Mandriva 2010 is a Disaster

Perhaps feeling the need to meet the usual 6 month cycle of OS updates, Mandriva released its 2010 distibution for installation or upgrade. The transition from 2009.0 to 2009.1 was a nice improvement and I’ve been looking forward to 2010. However, my advice to all is to stay away from this one.

First up is the upgrade path. You can merely have the system download the updates and after a nice reboot, be all good to go with a fresh coat of paint. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work, anyway. Upgrading from 2009.1 to 2010 seems to crash the upgrade program once it’s done, though if you go ahead and bewilderingly reboot and hope for the best, it will boot up as 2010.

From there, the system decided it would withing a minute or two have a kernal panic and lock up. Not a fluke nor a specific program, the system would just freeze arbitrarily.

Alright, let’s try the fresh install, then. Easy enough? Well the boot loader seems to lack the option to overwrite the MBR, so you may have a problem with dual-boot set-ups if you installed Windows beforehand. Additionally with a secondary harddrive like I have, you may have to adjust your BIOS settings. That said, after restarting a couple times to get past the pop-ups that load before the keyboard and mouse drivers, I did get in.

Not much new at the surface of things, aside from being less stable and some screwed up font aliasing. Not too terrible as long as you don’t reboot. If you do, the system may load, or it may get stuck on the neverending loading screen that fails to even load the option of a verbose mode to see what’s happening.

A second attempt at upgrading yielded the best results. No sudden freezing, so it’s at least usable for the first boot. That said, the system is unstable, with X siezing up with appearance changes, and upon reboot to fix, we hit our old friend the neverending loading screen.

If you have 2009.1 installed, if you’re able to easily restore from a back-up, you may want to give it a shot and see, otherwise anyone looking at an OS look elsewhere. Either try 2009.1 or a different distribution altogether — this one’s not ready.

Conflating Morality – God and Language

It’s been a while since I blogged on religion, but this is one where I feel that even the best atheist debaters are missing the point.

A common apologist canard with regard to theism versus atheism is the concept of what they call morality. “How can you be moral without God?” or some variant therein. Now, of course there is the method of simply answering that question directly. How atheist make moral decisions, what the origin of morality in humans and society, objective versus subjective morality, etc. This has been done to varying degrees of effectiveness, and while it can get the point across, it’s ignoring that there’s an equivocation fallacy in the premise.

The question “How can you be moral without God?” is based on the apologist suggesting that the rules put for by a god in a holy book (for example, the commandments in the Bible), establish morality. The problem is to call that morality is to conflate that with the traditional meaning of the word.

The philosophical concept of morality and in any other context is reliant on the action being a personal choice to do an action that is perceived beneficial to others regardless of the effect on oneself. Any useful definition of morality includes in some part empathy. Following rules in order to not be punished by a god is the opposite of the general definition of morality, not the basis of it.

So we’ve established two general definitions for morality
a) Following the rules of a god
b) Acting in accordance to empathy and assessment of positive effects of an action, without concern for one’s own wellbeing

A question that could be asked of you is, “Is it more moral not to kill someone because you understand that person likely values his life, or because you’re afraid of going to jail?” Under definition a) the question doesn’t even make sense.

So it leads me to wonder, do the Christians who pose this question believe we should “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” because it’s in accordance with empathy, or because Jesus said so?

Lessons from a Call Centre

It can be difficult to get a grasp of a person over the Internet, even in a social environment such as this. For myself, one such attribute that may not be remotely perceptable is that I have little interest collaboration or socializing. My career path has been shaped by a desire to be independent. So as you may well imagine, you’d be hardpressed to choose a more inappropriate position for me than that of a representative in a call centre.

Fortunately the systems in place were so arcane and obtuse that there was still a substantial amount of knowledge involved, and thusly I was able to maintain a semblance of sanity by means of becoming a human encyclopaedia (a noted hobby of mine). But that’s not all I absorbed; these are the lessons from one year in a call centre.

Americans Don’t Listen

Sorry for the blunt statement, but this isn’t quite what you think. Not a matter of my own complaints of being ignored, but rather the flow of conversation. Apparently shocking to many, I actual listen to people when they speak, and don’t interrupt. It’s surreal to find that by doing merely this–by not talking over people–they themselves will stop to be reassured that I am in fact still on the phone.

American apparently is a different language than English

As some of you may have noticed, I can be a bit pedantic. As such, I prefer to speak with correct grammar, though I mostly gave up due to nobody understanding what I was saying. “To whom were you speaking?” is apparently too cryptic for many.

Read. Your. Bill.

A revolutionary idea, I know, but you should probably read your bill. Incredibly common is for a caller to state, “My bill went up this month and I was calling in as to why”. Are you illiterate?

FFS stop using IE6

Internet Explorer 6 was released over 8 years ago. When you’ve got hundreds of employees working entirely on web-based systems — JavaScript intensive web-based systems — all day long, you’re losing an enormous amount of productivity to that utter piece of garbage.

