Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Comments on Internecine Blogger Warfare I tend to stay away from internecine blogger warfare, but I had to comment on what I saw transpire at this blog. Essentially, said blogger "outed" the previous online existence of another blogger. Consequently, said blogger was removed from the wonderful online aggregator that is Blogtimore, Hon. For one, I have to admit that I find it both callous and unrefined that said blogger outed the identity of another in a post on their blog. Doing something along these lines is akin to spreading gossip and innuendo at the office. You are posting something in an incredibly public forum that may or may not be true. If you are doing it to get a reaction from someone, then I believe you have some sort of odd problem. If you are doing it to prove a point, though, there are better and much more private ways of doing so. Most of the bloggers I read have email address and instant message IDs that can be used to ask a question of this nature. It would seem to me that using either of those avenues would have been the preferred alternative. To be honest, I fear that said blogger would have used any information he would have gleaned privately for public consumption, but that's just my opinion. The bottom line, however, is that information that should have been asked privately was asked publicly. Whether that information was right or wrong is not for me to judge, but I do think that making such an assertion in a private conversation and requesting permission to post that information is de rigueur (and if you do not know the meaning of that term, here it is). There is something that I must admit that I am a bit disturbed about. The powers that be at Blogtimore, Hon removed the offending blogger. I can see the reasoning behind it--and I think it is quite sound. Nonetheless, I am a bit worried that a precedent has been set that leads us down a slippery slope: the existence of a blog on Blogtimore's aggregator is in some part due to the personal whim of the folks behind Blogtimore. I realize that I may be taking something a bit too far, but it is a good point to raise. Ultimately, I think that there may need to be some "terms of use/membership/what have you" to govern things like this for those blogs listed on Blogtimore. Currently, the FAQ and blog.baltimore only mention that sites may be permanently removed for technical reasons. Although instances like this should be rare, something tells me that the geniuses behind Blogtimore, Hon may face this type of problem in the future. P.S. Don't delete me, Blogtimore geniuses! I greatly appreciate the service you provide! I just saw a potential "policy problem" that may rear its head in the future and thought I would bring it to your attention. Besides, no one reads me anyway. 8:33:37 PM    comment []  trackback []

Can I Be a Geek Without a Smartphone? My old faithful Pocket PC has finally bought the farm. I did not take it everywhere with me, but it was an excellent way to track things in the off-moment when I might have been away from the computer. I know what you are saying: "Jason, away from the computer!?!?!?!? INCONCEIVABLE!" Yeah, I admit it. Sometimes, I do not spend every breathing moment basking in the glow of a CRT or LCD panel, typing furiously away. My old personal digital assistant (PDA) was the Casio Cassiopeia E-125. It was the second generation of color PDA's running Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system. At the time, everyone loved Palm's, but I did not like how they synced my information with Outlook--it tended to be a royal pain in the ass. Also, their color screens blew, and I needed 65,536 colors, dammit. Behold its aged beauty below. With the trusty E-125 dead, I have been pondering a new PDA. One of my coworkers is trying to convince me to get a Treo 650. He uses one, and the managing partner at my new job has one, too. I refuse to do so. I am a firm believer of my phone being just a phone and my PDA being just that. I think the form-factor of the Treo 650 does not work--I have no desire to wear my gadgetry on my hip since it cannot fit in a shirt or pants pocket easily--I am one of those geeks who does not need to show off their geekiness. Besides, the new phone hotness I have is the Motorola E-815. So, smartphones are out. I noticed that Dell came out with the refresh of their Axim handheld line, the Axim X51 series. These handhelds are the same as their X50 line, with a bump in the size of ROM and a minor upgrade to Windows Mobile 5.0. Behold the beauty of the Axim X51 I am looking at: I am scouring the sites to see if I can find the Axim X50 with an upgrade to Windows Mobile 5.0, as I figure I should be able to get that pretty cheaply. If I can swing that, I would be really happy. So, my fellow geeks, I ask your advice. Is this the PDA I should get, or should I look at something else? 8:05:05 PM    comment []  trackback []

