Repairing a corrupted XFS file system

I have been testing out the XFS file system. When 8.10 came out I did a fresh install with XFS as the partition for the root directory. Everything was working fine until one day I was having trouble running programs like Firefox and mplayer. Nothing seemed to be working very well. Programs would load but then all of the sudden they would quit. Finally I tried to log out but all I got was a whitescreen and the computer would not shut off. I did the unthinkable and pressed the power button until it turned off.

Two days later I tried to start up my laptop only to be greeted with an error message about the root filesystem not being able to load. I tried the alternate kernel, but that would not load either. It seemed like the drive had not mechanically failed because the bootloader would come up and it would try to mount the root file system. I tried putting in the install CD and using rescue mode but that was not any help. All it did was tell me that it could not load the root filesystem. After doing a few searches I found that running xfs_repair was my best option but the only way to do that was to take the drive out and connect it to my desktop computer through a USB to ATA-66 adapter.

Once connected to my desktop all that was needed was to figure out which /dev/??? it was. A quick check in dmesg showed it to be /dev/sdb3. I then ran:

xfs_repair -L /dev/sdb3

When that finished I was able to mount the drive and get any files I wanted off of it.

I put the drive back in the laptop and it was able to boot, but it was still having problems with some programs. Right now it is getting a fresh install of Ubuntu 8.10! (but this time I am sticking with ext3)

SATA Drive Power Management in Linux

I recently purchased a new 1TB HDD for a new power efficient server I built and I wanted to share a few of the power saving tips I discovered after reading a few sites.

File system

I was originally going to use ext3 for compatibility reasons, but after reading into JFS more I found that it's lighter on CPU and a bit more power friendly, so I used it to format this new drive. I also disabled atime and diratime within /etc/fstab.

/dev/mapper/jezebel-homevol /home jfs noatime,nodiratime 0 1

hdparm

Many newer drives support advanced power management on the drive itself, mostly at the sake of performance but since this is a data drive that sits idle most of the time the hit is negligible.

sudo hdparm -M 128 /dev/sdb
sudo hdparm -B 100 -S 240 /dev/sdb

The first will enable Acoustic Mode and the second will set spin down after 20 minutes of idle time. You can make the permanent by adding them in /etc/hdparm.conf.

Kernel params

Most of these tricks are for laptops, but they work just as well on an always-on server by enabling them in /etc/sysctl.conf.

#Specific Flash and Power Tweaks
#
#Set Laptop mode for less disk writes
vm.laptop_mode = 1
#
#Set Dirty writeback higher
vm.dirty_writeback_centisecs = 1500
vm.dirty_expire_centisecs = 1500
vm.dirty_ratio = 25

#
#Set swappiness
vm.swappiness = 20

Swappiness is set lower than default to keep swap around in case it's needed but to not use it very much.

Installing LiVES

Another good video editor out there is called LiVES. I wanted to test out the latest version so I went to GetDeb for the download. The website getdeb.net is maintained by a volunteer group that makes fresh .deb packages featuring some of the most used software in Ubuntu. Sometimes the Ubuntu repos can get behind and not have the latest and greatest, so this website is a great companion when you need or want to have the latest version of certain software. So here are the steps:

1. Download the .deb file from getdeb.net.
2. Double-click on the file to start up the GDebi package installer.
3. First it will tell you that you should install the one in the official channel. Nevermind the message because you are installing the latest.
4. The package installer will most likely tell you that it needs to download some other packages for dependencies.
5. Click on Install package and when the installer finishes you can find LiVES under Applications>Sound & Video

Installing Cinelerra

Recently I have needed to do some video editing and wanted to check out some of the best video editors for Linux. It looked like Cinelerra had the best options but it was not clear how to install it easily. I did not want to install from source so after some careful searching around I found the easy way. You can also view these instructions here (I made some additions as they did not work for me as they were written).

1. Install a repository using this link. After you download the package make sure you install it with the GDebi package installer.
   
2. Open a terminal and type this command: sudo apt-get update
3. Now decide which package you need; cinelerra (x86 and x86_64 without opengl 2.0 video card) cinelerra-generic (x86 and x86_64 with opengl 2.0 video card). You can see the other versions on the page I mentioned earlier under the installation instructions for Hardy
   
4. Install your package using apt-get: sudo apt-get install cinelerra-generic
5. Once installation completes you should be able to find Cinelerra under Applications>Sound & Video.

So far I found the program quite useful and powerful. There are some good articles out there about using it to author DVDs if you do a quick search. One of the articles I read was on linux.com and it was quite helpful to give me a good start on using Cinelerra for editing video. You can find that article here.

Dual Monitors with Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT

Once you install the restricted hardware drivers and you have your Nvidia card working you can then proceed to set up dual monitors. Open up System>Administration>Nvidia X Server Settings. This will open up a dialog box like so...
This nice GUI will allow us to set up our dual monitor interface. I will say that the program can be quite fickle at times and sometimes it will not work even though it should work. Just keep trying with the options until you get a working combination. I wanted my second monitor, which happens to be a regular 15" CRT, to simply be an extension of my desktop. This is done using the TwinView configuration option as seen in the next photo.

And the options for my second monitor...
Once you get the right settings made make sure you click the Save to X Configuration File. If you don't click that then next time you start up all of your custom settings will be gone and you will have to play around with it again.

Setting up the dual monitors was fairly quick for me. Took approx. 10 minutess of playing with various settings to get it to display just like I wanted it too. If you have an Nvidia card you should be able to set these up without too much hassle using similar options like I did. Of course if you want to do a separate X screen you could choose that as well instead of the TwinView.

A Dark Cloud

Something I wrote on Nov. 5th:

Today we stand as one nation to lift up our first black President of the United States. The road that was paved with the blood of so many has led us to this point in history, the monumental moment cannot be overstated. Barack Obama is our 44^th President and the culmination of so many hopes and dreams. From his grandmothers love to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s sacrifice President Obama now stands as the validation for so many embattled souls. I am proud to be an American, I am proud to have been part of such a historic event. The chant “Yes we can” will forever be emblazoned into our hearts and minds. As I watched President Obama’s speech I could only marvel at the significance, trying to soak in every moment. Imagining what it will be like to speak of this moment to my grandchildren I felt lost in a sea of joy and honor. The United States of America is truly great.

