Thu, 18 Aug 2005
Plazes is pretty cool new service that tracks
your physical location based on the MAC address of your default gateway. The
idea is that when you connect to a network, a litle program on your computer
called a launcher checks your
default route, looks up its MAC address in your arp cache
(doing something like
netstat -rn | grep '^0\.0\.0\.0' | awk '{print $2}' | xargs /usr/sbin/arp | tail -1 | awk '{print
$3}'), and sends it to Plazes.
If it's a MAC address that Plazes doesn't know about yet, it lets you put in a
name for the location and an address. Then you can share your location,
perhaps by integrating it into an IM client or on your blog.
You can also look up the
location of a Plaze user using a url such as http://beta.plazes.com/whereis/xn,
and you can look for people within a certain radius of your location.
Note that if you're using the GTK launcher on Debian, it expects to find arp in
/sbin.
tech | Permanent Link
I have been using Schick Tracer
FX razor for years. It's a great razor; the best feature is that its two
blades flex, giving a close shave for people without two-dimensional faces.
It's increasingly difficult to find Tracer FX blades, though. Apparently,
Schick has eliminated the product, and replaced it with the Xtreme 3 (3 blades)
and the Quatro (4 blades), which reminds me of this:
Hitchhiker: You heard of this thing, the 8-Minute Abs?
Ted Stroehmann: Yeah, sure, 8-Minute Abs. Yeah, the excercise video.
Hitchhiker: Yeah, this is going to blow that right out of the water. Listen to this: 7... Minute... Abs.
Ted Stroehmann: Right. Yes. OK, alright. I see where you're going.
Hitchhiker: Think about it. You walk into a video store, you see
8-Minute Abs sittin' there, there's 7-Minute Abs right beside it. Which
one are you gonna pick, man?
Ted Stroehmann: I would go for the 7.
Hitchhiker: Bingo, man, bingo. 7-Minute Abs. And we guarantee just as good a workout as the 8-minute folk.
Ted Stroehmann: You guarantee it? That's -- how do you do that?
Hitchhiker: If you're not happy with the first 7 minutes, we're
gonna send you the extra minute free. You see? That's it. That's our
motto. That's where we're comin' from. That's from "A" to "B".
Ted Stroehmann: That's right. That's -- that's good. That's
good. Unless, of course, somebody comes up with 6-Minute Abs. Then
you're in trouble, huh?
[Hitchhiker convulses]
Hitchhiker: No! No, no, not 6! I said 7. Nobody's comin' up with
6. Who works out in 6 minutes? You won't even get your heart goin, not
even a mouse on a wheel.
Ted Stroehmann: That -- good point.
Hitchhiker: 7's the key number here. Think about it. 7-Elevens.
7 doors. 7, man, that's the number. 7 chipmunks twirlin' on a branch,
eatin' lots of sunflowers on my uncle's ranch. You know that old
children's tale from the sea. It's like you're dreamin' about
Gorgonzola cheese when it's clearly Brie time, baby. Step into my
office.
Ted Stroehmann: Why?
Hitchhiker: 'Cause you're fuckin' fired!
Update (09/15/05): The above is even more apropos with the announcment
of Gillette's Super-Mega-Turbo-Mach-Power,
5-blade, facial-hair-obliterating gizmo. (via Seth)
Anyway, fretting the day when my supply of Tracer FX blades runs out, I have
been on the lookout for a replacement razor. Enticed by a four-dollar Costco
coupon, I bought a Mach3
Power. I knew the razor-cum-vibrator was a marketting gimmick and a way
for Gillette to sell more Duracell batteries now that many battery-powered
devices come with Lithium-Ion or other rechargable batteries.
But, just what if all of those Ph.D.'s slaving away for years in Gillette's
labs really did make a huge breakthrough in shaving technology. Did I really
want to miss out on the revolution? (It was televised, but my Tivo sheltered
me from the 30-second clips.)
In short, the Mach3 Power is nothing special. Because it's vibrating, it
sounds similar to barbers' clippers. This doesn't make for a better shave,
though. I'm also not very fond of the swiveling cartridge; I feel like I don't
have enough control of it.
I'll be on the lookout for old stock of Tracer FX blades before they become a
relic of history.
