What's next, ASCII?

Read the article Who owns XML?, maybe it furthers the understanding that the whole system is flawed.

All the World's a ... Noise?

The article called "You Know What? Just Shut Up" over at Wired hits it on the spot. Point in case, some of my neighbors use their car-alarms to wake up the whole neighborhood at 3 AM, maybe it's not their fault, maybe it is.
While agreeing with the article, I have to admit, I wrote an AppleScript that makes my Mac call (as in shouting) me if mail from certain people arrives. Gives me freedom to roam the apartment, you know.
;-)

The Curse of the Power-Supply

Yours truly treated himself to a new switch for the office. If you should be into making music or using things like hubs, switches, or something in that line of electronica, then you might already know what this rant is about.
Power-supplies that plug directly into the socket, just wide enough to block the neighboring sockets and render them unusable. The manufacturers of these things seem to believe that their appliance will be the only one in need for electrical power. Makes sense, people using things like switches will never use other devices that might need power as well. Who would use a switch to connect, I don't know, let's say computers for example?

Writing: First Review on Amazon.com

I got my first review on Amazon for the Unix/Linux Survival Guide.

Opinion: TV-Shows on Video iPod

The excellent Register has an opinion piece called Apple and Disney's two-inch disappointment. Granted there is a lot of truth in there, but (a big BUT) I'd be actually glad to pay for this content (being able to watch it the day after it aired) and not wait for an eternity, until some TV exec decides to show it in the part of the world I am at the moment. Regarding high-profile series like Lost or 4400, it is really hard not to stumble over spoilers that ruin all the excitement before I even had a chance to watch.
The article addresses this topic as well, but in the view of the world any TV exec seems to have, I'm not the customer, the ones that pay for the adverts are.
Just my 2 cents of wisdom ;-)

Internet Stamps?

My first reaction after reading the article Internet Stamps at ongoing was, this could actually work. On second thought, though, I really don't think so. (I want recognition for not using I don't think so, Tim. Did it anyway, damn!)
My point is, changes to websites would cost stamps as well. How will the cost (the needed stamps) be measured? Per link? Good, that would avoid link-farms – and punish people for linking into the Internet; who needs links anyway? Per website-change? What about link-farms?
Either I don't see it (only two cups of coffee so far) or the idea needs some more work.
IMHO, of course.

Listing Network-Connections

There are many ways to list the open connections on a *NIX-based system, the first option that comes to mind is usually netstat. The article CLI Magic: Trojan Scan at linux.com talks about two important things to keep in mind:

1. There is always more than one way on *NIX


2. There are tools on every *NIX box, waiting to be chained together to achieve results

I did not investigate the program the article is talking about, I will later, though. What tickled my fancy was the fact that I almost forgot that lsof can be used as well.
In a nutshell: lsof -Pni gives you a listing of the currently opened connections.

OS X: Getting used to Speech too much?

I found myself trying to instruct my Linux box via voice-commands this morning (before the first coffee). Am I getting too used to my Mac? Speech works like a charm. As long as my Sun does not start to do some serious work, that is. The frequency of the fans seem to cancel the reception of the microphone in my trusty PowerBook; same goes for loud traffic noises.
OTOH: If I'd start to talk to my Mac in the coffee-shop, who knows what people would think or do, anyway.

Writing: YES!

It's not my first, but it is always exciting when an author gets to actually hold the result of countless hours in his hands.

You cannot Escape?

Sorry, long time no post ;-) (Excuse: books to read / books to write / Reason / DVDs to watch / take your pick)
Anyway, I rediscovered Speech on my Mac. Why rediscovered? Because I simply forgot about that feature and Apple emphasizes it not enough in their marketing material, IMHO.
To cut a long story short, I was punishing some more incompetent ad-servers in my hosts file and, all of a sudden, couldn't escape out of the insert-mode of vi.
<conspiracy theory>Should some of the bad guys know about my little secret? Duh! I already wrote about it.</conspiracy theory>
Then it struck me: Speech uses the ESC key to control if and when my Mac should actually listen to me! But I don't use the key, since I want the machine to listen continuously. You already guessed it, the key is blocked anyway.
The conclusion: you should really check out this feature, but don't forget to remap the ESC key if you are using vi.