If you sit me at a computer, I am going to make things in JavaScript

Tools to help on calls, various games, animations, even clocks. I have an innate force to write web programs when at a computer.

Programming skills to the layman are indistinguishable from magic

Given enough time, inevitably as suggested by my previous point, there going to be a demonstration of my computer-savviness. The most significant example of which was due to a design flaw in the systems we were using. Discounts were listed on a page in drop down menues, and one such discounts would stay even after it had become obsolete on the account, yet prevent others. Frustrated, I injected JavaScript into the page via the address bar to remove it, which actually worked. Consequently this spread across the floor, baffling even the techy among them.

Another such incident had me gaining control of a digital display sign. Since the sign, when not set up for proper display, would show its IP address, I was able to gain access and the one thing I could change on the display was the name of the sign. So short messages could be changed. Well, someone else then accessed the sign, changed the password and set the message to “You Lose”. Within 10 minutes I found a security vulnerability that allowed me to change the sign without the password. I’m sure I just scarred whoever that was for life.

Speaking of which, I found cross-site request forgery in all the programs I tested.

By the averages, I am probably smarter than you

For a long time I had been primarily on the nurture side of the nature vs nurture debate when it came to intelligence. To sound like a school counsellor, I had seen underachievers simply not applying themselves while clearly capable. I can firmly at this point state that I have met far more who I am simply more mentally adept, which you wouldn’t think would be a painful thought. Though perhaps it’s just that at this point I’m now speaking with adults who are too old and too far gone to show any semblance of prior brightness.

I hate everyone

Ultimately the foremost force behind my leaving was due to further and further emphasis and requirement of sales. However, there is a separate issue that makes me wish I had gotten out much earlier, that being I feel as though I have been mentally poisoned. It’s a cesspool without allies; it’s a battle of the worst, and all sides fighting selfishly to their own end. Other employees and other departments shift blame, cheat the system and do whatever they can to avoid anything unpleasant. Customers’ sense of entitlement is inversely proportionate to their own ignorance. The company’s policies leverage its size and duopoly status in an increasingly abusive manner. I hate the company; I hate the employees; I hate the callers. It hurts so much.

Tears of joy isn’t simply a metaphor

The phrase “tears of joy” has always confounded me. It never really made sense to me about people saying that they cry at weddings. I mean, even the happiest of times, it’s more excitement that builds than anything else. However, when you’re essentially miserable for an extended period of time; have a crushing mental weight on you to the point of despair, and to see it finally vanish–the body lacks the capacity to express the feeling. With such a rush of relief, I can now understand.

Microsoft Windows as a DRM Posterchild

Microsoft Windows. It’s the cornerstone of one of the most profitable companies in the world, and controls a marketshare of ~90% of the Operating System market for the roughly 1 billion personal computers in the world. Naturally Microsoft takes its product very seriously, and in 2006 launched “Windows Genuine Advantage” a methodology for limiting the spread of illegitimate copies of Windows.

To understand this, we must first understand how Windows is legitimately used in the first place. After installing Windows, you have 30 days to register the product using your activation key. This key has a limit of activations that varies based on the version, and once reached, you must call Microsoft in order get Windows to continue working after 30 days and to stop it from nagging you to activate.

Cracks to stop the nagging and requirement for online or phone registration have been created, and Windows Genuine Advantage runs as a check to see if the system was properly registered or not. Microsoft requires this check for Windows Updates, and installation of Windows products.

Due to a resentment I have for the limitation on using a product I own, I usually just crack Windows, despite having several valid Windows activation keys. I had set up my parents computer from scratch and did this. However, a couple weeks ago someone tried to install Windows Live, which ran Windows Genuine Advantage, which failed due to the crack being rather old.

Now, it’s fine if Windows Live simply would not install, but Microsoft has an interesting way of coercion *cough*blackmail*cough* to get you to pay up.

Windows essentially becomes nagware forcing you to wait to log in, adding a perminent watermark to the system as well as a persistent system tray icon to harrass you. This is without consent (other than trying to install the Windows software in the first place) and does not come with an uninstall. It doesn’t help that detection is far from perfect.

Additionally, the system does not provide you the option to simply register using a valid license key, it merely directs you to where you can pay off Microsoft to STFU.

Aside from simply the malware-esque DRM methodology, by not allowing illegitimate copies access to Windows Update, Microsoft is doing genuine harm to the world. The prolific Conficker worm spread using exploit MS08-67, a buffer overflow in the remote procedure call service. This exploit was patched in October 2008, a month before Conficker was first found spreading at all.

Infected machines by Conficker or other worms or malware don’t simply inconvenience the owners of the infected PCs, but do harm in many other areas. Infected machines often become part of botnets, networks of remotely controlled systems often used for DDoS attacks and are integral in distributing spam. By also generating revenue for the creators of these infected machines by methods such as fake antivirus, grows criminal organizations.

Microsoft is not only being obnoxious and anti-consumer, they’re being completely irresponsible and in general if indirectly, is damaging their own reputation by these unpatched machines furthering Microsoft’s reputation being bankrupt in terms of security.

