Project Insomnia

Why do computer geeks celebrate Christmas on Halloween? Because Oct 31 == Dec 25.
(Courtesy BBSpot.com)

(and Happy Birthday to Baglady Lani!)
ErrorFM.com has a great streaming Halloween soundtrack today. Find the link on that page, or just click here to launch the stream directly.

This month's Scientific American excerpts a fascinating interview with physicist and best-selling author of The Elegant Universe, Brian Greene. The full interview is available on Scientific American's Web site.

SA: In the case of relativity, you had the equivalence principle and general covariance in that beacon role. In the Standard Model, it's gauge invariance. In The Elegant Universe you suggested the holographic principle could be that principle for string theory [see also "Information in the Holographic Universe," by Jacob D. Bekenstein; Scientific American, August]. What's your thinking on that now?

BG: Well, the past few years have only seen the holographic principle rise to a yet greater prominence and believability. Back in the mid-'90s, shortly after the holographic ideas were suggested, the supporting ideas were rather abstract and vague, all based upon features of black holes: Black hole entropy resides on the surface; therefore, maybe the degrees of freedom reside on the surface; therefore, maybe that's true of all regions that have a horizon; maybe it's true of cosmological horizons; maybe we're living within a cosmological region which has its true degrees of freedom far away. Wonderfully strange ideas, but the supporting evidence was meager.

But that changed with the work of Juan Maldacena [of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J.], in which he found an explicit example within string theory, where physics in the bulk--that is, in the arena that we consider to be real--would be exactly mirrored by physics taking place on a bounding surface. There'd be no difference in terms of the ability of either description to truly describe what's going on, yet in detail the descriptions would be vastly different. One would be in five dimensions, the other in four. So even the number of dimensions seems not to be something which you can count on, because there can be alternative descriptions that would accurately reflect the physics you're observing.

I have been reading SciAm since I was young--my father has had a subscription for years and I bought newsstand copies and eventually subscribed on my own. I read Greene's book a couple of years ago, and when I finished, I promptly began again from the beginning. It takes a few times through to wrap my mind around the concepts he so deftly explains.

Chronicle staff writer Steve Kroner reports that Greg Papa is done as an A's telecaster as of the end of the just-completed season. Apparently the team wants a "different type of energy", whatever that means.

Greg Papa's tenure as the A's television play-by-play man has ended after 14 seasons.

The A's announced Tuesday that Papa will not return to the booth next year, either on KICU (Channel 36) or Fox Sports Net.

The team's contracts with both of those outlets have expired. A's vice president of broadcasting Ken Pries said he, A's President Mike Crowley and other members of the A's front office figured if they were going to let Papa go, this would be the time, before new deals are signed.

Without knowing who Papa's replacement will be, I am disappointed for now. I'm also afraid the Athletics may pick up hopefully-discarded Giants telecaster Joe Angel. That would be worse.

More white paint on Space Mountain. This makes me happy!

The SF Chronicle's Benny Evangelista writes today about two companies products which utilize plasma TVs to turn a blank wall into a canvas for digitized art of all kinds. It's a terrific idea, and one I plan on implementing when we buy our flatscreen TV, but I honestly don't see the necessity for paying hundreds of dollars over and above the rather pricey monitor itself for the art "server", when a simple connection to a computer on my home network will easily do the same thing.

The Consumer Electronics Association, an industry trade group, recently projected the move to HDTV will boost digital TV sales to 5.8 million units in 2004 and 16.2 million in 2007.

Roku and RGB Labs are getting into the market at a good time because the costs of flat screens are heading for a "free fall'' next year, as major manufacturers like Samsung and LG Philips ramp up production, said Richard Doherty, an analyst with technology research firm Envisioneering Group of Seabury, N.Y.

This is wonderful news. I think we should be able to afford one within the next two years.

CNet News.com's Michael Kanellos writes today about things that will never happen in the computer industry, noting

Nothing is impossible. In early 2001, Webb McKinney of Hewlett-Packard said PC mergers don't generally work, while Compaq Computer's Mike Winkler and others said Compaq would endure. Five months later, HP bought Compaq. Nonetheless, here's a crop of things that may never come to pass.

Bay Area cable TV rates rising -- again

At the time, Jennita Hile wasn't sure if [switching to satellite] was the right move. But when Comcast announced last week that cable TV rates in the Bay Area were going up -- the second increase in less than a year -- she felt better about the switch.

