December 2005

There were 35 posts published in December 2005 (this is page 4 of 4).

On The Road

I’m on the road this week for bidness: Mi’sippi for the first half and Cali for the second. Got off the plane for the layover in Chicago and was met with winter: it was 25 degrees there. Mississippi has 45 degrees and a wind that slices through my fleece jacket. By Friday I’ll be enjoying sun and 70 degrees in Southern California.

The family had a hard time saying goodbye today, and so did I. The last thing I saw was Kelly and Hallie waving goodbye from the front porch. Travis would have been there, too, had he not been still anchored to his booster seat at the table. I used to travel quite a bit at the last job. I actually enjoyed it from time to time. At this point in my life, though, it has lost its appeal. There’s just too much to look forward to when I get home from work every day.

I’m reading Compromised by Terry Reed now. After I got the book from the library, I procrastinated in reading it. Part of me considered it old news. Part of me didn’t want to feed my conspiratorial bent any more than I already do. Still, I needed reading material for my travels so I packed it. Now I can’t put it down! I’ve long suspected Clinton is a Company man, and this book bears that out. How else could you explain his now chummy relationship with George H.W. Bush, who is a Company man himself?

The book also provides some insight into what is going on at Aero Contractors, too.

Off to bed now, as the real fun begins early tomorrow.

Bellsouth Wants To Hold Your Website For Ransom

Doc pointed to this story of a Bellsouth exec’s plans to sell an Internet site’s performance to the highest bidder.

William L. Smith, chief technology officer for Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp., told reporters and analysts that an Internet service provider such as his firm should be able, for example, to charge Yahoo Inc. for the opportunity to have its search site load faster than that of Google Inc.

Just when you thought the entertainment industry had a lock on sleazy, clueless executives, score one for the telecoms.

Doc’s latest “manifesto” in this month’s Linux Journal is so very true. We’ve got to keep the telecoms from hijacking the Internet. Read it if you haven’t already.

Hail In December?

I was surfing the next this evening when I heard an unusual sound. Outside a fast-moving storm was developing, dropping some heavy rain before vanishing minutes later. It wasn’t a minute or two later that Kelly came home. Not only was it raining, she said, but it was hailing, too. I walked outside to find pea-sized hail on the front porch.

Hail in December from a stealthy storm. Quite unusual.

[Update]: The NWS has set me straight. It was sleet (which I find almost as hard to believe, considering its suddenness):

A BAND OF SHOWERS WILL MOVE EAST AT 35 MPH ACROSS THE NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN AND NORTH EAST PIEDMONT OF CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. THE AIR IS COOL ENOUGH ALOFT THAT WHERE THE ISOLATED HEAVIER RAIN SHOWERS OCCUR…A LITTLE SLEET WILL BE MIXED IN WITH THE RAIN. THERE HAVE BEEN A COUPLE OF REPORTS OF SLEET IN NORTHERN WAKE COUNTY. THE RAIN WILL END IN THE RALEIGH BY 1030 PM…AND AROUND WILSON…NASHVILLE AND ROCKY MOUNT BY 12 MIDNIGHT.

Diebold Certified in NC, In Spite Of Its Inability To Comply With Law

Today the State Board of Elections of North Carolina certified Diebold voting machines (motto: “trust us”) for use in North Carolina elections, in spite of the strong voter transparency laws of our state. Diebold admitted it couldn’t (or chose not to) comply with the law. Our board of elections didn’t seem to care and happily certified them, anyway.

I think a smackdown is in order for the SBOE and for Diebold. If North Carolinians care about free and fair elections, it’s time to speak up.

Read the EFF press release for more information.