AgPerson

I’m thinking you probably don’t get it, not that there is much to get, but I will be dumb and petty and explain. EOF symbolizes end of file or the conclusion of the transmission. There, better? Okay, now clean your room and drink your milk before I…EOF

Just to prove that my life is not all glitz and glamour, I’m writing from Maintex where I am waiting for some files to download so that I can do some more coding on their new website. Basically the setup is this:

1. They have an okay server from Compaq that is not top of the line but not too bad.
   
2. Said server reaches constant loads over 3 when fun stuff like inventory programs are running. For you non-UNIX geeks, that means that basically the processor is totally maxed out and the computer has the equivelant of 3 processors worth of instructions backed up that it would like to be running. Now this is not terrible for short periods, but prolonged 3s are no good.
   
3. All Maintex stuff is running on one server, so the whole company is basically running with a single point of failure. They really don’t need incredible redundant servers and the like yet, but it would be nice to have the web and e-mail stuff seperated from the legacy system.
   
4. We’re getting a new server, some no-name job with redundant power supplies and RAID 5 on Ultra3 SCSI and the like. Yeah, big words, basically means kick ass server. Now we could have gotten a nice server at a similar price from Dell, but our outsourced tech guru recommended this and hey, he deserves to make money once in a while!
   
5. Once said new server arrives (and I’m trying to think of a good nickname for it as I sit here…) we’ll switch it over to the production environment and move the other server over to me. Then I get to figure out how to install Linux on it (woohoo, my first Linux install!) and get PHP, MySQL, and Apache running, along with Sendmail and whatever else we may need. If I can’t figure this one out I’ll have to get someone to help me.
   
6. Server 2 becomes the web server, MSDS and image host, e-mail, and all that fun stuff. Server 1 stays supreme keeping up the legacy stuff as Maintex expands.

So right now I’m figuring out how to code this parsing and display stuff in PHP. That warrants another entry later, but for the time being suffice to say its not difficult, but it requires some foresight and planning, so that’s what I’m doing now.


In closing, I hope I have proven (proved? Apparently both work. No bother.) that my life in glitzy Hollywood…err…Orange County does have some normal parts. Yes, I am one of you! I am just like you poor workers! Isn’t that quaint! Okay, enough. No, really Danny, stop. EOF

Probably prudent to mention KUCI host Daniel Tsang is doing the interviewing, here is the page for his show at Kookie and here is the page for his research at UCI…errr…OO-Key.

It is official, this Friday at 5:00PM – 6:00 PM I will be on the show “Subversity” at KUCI radio. I’m thinking this show will be a bit more…how do I say this…intelligent than the last one. Audio will be online shortly after. Just a heads up to all of you 3 people in range of 88.9 FM.

Today I was (finally) interviewed on KFI Los Angeles. The recording is in the media section for your listening pleasure, I think it went quite well. We missed a slew of issues and it wasn’t really a half-hour, but I was pretty happy with the result. Tim & Neil are cool guys and everyone at KFI was nice. They even gave me a t-shirt! Hey, you gotta live a station with a promo saying: “We founded this station based on one idea: that everyone who calls us is a moron.”


Tim told me this philosophy on callers. “They just slow me down.” However, because of my questioning, they did have one caller on my segment. They just happened to pick the guy with the hardest question. Well, anyway, listen for yourself.

Today my Advanced Placement scores arrived in the mail. For once I got something school-related before everyone else! I got my hoped-for 5 in English Literature, but in US Government I got only a 4, when I hoped for (and expected) a 5. Still, considering that I did very little studying, not to mention not taking the class, I guess a 4 score (out of 5) is pretty good. I also got my Calculus BC score, and was not surprised to find that I got a remarkable score of 1, which means basically a total and complete failure. Guess that’s what happens when you go to sleep during the test.