Writing: How to avoid being boring

Technical writing poses an inherent danger, if done according to some peoples will and fiercely guarded opinion, the result should be sold in your neighborhood pharmacy as sleeping-aid, possibly covered by Medicare. There are two opposing factions at war, actually. One of them thinks technical writing should never contain any humor, paint an understandable picture, or (god forbid) should be fun to read. The other faction thinks the opposite is true. There is some middle-ground, granted, but still…
I don't mean to advocate one or the other here. As a writer, I have to trust the editor and his/her knowledge of the intended audience, but when skimming over my bookshelves, the latter faction won – in my case, at least. The majority of my technical books works as reading material on the beach (in bed / in the bathroom / take your pick), as well. There is a minority of books I read once, found the contents interesting, but gathering dust by now, because, as stated, they were interesting, but not fun to read. There may be a connection regarding the style of my preferred fiction books, but hey, who says science has to be boring? It's about getting a point across, isn't it?
To illustrate my point here, head to the ISC website and read the article Follow the Bouncing Malware IX: eGOLDFINGER, it is an excellent example (some people might think a bit over the top, you have been warned) of how to write about a, sometimes kind of boring, subject, security. Tom Liston did a fantastic job describing a common malaise in today's IT-world. IMHO, of course ;-)
Speaking of painting a picture, I collect quotes, as most authors do. I stumbled over a nice quote in my collection yesterday: The herd instinct among economists makes sheep look like independent thinkers.

A Reason to upgrade?

I've been busy working on a music project that kind of dragged along (I promised to master a CD containing my tracks and didn't find the time to do it).
Originally I decided to postpone the upgrade of my favorite music software, Reason, until I would finish the project. Yeah right…
The temptation was too strong, the new mastering tools to interesting, and anyway, I was simply nosy how it would compare. So I installed the 3.0 version of the program: WOW!
First the downside, the new possibilities are tempting, one has a hard time to fight the temptation to just tweak that sound a little. I will resist (until tomorrow I guess). One of the reasons (pun intended) is the fact, that the latest patch (3.0.4) is a new install including the usual serial number shebang, etc. On the other hand, I'm glad and thankful that I do not have to use an USB dongle like in the other program I'm using. Actually using less often and thinking about abandoning it completely. Granted, one cannot compare the two programs, but using a dongle with my 12" PowerBook is a nuisance, PERIOD.
Back to Reason (couldn't resist), the new binary churns along on the last CD and should be ready within the next couple of minutes and I'm still entertaining the thought of staying on track, being strong, resist the temptation to change just some little things, blah, blah, blah…
The new mastering tools are awesome! You really have to hear for yourself, if you should be into music production, do yourself a favor, check this program out! (No, I do not get any favors from the Propellerheads for saying this.)
[update]The new binary didn't nag me about the serial number, let's hope it won't ask me about one of the additional CDs while I'm sitting on a plane or a train, let's keep the fingers crossed.

Advertising Stereotypes

There is an article called The modern rules of advertising? at the BBC News website, containing a list of advertising stereotypes. The list in itself, taken from a book by Michael Buerk, is very interesting, but the comments by the readers are worth looking at, as well.
Found it via Boing Boing

Tiger: Slow browsing...

After I installed Tiger, the whole system felt quicker, more responsive. Certain websites rendered like molasses, though.
I kept wondering for some days now, until I remembered that the advertisement punishment system was not in place. Said system works like this: If an online ad does certain things, it (or better its host) gets punished by me:

1. Playing sounds -- VERY BAD, I sometimes surf next to my sleeping girlfriend


2. Using 1 pixel gifs or pngs -- VERY BAD, I don't like to be spied upon


3. Distributing malware -- Do I really need to comment on this?


4. Loading lots of small .js files -- Either do it right or don't do it!


5. A couple of other things judged by a more personal nature...

You might guess where I am heading here: /etc/hosts.
Sites deserving punishment end up in my hosts-file with an IP-address of 0.0.0.0. Restart the lookupd or reboot, instant relief.
Don’t get me wrong here, I know that advertising funds many websites; that is the price I have to pay for free. The only thing I ask for is, do not annoy me! That’s all. I do not use any other ad-blocking software, that is my part of the deal.
BTW: Pop-Ups or Pop-Unders are VERY BAD.
;-)

Tiger: Weather Widget Woes...

The Weather Widget in Dashboard is a handy feature to get an idea what is going on weather-wise, but sometimes (especially in cities not located in the US) the display seems to be off or outright strange. If you are like me, adjusting the location and timezone data while on the road, then it sometimes works and sometimes tells you very strange things, e.g. you are sweating in a coffee-shop in blazing sunlight and the widget tells you that it is cold, raining, and in the middle of the night.
The reason is quite simple, if you change your location, then this change is transferred to the weather widget as well. But what works for your trusty *NIX system in regard to the information about your geographical location, will not always work out for Accuweather.com; the names of the cities are sometimes written differently, that’s all.
Just head to the website and navigate to the city you are in at the moment, the string after zipcode in the URL is what you need to copy to the weather widget. Confirm the entry by hitting Return, wait until the widget validates your entry, and you are set.

