T11M

Check out these links I’ve found!

• First rule of Internet censorship: Hide the block list – Internet censorship is a bad thing. No good can come of limiting information. Just because they can't burn the Internet like they did books, that doesn't give them the right to censor the Internet.
• Cheap International BlackBerry Calls With Truphone VoIP –
• Measuring Productivity: More Difficult for Managers –
• Google: Internet disconnection a "disproportionate" penalty – Finally, a company with some serious power weighs in on the issue.
• Apple reveals slew of new features for iPhone OS 3.0 –
• Getting free wireless in airports and hotels –
• Botnet takedown offers peek at private data repository –
• iPhone OS 3.0 event: coverage details and our wishlist –
• “I thought it was a scam”: NH woman sued by RIAA –
• Speculation Mounts with Apple Preview of iPhone 3.0 Software Next Week –
• Twitter IM support coming to Adium –
• Zuckerberg Slips Out Of The Billionaire Club –
• Labels: whatever the future of music is, it isn’t “free” –
• Self-healing polymer advance could mean scratch-free iPhones –
• iPhone 3.0 Will Be Revealed March 17 [IPhone] –

I am currently returning home from Washington, DC.  The flight is long as usual, but I have some outstanding news.  I have taken a job with HouseCall IT.  The process has been incredibly swift and exciting and now I am slated to start work in 3 weeks.  My guess is the next 3 weeks is going to be a whirlwind of activity as we pack our belongings and move to DC.  I am incredibly excited and certain that many people are going to ask how it all happened, so here it is:

Kendra has always had the dream of living in a large city.  After her trip to the Inauguration that dream was revitalized and she begged me to consider moving to DC.  I had been in the process of finding a full time position doing IT work for a good six months.  As I’m sure everyone knows the economy is in a bit of a funk right now and jobs are few and far between.  At the point when Kendra asked if we could move to DC, I had been rejected for a couple of jobs and was fed up with the way things in Eugene were looking.  So I agreed and we set out a goal – we wanted to be living in DC with one of us fully employed by the end of September 2009.  That was a pretty conservative goal and would give us plenty of time to save money and prepare for a 3,000 mile move.  However, our plans rapidly changed.

Anna Sohriakoff was one of Kendra’s college roommates.  She currently works for Senator Bunning as a scheduler.  Through her time in DC she became acquainted with some of the HouseCall IT staff and, when we mentioned to her that we were looking forward jobs, forwarded my resume on to them.  Unbelievably we were having our first conference call about 2 weeks later.  During that call they said that my qualifications were perfect for an entry level position and they were very impressed by my blog (which you must be too, since you are still here reading).  We had another interview about a week later at which time we made plans to have me fly out to DC so that I could see the business, meet the people, and they could get to know me better.  That week long trial run/interview was this past week and I enjoyed every minute of it.  The work is fast paced, the people are outstanding, and unlike my current job they do not micromanage what-so-ever.  For those of you who have been micromanaged, I’m sure you know how freeing it is to finally get out from under the thumb of your boss.  All of a sudden you feel trusted and it makes you that much happier with your life (at least that’s how it is working for me).

The basics of my new job are pretty amazing.  I will be assigned a number of Congressional offices and will be responsible for helping them with all technology issues ranging from basic computer use to Blackberry support to regular server and backup maintenance.  It will be my responsibility to ensure that each of these offices needs are being met daily.  At the same time I will not be alone as I will be a part of a team of about 14 people who perform almost exactly the same function.  If I need help, I can readily gain access to it and I will be able to add my knowledge and expertise into the mix.

I’m extremely excited about this opportunity and am looking forward to our move to DC.  That being said, if my blog posts become fewer and longer between, please be patient I will be back as soon as I will pick back up as soon as I am able.

Check out these links I’ve found!

