del.icio.us links for 2005-08-19

• FlickrBooty: Flickr's Fabulous Females (art boobs flickr nsfw photo)
• Clown Samurai: Sin City meets Kill Bill meets Bozo the Clown. Hilarity ensues. Then depression sets in. Amazing what you can do with just 4 colors. (clown comic funny mafia noir samurai web)
• Is Your Boss a Psychopath?: Odds are you've run across one of these characters in your career. They're glib, charming, manipulative, deceitful, ruthless -- and very, very destructive. And there may be lots of them in America's corner offices. (administration anthropology culture productivity)
• FlickrLicio.us - Babes of Flickr: 'nuff said. (boobs flickr naughty photo)
• Storage Technology: Get Perpendicular! Mad propz to Hitachi! Disco-dancing bits and talking disk drives! (cartoon flash funny hardware music physics reference science storage weird)

Clown Samurai

You must read Clown Samurai. It's a hard-boiled, film noir-style crime drama, with a twist:

Clown Samurai follows the adventures of Ogata Utamaro, a failed clown with the training of a warrior. Japanese but born in England, Utamaro was taught the way of the samurai by his grandfather as a child. In adulthood, Utamaro found his calling as a clown, a profession of which his father did not approve. Disowned, he traveled to the United States, where he found work as a rodeo clown in the south. We find him now depressed and jobless living in a large northern city after a disaster in his life. No longer able to make children laugh, Utamaro is drawn into the world of organized crime, where it will take everything he has just to survive.

The dialog is deadly serious, and the artwork is done in a dark, posterized style. Plus the main character is a killer clown with a samurai sword. It's drop-dead funny.

del.icio.us links for 2005-08-18

• Phases of the Moon: Covers new moon, full moon, first and last quarters, for years 1700-2035 (astronomy moon reference)
• Shape-Changers: Medieval Thru Renaissance Periods: Some interesting historical accounts of people persecuted as werewolves, plus possible causes (rabies, porphyria, autism, drugs) (anthropology history science werewolf wolf)

Baby Terrorists Strike Berlin!

From Reuters Oddly Enough News:

BERLIN (Reuters) - An "electronic nappy" used to monitor wetness sparked a bomb alert in a German post office when it arrived in a parcel ticking suspiciously, police in the southwestern city of Heilbronn said Thursday.

Photblography

With the advent of digital cameras, you can now take more bad pictures faster than ever before. The best of the worst of my own are over at Flickr.

del.icio.us links for 2005-08-17

• BlackDog: BlackDog is a fully self-contained computer with a built-in biometric reader and a host of other powerful features. Unlike any other computing device, BlackDog is completely powered off of the USB port of your host computer (X debian hardware linux ppc security)
• The Onion | Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory: "Things fall not because they are acted upon by some gravitational force, but because a higher intelligence, 'God' if you will, is pushing them down," said Gabriel Burdett, who holds degrees in education, applied Scripture, and physics from Oral Roberts U (creationism evolution humor physics politics religion science theonion)
• UGAnime: UGAnime exists mainly to promote and showcase Japanese animation for the University of Georgia and beyond. Not only do we hold weekly showings of a regular schedule (Mondays 7-10pm, SLC 102!), we also participate in special events and attempt to provide a (anime culture social uga)

Sorry!

It keeps getting worse:

It has now emerged that Mr de Menezes:

• was never properly identified because a police officer was relieving himself at the very moment he was leaving his home;
• was unaware he was being followed;
• was not wearing a heavy padded jacket or belt as reports at the time suggested;
• never ran from the police;
• and did not jump the ticket barrier.

But the revelation that will prove most uncomfortable for Scotland Yard was that the 27-year-old electrician had already been restrained by a surveillance officer before being shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder.

Secure Flight Oversight

Bruce Schneier writes:

According to Wired News, the DHS is looking for someone in Congress to sponsor a bill that eliminates congressional oversight over the Secure Flight program.

The bill would allow them to go ahead with the program regardless of GAO's assessment. (Current law requires them to meet ten criteria set by Congress; the most recent GAO report said that they did not meet nine of them.) The bill would allow them to use commercial data even though they have not demonstrated its effectiveness. (The DHS funding bill passed by both the House and the Senate prohibits them from using commercial data during passenger screening, because there has been absolutely no test results showing that it is effective.)

Feel safer now? Me neither. But at least they are keeping baby terrorists off airliners. (UPDATE: And puppet terrorists too!)

del.icio.us links for 2005-08-12

• The Chronicle: 4/15/2005: Clever Canines: Did domestication make dogs smarter? (animal dog evolution science wolf)
• Deleted Domain Names: Search for domains recently expired or expiring soon by partial name match (dns internet)
• Behind the Name: the Etymology and History of First Names (culture etymology history reference social writing)
• Modern Drunkard Magazine Online: There's more to it than tipping a glass and acting foolish; Modern Drunkard Magazine presents 86 rules to drink by. (culture drink howto humor social)

del.icio.us links for 2005-08-11

• Powerisers, Jump up to 6ft with the Poweriser jumping stilts! jumping shoes Powerskip Spring stilts bouncing stilts spring loaded Shoes: Be Advised that any injury or death gotten while using Powerisers is not the responsibility of Superdairyboy. Use these at your own risk. (exercise funny weird)
• The Hidden Boot Code of the Xbox - Xbox-Linux: Only Microsoft could fit three bugs in 512 bytes of code. (gaming hardware microsoft programming security)

del.icio.us links for 2005-08-10

• Shirky: Ontology is Overrated -- Categories, Links, and Tags: The strategy of tagging -- free-form labeling, without regard to categorical constraints -- seems like a recipe for disaster, but as the Web has shown us, you can extract a surprising amount of value from big messy data sets. (database design internet web)
• UGA scientist takes dark out of chicken meat: University of Georgia poultry and food scientist Daniel Fletcher can make "a silk purse" if he wants to. In his research, he's turning dark meat, the underused "sow's ear" of chicken, into something more valuable: white meat. (chicken food meat science uga weird)

del.icio.us links for 2005-08-08

• One Bag (all about packing, luggage, and travelling light): The Art and Science of Travelling Light (howto reference travel)

del.icio.us links for 2005-08-05

• Montana Supreme Court justice warns Orwell's 1984 has arrived | News.blog | CNET News.com: Believe it or not, it's perfectly legal for police to rummage through your garbage for incriminating stuff on you -- even if they don't have a warrant or court approval. (declan liberty politics privacy security)
• eChalk colour perception: This is the most amazing optical effect in the world: And actually, that's not an exaggeration. (art color optical perception science weird)
• paper cd case: Use this website to create a PDF file which can be printed and folded to create a paper CD case. (cd pdf tool)

