Wanderlust

Common Carrier Status vs Net Neutrality

2009-09-23T00:49:00.001-07:00

I wrote the following in response to “Net neutrality” is stupid nearly a year ago. I am reprinting it here in honor of recent FCC net neutrality rules, though I have not yet gone over the new rules to see if it really is Net Neutrality. It is important to remember how this debate began, when Telcoms/Cable Providers/Cisco started to conceptualize a new tiered system where companies pay to have prioritized access to you. This piece pinpoints the dilemma precisely where Quality of Service meets Traffic Prioritization:

Net Neutrality deals in issues which Common Carrier status alone does not.

Net Neutrality came about because of two things:

ISPs have started using traffic prioritization techniques to make up for the lack of Quality of Service, so that time sensitive packets would be delivered first over oversold networks.
ISP's saw a business opportunity in selling traffic prioritization to websites to guarantee fastest delivery over their aging oversold networks.

Together, these two principles discourage system upgrades while encouraging further traffic prioritization money making schemes, which creates a barrier of entry for new businesses and innovation on the internet. In order to be as responsive as or more responsive than their competitors, they would have to pay for equal or more prioritization than their competitors.

The issue would not exist if the ISP's Quality of Service was equal to the bandwidth promised. However, the issue here is not that providers are overselling their bandwidth alone. Even without QoS guarantees, the issue would not exist if traffic prioritization could not be viewed as a revenue stream, a "rapid delivery tax", over the oversold network which at the same time delays all other traffic.

Traffic prioritization can be a valuable tool, and can make all the difference to time sensitive packets. Think your roommate watching videos while you try to make an internet phone call. Some people would agree to allow the ISP to shape their traffic to avoid a choppy phone call. Others, however, would rather just have ISPs give them a guaranteed Quality of Service, and prefer to prioritize traffic themselves. These examples exemplify 2 different types of Net Neutrality: "Limited Discrimination Net Neutrality" and "Absolute Non-Discrimination Net Neutrality" respectively.

Common Carrier status WOULD still allow the selling of prioritized internet traffic, so long as anyone is allowed to pay the same price for such prioritization. Many Net Neutrality advocates, however, feel that companies should not be allowed to pay for prioritized access to end users over oversold networks. If every website can just pay more to get higher priority, how long will it be before everyone is paying more for higher and higher priority? This can continue literally without end since we are not talking about increasing bandwidth here, we are talking about an artificial concept of prioritization over an oversold network.

The only thing that "common carrier" status (as described in the article) deals with is preventing carriers from unfairly throttling certain types of traffic. While this is important, this is not the whole of the importance of Network Neutrality.

Uinta Ground Squirrel Rescue

2009-07-03T00:56:00.000-07:00

I was out hiking and almost stepped on what I had thought to be a dead rat. Closer inspection revealed it to be a ground squirrel, and even closer inspection revealed it to be alive. His eyes were closed and remained closed through the remainder of the day, even through a feeding with a syringe.

It appeared a dog got a hold of him, as the deep gash in his back leg indicated. Probably the choclate lab I saw ten minutes before, but who knows. There were a lot of dogs on the trail that day. My stilt-legged Pekinginese sniffed at it, I yelled at him, and then I picked the rodent up in my shirt.

The squirrel appeared to be young. Pictures of other Uinta's online all seem to be of very fat, very tall rodents, and this guy is small and skinny.

I cleaned out his wound (eyes still closed but with much protestation), and then smeared his back leg with antibiotic, which I applied 2-3 times a day thereafter.

From what I could find, Uinta's spend the first couple months of their life underground, and spend much of their adult life hibernating. A couple hours after his first feeding, his eyes slowly opened until wide. He tried to walk around, but was weak, wobbly, and his back leg was evidently too painful to walk on (he dragged it around after him). He refused to eat any solids I could find, so I figured sugar water was good enough until I could find a more nutricious supplement.

When sleeping he would burrow between 2 layers of a fuzzy knitted scarf. When he started to get more energy, he would occasionaly emmit a sharp whistle, followed with low grumblings, which is used in the wild to indicate danger to the colony. Generally he'd wake up, make a lot of cute critter noises, I'd throw on my gloves and feed him, and then he'd go back to sleep. His leg seemed to be getting better, as he slowly started to put more pressure on it, but he still walked on it in an odd way (His long toes curled uner his feet).

Eventually I found someone to take him, who reintroduces critters into the wild frequently. She fed him substitute puppies milk, and the squirrel took to it immediatly. I put the burrowing scarf into the new cage with him, and that is the last I saw of him.

Pics:

MDY Industries, LLC (Glider) v. Blizzard Entertainment Misinformation

2009-02-16T13:04:00.000-08:00

There is a lot of misinformation floating around the internet concerning the MMORPG bot program Glider versus Blizzard ruling, mostly concerning precedent. There is no new precedent concerning EULAs that hasn't been set before. People are again discovering the joys of the DMCA law. A few finer points people seem to be missing:

1) This is far from the first EULA enforceability ruling stating that client users can be, for any reason stipulated in the ToS/EULA, denied access to the data on a server that the user does not own. This precedent was established in multiple former cases.

2) The copyright violation is not about the data stored on the user's disc ("literal elements"), and in fact a former ruling found in favor of MDY and Donnelly in this respect.
In this case, the copyright violation was argued on the grounds that the encrypted data coming from the server is copyrightable: "The server choreographs the dynamic scene being viewed on the user’s computer screen, and provides the prompts necessary for the non-literal elements on the user’s hard drive to be loaded into RAM and displayed on the screen in the appropriate locations and sequences." This dynamic data is provided over the internet and is bound by the terms of service as precedent dictates in (1).

3) Blizzard runs a program, Warden, in the background that persistently tries to “restrict or otherwise limit” (DMCA terminology) anyone detected using Glider from accessing copyrighted dynamic stream data. By persistently acting as a Warden circumvention device, to gain access to encrypted server data in a way which is not approved by the server's terms of service, it becomes a DMCA violation.

The court concluded "that MDY has violated section 1201(a)(2) with respect to the dynamic nonliteral elements of WoW."

Now you can yell and scream about how unfair this is, but no one ever claimed the DMCA was fair. The reality is that this case is not all that different from an audio stream with DRM:
- Audio=Dynamic Game Data
- DRM=Warden and Encrypted Network Stream
- DRM Circumvention Device = Glider.

This is just a cool example, in a long line of uncool examples, of the crappy-ness that is the DMCA. Again, this doesn't set any precedent concerning EULAs that hasn't been set before. Here is the link to the actual case decision PDF.

The Infamous Lizard People Ballot

2009-02-16T12:15:00.000-08:00

I think my favorite bit of the insanely close Minnesota Senate recount is the Star Tribune's article covering the "Lizard People" vote. It sounds like some sort of comedy routine.
Background:
Here is the Lizard People ballot PDF
Here are the Minnesota Statutes for determining voter intent

Excerpt:
-----------------------
"'Lizard People' is not a genuine write-in" because there's no such person, argued Marc Elias, Franken's lead recount attorney.

Wait a minute, said Chief Justice Eric Magnuson. "You don't know that there's not someone named 'Lizard People.' You don't."

"You're right, you don't know," chimed in Coleman recount attorney Tony Trimble.

"Isn't 'People' plural? How can you have an individual named 'People?' " asked Ramsey County District Judge Edward Cleary, a board member.

"I think it's silly too, but we have to judge on the face of the ballot," Magnuson said.