Cable TV rates are climbing about 7 percent in most cities next month -- from an average of $38.34 to $41.07 a month. Last December, AT&T, which has since been taken over by Comcast, hiked rates 6.5 percent.

Hee hee. My DirecTV rate has remained the same for the past three years--and it's $12 below the lowest rate quoted for Comcast cable. And yes, of course it includes every local channel.

Okay, this is old but I haven't done it in a while and it's kind of funny. You put your name followed by is into Google (in quotes) like this: "Andrew Rich is" and look at the results. Here are some interesting hits for me:

• Andrew Rich is on the phone, and he's begging again.


• Maps Downunder Technical Manager Andrew Rich is responsible for issues relating to the website


• Andrew Rich is a sergeant with the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police where he is commanding officer of the Accident Investigation Unit.


• Andrew Rich is involved in Q165 relating to the optional protocol for the EPO with regard to litigation concerning European and Community patents [PDF]


• Andrew Rich is yet another one of those wine guys that we love to meet. (This is probably the most common general reference. Apparently Andrew Rich is a highly-regarded winemaker in Oregon.)


• Andrew Rich is organizing a group of people to go see the second movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy


• CAnder1755: Andrew RIch is a fruit.

Hours of fun for the whole family!

So Gator Corp. is suing an antispyware company for calling Gator "spyware". Whatever; people realize that it's evil no matter how it's labeled. LavaSoft AdAware makes short work of it.

The AP are reporting that the San Francisco Giants declined their options on first baseman J.T. Snow and infielder Eric Young on Monday, and reliever Felix Rodriguez exercised his player option. I could go either way with J.T.--his fielding is exceptional but his offense or lack thereof is a real drag on the lineup. With Snow gone, I wonder if Andres Galarraga will return for one more season?
I thought Young was a terrific catch for the Giants in the second half, but apparently he was mostly intended to play for Ray Durham when Durham was injured.
And don't get me started on Felix.

Margaret Cho will be performing in Cupertino and Berkeley this weekend. I wanna go.

1 part Amaretto
1 part Parrot Bay
hot cocoa (Ghirardelli's Double Chocolate Hot Chocolate works very well)
Recipe from the Adventurer's Club

To take care of a male feral cat, it's just 51 seconds, start to finish:

Someone - probably not a cat -- decided that today is National Feral Cat Day, and scores of them are going under the knife at Bay Area animal shelters.

It's a good thing for cats in general, perhaps less of a good thing for the particular cat involved.

The linked article includes four pictures.

Ruby Rap!

Quiver ladies, quiver, he's gonna set the world on fire.
Right here from 5 to 7 you'll learn everything there is to know about the Deeeee-man!

His dreams, his desires, his most intimates of intimates.
And from what I'm lookin' at, intimate is this stud-muffin's middle name.
So tell me my man... (drums) you nervous in the service? (drums)

Mmhmm, not really.

White paint on Space Mountain. Photo credit: Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix/MousePlanet.

MousePlanet's Adrienne K reports that Disneyland's Space Mountain is being painted white as we speak.
Could this be related to yesterday's departure of DLR President Cynthia Harriss? Who knows? Who cares, really, I'm just hoping this is true and really happening. There should be pictures later today.

SunnComm won't sue grad student after all.

[SunnComm CEO Peter] Jacobs refused to divulge the reasons for his change of heart, saying only that "when the original firestorm cleared and we had a chance to poll the different organizations (including customers, advisers and shareholders) I started to have a different picture on how to resolve the issue."

Perhaps litigation is not the best answer to ineffective technology?

Men caught using Whizzinator at urine tests

In the past six months, five men on probation were caught using a realistic-looking prosthetic that dispenses synthetic, drug-free urine, Lubbock County sheriff's officials said. One was caught by an alert officer who heard something unusual in the restroom.

"A body part when it's up against a plastic cup isn't going to go 'clink,'" said Tom Madigan, interim assistant director of the Lubbock County adult probation office.

