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 		The Blob: Ciaran's Journal

Welcome to my journal. This is where I'll be revealing my innermost thoughts and feelings to the world. Occasionally I'll talk about other stuff, but mostly about my experiences.

Are you looking for the journal code?

10 entries shown (most recent first):

[view all entries]
Dec 29, 2002: Not Ciaran (link | trackback: 1)
Time: 19:00 - Mood: Happy - Location: Other - Now playing: n/a

Hi!

This isn't Ciaran; it's actually Neil from Neil's World. Ciaran let me in here to tell you that he's away in Scotland for a few days with his grandparents, and so he won't be updating this journal for a short while. If he were here, I'm sure he'd wish you all a Happy New Year anyhow :).
Dec 25, 2002: Merry Christmas! :D (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 23:10 - Mood: Happy - Location: Home - Now playing: Nothing

Well, it's here again. :) Christmas is an absolutely brilliant time of year for me; it's always nice getting chocolate pressies and books. I also got Now 53 from my brother, which is cool, although I haven't listened to it yet. I also got a guitar tuner and case, some shower gel, and a tie. :)

I also take time out to reflect on the actual meaning of Christmas. Why do we have this celebration?

Of course, you almost certainly already know the answer - Christmas is the time that we celebrate Jesus' birth. He was the greatest gift of all - salvation from our sins.

On a slightly different note, I've got more news on the firewall issue, but that'll have to wait for a different entry as I have to run now. See ya...
Dec 13, 2002: IPCop Experiences (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 15:29 - Mood: Sad - Location: Work - Now playing: n/a

Following on from my previous post, I've taken some time to check out IPCop, and I must admit that I had high hopes for it. After all, the code is based on the SmoothWall code, so it should be able to do everything SmoothWall does and more, right?

Sadly, that wasn't my experience. I should mention at this point that I was installing IPCop in the same manner as SmoothWall - ie. on a VMware virtual computer that originally had Windows 98 on.

Continue reading 'IPCop Experiences'...
Dec 11, 2002: More Dissociated Press fun (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 15:20 - Mood: Happy - Location: Work - Now playing: n/a

Heh. That Dissociated Press algorithm really does come up with some gems of insight sometimes. Take this sentence which I got after running it over my last blog entry:

Oh, one of my searches, I came across an intriguing system called IPCop, which initally piqued my interest because it didn't want people to take your code, you shouldn't have Windows - in fact, I use Linux. As Movable Type does.

Interesting. Yes, for the most part, Movable Type probably *does* run on Linux, but I'm sure it'll run on other OSes too. :D
Dec 10, 2002: SmoothWall and IPCop (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 16:06 - Mood: Happy - Location: Work - Now playing: n/a

Changes are happening here in my house - or at least, they soon will be. Right now, we have two unconnected computers sitting at opposite corners of the house, and they're about as far apart - both literally and figuratively - as you can get. One of them, a Pentium 120MHz, sits upstairs and hardly ever gets used. The other - a 1.4GHz Pentium 4 - is our main computer. At the moment, there is no network of any kind between them.

All this is about to change. We're going to get another computer and turn the 120MHz computer into a hardware firewall. We'll then network the three up so that both the other computers can access the Internet, and maybe I might be able to have some multiplayer gaming with some friends in the house too. :)

Continue reading 'SmoothWall and IPCop'...
Dec 10, 2002: HoldTheButton.com... innocent or not? (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 12:02 - Mood: Happy - Location: Work - Now playing: n/a

After reading beebware's blog entry about a site called HoldTheButton.com, I decided to check it out. However, because of the fact that I used a text browser (called Links - check it out - IMO, it's better than Lynx), I couldn't actually see anything much. In fact, all I could see was the title and the footer at the bottom of the page.

However, the footer surprised me. This site, which is supposedly just for fun to see how long you can press a button, has its own Terms of Service, Web Site Rules and Privacy Policy.

Looking further into these, I uncovered some interesting gems. For example, one of the rules associated with using the site states that you must 'refrain from sending an invitation to use HoldTheButton.com to e-mail addresses with .gov extensions.' Uh?

Also, my guess is that HoldTheButton may spam you as well, or at least offer you useless surveys to take, based on this quote from the privacy policy:

"If a user elects to take a survey offered by HoldTheButton.com, he or she is asked various questions including, but not limited to demographics, interests and Internet usage habits. The data collected through these surveys may be shared among HoldTheButton.com's business partners, advertisers and sponsors in an effort to offer better personalized services to its users."

Bleh. Of course, I have no experience of HoldTheButton yet. I'll take a look when I get home - but I'll be careful. *nods*
Dec 9, 2002: The Dissociated Press (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 12:16 - Mood: Very happy - Location: Work - Now playing: n/a

Ever heard of the Dissociated Press? If not, then you should know that it's a very funny algorithm that can generate weird sentences and stuff from existing text.

A long time ago, I had made my own implementation of the Dissociated Press algorithm, and through trial-and-error that it commonly generated the funniest text from licenses and chat logs I was playing with it again today, using the Adobe Acrobat Reader EULA, using a word-based algorithm taking 2-3 words at a time. Here's some of the stuff that it spat out on the screen...

