Scott Bradford: Off on a Tangent

Command Line Reminiscence

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I’ve mentioned before that my first serious computer experience was on an old IBM PC-AT 286 running MS-DOS 5.2. I became quite capable of instructing that machine from the spartan DOS prompt, and every once in a while I long for the days of text-based interfaces and obscure commands (it’s a nerd thing).

The good news is that every major modern operating system can still be controlled, to varying degrees, from command line interfaces when you long for a retro experience. In Windows, you go to Start > Run and run the command ‘cmd’ to bring up a command prompt that works very, very similarly to the long-defunct MS-DOS. Mac OS X has a program called ‘Terminal’ in its Utilities folder that brings up a UNIX command prompt. In Linux it varies by distribution and interface, but there is always a ‘Terminal’ listed somewhere in its menus.

In the UNIX/Linux world (which includes Mac OS X, especially if you install MacPorts), there are a couple essential programs that allow you to live in the command line world for a while. ELinks is a capable text-based web browser. Alpine is a text-based email program (loosely related to the somewhat well-known PINE system, which has been discontinued). There’s also the Nano text editor (as well as the much more difficult, though immensely powerful, Vim and Emacs editors).

If you’re like me, and you want to spend a couple hours getting your work done in a text-based environment, it can be done. All I need to really put me ‘over the top’ would be a text-based office suite.

Al-Qaeda Goes Quiet on the Web

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Curious report from the Washington Post this morning: apparently the majority of web sites that carry Al-Qaeda information (like their periodic terror videos) disappeared from the web on September 10. Only one of these semi-official terrorist web sites remains in operation.

I, for one, don’t really understand how these sites existed in the first place. Al-Qaeda certainly has an interest in spreading its message (and communicating with its followers), but if one of Osama bin Laden’s lackeys wanted to put their hateful, violent gibberish on my server I’d probably say ‘no’ and call the FBI. It baffles me that various Internet authorities and businesses—DNS operators, domain registrars, IP registries, hosting providers, and so on—have permitted these sites to operate unchecked on their networks.

Of course, I could say the same about media outlets like Al-Jazeera that blithely broadcast Al-Qaeda videos unedited across their airwaves whenever they come out.

The answer, however, is pretty simple (but not very ‘politically correct’). Al-Qaeda represents one of the most evil ideologies the world has ever seen, but most Muslims around the world—even those labeled as ‘moderates’, ‘journalists’, and ‘Internet professionals’—seem unwilling to condemn them and their actions with any seriousness. Instead, they welcome Al-Qaeda (and Hezbollah and Hamas) as valid corners of Islamic thought, dialog, and policy. This tacit, widespread endorsement of mass-murder and those who would commit it shows Islam for what it truly is, more than Al-Qaeda’s evil acts ever could.

Two Sinking Ships Cannot Rescue One-Another

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It sounds like simple common sense, but it bears repeating: two sinking ships cannot rescue one another. It’s especially worth repeating to the folks at General Motors (GM) and Chrysler as they apparently engage in earnest merger/buyout discussions. When a particular industry comes upon hard times, it is quite common for its players to begin a round of consolidating mergers. This can make sense in certain circumstances—especially if a small, struggling company happens to have expertise in an area that a large, successful company lacks. But even when it seems like a good idea, these mergers often end badly for the companies involved.

Highly-successful Commodore bought newcomer Amiga in the 1980s, and they both fell apart together not long after. Palm bought struggling Be Inc. in the early 2000s to use the excellent BeOS operating system as a foundation for a new Palm OS, and the outcome—Palm OS ‘Cobalt’—never amounted to anything and Palm is still digging out from that and other debacles. Microsoft bought Danger, producer of ‘Sidekick’ mobile phones, and we have yet to see any meaningful improvement in Windows Mobile because of it. Daimler bought Chrysler (claiming it was a ‘merger of equals’) and, again with no meaningful synergy, unloaded the Chrysler division years later. Time-Warner and AOL merged too, and they are still struggling to figure out why and how to undo it gracefully.

If things so-often go this poorly even when one or both merging companies are doing well, imagine how it goes when failing companies merge. A combined GM and Chrysler is already drawing comparisons to the 1954 merger of Studebaker and Packard. That combined auto firm survived, barely, for ten years before ingloriously exiting the auto industry.

At this point, GM and Chrysler need to drastically simplify their product lines . . . not muddle them further with even more internally-competitive brands and vehicles under a single corporate structure than they each already have.

Best Buds (Sorta)

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Last I talked about Vincent, our new cat, I mentioned that Mei Mei didn’t much like him and hissed and spit at him every time he walked by. Thankfully, that didn’t last long. While Mei Mei still isn’t particularly amused with the new addition, she tolerates him and (dare I say it) might even be starting to like him. If nothing else, at least she has stopped being a little devil cat when he’s around. That was starting to get old.

They even play little chase games now and then, where one will chase the other across the apartment before the other turns around and chases the first one back. It’s pretty funny.

Final 2008 Presidential Debate TONIGHT

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The final formal Presidential debate between Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) will be held tonight at 9pm EDT. This is the last of three scheduled general election debates between the two major-party candidates. Third-party candidates are excluded from participation.

Tonight’s debate will be held at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, and will be moderated by CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer.

I strongly recommend that all Americans watch this debate, as it is the last Presidential debate between now and the November elections. For unfettered coverage, I recommend watching the debates on C-SPAN rather than any of the commercial broadcast and cable news outlets.

Scott Bradford is a writer and technologist who has been putting his opinions online since 1995. He believes in three inviolable human rights: life, liberty, and property. He is a Catholic Christian who worships the trinitarian God described in the Nicene Creed. Scott is a husband, nerd, pet lover, and AMC/Jeep enthusiast with a B.S. degree in public administration from George Mason University.