For whatever reason, I can't get my photo to link on my profile page. Therefore, this blog is administered by a photo of me that I filtered in photocopy to look like an extra pretentious version of my friendster self-portrait. The William Li contributor, however, is the splendid William, Duke of Zell as portrayed by George Perfect Harding
Handsome, isn't he?
Well, at least it was until I read the copyright notice from the University Of Leicester. It says very clearly that I can't post their material on my site. So you can follow the link and see it yourself.
If I were a legal person interested in the internet I would wonder why putting a img src tag was substantively different than just putting a href tag pointing to the page where the image could be found. But as of now, I am still basically an I.T. person who is studying law, so I still understand just how stupidly insincere that argument actually is. Just so that I don't forget in the future, when my head is full of law, here it is again:
People understand that a hypertext link that identifies itself as a link to someplace else is something you click on in order to look at another site's content.
People don't know or care, however, where the image on the page that you build came from, they assume its yours. If it's not yours you are misrepresenting yourself.
William, are you working on your JD or your MONO (master of the nearly obvious, thanks Nicky Culpepper)?
I am bringing this up because lots of people post pictures on their web site, and explicitly disclaim their rights over redistribution only to then take down their web site because people img src the heck out of it. As their site slowly chokes to death they post stuff like "Don't steal my bandwidth" and they take desperate steps like blocking specific IPs but its ultimately like unstoppable dry rot.
Okay, okay. I know you people are smart and understood that this is what I was making fun of in my earlier post. But it's very tempting and easy to do. I did it here until I fixed it. I also think that Google has somewhat confused this issue by making it easy to search images without having explanatory text about "fair use" and whatnot
Friday, December 31, 2004
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Property Grunt: A Great Blog
Property Grunt: The Purpose Of This Blog
I was getting frustrated with Hello, so I posted this instead.
This post would be incomplete without mentioning that I solved my own Manhattan rental problem. I live in Houston.
That's not merely a joke (although it is a joke). Did I ever mention that my grandmother lived here in the building on 86th and Lex that was the exterior shot for the Jefferson? She lived in a de-luxe a-part-ment in the ska-ha-ha-hi
Actually, I'm sure I've mentioned this. Many times.
I was getting frustrated with Hello, so I posted this instead.
This post would be incomplete without mentioning that I solved my own Manhattan rental problem. I live in Houston.
That's not merely a joke (although it is a joke). Did I ever mention that my grandmother lived here in the building on 86th and Lex that was the exterior shot for the Jefferson? She lived in a de-luxe a-part-ment in the ska-ha-ha-hi
Actually, I'm sure I've mentioned this. Many times.
More Lion news
Amy - not only does she still like the Lion, all of the other stuffed animals have been relegated to sleeping spots all over her room (using most of Jason's recieving blankets. We will see if that continues...), and the Lion is the only one that she actually sleeps with right now. She says "I love to hug her so tight."
***
How goes the progress on lesson plan writing for the maternity leave you ask? Well, I picked out a bunch of ideas last night that seem sub do-able (interpret those words however you want), so I just need to rewrite them in the standard form now. Yeeha.
***
How goes the progress on lesson plan writing for the maternity leave you ask? Well, I picked out a bunch of ideas last night that seem sub do-able (interpret those words however you want), so I just need to rewrite them in the standard form now. Yeeha.
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Dakota is not a state--she's a state of mind.
I am impressed by the currently smallest Li. She not only understands the Vortex, she uses it for the greater good, as witnessed in the Pancake Saturation Debates (sadly: not recalled in this blog). Also, I'm pleased she still likes the lion.
And, yes, I miss Lenny, too, Lou. We still have the crazy guy that smells crime scenes, though.
And, yes, I miss Lenny, too, Lou. We still have the crazy guy that smells crime scenes, though.
Briscoe is dead
Jerry Orbach passed away yesterday. This makes me very sad, as he was always my favorite part of Law and Order. And my favorite part of Dirty Dancing too. He will be missed.
How I ruined my blog on my lunch break with clip art
1. I am stealing someone elses bandwidth just by posting this clip art. When I still posted to Usenet, I made fun of people who complained about bandwidth wasting posts. But that was text and those people had university accounts. This these are graphics and the people who I am hurting have web hosting to deal with. Moreover, from a Nethical (that's a term coined by Andy Chen's favorite actress, Natalie Portmantaeu[add link here]) standpoint, its so bad that they are adding a new circle in hell for people who do this all the time.
2. I am using these images without permission. I'm not sure how to get permission, and I don't know if it matters that I am not gaining anything, blah blah blah.
3. Readability is horrifically damaged.
4. How unbeliebably corny are my images "The law" "parenthood" "sheep" all aspects of Williamness (queue soap-opera music)?
What do I have to say in my own defense
Its only temporary. By Jan 1, I'll have the "New look for 2005" completed. I plan on using stuff that Dakota, Louren or I drew or shot. Mainly, I wanted to make use of Google Hello [insert link here] for the blog template.
Like tuning a guitar, at first it's ugly.
2. I am using these images without permission. I'm not sure how to get permission, and I don't know if it matters that I am not gaining anything, blah blah blah.
3. Readability is horrifically damaged.
4. How unbeliebably corny are my images "The law" "parenthood" "sheep" all aspects of Williamness (queue soap-opera music)?
What do I have to say in my own defense
Its only temporary. By Jan 1, I'll have the "New look for 2005" completed. I plan on using stuff that Dakota, Louren or I drew or shot. Mainly, I wanted to make use of Google Hello [insert link here] for the blog template.
Like tuning a guitar, at first it's ugly.
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
So far, a productive day...
I just cleaned out my car. And my trunk. And installed Dakota's new "big girl car seat" - a belt positioning booster. (We will need her old seat in a few months for Jason - yes it does rear facing as well - and I don't want her to think we are taking something from her to give him, so in the mean time, the cow seat is giong to be washed and stored.)
We will ignore that I need to plan lesson plans for roughly the next 14 weeks sometime before Sunday night. I am so not inspired to do that now. Maybe I will have a good Dr.'s appt, that will encourage me to speed up and do it, like telling me that the baby has indeed dropped, and that I have started dilating, or something.
Because I know that everybody who reads this cares about these things.
***
Oh, and Will referred to the 2nd and 3rd bedrooms today as "the kids' rooms" and then he stopped and smiled about how good that sounded. I am glad he is adjusting. As for Dakota, she is way adjusted, or as much as she can be without Jason actually being here. She tried to buy EVERY thing at Babies R Us last night - but my baby brother NEEDS this!
We will ignore that I need to plan lesson plans for roughly the next 14 weeks sometime before Sunday night. I am so not inspired to do that now. Maybe I will have a good Dr.'s appt, that will encourage me to speed up and do it, like telling me that the baby has indeed dropped, and that I have started dilating, or something.
Because I know that everybody who reads this cares about these things.
***
Oh, and Will referred to the 2nd and 3rd bedrooms today as "the kids' rooms" and then he stopped and smiled about how good that sounded. I am glad he is adjusting. As for Dakota, she is way adjusted, or as much as she can be without Jason actually being here. She tried to buy EVERY thing at Babies R Us last night - but my baby brother NEEDS this!
Monday, December 27, 2004
The Logic Vortex or "Hey Mark Stevens, A is not A!"
Another idea blown away. For some reason Dakota started screaming, "I've got monkeys in my head."
"Dakota, Don't think about Monkeys!" I commanded, fully expecting that Dakota would experience the joy of futility in the tradition of Don't think about elephants
But her Kung-fu is proving to be better than mine. Immediately, she smiled and said "Ok! I'm thinking about lions!"
Just to test, I asked, "What were you thinking about?"
"I don't know... lions?"
Then it hit me: my three-year old daughter is a natural master of what my peers ridiculously have called "The Logic Vortex."
I thought to earlier in the evening as we were driving through Chick-Fil-a at 6PM and Dakota asked "Daddy, is it day time?"
"Dakota, what do you think?"
"It's day time."
"Is the the sun out?"
"Yes"
"No, the sun is not out," I said firmly, "Do you see Ray?"
"I don't see Luna, so Ray must be out."
I thought about this for a moment. For the last several days, she has been working on this construction. Against all fact, and against all that was apparent, she was trying to assert that night is day using sheer argument. For you formalists, what she had constructed was a weak form of a Refutative Enthymeme.
"Okay, Dakota, you win. It must surely be day time."
The disjoint between the world as she observes it and the facts as adults force upon her (all kids, not just her) is both real and vibrant. It is also the source of her instinct that statements of facts are epistemological constructs and therefore based on persuasion, consent, and coercion.
Or course, all kids seem to get this. For those of you who need some examples: telling non-sleepy kids that its naptime, or my favorite example is food and play food ("See that food, don't play with that" "but it looks like something fun to play with" "See that toy that looks like food, don't eat it." "but it looks good to eat" this isn't just mere contradiction, kids food often looks like a fun toy but is, in fact, quite inedible [try eating it yourself some time] while play food is totally boring [it just sits there after all] but can often look delicious [especially meat and fruit]) Some kids have trouble with the disconnect between apparent truth and stated fact resulting in stuff like: can't distinguish their imaginary friends from real people, fibs, contrariness. What is less clear is that (from time to time) every adult continues to do these things and, in particular, will tend do do it a lot when dealing with kids.
