Best Political Ad Ever!
29/September/2006 21:05 Filed in: Entertainment
Personally NONE of the candidates for Governor of
Massachusetts do it for me
1. Kerry Healey is too snotty - PhD and Criminologist? Gimme a break! Look at the Romney administration - one disaster after another! - No thanks Kerry!
2. Duval Patrick? - I supported Chris Gabrielli - you might be good, but you don't talk enough (and your democratic collegues really did you in during the primaries)
3. Christy Mihos? - The greek that pretends to be Irish to get some votes, but he's got the best ad out there! Very in your face, very entertaining.
I don't know if I would vote for him just because of the ad, but have a look:
1. Kerry Healey is too snotty - PhD and Criminologist? Gimme a break! Look at the Romney administration - one disaster after another! - No thanks Kerry!
2. Duval Patrick? - I supported Chris Gabrielli - you might be good, but you don't talk enough (and your democratic collegues really did you in during the primaries)
3. Christy Mihos? - The greek that pretends to be Irish to get some votes, but he's got the best ad out there! Very in your face, very entertaining.
I don't know if I would vote for him just because of the ad, but have a look:
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スーパーマリオランド!
28/September/2006 09:05 Filed in: Entertainment
First presentation!
27/September/2006 08:33 Filed in: School
Not the only one...
27/September/2006 08:28 Filed in: Technology
Apparently I was not the only one that was
experiencing google troubles from home yesterday.
Quite a few MA comcast users had trouble with Google yesterday - and the first thing that came to mind was "OMG! Net Neutrality! Gimme my google now!"
It appears though to have been a bad router owned by AT&T somewhere along the line which screwed up, and not comcast's fault
Quite a few MA comcast users had trouble with Google yesterday - and the first thing that came to mind was "OMG! Net Neutrality! Gimme my google now!"
It appears though to have been a bad router owned by AT&T somewhere along the line which screwed up, and not comcast's fault
Google withdrawal...
26/September/2006 09:28 Filed in: Technology
Harvard Business School Press Bullshit
23/September/2006 12:04 Filed in: Technology
I am taking a class this semester that requires us to
read cases from Harvard Business School Press (HBSP).
Usually I never paid attention to copyright notices in the past because these cases were in coursepacks, so I never bought the individually.
First of all, when you buy the case online, as a DRM'ed PDF, you ONLY have access to it for 6 months, even though you've paid for it!
Now lets look at the copyright notice:
"Copyright (c) year President and Fellows of Harvard College." - ok this is normal
"To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call [1-800-xxx-xxxx], write to [HBSP], Boston, MA, 02163 or go to [URL]" - Again this is normal - some contact info is usually a given in copyright notices.
This is where the Bullshit starts (which I believe has no legal precedent and no legal standing, but I am not a lawyer so don't take my word for it)
"No part of this publication may be reproduced,..."
OK so the fact that I printed out a copy for me to read off screen, another copy to annotate, and another to keep as backup for when that 6 month period expires. I have already violated their copyright.
"...stored in a retrieval system..."
So, the fact that I put the downloaded PDF in a folder labeled "HBSP cases for xxx Class", the fact that my mac has spotlight search technology that can search and retrieve this file, and the fact that I have put my three print-outs on a bookshelf categorized for school work (a retrieval system) constitutes several counts of infringement.
"...used in a spreadsheet..."
So, when I read this case I cannot do ANY sort of analysis of the financial figures presented to me, because I cannot put these in a spreadsheet, be it an electronic one or a pencil-and-paper one.
"...or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise..."
So I cannot quote anything from the case when I write a report or paper from it (but I might be able to paraphrase?), I cannot send myself an email with the case attached if I am working at another computer, I cannot put it on a disc, DVD, CD, or Flash drive. The fact that I downloaded the case from HBSP I guess is the first infringements on Harvard's copyright since I had to download it to view it, I can't photocopy what I printed, and heaven forbid I make a homemade video that has the HBSP case as part of it.
"...without permission of [HBSP]"
So if I want to do anything that I should be able to do based on fair use rights I cannot do unless I contact harvard for permission and presumably pay money to them.
Some Fair User reading for you
Usually I never paid attention to copyright notices in the past because these cases were in coursepacks, so I never bought the individually.
