(Potentially) Getting Involved

Through years of denouncing proprietary software, I never really did anything for the benefit of open software. At best, I have created a few digital works of art and published them using Creative Commons licenses. At worst, I still mainly use Windows because that's what everybody else in the world uses and they don't plan on switching anytime soon. Another reason I still use Windows is because the Wireless Internet card on my laptop doesn't work (with Fedora 6 installed) and so instead of fixing that - it is easier just to go online at home on my dad's computer.

But rejoice, because using my dad's computer won't be an option a week from now so tonight I was motivated to get my Wireless Internet working. My gameplan has been in place for a long time. Dump Fedora, install Ubuntu. Supposedly under Ubuntu things "just work".

So, I downloaded an ISO image of the Desktop install from this page. I burned it with the conveniently linked InfraRecorder. I popped it into my laptop and 5 minutes later was looking at my Ubuntu GNOME Desktop. It was pretty. I loaded Firefox and browsed the (wired) internet. I unplugged the ethernet cable and lost my connection. Damn.

I notice that there is an "Restricted Drivers" section which included (a) 3d Desktop Effects, and (b) Broadcom 43xx Ethernet Driver. I clicked through the 3d Effects, but got rejected by the Ethernet Driver install. Damn.

I browsed online for "Broadcom 43xx Linux Driver" and read through many of the links. I tried to download bcm43xx-fwcutter from its homepage but it seemed to be down. Eventually, I found the "004" version of the release of the tarball. Then I found the drivers for my Ethernet card from Broadcom (which the instructions said I needed). Finally, I tried to run 'make' on the bcm43xx package and got a ton of errors. Damn.

Time to reboot... and hope that something I did will be rectified by a fresh load of the system. And then I see Fedora load. Damn LiveCD. No wonder I didn't have to do anything to install the software. It never got installed! So, I downloaded the "alternate version" (by clicking the checkbox at the bottom of the download page).

So, I burned a new ISO and went through the normal installation. When it came up, I could easily install the Broadcom 43xx drivers through the Restricted Drivers section (but then I noticed [using 'lspci | grep Broadcom'] that the 43xx was my 10/100 Ethernet WIRE. I had a different Broadcom for Wireless, and *it* seemed to be correctly installed. But why didn't the internet work when I unplug the wire? Damn.

After some investigation, I was able to click and see available Wireless Networks and even though I have a wireless access point right next to me, I couldn't get any connection. Maybe it is screwed up. In any case, I've got my fingers crossed that when I move to Cambridge that I will be able to use wireless without a hitch in places like Starbucks.

So, yeah. The subject today is "(Potentually) Getting Involved". I clicked through the website for the Ubuntu LoCo Team from Mass and joined their Community so I can review and respond to their forum or hit up the LaunchPad site.

Lots of fun.

The Open Daily Show

Viacom, the parent company of CBS and Comedy Central, has boldly done something progressive for their beloved property starring Jon Stewart. For a long time comedycentral.com has hosted a feature called "The Mother Load", but now they have dedicated themselves to hosting the complete broadcast of all the episodes of The Daily Show and it is glorious.

And, since they actually own the content, I can post links without fear that they will lead to DMCA Takedown Notification Notices. For instance, check out this video which features Geraldo Riveria's unique perspective of the Duke Lacrosse case at time 1 minute 56 seconds (too bad they don't have an intuitive way of linking to the middle of a clip, like Google).

Thus far the system isn't perfect, and I have found that it takes a day or two before a show gets posted. Also, they don't have any friendly system (as far as I see) of letting the audience know when the show is taking off while repeats air on Comedy Central (like this week, and hence a lack of new content), but they can only get better.

The Choice between Working Hard and Slacking Off

The motivation for today's post comes from recent reflection I've been doing on the topic of control. I think some people like to have control, while others prefer not having control. In the grand scheme of things, it is much easier to go through life by giving up control (to others).

Then I came across this comic this morning.

http://xkcd.com/267/

Guide: I shouldn't do this, but I pulled you out for a moment to give you a hint.
Wanderer: A hint?
Guide: Take wrong turns. Talk to strangers. Open unmarked doors. And if you see a group of people in a field, go find out what they're doing. Do things without always knowing how they'll turn out.
Wanderer: Why tell me this?
Guide: You're curious and smart and bored, and all you see is the choice between working hard and slacking off. There are so many adventures that you miss because you're waiting to think of a plan. To find them, look for tiny interesting choices. And remember that you are always making up the future as you go.
Wanderer: So, wait, what is this place? Am I going to wake up thinking this was a dream?
Guide: This is... think of this as adter the game, outside the theatre. To go in, I had to suspend disbelief, forget the outside.
Wanderer: So you... huh. Why give me hunts I'm going to forget?
Guide: You'll forget this trip but I think the hints should stay with you.
Wanderer: ...if this is a game, are you - are we - cheating?
Guide: Yup.
Wanderer: Is that a good idea?
Guide: Well, it's an interesting one. We'll see how it goes.
Wanderer: Well, I guess I'll see you aroun-. Wait a minute; Have you brought me here before?
Guide: I... maybe once.
Wanderer: For another hint?
Guide: Er. Actually, we just made out.
Wanderer: We wh-
Guide: Bye!

I like the message here. I think the author is trying to impress upon his audience that neither slacking off, nor working hard are virtuous. Instead, adventures abound when you take control of rationality and force yourself out of your comfort zone in very minor ways. And adventures are fun.

And even adventures that end badly are good. Such misadventures often lead to unintentionally positive returns. For instance:

Taking the Midtown Tunnel to get from the Long Island Expressway to New Jersey during rush hour.

I will finish this post later....

Love for MIT and OCW

In a world where college costs more than $100,000 it is good to know that you can get access to the same material for free. If you can forgo the institutional classroom, the guise of the professor, and the pursuit of earning high marks, that is. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers many of it's courses available in this format through a project that they call "OpenCourseWare".

I have personally read through much of the Fall 2004 course 24.221 (Metaphysics: Free Will). And while I couldn't cite the names of the theories at this point because I never had to memorize them for a test, I could probably explain the fundamentals about the courses baseline question, "Do we have free will?". If you think you do, simply consider the fact that given a set of options you will always make a choice based on criteria which you have learned in the past and choose the option which maps to the highest value for your criteria so that all present decisions are dictated by past actions... and if you think you don't have free will then consider the fact that you are capable of choosing an action that you know won't lead to an optimal outcome.

At any rate, OCW is a little library of wealth in the form of knowledge. Anybody with the passion to learn would be better off, in my opinion, by going through the courses that interest them in OCW than in pursuing degrees that will lead to professional occupations. In particular, I offer my advise to people who are considering part or full-time graduate school to "pad" their undergrad degree. It turns out, I was fortunate enough to work at a company that was willing to reimburse the full cost of my graduate education and in hide sight I probably gained more from F2004 24.211 (which cost the same amount). :)