m i l l e n n i u m | magpie

Now this seems cool. It comes from someone cool in the Firefox team, and sounds good.
I'm going to mess with it over the week end.

Still More on Mozilla et cetera

I'll open this post with a quote from the Wall Street Journal:

Browsing safely: I suggest dumping Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser, which has a history of security breaches. I recommend instead Mozilla Firefox, which is free at www.mozilla.org. It's not only more secure but also more modern and advanced, with tabbed browsing, which allows multiple pages to be open on one screen, and a better pop-up ad blocker than the belated one Microsoft recently added to IE.

If mainstream newspapers are straight out suggesting that you "dump" IE, and immediately after name an open source product, things are going well.
Chris Crews, someone somehow involved in the Mozilla Foundation (well he's cool enough to have the Mozilla category of his blog appears to be syndicated onto Planet Mozilla), posted this article. He certainly isn't a happy camper.
Here's some photos from Netscape offices (or at least they seem to be that). I'm not quite sure what they mean either. These were posted on Ben Goodger's (he wrote the firefox 2.0 roadmap, so he's cool) blog. The best are #5 and #6. UPDATE: Now I'm confused. These appear to be fromover a year ago-WTF?
Here's another take on the situation.
Here's some screenshots of the new netscape thingie.

Somewhat unrelated: Here's a funny story from back when Netscape had over half of the web browser market, well before they decided to release an open source Mozilla browser (based on Netscape 5.0 code).

PS: If you haven't already, read some of my earlier posts today for background info.

Better pic of SCO defaced

its funnier in context, like this

Hacking for Christ: Software Patents

read

More on Firefox in Netscape

My past post may have been premature; I just read the slashdot article and blogged it out of excitement.
I still haven't tried it yet (not that I intend to after my recent findings).
It appears that even those high on the Mozilla Foundation totem pole, and even some Netscape developers aren't too happy. However, as one slashdotter put it, everything seems to be going just great for AOL, another member of its parent company, Time Warner.
The good news for anyone who's been cool enough to use Mozilla and/or Firfox in the past is that the Mozilla Foundation does have some level of independence from Time Warner. Therefore, I am fairly sure that Netscape 8 code cannot be forced on Mozilla.
In other news, I don't think Mozilla is very far from being based on Firefox and Thunderbird. I'm guessing Mozilla 2.0 will be basically just Mozilla&Thunderbird, with some other stuff, and maybe some new Netscape code. I'm not quite sure why the Mozilla Foundation is pushing Firefox so much though. Firefox 1.0 has a huge hunk of the top of their home page, an the Mozilla "Suite" is only listed as "Other Mozilla Software," below Thunderbird and even Camino (which, IMHO, is one of the most pointless browsers).
We shall see. The firefox "brand name" has gotten very, very big with the release of 1.0 and I'm guessing will soon overtake Mozilla 1.x's market share (if it hasn't already). I don't think it would be a good move for the Mozilla foundation to go back to the Mozilla Suite "brand name," yet some are holding on probably because of the lack of some features in Firefox, namely e-mail (although Thunderbird's eminent 1.0 should fix that, some want "all in one". I would have to disagree. E-mail and "the web" (note the quotes) are two totally different things.).

Expect another post on the matter fairly soon.

Slashdot | AOL Releases Netscape Beta, Based on Firefox

Firefox will own all!
The circle is complete!
Firefox, which was based on Mozilla code, based on Netscape code is now becoming the basis of Netscape.
I suppose Netscape has been based somewhat on Mozilla recently, but Firefox's newfound maturity with release of 1.0 probably was an impact.
I wouldn't be suprised if even future AOL browsers begin to use Firefox code. (yuck)
Anyway yeah, the more I think about it, I relaize that code belonging to the Mozilla Foundation has found its way into a very nice share of the web browser market.

