Scott Jones

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So I’m pokin’ around in a pile of old hardware here at IFAS Information Technology at the University of Florida…  and I find this rather ancient and generally unremarkable device, “new” in the box (it even says, “NEW!” right on there):

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From my Facebook notes, at http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=386029077634&id=1468827369&ref=nf if you have a Facebook account…

Today at 11:48am

Sent via their online support request service:

It is very important that a *senior customer service rep* or *supervisor/manager* contact me as quickly as possible.

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I changed my template recently, not because I think this one looks better — on the contrary, my previous two were both superior aesthetically — but because this one doesn’t mangle formatting like the others did.  In fact, you’ll notice that the SVS Wallpapers page is back.  I never did make any edits or fixes of any kind; it just works with this template and didn’t with the previous one…

I would like PRblogs/Edublogs to please consider opening up an “Edit HTML” option for our templates, similar to what Blogger has.  Templates are great, but community-submitted templates all too often seem to need a little tweak here or fix there.  For those of us who know how to do it — or at least are daring enough to try! — it’s frustrating that we don’t have that option here.  Thanks, and…  Excelsior!

After my answer a couple days ago about Web-based products, the same user came back with another question:  “What is the Web?”  This is my attempt at a complete and coherent response:

The World Wide Web (a.k.a. “WWW” or just “the Web”) is a set of standards for publishing and viewing content on the Internet. The Web is sometimes called an Internet-based “application”… and it is, in a way.  But for the purposes of this discussion, it’s better to think of it as a platform.

The Web was invented in 1990 by a man named Tim Berners-Lee, as a means to publish information internally at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research).

The two main standards that make up the Web are HTTP and HTML.

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Ding-dong, the witch is dead (again!):  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/30/jury_rules_novell_own_unix

I’ve been following this legal battle for many years.  It was a conflict between Rational Thought and a Utah corporation calling itself “SCO.”  Or perhaps I should reverse that, since, in the legal world, the party who started it gets listed first.  And “SCO” started this mess on March 6, 2003, when it filed this complaint against IBM.

SCO alleged various improprieties on the part of Big Blue that supposedly violated contractual agreements between the two companies.  Their claims centered on IBM’s handling of the intellectual property (IP) known as UNIX System V.  Specifically, SCO claimed that IBM violated contractual agreements by putting UNIX IP into Linux.  The case was huge news because it had significant implications on the business (if not technical) viability of the Linux operating system.  That’s important because Linux means many billions of dollars a year to companies like IBM, HP, Novell and others, not to mention most of the world’s largest Web sites and internal corporate IT shops.  It’s also important because Linux is the only viable competitor to Microsoft Windows in the data center.  In addition, Linux is, along with Apple, one of the few potential threats to Microsoft’s monopoly on the desktop.

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This was written on Facebook, in reply to a friend’s request for a non-techie translation of my post  that, “it feels good to finally be working with a Web-based product.  After years of building/selling/supporting code for NetWare and Windows (including Windows kernel), I’m finally living the ‘the network is the computer’/cloud computing dream.  Hooah!”

Here’s my attempt at a response, tho it’s probably also too jargon-loaded to be helpful.  Regardless, this is the first time I’ve compiled this particular set of long-held thoughts so I wanted to share it here:

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Let me be clear that I’m a Worldwide Pants kinda guy.  I’ve been watching David Letterman since his morning show in 1980 and I still watch — and love — Dave and Craig Ferguson.  However, I’m also a huge Johnny Carson fan.  Carson is one of the few entertainers whose death made me cry.  And I respect The Tonight Show as a cross-generational American institution.  Regardless, I’m a fan of fairness and rationality.

So I don’t give a flying fig newton what explanations Jay Leno and/or NBC executives give.  If Jay @10PM isn’t working out, then Jay needs to find another legitimate gig on his own merit (or lack thereof).  Fairness and rationality both dictate that The Tonight Show is not an option for him.  He retired from there and handed the reigns to a worthy successor.  His claim on that turf has — voluntarily — passed.  No man of character, no matter how great or small — especially not even Carson himself — would consider muscling back in over the corpse of that successor.

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Ref: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/18/kurt-greenbaum-man-loses_n_362406.html

This is neither a completely new interpretation of the concept nor a faithful re-make of the original.  It’s somewhere in between and ends up being…  nothing.  So far, anyway.

There are many mistakes that stand out.  The one that irritates me the most for some reason is that they explain why Six resigned.  In the original, it ended up being quite key that we never knew, precisely because it was irrelevant.  (And, of course, asking the question was the obsession of his captors.)  The original stayed on target with the theme of a man who maintained his identity (and therefor his freedom) despite his circumstances.  It didn’t cloud the issue with irrelevancies, most especially in the early episodes.  Why can’t American TV writers resist the urge to tell the audience everything.  Less is more, dammit.  Besides, in this version just what the heck is it They want from Six?

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The longer you live, the more stories you collect that help prove points (and that make for good entertainment at parties!).  I have a bunch of ‘m (many — but not all — thanks to the Navy).  Here’s one of my favorites.  It may just be the ultimate tale of government inefficiency, and it is a guaranteed 100% true sea story!  [Spoiler alert: Scroll down slowly, so you don't see each photo until necessary!]

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This isn’t a spiritual quest article.  I’m not talking about love or friendship or intangibles like a good reputation or a clear conscience.  Nor am I talking about that other form of intangibles, financial “securities” (which many of us have recently learned can disappear into the ether as easily as love or a clear conscience).  No, I’m just talking about physical, buy-and-sell-without-cosmic-implications kinds of “things”.  Short of cars and houses (which I didn’t actually own anyway; several banks did), I’ve held title to one physical item so far in my life with a five digit market value.  And since it’s now gone, I’m going to take a moment to document it; after all, it’s possible that in my next 43 years of life I’ll not own anything this cool again.

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And now, my other MIA VIP: Elizabeth Anne Shirey-Mizobuchi, a.k.a. Beth. When we met in Gainesville, FL, in 1985, Beth was the accompanist for and best friend of my girlfriend at the time, Vanessa Kissel. [Vanessa isn't missing, tho. Hi, 'Nessa!] When I needed a roommate to help pay the rent, ‘Nessa suggested Beth and believe it or not, it worked out fantastically well.  We became friends and re-connected now and then up until about twelve years ago.  Since then, nadda.

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I can’t help but join in whenever this issue comes up.  From the comments at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXu9C6rdDYs:

theshaggyshow (3 weeks ago)
he said we are a democracy… he is wrong… we are a REPUBLIC…

Bartleby1701 (1 week ago)
Yes! Which is a FORM of DEMOCRACY pinhead! Read More…

I just posted the following comment to an sxephil episode on YouTube (NSFW), wherein Phil talks about the transition of a site called “Pirate Bay” to a legal, for-pay service… (see this). It reminded me of what happened to the original (real) Napster, which a decade later remains the best Internet app ever, by my reckoning!
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