8:30 AM Hello again. I see by my Index Page that this is Week 25 of my own little corner of the Daynotes Gang. Quite a few more readers than in Week 1, although my content has slacked off in recent weeks. I could plead an insane work schedule, a cruel taskmaster in the form of a certain Nutshell author for Tech Review (just kidding, Tom - really) and a busy, busy time; but the fact of the matter is that I've been letting other people dictate how I should spend my time.

Well, fooey, I say. Enough of that.

I spent Saturday completely unplugged. I didn't so much as check email until after 8 that night, and although my pager was in earshot, it wasn't on my belt. Instead, I spent the day laying about 120 feet of decorative concrete walkway with a good friend and his father-in-law. Hebrew National hotdogs for lunch - cooked over a manually-operated cooking device known by the locals as a "grill" - with chili and cheese. Hard work. Lots of laughter and fun and, despite the exertion, relaxation. John is also a Peon of iTOOL.COM, a developer, and much fun was had with comments of being out in that strange Big Blue Room with that Really Big Halogen Lamp. In short, I finally took a day off.

I liked it. Not so much that I'm going to quit with computers - after all, I was pretty stiff yesterday, and today isn't a whole lot better, particularly in the thighs and lower back - but I did realize that I haven't laughed very much lately. Time to start.

That doesn't mean I'm going to disappear, not even for a short period. Far from it. Instead, I'm going to stop making this page a "when and if" and into a "every day." Why? Because I enjoy it. It's fun talking to all of you, and it's relaxing, too. Wether I spout off and rant about work, dig into the intricacies of some program no one is ever going to find a practical use for, or simply try to get a rise out of people, this is fun. This is my space. I determine what happens here. I need a little more of that.

So. Having determined that, I think it's time for a good, old-fashioned exchange of mindless rhetoric. I note that Jerry is hosting a Linux vs. Microsoft debate on his mail pages, and it seems to be going quite well. But there's no rhetoric. So, I will put on the asbestos-coated suit and declare myself to be a Microsoft Supporter. Yes, I like and use Linux, but I like and use Windows as well. Heck, I don't like the way the Department of Justice is pushing around Microsoft. And here's a REAL treat for you flamers out there - I'm a SysAdmin who LIKES TO USE A GUI! Wheee!

Of course, if anyone has a more interesting topic, I'm open to suggestion. <SEG>

8:30 AM Eh. Nobody came up with a suggestion that really just reached out and grabbed me, so I guess we'll have to try something else. Ah well.

I spent yesterday exploring the intricacies of Active Directory on Exchange and DNS; some very, very big stuff in there. Potentially huge. I'm not sure I like ALL of it; there are some potentially huge WTF?? items in there as well. Overall, though, I think we're in for some interesting times. Let the development cycle shake down a little more, get one or two service packs out the door, and I think the Linux crowd is going to quit laughing. I can already hear Bob - there are no real reasons to switch to Professional. True enough. I like Win2k professional, if for no other reason than because it's just that much easier to remotely administrate workstations. But it's not the huge improvement everyone was looking for. But Server, now. Whole new ballgame.

I have to agree with those who question the wisdom of putting a GUI on a server. What's the point? It wastes CPU and RAM resources for a machine that is, by definition, not normally interfaced with directly. You use a server through some remote interface, like Explorer on your workstation, the printer spool, or a web page, not with mouse and keyboard. Why, then, does the server need a GUI? Well, in this case, it doesn't NEED the GUI - but it makes life easier. I can administrate DNS, Exchange, AD, and browse for files without having to switch from virtual console to virtual console. (I know, I know - that's not a big savings. But multiplied over 50 servers...) Waste of resources? To a point. But standard VGA at 1024x768 and 256 colors takes less than 1% of the system resources on any machine. Most, it's not even measurable. Is that too high a price for convenience? I don't think so.

Of course, there's the possibility that the video drivers and so forth will crash the machine; but I'm not too worried about that. We aren't talking about the latest Diamond Viper drivers with accelerated frame rates and all that garbage - we're talking about a graphics mode that hasn't been state-of-the-art since 1990. A decent, solid video card by almost any reputable manufacturer can handle that without crashing - or if it can't, then it probably couldn't display 80-column text any better. Oh, piffle. Meeting time. Catch you later.

8:30 AM No, I'm not actually scheduling this for 8:30, it's just happening that way. Wierd.

First, a funny for the day - by way of today's "User Friendly" we find this link to a (probably unintentionally) hilarious story on the Weekly World News web site. And you thought all those computer problems were caused by bad RAM...

