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Podcasts + Leafblowers = Ick

Light post today...I'm doing some Saturday stuff for work, so my SCOTUS post can wait until tomorrow. *grin* I did want to note, however, that a) my Disqus comments are live, fire away folks! *grin*, and b) leaf/lawnblowers make podcast listening impossible!

Let me explain. Podcast listening is something that happen in many environments...you can listen at a PC, pump it to the stereo, with an MP3 player, etc. People listen while working, at the gym, in the car, or wherever. Much like radio, it doesn't require full attention, unlike video podcasts or TV. I personally tend not to listen to podcasts while working...I'm too easily distracted. I usually listen to music while coding or working (watch me code on last.fm!). I listen to podcasts in the car, on mass transit, out doing errands, and running. I like the fact it's such a flexible medium, though!

Anyway...so I listen to a LOT of podcasts while running. I'm no marathoner, but I do 15-20 miles a week when there's nothing stopping me, and I've been doing it for 20 years. So since the beginning of podcasting, I've LOVED listening to podcasts while I run. In fact, I had started about a year before; in 2003, I started recording BBC news streams to listen to on a 64 meg CF card player. Ah, those were the days. *grin*. But now, it's podcasts...lots of podcasts.

And podcasts vs. lawnblowers don't fare NEARLY as well as music vs. lawnblowers. Not like this is a new phenomenon, but I've for some reason noticed it a lot more lately. I get a lot of lawn care types out near the park that I run at and the neighborhood nearby where I live. Music? Music survives 10-15 seconds of absolute overwhelming blower noise. After all, they're probably songs that I love and know completely by heart anyway. But a podcast, especially a technical one, or a presentation? Blam. Conversational thread lost. So lawnblowers suck. *grin*

So that is my rant for today. More fun tomorrow!

July 19, 2008 permalink | Comments (0)

Senator Dodd's comments on the Senate Floor

Dodd: Does America Stand for the Rule of Law, or the Rule of Men?: This link includes both the video and text of Senator Dodd's remarks on the floor today before the votes on amendments to the FISA bill (which were all ultimately shot down), and the subsequent vote on the bill itself (which passed). Senator Dodd has been steadfast in his opposition to the retroactive immunity grant to the telecoms included in the bill, and had already once helped block it's passage (late last year). His efforts were ultimately unsuccessful today, but he is much appreciated. His words are also a powerful reminder of the risks we are taking with our liberty in service to imagined security. From his closing:

Thanks again for trying, Senator.

July 10, 2008 permalink | Comments (0)

Pondering comment switch to Disqus

So...one of the neat things about FriendFeed is that it highlights services for me that I don't presently use, but that keep showing up in the feeds I follow. For example, I checked out GoodReads based on seeing a couple of people using it, and it's nifty. I've got an account there now, in fact (wiring it up to LibraryThing comes later). FF supports a lot of services that I haven't used ,but I think the most interesting thing I've seen is Disqus. So interesting that I think I'm moving my comments there.

Weird, eh? I mean, I live for running my own stuff. I host my blog myself, host my mailserver myself, host my wiki myself, host my...we're seeing a pattern here, aren't we? *grin* So what's different?

Well, a couple things I think. One is simply pragmatic, but it enables the other. Firstly, in a pragmatic sense, pushing my comments out into the cloud is a fundamentally different thing than hosting my email there. My blog is public, and the associated comments are by design, public as well, so there's not the privacy and 4th amendment issues associated with my personal email. For email, this is still a show-stopper for me...it would require serious crypto-wizardry for me to store my full email corpus in the cloud. For comments, not so much...which means I'm willing to at least entertain the idea. And once I do, it's pretty attractive.

Disqus provides a lot of cool features for both a blog owner and a commenter (and hey, I'm both!). For a blog owner, it provides nice conversational management tools, good spam filtering, dashboard management, etc. Nice to haves. But it really, IMO, shines for the commenter. You suddenly have a persistent identity across thousands of blogs, allowing your reputation and ID to become a much more useful online tool. You can also use widgets and services like FriendFeed to easily highlight your witty remarks from any tenth-rate blog (like, say, this one *grin*) on your own site or in your own feed. Nice!

There are also comment ratings, and the ability to email into a thread, the ability to backup posts (in case the service, you know, goes away), and an API. They also make it clear that they claim no ownership of your comments, which I find kinda important. *grin*

PLUS...it supposedly runs on Django, and they use Firefly characters in their features tour. I mean...geek bonus juice aplenty right there.