"If someone wants to make a statement of some sort, they may not get their vote counted," Ramsey County Chief District Judge Kathleen Gearin said.

Elias: "If we think it's just a statement, then I think it's [a vote for Franken]."

Trimble: "We know that 'People' can be a surname. And 'Lizard' can be a nickname."

The board finally sided with Trimble and declared it an overvote, not a vote for Franken.
-----------------

The majority of the people who took the "Lizard People" online poll, on minnesota.publicradio.org, agreed that the vote should be rejected based on the voter intent determination statutes as an overvote, so no big surprise. Bemidji resident Lucas Davenportis reportedly the joker who cast this vote.

Untrusted Mainstream Media and Bias

2009-02-16T10:52:00.000-08:00

An IFC poll found most Americans do not trust television and radio news, with 80% and 84% saying they were unreliable respectively.

When asked who respondents felt was the most trusted news personality:
– 14.2% of Democrats polled consider Keith Olbermann of MSNBC to be the most trusted while
– 29.2% of Republicans surveyed consider Rush Limbaugh to be the most trusted.

I feel they are both tools. The two biggest partisan personalities are considered the most trusted. Truly sad. Sorry Olbermann lovers, but every now and then he says things are just as outlandish as O'Reily or Limbaugh.

Fox News came out as the 2nd most trusted news source, after the internet, probably because most conservatives generally all watch Fox News because of perceived "liberal bias" of news media today. Democrats trust MSNBC most as a network (30.3% MSNBC, 26.2% CNN, 43.5% other), while Republicans generally all trust Fox News most (81.9% Fox, 18.1% other)

I, however, don't believe there is a liberal media bias. I believe the main stream media got burned on Iraq WMDs, and were embarrassed for buying into White House press releases and questionable confidential sources. The result was a disillusioned press core more critical of the White House. Further adding to the MSM's rage were:
- the destruction of the MSM's perceived right to confidential sources in the precedent setting Valorie Plame Affair.
- broadened executive secrecy and powers.

These factors led to today’s perceived bias, factors which Obama has made the appearance of trying to reconcile by proclaiming lessened executive powers (remains to be seen), a more stringent secrecy standards (Freedom of Information Act), and increased transparency in spending (remains to be seen).

Anyway, I found the IFC poll interesting.

A Fair(y) Use Tale

2009-02-16T10:33:00.000-08:00

I found this an entertaining description of Fair Use. Remember, Fair Use is not a right, it is a legal defense strategy.

Domain Tasting

2009-02-16T09:37:00.000-08:00

I let a site expire with GoDaddy. Shortly thereafter eNom showed up under whois as having registered it for a year (no user name, just eNom default contact info):
Creation date: 09 Sep 2006 11:59:00
Expiration date: 09 Sep 2007 11:59:00
A link at the bottom of the placeholder page informed me they wanted $200 for it. My fault for letting it expire, but what happened next was just odd.

I checked it a month later eNom no longer had it registered. So somehow they made it appear as if they had registered a site for a year when they actually did not. I think there are an awful lot of shady things going on in the DNS registration world. I believe the term for this is "Domain tasting".

If you want to see some funny stuff, visit the eNom Wikipedia entry... they are doing a masterful job of keeping it clear of criticism. If this page is to be believed, eNom has actually facilitated Domain Tasting and Domain Kiting by offering reseller accounts with scripts that automate the process.

ICANN is aware of Domain Tasting, and is attempting to remedy it.

My Digg Doesn't Count

2008-06-04T04:52:00.000-07:00

Digg is not a democracy.

Anything I digg/bury does not increase/decrease the count on Stories and Comments. All comments I post start at 0. I also noticed, recently, that the comments I add pretend like I have a default 1 digg, but accessing my profile (or another browser) I can easily see it is fake.

I can only assume I have been blacklisted for some reason, and I can only assume it is because some days I feel like negative digging stupid comments ("Foul Demons of Stupidity... BEGONE"). I see no reason for Digg to be working in such a deceptive fashion. I am not a bury-brigade member.... I'm just a bored netizen like most everyone else on that site.

Publicly Owned Internet

2008-06-04T03:49:00.000-07:00

It is time to start thinking about "Publicly Owned" networks.

If you are in Utah, and in its service area, look up project UTOPIA (Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency). It is a publicly-owned network, multiple service providers are able to offer applications and services over the network.

Currently you get
15Mb up/down - 100GB/month for $40- $20/additional 100GB - $.25/1GB overage.
50Mb up/down - 500GB/month for $60 - $20/additional 100GB - $.25/1GB overage.

The project isn't meeting its goals as far as subscribers, but if you are in its service area there is no better choice (even with the high installation fee, you break even in 1-2 years easily, and adds to the value of your home).

Projects like this need to succeed so we can throw off the oppressive reigns of our monopolistic, and government rubber-stamped, gate keepers. We can continue to complain to congress and the FCC about net neutrality every time a breach of trust occurs, or we can truly do something about it.

The fact is that transfer caps are coming to ALL broadband connections. The internet gatekeepers base their whole "unlimited" model around a generation of email users. However, generation-next is upon us, and they are hungry for brains... err.. bandwidth.

I already watch all my TV online (through network web sites when possible), and so will everyone else as soon as it becomes convenient.

Net Neutrality

2006-06-09T17:12:00.000-07:00

This is a defining moment in US internet history. Those regulating the internet in the US are in the process of stripping "Net Neutrality" initiatives from the Internet through a combination of FCC policy changes and a soon-to-be passed telecommunications bill.

Online classes are becoming increasingly popular of late. These courses, such as those soon offered by the University of Utah, will allow the student to see the teacher, the teacher to see students, and (possibly) for students to see other students. But so many video streams would require not only a sizable downstream, but a respectable upstream as well. Currently, University of Utah students taking online courses are urged to purchase "Business Internet Connections" so that they may fully be involved in these online courses.

Why is it that students must purchase business lines and pay over $100 for what many in European/Asian cities receive for $30-50 a month? Why is it that our upstream is so terrible?

Clinton pushed hard for Telco infrastructure upgrades during his terms, and billions of US tax dollars have already paid for more internet infrastructure. This has only bought us the 13th spot in the world for internet infrastructure. How can the US lag so far behind in something so important to our future? (These important aspects being education, commerce, entertainment, and communication).

At our house, we receive 6.0 Mbps down and (a pathetic) 0.384Mbps up for $45 dollars a month. When a Comcast cable guy at our house was asked frankly why the upstream is so pathetic, he gave a surprisingly honest answer. He said Comcast is scared to death of losing control of the distribution of entertainment/communication media.

When you look for companies scrambling to develop VOIP, IP-TV, Video-Conferencing, and Video on Demand services you will find Cisco, AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, and Qwest. These are the big companies spending millions against Net Neutrality and these are the companies who control most of the broadband services in America.

The five players above have lost control of the Voice Over IP market at this point, but control of the Video Over IP market, including telephone calls with video, is still in question. The surprise, for me, was Cisco's coming out against Net Neutrality, but after reading about Cisco's IPTV vision it all made sense. These ISPs (and Cisco) are fighting to gain an advantage in the Video over IP market that they are spending so much money to create.

Going back to our online class model, the students have to pay for business connections due to the artificially low upstream set by Comcast. Now imagine if Comcast were to create a separate tier (with more upstream) over which they offer their very own video conferencing services. This is precisely what the ISPs and Cisco have in mind. This gives Comcast a competitive advantage over all of the internet video startups who started their businesses assuming they would be on equal footing with all other IP video services.

