OK, I've created a new Blog which is pretty much gonna take over from this one. The new address is:
  http://home.earthlink.net/~elzorroviejo/blogger.html
As of yet, there isn't very much there, and I don't have commenting turned on yet, but it's coming...it's coming. I also have to edit the template and a buch of other things. It should be ready to rock and roll, though, by sometime late tonight.
 
I will post here once more to let anyone still hanging around that the new site is up and fully ready for business (which is most certainly is not at this moment. But not now; now I have to go do some actual work around here before I go play for an hour or so...Laters....
 
UPDATE! I'm turning off commenting here and moving it to the new blog. I think I'll leave this up for a month or so before I kill it and migrate entirely to the new site. The commenting will be gone by tomorrow morning. (As if anybody cares!)

Disregard that abortive effort below (ie. the second post of October 19, 2002). I left out a couple quotation marks in three of the links and managed, thereby, to totally screw up the post to the point where I can't get in to edit it. That (me being so stupid) really sucks! So, following is what I meant to post the first time.
 
TCS: Tech Central Station - Where Free Markets Meet Technology
 
I stumbled across this site courtesy of another New Joisey Blogger. It is an interesting mix of tech and conservative politics. I feel a little funny recommending it to anyone who happens to stumble across this, but recommend it I do--with the caveat that one has to approach this site with a certain degree of...of...caution, I think, is the word I'm looking for. Don't take their every word as gospel and understand that their agenda might not be the same as yours (or mine, as the case might be.)
 
For example, there is a good article by Brock Yates (my God! I remember Brock Yates writing for Car and Driver back in the 60s when I was in my twenties) about hydrogen fuel cells and their highly suspect future as an automotive fuel source. I don't want to read this kind of stuff except that his facts and his science (to the best of my ability to verify them) are sound. Then there is another article about wind generators and their limitations as an alternative source of electricity. Another of my pet technologies given a severe, and seemingly warranted, downgrade. However, there is, I think, a silver lining in all this: namely that both could eventually contribute significantly so long as sufficient resources are devoted to furthering their technology.
 
There are other articles which I think are plain wrong, and deserve opposition. The thing is that whether I agree or disagree with an article, they all make me think about the science involved, the economics involved and the politics involved. These are not strident polemics from the fringe right. They are pieces by, as far as I can tell, intelligent people who are trying to rationally, and with supporting evidence, advance their agenda. This is not a bad thing, and I recommend TCS to all and sundry.

TCS: Tech Central Station - Where Free Markets Meet Technology
 
I stumbled across this site courtesy of another hydrogen fuel cells and their highly suspect future as an automotive fuel source. I don't want to read this kind of stuff except that his facts and his science (to the best of my ability to verify them) are sound. Then there is another article about No comments:

OK, I've been a baaaad boy in that I haven't posted anything in two weeks! This is supposed to be a daily exercise rather than a "whenever I feel like it" event. Mea Culpa and I'll really, really try to do better in the future. In fact, to try to make partial ammends and to catch up on things I've been doing/thinking, I will try to post a bunch this weekend. (However, I do have to split my writing time between my Blog and my Diaryland site where I'm supposedly posting chapters from the novel I'm working on --and have been working on, on an intermittant basis, for the past 15 years: that works out to about a chapter a year, more or less. I will be happy to supply my diaryland address to anyone who is interested [he said in a blatant attempt to see if anyone is reading this site.])
 
Last weekend, my wife and I went up to the Adirondacks to close the family cabin for the winter. We did not get up there at all this summer, which was a mistake. I get such a feeling of renewal being there that I have to make going up a priority rather than a luxury. The cabin is on the west shore of a medium sized lake, and it is totally surrounded by state parkland. This means that there is no road access to the place. Consequently, there are no modern utilities: no electric, no gas, no plumbing. Cooking is done on a woodstove; heating is by said stove and a big fieldstone fireplace; water comes from a spring which is about 1/2 mile distant by land (a little less by boat); sanitation is rudimentary--an outhouse; finally, light is from a couple Coleman lanterns and some kerosene lamps. When you are in residence here, life truly gets back to basics.
 