So my total scores thus far are:

• Eng Lit/Comp 5
  
• Govt & Pol US 4
  
• Calculus BC 1
  
• US History 4
  
• Comp Sci A 4 (my school doesn’t offer AB)
  
• Biology 4

So not to shabby in whole, in fact pretty good. Oh, did I mention that Brandeis does not really count AP scores for anything? Yeah, so the above numerical representation of years of incredibly hard work means absolutely diddly. Sigh.

My freshman first semester classes are in, at least in preliminary form. Next I go back to Brandeis, hopefully talk to a counselor of some kind, see if I can get some signatures, and switch things around. But if I get stuck with this, I won’t be too disappointed at all, I just wanted to get a Legal Studies class in. So anyway, here it is:

So maybe the fitness walks in the 15 degree…uh…heat will keep me in shape. Yeah, thats fahrenheit. Or maybe its on their big indoor track. Ya know, Brandeis has a pretty awesome sports facility, so maybe I’ll actually take up some sort of something sport-ational in the future. Or not. We’ll see.

Who says its hard to get classes in college? My grandpa tells me that every class he took was required and he had no electives to speak of. My dad talks of a punch card system and an order or priority with freshmen dead last. I see an online form where I type in the course number, click confirm, and get my courses. Of course, it could be that Grandpa went to Queens and Dad went to UCLA, while I’m going to little old Brandeis, but still! In an age of rash consumerism, when you’re paying $35,000 a year for an education, you have a right to an education, dammit! I should get the classes I want or close to it. No BS shuffling around and treating kids like numbers without faces. We shouldn’t have to pay for bad service.


Of course, I knew what was going on when I chose Brandeis – I decided to not go to UC Berkeley precisely because of this trend: Every student with whom I talked at Berkeley could not recall a single class with under 100 students. Terrible! I’m a first-year at Brandeis and none of my classes are over 100. That is the way a college should be.

So I feel obligated to write. Truth is I’m quite tired. Waking up early, going to bed late just doesn’t work right for your chemistry. Always tired am I, and start talking like Yoda I do. I’m still doing Maintex stuff and working with their arcane FACTS system, in between yawns. I can’t go to sleep any earlier, so the solution is to wake up later. Of course, this rules out work. Enough bold?


Yesterday was the fourth day in July and thus the Fourth of July, basically celebration of America, Americans, Barbeques, and Fireworks. I took part in 1 of the four, that would be a barbeque. I’m really not celebrating America or Americans at this point, and I didn’t see any fireworks, not that I don’t like them. Adbusters ran their Flag Jam to protest commercialism in America and globalization. Globalization, hmm. Tariffs without a role in government, lack of democracy, unfair restrictions — does anyone else think this sounds like the American Revolution and the reason we seceeded from England? Amazing how attitudes change when you get power. Absolute power corrupts, of course, absolutely. And so far, I’ve never seen that not be the case on a large scale, which is very sad.

Shaina (the youngest sister) left this mornin’ fer New York and a three week summer camp acting experience-thingy. Sounds like fun. Jewish camp, so she gets to keep kosher for a while, and if she likes it she can add on to her stay and be there for six weeks. She left on a jet plane, don’t know when she’ll be back again, oh, God I hate…wait, what was I saying? Ah, yes, left from LAX on a Continental flight non-stop to NY, and should arrive there later today, if the time doesn’t change first. Strike that: six hour flight, left at 9ish, got there 3ish, which in NY is 6ish, so she is there and probably quite confused from the fact that it is dark right now, what with the lights in LA staying on until 7ish every night lately.


N-E-Way, I have spent me second glorious day at Maintex (the family company) working on graphics, catalog, database, and computer troubleshoothing. There are a lot of troubled computers here that need to be shot, and no one with the know-how to shoot them. Now I’m really no great technician, and I really don’t like the job, but I oblige and try to help as best I can when I feel like it. 😉


Their system is a mess because the UNIX server runs one piece of proprietry software while the art department works on another database and the catalog is based on a third set of data, so everything must be updated in triplicate. Meanwhile, the two art guys have to do some occasional computer troubleshooting and lots of data entry to get stuff online, in the catalog, etc. I’m talking with them about how to automate this process a lot more, basically by linking the two databases together and hooking the QuarkXPress publishing program up to the FileMaker database that the Art guys are using. Sorta complicated, but pretty cool if it all works. I’m waiting for the real fun to begin, however, when we start shooting training videos. Then we get to go to crazy places like grocery markets and I get to direct some serious movies. Well, okay, not serious, not movies, but industrial training does have its charm, and its fun doing digital editing with FireWire, at least more fun then entering data into a database….twice.