Because we were in SoCal, staying at two hotels which were both supposed to have free, high-speed Ethernet T-1 Internet connections in every room. Unfortunately, the connections in both rooms were broken. I could and did get poky Internet access via my PCS phone, but it's such a hassle to load even the most basic Web page that it wasn't worth the bother to try to post here. So here is a weekend recap:
Friday morning: Gave work a noon deadline by which time I absolutely must be gone, meaning that I can start a build no later than 11:00. I'm instructed to start at 10:30--even better. Unfortunately it fails at approximately 11:15 and the fix is not delivered to me in time to complete before I must leave. We get on the road.
Friday afternoon: Driving. Took 101 south instead of I-5 this time. I think the extra distance is compensated by the relative absence of big-rigs. We made it to El Segundo in seven hours, including a half-hour stop for lunch in Pismo Beach.
Saturday morning: Gould family birthday breakfast.
Saturday afternoon: MousePad potluck at Disneyland, then MouseAdventure prep meeting.
Saturday evening: Dinner at Dave & Buster's (oops, two-hour wait and no reservations accepted) TGIFriday's (oops, 90-minute wait and no reservations accepted) Wolfgang Puck's at the Block. Lovely dinner, horrible cover band.
Saturday night/Sunday morning: Painfully, over aforementioned poky PCS connection, finish build started Friday morning.
Sunday: MouseAdventure in DCA.
Monday morning: Haunted Mansion Holiday and Disney Gallery. Early-ish lunch at the Blue Bayou; I hadn't had a Monte Cristo in a couple of years.
Monday afternoon/evening: Drive home. We took 101 back, made it in 7 1/2 hours with just a brief bathroom stop. Most of the delay was slooow drivers from Oxnard to Pismo.

To defeat SunnComm CD "protection" and play the unprotected audio tracks on any Windows computer: Hold down the [Shift] key as you insert the CD. Gonna sue me now?

SunnComm Technologies, a developer of CD antipiracy technology, said Thursday that it will likely sue a Princeton student who early this week showed how to evade the company's copy protection by pushing a computer's Shift key.

Better sue Microsoft, too. Users can manually suppress AutoRun by holding down the SHIFT key when they insert the CD-ROM.
Or just use a Mac.

Cerulean has released a patch for Trillian 0.74 (free) for the Yahoo connection problem. I've installed it and it works fine. The Yahoo Messenger link in the sidebar of this page should now work again (assuming it ever did).

Note: This post is from October, 2003. For current updates on making Trillian work with Yahoo, go to Cerulean Studios.

The punchlines just write themselves sometimes. For example, this C|Net News.com story:

Nokia said Tuesday that it's investigating two recent reports of its cell phones "exploding" and causing injuries.

Last Thursday, a supermarket employee in the Netherlands burned his legs when a Nokia handheld exploded in his pants pocket, according to Juliette Oolders of the Dutch consumer group Consumentenbond.

As a followup to the last post, the Chronicle's Matier and Ross note at the end of today's column:

NEWS FLASH: Even before the results were tallied Tuesday, an anonymous tipster called to alert us that "there will be another recall."

"I am the 311th person to pledge $1,000 -- it's my privilege to put up that kind of money -- to recall Arnold Schwarzenegger if he's elected," the caller said. "That's $311,000 in the Bay Area, and I understand we are doing even better in the L.A. area."

Whee. Here we go again.

SF Chronicle political writer John Wildermuth has an insightful piece in today's online edition, talking about how Green Party candidate Peter Miguel Camejo and Independant candidate Arianna Huffington made their points during the just-concluded recall campaign.

Peter Camejo isn't going to be California's next governor, but the Green Party candidate wasn't a loser in Tuesday's election.

Camejo finished well behind Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante on the replacement side of the recall ballot, but he and independent Arianna Huffington -- who dropped out of the race with about a week to go -- ended up with a bigger audience than they ever expected.

After being frozen out of the debates during last year's governor's race, Camejo, 63, an investment manager, had a chance to share the platform with the other leading candidates this time out.

In the campaign's Sacramento debate, one of the most-watched political tussles in California history, Camejo came across as an articulate advocate for his party's left-of-center positions.

I was delighted to see Camejo and Huffington participating in the debates and actively campaigning. Only good can come from additional choice in an election.

This is not an auspicious start for my 35th year. The A's lost, the Giants lost, and the recall won.

Might be quitting my job tomorrow. It all depends. I've gone about as far as I'm willing to go in dealing with these people.

Game log
AP Wrapup
Well, damn. Bases loaded (three walks), bottom 9th, two out, and Terrence Long took called strike three on a full count.
And so ends baseball for another year, leaving only questions. Will Tejada return? What about Durazo and Guillen? What the hell is wrong with the A's, anyway? These questions and more will have to wait until spring. Specifically, Saturday, March 6, when the Athletics meet the Angels in Phoenix at 1:00 PM.
Series: 3-2 Boston

Ted Lilly is in to pitch for Oakland in the top of the 7th. Zito performed admirably up until the 6th, when Manny Ramirez hit a 3-run homer to put Boston ahead 4-2.
I haven't seen any particularly questionable calls from the umpires tonight. So far.

