Pony Car Depression Coming to a Dealer Near You

I remember the 70's muscle/pony car depression with a clarity that most teenagers of this era cannot fathom. We're, like it or not, entering a similar age at this time, brought on, strangely enough, by almost similar pressures. To understand, one must go back -- way back -- to the year 1971. In that time, gasoline prices were going up, and cars were getting bigger and smaller at the same time. Ford had just introduced the Pinto (ugh) and, like a lot of Detroit auto makers, they were extending the sheet metal on their larger lines all the while adding things at the bottom that were whiny boxes of crap (this is the abridged version of what I have to say -- I'm deliberately leaving out a lot, thankfully).

Bear in mind that I'm viewing a lot of this through Mustang-colored-glasses. The deal is that a lot of this extends to cover all of the pony car space. Everyone was worried about the rising cost of insurance prices and the increasing demands that pollution control systems were placing on the industry in general. Between these two forces, anything of joy from a pure muscle perspective was somehow losing its soul. The Corvette became a shell of its prior self -- but it was at least somewhat true to the original formula.

In 1974, Ford made the Mustang into a Pinto derivative. In general, all of the auto makers added so much in the way of wheezing pollution controls and de-tuned a lot of the engines (lowering compression, for example) to the point where nothing seemed all that exciting. The R&D dollars were being spent on priories (lobbying, for example, was a priority).

And then the gas crunch hit (1975 or 1976 -- it's a blur to me, I was younger then). Things began to look really bad for someone who remembered the Muscle cars of the 60's. My dad and I are very much car guys, and we talked a lot about it at the time. As Detroit entered the Boxy era (Citation, Fairmont, K-cars -- remember these "appliance on wheels" products?), I lamented that the good old days were mostly behind us.

And my Dad assured me that one day they would get back to doing things with style, that had power and so on. And he was (as usual) right.

The Mustang returned with a vengeance. The Chevy Camaro, though lacking a usable back seat (key to being a good pony car, I'd argue), was a rockin' ride. Chrysler produced a bunch of things that were weird, fast and sporty (but no pony cars).

And then everyone but Ford quit. The Mustang remained the lone pony car competitor. You can argue that Ford has a heck of a product with the current gen Mustang -- I honestly think that they're not facing enough competition these days. There are some cool products -- the GT500, Shelby GT, California, Bullit -- but without some good competition, they are mainly competing with themselves. When you look at the line-up of product this year, it's not really all that changed from the stuff they were producing in 05.

So, I'm actually contemplating something that will surprise quite a few people. I'm going to seriously consider buying a new Camaro. The damn thing is gorgeous. It will all depend upon price and usable back-seat space, though. Quality is in there somewhere too.

What about the Challenger? The new Challenger is beautiful. It looks like a modernized version of true muscle -- until you get up on the thing and realize that it's *huge*. And no Automatic transmission. And 8k of dealer markup (where I was looking in PA). And that brings me to my final point.

Chevy gets it. The recipe for a Pony car includes just a few simple rules:

• Front Engine -- 6 banger or a V8 -- both options -- in that order.
• Seating for 4.
• Rear-wheel-drive.
• Two, and only two, doors.
• A long hood, and a short trunk.
• Some noise would help... [note: the car doesn't have to be all that sophisticated]

The Challenger fails because there's not going to be a low-buck version. Say what you want, but one of the reasons that the Mustang is so popular is because a lot of people can afford the 6 banger. They may want a GT or a Cobra, but sensibility creeps in or their budget (and possibly their insurance costs if they're young). This is important -- every one of these cars is a rolling advertisement for the automaker and the product. People see them and want them for that reason, I'd argue.

I'll wager that you're probably going to see a few new Challengers -- they'll be on dealer lots or at auto shows (likely trailered in, in that case). You're rarely going to spot someone driving it down the street to work, because they're so expensive and there are so few of them. They will become the auto equivalent to rare collector coins. Pulled out in shiny cases, shown off for a few minutes of glory, and put away for next time.

My Mustangs are not these objects -- I drive them to work. I enjoy them (both are V8's, a Mach 1 and a GT). I smile every time -- they're practical fun. They are just barely practical in many respects, but surprisingly, the Mach 1 gets better than 25 miles to the gallon during the summer.

All of this is being written, though, like we're seeing a new era emerge (new Camaro, for example, new Challenger). What we're seeing is the death of the latest generation of the Pony car wars. There will be few, if any, hybrid versions of these babies (it would disqualify them anyway). R&D costs are not going the way of the Mustang or Camaro like they are the hybrid competitor space. There will be a ton of innovations in that realm and in the alternative fuel space in general. What we're likely witnessing is a time very similar to my retrospective of 1971.

Chevy and Chrysler are arriving pretty late to the party, in other words. The Pony car era -- the latest round -- is about to morph. We're going to see a lot of change, and some of it won't be quite as pretty and elegant as this past round (that's my fear, anyway).

Here's to hoping that I'm really wrong...
-=FeriCyde=-

Rosetta

Ok, so I no longer work for Brulant -- no, I didn't change jobs again (still in consulting, and probably will be for a long, long time). My company, Brulant, has been merged with a really cool Marketing company called Rosetta. The name changes, but a lot of other things remain the same.

Check out Ron Laneve's blog post on the subject.