Where would the internet be today without net neutrality? I'd imagine it would be something like the cell phone industry, where the nickel and dime you for everything you do. America would not be the country it is today without the net neutral internet we have enjoyed. The web will continue to grow to encompass the whole of how we interact. I hope that it can remain the wildly competitive place that has made it the great medium that it is. Contact your congressman; let him know that Net Neutrality is an important issue to you.

Also visit:
http://savetheinternet.com/

Addendum A:
A glimpse at how Cisco does it:
Recently "Packet Shaping", and its integration into Cisco routers and Linux, has allowed a higher level of control in limited bandwidth situations without affecting latency much. Implemented in a beneficial way, "Packet Shaping" is great in an office/home environment to prevent one user from saturating an internet connection with large uploads or downloads. Implemented on an ISP level, "Packet Shaping" is undesirable to the consumer because the internet provider can dictate what services will work well and what will work poorly. There is no guarantee the services consumers desire to use will be allowed to work at the level required.

This gives rise to an artificial concept of "Priority Handling" that is nothing more than a ruse to gain something the Telco’s have feared for a long time: Their loss of control over the TV/Telco/Video Conferencing/Entertainment distribution. A tiered internet DOES NOT guarantee any additional bandwidth (not for lower tier uses anyway). "Priority Handling" is an artificial concept created by ISPs to control content in the last few miles.

If a customer desires to have "Packet Shaping" of Telco or video services on their internet connection, the customer should implement "Packet Shaping" in their home/office, or the customer should approve such a service being turned on by their ISP. A business would never put up with having their pipe to the internet packet shaped by an outside entity, but consumers, unfortunately, do not know that Net Neutrality is vital to the keeping the internet an open public resource in all respects (including video applications). Media companies are making a bold bid to control internet video. Instead of being the person-to-person internet that we have come to know, Telco’s want to be the middlemen on everything video driven. There is no telling what they would attempt to control beyond video services.

Addendum B:
Rep. Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican, claims "There's no evidence of any problem." Yet there have already been instances of Internet Phone Services being throttled to unusable states by Internet Service Providers (http://www.vonage-forum.com/ftopic12172.html, , http://bfic.wordpress.com/, http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1747343,00.html, http://www.voipnow.org/2006/04/telco_in_belize.html). These ISPs offer their own Telco services.

Addendum C:
So why doesn't the consumer change providers? Healthy competition in the broadband market doesn’t really exist in any give area of the United States. Typically there are one or two providers; innovation is low; and switching costs for consumers are high.

Addendum D:
True Net Neutrality should:
- allow consumers to have unfettered access to lawful Internet content, applications and services.
- not allow network operators to interfere with or impair access to lawful content and services.
- allow consumers to use the bandwidth they pay for however they choose.
- not subject consumers to limitations, redirections, or degradations of service by the network operators who want to favor their own content and services against consumer and marketplace expectations.

“True Net Neutrality” is limiting site favoritism. The Internet is a free and open community that should be available to anyone without the ISP's commandments of how they can use their connection. ISPs are to provide a pipe to the people's internet, they should be able to provide the bandwidth they claim to be able to provide, and they should not be dictating the speed at which internet users can access popular websites regardless of whether these sites have paid the "Priority Handling" blackmail or not.

Addendum E:
LEGAL Video sites (as much as Senator Ted Stevens would have you believe they are blocking "his tubes"):
http://askaninja.com/
http://dl.tv/
http://crankygeeks.com/
http://youtube.com/
http://video.google.com/

How To Create a Standard OpenFileDialog/SaveFileDialog with a Region Encoding Combobox

2006-05-13T19:34:00.000-07:00

(or how to modify OFN - OpenFileName in ComDlg32.dll with P\invoke calls through User32.dll)

So those evil bastards have gone and made the class non-inheritable. You have a few choices:

1) Create an OpenFileDialog From Scratch (but you'll likely lose functionality and look less professional)
2) Have the encoding selection dialog follow the OpenFileDialog (But the user is forced into an extra step anytime they Load or Save anything)
3) Use P/Invoke calls to hack in the controls onto OpenFileName (But it is prone to instability/memory leaks if you make a miscalculation)

Options 1 and 2 should be no problem for anyone willing to go that route, but I am exploring the 3rd option, which is, to many customers, the most desirable solution.

"What is P/Invoke?"
P/Invoke stands for Platform Invoke and is a way to call unmanaged resources (like DLLs, COM Components, Windows Hooks, and the like) within your code.

First off, you will need to look at the following websites. Many thanks to these websites, as with their help I improved my understanding of Window's dialogs and Unmanaged resources:

Extend the Common Dialog Boxes Using Windows Forms 1.x - The Code here is a good base to start from

Costumizing CFileDialog - A good Example of resizing the OpenFileDialog

FileDialogExtender - A good Example of how the GetOpenFilDialog class can work

Lets set up our DLL calls. GetOpenFileName for instance:

C#:

[DllImport("ComDlg32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
internal static extern bool GetOpenFileName( ref OpenFileName ofn );

Visual Basic:
Declare Unicode Function GetOpenFileName Lib "ComDlg32.dll" Alias _
"GetOpenFileNameW" (ByRef ofn As OpenFileName) As Boolean

You will also need to pull in other methods to manipulate the OpenFileName Dialog. Altogether you will need the following methods:
ComDlg32.dll
----------------
GetOpenFileName (GetOpenFileNameW so it is Unicode)
GetSaveFileName (GetSaveFileNameW)
User32.dll
----------------
GetDlgItem
GetParent
SetParent
GetWindowRect
ScreenToClient
SetWindowPos

You will notice under the parameter description under GetOpenFileName that lpofn is a pointer to an OPENFILENAME structure that contains information used to initialize the dialog box.

OPENFILENAME Data Structure
Here is the OpenFileName Data Structure:
//Please see the MSDN example to see how to initialize this structure

C#:
internal struct OpenFileName
{
public Int32 lStructSize;
public IntPtr hwndOwner;
public IntPtr hInstance;
public IntPtr lpstrFilter;
public IntPtr lpstrCustomFilter;
public Int32 nMaxCustFilter;
public Int32 nFilterIndex;
public IntPtr lpstrFile;
public Int32 nMaxFile;
public IntPtr lpstrFileTitle;
public Int32 nMaxFileTitle;
public IntPtr lpstrInitialDir;
public IntPtr lpstrTitle;
public Int32 Flags;
public Int16 nFileOffset;
public Int16 nFileExtension;
public IntPtr lpstrDefExt;
public Int32 lCustData;
public OfnHookProc lpfnHook;
public IntPtr lpTemplateName;
public IntPtr pvReserved;
public Int32 dwReserved;
public Int32 FlagsEx;
};

Visual Basic:
Public Structure OpenFileName
Public lStructSize As Int32
Public hwndOwner As IntPtr
Public hInstance As IntPtr
Public lpstrFilter As IntPtr
Public lpstrCustomFilter As IntPtr
Public nMaxCustFilter As Int32
Public nFilterIndex As Int32
Public lpstrFile As IntPtr
Public nMaxFile As Int32
Public lpstrFileTitle As IntPtr
Public nMaxFileTitle As Int32
Public lpstrInitialDir As IntPtr
Public lpstrTitle As IntPtr
Public Flags As Int32
Public nFileOffset As Int16
Public nFileExtension As Int16
Public lpstrDefExt As IntPtr
Public lCustData As Int32
Public lpfnHook As OfnHookProc
Public lpTemplateName As IntPtr
Public pvReserved As IntPtr
Public dwReserved As Int32
Public FlagsEx As Int32
End Structure

How do I add extend the Dialog already?
OpenFilename->hInstance is the key. By setting the OFN_ENABLETEMPLATEHANDLE flag in OpenFileName->Flags, hInstance is recognized as a handle to a memory object containing a dialog box template. A dialog box template (DLGTEMPLATE) is binary data that describes the dialog box, defining its height, width, style, and the controls it contains. Here is a direct link to an in depth description of dialog box templates. This Dialog Box Template must also have one DLGITEMTEMPLATE in order for the imbedded Dialog box template to intercept Hook messages (like Initialize, resize, or a handled event is triggered such as highlighting a new file name). An empty label works.

