dietsch ::

Pepys' Diary

Now here's an inventive idea. A blogger named Phil Gyford is posting, in Web log format, daily entries from the diary of Samuel Pepys. This should be fun to watch; I've linked to it on the right side of this page. Much of what we know of daily London life in the seventeenth century we owe to Pepys. And remember, it was during this period that the great fire and the plague swept through the city. Gyford took the text from Project Gutenburg and he's annotating the diary with hypertext links that gloss people and places and events referred to in the diary. This blog uses the features of the Web to brilliant effect. [Geek stuff: Gyford also has RSS feeds for the diary, which means I can add it to my news aggregator, which in turn makes it easier for me to follow the diary daily.]

Back from holidays

What a week. I flew to Indiana on the 23rd and spent a few days with the family. Thursday morning, Mom and Beth dropped me off with my good friends Amy and Courtney, who then took me up to Bloomington for dinner with Abbie and Dave. The five of us had a great time over curries and other yummy dinner treats. I flew back to New York on Friday and then headed up to Boston the next morning. JOSH and I went up to visit friends. He has high-school chums there, and we both have Delphi-forum friends there. Anna's visiting from London, and it was great seeing her again. I also saw many of the same people I met during my first visit, back in March 2001. JOSH and I decided at the last minute that we'd rent a car for the trip, rather than take bus or train. So I hauled out to a couple nearby rental agencies. The only thing available was a Dodge Caravan. That's right, a minivan. When Christopher saw it, he mockingly whined, "I wanna go to soccer practice!" Grrr. The drive itself was unremarkable. We arrived in Boston in late afternoon. I checked into my hotel (JOSH stayed with his friend Rob Saturday night), and then we went up to Comicopia to terrorize poor James Wu. After dropping loads of cash on comics and other geekery, we met Rob and Stephanie and headed to Jillian's for a few rounds of pool. Then it was off to Boston Beer Works to meet back up with James, Anna, and the gang. Loads of fun. I must have consumed a couple gallons of beer, though. JOSH and I had great fun at the expense of the City of Boston, when the Beer Works closed up at 1am and spewed us onto the street. "Hey, JOSH, what time you got? My watch must have stopped! Is it 4am already?" Rob dropped me back at my hotel. Newbury Guest House is a bed-and-breakfast on Newbury Street, which is really one of my favorite places ever. The Guest House was very nice, though. I got the bay-window room, which was charming and quiet. I need to remember this place, because it would make a lovely weekend away with just the right someone. I always spend too much money on Newbury. I'm especially fond of Allston Beat, where the clothes are normally way too hip for me, which never really stops me from buying. I wandered the strip alone Sunday morning. Sarah had suggested brunch or lunch and I was waiting to hear from either her or JOSH and Rob. I enjoyed that much more than I expected to. It was the first time I'd had fully alone in nearly a week and it was a great way to while away the time. We ended up at Jazz brunch at a place called Ryles, which is in Cambridge. Or Somerville--I'm not really sure. I hopped in the minivan and drove out there. JOSH and Rob came up from Plymouth, and Sarah arrived with her buddy Mike in tow. Sunday was leisurely, which I really needed. Finally, we drove back to New York, after a strange liquor run to New Hampshire (not drinking and driving, but stocking up for the winter), which might be worth a separate post. Long week and I'm damn tired, but it sure was worth every second. [EDIT, 10/25/04: I met the lurvely Jenblossom during that weekend, too. Funny how your life changes without you even noticing sometimes.]

Find out who's near me!

Jenny Levine ran across the GeoURL ICBM Address Server and blogged it. Sounded like a cool idea, so I updated my Web pages and added my site to the database. If this works as advertised, you can click a link on my page and find bloggers and other Web geeks who are located geographically near me.

A moment of silence on Radio Clash

Leader of 'The Clash' Is Dead at 50. Punk legend Joe Strummer of "The Clash'' has died, his record company said Monday. By The Associated Press. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

Holidays, holidays

I'm off this morning for Indiana. I'll be back in New York on Friday, and then it's out on Saturday morning to Boston. I love Boston, and I can't wait to get back there. This trip is a short one. I go up on Saturday and come back Sunday. Several of my Boston friends are gathering Saturday evening for food and spirits, and it'll be fine fun to see them again. Anna should be somewhere over the mid-Atlantic right about now. She'll be blogging about her U.S. trip over here. I think it's just Boston and New York for her this time around. She'll crash here during at least part of the New York leg of her trip, before flying out from Newark on Jan. 8. Now I must shower and pack.

