Benjamin Bryan

2005-07-30 18:06:00

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2005-07-30 18:06:00
Bait and Switch or Standard Cell Phone Company Practice?

After careful thought my family decides it is worth the $9.99/month/phone to add 3 extra phones to my plan. Killer gives me three of his old Verizon phones and I call up Verizon Wireless but the cost is actually $19/month/phone. I just don’t get cell phone business practice. Do they think they’re going to get business and loyalty with this kind of practice?

I’m not asking for something that they aren’t advertising to me..in the mail..every week.

Comments [8]

2005-07-29 16:39:00

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2005-07-29 16:39:00
It’s SysAdmin Appreciation Day

From: Jon Clede

Happy Sysadmin day!

w00t!

-Jon-

From: Emmanuel Mwangi

Happy SysAdmin Apprecation Day

To the Greatest SysAdmin Evar!

Even if I don't update my website.

-E.Mwangi

sniff, thanks guys. I have the best customers in the world.

Comments [2]

2005-07-28 15:37:00

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2005-07-28 15:37:00

Feminine Intuition

Men think we are not blessed with souls,
Are useful, yes, for drudgery
and helping them attain their goals
(Ours to them, a boring mystery).

We can read, this they accept,
Can work out sums, and write a bit:
Store stuff, remember where it's kept,
And fetch it, when a man wants it.

We're tired of condescension, tired
of being Adam's latest rib
(Woman, the first, rather misfired).
We've had enough.  Computer Lib!

–From “Tales from the Computer Room” by John Race. © 1977. 

Comments [4]

2005-06-23 01:45:00

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2005-06-23 01:45:00
Narnia Toast?
The experimental gaming server, Narnia has been toasted. Mk and I are trying to figure out what happened. It could be bad blocks, bad inodes, or one of my dead interface programs running lockf on the pk3 files (this is why you should never do a kill -9). In the meantime please don’t panic. A backup vps is ready to roll into action if we can’t fix Narnia.

2005-06-18 00:44:00

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2005-06-18 00:44:00
40 Million Credit Cards Stolen
So this explains how they got my card number.  Credit card breach exposes 40 million accounts

Once again, little to no security.

Tips to avoid and be aware of identity theft:

2005-06-04 16:24:00

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2005-06-04 16:24:00
Psalm 1

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.

He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.



Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. 

2005-05-13 14:16:00 

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2005-05-13 14:16:00 
Let me introduce you to…

Steve Baehr

The first thing that any person must say about Steve is he loves God. He knows his beliefs, and he’s a black and white person. In fact. This graphic illustrates Steve’s opinion on everything: 

To Steve it is impossible for anything with moral significance to fall on two pixels crossing black and white. It is one side or the other and there is no question that whatever side that it is on it is on the furthest point possible from the non-existent divider between black and white. I have often pondered why Steve can not see gray. The reason is simple and it is a result of Steve’s ability on a Piano. For the majority of his life this is all Steve saw.

As a child Steve knew he could hit a black key, or a white key, but there was no gray key. Anything that was precise enough to hit both black and white hit both keys but since they were two different notes it could not be one gray moral area in music. It was a distinct white and black sound. Anything more precise than that would simply fall through the cracks. Thus Steve grew up thinking black and white which has molded him into a black and white person which is how he will be for the rest of his life.

This guy is a musician. He has an ability to pick up any instrument and play it. Steve recently founded Baehr Studios, a way to share his talents with others. If you need anything musical you should contact him.

And of course Steve has his complement to bring him to completion. Hannah is good at what Steve is not and vice versa. She is one of those girls that is incredibly smart, having a cognizance which allows her to see straight through people. As such she keeps Steve honest to himself, and makes Steve a better Steve. 

Libby – 2005-05-17 01:50:22
Hey, I remember Steve Baehr! We were both in a Christmas play at Immanuel when we were like 9. I forget what the play was called. Most of it took place in “heaven” where there was this angel named Mary Anne (she wore an Angel’s baseball cap…cute, huh?) who couldn’t sing very well, or something, and I think she learns how to sing better…and I’m sure the lesson had something to do with praising God through singing. I don’t know; I can’t remember much about it. I do remember one line from the play though, “Good plan, Mary Anne!” I think Steve said that line. 

Steve – email – 2005-05-17 11:05:36
Actually, her name was Marvel Ann. 
And the line was “That’s the plan, Marvel Ann.” 
I don’t remember what it was called either, but I’ll never forget that play. I had the biggest crush on Marvel Ann…

Libby – 2005-05-17 17:07:15
Ok, so I remembered even less than I thought I did. Still, those were good times. 

Ben – email – 2005-05-17 19:26:53
I think I was in that play too! I don’t rememember much. I think they put me way in the back and I couldn’t see above anyone’s head so i had no idea what was happening. didn’t the red-head girl get to wear a star with christmas lights or something? i think we all wore painted cardboard boxes and got to sing a “we’re the little packages” song… or maybe that was another play.