C#:
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
internal class DlgTemplate
{
// DLGTEMPLATE
public Int32 style = DlgStyle.Ds3dLook | DlgStyle.DsControl |
DlgStyle.WsChild | DlgStyle.WsClipSiblings | DlgStyle.SsNotify;
public Int32 extendedStyle = ExStyle.WsExControlParent;
public Int16 numItems = 1;
public Int16 x = 0;
public Int16 y = 0;
public Int16 cx = 0;
public Int16 cy = 0;
public Int16 reservedMenu = 0;
public Int16 reservedClass = 0;
public Int16 reservedTitle = 0;
// DLGITEMTEMPLATE
public Int32 itemStyle =DlgStyle.WsChild;
public Int32 itemExtendedStyle =ExStyle.WsExNoParentNotify;
public Int16 itemX = 0;
public Int16 itemY = 0;
public Int16 itemCx = 0;
public Int16 itemCy = 0;
public Int16 itemId = 0;
public UInt16 itemClassHdr = 0xffff;
public Int16 itemClass = 0x0082;
public Int16 itemText = 0x0000;
public Int16 itemData = 0x0000;
};

Visual Basic:
<StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)> _
Public Class DlgTemplate
'DLGTEMPLATE
Public style As Int32 = DlgStyle.Ds3dLook Or DlgStyle.DsControl Or _
DlgStyle.WsChild Or DlgStyle.WsClipSiblings Or DlgStyle.SsNotify
Public extendedStyle As Int32 = ExStyle.WsExControlParent
Public numItems As Int16 = 1
Public x As Int16 = 0
Public y As Int16 = 0
Public cx As Int16 = 0
Public cy As Int16 = 0
Public reservedMenu As Int16 = 0
Public reservedClass As Int16 = 0
Public reservedTitle As Int16 = 0
'DLGITEMTEMPLATE
Public itemStyle As Int32 = DlgStyle.WsChild
Public itemExtendedStyle As Int32 = ExStyle.WsExNoParentNotify
Public itemX As Int16 = 0
Public itemY As Int16 = 0
Public itemCx As Int16 = 0
Public itemCy As Int16 = 0
Public itemId As Int16 = 0
Public itemClassHdr As UInt16 = Convert.ToUInt16(&HFFFF)
Public itemClass As Int16 = &H82
Public itemText As Int16 = &H0
Public itemData As Int16 = &H0
End Class

After that you can add controls in the OpenFileName's HookProc procedure. Encompass the controls in Panels to ensure compatibility ( w2k Machines are found to have issues with attaching a Label control directly to the form):

Visual Basic:
Public Function MyHookProc(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByVal msg As UInt16, ByVal wParam As Int32, ByVal lParam As Int32) As IntPtr
If (hWnd.Equals(IntPtr.Zero)) Then
Return IntPtr.Zero
End If
If msg.Equals(WindowMessage.InitDialog) Then
EncodingLabel = New System.Windows.Forms.Label
pEncodingLabel.Controls.Add(EncodingLabel)
EncodingLabel.Dock = DockStyle.Fill
EncodingLabel.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(0, 0)
EncodingLabel.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(130, 24)
EncodingLabel.TextAlign = ContentAlignment.MiddleLeft
EncodingLabel.Text = "Encoding:"
EncodingCombo = New System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox
pEncodingCombo.Controls.Add(EncodingCombo)
EncodingCombo.Dock = DockStyle.Fill
EncodingCombo.DropDownStyle = System.Windows.Forms.ComboBoxStyle.DropDownList
EncodingCombo.DisplayMember = "Text"
Dim origrcClient As RECT
Dim hWndParent As IntPtr = NativeMethods.GetParent(hWnd)
NativeMethods.SetParent(pEncodingLabel.Handle, hWndParent)
NativeMethods.SetParent(pEncodingCombo.Handle, hWndParent)
MyHookProc(hWnd, WindowMessage.Size, wParam, lParam)

' Resize client Rect
origrcClient = New RECT
NativeMethods.GetWindowRect(hWndParent, origrcClient)
NativeMethods.SetWindowPos(hWndParent, IntPtr.Zero, 0, 0, origrcClient.right - origrcClient.left, origrcClient.bottom - origrcClient.top + 30, UFlags.SWP_NOMOVE)
Return IntPtr.Zero
ElseIf msg.Equals(WindowMessage.Size) Then
FindAndResizePanels(hWnd)
Return IntPtr.Zero
Else
Return IntPtr.Zero
End If
End Function

Resizing
In order to make sure your encoding dialog box looks integrated internationally, I suggest basing position calculations based on other controls. However, do not base any caculations based upon the explorer window, because it is not guaranteed that that object will be initialized by the time the SaveDialog is initializing. In the following code I base my calculations off of TypeLabel, TypeComboBox, and FileComboBox:

Visual Basic:
Private Sub FindAndResizePanels(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr)
Dim hWndParent As IntPtr = NativeMethods.GetParent(hWnd)
Dim hWndTypeLabel As IntPtr = NativeMethods.GetDlgItem(hWndParent, ComponentControlIds.TypeLabel)
Dim hWndTypeCombo As IntPtr = NativeMethods.GetDlgItem(hWndParent, ComponentControlIds.TypeCombo)
Dim hWndFileCombo As IntPtr = NativeMethods.GetDlgItem(hWndParent, ComponentControlIds.FileCombo)

Dim rcClient As RECT = New RECT
Dim rcTypeLabel As RECT = New RECT
Dim rcTypeCombo As RECT = New RECT
Dim rcFileCombo As RECT = New RECT
NativeMethods.GetWindowRect(hWndParent, rcClient)

NativeMethods.GetWindowRect(hWndTypeLabel, rcTypeLabel)
NativeMethods.GetWindowRect(hWndTypeCombo, rcTypeCombo)
NativeMethods.GetWindowRect(hWndFileCombo, rcFileCombo)
FindScreenToClient(hWndParent, rcTypeLabel)
FindScreenToClient(hWndParent, rcTypeCombo)
FindScreenToClient(hWndParent, rcFileCombo)

' Position the new control at the bottom of the OpenFileDialog
NativeMethods.SetWindowPos(pEncodingLabel.Handle, IntPtr.Zero, 0, 0, rcTypeCombo.left - rcTypeLabel.left, rcTypeCombo.bottom - rcTypeCombo.top, UFlags.SWP_NOMOVE)
NativeMethods.SetWindowPos(pEncodingLabel.Handle, IntPtr.Zero, rcTypeLabel.left - 2, rcTypeCombo.bottom + (rcTypeCombo.top - rcFileCombo.bottom), 0, 0, Uflags.SWP_NOSIZE)
NativeMethods.SetWindowPos(pEncodingCombo.Handle, IntPtr.Zero, 0, 0, rcTypeCombo.right - rcTypeCombo.left, rcTypeCombo.bottom - rcTypeCombo.top, Uflags.SWP_NOMOVE)
NativeMethods.SetWindowPos(pEncodingCombo.Handle, IntPtr.Zero, rcTypeCombo.left, rcTypeCombo.bottom + (rcTypeCombo.top - rcFileCombo.bottom), 0, 0, Uflags.SWP_NOSIZE)
End Sub

