http://fallacio.us/site/index/ en stretchdy@yahoo.com Copyright 2009 2009-12-30T18:36:17+00:00 http://fallacio.us/site/lets_see_/ http://fallacio.us/site/lets_see_/#When:19:36:17Z let’s see if i remember how to make a post. well, that was easy. hola! ok ... not much of a blog entry. i guess i’m not in a very talkative mood.  i’d add a smiley, bit i can’t seem to find them.  oh, well.  :-D Blogs, Squirt's Blog 2009-12-30T19:36:17+00:00 http://fallacio.us/site/ee_2/ http://fallacio.us/site/ee_2/#When:19:42:48Z Just lost a longer post due to a posting timeout. How ironic. Long story short: Expression Engine has stagnated for well in excess of a year and will continue to do for probably another half year or more. The current paid beta doesn’t have features that would compel me to use my credit card and on top of that, the free trial version currently lacks the wherewithal to test upgrading/rebuilding my sites. I’ll keep an eye on the beta builds, but I’ll also get reacquainted with Drupal to keep my options open. Geek 2009-12-10T19:42:48+00:00 http://fallacio.us/site/calling_the_geek_squad/ http://fallacio.us/site/calling_the_geek_squad/#When:06:36:40Z Has anybody had a chance to look at the code that was dumped on the net from East Anglia CRU?  If so, is the code that is the basis for global warming predictions rubbish or not?  I can’t follow the technical discussions and am stuck with snark v. snark discussions. Would like to hear from somebody that actually knows something about puters. Current Events 2009-11-28T06:36:40+00:00 http://fallacio.us/site/blog_oh_this_one/ http://fallacio.us/site/blog_oh_this_one/#When:17:27:07Z If it weren’t for the monthly charges for the server, I could have forgotten about this blog. Oh well. There are a couple of posts brewing and here’s a simple one to get me started. Seen at Bruce Schneier’s: File Deletion. File deletion is all about control. This used to not be an issue. Your data was on your computer, and you decided when and how to delete a file. [...] As we move more of our data onto cloud computing platforms such as Gmail and Facebook, and closed proprietary platforms such as the Kindle and the iPhone, deleting data is much harder. This is one of the reasons why I’m reluctant about all these social sites. I do have a Facebook account, but rarely use it. My basic take is that a) the more people I ‘friend’, the less I can say that I want everybody to hear and b) I don’t want to leave more digital footprints in the cloud that I can’t erase. Schneier’s article refers to a product that tries to achieve that goal by transparently encrypting data and bit-rotting the keys, which amounts to self-destructing messages if everything works as intended. I certainly agree with the general approach; in order to preserve as much control over data hosted in the cloud as possible, I don’t immediately see an alternative to schemes that somehow pervert the concepts of public key encryption. Obviously, once something is decrypted it can be archived and distributed, but a crypto system that’s designed with repudiation (not non-repudiation!) in mind could come handy. Geek 2009-09-10T17:27:07+00:00 http://fallacio.us/site/is_it_time_to_move_servers_again/ http://fallacio.us/site/is_it_time_to_move_servers_again/#When:18:52:28Z As far as I can tell, the host I’m currently using has an unacceptable amount of packet loss in their data center, to the point where access to services like this website are severely impacted. This has happened before a few weeks ago and if it keeps going on, I’ll have to move to another provider again. In a few words: I can’t afford a provider I’m happy with. Announcements 2009-01-18T18:52:28+00:00 http://fallacio.us/site/commenting_on_the_elections/ http://fallacio.us/site/commenting_on_the_elections/#When:12:36:31Z Well done, America. Current Events 2008-11-05T12:36:31+00:00 http://fallacio.us/site/truth_in_advertising/ http://fallacio.us/site/truth_in_advertising/#When:12:18:47Z Humor, Religion 2008-11-03T12:18:47+00:00 http://fallacio.us/site/shit_happens/ http://fallacio.us/site/shit_happens/#When:12:17:48Z Humor, Religion 2008-10-30T12:17:48+00:00 http://fallacio.us/site/man_cannot_know/ http://fallacio.us/site/man_cannot_know/#When:12:14:29Z Humor, Religion 2008-10-20T12:14:29+00:00 http://fallacio.us/site/adventures_in_parenting/ http://fallacio.us/site/adventures_in_parenting/#When:16:39:45Z We were getting a bit tired of chaperoning our older daughter to her school and back. A 4th-grader should be able to make the five-minute trip by herself and lo and behold, she can. In fact, she positively oozes ENTITLEMENT. I did follow her at a far distrance for a few days and met her halfway back, but she’s doing just fine. Over-cautious if anything, but this beats the alternative. She now also has her own key and yesterday she was home before myself and the younger sprout. It looks like this new arrangement is a win-win. On a less pleasant front, what to when there’s nice folks with horrible kids? Their small one resembles a savage, the older one is a rude, reckless, inconsiderate, and self-absorbed brat. We feel that we have to follow our kids around to make sure they don’t hurt by the brat and the last time around, Geekmom had to actively step in. My impression is that their older’s behavior is worse each time we visit. I don’t know how to handle this other than to simply stop going there. I really like the parents, but it’s not worth the aggravation to keep going there. A pity. And an example on how to not be a parent: Mother pedals naked toddler through chilly Munich Authorities recently stopped a lawyer on her bicycle when they noticed her riding through town in chilly weather with her naked baby in the child seat, Munich police said on Thursday. The one-and-a-half-year-old appeared miserably cold, according to police reports, with her “nose running down to her lips” and her “mouth blue at the corners.” A police car thermometer read 11 degrees Celsius (52 degrees Fahrenheit) at the time, with what the report describes as “an unpleasant wind chill.” The mother, a 32-year-old lawyer from Schwabing, told officers her daughter had refused to let anyone dress her, explaining that children have individual rights as well, which is why she accepted her daughter’s wish to remain undressed. There is indeed a school of parenting that she seems to subscribe to. They think it’s okay if their kids jump off the rooftop—it’s their own free will and a learning experience. Personally, I believe these folks to be criminally nutty. Dumbfounded officers directed the woman to put clothes on the girl, and she complied without further discussion. The pair was then allowed on their way. “The officers were clearly surprised, but the mother did have a thick winter jacket with her, plus pants and shoes, so officers only had to ask her to put them on the girl,” Munich police spokesperson Gottfried Schlicht, told The Local on Thursday. A complaint has been filed against the lawyer for child neglect and abuse. According to Schlicht, the Munich Youth Welfare Office is also set to investigate whether the woman is fit to raise children. If you ask me, she isn’t. A 1.5-year-old is in no position to make decisions like not to wear clothes for a bicycle ride on a cool day. You dress that kid the same way you would and if the kid’s fussy about it then that’s just too bad. Parenting 2008-10-17T16:39:45+00:00