Altec Lansing Products: AHP212

I just got these headphones from NewEgg and they are great. (well I suppose they could judt suddenly blow out) ANyway, I know you can get better, but these are great for being under $25. Not recommended for big audiophiles, but for average people who are willing to spend a few $, i recommend them.
The sound is good, the cord is very long (so more mobility for me in my chair), and there is an audio control on the cord, but I think I will tie up the cord above the control because the audio control is a bit too far.

Slashdot | SCO.com Defaced

Here's a copy of what was there (hosted by a German news site):

and here's what it has been changed back to:

High-Definition Optical Disc Format Security Requirements

I'm not quite sure why they think this will at all help. Once the format for SPDC correctuion is cracked, programs like mplayer can just use that to fix it.
There is no such thing as uncrackable copy-protection (other than making something completely unplayable).
Related Slashdot article

New Harlem Line Schedule Effective December 5

From the MNRR mailing list:

A new Harlem Line schedule will go into effect on December 5. Copies will be made available the week of November 29. Please be sure to pick one up and familiarize yourself with the changes.
This change is in response to your requests for a review of the previous schedule issued October 31. While we adjusted equipment assignments and train routing, and fixed cars that were damaged and out of service due to "slip slide" conditions, there continued to be issues of reliability (e.g. the timeliness with which trains pass through White Plains Station in the AM Peak). We determined that a new schedule should be issued to improve the reliability of your commute.
We remain committed to providing you with the best possible service, no matter what the circumstances. We regret the inconvenience you may have experienced.

The official site has an Adobe PDF of the Harlem weekday. Others are available too. I'm suprised to see that Harlem weekend is changing and so is New Haven, but I don't think alot.
Here is a summary of changes that affect me:

• #622 now stops at MVW officially (they have been doing so for a while unofficially, simply because #624 wasn't getting in on time to catch #324 at 8:00). It's time at WP has also been adjusted slightly.
• #512's departure time from NWP has shifted from 6:38 to 6:44

So not much of a big deal for me, but just having the two in firefox tabs side-by-side shows that there is alot of shifting around. From a tired glance, it seems that express trains are being moved either in front of or behind locals. Anyway, I just hope it works like it does on paper and doesn't make things worse. This is supposed to be effective until April.

Nintendo DS: Feel the Magic: XY/XX

this game is umm very strange
read on if yoy want to find yourself asking "wtf?"

Slashdot | Buggy Voting Machines

hehe
it's nice that the NYT is complimenting /.
CmdrTaco denies it: "We makese sense? Wah?"

Program Details for Eminem's Mosh

umm haven't blogged anything in a while
i find it interesting that this is on the IA.....that's really the only thing noteworthy

Slashdot | Blog Torrent Beta Released

uh huh

Slashdot | Jon Bringing WMV9 to Linux

Slashdot | Jon Bringing WMV9 to Linux

Slashdot | Intel Quietly Adopts AMD's x86-64

cool so now u can get an AMD64 from both intel and amd
seems like it will soon take off with amd backing it up, but intel no longer can claim to be original maker

cwap

alot has happened, but i've been busy playing nfs:u2

Half Life 2 release problems

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/14/0511228
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/13/2010229
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/12/1539203
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/10/2127240

I hope it never gets unlocked in Steam....

Slashdot | Microsoft to Release Three Versions of Xbox 2

interesting strategy. i wonder how it will work out

Slashdot | Half Life 2 Available, Delays Not Valve's Fault

Slashdot | Half Life 2 Available, Delays Not Valve's Fault: "This is not Valve's choice. Vivendi is insisting that the game has not yet been released, and has threatened that Valve would be in violation of its contract if we activate the Half-Life 2 Steam authentication servers at this time."
Funny that Pinko didn't mention this.

AnandTech

great now i get to re-learn pc building
haven't fully read it yet...i guess it can't be that big of a difference.
but will need new mobo's and cases

Poke the Penguin

This is great.
Some have remarked that it is similar to the Gentoo penguin.

Xanga.com is down!

