The UAL story – as a parable – is too good to be true. (As fact, it seems patently unfair to UAL.)

As a cautionary tale, it got even better – expanding on the chaotic complexity of interacting state machines:

Single Web Hit Led to UAL Glitch, Tribune Says – WSJ.com

*chuckle*

Missed Last HOPE? Wanted to hear the OpenSSL lecture but couldn’t get into Turing?

The ridiculously overpriced DVDs ($20 per talk, $100 for ten) of the lectures are being ripped and tracked here.

Note that the video quality issues (poor color and contrast) are DVD issues, not a consequence of the ripping.

Just a note, for using OpenVPN on Nokia Internet Tablets – dont use a verb[ose] level of 4 (or greater? I didn’t test) .

When I redid my VPN this month, it took me an hour to track this down. Somehow I doubt it will be patched, either.

Simple fix, tho.

You know, uTorrent is handy, small, has lots of advanced options.  However, between the non-OSS nature of the application and some disturbing comments that appeared in the MediaDefender email leak regarding the ability to manipulate the client have left me somewhat concerned every time I load it up.  On Linux, kTorrent is a nigh perfect clone, but much of my time is spent on Windows.  Deluge BitTorrent Client seems to offer an interesting (multiplatform) option – I just hope they remember to stress small size (and memory footprint) and stability.  Additionally, I have to wonder how the use of Tor will affect the performance of torrents.

Only one way to find out…

If you are rocking a Swift Folder through the city, one day you are going to find yourself in the rain.  If you got a custom Swift (as opposed to the stock Xootr one) you might have gone the fixed gear route, as I did, in which case FOD to the chain (such as your unrolled pant leg) can be exceedingly dangerous.  There is a solution to these problems – a chain guard.  Neither Xootr or Peter Reich offer a chain guard option for the Swift.  However, one time when I was at bfold (my local folding bike dealer, whom I strongly recommend) , I recalled that David Lam had an unused guard laying around.  Once I jogged his memory, he found it in short order and I no longer suffered from torn pant legs and unexpected drifting.  You can find the part here. 

Now the biggest problem with the guard is not its fit over the chain, but securing it to the seat tube.  If you are riding a Swift Folder, you probably know that the seatpost alone is a solid 34mm (as this is the means for locking the rear triangle into place) and the seat tube is even larger.  I still have not found a a clamp that will properly secure it to such a diameter.  The current method is to use a smaller clamp with the right tab, place it over a rubber shim (this is very important, especially on the powder coated frame, as the clamp will rotate and cause the guard to hit the chain) and zip tie the balance of the space.  If you do find a proper clamp, let me know…

I should mention that Velo Orange sells a guard with which I have no experience, but may experiment with in the future.  If anyone’s tried that on a Swift – or a SS BMX bike for that matter – I’d love to hear about it as well.

For now though, the jury rigged clamp and guard serves my purposes well, and the translucent guard allows me to eyeball the clearances around the chain.

A month ago, in a review of the n810 on Maemo Apps, Jonathan Greene suggested that microb, the Gecko 1.9 “browser” for the Maemo platform, needs a branded name.  I wholeheartedly agree. In fact, I wasn’t sure whether to type microb or Microb or MicroB in the first sentence (the package name won out) as I have seen them all used.  I have a suggestion.

Fennec.

The littlest (red) fox around.  Actually, they are the smallest Canid around.  Hardy too, they survive throughout the Sahara and Arabian Peninsula, though are a popular target of hunting.  Drawing its water from vegetation, the fennec can survive without drinking for extended periods. They can be domesticated with some work, but that is not a task for those seeking the path of least resistance.

Sounds just like the mobile Linux experience.

Oh, and they are cute, too.

The one button mouse is Intelligent Design.
The multi button mouse is Evolution.

Which do you prefer?

Haven’t posted in ages, mostly cause I’ve been having too much fun biking around the city on my new bike.  I’ll post pics when I’m done adding/swapping parts to my liking.

Since I bought my Yeasu VX-7R, I’ve had some fun listening in to the world around me – especially FRS channels in the hood.  And while I had thought about putting together a van Eck setup (I still use CRTs for the gamut), I expected to wait until I had at least a mobile, if not base, radio to play with.

For some reason, this page was open in one of my insanely large Firefox tab sessions.  More than the software – which is a neat way to demonstrate a type of vulnerability end users never consider – the links from that page to various papers and sites make this worth at least a few minutes of your time.