Secondly, and on a slightly more serious topic, Brian has been having a discussion about space travel, specifically the lack thereof in the private sector. There was some mention made of the possibilities for a private company or consortium to build one of their own; Jerry Pournelle once mentioned that Bill Gates actually had the wealth to pull it off, but didn't seem interested in the idea. That got me thinking.

Bill Gates isn't interested. Well, why should he? He controls the world's largest software company, has an unparalleled fortune, and essentially, everything he could possibly want is right there at his feet. Why should he be looking up?

There are very few people in the world with enough money to consider financing a private venture on their own. No company has yet expressed an interest, and it's difficult to forsee any non-public corporation having the funding to do so as a commercial venture. Likewsie, any public corporation has to make a profit, and they must do it in a timeframe short enough to keep the investors - and the dear peepul, Lord love 'em - happy. That's not impossible, I suppose, but it's certainly more difficult than opening an ecommerce department.

So, then. Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that a private, inexpensive space program is a necessity. I wouldn't argue against that, but let's first look at the reasons why.

1. Provide a frontier
2. Provide new resources
3. Escape a decaying society?
4. Imprive the species?
5. Export troublemakers?

The first two items are pretty obvious. The last three I chucked in there as historical references; these are all things that have happened on the frontier's of Earth's history. It seems likely that these things will happen again, and that these are generally speaking things that we WANT, that are desirable.

Is a private, company-run space program the way to do that? No.

Companies are profit-driven, which means that the only people to go will be the ones that can bring in a profit. And those are NOT, in the company point of view, the frontier types. So the people that need to go are the young families and single men and women, not to bring in a profit but to make a home. The people that already know this passage:

I wanted a Roc's egg. I wanted a harem loaded with lovely odalisques less than the dust beneath my chariot wheels, the rust that never stained my sword. I wanted raw red gold in nuggets the size of your fist and feed that lousy claim jumper to the huskies! I wanted to get up feeling brisk and go out and break some lances, then pick a likely wench for my droit du seigneur -- I wanted to stand up to the Baron and dare him to touch my wench. I wanted to hear the purple water chuckling against the skin of the Nancy Lee in the cool of the morning watch and not another sound, nor any movement save the slow tilting of the wings of the albatross that had been pacing us the last thousand miles.

I wanted the hurtling moons of Barsoom. I wanted Storisende and Poictesme, and Holmes shaking me awake to tell me, "The game's afoot!" I wanted to float down the Mississippi on a raft and elude a mob in company with the Duke of Bilgewater and the Lost Dauphin.

I wanted Prester John, and Excalibur held by a moon-white arm out of a silent lake. I wanted to sail with Ulysses and with Tros of Samothrace and eat the lotus in a land that seemed always afternoon. I wanted the feeling of romance and the sense of wonder I had known as a kid. I wanted the world to be what they had promised me it was going to be -- instead of the tawdry, lousy, fouled-up mess it is. . .

So how do we get it? Where's my Conestoga with a Titan missile instead of Oxen? Well, no company is going to make it. Anybody know of a powerful organization of individuals that might know a way? I suppose we could always submit an Ask Slashdot...

Hmmm. Anybody interested in helping form an Open Source Space Program? I know from experience that most engineers love to doodle with things like this... why not put it to a purpose?

I hereby propose the formation of Project Barsoom under the GPL. Its sole purpose is to provide a clearinghouse of design and technical information for the development of spacecraft for homesteaders.

Anybody got a tank of LOX to donate?

9:00 AM What a fun morning. The day begins with an email; there's a new employee starting at 10:30 this morning. Set everything up and have it working. Yeah. Right. Sure.

So, as you can imagine, I've been a bit busy, and I'm not done yet. This used to be a fun place to work. I used to get up in the morning and, well, if not look forward to going to work, at least not dread it. Now I linger 'till the last possible second. If things don't change soon - like, tomorrow - I'm going to have to find another job. Sigh. I hate job hunting.

And that's it for today. I have to go scrounge a computer from somewhere.

9:00 AM Hmmph. Well, nothing settled yet on the job situation; but thanks to all of you (you know who you are) who called/emailed to express your support. I appreciate it. One way or the other, this is going to be resolved shortly - simply because I refuse to put up with this much longer.

Meanwhile, Tom seems to be starting a Book Club. Perhaps it's the Daynotes Bookshelf of Recommended Reading? Anyway, to add to it I recommend Inside Windows 2000 Server by William Boswell, from New Riders. I know, I know - it's not an O'Reilly. Well, deal. <G> No, it's not an O'Reilly. But it is an extremely well written, well thought-out manual on the basics of Windows 2000 Server, with an excellent series of chapters on the pitfalls and perils of migrating from NT4 to 2000. Highly Recommended. But as Tom put it, go get your own - you can't have mine.

And now, it's time to go issue some ultimatums. Ta ta.