Why I Need to Subscribe to The Economist I used to subscribe to The Economist when I was an undergraduate at Boston University.  For my trip to Vegas, I picked up the September 10th edition at the newsstand.  It was a good reminder of why I need to subscribe to it again.  Obviously, the focus of the magazine can be a bit dry--economic data and other similar reporting.  Like most foreign news sources, its articles are much better than some of its domestic counterparts.  Also, The Economist tends to be a bit conservative in its coverage--possibly reflecting the tone of the information it covers.  Unfortunately, their web content requires a subscription.  I have stayed away from much of the Katrina outrage--why beat a dead horse.  In reading the article "The shaming of America," though, I had to say something.  Here is an summary of what the article has to say, in its own words: "Since Hurricane Katrina, the world's view of America has changed.  The disaster has exposed some shocking truths about the place: the bitterness of its sharp racial divide, the abandonment of the dispossessed, the weakness of critical infrastructure.  But the most astonishing and most shaming revelation has been of its government's failure to bring succour to its people at their time of greatest need.  ... Local government must shoulder some of the blame.  ... Still, Washington is mostly at fault.  The responsibility for mobilising the response to a disaster lies squarely with the federal government.  And the responsibility for galvanising the federal government lies squarely with the president.  ... Mr Bush's personal weakness is shaming; but the structural failures in government that Katrina has revealed are perhaps more worrying.  After September 11th Mr Bush poured billions into creating the Department of Homeland Security, but the department has flunked its first big test.  It is a bureaucratic monstrosity... The second structural problem is Washington's addiction to pork-barrel spending...Although this thing is endemic in Washington, it has got far worse since the Republicans took over both the White House and Congress.  ... The most urgent task is to address the mess that is the Department of Homeland Security.  He [Mr Bush] should upgrade FEMA and re-examine the wisdom of bundling disaster relief with terrorism prevention.  He needs to confront the corrupt legislative culture in Washington: the job of the president is to look to the national interest rather than reward his friends.  If he managed to persuade Congress to regurgitate the pork in the transport bill, that would go a long way towards paying for rebuilding the levees.  And he needs to start wielding his red pencil and exercising his right to veto bad legislation.  If Mr Bush addresses America's failings with the same vigour that he addressed Islamic terrorism in the wake of September 11th, he has a chance of reinvigorating his presidency and restoring respect in his country; if he doesn't, he will go the way of his father, limping wounded into retirement." I could not have said it more intelligently or cogently myself.  7:41:53 PM    comment []  trackback []

More on Vegas Friday through Monday, I spent the weekend in Las Vegas.  I was part of a group attending a bachelor party for a friend.  We all stayed at the Imperial Palace, an older casino and hotel on the Vegas Strip.  In my previous two trips to Las Vegas--one for a group bachelor party in 2001 and the other in 2004 for a guy's weekend--I stayed at the Luxor and the MGM Grand, respectively.  Compared to the Palace, both of these hotels were much better.  The room I shared with a friend at the Palace was somewhere outside of Las Vegas.  Getting to the room was much like the opening montage in Get Smart--going through doors, taking elevators, and going through other doors and down hallways.  After arriving the first night, we promptly began the evening by drinking.  Of course, it was about 1:30 AM Saturday morning to our bodies, but that did not matter.  Much drinking was done, and the bachelor was made quite tipsy.  I went to bed when I could no longer stay up around 3:15 AM, only to be woken up an hour later by my hotel roommate telling me of his winnings.  We all woke up early on Saturday morning--actually around 8:30 AM.  We wanted to get some breakfast and meet up to partake in some sports betting--Saturday had some college football games that my friends wanted to bet on.  We had breakfast at Carnegie Deli in The Mirage, and then we made our way up the strip to the new Wynn Las Vegas.  It was at the Wynn we would spend most of our afternoon.  The Wynn was quite nice.  That night, the usual bachelor party event of attending a strip club--nothing new there except lots of silicon and make-up.  More drinking took place, and I called it a night at 3:45 AM again.  As my friend said, Saturday was the longest day ever--I swear it was a 36 hour day.  Sunday started later--thankfully.  We made our way to Bally's to take in and--in some cases--bet on Sunday's NFL games.  I watched the first half of the Ravens-Titans game, and I could take no more.  I went back to the hotel to take a nap--the six-espresso shot did little to help me stay awake.  After football, the group took it easy.  We spent the evening enjoying drinks and stuff in the Penthouse suite the bachelor had, and called it a night.  On Monday, after the first full night's sleep, we headed out to the airport.  My flight was uneventful--a small stopover in Birmingham, Alabama--before I arrived in Baltimore ten minutes early.  After the weekend, it was nice to come home.  On Vegas, though, I have to agree with the opinions of MHG.  I have been three times, and each time I wind up getting bored.  Sure, it is fun to have drinks and hang out with my friends.  There is the problem that I have with Vegas: the obscene price gouging you experience everywhere in the town.  I could do without paying $3.7 million for a sandwich.  Also, I am not a big gambler--aside from a couple of dollars here and there in a video poker machine, I bet on the Notre Dame-Michigan State game and lost.  There is nothing more painful to hear then the constant din of the slot and video poker machines, and it gets depressing when you see some of the people slavishly pulling the one-armed bandit.  To sum it up, Vegas is a shiny, technical New Orleans, without the charm and fun.  7:16:22 PM    comment []  trackback []