del.icio.us links for 2005-08-04

• FUD Forum: FUDforum is a highly customizable forum package, with a large feature set. The easy to use administration control panel allows the administrator to easily configure and control the many features available. The forum also includes an interactive help packa (mysql php web)

del.icio.us links for 2005-08-02

• Mozilla Update :: Extensions -- More Info:PwdHash - All Releases: Automatically generates per-site passwords if you prefix your password with @@ or press F2 beforehand. Prevents JavaScript from reading your password as it is typed. (cryptography extension firefox javascript mozilla security)

del.icio.us links for 2005-08-01

• AMD Processor Support Forum > Guide to Memory Timing: Typical timing parameters look like 2-3-2-6-T1 or some other variant. So what do these numbers mean? (hardware)
• Installing DB2 Version 8.2 on Gentoo (2005-01-17): Short answer: Install RPM and hack the script (gentoo linux)

del.icio.us links for 2005-07-31

• Listamatic: one list, many options - Using CSS and a simple list to create radically different list options: Can you take a simple list and use different Cascading Style Sheets to create radically different list options? The Listamatic shows the power of CSS when applied to one simple list. (css design howto html)

del.icio.us links for 2005-07-27

• Hillary vs. the Xbox: Game over: "...a game that instills aggressive thoughts in the minds of its players, some of whom have gone on to commit real-world acts of violence and sexual assault after playing.I'm talking, of course, about high school football." (culture gaming liberty politics)
• Web Framework Reviews: "While originally I intended to do a more serious work I quickly realized that it is going to be impossible to be fair. All the information below is just a superficial opinion and tongue-in-cheek criticism." (framework programming python web)
• Little Boxes: CSS box layout, including three column (css design howto html layout web)

del.icio.us links for 2005-07-26

• Everybody loves Eric Raymond: Wacky housemates RMS, Linus, and of course, Eric Raymond (comic humor)

del.icio.us links for 2005-07-25

• edmontonsun.com SUNshine girl: Canadian hotties, a fine tradition carried over from British tabloids (naughty news photo)
• Schneier on Security: Secure Flight: Secure Flight is a disaster in every way. The TSA has been operating with complete disregard for the law or Congress. It has lied to pretty much everyone. And it is turning Secure Flight from a simple program to match airline passengers against terrorist (liberty politics privacy schneier security)

Why London cops should go back to using wands

Jean Charles de Menezes is the unlucky fellow who didn't roll over and play dead when a gang of gun-wielding thugs (who happened to be undercover policemen) chased him into the subway and subsequently pinned him to the floor of a subway car and put five slugs in the base of his skull at close range. The policy could be paraphased as, "If there might be a bomb, shoot the suspect in the head until he's throughly dead."

There are at least two problems with this. First, innocent people will run from the police, particularly if they don't know they are police. It's called the "fight or flight response", and it's not limited to Brazilians or even humans. Second, have they forgotten about the frequently-deployed device known as a "Dead man's switch"?

I'm no expert on the subject, but it seems like if you want to protect innocent bystanders, you shoot for the legs, immobilize the subject, and more importantly, put the bomb on the ground, where it seems less likely to do damage to people (projecting the blast in a vertical plane, rather than a horizontal plane, assuming the explosives wrap around the torso). Additionally, due to "fight or flight", you give bystanders a few seconds to run away, since they will all tend to scatter like frightened monkeys once the goon squad starts shooting people.

The London cops should go back to using wands:

Yes, we in Special Crime Squad have been using wands for almost a year now. You find it's easy to make yourself invisible. You can defy time and space, and you can turn violent criminals into frogs. Something which you could never do with the old truncheons.

Update (Jul 26): Bruce Scheier agrees with me (maybe not about the wands).

Drip, drip, drip

Another doctor visit, another new prescription. This time for Cipro HC OTIC ear drops (ciprofoxacin and hydrocortisone). I'm probably about 90% better, but that last 10% needs to be knocked out. Three drops, three times a day.

A distant, narrow vision

I can't think of a better name for the vaporware product formerly known as Longhorn than Microsoft Windows Vista, since "vista" means "a distant view or prospect, especially one seen through an opening", i.e. a distant, narrow vision.

del.icio.us links for 2005-07-21

• Why Frameworks Suck | devdev2040: The framework checks out all your girlfriends for you, the framework won’t let anyone dirty get through, the framework will wait up until you get in, the framework will always find out were you’ve been, the framework keeps you healthy and clean. (design framework programming python)
• Discovering WSGI and XSLT as middleware - Archives - Blog - 0xDECAFBAD Blog: here’s an XSLT filter implemented as WSGI middleware (programming python web wsgi xml xslt)

del.icio.us links for 2005-07-19

• Mike Davidson: Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly in Two Minutes: What’s really needed until HTML/CSS/JS support is improved in mobile devices is a little server-side filtering. By pulling out everything a mobile device can possibly choke on before it even gets to the mobile device, we can create a mobile version of o (accessibility css design howto php web xhtml)

del.icio.us links for 2005-07-18

• My Newspaper: MyNewspaper is a personal RSS Aggregator and Reader. (aggregator python rss web)

Quiet desperation

Timeline:

Sunday: Earache starts, the day after I'm back from my vacation, where one of the people I was staying with had an ear infection. And we both went swimming. Probably a mistake.

Monday: Go to doctor without appointment; 10 minute wait. He peeks in my ear, says, "Yep, it's infected,", and prescribes Omnicef (cephalosporin antibiotic) and Hydroco (hydrocodone and acetaminophen) for pain. This sets me back $85, and that's with insurance. I start watching a lot of TiVo. Chewing becomes difficult.

Tuesday: I can sleep about an hour at a time before the pain wakes me back up. Desperation, the kind produced by a pain in your head you can't make go away, makes you try some crazy things. I went out to Wal-Mart at 6:30 am and got some Swim-Ear (isopropanol and glycerin), which seemed to help some, perhaps by loosening things up. I don't think the Hydroco does squat for me in this case. Asprin seems to help a little. The skin inside my ear canal is peeling. I can hardly anything hear most of the time. It's like having cotton balls jammed in my ears, while long acupuncture needles are being tapped in occassionally with a ball-peen hammer. I find that pressing my right shoulder against my neck just behind my ear causes stuff to squirt out. These quantities are audible, but not visible.

Wednesday: Back to the doctor's office without an appointment; 90 minute wait. Different doctor, so different drugs: levaquin (fluoroquinolone antibiotic) and tobradex drops (tobramycin and dexamethasone antibiotic and steroid combination). This doctor thinks it is a Pseudomonas infection. Omnicef (aka cefdinir) is broad-spectrum against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria in general, but cefdinir is not active against Pseudomonas. Levaquin is generally effective against Pseudomonas. This visit sets me back another $85. I decided to ditch the hydroco in favor of good old Excedrin Migraine (asprin, acetaminophen, and caffeine), which seems to work better.

