Month: January 2004

On my way home last night from work, I turned on the radio. I generally only listen perhaps one way to or from work, not for any philosophical reason, but because often I have tunes going through my head that I’m working on, or I have a particular problem I’m thinking about that I need quiet to figure out the solution to… whatever. I caught the last few minutes of the “Most Requested” nightly countdown on 97.1, KZHT.

The first thing that struck me is that there was a song I really enjoyed at one time that I no longer enjoy. It’s by Linkin Park, called “Numb”. The first twenty or thirty times I heard it on the radio, I was really impressed at the unique sound, the powerful lyrics, and the emotional delivery of the lead singer. When I heard it last night, after hearing it so frequently on the once-an-hour rotation schedule over the last several weeks, I was just sick of it. It still has the cool qualities that made it a kick-ass song, I just stopped liking it.

Anyway, after about twenty minutes of commercial break between “number two” and “number one”, “number one” finally came on. I have no idea who sings this song, what their musical history is, or what. The weird thing is, I listen to the radio periodically, and I’d never heard this artist. How’d they get to be “most requested” when they aren’t even on a local rotation?

I figured it out shortly. You see, “Most Requested” is a nationally-syndicated program on Clear Channel. The Utah Audience wouldn’t appreciate this piece of work.

The chorus went, literally, something like this:

F— this for some reason.
F— that for another reason.
F— you, you B—-, I don’t want you back

I wasn’t sure whether to be mortified or laugh really hard. It was like one of those angry songs I wrote when I was fifteen and ticked off at some girl, only worse. The funny part was that they actually cut the works apart so that you only heard the first consonant of the swear word, and a healthy chunk of this otherwise lovely-sounding song was cut-off swear words by the lead singer. And what the heck was it doing on the radio?

I guess I’m officially “old” — I don’t appreciate that kind of art on the radio.

My original point wasn’t that including “bearing arms” didn’t make sense at the time of Constitutional Drafting (it definitely did make sense given the circumstances). My point was that if the Framers had access to a crystal ball that let them see how outrageous the gun-death toll would eventually become, “bearing arms” might not have been part of the Constitution.

I’m against the individual ownership of guns. I don’t need them to feel personally safe or equalized. And owning them and weilding them as an individual ensures great risk.

Here’s why: in the global sailing/cruising coterie, there’s an industry rag called “Cruising World”. Everyone reads it who dreams of sailing around the world or is actually active in sailing around the world. There’s always news from the latitudes that discusses dangerous areas to cruise. These include the coastal waters of Columbia, Yemen, Africa, etc. As part of these articles is always the terrible, sad story of cruisers killed by pirates or drug lords. As it always turns out, the cruisers aren’t killed for their boat or personal possessions. They’re shot the minute they decide to pull out a gun from below deck.

In the international waters of no-holds-barred, you get killed when you pull out a gun. Every cruiser knows that owning a gun is the surest way to get killed. Owning a gun under the pretense of equalization is subscribing to the arms-race fallacy that led to the U.S.-Soviet buildup: peace is only attained when through a balance in firepower. What’s worst is trying to gain superior firepower because cruisers can only provoke. Many stories of boaters pulling out big canons and scaring off pirates temporarily until all the pirate cavalry comes in.

This is in international waters. At home we have laws and a somewhat higher standard of criminal conduct 🙂 But the truth is set in my mind — I don’t win by owning a gun because I don’t set the field equal, I only provoke. To me, the gun is an instant death instrument, not a sense of security or protection.

As most barnson.org readers know, my wife and I just had a baby on Saturday. We received some humorous and valuable tips to pass on to our new arrival, Joshua, when he is old enough to understand them.

It seems curious to me that, often, the greatest of joys are balanced by the greatest of sorrows.

Yesterday, Jackie Broadbent, mother of two grown daughters, wife of Lynn, aunt to my wife Christine, sister of my mother-in-law Marsha, died near Twin Falls, Idaho, in a car accident. She was broadsided and died shortly thereafter.

