tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-183811812024-03-05T00:40:21.096-06:00Run To The HillsErichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-40268710575742863852011-01-27T22:09:00.002-06:002011-01-27T22:10:21.148-06:00Give Egyptians Access to Twitter Through Your Computer<p>In response to the current uprising against unjust rule in Egypt, the Egyptian government has attempted to stop the revolt by eliminating Egyptian access to Twitter and Facebook. Social networking sites such as there are the lifeblood of these movements as they dissidents to quickly share information. There is an easy, legal way to help these and other freedom fighters continue to have access to these vital services despite government oppression.</p> <h2>The Problem</h2> <p>While designed to route around censorship, the internet has certain weak links that allow governments to disrupt access to certain websites. Consider the following diagram:</p> <p><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTNLfgDDqqAy4DU57DOQFF8wHQoKSnrJPh2DD73CBYl5_wKRAxN9zbTP8TtQxkl6Ld-RGpxr0-EVz3ErJ1UGcrRRO80H7Xb5lonXxdI7NJXoiqVWmNkqlcy1dbE5hDXQ5a2AAbaQ/s640/Slide1.JPG" width="600" height="454" /></p> <p>In normal cases the user tries to access a website, like one of the right. To do this it goes through their local ISP, which is in the middle in this diagram. The ISP looks at the request from the user and sends it on it’s merry way.</p> <p>What is happening in Egypt right now is something more like this:</p> <p><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiad6ZKJnDoCBlyGOZuedtLSEzdRYKyHI_1mEs9DrgRYFq_B8JEzQ7Ioiv18t3voIYGVgJ24Uu-U6Q8dtAkTIU4sfQtcJXxJLDBy7Jbxc4HawwjV2N4g946KlNCi_y0V_gf-tF7dA/s640/Slide2.JPG" width="600" height="454" /></p> <p>In this case the user requests access to Twitter but the ISP refuses to transmit the request on to Twitter itself because the government has ordered them not to. This prevents the user from accessing and using Twitter.</p> <h2>The Solution</h2> <p>The solution is something called a proxy.</p> <p><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1QzIXpcWcYv6XzCiQoCFsAtWa4jDl7RD-V6Lq4WtgiO33mziyv790ZGqcL9c9kSe71ixxUz2oe9XBuv5IZB5vjR02u8KajdV8KUUUcr-qEW2iQABffy17DJ-lmqW5aeMpHULlJA/s640/Slide3.JPG" width="600" height="454" /></p> <p>In this situation the user doesn’t try to access Twitter directly through the local ISP but instead accesses it through a proxy in a country where Twitter isn’t censored. The local ISP doesn’t realize you’re actually trying to access Twitter so they let the request go through.</p> <p>Fortunately setting up a proxy is EXTREMELY easy and anyone with a computer can do it. This tutorial will explain how you can set one up.</p> <ol> <li>If you are running Windows visit: <a title="http://www.torproject.org/dist/vidalia-bundles/vidalia-bundle-0.2.1.29-0.2.10.exe" href="http://www.torproject.org/dist/vidalia-bundles/vidalia-bundle-0.2.1.29-0.2.10.exe">http://www.torproject.org/dist/vidalia-bundles/vidalia-bundle-0.2.1.29-0.2.10.exe</a>. This will download the Tor proxy and allows you to set it up. If you’re not running Windows, the rest of this will be pretty useless to you. The Tor project does have slightly outdated guides so they may be of use to you.</li> <li>When the file is downloaded, open the file and if you’re asked if you really want to run the program, answer yes. Press okay, since we assume you do want to use the English language.</li> <li>The installer will popup. Just press next and then when a screen with the install button pops up, just press that. If you have Firefox, it might open and ask you if you want to install the Torbutton. For these purposes, you probably want to say no and then close Firefox.</li> <li>Go back to the installer and it should say the setup was completed successfully. Press next and then press finish.</li> <li>There will be a program in your taskbar which should have an onion icon and/or say Vidalia Control Panel. Click on it so you can see a window which should look something like this: <br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAp7uncB36stgafksxOe_kMm-2kmeYvaXgiPI2kPIKS9DOlnqseHhj6jv1VL0NcEgPLCrkJEHh327TWM3KM-zSFXMekRESSzqf9mdtGwX4EAIRcc4Pqcf9UJQVwoll0_7LHa2mlw/s800/vidalia.PNG" /></li> <li>Click the “Setup Relaying Button” <br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjHoeIje8-qa560TwwxB_Kldpx7VZvI1j1-7nLjm6-CO5Y4EeHJDSbt0A3LnT43JnZklT-iWkz0e9e3ZJDjCgQsX7nJgodlMXlysVT7fzpdrJdIMMENw8a6MGsK2EDstPWHTpUqg/s800/setuprelaying.png" /></li> <li>The Settings screen will popup. On the top of the window there are a bunch of tabs. Click the one that says Sharing and the screen will look like this: <br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG1QhBRdlIpXi_gnuYKChmHU0Zei75sl2qC7JwjwfqwufLz01GBiXAqN19j0LNxjGPlgIHBQHFzMtoY2juV1gT-PMmMyU1lgTGdiqzvp6icbmuGZf1aBvOUlDgfXKPizh8boAnFQ/s800/begin%20sharing.PNG" width="575" height="527" /></li> <li>Select “Help censored users reach the Tor network” <br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZqUdFiUiEFWZeLPdCVLST31b3n5Qeb2dyt2bjmxW15mI0dLfrG2gRX2m3OmwE1CoVZeJhKGyteVtNwuDjpPPuTYs2mB08rIvw443r46mpDFxIFCPDUeel9I_mnudCHjq7k0dWlQ/s800/highlightrelaying.png" width="575" height="527" /></li> <li>The screen will now look like the following. Click on “Attempt to automatically configure port forwarding” <br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7y5gYinVWKCJKDHM1lR2tWWfpZT-StU3ZcaIi4tpbeW3UcGEaXGi7dVRrTpr49P-7COzBFZzW2n7-6qbW0YaPXqHl9l5kts_PSBYkvzOJj_e7hWP6i7r9DFFUSR00kB2mmwBZFg/s800/automatically%20configure.PNG" width="575" height="527" /></li> <li>Press the okay button on this screen and then the hide button on the main Vidalia screen. Now just use your computer as your normally do. </li> </ol> <p>Dissidents will be able to use your internet connection to continue having access to Twitter and the other services they need to continue communicating. They will use only a little bit of your bandwidth. </p> <p>If you want to uninstall this from your system, uninstall the program named Vidalia from your computer. If you have any problems, feel free to email me at <a href="mailto:wwahammy@gmail.com">wwahammy@gmail.com</a>. I’m happy to help anyone set this up.