Private Sub FindScreenToClient(ByVal hWndParent As IntPtr, ByRef rc As RECT)
Dim topLeft As POINT
Dim bottomRight As POINT
topLeft.X = rc.left
topLeft.Y = rc.top
NativeMethods.ScreenToClient(hWndParent, topLeft)
bottomRight.X = rc.right
bottomRight.Y = rc.bottom
NativeMethods.ScreenToClient(hWndParent, bottomRight)
rc.top = topLeft.Y
rc.left = topLeft.X
rc.bottom = bottomRight.Y
rc.right = bottomRight.X
End Sub

1993 ('93) Mazda 626 DX 2.0L Alternator Repair/Replacement How-to Directions

2006-01-26T08:59:00.000-08:00

I had to replace 1993 ('93) Mazda 626 DX 2.0L Alternator, so here are the details.

The "Charge" and "Rear" warning lights went on at the same time one day, but I didn't do anything about it right away. Little did I know, at that point, my alternator was only putting out about 10 volts and the car was mainly running off of the battery. The next day the display lights on the car began to fade, the gauges would all go to zero every time I hit the brakes, and then the engine struggled and stopped at a particularly slow light about 20 miles from home. My roommate charged my battery for 15 minutes with his jumper cables and I managed to barely make it home.

The alternator had gone out on my car... and the belt turned out to be in need of replacement. I was tempted to try rebuilding the alternator myself, but time was an issue so I got re-manufactured replacement. The alternator was located on the passenger side near the rear of the engine compartment behind the engine, and is a real pain to get to.

If you can get your alternator out, local hardware store can usually check them. Getting an alternator out of a 93 626 DX, however, is a pain. There are no big gaps to pull the alternator through once you get it loose... from the top (fuel injection and a ton of hoses in the way) or the bottom (exhaust, CV joint, axle in the way). I ended up removing a fuel injection tube and forcing the alternator through the gap at the top... though I'd be cautious of causing damage if anyone else were to try this.

Process:
1) Disconnect your battery.
2) Locate the alternator.
3) Locate the track along which the alternator can slide to loosen the slack on the belt.
4) Remove the clamp bolt that keeps the alternator from sliding, put it somewhere safe.
5) Remove the long bolt and block that moves the alternator along the track, and put them somewhere safe.
6) Slide the alternator up and remove the belt
7) If you are going to replace the belt, you will have to loosen and remove the other belt in a similar fashion... the other belt is in the way.
8) Disconnect the wires coming out of the side and back. One held in place by a plastic notch. Do not pull on the wires, nor the brown plastic within the black plastic clip. The entire black clip surrounding the smaller plug comes off. The other wire is held in place by a nut. Remove the nut and put it somewhere safe.
9) Remove the huge bolt along the bottom that the alternator pivots on, and put it somewhere safe.
10) Remove the alternator (look out, it is heavy). It might take a bit of strength to pull it off the pivot point. Remember, it is difficult to get the alternator out of the space it resides in the engine compartment.
11) Get the alternator and battery tested. Get replacement or fix the parts.
12) Put it all back together. Some trouble getting the alternator pivot holes to line up, make sure the belts have about 1/4" to 1/2" deflection on tightness. I didn't tighten it enough and had to tighten it the next day.

Packet Shaping

2006-01-21T13:45:00.000-08:00

Packet shaping has proven itself in our house. We use all of the up bandwidth, yet it doesn’t choke the life out of other people's connections. Also, it doesn’t limit people to a certain bandwidth; bandwidth is released to you as it becomes available. We have it set up on a Linux server, and it works great. Not many routers out there have this yet, and those that do appear to be quite expensive. Free on Linux though...

Vacation

2005-12-29T07:32:00.000-08:00

map loading... Make sure scripting is on

Further Raster to SVG

2005-12-17T01:47:00.000-08:00

I have been toying with Inkscape's built in Bitmap Tracer based on Potrace.
I have downloaded Potrace separately, but I have not yet played with it, maybe in the future. For now I'm just limiting it to Inkscape's built in implementation of Potrace, the command line Autotrace, and my limited abilities to make things work.

I scanned in a BMP of a chapel:

I used Autotrace first. I'm becoming more familiar with the command line options, and it didn't seem to crash today (I resized the command window yesterday, which is probably why it crashed). I used "autotrace -output-file chapel.svg -output-format svg
-despeckle-level 20 -despeckle-tightness .3 chapel.bmp" to render this:

Despeckle at 20 is really high, and the despeckle-tightness at .3 is very low... I wanted a very clean look.

Next I started playing with Inkscape's Trace Bitmap. The following are edge-detection (top-left), brightness detection (top-right), 8 Pass Multiple Scanning Brightness (Bottom-left), and the last one I cant for the life of me remember what settings I used (bottom-right):

As far as what I was shooting for in this instance, Autotrace best suited my needs. Inkscape's Pixel trace (along with some settings tweaks and node reduction) would work just as well most likely.

Autotrace didn't pick up on the chapel wall stones very well because of the settings I used to make the resulting SVG very small. Inkscapes shows all the stones, but is very noisey and would require alot of clean up. Luckily, I wasn't concerned with the stones showing in this instance.

SVG Editor, Raster to SVG

2005-12-16T01:13:00.000-08:00

I started looking for a SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) editor for various little fantasy maps I've been wanting to do (I need the ability to zoom in and add building plans and such). A year ago I tried Sodipodi, but the one time I managed to get it running the program it crashed like crazy. Instead, I found Inkscape to be lightyears easier. The interface is fairly intuitive, even though I havnt found a way to hide layers yet.

To save some time, I used Autotrace to convert a bmp to vector graphics. I found Autotrace to be command line driven, crash when using the -help flag, and terrible at reading in Text (I suspect I could change some options to improve this). However, it was sufficient to get in a base map, which I am still in the process of editing. I'll add a link to the SVG version once I find a reliable place that hosts SVG.

Origional BMP (converted to jpg):

Current SVG work in progress(converted to jpg):

As you can see, the text came out all messed up. The vector graphic elevation lines came out surprisingly well, requiring only a few fixes. Since I have added in more elevation lines.

C# Resizing Forms within Forms

2005-08-28T23:48:00.000-07:00

So you are embedding a dynamically generated form within a form, and you want the form to resize properly. Some older sites that come up on Google would have you believe that you have to manually set the width and height on creation:

                InnerForm = new InnerFormType();
             InnerForm.Width = this.Width - 12;
             InnerForm.Height = this.Height - 58;
             InnerForm.Show();

Also, you would have to create an "on Resize" function, and manually reconfigure the sizes like:

      private void frmMain_Resize(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
     {
         if (InnerForm != null)
         {
             InnerForm.Width = this.Width - 12;
             InnerForm.Height = (this.Height - 58);
         }
     }

However, there is an easier way, a way that is not dependant upon font sizes or Windows Appearance settings:

              InnerForm = new InnerFormType();
             InnerForm.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
             InnerForm.MdiParent = this;
             InnerForm.Show();

I was stuck on this for a little while. The InnerForm would resize incorrectly when run on different machines with different settings. This solved my problem, and hopefully it will solve someone else's.

