Today on the A train, I was approached by a young brother attempting to sell his rap CD. "Excuse me. Do you listen to rap music?" he said in a very respectful manner. I nodded. He then went on to explain how he was selling his CD: "No bootlegs, all original tracks, laid down professionally in a studio." While impressed by his professionalism and modesty, I turned down the $5 U.S. CD. My annoyance with having my asocial commute interrupted precluded my from giving the kid a real chance. Not to mention is was the second time I had see this aspiring rapper on the subway humbly peddling his wares.
Afterwards, I realized that I should have shelled our the $5 U.S. and purchased the CD. This young man was doing something that seems to be lost in modern rap music: working the streets the hard way. I miss the days when popular rap was the voice of the people and MCs earned there "street cred" by getting play on student radio and doing shows on the rough side of town. When there distribution came from spending a day on the A train trying to get people to give their tape a listen. This young man was helping to put the grassroots back into rap.
I am not going to pretend that I do not bob my head of tap my feet to the latest one hit crunk wonder put out by an Atlanta based record label with a main line to Viacom. I do. But I miss the days when rap music was about more than champagne, automobile customizations, and mansions. I am not saying that a Negro cannot dream, but do we really need to "make it rain"? Is the value of a Colored man really determined by his "ice"?
30 January, 2008
pkgadd -d /var/tmp
Few things amuse Systems Administrators more than double entendre:
[edited for length and content]
On Wed, 30 Jan 2008, Black Wilmar wrote:
...I thought you were going to insinuate that I used a pkg to install Samba. I laugh at your package, and substitute my own! ....
Black Wilmar
On Wed, 30 Jan 2008, Ranting Nerd wrote:
Don't pkgrm me, bro!
On Wed, 30 Jan 2008, Zetetical wrote:
[edited for length and content]
On Wed, 30 Jan 2008, Black Wilmar wrote:
...I thought you were going to insinuate that I used a pkg to install Samba. I laugh at your package, and substitute my own! ....
Black Wilmar
On Wed, 30 Jan 2008, Ranting Nerd wrote:
On Wed, 30 Jan 2008, Zetetical wrote:
This is making me very insecure.
08 January, 2008
Setting up Java. Please wait...
I have recently been going through the exercise of installing Solaris 10 08/07 OS on an x86 system. In my line of work, it does not hurt to practice working with different operating systems on various hardware. The desire to be frustrated, bewildered, and enraged prompted me to do this on a work issued Dell Latitute D620 running Dell A08 BIOS with an Intel 945GM Graphics controller.
The most challenging part of the install for this and the previous release of Solaris 10, is figuring out the proper BIOS settings to prevent the install/OS from getting wedged on start-up. The combination for a Dell Latitute D620 running Dell A08 BIOS is to disable multi-core support, turn off speed step, and disable the PCMCIA port.
The true beauty here is that when you go back and boot to Windows XP SP2 from the GRUB menu, the laptop proceeds to run like the bits have been dipped in molasses. This begs from the BIOS to have multiple hardware profiles to choose on start up, alas the Dell Latitute D620 running Dell A08 BIOS does not contain this feature.
A little poking around on the internet and a well crafted web search yields the solution to the multi-core and speed step problem: Add "-B acpi_user_options=2 kernel/unix" to the kernel line in GRUB, /boot/grub/menu.lst. Most directly, it is a user added comment to the official Sun hardware compatibility list (HCL) for the Dell Latitute D620.
Ultimately, the point here is that I do not recommend multi-booting very different operating systems in general and on laptops in particular. I do this to occasionally practice installing, configuring, and manipulating operating systems not necessarily running operating systems for any kind of mission critical services. All in all, it makes for an interesting, quiet Saturday night alone.
The most challenging part of the install for this and the previous release of Solaris 10, is figuring out the proper BIOS settings to prevent the install/OS from getting wedged on start-up. The combination for a Dell Latitute D620 running Dell A08 BIOS is to disable multi-core support, turn off speed step, and disable the PCMCIA port.
The true beauty here is that when you go back and boot to Windows XP SP2 from the GRUB menu, the laptop proceeds to run like the bits have been dipped in molasses. This begs from the BIOS to have multiple hardware profiles to choose on start up, alas the Dell Latitute D620 running Dell A08 BIOS does not contain this feature.
A little poking around on the internet and a well crafted web search yields the solution to the multi-core and speed step problem: Add "-B acpi_user_options=2 kernel/unix" to the kernel line in GRUB, /boot/grub/menu.lst. Most directly, it is a user added comment to the official Sun hardware compatibility list (HCL) for the Dell Latitute D620.
Ultimately, the point here is that I do not recommend multi-booting very different operating systems in general and on laptops in particular. I do this to occasionally practice installing, configuring, and manipulating operating systems not necessarily running operating systems for any kind of mission critical services. All in all, it makes for an interesting, quiet Saturday night alone.
31 December, 2007
Promptitude
Today, for the first time in 2007 my flight from Charleston International Airport (CHS) to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) departed on time, if not a few minutes early, and arrived more than thirty minutes early. For anyone who has flown anywhere this year, this is a bit of a rarity. Between snow, thunderstorms, wind, and ice, this has been an unpleasant year for the friendly skies; but on 31 December, 2007, I was given a glimmer of hope. Imagine my surprise when not only did the cabin door close before departure time, but the jet taxied to runway 33 and the wheels were up before departure time. I almost forgot about the front end of my Thanksgiving trip being delayed over eight hours because my flight got canceled; the back ends of my West Coast trips having three to four hour delays; or my family reunion trip almost not happening. Kudos to my default air carrier for letting my 2007 air travel experience end on a good note.