Xanga.com is down!: "
Xanga is currently offline while we perform unscheduled maintenance to the site. We expect to bring the site backup before 11:30 PM EST.

Thanks for your patience,
The Xanga Team"
This is precicely one reason why I don't use Xanga.
I don't belive Blogger ever had unscheduled downtime. Oh wait, they never have had any at all. At least not in the past year.

Slashdot | Gentoo Linux Releases 2004.3

Well, I do need to repartition my desktop and I want to install some decent OS for some use here and there on my laptop.
Maybe this is the sign.
Of course I can easily upgrade without the new release, but I was also thinking of a clean install anyway. There are a few things i think i didn't do in the best matter, and reinstalling should undo all of that.

Slashdot | Solaris 10 Released, Updated & Free (Like Speech)

Well, I may very well try it out now.
My uncle, who works for Sun as a permenantly assigned Solaris technitian (he stays at companies for long periods of time to help them with solaris) has been wanting me to try and compare with GNU/Linux and maybe BSD.
this could be a good use for the PoS i have lying around...

pinkowim's Xanga Site - 11/14/2004 10:39:40 AM

horrible
absolutely horrible
if i showed pagz this he would definetely lower his "a"
he is defiling, disrespecting, and disgracing the word "constant"
constant never varies, correct?
so he is asserting that his value (even if he does admit it could be off a little) applies to all cities EXACTLY by calling it a constant.
regaurdless of whether or not it has been proven, is provable, or is correct, it is an incorrect use of the word "constant"

anyway, even if the word "constant" is used correctly, i have two more problems.
the simplest being that the # of criminals cannot be measured (esp. with his def. which includes small "crimes" like copyright violation). so many get away with it.
secondly, the difference of criminal rate in the US among cities is huge.

OHH a third. he says there are only about 30 criminals in larchmont. (since he cited it as an example) with his very large definition of a criminal, there has got to be more small criminals than 30. Heck, even speeding is a crime by his def! and there has got to be more than 30 © violators

Slashdot | The Microsoft/SCO Connection

I've said I suspected it all along (I wasn't the first to say so, though.) Now that a mainstream site (no, not /., C-Net) is reporting this, it may catch the attention of average Joe User.

Click on the Monkey!!

uhh yeah
from the latest e-mail, virus

NfS:Ug2 is pretty cool.

I wonder what SB will use to [pretend to (he's done it before, see "extra plug" #116)] answer e-mails next time.

EA GAMES | Need for Speed Underground 2

The best video game I have ever played.

Mozilla Firefox Start Page

MAD DEW SON!
anyways umm yeah.
looks like google is finally paying back for all the traffic they get from firefox.

EA GAMES | Need for Speed Underground 2

Awesome game.
I tried the demo and it is mad cool. The city is huge. I like how you drive around freely and find races.
Anyway, I'm probably going to get it soon as long as the reviews are decent.
This game could be my downfall. I've been away from gaming for so long. If I get addicted to this game, even if I grow tired of this one in particular, I'll just get hooked on another,
I think I also want to get one of the GTA's.

a bunch of stuff

Slashdot | Gmail Adds POP3 To Email Accounts - i guess the IPO didn't ruin them
I don't have it yet, but I'm hoping they are doing it by tiers

firefox 1.0 is out. there is no longer any reason for anyone to not use it (aside from maybe the lack of a mail client (fear not!-thunderbird is coming))

I ordered the HsR DVD today.