Its neat to see kids working out their cognitive dissonance, to me anyway. I think that most parents and teachers dread this liminal state and hope for the point where kids become "normal" and display the "correct" behavior: having no imagination, believing everything they are told by people in authority as gospel, mistaking rhetoric for logic, and mistaking simple deduction for original thought. I have a bigger rant that starts "Why is the point of childhood to encourage imagination only to have the point of adolescence be to crush that imaginativeness?" but I'll save that for a time when I am angry, this is a happy post.
For years, I felt as if the arbitrary nature of epistemological assertion was best summed up by something Andy Chen once observed, "I love arguments about Aesthetics. They all basically go like this: I think that is ugly. No it isn't"
But Dakota Jane has done better in two steps:
First she asserts that night is day, then she really changes her mind and thinks about lions instead.
"Dakota, Don't think about Monkeys!" I commanded, fully expecting that Dakota would experience the joy of futility in the tradition of Don't think about elephants
But her Kung-fu is proving to be better than mine. Immediately, she smiled and said "Ok! I'm thinking about lions!"
Just to test, I asked, "What were you thinking about?"
"I don't know... lions?"
Then it hit me: my three-year old daughter is a natural master of what my peers ridiculously have called "The Logic Vortex."
I thought to earlier in the evening as we were driving through Chick-Fil-a at 6PM and Dakota asked "Daddy, is it day time?"
"Dakota, what do you think?"
"It's day time."
"Is the the sun out?"
"Yes"
"No, the sun is not out," I said firmly, "Do you see Ray?"
"I don't see Luna, so Ray must be out."
I thought about this for a moment. For the last several days, she has been working on this construction. Against all fact, and against all that was apparent, she was trying to assert that night is day using sheer argument. For you formalists, what she had constructed was a weak form of a Refutative Enthymeme.
"Okay, Dakota, you win. It must surely be day time."
The disjoint between the world as she observes it and the facts as adults force upon her (all kids, not just her) is both real and vibrant. It is also the source of her instinct that statements of facts are epistemological constructs and therefore based on persuasion, consent, and coercion.
Or course, all kids seem to get this. For those of you who need some examples: telling non-sleepy kids that its naptime, or my favorite example is food and play food ("See that food, don't play with that" "but it looks like something fun to play with" "See that toy that looks like food, don't eat it." "but it looks good to eat" this isn't just mere contradiction, kids food often looks like a fun toy but is, in fact, quite inedible [try eating it yourself some time] while play food is totally boring [it just sits there after all] but can often look delicious [especially meat and fruit]) Some kids have trouble with the disconnect between apparent truth and stated fact resulting in stuff like: can't distinguish their imaginary friends from real people, fibs, contrariness. What is less clear is that (from time to time) every adult continues to do these things and, in particular, will tend do do it a lot when dealing with kids.
Its neat to see kids working out their cognitive dissonance, to me anyway. I think that most parents and teachers dread this liminal state and hope for the point where kids become "normal" and display the "correct" behavior: having no imagination, believing everything they are told by people in authority as gospel, mistaking rhetoric for logic, and mistaking simple deduction for original thought. I have a bigger rant that starts "Why is the point of childhood to encourage imagination only to have the point of adolescence be to crush that imaginativeness?" but I'll save that for a time when I am angry, this is a happy post.
For years, I felt as if the arbitrary nature of epistemological assertion was best summed up by something Andy Chen once observed, "I love arguments about Aesthetics. They all basically go like this: I think that is ugly. No it isn't"
But Dakota Jane has done better in two steps:
First she asserts that night is day, then she really changes her mind and thinks about lions instead.
I hate it when people criticize movies that they haven't seen
but I am doing it anyway. What's up with movies like Fat Albert?
I don't want to see Fat Albert in our world or a contemporary setting, and yet for some stupid reason someone in Hollywood said "The best premise for a movie is to have the Fat Albert gang jump out of the TV screen onto our time ha ha ha" I bet there is a really terrible musical number that matches up oh... let's say: Nelly and Clay Aiken.
This is why I say, "LA is a bad place where bad people go to have bad things happen to them"
New rule: No one is allowed to remake old television shows into movies unless they have seen every episode or are one of the original writers, and have respect for the fans of the show. And then the movie can only be in the same universe as the original show.
Violators have to come over to my house and watch CSpan until I say they can go.
Originally this rant went like this: "why don't they just make a movie out of The Foot Book, it could be set in modern day and the Dr. Seuss characters can make all podiatrists go on strike until an alien fungus (played by Martin Short) threatens to take over the world its up to the Dr. Seuss kids to save the day, special musical appearance by Clay Aiken's brother... Cement Aiken."
I don't want to see Fat Albert in our world or a contemporary setting, and yet for some stupid reason someone in Hollywood said "The best premise for a movie is to have the Fat Albert gang jump out of the TV screen onto our time ha ha ha" I bet there is a really terrible musical number that matches up oh... let's say: Nelly and Clay Aiken.
This is why I say, "LA is a bad place where bad people go to have bad things happen to them"
New rule: No one is allowed to remake old television shows into movies unless they have seen every episode or are one of the original writers, and have respect for the fans of the show. And then the movie can only be in the same universe as the original show.
Violators have to come over to my house and watch CSpan until I say they can go.
Originally this rant went like this: "why don't they just make a movie out of The Foot Book, it could be set in modern day and the Dr. Seuss characters can make all podiatrists go on strike until an alien fungus (played by Martin Short) threatens to take over the world its up to the Dr. Seuss kids to save the day, special musical appearance by Clay Aiken's brother... Cement Aiken."
Saturday, December 25, 2004
that is a christmas miracle
thats totally awesome! we have cold weather, but no snow here. on the plus side, no rain though, which is normally our problem in the winter. merry christmas to you guys!
Friday, December 24, 2004
I have proof!
Look at this!
http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=988398371203&photoid=888398371203
and this!
http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=988398371203&photoid=390219371203
I told you it was snowing in Sugar Land, Texas!
http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=988398371203&photoid=888398371203
and this!
http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=988398371203&photoid=390219371203
I told you it was snowing in Sugar Land, Texas!
It is snowing at my house!
When I called Will and Dakota from Target to report it was snowing, they said I was nuts.
When I came home and reported that it was snowing at Home Depot too, and that other people saw it as well, Will questioned their knowledge of snow (were they from up North?).
But now that it is finally snowing in our backyard, Will believes me. "Yep, that's snow."
Dakota says "Yeah, snow. I see it. Where is it?"
When I came home and reported that it was snowing at Home Depot too, and that other people saw it as well, Will questioned their knowledge of snow (were they from up North?).
But now that it is finally snowing in our backyard, Will believes me. "Yep, that's snow."
Dakota says "Yeah, snow. I see it. Where is it?"
A Christmas Miracle - Dec 25th Snow in Houston
Not really. It's just precipitation. Still, if it starts to flurry, I bet Dakota will think its pretty cool.
When I was in 1st grade we had a White Christmas is New York. This was the real thing. The day before was green and brown, the next day was 1 inch of hard packed ice followed by three inches of heavy wet soft powder. Perfect for the sled hill next to our house in the school yard. The snow plows came and piled all of the snow up to the bike rack. Then Blamo! Fast hill with ski jump at the bottom... snow forts and snow ball fights: Snow men, snow angels, don't each yellow snow... whole nine yards.
It was awesome.
When I was in 1st grade we had a White Christmas is New York. This was the real thing. The day before was green and brown, the next day was 1 inch of hard packed ice followed by three inches of heavy wet soft powder. Perfect for the sled hill next to our house in the school yard. The snow plows came and piled all of the snow up to the bike rack. Then Blamo! Fast hill with ski jump at the bottom... snow forts and snow ball fights: Snow men, snow angels, don't each yellow snow... whole nine yards.
It was awesome.
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Will is on vacation!
He is on his way home now. I am so excited. So is Dakota. She and I had a conversation yesterday. It went something like this.
"Mommy, Daddy is at work."
"That's right. And This week, Mommy is at home."
"Uh huh. And sometimes Mommy goes to work, and Daddy stays home with me."
"Yes, that happens sometimes too."
"And sometimes, Mommy and Daddy both have to go to work, and I get left at home all by myself, and I am so lonely."
"WHAT? That has never happened"
And she just looked at me. I am so glad this conversation happened at home, while we were snuggling before a nap, and not, say, in the grocery store, next to an eavesdropping CPS worker.
Kinda like the time when my two cousins (who each have their own kids now) were Christmas tree shopping with my aunt (their mom). They had left their jackets in the car, being the adolescent boys they were, and were getting bored. So they loudly whined to my aunt "but mommy, we need winter coats. Don't spend our coat money on a Christmas tree, again!"
Every person in the lot proceeded to glare at my aunt. She of course doesn't embarass easily, and just rolled her eyes and bought the tree. I am sure lots of people in Memphis were praying for that evil woman and her poor kids that night!