I always liked Jackie. She helped me with my taxes when I was younger. She helped me start my first business up in Idaho. She worked in the state tax office, and we’d drop by there from time to time when we lived locally just to say hello. She was a fat, jolly woman, who always had a good word for everyone. The first time my wife and I ever had a long kissing session was on her back porch. Waiting for her to show up, I might add 🙂 She never showed up that day; we “waited” for a very long time! We went to Christmas celebrations at her house, and performed the Nativity together down in her cellar, which remarkably resembles a cave. I used to play loudly on her piano, and smile when she’d ask me to play more. We attended her daughter’s wedding reception at her house.

We were never really close, though. I’d see her about once a year, either for a few minutes, or a day or two. And I’m really not sure how to react to this event. My mother-in-law is staying with us, and I’m certain this is very hard on her. For me, knowing Jackie’s gone fills me with a vague kind of sadness that I won’t be seeing her again. I don’t plan on attending her funeral; we have three small children who’ll be home while their mother goes, and I’ll still need to be working since money’s very tight for the next 6-8 weeks as we catch up as the paychecks start arriving in from my new job.

Death is a troubling yet poorly-understood phenomenon. Other than the narrowing of vision to a pinpoint of light, and frequently a great deal of pain, there are no consistent descriptions of what it’s like to die, although often people who have “died” for a few moments and then been revived report some kind of religions visitation that varies by faith. We don’t have any report from someone who’s been stone-dead for a month or two to tell us what it’s really like — or if there’s any existence at all. Other than birth, there’s no other experience in life so dependable for every human being on the planet.

And yet it still causes us, and those around us, grief and sorrow. Is the sorrow for the person who died, or for ourselves that we will no longer see them before it is our day, too, to pass on?

Recently, I had a co-worker lump me into the “liberal” political camp because of my stands on various issues. Yet I consider myself really quite conservative on most things. I was able to pin down a few hotbuttons from a post from a friend the other day to a mutual mailing list. What do you look for in a presidential candidate? This list provided me a few ideas on what I was looking for…

