August 28, 2005 – 1:42 pm
After talking to Nathan about it this morning, I realized that I forgot to mention here about my new network configuration at home. Once I finished the closet, I reconfigured the network so that I’m now using a Linux box connected directly to the cable modem, and then all the other routers (for the other network segments), etc. connected to the Linux box.
This allows me to do a couple things much better than I could do before. One is that I now have a “true”, fully featured firewall that all communications to the outside go through, rather than the very limited firewall software that comes with most home routers. Using the Linux box allows for much more advanced routing functionality and firewall rules, in both directions (which is important for the next part).
The second advantage (and the main reason I did it) is so that I can force any outgoing traffic to go through a proxy server (which I also set up - squid). Aside from the other benefits caching provides, I have attached a content filter to the proxy which will block any stuff that I don’t want getting through to the computer that the kids use, based on a very flexible and customizable set of filtering functionality.
Now that I have the process down pretty well, I am thinking of offering to do it for schools, etc. who want internet access. But that would assume that I had spare time on my hands…
August 27, 2005 – 5:35 pm
…software development doesn’t work out for me, my new backup plan is to be a tournament poker player.
We went up to Chumash casino today for a poker tournament and I ended up making the final table, and taking fifth place overall (after making some dumb mistakes).
Everyone had a pretty good time; Dan got 28th place, so he made money too, and he actually came away with more because he went and played the other tables after he got out.
August 26, 2005 – 8:43 am
Over the last few days I’ve seen several stories published (CNET/Reuters, CNN, and others) about the supposed threat to US computer systems from hacking attempts originating in China. What they don’t seem to mention is that it sounds like most of these “attacks” are just routine scans and non-targeted attempts to exploit known vulnerabilities; the kind of thing that happens everywhere on the internet every second of the day, and has nothing to do with any particular country. Reporting this as “news” is like the LA Times publishing a front page story about how the traffic on the 405 was really bad yesterday.
The conspiracy theorist in me worries that this is an attempt to scare the public into thinking negatively about the potential for problems that is there with such an interconnected system as the internet, and wondering if there will be a move to cut off access from countries that are deemed to be a “threat”. If this happens, there better be some serious protesting by free speech advocates. The internet is (in some cases) the only avenue of expression for people in oppressive countries to let everyone else know what is going on; without that we would have to rely on what the big media organizations tell us about international events, which is almost always watered down and filtered at many levels.
August 25, 2005 – 7:18 pm
In case anyone was worrying that I was going to stop blogging, don’t. I would say that I’ve been really busy, but actually I just didn’t want to push my creative formatting on that last post down the page for a while.
Yeah, that’s the ticket.
August 21, 2005 – 5:51 pm
(Thank goodness for homeland security!)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Infants have been stopped from boarding planes at airports throughout the United States because their names are the same as or similar to those of possible terrorists on the government’s “no-fly list.”
I’m sure glad I won’t have to worry about terrorists like this being on my plane next time I fly.
August 19, 2005 – 10:57 am
Considering the history of the situation, and the reluctance to budge on either side, the recent events in the Gaza are nothing short of miraculous. I have no doubt that we are witnessing an historical event, that could represent the first step in an amazing process.
I still have lingering questions regarding the extensive quotes, interviews, & audio clips from these particular evictees, considering the fact that Palestinians have been getting evicted (and their houses bulldozed, in some cases even with people still in them) without this kind of coverage, but I guess to be fair that could be because this is a one time event whereas it’s been happening to the Palestinians on a regular basis for years/decades, so it wasn’t necessarily “news”.
In any event, this is quite a big step, and hopefully it will give the rational thinking people on both sides hope and the will to continue to move in the right direction.
August 19, 2005 – 10:42 am
How would you feel if you were involved in a trial (and lost) and then later found that the judge who ruled against you in your trial was interviewing for a job with your opponent in the trial, while the trial was going on, and then found that the judge was awarded the job a week after the case was over?
August 15, 2005 – 9:03 am
Inspired by Nate’s tipping article, I thought I’d post my thoughts on restaurant protocol here, just because sometimes things in restaurants annoy me.
Tipping: I don’t really like the whole cultural practice of “expected tipping” in restaurants, and I like how it’s spilling over into other industries even less. It’s fine to give someone a tip if they provide good service, but I don’t like there being the expectation of a tip regardless of the service. To me that’s just the cheap business owner’s way of getting away with paying their employees lower wages than they need. The employees should be paid by the employer, and if they don’t have enough to do that they can raise the prices slightly to cover the difference. That way, I don’t feel obligated to “tip” someone who didn’t give excellent service just because I know they depend on that money to live. Employers should respect their employees enough to pay them what they’re worth.
Complaining: This one is for people who go to restaurants and are picky or complain about their food. I’m not sure why this annoys me so much; I think it’s probably just the general attitude of “talking down” to the people who are serving that usually accompanies the complaint. If an order is completely wrong, then I thinks it’s OK to politely point it out, but for minor discrepancies I usually let it go. I guess the other point is that I think it’s a wise policy to avoid pissing off people who are serving you food to eat, at all costs. Considering this, even if they bring the wrong food, I’ll probably eat it anyway, unless I really don’t like it.
Custom ordering: This is also why it kind of even bugs me when people do complicated special orders of stuff that isn’t really on the menu, or add/subtract so much from it that it takes a whole sheet of paper to write down the special instructions. This is usually a sure sign that something will get screwed up (because it was overly complicated by the extra instructions), and therefore usually leads back to #2.
Bottom line: be nice to waiters and food service employees. Just because they’re in a position at that moment where they are “serving” you, doesn’t make you better than them. And if you can’t treat them well out of simple respect, just remember that they’re going back to the kitchen where you can’t see them and bringing you back a plate of stuff you will put in your mouth and eat.
August 11, 2005 – 11:55 am
Research: Web Site’s Appearance Matters - By BRIAN BERGSTEIN, AP Technology Writer
Not surprisingly, male subjects tended to assign higher ratings to pages designed by men, and females preferred sites made by women. But the researchers said they gleaned important tidbits by looking more closely at the ratings.
Women seemed to like pages with more color in the background and typeface. Women also favored informal rather than posed pictures.
Men responded better to dark colors and straight, horizontal lines across a page. They also were more pleased by a three-dimensional look and images of “self-propelling” rather than stationary objects.
With those standards in mind, the researchers checked out the Web sites for 32 British universities and determined that 94 percent had a “masculine orientation.” Two percent showed a female-favored arrangement.
And the interesting question:
So should Web sites consider having two faces, one for male users and another for female visitors? Moss said more research is needed.