The Rosetta / Brulant merger is a good thing in a lot of strategic ways. It brings us to a wider marketplace and it gives me more reasons to smile these days (and there were already quite a few of those). Look for more news as time permits -- but things just got even more intesting ;)
-=FeriCyde=-

Running 150 MPH...

Dear diary,

It's been too long. So sorry, just too much going on.

For starters, the whole work-work balance is out of control these days. I'm simply over-run by work. Striking while the iron is hot may be a good strategy, but my blog, my Mustangs, my wife and most importantly, my poor dog have suffered. The blog -- it's an electronic thing, so it doesn't care. My wife, she can understand my career being in a heightened state. The Mustangs -- they will always be there. But Sammy (my 4 year old Samoyed) -- he won't understand.

So I'm finally getting some of my life back (this is, however, the calm before the storm). I've been taking the dog (and /dev/wife) for more walks in the park, and we've had some really fun weekends of late. Sammy is a joy -- too bad he doesn't understand English, but it hardly matters. He's the most communicative dog I've ever had.

The Mustangs -- the Yellow GT convertible is starting to show some of its age. Various issues abound. The GEM (Generic Electronic Module) is leaking electrical juice to the point that if it sits for more than 4 days, the thing is deader than a doornail, power-wise. I've spent some time diagnosing it and don't exactly know where to go next, but know that replacing the GEM is not a trivial task. "Why don't you pay someone to fix it?" you might ask? Well, I did, and they didn't. Instead they replaced the battery, a coil-over pack (likely malfunctioning due to a bad battery, not exactly needing replacement, in other words), charged me $300.00 bucks and assured me that they had fixed the problem. This despite me explaining the issue and assuring them that the battery was not the culprit.

What do I know? A lot, actually. Not just my intuition told me they were full of crap. I spent some time narrowing the scope of the drain with the help of my dear friend Joe Romayo (Thanks Joe!) And -- I've found a work around -- I pull the GEM fuse in the engine bay when ole' Yaller is going to sit for more than a day or so. Works for now. One day I'll find whatever short or blown component is the culprit and this too will go away.

Somehow the car has survived 150k+ miles of wild roller-coaster fun. I haven't exactly babied this thing either, but people are astounded that it's got that many miles. Other annoying things -- the throw-out bearing is going to die someday -- but since it's been making noise since it was new (just not this loudly), I'm not going to worry about it too much. The air conditioning is now only partially functional (probably a $300 dealer trip), but for the most part the car is holding up amazingly well. The latest mods, however, make it only good for short trips with /dev/wife. Things like louder exhaust, Richmond gears (man do those things howl), lowering kits, suspension kits, KYB shocks etc -- all of these things make it less hospitable on anything but short bursts.

The Orange Mach 1 is another story. It was leaking radiator fluid and I discovered that the culprit was something that had made some kind of trip through the inside of the engine compartment. Whatever it was, it tore a bunch of small holes in the radiator on its way. Again, I could take it somewhere and have a garage mechanic do the work -- but I don't trust mechanics anymore. If it was under warranty this might be a different story, but essentially I had visions of them telling me that the motor was a molten pile of slag. Let's not forget, the Mach has a full aluminum composure -- block and heads are made of the stuff. It was running fine other than leaking fluid like a sieve. Take it somewhere in that state, however, and I run the risk of some moron running it dry, melting it down and then accusing me of bringing it in, in that state. It's not something to leave unattended, running, whilst one tries to figure out what's causing it to overheat, in other words. And yes, I'm saying I can easily see a mechanic doing this in this day and age. Rather than risk it, I "simply" got a new radiator, and over the course of a few precious weekend days, replaced everything that needed replaced in that area. I also swapped out the stock rubber for some offset 18" rims and tires -- black.

We're living in an age of personal irresponsibility. Too many times I'm paying for work that's simply not being done. Stuff is too complex for the average Joe -- and it's not getting any simpler, I'm afraid.

And yet, somehow, I'm not doing so bad -- so why really complain?

I guess I'm not complaining -- just observing. I'm a lucky guy -- I may be over-run by work, but I chose this route and it's a heck of a ride. Sorry I haven't written more often. I plan on attending (and not speaking) at Ohio Linux Fest this year -- simply no time to add anything, anytime soon. Hope to see you there (register at http://ohiolinux.org/ ).

Joe Barr and Dwight Johnson

Some closing thoughts. The Linux community lost two souls recently. Joe Barr, a dear friend and a terrific author is gone. He died just a few days ago. Dwight Johnson, an avid enthusiast and one of the two founders of LinuxToday.com died earlier this year of cancer. Both people are sorely missed. If I have any regrets it is not spending more time cherishing the people who have helped make the world a better place. I'm running 150 MPH (but not with the Mustangs -- just with life). Things scream by at times. Only upon reflection does the magnitude of change manifest itself.

I'll try and slow down more often. I will promise to write more often too. Talk soon,
-=FeriCyde=-

Bill Gates, Socially Clueless again...

Ok, can't resist pointing out just how stupid this quote is:

"There's free software and then there’s open source," he suggested, noting that Microsoft gives away its software in developing countries. With open source software, on the other hand, "there is this thing called the GPL, which we disagree with." Open source, he said, creates a license "so that nobody can ever improve the software," he claimed, bemoaning the squandered opportunity for jobs and business. He went back to the analogy of pharmaceuticals: "I think if you invent drugs, you should be able to charge for them," he said, adding with a shrug: "That may seem radical."