Slashdot | Microsoft To Launch Homegrown Search Engine
interesting...it indexes the PDG forums well. it's only the tech preview...so it's retardation "feature" has yet to be added

Today's AM commute was really strange. So my dad wakes me up mad early. I take my time, realizing I have lots of time. Then as I am nearing completion, he's like "hurry up i gotta make an early train" So I rushed to try to make the 6:38 out of NWP. I was pretty sure I was going to miss it though.
So anyway we were about to get on the highway, and then it hit me. IT WAS A LATE START! I got my dad to let me off right before the entrance, and I walked home. I got on the last bus...it was late. 287 was backed up, so we went beyond.
As we were approaching the station, we were "racing" the train (i could see it). i was contemplating asking to be left off under the station. we got stuck at the light right before it. while we were waiting the train left.
So I walked slowly to the train and waited a while for the next train. I got on a train pushed by desil locomotive #215 (mfr by General Electric) and driven by control car #6301 (mfr by bomberadier). The car i was in was one of the newer ones (with doors in the middle). The seats are similar to those in an M-1,2,3. They had handles on one side. The conductor control panel is mad awesome:

(i made that in MS paint in like 3 seconds)
It's pretty self-explanatory, but: Red light is on if there are any doors open. Green light(s) are on if those doors are locked and ready (but they are only on if that panel is activated by key). If the doors are open and the OPEN button is pressed, the bell is rung until the doors are closed. I'm not sure what the test light is for. I thought there was a PA there, but I guess not. These panels are at EVERY door.
We were on time for school.

Other minor note-8271 and 8270 are the best cars...EVER!

Finally, this blog will probably be moving from here either over thanksgiving or later. all data will be 100% preserved.

e-Voting sucks

just read it

This should be my slogan

This page is about me and why everything I like is great. If you disagree with anything you find on this page, you are wrong.

Gomprecht vs. MTA: The battle continues

Three more e-mails, in probable order (correction of order is welcome), with commentary (by me) following:

Several parents have asked for an e-mail address for Metro North.

The following web site for Metro North allows you to send an e-mail message. Click on FAQ'a/Contact Us on the left side of the page. Then click on the e-mail tab. Complete the fields to send a message


http://www.mta.info/mnr/index.html

The following is an excerpt from one of our parents. I found it of interest and it contains an address to which you might write.

"The customer relations employee told me he had not had a chance to drink
his coffee due to the number of phone calls he received from the Fordham
Prep parents and friends! He was very receptive and seemed quite sure
that schedules would be adjusted very soon. He suggested I follow up
with a letter to: Metro North Customer Relations 420 Lexington Avenue,
9th Floor NY NY 10017."


Metro North apparently has been inundated by calls and messages from Prep parents. Metro North intimates that they are willing to make adjustments but so far no changes have been made. If I find out additional information, I will pass it along.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions.

Bob Gomprecht

Isn't the e-mail address obvious. It's right there on the home page, like he said.
ANyway, they don't need adjustments to the schedule. They just need trains to be on time!
Myabe #324 should do for #624 what #516 does for #616. ("I took the early train, but I still came in late." -SDK, on thursday morning, when we heard announcement at NWP that #616 is late.)

Below are two reponses which were sent to some of our parents.

After the Second Response, I've included what may be good news which we received from Metro North a few minutes ago.


RESPONSE ONE

"Thank you for your e-mail regarding the Harlem Line schedule changes that took effect on October 31, 2004. Please accept our apologies for any difficulty or inconvenience.

While I regret that you have gotten a negative impression, providing the best service possible to customers at all stations is very important to Metro-North. We make a concerted effort to offer a proper balance of local and express service to and from each fare zone and to ensure that we are deploying available equipment in the most effective manner
possible. While all schedules are by nature a compromise, we try to make those changes that will benefit the greatest number of customers possible.

Metro-North recently completed the installation of a third track between Mount Vernon East and Crestwood. While this is a significant improvement for all Harlem Line customers, it has required us to adjust
our schedules up and down the entire line. Any schedule change may have an adverse affect on some customers and a positive affect on others. We make every effort to do this in a way that is as equitable as possible to the various communities and markets we serve. However, no schedule change is cast in stone, and we closely monitor the service impact after
the implementation of any timetable change, especially in regard to seating availability and connections.

We have received a number of letters and calls from parents of Fordham Prep students regarding the same issues that you have. Our Operations Planning Department is looking to make any adjustments as quickly as possible and I have shared your e-mail with them.