First of all, when you buy the case online, as a DRM'ed PDF, you ONLY have access to it for 6 months, even though you've paid for it!
Now lets look at the copyright notice:
"Copyright (c) year President and Fellows of Harvard College." - ok this is normal
"To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call [1-800-xxx-xxxx], write to [HBSP], Boston, MA, 02163 or go to [URL]" - Again this is normal - some contact info is usually a given in copyright notices.
This is where the Bullshit starts (which I believe has no legal precedent and no legal standing, but I am not a lawyer so don't take my word for it)
"No part of this publication may be reproduced,..."
OK so the fact that I printed out a copy for me to read off screen, another copy to annotate, and another to keep as backup for when that 6 month period expires. I have already violated their copyright.
"...stored in a retrieval system..."
So, the fact that I put the downloaded PDF in a folder labeled "HBSP cases for xxx Class", the fact that my mac has spotlight search technology that can search and retrieve this file, and the fact that I have put my three print-outs on a bookshelf categorized for school work (a retrieval system) constitutes several counts of infringement.
"...used in a spreadsheet..."
So, when I read this case I cannot do ANY sort of analysis of the financial figures presented to me, because I cannot put these in a spreadsheet, be it an electronic one or a pencil-and-paper one.
"...or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise..."
So I cannot quote anything from the case when I write a report or paper from it (but I might be able to paraphrase?), I cannot send myself an email with the case attached if I am working at another computer, I cannot put it on a disc, DVD, CD, or Flash drive. The fact that I downloaded the case from HBSP I guess is the first infringements on Harvard's copyright since I had to download it to view it, I can't photocopy what I printed, and heaven forbid I make a homemade video that has the HBSP case as part of it.
"...without permission of [HBSP]"
So if I want to do anything that I should be able to do based on fair use rights I cannot do unless I contact harvard for permission and presumably pay money to them.
Some Fair User reading for you
Microsoft's Zune doesn't Play
for Sure 
17/September/2006 17:26 Filed in: Technology
The Zune launch came and went, and I really did not
pay much attention to it
I own an iPod, all my music is ripped off the CDs I bought, or freely downloaded from Apple's iTunes (every week there is a freebie download promo) so I really did not care for what microsoft had released.
Well my friends, it appears that microsoft's iPod killer doesn't even play files from Napster 2.0, Yahoo, and Real (among other online music and video stores) that are "protected" by Microsoft's play for sure DRM. The Zune could have been something that had the potential to challenge the iPod, but Microsoft shot themselves in the foot.
Here's some more reading for you:
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/cmusings/2006/09/15#a2498
I own an iPod, all my music is ripped off the CDs I bought, or freely downloaded from Apple's iTunes (every week there is a freebie download promo) so I really did not care for what microsoft had released.
Well my friends, it appears that microsoft's iPod killer doesn't even play files from Napster 2.0, Yahoo, and Real (among other online music and video stores) that are "protected" by Microsoft's play for sure DRM. The Zune could have been something that had the potential to challenge the iPod, but Microsoft shot themselves in the foot.
Here's some more reading for you:
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/cmusings/2006/09/15#a2498
WM5 observation 1: Who stole my battery?
16/September/2006 16:59 Filed in: Technology
2003 Active Directory training over
15/September/2006 19:31 Filed in: Work
Wow!
This was a tiring week! All week long I had AD training, which I enjoyed but was very tiring none the less since I had classes at night too.
13 more weeks of classes left - yes I know that the semester just started, but I can see the end...errr...somewhat blurry....and in the distance...but it's there!
Active directory was fun - I look forward tomessing up
helping to fix our AD infrastructure
This was a tiring week! All week long I had AD training, which I enjoyed but was very tiring none the less since I had classes at night too.
13 more weeks of classes left - yes I know that the semester just started, but I can see the end...errr...somewhat blurry....and in the distance...but it's there!
Active directory was fun - I look forward to
Spock's Crib
09/September/2006 15:02 Filed in: Escape
Taking the new Learning Management System for a spin...
09/September/2006 12:31 Filed in: School
Trying out new stuff is always interesting.
I've always been involved with learning management systems.
First it was blackboard, then we switched to prometheus (not sure if this was a product name, or code name), and now to WebCT VISTA (no relationship to MS vista). I have been following WebCT now for a year, in a support function, but now I am using it as a student. I must say that it is quite interesting! I like that the calendar has event and homework reminder functions, just in case my iCal, and my PDA don't remind me of when stuff is due.
