Patrick’s Rants

We spent the last few days (May 23 - May 26. I was slow posting this) at Dead Horse Ranch State Park camping, hiking and the kids even got into the water. We went down Friday evening. Since I had a few things I had to take care of, I left work around 11:00am and didn’t go back. I just couldn’t deal with a day of work after my morning (a future blog topic to be sure, but not something I’m ready to write about).

We got to the park around 7:00 pm or so and started setting up camp in the rain. The wind was trying to blow the tent over the whole time we were setting up and we were all pretty well drenched by the time we got just the tent up. I was in a foul mood and the weather wasn’t making it any better. I had water running down my legs, my decent jacket was soaked through although it should have stayed dry.

The tent sites were in an area titled, “NORVS” which my wife pointed out was NO RVs with inadequate spacing. If you like spending time next to your neighbors this is the campground to pick. Site spacing is small and spaces are not especially private. On the plus side there are showers, running water in the bathrooms and all of the roads are paved. For $5.00 you can buy a banana box full of 2×4 trimmings to use as firewood (there is no wood collecting allowed) from the volunteer hosts. For $11.00 per night* for non-electric spaces the rate wasn’t too bad.

Saturday rained off and on all day. We started a fire in the morning that managed to stay lit all day despite the on and off sprinkling. I had to show J how to get a fire started with just one (box of) match. Everything was so damp the fire just didn’t want to get started. We managed to cook our meals, nap and just hang out.

Sunday, the sun came up and dried things out. We took a couple of hikes and decided to look for water to swim in. There weren’t many places that the kids could get into the water - it’s more of a boating and fishing environment, but there was one place by the edge of the Verde River in the day use area that the kids were able to wade into for a while. They were happy.

Later we ran off to Super Wal-Mart in Cottonwood to grab a card game since I forgot to bring my games. We settled on UNO since we didn’t have that one yet. (That game has really changed since I played it as a kid. The cards are dumbed down so that anyone can understand them, with a little help.) We played a few hands while dinner was cooking and then stayed up watching the fire and talking until we decided to hit the hay.

Monday was not really eventful, we packed up and left.

*Subject to seasonal adjustment. AZ Parks Fee Schedule

I tried to send the following feedback on the Coconino County GIS web site:

I recently attempted to use the beta version of GIS maps and discovered that despite the fact that Firefox is nearing a 20% market share this government site is not ready to serve me or the other users of web browsers other than Internet Explorer. I have used the existing site with Firefox with no problems. I, as many Firefox users, feel that Internet Explorer is an inferior browser that leaves users exposed to malicious programmers whereas Firefox allows users to install extensions and add-ons (such as NoScript) to protect themselves from mass attacks that turn ordinary web sites into malicious hosts.

I was further frustrated to find that although there is a request for feedback on the beta, there is no direct link from the map page to the feedback form. Instead I had to directly enter the coconino.az.gov/gis.aspx address into my browser in order to find the feedback form; there does not appear to be a direct link back to the department web pages from within the map-gis.coconino.az.gov (I tend to directly enter this address in my browser)

I would appreciate the courtesy of a reply to my email address included above.

Of course I probably won’t get a reply, instead it doesn’t appear that the email even got sent. It’s some bogus javascript that didn’t seem to perform the actions in the function when I clicked the Send button.
It’s frustrating when the agencies that are tasked with providing services to citizens choose to support a convicted monopolist. Microsoft is struggling to maintain its market position by forcing through an ISO vote attempting to create a new document standard being called OOXML (Office Open XML) (which is becoming increasingly contested by the member nations) a 6000 page specification that does nothing to make Microsoft Office any more open.

It’s time for our local government to focus on platform neutral implementations of existing standards instead of relying on proprietary extensions and broken features in support of a company whose only goal is to try to maintain its grip on its failing monopoly. If Microsoft is still considered a monopoly then part of its punishment should be that the government does not support its ongoing business model. If Microsoft is not to be considered a monopoly then the government should rightly support the growing number of users who use something other than Microsoft and Internet Explorer.