However a small black cloud hangs over those of us waking up in California. With only the smallest of margins the constitution of our great state is now exclusionary to gays and lesbians. This morning I can only imagine the sorrow of those families who are so personally touched by this injustice. It angers me that on this great day California has chosen to take a step backwards. Marriage, first and foremost, is about love and commitment. Yet it is apparent that many people hold gender to be a much more significant factor when defining marriage. There is much to be said about this, but one word embraces my true feelings. Disgraceful.

Why Today is Importatnt to Me

In 2004 I had just moved to California with my brother. The Iraq War was in full swing and starting to take a turn for the worst, it was constantly rainy in San Diego, and I had just started a job that I wasn't sure would go anywhere. That Nov 2nd I stood in in with my brother while it rained on us and my fellow citizens. For the rest of the day I followed the election online while at work, listened to Air America on the drive home and heard Jeananne Garafalo and her co-host strain for some optimism of the results while the rain kept falling. I watched the cable news networks call each state, and had some glimmer of hope when it came down to Ohio, but early in the morning of Nov 3rd it was considered over. All the while I was reading forums and boards online, feeling even more distraught by the things my fellow citizens were saying. Seeing them cheer and celebrate the re-election of who turned out to be the worst president in the history of our nation.

This year is different. There is no rain, my career is in full gear, I have a wonderful supportive girlfriend, and things overall are better. Unfortunately for our country things are getting worse, the result of 8 years of unabashed hubris on the part of our leadership and those who followed. Our economic situation is considered dire and with the way things are going there's not much to look forward too.

But that will change tonite.

After following the election cycle these past months I am confident that tonite will be historic, and Barack Obama will be our 44th president. Even with all the problems we as a nation face at this moment, his campaign has delivered on it's promise: Hope

I know that tomorrow will be a better and brighter day, and that we as a nation can come together and climb back up that hill to shine unto the world.

Update: It actually is raining, which for the most part is pretty nice and doesn't dampen my spirits at all.

Daily Election Websites

As the election is wrapping up this week I thought I'd share the sites that I follow daily on determining of how this election is going.

• DailyKos - I'm liberal, go figure
• Crooks and Liars - Lots of nice media bits
• Pollster - Daily poll updates, trends, and analysis
• FiveThirtyEight - Tons of statistics and "what if" situations
• Redstate - Sometimes I need to be brought back to reality... yeah...
• New York Times - Good ole gray lady
• MSNBC - The Place for Politics, free online streaming too
  

I have most of them in google reader which makes it nice and concise to go over in the morning and afternoon.

My Moleskines

Over the past few years I've had a variety of different Moleskine notebooks that I've used for many purposes. Some were just for random notes and lists, while others were for more specific activities like Fantasy Football or wine tasting. Because of the infrequent use and just grabbing whichever one I could they're mostly sporadic and difficult to find anything other value other than flipping through the entire thing. Since starting at Qualcomm though and having a development goal of better time management set, I decided it was time to get serious about some type of organization for notes.

I first started by reading the excellent O'reilly book Time Management for System Administrators. The author has his own "Cycle System" that he uses to keep track of his daily tasks, appointments, and long term projects. While the system itself is easy and fleshed-out I found that it wasn't exactly tailored to my needs. I did take a lot of his ideas and work them into my use of Moleskine notebooks that are relatively simple yet have some nice features (durable covers, elastic binding band, cloth bookmark, and back pocket). Below is what I did to customize and tailor them to my needs professionally and personally.

The Notebooks

In the book there are three areas the author focuses on; To-do Lists, Appointments, and Goals. Now because the specific notebooks I like to use (either lined or graph paper) do not have a calendar built-in I skipped the appointment portion, and instead rely on Google Calendar for personal and Outlook Calendar for professional date keeping. I also didn't like the idea of keeping both personal and professional in the same notebook and therefore split them up into two different notebooks. My personal notebook is a squared soft-cover, which is smaller than a regular size and fits perfectly into my back pocket. My professional notebook is larger hard-cover lined variant that travels well in my laptop bag and works well for larger notes. The two follow the same criteria for my needs however.

Structure

I wanted to keep the setup simple and similar for both of them and generally stuck to the same format for both. I've read about many Moleskine Hacks and took some ideas, but most of them were too complex and involved for me to use, I just want something simple. Here's how I've set mine up:

• Three Sections: To-do, Notes, Ideas (only in personal) and Goals marked with sticky labels
  
• Initial date written inside front cover and on side with black marker
• Every odd page numbered
• Table of contents on inside cover with the odd page and short description

That's it! The only real difference is the personal one has an Ideas section as well, which is for longer more drawn out thoughts than just a standard to-do list or jotting down notes. Each one has the last few pages reserved for both life and career goals and an estimation of when I'd like to complete them. In general there's not specific page format for my personal one, I just put things down in the proper section and if they're important mark them on the TOC.

Professional Format

My professional one however does have a specific format for the to-do pages which I semi-copied from the time management book. I first date the top of the page, then split the first third of te page into a general todo and project list. Every morning when I first get into work I lay down my todo list, adding new items from our ticket system or email. Each todo item is then assigned a value (A, B, C) depending on it's priority and I get to work, crossing them off as they are done. The ones that aren't done at the end of the day are then moved to the next days list and marked with a - to show they were moved. The projects side is more just to keep in mind what I'd like to accomplish in a more long term sense. The second third of the page is for general notes, small scribblings on something I'm working on, random commands, etc. The final third is a ad-hoc schedule that I just fill in with times for meetings and other appointments that I have during the day. I don't fill any out ahead of time since I let my Outlook calendar keep track of recurring meetings and appointments.

Here are some pics:

Personal notebook on top of professional one

Sticky labels denoting sections

Table of Contents

Side date label

To-do page layout in professional notebook

How to install a minimal Ubuntu

Sometimes you do not want to install anything more than a working command-line Ubuntu Linux system. Maybe you want to use another Desktop environment than GNOME, KDE, or XFCE. I have been trying out Openbox recently, but I wanted to get a completely fresh install of Ubuntu to work with. When I first started searching the net to find how to install a minimal Ubuntu system I came to dead ends. After digging deeper into search reults and forum posts I was able to find the answer. Here are the steps to get a minimal system from Ubuntu.

1. Download the Alternate install ISO.
2. Burn this to a disc and pop it into your computer to boot from it (unless you are doing this virtually, then you just need to make the virtual computer see the ISO).
3. When you get to the initial boot screen do not press enter right away. Instead press F4 to bring up a menu where you can select "Install a Command-Line System".
4. Now you press enter and follow the install process like normal.

