Gray Watson's Blog -- January 2007

Blogging is a useful way for me to record my thoughts and digital travels every so often. Hope you enjoy my digital stream of consciousness.

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January 30, 2007

Cool idea called "nolisting" which configures the mail server to filter spam. Advertising an invalid primary MX record and a valid secondary seems to filter much spam.
It has been observed that when a domain has both a primary (high priority, low number) and a secondary (low priority, high number) MX record configured in DNS, overall SMTP connections will decrease when the primary MX is unavailable. This decrease is unexpected because RFC 2821 (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) specifies that a client MUST try and retry each MX address in order, and SHOULD try at least two addresses. It turns out that nearly all violators of this specification exist for the purpose of sending spam or viruses. Nolisting takes advantage of this behaviour by configuring a domain's primary MX record to use an IP address that does not have an active service listening on SMTP port 25. RFC-compliant clients will retry delivery to the secondary MX, which is configured to serve the role normally performed by the primary MX (final delivery, transport rerouting, etc.).
Interesting new engine design which is basically a fixed piston with rotating cylanders which generate rotary energy without cam-shaft.
In a conventional engine the majority of the power is extracted from the cylinder while the throw of the crankshaft is between two- and four-o'clock. The shape of the output torque curve in the Shepherd engine is not limited by this constraint, and the engine is able to extract power efficiently form the reciprocating sleeve over a greater portion of the movement, thus producing more uniform torque, according to Johnston.

January 23, 2007

Been meaning to blog for some time that Amizon founder Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin commercial space venture in Washington had a successful test launching back in November, 2006. Their craft is a vertical take-off and landing using hydrogen peroxide and kerosene fuel. Having to carry that much fuel up and back seems expensive but maybe they will have parachutes.
Were working, patiently and step-by-step, to lower the cost of spaceflight so that many people can afford to go and so that we humans can better continue exploring the solar system. Accomplishing this mission will take a long time, and were working on it methodically. We believe in incremental improvement and in keeping investments at a pace that's sustainable. Slow and steady is the way to achieve results, and we do not kid ourselves into thinking this will get easier as we go along. Smaller, more frequent steps drive a faster rate of learning, help us maintain focus, and give each of us an opportunity to see our latest work fly sooner.
So I just don't get people like this. Here's the story of Elaine and Ed Brown who have not been paying taxes since 1996. They have been paying for things using money orders below the bank reporting level since then and now owe US$625,000 is back taxes. They live in America, are guarded by our law enforcement and military, drive on the highways, probably have grandkids in public schools but somehow thing that they can stop paying taxes. Other sources: Fox, Associated Content.
In interviews since their indictment, the Browns have argued that most Americans don't owe federal income taxes, but the government works to keep them from discovering that truth. The Browns believe that massive hoodwinking is among a number of ways the federal government is undermining personal freedoms.
Ed Brown, who led a local militia in the 1990s, is now a leader in a national group called the Constitution Rangers of the Continental Congress of 1777. He said the group was established to confront law enforcement figures whenever they violate the Constitution. Brown often wears the Constitution Rangers badge and has the insignia painted on the sides of the couple's two cars.

January 18, 2007

The Bush administration has reversed course and is now saying that the domestic spying program will be overseen by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. I believe that the recent election and power changes in Washington are more at work here than some realization by the Whitehouse. The FISA act specifically was created to allow the spooks to do their jobs but still have some court oversite. It was the courts continue unease with the administration's spying zeal that caused them to declare that they didn't have to obey the law -- a direct violation of constitutional power IMO. That the adminstration is now trying to spin it that they've made changes to fix issues with FISA is bunk. To me, this spying program is much worse than the Iraq war mess in terms of challenging the fabric of our government and freedoms. Other sources: SFGate, IHT, Houston Chronicle, Guardian, MSNBC.
The new Democratic-led Congress has pledged several investigations. More immediately, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales is expected to face hostile questioning on Thursday from the Senate Judiciary Committee on the program. And an appellate court in Cincinnati is scheduled to hear arguments in two weeks on the governments appeal of an earlier ruling declaring the program illegal and unconstitutional.
Some legal analysts said the administrations pre-emptive move could effectively make the court review moot, but Democrats and civil rights advocates said they would press for the courts and Congress to continue their scrutiny of the program of wiretapping without warrants, which began shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