Love it. Comparing Microsoft software to the pharmaceutical industry.

Hmm, how do I love this quote? Let me count the ways.

1. Microsoft software truly is in many ways like a drug. An addictive drug. You buy it once, and find yourself needing to shell out extra money every so often to buy the exact same thing again (albeit with a new label and very few additional features, but of course, for more cash).
2. Microsoft, as much as it's like the drug industry (see above), it's not innovative. As a matter of fact, the whole idea that Microsoft is an inventive company is truly a misdirected concept. Rarely does Microsoft make something innovative -- they bundle a lot of innovative concepts -- ones that other companies and individuals have created. The sad fact is that they haven't really delivered a truly innovative new product in a long time on the operating system front.
.
3. Software isn't like a drug in a very fundamental sense -- the distribution model is completely different (or it can be, rather) and unlike drugs, it is composed of tons of interlocking parts that as a whole expand upon the other interlocking parts.

   If you could step into your local wal-mart, purchase a few thousand "bundled" drugs to create a completely new drug that fixed just your symptoms, this analogy might hold. Sadly, if it were a Microsoft model, this drug would promise to cure the common cold on the box as a feature. When taken, the patient (let's label them "the victim" here) would find themselves with dozens of new viruses instead.

4. The GPL-licensed products that come bundled with Linux are constantly getting new features that come from all over the planet. There are tons of people making money from their use (just not people holding others at gun-point at the point of "sale" of the Linux "product"). Lot's of people are employed as systems administrators, for example. Those people haven't lost their jobs and there's very little danger of this as the infusion of new technology from the implementation side of the fence just doesn't seem to be slowing down.
5. If you follow the argument above, you can see that the real "loss" is just Microsoft's -- companies like RedHat, IBM and Novell and others are making cash just fine from Linux. Apple has also seen benefit using Free Software (non-GPL, but it's a point that they're making out just fine and adding features like crazy). What Gates is bemoaning is the fact that GPL software forces a down-stream effect of not being able to charge monopolistic prices for software. Gee, we're all feeling sorry for you there Bill.

I am resisting the urge to counter that Microsoft is like Big Oil or some other industry. The truth is that Software is a different industry and that the GPL is here to stay. Get used to it Bill -- think about this for a while -- why don't you turn the Windows API into something usable that bolts on top of any operating system? -- Linux or Apple, and leave the OS-driving to the professionals. Please don't jokingly suggest that Vista is an OS -- it seems more like a badly written memory-tester with the ability to launch a few programs. Give up on the whole world-domination thing and just go with the flow.

You're doing some cool things on the charity front -- give the public a break on the monopoly front (they can use it -- fuel is getting expensive). Gas is not cheap, in other words, but the hot air you generate sure makes it seem that way.

Cheers!
-=FeriCyde=-

Having friends along for the ride...

Recently it occurred to me that I'm having the time of my life.

It's hard to put things in perspective, but I'll do my best to summarize it. About a year and a half ago, I was coming out of a depressive funk (real depression, by the way) and dealing with several life issues.

One of them was relating to a family issue that has (for the moment) resolved itself -- out of my control, the problem required a lot of prayer and diligence. I had to hold the line on some things and to exercise "tough love" on a scale most mortal parents would not be comfortable with.

A second item was the depression itself -- I've said it and blogged it in the past but it bears repeating that yes, even something as painful as depression can end up being good for you.

A third item that really threw me for a loop kind of revealed itself yesterday to be something that was put there to help me understand what would happen to me today. You have to trust in a higher power -- things like this cannot be planned or predicted. Everything I went through in context more or less helped me understand something that a friend and coworker was experiencing. As I said to them later, it's nice to know you're not alone. I might not have understood had I not ridden the same storm.

And finally there was this nagging problem of a simple broken promise. You see, a few years back some rather basic contractual obligations were made to me that through a bit of complex fault and blame transfer, were broken. I spent the better part of a year trying to resolve the inequity (so to speak) and near as I can tell, the party involved simply didn't want to acknowledge his or her duties in this context. When I would bring up the facts of the matter, they would make statements about how I was making them feel "uncomfortable" or holding them hostage.

It was a simple matter, but yet somehow, through some seriously slow (and ineptly executed) process, the party that should have been accountable for delivery simply delivered to someone else. In the end I honestly have to admit that I was a bit insulted.

Well, I'm not anymore. If I were a vengeful sort (I'm not by the way), I could not have planned what has happened since then. Words fail me.

I think I've expressed enough here for the parties in question to know who they are and I'd like to officially state that they were indeed doing Gods work (Albeit, in a rather shifty, backstabbing and morally suspect way, but, heh, at the end of the day even that's something that's brought comic value to my life).

I'm officially saying that I honestly don't care anymore.

Why would I say this? A multitude of reasons, but let's start with the fact that I love what I do. I'm surrounded by creative, successful and fun-loving people and I'm glad they're along for the ride. And I'm right here, right now, thanks to where I've been and quite honestly even the down side of everything I've mentioned above wasn't all that bad so I have a lot to be thankful for. My own creative abilities have enabled this ride -- the fact that I've created space for others to be creative and enjoy their work is huge icing on this cake.

Finally, and even higher on the irony scale, some of my favorite people have followed me here (dare I use the word "lead" somehow?). This makes me understand that regardless of meaningless charts (and really stupid certification-clogged signatures), at the end of the day reality has bestowed upon me the goods that others though were theirs to deliver. I think I like it better this way -- and I really don't have a choice in the matter, so why not love it for what it is?