Incedentally, when my brother and I tried to pull something like that on our mom in the grocery store, when she wanted us to help her, saying something like "oh yeah, we'll call CPS on you" she simply smiled and replied "go ahead." We of course had no response to that.
Of course none of this has anything to do with the fact that Will is on vacation. But you know how good I am at telling cohesive linear narratives!
"Mommy, Daddy is at work."
"That's right. And This week, Mommy is at home."
"Uh huh. And sometimes Mommy goes to work, and Daddy stays home with me."
"Yes, that happens sometimes too."
"And sometimes, Mommy and Daddy both have to go to work, and I get left at home all by myself, and I am so lonely."
"WHAT? That has never happened"
And she just looked at me. I am so glad this conversation happened at home, while we were snuggling before a nap, and not, say, in the grocery store, next to an eavesdropping CPS worker.
Kinda like the time when my two cousins (who each have their own kids now) were Christmas tree shopping with my aunt (their mom). They had left their jackets in the car, being the adolescent boys they were, and were getting bored. So they loudly whined to my aunt "but mommy, we need winter coats. Don't spend our coat money on a Christmas tree, again!"
Every person in the lot proceeded to glare at my aunt. She of course doesn't embarass easily, and just rolled her eyes and bought the tree. I am sure lots of people in Memphis were praying for that evil woman and her poor kids that night!
Incedentally, when my brother and I tried to pull something like that on our mom in the grocery store, when she wanted us to help her, saying something like "oh yeah, we'll call CPS on you" she simply smiled and replied "go ahead." We of course had no response to that.
Of course none of this has anything to do with the fact that Will is on vacation. But you know how good I am at telling cohesive linear narratives!
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
The magic of Amazon.com
I have already ordered Harry Potter Book 6, to be shipped to arrive on or shortly after the release date. And for cheaper. Now I just have to wait for July. What will I find to occupy my time until then?
a trike might work best
actually louren, i feel better about your balance and stability on a tricycle than on a normal bike.
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Dave, you have some wierd dreams
So I just read Dave's post about his wierd dream, where Kerry bicycles me in labor to the hospital. This doesn't frighten me, because I am sure that Kerry had to do an OB rotation, however brief, at some point, and that she'd just deliver me herself. Or at least have the smarts to call an ambulance.
And I am right handed, so Dakota would have more likely been balanced in my right hand. Although, she might as well have ridden on my shoulders.
Luckily, the hospital is only about a mile down the road. Unfortunately, the only bike we have is a 3 wheeler that is Dakota's.
And I am right handed, so Dakota would have more likely been balanced in my right hand. Although, she might as well have ridden on my shoulders.
Luckily, the hospital is only about a mile down the road. Unfortunately, the only bike we have is a 3 wheeler that is Dakota's.
Post Script: All the rest of the mergers
Symantec/Veritas
Sprint/Nextel
3Com/Tipping Point
Siebel/edocs
Microsoft/Giant Software Company
Avaya/RouteScience Technologies
These mergers needed to happen for the bigger company of the pairs to stay alive. That's the conventional wisdom, anyway.
My take on it is that if these mergers don't kill the respective companies then they might possibly be better companies two to five years from now.
Sprint/Nextel
3Com/Tipping Point
Siebel/edocs
Microsoft/Giant Software Company
Avaya/RouteScience Technologies
These mergers needed to happen for the bigger company of the pairs to stay alive. That's the conventional wisdom, anyway.
My take on it is that if these mergers don't kill the respective companies then they might possibly be better companies two to five years from now.
Update on the stuffed animal that Dave brought from Amy
Dakota comes into our room this morning holding the lion and says, "Daddy, this is my lovely lion!"
"That's nice Dakota, is it a boy lion or a girl lion?"
"A girl lion."
"Ok. And what's her name?"
"Lea lai'i le aiku"
"Oh... So she's Hawaiian?"
"Yes!"
"That's nice Dakota, is it a boy lion or a girl lion?"
"A girl lion."
"Ok. And what's her name?"
"Lea lai'i le aiku"
"Oh... So she's Hawaiian?"
"Yes!"
Monday, December 20, 2004
Balance Ultra-cheap notebook
Walmart and Linspire to sell a laptop for just under $500.
You'd think I'd be a huge advocate for this product. I'm not.
This has Atari ST written all over it. I say this for a number of reasons:
1. Conventional marketing wisdom: this is a cheaper machine that, on paper, is functionally the middle of the market.
2. Like the Atari home computer the people really driving this have no real understanding of the marketspace or the technology.
3. While the machine has a certain appeal to DIY types, for the most part the product seems cruddy.
I am distressed but not surprised to see computing technology companies make the same mistakes over and over again.
You'd think I'd be a huge advocate for this product. I'm not.
This has Atari ST written all over it. I say this for a number of reasons:
1. Conventional marketing wisdom: this is a cheaper machine that, on paper, is functionally the middle of the market.
2. Like the Atari home computer the people really driving this have no real understanding of the marketspace or the technology.
3. While the machine has a certain appeal to DIY types, for the most part the product seems cruddy.
I am distressed but not surprised to see computing technology companies make the same mistakes over and over again.
Sir Robert the Innocent GCB
Changing character attributes with a hex editor... and I thought it was underhanded to keep returning to Harkyn's Castle to kill the 396 beserkers over and over. Walk in, teleport up, Mangar's mind blade, telelport out, repeat.
William, you are absolutely right about the societal breakdown in Skara Brae. Unfortunately, Bard's Tale encouraged the wrong kind of response: form a cabal with sufficient power to eradicate whatever ill you perceive at the moment. Seemingly effective in the short term, and appealing to a popular sense of justice, this "solution" produces no sustained improvement (evidenced by the continual return of monsters, even Mangar, the supposed underlying cause of all the ills). What Skara Brae needed was a leader who would not seek simply to kill whatever problems he saw, but to create an alternative form of politics that would engage key elements of Skara Brae: shopkeepers, tavern owners, priests, the Adventurers' Guild, yes even monsters (assuming they weere willing to forsake their violent methods in exchange for a voice in the new system). Creating such an inclusive system, based on civic institutions that would permit aggregation of demands, would take time. It would require compromise, not as vicerally satisfying as a hunter's critical hit, but would have the potential to address the broad range of troubles that you correctly identify in Skara Brae. Obviously we would expect Mangar and Baron Harkyn to oppose such efforts, but the real wild card is Kylearan. He is a wizard with the key to Mangar's Tower, powerful enough to poof in and out of the same, yet he sits idly by while Skara Brae suffers. Since he likely has the ability to counter many efforts to form a new system, it would be important to first understand the root of his complicity with the existing system.
Oh, and add to the list of social problems the Skara Brae Dept of Transportation. They're allowing Sinister Road to go on forever, a gross inefficiency that they're obviously milking for job security, larger budgets, and the opportunity for patronage.
William, you are absolutely right about the societal breakdown in Skara Brae. Unfortunately, Bard's Tale encouraged the wrong kind of response: form a cabal with sufficient power to eradicate whatever ill you perceive at the moment. Seemingly effective in the short term, and appealing to a popular sense of justice, this "solution" produces no sustained improvement (evidenced by the continual return of monsters, even Mangar, the supposed underlying cause of all the ills). What Skara Brae needed was a leader who would not seek simply to kill whatever problems he saw, but to create an alternative form of politics that would engage key elements of Skara Brae: shopkeepers, tavern owners, priests, the Adventurers' Guild, yes even monsters (assuming they weere willing to forsake their violent methods in exchange for a voice in the new system). Creating such an inclusive system, based on civic institutions that would permit aggregation of demands, would take time. It would require compromise, not as vicerally satisfying as a hunter's critical hit, but would have the potential to address the broad range of troubles that you correctly identify in Skara Brae. Obviously we would expect Mangar and Baron Harkyn to oppose such efforts, but the real wild card is Kylearan. He is a wizard with the key to Mangar's Tower, powerful enough to poof in and out of the same, yet he sits idly by while Skara Brae suffers. Since he likely has the ability to counter many efforts to form a new system, it would be important to first understand the root of his complicity with the existing system.
Oh, and add to the list of social problems the Skara Brae Dept of Transportation. They're allowing Sinister Road to go on forever, a gross inefficiency that they're obviously milking for job security, larger budgets, and the opportunity for patronage.
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Badh'r Kilnfest
Bard Song No. 4 was both awesome (walk around and your character's heal) and the tune was (oddly enough) Hungarian Dance No. 5 (print out the PDF on the link for more fun!) making the game an instant hit with me. The thing that really sold me on Bard's Tale, however, was that you could important your characters from Wizardry, which was the first game that I owned. Ah yes, my first computer game... Talk about your giddy Christmas mornings! To this day, I remember Christmas 1982: Blinking in amazement at the green CRT monitor of my Apple ][+, so much of who I am starts at that moment.
On the whole character import business: my friend, Mike, tipped me off to the fact that the character info was stored on track 12 of the diskette as ascii and that I could edit the attributes with a hex editor. It was pretty cool when I transformed Dave Farber's characters from totally bad to totally awesome by adding a '9' in the billions column for experience. It was even cooler when I realized that all of the 6502 machines worked the same way and that track 12 on data diskette for Bard's Tale for the C64 had the same info, so that I could jack up Ben Loggin's character's as well. It was even even cooler cooler when I realized just how lazy the software Engineers at InterPlay were and that we could do the same trick for Wasteland and a bunch of other games as well. Can you believe that Dave Farber actually remembers that I did this? This was his fond memory of me at our 10 year high school reuinion. I could make some observation about this and how it foreshadows my later career in I.T. Actually, I have made those observations.