Don't get me wrong; I'm sure it's not perfect. But I've been giving this your sites as loosely coupled components scattered across the cloud model a lot of thought lately, and Disqus fits in well as training wheels for a trial run (how's THAT for tentative? LOL). So I think if I can get this wired up pretty easily, I'm going to give it a whirl. Let's see where we end up! Comments welcome (and appreciated). What do you think? Have you used Disqus? Do you like the idea?

PS: It certainly isn't live yet...as of now, these are still my old-school comments. I'll make it clear when I've switched over (though it should be pretty obvious). I'm just making the decision now...

UPDATE: An important note. I want to make clear that the persistent identity benefits I'm so enthusiastic about above are optional. I will NOT be requiring any commenter to register with me, or with Disqus. I think it's of value, obviously...for both me and you. But I understand anyone who doesn't wish to do so. I will still have the ability to post anonymous (well, unnamed; I have your IP address) comments, and I always will, barring some unforeseen Internet calamity that makes it impossible. So don't worry about that.

July 8, 2008 permalink | Comments (2)

Long weekends rock

It's really been quite the excellent long weekend so far *knock on wood*. On the 4th, we went to the Georgia Independence Day Festival in Hampton, GA...a really fun local 4th of July festival with music, historic reenactors, fair food, friends, and of course fireworks! A good time was had by all!

Photos here: GIDFest 2008

Then yesterday we decided to finally visit the Kangaroo Conservation Center in Dawsonville, GA. It's been on our list for awhile, but we finally made it there, and it was a lot of fun. The center is dedicated to kangaroo preservation through captive breeding and public education, and they currently exhibit over 300 kangaroos of 9 species (in fact, apparently the largest collection of kangaroos outside of Australia). It's an AZA-accredited zoo, and has been for over 20 years, so this is no roadside animal attraction. The habitat is beautiful and spacious, and the animals look very relaxed and happy. I'm sure we'll be back!

Then on the way home, we stopped off in Dahlonega for some shopping and dessert. Two thumbs up for dessert! *grin*

Photo set: Kangaroo Trip

Two very full days of fun, and still a day left...joy. Now Sunday will be some wind-down...online (uploading photos and such), get some running in, do some chores and some other hobby stuff. Nice. Good friends, fun events (and nice weather) make for good memories. This will definitely be one to remember!

July 6, 2008 permalink | Comments (0)

Here come the plumbers!

Plumbing isn't glamorous, but it's a critical piece of modern infrastructure. Regardless of the design of a house, the landscaping, or it's location...it needs plumbing under the covers, and reliable plumbing to boot. And the analogy holds in other realms; I often consider sysadmins and DBAs (my tribe!) the plumbers of the IT world, keeping things working behind the scenes. This scales even to large-scale infrastructure as well, and on multiple levels.

In one sense, you can consider (of course) the backbone IP providers and such the true plumbing of the Internet. That's valid, but limiting. If we pop up the stack a bit, you can see that "cloud computing" providers like Amazon, Google, etc. will be the plumbing providers of raw "service" (storage, db, etc.) to developers. It's a great step in simplification...but we can go further.

Another level up, and things start to get really interesting. Many web sites and services have been about providing a real-world service (everything from Amazon and book sales, to Basecamp and project management, to muxtape and playlists)...but more and more interesting services are popping up that are, for lack of a better term, plumbing.

Everything from open protocols (like OAuth for authentication, OpenID for identity, and microformats for data) to full-fledged services that you can wire into your app. Twitter was (and is...it ain't dead yet!) both a microblogging app and something more; a prototype messaging bus for the web. Tweets have been remixed and consumed in ways that no one could have imagined at the start. And that's a good thing; as painful as the Fail Whale can be, Twitter certainly has been driving innovative ideas.

And now, a new crop of plumbers appears, learning from the old. Gnip is here to try and re-architect the message bus into a scalable and manageable model, Identi.ca makes microblogging open, federated, and Free (Software), and FriendFeed is flat-out the next level of meta-conversational tool.

The fact that plumbing is hot right now makes me very happy. Good tools enable great ideas to be born. I think we're getting ready to see some great stuff. Vive la plumbing!!

July 4, 2008 permalink | Comments (2)

KAZ: Episode 29

Here is the blip.tv page and direct MP3 download link for the June 26th episode.