Once you reboot you will be greeted by a friendly text prompt login. From here you can customize your system however you want it.

Positions

Earlier tonight I took a survey on how well my positions match with those of Barack Obama and found that I match him about 56% of the time. During the survey I noticed that some of the questions were awkwardly worded and I didn't have a clear answer to give. Reading them though made me start thinking about where I actually stand on most of the issues presented in this election cycle and inspired me to put them down in writing.

Separation of Church and State - Favor

Religion should have no place in government. There are too many creeds and opinions based off ideological faith and they have no business influencing laws that govern a diverse group of people. This is my main justification for my positions on Abortion and Gay Marriage. To me government should rule with a secular hand and if a politician has personal values that's fine, just as long as they focus on what's best for society. I also believe that the founding fathers when establishing American democracy had this in mind.

2nd Amendment - Favor

I strongly believe in the Constitution and therefore support the 2nd Amendment even though I'm not in favor of guns themselves. I understand the need for personal protection and the reason the founders made this amendment in the first place, to give the citizen the power of strength to overthrow a government turned to tyranny. I am however in favor of gun control and laws that restrict possession and use of certain weapons in private hands. Guns are dangerous, and having to pay a tax or undergo a background check is nothing that a private citizen who has no intention of committing harm should worry about. This, in my opinion, does not violate the 2nd Amendment.

Abortion - Favor

I firmly believe that abortion is a manufactured religious distraction of other issues that are more important, and therefore is something that shouldn't even be a factor in the political process. Unfortunately many people see this as a single issue vote and therefore it's a popular issue, especially among Christian voters. I do not favor the actual act, and would like to see more education and counseling requirements before the procedure is done. The only reason I am in favor is I know that without legal constrictions the consequences would be even worse.

Taxes - Raise 'em

I never really understood the anger people have when it comes to paying taxes. Contrary to popular belief Americans live in a society of other people. Regardless of how much an individual thinks they contribute back, society does even more. The benefits of taxes are almost impossible to measure and therefore many people think they are treated unfairly when they have to pay them. The downside is that government may misuse funds (cough cough Iraq war) but taxes still provide more good for citizens than most would like to believe. To me this is not an issue of freedom but of individual responsibility to the society that supports you.

Censorship - Unfavor

Swear words, sex, nudity, reality. Explicitly trying to stop someone from seeing someone because you deem it inappropriate is a threat to the individual. It is an individuals choice what they want to see and don't see, and if that individual is a minor then it is the parents responsibility. Government should have no interference with it thinks people should see and shouldn't see.

Healthcare - Give it to 'em

Preventative medicine is the best medicine. Instead of fixing the problem as it occurs it's better to treat it before it breaks. Vaccinations, yearly physicals, health evaluations are all cost effective and save money down the line by avoiding expensive procedures to fix bigger problems. This works for any type of mechanical maintenance and to claim it doesn't for health maintenance is naive.

Gay Marriage - Favor

In step with my above positions on Abortion and Separation of Church and State I also believe this is another manufactured distraction to take away from other issues. The Constitution protects rights and no amendment should take them away. Love is a universal and secular emotion, to deny a couple, regardless of sexual orientation, is a violation of natural laws.

Summary

I believe in a secular non-invasive government that provides essential services to both the individual and society. Most of my positions are considered to fall on the left side of the spectrum but I understand the value of balance and that not everyone thinks like I do. I believe that the American style of democracy is one of the greatest systems of government created and caters to this balance. Even with it's pitfalls I would not change any of the core ideas that our government was founded on.

McCain Seeing Stars

I don't know how many of you may have watched the final debate last night, but when McCain was trying to claim that Obama is earmark friendly, he brought up the clain that Obama wastes so much $ he's marked "3 million dollar overhead projector". He did the same thing in the second debate and I'd just like to clarify this as complete and utter nonsense. Think about it "Who honestly spends 3$ million dollars for an overhead projector?" It makes it seem as if Obama is dropping a metric ton of $ on something that every classroom in America has for less than 100$. Course you can argue that hey "NASA spent 1 million inventing a pen that writes upside down, when the Russins used a pencil", and therefore government just throws money away.

But, my friends, this is not the case. It's 3$ million for a replacement Zeiss Mark VI star projector for the Alder Planetarium, you're not going to do geometry straight on the glass with this guy. In addition to a highly specialized piece of scientific equipment, the piece of hardware they have now is over 40 years old, so this isn't just some new toy. I know this is just a small detail in the midst of the debate, but I think it's good to clarify some of these outrageous claims.

More info:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/10/16/repost-mccains-planetariophobia/
http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/pressroom/pr/2008_10_08_AdlerStatement_aboutdebate.pdf

Christmas in October

Or as I've said a few times today, today is like Christmas for Democrats:

West Virginia is now a "toss up" state

McCain has attended ACORN rallies

Paul Krugman is awarded Nobel Prize in Economics, after being blasted by the right a few years ago for spreading FUD about the housing market

Obama focuses economic plans and McCain abandons his

With the DOW almost going up 1000 pts today things are starting to look up.

Installing VMware Tools in 8.10 Beta

Following the advice of a couple of different posts I was able to install VMware Tools in Intrepid Ibex. Make sure you have the virtual machine up and running. Click on Install VMware Tools... in the VM menu. This will mount an iso that contains the VMware Tools package. Go ahead and close the Nautilus window that popped up and open a terminal. Execute the next lines of code to install VMware Tools on your 8.10 guest. Please note that the * is a placeholder for your version of VMware Tools.

sudo aptitude isntall build-essential linux-headers
cp -a /media/cdrom/VMwareTools-* /tmp/
cd /tmp/
tar -vxzf VMwareTools*
cd vmare-tools-distrib/
sudo ./vmware-install.pl

Make sure you pick the resolution that you want the virtual machine to run in. When I ran these lines it did not compile the network and file sharing driver. When I am able to get those two parts of VMware tools working then I will edit this post with the method. At least for now I have a better display driver.

Test Driving Ubuntu 8.10 Beta

There are many great features available in the next release of Ubuntu. Since I have been using 8.04 since its release I wanted to check out the next release. I chose to do this through the virtual interface of VMware. I know there other solutions available such as Virtualbox, Parallels, etc. I already had VMware Server installed and I didn't want to install another solution.



The features are listed on this page. I tested out the tabs feature and the eject button of nautilus. I also set up encrypted private directories which work very well. All of the features can be read on that page mentioned above. I can't wait for the release of Intrepid Ibex. I will certainly be downloading this release on the day that it is released.