27 December, 2007
Compensation
Today, the Supreme Court of the Great State of South Carolina ruled that a company must pay workers compensation to an illegal alien in 26409 - Curiel v. Environmental Management Services. The final ruling of the court seem in line with the statute:
"Every person engaged in an employment . . . including aliens and also including minors, whether lawfully or unlawfully employed."
Not to mention the opinion in the ruling carries a certain amount of common sense:
"Further, allowing benefits to injured illegal alien workers does not conflict with the IRCA’s policy against hiring them. To the contrary, disallowing benefits would mean unscrupulous employers could hire undocumented workers without the burden of insuring them, a consequence that would encourage rather than discourage the hiring of illegal workers."
Even though the court made a ruling in line with the statute the divisive politicians and talking heads decided this court ruling must be some sort of tragedy that the state General Assembly must fix immediately. One of the first state senators to chime in on this was Glenn McConnell.
Senator McConnell seemed to indicate that this ruling would cheat citizens out of money they put into the state disability insurance fund. He failed to mention the money that so-called illegal immigrants put into the system when they work. Any law to change this statute would result in illegal immigrants putting money into a system that insures everyone except them. The ultimate result would be correspond to the opinion quoted above. Things like this get lost in the propaganda of the times.
The real solution, which is almost always the solution to immigration questions, it for employers to do better due diligence. Instead, people attempt to be as divisive, abusive, and polarizing about this as they can.
"Every person engaged in an employment . . . including aliens and also including minors, whether lawfully or unlawfully employed."
Not to mention the opinion in the ruling carries a certain amount of common sense:
"Further, allowing benefits to injured illegal alien workers does not conflict with the IRCA’s policy against hiring them. To the contrary, disallowing benefits would mean unscrupulous employers could hire undocumented workers without the burden of insuring them, a consequence that would encourage rather than discourage the hiring of illegal workers."
Even though the court made a ruling in line with the statute the divisive politicians and talking heads decided this court ruling must be some sort of tragedy that the state General Assembly must fix immediately. One of the first state senators to chime in on this was Glenn McConnell.
Senator McConnell seemed to indicate that this ruling would cheat citizens out of money they put into the state disability insurance fund. He failed to mention the money that so-called illegal immigrants put into the system when they work. Any law to change this statute would result in illegal immigrants putting money into a system that insures everyone except them. The ultimate result would be correspond to the opinion quoted above. Things like this get lost in the propaganda of the times.
The real solution, which is almost always the solution to immigration questions, it for employers to do better due diligence. Instead, people attempt to be as divisive, abusive, and polarizing about this as they can.
19 November, 2007
23 October, 2007
Heterochromia
Due to the recent popularity of certain pop, dance, neo-soul, and novelty acts, I have taken time to ponder the genre sometimes called, "blue-eyed soul." Like any curmudgeon worth his salt, I tend to resist the popularity fast rising stars. I may even deride them for no reason except that they are new and popular. Enter Joss Stone.
I saw a couple of her performances on late night television while she was promoting her most recent album, "Introducing Joss Stone." Her brand of neo-soul was rather captivating--almost too much so. I allowed some time to pass and stumbled across a couple of her videos on an Internet based video service and found myself hooked, so I purchased the album without doing a whole lot of research beforehand. "Introducing Joss Stone" turned out to be quite the purchase and found itself in moderate rotation.
About this time I did some research to find out more about the album and discovered that most of the writing and production was done by Raphael Saddiq (a.k.a.: Raphael Wiggins, Charlie Ray Wiggins). This made it clear that the deep allure of the album was it sounded like one of the lost Tony! Toni! Tone! albums: "Star Kitty's Revenge" (Joi), "Brown Sugar" (D'Angelo), "Lucy Pearl" (Lucy Pearl). I found this a little reassuring that what hooked me on the album was not so much a white girl from the U.K. singing neo-soul, but rather Raphael Saddiq's intoxicating, unique mix of Soul, Rock, Funk, New Jack Swing, and je ne sais quois. After all, the album includes cameos by Lauryn Hill and Common [Sense].
The bottom line on the album is that between Saddiq's music and Joss Stone's sound it is a good listen. It is a little draining to listen to love song after love song, but the music is good enough that you can tune out the words and still enjoy it. As I said before, the album made its way into moderate rotation.
I saw a couple of her performances on late night television while she was promoting her most recent album, "Introducing Joss Stone." Her brand of neo-soul was rather captivating--almost too much so. I allowed some time to pass and stumbled across a couple of her videos on an Internet based video service and found myself hooked, so I purchased the album without doing a whole lot of research beforehand. "Introducing Joss Stone" turned out to be quite the purchase and found itself in moderate rotation.
About this time I did some research to find out more about the album and discovered that most of the writing and production was done by Raphael Saddiq (a.k.a.: Raphael Wiggins, Charlie Ray Wiggins). This made it clear that the deep allure of the album was it sounded like one of the lost Tony! Toni! Tone! albums: "Star Kitty's Revenge" (Joi), "Brown Sugar" (D'Angelo), "Lucy Pearl" (Lucy Pearl). I found this a little reassuring that what hooked me on the album was not so much a white girl from the U.K. singing neo-soul, but rather Raphael Saddiq's intoxicating, unique mix of Soul, Rock, Funk, New Jack Swing, and je ne sais quois. After all, the album includes cameos by Lauryn Hill and Common [Sense].
The bottom line on the album is that between Saddiq's music and Joss Stone's sound it is a good listen. It is a little draining to listen to love song after love song, but the music is good enough that you can tune out the words and still enjoy it. As I said before, the album made its way into moderate rotation.
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