The Captain’s (B)log

…so we’re sitting there, having just installed “Joost”:http://joost.com on our main Windows computer, and we’re watching “Strangers with Candy” on the MTV channel, and then all of a sudden…

All the other computers on my network start going apeshit and telling me they’re having their ports scanned, and the originating address is the computer I’ve just installed Joost on.

Uh… Yeah. No. Nuh-uh. Fuck that shit. I uninstalled it and now I’m having to do full scans just to make sure that I’ve gotten rid of all its little processes.

Now, look — I know about Joost’s “relevant advertiser information” that it sends to companies like Viacom, Warner, and the like; I expect that shit. Companies like DirectTV already do that (it’s how you can see features like “what are other people watching” on the DirectTV service), and you _pay_ them to let them do it to you.

But the port scanning of other computers on my network? Nope — you leave the other fucking computers on my network alone. If I want you looking at them, I’ll install your fucking software _on_ them.

Port scanning is spyware-like activity, and if I wanted spyware on my computer, I’d turn off my firewalls and browse with “Internet Explorer”:http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/default.mspx, okay?

“No negotiations with Microsoft in progress — MarkShuttleworth.com”:http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/127

Give ‘em hell, Mark.

I like the way he approaches this from a business standpoint, too, and not just one of “Microsoft Bad — No Deals with Them!”

…for the first time in about 12 years or something, and they ground on one of my teeth with a device that reminded me of a belt sander.

A very small one, of course. Tooth-size.

God, the default behavior drives me nuts! In case you’re not “in the know,” pressing the “Home” key on your keyboard if you’re using a Mac will scroll whatever window you’re in to the top — on a Windows computer, if just sends the cursor to whatever line you’re currently typing on.

Well, “to each technology its own and all,” but I’m used to Windows’ behavior, so I’m going to have to change that if I’m going to type on a Mac.

So, I set out to look for a way to change it, and found “this site on the web”:http://evansweb.info/articles/2005/03/24/mac-os-x-and-home-end-keys — pretty straight forward, if you ask me!

Just add the following lines to your “~/Library/KeyBindings/DefaultKeyBinding.dict.” file (if it doesn’t exist, create it):

{
/* Remap Home / End to be correct */
“\UF729″ = “moveToBeginningOfLine:”; /* Home */
“\UF72B” = “moveToEndOfLine:”; /* End */
“$\UF729″ = “moveToBeginningOfLineAndModifySelection:”; /* Shift + Home */
“$\UF72B” = “moveToEndOfLineAndModifySelection:”; /* Shift + End */
}

And that’s it! Just restart any application that you want to reflect this behavior and you’re good to go!

Well, “Movable Type 4″:http://movabletype.org has been released, and the makers have finally decided to release a free version again.

I’ll probably be moving back to MT, of course. I’ll still keep doing stuff in Textpattern, too — I still think it’s the best, with it’s combination of tag-based templates (vs. “WordPress”:http://wordpress.org) and no-reload-necessary publishing (vs. “MT”:http://movabletype.org).

I’ve got a testblog up at “threshold-zero.com”:http://threshold-zero.com that I’m working around with — take a look if you have the time!

Okay, what the hell, eh?

Last night I had a dream I was in Cambodia, fighting rebels in the name of Britain.

I’m not trying to make a point — none of that makes the least bit of sense. Has Britain ever even had anything to do with Cambodia? Don’t even ask me how I was aware of these facts — sometimes you just know things in that “dream” sort of way without ever having been told them explicitly.

For the past few weeks, on my long drive too and from work, I’ve been noticing a particular bum.

Now, that’s not so amazing in itself — I see bums and homeless people every now and then in the city where I work.

This is a different kind of bum, though — this is a bum with a sense of _adventure_.

Why, because this bum has decided to leave the city, and set out into the countryside.

From where I live to where I work, I drive through about 50 miles of barren countryside. No cities, hardly any homes, nothing. It’s a big road, though, and quite heavily traveled.

For the past three weeks now, I’ve seen this bum slowly make his way out into the countryside from the big city, pushing two carts of some sort filled to the brim with junk. I’d say he makes it only about a half of a mile every day — he’s having to push these two carts in some pretty thick grass.

Every night, as I’m driving home, he’s parked his carts just a tiny bit farther off the road than where he usually pushes them, and I assume he’s trying to make a “camp” for the night in the forest (which there is a lot off around here).

He must be carrying quite a bit of food and water in those carts, since he’s been in the wilderness for about three weeks now, nonstop.

What drives this man? Where does he think he’s going?

I notice he’s been let to do this, unaccosted by the police or state troopers. You may find this heartless, but I commend it. In my opinion, if the man wanted help, he would seek it out — he obviously wants to be left alone.

Will he make it? Will a car swerve off the road one day and take him out before he reaches his goal?

I must admit I’m actually starting to worry about him. He’s coming up to a (very) small community of houses that are on the road (about or six) — they’re “country” houses, though, so they’ve got very big yards, are very big in size themselves, and are more than likely lived in by very rich people not wanting to live in the city… people very likely to call the police if they see strange bums wandering around the outskirts of their property.

So, how’s he going to do it? Personally, I’d recommend trying to make the trip across all those yards during the night — it’ll be risky, but it’s the only way.