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-- Jorge Luis Borges, "The Library of Babel" |
domingo, septiembre 30, 2001
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linkydink I've been generating anagrams of my name for a Crypto assignment. Using "TIMOTHY WHITCOMBE JONES" as the seed, and ignoring spaces and punctuation, you can create lines like:
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linkydink Dude, that means at least half of this blog's regular posters use fennel toothpaste. I say we put fennel toothpast in the blog header graphic. And does anyone else find the Tom's Of Maine's free Echinacea Tonic sample that comes with the fennel toothpaste a little sketchy? I'm a little leery about bonus drugs in my toothpaste, even if they are "natural" and "herbal"...
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linkydink Yum, cmoore has converted me to fennel toothpaste. Folkgurl's vocal drop was superfly. Soon she will rule the broadcasting universe.
sábado, septiembre 29, 2001
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linkydink II am currently residing in the strange limbo-land between grad and truly post-grad life. Am I allowed to go to that college party with all my friends 20 minutes from my house or should I stay home and do research for my next freelance news gig? Is there really any such thing as leisure reading, or is it really all about filling my brain with useful background information? Does anyone know of one or several worthy news/culture oriented online zines I should be reading? I will probably read any such things in the Trinity College computer lab before going to the office to do so, I'd rather deal with clueless Trin Trin campers than the inquiring minds of my fellow journalists - they can sometimes make me feel a little inadequate and very self-conscious about my every move. My heart is threatening to thump out of my chest right now as I play back the station breaks I am broadcasting during my shift at Connecticut Public Radio tonight. I pre-recorded them, but it's my voice, it's my career on the line, or is it? Fortunately, the NPR feed has already screwed up twice which sortof softens any mistakes I might have made. My parents called me after they heard the first break to tell me how professional I sound, "not like the way you sound on the phone sometimes", says Dad - they're so cute! If you want to make your own assessment of my most recent babystep into the adult realm of careerdom you can check me out henceforth on WNPR from 5-10pm.
viernes, septiembre 28, 2001
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linkydink "They underestimated America. They underestimated our resolve, our determination, our love for freedom. They misunderestimated the fact that we love a neighbor in need. They misunderestimated the compassion of our country. I think they misunderestimated the will and determination of the Commander-in-Chief, too."
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linkydink "Thousands of individuals are abducted by extraterrestrial beings each year. Who do the aliens choose, and why haven't they chosen you?"
miércoles, septiembre 26, 2001
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linkydink "As a 'Federal terrorism offense,' the five year statute of limitations for hacking would be abolished retroactively -- allowing computer crimes committed decades ago to be prosecuted today -- and the maximum prison term for a single conviction would be upped to life imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal justice system."
martes, septiembre 25, 2001
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linkydink Digital Version 2.1: Eerie folk-music-gone-jungle by LA "Avant-Folkist" Mia Doi Todd, via Emperor Norton and Dublab.
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linkydink Umm. Can I just say that Ozomatli played at Pearl Street in Northampton on Saturday... a few hours after I left Northampton, completely oblivious? This is surely the sort of thing that compels people to believe God is laughing at them.
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linkydink Another interesting cultural barometer is amazon.com's book top-sellers. Compare with amazon.co.uk's hot 100 books. [Thanks, Need To Know.]
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linkydink And the number one rising Google-query in the wake of last week's tragedy? Nostradamus. In light of this, I feel the need to propagate Joanna Vaught's excellent and open-minded debunking of the Nostadamus-WTC connection.
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linkydink I started blogging the other night to tell you all about how my last two weeks have been. I was working at Pratt & Whitney during that whole epriod setting up for a conference in which they presented their fighter-jet engines. I did a couple of stories for Connecticut Public Radio too, trying to do what I could to shed a little hope and understanding on this whole mess. I was working overtime. I am exhausted, physically, emotionally, spiritually - just like everybody else. It seems like every conversation, and certainly everything in the media is colored by this thing - nothing else matters. But other things do matter. And this is all going to sound like a cliche now too, but I'll say it anyway, because it's what I'm genuinely feeling now: It's fall, the leaves are turning, the weather is beautiful, go play in the orchard, pick apples, be an American and a global citizen.
lunes, septiembre 24, 2001
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linkydink last thursday coren and i drove to Boston for Gender Crash, where Bear was the featured reader. ze was, as usual, amazing. ze's posted most of the things ze read in hir journal. go read 'em.
