So I performed an upgrade on my main work machine earlier this month, bumping up to CarbonLib 1.6 and AppleScript 1.8.3. The box runs Mac OS 9.1 (and is going to until OS X has a native version of Acrobat Distiller, that can interact politely with classic apps), and has a number of scripts I cobbled together to reduce certain tedious acts to just tedious waiting for the scripts to finish...

The scripts are saved as applets (I can drag and drop folders on them to process their contents recursively), and evidently stopped working right after the upgrade (yes, I didn't think to check them immediately after the upgrade). After a fruitless trip to the Apple KnowledgeBase, I searched Google using the same phrase '"-1750" applescript osa'. Lo and behold, the solution to this problem exists in the release notes for AppleScript v1.8.3, and involves renaming the files to not end in ".app", which has a reserved usage under OS X. Files renamed to end with the word " applet" now work again as expected.

You know, we make those readme files and release notes available for a reason.... ;-)

8:03:51 PM  [] blah blah blah'd on this    

I'm guessing the winerlog will be all over this one...

Historian Stephen Ambrose, who is interviewed on the PBS News Hour today: "You can do whatever the hell you want. Who's going to criticize you? And if they do, what the hell do you care?"

DaveW, fresh from his recent battles in the Queso DG (lotsa jousting about proper attribution for who actually coined the terms blog, weblog, and other related facts during the early days of blogging) quotes Stephen Ambrose, who has been accused of plagiarism. Ambrose was alleged to have done so (serious enough instances that students at UVA, for instance, would be expelled for the same actions, even if they attempted to use Ambrose's own defense) in at least five of his books.

I think Ambrose's quote explains a lot about how he handled his own controversy, and how it came about in the first place. Saint Stephen he is not...

Update: It's really a Rashomon world we all live in, isn't it? DaveW shares his backstory on how he came across the article in the comments below. I don't know how aware DaveW was of Ambrose's alleged transgressions, and I honestly think Dave was concentrating on the recent terminal diagnosis and Ambrose's stated attitude [confirmed via private email]. Because of my own reaction to Ambrose's name and knowledge of his notoriety, I interpreted Dave's posting of that quote differently.

7:49:42 PM  [] blah blah blah'd on this    [ blinked via Scripting News ]

This is getting uglier as more details come out. Security for students must begin before they arrive on your campus, must surround the application process, and should continue after students have left the institution. Training about security-related issues must occur at all levels of the university, and not just techy-talk, either. Administrators must be trained to think a little harder beyond the initial obvious options, and be made aware of problems that various 'solutions' make available. Receptionists, secretaries, and other support staff also need to be made aware of how seemingly innocent data can be combined for criminal acts. Security is not an easy thing to do well, but the impact of doing it poorly can be very harmful to a school's reputation.

I know of one major midwestern university that has had three prominent opportunities to learn some of these lessons the hard way...

Princeton Says a Few Students Had Access to Yale Web Site. Princeton University said on Monday that a few people who used campus computers to gain access to a Yale Web site for applicants were not university employees but students.

Login using the applicant's birthday and Social Security Number! SSN! Hello? I would imagine that a future Yalie might be an nice target for identity theft, so as to commit financial fraud. The opportunity to tap into such a bankroll might make the effort of intercepting and cracking the encrypted data stream appear attractive for someone with too much information and computing power, and too few ethics. All of which appear to be in great supply lately...

SSNs shouldn't be used outside of the financial aid or bursar's office, and never as a student ID number. Period. Any other (ab)use of this information by the school should be actionable. Full stop.

8:42:44 AM  [] blah blah blah'd on this    [ blinked via New York Times: Education ]

I've been trying to get to some Conversant-hosted sites (Duncan, Jim R, Seth's own blog...) over the last few days, but have had no success. Are they getting waxed by the DDoS against the RIAA, or is there some other explanation?

7:51:04 AM  [] blah blah blah'd on this