• Pillow Fight Leads To San Francisco Wanting Flash Mob Ban – Just another awesome event. I think they should flash mob the city councilmen and different times throughout the year. That would really piss 'em off!
• French anti-P2P law toughest in the world – Not good France! NOT GOOD!!! So much for the Open-Source ideals. You really can't do anything to make the world love you, can you?
• Google's new behavioral ads already raising privacy worries – I don't think it matters what my behaviors are, I'm still not going to click on adds.
• French police: we saved millions of euros by adopting Ubuntu – Way to go France! I like it.
• Creative Commons Add-In for Office Inserts Open Licenses Easily [Downloads] –
• Send Later for Thunderbird Adds Custom Quick-Delay Buttons [Downloads] –
• Songbird 1.1 Grabs Album Art in One Step, Runs Lighter and Faster [Downloads] –
• P2P judge smacks down "frivolous" motions from Harvard prof – I'm glad to see the judge is not taking sides. Let's hope for the best.
• Social Networking, Blogging Overtake E-mail as Chief Time Wasters –
• YouTube Pulls All Professional Music Videos In The U.K. – It's just getting worse.
• Norway's public broadcaster launches BitTorrent tracker – Rock on Norway, ROCK ON!!!!!
• Norway's public broadcaster launches BitTorrent tracker – Rock on Norway, ROCK ON!!!!!
• A week of Law & Disorder: talk like a pirate edition – Wow, at some point we're going to need to stop the legal battles and decide what we as a nation feel is right. I hope that means that Big Content doesn't get much of a say…
• Hulu kills Boxee support… again – Again, way to go Big Content. We only hate you more.
• Hulu kills Boxee support… again – What are they thinking?!?!?! Big Content continues to just piss off the customer. If it was any other market, we wouldn't put up with this crap.
• Give Up Texting For Lent, Archbishop Urges – It's an interesting plea. I definitely think balance is important, but I don't think the virtual world is that bad so long as you understand it is only possible because of real people.
• Security admin, botmaster sentenced to four years in prison – Ouch. Guess it doesn't pay to run a botnet.
• Blackout Ireland rallies support against P2P disconnections –
• MediaSentry weighed in the balance, found wanting –
• If you pirate a movie, do the terrorists win? –

As I sit on this flight to Washington DC I am realizing just how much of my daily computer activities are linked to the Internet.  I generally listen to music through Last.fm, download software and add plugins to software I already use, read a long list of blogs and news sites, blog, do web development of two web sites, take 2 online courses, check in with our help ticket system at work, view Google Analytics, constantly monitor my email, chat through Adium, and that doesn’t include any of the web surfing I do to learn about new topics.  Sitting here I wonder how I ever managed to survive without an Internet connection when my family traveled around the country.  Sure we would hit an Internet cafe here and there, but I only checked my email once or twice a week – and that was just under 5 years ago!  Now I have a much nicer laptop with better programs, but without Internet access it feels like a useless brick.  Just thougt I’d notify everyone that I am stunningly bound to the Internet.  (Obviously I posted this after getting back to an Internet connections.  Whew… I feel much better now.)

California is not known for making the best decisions, but this one I think takes the cake.  (A number of news sites have covered this story.  This quote comes from Digital Trends)

Joel Anderson, a San Diego Republican who’s a member of the California assembly, is a man with a mission. He wants to keep America safe by forcing companies to blur satellite images of schools, places of worship, government or medical buildings, as well as banning street images.

I can just hear the conversations now:

Evil Terrorist 1: “What is our next strike target in California?”

Evil Terrorist 2: “Haven’t you heard, they blurred all of the images of schools, churches, and governement buildings.  They’ve even blocked street-view!”

Evil Terrorist 1: “Certainly NOT!”

Evil Terrorist 2: “Yes.  Our plans have been foiled.  Damn you California!!!”

Next thing you know California will be demanding fake images be put into Google Earth to throw terrorists off track.

Stop California! Stop hindering progress. Learn to use technology, not hate it.

Check out these links I’ve found!

• Pirate Bay accused does remote sysadmin from courtroom during closing arguments – Boing Boing – Nice.
• IKEA Planner Visualizes Your Dream Rooms in 3D [Downloads] – For you Kendra…
• Excitement over Genachowski FCC pick… will it last? –
• Amazon’s Kindle for iPhone: First Look –
• Pirate Bay: a guilty verdict is an attack on the Internet – I'm not sure if I completely agree with that statement, but I do want to see a not guilty verdict come back.
• Greener Gadgets: Tweet-a-Watt – Another crazy use of Twitter.
• Paper + Color + Concept = 40+ Creative & Inspirational Piece of Art – Some pretty cool designs.
• eBay Scammer Wins Two Years In The Slammer – This guy obviously doesn't know how to pull off a scam.
• Survey Finds Young Germans Would Rather Ditch Cars or Spouses Than the Internet – I'm definitely right there with them. Removal of my Internet access is near the top of the worst things that could happen to me.
• Rogue apps raise concerns over Facebook's reactive policies – Another reason to HATE Facebook applications.
• Court: self-incrimination privilege won't protect password – Wow, if that's not self-incrimination I don't know what is. Yeah, I could show you where the body is, but that will get me in even bigger trouble. Same thing, right?
• Conficker-created connections could confound consumers –
• Prosecution rests case against “wealthy” Pirate Bay admins –
• Foxmarks bookmark sync service becomes Xmarks –
• Ninth Circuit rejects gov't appeal in wiretap case – Why would the Obama administration allow this to continue? What do they have to hide? Any ideas…?
• Biden Asks for Web Site's 'Number' – First 100 Days of Presidency – Politics FOXNews.com – Poor Obama… he thought Joe would be a good choice but that statement reminds me a lot of our boy W.
• Celebrate Open That Bottle Night [Wine] – I heard and NPR interview with the founders of "Open that Bottle Night". I liked the idea, probably not going to participate this year.