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linkydink My final project for Cryptography and Network Security: A class presentation and 15-page research paper on anything I want. Suggestions? [1625h, 9/25: links fixed, thanks Julian]
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linkydink "In these emotional times, we in the crypto community find ourselves having to defend our technology from well-intentioned but misguided efforts by politicians to impose new regulations on the use of strong cryptography. I do not want to give ammunition to these efforts by appearing to cave in on my principles. I think the article correctly showed that I'm not an ideologue when faced with a tragedy of this magnitude. Did I re-examine my principles in the wake of this tragedy? Of course I did. But the outcome of this re-examination was the same as it was during the years of public debate, that strong cryptography does more good for a democratic society than harm, even if it can be used by terrorists. Read my lips: I have no regrets about developing PGP."
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linkydink "Citing worldwide reaction to last week's terrorist attacks, multi-national terror network Al Qaeda announced Thursday that it would lay off 5,000 or more holy warriors." [via MetaFilter]
domingo, septiembre 23, 2001
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linkydink more hypertext stories from my Digital Humanities syllabus: - Six Sex Scenes - The Roar of Destiny Eminated From My Refrigerator
sábado, septiembre 22, 2001
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linkydink "When people ask if I and my family are OK, I say, 'We were affected in a unique way - my Dad is one of the architects who designed the World Trade Center. I remember seeing the models as a kid. I sort of grew up with the Trade Center.'"
viernes, septiembre 21, 2001
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linkydink A crosspost from cmoore's Dailyjolt: It's a real balancing act.
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linkydink so a bunch of us smithies (and two UMass students) created a sort of flier about the WTC tragedy. it's received some, um, odd responses...
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linkydink I gots a Robert Smith poster over my bed, so I'm hip to all the P.C. jive around "Killing of an Arab." Just thought it was odd to see that title missing, as opposed to "Bridge Over Troubled Water." I have entirely failed to see the connection between bridges and falling buildings (they're both big and can be found in New York City?). Anyway, I can't verify the authenticity of the list, I don't listen to the radio so I can't tell you if DJs even bother, and the words I posted are not mine (hence the quotation marks).
jueves, septiembre 20, 2001
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linkydink Don't believe everything you read. The list of supposed "banned"-by-Clear-Channel songs is not a directive from higher-ups but a summary of what were on-going discussions amongst regional station managers regarding possibly controversial songs, compiled for the purposes of sharing with other station managers who might decide to thin out their play list for now. I know for a fact that this is a managerial decision because just last night heard Drowning Pool's "Bodies" on a Clear Channel station in Boston. As for "Killing an Arab", a most misinterpreted song: it was based on Albert Camus' "The Stranger", and after an Arab organization protested the lyrics, all further pressings of the CD were labeled with a sticker stating "The song 'Killing of an Arab' has absolutely no racist overtones whatsoever. It is a song which decries the existence of all prejudice and consequent violence".
miércoles, septiembre 19, 2001
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linkydink "Radio stations nationwide are voluntarily pulling songs such as Elton John's "Benny and the Jets" from their playlists in response to last week's terrorist attacks... We're going to be guilty of overdoing it at first, but then the songs will slowly trickle back," he said. "There's a fine line between censorship and sensitivity, but we are erring toward censorship for now, out of respect for the mood of the country." -Denver post
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linkydink "Just trying to help (and for this they get a "luck"), Clear Channel, owner of over 1,170 radio stations, has banned these songs from their airwaves. Included are songs about war, the word "Tuesday", and even "Walk Like an Egyptian" (okay, i can do without that one...). I've confirmed the list with people there and they say it's legit." Noticeable ommission: "Killing of an Arab" by The Cure?
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linkydink Bruce Schneier makes a good summary of potential threats to civil liberties in the post-WTC world, with a focus on privacy issues.
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linkydink "Througout this entire ordeal, not once have I heard the American Red Cross call for U.S. citizens to contribute an official soundtrack."
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linkydink "We have asked the individual Nobel Peace Laureates to speak to the citizens of America, and the citizens of New York and Washington, about the events of September 11. As it happened, they spoke to the world."
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linkydink jimmy: I hope you're not expecting us to cut-and-paste that base64-encoded Microsoft Word document, are you? Anyway, I'll take the bait and say that this is a national emergency but it is not war; I would encourage anyone who disagrees to read a dictionary. Besides, the majority of the technologies highlighted in that New York Times article are only good for identification.
