Applied Indifference

TCF - The Trenton Computer Festival. Held annually at the end of April in Trenton (show moved to Edison) New Jersey. When I first attended in 1988, it was a 1,000 table outdoor flea market with various workshops, demonstrations, and vendors of new goods inside. It was held at the Mercer County Community College. Two days of total geekdom.

Now, it’s held at the Raritan center, and there are more vendors of new goods than used, the flea market is much smaller, and it’s now the first week in May, instead of 2 weeks earlier like it used to be.

But, we are still here. Why? We are geeks. We are drawn to computer fairs and swap-meets like bees to pollen.

We shall see what geekdom we find this year. More news as events warrant.

Tags: Computers by Brian Corbino
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In an outcome that surprised precisely nobody, Arlen Specter (R-PA) beat Pat Toomey for the nomination of the Republican Party to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by Specter. Specter is a liberal Republican, and votes more dependably with the Democrats than the Republicans.

The Bush team, of course, backed Specter. Their reasoning: Toomey might not have been able to beat whomever the Democrats run against him, and the Republicans didn’t want to lose the Senate. Like they have it now. Sure, they have 50 seats. So do the Democrats. And there are at least 10 turncoat Republicans that vote with the Democrats. When you look at it, what have the Republicans advanced through the Senate without a Democratic filibuster? Nothing other than the left’s agenda of massive increases in government spending, government size, and government power.

So do we really have the Senate? No. Since Bush backed a liberal Senator, perhaps people will start to believe me when I say the George W. Bush is a liberal. I said it in 2000, and I’ve been saying it ever since. And the fact that he put party over principle proves it once more.

Tags: Politics by Brian Corbino
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SNK has been running the King of Fighters series since ‘94. I saw one once, but didn’t toss a quarter its way. Then I played KoF ‘98 in MAME. Wow. I was always hooked on Street Fighter II (I always lost, but I was hooked anyway). Then there was Mortal Kombat. And then everything went 3-D. But SNK kept plugging away with their 2-D King of Fighters. I picked up the KoF 2000/2001 for PlayStation 2 today. I’m happy to say that I’m hooked. I’ll be picking up KoF 2003 when it hits in August.

Tags: Video Games by Brian Corbino
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I always complain about Connecticut. But April comes along and reminds me why I’ll never leave.

Here’s some pictures I took today. All came from the Canon Powershot G3, Programmed AE mode (200 ISO) to JPEG (yes, JPEG). There was a 1A daylight filter mounted on the lens adapter.

[Read more →]

Tags: Randomness by Brian Corbino
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I cannot seem to stop listening to Linkin Park’s Meteora. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. I don’t know why, of course. The energy level of this album is absolutely incredible. And there’s a palpable sense of seething rage hiding just under the surface.

Anyhow, I’m not a music reviewer or music critic. I just know what I like, and I like this.

Tags: Music by Brian Corbino
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OK. Here’s one that’s good for a chuckle.

Customer has a terminal (remember those?) that’s locked. This is on a terminal server, so there’s no command to tell you what physical port the thing is connected to. We need to figure out what port it is plugged in to and reset that port. So, the site admin dutifully traces the wire from the terminal to the wall, and kills that port: #19.

Unfortunately, the terminal server is a 16 port unit.

Tags: Computers by Brian Corbino
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How does one negotiate with someone who has no demands?

I mean, sure, Al-Qaeda has pressers where they claim they want the infidels out of the holy land. But what do they say in private? They tell their little madrassas full of children that they must destroy all non-believers. Where’s the room for negotiation there?

I decided to look up what the dictionary has to say about negotiation.

intransitive senses : to confer with another so as to arrive at the settlement of some matter
transitive senses
1 a : to deal with (some matter or affair that requires ability for its successful handling) : MANAGE b : to arrange for or bring about through conference, discussion, and compromise <negotiate a treaty>

Note 1b: negotiation implies that all parties involved have some desired end that they are willing to compromise to get some or all of. How do you negotiate when the end goal of one party is the eradication of the other?

This is why I can’t understand why we have put up with islamofasicsts and mullarchs for all these years. Haven’t we learned anything yet? Don’t bother to answer that.

Tags: Politics by Brian Corbino
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Spain pulled its troops out of Iraq today. Not much in the way of force - 3000 or so. But a huge symbol. Message: Terror Works.

So much for the vaunted Spanish Machismo, eh?

Note to Spain - you can expect more attacks from the Al-Qaeda types now, since they have determined that your public policy can be swayed with 200 bodies on the deck. And regardless of what the Spanish public says about not being swayed to the Socialists because of Madrid, perception is reality, and Al-Qaeda percieves weakness.

I pray that you come to your collective senses before they do.

Tags: Politics by Brian Corbino
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Question: When Israel kills a man who has pledged to kill everyone in their nation, and has said he intends to assassinate Sharon, Europe cries foul. Where was Europe when Hamas militants decided to play Whack-a-Jew in Tel Aviv?

Is Europe taking the Palestinian side because they hate Jews, or because they fear reprisals from their enormous muslim immigrant communities? Or are they just indifferent to the suffering of white people? If the Jews were brown too, would Europe be outraged?

These are the things I think about when I see France condemn Israel and support Arafat. Sometimes I wonder if this species has a chance at all.

Tags: Politics by Brian Corbino
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This is Crimson. She’s mostly healed from her surgery, and bounding around like a 7 year old puppy again.

Tags: Randomness by Brian Corbino
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