Broadband wars

Broadband wars II. If you want to get an idea about how bad the broadband future will be, you need only read this letter from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association describing how good (from their perspective) the broadband future will be.... [Lessig Blog]

[Note: The "letter" that Lessig links to above is a large and slow-loading PDF file.] This longish blog entry by Larry Lessig discusses the future of broadband, in this case cable Internet access. The issue at stake is whether cable providers should have the right to discriminate in content provision. Think about this for a moment. If you have cable modem service through AOL Time Warner's Roadrunner division, and you want to download a movie trailer or a short film offered by Viacom's Paramount division, should Roadrunner have the right to deny you access to that content? Should Roadrunner have the right to slow down that content before it reaches your computer? Disney and Microsoft are leading a coalition that says, "No." Think about this for a moment. In this case, on this issue, Disney and Microsoft are the white hats. Their coalition apparently sent the FCC a letter urging regulation to prevent cable providers from discriminating against competitors' content. The NCTA have sent a letter taking the other side. This is important, if you're a broadband user. Whether you read these letters isn't that important. What's important is that you know this is going on.

Copyright Act

Critics Weigh In on Copyright Act. The U.S. Copyright Office asked for public comment on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and it got it. Critics worry about everything from losing great art to restricting blind people's access to information. By Joanna Glasner. [Wired News]

Interesting article. I want to look later at the public comments in greater depth.

Red Train Party

My SantaCon report is online, now, over at Nerdbait.com. It's the full story of my Clausian day, complete with pictures! (Not my pictures, though. Not yet anyway. I should have mine up on Friday or Saturday.) Go check it out, won't you? [EDIT, 10/25/04: Hm. Nerdbait is dead. I wonder if this story is archived on my hard drive. I doubt it, somehow.]

Pirate Santa needs booty!

SantaCon was amazing. I'll have a full report, and pictures, up later this week.

I should be writing.

I should be writing. I should be writing. I should be writing. I should not be blogging. I should be writing. I should be writing. I should be writing. I should not be blogging. I should be writing. I should be writing. I should be writing. I should be writing.

Can anyone loan me a car and three friends?

As Commuters Line Up Rides, Some Hope to Ride Out Scare. For all the determined bikers and walkers, many commuters seemed unable to fathom how they would get to work or school. By Randal C. Archibold. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

I've been worrying about this, also. If MTA workers go out on strike next week, I'll need to find some other option for getting from Brooklyn to the Bronx. I'll bike it if I have to, but it's a 16-mile trip, one-way; the idea of 32 miles in the cold kind of blows. I have a colleague who lives just a few blocks from me; she has a car, but she plans to crash with her sister in Westchester until the strike ends, so that's not an option. My workplace started compiling a list today of workers affected--they took down names and locations of possible drivers and riders. When I added my name, only one driver had signed up, compared to ten riders. I hope that ratio changes. MetroNorth will apparently offer a special shuttle from Grand Central to Yankee Stadium. That's probably my best bet; I already walk to work from the D or 4 stop at Yankee Stadium anyway. The trick there is getting to Grand Central. Again, I could bike it, but where would I lock up my bike all day? (With the crowds that shuttle would see, I don't think carrying my bike onto the train will be an option.) I could get on Long Island Rail Road at Flatbush (to which I'd walk), ride out to Jamaica in Queens, ride in to Penn Station, walk to Grand Central, and then get on the shuttle up to Yankee. To make that work, though, I'll probably have to be at the Flatbush stop by absolutely no later than 6:30am--more like 6am, I suspect. Would I be home before 7pm? Unlikely. Sucks, eh? This strike had better not happen, that's all I'm sayin'.

December Saturday

Saturday was Santa shopping. Santa shopping? Heh. Wait and see. Anyway, I had plans to meet Todd, Lauren, and Stacey on the Lower East Side. We were going to meet, have a few drinks, Santa-shop, eat, and then head to the Village for Moonwork. Stacey recommended Iggy's Keltic Lounge, on Ludlow St. What a place. I walked in just after 4, and saw Lauren and Todd huddled up in the corner. At the bar were a group of middle-aged, whooping and hollering. Behind the bar, Iggy held court, drunker than any patron in the place. The Pogues jigged on the jukebox. Great. Irish pub. Pogues on the jukebox. Drunk bartender. This is either a bad movie or a crazy-ass New York moment. I went to the bar for a drink. Iggy ignored me. I stood, trying to make eye contact, flag him down, throw glasses at his head--whatever it took. A woman seated at the bar turned and said, "Hi. What'll you have?" I asked for a Guinness, and she got up, walked around behind the bar, and pulled a pint. I paid and went back to Lauren and Todd. "Fairytale of New York" came over the jukebox. December. Irish pub. Pogues on the jukebox. Of fucking course, "Fairytale of New York" was on the juke. Iggy gathered up everyone in the bar and got 'em dancing, and then into a group hug. Lauren, Todd, and I sat and watched, and then he came over to lure us in. We all declined. He distracted us with a story, and then, when our guard was down, he took Lauren by the hand and whisked her to the dance floor. Stacey walked in at this point. "Where's Lauren?" We pointed at Iggy. "Ohhhh." She went up the bar for a drink. Before she could make it, Iggy grabbed her and yanked her into the dance also. Todd and I laughed and watched. Lauren returned, breathless, and then Stacey came back also. One of the guys, Irving or something, was this 50-year old guy from Florida who'd never been to New York. His wife brought him up for his birthday. After the dancing ended, he approached the TV, where a college football game lit up the screen. "Oh, this is horrible!" he exclaimed, and then, "Brenda! Come here! I can't see the score. Read me the score!" Irving and Brenda and all their new friends left the pub. Another bartender was on duty, so Iggy and his girlfriend (the woman who pulled my pint) left to go to his uptown joint. The four of us finished our drinks and then headed off for Santa stuff. We returned to Iggy's around 6:30. Todd and I walked next door and ordered cheeseburgers and arranged to have them brought to the bar. A different crowd was trickling in. Younger people, yuppy stockbroker types. We sat and kibbutzed and mocked. A little before 8, we left, and headed around the corner to Toys in Babeland. Todd bought Lauren a gun-shaped vibrator. I picked up Christmas cards for naughty friends. We ooohed over a beautiful Pyrex dildo, with a blue design spiraling up through the glass. Leaving Babeland, we caught a cab to the Village and went up to Moonwork. This is a crazy place, but I dig it.