Gratitude is under-rated. I'm grateful to be here and to have such cool friends in my life. I'm even more happy to see those around me growing and being rewarded for their success.

One of my best friends is starting a really cool blog -- look for some posts in the near future outlining talent acquisition and even more importantly, how to keep talented people in the game.

Talk soon!
-=FeriCyde=-

Ten Dollar CDs

Walmart is at it again.

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6558540/walmart_wants_10_cds

They want the Music cartel to lower their prices so they can move more product and not lose money on the products on the shelves. Normally I have a hard time with some of the high-pressure tactics that big businesses take pushing each other around -- but in this case, I gotta ask a few questions that have rather difficult answers. Maybe I just don't understand.

If I walk into about a half dozen retail shops, I can usually find a decent DVD for 10 bucks or less (no, we're not talking a recent release here -- but we're not talking old Andy Griffith Show re-runs either). In other words, I can find a Movie, on DVD, for 10 bucks easily.

But go for a similar vintage CD and it's going to be 12-14 bucks -- sometimes higher.

So...

1. A movie arguably has creative staff several orders of magnitude higher from a production stand-point.
2. The soundtrack -- the derivative work from the Movie for the background noise to accompany the moving pictures, has to take similar effort to the production of most CDs.
3. The format: DVDs have to have higher production costs. The amount of data from a binary perspective on a DVD is typically 4 gigabytes, versus the theoretical 700 megabytes or so on a typical CD.
4. The editing: Editing video chapters and movie scenes, the work to create the DVD package and so on for a movie -- all of this from my perspective is a lot harder than the sound divisions found on a typical CD.

So the bottom line from my perspective is clear -- why, if every indicator from my perspective shows that the movie production houses are not losing money shipping a CD at 10 bucks, can the record industry not do something at least at a similar rate? Maybe they need to have a movie produced about every album that an artist puts out, showing live footage as the artist performs the work. Then have the movie houses ship the product and pay the artist similar to movie stars (something I hear isn't really happening these days).

Someone out there has to have some idea why this is all out of kilter -- or, like I said, maybe there's some hidden production cost for a CD or some huge donation facility for the movie houses that's funding their DVDs on the shelf today.

Walmart is arguably the 900 lb gorilla in this game -- but maybe they're on to something with this one. And I do agree with the gist of the article -- Apple makes money with the i-Tunes store because consumers sense value paying a buck a song. The value equation seems really tilted when you compare movies versus CDs. Consumers are pushing back and saying "I don't see 14 bucks a CD as a value."

One thing for sure, though, Walmart, the 900lb Gorilla is shoving another 900lb gorilla around. Look for some serious stomping here in the days to come.
-=FeriCyde=-

Another voting scandal in Ohio

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080318-ohio-seizes-voting-machines-in-criminal-investigation.html

The people that make voting machines are in my back yard, almost literally. I drive past them every day to work in Canton Ohio (Diebold). As a fervent believer in automation and almost all things technical as progress I have to vote here (and I don't just mean in the elections) -- I have to say I'm completely and totally against Voting machines being used in our elections.

I'm completely serious.

It's time to go back to paper ballots and I'd even go so far as to say we need the U.N. to monitor our elections. Ken Blackwell, the chief of elections for Ohio recently (at least the 04 elections) -- and a republican (he ran as a republican candidate for governor last year, and lost) -- Ken Blackwell was in charge of our voting processes last round. Really sound question here -- how can we trust a voting process in a "two-party" system (some people call it a democracy, but they need to do some research here)? Answer: We can't these days if the machines are as complex as they are, the voting is done with machines made by people with dubious goals, and the people in charge of the voting at the polls don't understand the technology. For these and obvious other reasons, I say it's time we stopped using technology, as there's simply too much at stake, namely our future as a society where we have some choice in our government.

Toss the machines, bring in U.N. Inspectors and then let's architect a system that works -- process and technology -- and one that's transparent, auditable and owned by the people, and not some "party" -- democratic or republican -- the temptation to skew the results is simply too high and near as I can tell it's become something similar to the "re-district" game, whereby some new elected power shift occurs, and the latest party in power tries to move the district boundaries in a state around so that the voting goes more favorably next time. Again, a statistical approach that makes it seam like the real election process is working, but in reality, it's been titled on the board in someone's favor.

Voting machines and new technologies at the booth provide, near as I can tell, an infinite number of new possibilities in this arena. Paper ballots at least would remove the latest round.

The latest scandal involves candidates names dropping off the machine in question (and in many counties from the article). This is compounded by the fact that there's no paper trail on the Diebold machines -- this from a company that makes ATM machines that print a continuous log when you use them. So, let's get this straight -- the cash in an ATM is important enough to audit, but we're going to take away this capability for a process that effectively hands the keys to the world (and the buttons to destroy it as well) over to someone, a process *that* important, it handles *that* and it doesn't log a thing? Oh and we're going to trust a dedicated party member to oversee the usage of such a thing in a non-partisan manner.

Get real -- get rid of this insanity now. We can salvage the technology later if we can come up with a way to make it idiot and fool proof -- for now we have some serious election needs and yes, we probably need the U.N. to watch it all. Sad day...
-=FeriCyde=-

Elliot Spitzer

The scandal is all over the news. Governor of New York, Elliot Spitzer is a user of prostitutes and he's resigned.