Funny coincidence: My previous post on this subject was "Earache, my eye", which is actually a Cheech and Chong reference. At the time, I had not yet been prescibed the tobradex, which are actually eyedrops. Which go in my ear.

Thursday: I feel a little better, and I think my ears are draining a little bit better. I've watched at least 40 hrs of TV since Monday and need to get out of bed for a while, so I get dressed and get on the bike for awhile. Getting my full-face helmet on is tough: It feels like my entire head is swollen. When I ride with the visor up, I hear wind noise, and if I concentrate, I hear the engine, and that's about all. Rode out to Watkinsville, and hit some rain. Stopped off at the Jittery Joe's in Five Points for some coffee. Getting the helmet off is even harder than putting it on. Went home, got bored, took a ride out to Sears for some metric taps and dies. On a mostly aluminum motorcycle, it's pretty easy to crossthread bolts, and I have a few bolt holes that are problematic and need to be cleaned up. Rolled over 11K mi on the way home. Then rode out to dinner to meet the wife. Crusty stuff is building up in the right ear; I take this to mean something other than me is dying. Rode about 65 mi total.

Friday (today): Most of my jaw pain is cleared up, and I think I slept about six or seven hours for the first time since Sunday, both of which are excellent indicators. My ears are still stuffed up, the left more than the right now, and I still hurt, mostly in sharp stabs, but it's not so bad, or I am just getting used to it. It's 79° F and overcast, with thunderstorms possible. Think I'll go out and get some fresh air, gas, and food, in that order.

del.icio.us links for 2005-07-13

• del.icio.us direc.tor: Delivering A High-Performance AJAX Web Service Broker :: Johnvey: del.icio.us direc.tor is a prototype for an alternative web-based rich UI for del.icio.us. It leverages the XML and XSL services of modern browsers to deliver a responsive interface for managing user accounts with a large number of records. (ajax del.icio.us usability xml xslt)
• Meet Tyson, the Skateboarding Bulldog!: Real bulldog rides a real skateboard without assistance, and he steers, too. No xtreme stunts yet. (dog funny video)

Earache, my eye

I have a bad ear infection, which I probably picked up on my trip. Imagine a 12" drill bit going in one ear and out the other. That'd be a good start.

del.icio.us links for 2005-07-11

• Pig Manure Converted to Crude Oil: Process for turning shit (pig and probably others) into oil. Start stockpiling your shit NOW. (energy oil pig science shit weird)

Pussed out

On the morning of my trip, while loading up, I decided against taking the bike, for three reasons.

First, I didn't feel the bike was completely ready; it was still running a bit rough.

Second, I wasn't ready; I had hoped to get more riding time before going on a 500 mi (and back) trip.

Third, Dennis: I drove through some torrential rains on the way back. It rained so hard, it took the brake dust off the wheels and the bugs off the front bumper.

Today (now yesterday): Went for a trip around the Athens Perimeter; refueled. Rode up Nowhere Road, and ended up around Commerce. Did a little shopping and got home just before the rain got serious. Total distance: About 90 mi. I'm still using Marvel Mystery Oil in the gas and it seems to be helping. There are still some flat spots at times, but it get progressively better well after warm-up.

Success at last

Put together bike, realizing at the end I left off two rubber caps on the air cleaner which cover some access holes. I decide to leave them off for a brief test ride (10 mi). Accelerates poorly in low RPM range. After a warm up, I tear it back down to attach the synchronizer. I think it's now improved somewhat, but hard to tell. Put it back together, not forgetting the caps this time.

I picked up some Eagle One Bucket-Free Car Wash on one of my trips to Advance. Basically, you hose down your vehicle, spray on a bit of the car wash, distribute it with a mitt or sponge or whatnot, and then rinse it off. It seems to work pretty well.

Go for a 20 mi test. It's better, but still missing a lot below 5000 RPM. When the power fully kicks in, it's quite obvious, like someone ignited a solid rocket booster. Sometimes blipping the throttle or changing gears (in eithe direction) wakes it up.

There's less vibration than I remember; I think this is mostly due to the valve clearence. It's rideable, and better on the highway, but I'm not sure I want to take it on a 500 mi trip yet. I have about a day to figure that one out. Afternoon thunderstorms all week.

Almost there

Did not accomplish very much today; just too hot, and I didn't feel well.

Carburetor clamps were not in stock at local Kawasaki dealer, and they were about $4.50 apiece. I decided to try True Value instead, and while they did not have any hose clamps that looked suitable, they did have replacement screws, which is all I really needed. Total cost: $1.25.

Hooked up the carburetor synchronizer for the first time: A Morgan Carbtune II. I like that it needs no calibration, and contains no mercury. There's definitely some need for adjustment, but the problem is, while I can get it to idle, I have a lot of trouble getting it to accelerate. In hooking up the Carbtune, I noticed one of the vacuum lines had a small hole, so I got some replacement line at True Value.

I think before I can tackle the synchronization, I need to run some fuel system cleaner through the system. I bought some Marvel Mystery Oil for this awhile back; I've had good luck with it in the past. I'll try dumping a few ounces in the gas tank and see if that helps.

Changed the oil and filter, and the coolant. By this point, I had a bad headache building and had to quit.

After dark, when it cooled down a bit, I re-installed the oil cooler and the lower fairing mount. Some of my header paint is flaking off. Oh well. You can't see any of the exhaust system with the bodywork on, except for the mufflers of course, and the very back of the manifold. All I want is for it to not rust, or at least not rust badly.

Tomorrow: I'm putting it back together and riding for a bit. If that goes well, I'll try to synchronize the carburetors again.

del.icio.us links for 2005-07-02

• opensource@KMRC: Bebop: Bebop is a Zope3-based groupware that tries to combine collaboration support and content management with a user-friendly interface. It allows to switch between a traditional desktop metaphor and a blog perspective on the contributions of the group members (cms software zope)

Whoring for beverages

Went outside to clean up a bit and found my lost bolt almost immediately. It was right where I had been applying gasket adhesive. The lighting was bad, and I only found it because the can of adhesive was stuck to some newspaper, and lifting the can caused the bolt to roll. Installed it.

Propel is "fitness water" from Gatorade. It's like Gatorade, with all the electrolytes, but without all the sugar. It still has some sucrose, because sucrose helps you absorb water. It's got sucralose (a.k.a. Splenda) as well. It's non-nasty. I am planning a road trip on my bike next week, and this seems like it would be a pretty good thing to have on hand. If some marketing bigwig over at Gatorade wants to ship me a case, or a great big pile of money, please contact me.