The Beginning

There is always a first time for everything. This is going to be the first post in a long series of posts about the Linux distribution Ubuntu. I personally have used many of the Linux distros, but I have recently switched to using Ubuntu. Obviously this website is in no way official documentation from Ubuntu. I will post different types of set-ups and various technologies that I will try out along the way. Hopefully someone will find this site useful in their dealings with Ubuntu.
I have found with my dealings of other distros that documentation and even web searches yield little results to help. My only purpose is to help every day users make the most out of Ubuntu. I want to contribute as much as I can back to the community that has helped me out as well.

One Year of Video Games

A little over a year ago I broke down a bought a Nintendo DS for the upcoming release of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on Oct 1st. Upon getting the device I discovered that it had a built-in GameBoy Advance slot for backwards compatibility with older GBA games. I hadn't played a hand-held system since my first Gameboy back in the early 90s, so this was a bonus allowing me to catch up on all of Nintendo's hand-held titles. I eventually picked up and completed Phantom Hourglass and a plethora of DS and GBA games. This helped me get in touch with my inner video game nerd and I eventually completed around 20 titles over the last year on this spiffy hand-held as well as my Wii and Virtual Console. Here's the list of completed titles as well as a short list of games I'd like to complete over this year.

My DS signed by Gabe & Tycho from Penny-Arcade during Comic-Con 2008

Nintendo DS
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Hotel Dusk
Trace Memory
Mariokart DS
The New Super Mario Bros
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations
Professor Layton and the Curious Village

GameBoy Advance
Final Fantasy I: Dawn of Souls
Final Fantasy IV Advance
Final Fantasy VI Advance
Metroid Fusion
Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

GameBoy Color
Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

Virtual Console
Legend of Zelda
Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past

Wii
Boom Blox
Super Mario Galaxy

Almost Complete
Metroid Prime (Gamecube)

On Deck for 2008/9
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Virtual Console)
Zelda II: Adventure of Link (Virtual Console)
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (Gamecube)
Super Mario Sunshine (Gamecube)
Okami (Wii)

Updates:
Completed Oracle of Ages in the beginning of Oct 2008

Tax Plan Myths

In response to this site http://www.rightchange.com/issue_tax1.php

Mooseshit. If you make below 111k/yr you end up paying less taxes with Obama's plan. Course if you do or someday think you will make 600k+/yr, then McCain's plans works better for you:

Comparison between Obama and McCain tax proposals (Washington Post)
What Obama and McCain's tax proposals will do to your tax bill (CNN Money)
McCain and Obama Tax Plans Diverge on Wealth (LA Times)
Tax Deceptions (Newsweek)

If those sites aren't enough Greenspan has something to say about McCain's plan.

Even if I do start making 111k/yr my taxes still won't go up under Obama until I hit that magical 600k/yr mark, but even then I'm still not "rich" by McCain's definition...

Also, taxes? Who cares as long as "the fundamentals of our economy are strong" and we elect the guy who invented the blackberry but doesn't know how to use email, right?

Ubuntu Inside of Etch Inside of Sid

Fun screen shot I took today while seeing if Ubuntu Linux I installed on a laptop was up;

Debian Sid->Debian Etch->Ubuntu Hoary

Oanh and Micheal's Comic-Con 2008 Schedule

After going through the newly posted Comic-Con schedules Oanh and I have decided on the different events we'd like to see. Since some of them may be more crowded and we may not make it we also included alternate events.

Primary
Alternate

Wednesday
6:00-7:30 - Fringe Pilot Screenings - Ballroom 20

Thursday
10:30-11:30 Comics Arts Conference Session #1: Guerilla Warfare and Sneak Attacks - Room 30AB
11:00-12:00 The Disney Animation Story Process - Room 32AB
11:30-1:00 20th Century Fox: The Day The Earth Stood Still and Max Payne - Hall H
11:30-12:30 SPORE: One-on-One with Will Wright - Room 6CDEF

12:30-1:30 DC: Superman: Man of Tomorrow - Room 6B

1:15-2:00 How to Tell a Story - Room 4
2:00-3:00 Science Fiction That Will Change Your Life - Room 2
3:00-4:00 Wizard's First Rule - Room 6B
4:30-5:30 Episodic Games: Rewriting the Adventure Genre - Room 3
5:30-6:30 The Science Behind Science Fiction - Room 6B
5:45-6:45 Showtime: Dexter - Room 6CDEF
7:00-9:00 Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist - Room 7AB

Friday
10:00-11:00 Marvel: Your Universe - Room 6A
10:00-11:00 Batman: Brave & Bold - Room 6B
11:55-1:00 Warner Bros.: Watchmen - Hall H
12:30-1:30 The Art of Adapting Comics to the Screen - Room 5AB
12:30-1:15 Spaced - Room 6A
1:00-2:00 Looking at Our World: Eye on the Present - Room 3
1:15-2:00 Trailer Park - Hall H
2:30-3:30 Radical Comics! - Room 10
2:45-3:45 Lionsgate and Odd Lot Entertainment: The Spirit - Hall H
4:30-5:30 Vertigo: View of the Future - Room 5AB

5:00-6:00 Mythology, Secret Societies and Lost Civilizations - Room 2

5:15-6:15 Entertainment Weekly's The Visionaries: Filmmakers - Hall H
5:30-6:30 Penny Arcade - Room 5AB
6:15-7:00 [adult swim]'s Robot Chicken - Room 6B
8:30-10:30 SCI FI Friday Night: Eureka and Stargate: Atlantis - Room 6B

Saturday
10:30-11:45 Heroes: Exclusive First Look at "Villains" - Hall H
11:00-12:00 IDW Publishing: Ideas and Dreams 2008 - Room 3
11:15-12:30 Quick Draw - Room 6CDEF
11:00-12:00 Watching the Watchmen— Author and artist Dave Gibbons - Room 7AB
12:00-1:00 Dark Horse Comics - Room 2
12:00-1:00 Lost - Hall H
12:45-1:45 Exclusive Q&A with the writers of The Office - Room 6A
2:30-3:30 Disney Pixar: Bolt and UP - Hall H
3:30-4:30 Chuck Screening and Q&A - Ballroom 20
4:45-5:45 SCI FI Eureka - Room 6CDEF
5:00-6:00 Oni Press Panelmonium 2008! - Room 3
5:30-7:00 Sony: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Quarantine, Pineapple Express - Hall H
7:15-8:15 MythBusters Q&A and Sneak Preview— Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage - Room 6B
8:30-10:00 Marvel: Wolverine and The X-Men Animated Screening - 6CDEF

