Asa Jay's weblog

Two and a half years of school has left me a little out of the loop. I knew the BBC was producing a new Doctor Who series but two things prevented me from getting involved. The first was the fact it makes it to the United States late, and the second was that I was I still in school. Be that as it may, a friend at work has allowed me to watch a copy, starting from the beginning. Tonight, I just finished the first two episodes and I am suitably impressed.

It’s been some 20 plus years since I was first introduced to The Doctor. My first experience was in tech school with the Air Force, while stationed at Keesler AFB in Mississippi. One late night surfing through the channels on the television in the day room, I stumbled across this odd English program with a frightened young girl and a curly haired tall man in a long coat and even longer scarf. It looked sci-fi so it intrigued me. The episode was “The Brain of Mobius” or something like that (I don’t really follow these that close), and it ran uninterrupted. Even at the end of the show, I didn’t really understand what I had seen.

The acting was alright, the sets seemed a bit cheesy but the back story was intriguing. Who was this doctor person, and what was the relationship to this Sara Jane Smith person? Well, I didn’t manage to catch any more episodes there but once I got back home, I found this show called Doctor Who on the local PBS station, and it all became clear. I then followed it through the next two Doctors and it faded away. For almost any sci-fi fan, the resurrection of Doctor Who is almost a watershed event.

Tonight as I watched, I found myself engrossed in the same old, but familiar theme. Having only watched the first two episodes I can at least say it was certainly made for old fans. We get a passing quip from the new Doctor as he passes a mirror and comments on his new appearance. We don’t really know what his very last appearance was but he seems to be okay with his new look. This of course plays on the fans knowledge that The Doctor regenerates. Something else the fans knew about, was the TARDIS. Read the rest of this entry »

I currently receive an email newsletter called WinXP news, which is also available on their web site. Vol. 7, #16 – Apr 17, 2007 – Issue #273 talks about Open Source and asks the question if one is really better than the other. I just had to respond to this in several ways, here are some of my thoughts.
When talking about Open Source, the author states:
“If I find myself stuck with a hunk of junk that some stranger gave away or my free
download hoses my system, what am I going to do? Ask for my money back?”

. . . and I say. . .

Try doing that with Windows, or any other proprietary Windows Software product. You’ll get the same answer, “sorry.” When was the last time you read (really took the couple hours it takes) to read a EULA? There are no warranties that protect you or your data. At best, you might get an acknowledgment from the proprietary vendor that they know of the bug, and might fix it, or might not. With Open Source, chances are less than five minutes with Google, and 10 minutes on some forums and you’ll find others who has suffered the same fate and have already fixed it. In each case there is no way to get your money back. So what was the author’s point?

Later, the author asks the question:
“Do you buy the idea that being “open” makes software more secure, or automatically makes it “better” or somehow morally superior to closed source software?”

. . . and I say. . .

In the author’s own editorial, they never even approached real answers of security. The only thing they got into was how a proprietary kernel (MS) is closed source so no one can figure it out, while an open source kernel is open so everyone can peek, poke and monkey with it. Nobody can draw conclusions of security with such generalities. As for the MS kernel being more secure, BAH! When programs like most of Symantec’s products actually MODIFY the kernel, what kind of security is that? I’m in week number two of a WinXP rebuild because a Norton product failed it’s install in the middle of modifying the kernel. Talk about being screwed and having no warranties!

Next the author asks:
“Have you tried open source operating systems? Did you come back to Windows or do you still use Windows for some of your computers?”
Read the rest of this entry »

Last year, while going to work one day, I noticed a local hotel was hosting a Studebaker convention, of sorts.  I don’t know the details, I just know the parking lot was full of cars and trucks from almost all years of Studebakers.  While I spent some time walking through the parking lot, I found a few models and years that piqued my interest.  Later, I did some web searching and found the following years and models that I’d be interesting in owning:

• 1962 GT Hawk
• 1956 Sky Hawk
• 1953 Commander Starliner
• 1955 Speedster

Amazing enough, some of the early 50’s design, comes through in the later early 60’s design.  I can’t say for sure which model I really like best.  Of the four above, I could only pick a favorite if they were all parked next to each other.  I think the ’62 GT Hawk would probably be my first choice and then it would go down from there.

I’d want to of course drop a modern fuel-efficient, high horsepower V8 into it .  Maybe some interior upgrades for instrumentation, and a good coat of paint.  The thing that really turns me on about these, is that the bodylines and styling bring back memories of the early spy days, the James Bond, The Saint, and even Get Smart days.  And even most recently, in Pixar’s film The Incredibles, it harkens to the early car Mr. Incredible drives at the beginning of the movie.

I really think this could be a head turner, if I could only find one.

Asa Jay

My HP ze2315us notebook computer recently developed a problem and it’s going to be a pain to get fixed.  The display has developed a single-pixel wide vertical line about two inches in from the left edge of the screen.  It’s enough to be annoying, but not enough for me to let it loose at the moment.

At first, I tried to find anyplace in town that might service the computer while I waited.  I figured a qualified service center could get a new display on order, then have me in, replace it and we’d be good.  The computer is still under warranty and as it turns out, there are -no- HP authorized service centers that can do warranty work.  What?!  I turns out I have to box up and ship my notebook to some other place for warranty work.  I’m really not a big fan of such practices, especially when I’m fully capable of replacing the display on my own.  To make matter worse, they have this nice disclaimer that you have to sign prior to them working on it. Read the rest of this entry »

Finally, a day that was nice all the way through getting off work and going home.  I pulled the Pantera out of the garage and did some detailing.  I vacuumed the floors, dusted the upholstery and quick-shined the paint.  A little air in the tires, check the oil and water, and she was ready for a quick test drive.

Seems like it’s been almost a year now since the last time I had the Pantera out of the garage.  I drove it today and it felt good, just rumbling along the freeway doing the speed limit.  As I drove I began thinking of all the things I need or wish to do to the car.

The entire suspension needs to be overhauled.  New bushings, possibly even new a-arms.  New shocks and springs.  I have a dual-sucker fan I need to install behind the radiator too.  Get the water tanks reconditioned or buy new ones.  Pull the ZF (that’s the transmission) and overhaul it.  Get some new seat belts installed.  Bigger things I’d like to do are install dropped floor pans, a four-point roll cage with five-point seat belts, upgrade the brakes, new wheels and tires and I’ve got a small rear spoiler to install.  The bodywork and paint are in almost-desperate need of attention, but overall she’s pretty straight and looks good at car shows just the way she is.

I’ve thought about autocrossing the Pantera, but I simply can’t until I get some of the mechanical work done.  Then eventually I wish to build another engine for it.  It currently has the stock original 1973 351C engine.  The ’73 model year was a pretty de-tuned version of the Cleveland.  I need to fix that up some, get some more horsepower back into the car.  I’ll probably work on those specs a little while later.  I can’t really see starting until I’m out of school.

I did find out about the Spokane Italian Car Club today.  I should be getting more information on them soon.  I think it will be kind of neat to hang out with other Italian car enthusiasts.  I’m anxious to see what they do.  Let’s hope this summer presents plenty of opportunities to have fun.

Asa Jay