• Bi-lingual education – Against. We don’t have an official national language, but it’s a disservice to the children to educate them in an alternative language than English at this point in time. If the majority of the country begins speaking another language, I’ll rethink that position.conservative?
• Big government – I think even liberals think “big government” is a bad idea. I’m for spending less without gutting the defense budget. Eliminate the stuff that doesn’t have a constitutional mandate wherever you can.conservative?
• Tax cuts – For. See above. conservative?
• Welfare – Been on it. Was glad for it. In favor of it, within time limits. Again, what those are, I can’t say, but a 1-on, 3-off routine sounds reasonable to me.liberal?
• Racial equality – In favor. Forced avoidance of bigotry is still a requirement for operation in this country, and if you think women and minorities aren’t still discriminated against, you probably don’t live in Utah.liberal?
• Abortion – for a woman’s right to choose, up to a point. What that point is, I don’t know. I recently learned of a child that survived at 22 weeks. I think the morning-after pill is totally OK. I think that late-term partial-birth abortions are a terrible waste of a viable life (in cases where the mother’s life is not in danger).liberal?
• Same-sex marriage – That’s a tough one to have an opinion on in Utah. In my opinion, any person should have the right to enter into any sort of contractual relationship with any other individual, as long as the rights of either party are not abrogated therein (death pacts, torture pacts, etc.) I just don’t why two consenting parties shouldn’t be allowed to enter into whatever sort of contract they want, and I should keep my nose out of it, however much the nature of that contract repulses me. liberal?
• Affirmative action – In favor, only where necessary. I think all affirmative action legislation should have a mandated sunset provision within five years, to re-evaluate if discrepancies have been remedied or not.liberal?
• Creationism in schools – Against. Just the facts, ma’am. I don’t see why Christian mythology about creation should be given priority over Aztec mythology about creation, and it has no place in public school science classes. Philosophy, religion, psychology, or social studies, sure, understanding human mythology is crucial to understanding the human psyche. But it’s not science, and shouldn’t be taught as such.liberal?
• Separation of church and state – Strongly for. Avoid even the appearance of evil by avoiding any appearance of state-funded subsidies of religious institutions. Unfortunatley, this puts me at odds with most of the “school vouchers” crowd, because government payments to church-owned schools sure sounds like a government subsidy of a particular religion to me — any religion that runs a successful private voucher-approved school.liberal?
• Strict environmentalism – Against. Sure, I drive a Super-Low Emissions Vehicle. I donate to green causes now and then. But I think our natural resources should be used within reasonable human impact. If we wipe out a few species, darnit, let’s preserve their DNA and some reproductive samples so that maybe they’ll have a chance at life after we’ve built the air force base there.conservative?
• Private property rights – Strongly in favor. A property owner should have ultimate authority over his/her property, period. I should be allowed to do what I wish with what I own, as long as it does not detrimentally impact other property owners, the general environment, or national security.conservative?
• States’ rights – Should supercede all but constitutionally-mandated Federal rights in all cases. No exceptions. Well, the only exceptions would probably be federal court cases where a nationally-recognized judgement is required to maintain a peacable state.conservative?
• Prayer in schools – Tough issue here in Utah. I’m in favor of the right of any person to pursue religions devotion as long as it does not infringe on the rights of others, but I am not in favor of public schools supporting specific religions. I kind of like how they did it in Maryland at my brother’s high school graduation. A Rabbi gave an invocation, and a Christian closed with prayer. As long as equal time is provided when necessary, no harm, no foul.Can’t tell if I’m conservative or liberal — let people pray publicly in school, but don’t allow any one religion to dominate?
• Protection of civil rights, goals of ACLU – In favor. The Bill of Rights has been eroding steadily over the last hundred years, and one of these days I’m going to become a card-carrying member of the ACLU, once I care enough.liberal?
• Use of American forces on foreign soil: Mostly against, but it depends on the circumstances. I really don’t like our country taking over the “global policeman” role, and we need some smart exit plans. But becoming involved when we need to can be warranted, and I think was warranted in the case of Afghanistan and Iraq. But we need to get out soon.too wishy-washy to be either
• Party registration – registered Republican. I’d be stupid not to be here in Utah. If you’re Republican, you can vote at both the Democrat and Republican polls. If you’re a Democrat, the Republican primaries are closed to you.conservative, out of practicality
• Voted in 2000 – for George Bush.conservative
• Will vote in 2004: not for George Bush. Not sure who I want to support yet, but since he’s the obvious Republican shoe-in for the presidential candidate (duh!), looks like I’m probably voting Democratic. As long as Gore doesn’t run against Bush again, if that happens I think he stinks too and maybe I’ll vote Libertarian.liberal?

Where do you stand on the interesting ones?

Here’s an interesting rant on proper resume etiquette in 2004. So much of what the career counselors tell you is absolute rubbish for the clueful hiring manager. If you’re interested in being another cubicle drone, do all the stuff he tells you not to do in this article. If you’re interested in actually getting a good job with a non-technology-challenged company, the simple lessons Joel puts forth may actually be useful.

As a former hiring manager, I speak from some experience here. Resumes stand out best when they are coherent, targetted specifically for the job, and are concise. A resume is an advertisement, not a history of job failures. You put your life on a page and hope someone takes the bait to schedule an interview.

Great freaking read.

Oh, and a tiny little web site has a really interesting discussion about this article as well.

Remember the good old issues of a comic book where a person who was until this point a side character joins the super team? “WELCOME TO THE XMEN, HAVOK.. HOPE YOU SURVIVE!!”

Well, J.J. there are some things you should know, to ensure that survival.

1) Time flies. Don’t waste it. By the time it has been as many years as I have known your daddy.. you will be the age I was when I met your daddy.

2) You’ll never understand women. Stop trying. Look up at mommy and say.. I love you, but I’ll never get you.. and its not fair, because they understand us.

3) Skip the anchovies.. its an acquired taste you don’t need.. its bad for you.. and nobody else likes it. Same goes for cigarettes and black jelly beans.

4) Learn to play an instrument.. it makes you a more well rounded person.. HEY LOOK, ITS ORLANDO BLOOM!!!! (Are all the girls looking the other way? Good.. okay.. learn to play an instrument because chicks love it.)

5) Don’t call girls chicks, they’ll send hate mail.

6) And most importantly, that yellow snow outside is not lemon flavored italian ice.. I’ve tried it and its awful.

