tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59649972024-03-13T10:51:49.710-07:00I promise not to amaze youTo Blog, or not to blog, that is the question. Whether tis nobler in the TCP/IP stack to suffer the packets and datagrams of distributed DoS attacks ...funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-54034451807900326762008-10-25T15:47:00.001-07:002008-10-25T16:16:27.673-07:00The high price of gasIn recent months with the election season going full tilt and as gasoline prices soar we often hear people, politicians and pundits complaining about the high price of gas and how this is hurting the working class folk (i.e. the middle class and poor).This is wrong! The price of gas is unimportant. What is important is the cost of transportation. It does not matter if gas goes up to $8 a funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-34731766306836808672007-05-25T13:41:00.000-07:002007-05-25T14:31:23.852-07:00A Libertarian ChallengeRon Paul's running for president and Nick Gillespie's interview on Bill Moyer's Journal got me thinking about libertarianism again.My (perhaps naive) belief is that libertarians are naive in their belief that a libertarian system of government would keep large corporations from polluting the environment and abusing workers.If we look back over history we can see innumerable cases of corporations funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-36871056252401261812007-05-22T10:04:00.000-07:002007-05-22T12:33:17.827-07:00What is the point?Various news sources have reportedThe White House wanted them to be “interviewed,” in private, with no transcript and no oath. That was in March. .What, pray tell, is the point of having interviews if there is no transcript (everything said can be denied like this "uh, I don't remember saying that" or "uh, that is not what I said"). And why would they insist that the testimony not be given underfunkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-47623215185161422542007-05-19T12:41:00.000-07:002007-05-19T13:34:45.464-07:00Bill Moyers is back!One of my most esteemed heros these days is Bill Moyers. He retired from doing his PBS show NOW with Bill Moyers in 2004 but has recently returned to PBS television with Bill Moyer's Journal. Mr Moyers is a religious man (he has a bachelors in divinity and was ordained as a minister) but he champions the principles of separation of church and state and religious diversity (including a respect funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-68782224258988548542007-04-09T11:18:00.000-07:002007-04-09T11:34:35.465-07:00How can someone take the 5th ...When no crime has been committed? Monica Goodling of the Gonzales' Department of Justice has refused to testify before congress regarding the firing of US attorneys citing the 5th amendment right that prevents a person from incriminating them self. We keep hearing from various quarters (even from anti-Bush pundits) that, while the firing of the attorneys may have been unprecedented and funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-69892454285776331532007-04-09T11:00:00.000-07:002007-04-09T11:08:31.999-07:00Quote of the DayIn a harsh condemnation of the U.S. mismanagement of Iraq, former Iraqi government minister Ali Allawi writes, "The corroded and corrupt state of Saddam was replaced by the corroded, inefficient, incompetent and corrupt state of the new order."funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-28066704892072325432007-03-10T12:52:00.000-08:002007-03-10T17:55:59.602-08:00Election 2008I have seen the future of US leadership and the future is Barack Obama.Well I hope it is anyways. There are a variety of compelling reasons why Obama may not win the 2008 presidential electionhe lacks political experience he is black (clearly no southerner nostalgic for days of Jim Crow is going to vote for him)his intelligence will alienate the simpletons who voted for Bush and are fond of funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-1156642845957328632006-08-26T18:35:00.000-07:002006-08-26T18:40:45.956-07:00Color or Black and White? Color or Black and White? Originally uploaded by funkyj. The same photo in black and white. What do you think of the color, contrast and brightness of these photos?funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-1156642743559192842006-08-26T18:33:00.001-07:002006-08-26T18:39:03.566-07:00Color or Black and White? Color or Black and White? Originally uploaded by funkyj. a color photo of my Go board...funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-1156642702407942712006-08-26T18:33:00.000-07:002006-08-26T18:38:22.413-07:00The whole shebang The whole shebang Originally uploaded by funkyj. This is all of the Go stuff (books, go boards, stones) I have amassed and kept over the years. I bought my first Go set circa 1988.funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-1155280468941180202006-08-11T00:09:00.000-07:002006-08-11T00:14:29.036-07:00To be or not to be ... To be or not to be ... Originally uploaded by funkyj. My nephew Christian contemplating existencefunkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-1151797070015460612006-07-01T16:33:00.000-07:002006-07-01T16:37:50.060-07:00Houdini Houdini Originally uploaded by funkyj. My sister went out to the back yard to smoke and found houdini here had gotten himself stuck in the patio table.funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-1151298656754120632006-06-25T22:07:00.000-07:002006-06-25T22:34:27.656-07:00Goth training IMG_1444 Originally uploaded by funkyj. I'm studying to be a dark brooding goth guy. In addition to dying my hair black, painting my face white and dressing in black I'm also spending a lot of time in grave yards to connect with my inner mortality.UPDATE: I got an F on this gothic homework assignment because I forgot to desaturate the picture to black and white (DOH).funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-1149578286790216922006-06-06T00:14:00.000-07:002006-06-06T00:18:06.796-07:00Canon 50mm F1.8 II IMG_1265_1 Originally uploaded by funkyj. blah blah blahfunkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-1148281075147189062006-05-21T23:55:00.000-07:002006-05-21T23:57:55.203-07:00Man's Best Friend Man's Best Friend Originally uploaded by funkyj. The human face is a bit washed out here because when I turn the brightness down I lose detail on the dog.I look forward to eventually learning how to use GIMP (I haven't bought photoshop yet) so I can fix problems like this. (blending 2 copies of an image using a transparency mask -- I know the general principle but the details of how to funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-1147492896024744002006-05-12T20:59:00.000-07:002006-05-12T21:07:36.243-07:00Breakfast Time at Zachary's Zachary'sOriginally uploaded by funkyj. Z's is one of our regular breakfast stops. If you drop in for a bite I highly recommend the 'Junior Mess' or, for the truly famished, 'Mike's Mess'.Who are the people in the picture? I don't know...funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-1147027449140012582006-05-07T11:41:00.000-07:002006-05-07T11:44:10.040-07:00First steps First steps Originally uploaded by funkyj. I've had my 350D for less than a week. I still barely know how to use the thing (beyond treating it as an overpriced point and shoot).I shot this in RAW mode, cropped it and converted to JPEG (no manipulation in DPP).funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-1139685854832531682006-02-11T10:39:00.000-08:002006-02-12T02:32:46.320-08:00Evil DoersI have a new blog called Evil Doers.This blog was born out of a conversation with an acquaintance of mine I shall call "Pat".In this conversation I made the hyperbolic claim that "Walmart would gladly render the entire continent of Africa uninhabitable by polluting it with plutonium if this would greatly increase their share holder value". I explained that this wasn't a literal truth (Walmart funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-1138522618532939462006-01-28T23:56:00.000-08:002006-01-29T00:21:40.683-08:00"Syntactic sugar causes cancer of the semicolon" -- Alan PerlisI'm reading Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, which MIT Press has kindly made available on line. Here is a tasty nibblet from the preface to the first edition: Our design of this introductory computer-science subject reflects two major concerns. First, we want to establish the idea that a computer language is funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-1134856828544376012005-12-17T14:00:00.000-08:002005-12-24T16:52:11.376-08:00little red book little red bookOriginally uploaded by davebarber. Hey everybody, I just discovered this wonderful book of wisdom!I highly recommend you (and all your friends) request this book via interlibrary loan.NEW BEDFORD -- A senior at UMass Dartmouth was visited by federal agents two months ago, after he requested a copy of Mao Tse-Tung's tome on Communism called "The Little Red Book."[...]The student,funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-1134678098839730982005-12-15T12:05:00.000-08:002005-12-15T12:39:19.836-08:00Hey Dubya, nice job keeping an eye on those "terrorists"I feel much safer knowing that those radical militant quakers and dangerous anti-nuke activists are being spied on. Earlier this week NBC News exposed the existence of a secret Pentagon database to track intelligence gathered inside the United States. The database including information on dozens of anti-war protests and rallies particularly funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-1134583014508754332005-12-14T09:50:00.000-08:002005-12-15T12:03:43.773-08:00Seen on UsenetRemember usenet? That was the internet when I was a wee laddy. Here is an interesting quote I read in a usenet newsgroup today:On the other hand: Lisp looks like a theoretical optimum. It has a minimalistic way of structuring hierarchical data, it has a minimalistic way of expressing program structure as hierarchical data, it has a minimalistic way of automatizing writing program funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-1133505005204492982005-12-01T22:30:00.000-08:002005-12-01T22:30:05.206-08:00Waiting for the bus Waiting for the bus Originally uploaded by funkyj. I experimented with taking the 'highway 17 express' bus and the lightrail to get to work.It was an interesting experiment. If I take the bus that arrrives at just the right time to immediately catch the light rail then I can get to work in about 1 hour 45 minutes (not including the trip between home and the bus stop). The commute by car funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-1133504390578903462005-12-01T22:19:00.000-08:002005-12-01T22:19:50.626-08:00Cafe Baklava Cafe Baklava Originally uploaded by funkyj. I asked this friendly waiter if I could take his picture and he kindly obliged me.A few seconds after this picture he got suspicious of my motives and began asking me "WHY DO YOU WANT TO TAKE MY PICTURE?" over and over.I may be wrong but this place has the feel of a family owned restaurant -- people who have a vested interest and care about the funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5964997.post-1129153273087236842005-10-12T14:38:00.000-07:002005-10-12T14:41:13.093-07:00Gmail is on the fritz.Apparently some (much?) of the email I've sent from gmail the past two days has been diverted to /dev/null. It appears that I'm receiving email at gmail just fine but sending is a problem.It would be much nicer if gmail would at least let me know when I can't send email as opposed to silently failing (as it currently is). Oh well, here is a black eye for google.funkyjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838487979264478858noreply@blogger.com0