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linkydink I don't know what's going to happen, but New York is faring well. NYU opened classes Friday despite the fact that a significant portion of its student body was (and remains) evicted from their housing. Students from the Water Street dorm remain in the Sheraton hotel on 52nd; NYU gave them $200 apiece and free books from the university book store. There's a heigthened police presence, especially downtown. I was in Chinatown last night and movement is still restricted, but anyone can move below Canal Street without a problem now. The police are genuinely trying to be helpful and friendly as far as I can tell. The rubble is still smoking; I ventured down to the Greenwich Hotel this evening, practically on the Hudson below Bleeker and Cornelia streets and a haze from the World Trade center still hangs a few blocks away. Security at the university is a lot tighter; where anyone could enter the Tisch School of the Arts previously, everyone must now show an I.D. or explain the purpose of their visit, but really this is no great inconvenience. I spent a sum total of about two hours on foot around the city today, and things have very much returned to a state of normalcy above Houston Street at least. People are back to their routine; I'm back to my routine, and grateful for it. The shrines at the parks have grown to enormous sizes, but are no longer necessarily thronging with mourners, and the media in particular. Small candles are everywhere, left at random on sidewalks. "You are Alive" graffiti is proliferating. There is always a flag in view. New York is strong, and it feels like hope and goodwill is replacing the shock and despair. People are nicer than ever. What still gets me are all the Missing posters put up around the downtown area; I'm sure you've seen them in the news, homemade flyers made by friends and family of people lost in the rubble. It gets me because I can see my family doing that for me, and it gets me because its a week gone and the people on the fliers will probably never be found in any form. It's the most humanizing aspect for me in what's really an abstract tragedy in a lot of ways; I cannot concieve of 5,000 individual and unique people as casualties, but the hyper-detailed nature of these fliers creates a window into that particular loss... If it's war, it doesn't feel like it yet. It still feels like a vigil being held, waiting for the lost to come back home.
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linkydink i've got to read a couple of hypertext novels for my Digital Humanities class. if any of y'all are interested: - The Heist by Walter Sorells - Trip by Matthew Miller
martes, septiembre 18, 2001
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linkydink From today's New York Times: "In a wartime, national-emergency situation, there are always restrictions on individual liberties: not only internment during the Second World War but restrictions on travel, searches of people's effects, access to certain buildings. The question now is: Is this a war?"
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linkydink "Hello,I don't know that I've ever received a stranger email.
lunes, septiembre 17, 2001
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linkydink Okay, Jones, you've provoked me into blogging once again. Here's the deal, as I see it. The Bush administration has already committed itself to having American life go on as usual. In his addresses Sunday he said both: "Our nation was horrified, but it's not going to be terrorized. We're a nation that can't be cowed by evil-doers. We need to go back to work tomorrow and we will, but we need to be alert to the fact that these evil-doers still exist." "Our hope, of course, is that they make no sacrifice whatsoever. War has been declared on us so, therefore, people may not be able to board flights as quickly." So, I mean, the government doesn't want to chain us all to the walls. They are actually just taking measures to ensure safety while they figure out what's going on. We're not going to be drafted because the sort of strikes being contemplated wouldn't be benefitted by it. We probably won't even end up in anything resembling a war. There will be strikes to punish the terrorist networks. Already, officials have eased off their "collateral damage" rhetoric, not even a week later. Thousands of people in New York popped up for candlelight vigils touting that "NYC wants justice, not vengence." This will not, I honestly believe, be ignored. Things will not be hunky dory. There is still a strong likelihood that there will be more, and perhaps more devastating, terrorist attacks, although we have made decent efforts to counteract this already. Most importantly, the US will have to very strongly consider its relationship to Israel, potentially causing some serious rifts between the US Gov't. and our Jewish population. We can't pull out of the Middle East right away, because there will be dire consequences for Israel and its local allies. But we also can't continue to support Israel (particularly Sharon's) warmongering and ignoring of certain West Bank Settlement laws from the Geneva Convention. The real changes to result from this situation will sprout up in the Israel-Palestine corridor, mark my words.
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linkydink "Tod's Point - Greenwich CT-. When you are jogging in this 147-acre park there is a spot you pass at the half way mark when you come around a bend and on a clear day - like today - you can see the whole gleaming skyline of Manhattan. Except this morning there was something that seemed wrong."
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linkydink too bad, bc, cause i wanna know: what do you think will change in this country as a result of these attacks? and is it really for the worse? i know at least one guy who thinks things are gonna stay just hunky-dory. i, personally, am confused about it all. ideas, anyone?