I’m sure the others who post here will have great advice too..

Welcome JJ.. its a weird weird world.

We’re off to the hospital to have a baby this morning. I won’t be posting for a few days.

Wish us luck!

A few years ago, while at excite@home (now defunct — that page you’re seeing is just one of the parts that got auctioned off), I ran across a nifty little script by Steve Fulling called “vircs”. What it did, in a nutshell, was automatically handle RCS-ing a file when you edited it. You’d type “vircs /etc/resolv.conf” (for instance), and it would commit the file to RCS with your comments, and after you finished editing it, would commit the change to revision control as well.

Very, very convenient, and a nifty front-end to make life easier on those people administering your system.

Well, anyway, time went on, and after periodically searching the Internet for a copy of it for a couple of projects I was working on, I finally decided to contact Steve a few weeks ago and ask about this script. It’s gone through a few hands now, but I present it below for your enjoyment. It’s a quick, easy way to integrate any existing EDITOR (as in, EDITOR environment variable in UNIX) into RCS without having to worry so much about RCS commands. Having the file locked alerts other users who might want to edit it that it would be a bad idea — and who to talk to to unlock the file. Automated check-in on changes makes it really easy to keep track of what you’ve changed and why. And when someone forgets to use vircs, you’re notified that the file doesn’t match, and you can compare timestamps to figure out when someone edited it improperly.

All in all, a very handy little thing to have around. So here it is! I just tidied it up a bit — changed paths to work on a standard LSB-compliant GNU/Linux system, and fixed the exit code at the end to work with newer versions of Perl (old versions work fine with an exit code of “\n”, while newer ones want a numeric argument).

You’ll also need to install “Rcs.pm” from CPAN. I usually do it this way:

 perl -MCPAN -eshell cpan> install Rcs 

A few moments later, and you’re done! If you haven’t used CPAN before, it may prompt you for some configuration. The defaults usually work, the only thing I usually do is pick a mirror that’s closer to me.

 #!/usr/local/bin/perl

use Rcs; use File::Basename; use Getopt::Std;

############################################################################ # NAME: vircs (vi using RCS) # VERSION:		2.51 # CREATED: 9/19/93 # LAST MODIFIED: 3/14/00 (toml) # AUTHOR: J. Derek Roller # ORIGINAL SH AUTHOR: Stephen W. Fulling # # DESCRIPTION: this script is used to edit critical system files which # uses RCS to track changes. It assures the following: # 1. File is not previously locked by someone else. # 2. If someone changed the file being edited wihtout checking # it into RCS, the user will be notified # 3. The original file owner and mode iwll be restored after # editing # # All use of this script are logged into a log file as specified by # the $LogFile variable below in the form of: # RealUserName EffectiveUserName File Date #############################################################################

###### # # set up what options the rcs commands will use #

# General RCS defines Rcs->bindir('/usr/local/bin'); # default, but let's be sure...

###### # Look for arguments # if (! getopts('e:')) { &usage }

###### # # Misc variables that are calculated from ARGV. #

if (scalar(@ARGV) != 1) { &usage } $WFile = $ARGV[0]; $dirname = dirname($WFile); $basename = basename($WFile);

# start of our RCS object $obj = Rcs->new; $obj->file($basename); $obj->workdir($dirname); $obj->rcsdir("$dirname/RCS");

###### # # Try to find the users editor as defined in environment variables. if not, # die out of script. if editor is not defined, use vi. # if ($opt_e) { print "\nUsing specified editor: $opt_e\n"; $Editor = `which $opt_e`; } elsif (! $ENV{'EDITOR'}) { print "\nNo default editor specified, using vi\n"; $Editor = `which vi`; } else { $Editor=`which $ENV{'EDITOR'}` }

if ($Editor !~ /^\//) { print "\nSorry, I cannot find the specified or default editor\n"; print "Use the '-e' option, check your path, and/or check your\n"; print "EDITOR environment variable\n\n"; exit; }

chomp($Editor);

