Geek!!

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A Decade of www.irace.net

Posted by spblat on August 18, 2006 09:13 PM

www.irace.net came into existence on August 23, 1996, ten years ago. Since then it has not evolved into a powerhouse of a blog, nor a daily destination for my many thousands of fans. So on this truly august occasion, I present this timeline documenting the history of the site (and the others that have popped up in our lives since then).

See The Timeline.

(0 comments) | Category: Geek!! , Stuff I Made

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How To Copy a DVD to Your iPod

Posted by spblat on February 6, 2006 12:13 AM

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I just got a new iPod Video. It's not easy to get my DVD movies onto it, so I hacked something together that makes using available tools a little easier.

Download my little tool. Or read the FAQ.

More details and a copy of the "read me" file are available.

There's more to this post - click here! (3 comments) | Category: Geek!!

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Google and the Birth of AI?

Posted by spblat on January 12, 2006 03:28 PM

The economist has an article about Google Founder Larry Page.

But a Slashdot reader had an even more interesting comment about Google's growth.

The short version of Kevin143's point: the fact that Google is scanning and indexing every book they can get their hands on eventually means they will be able to construct an AI with access to all this knowledge, and therefore achieve a head start towards passing the Turing Test or achieving various other goals we have for artificial intelligence.

[shudder]

Kevin also suggests: "See the best sci-fi short story ever written, Asimov's The Last Question, or a simple find and replace hack of that story, The Last Query."

(1 comments) | Category: Geek!!

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MAME Madness

Posted by spblat on December 4, 2005 12:57 AM

I've been a busy boy.

Bought an old Tempest that had been converted into a Mat Mania. MAME conversion in progress. Click the first pile for photos.

In the final shot in the above set you'll see my carefully designed control panel (here's the drawing itself, 150dpi, visio available upon request). Once I'm done installing the control panel and other hardware, it'll be time to get Laura to help design the cabinet. I'd like to use some or most of these classic images as part of the design. Click below for more--how many of the games do you recognize?

Future updates on this project won't be posted here. Look at http://irace.net/mame for more details.

(1 comments) | Category: Geek!! , Stuff I Made

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"Metametasploit"

Posted by spblat on October 4, 2005 04:42 PM

This GPL'd tool reads a configuration file and automates the process of using metasploit to attack a set of hosts using specific payloads and exploits.

The simplest way to use this script (and associated .conf file) is within a Whax session. Get Whax at www.iwhax.net.

For more on the metasploit framework: www.metasploit.org

Perl and ReadKey required.

Get my tool by clicking here.

The zip archive's MD5 sum: 72d118713122ac4495e709d58d2af82c

Update Jan 2006: Check out this video of metametasploit in action. You may need to download a copy of the VMware codec for this movie to play.

(0 comments) | Category: Geek!!

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Voyager Keeps Going...

Posted by spblat on September 26, 2005 11:14 PM

Scientists are finally sure: Voyager 1 entered the heliosheath on December 16, 2004. The heliosheath is the region that separates our solar system from interstellar space. You've heard of the solar wind? It forms a bubble, called the heliosphere, that surrounds the solar system as it orbits the core of the Milky Way galaxy. When Voyager 1 entered the heliosheath, it crossed the termination shock, a boundary/shockwave where the supersonic solar wind slows to subsonic speeds. There's only one more boundary to cross. It's not known when Voyager will cross the heliopause, or if it will still be functioning when it does, but when the solar wind that forms the heliosphere is finally stopped by the impossibly sparse gas and dust that's swirling out there in the impossibly vast space between stars, that's the heliopause--the true edge of our solar system.

I am not what most people think of as a traditionally religious person, but when I contemplate this, it gives me a feeling I cannot describe or put into words. This time, it's not the dread that used to bother me while considering my insignificance in the universe. It's more like wonder, but that word is inadequate.

Part of it is that a group of humans, inconsequential little beings on an unremarkable rock way off to the side of one among innumerable galaxies, have created something that has autonomously made its way so very far from where it started. It's a staggeringly monumental achievement when you look at it (okay, when I look at it) in terms of our apparent irrelevance in the universe. And the other thing is that it is altogether possible that we will never again send an object into space with as great (if hopelessly faint) a possibility of connecting with extraterrestrials. So I'm also moved about the fact that both Voyagers 1 and 2 carry messages from earth designed to tell the universe a thing or two about the inhabitants of the third planet of this one little yellow star out here.