Again, we very much regret any difficulty, and appreciate that you took the time to write.

Sincerely,
George Okvat"


RESPONSE TWO

"Thank you for your e-mail regarding the new timetable that went into effect on October 31, 2004. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience that
your son and our other Harlem Line customers have experienced this week.

Every schedule must be a compromise that takes optimal advantage of the equipment and track capacity available to us, while serving the needs of as
many customers as possible. Any adjustment can have a domino effect on other trains, and require that they leave a bit earlier or later or make different
stops. The change has been compounded this week by an unexpected equipment shortage, which we are working to correct as quickly as possible, and by a slippery rail condition which requires us to reduce all track speeds. This is caused by fallen leaves and damp conditions in the autumn. This morning, the extremely high winds knocked down several trees, which fell across the tracks and caused further delays.

We are well aware of the problem the students and other customers making connections are experiencing, and are working to find a solution. Your e-mail has been forwarded to our Operations Planning and Operations Services Departments for review.

Again, we very much regret any difficulty, and appreciate your taking the time to write.

Sincerely,"

Metro North called the Prep to tell us the train which goes through Chappaqua will stop at Mt Vernon West in time for students to catch an 8:00 am train which will stop at Botanical Gardens and Fordham. The students will no longer need to transfer at White Plains.

I'm not sure if this resolves all the issues but hopefull it makes the commute more reasonable for a large group.

Bob Gomprecht

ok. I'm not quite sure what the call was supposed to mean. That train (#624) was always supposed to be able to catch the 8:00 AM train at MVW (#324). It's just late! If the trains were all on time, we would have NO problems. So them saying it will make it doesn't mean it will, because it hasn't yet.
I'm impressed that the MTA resonded with actual people writing e-mails, and not just form letters.
One major diss is that they basically said, "The new schedule helps most people. We really don't care if a few students are screwed over by it. They pay discount prices anyway."
The domino effect is certainly true.
About the equipment shortage: I think this might be another BRI (mayor micheal Bloomberg-Related Incident). Or even if it's not him, I think they mean we aren't getting M7's as fast as we had hoped, so there aren't enough cars for the new schedule. Therefore, we have to cut cars. One interesting thing is that there were still ACMU's in NWP last time I checked. Maybe they are still sitting there, decommisioned, just waiting for a loco to bring to scrapper.

The following is a more detailed explanation from one of our parents of the issue with some suggestions:

All of the boys north of White Plains are affected by this. According to the new schedule train #622 connects with #624 at White Plains, #624 is scheduled to arrive at Mount Vernon West at 7:57AM, and train #324 is scheduled to leave Mount Vernon West @ 8:00AM for the local run through the Bronx. All well and good if #624 gets to Mount Vernon West on time; unfortunately it has yet to do so.

I called Metro North this morning to complain about this, and was told that the problem is that #624 makes more stops than it used to and is therefore more crowded, resulting in more "loading time" at each station. I was on #624 this morning, and it was ridiculously crowded. The customer service rep suggested that the boys take an earlier train, which is ludicrous--in Jonathan's case he would have to catch a train at 6:41, which is about 15 minutes earlier than the train he used to take before the schedule change.

It seems that the solution to this is twofold, which is for Metro North to: (1) put enough cars on train #624 to alleviate the overcrowding and reduce the loading time at each station; and (2) make sure that #324 doesn't leave Mount Vernon West until #624 arrives.

I've already followed up my call with an e-mail to the MTA, and will continue to make a nuisance of myself in an attempt to get Metro North to remedy the situation, but I believe that they will only do so if many, many more weigh in on this.

Please feel free to share this with anyone else in the Prep community if you think it will help to motivate them.