Confused? So am I, but we hope to clear it all up. I think some kind of tech guy would help, but they try to keep costs low ir order to run an efficient business and so far there hasn’t been an incredible pressing need to get all this stuff together. Gradual upgrades are what wins the day, I just ope that these DBs will all work without any major hassles, being as they are quite different and being as money to waste….errr..spend on them is tight.

Either Tim or Neil (don’t know which one) is sick today (or possibly recovering from a big hangover after yesterday’s broadcast from a strip joint, no comment) so I won’t be performing live on the air for your enjoyment and edification. They say next week, but who knows. So hear this: Don’t listen to Tim & Neil today at 4:00PM PST because I won’t be there, and without me, there really is no reason to listen, is there? 😉

Today is my big KFI day, 4:00pm is the time, and I’ll be on for 1/2 hour. In other news, I’m trying to decide what to do about the school district’s bill. Basically, they have decided that, since I sent an e-mail that did not damage their system in any way, they would charge me for their time. Figure that one out. It’s like sending someone a letter so they charge you to change their door locks. Basically they spent 3 hours analyzing their system for weaknesses, and they think I should pay. I maintain that system security is something that any company with computers must consider — it is simply a cost of doing business that you audit your system often for stability and security. Ask the IT workers in any major company and they will tell you that they do security audits every week, if not more often. That the TUSD waited a few years, until I sent an e-mail, before they did their first audit is somewhat worrisome, but perhaps I was doing them a favor. Anyway…

If you so desire, help me out in paying this ludicrous bill.

On second thought, perhaps I’ll forget the PHP script and be entirely practical – index cards and paper. Yeah, I think I’ll try that first.

So in high school I screwed up somewhat by not working within the system and using it to its full potential. I’m determined not to let that happen in college – i will work the system for all its worth. I don’t mean that in a bad way, just that I will look out for easy honors and upper-level courses and shie away from lower division ones that have received complaints. I will try to take advantage of every opportunity to enhance both my learning AND my [status/gpa/grades/standing/whatever]. That means no more fun classes that don’t count for anything. Today I went through the first half of the course catalog, and I will go through the second half tomorrow, hi-lite(tm)-ing what I want to take and figuring out which concentrations, minors, and programs to pursue. If I want to take US History stuff and english stuff and CS stuff, I want to get recognized for all of it – I want to, say, major in Philosophy with a double minor in CS and Anthropology, or whatever, meaning that I will plan it out so that all the courses overlap in such a way that I get lots of certificates! Not sure quite how to do this yet, but I’m thinking I’ll write some PHP script to organize and schedule everything for me and see how it will all fit together. This may be complicated…

Went shopping with Aunt Linda and got a bunch of stuff for Boston – fleece this and that, pants, jackets, socks. Ate lunch at Cheesecake Factory and got the usual: the Mile High Meatloaf Sandwitch, which, sadly, was about 12″ high. We ate at Fashion Island, where we also saw lots of small caged feline animals outside of a pet store, animals so young they could do little more then squeak and scurry. Poor guys.

I will be on KFI Radio tomorrow, Sunday, at 4:00PM for 1/2 hour on the Tim & Neil Show.

So apparently there is a cut of Star Wars Episode 1 going around Hollywood that removes a lot of useless scenes like Jar Jar Binks. I want it! Instead, Lucas releases Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace on DVD with an extra six hours of crap…err..I mean important footage about how they made it. Yeah, that’s it.

