Hacking notification

Two of my sites, both with a PHBB installations on them, have been hacked. We just got everything back in working order, but I thought I should spread the news: there's a pretty serious looking wave of attacks that depend of the PHPBB setup to disguise the PHP files necessary to do things like spoof a paypal site. If you have a website with a lot of PHP in it, please check for complete function and maybe change the passwords, just in case.

As the guild spins....

So, I've been offered a seat on the code development council for the local fire guild.
I've turned it down.
And I think some folks will want to know why.

First, I feel that this is an ill conceived attempt to patch things up with NAFAA as suggested by the State Fire Marshall at the last meeting. I say 'ill conceived' because my presence on this council could be interpreted as an endorsement of the group's actions. And, let's face it, this guild was formed as a reaction to NAFAA actions and built in a specific attempt to contradict them. A NAFAA endorsement at this point would be confusing at best, damaging to both at worst.

Second, I have always made myself available to any questions anyone has had regarding NAFAA info, or local codes. When this guild was formed, I reiterated that offer and it was ignored. I'm thinking that this guild needs to begin the process of extending beyond itself, and tapping other resources, like state fire codes, local laws, etc before I can consider being a part of it.

Finally, I still maintain that my absence in the guild actions has, is and will continue to encourage average performers to take some more direct action in the process than looking my way. Once the nickname "safety nazi" began to fade a bit, people started relying on me a little to frequently and too heavily in their safety concerns. For several years, it seemed that anytime someone wanted a permit, my phone rang. And when anyone asked a fire safety question in my presence, all eyes turned to me. Hopefully, after that last guild meeting there's a few people reading the NAFAA wiki, and reviewing the performer safety guidelines to get answers of their own.

Keep in mind that all these decisions are personal. My decision to keep a distance from the guild should not deter other people from joining it. It is not an endorsement for, or against, the guild.

Digital TV

Okay folks. Sometimes it pays to watch PBS news. I have some interesting news about DTV.

Background
If you watch broadcast TV, not on a cable box, but actually with an antenna, your TV receiver (TV's, many VCRs, some DVD-Rs and Tivos) will no longer receive a signal as of February 2009. The current bandwidth will be converted into digital signals to free up space for emergency broadcasting. Digital transmission offers many advances including:
-more than 4x more efficient use of bandwidth
-increased reception clarity
-high def
-enhanced V-chip functionality (all digital programs can be forced to comply with v-chip standards)

If you have satellite or cable, you're done. They'll be converted over to DTV in a month or so. However, if you don't, you will need a digital receiver or converter box. Many new TVs and recorders are ATSC compliant (ie digital), but a lot of them out there bear that cute little waring that says it will no longer work after feb 17th, 09.

Fortunately, the Government actually thought ahead on this one. If you have recently purchased one of these labeled devices, or just have old equipment that you'd planned to keep running as long as physically possible, then you can get an approved convertor box at a discounted rate. Basically, you get a $40 coupon that you can apply to an approved converter box.
This is the current list of qualifying converter boxes:
* DigitalSTREAM D2A1D10
* DigitalSTREAM D2A1D20
* Zenith DTT900
* Magnavox TB100MW9
* Philco TB150HH9
* MicroGEM MG2000
* Sansonic FT300RT
* MaxMedia MMDTVB03
* Apex DT1001
* ECHOSTAR TR-40
* AMTC AT-2016

Average expected price for approved boxes is about $50-60. Meaning that you may only need to shell out $20 to get up to date.

So, you just go to this website
dtv2009.gov/
and apply for a coupon, or two. The site will handle everything, and let you know what's to come.

Pulp verification

I remember watching Pulp fiction for the very first time and thinking to myself that I'd seen the Heroine overdose scene before. I knew EXACTLY what was going to happen every moment, I even nailed the timing on Mia popping up back to life. But, for the life of me, I could not place the other film. Well, on a whim, I tripped across this on IMDB:

"The storyline involving Mia's overdose and her revival by an injection of adrenaline into her heart is transcribed word for word from a story told in American Boy: A Profile of: Steven Prince (1978), a documentary directed by Martin Scorsese."