I play a Reality Break Podcast promo; give a health check on Thomas and myself; comment on getting music approval for podcasts (give me more options, folks!); discuss my digging of FriendFeed (friendfeed.com/kenzoid); comment on the Chicago Red-Eye Cory Doctorow podcast; reflect on term "technology activist" as a new tagline; share my thoughts on Cory's Network Neutrality arguments; discuss an excellent Long Now SALT talk, Iqbal Quadir, "Technology Empowers the Poorest"; and play Mark Aaron James: "Aquaman's Lament".

click here to play this podcast

June 28, 2008 permalink | Comments (0)

Hang tough, Thomas

So with all the FISA fun and such going on, I'd normally be making more posts. But home has been hectic, and my neck is still sore from my basal carcinoma removal (not sleeping well)...but mainly, I spend my energy right now worrying about our cat Thomas. He's almost 16, and dealing with either hepatitis or the onset of liver cancer. The past several weeks have been vet visits, exams, tests, and such. We decided last week NOT to biopsy his liver; it requires general anesthesia (which is a risk), and we're not going to put him through chemo even if we did determine that is cancer. So he's on another medication that will treat both hepatitis or cancer (though for cancer, it's not as effective as chemo), and we're dealing with all that.

He's just about the friendliest and most people-loving cat I've ever met (even non-cat people like him; they say he acts more like a dog), and it breaks my heart to see him all shaved from tests, losing weight, and generally tired. He's been acting more aloof the past few days as well, which has really worried us...it's just not his nature. Today has seemed better, though. I just want him to feel secure and loved, and know that he's cared for. I want him to live another 10 years, of course...but I'm not going to let him suffer. He's been too good a friend.

We've been together about 14 years, and he's been a faithful and loving pet through some of my darkest days. I hope he makes it through this. Here's to you, Thomas!!

A new bed

June 25, 2008 permalink | Comments (4)

Telecom immunity passes in the House

Well...THAT sucked. H.R. 6304 passes with little problem today in the house; the vote tally is here, if you're interested. In one sense, I'm not too surprised (though bitterly disappointed)...but in another I am. The Democrats in the House have fought this for months, only to capitulate today after holding out for so long. And to suggest this was a carefully crafted compromise is simply disingenuous; there is no question that the judicial overview described in this bill is simply a rubber stamp for anyone with a note from the President, which we already know the telecomms have.

Sad. Still, we'll have to see how things go in the Senate next week, I guess. Much thanks to the EFF, ACLU and others who worked so hard on this.

June 20, 2008 permalink | Comments (0)

KAZ: Episode 28

Here is the blip.tv page and direct MP3 download link for the June 19th episode.

I start today's podcast by chatting about getting my basal cell carcinoma chopped off and my cat Thomas being sick. I then move into discussing the results of playing Paul Fidalgo's music last time (he's a cool dude), and my new online obsess...er, apps: FriendFeed, brightkite, and Fire Eagle. Web 2.0 jazziness all...with location awareness to boot! I then play another Paul Fidalgo song, and get outa here. (If you want a brightkite invite, let me know, and I'll kick them out as long as I have some).

play this podcast

June 19, 2008 permalink | Comments (0)

Call your Representative to oppose H.R. 6304

I'm in the middle of prepping for a podcast...but I stopped for a quick, blatantly political post, because time is short. Congress expects to vote on H.R. 6304 probably tomorrow (I just spoke to my Congressman's office, and they said they expected the vote on Friday), and telecom immunity for warrantless spying just scratches the surface of the problems with this bill. It basically takes judicial review completely out of the loop on surveillance of phone calls, emails, and all sorts of communications by the American public. There's a judicial process described, but it's been completely defanged, and leaves the government basically able to do what it will. It's blatantly unconstitutional, but the judicial review of the legislation itself will take years to work out.

The bill is so new that I can't even link to it's text above via Thomas, the Library of Congress' legislative repository. Enacting legislation in this fashion isn't deliberative...it's an arm-twisting, secretive attempt to increase executive branch authority, and gain immunity from prosecution for the telecommunications companies that need to instead have their day in court. You may or may not agree with me 100% on this, but I urge you to call your Representatives to vote 'No'; this is wrong. This is not a compromise.

Some links:

UPDATE: The EFF guys are on it; they've got the text of the bill available (http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/att/FISAINTRO_001_xml.pdf), as well as an analysis piece (http://www.eff.org/files/AnalysisHR6304-v5.pdf). Thanks, EFF!!

June 19, 2008 permalink | Comments (0)

Dave Slusher on leaving Twitter for Friendfeed

My buddy Dave Slusher just posted a well-written, thorough overview on leaving Twitter for FriendFeed with the minimum of fuss, and the maximum of your Twitter network.