</p>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-55251620852206199862011-01-21T21:57:00.002-06:002011-01-21T21:59:56.803-06:00You Too Can Make A CoApp Package<p>We want to get everyone involved in improving and using the CoApp toolkit so I’m writing this blog post to give everyone a taste of the process for building a CoApp package. It’s not pretty and it’s not perfect right now but it’s a start and we’d appreciate any help you can provide!</p> <h2>Prerequisites</h2> <p>Before you get stared, you need to have these programs installed:</p> <ul> <li>Visual Studio 2010 </li> <li>Windows SDK 7.0 or higher -- <a href="http://bit.ly/bOoxJT">http://bit.ly/bOoxJT</a> </li> <li>Windows WDK 7.1 -- http://bit.ly/cU1lvH </li> <li>Bazaar for Windows 2.2.0 -- http://bit.ly/d0CSvw (get the standalone installer) </li> </ul> <p>Once you’ve done that, go to command line and perform the following commands:</p> <code>cd c:\projects (or wherever you want to checkout the code) <br />md coapp <br />cd coapp <br />bzr branch lp:coapp-solution <br />bzr branch lp:coapp-toolkit <br />bzr branch lp:coapp-bootstrap <br />bzr branch lp:coapp-mkpackage</code> <p>Open the CoApp solution in coapp-solution and build everything. Move the coapp-bootstrap.exe file from the output\x86\debug\bin folder to the output\any\debug\bin folder. We’re ready to get started!</p> <h2>Making a package</h2> <p>Let’s say you want to create a CoApp library called FunLib so developers can use all the neat functionality you’ve developed in it. All FunLib consists of is a DLL file named “funlib.dll.” You’ve built it for the x86 architecture (also called Win32). To turn this library into a CoApp package you’re going to need to create an XML file that the mkPackage tool can read.</p> <p>We’ll create and a file named “funlib.xml” with the following content to get started on our package: </p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:9D7513F9-C04C-4721-824A-2B34F0212519:2be7f03a-3e65-4dc5-8e24-d0ef78355b7c" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><pre style=" width: 486px; height: 95px;background-color:White;overflow: visible;"><div><!-- Code highlighting produced by Actipro CodeHighlighter (freeware) http://www.CodeHighlighter.com/ --><span style="color: #008080;">1</span> <span style="color: #0000FF;"><</span><span style="color: #800000;">Package </span><span style="color: #FF0000;">xmlns</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="http://coapp.org/ns/mkPackage.xsd"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">2</span> <span style="color: #FF0000;"> Name</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="FunLib"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">3</span> <span style="color: #FF0000;"> Version</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="1.0.0.0"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">4</span> <span style="color: #FF0000;"> Arch</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="x86"</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">5</span> <span style="color: #000000;"></span><span style="color: #0000FF;"></</span><span style="color: #800000;">Package</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span></div></pre></div><p>This is the shell of what will become our package file. I’ll go through each of the lines in step.</p><p>Line one simply contains the beginning of the package description with a namespace declaration. You NEED to have this xmlns tag in with that exact value. If you do not, mkPackage will reject your package!</p><p>Line two has the Name attribute which is the name of your package that CoApp uses internally. Your package name may not have spaces in it. Use an underscore instead if you want that. There is a way of having a prettier display name that a user might see in the package manager; we’ll describe that later.</p><p>Line three contains the Version attribute which holds the version of your package. The version of your package has to be of the format x.x.x.x where x is any whole number between 0 and 65534, inclusive. Let’s say though your library uses a different versioning system that includes letters, say like “Vista.” There’s also a way to display that version “number” to the package manager user, however you NEED to use a version number here like the type described.</p><p>The Arch attribute on line four is where you set the type of architecture your package is designed for. If your package is a native program, probably build in C or C++, you need to say the type of architecture it was built for. In our case you build FunLib for the x86 architecture so that’s what we put in Arch. If you built it for x64, you enter “x64” instead. If the package works on any architecture, like it if it were .NET based, you would use “any” however that hasn’t been tested even once yet so suffice it to say, it don’t work. :)</p><p>Now that we’ve got the shell of our package description set up, let’s add a role; in this case, SharedLib.