A Note About Blog Advertisers

2005-08-25T09:11:00.000-07:00

Advertising by posting under comments is abhorrible. It is now deleted, and any further attempts will be deleted. Scumming up Blogger with fake blogs, auto-generated by bots, seems not to be enough for these people. No, now they have to scum up my blog as well. If any American companies do this, for I will report them to whatever authority I am aware of (FCC, BBB, etc).

If advertisers want to advertise on anyone’s site, the only acceptable route is to contact the site's owners and pay them money. Otherwise, they are thieves. They are stealing bandwith and associated ideas.

Star Wars Fans

2005-06-21T00:32:00.000-07:00

As promised:

Extended weekend

2005-06-17T13:50:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been employed in patches. My work place calls me in when they need me, and this time off is fine when I spend every second of it adventuring and learning. Like today, for instance. I spent my morning shampooing my mattress. No, really. I'm living life on the edge.

Anyway, Monday my place of employment will be asking me to develop a conformance tool for them. Thus will probably be the first real program I've written in ages; it has always been scripts and open source for the longest amount of time.

I've been doing a lot of XML work recently. I have toyed with it before in personal projects. Essentially, XML files store the information, from which you can render out other tag based formats, or you can add style sheets to it to make it look pretty. DTDs are the conformance checking XMLs, and XSL files transform XMLs into other XML formats. In this fashion, XML sheets can be as simple or complicated as you like, because the file format is only constrained by what types of information you want to pass. The biggest advantages of XML are that it is directly editable, simple (via a sort of data independence), and controllable via DTDs. XML is used in a variety of projects now. News feeds, client side rendered HTML, source files. Microsoft has even announced that their next office format will be XML based.

Wireless

2005-06-01T22:15:00.000-07:00

I'm looking around my neighborhood, and I see Thomas Net, Alexander Town, Dan's Home, and House of Bob. With the increased ranges on upcoming wireless standards (see 802.11n), a community could easily share internet connections.

I want to get a new laptop, especially now that I got the Microsoft Visual Studio Beta, but I am hesitant because of OLED screens making their way to market (energy efficient, thin, light). Or a few more years down the road, won't it be cool to toss on my Microdisplay Goggles, plug in to my cell phone sized computer, and play the air keyboard with my keyboard gloves. wee =)

Playing

2005-05-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

I went over to a Bob's Friend's parent's house and had a Memorial Day smoked turkey. Best turkey I've ever had. They had a lot of alcohol, we watched a lot of movies. Good fun.

I have been thinking a lot about a recent acquaintance. She lives far away, and I've never met her in real life. I called her, but didn't get to say the things I wanted.

Linux Stuff:
Rename all files in a directory
rename .txt .html *.html

Preserve a variable:
ls -d *.txt | sed 's/$.*$\.txt$/mv "&" "\1.html"/' | sh

House of Bob

2005-05-26T21:05:00.000-07:00

Today the fields were a deep green with the black afternoon clouds moving in, as I listened to Open Your Heart by Yuki Kajiura. Bloody beautiful. Typically I'm pretty tired on the drive home, but I've been pushing myself to do more with the small bits of time I have outside work and sleep, and I'm finding the more I do, the more energy I have.

There is a stretch of road between Boulder and Golden with green fields and marvelous vistas. I drive it everyday, twice a day. One day I saw what had to be 50 head of deer. No one builds here; partly due to Rocky Flats (chemical and nuclear grade weapons clean up site), and partly due to Boulder's strict growth laws.

Let me tell you about Bob. Bob is a musician. He plays crazy good soulful music on his keyboard, like he is right now, every night. Bob is an engineer. He couldn’t just buy a Tivo, no. He designed and put together his own for 5 times the cost, and it can record 2 months worth of programming and access anything on his other computers. Bob has his own website.

With some luck, I'll be able to figure out how to use Bob's linix box to set up a place my cell phone can send pictures to, and automatically post them with a short cell phone message.

Almost the weekend, yay =) I might go hiking...

New Goals

2005-05-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

I started to move into B-man's house yesterday, and I begin some temporary work in Boulder tomorrow. I've reached a goal, so here are some new goals:

- Become intimately familiar with the project I'm working on... take the time
- Know where the project is going, have a time frame, spend the time to be organized.
- Live life to it's fullest at B's. Fix my bike, go backpacking on weekends, get a driver's license with a new address, get a rec membership, and swim.
- Meet new people, see people with new eyes.

I also have a friend's graduation to go to tomorrow. Ok... nuff blog for today=)

Unfinished

2005-05-04T13:08:00.000-07:00

I picked up the book I'm re-reading, and it seems that I never finished the book the first time. I had gleaned all I needed from the book and skimmed the rest, so I don't remember any of what I am reading now. It is understandable, because at that point in my life I had no time for books. I had so much love to give; I had to get out before I burst. I wonder if there will be any revelations in the last 75 pages that I missed the first time around.

I'm meeting an old friend downtown, at Paris on the Platte, on Thursday, which will be really strange. We went there a lot in high school, and the age of the clientele never changes... so we should be the oldest people there. I haven’t talked to him in 5 years, though he has made attempts to contact me. I just wasn’t ready.

Reality and Quality

2005-05-03T06:29:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed that in spite of government squabbling, wars, social condescension, corporate drudgery, religious condescension, etc, that things are constantly changing and moving towards a world sense of the future? Now before you say no, pause to consider the dynamic nature of daily truths. Everyday there are ideas born and the world's populace generally is thinking along the same lines concerning them: they make life better, these ideas are manifest destiny.

We can get stuck in life, and we might fear we would be stuck forever. But as soon as we stop fearing, the ideas come in. So long as we are ready to observe daily changes, care, and not approach problems with moldy preconceptions, life will progress in spite of the daily tides of the entities that seem to wear us down. So long as our inner fires remain strong, the volcano of unified will redefines the shorelines of human experience.

Today's exercise: Try not to use to many preconceptions, use fresh eyes for viewing everything.

Paragraph 2 of Section 65

2005-04-29T14:12:00.000-07:00

I just ordered a beta of Microsoft's Visual Studio. I might as well learn the most current version I can get my hands on. The process took forever. They wanted my life's history, and by pressing agree I must have, by association, agreed to like 100 different clauses and agreements. I skimmed a few, but legalize makes my brain hurt. The paranoid side of me wonders if I agreed to buy some license or something buried deep inside on of the clauses. Shrug. Just paranoia... I've never liked contracts in which I have no say.

Why Caring is Important

2005-04-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

Things are coming together. It is why I read this book; I knew it would get me thinking again. I really had stopped caring, when caring is what made the world wonderful for me. Time was flying by in the dark, instead of every hour of every day of my life seeming eternal like before. I am thankful, most of all, that there is still time... the color returns to my cheeks, I begin to chuckle at strange times, and people turn and ponder what my mirth was about. I am laughing because I am thinking and caring and, as a result, seeing. I walked home across a field tonight and things were so clear. The horizon was shimmering; a bird's chirp pierced my heart like I had heard it for the first time because I am opening up. I am changing the ideas behind my existence, and it feels right. Not that I am becoming a stranger, more that I am metaphorically coming home. Far from lusting after life’s rewards, I am viewing them romantically. I cease ignoring my past,and I keep it in mind because it is everything that that allows me to feel the way I do now. It is important to care, so that my life is vibrant and full of adventure. I can’t slow down now; no way.

