August 2000

• The fair has changed over the years. Machinery Hill is pretty much a thing of the past if you were looking to see the huge tractors that I remember seeing as a child. Now there are lawnmowers and SUVs. The Grandstand seems to have moved more things down to ground level, which makes it even less worthwhile to wander upstairs there. I did discover that going relatively early on a Sunday is a pretty good idea. And there's Karl's State Fair Page if you want more links. Just one more week of fair for the year.
• The Second Amendment Solution has a good discussion of the right to keep and bear arms, including legal precedents that suggest a lot of current gun laws are unconstitutional. When you hear that Jefferson, Madison, et al could not have intended for citizens to own machine guns because such things didn't exist in their time, ask the speaker if his thinking also applies to the banning of radio and television from protection under the First Amendment for like reasons.
• SAVE is running billboards in my area telling me that the #1 cause of suicide is untreated depression. I wonder why they don't point out that the #2 cause is treated depression.
• Technology Review brings us Lying With Pixels. It's not really news. It's just finally bugged me to the point that I felt a need to point it out. And there was a good article handy at the time. This sort of thing brings out the Luddite in me. An ironic sociological consequence might emerge: a return to heavier reliance on unmediated face-to-face communication.
• In somewhat related news, Hoax press release stuns Wall Street. Apparently people just don't check facts anymore. The world moves too quickly for that. More coverage at Yahoo's Emulex Corp Company News or at Emulex News (Page 2/2).

Weather in Minneapolis for August 28, 2000     August 28 in History

• Steve Heckler, the senior VP of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. says, Napster will lose. Guaranteed. Apparently they're going to firewall it off at my cable company, phone company, ISP and at my PC. There is simply too much at stake. I've gotta agree with him there. With any luck, this sort of attitude will take down Sony. Of course I believe there's a chance of positive reform in the U.S. Government, so I'm probably not the best person to listen to.
• Troops are back on Ulster streets of fear and Army back in Belfast. The UDA and UVF are feuding. Both are loyalist paramilitary groups. Sinn Féin is calling on the loyalists to get their act together and wise up.
• It's time for Minnesota State Fair 2000. I might even have a date for this one. It's a lot more fun to go to the fair when there's someone else to share the neat things with. Or the not-so-neat things (which is more common, in my experience). Anyway, I'm looking forward to it for the first time in about 20 years. And at the very worst, I'll have me a Pronto Pup. I couldn't find the definitive Pronto Pup link (might have to make one), but James Lileks waxes rhapsodic about 'em in The Last Day
• How the News Makes You Dumb. Daily news isn't the best way to keep informed, perhaps.
• Buyer found for APBNews.com. Hopefully they'll keep the quality up, since that's the main thing APBnews.com has going for it.
• icWord is a Mac utility to view, translate and convert Word documents. Cool. No need to buy a Microsoft product.
• iCab is at release 2.1a. And it fixes the problems that led me to start using Internet Explorer for a while. One more Microsoft product out of the way.
• Less than a month left to plan your RSA Patent Expiration party (Sept 20 is the date). Perhaps the RSA Party Planner can help.

Weather in Minneapolis for August 25, 2000     August 25 in History

• CNet has an article on Abandonware, which is pretty interesting. I'm using at least a half-dozen old applications on a regular basis (at least once a month). Usually because they're a better tool than anything available today. And they've mostly been abandoned by their creators. There's a Slashdot discussion of Abandonware which covers most of the bases you would expect.
• Speaking of abandoned products, your Last Chance To Order A Vax is September 30, 2000. Don't say I didn't warn you.
• The Rubber Bandit Project is building the world's largest and first piloted rubber band powered aircraft. Cool!
• Britain's Transport Research Lab says Cannabis may make you a safer driver. Of course that's only if you don't drop the joint in your lap or have to suddenly pull over for some Cheetos.
• The Minneapolis Urban Ballpark - I'd like to see this park built. I might even go to a major league game if they built it. The upholstered pillow we've currently got (the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome) just isn't a pleasant place to visit at all.
• Adbusters' Corporate Crackdown - I'm not sure what to think of it. Small corporations (such as mine) are a pretty good tool for a small businessman. Large corporations are an equally good tool, but wield a lot more power. It's kind of like comparing a BB-gun to a howitzer. I think the real problem is that the tax code and liability law are so screwed up, a businessman needs a corporation for defense.
• 'Road House' -- it's the cheesiest! And I like it!

Weather in Minneapolis for August 21, 2000     August 21 in History

• US and Britain resume Iraq raids. This one didn't get much press and almost slipped past me. Anyone else miss this?
• Bill Maher opines that The drug war is a dismal failure.
• You can thank Republicans for federal income tax. Plenty of other things, too.
• Constituent puts vote up for sale on eBay. It's illegal, but it's also plenty cynical.
• My Doctor is Sick - Even HST can't get jazzed about this election. Sigh. Could U.S. founders be elected today? They'd probably get creamed, but we might see some excitement from HST.
• Protesters Clash With L.A. Police. Is anyone surprised? And isn't it Ironic that armed cops protect Democrats? That's why NRA brings ads to party blasting the Democrats for being the party that wants to destroy the Second Amendment. Handgun Control, Inc. ran similar ads during the Republican convention. L.A. Police Go on Rampage at Peaceful Rally is a newer story. I'm not sure how accurate it is. It sure wasn't copy-edited. Protesters, LA Cops May Face Off in Court is the Reuters take on it. ACLU to sue LAPD for attacks on press is the response.
• IndyMedia Center - Twin Cities is a link I should've had last week. Sorry. I'm sometimes a bit slow.
• Technologies of Protest talks about the internet's effect on protests, and also on the fact that most journalists don't get it.
• Another standoff in Texas? Is there something in the water down there?