What I don't talk about (quite) as much is the ontological status of my elite Wizardry characters as they went from one universe to another. First of all, their classes changed. Sancho did the best: changing from a Ninja to a Monk; continuing to fight without weapons. Similiarly, Thesseus went from being a Samurai to being a Hunter, and suddenly picked up the ability to do critical hits. But Mulchaly went from being an awesome Bishop to a lousy Sorcerer, and Xerxes (Mr. Tiltowait) as a Magician was a total failure.
The other train of thought was about the social problems in Skara Brae. First of all, there were four major religious denominations slugging it out in the middle of the square. Secondly, there was a huge monster problem in the street. Third, the sewers were a complete mess. Finally and most importantly, everyone was trapped inside the city walls: How was the city continuing to feed itself? Who was cleaning up all these dead bodies? How come the store fronts were never attacked?
My favorite MUD for dealing with these questions was Nanvaent, which every so often would change radically and then certain elements of the game would go away: like quests (e.g. the Slann quest - in which the extraterrestrial origination of the Slann are made clear), monster classes (e.g. after Jurassic Parks there was a short-lived "summer of Dinosaurs"), sub-games (e.g. the book store where you could publish your novel), or whole regions (e.g. Sweetwater)
What was I talking about?
On the whole character import business: my friend, Mike, tipped me off to the fact that the character info was stored on track 12 of the diskette as ascii and that I could edit the attributes with a hex editor. It was pretty cool when I transformed Dave Farber's characters from totally bad to totally awesome by adding a '9' in the billions column for experience. It was even cooler when I realized that all of the 6502 machines worked the same way and that track 12 on data diskette for Bard's Tale for the C64 had the same info, so that I could jack up Ben Loggin's character's as well. It was even even cooler cooler when I realized just how lazy the software Engineers at InterPlay were and that we could do the same trick for Wasteland and a bunch of other games as well. Can you believe that Dave Farber actually remembers that I did this? This was his fond memory of me at our 10 year high school reuinion. I could make some observation about this and how it foreshadows my later career in I.T. Actually, I have made those observations.
What I don't talk about (quite) as much is the ontological status of my elite Wizardry characters as they went from one universe to another. First of all, their classes changed. Sancho did the best: changing from a Ninja to a Monk; continuing to fight without weapons. Similiarly, Thesseus went from being a Samurai to being a Hunter, and suddenly picked up the ability to do critical hits. But Mulchaly went from being an awesome Bishop to a lousy Sorcerer, and Xerxes (Mr. Tiltowait) as a Magician was a total failure.
The other train of thought was about the social problems in Skara Brae. First of all, there were four major religious denominations slugging it out in the middle of the square. Secondly, there was a huge monster problem in the street. Third, the sewers were a complete mess. Finally and most importantly, everyone was trapped inside the city walls: How was the city continuing to feed itself? Who was cleaning up all these dead bodies? How come the store fronts were never attacked?
My favorite MUD for dealing with these questions was Nanvaent, which every so often would change radically and then certain elements of the game would go away: like quests (e.g. the Slann quest - in which the extraterrestrial origination of the Slann are made clear), monster classes (e.g. after Jurassic Parks there was a short-lived "summer of Dinosaurs"), sub-games (e.g. the book store where you could publish your novel), or whole regions (e.g. Sweetwater)
What was I talking about?
Saturday, December 18, 2004
nostalgia for allgia
i just blogged about how i bought the video game 'the bards tale' on the xbox because i played it as a kid. i dont even know if the new game shares anything other than a title with the one i grew up playing. it must be something about christmas that causes us both to think about nostalgia. i wonder if people remember the happy times of christmas as a kid and are looking to recapture the magic of waking up at 5 am to see what is under the tree and check out stockings. which, im happy to report still happens with my brother and sister and me. something about christmas though makes people feel young and think about their youth. plus, vh1 and tv make me want to live in the 80s again ;)
Friday, December 17, 2004
Bah!
Dana Stevens laments the 20 year nostalgia gap, failing to dig deeper into what I call "removed nostalgia" that would be nostalgia for bygone nostalgia. For example, I am often guilty of two-off nostalgia. That is nostalgia for people who in the 70's were nostalgic for the people responsible for inspiring the big-band era. I could explain this better
Thursday, December 16, 2004
William Rules, Louren Drools
I don't say it enough, so here goes. William is an awesome and amazing husband and father. He goes above and beyond what so many others do every day.
What brings this on? Let's just say I had a particularly trying day, and William was strong through it all, whether it be dealing with my insane pregnant lady hormones, or Dakota exerting her right to be a free spirited 3 year old.
And to top that off, I came home from the winter concert at my school (where I spent the last 13 hours, and get to go back to in 11 hours), to find that Will had moved all of the furniture that needed moving, re-hung some pictures, and moved the crib pieces into what once was his study, and will soon be Jason's room.
You're a good man, William Li.
(ok, so I don't really drool. But the rhyme was good.)
What brings this on? Let's just say I had a particularly trying day, and William was strong through it all, whether it be dealing with my insane pregnant lady hormones, or Dakota exerting her right to be a free spirited 3 year old.
And to top that off, I came home from the winter concert at my school (where I spent the last 13 hours, and get to go back to in 11 hours), to find that Will had moved all of the furniture that needed moving, re-hung some pictures, and moved the crib pieces into what once was his study, and will soon be Jason's room.
You're a good man, William Li.
(ok, so I don't really drool. But the rhyme was good.)
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Greg Chwerchak Xmas Card!
Got an awesome Christmas card from Greg Chwerchak today. I've aways admired Greg's sharp-tounged wit. I had more to say here. However, this is like one of those situations that in the middle of the sentence I run out of things to say. I've started to do this more for effect than
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Not picked for Jury Duty
Jury duty in Fort Bend is a terrific experience! They are very polite. They explain everything. They even show a funny movie about the jury system that contains an except from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (seriously)
I thought for sure that I was going to get picked since I was juror No. 9. Why didn't I? Either it was because the prosector asked me "Do you think criminal sentancing is for rehabilitation or punishment?" and I said "I don't like either of those choices, can I pick something else?" By the way, most people think "Punishment." OR it was because the defense attorney asked (in the context of the 5th ammendment) "Does anyone think that its ever not okay to keep quiet and not say anything." I raised my hand and said, "If a police office asks you for you name, you have to tell him, you can't just refuse to say your name." The defense attorney looked positively annoyed and was silent for a full ten seconds while he regained his train of thought then he said "Yes... very clever, Mr. Li."
Other reflections:
Thanks to third-rate Quincy-knockoff Television programs, people:
1) no longer understand that witness testimony is evidence. ("I would need fingerprints or something")
2) people that "beyond a reasonable doubt" means "the presence of physical evidence"
Thanks for confusing everyone, Jerry Bruckheimer.
I thought for sure that I was going to get picked since I was juror No. 9. Why didn't I? Either it was because the prosector asked me "Do you think criminal sentancing is for rehabilitation or punishment?" and I said "I don't like either of those choices, can I pick something else?" By the way, most people think "Punishment." OR it was because the defense attorney asked (in the context of the 5th ammendment) "Does anyone think that its ever not okay to keep quiet and not say anything." I raised my hand and said, "If a police office asks you for you name, you have to tell him, you can't just refuse to say your name." The defense attorney looked positively annoyed and was silent for a full ten seconds while he regained his train of thought then he said "Yes... very clever, Mr. Li."
Other reflections:
Thanks to third-rate Quincy-knockoff Television programs, people:
1) no longer understand that witness testimony is evidence. ("I would need fingerprints or something")
2) people that "beyond a reasonable doubt" means "the presence of physical evidence"
Thanks for confusing everyone, Jerry Bruckheimer.
Monday, December 13, 2004
Will is a funny guy
So I told William that my dad is getting a router for Christmas from my mom (not a surprise, as he is already using it). And Will's response was, "I didn't know your dad was into IT." When I showed him a picture to explain this new concept to him, his response was "that does not look rack mountable."
Forget law school. This guy needs to go to clown college.
Oh, and Dave, yes, Dakota says you have a round head, and no, her daddy does not. "Daddy, you have a square head."
And William has definitely started to have a real impact on Dakota's sense of humor and cultural knowledge to boot. We have a robot ornament on the tree, a very 1950's tin toy job. And whenever Dakota sees it, she absentmindedly sings "Robot Parade" by They Might Be Giants.
And when asked what letter she was studying this week at school, she replied "It hasn't come up yet."
How am I gonna survive with 3 of them in the house, cause there is no way that Jason is not going to be a total William clone.
Forget law school. This guy needs to go to clown college.
Oh, and Dave, yes, Dakota says you have a round head, and no, her daddy does not. "Daddy, you have a square head."