I walked into the Dispatch office yesterday just before my shift and realized that I had to get out and drive. Two of us had decided that since I wanted to go camping this coming weekend that I could come in early (4:00am) on Friday, #1 would take the day off and #2 could close up. If it had been anyone else on the floor they would have agreed to closing, but this is #2. She argued that she could come in and open since I had opened the last two times that #1 was out. That’s because the last that #2 was allowed to open she showed up after 5:00 am (late), left greasy takeout containers on top of the computer (kitchen grease on the CPU anyone?) and generally annoyed people. The truth is, #2 doesn’t get and we’re not gonna fight it anymore. I’m leaving on Saturday morning instead of tomorrow afternoon.

Just when I think it’s done, there is a forecast for more snow. Per weather.com,

SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 6 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED ABOVE 7000 FEET WITH 6 TO 12 INCHES ABOVE 7500 FEET AND 12 TO 18 INCHES ABOVE 8000 FEET. LOCALLY HEAVIER AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE AT THE HIGHEST ELEVATIONS OF NORTHERN ARIZONA.

And I’m supposed to go camping this weekend.

K12LTSP EL5 64 bit. Based on CentOS 5.
K12LTSP 64 bit dvd

If you’ve been following what the recording industry cartel has been doing to people (running roughshod over the legal system, extorting funds from paralyzed individuals, dead people, grandmothers and little children) you will - no doubt - enjoy this sliver of hope and sanity offered by a judge in Florida.
Recording Industry vs. The People

(Updated 5/6/08)
Our “coupons” for DTV convertor boxes arrived on Saturday. My wife immediately went out and bought one at the local Radio Shack. It was the base model of course, but what more did we need? What more indeed.

Here’s the thing. Since we live in Flagstaff we are on a “translator” or a type of repeater antenna for stations that are in the valley - Phoenix. Translators are not required to switch over in the same time frame as the station itself, so while the station may be broadcasting in DTV format, they are under no apparent requirement to convert for those of us in outlying areas.

We get several stations off air here:

• 2: the local NBC affiliate
• 13: a Spanish language station, also local
• 14: translated from PBS 8
• 28: translated from “My 45″ the wholly-owned Fox baby station where they air the stuff that’s too racy for Fox itself
• 30: rinky dink local station that’s kinda fun once in a while
• 39 & 48: translated from 10, Phoenix based Fox 10 affiliate
• 50: translated from 5, Phoenix based CBS affiliate
• 52: translated from 15, Phoenix based ABC affiliate
• 54: translated from 3, Phoenix based independent

And there’s a religious channel in there as well, but I always deprogram it so I can’t say which channel it is.

After plugging in the DTV converter box we got two channels; local 2 and the spanish language station. I decided to hop onto the web sites of the TV stations to find out when I could see the new digital stations. Here are the results of poking around on each station’s web site. (more…)

In a surprising move against the music industry a judge has ruled against the RIAA.

The entire ruling is available in PDF format.
Just having files on your computer is not considered infringement if we follow this ruling. Making copies of your CDs to play on your computer and your MP3 player will not be considered infringement. And it shouldn’t be. There is a concept of fair use that consumers have been able to fall back on. If I buy a CD I can listen to it in my car, on my MP3 player and I can make copies for backup purposes. Note that I wrote, “if I buy a CD”. I don’t personally (nor by extension do any of my family members) download music that I haven’t paid for unless the creators have made it available. Nor do we trade CDs or any of the other stuff that is explicitly illegal. The fair use stuff I’m going to keep doing.

K12LTSP based on CentOS 5, dvd format
K12LTSP_v5EL-dvd
Grab it, burn it seed it.

This is why some people call it Digital Restrictions Management:
Don’t bother to try listening to your music on another computer. You don’t own it, you don’t have the right to play it, Bill Gates gets to decide when, where and how you listen to music you bought rented from him.
And in case you didn’t follow the links in the story, Major League Baseball isn’t without its own faults.
I want my music, my movies, my entertainment unlocked and available for me to play when where and how I want. I will not buy restricted or encumbered music.