Anyway, I finally graduated from high school. No comment. It was a long Grad Night, and I am very tired. I feel good about moving on to Brandeis.

Saw Moulin Rouge for the second time today. Great movie. Will write more when I can be coherant.

Most importantly, now posted for your viewing pleasure, my 90 second segment on TechTV today about web filtering junk. I would explain everything that has happened in the last few days and about my Salon.com article being published and me being very excited, but, again, I am tired and a bit out of it.

* My Salon.com Article: Censorship High
* The Salon Letters to the Editor
* My TechTV Interview

Apparently I’m going to be on KFI AM 640 Los Angeles radio for half an hour on Saturday, I’ll see if I can get a tape of that as well to put online. It’s exciting but a bit scary to be getting all this attention. I’m glad to be promoting a cause I believe in, though, so its all for the best.

So I’m not adding anything to this site, because it is down temporarily. I decided that now that I am fighting the Tustin Unified School District it would be prudent to remove the site for the time being. (Okay, my grandma’s insistence was also a factor). I expect to be back online right after graduation, at which time this and all the other messages will appear. I’m just putting this here so that people looking back won’t wonder what the heck happened.

So today I chose to finally post the address of my web proxy software to the Tustin Unified School District e-mail list. They can’t really hurt me now, and I decided I want to take a stand on this issue before I graduate and go on to college. If this works out well, I may get a story on Slashdot! 😛

What follows is the entire letter that I sent:

p=. “Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.” – Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas

Good day all –

I have received many complaints from teachers, staff, and students at Foothill High School in regards to the InterGate Squid proxy server block list. This system is used to restrict access to legitimate web pages on the school network. I have been asked repeatedly to provide ways around this system.

The proxy system used by Tustin Unified School District is restrictive because it denies legitimate access to valuable web sites. The most effective guard against the visiting of “inappropriate” web sites is teacher supervision in the classroom. Bootstrapping existing imperfect technology for this task is misguided. Paying minimum wage to an untrained workforce whose task is to determine “inappropriate” web sites is a ludicrous practice that should not be condoned by this or any other school district.

After careful consideration and a thorough reading of the TUSD Internet Acceptable Use Policy, I have determined that, to the best of my knowledge, I am breaking no school or district rules, nor any state or federal laws, by releasing this information. As a service to the public I am providing a new system to bypass the district blocking and censorship system.

To use this new system, simply open your web browser and type in:

p=. *http://proxy.foothillhigh.com*

Now, it is completely likely that the school district will choose to use their InterGate proxy to block this site as well. If that happens, I will simply post the software on another site and inform this list. However, it is also possible that this freely available and unrestricted mailing list will be cut off. Therefore, if you wish to be kept informed about proxy bypass solutions, if you have anything to say about this action, favorable or not, or if you have any technical problems, please contact me at dsilverman@mindwire.org. I ensure that all communications will remain confidential.

Thank you for your time and dedication to teaching. I hope that this system will prove to be a valuable asset in your work.

Sincerely,
Danny Silverman
Graduating Senior, Foothill High School

Okay, so I did it again. I fell asleep during physics. But can I really help it? My teacher is as exciting as watching paint chip on a hot summer day, and just about as uncomfortable. He drones in monotone about useless trivia while never really teaching us anything useful. Occasionally I find out about a lab or test, prepare a bit the night before, and do fairly well. Of the ~60 kids enrolled in this AP course, two decided to actually take the AP test, and both say they were woefully unprepared. Well, go figure. So what do I do when I have a teacher who I despise, one who wastes my time and energy? For teachers I don’t respect, I either disrupt or ignore. If I really care, I pay attention and contribute. So in Carter’s Physics class, I sleep. I can’t help myself, it is just a physical reaction to a mental stall brought on by the Carter monotone. It was actually quite restful and satisfying, all in all, and surprisingly, Carter didn’t really even comment on it, since I was probably one of 8-10 students who dozed off over the course of the lesson.