</p><div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:9D7513F9-C04C-4721-824A-2B34F0212519:f9e8ad18-8802-403f-903c-a14d1081468d" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><pre style=" width: 486px; height: 127px;background-color:White;overflow: visible;"><div><!-- Code highlighting produced by Actipro CodeHighlighter (freeware) http://www.CodeHighlighter.com/ --><span style="color: #008080;">1</span> <span style="color: #0000FF;"><</span><span style="color: #800000;">Package </span><span style="color: #FF0000;">xmlns</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="http://coapp.org/ns/mkPackage.xsd"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">2</span> <span style="color: #FF0000;"> Name</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="FunLib"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">3</span> <span style="color: #FF0000;"> Version</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="1.0.0.0"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">4</span> <span style="color: #FF0000;"> Arch</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="x86"</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">5</span> <span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;"><</span><span style="color: #800000;">SharedLib</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">6</span> <span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;"></</span><span style="color: #800000;">SharedLib</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">7</span> <span style="color: #000000;"></span><span style="color: #0000FF;"></</span><span style="color: #800000;">Package</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span></div></pre></div><p>Each package must have one or more roles but there may only be one role per type. SharedLib is one of the types and, as one would expect, it’s for libraries that you want to be used by other libraries or programs. There’s also an AppRole which is for runnable applications and a few more which I’ll discuss in the future.</p><p>Next we’ll add the Publisher element:</p><div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:9D7513F9-C04C-4721-824A-2B34F0212519:fb89de16-4e2a-4329-b3b7-7aff4e58f1b4" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><pre style=" width: 591px; height: 147px;background-color:White;overflow: visible;"><div><!-- Code highlighting produced by Actipro CodeHighlighter (freeware) http://www.CodeHighlighter.com/ --><span style="color: #008080;">1</span> <span style="color: #0000FF;"><</span><span style="color: #800000;">Package </span><span style="color: #FF0000;">xmlns</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="http://coapp.org/ns/mkPackage.xsd"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">2</span> <span style="color: #FF0000;"> Name</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="FunLib"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">3</span> <span style="color: #FF0000;"> Version</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="1.0.0.0"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">4</span> <span style="color: #FF0000;"> Arch</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="x86"</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">5</span> <span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;"><</span><span style="color: #800000;">Publisher </span><span style="color: #FF0000;">Name</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="Publisher Name"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"> PublicKeyToken</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="Publisher PKT"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;">/></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">6</span> <span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;"><</span><span style="color: #800000;">SharedLib</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">7</span> <span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;"></</span><span style="color: #800000;">SharedLib</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">8</span> <span style="color: #000000;"></span><span style="color: #0000FF;"></</span><span style="color: #800000;">Package</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span></div></pre></div><p>The Publisher element describes who is creating the package. The Name and PublicKeyToken attributes correspond to the common name and public key token of the code signing certificate signing the package which you will pass in when you run mkPackage. (Remember CoApp packages must be signed!)</p><p>Let’s actually add our DLL to the package:</p><div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:9D7513F9-C04C-4721-824A-2B34F0212519:86a41a49-4354-4d96-b05a-30c48327a140" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><pre style=" width: 591px; height: 147px;background-color:White;overflow: visible;"><div><!