We have issues with this place. The biggest issue is that, in 1956, the town hall where the deed was registered burned down. When the town "reconstructed" its records, it screwed up our deed--giving us about 1/10th the land we were supposed to have. My grandfather died soon after this, and neither my uncles nor my father ever noticed the discrepancy until sometime in the early '70s. By then, if we had made waves about it, the state would have probably taken our camp (paying "condemnation" prices-hah!) rather than losing a couple acres of "state park". Now the situation is probably pretty much beyond redemption. The back taxes alone would be enough to put an end to any thought of reclaiming our land unless one of us was lucky enough to hit the lottery: 46 years of back taxes and interest would probably hit 6 figures. *sigh*
 
Other than that little problem, we are going to have to replace the kitchen in the very near future. The kitchen is actually a shed attached to the main cabin. The problems are that the roof leaks, badly, and one of the main floor joists is about 3/4 rotted through. I want to sneak in a little expansion of the room (which is now about 10x10) when we make those repairs. An added 5-6 feet in depth and another 2 feet in width would give us more room to move around and more storage room as well. I'm working on my cousins to bring 'em around. I think we could get away with it with the town without incurring any official notice, but the rest of the family aren't all that confident. We'll see what happens in the next year.
 
I also have a set of plans which I call "the hit the lottery" scenario. It would involve turning the main cabin, which is now 18x28, into one with measurements of 24x40. Obviously, that would require construction permits and official approvals, which would, in turn, require large expenditures in both legal prep and in doing things like making "voluntary" donations to various public institutions (towns, state park commissions, etc.) I don't look for this to happen any time in the near future, but I can dream...
 
OK, enough for now. I have to go work on the great sideboard restoration project for a couple hours. This piece of Victorian furniture has to be in place in our dining room by Thanksgiving. More on this as it progresses.

I was engaged in an exchange of posts in a forum I frequent concerning the state of American schools. (OK, actually it was about teaching things like comparative religion in the public schools to start, but the discussion widened.) The problem we face as a society is that, on the whole, our children are receiving a less than adequate education. For one thing, the way the school year is currently configured, there is simply not enough time to teach our kids what they will need to know to be effective adults. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that the people who have been advocating year around school schedules are right.
 
Specifically, the school year should consist of three terms, a trimester system, with two 14 week terms and one 15 week term. That leaves 9 weeks of vacation time for school districts to apportion out as they see fit. I could see something like: last week in December and first week in January, two weeks in April, one week in July (over the 4th), three weeks in August and one week in November (over Thanksgiving). That gives schools 43 weeks of instruction time. Take another five to seven days off for national holidays and school professional development days, and actual instruction time ends up at about 42 weeks per year. Currently most states mandate about 180 school days per year. This would raise the total to about 210. That's about a 17% increase in class days and it eliminates the long summer vacation which usually results in the first month of the fall semester being devoted to "refreshing" what was taught the preceding year.
 
I wouldn't want to make this proposal too detailed since I think individual school districts should be allowed latitude to come up with schedules that fit their constituency. Of course, rather than call for a trimester system, the same results could be attained simply by mandating a 210 day school schedule--that's 210 days with kids in the classrooms--then arrange the schedule in whatever manner an individual school board might see fit. However, the trimester system seems to be the most elegant solution.
 
The trimester system could be readily adapted by secondary schools (i.e. high schools). Make each course worth one credit per trimester. Require 60 credits to graduate from high school. Set up a core curriculum of required courses--something on the order of:
English and Literature: 8 credits
Math: 8 credits
History and social sciences: 8 credits
Foriegn (second) Language: 8 credits
Physical science: 8 credits
 
This would leave room for electives and advanced placement courses and would give us people ready to be productive members of society. Anyhow, this is what I've been thinking about this weekend.