###### # # check if file exists. # if not create it, if it can't be created, die. # if the file exists, make sure we can write in that directory, if not, die #

if ( ! -f $WFile ) { if ( -e $WFile) { &usage } if (! open(TFILE, ">$WFile")) { 	die("\nProblem creating file '$WFile': $!\n\n"); } print "\nCreated file $WFile\n"; close(TFILE); } else { if (! open(TFILE, ">$dirname/test.$$.bic")) { 	die("\nProblem writing to '$dirname': $!\n\n"); } close(TFILE); unlink("$dirname/test.$$.bic"); }

###### # # check for RCS dir. if it doesn't exist, create it. if we can't create # it, die. # if it does exist, try to write to it. if we can't, die #

if ( ! -d "$dirname/RCS" ) { if (! mkdir("$dirname/RCS", 0777)) { # mode is modified by umask 	die("\nProblem creating directory '$dirname/RCS': $!\n\n"); } print "\nCreated directory 'RCS' under '$dirname'\n"; } else { if (! open(TFILE, ">$dirname/RCS/test.$$.bic")) { 	die("\nPermission denied writing to '$dirname/RCS'\n\n"); } close(TFILE); unlink("$dirname/RCS/test.$$.bic"); }

###### # # Store uid, gid, and mode from the original work file #

(undef,undef,$mode,undef,$uid,$gid) = stat($WFile); $mode &= 0777; $FileMode = $mode;

###### # # If no previous RCS entry, make one #

if ( ! -f "$dirname/RCS/$basename,v" ) { print "\nNOTE: '$WFile' has never been checked into RCS\n"; print "checking in via 'ci -u'\n"; $obj->ci('-u'); # toml }

###### # # Check for someone else having $WFile checked out. If so, die #

# toml if ($locker = $obj->lock) { print "\nERROR: '$WFile' locked (check out) by: $locker\n"; print " you can force an unlock via 'rcs -u <file>', however you\n"; print " BETTER be sure that they're not really editing it.\n"; exit "\n\n"; }

###### # # Run rcsdiff for bozo changes (someone changed $WFile w/o checking in). # if changes have been found prompt for checkin, quit or ignore. #

@diff_output = $obj->rcsdiff; if (scalar @diff_output) { print "\nERROR: This file has been changed since the last checkin. This\n"; print " means that someone has edited the file '$basename' without "; print "checking\n in their changes to RCS\n"; print "\nHere are the changes:\n"; print "@diff_output"; print "\n\nNOTE: '<' = RCS has information that file '$basename' does not\n"; print " '>' = FILE '$basename' has information that RCS does not\n";

InputLoop: { print "\nHere are your options (in the order you should consider):\n"; 	print " 1. Update RCS per current file - (trust file over RCS)\n"; print " 2. Exit and go get a beer - (and buy a round for "; 	print "the support staff)\n"; print " 3. Overwrite current file from RCS - (trust RCS over file"; 	print " - DANGEROUS!!)\n\n> "; chomp ($answer = <STDIN>); if ( $answer eq "1" ) { 	 print "\n\nChecking in file '$WFile' with unrecorded changes "; 	 print "into RCS\n"; 	 $obj->rcs('-l'); 	 $obj->ci('-u'); 	 last InputLoop; } if ( $answer eq "2" and die "\nGoodbye\n\n") {} 	if ( $answer eq "3" ) { 	 print "\n\nIgnoring RCS changes for file '$WFile'\n"; 	 last InputLoop; } redo InputLoop; } }

###### # # Finally, we get to edit the file. #

chmod 0400, $WFile;			# this one is for steve :-) $obj->co('-l'); if (! $obj->lock) { chown $uid, $gid, $WFile; chmod $FileMode, $WFile; die "\n\nGoodbye\n\n"; } system "$Editor $WFile"; $obj->ci('-u'); if ($obj->lock) { $obj->ci('-u'); print "\nFile '$WFile' has been unlocked\n"; }

###### # # After editing is completed, change the file ownership and mode back to # what it was #

chown $uid, $gid, $WFile; chmod $FileMode, $WFile;

###### # # Log use into logfile #

#open(lFile, ">> $LogFile"); #($rname) = getpwuid($<); ##($ename) = getpwuid($>); #$Pwd = `pwd`; chop($Pwd); #printf(lFile "%8s %8s ", $rname, $ename); #printf(lFile "%s/%s\t %s", $Pwd, $WFile, `date '+%m/%d/%y %H:%M:%S'`); #close(lFile);

###### # # finish cleanup and give the user a useless message #

print "\nThank you so much for using vircs. Brick thyself.\n\n"; exit "\n";

sub usage { die "\nUsage: vircs [-e editor] filename\n\n" }

---

syntax highlighted by Code2HTML, v. 0.9.1

Yo music makers! I just bought Finale 2004 and I wanted to share information and get your feedback on what I think is finally a breakthrough in home-based sound design for the average composer.