And William has definitely started to have a real impact on Dakota's sense of humor and cultural knowledge to boot. We have a robot ornament on the tree, a very 1950's tin toy job. And whenever Dakota sees it, she absentmindedly sings "Robot Parade" by They Might Be Giants.
And when asked what letter she was studying this week at school, she replied "It hasn't come up yet."
How am I gonna survive with 3 of them in the house, cause there is no way that Jason is not going to be a total William clone.
Will Microsoft and SAP see a windfall?
Oracle Gets PeopleSoft, At Last
Yes and no. Besides paying an awfully large amount of money (money that should have been used for product development), Oracle has also promised to continue to support PeopleSoft and JD Edwards. This seems a bit like Microsoft's purchase of GreatPlains/Solomon where no product synergy was(or is)possible. Relative to the other Microsoft strategy of dominating the marketplace and driving the competitor products into the ground, the "acquire and preserve" strategy does not seem nearly as good. The whole "run the old product, develop the new product without alienating existing customers" strategy is the like LaBrea tarpits of software development. Oracle seems to have fallen into this same pit. Assuming Oracle does not go back on this promise, there will have to be four product management teams within Oracle: Oracle Classic, PeopleSoft Legacy, JD Edwards Legacy, and VaporWare 2014 (my prediction as when the "merger" product of the three brands will be a fully mature replacement). It is practically inevitable that this will preserve whatever bad feeling remain for those PeopleSoft people who don't just quit outright.
If Oracle ends up fighting with itself, expect an incredible windfall for SAP (who is in the lead) and Microsoft (who are trying to build marketshare in that space) in the form of defecting customers. PeopleSoft has something like 13,000 customers, so its a big Kitty.
On the other hand, It's not a given that loads of customers will defect. For one thing, once you get in bed with an ERP system, boy oh boy, you are stuck with it (for a few years at least). The other thing is that Oracle has been surprisingly adept at making brutally difficult internal changes. For example:
1) They've changed their pricing model in radical ways at least three times in five years. Microsoft did this too, but I think that Oracle had a more treacherous path and did the whole thing with more skill.
2) They've been surprisingly good at getting out of bad markets without losing face (for example eMarketplaces and NCs).
3) The went from centralized IT to decentralized IT back to centralized IT - and they kept most of their IT staff!
4) Even though Oracle was in full-on "buy PeopleSoft" mode, they kept doing their thing. They didn't break their business model, they kept on making money and they just kept pushing - for 18 months. That's frightening.
For all the money that Oracle paid out, Oracle should want to try to be nice. And honestly, Oracle would be a much better company if it can hold on to the many talented PeopleSoft engineers.
Yes and no. Besides paying an awfully large amount of money (money that should have been used for product development), Oracle has also promised to continue to support PeopleSoft and JD Edwards. This seems a bit like Microsoft's purchase of GreatPlains/Solomon where no product synergy was(or is)possible. Relative to the other Microsoft strategy of dominating the marketplace and driving the competitor products into the ground, the "acquire and preserve" strategy does not seem nearly as good. The whole "run the old product, develop the new product without alienating existing customers" strategy is the like LaBrea tarpits of software development. Oracle seems to have fallen into this same pit. Assuming Oracle does not go back on this promise, there will have to be four product management teams within Oracle: Oracle Classic, PeopleSoft Legacy, JD Edwards Legacy, and VaporWare 2014 (my prediction as when the "merger" product of the three brands will be a fully mature replacement). It is practically inevitable that this will preserve whatever bad feeling remain for those PeopleSoft people who don't just quit outright.
If Oracle ends up fighting with itself, expect an incredible windfall for SAP (who is in the lead) and Microsoft (who are trying to build marketshare in that space) in the form of defecting customers. PeopleSoft has something like 13,000 customers, so its a big Kitty.
On the other hand, It's not a given that loads of customers will defect. For one thing, once you get in bed with an ERP system, boy oh boy, you are stuck with it (for a few years at least). The other thing is that Oracle has been surprisingly adept at making brutally difficult internal changes. For example:
1) They've changed their pricing model in radical ways at least three times in five years. Microsoft did this too, but I think that Oracle had a more treacherous path and did the whole thing with more skill.
2) They've been surprisingly good at getting out of bad markets without losing face (for example eMarketplaces and NCs).
3) The went from centralized IT to decentralized IT back to centralized IT - and they kept most of their IT staff!
4) Even though Oracle was in full-on "buy PeopleSoft" mode, they kept doing their thing. They didn't break their business model, they kept on making money and they just kept pushing - for 18 months. That's frightening.
For all the money that Oracle paid out, Oracle should want to try to be nice. And honestly, Oracle would be a much better company if it can hold on to the many talented PeopleSoft engineers.
Sunday, December 12, 2004
Madam Zaritska predicts Jasons arrival...
The day you deliver, outside will be slightly overcast. Your baby will arrive in the afternoon.
After a labor lasting approximately 6 hours, your child, a boy, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 8 pounds, 7 ounces, and will be 20-1/2 inches long. This child will have green eyes and be almost bald.
Online clairvoyants, as cheap as they come!
The weather part is ok. The afternoon part is ok. Yes, he will be a boy, and I am ok with the weight and length, and even the eye color. I doubt this baby will be bald. And I seriously hope that I do not have a 6 hour labor. Way too short. Anything less than 10 hours is too quick and too painful in my book.
After a labor lasting approximately 6 hours, your child, a boy, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 8 pounds, 7 ounces, and will be 20-1/2 inches long. This child will have green eyes and be almost bald.
Online clairvoyants, as cheap as they come!
The weather part is ok. The afternoon part is ok. Yes, he will be a boy, and I am ok with the weight and length, and even the eye color. I doubt this baby will be bald. And I seriously hope that I do not have a 6 hour labor. Way too short. Anything less than 10 hours is too quick and too painful in my book.
Saturday, December 11, 2004
Gecko and the bunnymen
Echo was a very strange game. What was strange about it was Greg and Mark talking about it. I wish I had called them the bunnymen. Greg would have found it funny but annoying and Mark would have found it annoying but funny. It's bad when it takes ten years to think of something clever to say.
Dakota found a rubber Gecko. Why do we have this? Is it to attract or repel the Texas Geckos that sometimes climb in through the chimney?
"Gecko sounds like Echo who had bunnymen like Greg Chwerchak' It's like a page out of The Hungry Thing, speaking of which Dakota and Louren want pancakes!
Dakota found a rubber Gecko. Why do we have this? Is it to attract or repel the Texas Geckos that sometimes climb in through the chimney?
"Gecko sounds like Echo who had bunnymen like Greg Chwerchak' It's like a page out of The Hungry Thing, speaking of which Dakota and Louren want pancakes!
Friday, December 10, 2004
OH HELL YES!
We SO need the "been farming long" poster. It brings back fond memories of the bar we used to hang out in in elementary and middle school. The walls were plastered (literally) with posters like this, the cat saying hang in there, and some that had a little lower humor, involving body parts and functions.
You may think I am being sarcastic about the fond memories, but I am not. Especially if matted and framed, the been farming long poster would be a funny piece of kitsch. And since Dakota's room has futurism and expressionism, all forms popular in early 20th century, we can do late 20th century in Jason's.
You may think I am being sarcastic about the fond memories, but I am not. Especially if matted and framed, the been farming long poster would be a funny piece of kitsch. And since Dakota's room has futurism and expressionism, all forms popular in early 20th century, we can do late 20th century in Jason's.
Once we had a meeting to discuss what the Honor Code prevents us from saying about the exam
I cannot discuss the substance of any of the questions with anyone who has not taken the exam (that would include you) but I am explictly allowed to say that the exam sucked.
I was going to post about how the deuce-deuce were like the elements of negligence, but it's depressing. Torts can be very depressing. I'm looking forward to a break. This weekend, I will try my best to make this room into a nursery for Jason. Have some pictures in this study that Louren thinks I should leave up: my Eurail map, my Lacrosse picture (me cross-checking Greg Prior), and the typewriter that Grandpa engineered for Lin Yutang. I think I want to add something more kid-friendly to this. Something classic, timeless. Something like this.
Or not...
I was going to post about how the deuce-deuce were like the elements of negligence, but it's depressing. Torts can be very depressing. I'm looking forward to a break. This weekend, I will try my best to make this room into a nursery for Jason. Have some pictures in this study that Louren thinks I should leave up: my Eurail map, my Lacrosse picture (me cross-checking Greg Prior), and the typewriter that Grandpa engineered for Lin Yutang. I think I want to add something more kid-friendly to this. Something classic, timeless. Something like this.
Or not...
Thursday, December 09, 2004
I get my husband back!
Will is going to tort up the torts exam tonight. I think he will do a torty awesome job. Ok. So the word tort doesn't work like the word smurf.
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
When the make me the King of Torts, my first decree shall be that courts must always use proximate cause analysis to bar liability for unforeseeable harm, and duty analysis to impose policy limits on liability for harm which is foreseeable.
Joseph W. Glannon, The Law of Torts: examples and explanations 206 (2nd ed., Aspen Publishers 2000).
You would think that I would have something to say about IBM selling their PC division to a mysterious and Chinese company
being that I am in I.T. and all, plus don't forget the whole "Lotus Notes is an IBM product and William knows a lot about Lotus Notes" angle... actually that more or less sums it up.
