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Friday, Apr 26, 2002
If Jesus Saves ...
April 26, 2002
I got a letter from my old high school, Strake Jesuit. Usually they want some money (not gonna get any) or they want me to pray about something (not gonna do it). Today's letter was a little different.
A Jesuit priest who served on the faculty for 21 years, and was principal for 5 years has been accused of "sexual misconduct" with a minor. I never knew the man; he joined the faculty a couple years after I left.
The sexual segregation -- priests and boys at Strake, nuns and girls on the other side of the parking lot at St. Agnes -- is just strange. And don't get me started on the celibacy thing. But this sort of shit?! I just can't deal with it.
I sometimes refer to myself as an "ex-Catholic", or if I'm going for the funny, I might say "recovering Catholic." Well, that one used to be funny. But really, I thought of myself more as an "inactive Catholic" rather than an ex. Perhaps I was just hedging my bets.
............................................................
"Hey, Pete, can I call you Pete?, I didn't actually leave the Church, I just, you know how it gets, I was busy there for a while."
"Let me see if I got this straight. What you're saying is that for 25 years you were ... too busy?"
"Hey, I caught JP II on the T.V. a couple of times there, doing his Christmas thing in the basilica. That's worth something, ain't it? Can we work a purgatory deal here?"............................................................
But now I just don't feel like associating myself with this oh so human institution, even as an ex. I'll just have to take my chances with St. Pete. I hereby officially change my label to "agnostic pagan, inactive."
Thursday, Apr 25, 2002
Home Networks
April 24, 2002
Just as I was about to order some ISDN equipment, I noticed an article in a local weekly. The head line is "High-speed Internet access in Campbell is a real problem". No shit! Campbell is right in the middle of Silicon Valley, and the best most people can do is about 24kbaud over POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service).
Luckily, there's a little company whose office is about 2 blocks from me that offers wireless service -- decent data rates at decent prices. They do need to do a little something about their marketing. Other than that article, they're damn near invisible.
So now I'm looking into the SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) WiFi router market. What a freaking mess. A couple dozen companies are producing various highly technical products that cost between $139.95 and $159.95. This is not a business to be in. It's clear to me that there will be a shake-out, but I can't really tell who's going to win. The only consolation is that I will be able to by a better product next year for $89.95 if I pick the wrong vendor this time around.
Now I just need to narrow it down to the best unit with 56k modem backup, a decent firewall, good proxy servers, easy yet powerful configuration software, good tech support, a few 10/100 base T ports and a decent 802.11b radio. And a print server would be nice.
Digital Video Networks
April 22, 2002
Technology trends are frequently overhyped, fail to live up to overblown expectations, but then succeed quietly. "Multimedia convergence" is a good example. Some of the basic concepts make sense, to the point of being inevitable. But too many people were claiming entirely too much.
I use the phrase "zero billion dollar market" to describe some of the wackier ideas. The typical projections for such a market have the infamous hockey stick graph. "Well, right now we're not selling anything, but in 18 months we're going to turn a corner and watch out!"
At NAB, most of the streaming media startups seemed to have evaporated. But, convergence is still plodding along, filling in the gaps. Here are a few examples.
- In the olden days, networks and syndicaters sent content to affiliates by rolling tape decks, and bouncing real-time video over a satellite. Now, there are several IP-based solutions in operation. They're not sold using phrases like "information superhighway", but with phrases like "simplify your operation".
- Video servers have not replaced video tape, but they are inexorably pushing it into a corner. Servers are taking over for active material in the production chain, while tapes are being relegated to archive. And you can archive to tape by doing a file transfer over ethernet. Try that with your VHS deck.
- Streaming video for consumers is still alive. Although many companies are gone, Real Networks is still doing cool stuff and useful stuff.
The prospect of another whirlwind decade of change is enough to stir my work-related neurons. I'm planning to set up some sort of home network, with servers and clients and all sorts of cool stuff. I'm looking to build a sort of digital video networking playground to get familiar with the current state of technology.
Woefully, connecting my internet to the Internet is the major stumbling block. I can't get DSL. I can't get a cable modem. I can get satellite "DSL", but they are mighty stingy with their bits, and don't support home networking. But I have found my salvation in ancient technology: ISDN.
Friday, Apr 19, 2002
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
April 19, 2002
The local alternative weekly ran an article about personal video recorders (PVRs), like Tivo, Replay, etc. The way these things work, your local alternative weekly may have carried the same article. Unfortunately, I missed the article, but I did see the ensuing debate on the letters page. I couldn't help chiming in. If I find the article I'll link to it.
.............
Some say TiVo is about sedation via TV. Some say it's about choice. Are people still arguing about whether technology is good or bad?
If you want the 24-hour Geraldo channel, or the 24-hour Friends channel, or All-Jerry-All-the-Time, you can have that, and more. The enhanced technology allows greatly enhanced sedation.
Likewise, enhanced technology allows enhanced choice. If I want to see the local news in Buenos Aires because I'm worried about my friends in Argentina, no problem. If I want to see the entire press conference, so I can learn the nuances in Dubya's vacuity, no worries. If I need some diversion and want to watch some crazy Norwegians doing rally cross, well, I may have to wait until someone carries EuroSport. But I probably won't have to wait too long.
Technology is about power, use it wisely. There are over 10,000 hours of television available every week, choose wisely. And don't forget to use the "off" switch from time to time.
Sexual Logic
April 16, 2002
Last Thursday, while driving home from Vegas, I did my usual monitoring of the AM air waves. My favorite fake psychologist, Dr. Laura, was in fine form. "I'm not qualified to give psychiatric advice, and I hardly know you, but here's what you must do ..."
As I crossed the Tehachapi Pass, leaving the Mojave Desert for the San Joaquin Valley, I picked up the Savage Nation from a station in Fresno. This is talk radio turned up to eleven. The host, Michael Savage, makes Rush Limbaugh seem like a corpulent teddy bear. While Rush is the smiling face of the right wing, Savage is the pit bull. Mr. Savage puts the extreme in extremism.
Somehow Savage got into a rant about Clinton. Now, I've heard Rush, O'Rielly and others rant about Clinton, but Savage always takes it a little further. "What do you expect from a president who masturbated in the White House? Yes, I said it, he masturbated, masturbated, MASTURBATED!"
Whoa there Michael. You seem a little hung up on the "M" word. Have you been reading Leviticus again?
Later in his show, Savage brought in a conservative Catholic. Together, they defended the Catholic church from the onslaught of criticism over cases of sexual abuse. Savage reasoned that the problem was not with the church hierarchy. The problem was infiltration by a "Lavender Mafia", which is part of some sort of global conspiracy of perverts. And those who criticize the church are leftist wackos intent to destroy all that is good and true.
Okay, let me see if I understand. A man who spanks the monkey in the privacy of his own house is "evil", but men who failed to act against known molesters are "good"? Thanks for clearing that up Mikey.
So here's the scary part. Savage Nation may be extreme, but it's not fringe. It's the longest running show on KSFO. It has the highest Arbitron rating in its time slot among men in the SF Bay Area. And it's one of the fastest growing syndicated radio programs in the country.
Move over Rush,
California Uber Alles!