It's always rough to watch something like this in flight. Bill Clinton being caught with an intern, for example, gripped our nation and lots of people made huge news of it (Even talk of impeachment).

I'm caught, though, with mixed feelings here. As bad as his behavior is in this context, the really sad news is that no one is looking back at everything that guy did to fight corruption -- it's all about his cheatin' ways these days.

Elliot Spitzer took on many things -- one of them was Microsoft. He did what a lot of law enforcement people wouldn't do and he did it well.

He's going to get run through the ringer for being a John -- but I will forever remember the crusader that fought for the right thing at the right time. I'm sorry to see this as an end. I hope for his sake that he's able to come to some kind of terms with this and in some way get back to what he used to do. Maybe this is an unrecoverable set-back, in other words, but I hope not.

Elliot Spitzer was and is, for what he did as a crime-fighter, still an admirable person in my eyes. No, I don't think prostitution is admirable or acceptable behavior. His personal problems aside, though, the good he did as an Attorney General was massive good compared to what amounts to a serious character flaw.

Unfortunately for our society we are hell-bent on feeding a media frenzy around things like this. Britney Spears, Anna Nichole-Smith or the latest celebrity train-wreck of the day all take the public eye off of real problems. Real heroes are forgotten in the backwash of mud and flame.

Elliot Spitzer is the latest train-wreck and the media will run this story for all its worth.

He's still a hero in my eyes. Elliot, you'll be in my prayers.
-=FeriCyde=-

The Creation and Destruction of Inspirational Power

A recent conversation with a friend makes me aware of something dark I'm carrying that simply should not be there. It's there due to my nature, I'm sure, as a sensitive person who likes to think that everyone in the world is on their own path toward being something creative.

Let's face it -- not everyone is. Not everyone is on a path to grow. Not everyone is on a path toward any kind of enlightenment. Not everyone can create. Not everyone is inspirational. Inspirational Power is something a lot of people desire in their lives, though. I strive for it in my life.

When you can't, there's the alluring fall-back toward something else. Maybe theft is the wrong word but I can't help but suggest it.

In the past, when I've been troubled by something I've attacked it on multiple fronts. I talk with my wife and friends. Whatever. Often I'll blog about it. My next few posts will deal with this subject.

Linux is doing well these days. I'd love to talk about my recent experiences watching my wife use her ubuntu laptop (and load software all without dear old me in the picture). Not that that's all that boring -- it's just not news.

I'll try to keep this light and not involve any faces and names. Inevitably though I'm sure some people will be drawn to events in my life and go away sure that I'm talking about a particular individual. Trust me, this happens to everyone in some capacity. I plan to put a name on the face of the problem, but I will not be putting any names on human faces.

For over time I've discovered that inspirational power simply can't be stolen for any length of time and I've alway somehow come out as the winner in the game (there's that male paradigm rearing its ugly head again). I will also explore just why this would depress me.

Thanks for listening,
-=FeriCyde=-

Astroturf in Vogue as it has been for years...

The Clinton campaign has kicked off an outrage over some planted questions. The crime: it appears that the campaign staff planted some questions with the people in the audience. The worry: That Hillary Clinton is dishonest and that we're not hearing the real conversation because of all of this fake banter.

This crap unfortunately goes on all the time.

Recently FEMA was caught hosting an entire phony news conference, for example. The public by now must be getting suspicious. You would hope. They're asleep from my experience.

Looking back at some of the things I've seen first hand, the core of the outrage stems from the phony glow that comes from a staged conversation as opposed to real dialog. This is the core issue, actually. People want to be able to engage in actual conversation -- it makes for more honest dialog and more accountability.

And a lot of people's bullshit meter goes off when they witness the phony stuff in action. The problem is that a good portion of the population simply can't tell the difference. Worse, a good portion of people out there simply see no problem with stuff like the above two examples. A good friends daughter is involved in writing phony articles for a magazine for companies that want that hallowed glow. What's the difference between an article like that, and an actual product review by someone independent?

The difference is everything, but you as an honest listener will never know. The daughter saw no problem with it. Her mother seemed somewhat more troubled, but was unable to see exactly what I saw as a problem; If the article had the words "advertisement" over the top of it, I would not have seen the problem either.

Or maybe the appropriate words "astroturf" would have been better -- phony grass roots, in other words. A shill. Someone posing as an honest observer but in reality paid by the party receiving the goods. Whatever it is, it's wrong.

I'm certain that the main problem with the Clintons in this case is that their campaign staff has been caught. This is probably a rampant issue in the political space -- in a democracy there's no place for it. My experience was with the news, Joe Barr, a long time ago, experienced it with an OS/2 message board -- Microsoft staff posing as "helpful" people, supposedly were there to help people with OS/2 problems, and yet somehow they ended up steering people to Windows every time.

The practice goes back a long way, actually. Bogus letters to the editor in colonial times, for example, were cited as defense for some of the stupidity I observed on an on-line chat forum. "This is common practice in the industry" the people attempting to sweep in under the rug hissed.

I'll never forget what I said in response to that at the time: "Common practice? -- by whom?"

Funny, I never got that last question answered...
-=FeriCyde=-

TV Links has been shut down.

What a sad day. It certainly was possible to find new movies on the aforementioned website -- but mostly I used it to watch old MASH reruns and a host of documentaries and TV shows I had never heard of.