I watched Dave start this process a few days back, and traded thoughts with him as he pieced together this workflow. I'm 100% on board with him here...in fact, I'm dropping my own half-written post on the same subject, and just referring to his post instead. Twitter was nice, and a great proof-of-concept, but FriendFeed is flat-out superior. Just move...and Dave gives you the scoop on how. Thanks, Dave!

June 15, 2008 permalink | Comments (0)

Switching to FriendFeed from Twitter

So I've been playing with FriendFeed for a couple weeks now, after my initial total dissage. I'm liking it, I'm liking some of the tools and API functionality I've found, and some of my online compadres are coming to the same conclusion I am: Twitter was Round 1, but it's time to move on.

I'll keep my account, of course, and I can probably even sync some updates over there...but I expect my @replies there will drop off. Picking up your friends and connections to move can definitely be a PITA, but the fact that FriendFeed is in one sense an aggregator of other stuff (like Twitter) helps with that quite a bit. Incrementally moving over becomes a bit easier...and even if a Twitter buddy doesn't have a FF account, there's a nifty imaginary friend feature that lets you create a stand-in account. Good idea; it further reduces the cost of jumping on board.

However, I also struggle with the centralization these sorts of services do; the way in which they pull the conversation away from the primary source. I saw the notification for Dave Slusher's decision to move in FriendFeed, for example, but I deliberately chose to respond at his blog instead of in FF (and then steal shamelessly from my comment there for this *grin*). I think both styles can work, but I don’t want to lose commenting directly at blogs b/c we’re all interacting in meta-meta-meta services. I guess it’s just a balance to be aware of.

Come on in, the water's fine, all.

June 14, 2008 permalink | Comments (0)

Habeas rights affirmed by SCOTUS

Court gives detainees habeas rights - Wow. Joy. Awesome.

I realize this freaks a lot of people out and makes them see red...but really, this is right the right thing to do. It doesn't mean that bad people go free. It means bad people get a trial, and then (if guilty) punished...which is the bedrock, the very foundation on which our freedoms rest. You can muddy the waters all you want with danger to the troups, and people will die, and whatever protestations you want. But when you hit rock bottom, our Constitution doesn't say do whatever it takes to keep people safe. It, in fact, constrains the government's ability to arbitrarily defend you, in order to preserve the more basic rights. Without freedom, you don't have anything. Without law, you don't have freedom. You just have to hope you stay on the King's good side.

Thanks very much to all the groups and people that worked so hard to argue this. Don't forget to support them. And don't forget...our next President will very likely replace some of the Justices that voted in the majority in this decision. In my opinion, SCOTUS appointments are probably the single most important thing to consider in upcoming election. (Note: I didn't say the only thing; I said single most important thing. *grin*)

June 12, 2008 permalink | Comments (0)

Meet (maybe) Democracy 2.0

I've (mostly) stayed out of direct political discussion during the primary period; though I've made notes to myself in my outboard brain. Not that I'm secretive about my political views...but the general election is really the place where one makes their case to everyone. So I'm planning some discussions of who I'm voting for, and why, because I think it's important to talk this stuff out. We all say our minds won't change...but sometimes they do. I'm an existence proof of that! *grin*

A good starting point, I think, is Doc Searl's post Meet the new boss, nothing like the old boss, which discusses and links to a post by Dave Winer: Blow up the Beltway. Both of them make excellent points that I hope we take to heart this election year. I hope BOTH parties take this opportunity to blow up the Beltway, shake things up, point off-site, and try some new ideas on for size. Here's to hoping.

June 9, 2008 permalink | Comments (0)

RepRap achieves self-replication

It may seem like I'm making a big deal about nothing...but I can assure you that I'm not. My jaw dropped, and I pumped my fist in the air at my desk when I saw this BoingBoing post: RepRap universal constructor achieves self-replication. Not that I didn't think it would happen...but to see it, to see the post...it's awesome.

I feel strongly that rapid fabrication technologies are the Free Software of ...well, of hardware. Of real stuff. A RepRap (more properly, one of the rapidly evolving descendants) plus information will be making stuff for you in a relatively short time. Things that today you would buy from someone who purchased it from a distributor who has a deal with a wholesaler that ships it by the container-full from China. And your stuff can be customized at manufacture for you; not the kinda-but-not-quite what I wanted that you get from the store. Designs of both items and replicators will be shared, and will evolve. I can't wait.

June 4, 2008 permalink | Comments (2)