Update on deregulation. Seems the interstate trucking industry was deregulated in 1980. Out of the 50 largest interstate trucking firms existing at the time of deregulation, exactly 4 are left today (Source: CNBC interview 9/24 with CEO of Roadway.) That is not what deregulation is supposed to accomplish. Rather than more competition and diversity, we have less. Once again the conservative right was totally and completely wrong in their their approach and execution. And these are the same people who have a lock on access to Bush and who are arguing incessantly for war with Iraq.
 
I don't trust them or their judgement further than I could throw the Washington Monument...

News: When is hacking a crime?
 
OK, I'm not a fan of the creeps out there who spend their feeble, wasted lives trying to do damage to other people's computers and data. I am a fan of people who look for flaws (read bad programming) in software and then force the software makers to fix said flaws. If software makers did not, periodically, have their virtual feet held to the figurative fire, we would be awash in badly designed and badly executed software.
 
Which is why I think the above link should be must reading. Somehow, the "gray hats" of the article must be protected from the corporate and governmental types who would restrict them.
 
Read the article.

Bottomless pit threatens phone industry
 
Well, Stanley, here's another fine mess you've gotten us into. I direct that to those brilliant people who decided that Ma Bell should be broken up and subject to the gentle suasions of a competitive market. What we are risking here is the destruction of what was (and still is, although just barely) the finest telephone system in the world.
 
They say that phone service has gotten cheaper and that innovation has increased. To which I reply that I'm not all that sure that those are good things in this instance. There was a lot to be said for telephone system that works as a regulated utility.
Aside: I might say that the same thing can be said for our airlines. Competition seems to be eliminating all the grace notes of air travel. In other words, it is no longer fun to take a trip (which is probably why all the major airlines are hurting these days. DOH!)
All I can say is that I'm not gonna be real happy when I wake up one day and find that all the pieces of Ma Bell have come back together, albeit in a slightly different configuration, and that this new entity will be basically operating in an unregulated environment. Then do prepare to be liberally and royally screwed while the politicians play catch-up.

Last weekend, from 8:30am Friday morning until 6:00pm Tuesday evening, my wife and I were custodians of our granddaughter. If you haven't noticed by now, as of this coming Saturday I'll have been a grandfather for 8 months. Anyhow, while we loved having our Dulce here with us, we found out why God gives babies to the young--by Tuesday night, we were exhausted!
 
We took her to the Woodbridge Mall on Saturday where we bought me some much needed clothes and her a new car seat. However, the real fun of the trip was watching her reaction to this new experience in her life. She has been to the Bridgewater Commons mall, but that place is not nearly so big and glitzy as Woodbridge: All those shiny things! All those bright lights! All those people!! It was very cool! I loved the way she absorbed all those sights and sounds like a little sponge.
 
Being a grandfather does have its perks, it appears. As long as they are here, I'll take the downside (I ain't getting younger) with at least a little grace...

The stock market is falling again. I'm pretty much sitting on the sidelines watching the train wreck take place these days, but it is still painful. I mean, what are people thinking? There are over 6 billion people on this planet, and the number keeps growing every day. The only way we are going to be able to survive as a species is to utilize all the high tech gizmos we can lay our hands on. That means that the high tech, and related, sectors of the economy should be strong and leading the charge.
 
So, what do we get instead? We get the bejeezus being knocked out of those stocks. Now, unless you are a stock trader, the daily or even yearly fluctuations in price should not mean a great deal to you. What you want out of the economy is for your investment in something today to be worth more than inflation's bite maybe 10 years out. But there is a rub here: when stock prices drop significantly, the perception by many people is that the economy is in trouble. While that perception is often true, in some cases it is a false indicator, and that is the problem today. However, even though the underlying reality militates for a strong economy, the psychology of the market is leading us in the opposite direction. That leads corporate decision makers to start making pessimistic assumptions about the economy, and, thus, they cut back on expansion/purchasing plans. The prophecy of the doom-sayers becomes self-fulfilling.
 
The real danger is that the companies and technology we are going to desperately need in the near future will not be available because we have killed them now.
 
What is that old Chinese curse? "May you live in interesting times."? Yeah, I think that about describes the opening of the new millennium. I just hope we survive these "interesting" times...