This Agreement applies; otherwise it means Adobe Systems Incorporated, 345 Park Avenue, San Jose, CANNOT WARRANT THE PERFORMANCE OR RESULTS YOU MAY OBTAIN Any country or used in 48 C.F.R. º2.101, consisting of "Commercial Items," as Commercial Items and (b) upgrades, modified versions, updates, additions, and copies of the Update.

YOU MAY OBTAIN A REFUND OF Adobe or outlines of the Transferred for any purpose, except in conformity with your valid licenses from Adobe.

Except as expressly stated above, this Agreement, this Section shall supercede such other terms and conditions upon which you transfer all rights in the Stock Files.

The affirmative action clause and regulations contained in digital or TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS Agreement will be governed by copyright, including without limitation by USING ALL the terms AND CONDITIONS herein.

This Agreement may only be used to identify printed output device formats, to such person or legally purchased any other export laws, you will return or TERMS and conditions of this Agreement applies; otherwise it means Adobe Systems Incorporated.

2.6.4. You may not and CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED BY the laws in the Software; however, you may not transfer the rights to another person or legal entity provided to you FOR viewing, distributing and sharing PDF files, and certify that you perform regarding the Pre-release Software / Multiple Languages, if you receive the Ended upon availability of the Software, provided your owners' names.

...wouldn't it be great to have a license that had these clauses in? :D
Dec 6, 2002: More on 'O Sifuni Mungu'... (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 15:14 - Mood: Happy - Location: Home - Now playing: Nothing

Remember my O Sifuni Mungu post? Well, recently I got a message from "zeituni", giving this translation for the part of the song I quoted:

All animals of our world
And our rulers
All animals of our world
And our rulers
Pazeni! (shout, praise word) Sauti! (Louder) so that we (er, something)

Zeituni also says, "it's been a long time since i've been in swahili and even longer since i sang that in high school ... but i loved it. ^^". Thanks, zeituni! :D

Reminded about this, I took up my search again to find some more stuff. And much to my embarrassment, I found something that was obvious... the translation of that bit is also repeated in English later on in the song...

All creatures of our God and King,
Lift up your voice and with us sing...

Of course, that isn't a literal translation, as they needed to make it rhyme. But it's close enough... but I'm still not giving up, anyway. I'm gonna find out the literal translation.

Again, thanks, zeituni! :D
Dec 1, 2002: Some HIV/AIDS facts... or fiction? (link | trackback: 1)
Time: 16:02 - Mood: Happy - Location: Home - Now playing: Nothing

I decided to see what other people had said about HIV and AIDS, and so I used Googlism to see what it thought.

Here are some of the things it came up with, and my responses...

hiv is the cause of aids

This is true. HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), slowly wears down the human immune system. When the immune system responds to HIV, it creates antibodies which can be tested for. If these antibodies are detected during a test, the person is "HIV Positive", and, without treatment, can develop into AIDS.

hiv is a retrovirus

This is true. Dictionary.com defines a retrovirus as:

Any of a group of viruses, many of which produce tumors, that contain RNA and reverse transcriptase, including the virus that causes AIDS.

hiv is kid stuff

This is false. HIV can affect anyone at any age.

(note: I have reason to believe that this particular Googlism came from the article at The Body called When HIV is Kid Stuff, which does not make the claim that it's only for kids.)

hiv is a lie

This is false. Just try asking anyone who suffers with it.

aids is everyone's concern

This is true. We all have to be aware of what HIV/AIDS is. You may be carrying HIV right now, yet be unaware of it.

aids is a blessing from god

Uh... crack? Needless to say, this is false. The page which this particular result comes from (note: very strong language - however, the link is here if you want it) is obviously a hate site. It promotes land mines as well. Eugh.

aids is a religious matter

This is false. HIV/AIDS affects everyone, regardless of religion (obviously). After all, how can a virus distinguish between members of one religion and other people?

aids is a growing epidemic

This is true, although thanks to awareness-raising techniques and careful screening of blood transfusions, the number of deaths from AIDS has fallen. You can find more information in this report.

I could go on about the results obtained, but I think that these were the major things. Needless to say, AIDS is real, and it can be devastating.
Dec 1, 2002: Link and Think (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 14:41 - Mood: Happy - Location: Home - Now playing: Maire Brennan - Perfect Time

Did you know that today is World AIDS Day?

I didn't until I saw Beebware's and Neil's posts about it. As a result, I am also participating in Link and Think.

Like both Beebware and Neil, I believe I am HIV negative. However, as this article says:

An estimated 42 million people are living with HIV today, according to the international agency UNAIDS. Five million people were newly infected and 3.1 million people were killed by the disease in 2002.

Fortunately, no-one close to me suffers from AIDS. But that's no reason for me to be ignorant of it. AIDS must be a horrible thing to have, and there is still no real cure for it.

Please think about it. AIDS is a very real problem.

Some resources that you can look at:

* ABC News: Millions mark World AIDS Day as epidemic rages
* The Body
* HIV/AIDS

Please think.

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