January 17, 2007

Here's an amazing report on the loss of a 700 foot long freighter off Alaska's Aleutian islands. It's very dry given it's nature but the story is still impressive. I am continually amazed by the the power of the sea as well as the bravery of the Coast Guard personnel trying to rescue these poor sailors. Afterwards, more than 1 million liters of oil spilled into the area killing over 1,600 birds and other wildlife. Here's some pages of the aftermath of the resulting oil spill. Other sources: Wikipedia, USCG Crew interview.
By 1330, the Selendang Ayus No. 6 cylinder head which weighed 3,306 pounds and was 23.5 inches in diameter and 11 feet long (with rod attached)had been removed and was lashed to the deck. The chief engineer stopped the engine work because of the danger to the crew posed by the vessels rolling in the rough seas and the possibility of damaging the cylinder. The crew stood by in case conditions improved. For the next 18 hours, no further work was attempted on the freighters engine. Hourly reports on the vessels status went by e-mail from the Selendang Ayu to the management company in Singapore.
By 1530, the wind and sea conditions had increased to Beaufort force 8 or 9. The wind was from the northwest. The Selendang Ayu was about 3.0 miles north-northeast of Bogoslof Island and drifting clear of the island to the southeast. The Alex Haley stood by and monitored the situation.

January 16, 2007

So this is a very disturbing report about how the military is expanding its intelligence inside of the US. The Pentagon and the NSA are using "national security letters" to request information from banks and other institutions -- without court oversight. When I worked for Lycos, the FBI would request information almost daily and get it -- all without warrants. The stage is set for vast misuse of power since Congress has been asleep at the oversight switch and people don't seem to mind this sort of intrusion. A (smart) guy at work the other day actually used the old "why should I worry, I don't have anything to hide" statement the other day.
The F.B.I., the lead agency on domestic counterterrorism and espionage, has issued thousands of national security letters since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, provoking criticism and court challenges from civil liberties advocates who see them as unjustified intrusions into Americans private lives.
But it was not previously known, even to some senior counterterrorism officials, that the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency have been using their own noncompulsory versions of the letters. Congress has rejected several attempts by the two agencies since 2001 for authority to issue mandatory letters, in part because of concerns about the dangers of expanding their role in domestic spying.

January 14, 2007

This may be a duplicate but here's an ad for an electric car conversion of any vehicle for US$25k. I really wonder what sort of vehicle you'd get at the end of this process. They have converted Porsche and other automobiles for sale on the site.
Take the car you want and convert it. That simple. No need to be saying the Electric Car is dead! It is alive and kicking!
All you need to do is contact our customer service representative and request that our Electric Car consultants contact you to discuss your personal needs interests and solutions. We will be happy to convert any car.

January 10, 2007

This is a very interesting piece about how Washington has been free of the political doomsayers since the election. That the general feel is that the Republicans got what they deserved. If true it is impressive and I doubt the Democrats would do it if the tables were turned.
The British correspondent Martin Walker titled his book on Clinton "The President We Deserve". Clinton practiced leadership as it is taught by management consultants and assorted gurus. Leadership, in this sense, is the pseudoscience of listening to employees or customers or voters and giving them back a mirror image of themselves. It is, as the historian James MacGregor Burns puts it, a dynamic, participatory, mutually empowering relation between leaders and followers, and those roles are easily confused. It was possible to love Clinton's charm in the belief that it was somehow ours. When he fell into a sex scandal, of course, voters felt betrayed. But they weren't really betrayed. What they were was embarrassed.
Bush is another president we deserve. He, too, is often accused of betraying Americans by campaigning as a humble man and governing as something else. But this is also wrong. Bush has governed as he promised to with the kind of phony-demotic cocksureness that many people like in pickup-truck commercials and think of themselves as embodying. When he let it be known that he didnt do nuance, it was an invitation to say: Good. Neither do we. But this banty self-assurance our self-assurance appears not such a great trait when it leads you into a bloodbath in Iraq. The feeling circulating since the election is relief relief that this unflattering mirror is a bit closer to being taken away. It should not surprise us that this feeling is as strong among those who supported the president as among those who did not.
In case you are dead or otherwise unable to view the media, you might not have heard about the announcement yesteday of Apple's new iPhone. I'm a Mac fan but not a fanatic and so I ignore most of these announcements. But the iPhone certain looks super cool. What a coup for the techies at Apple for what looks like an amazing merge of form and function -- hardware and software. I probably won't buy one because of the cost and I'm happy with my Treo but we'll have to see in 2 years... Other sources: BBC, CBS, CNN.