Weather in Minneapolis for August 18, 2000     August 18 in History

• Trees Down, Gas Mask Sales Up in Los Angeles. It must be time for another convention.
• Penguin sticks head in the sand. The publisher has effectively shut down a website by naming a book after it. The gal who owns it is peeved. Be interesting to see how it comes out.
• Parents pressured to put kids on Ritalin. One of these days we're going to figure out the long term effects of medicating so many kids, and I have a suspicion there are going to turn out to be problems.
• The Online Computer Library Center WorldCat lists citations to over 36 million items found in libraries around the world. If you're looking for information about a book, this is the place to start. Unfortunately, access is restricted so you can only use it if you've got an account or the right IP address. If you try the Worldcat search, you might have more success at finding a free source. If you do, please beam me the URL.
• RinkWorks has collected Computer Stupidities. Handy, since they're all in one place.
• Jeffrey Zeldman has a Letter to a Client that I need to keep as a reference. While I don't have this particular problem with any of my clients, it's similar to some of my experiences.
• Finally, Women Outnumber Men on the Web in America.

Weather in Minneapolis for August 14, 2000     August 14 in History

• First, on a non-political note, I updated Dave's Intellimouse Review. The product has been downgraded from Fully Doesn't Suck to I'm not so sure.
• From BSNN.net: Bush announces Jesus Christ will be running mate. BSNN's tagline: Striving to be accurate 25% of the time.
• 'Dubya' has character of a hypocrite. When politicians act with such staggering callousness and hypocrisy, their character becomes a legitimate political issue.
• Traficant accuses Reno of high treason. He says the truth is going to come out. Hmm. I'd stay away from skiing vacations if I was him. Y'never know when those killer trees are going to strike again.
• I don't think I'm dancing the White Man's Ghost Dance, but there are those who would probably disagree.
• To Philly: Remember MLK. Philadelphia invited the RNC in. By doing so, Philly acquired the duty to accept and facilitate the protests, and not to try and make itself into a gated community for the powerful.
  
• Also see the Village Voice's RNC coverage, the FreeSpeech GOP convention coverage and the Philadelphia Independent Media Center.
• The reason this worries me is a trend for the police forces to take preemptive action against protesters (or possible protesters) before any crime has been committed. This is behavior bordering on that of an Orwell-esque police state. Similar things happened here in Minneapolis in response to protests against a genetic engineering conference. Dark Days for Camelot and WTO Smackdown tell part of the story, but doing a search of the major local papers won't find any mention of the stories. In fact if you search the Strib's archive, the only story you'll find says everything about the protests was peaceful (though if you look in the archives on the right dates, you can find some editorials).
• In fact, the general police buildup downtown that weekend was enough that I was afraid to simply go downtown for a walk, since the police had Downtown Placed On Lockdown for the duration (this is actually a very good link, since it includes links to other stories, video and external sites). The WCCO search for genetics protests will unearth more stories.

Weather in Minneapolis for August 11, 2000     August 11 in History

• Dave Winer's Email to Woz made a friend want to write I wonder if you realize how well I know your mind, Dave! I am a Frontier Programmer!
• Wanna get some Mojo? Check out Mojo Nation, which has the possibility of not only making the record labels madder than Napster did, but will probably tweak governments, too.
• In Hello, Republican! Welcome to Phildelphia, P.J. O'Rourke gives the Republican Party some advice.
• Nobody For President. 'nuf said.
• The Butt Page - aka Rectal Debris. Not for the squeamish.

Weather in Minneapolis for August 7, 2000     August 7 in History

• They're reading our mail (email, that is). More on Carnivore. FBI Gets Deadline on E-Mail Inquiry which means they have to release information on the inner workings of Carnivore by mid-August. Personally, I'm deploying OpenSSH.
• More for the crypto-minded: Inside Echelon is a history, structure and function of the global surveillance system know as Echelon. There's not much new information, but it's pulled together nicely in one place here.
• Before the Body's Cold is an obituary for Mozilla. Appropriate. I'm using either iCab or Internet Explorer (the MacHack edition) for all my browsing recently. Mozilla is just late, fat, and ugly.
• On kottke.org july 20, 2000, Jason mentions a cool bit of geek jargon. I like it.
• On a more personal note, the rats with fuzzy tails have gnawed off all of my neighbors sunflowers. I think he needs this solution to squirrel problem suggested by Dr. Fun.

Weather in Minneapolis for August 4, 2000     August 4 in History