Tiger: revitalizing my SC760

Hmm, it seems either Apple or Epson forgot to include the plug-in for my Stylus Color 760 in Tiger. Let’s assume it was a simple oversight and no ploy to tell me to dump the old printer and get a shiny new one, preferably equipped with RFID chips to prevent me from using cheaper ink or re-fills, shall we?
The solution is not perfect, but works for me; your mileage may vary.
I copied the missing file SC760.plugin from a 10.3.x backup (you made a backup before installing, didn’t you?) to /Library/Printers/EPSON/. The Utility icon in the Printer Setup Program is still grayed out, but launching /Library/Printers/EPSON/Utilities/Epson Printer Utility.app from the Finder, allows me to check the amount of ink and the cleaning of the heads again.
If I want to replace my printer and my suspicion regarding the use of RFID chips or any other technology to prevent me from using refills or other inks is true, then my next printer will definitely not be manufactured by EPSON.
Based on recommendations of some people, it might be built by CANON.

Blog: New color-scheme

I started to work on the new color-scheme for the blog, inspired by the recent changes at A List Apart.
The old template was created by Jeffrey Zeldman, by the way. The new one is still based on this work.

Writing: I love Tiger

Seriously, having access to a dictionary/thesaurus just a press on F12 away is great. I used to have Britannica installed on my laptop but this space was freed for other purposes; the other thing I like (as a writer) is the system-wide spellchecker, but that is not a new feature in Tiger.
BTW: If one writes *NIX related texts in Word™, then one should never forget to run the grammar-checker for some good laughs, especially if the text is about *NIX commands.

Blogs: Splogs?

There is an interesting article at The Doc Searls Weblog called How to Save the Web from Splogonoma.
I came to the same conclusions, basically. Being on Blogger and sometimes clicking the Next Blog link, reveals a lot of blogs without any content besides add-word related babble.
I started my first blog in 2000 or 2001 (I don't remember) and the same thing started to appear back then, though. Even if we don't like it, maybe its the price to pay? Only time will tell.

Solaris: Adding Rules to SunScreen

I already wrote about SunScreen, the firewall you receive with Solaris. I stumbled over a little thing to keep in the back of your head while adding rules to it: the order of the rules is significant!
Not that I didn't know about this, but sometimes in the daily rush one tends to forget or simply not think before typing (the very reason was in not enough coffee/phonecalls coming in/basically being busy doing something completely different/don't ask).
I created a new service for Adobe Document Server:
edit> add SERVICE "altercast" SINGLE FORWARD "tcp" PORT 8019
and created a new rule to use the service:
edit> add rule altercast * self ALLOW LOG SUMMARY COMMENT "adobe altercast access"
I verified the settings with:
edit> verify
Saved them:
edit> save
Left the program and activated the new settings.
Eager to see the admin-interface, I fired up my browser and tried to connect; timeout. The software was running (it starts itself, contrary to the manual). I added the rule, the right port, etc. What is going on? Time for a cup of coffee.
I reopened the SunScreen configuration, checked the service settings for altercast, everything seems to be fine. Then the coffee kicked in and I did:
edit> list rules
1 "ssh" "*" "self" ALLOW LOG SUMMARY COMMENT "allow ssh from everywhere"
2 "ping" "*" "*" ALLOW COMMENT "icmp echo"
3 "netbios" "*" "*" DENY COMMENT "no DOS allowed"
4 "*" "localhost" "*" ALLOW COMMENT "allow outgoing"
5 "*" "*" "self" DENY LOG DETAIL COMMENT "look who is knocking"
6 "altercast" "*" "self" ALLOW LOG SUMMARY COMMENT "altercast traffic"
Rule number five pipes everything not covered by the preceding rules to the trusty /dev/null data-sink, the rule for altercast never fired!
To cut a long story short:
edit> insert rule 4 altercast * self ALLOW LOG SUMMARY COMMENT "adobe altercast access"
edit> list rules
1 "ssh" "*" "self" ALLOW LOG SUMMARY COMMENT "allow ssh from everywhere"
2 "ping" "*" "*" ALLOW COMMENT "icmp echo"
3 "netbios" "*" "*" DENY COMMENT "no DOS allowed"
4 "altercast" "*" "self" ALLOW LOG SUMMARY COMMENT "adobe altercast access"
5 "*" "localhost" "*" ALLOW COMMENT "allow outgoing"
6 "*" "*" "self" DENY LOG DETAIL COMMENT "look who is knocking"
Don't forget to delete the misplaced rule from the rule-set first.
;-)