Watching ALCS (A's/Red Sox) game 5. Hoping against hope that Barry "Scruffy" Zito and the rest of the Athletics can beat the virtual certainty of a Red Sox series win. Zito definitely has his game tonight.

ESPN.com cites the SF Chronicle in this report that Giants ace Jason Schmidt will have surgery to repair a torn tendon. Interestingly, however, Schmidt says he could have and in fact wanted to pitch in Saturday's elimination game.

Giants' manager Felipe Alou ignited debate prior to Saturday's game when he announced Williams would start in place of Schmidt, after consulting with pitching coach Dave Righetti and general manager Brian Sabean on Friday night, according to the paper.

The paper reported that Alou made the announcement during pregame interviews, saying, "Schmidty didn't feel he was ready. I mean, he needs another day. Tomorrow will be the day."

Schmidt told the paper he was angered by the explanation, saying it was "very wrong. I never once said I didn't want to pitch. I always want to pitch."

Rookie pitcher Jerome Williams lasted all of two innings before giving way to the bullpen.

Game log
AP Wrapup
Iago said it best.
Series: 2-2

I received this lovely fraud attempt today. Having read about this kind of scam, I naturally wasn't fooled, and so I saved the full message headers and forwarded the message (with headers) to the FTC as well as reporting it to PayPal.
If I didn't know about this scam in advance, and if I wasn't aware of this tricky form of URL encoding, I might have been fooled.

Happy Birthday, Mike!

Game log
AP Wrapup
Ah, extra innings again. The worst aspect of extra innings is the concept of "sudden death" and how it only applies to the home team. There ought to be a way for the visitors to recover after a go-ahead run.
Unfortunately, there isn't, and so game 4 will be played tomorrow.
Series: 2-1 Oakland

Watching the comical umpiring in today's A's-Red Sox game, I think it's time to get out my tinfoil hat. With MLB firmly in the pocket of Fox (and to a lesser extent ESPN/Disney), perhaps a Chicago-Boston Series of perennial losers has been bought and paid for. It'd certainly play better in the important East Coast and New England markets than either (or worse, both) of those troublesome California teams.
Okay, okay, back to reality. Ted Lilly is pitching a brilliant game, isn't he?

Here's an Associated Press story about a Nevada man winning his second straight chili eating contest.

Forget the Pepto-Bismol. Rich "The Locust" LeFevre was doing just fine after winning his second straight Stagg chili eating contest.

The Henderson man wolfed down 10 pounds of chili in 10 minutes Saturday to top a field that included some of the nation's top competitive eaters.

"I feel great. I could easily eat more if I had to," said the man known as the Michael Jordan of chili eaters.

I just lost my appetite.

Game log
AP Wrapup
I have nothing further to say.
Series: 3-1 Florida

Good ol' Felix let Ivan Rodriguez single, then hit Derek Lee, setting up a two-out base hit from Miguel Cabrera which scored both Rodriguez and Lee when catcher Yorvit Torrealba couldn't find the ball. You'd think that after blowing games 6 and 7 last year, Felix Rodriguez would be anathema in a must-win game for San Francisco.
Going in to the top of the 9th, 7-5 Marlins, and Florida's closer is coming in.

Middle 6th, 5-5. San Francisco managed to find their rusty, unused small-ball offense since the big guns have largely been silent, and scored four runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game. JT Snow was called out on a pickoff play to end the inning, but the replay shows that the Marlins' first baseman missed the tag. Oops.

Top 6th, 5-1 Marlins. Florida has effectively shut down San Francisco's offense, and the Giants' defense apparently stayed home 'cause they sure aren't at the game today.
Sure, never say never. But with three innings to go and the Marlins' bullpen coming in to play, it doesn't look promising.

Patricia Yollin has an update on Ted the cat, who was returned after ten years to his human companion last week thanks to an implanted microchip.