Week's End

2005-04-24T11:47:00.000-07:00

Went to play D&D this weekend, and discovered that I don't really enjoy it anymore. Fantasy overload I guess. RL is much more entertaining/exciting.

Also went to see Kung Fu Hustle. Funny stuff, and about what I expected from the ads.

I'm starting to think about grad school. I know eventually one of my resumes will snag an adaquite job as the economy continues to pick up this year... but I feel like I need to know more. My brother is sending me Visual C++ so that I can start a few projects to refresh my skills. One idea entails a family/friends only Peer-to-peer sharing system. Another is a packet reader customizable with templates to various programs. The last is a rom for a certain mp3 player to eliminate the DRM and make the player what it should be.

It is sad sometimes. We are told that by loving things openly we become fools, suckers, or worse. When we love too broadly or to deeply, who knows, we might be betrayed. Are we, therefore, retarded for loving at all? well... It seems to me love only retards you if it slows you down in terms of life or ability to love (love a person or other aspects of life). I've known many fools when it comes to love, but sometimes foolishness has only to do with being outside the convention of a social conformity. Fools can be wise... 2 of my friends I consider to be fools/jesters are happily married and happily oblivious. I, however, am single, sometimes to fearful to comit to love.

Dichotomy

2005-04-18T22:23:00.000-07:00

Good sense prevailed- almost. I had a ton of caffeine. Now I can’t stop thinking, which wouldn’t be so bad if it were not for being physically tired. Tonight’s ponderings revolve around an artificial concept brought up in the book I am reading. A dichotomy between two modes of understanding is introduced, that of classical and romantic world views. Now before I begin it is important to recognize that, as with any philosophical discourse, this dichotomy is an artificial simplification of a situation which is entirely more complicated. As with a complicated math problem, it is convenient to simplify and change the reality of the equation into a form that is easier to solve. This would include stripping off seemingly negligible factors and shifting the coordinate representation into a form that could mean little in terms of real world results. I could try to re-invent the wheel here, but my goal is to follow a process I know that works and keep my sanity intact. So I will take this book as it is and apply it to what I see in my own life. This dichotomy is used by the author to identify with the reader, so that he can build up to an epiphany, and end by deconstructing his own theory and, in a sense, put the philosophy to rest.

Now, classical understanding sees the world primarily as the underlying form itself, and proceeds with theorems and laws. Romantic understanding sees the world more as it actually appears, and proceeds with intuition and feeling. To a classical viewpoint, a romantic person looks irrational, untrustworthy, and pleasure-seeking. To a romantic viewpoint, a classical person appears unimaginative, oppressive, and controlling. Thus divisions can be drawn between scientist and artist, liberal and conservative, etc. But how does this apply to me.

Simply put… I am a classical thinker who was “woken up” by a romanticist into a viewpoint I am not equipped to deal with. Now while exploring my romantic side, I have discovered that I am a much happier and more productive individual when I am acting classically. This has confused my classical and romantic friends, as I must seem erratic as I fluctuate between acceptable behavior and something utterly foreign. It has also wreaked havoc in my professional career.

Now I'll explore the game I wasted years of my life on. Everquest. The game itself is a product of classical thinking, yet the target audience is a fantasy crowd. What hit me is that this game a chaotic mix of both world views. Social, yet based entirely upon abstract numbers. Any progression in the game is entirely without substance, yet the interaction between people is real. Everquest is entirely without substance, yet beautiful. The problem with this game, and perhaps most video games out there, is it encourages neither classical action nor romantic innovation. This combination of two world views amounts to nothing. It scares me... maybe enough to stop playing all video games. I suppose the friendships I made through playing could eventually mean something, or have meant something.

Now what of the blog I read that I can’t seem to get enough of… the nameless blogger. Her question is “What would you say if you didn’t have a name?” Indeed, if I had no name AND no face, I’d have no fear of sharing my romantic side. American life is permeated with classical undertones and sometimes professionals fear seeming irrational or foreign. There is little doubt the same applies to me, however, my exploration into romanticism diverted my attentions from classical understanding of knowledge. In fact, it has suffered immensely and I am painfully aware of it and I believe it shows. It is why I feel an overwhelming need to pull out my old text books and review every bit of knowledge to reinforce classical thinking. Then it hit me… the weird homeless scam artist I met on 16^th street mall who felt he had to “Wake people up” (little did he know I had already been “woken up” and was currently on my way back)- He went by a name that was clearly fictional (“Aragorn Silversomething or other”). He was nameless… and being essentially a beggar, people overlook him… so he is also faceless. He is a nameless faceless overlooked homeless by-products of a purely capitalistic society. He sang of truths mixed with fantasy and delusion. His soul was full of artistic, romantic, notions… of that I have little doubt. These emotions have coursed through me, during my wanderings, yet I know is ultimately a dead end for a classically raised individual. Perhaps for him, the romantic posturing suits him. But if I were to accept his world view and sacrifice my own, I am at a disadvantage.

Forcing a world view on someone that isn’t prepared to handle it also seems to me to be a classic power grab. Examples would be religious cults, pyramid schemes, and everyday pork barrel politics. I try not to do this, force my world view on others, but regardless my world view shapes my decisions and is evident to anyone that watches for any extended period of time.

There is a happy medium. World view is independent of results. Either world view can end in results that both sides find pleasing. The author eventually explores the meaning of quality inherent in action. Then he brings it home to put the topic to rest, if I remember it right. Back to reading.

Depth

2005-04-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

I went out and bought a black jacket and a vivid blue shirt. I still need a new black tie and some dress shoes. I feel good about it- black is really my color. I won't feel at peace until I finish up, so I'll go out again soon.

Yesterday I mentioned there are better questions for conversation starters from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values. The author starts by introducing the idea of a chautauqua, or a "traveling tent show... and old time series of talks intended to edify or entertain, improve the mind and bring culture and enlightenment to the ears and thoughts of the hearer." Such old time gatherings have since been superceded by radio, movies, and TV; media that is broader in context, but seems to run less deep.

"What's new?" or "What's up?" or just "Sup?" is put forward as a question to broaden knowledge, and is given to trivia, news, and events. The author puts forward the idea that "What is best?" cuts more deeply than broadly, and maintains that in today's fast paced culture channel deepening is what is called for. Later he broadens this theme into a case story about societal irrational conversation stoppers, such as the maintenance and upkeep of one's technology. He makes a point that such a phobia extends to every aspect of someone's life, unless someone should care about what they are doing.

Home

2005-04-13T16:42:00.000-07:00

I drove north on I-135 to I-170... and I didn't know which way to turn. Left was Denver, right was someone I've never met outside the internet that I want to meet. I went left, backtracked right, and eventually just pulled off onto a remote highway overpass and parked. I felt a rampant freedom flood through my soul, and I wrote:

Yay! After a 2+ year break I start my paper journal again! I have reached a crossroad. She in Kansas found we are best as friends, and I know she in Florida is best a friend. Far from sad, I am elated at the closure. Sipping some cheap-ass coffee, I pull to the side of an on ramp and contemplate. A morning bird chirps in the northern field, the rush of the highway to the south. For the first time in a long time I feel whole. What started as a simple left or right turn has become an infinity of choices before me. The freedom floods my soul. This is all tempered by the fact that I will eventually have to take the path every adventurer must take- death. Is it any wonder Peter Pan called death a grand adventure; for a boy who thinks everything in life to be grand, full of joy, and full of choices/wonder? When you take away fear and open someone’s heart to the possibilities, inspiration results. Take the concept of original sin and sin, heaping everyone into one lump of despair. So, Jesus dies for their sins, and consequently removes the despair of being condemned to despair and wills them fear no evil. Lo and behold, life is full of choices and they have the will to choose. Renewal-> invigoration-> epiphany. He has the World in his eye, the look of the inspired. Is such glimmer wisdom?

