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Saturday,
December 12, 1998 For those interested in cookies, there are revisions with comments to Robert Bruce
Thompson's report on cookies.
I must have taken leave of my senses: that is, I should have looked in VIEWDEX for my keyboard references. Viewdex is done by John
Rice, and is extremely useful; and I should use it more myself. Anyway, I have copied that
material to the Recommended section.
Ortek makes excellent keyboards -- I am typing this on one now -- which have the feel of
the old Northgate, but which have function keys in the right places, and also have
programmable keys. I love that. And Calvin Dodge found my User's Choice reference on keyboards.
We're spending increasing amounts of time looking at cars. Yesterday I drove a 1998
Ford Ranger pickup. This has a pair of small jump seats in back, but you wouldn't put an
adult back there. Not for long, anyway. The rear window doesn't open, but I think there
might be a way to make that happen, since it can't be that hard to remove it entirely, and
a machine shop ought to be able to make hinges that can be glued on to the glass pane on
one side. It's important because the dog has to have a place to ride in back, and that
means an open window.
We were looking at that because I find the new Status Utility Vehicles ridiculous in
price for the features they offer. Maybe I am not bargaining hard enough. I probably would
have bought the Durango by now, high price and all, except for those reports about the air
conditioning. I suppose I need to go see for myself. If the air conditioning works,
everything else is right on that (except for the price), and it being a 1998, I expect I
can get the price down some. The Ranger goes for .9% APR, which is like they are giving me
the financing, and that's attractive.
Three problems with the Ranger: the rear window doesn't open and it is going to take
some ingenuity to get that to work; the back seat isn't really suitable for humans meaning
that this is really a two person car for any distance; and it seemed a bit under powered.
I need to check that latter. But I sure like the price.
Saw Enemy Of The State last night. While much of it was fanciful -- I doubt that any
agency of the US government could get THAT many rogue agents to break the law in defense
of their bureaucratic empire, and there was far too much gunplay in public areas -- there
were some frightening elements in it as well. If an agency of the US government really set
out to discredit and ruin you, it could be done about as shown, and how would anyone else
know? We built a number of structures in response the to the Cold War. Now it's time to
dismantle most of them, but that will be very hard to do, particularly if we continue to
have vague but vast overseas commitments and seek to be the world's policeman. I suspect
the nation is at a decision point: either we start down the road back to a constitutional
republic, or we will take the next steps toward a full empire, with an executive above the
law -- maiestas is very nearly a crime now -- and many secret agencies which
defend themselves against Congress and everyone else by any means necessary, and have just
enough importance in the new arrangement that their agents can feel they are motivated by
"true patriotism" and not merely turf defense. We already have some of those. Ah
well.
Incidentally, I did a search for my name and found a few web sites where my
"politics" seem important. Most of those don't seem to have any idea of what my
"politics" are. Without cluttering this place up with a lot of that nonsense,
let me point out that I was involved with national security from the day I left high
school, and I was willing to tolerate a very great deal of nationalized power when we had
a large and implacable national enemy; but once that situation changed, I revert to what I
think was the premise of the United States as expressed by John Adams: "We believe
that each man is the best judge of his own interest." You can compromise on that when
there are 24,000 nuclear weapons aimed at the country, even if they are aimed by a
"superpower" that is tottering internally. (One might say that the tottering
phase is nearly as dangerous as the vigorous expansion stage of the 60's, for that
matter.) I also believe with Jefferson that that government governs best which governs
least, and I am firmly convinced that republican governments derive "their just
powers from the consent of the governed" which means that if you keep the power of
government as local as possible, you'll have more people happy with its laws. None of this
used to be particularly controversial, and I find it interesting that we have come to a
point where one is thought an extremist for holding such views. Ah well.
I suppose today will be devoured by looking at cars again. Sigh. I want to get back to
Linux. Moshe Bar has sent me a whole set of suits that will let me get Linette hooked up
to my internal network, and I'm anxious to get started.
Just got the new D400 Zoom Olympus camera. If you want a digital camera and you're not
a National Geographic photographer, look no further. More later. See also the review section. Highly recommended.
I have much mail approving of the new VIEW format, so we will keep it. Thanks. For
those who sent User's Choice nominations, I am gathering them (with an Outlook rule) to
look at them all at once, and thanks.
I am about decided to go make the best deal I can on the Durango. I liked it, and the
Ranger cannot get an openable back window. The Ranger was a bit under powered, and was
really a two people and one dog vehicle anyway. The Durango is comfortable for 4, holds 5
in a pinch, and has plenty of power. It's also blooming expensive, but I suppose that's
not the biggest problem I could have. I'll go see that they are willing to do. I have the
advice of a Florida Keys Durango owner that in that humidity and temperature the A/C is
adequate, and that sounds OK to me. I'll check it, though, today.
And for a taste of what it was like to write for BYTE in the old days, see what my
companion editor at BYTE Ed de Jesus did: Not By Jerry
Pournelle. Now you know what I had to put up with.
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