Finale has always been a notation software program. Getting a score to sound good by using this program has required external sound-font apps like Kontakt or GigaStudio. People were exporting MIDI files created in Finale to Cakewalk (for example) and then using samplers to assign high-end sounds. This required sound cards, manual integration, extra hard drive space…basically $$$.

Finale 2004, released four months ago, has finally embedded good sound fonts within the program. You can now compose and hear quality playback with only Finale, a computer, and a controller keyboard. Also, you can “save to .wav” and directly go to stereo file.

I’ve been a hard core Finale products user because I compose for live musicians and do a ton of studio recording with horn players. Thus, I’ve always been more of a composer/arranger for live groups and less of a digital studio design guy. I believe that F2004 finally gives the home-based composer the ability to get good sounding playback from scores without the need to purchase all kinds of gear.

Since F2004 is a somewhat new release, I just posted at finale.com/forum to see if there are any secondary market sound-font apps developed specifically for F2004. I’m waiting to hear back from the experts on anything brewing there.

Anyway, point here is that I would also like feedback from folks who have any experience in mapping high-end sounds to notation software programs. Is this too good to be true? I got contracted to compose a score for an musical theatre concept and hopefully can create final copy right here from home…

There I was, minding my business, poking along in the slow lane about to exit onto Interstate 215. Since I got my new car, I do tend to drive a bit like a grandpa — slightly under the speed limit, speeding up and slowing down according to terrain as I try to milk maximum miles per gallon out of my tank. It kind of comes with the territory driving a Honda Insight. The on-dash miles-per-gallon displays help one focus on driving patterns that bring out the best from one’s vehicle.

Of course, that means I’ve gotten more used to being passed on the freeway than I used to. A few months ago, I was one of the testosterone-charged, “must do at least 5 over the speed limit” drivers. Since driving the Insight, my road-rage level is noticeably smaller. Unfortunately, not everybody’s is.

I turned on my blinker to merge one lane to the right, looked in my rearview mirrors, and saw that it was clear. I began my merge, when suddenly movement in two of my mirrors caught my attention.

A white Toyota Pickup was doing about ninety-five miles per hour one lane over to my left, and without a signal on, was merging into my lane about fifty feet behind me. His trajectory appeared to be similar to mine: attempting to merge over and get on I-215.

I quickly corrected my steering to remain in my own lane to avoid a collision with the other driver. Despite that correction, he missed my rear bumper by mere inches as he blasted through an impossibly small gap at a ridiculous speed trying to reach the onramp.

After I saw him slam on his brakes in the right-hand lane, safely in front of me, I merged over to that lane myself. I was unhappy that someone was driving so unsafely in the semidarkness of my morning commute. I expressed this displeasure to him with a 1-second treatment of my high beams. To come so close to hitting someone else due to your poor driving is just incredibly rude and dangerous.

Within a second, I noted his response. Inside the cab of his truck, silhouetted by my now-dim headlights, I saw the familiar one-finger salute, extended from his right hand.

Apparently, he wasn’t satisfied with that, though. I think he thought I couldn’t see the ovation on the inside of his cab. So he rolled down his driver’s-side window and extended his hand out of it, pumping the glove-fisted finger up and down a few times so that I got the message.

That marks the first time I’ve received the finger in seven years of driving in Utah. I don’t think that’s saying anything about the drivers here — they are as bad as anywhere else. But it was rather poignant to me that I remembered the last time I’d received the finger, while driving on I-295 in Maryland. Yep, over ten years ago.

When was the last time you got the finger? And why?