Notes In The Margin

CNN.com - U.S. rejects Amnesty charge - May. 29, 2003

The U.S. has rejected an accusation from Amnesty International that the U.S.-led war against terror is sowing fear and danger in the name of global security.

OK, so I haven't read the 311-page document, but, yes, it is clear to me that the US is sowing fear and danger in the name of national security. Oh, did they mean in other countries? I must have misunderstood. I thought they meant here in the good old USA.

Apparently some other folks think so too. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Of course, I'm being flippant - the abuses going on in the USA are paltry in comparison to the sorts of things that go on in other countries. But, in a nation that was founded on the notion of freedom from tyrany, it is a profoundly troubling trend. Stuff like the Alien and Sedition ... um ... I mean the Patriot Act really makes me wonder if certain people have paid any attention at all to the lessons that history is supposed to be teaching us.

Well, as The Brain said, when Pinky asked why Brain had hit him on the head, "Time will tell, Pinky, Time will tell."

CompUSA has a "open box" return policy. If you open the box, then you can return it for cost - 15%. Or you can return it for a gift card for the full amount. So, in the process of returning my scanner (yes, I've completely given up on scanners for the moment) I discovered the way around this.

Step one. Purchase item
Step two. Return opened item and get gift card.
Step three. Purchase another item of similar cost.
Step four. Return this item unopened for cash value.

Don't tell them I told you.

Rocinante is in for a little unscheduled maintenance (Something about a cataclysmic conversion. I dunno.) and I am driving a Chevy Impala. Given that the last Chevy Impala I drove was roughly the size and shape of the USS Eisenhower, this car has been quite a surprise.

First of all, it doesn't feel like it is moving. I'm sure that car types have fancy terms for this, but at 80, it feels like my Jeep at about 45, and at 45, it feels like it's going about 10. (That's mph, for you metric folks. I think you're supposed to double it and add 30, or something.) Now, I presume that folks that like this sort of thing say that that's a desired feature, but when I'm cruising along at 45, and suddenly realize that, in fact, I'm going 80, that's a bit alarming. I like to know I'm moving.

Secondly, I was very impressed with the Jeep dealer service place. They looked up my VIN, and knew that I was under warranty. That, combined with the amazing ability to diagnose the problem by listening to it, and I left there knowing that I would not have to pay anything for the service.

Next, they called Enterprise car rental, and when I got there, I discovered that the dealership was paying for my rental, too, which I had not realized at all. However, I had to pay tax. So I'll end up paying $1.85 to get my cats converted, which seems like a pretty good bargain to me.

Oh, yeah, the stereo. It turns the volume up the faster you go. Which is strange, since the ambient noise level does not increase much. And, considering that loud music makes me drive faster anyway, this is a feedback cycle that is moderately dangerous if you're not aware that it is happening. But, fortunately, nobody died.

Just when I thought I understood how this stuff worked, I bought a bunch of shares in "Busy mom blog", and the price went down. I really need to read that Motley Fools book that's been propping up the end of the coffee table ...

And, speaking of things which annoy me, I'm about to return the third scanner that I have bought, brought home, and discovered is not supported. Two of these scanners are listed as supported, but SANE doesn't find them when I plug them in.

Yes, I expect I could spend 5 hours tinkering and get it to work, but I don't have the patience for that sort of nonsense, and, besides, that would probably result in something that sort-of worked, most of the time. And I *really* don't have the patience for that.

Can someone please tell me what scanner I should buy, if I just want to plug it in and have it work? Am I really going to be tied into the $200+ range to get something that will work out of the box? That would suck, but I'd rather know that now than go through the entire inventory at CompUSless one at a time.

It would probably be faster to write down their inventory, and bring it home to compare against the supported list, since the list is 31 pages printed, and I don't particularly want to print it all out.

I look forward to the day when hardware manufacturers are aware of Linux to a sufficient degree to mention it on the box, ship drivers, and mention it on their web site.