Dell and HP machines are much cheaper than IBM machines, and essentially the same in terms of quality (or at least good enough for stable fleets of corporate PCs that can be configured and deployed or repaired and redeployed QUICKLY). It just doesn't make any sense that anyone would buy a more expensive not better IBM machine.
Okay... I can think of two reasons:
1. When IBM wants to compete on price, they absolutely can, so maybe some are getting a good deal.
2. IBM service has the ability to be excellent, so maybe some people feel like the price premium is worthwhile.
I have to imagine that from IBM's perspective, the continuous uphill climb to win back their PC market was part of the motivation to cut and run. They have way more profitable solutions and consulting groups. I've worked with these groups once or twice. Amazingly the solutions groups don't always prescribe IBM equipment or IBM software. Unsurprisingly, they do always seem to prescribe something that will eventually require more consulting, down the road. Even if you tell them, "at the end of our process, I want the internal staff to be self-reliant" they can be counted on to recommend a program whereby you pay to send internal staff to training update seminars that they facilitate. This used to bother me quite a bit, but a consultant needs to eat too!
I have to imagine that LENOVO will try to win the race to the bottom and sell the cheapest PCs possible. From a manufacturing cost stand-point, factories in China are a good way to go, but there are some tough obstacles. LENOVO doesn't seem to have much American or European presence. These are tough business environments because IT Managers in these regions are fussy about everything. A good vendor will need to have mature technical support of products that shouldn't really need technical support in the first place, the vendors should offer extremely low-cost custom factory integration (pre-imaging machines and asset tagging before packing them into boxes), order tracking should be very detailed, there should be an army of people who can answer my questions about "where's my shipment and why the hold up?"
A lot can go wrong if they have to ship my pc from China to Houston in two days. That's one nice thing about being in Houston. If I order a PC from Dell, they make it at the Round Rock plant (which I've seen, it's very sleek) and if I order a server from HP, they make it at the Houston plant (which I've also seen, it's ENORMOUS).
Maybe there are problems getting components from China to Houston, but once the thing is built... the shipping NEVER gets messed up.
On top of that, this is a merger. Mergers are always tougher than they look, especially when there are language barriers. All of these operations support systems will be in chaos for a few months while the teams figure out how to work together. Once they figure that out, they need to figure out a strategy for winning the market. There is a saying in IT that "No one ever got fired for choosing IBM" which is shorthand for IBM is considered a good brand. Lenovo may or may not benefit from the IBM brand, we'll have to see how symbiotic the post-acquisition relationship is between IBM and LENOVO.
All of those things, however, and not things that I have to say about the acquisition. They are more like statements of the obvious or near obvious, akin to "in the future we will all be older."
The only thought on this matter which may be somewhat more original is that I hope that the Lenovo advertising is better than the IBM advertising. On this front, I feel very optimistic. First of all, it would be hard not to do better than the IBM's marketing which on its best days manages to be merely ineffective rather than astoundingly insulting (I couldn't find a link but remember those ads for Tivolli where it said "Can you see it?" and the supposed IT person was standing on the roof a building with their eyes closed and a smug look on their face? What the heck is that supposed to mean? Am I supposed to be this smug individual? That dude is too skinny and well-rested to be a REAL IT person! Does IBM want me to close my eyes and imagine that this software MIGHT work? SHOW ME! Why are you standing on the roof you stupid, lazy, fashion model pretending to be an IT person! If you were an IT Person, you'd better be installing a wireless bridge on the roof, otherwise YOU ARE JUST WASTING COMPANY TIME!). Second of all, Lenovo already seems to understand that I want the vendor to stop wasting time and just show me the merchandise, which should sell itself. Of course, a simple PDF with the tech specs would have been better, but at least the heart is in the right place.
Better advertising from vendors is one of those things that makes my life better.
Dell and HP machines are much cheaper than IBM machines, and essentially the same in terms of quality (or at least good enough for stable fleets of corporate PCs that can be configured and deployed or repaired and redeployed QUICKLY). It just doesn't make any sense that anyone would buy a more expensive not better IBM machine.
Okay... I can think of two reasons:
1. When IBM wants to compete on price, they absolutely can, so maybe some are getting a good deal.
2. IBM service has the ability to be excellent, so maybe some people feel like the price premium is worthwhile.
I have to imagine that from IBM's perspective, the continuous uphill climb to win back their PC market was part of the motivation to cut and run. They have way more profitable solutions and consulting groups. I've worked with these groups once or twice. Amazingly the solutions groups don't always prescribe IBM equipment or IBM software. Unsurprisingly, they do always seem to prescribe something that will eventually require more consulting, down the road. Even if you tell them, "at the end of our process, I want the internal staff to be self-reliant" they can be counted on to recommend a program whereby you pay to send internal staff to training update seminars that they facilitate. This used to bother me quite a bit, but a consultant needs to eat too!
I have to imagine that LENOVO will try to win the race to the bottom and sell the cheapest PCs possible. From a manufacturing cost stand-point, factories in China are a good way to go, but there are some tough obstacles. LENOVO doesn't seem to have much American or European presence. These are tough business environments because IT Managers in these regions are fussy about everything. A good vendor will need to have mature technical support of products that shouldn't really need technical support in the first place, the vendors should offer extremely low-cost custom factory integration (pre-imaging machines and asset tagging before packing them into boxes), order tracking should be very detailed, there should be an army of people who can answer my questions about "where's my shipment and why the hold up?"
A lot can go wrong if they have to ship my pc from China to Houston in two days. That's one nice thing about being in Houston. If I order a PC from Dell, they make it at the Round Rock plant (which I've seen, it's very sleek) and if I order a server from HP, they make it at the Houston plant (which I've also seen, it's ENORMOUS).
Maybe there are problems getting components from China to Houston, but once the thing is built... the shipping NEVER gets messed up.
On top of that, this is a merger. Mergers are always tougher than they look, especially when there are language barriers. All of these operations support systems will be in chaos for a few months while the teams figure out how to work together. Once they figure that out, they need to figure out a strategy for winning the market. There is a saying in IT that "No one ever got fired for choosing IBM" which is shorthand for IBM is considered a good brand. Lenovo may or may not benefit from the IBM brand, we'll have to see how symbiotic the post-acquisition relationship is between IBM and LENOVO.
All of those things, however, and not things that I have to say about the acquisition. They are more like statements of the obvious or near obvious, akin to "in the future we will all be older."
The only thought on this matter which may be somewhat more original is that I hope that the Lenovo advertising is better than the IBM advertising. On this front, I feel very optimistic. First of all, it would be hard not to do better than the IBM's marketing which on its best days manages to be merely ineffective rather than astoundingly insulting (I couldn't find a link but remember those ads for Tivolli where it said "Can you see it?" and the supposed IT person was standing on the roof a building with their eyes closed and a smug look on their face? What the heck is that supposed to mean? Am I supposed to be this smug individual? That dude is too skinny and well-rested to be a REAL IT person! Does IBM want me to close my eyes and imagine that this software MIGHT work? SHOW ME! Why are you standing on the roof you stupid, lazy, fashion model pretending to be an IT person! If you were an IT Person, you'd better be installing a wireless bridge on the roof, otherwise YOU ARE JUST WASTING COMPANY TIME!). Second of all, Lenovo already seems to understand that I want the vendor to stop wasting time and just show me the merchandise, which should sell itself. Of course, a simple PDF with the tech specs would have been better, but at least the heart is in the right place.
Better advertising from vendors is one of those things that makes my life better.
That Sgt Pepper Movie was real?
Wow. I always thought my memory of that film was a fever-induced nightmare, or some confused memory of a PBS Beatles Crime special with reenactments. You cannot imagine what a revelation this fact is.
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Duty of Care
Lancelot Link Secret Chimp hits yoda with a 2x4. Yoda then slips on a brown banana that Lancelot left on the floor. Discuss.
Lancelot Link Secret Chimp did not commit battery against Yoda. Yoda used the Jedi mind trick and therefore the act was not volitional. No intentional tort.
Lancelot Link Secret Chimp is not negligent for leaving the banana because he is not a person but a monkey.
Even if Lancelot Link Secret Chimp had been negligent, he owes no duty to Yoda because Yoda is not a person but a little green muppet-like dude.
Wha-what? I'm sorry Trav and Amy, I seem to have gone into a trance-like state of mumbling hypotheticals to myself...
I suppose the heresy is not that Star Wars got bad, but that to begin with, Star Wars merely rose to the level of pretty good, rather than singularly amazing or timeless. The other heresy is that my enduring uncritical enthusiasm for Star Wars was based more on the appearances of the Star Wars characters in children's television, in the public library, and in my youthful imagination, than any cinematic qualities that the first movie possesses. I guess that's not a heresy, just disillusionment. Oh well... at least the other cultural masterpieces of my youth are still universally admired: The Bee Gees Movie Based on Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the KISS movie based on their supernatural powers (I can't even link that with a straight face).
Speaking of low-quality mass media churned out during the 1970's... Holy Primate Amy! I wish I had come up with something so prolific! The Man from U.N.C.L.E. seemed like an endless target of parody, but I don't know how you could keep that going for a whole freakin hour! They must of had a lot of bananas.
