Posts for June 2008

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!!

UPDATE: Thomas passed away on August 3rd. He was a great cat, and will be missed. I love you, Thomas. Rest in peace.

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)

Winamp and last.fm scrobbling

I re-discovered Winamp a few months ago, after a long separation (thanks, Brent!)...I've tried a lot of music players/library managers on Windows, and Winamp is my present choice. (Songbird is coming along, but it's not QUITE where I want it yet). It slices, it dices, it organizes, it plays. Beautiful.

I realized today I'm missing a piece of the puzzle, though; last.fm audioscrobbling. Just about every other music player/device I use -- my Chumby, my Nokia 770, Banshee on my Linux box, etc. -- allows me to post my music played to last.fm, either directly or via a proxy. I haven't been doing that with Winamp though...a hole in my stats. *grumble* Tonight I noticed, and decided to fix it. I figured...hugely popular and long-lived app...how hard can it be? Eh...therein lies the rub. So I thought it'd be a good idea to drop some notes; for my future re-installs, and for anyone else it might help.

The issue is partially the long-livedness (is that a word?) of Winamp (and associated API drift), and partially the fact that the last.fm folks don't appear to be all that jazzed up over Winamp anymore, so it doesn't get a huge amount of plugin love/debugging. Regardless...the 5.5 upgrade to Winamp apparently whacked the existing audioscrobbler. After this was noticed by the community, who then proceeded to track down and identify the problem, a re-release of the plugin was announced. I got that, but I still had a problem with it; no config screen would pop up.

After more googling, I finally found a solution that worked for me (on WinXP SP2; ymmv). Two parts:

Install the 2.0.47 plugin linked off of this forum thread
Go to this page, and follow these directions (updating a dll)
(optional) Then config plugin with last.fm login info, if needed

Works like a CHAMP. I'm now updating last.fm via just about every connected music source I use. Just need to track down/wire up a method to do proper MTP-type mobile player info, and I'm 100%! Thanks to everyone on those threads and web pages for doing the gruntwork.

June 3, 2008 permalink | Comments (0)

Magnatune artist: Lara St. John

The online music label Magnatune recently added widgets for allowing you to embed Magnatune album players on your own site. Very nicely done, John! I wanted to try it out, and I just bought a really nice classical (Bach violin) album there by Lara St John. So here's the player: you can click through to her page and buy the album...well worth it!

Note: this, like all Magnatune players, is the whole album; these aren't 30 second snippets. John Buckman is amazingly generous, and really understands the next-generation music industry. I strongly encourage you to check out Magnatune and it's artists.

Bach Violin Concertos by Lara St John

June 2, 2008 permalink | Comments (0)

KAZ: Episode 27

Here is the blip.tv page (with embedded player; just click through to listen), and direct MP3 download link for the May 30th episode.

Woohoo! Less than 2 months have gone by. *grin* I reflect on my experience being BoingBoinged (ok, BoingBoinging myself), talk about my upcoming minor surgery for a small basal cell carcinoma, and introduce a new segment! I'm going to start adding some music recommendations, and I decided to start with one of my favorite new artists: Paul Fidalgo.

First track: Bussard Collector, from his EP, Jut. Paul is an awesome artist, and I really appreciate his permission to share this. Thanks, Paul! And if you enjoy his music (which you'll be hearing more of), make sure to go by Amie Street or iTunes and pick it up!

Note: I am as of this time (2008-06-01) experimenting with flash mp3 players. Currently you should see a play this podcast link next to the player below...click away and give it a try! Please let me know what you think.

play this podcast

June 1, 2008 permalink | Comments (0)

This wasn't the war the administration lied us into

In the midst of a huge, whacked-out, troll-besmirched ramblefest of a comment thread over on Charlie Stross' blog, a guy named Greg London gives one of the best return barrages against the what, don't you want us to succeed? refrain that I've ever read. He knocks it out of the park, IMO. Thanks to Greg for the analysis, and thanks to Charlie for letting that comment (and it's context) stick around, even in the midst of some pretty intense flamefestness. It was worth it.

June 1, 2008 permalink | Comments (0)

FriendFeed --- eh, bring it on

So, after my recent rant about FriendFeed suckage, why am I now giving you my FriendFeed url? Eh...experimentation, mostly. Plus, Twitter is pretty broken right now, and it's my primary off-the-cuff commenting tool. Since it's not working well, I figured I'd give FriendFeed a quick run across the dance floor in the meantime.

I've still got some reservations about FriendFeed, but it's API seems open and robust enough (unlike, say, Facebook's) that I can have some fun and learn something with it. We'll see...I've already learned quite a bit playing around with the Planet Ken stuff. I see the value of the social networking components...I just feel a lot of tension when it comes to the control and data portability issues.

Speaking of social networking and it's consequences; I also just finished a great G'Day World podcast today from back in March, where Cameron re-interviews Jamais Cascio. Their primary topic of conversation is a fascinating bit of work Jamais did for SXSW this year, for a panel called Futurists' Sandbox: Scenarios for Social Media, 2025.. His concept of The Chorus is quite mind-boggling, yet arguably quite a straightforward extrapolation. Definitely give the G'Day World podcast a listen.

June 1, 2008 permalink | Comments (0)

Radish - Indoor Solar-powered Calendar Display

Really nifty Google Code 20% project: Radish - a indoor solar-powered calendar display. Yep...indoor solar power; it uses so little energy that a solar cell charged by indoor lighting keeps it running, allows it to radio in (via ZigBee / 802.15.4) and get updated schedule info, and refresh the screen. I mean...damn!! Nice project, dude.

And last but not least...near the end of the video, the narrator jokingly suggests that the engineer (Aaron Spangler) could hook him up with a hack to let him trump any conference room reservation on demand. Aaron laughs, shrugs, and says ...sure. Put in a ticket. I think my DBA peeps will appreciate THAT one!

June 1, 2008 permalink | Comments (0)

LastGraph: Last.fm dataviz

If you're a last.fm user, you should definitely check out LastGraph. It's an amazing data visualization site that pulls in last.fm listening data and produces rich, fascinating graphics based on your listening history. I'm poking about in my own stream, and it's really cool to watch the ebb and flow of my listening habits. Check it out!

June 1, 2008 permalink | Comments (0)

Earlier posts -- Later posts