OK- well this has some logic in it. Finally, someone has said what I have been saying all along. 6:41-that's it!?!? - I wish I could get on a bus that late! What a bunch of wimps. Although this year I discovered that I could make the old 7:40 out of WP by taking the 2nd Bee Line #77, but with the trains being late I can't anymore. (I was hoping that since the train is scheduled 6 minutes later at WP, I could be guaranteed to make the connection (Before, it was a bit shaky, it was about 75% chance of making it. The bus was usually late.) So now I'm stuck on the 6:09. I would hardly call 6:41 "ludicrous."
Then comes the idea of having #324 wait for #624, as #516 waits for #616 ("I took the early train, but I still came in late." -SDK 2004). The problem here is that from what I've heard, 624 isn't just a little late, it is so late that it hits WP at just before 8:00. If 324 waits for it, it will still possibly be late, and all customers at MVW and points south are screwed over.
This "nuisance" and "motivation" stuff is BS.

Slashdot | U.S. Continues Opposition to Kyoto Environmental Treaty

Interesting.
Oh crap, all that stuf I said I would post but still haven't.
I'm going to say thursday.
Today and yesterday were wasted.

RFC 760 (rfc760) - DoD standard Internet Protocol

RFC 760 (rfc760) - DoD standard Internet Protocol: "RFC: 760 IEN: 128 DOD STANDARD INTERNET PROTOCOL January 1980 prepared for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Information Processing Techniques Office 1400 Wilson Boulevard Arlington, Virginia 22209 by Information Sciences Institute University of Southern California 4676 Admiralty Way Marina del Rey, California 90291"
(notice that Micorosoft isn't mentioned there)

Microsoft deserves to have a huge natural disaster ruin everything of theirs and kill bill gates

...kind of like what happens in old testament stuff.
People have said to me, "You can't hate BillyG just because his OS sucks."
And often times, an example of other things I hate about him is hard to think up, namely because I forget stuff.
That is why I am posting this now.
THOSE MORONS ARE TRYING TO SAY THEY HAVE RIGHTS TO TCP/IP
Well I have news:
IP (no not "intellectual property" BS, I mean "Internet Protocol") WAS INVENTED BEFORE MICROSOFT EXISTED, AND THEY DIDN'T MAKE A DEAL WITH THE CREATORS.

Some of the list's most retarded:

• AppleTalk: It was invented by APPLE (duh, you know Steve Jobs and all)
• Daytime Protocol:
  • Firstly, Daytime Protocol is about as simple as a protocol can get. You open a TCP/IP connection with the server, and it sends you the current time according to its clock.
  • I'm not quite sure how something so simple can be liscenced. Oh right, it makes use of TCP/IP which microsoft owns [sic].
  • THE LINK THEY HAVE IS LINKED TO THE DHCP RFC! What a bunch of morons.
  • They didn't invent DHCP btw, either
  • And now that I think about it....I don't think it uses TCP/IP (at least not conventionally). I could be wrong thouh.
• Discard Protocol: Another ancient protocol. Very simple. One host spits data at the server, and the server throws it out. I'm not sure what the point is, but I'm pretty sure noone would pay MS to use it as it's even simpler than Daytime. But it is TCP/IP....
• DHCP: they also posted DHCP seperately.
• SNTP - OK now this one is pretty funny. The link they provide (to their own site) is 404ed

And now here's just a list because I'm tired of explaining: HTTP, FTP, DNS, Echo, Gopher, TCP/IPv6, TCP/IPv4, MD5-CHAP, SSL, SLIP, Telnet

Now, some stuff they have isn't rediculous. They put some stuff in that they did invent. Most of it is BS.
Anyone dumb enough to pay MS to use TCP/IP ought to be made unable to have children, so the genepool is saved. (Well bill gates too)
(NOTE: right now MS is NOT making people pay. Instead they have a royalty-free licence and pretend like they are being nice by letting us it for free. I think this is one step on the way for them charging to use this stuff. First they quietly assert their power, then they put it into use.)