The implications are rather stark: Help people pirate content, and you will be shut down.

Worse, though, is that someone in the UK is now in the slammer for more or less helping aggregate pirate links -- for being a middle-man in the game of piracy.

I found TVlinks from Digg.com about a year ago, and was simply amazed at the list of shows and documentaries and everything in-between. I thought it was just my geekyness that brought me there, until my next-door neighbor had a network outage -- and the first site his son of 20+ years pulled up to "test" connectivity was none other than TVlinks.

We talked a bit about the content on there and I realized that it had become more than a TV Guide -- it had hit a hallowed space -- almost a "google" for everything video.

At the heart of all of this is the question of illegal activity -- was he really breaking the law? (TVlinks only pointed at people that were breaking copyright). Can't you go to just about any search engine and find copyrighted content in a matter of seconds?

I guess the real question is whether or not Google, Yahoo and MSN are next. If you can cart away a guy who ran something like this in his living room what can you do to people who actually have pockets of cash?

Google, MSN and Yahoo should do more than watch the outcome of this one -- they should pool their resources and pay this guy's legal fees. If he was pointing to copyrighted content wouldn't that make it extremely easy for the copyright holders to always find people breaking the law? Isn't that a useful function of the site? Is that illegal, in other words?

These are hard questions, but I think you can all read what I'm saying -- they have arrested the wrong thief in this equation. All of the search engine and other types of aggregators of content should sit up and pay serious attention. Google cannot possibly know (without serious cost) the true holders of the copyright to the endpoint content they aggregate (arguably, this is only slightly different than what TVlinks was doing). Suing or arresting people that run search engines for pointing to copyrighted content is not the answer, in my not-so-humble opinion.
-=FeriCyde=-

Post Ohio Linux Fest

Pictures are filtering into my inbox:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/slarz5/sets/72157602227832706

It was a great time. I'll write more about it later. It wasn't much bigger but it was definitely well-attended and the speaker content was top-notch -- Kudo's to Joe Xonker Brockmeier for the way the talks were arranged -- I found myself easily attending a lot of the talks in the Linux International room.

Talk soon!
-=FeriCyde=-

Russian Schools Convert to Linux by 2009

Let's hope our own educational system follows suit. The article on LXer.com: http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/92822/index.html

-=FeriCyde=-

Linux Freedom

Never cries. I've been pondering a lot about things to be thankful for lately. I have a lot -- I'm a grandfather as of last Wednesday. I have a fun job. My depression has long since ceased being something more than a nuisance in my life. Amazing stuff. Freedom Never cries:

http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/92822/index.html.

The title reference is to a Five-For-Fighting tune that honestly didn't make a whole lot of sense the first time I listened to it. It has a way of growing on you, however. The album (Two Lights) is truly a work of art. It doesn't hurt that the guy is a fan of Mustangs -- He's even got a song on the album about his 65 mustang.

Probably my favorite song on the album, however, is a song about life called "The Riddle". It's a very complicated tune (reminds me of the song 100 years, if you've ever heard it). The riddle, "there's a reason for the world", is about life -- about why this world exists (for us to be together) and why love and community are so important.

So we're full circle ;) Back to Linux. The community is getting together soon in Ohio.

See ya there! -=FeriCyde=-

Ohio Linux Fest, 2007

Well, it gets crazier.

We've selected the keynotes, and the planning is in full swing. This will be year 5 -- and my Dad is even involved.

What other stuff, you say? How about -- classes the day before. Affectionately called "OLFU" (rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it!), this broadens the event considerably. What else? Google sponsoring the after-party? Free beer? Who knows what kind of madness lurks in the hearts of the planners (FeriCyde knows!).

Get Registered Now -- that's all I can say. If the event shapes up to be anything like the last couple of years, it's going to be extremely hard to come down from. I'm bracing myself now.

Other stuff going on in my life... Work Work Work. Brulant is the right place for me -- it's creative, high speed and for the Love of Linux, so much what I need to be about these days. There will be Brulant people at OLF -- ask me in person if you make it to the event.

More blogging between now and then.
Talk Soon!
-=FeriCyde=-

Join the Digg Club and Recieve the Following Links, Absolutely Free!

1. Why you should care about flatulence.
2. This image is extremely boring...
3. Discovered! 101 Pointless web sites no one links to!
4. A visual guide to HTML graphic layout for the blind.
5. Leaked photos of the headphone jack on the new iPod!
6. Lonely geeks should be allowed to reproduce, even ones that can't get a date. Sign this petition!
7. Theme-ing Windows Vista to look like Windows 3.1 -- a step-by-step guide.
8. Bill Gates is a Moron. Really.
9. No, Steve Jobs is a Moron.
10. Secret Google restroom graphics discovered on FaceBook.
11. Why you should give up going to the bathroom.
12. The best pointless spam message ever!
13. 10 Frankenstein movie snapshots that look like Steve Ballmer.
14. Step-by-Step: Using Gimp to make a blurry image of your dog.
15. 10 useful ways determining that your boss is a dickhead.
16. I farted, I own an iPhone, and you suck.
17. Facinating Metal Gear Solid youtube video catalog.

(My almost-apologies to George Carlin -- he wouldn't want me to really apologize for this, I just know it).

The sad thing is, I reviewed some of these headline names and found an almost identical Digg link -- that appeared after I started writing this. Be careful what you wish for, I guess ;)

Enjoy!
--FeriCyde

Paris Hilton was Strip Searched!