There is one thing I greatly dislike: when you send email through WebCT to the professor or Classmates, if STAYS in WebCT! You need to be proactive, login, and check your mail all the time because it does not get automatically forwarded to your email account - maybe it's a setting I have yet to discover.
This LMS looks promising....more on the subject as the semester continues.
I've always been involved with learning management systems.
First it was blackboard, then we switched to prometheus (not sure if this was a product name, or code name), and now to WebCT VISTA (no relationship to MS vista). I have been following WebCT now for a year, in a support function, but now I am using it as a student. I must say that it is quite interesting! I like that the calendar has event and homework reminder functions, just in case my iCal, and my PDA don't remind me of when stuff is due.
There is one thing I greatly dislike: when you send email through WebCT to the professor or Classmates, if STAYS in WebCT! You need to be proactive, login, and check your mail all the time because it does not get automatically forwarded to your email account - maybe it's a setting I have yet to discover.
This LMS looks promising....more on the subject as the semester continues.
Windows Mobile - the OS that keeps on dissapointing!
04/September/2006 19:43 Filed in: Technology
Windows Mobile is one of those Operating Systems that
I keep coming back to hoping that they've made
progress by leaps and bounds - however it just keeps
letting me down. I started off with PocketPC 2002 -
it was OK, no big wow. I came from using a Newton
2100 so an HP iPaq with PocketPC 2002 was kind of
blah. I got a semi-free upgrade to PocketPC 2003 -
again no big updates, nothing cool. At this point
soft-reseting was a twice-a-day occurrence and I had
already lost all my data 5 times (3 of those I had
not had any backups so I had to install everything
from scratch).
I gave Windows Mobile a rest and went to the symbian camp and bought a P800 running UIQ and symbian 7. It was pretty nice! Even though it crashed a few times on me, it never lost any data! I came back to WM by getting the Siemens SX66 running Windows Mobile 2003SE thinking that there would be major upgrades performed to the OS. The hardware was what enticed me - Quadband GSM/GPRS + WiFi = pretty cool combination for back then.
Well...in two years I've had 3 hard crashes where I lost all my data - thankfully all of these times I had backups. The one problem is that since I am a mac user, I use my work PC to perform all my backups - so on a long weekend like this past one, if something goes bad, like it did, I have to wait to go back to work to do something about it! Now what did I do to ruin my smartphone? I just plugged it into power because it was only at 30% battery, so when I went to get it, it did not come back on! I pulled out the battery to make it shut down, and once I started it again - all gone!
The bummer is that no carrier had released Windows Mobile 2005 for this device because they want you to go buy a new device! There are other means of getting WM2005 on my Blue Angel (phone model name), but those are not official solution and do not work 100%. Then again the official solution does not work 100% - so I guess it is OK
I think I might be moving back to the Symbian camp - the Macintosh of the smartphone world
I gave Windows Mobile a rest and went to the symbian camp and bought a P800 running UIQ and symbian 7. It was pretty nice! Even though it crashed a few times on me, it never lost any data! I came back to WM by getting the Siemens SX66 running Windows Mobile 2003SE thinking that there would be major upgrades performed to the OS. The hardware was what enticed me - Quadband GSM/GPRS + WiFi = pretty cool combination for back then.
Well...in two years I've had 3 hard crashes where I lost all my data - thankfully all of these times I had backups. The one problem is that since I am a mac user, I use my work PC to perform all my backups - so on a long weekend like this past one, if something goes bad, like it did, I have to wait to go back to work to do something about it! Now what did I do to ruin my smartphone? I just plugged it into power because it was only at 30% battery, so when I went to get it, it did not come back on! I pulled out the battery to make it shut down, and once I started it again - all gone!
The bummer is that no carrier had released Windows Mobile 2005 for this device because they want you to go buy a new device! There are other means of getting WM2005 on my Blue Angel (phone model name), but those are not official solution and do not work 100%. Then again the official solution does not work 100% - so I guess it is OK
I think I might be moving back to the Symbian camp - the Macintosh of the smartphone world
Stupid Bureaucracy
01/September/2006 13:04 Filed in: WTF?!
Bureaucracy can be good, you can track the progress
of things, but it can be bad...really really bad!
