I know that some of the stuff on TV is pretty bad, but I’m not sure that it’s cause for a distress signal.

CORVALLIS — When Chris van Rossman moved into his downtown apartment about a year ago, his parents bought him a new 20-inch color TV with all the bells and whistles.

The flat-screen Toshiba came with its own set of stereo speakers, a 181-channel tuner, built-in VCR, DVD and CD players, a V-chip for parental control over content and, of course, a remote control.

Van Rossman, unfortunately, does not have cable and can only get four channels in his apartment. He mostly watches Oregon Public Broadcasting, which comes in clearest, and he’s acquired a taste for OPB children’s programming.

Maybe the television suffered an identity crisis. Maybe it aspired to higher things.

Whatever the reason, van Rossman’s TV set sent out a cry for help. It began emitting the international distress signal on the night of Oct. 2.

The 121.5 MHz frequency signal was picked up by an orbiting search and rescue satellite, which informed the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.

Then again, maybe it was the programming.  Public Television would drive me over the edge pretty quickly.  He’s got a good incentive to keep it off now, though, given the potential for a $10,000/day fine.  And wouldn’t you know, the warranty had just run out?

An inspection of the television confirmed it was the source of the signal. “Their equipment was just bouncing everywhere as they turned it on and off,” van Rossman said.

Van Rossman was instructed to keep his TV turned off or face fines of up to $10,000 per day for emitting a false distress signal.

He’s not taking any chances. He’s keeping the television unplugged just in case he forgets one morning, groggy with sleep.

Unfortunately, the warranty on the TV had run out 16 days before it started freaking out.

Even though it’s out of warranty, Toshiba has promised to provide him a new TV for free.  I suspect that they’re anxious to get their hands on the old one to try to figure out what’s wrong with it.  If there’s a problem with the design there could be a lot more TVs out there that potentially have the same problem. 

In a case of out of control cruse control, a man in France got quite a shock when his Renault suddenly accelerated to 120mph and wouldn’t slow down.

A motorist in France went a little faster than he wanted when he claimed his cruise control got stuck, leaving him barreling down a busy highway at 120 mph and forcing police to help clear a route.

The Le Parisien newspaper quoted Hicham Dequiedt saying he was overtaking a truck when his Renault Vel Satis started to accelerate with a life of its own. He couldn’t cut the ignition, he said, because his car has a magnetic card instead of a key.

“It was impossible to slow down! Stomping on the brakes proved pointless, nothing worked. I avoided one car after another by flashing my lights at them,” the 29-year-old was quoted as saying.

Alternately, he could just be a really crafty speeder, getting the cops to clear the way for him.  Actually, according to a post in the Slashdot discussion, it sounds like a case of too many electronic gadgets that came together to take away control from the driver.  The ignition used an electronic key card, which he wasn’t able to remove.  Further, with this kind of electronic ignition, the computer takes your command to start or kill the engine as a mere suggestion.  The computer actually makes the decision.  Likewise with the transmission.  If it would overspeed the engine, the electronic transmission controls will not allow downshifting or going to neutral.  You can then imagine how useful the brakes would be in a car at 120mph with the engine going all out and the transmission in gear.  I would imagine that brake fade would occur pretty quickly. 

He eventually managed to remove the key card and the car stopped.  There’s speculation that he could have gotten the key out sooner, but panic had set in.  Alternately, there could have been a bug in the controller software that wedged the controller.  After a while a watchdog timer would likely have restored the system to a semi-normal state.  Given all this, you can bet that they’ll never be able to recreate it back at the factory. 

Over the years I’ve had several hard drives fail. I recently built a new system because I was worried that I had all my eggs in one hard drive (to scramble a metaphor). My latest computer has five drives:

The system has a 36GB Western Digital SATA150 Raptor for the boot drive and a RAID 5 array comprised of four 250GB Western Digital SATA150 drives (which gives a capacity of 750GB) connected to a 3ware 8506-4LP hardware RAID controller. It might seem a bit paranoid to create a RAID array for a personal server. However, my paranoia wasn’t unfounded, since I had two hard drives fail this month (within days of each other). The first one was on the 14th, which was in my work PC. Fortunately, I have a laptop that I could fallback on.

The other drive was one of the new ones in the RAID array. I didn’t even notice it at the time. I only discovered it when I noticed the error in the logs. I’ve since installed the monitoring software so that I’ll get an email when there’s a problem. Still, the system stayed up and functional with no lost data from 9/17 until today, when I finally received a replacement.

