Scripting News

Mon, 25 Nov 2002 01:40:07 GMT

Microsoft OneNote is a "new program in the Microsoft Office family that enables you to capture, organize, and reuse your notes." Steve Gillmor thinks it's super hot shit; calling it "a powerful idea processor."

Mon, 25 Nov 2002 01:24:18 GMT

Yet more hair-splitting over in the Academic Corner. Now they want to know if Web Services is built on a contradiction. I'm sure it is, in some way. So what. It's useful. Why worry about its moral purity.

Mon, 25 Nov 2002 00:19:33 GMT

John Burkhardt: "In 1985 my mom, Breatrice Hawley, died from lung cancer. She was 41 years old."

Mon, 25 Nov 2002 00:22:41 GMT

John's page linked above is an inspiration for me. My dad is very sick. He's hanging in there, and our relationship has blossomed in what may be his last days. Of course I've been writing about it and it's some of the most beautiful writing I've ever done. But can't make it public, because the public Web can be such a harsh environment. I imagine how some of the "parody" sites would deal with it. My father and his struggle, his pain, his sweetness, are too precious to expose that way, at least while he's alive. But I look at how John uses the medium to express his love for his mother, and it gives me courage that some day I will be able to express myself this way, openly. Wonderful stuff John.

Mon, 25 Nov 2002 00:25:04 GMT

I learned something last week that makes my hands shake. My great-grandfather on my mother's mother's side died of heart failure at 42. I also learned that my great-uncle, his son, had a heart attack at my age and died of a heart attack in his sixties. Two important new bits of info. My grandmother, his sister, died of heart disease at 66, but she had had rheumatic fever as a child, so, all these years I've been telling my doctors there's no family history of heart disease. Wrong. Very very wrong. It's no surprise I needed bypass surgery at 47. It's very lucky I didn't have a heart attack. It easily could have been fatal. I'm lucky to be here now. I'll never forget that.

Mon, 25 Nov 2002 01:48:28 GMT

A sidebar to this story. A couple of months ago, as my healing was gaining momentum, my cardiologist told me not to blame myself for what happened. He said it's pure genetics, my lifestyle issues (smoking, etc) wouldn't have gotten me into trouble for another twenty or thirty years. I said, but Doc, I don't have a family history. He said "You do now" and we both had a good laugh. My next meeting with him is in early December, I totally look forward to telling him the story about my great-grandfather and great-uncle.

Sun, 24 Nov 2002 22:52:03 GMT

Rafe Colburn: "It's stupid to talk about Microsoft's innovation without talking about the innovation stifled by Microsoft."

Sun, 24 Nov 2002 12:14:39 GMT

Weird question. Is there any software that runs on Windows for configuring an Airport? My Airport went to NY with me and lost its configuration on the way. Can't get online with my laptop now. It's the only 802.11b device I have and it's not a Mac.

Sun, 24 Nov 2002 15:28:11 GMT

Update: I was able to connect to the Airport with FreeBase, but damned if I can remember the password Bierman used to set this up. Oy. Luckily there's a way to reset the Airport. Scripting News readers are awesome. And fast!

Sun, 24 Nov 2002 15:53:59 GMT

Apple itself makes software for Airport administration from Windows.

Sun, 24 Nov 2002 16:22:59 GMT

Anyway, I think I have an early Airport. I was able to get it to reset, but none of the utilities can talk to it. They all report one error or another. The reset button was not where the docs said it would be. It works, somehow the configuration came back, but I have no ability to change the configuration. This has never been a problem before, but it irks me. Onward.

Sun, 24 Nov 2002 12:45:23 GMT

Last year on this day, the first rule of evangelism. "No is an OK answer, it just means they want to hear the schpiel one more time before saying Yes."

Sun, 24 Nov 2002 16:44:34 GMT

The Syndic8 mail list, where there's a thread complaining about censorship, is itself a gated community, requiring editorial approval before messages go through. If you're on that mail list be aware of that. It's not an open list, and as far as I can tell, they don't tell their members that.

Sun, 24 Nov 2002 22:08:15 GMT

I've gotten a few messages pointing out that the mail list says it's "unmoderated" and it certainly does. Screen shot. That's why I said above that they don't tell their members about the moderation they do. It must be on a per-member level.