The Information Revolution Has Not Arrived Yet

Some of you may remember Al Gore’s claim he had invented the Internet. Well, the claim was never made that way, and Al Gore’s role in commercializing the Internet made out of a government playground what we know today, so he may have had a little to boast about. The other thing he was talking about, though, never really came to be. That’s the Information Superhighway. It was supposed to deliver information at your fingertips, and for some things (like cheap watches) it works even too well. Continue reading

More Comment Spammers and How to Block Them

After I shut out a comment spammer that had blasted my account to the tune of 23.76 GB (I am nothing but precise), I discovered another IP address up to no good, and then a series of them. They are all from Russia (not sure why, and no disparagement of the great country intended), most of them from a single IP block. Not to the recipe: if you want to get rid of a particularly annoying spammer, you need to do two things: Continue reading

Google+ (or, Why Do I Want to Leave Facebook?)

Well, no sooner had I posted my update on Facebook, that I had lost all my pictures uploaded with KIPI (the KDE plugin for Facebook) that I learned that Google is trying to crush its “evil” competitor again. Google+ is the company’s latest attempt at social networking, and it’s made a big splash in the blogosphere – probably mostly because it’s a private beta, invitation only, and the blogosphere can gush all about the exclusivity of it. Continue reading

The Comment Spammer

Strangely, around 6/11, traffic to this site started to skyrocket. Even more strangely, the traffic skyrocketed only in a few metrics, namely pages and bandwidth. The visits and visitors didn’t move much. How odd. I didn’t pay much attention: after all, I had been updating the site around that same time, although I though I had started after that date. But who is to remember. After a few weeks, though, I started to get spooked and looked at my AWStats report more closely. Continue reading

Writing In the Mission (3: Gospels)

*[This is part 3 of a series of blog posts about writing* In the Mission.] I will innocently admit: the first time I read the Gospels as a “novel,” I was horrified. The story had giant holes, contradicted itself here and there, and seemed to veer towards the end with no sense and rhyme. Instead of having the giant hulk of artistic accomplishment of the Torah, this seemed an amateur effort at best. Continue reading

Writing In the Mission (4: Mystery)

Happy to have finished yet another novel, this time I felt confident enough that I sent it to a series of friends and acquaintances for feedback. I sent out about 12 copies, and waited for feedback. To my horror, 8 didn’t respond at all, even after prodding and asking – I assumed they had hated it so much, they wouldn’t even want to talk about it. 4 of my readers, though, came back with enthusiastic feedback and I was a little puzzled. Continue reading

Did I Mention Surfing?

I suppose anyone that loves snowboarding and then moves to Southern California eventually has to start surfing. I mean, the snow is far, far away and only seasonal. The ocean, on the other hand, always has waves to show for (except for right now, which gives me the time to write this post). I got into surfing obliquely. UCSD Recreation offers super-cheap courses taught by really great professionals. I decided I wanted to try at the end of last summer, so I took the mini-course (4 weeks) and I loved it. Continue reading

Writing In the Mission (2: Startup)

*[This is part 2 of a series of blog posts about writing* In the Mission.] In 1998 I was working as an IT consultant for mid-size businesses in Germany. The business was starting to take off, what with mid-size businesses not being able to affod a full-time IT person (back in the day). I was at the point where I had to decide whether to expand the business, but before taking on responsibility for someone else’s income, I decided to try something out. Continue reading

Android vs Garmin - GPS for the Masses

I finally decided to get myself an Android phone. I was sick of my N900 and its eternally unfixed bugs (including the interesting reboot in the middle of a phone call), and I took the news of T-Mobile’s selling out to AT&T as my launch pad. Within days, I had run to the various stores and found exactly what I wanted: a no-contract Samsung phone on the fantastic $25/month Virgin Mobile plan. Continue reading

Democracy? What Democracy?

We live in a free-market, democratic republic. We hold each of these descriptors very dear, and we believe that – through trial and error, not through philosophical debate – we have found this is the most stable, prosperous, fair society we can live in. On the other hand, we live in a world with huge enterprises larger (in financial terms) than most countries. Walmart, for instance, would be a country whose GDP (revenue) sits between that of Taiwan and Norway. Continue reading