Seekbrain.com

Hey all,

I changed Seekbrain over to the TypeKey authentication system. This was in response to a large number of spam posts being made so hopefully the TypeKey auth will at the very least slow them down.
Stuart

Well.. I do COMP2801 and we have to modify a large piece of software. Our group chose Columba cause it looked cool.

SOO.. We downloaded it and compiled it on the Sun machines. COOL! It’s an awesome piece of software. SOO.. Then I think to myself “Well, Java is cross platform so I’ll compile it with ANT on Linux”. Right? No friggin way.

One of the key requirements for Columba is a bunch of Swing/JFC classes. For those that don’t know JFC is the Java Foundation Classes. It’s basically Sun’s idea of a common set of additional classes for use in apps. It’s supposedly standardized. APPARENTLY they come with the J2RE/J2SDK packages Sun releases. Yeah friggin right! Sun fails to release ANY swing classes (specifically javax.swing.*) in their binaries. WTF SUN?!

SOO.. I’m like “Ok, well they have a seperate webpage for JFC/Swing”. So I figured I’d grab it from there. So I click “Downloads” and am sent to some Accesibility download page. I’m like WTF?! So I goto download the files and the page says:

Note: You don’t need to download the accessibility utilities to make your JFC programs support accessibility. If you do download the utilities, be sure to pick the version corresponding to the JFC or J2SDK release you’re using. See How to Download the Accessibility Utilities for more information.

Well that’s friggin stupid Sun. YOU DON’T SUPPLY THE JFC CLASSES!

That’s not all, my rant on IRC explains my next major bitch as bluntly as possible:

here’s fscking stupidity
[stuart@piglet stuart]$ java -version
java version “1.4.2_05″
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.4.2_05-b04)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.4.2_05-b04, mixed mode)
[stuart@piglet stuart]$ ant -version
Apache Ant version 1.5.2-26 compiled on May 5 2004
[stuart@piglet stuart]$
that’s on my local machine
ok I think
all good
BUT
login to friggin moss/lichen
s4027706@moss:~$ java -version
java version “1.4.2″
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.4.2-b28)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.4.2-b28, mixed mode)
s4027706@moss:~$ ant -version
Apache Ant version 1.5.3 compiled on April 16 2003
s4027706@moss:~$
riiiggghhttt
Ant is one point version ahead but was compiled a year prior
java is some build 28 or something
but wtf is my version?
1.4.2_05-b04
that’s like build 4
of what?
friggin 2_05?
versioning systems are made for a reason Sun
so WHAT THE **** ARE YOU DOING TO THEM!
screw you Sun

Yes.. I’m angry… Java is stupid and Sun is dumb. How on EARTH do they expect Java to become mainstream when a reasonably competent developer like myself can’t figure out how to get an application compiling when he KNOWS it works FINE on a Sun machine and uses STANDARD classes.

Stuart

Hehehee.

It had to be brought up, John howard failed to impress his youngest critics while doing the rounds for his election campaign. The photos tell it all:

Hey all,

I upgraded to MT 3.11. Took a bit of doing but I finally got it done. It’s interesting to note that while Six Apart DOES put limits on licencees their software doesn’t enforce it.

I’m a big fan of “honesty” based licencing and consequently I’d say I’ll be paying for MT.
Stuart

Well… SOMEONE had to analyze everything and Project Censored seem like the most obvious people to do it. They’ve released “Censored 2005: The Top 25 Censored Media Stories of 2003-2004″ over here.

I dunno about Americans but nearly all the mid 20s generation in Australia KNOW that the American government is EASILY the most hypocritical when it comes to seeking to avoid “oppression”. All these points about America (or rather the American government) seem to support my belief that America is your perfect example of an Orwellian society.

Everybody is equal/free but some are more equal/free than others.

Amazing how an author over 50 years ago saw with such clarity.

SO! Into the breach….

On these HUGE arsenal of WMDs these Arab nations apparently had/have (here):

Most American weapons (missiles, smart bombs, dumb bombs, bullets, tank shells, cruise missiles, etc.) contain high amounts of radioactive uranium. Depleted or non-depleted, these types of weapons, on detonation, release a radioactive dust which, when inhaled, goes into the body and stays there. It has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. Basically, it’s a permanently available contaminant, distributed in the environment, where dust storms or any water nearby can disperse it. Once ingested, it releases subatomic particles that slice through DNA.

At the Uranium Weapons Conference held October 2003 in Hamburg, Germany, independent scientists from around the world testified to a huge increase in birth deformities and cancers wherever NDU [non depleted uranium] and DU [depleted uranium] had been used. Professor Katsuma Yagasaki, a scientist at the Ryukyus University, Okinawa calculated that the 800 tons of DU used in Afghanistan is the radioactive equivalent of 83,000 Nagasaki bombs. The amount of DU used in Iraq is equivalent to 250,000 Nagasaki bombs.

On America’s “democracy” (link):

Election Systems & Software (ES&S), Diebold, and Sequoia are the companies primarily involved in implementing the new, often faulty, technology at voting stations throughout the country. All three have strong ties to the Bush Administration and other Republican leaders, along with major defense contractors in the United States. ES&S and Diebold, owned by brothers Bob and Todd Urosevich, will be counting about 80% of the votes cast in 2004. Each one of the three companies has a past plagued by financial scandal and political controversy:
In 1999 the Justice Department filed federal charges against Sequoia alleging that employees paid out more than 8 million dollars in bribes. Shortly thereafter, election officials for Pinellas County, Florida, cancelled a fifteen-million-dollar contract with Sequoia after it was discovered that Phil Foster, a Sequoia executive, faced indictment for money laundering and bribery.

Weapon of Mass Destruction (link)?

Scientists funded by the US government have developed a way to make pox viruses incredibly deadly. Ostensibly, this research is being conducted as part of the plan to fight possible bio-terror attacks. The new virus kills all mice even if they have been given antiviral drugs along with a vaccine that would normally protect the victim from death. Mark Buller of the University of St. Louis has managed to modify mousepox, rabbitpox, and cowpox viruses so that they are deadly to vaccinated mice nearly 100% of the time through the introduction of an immunosuppressant protein called Interleukin-4 (IL-4). The modified pox viruses eliminate the immune system’s cell-mediated response. They are now immune to the antiviral drug Cidofovir, known to be the last line of defense in treating resistant viruses.

And to the [NOT FREE] Iraq issue (link):

Soon after Coalition forces toppled the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq, occupying Chief L. Paul Bremer III, reflecting on the new freedom in Iraq, told journalists that they were no longer constrained by the government and were now “free to criticize whoever, or whatever, you want.” But he was not telling the truth. Everything changed very quickly when Bremer was the person coming under that very criticism.

When negative critiques of his policies appeared on the Iraqi Media Network (IMN), Bremer placed controls on its content. IMN was an American-run outfit contracted by the Pentagon to put out news after the fall of Saddam. IMN’s mission was two-fold: to be both a PBS-style broadcaster and a means for the occupying authorities to communicate with the Iraqis. Bremer issued a nine-point list of “prohibited activity” that included incitement to violence, support for the Baath Party, and publishing material that is patently false and calculated to promote opposition to the occupying authority. He clamped down further on the independent media in Iraq by closing down a number of Iraqi-run newspapers and radio and television stations. The IMN was bound to find a conflict in encouraging democratic values while under pressure to go along with the coalition forces ruling by force.

Ironic isn’t it?

Stuart