pr0n on I-540?

I took I-540 on the way home yesterday evening. On the pedestrian bridge between the Falls of the Neuse and Capital Boulevard exits, some 733+ h4XORz had spelled out: “PRON?” in what looked like paper cups stuffed into the chain-link fence.

I’m not sure why one would want to display pr0n over a busy interstate, as its very difficult to see the naughty bits when speeding by at 70 MPH. Why one would want to display the word pr0n is even more of a mystery.

I’m kicking myself now for not stopping to snap a picture.

Cheap Thoughts: Checkbox News – Customized News

Doc tipped me off about checkbox news, Dave Winer’s dream of being able to fine-tune the news that gets delivered to him. Checkbox news lets you tailor the stories you are presented according to your likes, and perhaps more importantly, your dislikes.

I find it interesting that this isn’t already being done. Its the future of broadcasting, or to be more precise – its proof there is no future for broadcasting. The idea that everyone will be watching the same thing was mortally wounded with the invention of the Tivo and this idea may finish it off.

I see “checkbox news” taking shape as a Tivo-like set-top box collecting snippets of news. The typical network news show consists of multiple stories lasting around 60 to 90 seconds, with plenty of commercial padding. You’ll soon be able to pick which stories you want to follow, perhaps even mixing in another network’s coverage of a particular story if you like their angle better.

Overnight, the media is freed from the iron grip of so few companies. Networks no longer matter. Anchors no longer matter. News is broken up into the essential element:the story. A news session can be assembled any way the viewer wishes, with stories selected in the same way newspaper editors select wire stories to mix with their locally-produced news. The idea of a television “consumer,” one who takes only what is given, goes the way of black and white TV. Individual stories compete for viewers in an online marketplace: the free market at its best.

News would be judged on the basis of the stories alone. In the same manner that the World Wide Web acts as a great equalizer for anyone with something to say, checkbox news could provide the platform for anyone willing to provide a report. Offer more compelling reporting, and you as an independent journalist could speak to millions. Anyone with a story could have an equal shot of getting heard.

Sites like YouTube specialize in short video clips. Tools like bittorrent can distribute news clips. Konspire is like BitTorrent with a remote control – designed for customized IPTV channels that anyone can create. Its dormant now but still offers as much promise as when I wrote about it earlier. Maybe even more.

All one needs is to create the story marketplace – the economic engine for this whole scheme – and news will never be the same. Ah, to have access to a few million bucks right now…

Time To Add Another Track To The Backyard?

We spent yesterday at Hill Ridge Farms in Youngsville, where a friend of Hallie’s had her birthday party.

One of the attractions at Hill Ridge is their train rides, on a circular (and a bit dull) 16 gauge track that loops around the property.

I couldn’t help but think how if I owned a train I would do it so much better. Now I’m looking into what it would take to put one of these in the backyard. I mean, who wouldn’t want their own EMD locomotive?

Well, my wife, for one, but a guy can dream, can’t he? At least its smaller than the fire truck I’ve been threatening to buy.

Resprung!

The crepe myrtles that I worried has been wiped out from the late freeze are alive and kicking after all! All four plants have new growth on them this weekend. Two of them are even sprouting fresh new stems. Its good to see things recovering. I was worried I’d never see green on them.

Oddly, the runt of the landscaping, the Japanese maple tree, is thriving this season. It looks better than it ever has in fact. The first spring we were here, the stupid deer chewed it down to the ground. Now that its fenced (and being watered regularly) its doing fine. I think we may have it providing some decent shade in the next summer or two.

The stupid deer referred to above have enjoyed munching on the azaleas I once fetched from my grandmother’s yard. Our neighbor decided to divert attention from his roses by pouring a bag of corn in the back corner of his yard. This has provided a niced balanced meal for the deer: they get their greens from my azaleas and a good dose of carbs from the corn.

After nightfall Saturday night I heard a vicious growling coming from that area. A raccoon was enjoying a corn feast and obviously wanted to dine alone. The next morning two deer were snacking in the area. I tell ya, there’s no better way to attract wildlife than with a bag of corn.

Hiding The Weirdos

My company recently moved into nice new digs in our existing office building. It ocurred to me that this is the second time that I was assigned a desk located as far as possible from the office entrance.

Hmm. What is the message here? Should I start wearing pants?

Photo Scanning

I recently went back over my huge collection of film photographs and realized just how many pictures I’ve got that should rightfully be scanned in. I’ve been taking pictures with my own camera for twenty years. Most of the photographs I took while in the Navy – of the cool stuff like Soviet TU-95 Bombers overflying me – wound up in the hands of another shipboard photographer. A truly spectacular photograph I took of three generations of warships sailing together graces my cruise book but again is in someone else’s hands.

I need to find time to add my film library to the digital library I already have. I’m looking for a good film scanner (i.e., negative scanner) to do the work. If y’all come across any good ones, I’d appreciate you letting me know.

To Skype Or Not To Skype

I don’t trust Skype. I suspect its doing things to my Linux computer that I did not authorize. Far too often I’ve seen CPU usage spike on Skype for no apparent reason. Today that happened again. I clicked on the close button and Skype dutifully disappeared from my desktop, but the process itself kept running in the background!

I’ve read rumors of things Skype may be doing behind our backs, but didn’t treat them seriously until now. I’m starting to believe any peer-to-peer (or instant messaging) apps deserve close scrutiny, regardless of the reputations of the companies that create them. If a hacker hacked Skype’s main servers, for instance, she could potentially have access to millions of PCs running Skype clients. Don’t you think that’s an inviting target?

If I was in charge of a network with sensitive data, I’d ban Skype in a heartbeat.

Read these papers offering a technical security critique of Skype: Vanilla Skype 1, and Vanilla Skype 2. Also, the obligatory Wikipedia entry: Skype Protocol.