Sunday
11:30-1:00 Comics Arts Conference Session #14: Postmodernism and Revolution - Room 30AB
12:00-12:45 Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay - Ballroom 20
3:30-4:30 Dave Gibbons - Room 7AB

Sierra Wireless MC5725 on Debian Linux

When I started my new job I was given an HP Compaq 6910p as a work laptop, which came with a nice embedded 1xEVDO (Sierra Wireless MC5725) card that I could use to get online anywhere where there is a Verizon signal. Over the past week or so I've been migrating from Windows XP to Debian, and this was the last bit of hardware I needed working. Here are my notes on how to get it up and running:

Requirements:
Kernel 2.6.21 or newer with sierra module compiled or latest from http://www.sierrawireless.com/faq/ShowFAQ.aspx?ID=607
Device activated in Windows and powered on (disable turning power off in preferences)

Load the modules:
sudo modprobe usbserial vendor=0x03f0 product=0x211d
sudo modprobe sierra

Setup kppp:
Uncomment noauth in /etc/ppp/peers/kppp-options
Modem device: /dev/ttyUSB0
Flow Control: Hardware
Line termination CR
Connection Speed 921600
Phone Number: #777
Authentication: PAP/CHAP
Login ID: your_device_phone_number@vzw3g.com
Password: vzw

Automatically load modules in Debian:
edit /etc/modprobe.conf/usbserial and add:
options usbserial vendor=0x03f0 product=0x211d
edit /etc/modules and add:
sierra

Refrences:
http://www.ka9q.net/5220.html
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-networking-3/motorola-e815-evdo-cant-dial-phone-592375/
http://tuxmobil.org/ibm_lenovo_thinkpad_t61_nc216ge_umts_linux.html

Some Technical Info:

lsusb -v:

Bus 002 Device 003: ID 03f0:211d Hewlett-Packard
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 1.10
bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 64
idVendor 0x03f0 Hewlett-Packard
idProduct 0x211d
bcdDevice 0.02
iManufacturer 1 HP
iProduct 2 HP ev2210 1xEV-DO Broadband Wireless Module
iSerial 0

dmesg:

[ 1976.898309] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial
[ 1976.898435] drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial support registered for generic
[ 1976.898527] usbserial_generic 2-1:1.0: generic converter detected
[ 1976.898645] usb 2-1: generic converter now attached to ttyUSB0
[ 1976.898738] usb 2-1: generic converter now attached to ttyUSB1
[ 1976.898828] usb 2-1: generic converter now attached to ttyUSB2
[ 1976.898897] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial_generic
[ 1976.898957] drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial Driver core
[ 1982.544979] drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial support registered for Sierra USB modem
[ 1982.545685] usbcore: registered new interface driver sierra
[ 1982.545762] drivers/usb/serial/sierra.c: USB Driver for Sierra Wireless USB modems: v.1.2.8

I Saw Red

Oh Weezer, you make my heart sing. Your last three albums have, for me, been a bit lackluster. When I first heard you were coming out with another new album, and going to name it another color, after such high expectations for Green, I was a bit disappointed. Hearing the first single Pork and Beans and seeing the noting the lyrical similarities between it and Beverly Hills made me worry even more, so much in fact that I didn't even bother to really seek out any info or samples. But you've had your grip on me for as long as I can remember, and you knew I'd buy Red the day it was released. And I am so glad that I did. So glad.


Troublemaker
My Name is Jonas and Tired of Sex were perfect album openers for Blue and Pinkerton, they started off quick and deadly hitting home with the first notes and starting each album journey off right. You nailed it here, if this were a movie this is the opening scene where you're introduced to the characters without any dialogue, just some good establishing montages.

The Greatest Man That Ever Lived
How about The Greatest Living Study of Modern Music this decade?! Take a simple tune such as Shaker Hymn, and then performing in almost every modern style; hip hop, thrash metal, crooning, marching chorus, 80s hair ballads, modern alternative, pop country, Pinkerton style, spoken word, baroque chamber music, and finally finishing with Blue style, brilliant!

You don't like it, you love it.

Pork and Beans
Yes, you're the single, I've heard you about 200 times the last two weeks. You know what though, your crunchy chords still make me happy. Your music video makes me ever happier.

Heart Songs
In the Garage part II: Now With More Emo!. Reminds me a bit of when I first listened to the NOFX 13 Stiches where they rattle off all the bands that influenced them. Although I doubt I'll go and grab some Gordon Lightfoot like I did with Descendents. Points for the Fresh Prince of Bel Air reference too.

Everybody Get Dangerous
Probably my least favourite track on the album, and I could possibly see it becoming almost a club song.... Still better than anything off of Make Believe.

Dreamin'
Freaking-fan-tas-tic. Has a nice Blue quality to it, and I just when I thought it would totally ramp up and bust into even more hard crunch chords.... chirping birds? Huh? Then it gets kicked up a notch into full duet territory and then switches back into Blue, and back again, and again. This type of progressive mixing of styles is one of the main reasons why I'm Weezer fan.

Thought I Knew
Talk about switching gears, this isn't ever Rivers on vocals. Wait a minute, did they accidentally mix in some generic pop singer? Nah, it's Brian Bell, and he's done good, damn good. Not one of my favourites, but like noted before, the creativity shown on this album more than makes up for it. Sort of reminds me of something I'd heard in a mid to late nineties teen movie.

Cold Dark World
Nice collaboration with Rivers and the new guy bassits Scott. Sort of sounds a bit like Lincoln Park with some of the spoken word lyrics but it's a nice little tune.

Automatic
I can't listen to this song enough, and it doesn't even sound remotely like Weezer. Pat Wilson takes control and truly shines on the album. My brother and I were trying to figure out what group it sounds like, but we just couldn't put our fingers on it. We even thought maybe early Silverchair almost. That alone is a good sign since it sounds so familiar yet so new. The drums and chords are almost so simple it's surprising to listen carefully and hear the full spectrum of what's going on.

The Angel and the One
And we come full circle. Only in Dreams and Butterfly were perfect endings for Blue and Pinkerton and this is no exception. Like the song at the end of a really good movie this song just flows over you and lets you reflect on what you just experienced. You just don't want it to end.