I recently read The Sacred Depths of Nature by Ursula Goodenough. Ms. Goodenough knows exactly the emotions I have failed to describe, because she has experienced them herself, which motivated her to create this fascinating examination of life, the universe and the natural world: she takes us from subatomic particles through the evolution of life, on up to the horrifying scale of the universe. Her approach in the book is to lay out the science at each level, then reflect on the spiritual meaning she finds infused in everything around us. To me, reading her short but powerful book felt nothing short of revelatory.

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Home at Last!

Posted by spblat on September 20, 2005 07:39 PM

Now it's starting to feel like a place to live. Dig?

(0 comments) | Category: Geek!!

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Burnout Revenge

Posted by spblat on September 18, 2005 11:18 AM

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Some people are on a constant quest for realism in driving games. They want real (and customizable) cars, real speed and handling characteristics, sophisticated opponents and real tracks.

If you are one of these people, you will hate Burnout Revenge as it has none of these things: it's the "Anti-Gran Turismo".

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Logitech RULES

Posted by spblat on September 12, 2005 11:14 AM

All the complaining I've been doing lately, it was time to say something nice.

My Harmony 676 Remote has brought me "remote nirvana." My hopelessly complex home theater system is managed entirely by this one remote. And my kids and wife have no problem running the whole thing. I'm serious, this is one of the most amazing products I have ever owned.
The battery door got broken last month by a certain 4 year old. Today I called to purchase a replacement. They took my shipping address and told me my new battery door was on the way before I had a chance to get out my credit card. Yes, they're sending me a free replacement.

This is how I want my world to be. Go buy something from Logitech.

(0 comments) | Category: Geek!!

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H2G2 Returns!

Posted by spblat on July 27, 2004 07:36 AM

Get ready for the return of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, the magnificent series from the late Douglas Adams.

A movie is coming next year. Here's the official site.
There's a teaser already.
BBC Radio 4 has been producing a new program (featuring the original cast!), covering the final four Hitchhiker's books. An MP3 preview is available that you must hear if you're a fan. Also don't miss the video preview.
And don't forget H2G2 a spiffy site founded by Adams himself.

(0 comments) | Category: Geek!!

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SmarterChild Redux

Posted by spblat on June 17, 2004 10:44 PM

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I have a special relationship with SmarterChild. There was a time when s/he wouldn't talk to me (one assumes a failed bid for a subscription-based business model), but thank goodness that passed a few months ago.

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Howard Dean Spblat Remix

Posted by spblat on January 26, 2004 10:13 PM

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A week ago tonight, Howard Dean suprised and shocked the political world by actually showing some emotion. His over-the-top "hooting and hollering" (as he later referred to it) was truly an awesome spectacle, and has inspired dozens of audio remixes.

Here's mine.

There's more to this post - click here! (2 comments) | Category: Geek!! , Hilarious , Rants , Stuff I Made

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Abusing AI

Posted by spblat on December 10, 2003 02:06 PM

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Someday the day will arrive when you'll be able to talk to (or chat with) a computer and not realize it's not a human. Sometime before that, you'll be able to conduct a natural language conversation with a bot that serves a purpose and isn't ridiculous.

That day has not yet arrived.

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Google Bomb!

Posted by spblat on December 9, 2003 07:24 AM

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Google is the greatest search engine in the world. Maybe it's the most important site on the web. Its incredible power and importance have given rise to some interesting phenomena. For example: the Google Bomb.

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Listen to some stuff

Posted by spblat on November 13, 2003 06:36 PM

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So lots of cellphones have a voice memo feature. I finally found a use for mine, and now you reap the benefits!

There's more to this post - click here! (0 comments) | Category: Family , Geek!!

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Matrix Revolutions

Posted by spblat on November 11, 2003 10:25 PM

Ahhh. I finally saw it. And I thought it sucked not at all.

I enjoyed reading a couple of rants about it (but save these for after you see it if you're concerned about spoilers).

