35K and going

September 18, 2003

Good Morning from 35,000 feet. I love morning flights across the Rockies. First the airport is empty when you arrive so the trip through security is much faster than later in the day. Once you leave the ground the air has not yet had the time to heat unevenly so the chances of turbulance in the air are greatly reduced. Finally there are beautiful sunrises like this morning. The clouds to the east of the Rockies were packed in tight. Like a knife edge the mountains cut the clouds and the only vestiage of such a complete carpet on the western side was a hazy morning dew. (I didn't bring the CF reader with me in the cabin so the picture will have to come later).

Verisign's domain name grab....

September 17, 2003

Have you been to www.sdfkasdfweroiuasdfkl.com lately? It and many other non-existant domain names in the .com and .net area now resolve to Verisign's advertising and search engine. Verisign recently turned on a wildcard domain name that answers any .com query that would have a short time ago provided a "Domain Not Found" response.

While inconvenient for web browsers the new "service" can cause even greater problems for e-mail which goes astray and in many cases people may believe they have delivered their email.

When you get sucked into the site you are bound by the terms of service. They state in part that you cannot use the service for any commercial purpose without arranging with Verisign ahead of time. As a business owner does this imply I must make certain that no contractors or employees accidently mis-type a domain and end up at the Verisign site?

On blogging....

September 11, 2003

Harvard Business Review has a case study in their September 2003 issue about blogging and it's interrelationship with companies. Combustible Boy has a good analysis of the issue which raises an interesting question. His solution is to be both anonymous and not write about work. My solution is to not write about work while not being anonymous.

Editor and Publisher meanwhile has an article about the weblog of the Andrews Murder trial being kept by KFOR reporters. The disorganization of the KFOR site points to the challenges they are having in adopting the new format. One of the very first such postings was a project I produced in 1995 which provided live ongoing updates during a football game.

Maybe I'm strange (that will come as a surprise to few) but I particularly enjoy reading about the trial from a jurror's perspective. I really enjoyed the time I spent sitting on a jury and it's interesting to see the system from that perspective.

Windows cheaper than Linux?

September 10, 2003

News.com: Microsoft has just paid for a study that says Linux servers for web portals are in some cases more expensive than Windows servers.

What price did they put on the security holes in Windows? At what cost do you hand over control of your machine to someone else? Linux certainly takes a great deal of skill to properly administer and secure from those wishing to do it ill. However the best of Linux administrators has a much better chance than the best of Windows administrators at keeping their boxes alive. Quite simply the Linux administrators don't have to depend upon Microsoft to patch bugs like those that caused the recent slammer worm.

SLAPP Suit Gone Bad

September 10, 2003

Wired: EmarketersAmerica.org a group of anonymous e-mail marketers who had earlier sued anti-spam groups wants to drop the suit. The anti-spam groups, however, are asking a judge to do otherwise. The anti-spam groups see the move as an attempt to avoid paying the legal fees of the group. They have asked the case be decided on its merits.

Susann F. Biddulph (1916-2003)

September 5, 2003

In the late summer days of 1916 Susann Fry was born in Drumright, Oklahoma. She was born to Melvin Fry, a physician who was born in Greenville, Ohio and Hattie May Leslie Fry a 28-year-old housekeeper. In a sign of a different time the birth certificate asks for the father's occupation and suggests "Spinner, Sawyer, Bookkeeper etc." as the possible options while the trades suggested for mothers are "Housekeeper, typist, nurse, clerk etc."

Orlin Biddulph doing field work.

Twenty-six years later in the summer of 1942 in Billings, Montana Susann married Orlin Nathan Biddulph a widower of Pullman, Washington. Eight years her senior, Orlin was then a professor of botany at Washington State University. Orlin's son Stuart was four years old when his sister Ann was born in the summer of 1943. Susann earned her doctorate in botany a year later from Washington State University.

Susann and Orlin both made distinguished careers of the study of botany before retiring in the 1970's. In that time they each published considerable original scientific research in the field of botany and were recognized for their work with awards such as Orlin's Outstanding Scientist Award from the Northwest Scientific Association in 1972.

Both Susann and Orlin were active in their retirement to Leisure World in Mesa, Arizona. Orlin took on lawn bowling as a new passtime in addition to the woodworking and silver smiting he had done earlier. Susann volunteered in the library at Leisure World, in local schools, sang in the choir and did some of her final pottery work in Arizona. When not otherwise occupied both enjoyed spending time at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum and walking the hills of the Superstition mountains.

Susann and Orlin were grandparents to 8 grandchildren. In the spring of 1987 Orlin passed away after a brief illness. In the late summer of 2003, Susann passed away two days short of what would have been her 61st wedding anniversary. Susann is survived Ann, Stuart and by 7 surviving grandchildren and 8 great-grand children.

It's difficult to say what will be missed the most. Both touched so many lives and contributed so much to our understanding of the world. They encouraged us to try new things and never stopped discovering and learning.

We miss you grandma & grandpa.

Pages

Subscribe to