And for all these reasons, finally spurred by first-hand experience of Windows Genuine Advantage malware, my plans of eventually getting a copy of Windows 7 are dead. I also plan for any future computers that I should buy to get a refund for the Windows tax on it, if necessary, or buy one either with Linux or no OS preinstalled.

Blaspheming Freedom

On July 23, Ireland passed the proposed blasphemy law that makes it a crime to blaspheme, punishable by a fine up to the equivalent of ~$35,000 USD. This is an affront not only to personal freedoms, but to the expression of ideas and transmission of information. Knowledge itself is blasphemous to religion.

So, dear Interwebs, let’s do our part. Ireland is apparently out in terms of blasphemy, so we’re going to have to pick up the slack. Please make your way to the blasphemy thread and make the world a more offensive–and free–place:

http://thevgpress.com/forumtopics/the-blasphemy-thread_388.html

Seriously, don’t hold back now.

Fox News + Computers = ?

As I’ve written about in the past, the media is terrible with regard to technology. It would be fine if they were ignorant, but spreading it is the problem. There’s always misinformation abound, and throw in some Fox News and you’ve really got yourself something.

Fox News on the site cars.gov

You’d think they were juggling chainsaws with the disclosures on this. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. Congratulations, it’s your first time reading an End-User License Agreement (EULA). In case you didn’t know already, EULAs are always ridiculous. The Chrome EULA originally listed everything you did on the Internet as property of Google. Everything you post on Facebook is property of Facebook. Everything you do anywhere is property of Company X. It’s in nearly every piece of software you’ve ever used.

On the technical end, this specific instance is meaningless. It states that they have full access, but no, they do not have full access. Despite fear-monger central, there isn’t a secret backdoor that lets the evil computer people monitor everything you ever do and all of your files. While there are a disconcertingly high number of unpatched and improperly secured Windows machines out there, it’s not a simply just going through the list of logged in users and taking a peek at their harddrives.

And guess what, no, in general, it’s not really considered legal. The general agreement is that the nature of EULAs are unenforceable and would not stand up in court, though precedence is lacking.

Chessmaster DS Match Final Game

Game 13 appropriately closes out the match. I’ve annotated the game, which you can see when viewing the game.

Game	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Zurahn	½	1	1	0	0	½	½	1	½	1	½	1	1	6
Chessmaster DS	½	0	0	1	1	½	½	0	½	0	½	0	0	2

The end tally had me finishing with a score of +6 -2 =5 for classical point tally of 8&#189 to Chessmaster DS’ 4&#189, and with the match to six wins, a score of 6 – 2 in decisive games. More interesting though, for me at least, are the performances by colour.

As black, I had 4 wins to only 1 loss and 1 draw, as compared to white with 2 wins, 4 draws and 1 loss. Why that is, I can’t really say. Maybe just a demonstration of why 1. Nc3 is generally a poor opening choice.

Chessmaster DS Match Games 11 & 12

White pieces, I went on the attack in the eleventh game with the Ruy Lopez, exchange variation. Again like prior games as white, I got a decent advantage, but failed to follow through, resulting in a draw. In game 12, we saw another Scotch game, though this time I had black. It took a long time, but double passed pawns ultimately led to the victory.

Game	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Zurahn	½	1	1	0	0	½	½	1	½	1	½	1
Chessmaster DS	½	0	0	1	1	½	½	0	½	0	½	0

Chessmaster DS will now require to win 4-straight without a loss in order to take the match. I hope to finish it off with a bang tomorrow. As white, I’ve drawn 4 out of 6, including my last 3, so it’s time to make some headway here with the advantage.

Chessmaster DS Match Games 9 & 10

Games 9 & 10 brought a lot more excitement than prior recent games. Game 9 I tried the Giuoco Piano to fair success, gaining the advantage but squandering the opportunity. Game 10 proved the opposite; I had given up the positional advantage in favour of heavy pressure in the hopes of later overwhelming the engine.

Game	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Zurahn	½	1	1	0	0	½	½	1	½	1
Chessmaster DS	½	0	0	1	1	½	½	0	½	0

It almost seems as though I’m better off matching tactics against Chessmaster DS than to fight a positional battle. With 4 wins now, the next two games could potentially finish things off.

Chessmaster DS Match Games 7 & 8

I scaled back and starting playing more safely following the two losses, and resulted in two relatively uninteresting draws. This wasn’t particularly surprising in game 7 given I played the Scotch Game opening, which is very drawish. With game 8, though, a win was required to keep the pattern going, and opening preparation worked its charm for a win in the Leningrad-Dutch.

Game	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Zurahn	½	1	1	0	0	½	½	1
Chessmaster DS	½	0	0	1	1	½	½	0

On my side, game 8 takes best play thusfar. Chessmaster wasn’t really up to par in the game, but I didn’t miss my opportunities, which I had in prior games. It’s also perhaps the most interesting game as well, showing both the engine’s weakness in a position not ripe for tactics as well as a nice sac to finish the game.