So what does this mean to the public that isn't dumb enough to belive this BS? Boycott their software so they go out of buisness or at least Bill Gates doesn't have enough $$$ to bribe everyone.

History of Iraq and US

In a very biased manner. And in the format of a Dr. Seuss thing.

Election Judge using "e-voting"

very good read.
this is the scariest part: "How fragile. All of the votes from the entire precinct in my hand. Substituting those cards with five identical looking cards, one could replace all of the ballots that were cast with bogus ones."

No Software Patents!

We in the US have already been screwed over.
If the EU is as well, then there goes all the projects that have been moved there to take refuge from US laws.

Pager not fit to administrate decent board

So yeah, he said some really stupid stuff and worst of all changed my personal profile without leaving any notice of doing so.
I spoke out against this, but I think it will be deleted, so I am adding it to my collection of page saves.

Check it out. It's new. I also uploaded the article that I spoke about earlier.

Election by IQ

This cold be a load of BS for all I know.
So NO I am NOT endorsing this, or saying it's correct, or anything.
If it is true....then it's interesting.
I'm checking out the rest of the site to see if any of it appears credible.

Slashdot | Novell Swings Back at Ballmer

Novell is pretty cool then I guess.
Some people can't implement their stuff well.

I lied

This is intended for those of you who have son's riding the Metro North Blue Line:

A recent change in the Metro North Blue Line schedule has turned out to have unfortunate consequences for our students who take the train from the somewhat northern areas of Westchester.

The train # is 622 and the changes require additional transfers onto overcrowded trains. In some cases, students have difficulties boarding or slight delays in one train result in missing the next train. 70 -90 boys have been late each day as a result. Our Attendance Office people are overjoyed to near ecstacy.

We will notify Metro North. If your son is affected, you may also want to call customer service at 212-672-1290 or fax Metro North at 212-672-1250.

We would like an adjustment or a return to the old schedule. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Bob Gomprecht

Hey, that's funny. The Journal News did nothing but praise the changes in an article today (scan+post tomorrow; official link (missing diagram, expires in a week)). I think that this change is good for all/most express custopmers, but from personal experience, it is not for local. I highly doubt a change to old schedule will happen (after they spent all this $$$ on a third track, why not use it?), and I also think that any adjustments wouldn't be major. What they CAN do is actually make the trains be on time. I'm not sure who's fault it is, but I do know that if the trains are all on time, this problem will no longer exist. I guess everyone's on my train now, until then.

PS: Whoops! He messed up. Train #622 is not the one to blame, according to sources who rode were late every day this week. It's #624. All #622 customers (only Pleasantville, Hawthorne, and Valhalla. I'm guessing the parent who complained lives at one of these and nievely blamed the train they first got on.) they must all switch at White Plains onto #624 (which, after stopping at White Plains, has ALL Fordham Prep guys from Southeast to White Plains). #624 is very very late getting into Mt Vernon W., from what I am told. Therefore they miss #324, which is scheduled to leave MVW 3 minutes after #624.
Should I correct him?

I want to do this - Linux PBX AND pdg

...but will probably never gat around to it.
It's such a cool idea though.
The only problem is: what happens in blackout if phone lines are still up? Well I guess then you can go back to conventional phones that draw power from phone line.

There was a PDG "meeting" ("PDG" and "meeting" don't really go together well) today, but I ahd to get home on the 2:19. Unfortunately, i ran into Pagz on the way out. I missed the 2:19. I was tired from sprinting thru FU and barely missing the train (stupid people coming up the stairs and blocking the whole staircase talking when the doors were still open. If the staircase had a clear path down it, I would have made it). I called my mom just as she was leaving to pick me up from it and although she was kinda pissed that I'd be late, she agreed to drive me from 2:42. So I jsut sat there and waited, and wasn't that late.

I am going to bed early tonight. This will probably be last post.