Game log
AP Wrapup
Ugh. Eleven innings. The Giants had a one-run lead going into the bottom of the eleventh. The Marlins were down to their last strike. And then Ivan Rodriguez singled to right scoring Alex Gonzalez and Juan Pierre, to win the game.
Series: 2-1 Florida

No one else will say it--not Kuip and Kruk, not the Chronicle's or Mercury News' sportswriters, but I'm saying it. Is Barry Bonds in a slump?
He hasn't hit a home run since last Friday the 26th. In all of September and October (so far), he's hit five. The evidence seems to show that the Marlins have noticed this as well; at any rate Bonds did not walk intentionally in the second or (yet) third game of the Division Series. There have been a discouraging number of popouts and foul outs.
The Giants' offensive strategy is based on the opposing teams' awareness of the threat of Bonds. This forces the opposing pitcher to throw strikes to the batters preceding and following Bonds. If Bonds is less of a threat, the whole strategy goes out the window.
I'm happy to see that right now, top 6th of game 3, San Francisco has tied it up 2-2. I worry that this is a fluke, that Florida just has too much for the Giants to overcome without the big stick of Barry Bonds.

In this selection of the year's best photos, this one is my favorite. Other amazing pictures shown here include a couple of polar bears, one from the Hubble, and a double rainbow over downtown Chillicothe, Ohio.

Steve Kroner has another quick rundown of Division Series playoff baseball on TV over the next few days at the end of his entertaining piece on broadcasters Jon Miller and Joe Morgan.

KTVU (Channel 2) has three games (Giants-Marlins, Braves-Cubs and A's-Red Sox) on Saturday. If one game is still in progress while another is getting under way, KICU (Channel 36) will carry the beginning of the later game while KTVU completes the earlier telecast. On Sunday, with KTVU committed to Fox football coverage, KICU and ESPN will carry the A's-Red Sox matchup at 10 a.m., should a Game 4 be necessary. If the Giants and Marlins go to a Game 5, KICU and ESPN or ESPN2 will carry it at 1 p.m.

Free Wifi hotspot locations directory: California
There are several in Palo Alto, a couple in Mountain View, one in Menlo Park. None anywhere near Disneyland or along I-5 in the Central Valley except one rather out of the way in Shafter. What kind of town is named "Shafter", anyway?

Game log
AP Wrapup
Brilliant unhittable pitching from a rather scruffy-looking Barry Zito. Oakland picked up all five runs in the bottom half of the second inning.
Series: 2-0 Oakland

SF Chron Pop Culture critic James Sullivan compiles another sampling of recall election humor from the nation's wags.

I have two questions about Arnold Schwarzenegger. What does he know, and when will he know it?

-- BILL MAHER

You know, if he stinks, you can't go to the future and send somebody back to stop him.

-- JON STEWART on Schwarzenegger, at the Emmy awards

I'm trying not to believe that this expostulating fool could actually win. Davis has done no better or worse than any other politician in the same position would have. That's no reason to oust him before he's completed his term and replace him with.. with..
I just wish it was over already. It's gone way beyond funny to annoying.

Game log
AP Wrapup
In this twelve-inning marathon, Keith Foulke pitched the 10th and 11th (struck out five) and Rich Harden handled the twelfth to earn the win. Eric Chavez redeemed his earlier offensive gaffes (three inning-ending ground or foul outs, each with men on base) with a spectacular defensive play in the top of the 12th, snagging a Bill Mueller grounder and forcing out Nomar Garciaparra at third. Boston relief pitcher Derek Lowe gave up the winning run in the bottom of the 12th, when, with the bases loaded and two out, Ramon Hernandez' bunt single scored Erubiel Durazo from third.
It was that close to over, bottom 9th, when Durazo singled to left, scoring pinch-runner Eric Byrnes, who had taken off on the pitch. Chavez followed with a groundout to short, which very nearly ended the game when Garciaparra airmailed the ball to first--but the first baseman managed to snag it, and to extra innings we went.
The Athletics' previous best chance to recover from Boston's three home-run onslaught (two solos and a two-run shot) was in the bottom of the 7th, when Eric Chavez came up with Durazo at first (walk), Ellis at second (walk), and Dye at third (FC/error). Unfortunately, Chavez fouled out to the catcher.
A's pitcher Tim Hudson had another spectacular, disappointing showing. Spectacular and disappointing? Yes, his pitching was magnificent, and the lack of run support led to yet another no-decision.
Series: 1-0 Oakland

Game log
AP Wrapup
The score went back and forth, each team tying and then going ahead in turn. Unfortunately the Giants couldn't recover when the Marlins managed three in the 6th and another in the 7th and 8th. The Giants' defense seemed off, with Cruz and Grissom missing crucial plays. So the first two are a split, and the best-of-five series goes to Florida on Friday.
Series: 1-1