believe it was Wyoming. The scenery in this film was a catalyst for my desire to move back out to the West.

The story - I don't know what to say about the "love story" aspect of it. It has certainly attracted a lot of attention, hasn't it? The controversy is what made me want to watch it even more. It's the same reason I just had to read The Da Vinci Code. Minus the homosexuality, Brokeback Mountain was like any story and could have even been about two women, filled with unabashed emotion and tenacious love. I think there's more than one real story of a 20-year extramarital affair out there. Some things are just irresistible; it's part of being human.

All in all, I think the movie was good. However, I'm going to buy Anne Proulx's book that includes this short story so that I may read the actual

Tentacle

So I haven't been consistent with my blogging - so what? I have a life. It has now slowed to the point where I can write more often, but I don't necessarily do more thinking. Since there is no cognitive energy to spend, there is not much to write.

Seems lately that I'm writing a lot about not writing.

But here's something I didn't know - Ken Lay was on vacation in Aspen when he died. Aren't people supposed to have a bit worse time while awaiting sentence? Anyway, screw him. He was that successful and threw it all away to greed (or ignorance, if you believe him). Now thousands of people are out of their pensions and investments, and Ken just cuts out and dies. What a dick.

News on some people who need a break, though - astronauts. I wanted to be one once. Now I'm too tired.

Escape Plan

I must find a way to get out of South Georgia. I'm of the "If you can't beat them, leave" train of thought, and it's time I found a way to do that.

I want more choices.

I want more diverse people.

I want technology more readily available.

I want more money for what I do.

I want to hang around with more geeks.

I have only thought of one thing to do first: finish a four-year degree in a computer-related field. I have started just that and will be looking for more ways to get out while I'm pounding my brain away.

I'm also on track to take the CompTIA Network+ certification exam in a couple of months. It's not a fantastic credential, but it's a good start. For those of you who visit here often enough to read this post, leave some serious comments (Justin) giving me some ideas.

Bad Man, Good Warez

I did something the other day that I don't do very often; in fact, I haven't done it for years. My friends may think I'm crazy or stupid, but I'm my own man and I make my own decisions. This time I went against the grain to do the unthinkable. I dove in head-first...

...and actually paid for a piece of software.

I downloaded the trial version of TechSmith's SnagIt 8, used primarily to capture screenshots, but it is way more than a simple replacement for [alt+prtscrn]. This thing is awesome. It can take full screenshots or just a piece of a window, capture menus (even the right-click context menus!), and even capture a video of on-screen action. Isn't that just the best thing in the friggin' world? In addition, it comes with a simple editor that isn't so bland. It is easy to use and allows one to lay stuff over the image (arrows, text boxes, etc), and do shading, scaling, and perspective/shear changes. These things are instrumental in creating effective presentations and instructional documents.

So I chose to purchase it since the trial is only 30 days long. I thought I once found a crack for it, but the download turned out to be a virus. Oh, well. Now I don't have to worry. I got it at the Government rate ($30) because I will primarily use it to create instructional material for my job.

Before you close this blog, I'm not getting paid for loving this program, nor am I being compensated for writing this slight praise. I have merely found a program that I can use the hell out of and that works as prescribed, and thought you might be looking for such a tool.

Anika's New Bed

It's not a new bed, actually, but it's the first conversion it was designed for. It is now officially a "toddler bed" and we are slightly worried about Anika getting out of it. So we put up the camera to see how she does it without breaking her neck.

Launch in external player

A New Verb! Yay!!

From TechDirt:

Attention English Teachers: Google Is Officially A Verb: Every summer, it's always fun to see what new tech-related words make it into the Oxford English Dictionary as official 'words.' A few years ago, it was things like 'blog,' 'cyberslacker,' and 'egosurf.' This year, however, the Google lawyers probably won't be all that thrilled to discover that Google has now been included as a verb. Yes, that's right. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it's now perfectly legitimate to say you 'Googled' something. From the standpoint of Google, however, this could take them a step closer to losing the trademark on their own name, as it starts to fall into more common usage. Can Google sue the Oxford English Dictionary?

I love this language sometimes. The company isn't ten years old yet and its name is officially a verb in the English language. Sergey and Larry must be thrilled, but Eric Schmidt is probably a bit concerned about the Google name. I'm not concerned; I never had to pay to use "Google" as a verb to begin with. I don't think this will affect their trademark.

Crappy Fan

I'm such a shithead. I can't believe I missed the launch of STS-121 yesterday.

I always wanted to be an astronaut, but I guess I can't pay attention long enough.

It doesn't help that I don't watch television.

Stay the Hell Inside

Georgia's 'shoot first' law, others take effect this weekend. - Gwinett Daily Post

Apparently it is now legal to protect yourself with a weapon if you or your family is in imminent danger. This is good.

Though it was legal already, I think more people might just start carrying rifles and handguns in their Chevrolets for "protection." Then the next black man who approaches them asking for bus fare will take a dirt nap. They'll claim he "looked threatening" and was unwanted in their presence. They will then drive to the next Wal-Mart and shoot another "suspicious" black person for free. This is not good.

I might mention that I am not a black person. I hate racism, and find that I would rather hang out with many more black folks down here than the white ones. Some of them are finally over the Civil War and don't hate me because I'm white. A lot of the white people still use the word "nigger" as it has always been used - in degradation of people of African descent. They are the ultra-conservative type who can't get out of the trailer they parked in their mama's backyard. Their ignorance makes me sick.

Sorry - I meant to stay on topic.

Hell, I might be in danger myself in any public place. I don't look like anyone I know who supports the NRA (a huge backer of this new law), so I might just get blasted by some bearded fella' with a barbecue-stained Dixie Outfitters shirt on.

"Zach Ragbourn, spokesman for the Brady Campaign, a Washington D.C.-based gun control advocacy group, said supporters of the measures have been unable to point to an instance where someone defending themselves in public was prosecuted. Therefore, opponents argue the law is unnecessary. " Good point.

Oh, and Georgia isn't the only state that makes an effort to tell you that it's legal to protect yourself. "Georgia is now one of eight to 12 other states to follow through with a law of their own this year," stated the article.