Success

Got everything required to run installed: carbs, air cleaner, fuel tank, exhaust system. Tried to start: No go. Additionally, the throttle mysteriously wouldn't move. Tore it down to the carburetors, and the throttle still wouldn't move, with no obvious cause. Remove carburetors; throttle now moves. Cause of the problem: There are some screw clamps which secure the carburetors to the intake, and if you move them too much to one side (so you can access them easier), they interfere with the throttle. Reposition, re-install carburetors. Some of the screw heads on the clamps are in bad condition; I'll try to get some new ones tomorrow.

Re-install air cleaner and fuel tank. First attempt was on the reserve tank, but since the tank seems half full, I switch back to the regular tank. After a couple more tries, it starts to catch. Give it a little choke, and it fires up. I run it for about 10 seconds, and it sounds OK, but it is still stumbling a bit, so I switch it off for the night. I notice a small puddle of oil underneath, but this is due to my leaving off the timing cover.

Some damn wasp has tried to build it's mud nest in one of the bolt holes of the cover; I clean it out with one of the bolts. Glue the gasket on and... now I can't find one of the bolts. I substitute with the remaining original cam chain tensioner bolt, which is the right diameter and thread, but a little short. If I can't the one I somehow misplaced, I can probably find a replacement at True Value. I'll look for suitable clamps for the carbs too.

I'm relieved that it seems to run fairly well. At least I know with some certainty that I didn't screw up the cam alignment. I think there's a little less vibration than there used to be, which was probably due to the valve clearence, or it could have been partly due to junk in the carburetors, which I have now cleaned pretty thoroughly. It should be ready for a road test tomorrow, but of course more thunderstorms are on the way: 40% chance after 2 pm, 97° heat index.

Still to do: Change oil and coolant. Synchronize carburetors. Re-install bodywork.

del.icio.us links for 2005-07-01

• GEL Tv: I can't really describe this, except to say that involves shock-absorbing gel and some very excited Japanese people, and something resembling a three-foot long four-by-four. (flash funny japan video weird)
• A Belated Apology to Joel Schumacher (Signed, The Internet): It's been established to the point of being comic book canon by now that Joel Schumacher single-handedly destroyed the Batman franchise. The bastard! But is it the truth? (batman history)

The daily July thunderstorm

Finally got the baffle plate on by putting it in sideways and then turning it.

Installed spark plugs and ignition system. I used some anti-seize compound on the plug threads, which I haven't used before. Bizarrely, the 5/8" spark plug socket I got from Sears has a 1/2" drive.

Changed the fuel filter and most of the fuel line. I have another line left to replace: on the tank petcock to the resevoir

Carburetors are on, but not really attached yet. It's very hot: 91° F, 56% humidity, 100° heat index, and there is a thunderstorm rolling in. Taking another break.

Welcome to July

Got oil for the bike: Motul 5100 4T Synthetic 10W40. I've used this for the life of the bike, and I can't complain, but at $27.50/gallon, it isn't cheap.

Reinstalled valve cover. Decided to reuse gasket since it seems to be in good shape, even compared to the new one. I'll save it for later. A little bit of silicone sealer is needed where the head has been machined for the camshafts. My old tube of blue Permatex more or less exploded on me. Messy.

Tried to reinstall baffle plate, which prevents air from the radiator from blowing over the engine. Everything was getting wet because I was sweating so much. Decided I needed a break. It was about 88° F, 66% humidity, heat index of 98°. I'll cool off, rehydrate and go again.

We have clearence, Clarence

Looked up the part number for the broken bolt, and called the local Kawasaki dealer. No joy: They don't stock it, but they can order it ($2.60). This wasn't going to work since it was the Thursday before a three-day weekend, and I wanted the bike for the next week, so I tried Lowe's and Home Depot after lunch. No luck there, either; Lowe's had metric flange bolts, but not the right size, and I think the Ho only had SAE. I didn't know the exact size, though I had a hint from Cycle-Parts.com, but the ones I did find were definitely too large.

Went home, got the unbroken bolt, and went to the local True Value, and they had them: Stainless steel and only $0.50. I bought two. The flange turned out, upon closer examination, to be a bit larger, but this turned out not to matter; it may even be better.

Installed the cam chain tensioner and turned the engine a couple times by hand to make it do it's thing. Re-measured all the valve clearences. The exhaust valves are particularly difficult to measure, since they are on the far side of the engine, and there's stuff that gets in the way. In the end, I had to bend my feeler gauge to get the right angle. I have some tappet feeler gauges which are pre-bent, but they don't have enough precision for this bike; they are probably intended for something larger. Everything checks out within specs.

A thunderstorm blows in, so I'm calling it quits for the night. I'm taking the day off tomorrow to finish up. I still need to get some motor oil. With any luck at all, I should have it running tomorrow afternoon. Then I need to change the oil and filter, and the coolant.

del.icio.us links for 2005-06-30

• Xenu - The craziest story ever told: In Scientology doctrine, Xenu is a galactic ruler who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of people to Earth, stacked them around volcanoes, and blew them up with hydrogen bombs. Their souls then clustered together and stuck to the bodies of the livin (evil funny reference religion scientology weird xenu)
• I Hate Horses.: The author seems to have some sort of mysterious bias against horses. (evil funny horse rant weird)
• Preliminary analysis of new Specter-Leahy data security bill: opinions? [Politech]: It's worth taking a close look at the new Specter-Leahy security breach bill -- introduced Wednesday -- because it's the most comprehensive so far and the leading candidate to be enacted into law this year. (declan liberty politics privacy security)
• Waxy.org: Daily Log: Tom Cruise Kills Oprah: This is the funniest video I've seen in a long time: Tom Cruise's evil Scientology/Sith powers revealed... on the next (and last) Oprah! (evil funny mashup starwars video)

Snap!

My parts finally arrived today. I had trouble paying with credit card at cycle-parts.com. We (me and the customer service guy) believe it was a problem with their credit card authorization system. As most on-line payment systems do, it asks for the name on the credit card, in case it's different from the ship-to name, which was true in this case. We think that it may not be looking at this, so the card wouldn't authorize.

In an attempt to expedite the order, I used PayPal. This was a mistake: I don't keep much money in my PayPal account, so it had to do a bank transfer, which was scheduled to take three days. It took four, which meant it cleared on Friday, and the order didn't go out until Monday. Fortunately, UPS ground from the midwest to northeast Georgia only takes two days, and so I got them Wednesday, which is about nine days after I ordered them.

I start by reinstalling the exhaust. The repainted headers look pretty good. I clean up around the mating surfaces with a tiny high-speed wire wheel, slip on the new gaskets, slip the headers over the mounting studs, and thread in the lower mounting bolts to keep them in place. The nuts go for a swim in the rust remover. I bought new gaskets for the mufflers, but I don't think I need them. The mufflers are pretty easy to remove if I'm wrong.