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linkydink Thankfully, no one I know has been directly affected by last week's attacks, so I have relatively little to deal with other than assimilating the events into what passes for my Reality, rather than the fantasy that it so often seems to be. These events touch on so many facets of our lives that I simply cannot list all of the things I fear will change for the worse, and not change for the better, but life does go on.
sábado, septiembre 15, 2001
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linkydink It has just come to my attention that infamous turncoat and partial-thumb-amputee Nintendo Julian (who, in a recent fit of drunken adulation, claimed that he reloads cmoore blog "at least twice every five minutes") runs a funky offshore chum refinery called Delivery Head.
viernes, septiembre 14, 2001
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linkydink Nobody I personally know was hurt in this, and I don't know of anyone I know who knows anyone who was hurt, so I guess I'm lucky. So far. I've found myself alternating between feeling very disconnected and blase about the whole thing (and sometimes feeling guilty about not feeling worse about it) and then feeling really messed up and spacey and confused. It's been more disorienting than anything else. My main way of dealing has been to try to be as supportive as I can of those who are taking it worse than me. Tonight I'm going to an open Shabbat service "on the theme of peace" at the Bayit.
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linkydink truly i'm losing all faith in anyone remotely related to politics. not that i really had any faith in them anyway... i haven't really been able to think or talk coherently about how i feel about all of this for the past few days... all of my family members and close friends are alive, although there were some close calls (namely my aunt, who had a 9am appointment in one of the towers). i don't really know how to deal with all of this... i can't really talk about it (what is there to say?), nor do i want to write about it, but i still feel shitty and frightened in some inexplicable way. what's everyone else doing to deal with this?
jueves, septiembre 13, 2001
miércoles, septiembre 12, 2001
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linkydink everything's so eerie tonight. driving home there was virtually no one on i 95... in either direction. i drove home practically alone- except for the police cars which are lurking in every single alley and parking lot. and for once, i'm sort of glad to see them.
martes, septiembre 11, 2001
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linkydink I guess I don't even need to go over what happened today here in New York because it's most likely on every channel. I don't even have much to say about it, except that it will probably take me several days to fully accept that what happened, did in fact happen, even having seen it with my own eyes, standing in the street. I saw it after the second plane had crashed into the South Tower, and didn't really know what to do with myself, so I continued to class. During the few minutes of class, dedicated to discussing what to do with commuter students who were unable to get home, the South Tower fell. The North Tower fell on my way back to my dorm. All classes thereafter were cancelled and I've camped out in my room till further notice. NYU dorms beneath Canal Street have been evacuated and it's not known when they are going to be re-opened. My good friend Carleigh, who is currently staying at my place on 14th Street, lives in the South Street Seaport dorm that is all of six blocks away from the Twin Towers. Gladly, I've heard no reports of anyone getting hurt of having any trouble getting away from the havoc that occurred today. The view out of my window is of the pillar of smoke rising from the wreckage that used to be the Twin Towers, and it doesn't promise to leave soon. There were reporters on a roof very near to my building, and I had the unique experience of hearing sirens outside of my window echoed through CNN. Everything was shut down and everyone was stranded when public transportation and the streets were shut down to make it easier for emergency vehicles to get downtown. Union square was just teeming with people with nowhere to go who had all witnessed at least part what had happened. I went back outside and the streets have emptied around where I live except for people seeking out food, but the sirens are still blaring, running victims back and forth to Bellevue and other area hospitals. I don't know what else to say, but that's basically what happened.
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linkydink if there's on anybody earth who hasn't turned on the news go do it now. this is so insane, words can't even expres it.
lunes, septiembre 10, 2001
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linkydink "The Security Systems Standards and Certification Act (SSSCA), scheduled to be introduced by Hollings, backs up this requirement with teeth: It would be a civil offense to create or sell any kind of computer equipment that 'does not include and utilize certified security technologies' approved by the federal government. It also creates new federal felonies, punishable by five years in prison and fines of up to $500,000. Anyone who distributes copyrighted material with 'security measures' disabled or has a network-attached computer that disables copy protection is covered."
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linkydink "It used to be that if your kid was acting out, you told him, `Pack your bags, you're going to live with your Aunt Betty in California,' " said Dan Kindlon, a Harvard child psychology professor and a co-author of "Raising Cain" (Ballantine Books, 1999), a book about modern boys. "We look now to institutions to do this stuff." this was particualrly interesting to me since i've known several kids, from CSP and the rest of GHS who've wound up at alternitive schools of varying degrees of helpfullness. sorry about the link!
sábado, septiembre 08, 2001
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linkydink cmoore: The attic is actually bad for me because I want to live on the ground floor so I don't break my back on two flights of stairs when I carry my turntables/records/etc back and forth from my room to my car, which I do at least twice a week for Jazz Improv. And housemates will (or have) receive(d) pipe-down notices where/when appropriate. However, this will not stop me from visiting you in NoHo soon. :)
viernes, septiembre 07, 2001
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linkydink timmy tim - i say take up residence in the attic anyway, it it's feasible. but then, we all know how i feel about breaking smith rules. seriously, though, you should put up some curtain-doors (coren did it for our apartment this summer, if you want advice on that) and ask your roommates to pipe down and/or keep their doors closed at night/in the morning. (i have many thoughts on this, being relatively new to this "sharing a room" thing.) if all else fails, you can come visit me in noho...