January 9, 2007

Terrible example of how religion can trump science and reason in this administration. The park service cannot say how old the Grand Canyon is because of pressure from Bush administration appointees.
Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geologic age of its principal feature, due to pressure from Bush administration appointees. Despite promising a prompt review of its approval for a book claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah's flood rather than by geologic forces, more than three years later no review has ever been done and the book remains on sale at the park, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
In order to avoid offending religious fundamentalists, our National Park Service is under orders to suspend its belief in geology, stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. It is disconcerting that the official position of a national park as to the geologic age of the Grand Canyon is no comment.
Cool story about how some power consumers have adjustable power rates and can tune their consumption based on the demand. This makes complete sense. It would be great if I could switch to this sort of program. This is the sort of thing that a community power cooperative would help with. It would require some sort of semi-real time power usage. I could see the power company insalling some sort of sensor that plugs into my internet connection.
Most people are not aware that electricity prices fluctuate widely throughout the day, let alone exactly how much they pay at the moment they flip a switch. But Ms. Kinch and her husband are among the 1,100 Chicago residents who belong to the Community Energy Cooperative, a pilot project to encourage energy conservation, and this puts them among the rare few who are able to save money by shifting their use of power.
Just as cellphone customers delay personal calls until they become free at night and on weekends, and just as millions of people fly at less popular times because air fares are lower, people who know the price of electricity at any given moment can cut back when prices are high and use more when prices are low. Participants in the Community Energy Cooperative program, for example, can check a Web site that tells them, hour by hour, how much their electricity costs; they get e-mail alerts when the price is set to rise above 20 cents a kilowatt-hour.

January 8, 2007

So I've been paying more attention lately to islands around the globe, I think more about a long distance sailing adventure. For some reason, the island Diego Garcia was mentioned in two different contexts the other day so I thought I'd share. It's in the Indian Ocean due South of the horn of India. It is a British overseas territory but houses a US Navy support facility as well as part of the U.S. Space Surveillance Network and is a NASA space shuttle emergency landing site. This took me to the site of Out of Bounds, a sailboat that went around the world in 3 years. They stopped in the Chagos Archipelago which Diego Garcia is a member.
So I got this great spam message today. Not sure what it says about my site. @#!@#!@%* spammers.
I'm emailing you today to request a link exchange between our website and yours. I found your website http://www.onelook.com by searching Google for "yeast infection". I think our websites have a similar theme to your's, so I am interested in exchanging links.
I was wondering if you would like to trade links with my Nail Fungus Website. If interested please send me the Title, URL and Description of your website or the HTML code, so that I can put them on my website of same category and in return you will provide link from Your website .

January 7, 2007

Federal officials have barred a laboratory from testing any electronic voting systems after it was found to not follow its QA standards and was not documenting its tests.
Experts on voting systems say the Ciber problems underscore longstanding worries about lax inspections in the secretive world of voting-machine testing. The action by the federal Election Assistance Commission seems certain to fan growing concerns about the reliability and security of the devices.
The commission acted last summer, but the problem was not disclosed then. Officials at the commission and Ciber confirmed the action in recent interviews. Ciber, the largest tester of the nations voting machine software, says it is fixing its problems and expects to gain certification soon.
Maybe there is a trend but there is another report of heroic activities in New York city. A pair of guys caught a 3 year toddler who fell from a 4th floor emergency fire exit. Good for them!! Other stores: NY Press.
In the Bronx Thursday, the 3-year-old climbed out of a fifth-floor window and down to the fourth-floor fire escape at the apartment complex. On the ground below, Pedro Nevarez, 40, and Julio Gonzalez, 43, saw the toddler precariously perched above them.
The boy lost his grip, hitting a tree during his fall and ultimately landing safely on the two men below. He was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital with cuts and abrasions to his head and face, but was in good shape, considering.
Interesting story about how California solar companies are moving into the Northeast market which solar is up to 90% of the same efficiency. Here's another story about growth of the California solar industry.
New Jersey has been offering rebates to homeowners for photovoltaic systems since 2001, and it is now the second-largest solar market in the country. The state offers rebates up to $3.80 per watt for home systems. While this is less than New Yorks rate, New Jersey makes it possible for system owners to sell renewable energy credits and earn continuing revenues, unlike New York and most other states. Details and contact information for dozens of installers are at the New Jersey Clean Energy Programs Web site, njcep.com.
It's been a while since I've seen a car from Detroit that I'd buy -- but here is one. The Chevy Volt concept car is an electric vehicle which you plug-in to recharge but also takes gas or ethanol to drive an internal generator. Very, very cool and exactly the right technology. Good for them. The only problem with this is that I doubt that Honda and Toyota aren't going to be coming out with these soon -- probably beating GM to market. But still, kudos to GM and about time. Other sources: CNN, car connection.
In spite of the presence of an internal combustion engine, GM does not call this vehicle a hybrid. In fact, they consider it an EV with range extending capability. The engine is a turbocharged, 1.0L three cylinder engine with 71 hp that has no mechanical connection to the wheels. The ICE runs at about 1800 rpm and drives a 53 kW generator that charges the lithium ion battery pack. The engine starts and stops automatically as needed to charge the battery.
The battery pack provides power to a 161 hp (120 kW) electric motor that's connected to the front wheels to provide the motive force. It's the same motor that's used in the fuel cell Equinox. The LiIon battery has a peak output of 136 kW and a total capacity of 16 kWh. The battery can be charged by plugging it in to any standard 110 V outlet and is fully charged in about 6-6.5 hours. There are two plugs, one on each side of the car, to facilitate home charging.

