Archive for November, 2003

desktop security

November 15th, 2003

I came across a great piece about computer security today, thanks to the rss client I set up a few days ago. Most notably, how Microsoft's approach to personal computer security is completely pointless. Recommended: http://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/11/13/1938257

On a sidenote, rss is great, I'm loving it. No more checking various outlets for stories, now I got it all in one place. Get Liferea for Linux or FeedDemon for Windows.

mobbing betalt av skattebetalerne

November 12th, 2003

Har du noen gang fått et brev som faktisk er feiladressert men som du antar er til deg? De siste ti årene har jeg mottatt uttalige forslag til å forbedre stavelsen av navnet mitt. Da er det like greit å kalle det det det er, nemlig mobbing. Mobbing som alle skattebetalere er med på å holde ved livet. Det er vanligvis de statlige institusjoner som gjør de største tabbene, det er ikke måte på hvor kreativ man har lov til å være. Jeg syns det er rimelig å spørre seg: hvor mye hjernekapasitet trengs det til å taste inn 8 bokstaver etter hverandre uten å gjøre en tabbe? Den slags statlig mobbing burde ikke være akseptert, jeg kan foreslå en bonus til alle ansatte hvis korrespondanse ikke har mottatt en eneste klage i løpet av et år. Det ville i så fall oppmuntre folk til å gjøre en god jobb! I årenes løp har jeg samlet en del latterlige varianter, her er noen:

Matusiek

Metusiak

Matusiek

Matuseak

Metusiat - fra Mensa-filialen "Nei til EU"

Matosiek

Matysiat

Men skal man først tillate seg å feilstave folks navn så bør det i alle fall gjelde alle i like stor grad. Jeg har en aldri så liten mistanke om at det er de "vanskelige" navnene som har høyest strykprosent. Man bør heller oppmuntre folk til å feilstave alle navn like ofte. Har man først tatt det standpunkt at i en stat der demokrati og rettferd ofte vinner frem som fine idealer, er det ikke nødvendig å respektere folks navn, så la oss alle feilstave hverandres navn!

Matrix Revolutions

November 9th, 2003

I will say that the "Matrix Revolutions" was better than "Reloaded", and it was sufficient to merit positive reactions. At the same time, it was greatly disappointing, seeing as it is the conclusion to a trilogy. Too many questions have been asked that were never answered. The purpose of "Reloaded" seemed to me to broaden the subject and ask questions that were not previously anticipated, perhaps to open our eyes and seek answers we did not think we wanted. As such, I anticipated "Revolutions" to provide those answers, perhaps not in full, but sufficiently to satisfy our wonderings.

In fact what was done, was quite in line with what we saw in the first two episodes. The Matrix world was furthermore opened to us, we were afforded a peek at the machines world and their devices. Zion was also presented further, its defensive measures and strategies. But here the praise ends. We did not learn of Neo's fate, he was as I recall (and do please correct me if I'm wrong) battling with the machines somewhere in the real world, he had accomplished the task of stopping them on his own with his super powers. At the same time, he was exhausted and doing quite badly. Here I feel the link from "Reloaded" was cut abruptly. Suddenly, we learn he finds himself in no man's land, trapped between the Matrix and the real world. Nevermind how, please do tell how this place exists and why it is the "trainman" who dominates. Who exactly is the French guy? Is he a program? How can a program exist outside the Matrix? How can a program exert any kind of power outside the Matrix?

But it does not end there, the list goes on forever. Ok, the Matrix is restored, everything's back to normal. The architect, whatever that is (??) promised whoever wants out can get out. So status quo, then? The machines restore and run the Matrix, which apparently was unsatisfying to the humans, which is why they got out in the first place, so what has come of this? The war is over but for how long? What happens to Zion? Did all the people in the course of the battle die for nothing? Will Zion be wiped out eventually anyway? Will there be a new One? And what indeed happens to Trinity and Neo? What happened to Smith, how was his power broken?

There are those who find satisfaction in the mystery itself, who need no explanation but to me the Matrix as a whole has been a splendid plethora of threads and one would like and indeed expect it all to come together at some point. Granted it has been a lot to keep track of, but once it has not concluded in a meaningful conclusion, it seems all the more questionable to have undertaken this journey.

6/10

vegetarians - what gives?

November 1st, 2003

Am I the only one who doesn't get vegetarians? What's so blessed about not eating meat anyway? I mean it's not like the human race would even survive on this planet without consuming animal flesh, it's just how it works. When asked about their motivation, vegetarians will usually say they don't eat meat because they love animals so much. They feel some sort of closeness towards the animals and hence they argue it is wrong to kill them. Well that's good and well but why animals exactly? Aren't plants living creatures? Wouldn't they prefer to live rather than being chopped down for vegetarians to savagely consume? I mean it's murder either way, what's the difference which one you choose? What I wanna know is who's sticking up for the plants?! So why not plants? Well, because animals are so much more alike us than any other organism, in fact we share 80% of their DNA. So what? How does that make it right to shield them from cruel human behavior and not all other living things? That's like saying because I'm white, I'm gonna stick up for all my white people but I'm gonna abuse all the other races, it's just not right. Just because someone or something is more different from you, doesn't mean you should care for them/it less.

So basically, the whole vegetarian movement is based on double standards as far as I'm concerned.