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linkydink As if in divine retribution for failing to set up wireless networking for my parents, I am now faced with a similar networking challenge here at Wes. Wesleyan ResLife is, make no mistake, run by frontin herbs and bitches, who spent the summer downsizing our house from six- to five-bedroom to save clams on a sprinkler-system bill. (Yes, the Connecticut Fire Marshal sanctions the burning of five students, but not of six.) Then, to add insult to injury, we retained the large-and-luscious house attic, an ideal living-space had ResLife note forbidden us from entering it. Thus, I've set up shop in a "common room" which has no ethernet, not to mention no phone line and no doorway. Half my house stays up late and the other half gets up early, and in my doorless "room," I can hear them all loud-and-clear. Between the two, I've had about 5 hours of sleep a night. I am fucking angry at absolutely everyone about this, and need to find some peace with the situation so I don't eat myself up over it. rrrrrr.
miércoles, septiembre 05, 2001
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linkydink "What’s happened is this: our friends in the labs have discovered that, as a result of seeing TV adverts and the like, people are remembering things they’ve never experienced. From what I read, members of a focus group in America have started believing that they’ve been to Disneyland and shaken Mickey Mouse’s hand because they’ve seen an advert showing other people doing so, with the tagline “Relive the magic”... which is somewhat unsettling, to put it mildly."
martes, septiembre 04, 2001
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linkydink "You're going to be famous, man," a trembling Harvey said to Jordan. "And we'll be off the desert."
domingo, septiembre 02, 2001
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linkydink i'd agree with jt's point on honesty (it generally being the best policy), but usually i admit to my origins with a duck of my head and a grimace, which communicates both that i know the reputation of my town and that i don't like to be associated with it. of course, then if your audicence hasn't heard of greenwich, they'll ask you why you look sheepish and you'll have to explain the town's rep. it's a trade-off. i don't, on the other hand, mind being associated with smith (rep: big scary ragingly liberal dykes) or with northampton (same as smith, but with a hearty helping of fruits and nuts). psychoanalyze me a river.
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linkydink Blue: Honesty honesty honesty! Most people haven't heard of Greenwich, and no one who has is likely to confuse me (or you) for an evil preppy type. I think any snooty suburbia has a necessary biproduct of rebellious semibohemian peoples, and most of us are recognizable as such.
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linkydink Question for bloggers who used to live in Greenwich: how do you deal with peoples reactions to the town? It's always had a reputation for snobbery, and with the beach case and the Moxly trail, the town has received a lot of unpleasant publicity lately. I'll frequently get dirty looks if I say i'm from Greenwich while traveling, and while it's all well and good to lie about it when you're someplace where the encounters you have with people will be casual or brief (concerts, plane rides, etc...) What do you do when you're in a situation that makes lying (fibbing) about it a little more awkward or weird? To make the question slightly more general, does your hometown/homestate have a reputation? How do you usually deal with other people's opinions or stereotypes about it?
sábado, septiembre 01, 2001
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linkydink "Compare two abandoned streets in Genoa during the weekend of the G8 summit, immediately after confrontations between protesters and police. The first, a mile-long stretch along Via Tolemaide overlooking a train yard where Ya Basta! had faced off against riot cops on July 20, was scattered with oddly whimsical debris: slabs of rubber padding, bits of mock-Roman foam armor, balloons and abandoned plexiglas shields with inscriptions like "Yuri Gagarin Memorial SpaceBrigade." The other, along Corso Marconi (one of the city's main thoroughfares) the next day, was the sort of scene one might see in the aftermath of a riot almost anywhere: shattered glass from storefront windows, charred automobile parts, and, everywhere, spent tear-gas canisters and jagged rocks. It was the first kind of confrontation, not the second, that was anathema to the Italian police."
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linkydink Aha! The best way to deal with a D-Link DWL-920 USB Wireless Home Networking Kit is to carefully place each of the individual components into its original packaging along with all four instruction manuals and assorted cables, etc, seal it up with packaging tape, and place the whole bundle in your mailbox with a large note that reads: "RETURN TO SENDER". Problem solved!
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