January 4, 2007

So when I read the story on the 3rd of Wesley Autrey, now known as the Subway Hero, my response was to send the guy US$100. Something/anything to reward his behavior. To say thanks. Seems like I wasn't the only one. Today on the 4th I read this story about how he has gotten the NY City Bronze Metal, US$10k from Trump, and other gifts and praise. Excellient! Looks like I save my money for someone more local. And listening to his response to all of the attention continues to make him an example for us all.
"I'm not looking at this like I'm the hero", said Mr. Autrey, 50, who stood with his daughters, Shuqui, 6, and Syshe, 4. "The real heroes are the young women and men that are fighting in Iraq now. What I did was something that any and every New Yorker should do, you know what I'm saying? You see somebody in distress, do the right thing. You know? Help out."
[...] Before heading off to meet Mr. Trump and make a few more appearances for the news media, he hammered home his point, saying that of dozens of people on the platform, only he and two women went to Mr. Hollopeters aid. "We got guys and girls overseas dying for us to have our freedoms", he said. "We got to show each other some love."

January 3, 2007

In the news today was a story about Ken Barnes who is making a solo circumnavigation from Long Beach, Ca. He is/was attempting to become the first American singlehander to circumnavigate the globe nonstop, via the 'three capes'. He's in trouble near Cape Horn after being dismasted and taking on some water. Other stories: MSN. Interestingly, there is another solo sailer within 150 nm of him named Donna Lange. In other sailing news, a 14-year-old boy has become the youngest person to cross the Atlantic single-handed. He did it in a trailer-able 28' boat.
The US Coast Guard and Chilean maritime officials picked up signals from Barnes' distress beacon and believe he was about 800 km off the coast of Chile.
Barnes reported he lost engine power and steering and had two broken masts and broken hatches, Chambers said. The vessel was taking on water in 40 knot winds and 7.5 metre swells.
Obviously still trying to improve their image, Walmart is pushing compact fluorescent lightbulbs. Good for them. I'm not a fan of Walmart and I don't shop there but this leadership is laudable. Now if they'd only pay their people more and sell more American stuff I'd be happy.
But now Wal-Mart Stores, the giant discount retailer, is determined to push them into at least 100 million homes. And its ambitions extend even further, spurred by a sweeping commitment from its chief executive, H. Lee Scott Jr., to reduce energy use across the country, a move that could also improve Wal-Marts appeal to the more affluent consumers the chain must win over to keep growing in the United States.
The environment, Mr. Scott said, is begging for the Wal-Mart business model. It is the environmental movements dream: Americas biggest company, legendary for its salesmanship and influence with suppliers, encouraging 200 million shoppers to save energy.
The Mars Rovers, almost 3 years on the surface of Mars, are getting software upgrades to give them more autonomous capabilities. I can't imagine upgrading their systems when there is no one there to reboot them if it doesn't work. They probably have the ability to reboot into safe mode and restore old versions. What an accomplishment for the JPL team to design a system which is that flexible as well as rugged. According to Wikipedia, it is running the VxWorks real-time operation system.
Visual target tracking can be combined with a third feature of the software - autonomy in calculating where it is safe to reach out and analyse soil or rock with the science tools on the rover's robotic arm.
The combination gives Spirit and Opportunity a capability which engineers call "go and touch". This has yet to be tested on Mars.
So I love these sorts of stories. With all of the terrible news from around the world we should celebrate the story of Wesley Autrey who saved a boy who had fallen on the subway tracks. We throw the word hero about far too often. Just about everyone was called a hero on 9/11 when I think most were people doing what they had to do. Jumping into the path of a subway train to save someone you don't know -- that's a hero. Other sources: Guardian.
Mr. Autrey lay on Mr. Hollopeter, his heart pounding, pressing him down in a space roughly a foot deep. The trains brakes screeched, but it could not stop in time.
Five cars rolled overhead before the train stopped, the cars passing inches from his head, smudging his blue knit cap with grease. Mr. Autrey heard onlookers screams. "We're O.K. down here", he yelled, "but I've got two daughters up there. Let them know their fathers O.K." He heard cries of wonder, and applause.

January 2, 2007

Interesting details about the $100 laptop project which plans to get some test units into some countries by the summer. Here's their home page.
The computer runs on a cut-down version of the open source Linux operating system and has been designed to work differently to a Microsoft Windows or Apple machine from a usability perspective. Instead of information being stored along the organising principle of folders and a desktop, users of the XO machine are encouraged to work on an electronic journal, a log of everything the user has done on the laptop.
The machine comes with a web browser, word processor and RSS reader, for accessing the web feeds that so many sites now offer. "In fact, one of the saddest but most common conditions in elementary school computer labs (when they exist in the developing world), is the children are being trained to use Word, Excel and PowerPoint," Mr Negroponte said.

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