Overall this album is a major shift in Weezer's style since they came back with Green 2001. I'm not going to compare it overall to Blue or Pinkerton, since all three can stand alone on their own. After losing faith in Rivers and thinking that Alone would be the last chance of hearing any of the magic Weezer first captured me with in my teens, I am mollified. I can't wait to hear some of the bonus tracks and see what they have planned in the future. This album is easily one of the best of the decade.

Okami and Baroque

In preparation for not having any free time with my new job coming up next week I felt it was necessary to get a few video games to enjoy before then. Both were released in the past week and both are remakes of games for other systems (PS2 and Sega Saturn). Below are my simple reviews.

Okami is awesome, the perfect meld of Japanese mythology, music, and style and looks simply stunning on the Wii. Unfortunately the gameplay mechanic of drawing with the brush is troublesome at times, but with a bit of practice you come to realize it's just part of the challenge. I really like the way it ramps up the learning curve and just engrosses you from the start. The opening cinematic is simple but effective in getting you excited for what's to come. There's also a website featuring the art of Okami which in turn inspired me to redo my laptops theme.


I actually haven't played Baroque yet, although reviews for it are less than stellar. It's apparently very Roguelike, with a multitude of weapons and equipment as well as randomly generated dungeons. The dark style and themes seem like something I'd like and I'll update this once I play it some.

My Plea to the DNC

After Anthony directed me to the DNC contact page I wrote them a little something on how the past few weeks in the democratic primary made me feel.

Please do something about Sen. Clinton's campaign. Obama has been more than fair in putting up with the constant stream of nonsense has been put out and as a democrat I'm fed up. We have one of the most important elections in American history to win this November, and all we are doing as a party is fighting amongst ourselves. We should be focused on the general and not this constant bickering between ourselves that Republicans so love to point out. Seating the delegates from Michigan and Florida won't change it, and waiting for Pennsylvania at the end of April won't either. Obama has clearly taken the lead in delegates and is the best chance for the Democratic party to win in 2008. The tactics of the Clinton campaign are embarrassing to me as a Democrat and if it continues to go on for much longer I will re-register as an Independent and no longer support the DNC.

I encourage you to do the same if you're tired of this petty nonsense and would like to see actual change in Washington this fall.

Obama is Still Ahead: 5 Reasons

If you watched the news the last few days and this morning after the election, it would seem that Sen. Clinton is now the shoe-in for the democratic nomination. Here's 5 reasons why that's a load of bull.

1. Delegate Count
1,307 - Obama
1,175 - Clinton

And this is after her massive wins last night...?

2. Three State Sweep!
Obama won 13 states in a row in February, mostly by 30%+ margins, and Clinton wins three by only a few points and it's a death knell for Obama? Give. me. a. break.

3. "Clinton hints at sharing ticket with Obama"
Yes, will you please make it seem like you're such the obvious nominee that you're going to choose your opponent as a running mate who's beating you both in numbers and substance.

4. "Going negative proved positive in Clinton's comeback"
Yes, once again why I'm pro-Obama. Could he be considered haughty because he's keeping his head above this type of nonsense? Sure. But then I'm one of those people who actually believe that holding politicians to a higher standard makes for better government.

5. "As Ohio Goes, so goes the nation..."
Yes, you are correct Sen. Clinton, but that only applies to the GENERAL election, not a DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY. Your 10% victory in Ohio on March 4th means nothing in terms of November.

I'd also like to make a comment on an earlier post about why Clinton needs to drop out of the race so Obama can focus on the general election. After McCain seized the republican nod yesterday, he does not have a clear opponent, rather he is now campaigning against two strong candidates instead.

Maybe duking this out for the next two months while McCain gets fat and happy while trying to throw anything that will stick to two different candidates is a working strategy? Of course they'll probably just spin it as "Look see! I told you so! Liberals are indecisive and fight all the time! They won't get anything done! Me! I get things done! Sorta. Well, not really, but look at them look look look!"

Screenshots Over the Years

Going through my fileserver recently I stumbled upon the directory I'd put screenshots in over the years that I've used Linux. It covers back from 1999 until the present, enjoy.

My first linux computer running Redhat 6.1 using GNOME v1.0.39 from 1999, this shot was taken in 2000 and shows all the fun of connecting via dial-up.

Still running GNOME this time I believe it's Mandrake in 2001


My Windowmaker fetish begins while running on Debian circa fall of 2001

My Fluxbox fetish begins in 2002

More Fluxbox goodness, from senior year in 2002

Fluxbox again after college graduation in 2003


Final Fluxbox shot after I moved to San Diego in 2004

Moving onto XFCE in 2004

And finally, full circle we come back to GNOME running on Debian in 2008

Night of the Clambake

Here are some random links from surfing tonite after the clambake primary results.

Transcript of Obama's speech in Madison - "Command of the English language is now 'in'"

Anatomy of a Smear - Op-ed by McCain's 2000 campaign advisor on Rove's smear that may have swung the republican nomination. Thanks Stephen.

Barack Obama Crossed the Line - Great writeup on Obama moving into running against the republicans come November after he wins the nomination.

Nice image that Kartik sent via email:


Image found in the comments of the above DailyKos link

Oh Mr. McCain

After the Feb 12th primaries Obama and McCain spoke back to back, and the differences were stunning. Let's do a little comparing and contrasting shall we?

First we'll start with the transcripts:

Obama's Potomac Primary Speech
McCain's Potomac Primary Speech

Both aren't bad on paper, but what happens when you add some visuals?

Whoa.

McCain's setup was a lot different from the surrounding crowds of Obama (and Clinton btw), whereas in stark contrast McCain camera was just filled with old while men. Where Obama spoke about America and even mentioned McCain and went on about him for a few minutes. McCain on the otherhand alluded to Obama multiple times but didn't actually mention his name. Where's the love? Obama did a great job, focusing on both Clinton for the present primary races, and at the same time linking McCain to Bush. McCain must have found a thesaurus just before his speech throwing out "platitude" while trying to knock down Obama's theme of hope. You could tell by his face the immense pride he must have felt for busting out a multi-syllable word like that. I think Olbermann puts it best when he said after both speeches, "The rule has to be, if you can, always speak before Barack Obama".

How can anyone actually think that McCain will make a good president? Because he's boring? Because he's afraid to say the name of his competition while not actually saying his name (O'Reilly anyone?)? Because he's anti-hope? This guy has nothing to go on except what republicans do best: do nothing and complain about everything.

UPDATE:

Here's the full video of the respective speeches:

How to Lose the 2008 Election

Vote for Hilary.

