BIND help

I just did an upgrade from FreeBSD 5.3 to FreeBSD 6.1 on one of the machines here which happens to be my secondary DNS server. Lo and behold, BIND stopped working (it had been upgraded to 9.3.2). Well, it's not the first time that an upgrade introduced configuration issues that didn't used to be there previously.

I found these tips useful to get things back in order: Permission Denied error on secondary DNS server (from revsys.com). I also used the opportunity to tighten up security some more, it's always a good idea to do that anyway while I'm in there digging around.

Class struggle

Marx Predicted This

Little girl, to employee making a purchase: You can't shop here! You're supposed to work! You're not people!

801 North Congress Avenue
Boynton Beach, Florida

via Overheard in the Office, Sep 28, 2006

Buy It Now for a car???

Three-year-old buys pink convertible on Internet (Reuters)

I'm glad to hear that the seller had a good sense of humor about it. I wonder if eBay had a good sense of humor about the fees.

I didn't need another reason to take a nap

Snooze your way to high test scores

If you are trying to commit something to memory, take a nap. Even a short daytime snooze could help you learn. (more)

(NewScientist.com)

You big dummy

I have to admire this. But think of the money that was spent on lawyers.... ack!

Siebel's No Dummy

Why pay tax if you don't have to? Thomas Siebel used a corporate beast with the colorful name "horizontal double dummy" to avoid a big tax hit when he sold his Siebel Systems to Oracle (nasdaq: ORCL - news - people ) this year. Worth $1.5 billion and No. 242 on our rich list, Siebel sidestepped a capital gains tax bill of at least $58 million by employing the perfectly legal device. His Siebel stock was valued at $488 million at the time of the $5.8 billion merger.

Follow the link to see how they did it.

(Forbes.com)

Woo Hoo

That song on the Vonage commercials? It's "Woo Hoo", by the 5678's. As a public service, here are the complete lyrics.

Intelligence agent

Bin Laden an Intelligence Agent: Naif
Raid Qusti, Arab News

RIYADH, 21 September 2006 — Interior Minister Prince Naif yesterday called Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden a silly intelligence agent. He also refuted Western allegations that Saudi Arabia was supporting Bin Laden and his terrorist organization.

(Arab News)

Nobody gets it?

I have been frustrated that, in all the news stories about the Pope's recent lecture addressing the relationship between faith and reason, in which he cited a very pointed quotation about Islam, the reporters covering the story have not gotten the point. The Muslims complaining about the quotation have not gotten the point. The people preaching a Crusade against Islam because of the reaction of some Muslims have not gotten the point. None of them have read the lecture and taken it to heart first. Maybe it is just too difficult for them to read and comprehend.

The Anchoress gets the point. Read her posting.

Left justified

Times Draws Ragged Line Between Fact and Opinion

The New York Times has a rule about presenting opinions in its news columns: Henceforth, they must all conform to the left.

The Times has instituted a sweeping but subtle redesign, to emphasize the difference between objective and subjective journalism. Straight news will remain, well, straight: laid out in justified columns, with even margins on the left and right. Stories that have been colored by analysis, commentary or authorial whimsy will all receive the layout previously reserved for columns: a straight left margin and a ragged right one.

(New York Observer)

Let's see where this goes

Door to Iranian dialogue creaks open

By Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON - While his handlers worked assiduously on Tuesday to ensure that US President George W Bush did not run into his Iranian nemesis, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, in the corridors of the United Nations, a legendary fixer for the Bush family announced that the White House had cleared him to meet with a "high representative" of Tehran's government.

Former secretary of state James Baker, who co-chairs a bipartisan, congressionally appointed task force called the Iraq Study Group (ISG), said that the timing of the meeting with that representative, whom he declined to name, had yet to be
arranged, but that permission for such a meeting to take place had been granted.

(AsiaTimes Online)

Thoth

The new machine is named Thoth.

Having a good experience with the Mac Pro so far -- I will post in more detail about it later.

Oops

Well the new workstation is here but I don't have the right video cable...

Coffee is good for you

Cuppa java: scientists take new look at coffee's bad rap

Not only are some health fears misguided but coffee can actually reduce the chances of developing illnesses such as Parkinson's or diabetes, the International Association on Coffee Science heard here.

Up to six mugs of the beloved beverage a day will not lead to heart or digestive damage in a healthy person. But misunderstandings stem from the fact that for nearly two centuries medical studies on coffee have been confined to caffeine, a stimulant.

"For a long time research has been too simplistic, by largely being centred on just caffeine, while coffee is an extremely complex drink," said Astrid Nehlig, a leading French specialist on the relationship between coffee and health.

I hope so

Can hearing voices in your head be a good thing?

Psychologists have launched a study to find out why some people who hear voices in their head consider it a positive experience while others find it distressing.

Nifty new things from Apple

Click here to buy a new one of the new iPods! If you purchase from Amazon through this link, the Western Syndicate receives a referral bonus that helps fund the operation of our network. And I thought I'd never be in sales. Hah.

And these are really cool iPods. As a fan of the iPod shuffle, I'm just ... well, speechless over the new Shuffle. But really, if they make it any smaller than that I won't be able to see it...

The product I'm really looking forward to is the wireless Apple set-top box (I was just wishing last night that I could have a device that worked that way, before I knew that Apple was going to announce it.) Unfortunately you can't buy one at that Amazon link (yet) -- the product won't be available till next year, apparently.

Lots of information up at the Apple web site.

Reborn

We have always been told there is no recovery from persistent vegetative state - doctors can only make a sufferer's last days as painless as possible. But is that really the truth? (The Guardian)

I thought it was a telephone wire

I knew a guy like this in high school.

Vietnam's Electric Man electrocuted

HANOI (Reuters) - A Vietnamese man who once appeared on national television to demonstrate his ability to resist electric shocks has been electrocuted while repairing a generator, an official said on Tuesday.

(Yahoo!)

Not a contest

I will not do a contest about this.

HOWEVER. My new desktop computer is arriving tomorrow afternoon. It is replacing a trusty dual 1Ghz PowerMac G4 with mirrored drive doors (and the loudest fan ever to ship from Apple, I think.)

The old machine is named Quaoar, and a particularly nifty name it has been indeed. I am kicking around a couple of new machine name ideas but haven't decided yet. What should I call the new one?

More information about Quaoar here.

Rogue Amoeba shirts

Rogue Amoeba T-shirts are now available here. In case you're interested in that sort of thing.

Good thing he never met my parrot

"The only animals I'm not comfortable with are parrots, but I'm learning as I go. I'm getting better and better at 'em. I really am. "

-- Steve Irwin

"Yeah, for some reason parrots have to bite me. That's their job. I don't know why that is. They've nearly torn my nose off. I've had some really bad parrot bites."

-- Steve Irwin

How do I get on this list?

John da Fiesole reviews a book that sounds really interesting to me: Saints Behaving Badly: The Cutthroats, Crooks, Trollops, Con Men, and Devil-Worshippers Who Became Saints. Not that I'm necessarily any of those things. I'm also definitely sure I'm not a saint, so there you are.

Anyway check out his review for a full list of the saints, to give you some idea of why I don't expect to be able to resist picking up a copy.

Impossible

There is no legal obligation to perform impossibilities.

-- Publius Celsus

Current Boom

A dramatic graph showing the scale of the current real estate bubble. (The Galvin Opinion).