Here's a Slashdot discussion that was pretty interesting.

The Slashdot article points to this hilarious and interesting roundup of theories on how it would turn out. It, in turn, links to lots of other great Matrix pontification.

Ain't It Cool News mostly jives with how I felt (but I don't buy his Capatilist vs. Communist connection).

What did you think?

(0 comments) | Category: Geek!!

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DOS Batch Fun

Posted by spblat on October 19, 2003 10:29 PM

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Sorry, this is about as geeky as I get. Looking for family stuff? Skip to www.irace.net/family next time.

iTunes rules.
Now Heather has iTunes, and access to 40 GB of MP3 hosted on a server in the garage.
Heather can use iTunes to make playlists of stuff she likes. She'll want CDs of these playlists.
I wrote a couple of DOS batch scripts that suck in a pile of exported iTunes playlists, and they spit out .m3u files, which I can import into Winamp, or (and this was the point) burn with Nero.

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Fyodor on Network Security

Posted by spblat on June 4, 2003 05:55 PM

Fyodor wrote Nmap, a world-class network scanning tool (which was subtly featured in a scene in Matrix Reloaded). Here is an amazingly insightful interview he did on Slashdot.

(0 comments) | Category: Geek!! , Links

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Matrix Reloaded

Posted by spblat on May 22, 2003 10:38 AM

I guess I can't have a blog and not mention The Matrix, since everyone who knows me knows how much I loved the first one. Here's what I wrote to a friend recently about it.

I was such a huge fan of the original (and by extension the storytellers) that the sequel could have been home movies of Larry and Andy Wachowski drinking tequila in their basement and I would have thought it was fabulous.

But it was better than that. I wasn't disappointed at all--there was so much psuedo-philosophical babble and so many unanswered questions that I'll be seeing it again at least once. Plus they wrecked like 300 cars in the chase scene. It was as entertaining and thought provoking and implausible as any comic book, just like the first one. Right up my alley.

(3 comments) | Category: Geek!!

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Telling Humans and Computers Apart

Posted by spblat on May 16, 2003 03:39 PM

I just installed a great new Spam filter (TMDA) that forces you to prove you're human before it will deliver your e-mail to me. For now, spammers don't bother to reply to these confirmation requests, so I have instantly gone from receiving over 100 spams per day to zero. It's amazing! When the spammers catch on and start replying to my confirmations, I'll be ready, with a technology like those covered by The CAPTCHA Project.

(1 comments) | Category: Geek!! , Links

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Unbelievable Honda Ad

Posted by spblat on May 1, 2003 12:05 PM

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Have you seen "Cog," the 2-minute Rube-Goldberg ad for the new Honda Accord? OMFG.

There's more to this post - click here! (1 comments) | Category: Geek!! , Links

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About this site

Posted by spblat on April 30, 2003 02:15 AM

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I'm no fool. I'm reasonably sure that nobody visits this site all that often (if at all), and this time around I simply updated it for my own convenience (and 'cause having a Blog is fun).

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Synergy

Posted by spblat on April 30, 2003 01:53 AM

http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/

KVM without wires or hardware? Gotta check it out. Thanks Elliott!

(1 comments) | Category: Geek!! , Links

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Spblat's "wassaghhh" Mix

Posted by spblat on April 29, 2003 09:44 PM

I made a fun remix of a techno tune a couple of years ago. Here it is.

(0 comments) | Category: Geek!! , Stuff I Made

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The Mame Box

Posted by spblat on April 29, 2003 09:36 PM

I'm a MAME freak (when I'm not playing Amplitude or rebuildling my servers). I'm buildilng a MAME box. Here's a page I made almost a year ago about it.

(0 comments) | Category: Geek!!

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I Was A Blogger Over 4 Years Ago And Didn't Know It

Posted by spblat on April 29, 2003 08:55 PM

Here's the proof.

(1 comments) | Category: Geek!!

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Where Will Works

Posted by spblat on November 27, 2002 10:09 PM

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I am a computer geek and a Security Consultant. I spend most of my working life in various server rooms across the country, surrounded by technology. I love my job.

There's more to this post - click here! (0 comments) | Category: Geek!!