Enthusiastically Ambiverted Hopepunk
Whatever I’m geeking out about at the time.
I’ve just signed on with PeaceBlogs:
Peaceblogs.org is a site devoted to making connections between bloggers who oppose the impending war against Iraq. Regardless of your ideology or political affiliation, your nation of origin, or the size or scope of your site, if you oppose the war and use your weblog to express that opposition, your site is welcome among our listings.
I spent a little time tonight updating my blogroll (on the right, just underneath the WudiVisions icon) to more accurately reflect the sites that I check on a daily basis. It automatically sorts by how recently they’ve been updated, so the most recent bits will always be towards the top, with sites that have been updated within the last six hours bracketed by hyphens. Lots of new reading there — enjoy!
At least, I hope it’s fixed.
I’ve had a recurring problem for a while now, where at seemingly random times, I’d lose my connection to the ‘net. It seems that this is some sort of odd problem with my Linksys router. Since I host this domain (and three others) off of one of my computers here in my apartment, I’ve had my LAN isolated behind the Linksys router (as seen in this diagram).
Unfortunately, for some reason, every so often when I’m browsing my own website from any machine on my LAN, the Linksys router will freeze up. Since it sat between my computers and the outside world, this effectively killed my network connection. I’d recently upgraded the firmware of the router to the latest version, hoping that it would fix the problem — unfortunately, that seemed rather to exacerbate the difficulties, where the Linksys proceeded to randomly freeze while browsing my website even if I was using a computer outside my LAN.
Needless to say, this is quite annoying. Especially on days like today, when it froze at five in the afternoon, and I wasn’t able to come home and restarted until after I got off work at 9pm.
However, my account with Speakeasy allows me two static IP addresses. I got ahold of them, got my second IP address configured, and rewired my network (here’s the new diagram) to take the Linksys out from between the webserver and the world.
Technically, this is a little less secure, as there is now a direct line between my webserver and the world, with no intervening firewall for protection, but OS X is fairly secure, and I’m willing to take that slight risk if it allows my sites to have better uptime. The Linksys does still protect the PC, however. Somehow I just can’t justify leaving a Windows box open to the world, even if I think I’ve got it locked down. So much for ‘trusted computing‘.
From Tom Tomorrow:
The entire situation is reminiscent, as someone pointed out on Atrios, of the old Star Trek episode “Patterns of Force” (in which) Federation history professor John Gill becomes the drugged leader of a Nazi planet:
GILL (seen on TV at a rally): If we fulfill our own greatness,
that will all be ended. Working together —SPOCK: Captain, the speech follows no logical pattern. Random sentences strung together.
MCCOY: He looks drugged, Jim, almost in a cataleptic state.
GILL: …reach our goal, and we will reach that goal. (cheering) Every thought…directed toward a goal. This planet…can become a paradise, if we are willing to pay the price. As each cell in the body…works with discipline and harmony for the good…of the entire being —
Salon has posted links to six protest songs that have been released by the artists to the web as free-for-download .mp3’s:
Remixes of the Saul Williams track, along with two other tracks from him (“Bloodletting” and “September 12^th^”) can be found at the Synchronic Records website.
This is cool.
(Via Kirsten)
Whether or not you’re old enough to remember seeing them in theaters (I’m not), you may very likely know about the old MovieTone newsreels that used to be shown in theaters before movies. Well, it looks like they’re going to be back, in the form of short films created by soldiers currently overseas.
“We fell on this idea of recreating films that looked like and were the length of the old Movietone forms of the 1940s,” said Marine Lt. Col. Jim Kuhn, military producer for the undertaking called the Movietone Newsreel Project. Kuhn says the objective is to put together a short film that combines the commentary of real-life soldiers with the kind of footage civilian journalists would be unable to get.
The planned films based on the Iraq conflict mark the military’s second attempt to create a modern, government-sponsored version of the wartime Movietone, a short-film format that was popular among studios in the days before television news broadcasts were widely available. The first effort by the Navy and Marines, titled Enduring Freedom, was based on footage collected from troops in Afghanistan.
