Smart Questions

Talking with co-workers about a certain person who bothers me with their pointless divergences reminded me of this article:

"The first thing to understand is that hackers actually like hard problems and good, thought-provoking questions about them. If we didn't, we wouldn't be here. [...]

"What we are, unapologetically, is hostile to people who seem to be unwilling to think or do their own homework before asking questions. People like that are time sinks -- they take without giving back, they waste time we could have spent on another question more interesting and another person more worthy of an answer. We call people like this 'losers'."

Eric Raymond

What To Say?

I was going to write a brief entry today to let my sister Brenda know I had heard about her husband Ted's heart attack, and to wish them well (to hear my Dad tell it, he is walking around, just fine). So Brenda, consider that done.

All the personal news and speculations I normally put here sort of pales in comparison to today's news. This will be in the history books, but for now, it's shocking and very human in scope. Now that the World Trade Center is gone, now that the Pentagon is fractured, I think the implications will take a long time to sink in. Could we be heading for martial law? Probably not that harsh, but a less free and carefree environment than before.

For now, my sympathies to those who have loved ones at these sites, waiting to hear who made it out.

Stickin' It To The <em>Man</em>!

Well, I created another money sink. James Tilton (or was it Alan Matzka?) sent me a pointer to a product called DVD Region X, which converts your Playstation 2 into an all-region DVD player. My initial research led me to believe that it only worked with British PS2's, but I did some more digging, and only one site made that claim. So I decided to take the chance (cheap at $40), and ordered one.

I own a lot of Hong Kong DVDs, but they are Region 0, i.e., they play on any DVD deck. I only own one DVD from any other region besides the US. That DVD is Wild Zero, which I bought for it's gonzo indie bizarreness. I had a friend with a multi-region player dub a tape from it so I could watch it. But I used it to test DVD Region X and it works! Wahoo!

The big media conglomerates invented region coding to control distribution of their movies, preventing folks in Europe from buying a movie on DVD from America, before it made it's European theatrical release, for instance. But come on, they're never going to release Wild Zero in the US, so I have no qualms overriding their stupid control schemes. I buy what I want, and if they don't release what I want in the US, I buy it from overseas. Now I can do it with DVD's as well.

So now I'm rubbing my hands together thinking about all those Japanese and Korean films I've been wanting to see, like Attack the Gas Station and Shiri. This isn't going to cost as much as a PS2 or a new hard disk, but it will be a constant trickle .

Television At It's Finest

Speaking of Cartoon Network, I recorded their Adult Swim premiere. This is the late night cartoon line-up supposed to appeal to folks ages 18-35. I have to say I'm almost universally disappointed.

While each show I watched had at least a couple of chuckles, I can't imagine making a concerted effort to see them again. Home Movies is one of the few segments which has been receiving some critical kudos, but it's so damn boring! The Brak Show is a spin-off of Space Ghost Coast to Coast. I'm sorry, Tom, but it seldom made me titter. And SGCTC is still not sufficiently interesting to keep me glued to the tube. Harvey Birdman was actually the funniest of the bunch to me, and I may watch it again.

I read one reviewer's opinion of Sealab 2021, which called it a series of cheap jokes targetted at offending everybody. I could see how some might be offended by the humor, but I was just offended by the lack of it. That leaves Cowboy Bebop, and since I can buy the original series on DVD unsullied by dubbing,why would I bother? So it looks like Adult Swim is gonna sink. Too bad. Cartoon Network's idea of 'adult' is pretty sad.

Grossology

I came home early today with a sore throat, and it's just as well as things are getting worse. I kidded myself that I'd stick to my regular Thursday night exercise routine, just with lower weights. Not gonna happen. Instead I'm vegging in front of the computer, doin' IRC and browsing websites.

Tried to be fatherly and play Slamwich with Kelly. She played one round, then enticed me into a rug wrestling match. That was okay until she thought it would be cute to drop a ropy loogy onto my face. She is currently spending the rest of the evening without Cartoon Network.

Book Report

One thing which happened over the holiday weekend is that I finished Free Flight. An interesting book, and given the 'fun' travel I've had lately, I hope it comes true. He projects first shipments of jets from Eclipse around 2003, so I'll probably have to wait until 2004 to find out if it's working.

I also finished the third book in the six book series by Peter F. Hamilton. I did a page count (approximate) and this 'epic' is over three thousand pages long! Kinda sorry I started. Still, it's fun, and I'm not holding to any schedule.

The Fates Conspire

Alan, the owner of Agora, decided to move the hardware hosting this site to a new location downtown, and did some of the work over the Labor Day weekend. One consequence was that he locked down the web pages so people wouldn't modify them on the old site while he built the directories at the new site. This prevented lost postings.

It also prevented me from posting articles in the interval when I had the most time to do so. Now, I'm back at work, and the posts will proceed at the usual trickle. Que Sera Sera.