Mistake #1: I forget to check if I could move some of the shims I was taking out to another lifter that needed them. I probably ordered two extra shims because of this. Mistake #2: When I first wrote down what new shims I needed, I went in the wrong direction. Since I needed more clearence, I needed a smaller shim but initially wrote down the next bigger shim. I fixed this before ordering, except in one case where I ended up writing down the original size instead of the smaller size. D'oh!

The first screwup saved me on the second: I was able to reuse one of the old shims. Eventually I may be able to reuse some the others, but the wrong one I got is as big as the largest shim already, so unless I need to reduce clearance, I probably won't be able to use it.

Installing the camshafts is a bitch. The exhaust cam is not too bad, as you can align it fairly easily to the top of the cylinder head. The intake cam is the tough one. There's slack in the timing chain at this stage, but not a whole lot. The drive gears on each camshaft like to interlock when you are trying to adjust the intake cam. Once you have it in there, you have to check alignment by counting chain links (34 pins) from top of the head at the exhaust side to the alignment mark on the gear of the intake side.

Then come the cam caps, secured by a total of 16 cap bolts, which must be torqued in sequence. The manual says a couple of the bolts are longer, but not in my case; I noticed this when I took them off. Final torque is 12 N-m, which is fairly light.

Next comes the cam chain tensioner, which attaches to the intake side of the block with two fairly long cap bolts. You have to tighten them gradually. As with the cam cap bolts, final torque is 12 N-m. One of them goes on fine. The other one turns and turns and just as starts to feel like it's tightening up, snap! suddenly it's loose again. My first thought was that I stripped threads in the block, which is a Very Bad Thing, but instead the bolt broke. I removed the other bolt and the tensioner and was left with half a bolt (now a stud) sticking out of the block. I used pliers to back it out without too much effort. I am sure I did not over-torque it.

In retrospect, I was quite fortunate that it broke when it did. If the tensioner loosened up while the bike was running, it could be a Very Bad Thing, as in a slipped -- or broken -- timing chain and broken valves and pistons, plus a seized engine. So while I have a broken bolt, at least it's broken when the bike isn't running.

This all happened just after midnight, so I'll have to try to get replacement bolts (I'll replace both to be safe) tomorrow/today.

del.icio.us links for 2005-06-29

• The Dilbert Principle: The basic concept of the Dilbert Principle is that the most ineffective workers are systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage: management. This has not proved to be the winning strategy that you might think. (humor productivity)
• Jon Stewart's ('84) Commencement Address | News: "I am honored to be here and to receive this honorary doctorate. When I think back to the people that have been in this position before me from Benjamin Franklin to Queen Noor of Jordan, I can’t help but wonder what has happened to this place." (culture humor politics)

Some G.W. Bush howlers

In W's speech to shore up support for the war in Iraq, he gave us some memorable quotes, but probably not in the way he intended. Highlighting is mine:

When the history of this period is written, the liberation of Afghanistan and the liberation of Iraq will be remembered as great turning points in the story of freedom. [Turning towards less freedom.]

After September 11, 2001, I told the American people that the road ahead would be difficult and that we would prevail. Well, it has been difficult and we are prevailing.

Our enemies are brutal, but they are no match for the United States of America, and they are no match for the men and women of the United States military. [We are way more brutal than they are.]

These are as good as, or better than, the classic, "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

del.icio.us links for 2005-06-28

• Google Earth - Home: A 3D interface to the planet (google gps maps photo software web)
• The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race: It's agriculture. 10,000 years of college down the drain! (agriculture anthropology culture economics evil history meat science social)
• tetka.swf (application/x-shockwave-flash Object): A woman in a bikini falls through an endless field of large bubbles. No women or electrons were harmed in the making of this simulation. (biomechanical flash physics weird)
• United Nuclear - Scientific Supplies: Your on-line source for fun items like thermite, magnesium ribbon, uranium, deuterium... (science shop web weird)
• Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster: "Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster." (creationism evolution fsm funny pastafarianism pirate politics religion science)

del.icio.us links for 2005-06-27

• TagCloud - Home: TagCloud is an automated Folksonomy tool. Essentially, TagCloud searches any number of RSS feeds you specify, extracts keywords from the content and lists them according to prevalence within the RSS feeds. Clicking on the tag’s link will display a list (aggregator atom rss tool)

del.icio.us links for 2005-06-23

• J-List -- a wonderful toybox of things from Japan!: We here at J-List are dedicated to bringing Japan and the West closer through shared popular culture. We have great respect for Japan and want to bring Japanese culture, in whatever form we may, to the world, and provide a bridge between the two cultures. (anime culture japan manga nsfw sex shop weird)

Procrastination pays off again

Yesterday I got to the Kawasaki dealer too late to get the shims I needed, so I stopped by Sears and got a micrometer. This turned out to be a good thing, because several of my measurements with the vernier calipers were wrong.

I spent a couple hours making a valve clearance worksheet (see previous post), and then I re-measured all the shims.

Here's a tip: To remove the lifters and shims, use one of those telescoping magnets. I did this the first time, and about halfway through the intake lifters, I decided I could pull one out with my fingers, which I did. And the shim fell down inside the cylinder head. Fortunately, the head is aluminium, so it was easy to fish out with the magnet. If it had fallen down into the timing chain, I would have had real trouble. When you use a good magnet to pull the lifter, it tends to bring the shim with it. Even if it doesn't, you can still easily remove the shim with the magnet.

I said those little bastards would be expensive, and they are: $9.11 for a piece of metal the size of an asprin. At least, that is the price from Cycle-Parts. You need to have a minimum order of $100 to order with Cycle-Parts, and with five shims and some assorted gaskets and a couple oil filters, I managed to reach that level. Since I can't use any of the parts until next weekend, and they have a 4-5 day turnaround, that's probably what I'm going to use.

I've been looking at getting a new exhaust system, since the old one started to rust badly, and the left muffler got a bit dinged up from the crash. Vance&Hines makes a 4-into-2-into-1 system, with nickle-plated headers, that lists for $489. Just for the hell of it, I looked up new OEM headers: $589, and that didn't include mufflers. I also got idea (much too late in the day on a weekend) to get the old headers powder-coated; I'd guess that would cost $100-200.

The last option was high-temperature header paint, so I went to Advance Auto Parts to look around. The local Advance seems to have a better selection than the local AutoZone. In fact, they had motorcycle oil filters. I got some phosphoric acid-based rust neutralizer (Right Stuff, Formula #3000) and high-temperature exhaust paint (Dupli-Color). I also stopped by Wal-Mart for a spray bottle and found a 1.2 L pressurized garden sprayer (RL Flo-Master). Got the manifold off without too much trouble, and then spent 30-45 minutes with a wire wheel cleaning it.

