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As you can see, the site is still under construction. Updates will be sporadic until the site is done.
Blog
Go Marquette!
‘Nuff said!
Big Dance
This weekend’s basketball tournament better go better than last weekend.
Criticism
I’m sometimes criticized for my liberal beliefs. That doesn’t bug me, especially in these times. Without getting into politics, one of the favorite ways to poke fun at me is for my technology views, especially when they’re viewed as paranoia. (See the links on right hand side of Silwenae.com.)
However, there is a story up at Kuro5hin discussing spyware, adware, and digital rights management. The article starts out with good definitions of each and then some editorial content. While the article tries to delicately avoid all-out Microsoft bashing, there is some, but the article describes very well the state of digital rights today, and some of the things being done to curtail our fair use rights.
So go ahead and make fun of me for using Linux. But at least read the article and understand some of the concerns. While parts of the article might be on the edge, some parts are right on, and these things paint a picture of what could come – if we don’t speak up.
On Wisconsin!
And the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee keeps up the tradition this year of winning their conference. That makes 3: Marquette winning Conference-USA, UW winning the Big 10, and UWM winning the Horizon. And Bo wins Coach of the Year again in the Big 10!
And this weekend I can just sit on my butt and watch the Big 10 and Conf-USA tournaments. What a way to spend the last weekend before the big tourney!
The Balance Act
I wrote my congressman, John Kline tonight in support of /temp/~c108QQUcWi::”>House Resolution 1066, The Balance Act, introduced by Rep Zoe Lofgren (D – CA). This resolution would repeal key aspects of the travesty that is the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). The DMCA has been invoked for such silly things as suing ink-jet refillers. Tell me how they’re invalidating a copyright again? Especially when they’ve reversed engineer it on their own!
For more information on the DMCA, visit Anti-DMCA.org.
Write your congressman today!
We need some stinkin' Badgers!
For the 2nd year in a row, the Wisconsin Badgers have won the Big 10 Men’s Basketball title. The big difference is this year they won it outright (as opposed to the 4 way tie last year).
Unfortunately the game was only available on the New England Sports Network so I was unavailable to watch it. (And what’s up with that? Why not Fox Sports, my regional sports network?) Congrats to all the players and Bo Ryan who becomes only the 3rd coach in Big Ten history to win a title in his first 2 seasons.
Now let’s win the Big 10 Tourney and on to the NCAA tourney!
Dean in 2004!
Any man that says “I’m going to put the Democrat back in the Democratic Party” might be my man. Though it took him a while to give credit to the late Senator Wellstone for the line.
He’s been getting a lot of press lately for being the anti-war candidate. I spent an hour Tuesday night researching him and his positions, and he stands for a lot more than that. His comments about gun control in particular were excellent, understanding that gun control varies by areas of the country. Other topics such as health care, foreign affairs, and especially fiscal responsibilities struck a nerve.
I’ll be keeping an eye on him, especially considering I’m not hot on many of the candidates, but that’s a different discussion for a different time.
Ogg this!
Saw on Slashdot this morning, some news I’ve been waiting for for quite a while. Ogg support for a portable music player is coming!
About 6 months ago I ripped all my CDs into Vorbis format. Not only is Vorbis a better sounding codec, but it is completely open source. The only two downfalls are: 1. There is no portable player for .ogg files (yet), and 2, most Windows players (WMP, Winamp) have a hard time streaming ogg files, but can play them locally just fine. (Go download Zinf you Windows using people to listen to streaming Vorbis!).
And now this morning, the Xiph foundation announces they have signed a portable deal with Digial Innovations, makers of the Neuros portable player. The Neuros player just started shipping, and Vorbis support is expected in May. It’s a tad pricy, but I’m more than happy to pay for it, and it has a couple of nifty features: 1. It can transmit MP3/Ogg files via FM, so no car adapter is needed, just tune your car to the correct station. 2. Get the 128MB player, and buy the 20GB backpack to expand it. It only costs $30 more to do this than buying the 20GB player outright, and now you can use the 128MB when jogging or cutting the grass, and attach the backpack for the car, in the house, etc.
And last but not least, in the Xiph press release above, they hint at a CDR player coming soon… decisions, decisions!
Tyson
I had the pleasure last night of seeing the Tyson / Etienne fight. It’s actually the first live boxing fight I’ve ever seen. (I’ve seen others, but they’re always tape delay). So Tyson whiffs about 5 times, hits a couple, then a big hit to the face and Etienne goes down.
He goes down, and immediately takes his mouthpiece out. What is that about? Then Tyson helps him up after he’s been counted out. Tyson has never done that before.
Of course boxing isn’t rigged. Really.