That's it, pretty simple eh? First let's begin with what the republicans are saying...

The narrative has followed Mrs. Clinton across the country. Strategists from both parties have often said Republicans would prefer Mrs. Clinton because she will motivate the party base. However, some now think a Clinton victory will unify Republicans behind candidate Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, despite concerns about his conservative credentials.

Do you see that? Right there, both parties, it's not just the republicans, it's the Democrats too. Great, swell job, let's do exactly what one is hoping for and another is afraid of.

Second, polls show that Obama would beat McCain and Clinton would tie.

Obama captured 48% of the vote in the theoretical match-up against McCain's 41%, the TIME poll reported, while Clinton and McCain would deadlock at 46% of the vote each. Put another way, McCain looks at the moment to have a narrowly better chance of beating the New York Senator than he does the relative newcomer from Illinois.

So there goes the argument that Hilary is more "electable" because of her loads of experience and less change. Yes, this is exactly what we want, a candidate who will rally the republicans purely to beat her and one who is shown to lose the election if it was held today. Not to mention her campaign is starved for cash and is resorting to dipping into her own pockets.

Yes, vote for Hilary, let's turn the predicted landslide for the Democrats into an easy win for the Republicans. Hilary needs to bow out, and the Democratic party needs to rally behind Obama. Let's focus on November instead of wasting money on the fight for the nomination. The republicans have done so and they've already begun to garner the headlines, it's time to take control of the party, the news cycle, and the country again.

Also, on another political note, check out opencongress.org.

I Want John Stewart to Smile Again

Best endorsement I've read so far, by Randall Monroe, author of XKCD,

"I want someone who can lead the country. When people grow cynical and detached from government, or blinded by partisanship, evil runs amok. Obama represents an honest shot at making our government something we can be proud of. I’m tired of throwing things at CNN. I’m tired of feeling depressed when I read speeches by the founding fathers. I want Jon Stewart to smile again. For a brief moment, next Tuesday, we’ll have a shot at finally getting things right. Please help."

The sentence that really strikes me is "I want Jon Stewart to smile again". I've seen many interviews with John Stewart, and I've seen how painful it is for him to speak about what he sees is wrong with this country. He's a comic, he finds humour in the most dire situations, he's not suppose to be impacted by this. But over the past 8 years he has, he's been jaded and you can tell he's fed up. To me this is a reflection of us as Americans, we are resilient and strong, but we can only take so much before we start to break down. Obama is our hope.

Precinct 222000

Want to really make a difference in the 2008 elections? Volunteer to work the polls. This morning when my brother and I went to vote at our polling station things weren't going as smoothly as expected. Most of the workers were senior citizens, I am grateful for their time, but asking a 70yr old lady who has eyesight problems to find names on a list with small fonts seems almost mean. As young Americans it should not just be our duty to vote, but to participate fully in the process by volunteering. We have the ability to quickly spot names on a list, we have the ability to simplify instructions, and most of all we have the ability to understand the new electronic voting machines.

This is last part is critical as we gradually phase out paper ballots. Senior citizens have always been a strong voting block and forcing a new (and usually unproven) technology on a group who's not familiar with them goes against the spirit of the democratic process. This problem is even more compounded when you realize that not until 50 years from now will we have a technology experienced elderly generation. It is the responsibility our generation now, with our myspaces and facebooks, to help our elders avoid these hurdles. This June and November, don't just feel satisfied with your single vote, but with the hundreds of others you may help cast.

Volunteer for San Diego Registrar of Voters (Did I mention you get paid too?)

Super Tuesday

To put my piece in before you head to the polls tomorrow, I think that both Clinton and Obama would make an excellent Dem nominee and have a sure chance of winning in November, but I'm siding with Obama. Both have excellent policies and ideas on how the country should move forward after the disaster that was the last 8 years, but Clinton isn't anything "new". She's been heavily into politics the last 30 years and represents the same old game. Does she have more experience? Yes, but I don't want experience, I want someone who will lead our country in a new direction, not hold onto the past. For me Obama embodies that, he's young, he's charismatic, and he knows how to get people excited for a new direction in this country. To me Clinton represents to much of the old guard and we need more dramatic change than she can, and is willing to bring. To further back my decision is this excellent piece that was run on DailyKos this morning, to quote,

"There are other reasons I prefer Barack Obama to Hillary Clinton. In most areas their policy platforms are similar. But one area where I think Obama represents a clean and necessary break with the past is in foreign policy. Obama isn't going to give away the farm. The realities of American Empire are that we will continue to have a huge military exerting influence across the globe. But Obama, through his statements, and through some of his key foreign policy advisors (like Zbignew Brzenzinski, Richard Clarke, Lawrence Korb, Robert Malley and Samantha Power) points to a more pragmatic and sustainable foreign and defense policy than does Clinton."

I encourage you to read the full piece here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/4/01850/33681/211/449297

Either way I'm excited for this coming year and regardless of your candidate choice 2008 will be a landmark year in American politics.

A Vote for Hilary is a Vote for Anne Coulter

Let's get this meme a rolling...

from Crooks and Liars

Voter Information Guide

This afternoon I check our mail and I see we've received a Voter Information Guide for Democrats and a Voter Information Guide for Independents, cool must have been put out by the SD Registrar of Voters for next weeks primaries. I wonder what the Republican and other party ones would look like? My curiosity begins to assuage quickly though and suspicion takes it's place as I start to take a closer look. At first glance they appear different, different patriotic graphics and wording on the front, but when you flip them over they are eerily similar...

Here's the front:

Here's the back:
Uh? They look almost exactly the same, and when we start to examine the content we can see a few oddities here. All of the proposition recommendations are the same: 91 - NO, 92 - YES, 93 - YES, 94-97 YES. Then we come to the presidential recommendation here:

They're hard to read since I took them with my phone's camera but the text is:

"For President. Vote for the Democrat of your choice in the Primary Election and then rally around the winner in November."

and

"For President. The Democratic Party invites Independent voters to help pick the Democratic canidate for President. Ask for a Democratic ballot when you vote."

Strange, why would a seemingly neutral agency such as the Voter Information Guide (as it says under the paid postage) take a Democratic slant, urging Independent (aka undecided) voters to vote for their candidates and props? So what's going on here? After a quick Google search I found the answer, mostly through another site who's noticed the same thing. These flyers are a sham, designed to look like official voter information endorsed by specific parties when in fact they are targeted to independent undecided voters to lean Democrat. Even though I'm a progressive, things like this really jade me about our political system. Elections should not be influenced by those who can afford to pay for these tricks. Digging further it appears these are created by a Political Consulting Company called Levine & Associates who are hired by various political action groups and candidates. While it's not clear who exactly funded these specific flyers, from looking at their client list it could be any number of groups endorsing propositions on the slate for next Tuesday.

