Maxim Integrated Products, Inc (the chipmaker, not the magazine)has a truckload of unfinished chips hijacked in Malaysia.
Although I doubt they will learn it, there is a lesson here.
The lesson: never do business in countries run by kleptocracies. The desire to steal rubs off on the general public. If Maxim thinks that they are going to get any of their chips back, they are out of their mind(s).
Beautiful day today. Upper 60s, nice breeze. Go fly a kite, I says. I kinda flew a kite. The winds were variable and swirly, so I didn’t get more than 30 seconds out of a flight, but some is better than none.
This one is a 30″ parafoil. It has no structure, it is simply a set of bags that catch air, and when inflated form a lifting surface. It takes no effort to get it aloft (if you have wind, anyhow), and you can do some neat tricks with it.
I’ve just read a few more diatribes about how evil the Bush wars are, and how because of what we’re doing in Iraq it’s no wonder that “they” hate us, and how this is all a ploy to create an American empire.
Bullshit.
Since most of the tripe I have read is coming from the fingers of 19 year old artists from major cities, I can only assume that they do not have the benefit of understanding history prior to their birth.
First, Islam has been at war with the “daar-ul-harb” (that’s everyone that ISN’T a muslim) for nearly 8 centuries. Nothing America did has caused this to be visited upon us. Our mere existence will suffice as an excuse.
Second, you complain about our attempts to crush the more virulent strains of Islam, but have you considered the alternatives? “They” have already made it more than abundantly clear that there is no way they will accept a world with us in it. Especially beautiful 19 year old models that pose for provocative photos. So we get a choice - kill some muslims, kill all muslims, or kill everyone else.
I’ll leave it to you to decide which will leave a smaller stain on your soul.
Trenton Computer Festival, 30th anniversary. Back to the beginning, at The College of New Jersey.
What struck me was just how small it’s become. The flea market is quite tiny now, under 200 tables. 18 years ago when I first started going, it was nearly 1,000 tables in the flea market. And the indoor fair is just as tiny.
Of course, that was not the original intent of TCF, but that’s why I always went. TCF was always about the talks, and the fora. I’ve been attending more of the talks in recent trips. Whether I’ll go next year is directly dependent upon who the keynote is, and what other speakers and fora will be happening.
This year’s keynote was Brian Kernighan. Yes, the ‘K’ in K&R. He gave a nice little talk about digital life. Nothing too geeky, but just geeky enough. He was talking mostly about the futility of trying to control the flow of information in a digital world. Turns out everything is just 1’s and 0’s!
There was a neat little (emphasis on little) exhibit of ancient history, including an operational PDP-8! Absolutely amazing piece of machinery. I want one. I have no idea what I would do with it, but I want it anyhow.
And there was a repeat performance of the Apollo Guidance Computer presentation. I’m still floored by that machine and what it did in the late 1960s.
Can you enjoy something and be disappointed at the same time? That’s about where I feel about it right now. I’ll probably go back next year, but it’ll most likely be for the speeches, and not the flea market.
Me. At least when attempting to fly a kite. It’s an absolutely beautiful day out there. 80 degrees, sunny, breezy.
Until I hoist my kite into the air, that is. Then the wind teases me. Taunts me. “No! You will not fly your silly kites today.” I can almost hear the chuckling.
I’d have posted pictures, but I forgot the good camera, which is just as well, I suppose. Kites don’t look exciting when they are sitting on the ground.
Maybe tomorrow. With pictures.
Pejman Yousefzadeh (hat tip: Instapundit) points out a disturbing new political theory: “Libertarian Paternalism” and its central tenet: you are too dumb to handle choosing from too many options.
It seems to me that there is one thing that keeps showing up when they do these consumer studies: people don’t choose anything.
Why should that be a problem? Well, if you sell things, and people are not buying anything because they can’t make up their mind, that’s bad for your business. The solution? Have government impose limits on the amount of competition you face.
Can someone please tell me the difference between “Libertairan Paternalism” to set boundaries to choice to achieve desired social objectives, an approach they call “libertarian paternalism.” and nanny-state liberalism We’re saying that for America to get back on track, we’re probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.
This is disgusting on so many levels, it isn’t funny.
I am officially pissed off.
Because of all the little punks and their spam-bot zombies, I can no longer use my third-party mail server. SBC is now blocking ALL traffic on port 25, INCLUDING TO THEIR OWN MAIL SERVERS. If you want to send mail on an SBC Yahoo account, you need to use the new SMTP Authenticated port of 587. Don’t forget to tell your mail client to log in, either.
It was bad enough when suddenly (and without any notice, I might add) the ability to send e-mail went away for my third-party server.
Just this evening, it went away completely. Until I happened to find a page on SBC about “Why am I unable to send email…” here that told me about port 587.
A little NOTICE would have been useful, guys.
Thanks.
Walked the dog at 6 o’clock today, in short sleeves! Does this mean we’re done with winter now?
Please say yes.
“Despite the cost of living, it remains popular.”