March 2005

AARP uses Google Ads to get the word out on Social Security

March 31, 2005

It is interesting to see the AARP has placed ads with Google's Ad-Sense. The site which the ads take readers to suggests "Strengthen Social Security Don't Destroy It."

In the context of last evening's post it is interesting to see large mainstream organizations like the AARP move into the realm of advertising on weblogs.

Changes

March 31, 2005

Dan Gillmor says esentailly the same thing Adam Curry told the BBC a few days ago. Curry was talking about podcasting, the online radio equivalent of weblogs, when he said podcasting will kill the business model of radio. Gillmor's article suggests a similar shift will happen in the newspaper realm.

I agree that podcasting and weblogs will have powerful influences in toppling the traditional media business model. All too often, however, this is taken as an excuse for producing a poor quality product. Podcasts-a-plenty are full of folksy poorly produced blots of sound. Of the many podcasts that have at one time or another crossed my iPod the only ones that have stayed are IT Conversations, Career Opportunities and New York Public Radio's On the Media. All three share several things in common. Among them high production values and they are the right length. What is the right length? Long enough to cover the subject and short enough to keep it interesting.

I suspect I am not alone in that after the first "wow" factor wears off listening to someone who is not good at radio will loose its allure quickly. There is a reason Rush Limbaugh has a radio show. It is not his politics. There are conservatives behind every corner these days. The reason his show is on the air is he knows how to put together a good radio program. The same will be true of weblogs and podcasts. The good among them, those that find a stride and figure out how to put a professional polish on the product will likely replace many of the mainstays of the media machine.

What a difference a day makes

March 30, 2005

On Monday it seemed the rancorous debate was nearing an end. Both sides of Schiavo vs. Schiavo would allow Mrs. Schiavo's wishes to be honored. As with many an uneasy truce, it was too good to last. Today the Schnidlers brought one-time presidential hopeful Jesse Jackson in to stir the pot. Reports suggest he was not terribly successful except in stirring up expectations. Today CNN is reporting that the 11th Circuit Court will hear an appeal. There is no indication on the court's website, nor could they be reached for comment.

As if the circus atmosphere surrounding one woman's desire to live and die as she pleased is not enough, Bob Schindler has sold the list of names of supporters gathered from the Schindlers' website, to a direct mail agency. The folks who were drawn in to trying to insert government into the marriage vows of husband and wife will now be solicited by conservative groups.

KISS

March 29, 2005

I spent some time this evening searching for the way to repeat the mac to mac migration that is offered the first time you launch a new macintosh computer. Several web searches and delving into /System/Library/Core Services were not productive. However, sitting right there in the Utilities folder is Setup Assistant which is for just this purpose. Remember to Keep It Simple Stupid!

Who will pay?

March 28, 2005

Last week brought us several news stories of great sadness. In Red Lake a teenager committed a horrendous killing in his school. The week began with President Bush signing into law a piece of legislation allowing Federal Courts to intervene in the case of Terry Schiavo. And the Social Security Trustees' 2005 Report was released.

This may seem an odd pairing of events to contemplate. However, the report by the Social Security Trustees clearly shows America is coming to a crisis point. The need for action is immediate and the consequences of inaction are severe. The problem lies not with Social Security, but with Medicare. While several hundred hours were spent by politicians last week attempting to weaken the sanctity of marriage by inserting the government between a couple's wedding vows, little time was spent on the coming medicare calamity.

"The financial outlook for Social Security has improved marginally since 2000," wrote trustees Thomas Saving(R) and John Palmer(D). "In sharp contrast, Medicare's financial outlook has deteriorated dramatically over the past five years and is now much worse that Social Security's." What is missing from the current conversations about saving Social Security is this comparison. Social Security will reach the point where benefits exceed tax revenue by 2017. Medicare reached that point last year. The Social Security trust fund is projected to be exhausted by 2041 while projections place the date at 2019 for Medicare's trust fund.

Medicare is headed for a catastrophic situation with potentially devastating consequences for Americans and our government is more concerned with undoing marriage vows between a husband and wife.

CSS and Line Numbering

March 27, 2005

For all the CSS experts out there, I'm looking for a way to do line numbers in a CSS document. I want to have a legal pleading style document with each line numbered to the left of the line. Any ideas on how to approach this?