This is one of the big things that gets me about politics, you hear it all the time, but when you actually see how shady it can get it really makes you wonder why we allow such nonsense. If you get one of these just toss it and pay it no attention, or better yet, put a Return to Sender on the front and drop it back in the mailbox and charge them twice for postage.

Made in America

San Diego Union Tribune has a nice comic in veiled reference to buying "Made in America" goods and the tax rebate from last night's address (thanks Anthony)

source: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/breen/index.html

State of the Union 2008: Bush's Greatest Hits

My thoughts during the 2008 State of the Union address, or as what most pundits will refer to afterward as "Bush's greatest half-assed hits".

The Beginning
6:00 Countdown is over, and thankfully Keith is hanging on
Matthews seems to have a hard on for Condi
"When's the check coming, and when is the war ending." good Matthews quote.
6:05 "Madame Speaker", Oh I can't get enough of that with Cheney and Bush there, haha
6:07 Obama and Kennedy buddy buddy next to each other, awesome (most likely biggest news of the night)
6:09 Here we go....
6:10 "Rigorous debate" eh? Wonder if he'll endorse someone....

Taxes
6:12 "Trust people with their own money, and empower them" looks like he's going to bring up the stimulus package first, surprised he brought that up first. Seem to me it be better to end with it due to the other issues he'll most likey address.
6:14 "Please to say the IRS accepts both checks and money orders", oh George you crack me up
Hopefully next year we'll have a canidate who doesn't blame taxes for everything and actually man (or woman) up to the bigger picture
6:15 Wasting taxpayers money, with a project budget surplus in 2012? Why pass the buck to the next guy for all your reckless spending?
6:16 Nice shot at Dem controlled congress, threatening to veto anything that has earmarks and calling for "public" votes

Domestic Issues
6:17 Way to hop on the "hot" economic issue of housing. Maybe if citizen's made smarter real estate situations we wouldn't have to bother the feds with bailing them out.
6:18 Health care (cut to Hilary Clinton and Obama, neither don't look too happy). Consumer choice of health care my ass, look at the above real estate fiasco.
6:19 "All decisions about your medical care are made in the privacy of your Dr's Office, not in the hall of congress", how about you apply that to all person freedoms Georgie.
6:20 No Child Left Behind? Are you fucking serious? It's been what? Almost 7 years now?
6:21 Obama and Kennedy's expressions during this are priceless, just placid and calm.
6:22 Pell grants for private schools to save kids from public schools? But I thought No Child Left Behind was working....

Trade and Energy
6:23 "Made in the USA", there's a slogan I haven't heard since the 90s. Isn't it kinda expensive to make things here, why bother with a production economy when obviously we're almost all service oriented.
6:24 "Bring on the Democracy", cue Republicans standing up in the veiled reference to Iraq
6:25 "Clean energy technology" Switchgrass!!!!
Nuclear power, well at least he's said something worth listening to.
"Slow, stop, and eventually climate the growth of greenhouse gases", oh that's gotta piss off the global warming is a myth section. He's still using the "climate change" handle though, go figure.

Science
6:28 "Scientific Edge", another good point that apparently the entire congress agrees with.
Here comes the stem cells... "without the destruction of human life", one side up, other side down, wheeee
6:29 Cloning of human life? Seriously, almost no one supports this and those who do will most figure something out

Supreme Court
6:30 Boo hoo, up or down on nominees, when was the last nominee? Last summer? You figured out a way to get them in without
6:31 2nd time he mentioned "Faith Based (aka Christian)" groups, and is wanting "charitabe choice"? Yeah, like we don't know what that means
6:32 Whoa, he semi-mentioned Katrina... more so than he did last year

Social Programs and Immigration
6:32 Social Security, think of the chimblen!!!
6:33 Actually hitting the immigration properly, allowing legal ways for foreign workers to work in the US *gasp*!

Iraq
6:35 "Stirring moments in the history of liberty", ink-stained fingers, what was that? 3 years ago? Way to wax nostalgia
6:35 Oh here it comes....
6:36 Let the terrorist and 9/11 count begin!
6:37 Terrorist in Iraq! Oh noes! How did they get there?!
6:38 Afghanistan, "boys and girls are going to school", guess he missed out on the whole "women and children scared to go to school reports"
6:39 More troops to Afghanistan eh? Wow, did you finally figure out that's where Osama came from?
6:40 The surge is working!!! We changed course, we were never staying on it!
It's troop thanking time! Everyone up! If you don't stand you hate America!
6:41 "Grass roots surge", that is an awesome title
6:43 "Al Qaeda is on the run in Iraq and will be defeated"
6:48 Sectarian violence (cough, civil war, cough), I can never hear that enough, gotta love semantics
6:49 "A free Iraq with deny Al Qaeda a safe haven", I don't think it's working anymore, we know that Iraq and no links before you started your little war
6:50 "We will not rest until this enemy has been defeated", man, he's really milking this for his legacy isn't he?
6:52 Iran! They love freedom! But they're supporting terrorism and missiles! And uranium that could be used to "nucluear" weapons! Highly enriched uranium is ONLY used for weapons, it could never be used for anything else.... nope nothing... and by the way, comply with our climate change pack. Yellow cake!
6:52 Holy shit, he brought up the "tallest building in LA" terrorist plot? Um, wasn't that short of a sham?
6:54 "Tools to keep our people safe", like not only listening to the terrorists, but also our citizens. Don't pull this shit, FISA will not pass by this Friday, we prefer our privacy and freedom of your so called "security".
6:56 "We oppose genocide in Sudan" Good, I was worried there for a bit that we did.
6:58 Veteran funding, holy crap, Bob Dole is still alive? And a senator?!
6:59 "Hiring preferences for military spouses?" Isn't that sorta like affirmative action?
7:01 "So long as we continue to trust the people, and keep our liberty secure..." yeah, about FISA again?

What a waste of 53 minutes. I don't think he went over anything we haven't heard before and it seemed more like a summary of a shabby legacy. I think Olbermann sums it up best when he says "it seemed more like a list of half finished greatest hits than a state of the union.".

Only 357 more days....