Boomerang will often show Tom And Jerry followed by the low-quality work of Hanna-Barbara from the 60's or 70's (like The Lancelot Link Secret Chimp Hour, which is not one of them but could have been) followed The Smurfs. It makes the Smurfs seem like the renaissance. Which would make the Snorks seem like the Rococco Puffs. I preferred Cap'n Crunch Peanut Butter with Super Chrunchberries.
Lancelot Link Secret Chimp did not commit battery against Yoda. Yoda used the Jedi mind trick and therefore the act was not volitional. No intentional tort.
Lancelot Link Secret Chimp is not negligent for leaving the banana because he is not a person but a monkey.
Even if Lancelot Link Secret Chimp had been negligent, he owes no duty to Yoda because Yoda is not a person but a little green muppet-like dude.
Wha-what? I'm sorry Trav and Amy, I seem to have gone into a trance-like state of mumbling hypotheticals to myself...
I suppose the heresy is not that Star Wars got bad, but that to begin with, Star Wars merely rose to the level of pretty good, rather than singularly amazing or timeless. The other heresy is that my enduring uncritical enthusiasm for Star Wars was based more on the appearances of the Star Wars characters in children's television, in the public library, and in my youthful imagination, than any cinematic qualities that the first movie possesses. I guess that's not a heresy, just disillusionment. Oh well... at least the other cultural masterpieces of my youth are still universally admired: The Bee Gees Movie Based on Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the KISS movie based on their supernatural powers (I can't even link that with a straight face).
Speaking of low-quality mass media churned out during the 1970's... Holy Primate Amy! I wish I had come up with something so prolific! The Man from U.N.C.L.E. seemed like an endless target of parody, but I don't know how you could keep that going for a whole freakin hour! They must of had a lot of bananas.
Boomerang will often show Tom And Jerry followed by the low-quality work of Hanna-Barbara from the 60's or 70's (like The Lancelot Link Secret Chimp Hour, which is not one of them but could have been) followed The Smurfs. It makes the Smurfs seem like the renaissance. Which would make the Snorks seem like the Rococco Puffs. I preferred Cap'n Crunch Peanut Butter with Super Chrunchberries.
Too late to be heretical
William, you're a long way from being heretical. Or more precisely, a long time from being heretical. Not to say you're not right about George Lucas, just that I thought that the "enhanced" versions of Episodes IV-VI hinted at it, and then Episodes I and II made it abundantly clear.
I, too, will be relieved when Episode III comes out and the whole thing is over. I'll go see it, not because I'll be expecting great things, but out of nostalgia, out of respect for how great the franchise used to be.
I, too, will be relieved when Episode III comes out and the whole thing is over. I'll go see it, not because I'll be expecting great things, but out of nostalgia, out of respect for how great the franchise used to be.
From the Mind of William?
Did you travel back in time and create a television show based on spy chimps?
I swear that I really am doing a lot of studying
Duty of Care. I've got that down fairly well - except the parts that I am going to ask the professor about this afternoon. Open book, open notes, and a curve = one harrowing experience.
On the one hand, you want to have as much stuff crammed into your head as possible. On the other hand, you want to have as much detailed stuff ready to hand as possible. On the other other hand you want to stay fluid and just let the natural inferences from the fact patterns write themselves, so you have to stay loose. On the other hand, you don't want to waste time writing crazy stuff that won't get points, one the other hand, you don't want to leave points behind when the better prepared classmates pick up the points.
Anyhow... another break:
Spitzer to Run for Governor of New York (washingtonpost.com)
Wow! I thought that people only grudgingly admired Spitzer. Although part of me (the part that takes stuff literally) was inspired to believe that I too could put white collar crooks in jail. Closer to reality is that had the news of what Spitzer did and the Enron prosections (which Spitzer had nothing to do with, I know, stay with me) at least, restored enough of my faith in legal justice. It was refreshing seeing a real prosecutors win through hard work rather than a TV prosecutor win through a closing argument that salvages an incredibly poorly presented case. (Gung-gung).
It's funny about law school: all of my professors have joked about "We haven't beat the notion of justice out of you yet?" They all, however, fervently believe that the best way to achieve justice is to be a better lawyer. This comes through in their lectures.
Out of ideas.. back to Duty of care
On the one hand, you want to have as much stuff crammed into your head as possible. On the other hand, you want to have as much detailed stuff ready to hand as possible. On the other other hand you want to stay fluid and just let the natural inferences from the fact patterns write themselves, so you have to stay loose. On the other hand, you don't want to waste time writing crazy stuff that won't get points, one the other hand, you don't want to leave points behind when the better prepared classmates pick up the points.
Anyhow... another break:
Spitzer to Run for Governor of New York (washingtonpost.com)
Wow! I thought that people only grudgingly admired Spitzer. Although part of me (the part that takes stuff literally) was inspired to believe that I too could put white collar crooks in jail. Closer to reality is that had the news of what Spitzer did and the Enron prosections (which Spitzer had nothing to do with, I know, stay with me) at least, restored enough of my faith in legal justice. It was refreshing seeing a real prosecutors win through hard work rather than a TV prosecutor win through a closing argument that salvages an incredibly poorly presented case. (Gung-gung).
It's funny about law school: all of my professors have joked about "We haven't beat the notion of justice out of you yet?" They all, however, fervently believe that the best way to achieve justice is to be a better lawyer. This comes through in their lectures.
Out of ideas.. back to Duty of care
More procrastination from studying for Torts
If there is one area where I am still not solid, its Duty of Care as it applies to omissions. This hurt me on Crim Law also. It's counter-intuitive. The gut instinct is that morally you should help people, so legally you should too. Then, GOTCHA! All sorts of legal and moral hazards come up in creating these sorts of duties, the type that can't be explained away with "bumper-sticker" phrases like "It's bad to legislate morality"
anyway. On to the procrastination:
HoustonChronicle.com - Partners create local 'Japanimation' station
Actually, I've got nothing to say about this article. I've been rewatching Last Exile on the new combined G4 TechTV network (I've got a separate rant on how Tech TV isn't nearly nerdy enough but I'll skip it for now) which I've previously talked about how this show is like the best video game ever. That doesn't push the heresy envelop near far enough, so here is one which I've been roasting on for a while.
This show is an above-average done but fairly standard anime. That said, it is an epic vision of a different world like our own but with its won history, legends, technology, culture, faiths, social classes and darn it if it doesn't even have its own physics. These are all the things that Kevin Smith says is so brilliant about "Star Wars" with a strong implication that Lucas is somehow singular in his ability to read Jospeh Campbell and paint by numbers.
At a certain point, however, I have to admit that their are visions of other worlds that are much more compelling and far less cheesy than Lucas. It's a bit sad that with only a few months to go before the last movie of the epic, the illusion seems to be wearing off, especially since I was such a big far for these last twenty-seven years.
The last straw was not this Japanese Cartoon but an article in EW about the Star Wars Holiday Special and the realization that I definitely saw it on TV when it aired in 1978. I saw this and a little more than a year later, the episode of the Muppet show with Mark Hamill, and the following year R2-D2 and C3PO on Sesame Street (couldn't find any good links). I was as uncritically positive about these airings as one might expect from a preschooler, kindergartener, and first grader. I remember talking my friend, Larry, about how Sesame Street was getting kind of babyish, except for that "totally mint" episode with the 'droids. I also remember going to the public library and listening to the soundtrack on vinyl with other 1st graders.
Eugene, of course, thought that the whole thing was stupid and likes to make fun of me about liking Star Wars. I didn't understand this at all, since we both liked the original movie. But over the years, I filled in the blanks by seeing the movies that he saw that I didn't like "2001:A Space Oddessey," "The Man that Fell to Earth," "West World," and "Logan's Run"
and his disdain for Star Wars fandom is more understandable.
I suppose what I am saying (here comes the heresy) is that George Lucas ain't all that. His vision isn't timeless nor even all that epic and that after the last movie comes out, more than anything else, I will probably just feel a sense of relief.
anyway. On to the procrastination:
HoustonChronicle.com - Partners create local 'Japanimation' station
Actually, I've got nothing to say about this article. I've been rewatching Last Exile on the new combined G4 TechTV network (I've got a separate rant on how Tech TV isn't nearly nerdy enough but I'll skip it for now) which I've previously talked about how this show is like the best video game ever. That doesn't push the heresy envelop near far enough, so here is one which I've been roasting on for a while.
This show is an above-average done but fairly standard anime. That said, it is an epic vision of a different world like our own but with its won history, legends, technology, culture, faiths, social classes and darn it if it doesn't even have its own physics. These are all the things that Kevin Smith says is so brilliant about "Star Wars" with a strong implication that Lucas is somehow singular in his ability to read Jospeh Campbell and paint by numbers.
At a certain point, however, I have to admit that their are visions of other worlds that are much more compelling and far less cheesy than Lucas. It's a bit sad that with only a few months to go before the last movie of the epic, the illusion seems to be wearing off, especially since I was such a big far for these last twenty-seven years.