DirecWAY and Ground Control Redux

March 27, 2005

I've written previously about the problem with DirecWAY which I purchase through their reseller Ground Control. DirecWAY has a problem with their web accelerator that breaks XML-RPC calls between this site and others. Today I found it breaks XML being sent to eBay through the eBay API as well.

The first response I get when I tried to approach them is that the application I'm using must be the problem. Since they don't know that XML-RPC is they figure it must be me. So, here's what I did. Setup a web-proxy that sends web-requests on a port other than port 80. XML-RPC calls work just fine when using the proxy. Switch to port 80 where DirecWAY has Web Accellerator running and see the web surfing speeds remain the same but now all your XML-RPC calls will be truncated.

Sometimes a VAR such as Ground Control can be very helpful in these situations. On the other hand they can do what Ground Control has done and say that well, they're not sure what to do. DirecWAY tells them everything is working correctly. So, of course it is. Neither Ground Control nor DirecWAY seem to understand networking well enough to appreciate the testing that I've done and accept the meaning of those results. I guess it is time to redouble the effort to get DSL out here.

DirecWAY and Ground Control Redux

March 27, 2005

I've written previously about the problem with DirecWAY which I purchase through their reseller Ground Control. DirecWAY has a problem with their web accelerator that breaks XML-RPC calls between this site and others. Today I found it breaks XML being sent to eBay through the eBay API as well.

The first response I get when I tried to approach them is that the application I'm using must be the problem. Since they don't know that XML-RPC is they figure it must be me. So, here's what I did. Setup a web-proxy that sends web-requests on a port other than port 80. XML-RPC calls work just fine when using the proxy. Switch to port 80 where DirecWAY has Web Accellerator running and see the web surfing speeds remain the same but now all your XML-RPC calls will be truncated.

Sometimes a VAR such as Ground Control can be very helpful in these situations. On the other hand they can do what Ground Control has done and say that well, they're not sure what to do. DirecWAY tells them everything is working correctly. So, of course it is. Neither Ground Control nor DirecWAY seem to understand networking well enough to appreciate the testing that I've done and accept the meaning of those results. I guess it is time to redouble the effort to get DSL out here.

DirecWAY, Ground Control & XML-RPC Redux

March 27, 2005

I've written previously about the problem with DirecWAY which I purchase through their reseller Ground Control. DirecWAY has a problem with their web accelerator that breaks XML-RPC calls between this site and others. Today I found it breaks XML being sent to eBay through the eBay API as well.

The first response I get when I tried to approach them is that the application I'm using must be the problem. Since they don't know that XML-RPC is they figure it must be me. So, here's what I did. Setup a web-proxy that sends web-requests on a port other than port 80. XML-RPC calls work just fine when using the proxy. Switch to port 80 where DirecWAY has Web Accellerator running and see the web surfing speeds remain the same but now all your XML-RPC calls will be truncated.

Sometimes a VAR such as Ground Control can be very helpful in these situations. On the other hand they can do what Ground Control has done and say that well, they're not sure what to do. DirecWAY tells them everything is working correctly. So, of course it is. Neither Ground Control nor DirecWAY seem to understand networking well enough to appreciate the testing that I've done and accept the meaning of those results. I guess it is time to redouble the effort to get DSL out here.

Rocky Mountain News Article on Ramline.com

March 25, 2005

Cyber-Rams - Cam the Ram has entered cyberspace.

Information about CSU football and other sports will be featured this fall on the Internet.

The new service - called Ramline - will offer play-by-play coverage updated every five minutes during CSU football games plus statistics, color photos, player biographies, team rosters and postgame commentary.

The Ramline site can be called on the World Wide Web at http: / / www. ramline.com. CSU students with Holly or Lamar electronic mail accounts also may use the service.

Information and schedules for other CSU athletic teams also will be available through the Ramline site.

Joshua Brauer, a CSU student, created Ramline after an Internet encounter last year with a frustrated fan in Australia eager for CSU sports information. ''I think players' families and Colorado State alumni who can't come to the games will find it very useful,'' Brauer said.

The service is offered by a private firm - World Wide Express Inc. - founded by Brauer that is independent of the university. CSU has cooperated with the service's creation. Information: (970) 962-1594.

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