I also picked up an “alien” case at Fry’s. I have to admit I wasn’t that fond of it at the time, but it was the only one in stock that had enough drive bays. However, it’s kind of grown on me. The 8 fans with LED’s give it kind of a cool glow:

A few other stats for the system:

• Motherboard: Soyo SY-KT600 Dragon Ultra Platinum
• Processor: AMD Athlon XP 3200+
• Memory: 1GB (matched pair of Kingston DDR400 PC3200 DIMMs)
• Video: GeForce4 MX440
• OS: SuSE 9.1 Professional

Be careful.  That call may not be from the actual caller shown on your Caller ID.

This week, a company is launching technology that will make it possible for someone to choose what appears on phones that have Caller ID, the feature for displaying identifying information about an incoming call.

It could be a different phone number, or even a few words, said Jason Jepson, founder of Star38, which has developed the commercial Caller ID spoofing service.

From what I’ve read elsewhere, this is just a simple trick with a digital switch.  But that means that it isn’t always effective (if you’ve had Caller ID for very long, you’ve probably noticed that it’s not terribly reliable). 

Anyhow, the founder of Star38 claims that the service will be limited “to licensed private investigators and collection agencies.”  That last part sounds like it might just violate some kind of federal law regarding the actions collection agencies are allowed to take.  I know it would violate the laws concerning telemarketing.

I suppose this is just one more reason to never trust someone who calls you seeking information.  If it appears to be some kind of official agency (police, FBI, etc), it would be best to get the person’s name and office information and call back (using the agency’s publically available main number).  Of course, I should point out that it’s probably best never to talk to them without a lawyer anyhow.

I’ve been halfway following the kerfuffle over RealNetworks having cracked the DRM scheme used by Apple’s iTunes Music Store. 

Hostilities started in late July, when RealNetworks cracked Apple’s FairPlay code, meaning songs bought from the RealPlayer Music Store could be played on the iPod—a move that went down very badly over at Apple. RealNetworks then decided to ratchet up the pressure by slashing the cost of its downloads to below the 99-cent price barrier favored by Apple.

The next step—a campaign and petition to get music fans to support the company’s open stance—hasn’t worked out quite as it might have hoped, after some people besieged the petition with obscenities and anti-RealNetworks postings.

The petition, on RealNetworks’ www.freedomofmusicchoice.org site, is titled: “Hey Apple! Don’t break my iPod.”

…

Readers were encouraged to sign up and leave comments on the petition, now running at more than 900 signatures. However, many comments left by petition signers were less than complimentary and featured a selection of tartly worded phrases and four-letter epithets, with the target being RealNetworks itself. CEO Rob Glaser came under particular attack from the Web site’s visitors.

Visitors—some of whom identified themselves as “Michael Jackson,” “The Pope” and “Bill Clinton”—expressed the view that they already have freedom of choice and would be exercising it by using Apple’s iTunes music service.

I’ve got an iPod mini, and while it plays my regular MP3 files, I have bought some music from the iTunes music store.  But of late I’ve soured on iTunes, primarily because of their closed format.  At present, I can only listen to the music I’ve purchased in one of the following ways: a) copy it to the iPod, b) listen on one of the computers, or c) burn a CD.

While the iPod and its headphones are OK when you’re out and about, it’s not so great when I’m at home.  In my living room I’ve got a Squeezebox digitally attached to my 500-watt Sony receiver which is driving a Cambridge Soundworks Newton MC300 speaker system (complete with 1000-watt sub).  In the bedroom I’ve got an Audiotron attached to another stereo.  All of this provides me with high-quality sound from my MP3 collection in either of my main living areas.  Unfortunately, the iTunes files can’t be played by either of these units.  The Squeezebox will play AAC files through its server software, but it can only play ones that don’t have DRM restrictions. 

When I first started getting music from the iTunes music store, I didn’t think the restrictions would annoy me as much as they do, but it’s gotten to be an irritant as time has gone by.  I suppose I could burn a CD and then rip it to MP3, but that seems like a lot of trouble, not to mention the lower sound quality.  Even though Apple touts their 128Kbps AAC files as being of high quality, I can definitely detect the difference between it and a 320Kbps MP3.  Another alternative would be to go ahead and strip the DRM from the files using something like Hymn, but it bugs me that I’d have to do that.  DRM is one of those things that bother me because it says they think you’re a potential criminal.  It’s no way to treat your customers.

So, given all the factors, I think I’m going to return to CDs and ripping MP3s.  While I like the idea of being able to buy individual tracks, the DRM doesn’t fit my usage model and the files from Apple don’t meet my quality expectations. 

Link via Slashdot.

Scientists have come up with a method of photographic analysis that allows them to determine what people are looking at.