Enduring Freedom was not without its Hollywood flourishes, including the fast pace of an action movie and a soundtrack reminiscent of a happy-ending scene in a big-budget drama. O’Connor, a former producer of Marines recruitment ads, says the films are crafted as documentaries and “are not propaganda.”
I may not remember Movietone newsreels, but I do remember when I could go to see a movie and actually be able to see a movie. Now, in addition to all the commercials and ads before we even get to the trailers, we get government sponsored and produced propaganda as well?
Pardon me if I’m not jumping up and down for joy.
The Beastie Boys have released an anti-war protest in the form of a rap track, freely avaible to download from their website, called “In a World Gone Mad“. Not their best work, admittedly, but interesting nothenless. While artists like Ani DiFranco have kept the “protest song” alive, the Beastie Boys are the first big group (no offense meant at all to Ani fans!) I can think of to do something like this.
Okay, they’re no Dylan. Still, it’s something.
Lyrics below, courtesy of Blogcritics…
In a world gone mad it’s hard to think right
So much violence hate and spite
Murder going on all day and night
Due time we fight the non-violent fightMirrors, smokescreens and lies
It?s not the politicians but their actions I despise
You and Saddam should kick it like back in the day
With the cocaine and Courvoisier
But you build more bombs as you get more bold
As your mid-life crisis war unfolds
All you want to do is take control
Now put that axis of evil bullshit on hold
Citizen rule number 2080
Politicians are shady
So people watch your back ’cause I think they smoke crack
I don’t doubt it look at how they actIn a world gone mad it’s hard to think right
So much violence hate and spite
Murder going on all day and night
Due time we fight the non-violent fightFirst the ‘War On Terror’ now war on Iraq
We?re reaching a point where we can?t turn back
Let’s lose the guns and let’s lose the bombs
And stop the corporate contributions that their built upon
Well I?ll be sleeping on your speeches ’til I start to snore
‘Cause I won’t carry guns for an oil war
As-Salamu alaikum, wa alaikum assalam
Peace to the Middle East peace to Islam
Now don’t get us wrong ’cause we love America
But that?s no reason to get hysterica
They’re layin’ on the syrup thick
We ain’t waffles we ain’t havin’ itIn a world gone mad it’s hard to think right
So much violence hate and spite
Murder going on all day and night
Due time we fight the non-violent fightNow how many people must get killed?
For oil families pockets to get filled?
How many oil families get killed?
Not a damn one so what?s the deal?It’s time to lead the way and de-escalate
Lose the weapons of mass destruction and the hate
Say ooh ah what’s the White House doin’?
Oh no! Say, what in tarnation have they got brewing??!!!!???!!
Well I?m not pro Bush and I’m not pro Saddam
We need these fools to remain calm
George Bush you?re looking like Zoolander
Trying to play tough for the camera
What am I on crazy pills? We?ve got to stop it
Get your hand out my grandma’s pocket
We need health care more than going to war
You think it’s democracy they?re fighting for?In a world gone mad it’s hard to think right
So much violence hate and spite
Murder going on all day and night
Due time we fight the non-violent fight.
Eric Barzeski over at NSLog(); has an excellent list of tips for anyone just getting started in the weblogging world. I’ve discovered all of these at one point or another over the years, but things definitely might have been simpler if I’d had this available back when I started. Of course, back when I started (further back than my archives go, unfortunately), we didn’t have things like MovableType to help us out…
(Via Jeremy Hedley)
My thesis is an attempt to fill in the void in academic work about blogs. Previously in articles and commercial books published about blogs (Rebecca Blood’s books and the O’Reilly book, for example), why we blog has been researched using personal experience, with a few indepth interviews, or by analyzing websites. None of these three ways can come close to providing as accurate a depiction of the blogging population — who we all really are, why we blog, and how we’re using our blogs — as a survey.
(Via Wil)
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I’ve always loved the Absolut ads, and this new ad by Petr Stanicek makes me laugh a lot.
(Via Webgraphics)