Exit Polls and more

NOTE

• U.S. presidents are elected to four-year terms by 538 Electoral College voters, one per senator and representative from each state, plus three from the District of Columbia. In 38 states, the voters are required by law to vote for the candidate who won the popular voter in their state, although all electors usually cast a ballot for the popular vote winner. A candidate must receive a majority of 270 votes to win the election.
• All Times Eastern Standard
• CNN will broadcast a projected winner only after an extensive review of data from a number of sources. Details about CNN's projection process
* The poll closing countdown clock runs off the time on your computer. Your computer may not exactly match the official poll closing clock. To ensure a closer match, try synchronizing your clock to a network time server. Technical help and advice

-CNN

Some people (*cough*pinko*cough*) think that the results shown by TV stations on election nights are actually official and valid info. CNN admits otherwise. States with electronic voting systems might tell stations their data not too long after polls close, but as for the rest, it can take a while.

Major TV stations say Bush won by a margin of 22-36 (depending on who you ask) with remainin indefinete states being NM, IA, and WI. Most major american news stations say bush won Ohio now.

I really think Kerry was dumb for giving up, and Edwards is a big liar.

If anyone knows which 12 states are the ones from whom electors may vote for anyone, regaurdless of the popular vote in their state, please let me know. Here's som official info on the electoral college. I knew most of it, but learned a few details. Here is some other non-official info that appears to be subjective at points.
The people of Colorado chose to not split their votes. Somebody said they already chose to split in an earlier poll. Who said that? Maine, according to multiple sources, does split their electoral votes. (Someone, i think the same person, said they didn't do this) Two of them (for the 2 senators accountable for those 2) go to the statewide popular vote winner. The other two (from the two reps to the house of reps) goto the winners of each congressional district. Nebraska, one which I wasn't aware of, splits it similarly, except they have 3 congress persons, so they have 5 in total (2 to overall, and one for each district).
I say the whole thing should die.

There's a ton of stuff at wikipedia. I don't have time to read it all now. According to a wikipedia contributor, Badnarik got ~0.32% of popular vote.

I'll be posting a scanned NYS Westchester ballot probably tomorrow.

voting in Ohio and Florida questionable

...to say the least.
I've always been against proprietary voting systems. Something as important to a "democracy" as voting systems should be checked by as many people as possible. The cheapest way to do this is make them use open source software. I'd probably set up my own just to mess around with it if I had the source code, but serious developers would probably do more than just look it over.
Sure, you can argue that it would expose a flaw to malicious persons, but the chances of malicious persons finding it and noone else knowing are slim. If a flaw is found, it could be reported by those with good intentions and then it could be fixed so malicious persons wouldn't be able to exploit it.
Read the many comments left on that article for many different sides of story. (Top 3 (in no order) being: the election was fixed; the election wasn't intentionally fixed, but the systems are still messed; there is no question of the fairness of the systems)
BTW: I think it's a bit too late for this, since Kerry already gave up (or maybe it's not official yet?). If it is official and it turns out that Ohio was fixed, some Kerry supporters and Bush haters will be mad pissed.

Too bad the site they linked to wasn't ready to be /.ed. 509ed!!! I'd be interested to see it.

Yes the MTA Metro North stuff is coming.

In other news, I am on the NCC CIT list for 2005.

Also, anyone trying to access my blog earlier today may have had problems because it got partially published, [sarchasm] thanks to the brilliance of our school's proxy. [/sarchasm]

If anyone wants to know why I closed the PDG forums, its because I have too much schoolwork to be able to effectively and completely fulfill my duties as administrator. I figured also that it would remove a potential distraction from others, as everyone has tons of stuff due, not just me.

kerry is stupid

and edwards is a liar
they didn't fight for every vote
i'm pretty confident that kerry will not be nominated by democrats in 2008.
no idea who the republicans will....

2 other good reads:

• Shootout: 'rm -Rf /' vs. 'Format C:'
• Canadian Public Radio Streaming Ogg Vorbis

info on MTA metro north schedule changes will follow; 2 points for latenes!!