Right Stuff is definitely named correctly: It seems to be doing a great job, though I am going to do a second application. And the RL Flo-Master sprayer is an awesome sprayer, too. I was done applying the rust remover in about two minutes. I took a couple minutes to rinse the sprayer, but it looks all plastic, so it shouldn't be affected.

Weather permitting, I'll paint the headers tonight.

ZX-6 Valve Clearance Worksheet

I made a valve clearance worksheet for the ZX-6 using Inkscape. It's in SVG format, so if your browser can't display it, get a better browser. OK, SVG is not enabled by default in the standard builds, so here's a fucking PDF version.

It's hard to find metric measurement tools in the US. Feeler gauges seem to universally have both SAE and metric units, but in reality, the blades tend to be made in units of 0.001", so they don't fall on nice, neat metric boundaries. My vernier calipers did not have enough precision so I did get a micrometer, but it is only calibrated in inches, and there were no metric ones available. You'd think with the number of foreign cars and motorcycles in this country that you could get some decent metric measuring tools, but no. (Wrenches and such are not an issue, of course.) Thus, the worksheet has all the clearances in both mm and in.

del.icio.us links for 2005-06-18

• Confederate Motor Company: Confederate Motorcycles (art motorcycle)
• All your base are belong to us - Official Video Site: HOW ARE YOU GENTLEMEN!? The classic flash video. You are on the way to destruction. (ayb flash humor video)
• ... All Your Base Rhapsody: Zero Wing vs. Queen (ayb flash humor mashup music queen video)

Point of no return

Took the camshafts out so I could check the thickness of the shims. They look a lot like steel Altoids, only a bit smaller, and crunchier. Each shim is supposed to have a two-digit number which tells you what the part number is and thus how thick it is. About half of them did not have numbers or were illegible. The number looks like it's printed on with a dot-matrix printer; I don't think it's laser-etched. Fortunately, I have some vernier calipers and was able to measure their thickness. I'm not sure this is very accurate, since I can only measure to 0.1 mm, and the shims come in 0.05 mm increments. I think I'm going to have to get a micrometer to be sure. However, in all cases, the clearance is too small, and I think if I end up getting 0.05 mm too big, I'll still be within tolerances. I just know these little bastards are not going to be cheap, and I need five of them.

A truce with the editor

I still dislike the Blogger editor, but I've figured out how to make it do what I want:

To start a new paragraph, enter <p>, which is just your standard HTML start tag.

Switching back and forth from Edit HTML to Compose makes it display correctly in the editor.

The Preview looks fine, too, but switching back leaves the HTML exposed, if you have not already gone to Edit HTML and back to Compose.

SGML literals, such as &lt; and &gt;, have to be entered in the Edit HTML mode.

What I really wish it would do:

• One Return inserts a <br>
• Two Returns inserts a <p>

In other words, I want reStructured Text.

Worst case scenario

Got the valve cover off and started measuring clearances: Some of them definitely need to be adjusted since they are on the tight side. This means the cams come off, and I have to check the numbers on each one of 16 tiny little shims under the valve lifters, get the right thickness replacement shims, and put it all back together without messing up the valve timing. Not completely unexpected, but definitely something I wanted to avoid.

Took some time cleaning up the valve cover, particularly the gasket area, which had some old silicone and gasket adhesive. Non-chlorinated brake cleaner seems to do a good job of this. Tried polishing up the valve cover with some old Mother's Aluminum and Mag Polish. I say "old" because I've had it several years and it was a little crunchy on top, but I did make some progress. Then I spilled it all over the place. Finished cleaning the cover with brake cleaner, WD-40, and carburetor cleaner. It's not super-shiny, but it'll do. I slipped the cover back on to keep bugs out of the cylinder head.

Alternator rotor fixed (probably)

None of the Woodruff keys I got from Autozone were the right size. I took another look through the Kawasaki parts catalog and finally found the right key. It was in the Generator section, instead of the Crankshaft section, which is what I expected. $3.05 for a single Woodruff key, but at least it fits.

Next surprise: I have a nice Kobalt 3/8" drive socket set (metric and SAE), and I picked up a nice Craftsman 1/4" drive metric socket set on my last trip to Sears for $20, and I also have a decent collection of 1/2" drive SAE sockets (normal, impact, and deep impact). However, I only had a 1/2" drive torque wrench. Rather than buying some 1/2" drive metric sockets, I bought a 3/8" drive torque wrench at Sears. I figure most of the bolts on the bike are 14 mm or smaller, and shouldn't require more than 80 ft-pounds of torque, so I should be pretty safe.

Luckily, on my last trip to Lowes, I picked up a set of strap wrenches: A big rubber strap on a handle. I used the larger strap wrench to hold the alternator rotor in place while I torqued down the bolt that holds it on the crank. It occurred to me that the reason this problem occurred in the first place could have been due to that particular bolt being loose, allowing the rotor to hammer against the Woodruff key until it failed.

Replaced the gasket ($4) and generator cover. Fortunately I still had some Permatex Gasket Adhesive around, so I should have a pretty good seal. I was able to turn over the engine with the starter motor; it feels good to actually accomplish something.

Next up: Valve clearance, change oil and coolant, install spark plugs and ignition system, re-attach and synchronize carburetors. Then, new exhaust system...

del.icio.us links for 2005-06-16

• lifehack.org » Fifty (50!) Tools which can help you in Writing: Roy Peter Clark from Poynter Institute has posted up 50 tools that can help you when you do any kinds of writing. This is a extensive list of writing tools, but by no mean you need to apply all of them when you do any writing. (howto productivity reference writing)

del.icio.us links for 2005-06-15

• Jeremy Boles (Personal Website) » Blog Archive » Using Javascript to Enhance Form Labels: Once you click on the input box, the label text disappears. (accessibility ajax css design forms javascript web)
• Welcome to Hats of Meat: Q: Is wearing a hat of meat harmful to my hair? A: On the contrary, the protein and natural juices found in meat provide your hair with essential nutrients. Traces of fat lubricate the follicles, in some cases even encouraging new growth. (fashion humor meat)
• Jay Pinkerton.com: Jay Pinkerton is a published comedy writer and Managing Editor of the National Lampoon. Jay Pinkerton proactively leverages vision statements 24/7 with his penis in space. (comic humor)

del.icio.us links for 2005-06-14

• dd_rescue: similar to dd but can copy from source with errors (linux recovery software tool unix)
• JayPinkerton.com - Batman Begins Primer: Kane, a functional illiterate who didn't understand what the words "normal," "accessible" and "down-to-Earth" meant, instead came up the story of a millionaire in his underwear who drove around in a bat-shaped car beating up clowns. (batman comic humor)

del.icio.us links for 2005-06-13

• Optware to Release 30 GB Holographic Card for Less than $1 at the End of 2006 -- Tech-On!: Collinear holographic technology developed by Optware is used to read from and write onto the holographic card. (optical storage)

Creeping along

I made a small bit of progress on the Ninja. I verified from the manual that the key was a Woodruff key, which is more or less a half circle. Got a punch set from Sears. Knocked the back end of it down a bit with a center punch, then finished up from the front with a chisel. Autozone sells the keys (the HELP! series) in a set of 5 for about $4. You can get them for about a quarter if you buy them in bulk. Anyway, it looks like the one I need is 1/8" wide by 9/16" long. Mosquitoes are out in force from all the rain, so I decided to hold off a bit.