Shree K. Nayar, a professor of computer science and co-director of the Columbia Vision and Graphics Center, took high-resolution photographs of people that include their eyes and, in particular, the transparent part of the eye called the cornea. Then, with a postdoctoral researcher, Ko Nishino, he devised computer algorithms that analyze the images reflected in these natural mirrors, revealing a wealth of information.

The system can automatically recover wide-angle views of what people are looking at, including panoramic details to the left, right and even slightly behind them. It can also calculate where people are gazing – for instance, at a single smiling face in a crowd.

Of course, while this technology has potential for good uses, there is also potential for abuse.

Because the algorithms can track exactly where a person is looking, the system may one day find use in surveillance cameras that spot suspicious behavior or in interfaces for quadriplegics who use their gaze to operate a computer.

I’d like to know just what they think would constitute suspicious behavior?  I tend to scan crowds looking for people who might be acting odd as a standard precaution.  Will this get me pegged as a shady character by the system?  How about staring at a cop’s gun?  I generally look out of curiosity to see what model he’s carrying.  Is that suspicious?  Would it get me stopped and questioned?  How is this anyone’s business as long as I don’t make any threats or moves towards the cop?  Seriously, there is no computer system that can approximate the “hairs on the back of your neck”/“what’s that guy up to?” neural warning system in our heads.  All a computer can do is flag certain behaviors for a person to check.  But that just ends up singling out lots of innocent people for further scrutiny, perhaps to the detriment of looking for a real bad buy.

On a less serious note, do we really want to be able to analyze where guys are looking?  Or do we really need to analyze it?  As the Slashdot posters mention, it sounds like it has the potential to get a lot of guys in trouble with their girlfriends/wives. 

If this became widespread I suppose sunglasses would become required accessories if you wanted to maintain even a tiny shred of privacy.

Before I was aware of NRA News I’d been considering getting a satellite receiver for my office (yes, I know I can listen online, but I didn’t want to be subject to the whims of net usage; something I’d been encountering on a more frequent basis of late when trying to listen to online streams).  I have XM in my truck and I prefer the variety to what I can get on local radio.  When NRA News announced their deal with Sirius Satellite Radio it seemed like an interesting opportunity.  They were offering a choice of one of their plug-and-play receivers along with a home or car kit for $49.99 with service for $9.99 per month (with a 12 month commitment).  The receivers alone usually sell for around $100 and the home or car kits are around $50.00.  So for home use the usual price would have been around $150.  A second receiver for XM would have been about the same cost in hardware (i.e. around $150) and the service would have been an extra $6.99 per month.  I suppose it’s not entirely cost effective, but the variety on Sirius is worth the extra $3.00 per month in service charges. 

So I chose the JVC KT-SR1000 along with the home kit.  When it arrived the installation instructions said it needed a north-facing window for optimum reception.  My office window faces east, so that posed a bit of a problem.  I went ahead and set it up and tried to angle the antenna to face a little to the north.  I was able to get between 1/3 and 1/2 signal strength, which was enough to get the preview channel.  Unfortunately, the signal seemed to fluctuate for no reason I could determine.  At first I thought it was wind blowing a nearby tree into the path of the signal, but that turned out not to be the case.  Even though I could receive the preview channel, the unit crapped out when I called to have the activation signal sent.  As soon as the guy at Sirius sent the activation the receiver displayed “Acquiring Signal.”

I decided to relocate the antenna to a north-facing window in another room, but this required a 50-ft extension cable, which was an additional $39.99 (plus shipping, taxes, etc) along with an interminable wait for the damn thing to be delivered.  Now I get a much better signal, but it’s still not satisfactory because it craps out at seemingly random times.  What I’ve learned is that Sirius chose to put up three satellites in elliptical orbits, such that two of them are supposed to be visible over the continental U.S. at all times.  Contrast this to XM which uses two satellites in geosynchronous orbit (I’ve always been amused that XM named their first satellite “Rock” and the second one “Roll”).  Since my neighbor’s house is very close to the north side of my house it appears that when the Sirius satellites play celestial tag with one another that they end up being hidden behind my neighbor’s roof, causing short periods of low or no signal. 

My next move will be to install an outdoor antenna on the edge of the roof and hope that it’s got enough elevation to see the damn satellites as they move around in the northern sky.  This is rapidly turning into way too much trouble for something that should have been simple.  I’ve heard that XM is better suited for home use due to the stability of its satellite positions.  Once you’ve aimed the antenna for maximum signal strength it will stay that way unless something physically blocks the signal, since the XM satellites aren’t moving in relation to the ground position.  I’m not looking forward to getting out there in our near-100° heat to put up the antenna, but I’m hoping that it will finish this once and for all.

It seems that there isn’t a form of technology that people won’t corrupt for nefarious purposes.

