Jeremiah

One of my favorite part of The Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be [sacred and undeniable] selfevident, that all men are created equal and independent; that from that equal creation they derive in rights inherent and inalienables, among which are the preservation of life, and liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these ends, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government shall become destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing it’s powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

When our government spies, tortures, and preaches fear over freedom, it’s no longer “the greatest, best, freest nation on the face of the earth”. It’s unfortunate that the people who believe it still is are those whose ideologies have ruined the claim.

Atheism is the recognition
that we understand enough about the universe
to no longer necessitate a creation myth
in order to live fulfilled
during the short spans of time
when we exist as we are now.

And that the more we understand the universe, the closer we become to understanding truth as defined by reality instead of emotion, old books, or hegemony.

In response to this/this.

I’m at the first ever Google I/O checking out the OpenSocial wares for GoTV Networks. Shoot me a tweet if you’re also attending.

LA Times: California Supreme Court overturns gay marriage ban

I was going to post a happy birthday poem for my mom yesterday, but couldn’t write. I was going to post a happy mother’s day remembrance today, but I couldn’t feel the loss that I know is sometimes still there.

So I simply present a link (via Adam): “On saying goodbye” by Wil Shipley

If you’re one of the many who suffer AT&T DSL, you already know that you cannot use your own outgoing (SMTP) mail server. You also know that SBC Global (before AT&T bought them) outsourced its email service through an awkward relationship with Yahoo!.

Recently, AT&T’s mandated outgoing mail servers stopped working. Macworld discovered that AT&T changed the name of its SMTP server and added the requirement of user authentication and SSL. If they had bothered to tell their customers, that would have been a nice gesture, but this is AT&T and the only thing they care about is allowing the Bush administration to spy on us illegally.

This change worked for a few days and then it stopped again with this error: Unable to send the message. Please verify the e-mail address in your account properties. The server responded: 553 From: address not verified.

Again, AT&T gave no warning and its technical support completely was unaware of this error message. It must be because you’re on a Mac. But then I received this atypical proactive notice a week later:

Dear AT&T Internet Services Member,

We have received questions regarding the following error message which is received by customers when they send e-mail using a non-verified e-mail address. […] You will continue to receive it for emails sent with a non-verified address until you verify your Yahoo! email address or any other non AT&T email addresses. Verification instructions are available on the AT&T Help site.

To recap: AT&T decided to block my port 24, force me to use its SMTP server, authenticate, connect using SSL, and then demand that I add my “non-verified” email addresses to a whitelist managed through a Yahoo! Mail account that I don’t use for anything.

I could have added my four “non-verified” email addresses and audaciously resumed sending email from a desktop application. But I paused for a moment. I have a Yahoo! account that I use exclusively for push email with other iPhone users as a replacement for text messages. I don’t use it for anything else and yet I receive a steady flow of spam to the account. I suspect that there is hole somewhere in Yahoo!’s setup where spambots can see my address publicly. It’s a rather unique email address, so the likelihood of spambots guess sending successfully is slim. Regardless, I don’t trust Yahoo! with my email. I decided to not add my “non-verified” accounts to the whitelist because I get very little spam to those accounts.

I was just about to setup my own SMTP server to run locally when I discovered that my new hosting company runs SMTP servers on several ports that typically are not blocked by overzealous ISPs. Sweet. Then all I had to do was blog about how AT&T made me feel as a customer.

I resisted for so long, but I’m starting to understand why Twitter is cool. Jeremiah on Twitter

Last night, a puddle formed in Sherman Oaks. ABC 7 Eyewitness News had team coverage with Live Mega Doppler 7000 HD Plus.

Leading, yes, leading the 11 o’clock newscast was a story about the 1/10 inch of rain that drenched Los Angeles. The in depth report featured some residents surprised by the “April showers” and “cold” 60°F weather. Highlights included:

People liking the rain.

People not liking the rain.

Someone should have explained to the little girl, who was interviewed as someone having something intelligent and enlightening to say, that humans need water to survive — especially in a desert city that imports all of its water.

Quad colored hair AMS certified meteorologist Dallas Raines had the night off, so Garth Kemp got to take praise for bringing the good weather tomorrow… because the weatherman actually controls the weather.

Arthur & I officially are number 1,717 in line to purchase an Aptera. The company announced it had entered the manufacturing stage this past week. Cars are rumored to start shipping to customers by the end of the year.

Arthur and I live in an apartment complex with no way to charge an electric car. We opted for the model that offers a moderate battery capacity and a gasoline electric generator to recharge the battery. The generator extends the range 130-300 miles per gallon. I call this a “smart hybrid”, as opposed to a “basic hybrid” that uses both an electric motor and combustion engine on the powertrain, like the Toyota Prius.

Pricing has not been finalized, but is expected to be around $30,000. We could certainly get a much larger, basic hybrid vehicle for the price. So why buy a funky, two (and a half) passenger, three wheeled, glorified motorcycle? It’s simple. We accept that the Aptera is not a mainstream car. It fits our personal transportation needs as a feature loaded everyday commuter car. Arthur and I will keep my Dodge Neon around for when we need to haul a crew of people or stuff.

Fiscally, the Aptera would require several years and gas prices to double (again…) before becoming economically cheaper than a Toyota Yaris at $14,000 and 32 MPG. This is where Arthur and I feeling morally compelled to put our money where our convictions lie. The Aptera’s carbon footprint is significantly lower than basic hybrids today and the climate crisis requires action now. Fortunately, Arthur and I live in the first state to benefit from the Aptera and we are in a financial position to take action in this manner.

Finally, the car is effin’ awesome. It looks gorgeous and is made in the USA with recycled materials. Expect a video blog sometime in the next few months from our tour of the manufacturing facility. Until then, let this wet your whistle.