Here's some good reads about Dell and Linux. First, February's Power Solutions magazine is out and its focus is on Transforming the Enterprise with Linux. There are a whole range of technical articles with insight from various Dell engineers on topics of interest regarding Linux. For a less technical read, you can also check out the Feb edition of Dell's Insight quarterly. The focus for February is also on Linux is entitled `Linux gets an Oracle`.

By Gary at 06:00 PM in Linux | Comments (0)  

Wesley Clark, the former General, was on Meet the Press today. After discussing the situation in Iraq, Tim Russert was badgering him about the possibility that Clark may be exploring a bid for the next presidency. More so, he seemed inclined to run as a democrat.

Well, so I don't know any of his opinions on the economy, conservation, liberal etc., but this sounded like pretty good news to me. I did some googling and found this article on Slate. Apparently, he is a Rhodes Scholar from Arkansas, just like Clinton. Seems I can now stop pinning all the hopes on Howard Dean, the democratic governor from Vermont that had already announced his candidacy.

Maybe Gore dropped out for a good reason. I don't think he'd have won the nomination over Clark.

By Gary at 06:00 PM in World | Comments (8)  

My father, having just viewed this site, thought it was important that I mention that my grandfather didn't willingly drop that 'h' from lehrhaupt. Apparantly, it was in a forced bid to make it less German sounding while they lived in Poland. Somehow, I doubt www.lehrhauptski.com is taken.

We also spoke of the international sentiment against war with Iraq. Its pretty terrible how poorly our foreign policy is run. Though I've never read the Art of War, I'm sure there is something to be said about winning the minds of people-- how even if your cause is correct and the outcome, necessary, that if you can't properly bring people to see from your viewpoint, then you have lost. In our case, we have just alienated everyone. Unfortunately, our simplistic leadership will never quite grasp how snubbing our allies on all sorts of earlier issues (kyoto, steel tariffs, etc), is now rearing its ugly payback today. Or, maybe, its just another chapter in Europe's history of appeasement.

Either way, in America, its all explained as part of the same right-wing conspiracy which brought the shuttle down as my father tells it. I said no, dad, it was the left-wing which brought the shuttle down. And so another "dad joke" comes into being.

And, by the way, someone should have told that dude that pot was a Gateway drug.

By Gary at 06:00 PM in World | Comments (0)  

Phish has made the cover of Rolling Stone. If you look at the pic of the cover itself, you'll see how phish is still determined to remain out of the mainstream by seeming weird, strange or dumb. I'm glad they continue to do this. Though, I'm not sure they do it on purpose. Also, you can read this interview outtake article. Best quotes come from Fishman who says, "I could fucking care less if everybody downloads our album off the Internet. We're not in a position to be screwed by that at all. We have the one thing the Internet can't touch -- live music. If you can actually go out and play your fucking instruments, you won't be replaced by the Internet. If you're a good live act and you put on a good show, people will buy a ticket to see your show." I couldn't agree more.

By Gary at 06:00 PM in Music | Comments (0)  

On occasion, I'll find myself pondering what the name of my band would be if I were in a band (or had some form of musical talent). Yesterday, I came up with "The Royal We". But, alas, it appears its already taken. And taken again. So much for original thought.

In anycase, the thought process which led me to this name stemmed from The Big Lebowski. If you haven't seen this movie, you should, or something. Any movie with a role for Saddam Hussein can't be bad. But, that's just like my opinion, man. The dude abides.

By Gary at 06:00 PM in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)  

It took me a couple days before I realized it, but on the current Texas license plates the shuttle flying over Texas in the left corner is kind of freaky. I doubt these plates will exist for much longer now. I almost feel like putting a black ribbon on my plates next to the pic.

And speaking of freaky, did you see the Michael Jackson thing on ABC last night? Man that guy is just seriously messed up. Its almost hard to look at him for an extended amount of time. Its amazing what a crazy rich person can do to him/self. Usually, I wouldn't watch this kind of trashy TV, but for Michael Jackson I can make an exception. As for trash TV, what has become of 20/20? From what I could tell of the previews of upcoming stories, its turned into a celebrity news mag. What the hell is wrong with the citizenry of this country? Wake up, who cares about this meaningless crap. Except for Michael Jackson, of course.

Anyway, here's some more Jacko fun. A wook or a wookie is a semi-derogatory term for a dreaded hippie type person. Wooks.org was built for spreading the wookie love.

By Gary at 06:00 PM in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)  

Check out this article at The Washington Post and then read this one at CNN. So, it seems we are being prepared to accept some pretty heavy casualties. Sure, Saddam is dangerous and I do think he has weapons of mass destruction. But, if this really happens, there is going to be massive suffering and we will have brought this out for our quest for oil and daddy's vengeance. I think what scares me the most is what will happen to Israel. Saddam's only chance will be to go after Israel in hopes that Israel's retaliation will unite the Arab world against the war. Scary scary stuff.

By Gary at 06:00 PM in World | Comments (0)  

I've been thinking about the Columbia disaster recently and I really think its such a bad deal that we underfund NASA by so much. There is so much opportunity out there and so many people willing to fork over big $$$ that I seriously think we should change our focus to space tourism in order to get the space industry off the ground. Once we're rolling in the money, there will be plenty of resources to do whatever scientific stuff needs doing.

In the meantime, you could sell space tourism to the American people as a tax on the rich. Seriously. Only the rich could afford going up there (for now) and it would just be easy money for Uncle Sam to collect...straight from rich people's pockets. You might even be able to fund social security.

On another note, and speaking of space tech, check this story. Some Japanese scientist developed a suit which takes a picture of what is behind you and displays that picture on the front of the suit. Effectively, this makes you invisible since when a person looks at you, all they see is what is behind you. I've always wondered why this wasn't possible.

By Gary at 06:00 PM in Sci/Tech | Comments (0)  

Welcome to Bush's America. Not sure of his constituents? Well, then read this article on Salon. Of course, I'm sure the CPACers would have some choice words about Salon itself.

By Gary at 06:00 PM in World | Comments (0)