Month: September 2003

Remembering and moving on

One year ago today we marked a year of mourning. Should we still mourn today? Greg points to some provocative thoughts about how best to address the day:

Soon the columns, weblogs and airwaves will be full of people instructing us that we must “never forget” what happened in New York City, Washington DC and the sky above western Pennsylvania two years ago. As if any of us could or would forget the despicable acts that took place that day, the heroism, the damage, the wasted lives. What they really mean is not “remember,” but dwell. Obsess. Lingeringly finger the scab. And most of all, fall in line when assured that some grand policy, however wise or unwise, is put forth in the name of that day and the atrocities that marked it.

For me, I think if we’re still in mourning even as we invade and remake nations, we are in danger of seeing the decisions we must face through eyes clouded with the smoke of the past. So I am going to let others remember the day, and I’m going to continue to do my part by asking questions about actions taken in the names of the fallen that I believe do them no honor.

Old friends well met

Just one last item and I will get to bed. I was at a Sloan info session in downtown Seattle tonight, as I alluded in my previous post. Great alum turnout. There were probably about twenty alums there (to about thirty prospective students!), including a few LFM friends from my class (Brent, we definitely have to do dinner sometime) and some friends from 2003 I hadn’t seen in quite a while (Kumar Doshi—it’s definitely time to do a Sloanies at Microsoft lunch; Don Hyun, maybe we’ll get an evening out to catch up).

In addition to old friends and lots of prospective students, I also got a chance to talk to a ’94 alum, Jason Farris, who is VP for Services for a Microsoft partner, Fincentric. His company supplies enterprise software solutions to the financial services vertical market. He notes that while Microsoft has provided co-marketing funds, technical sales support has sometimes been less forthcoming. IMHO (and needless to say, this blog is my opinion only, no warranty is implied), this is an area where we could do better.

Suggestion: Beat the rush, update now

Based on what happened during Blaster, it might be a good idea to hit Windows Update tonight to get the latest patch, MS03-039, which addresses another RPC vulnerability. To the best of my knowledge there’s no worm that exploits this vulnerability, but based on sad experience it’s only a matter of time. As a bonus, this patch supersedes the one that fixed the vulnerability that Blaster exploited, so if you never got around to patching your system last time this one will cover you.

If WU is overloaded, you can also get the download for your operating system from the TechNet advisory. Background information for the less technically inclined here.

Life to the Pixies

I might finally have a chance to see the Pixies live, if this MTV.com news item is correct. God, I hope so. Of course, there’s always the chance that the band’s members, after years of toiling in obscurity (or drugged out exile) will turn in a Spinal Tap-esque parody of their glory days, but there’s a big part of me—the part that can sing along with all of Doolittle AND Trompe Le Monde—that hopes not.

John “In the Morning” Richards thinks so too, if this morning’s playlist (one of the few things about being in the car after 9 am) is any indication.

Philip Greenspun: Is America overmedicated?

Philip points to this curmudgeonly essay on the topic of what’s wrong with America (latest speculation), which posits that suburbs and SSRIs are the problem. While I’d hate to argue with suburban ennui and angst, being perpetually lost in the supermarket and feeling that this is not my beautiful house, I must point out that the odds that one in three Americans even has a health plan that covers SSRIs is pretty slim, much less that one of three of us are actually taking the happy pills.

There have been days that I’ve thought that all the bloggers around me were closet or public depressives. Of course, that was mostly at the heart of my own Black Dog bouts.

Long day’s journey into Everett

I’m seriously rethinking my strategy about getting car service done at the original dealer. That strategy put me quite a few miles out of my way today.

When it was time to have some recall work done on my Passat (rerouting a cable behind the rear wheel well, swapping out the ignition coil), I figured who better than the place that sold me the car. Complication #1: the dealer is in Everett, which is about 15 miles to the north of us as the crow flies. Of course, the crow doesn’t have to negotiate rush hour traffic through the I-405/I-5 crossover. While I got to the dealer in plenty of time, by the time I got my loaner car (well, loaner rental from the Enterprise shop at the back of the lot. Actually, loaner rental Chevy pick-up truck. This is important; bear with me) and got back on the road, it took me over an hour to get to the office.

Complication #2: Parking. Specifically, parking the big Chevy pick-up in the tiny spaces allotted at Microsoft. Every single outdoor space within walking distance of my building was taken, so after ten fruitless minutes I had to drive down to a newer parking garage (which unlike the older ones actually had the 7′ clearance the pickup demanded) and catch a shuttle bus back to my office. Between the commute and the parking, I missed my first meeting of the morning and was late for almost everything else, and in a foul mood too.

Complication #3: Getting back to Everett in the evening to reclaim my car—then turning around and driving into Seattle for an MIT Sloan recruiting event. Fortunately, this one took only 45 minutes, so I was just a few minutes late.

Suffice it to say, I’ll take recommendations for good dealer service departments closer in.

I think I’ll go for a walk

I had to leave work early with an attack of nausea and all over body aches that left me wondering whether I was coming down with the flu. After four hours of sleep I felt a lot better, but it’ll definitely be touch and go for another few days.

I did have a good culinary adventure tonight: braised chicken with tomatoes and fennel. But that’s a story for another day.

Esta is alive, and living double rainbows

Esta found a minute to update her blog amid the hectic joy of starting classes at seminary (finally having Internet connectivity at her apartment might have something to do with it). She reports that she’s making friends, even if they do tend to be considerably younger than she is; that Julia Child’s recipe for baked cucumbers is as good as Julie Powell reports; and that updates on classes are forthcoming, including Hebrew I (I always wanted to be able to read Biblical Hebrew; now she’ll be living the dream! Sniff.). Hope she can keep posting.