The last straw was not this Japanese Cartoon but an article in EW about the Star Wars Holiday Special and the realization that I definitely saw it on TV when it aired in 1978. I saw this and a little more than a year later, the episode of the Muppet show with Mark Hamill, and the following year R2-D2 and C3PO on Sesame Street (couldn't find any good links). I was as uncritically positive about these airings as one might expect from a preschooler, kindergartener, and first grader. I remember talking my friend, Larry, about how Sesame Street was getting kind of babyish, except for that "totally mint" episode with the 'droids. I also remember going to the public library and listening to the soundtrack on vinyl with other 1st graders.
Eugene, of course, thought that the whole thing was stupid and likes to make fun of me about liking Star Wars. I didn't understand this at all, since we both liked the original movie. But over the years, I filled in the blanks by seeing the movies that he saw that I didn't like "2001:A Space Oddessey," "The Man that Fell to Earth," "West World," and "Logan's Run"
and his disdain for Star Wars fandom is more understandable.
I suppose what I am saying (here comes the heresy) is that George Lucas ain't all that. His vision isn't timeless nor even all that epic and that after the last movie comes out, more than anything else, I will probably just feel a sense of relief.
Monday, December 06, 2004
Surveys: A Way To Insult Things that You Dislike
Brits Bash 'Baywatch,' Hail Homer says some survey of British foreign TV program buyers. Do they? I doubt it.
Baywatch is a brand that was overmarketed into absurdity. The brand itself was somewhat absurd to begin with, so the promoters correctly figured that it would not have a good longevity. No one (including the article writers) is denying the previous success of the brand (140 countries!), the only observation is that now people are sick of it.
But that's not how the story is spun. The story is spun to say:
1. Baywatch sucks. Simpsons, Dallas, 25, and MASH rule.
2. It takes a bunch of British industry insiders to tell us stupid Americans which of our shows are good, because we surely don't know.
Why is the story spun this way? I think its a good angle because:
1. People who agree can feel very high on themselves "I'm classy, just like British Television middle-managers, because I like the Simpsons"
2. People who disagree can feel outraged "Those lilly-livered varmits! If Baywatch ain't the best rootin' toonin' darn show on TV, then I'm a polecat!"
By the way, Deputy Dawg was a Baywatch fan.
Baywatch is a brand that was overmarketed into absurdity. The brand itself was somewhat absurd to begin with, so the promoters correctly figured that it would not have a good longevity. No one (including the article writers) is denying the previous success of the brand (140 countries!), the only observation is that now people are sick of it.
But that's not how the story is spun. The story is spun to say:
1. Baywatch sucks. Simpsons, Dallas, 25, and MASH rule.
2. It takes a bunch of British industry insiders to tell us stupid Americans which of our shows are good, because we surely don't know.
Why is the story spun this way? I think its a good angle because:
1. People who agree can feel very high on themselves "I'm classy, just like British Television middle-managers, because I like the Simpsons"
2. People who disagree can feel outraged "Those lilly-livered varmits! If Baywatch ain't the best rootin' toonin' darn show on TV, then I'm a polecat!"
By the way, Deputy Dawg was a Baywatch fan.
Saturday, December 04, 2004
Astrology
So I am measuring big. This probably means that the chances of Jason making an appearance after February 9th are slim, so he will definitely be year of the Monkey, and not year of the Rooster. Which is fine with me.
What is still undetermined is his star sign. Up to January 20th, he will be a Capricorn (goat, earth sign). After the 21st, he will be an Aquarius (Water bearer, air sign). Both, however are ruled by Saturn, which is pretty cool. According to the compatibility ratings, if he is a Capricorn, he will get along great with me and with Will, and not so great with Dakota. Perfect for the typical sibling relationship. However if he is an Aquarius, he will get along fabulously with Will and Dakota, and not so good with me. If he were a girl, I would say she would wait until the 21st to be an Aquarius just to spite me, but since he is a boy, this strengthens my prediction of January 18th as his arrival.
Incidentally, Dakota, as an Aries, is supposed to get along better with Will than with me ( which I think has been proven), and Will and I are not even destined to get along well. Now if I hadn't taken my sweet time to be born, and had arrived on my due date (instead of 10 days late) I would have been an Aquarius, and Will's perfect match. So I think it is ok.
Because all of this is not a big load of crap or anything.
What is still undetermined is his star sign. Up to January 20th, he will be a Capricorn (goat, earth sign). After the 21st, he will be an Aquarius (Water bearer, air sign). Both, however are ruled by Saturn, which is pretty cool. According to the compatibility ratings, if he is a Capricorn, he will get along great with me and with Will, and not so great with Dakota. Perfect for the typical sibling relationship. However if he is an Aquarius, he will get along fabulously with Will and Dakota, and not so good with me. If he were a girl, I would say she would wait until the 21st to be an Aquarius just to spite me, but since he is a boy, this strengthens my prediction of January 18th as his arrival.
Incidentally, Dakota, as an Aries, is supposed to get along better with Will than with me ( which I think has been proven), and Will and I are not even destined to get along well. Now if I hadn't taken my sweet time to be born, and had arrived on my due date (instead of 10 days late) I would have been an Aquarius, and Will's perfect match. So I think it is ok.
Because all of this is not a big load of crap or anything.
Friday, December 03, 2004
Amazon.com: Books: Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives by George Lakoff
How did I get on to this? Another blog, called "At ease" linked to "EhKansasWassamattaU?" which linked to this book written by an interesting but deeply flawed Linguist whose work I studied extensively (more or less) as part of my Cog Sci major.
I wrote a paper about Metaphors we live by in 1993 which is probably the best and most famous of the Lakoff books. In fact, I just looked over my shoulder at my bookshelf and (lo!) there it is.
The best, but least original, parts of the book give relatively straight-forward explanations of true Cog Anth/Ling jargon terms. Two in particular are
1. Synedoche - choosing some part or element to identify a larger thing (e.g. Hired hands)
2. Experiential gesalt - we are only in the mood to understand ideas that somehow relate to what we've already seen, heard, tasted, touched, smelt, or done.
Then they try to do some American Empirical Flavored version of French Existentialism whereby if everyone just lives life to the fullest and doesn't get swayed by metaphorical constraints then we will all be free!!!!!
Let me summarize what I think about Lakoff and Johnson's Cognitive Linguistics: George Orwell already said everything salient that these guys had to say with considerably more flair and in fewer words in 1984's appendix talking about doublespeak. (The spell checker just suggested "TABLESPOON" for double-speak, how funny is that?) ((How funny is the notion that I actually spell check my entries, you wouldn't know it from reading this blog))
I guess it just annoys me that people actually make money selling books about the idea that you can win a debate by confusing the meaning of words.
Honestly! What could be more obvious than that? Nothing.
I wrote a paper about Metaphors we live by in 1993 which is probably the best and most famous of the Lakoff books. In fact, I just looked over my shoulder at my bookshelf and (lo!) there it is.
The best, but least original, parts of the book give relatively straight-forward explanations of true Cog Anth/Ling jargon terms. Two in particular are
1. Synedoche - choosing some part or element to identify a larger thing (e.g. Hired hands)
2. Experiential gesalt - we are only in the mood to understand ideas that somehow relate to what we've already seen, heard, tasted, touched, smelt, or done.
Then they try to do some American Empirical Flavored version of French Existentialism whereby if everyone just lives life to the fullest and doesn't get swayed by metaphorical constraints then we will all be free!!!!!
Let me summarize what I think about Lakoff and Johnson's Cognitive Linguistics: George Orwell already said everything salient that these guys had to say with considerably more flair and in fewer words in 1984's appendix talking about doublespeak. (The spell checker just suggested "TABLESPOON" for double-speak, how funny is that?) ((How funny is the notion that I actually spell check my entries, you wouldn't know it from reading this blog))
I guess it just annoys me that people actually make money selling books about the idea that you can win a debate by confusing the meaning of words.
Honestly! What could be more obvious than that? Nothing.
change of address
not sure how to change the actual meta text around the posts, will, but i wanted to let you know that i am now trying to do blogging at http://spaces.msn.com/members/dmmiller/. i will see how well the moblogging goes since it supports it as well as mindless rambling posts. if it goes well, ill probably stop on textamerica and move here permanently. i have to switch since all my friends worked on the spaces pages. they are my office neighbors. plus, i can have an orange background.
Thursday, December 02, 2004
I really should read William's posts more thoroughly...
Because if I had, then the emails about me being a beutiful pregnant lady wouldn't have wierded me out as much at first.
In utterly domestic news, Dakota has stayed dry for one whole week now! I'd say she's officially potty trained, but then she'd prove me wrong. So I won't say it.
And Jason/my uterus is measuring big. Like 2 weeks ahead big. Which doesn't mean I will deliver sooner, but that he will most likely be a big boy. I've been joking about a 10 pounder, but maybe I should stop...
In utterly domestic news, Dakota has stayed dry for one whole week now! I'd say she's officially potty trained, but then she'd prove me wrong. So I won't say it.
And Jason/my uterus is measuring big. Like 2 weeks ahead big. Which doesn't mean I will deliver sooner, but that he will most likely be a big boy. I've been joking about a 10 pounder, but maybe I should stop...
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