I know what you're thinking -- this post has nothing to do with Ohio Linux Fest and / or Mustangs, and you'd be right. Almost. Ohio Linux Fest is about to announce it's Key note speaker list, and it won't involve Paris Hilton -- or Mustangs for that matter.

It will be something positive, enlightening and very party-oriented, but no, sorry, no strip searching of hotel error-ists (Pun_mode=1, sorry).

Yeah, that was a cheap way of getting your attention. I just finished reading CNN -- is there some other news besides Paris Hilton and gory car-crash stories going on? Maybe something positive about people doing something besides making a train-wreck out of their own and other peoples lives? I could bop over to Fox news and get the fair and balanced look at the latest Republican agenda, for some kind of weird balance.

Except, it's not -- it's two different, Network-oriented views that somehow seem to leave out good news. What abot the millions of kids in life that are doing something non-Paris oriented? Like the two young guys I met last night (one loves tennis, the other golf, both going to business school)? Somehow they've failed to make the headlines. In order to be famous, they need to drive on suspended licenses and [do I really need to mention all the crap Paris has done here that falls outside of the bounds of positive social behavior? Do I? It might increase my Google page rank, but I just can't bring myself to it in this context].

Ohio Linux Fest is not going to be a Paris Hilton event -- it's going to be something positive and deep (deep, Paris, just in case you're somehow reading my blog, is a term referring to things that tax the intellectual aspects of being human.) FWIW, I doubt Paris reads my blog. For one, it's about things (as mentioned) that are constructive and intellectual, but for another, she's probably too busy right now reading the bible and enriching her life planning new reality-TV episodes.

OLF is, however, going to happen September 29th of this year, in a large hotel (Sadly, not the Hilton) in Columbus. Expect somewhere between 1200 to 2500 people to attend. We're not sure, it looks like this year it may be wildly more popular than last, so hold onto your hats ;)

As for the hotel being strip-search, I'm happy to report that the likely-hood is probably very low. Most of us are likely to party after the event (the after-event party at OLF is legendary, for those of us sober enough to remember it). We try not to drink and drive on suspended licenses too. The wild OLF-goer partying involves spouting near-religious views on the GPL, vi-vs-emacs and all the other Linux-hacker-culture type stuff -- in other words, just exactly not the kind of stuff you'd find in Paris or even the news media's limited attention-span.

All-in-all, I'm pumped. We're in the final 100 days of registration and I have all of summer to enjoy till the event, so I'm a happy guy. See you all there!
(PS: don't forget to register if you haven't already -- it's free!).
((PS: Shameless_plug_mode=1);)
-=FeriCyde=-

No I haven't died...

You know a blog post is late when it begins with a title like this.

I have been extremely maxxed on the work/work side. I've achieved a sort of work-life "balance" that is so tipped to the work side that the phrase "work-a-holic" doesn't quite get the dimensions of the beast. Part of it is my emergence from the battle with depression (I think I can proclaim victory, but it's not over -- just beaten into submission).

I'm who I am, and I can live with that; I guess the biggest issues I've faced have been my own haunting fears (things that will get you in the end if you don't face them). Some have been rather hard to face, others just plain funny.

I think the biggest issues have been dealing with my creative side and the fact that I have nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to making people laugh, or making something that didn't exist before. When it comes to creativity, my basic thoughts are that most people have it inside of them, but its mystery and connection to the almighty scare them away from using it. When it comes to creativity and being accepted as a male, a third fear is added.

Whatever.

I had a good, creative day, yesterday. Some things I had been pressing against finally broke like they should have (barriers) and something came into being. I worked a dozen different directions -- and a long day. Brulant is a different place. It's hard to explain, but from what I can tell, I'm here for all of the right reasons and it makes me smile.

Driving home after a thunderstorm (I drove the Orange Mach 1 -- the weather report indicated a "bad convertible day"), I rolled through 271 and Cuyahoga national forest. Mist covered about 1/3 of the view and I felt an unusual mystical connection -- alive, human -- the gentle sound of rolling V8 thunder behind me. I know this doesn't probably sound like it all goes together but I guess you had to be there.

In the mirrors I spot a white GT convertible rolling up slowly behind me. As the car pulls alongside, I see the driver. Smiles -- thumbs up. Mustangs are crude animals. They have suspension issues, fit and finish problems and for the most part are "just barely practical (see prior posts). But they're also something else. And it's not just me. Suddenly, for just a couple of seconds I feel that I'm not the only one who understands this.

Some things have died inside of me over the past few months. I'm letting go of some of my bewilderment at the stupidity of the world. I'm not saying I'm ready to forget it -- just that I understand that it happens and that some people are destined to simply be thieves and liars -- and that they have to live with their choices. Those choices inevitably change their worlds in subtle ways that everyone around can sense, but not necessarily see in an overt sense of the word "perception". As tiny as that sounds, the fact is that its enough.

I'm not dead, and neither are they, in the sense that they're still walking the planet. Still, it's a death of a kind that brings not a sense of anger, but simply pity.
--FeriCyde

A stupid Question: Where Are The Microsoft Fanboys

"Why doesn't Microsoft have a cult religion?" The answer is simple: cults don't form in the mainstream. Should Microsoft be concerned, though?