-- Code highlighting produced by Actipro CodeHighlighter (freeware) http://www.CodeHighlighter.com/ --><span style="color: #008080;"> 1</span> <span style="color: #0000FF;"><</span><span style="color: #800000;">Package </span><span style="color: #FF0000;">xmlns</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="http://coapp.org/ns/mkPackage.xsd"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;"> 2</span> <span style="color: #FF0000;"> Name</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="FunLib"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;"> 3</span> <span style="color: #FF0000;"> Version</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="1.0.0.0"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;"> 4</span> <span style="color: #FF0000;"> Arch</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="x86"</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;"> 5</span> <span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;"><</span><span style="color: #800000;">Publisher </span><span style="color: #FF0000;">Name</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="Publisher Name"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"> PublicKeyToken</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="Publisher PKT"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;">/></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;"> 6</span> <span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;"><</span><span style="color: #800000;">SharedLib</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;"> 7</span> <span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;"><</span><span style="color: #800000;">Assembly </span><span style="color: #FF0000;">Arch</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="x86"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"> Src</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="funlib.dll"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"> Platform</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="win32"</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;"> 8</span> <span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;"></</span><span style="color: #800000;">Assembly</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;"> 9</span> <span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;"></</span><span style="color: #800000;">SharedLib</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">10</span> <span style="color: #000000;"></span><span style="color: #0000FF;"></</span><span style="color: #800000;">Package</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span></div></pre></div><p>In CoApp, SharedLib roles internally use Windows Side-by-Side or .NET assemblies to handle shared libraries. Set your Arch to “x86” in this case and for Platform enter “win32.” The Src attribute contains the path to your DLL file.</p><p>To be an assembly, your library needs to have a manifest, it’s DLL must be signed and have a security catalog. Let’s create a file named funlib.dll.manifest (in the same directory as funlib.dll) to get started:</p><div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:9D7513F9-C04C-4721-824A-2B34F0212519:04228d35-7200-4a66-adf1-28beb70671eb" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><pre style=" width: 611px; height: 129px;background-color:White;overflow: visible;"><div><!-- Code highlighting produced by Actipro CodeHighlighter (freeware) http://www.CodeHighlighter.com/ --><span style="color: #008080;">1</span> <span style="color: #0000FF;"><?</span><span style="color: #FF00FF;">xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">?></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">2</span> <span style="color: #000000;"></span><span style="color: #0000FF;"><</span><span style="color: #800000;">assembly </span><span style="color: #FF0000;">xmlns</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"> manifestVersion</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="1.0"</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">3</span> <span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;"><</span><span style="color: #800000;">assemblyIdentity </span><span style="color: #FF0000;">type</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="win32"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"> name</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="funlib"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"> version</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="1.0.0.0"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">4</span> <span style="color: #FF0000;"> processorArchitecture</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="x86"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">5</span> <span style="color: #FF0000;"> publicKeyToken</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="Publisher PKT"</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></</span><span style="color: #800000;">assemblyIdentity</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">6</span> <span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;"><</span><span style="color: #800000;">file </span><span style="color: #FF0000;">name</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="funlib.dll"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"> hashalg</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="SHA1"</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">/></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">7</span> <span style="color: #000000;"></span><span style="color: #0000FF;"></</span><span style="color: #800000;">assembly</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span></div></pre></div><p>In the assembly tag the type is “win32” which means it’s a native (non-.NET) assembly. Also, the name attribute must be the name of your dll file without the dll at the end, the processorArchitecture is again “x86,” version must match the version of the package you’re creating and the publicKeyToken must be the same public key token you entered in the Publisher element of your package description. Also inside the File tag there must be a name attribute with the filename of your dll (funlib.dll) and the hash attribute which we’re going to set to SHA1.