It (probably) cannot get worse than the way it is at work now.
I recently got my bill for my fall classes. Since I am an employee I get a full tuition waiver (pretty nice benefit if you ask me!), unless you have labs (usually associated with sciences and languages, which I am not signed up for). I open my bill expecting to see "$0.00 owed" but instead I see a bill for approximately $2000. What was this charge for? Health Insurance. Now the thing that perplexes me is that I already have health insurance because I am a full time employee! So since I had a tuition waiver, because I am a full time employee, why oh why are they charging me for student health insurance? I can get it waived by submitting a small form which I have been doing for the last five years, but my university wasted money on an envelope, postage, three sheets of paper, toner, and people time to stuff and send those letters out and to process my form (not to mention wasting my time). If I were the only employee taking classes - then maybe OK, but I seriously doubt it.
Alright, I was going to let this go, as I have done in the past, but once I had submitted my completed form (and getting a VERY rude reception at the customer service desk) I get the form returned by USPS (just as I had received my bill) Why? Well my insurance is Awesome and Nice Insurance administered by Corporation (ANI for short - name is changed to protect the innocent).
Every time I dead with Human Resources, everyone talks about the insurance as ANI or Awesome Nice Insurance, no one but no one refers to it as Corporation! So, in my form I wrote Awesome Nice Insurance because I thought that ANI might be vague. Well these dimwits did not know what Awesome Nice Insurance was! This is one of the 4 insurance carriers that the employer provides and they did not know what it was! To make things worse, on the form they sent back they checked off the box stating "We do not think that this insurance is comparable to the student health insurance". What kind of dimwit does not know this basic thing?!
So I went to the Bursar's office and they said, after looking at my insurance card "Oh, this is called Corporation"....WTF?! Are you kidding me?!
Anyway, I asked what I can do automatically have this insurance business waived in the future, and they said "oh you cannot, it is a state law and you have to do it each year..." - Can you say Deeeee Dee Deeee? (google Carlos Mencia if you don't know what "Deee Dee Deee" is).
I'm telling you, I aspire to move up in the food chain of this place to fix all these stupid little problems because no one else seems to want to make things more efficient.
It (probably) cannot get worse than the way it is at work now.
I recently got my bill for my fall classes. Since I am an employee I get a full tuition waiver (pretty nice benefit if you ask me!), unless you have labs (usually associated with sciences and languages, which I am not signed up for). I open my bill expecting to see "$0.00 owed" but instead I see a bill for approximately $2000. What was this charge for? Health Insurance. Now the thing that perplexes me is that I already have health insurance because I am a full time employee! So since I had a tuition waiver, because I am a full time employee, why oh why are they charging me for student health insurance? I can get it waived by submitting a small form which I have been doing for the last five years, but my university wasted money on an envelope, postage, three sheets of paper, toner, and people time to stuff and send those letters out and to process my form (not to mention wasting my time). If I were the only employee taking classes - then maybe OK, but I seriously doubt it.
Alright, I was going to let this go, as I have done in the past, but once I had submitted my completed form (and getting a VERY rude reception at the customer service desk) I get the form returned by USPS (just as I had received my bill) Why? Well my insurance is Awesome and Nice Insurance administered by Corporation (ANI for short - name is changed to protect the innocent).
Every time I dead with Human Resources, everyone talks about the insurance as ANI or Awesome Nice Insurance, no one but no one refers to it as Corporation! So, in my form I wrote Awesome Nice Insurance because I thought that ANI might be vague. Well these dimwits did not know what Awesome Nice Insurance was! This is one of the 4 insurance carriers that the employer provides and they did not know what it was! To make things worse, on the form they sent back they checked off the box stating "We do not think that this insurance is comparable to the student health insurance". What kind of dimwit does not know this basic thing?!
So I went to the Bursar's office and they said, after looking at my insurance card "Oh, this is called Corporation"....WTF?! Are you kidding me?!
Anyway, I asked what I can do automatically have this insurance business waived in the future, and they said "oh you cannot, it is a state law and you have to do it each year..." - Can you say Deeeee Dee Deeee? (google Carlos Mencia if you don't know what "Deee Dee Deee" is).
I'm telling you, I aspire to move up in the food chain of this place to fix all these stupid little problems because no one else seems to want to make things more efficient.