Not religious myself... I’m looking for a philosophy for inspiration. I ended up getting stuck at the Kansas border due to highways being closed on account of a big snowstorm in Colorado. But I eventually made it to Denver. I am staying with my sister, though I am surprised she let me as we have never really seen eye to eye, until a job far on the 18th... I mistakenly said the 16th... sigh. Well I made green chili tonight:

Pepper Family Green Chili
Ingredients:
2x White Onions, Chopped
4x Clove of Garlic, diced small
4x 30 oz cans of green chilies, diced
2x 30 oz cans of Tomatoes, diced
2x 4 oz cans of Jalapenos, diced (less for peeps who can’t take spicy)
Chili Powder, Pepper, Salt, Cinnamon
Chives
Pork, cubed or strips

Directions:
1) Cook pork ‘til white (not brown- DO NOT OVERCOOK or chili will be bitter.. water can help regulate this)
2) Add Onions, garlic, green chilies, jalapenos, water, tomatoes, chili powder. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add less than a pinch of Cinnamon.
3) cook on low-med low for at least an hour, or longer. Serve with chives.

Serves at least 20, freezes well (Note: vegies remain crunchier if you defrost slowly as opposed to using the microwave to defrost).

Life, Rev 1

2005-04-10T11:18:00.000-07:00

I once had a list next to my door to remind me to do certain things during my day. I'll start a new one.

1) Pause to admire a sunset.
2) Call a friend.
3) Exercise at least twice a day (running, swimming, walking, crunches, yoga, etc).
4) Appreciate people. Listen without expectations.
5) Try a new recipe/cuisine.
6) Seek quality.
7) Work on a dream.
8) Review old familiar knowledge.

Pain and Pancakes

2005-04-10T00:50:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Kansas on a Friday night after a 22hr, 1100mile drive. She was happy to see me. She had been lonely, but I had no idea how lonely.

On her leg etched in a puffy red scars is "WHY AM I ALONE", "PAIN". Written in a broken fashion that that is agonizingly artistic, but is just simply dreadful to look at. She has a razorblade on the ottoman next to this computer, and a cheese knife.

That night we talked of getting our lives back on the right track. Today we went out to a neat Vietnamese restaurant on Broadway, walked along the river, and went to see Robots. I just want her to be happy, as I want to be happy.

I can still be her friend over the phone. My path is to Denver. Well, maybe not directly...

Today's recipe is pancakes! Bob used to make these when we lived together.

Bob's Buckwheat Pancakes
2 cups wheat flour
3 tbs. sugar
3 tsp. baking soda
1 egg
3 tbs. oil
2 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla

1) Griddle to about 350
2) Mix dry ingredients
3) Mix in wet ingredients
4) Pour on the Griddle
5) Flip when bubbly

Friendship and Dinner Rolls

2005-04-06T08:53:00.000-07:00

I contacted an old friend. Yay for progress! She has been through hard times, and moved to Kansas. I have been through a lot with her, I've always loved her, as a friend or more I don't know; but her welfare concerns me. I'm going to Kansas, instead of Denver, to find out.

All doubt from previous days are fading, about my course. So long as my car holds up, I should be ok =) *crosses fingers*

Today I have a recipe for Beth's Popovers. An elegant, but surprisingly simple dinner roll. Beth was a remarkable woman I lived next to for a couple years. She had seen her fair share of devils, beautiful but sad, but I always got the impression of a sense of purpose from her. I should like to have known her better, but I played my cards all wrong.

Beth's Popovers
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon of melted butter
1 cup of milk

1- preheat oven to 450 deg
2- mix everything together except some drops of butter to coat the pans.
3- fill greased cupcake pans halfway, and cook at 450 for 15 minutes
4- Turn down to 350 deg for 15-20 minutes.
Note: high altitude recipe.. may require adjustment in lower elevations

Go in Peace.

Clear Horizon

2005-03-25T18:46:00.000-08:00

Lucid is how I feel after a good workout, of the mind or the body. Lucid dreams are the best sort of dreams. I am lucid when I know that what I am saying or thinking is right, wise, or heartfelt. Lucidity doesn't necessarily mean being joyful, loving, or charitable; but more often than not, lucid thinking leads me to results that are.

Here is my sister's recipe for gingersnap cookies; tasty and not too strong.

Family Gingersnaps
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup shortening or margarine
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
2tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
3/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp of vanilla

Mix the first 4 ingredients, and then add the rest. Roll in balls, dust in sugar. Cook 375F, 7-10 minutes.

I’ll spare you my great grandmother’s shortbread recipe. Eat a stick of butter, wash it down with a quart of vegetable oil; you’ll have just about the same chance of a heart attack as if you knew this recipe.

Roots

2005-03-23T17:58:00.000-08:00

I'm going over How to Speak and Write Correctly by Joseph Devlin because I feel I should know the grammer rules I will break anyway.

For those looking for something to do, Sluggy Freelance has provided me hours of entertainment over the winter. Just remember, however, not to pet the bunny.

Sunrise

2005-03-21T21:58:00.000-08:00

I've started to blog again. I've changed in the past 5 years since I last had an online journal. I watch the world of online journals develop, and it excites me. I desire to be part of it.

First I must set some constraints. What do I want to accomplish with this Blog? Where am I headed with it?

I sat for 8 hours in the woods, as a child, and wrote everything that I observed in my notepad for a natural sciences badge. 8 hours later, I turned my observations over to the camp natural sciences counciler. It read like a log:

"2:15 - a breeze ruffles the branches"

"3:00 - a bug the size of my fist lands on the tree I am leaning against"

"3:25 - I hear the echo of the kids having fun down the way"

The observations are accurate, but I was told to go out again the next day and try again:

"...I take in the beauty around me. I shiver as a cold gust of wind brushes past me, and I am glad I brought my jacket should it start to rain. The area could certainly use it. There have been many fires lately. I think, perhaps, people don't care enough about what happens to our open spaces, that society moves to fast and overdevelops..."

I recieved praise, but I really felt I was just padding my observations. I didn’t talk about what was important, which was that I was missing the massive games of capture the flag down in the meadow. I'd much rather have written about that, reguardless of the weather.

I don't want to write about is political banter that doesn’t affect me from day to day. I don’t want to talk about depressing things. There is plenty of that without my help. Should my sister gets shipped off to war, I might make note of it, but I will not go flag waving or Bush bashing for months. More likely, I will attempt to use her as a contact to add to categorical knowledge of transpiring events.

I want to write about are things I come across that are worthy of note. This could be an interesting character I meet on the bus with a unique philosophy on life. It might be a snippet of code I think is neat. It might be a simple tip or trick to make life easier, or a recipe. I'll write about local goings on as I come across them, because that is the part of blogging that intrigues me most: Dissemination of information and having a wide variety of sources to choose from. And most of all, I want to bring anyone that happens across my blog any bit of joy.

About me: IT. Agnostic. Lately I have been unemployed and dreaming of new adventure. I am originally from Denver, Colorado.