Check out this TED talk – Ed Ulbrich talks about the creation of the movie “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”.  Brad Pitt’s head for the entire first hour of the movie is completely computer generated!  CG software has come so far in just a few years.  I’m absolutely amazed since I was unable to tell that Brad’s head was well…, not his head.

Even though Obama touts his administration as being the most tech savvy yet, I had to laugh when I read what Joe Biden said on CBS’ “Early Show”.

“You know, I’m embarrassed. Do you know the Web site number?” he asked an aide standing out of view. “I should have it in front of me and I don’t. I’m actually embarrassed.”

Well Mr. Vice President, you should be embarrassed because you sound a lot like our former President whom we love to refer to as W.  It must be very hard for Mr. Biden to keep up with some of the conversations that are currently happening in the White House.  I almost feel sorry for the guy…

Read the article here.

Check out these links I’ve found!

• Google Cripples Android Developer Phones to Prevent Piracy – So basically the open-source phone just went closed.
• DIY Laptop Rack Hack Turns Your Monitor into an iMac [DIY] –
• John McCain to champion fair use in Jackson Browne suit? – Poor John McCain – he voted for the DMCA and now it is kicking his ass. If only he had thought further ahead…
• OneSwarm friend-to-friend P2P likely to irk Big Content, ISPs – and P2P makes a big leap forward.
• IFPI boss at TPB trial: you’re either with us or against us –
• Google joins the EU's Internet Explorer smackdown – Wow Google… I'm not impressed.
• 15 of the World’s Most Fabulous and Funky Furniture Sets – All I can say is "wow!"
• Norway Education Minister: there's no future in fighting P2P – Way to go Norway!!!
• Report: EU may order Microsoft to bundle other browsers –
• 5 iPhone apps that will make you a hero – I use 2/5. But I'm definitely adding HotStop since we are moving to DC
• As charges change (again), Pirate Bay writes a book –
• Gizmo5 – Make free internet calls from your mobile phone and computer – Home – A very interesting possibility…
• Red Hat VP explains software patent threat at Linux Expo – We are definitely seeing problems of this nature in every area directly effected by technological innovation. The law just can't keep up.
• Emergency Server Room Light – This would have been awesome to have yesterday.
• A Spartan strategy: Ars reviews Halo Wars – Too bad. I'm a big fan of Halo and I hate to see any of the titles get done poorly.
• Desktop Central packages 11 handy tools for sysadmins –

Check out these links I’ve found!

• EU group aims to eavesdrop on Skype calls – I have to ask why? Why must the government do everything it can to spy on us!?!?! WHY!?!?!
• 10 Worst Tech Trends – So true. Tech is great when done right, but very pointless when done wrong.
• Fiamma – Fireplaces done in my style.
• EU group aims to eavesdrop on Skype calls -
• Firefox Mobile (aka Fennec) Will Sync Tabs with Firefox on Your Desktop [Fennec] -
• Mozilla demos impressive Firefox 3.1 features at SCALE -
• Broadband woes aside, US tops the world in “connectivity” -
• Record industry talks Irish ISP into blocking P2P sites – AHHHH!!!!!!! This is the first step in removing our digital freedom.
• Record industry talks Irish ISP into blocking P2P sites -
• Droppler Makes Drop.io Your iPhone’s Web Storage Bin [Downloads] – Another cloud based storage option – but I don’t think I’m going to change from Box.net.
• Droppler Makes Drop.io Your iPhone’s Web Storage Bin [Downloads] -
• LinkedIn Replaced The Resume; or 21st Century Relevance -
• Pirate Bay: survey says that 80% of our torrents are legal -