*sigh* I feel so much better.....

Worth it....

What the History channel has to say about Xmas

Y'all come back now... [again]

Dictionary [oxford]
y'all |yôl|
contraction of
you-all.

you-all |ˈyoō ˌôl; yôl| (also y'all)
pronoun dialect
(in the southern U.S.) you (used to refer to more than one person) : how are you-all?

One of the things that started bugging me about the English language was the inconsistent plural "you". Other languages differentiate between the singular and plural forms of you, why don't we? For example, the famous song "voulez-vous couchez avec moi c'est soire" is actually a reasonably gross misuse of the french language. 'Vous' is the french formal or plural form of the word You, and one would never use it to propose sex. However, I imagine that "Veux-tu couchez avec moi" just didn't have the same bounce. You see, "Tu" is the singular or informal method of using You. The formal and informal seems to stem from the Royal "We", where royalty speaking in a formal sense would refer to themselves as the representative of their fiefdom, and therefor spoke as the entire realm "We". The formal You (or Vous) responded to the plural first person with a plural second person.

But english doesn't have anything like this. So we're stuck saying stupid repetitions of the same word and trying to parse things our contextually. For Example, say you're talking to Bob, who's with his family, and they're all wearing Raider's hats at a football game. You might find your self saying "You and I should get a beer, but not until you come over and meet my family, then we can watch you loose to the Cowboys." Without some gestures, such a sentence is a bit confusing.

So, I have adopted the word: y'all. It's the only current, modern english form of the plural You. It's a contraction of you-all, and a strange one at that. Some people mistakenly try to contract it as ya'll, like you would with he'll (he will). But that's not it. In fact if you were going to contract that way, it would be at least yo'll, which is a bit too close to you'll (you will). Nope, it's y'all , the second person plural pronoun for me. So, let's take it back to Bob: "You and I should get a beer, but not until y'all come over and meet my family, then we can watch y'all loose to the Cowboys." It still falls short differentiating between plural inclusive and plural exclusive, But it at least clears one thing up:
"[Do] y'all want to sleep with me tonight?"
Clearly the song is a proposal for group sex ... :)

So, formally
y'all |yôl|
contraction of you-all.
pronoun [ second person singular ]
used to refer to the people that the speaker is addressing : Y'all come back now.

Have fun with it y'all, but don't you even think of over using it... :)

Xmas List

So, despite shaking off the last remnants of Catholicism, I still feel something for Xmas. And as I look at my calendar, I notice that it's a national holiday. Yes, that's right, it's a Secular, non-religious, government approved holiday. And if you look at the history of christmas, you'll see that it pretty much is an american concoction.

The term "Christ- mass" was applied to the Saturnalia/Yule/Solstice celebrations, despite the overwhelming biblical evidence indicating that it wasn't the time of year that Jesus was supposedly born. Clearly this time of year was borrowed. Also, the various christian churches have disavowed the holiday several times. But don't take my word, look it up...

*sigh* So, this makes Xmas essentially a Hallmark Holiday. It may have started as a way to ethically find a way to spoil the kids a little, during creatively oppressive times. But now, marketing has taken it to a very dark place.

So, I'm gonna take things in a [hopefully] new direction. Here's my Xmas list this year.
#1 Give a bum a dollar.
#2 Give a bum more than a dollar and send me a card saying so.
#3 Give your car a thorough tune-up and make sure the tires are filled.
#4 Start a carpool at work.
#5 Spend a day hugging everyone you see
#6 Toss someone a mercy fvck.
#7 Spend a day working to make the world a better place.
#8 Find someone you'd normally ignore and have an extended conversation with them.

Call or email me the results.
Thanks.