Cell phones are chock-full of features like built-in cameras, personalized ring tones and text messaging. They also gave a real boost to Kenny Hall’s effort to cheat on his girlfriend.

Hall, a 20-year-old college student in Denver, decided in March to spend a weekend in nearby Boulder with another woman. He turned to his cell phone for help, sending out a text message to hundreds of other cell phone users in an “alibi and excuse club,” a network of 3,400 strangers who help each other skip work, get out of dates or give a loved one the slip.

Assistance came instantly. A club member, on receiving Hall’s message, agreed to call the girlfriend. He pretended to be the soccer coach from the University of Colorado at Boulder and said that Hall was needed in town for a tryout.

I’m guessing that Mr. Hall’s relationship with his girlfriend has ended, given his candor in this article.  Anyhow, one of the “advantages” they mentioned to this anonymous alibi club is that it keeps your friends out of it, thereby avoiding the potential that they’ll forget which lie to tell at an inopportune moment. 

Of course, when dealing with strangers there could be potential dangers.  However, Hall’s first concern seems a bit ironic, given his intended actions.

Another problem, which even alibi club members admit, is that other members may not be entirely trustworthy. Hall, the student in Denver, said that when he gave away his girlfriend’s phone number to a stranger, he worried that the stranger might do more than make an excuse.

”I didn’t want him hitting on her or telling her what I was up to,” Hall said. But now he is a believer in the power of the cell-phone-assisted alibi. “It worked out good, actually.”

One of the interesting features of Expression Engine that I’ve been playing around with is the ability to define custom field groups and then create weblogs that use those groups.  This means that you can define any set of fields you want and then define a set of pages that display those fields.

For a while I’ve been toying around with changing the way my guns page is organized behind the scenes.  Right now it’s a bunch of kludged up PHP scripts, with the guns defined in a global hash array.  It’s a bit of a pain to manage and requires a number of manual updates when I add or change something.  Here’s an example of what the hash array entry looks like for one gun:

With Expression Engine I was able to define a set of custom fields and a set of templates to display the index page as well as an individual gun entry.  Using that, entering a new gun (or changing an existing one) is as simple as editing a weblog entry.  Here’s an example of the entry screen:

Here’s a shot of the index page:

And here’s an individual gun entry:

What’s interesting is that I spent at most a couple of hours arriving at this point. 

Although I’m convinced of the power of the tool, I still have some reservations before putting down $99 to purchase it.  Due to security concerns my hosting company prefers that PHP apps run as CGI processes.  They do allow PHP as an Apache module, but they have a number of restrictions on what PHP can do in that environment, since Apache is running as a system process, rather than under a specific user id.  This means that it is possible for User A’s PHP code to access data in User B’s directory in some cases (in fact, the installation instructions for Expression Engine require you to open up several of your files/directories to all users on the system; i.e. chmod to 666 or 777).  My main concern with Expression Engine is the developers’ attitudes to CGI and their dismissiveness of the security concerns.  That may be the deal killer for me.  CGI is not the hideous monster they make it out to be, nor is forking/exec’ing an external process the end of the world, at least for low-to-moderate volume sites.  If they want to continue to increase their user base, they’d be well advised to take the security concerns seriously and make their app work well with CGI (in their favor I should note that they do provide instructions on common problems encountered with getting it to work under the CGI execution model).

Still, the feature set the tool provides makes it tempting, especially with the competitive upgrade offer.  I’ve still got a week and four days to decide, so I will continue to play with it before making a decision.

The school in Forney is going to issue ThinkPads to every fifth and sixth grade student at one of their elementary schools.

As the superintendent of a fast-growing suburban school district, Mike Smith faces a textbook shortage every fall.

This year will be a little different at the Forney Independent School District.

Every fifth- and sixth-grader at Johnson Elementary, 100 to 150 students, will receive a $1,350 IBM ThinkPad computer loaded with digital versions of state-approved textbooks and 2,000 works of literature. If the experiment works, the program will be expanded to other grades.

“We think this is better than simply going out and buying more textbooks,” said Smith, who expected a shortage of 600 textbooks in August. Enrollment is projected to rise 20% or more at the district, and it takes three months to get new books.

It’s an interesting idea, at least in that having them preloaded with the textbooks and a variety of other literature it could eventually be cost effective.  If would also be good if it could reduce the amount of weight these kids are carrying around.  There’s an intermediate school near the park where I walk the dog in the afternoons and it’s hard not to notice how heavy the kids’ backpacks are when they’re trudging home after school.

I just wonder how well these laptops will survive the experience, though.  Even with the technology that IBM is building into laptops to help them survive drops, I’m sure the technology can easily be overcome through the inventiveness and sheer destructive capability of 10 and 11-year-old boys…