2005-05-23 23:15:00 

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2005-05-23 23:15:00 
Pirating God’s Word…
NASB is my favorite translation, but it is copyrighted… and I would have to buy a separate license for every copy I have (if I had three computers I would have to purchase the NASB Bible software three times to put it on all three) and would have serious limitations in using it (I could not make copies of large passages without permission). So looking for free alternatives, I have also tried KJV …but other people have a difficult time understanding this translation. Most other versions I have looked at are too wordy or imprecise… what do you use and why? 

Phil – email – 2005-05-24 17:02:39
I’d recommend looking closer at the relevant laws. I’m not sure that they can stop you from using software that you rightly purchased as long as you are only running one copy at a time. Of course, given the shambled state of US Copyright law, this completely reasonable thing may not be legal, but it would be worth checking. 

Also, equating copyright violation with stealing is a huge stretch of the imagination. It’s inaccurate and misleading, though I don’t believe you did it on purpose.

Jon – 2005-05-24 19:03:21
“Also, equating copyright violation with stealing is a huge stretch of the imagination. It’s inaccurate and misleading, though I don’t believe you did it on purpose.” 

*sigh* 

Phil, sometimes I think you don’t listen to anything I say. :-)

Jeff – 2005-05-25 00:16:35
Most of the time, all you have to do is write to the software company and ask permission to use one copy on a network of home computers. Usually they have no problem with this as long as it remains in the same home, and not used for commericial use. If they say its ok to use their software in the prescibed way, its not illegal… Silence or no response can also be taken as giving legal consent. Carry on. 

Ben – email – 2005-05-25 00:40:00
I’m not sure if the big issue is using it on as many computers as I want…the issue is principle. I want the freedom to reprint the Bible and distribute it. I would like the right to copy the Bible in it’s entirety and email it to a friend. I would like the freedom to quote the entire book of Jonah or Jude without being in violation. It seems to me that nomatter how much money I spend, no matter how many licenses I buy I do not have that freedom. 

Here is a link to the NASB restrictions (the same restrictions are noted in my hardcopy NASB). 

http://lockman.gospelcom.net/tlf/copyright.php#nasb

Phil – email – 2005-05-25 12:13:17
I didn’t say copyright violation is not wrong; I said it’s not stealing. Stealing involves depriving another party. 

That’s a good point, Ben. You don’t want to have to think about whether or not what you are doing with the text is ok; you should be able to use it as you please. 

I find for my own use it is often worth going over the KJV even if it seems awkward (The King’s English is the Best English), but I can see how you would be reluctant to offer it to someone else who may not be all that interested in the first place. 

I tried using Young’s Literal Translation a while ago when I was looking around at Bible software. It was mostly a cursory look that I took, but it seemed to be quite readable.

2005-05-16 21:53:00 

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2005-05-16 21:53:00 
Physical Volume Knobs

If I were to design The Ben Notebook Computer it would have many improvements over today’s antiquated laptops. The first feature would be a hardware volume knob. I can not fathom the reasoning going through the engineer’s head who said, “I know, let’s make software control the volume so we don’t have to have a volume knob by making users press Fn+UP or FN+DOWN!”  

The worst part is the most popular OS doesn’t allow control of the volume until it has started playing some ridiculous startup chime. 

Phil – email – 2005-05-17 12:53:24
The problem with mocking the “most popular OS” is that it’s too easy…. The challenge is pretty much gone.

Jeff – 2005-05-17 18:43:25
I always wanted both my compys to start with a flip of a switch. Just like in the old movies where they had to use the huge electric switch with a burst of sparks to get the machine going.. Ah, good times.. good times.. 

Ben – email – 2005-05-17 19:39:55
sorry Phil, i guess i could have said the same thing about Linux…so i will: one annoyance in Ubuntu Linux is the only way to control the sound in X11 is through the Gnome volume thing. This is very bad because when I’m playing a game like Quake III it is impossible to get to it without exiting the game. 

toggle switches… i wired one of my desktops to use one for power and a momentary toggle switch for the reset. …it was pretty cool, and very convenient to have that reset switch. …until i electrocuted myself that is.

Phil – email – 2005-05-20 12:52:46
I don’t get it…. Why don’t you just adjust the volume from within Quake? It seems like it’s a flaw in the game if it doesn’t allow you to adjust the master volume. 

How would you rather have it?

Ben – email – 2005-05-20 15:41:09
If only all games were flawless in design. 

Most games have some ability to control the volume (usually not the master channel) in-game. Sadly it is a pain as you have to back into the game’s menu, find the volume settings (and mind you that some game menus are hard coded for right-handed mice so if you’re left-handed you end up secondary clicking all over the place), and drag a slider… 

By the time this is done you have been shot at, killed, and have respawned only to be killed again. On desktop computers speakers usually have a manual volume knob allowing for quick adjustments. 

Sometimes older methods are better for controlling certain things. The main reason software is taking over more control is because it is much cheaper than hardware.

Phil – email – 2005-05-24 17:11:48
Oh, I see. Your problem is that Ubuntu doesn’t auto-detect your hardware volume buttons. I thought it was a GNOME flaw or something. 

Once again, Laptop users end up being second-class citizens. It’s a shame, but things are definitely looking up.

Ben – email – 2005-05-24 19:31:49
Gentoo automatically set up the pseudo-hardware Fn volume buttons for Gnome (but not for KDE)… and that was an older version of Gnome than Ubuntu is using.