And hey, Esta, if you haven’t discovered them yet, you might want to download NetNewsWire Lite and Manila Envelope. The former will make it MUCH easier to keep up with your weblog reading; the latter just might make it easier to post.

Famous old acquaintances

Browsing a fellow Microsoftie’s blog tonight, I came across a “Greg Howard” reference. Familiar name, I thought. It was in the context of a Dave Matthews concert. I thought, Did he get famous? Greg used to record concerts for the Virginia Glee Club back in the day; I also saw him a few times playing in a band called “Sticks and Stones” with… oh yeah… Tim Reynolds. Hmm, he became famous too, didn’t he?

Sure enough: GregHoward.com. Still playing the Chapman Stick, still goateed, still looks the same as he looked ten years ago. And he still lists Transmigration, which I have on cassette along with his 1989 release Face of Sand, on his Releases page.

Morrissey may hate it when his friends become successful, but I have nothing but good wishes for Greg Howard, who was once kind enough (or impoverished enough) to record fifty cocky undergrad guys who had the nerve to sing sacred Renaissance music in Virginia.

Music taketh away and given: RIP Zevon, Talking Heads box

On the sad side: Warren Zevon passed away Sunday, losing his battle with cancer just two weeks after shipping his last album. Rest in peace.

On the happier side: New Talking Heads box set, Once in a Lifetime. Deltas from their prior two-disc best of collection: “Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town (Alternate Version),” “New Feeling (Alternate Version),” “Pulled Up,” “Artists Only,” “Tentative Decisions,” “Stay Hungry,” “I’m Not In Love,” “The Book I Read,” “Thank You for Sending Me An Angel,” “Found a Job,” “A Clean Break (Live),” “The Big Country,” “Cities (Alternate Version),” “Life During Wartime” (album version), “Air,” “Drugs (Alternate Version),” “Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On),” “Listening Wind,” “Houses in Motion,” “Making Flippy Floppy,” “Girlfriend Is Better” (the best-of had the live version), “Slippery People,” “Creatures of Love,” “The Lady Don’t Mind,” “Love for Sale,” “People Like Us,” “Puzzlin’ Evidence,” “The Democratic Circus,” “In Asking Land (Alternate Take).” That’s 28 tracks difference. No word on price.

Alas, Kate

Every now and then I get a reminder that it’s a good idea to check out Greg’s actual blog, not just to rely on his RSS feed. His links “on the side” are blog poetry—concise, to the point, and frequently high value.

Example: where else would I have learned that my old friend (and former neighbor) Kate Bolger was one of Fox’s lawyers in their now infamous lawsuit against Al Franken?

This reunion is looking more and more interesting the closer we get. Imagined scene: Michael’s Bistro, or perhaps the Court Square Tavern. Participants: Greg, Bernie, me, Kate, Dan, maybe George. Guinness all around. Question: “So, Kate, tell us all about it…” Unfortunately at that point my fantasy ends because attorney-client privilege probably kicks in.

Anyway, I’m now subscribing to Greg’s “On the Side” feed. It’s the best thing since Poodah.

iPod Update: Prepping for surgery

I spoke to the good folks at the Apple Store yesterday about my iPod predicament. The Mac Genius there confirmed my fears, saying I basically have three choices:

  1. Open the back of the iPod with a thin blade (best done by pressing down on the center of the back plate first; apparently this causes just enough flex to open the seams on the sides slightly) and attempt to use a soldering iron (or duct tape, I suppose) to repair the broken FireWire connector, OR
  2. Spend $250 for an even exchange—a working 5 GB original iPod, OR
  3. Spend $299 and get a new base model iPod. As of yesterday this was a 10 GB model.

I hoped that the iPod updates today would provide additional incentive for option 3; alas, the base $299 model is unchanged, though the 20GB model for $399 is suddenly a very attractive option. But I can’t resist the chance to do a little soldering. As soon as I exhaust my current charge, I’ll be out on my workbench, taking pictures and warming up the old iron…

Saying goodbye at Galileo’s pyre

Galileo wasn’t burned on a pyre, you argue. True, but the Galileo Orbiter, coming to the end of its mission exploring the Jovian satellites, will be de-orbited on September 21st and sent plunging into Jupiter’s atmosphere. Slashdot has the usual geek chorus commenting on a thorough story in The New Yorker. (Sample level of detail: Galileo is being deliberately de-orbited and burnt up so that any microbes it may be carrying won’t contaminate Europa, its likely crash site, whose enormous frozen ocean may prove a fertile breeding ground for invading microbes.) Popular Science has a brief mention and a pointer to the crash countdown at JPL, which also hosts links to dozens of other facts gathered by Galileo in its epochal mission.

Computer literacy and (not) going paperless

My mother-in-law has always been an avid learner, keeping her computer current (she’s now on her second iMac—the “Luxo Jr.” G4 plus LCD display model) and using email and the Web for all her organizational activities. She’s running into some problems now doing some of her work, in that some people to whom she sends attachments can’t open them.

I remember the same thing happening in some musical organizations that I was in. They tried to move to a model where the rehearsal schedules, driving directions, and other necessary bits of information were distributed via email and kept on websites, but inevitably there would be two or three (or five or six) members who couldn’t get to their email, who claimed that the director always sent mail to “their other account,” who couldn’t open the file format that was sent around, who couldn’t figure out how to use the Yahoo! group site to get the attachments. Result: the inexorable paper coming around at rehearsals again.

Can the death of paper only be achieved when all those who grew up without bits have passed on, too? Or will we always have information redundancy—storage on inefficient atoms created from living resources?