a weekend away from the computer

April 12, 2004 by Eric Richardson

I didn't touch a computer much this weekend, which was good and bad. Good to get away, but bad for the stuff that really should have been done.

Saturday morning several of us from the waterski team got up really early and made the drive up to the Buena Vista Auquatic Area up near Bakersfield. Lots of good skiing, and I've been feeling it yesterday and today.

I got back mid-afternoon, and then that night we had a little show at the Ragazzi Room with Lee Beth Kilgore and Justin Rosolino. Claire Holley also came and sang with Justin on a song. I wish I could have gotten more people out, but it was still a fun time. I really enjoy listening to both Lee Beth and Justin, so it was fun to get them together in the same place. And in a very "it's a small world" moment, the two share a good friend Lee Beth went to college with. I had my small world moment too, as I found out that Sally Smithwick and Joel Eckels from Paper Sun, who I've seen several times, are also old friends of Justin. They came out to see him play and I got a chance to say hi.

hehe... mcboob

April 09, 2004 by Eric Richardson

So, my roommate's name is Danyul Lawrence, but I call him D4 McBoob. It's sort of an evolved name; the D4 part came before school even started Freshman year, but the McBoob part didn't stick until sometime this year or last. McBoob has since become a very useful verb -- "He really mcboobed that one" -- but that's not the point of this point.

Anyway, the other day the Official D4 McBoob Fan Site! launched. It's mostly a product of boredom and the fact that I really wanted his email address to be d4@mcboob.com.

Not that much to the site, but I laugh every time I read the front page.

firing one...

April 08, 2004 by Eric Richardson

Still sitting in the library. Someone at the next table just booted up his laptop and I can hear the fan from here. I can hear it ramp up the speed at times, too. That's crazy. I'm ten feet from his machine, and I can hear it loud and clear. My laptop's sitting right in front of me, and I can't hear it at all.

Oh yeah, that's because my fan's off. It can do that because my cpu's just chillin' at 54 degrees C, my power draw's low at 1.2A, and my drive's been spun down for a while now.

I can't really understand why so many people carry around what are basically luggable desktops. His machine must weigh 10 lbs. And what's he going to use it for? To write a paper? To browse the internet? Oooh... That's heavy-duty.

if we can't have it, no one can

April 08, 2004 by Eric Richardson

I'm sitting in the big room at Doheny Library right now, doing research for an upcoming paper. It's supposed to be a position paper, so mine's going to be addressed to Congress reminding them of all the reasons that cable and satellite (and the Internet) deserve the full first-ammendment protections awarded to print rather than the watered down rights given to broadcasters.

Anyway...

On March 8, 2004, TelevisionWeek had an article titled "Barton Targeting Cable, Satellite." It talked about how Representative Joe Barton, R-Texas, was looking for some action from the cable and satellite people to curb violence and indecency. Here's my favorite part:

But the measure applies only to broadcasters. Cable and satellite are exempt from the indecency regulations, and that's a problem for Rep. Barton.

During hearings late last month, Rep. Barton voiced concerns that a unilateral crackdown on broadcast indecency might simply "move the more objectionable material to satellite and cable."

At the hearings, the concept of extending the crackdown to cable and satellite got enthusiastic reviews from several broadcast network TV executives at the witness table.

"It's indispensable that everybody who provides the content be a participant," said Alan Wurtzel, president, NBC research and media development.

First off, the concern he voices is exactly what I was hoping for last month. But that's not what I found funny. What's funny is that broadcast execs were "enthusiastic" about applying censorship rules to cable/satellite. You better believe they would be... The networks see what HBO's doing and they hate the fact that they can't do the same. So what's the solution? Take freedom away from everyone equally. — Continue Reading...

mid-day at the market

April 07, 2004 by Eric Richardson

With my renewed bike kick still swinging (it is only day three, after all), yesterday I got it in my mind that I wanted to ride from USC to the Farmers' Market. Today I did that. It's only 6.75 miles, and there's no appreciable elevation change end-to-end, so it's not that bad of a ride. The bikemetro route put me up Vermont to Olympic, west on Olympic to Hauser, up Hauser to Burnside, and then west on 3rd for a block or two. Aside from the fact that Burnside's an apartment complex and not a street these days, that route worked out well. I didn't pay attention to what time I left on the way there, but I clocked the way back at 34 minutes. In any traffic I'd expect it to take 20 in a car.

Wireless internet at the farmers market was down -- the lady at SitckerPlanet said it was out for upgrades -- so I didn't get a ton accomplished. I finished up a paper and did sit and just write for a bit, which was fun. I've put what I wrote up in thoughts as Mid-Day at the Farmers' Market.