Next step is to figure out how to get the new key in without damaging the crank any further: There are some scratches already from the first key shearing off. If I'm careful to protect the surface with rags, I might be able to use pliers; I think that will be safer than hammering (less stress on the bearings). The end of the crank is not all that big.

del.icio.us links for 2005-06-12

• GIFT: Unreal Tournament 2004 lends incontrovertible proof to John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory (anonymity comic funny gaming internet rant)
• The Downing Street Memo :: What is it?: The minutes detail how our government did not believe Iraq was a greater threat than other nations; how intelligence was "fixed" to sell the case for war to the American public; and how the Bush Administration’s public assurances of "war as a last resor (bush evil iraq politics war)

del.icio.us links for 2005-06-11

• Flagpole: The Colorbearer of Athens (athensga georgia news us)

del.icio.us links for 2005-06-10

• The Best Page In The Universe.: "This page is about me and why everything I like is great. If you disagree with anything you find on this page, you are wrong." (funny humor rant)
• Star Wars Episode III: a steaming pile of Sith.: NEWS FLASH: Episode III had no special effects. (funny humor rant starwars)

Ninjas and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Back in 1998, I got a new job on the northwest side of Altanta (near the Cobb Galleria), and needed a commuter vehicle to make the trip back and forth from Athens. My selection was a new 1997 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6, a 600 cc, 98-hp crotch rocket. The first month of this was an interesting odyssey, since it was January, and even in Georgia, it can get cold (near-freezing). In addition to this, the first 500 mi is the break-in period, which required keeping the engine below 4000 rpm. On the highway, this equated to about 52 mph. This made for a fairly long and unpleasant commute, since the temperatures were in the low- to mid-thirties (F), and the traffic on GA-316 and I-85 is posted for 65 mph but goes 75 mph, and the traffic on I-285 is posted for 55 mph but goes 85 mph. Fortunately, since the trip was 150 miles/day, I didn't have to do this too long, and was not run over.

First maintenance comes, and amounts to nearly $400. You see, on a sportbike like the Ninja, where the engine redlines at 14K rpm, the DOHC valvetrain cannot afford the luxury of hydraulic lifters, and it tends to need regular clearance checking and adjustment. The checking consists of tearing off most of the bodywork, the fuel tank, the air cleaner, the carburetors, the ignition coils, the spark plugs, and finally the valve cover, and then measuring the clearance with feeler gauges. If you are unfortunate enough to require adjustment, then the camshafts must be removed, along with the valve lifter, and then a tiny shim under the lifter must be replaced with another tiny shim that's thicker or thinner. As you might guess, this is somewhat labor-intensive, and comes around every three- to six-thousand miles.

But at least after the first maintenance, I am able to take the engine to 6000 rpm, which is about 70 mph, for the next 500 miles. These 500 miles go past quickly, and at that point, you are completely done with the break-in, and the sky's the limit.

The Kawasaki power curve corresponds roughly with the Spaceballs speed nomeclature:

• 2000-4000 rpm: Light Speed
• 4000-7000 rpm: Ridiculous Speed
• 7000-10,000 rpm: Ludicrous Speed
• 10,000-? rpm: Plaid

Still, any commute that takes you through Spaghetti Junction on a friday night is not fun. Once this asshole in a riced-up Acura wanted to race me at night at GA-316. I was cruising along at a lesuirely 75 mph and wasn't really interested. He finally went around me, and then he flipped a cigarette butt out the window, which goes into his slipstream and is carried up and literally hits me right between the eyes. (Yes, I wear a full-face helmet.) So I drop down two gears, which puts me squarely in the Ludicrous Speed band, pass him like he was standing still, and then find a mini-van up head, and then slow down and sit in the left lane so that he's stuck behind us.

Another time, during daylight hours, I was going more-or-less the speed limit, when it suddenly begins to rain. Hard. Raindrops, especially large raindrops, sting pretty good at that speed. There are hardly any overpasses on 316 to duck under, so rather than stop and get soaked, I pushed up to a speed where the bow shock of the bike pushed the raindrops around me.

Fortunately, after a couple of months, I got to work from home for the most part, which saved me a lot of time and money. After a year or so, I actually got an office in Athens through an acquisition, which was great, since working from home can make you a little crazy after awhile. One day I was going in to work on the north side of the Athens perimeter and exiting on Chase St. The exit's since been redone a little bit to widen it but at the time it was one lane, and it actually drops off quite a bit, so it's hard to see what's on the ramp until you're on it. On this occassion, there was a pickup truck, which I saw first, and then saw it was towing one of those low garden trailers, the kind you use to haul around lawn tractors. I know I locked up the rear brake, and then I got on the front really hard, so hard it threw me off, and I dumped the bike. Fortunately I did not hit the trailer, and I did not break any bones. Unfortunately I broke the left foot peg mounting bracket, so I couldn't shift, and I had to ride to work (and later home) in 5th gear.

The bike sat for a long while, in part because I had to figure out what parts I needed to order. Finding the food peg bracket was hard. You'd think it would be listed under "frame", but it was with "battery box". During this time, the carbs gummed up a bit, and it didn't idle well, and sometimes didn't want to crank. One morning last summer, not long after replacing the original tires, I tried to start it and something broke: The starter would turn, but the engine would not. So I ended up parking it for the season, again.

This summer (in fact, in the last two weeks), I started tearing into it, with the expectation of replacing the starter. I've replaced starters on cars before, and this is nothing like a car starter. On a car starter, there is a solenoid that pushes out the gear to engage with the flywheel/starter gear, and then retracts once the car is started. On the ZX-6, there's just a shaft with teeth. This engages with a reduction gear, which in turn engages a large gear on the end of the crank. This gear is actually free-spinning on the crank, except that it is mated to the alternator rotor via a one-way clutch. So when you engage the starter, this turns the big gear, which causes the alterator rotor to turn, which causes the crank to turn; and when you disengage the starter, the big gear doesn't turn, relative to the crankcase, though the crankshaft is spinning inside of it.