Irrefragable

irrefragable: Dictionary.com Word of the Day. irrefragable [Dictionary.com Word of the Day] I don't mean to brag, but it's rare these days for me to run across a non-technical word that I've never seen before. (By non-technical, I mean words that don't derive from science or mathematics or engineering. Anyone can aim the name of a chemical compound my way.) Irrefragable makes me very happy.

Norwegian DVD hacking case

Norwegian DVD hacking case goes to trial. Defendant pleads not guilty [InfoWorld: Top News] The Jon Johansen trial began today in Norway. Johansen is charged with cracking the CSS encryption scheme that's used to copy-protect DVDs. Johansen's stated goal in writing deCSS was to enable himself to back up his own, legally purchased, DVDs in case of damage or loss. With this going on in Norway, the ElcomSoft trial in California, and Eldred before the U.S. Supreme Court, this is an interesting time to watch the courts.

Ryan Singel and Wired News

Earlier, I blogged a piece from Wired News, about federal information databases, and mentioned I thought the writer might be my cousin. He is indeed my cousin.

Small damn world, and sometimes, this internet thing makes it smaller.

Snowing in New York

Have you ever had the pleasure of watching a quiet winter's snow slowly gathering like simple moments adding up? --Cowboy Junkies It's snowing in New York City. My workplace closed at noon today to let employees get home before accumulations pile up. It's coming down fast, also. As I walked up the hill to work, snow was sprinkled on the ground like confectioner's sugar atop a cake. Three and a half hours later, four inches had fallen. I thought for a moment as I was leaving: What would make a great NYC snow moment? The answer was obvious: Rockefeller Plaza. I took the D train from 161st St. to the 47-50/Rockefeller Center stop. I left the train and followed the signs in to the basement/concourse area of Rockefeller Center. It was lunch hour, so the concourse was packed with salarimen and -women, taking a nosh or popping to the dry cleaners. I took the escalator up to the lobby and walked out front, gazing up at the mammoth tree in front of me. On the ice rink, which was smaller than I imagined, were about 30 people of all ages. Almost none of them could really skate well. One poor guy must have fallen six times while I was there. I then walked over to Saks to see its Christmas window displays. Quite lovely. The store had a queue set up so people could proceed past the displays in an orderly manner. Last night, I saw a cabaret, performed by my friends Suzanne and Natasha. That was a wonderful evening. I know these lovely ladies through Suzanne's husband Sean McArdle, one of the nicest people I've met in New York. Suzanne and Natasha put on one hell of a show. My friend JOSH, also there for the performance, put it thusly: The horror and beauty of New York is that in any other city, Suzanne and Natasha would be divas, they'd be the talk of the town. Yes, they're that good. I'm going again tonight.

Grill Poindexter on privacy!

Oh, this is very funny....

Calling All Yahoos

Worried about what John Poindexter's up to as federal information czar? Call his home number and ask.

http://sfweekly.com/issues/2002-11-27/smith.html/1/index.html

Freedom of information?

According to the Washington Post, AG Ashcroft is urging federal employees to deny FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests. Goverment of the people, or goverment against the people?

Mac Loyalists: Don't Tread

Mac Loyalists: Don't Tread on Us. Mac users are famously loyal. No matter how much Apple upsets users, they stick with it. But why? Experts in psychology, marketing and cults provide answers. Part one in a series by Leander Kahney. [Wired News]

I loves me Mac, but this is a bizarre fuckin' article.

Federal info databases, la la la

Total Info System Totally Touchy. The U.S. government wants to create a massive database of Americans' personal information to help root out terrorists. Privacy advocates cry foul, and some in the industry aren't even sure it's technologically feasible. By Ryan Singel. [Wired News]

What do you think? Do you want the U.S. gubmint tracking your credit card and medical data? I just received a note in e-mail from EPIC, asking me to become a contributing member. I met some of the EPIC people when I was out in San Francisco earlier this year; they do good work, fighting for privacy rights and informing the public of privacy violations. I should seriously consider forking out the dough. By the way, the writer of that Wired piece mentioned above? I have a cousin by that name. Wonder if it's the same guy.