This is such a treasury of poorly misunderstood ideas (the article, the headline, and the article that spawned the discussion). First, there's the premise: That there aren't people that are outside of employment at Microsoft that are "fanboys". Tons of them exist. I run into them from time to time in my work and hobby life.

They're not all that organized, from what I see, but they're there. The lack of organization isn't "simple", though. I think a multitude of vectors contribute to the situation. Microsoft software itself is typically copied, joined and sometimes (upon rare occasion) created. Since it's often last to the game, the enthusiasm is often found in people that are last to the party (and don't mind being in that space). In other words, while the "coolness" factor of the technology is at its peak, the fan-base forms there -- then Microsoft gets into the game, and the stuff becomes more or less an appliance. About as exciting as a refrigerator.

In a business setting, for some people, a refrigerator is very exciting, however. These people don't necessarily get their jollies blogging about it, though. They're probably not going to form a user group to gain knowledge and network. In short, by the time Microsoft gets into the game, the technology is often boring as paint.

Then there is the open factor; Think of a typical car club -- imagine the "stock Ford 500 fan club". These people drive their (completely stock, maybe some racing stripes added for flair) Ford 500s to some nearby event to talk about how nicely the air condition and all-wheel drive features work. Yeah, even the visual is boring, sorry. I'm sure it will fade with time.

Already faded? Yes, I'm sure it is -- the fact is that, though the Ford 500 may be a decent piece of equipment, it's a late arriver to a rather saturated game of family sedans -- and the mostly stock part? Well, most people that buy a 500 don't buy it to mod it in any way shape or form. That might void the warranty, after all. It might cost more (it's an appliance, more or less, to them).

This is another reason why no one cares about Microsoft enough to get passionate about it -- they won't open their main product-base up to the enthusiast crowd. With the hood solidly welded shut, no one cares.

Face it, their latest operating system (or is an innovative program to help memory companies sell chips? You decide) is a veritable pig in a land of pure-bred stallions -- most of the people I see talking about it treat it with all of the enthusiasm of a root-canal at the dentist. "Oh yeah, I might switch to it later this year after I get more memory for my home computer."

Sure, some of it is the underdog effect, but these factors greatly outweigh that issue -- I look to my Ford Mustang for inspiration here. I have two of the beasts. One of them, a Mach 1, is very stock. It won't be forever. The other, a GT, has barely any stock parts left on it. I take it to shows -- I'm thinking of joining a local club for the hell of it (and because I love the things -- they're a blast). Part of the reason I love em' is that you never know what someone is going to do to trick theirs out. Mustangs are definitely not the underdog.

The reason so is not because there are so many of them (there are) -- the reason is more related to the dimensions of open source. In 1996, Ford stuffed a new motor in the Mustang GT that was very proprietary, for example -- you couldn't change the heads without changing the computer, and they weren't very helpful with the companies that wanted to sell after market parts.

It took em' a while, but they learned from it. They're back to helping these companies so that there will be a healthy after-market. They realized that not playing this game wasn't going to bring them the after-market -- it was going to kill the fan base.

Microsoft might possibly learn from Linux (and Sun) -- to get that needed enthusiasm in the community they need to open the hood of their products. They need a bit more than that (and maybe I'll talk about that later). For now, the fans are going to rally around things that give them a reason (and the freedom) to be passionate.
-=FeriCyde=-

It's happening in my own back-yard...

Einstein once said "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe."

In my own back-yard, you have an overworked, under appreciated school network admin, getting ousted from his job for switching his school district to Linux. Besides the inevitable security bonus, lowering of costs and so on, obvious to anyone that's used Linux, the fact that Linux and education simply makes sense is being tossed out.

They aren't just tossing out the idea -- they're tossing out a human being who was attempting to take them to a higher level. I'd suspect (haven't seen everything behind the scenes here -- just been following from the news headlines, which can be tricky) -- I'd suspect that this administrators choice to switch to Linux made people (teachers) in the school district second-guess a decision.

Faced with ditching the warm, comfortable world of windows, someone commissioned a "survey" by an "outside technology firm" to get results to make a new decision -- hire someone who will do what I can only imagine is this school superintendents (and probably a lot of powerful teaching staff's) "no-brainer" choice; Switch to Mac or Windows Vista (I have no idea, but I've seen a lot of stupidity in my day about what Linux can do -- this is my speculation, I'll freely admit).

Why is Linux in education so valuable, important, and likely frightening the piss out of Microsoft and Apple? Because unlike proprietary offerings by these companies -- this operating system comes with the source code (the instructions behind how to make *everything* about it happen). With the source code, some industrious students -- 12-18 years of age, could possibly do more than run the stuff given them -- they might get involved with learning about how the computer operating system works, and not only improve Linux -- they would improve their own aptitude and lives.

What I'm saying is that this guy was making more than an obvious choice for saving the district money -- he was potentially opening up a whole new world of choices to some children that would never get exposed first-hand to Linux any other way.

And that, my friends, is a crying shame. Someone who's superintendent Michael Johnson's boss needs to commission a study into *his* aptitude -- it looks to me like possibly he's micro-managing a network admin -- one who was about to change the world in a town in Ohio. Maybe with some good results, a descision about the superintendents' job shed some light on the situation. In the mean time, I'd go along with Mr Einsteins' evaluation of the universe and stupidity.

I'm not totally sure about the universe either, but I do know that Linux is changing the world -- the only thing holding it back right now is stupidity.
-=FeriCyde=-