The problem was: The alternator rotor is fixed onto position on the crank via a Woodruff key and a keyway, and the key had been sheared off. There's also a big bolt that holds the rotor on, and that was being unscrewed as I tried to start the engine, so it's a really good thing I never tried to push-start the bike, since that would have probably done a lot of damage to at least the alternator.

I had pretty much resigned myself to repairing or replacing the crankshaft (big job), but I called Falicon Crankshaft Components and was told I could probably remove the old key with a punch and press in another one. Now I just need to find a punch and the right size key and I should be good to go.

Lessons:

• Sportbikes are not good long-range commuter vehicles.
• Don't neglect your fuel system. The crank failure was due to hard starting, which was likely due to gummed-up carburetors leaking gas into the cylinder. (Dropping the bike on the alternator cover probably didn't help either.)
• You don't own a Ninja; the Ninja owns you.

del.icio.us links for 2005-06-08

• World’s fastest inkjet printer? | The Red Ferret Journal: Codenamed Cobra, this little puppy can spit out any size of print output at around 170 pages per minute. (inkjet printer)
• Mail Filtering - Introduction: Or, how to block a few million spams per day without breaking a sweat. (howto network spam)
• lifehack.org » Blog Archive » Six Ways on Getting More Done each day: “How can I really can more done?” (howto productivity)

del.icio.us links for 2005-06-07

• IBM poop heads say LAMP users need to "grow up": "According to Daniel Sabbah, general manager of IBM's Rational division, LAMP -- the popular Web development stack -- works well for basic applications but lacks the ability to scale." Nope. We call bullshit. (funny lamp programming rant)

del.icio.us links for 2005-06-06

• FreeNX: NX is an exciting new technology for remote display. It provides near local speed application responsiveness over high latency, low bandwidth links. The core libraries for NX are provided by NoMachine under the GPL. FreeNX is a GPL implementation of the N (X linux network solaris)
• Color Schemer - Online Color Scheme Generator: (art color design tool web)
• Skype - Free Internet telephony that just works: (linux network skype software telephony voip)
• www.WhatIsMyProxy.com - http proxy and IP address diagnostics page: Reports on your external IP address and any visible proxy servers (network tool web)

del.icio.us links for 2005-06-02

• Key West Fantasy Fest Body Painting - a photoset on Flickr: series of images of the week long adult party Key West hosts called Fantasy Fest (art boobs nsfw photo weird)
• NANACA†CRASH!!: If a Japanese girl ever has a crush on me, I'm flattening her bike tires. (18994.33 m) (anime flash game japan)
• MilkandCookies - Lucy in the Sky with Shatner: That's all you really need to know (beatles funny humor mashup music quicktime startrek video)

del.icio.us links for 2005-05-31

• Time to Go Biodegradeable?: Sydney, Australia--Oceanographic scientists say they have discovered a vast, floating "reef" of the world's disposed condoms in the middle of the South Pacific, about halfway between Tahiti and Antarctica. The phenomenal mass is almost two miles long, an (weird)
• Andy Budd::Blogography: 10 Bad Project Warning Signs: "One of the great things about being a freelance web designer is the ability to turn down projects. I’ve come across a few projects recently that sounded interesting but made me feel nervous." (design web)
• Common Errors in English: Also available in Dead Tree format (funny howto reference tool writing)

del.icio.us links for 2005-05-30

• AMAZING X-RAY EFFECT: Clever CSS trick (css image mozilla xhtml)
• The Cyborg Name Generator: Filthy humans: Determine your true cyborg name with this automated process (humor)
• XHTML2: Accessible, Usable, Device Independent and Semantic: XHTML2 is the next version of the XHTML family, and is going to last call Real Soon Now. This presentation gives an overview of what XHTML2 is trying to achieve. (html w3c web xhtml xml)

del.icio.us links for 2005-05-24

• New Attack Can Recover Complete AES Keys: Daniel Bernstein, an associate professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, recently released a paper showing how an attack against a server running the OpenSSL AES implementation could recover the entire encryption key. (cryptography djb privacy security)

del.icio.us links for 2005-05-23

• How to Make a RJ45 Cable Tester: Includes general information on RJ45 cable standards for Ethernet (ethernet howto network rj45)

DirecWay: Broadband provider of last resort

If the intent of DirecWay is to be the broadband provider of last resort, then they are quite successful, since it is the worst broadband provider I've ever heard of. Normal download speed seems to be about 768 kbps. However, if you download more than 169 MB in a four-hour period, you get jacked down to about 32-48 kbps, slower than dial-up. If you think you might ever want to download an ISO image, stay away. Since it's a satellite service, you are subject to the basic laws of physics as they apply to geosynchronous satellites, which means, latency is terrible. It takes about a quarter of a second for your signal to reach a satellite in geosynchronous orbit, so this means to initiate a TCP connection, it takes 1.5 seconds: The TCP handshake is SYN, SYN ACK, ACK, and each packet must take a trip to the satellite then back to the base, or 6 trips total. It gets a lot worse if you are using SSL, since there is an SSL negotiation phase. This also makes it completely unusable for online gaming: In Quake 3 for example, this would amount to at least a 1000 ms ping. Any DSL or cable modem setup is better than DirecWay. A lot of dialup schemes are better, too.

del.icio.us links for 2005-05-12

• dm-crypt - a device-mapper crypto target: a device-mapper target that provides transparent encryption of block devices using the new Linux 2.6 cryptoapi. (cryptography linux security)

del.icio.us links for 2005-05-11

• Flickr: Photos from [c21de] Vintage Images: These chicks were hot... 50 years ago. Vintage girly-mag cover gallery [via BoingBoing] (art image photo)

del.icio.us links for 2005-05-10

• Dive Into Greasemonkey: Greasemonkey is a Firefox extension that allows you to write scripts that alter the web pages you visit. (extension firefox greasemonkey javascript)

del.icio.us links for 2005-05-09

• How to Perform Strong Man Stunts by Ottley R. Coulter: All the World Loves a Strong Man (howto)

del.icio.us links for 2005-05-07

• Death Star Repairmen: a featurette about two Imperial handymen who fix things on a certain very large Imperial Battle Station. (humor starwars video)
• lila center: ...a home for lila theme resources (art firefox gaim gentoo gnome grub gtk kde linux rox theme xfce xmms)

del.icio.us links for 2005-05-06

• FAQ: How Real ID will affect you | CNET News.com: Starting three years from now, if you live or work in the United States, you'll need a federally approved ID card to travel on an airplane, open a bank account, collect Social Security payments, or take advantage of nearly any government service. (liberty politics privacy)

del.icio.us links for 2005-05-04

• ITworld.com - Naked programming on naked street: Not as exciting as it sounds: Static and dynamic typing compared traffic controls and the lack thereof. (programming python)