Update: I guess it's "Mach3" rather than "Mach 3". I've made the
appropriate copy changes.
business » marketing | Permanent Link
Join a church. Separate from state.
While doing my taxes this year, I discovered IRS Form 4029 which allows
an individual to opt out of social security and medicare. To do so, you must
be conscientiously opposed to accepting benefits of any private or public
insurance that makes payments in the event of death, disability, old age, or
retirement; or makes payments for the cost of medical care; or provides
services for medical care. While I am conscientiously opposed to public
insurance, I have no objections to private insurance. Of course, there are a
couple other stipulations. You must also join a collectivist organization with
a belief in the supernatural which has been in existance since at least 1950.
Individuals who wish to be self-sufficient or participate in private insurance
programs rather than be part of the state's welfare system are unable to do so.
I find this to be egregious. I have contact my elected representatives in
Congress to let them know how I feel, but I'm not expecting much considering
that both Senators Boxer and Feinstein have petitions on their home
pages to preserve social security as is.
Here's the short note I sent to Congressman Sherman and the Senators,
and the non-responsive form letter response from Ms. Boxer.
Congressman Sherman,
As President Bush and Congress are currently working on the reform of Social
Security, I would like to propose that one of the reforms include the ability
of citizens to opt out of participation in the Social Security and Medicare
insurance programs.
Being a responsible individual, I plan to save enough money during my
productive years to fund my retirement until death. I am conscientiously
opposed to accepting welfare from the state and would be happy to waive all
rights to Social Security benefits in return for not being required to
contribute to the program. Such an option is available to members of certain
religious organizations, and I would appreciate your support in ending such
unconstitutional discrimination.
Thank you for you time and I would be delighted to hear your thoughts on the
issue.
Sincerely,
Christian Warden
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2005 09:21:31 -0500
From: senator@boxer.senate.gov
To: cwarden@xerus.org
Subject: Responding to your message
March 4, 2005
Mr. Christian Warden
18531 Prairie Street, Apartment 214
Northridge, California 91324-3156
Dear Mr. Warden:
Thank you for writing to express your concerns about President Bush's
plan to partially privatize Social Security. I appreciate hearing from
you.
Social Security is a crucial insurance program and an indispensable
safety net for our people. It has been enormously successful. Before
Social Security, over half of all seniors were poor. Today, 10 percent
live in poverty. That is still too many, and we want to take care of that.
What we do not want to do is go back to the days when 50 percent of our
seniors were living in poverty.
Under the President's plan, Social Security benefits would be cut by
45 percent. The average yearly payment would be only $5,700, which is 35
percent below the poverty line. That would be a tragic reversal of fortune
for our people.
Certainly we know that Social Security needs periodic adjustments.
However, President Bush is misleading the American people by calling this a
"crisis." According to the Social Security Trustees, there is enough money
to pay full benefits until 2042. And according to the Congressional Budget
Office, there is enough money to pay full benefits until 2052.
Now more than ever -- as we are faced with an aging population, the
imminent retirement of the baby boom generation, the costs of the war on
terrorism, 40 million Americans without healthcare, and a ballooning budget
deficit of well over $400 billion -- we cannot afford to divert needed
funds away from an already stressed Social Security system. ^L
This is too much of a risk to take with funds that so many workers
are counting on for their retirement. Privatization would also impact
people with disabilities, survivors of deceased workers, and 3
million children who depend on Social Security benefits. I feel
strongly that we should not weaken Social Security or compromise its
financial condition. Rest assured, I am committed to preserving the
integrity of Social Security for generations to come. And it is not
difficult to solve this challenge, just as we did in 1983.
Again, thank you for taking the time to voice your concerns. Please
continue to keep me informed about the issues that matter to you.
Sincerely,
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
Disclaimer: As a child, my mother received welfare. And while it
allowed her to spend time raising me, given the choice, I would not want to be
a burden on my neighbors.
business » taxes | Permanent Link
In response to Kansas
becoming the latest state wanting to teach "Intelligent
Design" in a science classroom, one of Denisa's professors, Robert
Cleve, suggested that doing so is akin to splitting a physics class in two,
and teaching magic during the second half. I thought that was a clever and apt
analogy.
culture | Permanent Link