</p><p>Now, we need to perform a couple command line actions in order get our assembly ready. First we’ll call mt from the Windows SDK:</p><code>mt.exe -manifest funlib.dll.manifest -outputresource:funlib.dll</code><br /><p>This embeds the manifest inside the DLL. Next we sign the package using signtool, also from the Windows SDK:</p><code>signtool.exe /v /t http://timestamp.verisign.com/scripts/timestamp.dll /f sample.pfx /p password funlib.dll</code><br /><p>Here we sign the DLL with the code signing certificate held in sample.pfx which has a password on it of “password.” Next we have to update the manifest with hashes of the signed file:</p><code>mt.exe -manifest funlib.dll.manifest -hashupdate -makecdfs</code><br /><p>Next we’ll use the makecat tool from the Windows SDK to create a security catalog:</p><code>makecat.exe funlib.dll.manifest.cdf</code><br /><p>Finally we sign our newly created security catalog:</p><code>signtool.exe /v /t http://timestamp.verisign.com/scripts/timestamp.dll /f sample.pfx /p password funlib.dll.cat</code><br /><p>*phew* We’re done setting up everything we need to create an assembly. Now we just go back to our package description and add in a CatFile and Manifest elements.</p><div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:9D7513F9-C04C-4721-824A-2B34F0212519:30f5ca32-afd7-4d80-8cc8-094a569b5592" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><pre style=" width: 611px; height: 236px;background-color:White;overflow: visible;"><div><!-- Code highlighting produced by Actipro CodeHighlighter (freeware) http://www.CodeHighlighter.com/ --><span style="color: #008080;"> 1</span> <span style="color: #0000FF;"><</span><span style="color: #800000;">Package </span><span style="color: #FF0000;">xmlns</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="http://coapp.org/ns/mkPackage.xsd"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;"> 2</span> <span style="color: #FF0000;"> Name</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="FunLib"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;"> 3</span> <span style="color: #FF0000;"> Version</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="1.0.0.0"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;"> 4</span> <span style="color: #FF0000;"> Arch</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="x86"</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;"> 5</span> <span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;"><</span><span style="color: #800000;">Publisher </span><span style="color: #FF0000;">Name</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="Publisher Name"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"> PublicKeyToken</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="Publisher PKT"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;">/></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;"> 6</span> <span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;"><</span><span style="color: #800000;">SharedLib</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;"> 7</span> <span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;"><</span><span style="color: #800000;">Assembly </span><span style="color: #FF0000;">Arch</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="x86"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"> Src</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="funlib.dll"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"> Platform</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="win32"</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;"> 8</span> <span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;"><</span><span style="color: #800000;">Manifest </span><span style="color: #FF0000;">Src</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="funlib.dll.manifest"</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">/></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;"> 9</span> <span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;"><</span><span style="color: #800000;">CatFile </span><span style="color: #FF0000;">Src</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">="funlib.dll.cat"</span><span style="color: #FF0000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;">/></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">10</span> <span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;"></</span><span style="color: #800000;">Assembly</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">11</span> <span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="color: #0000FF;"></</span><span style="color: #800000;">SharedLib</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span><span style="color: #000000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #008080;">12</span> <span style="color: #000000;"></span><span style="color: #0000FF;"></</span><span style="color: #800000;">Package</span><span style="color: #0000FF;">></span></div><div><span style="color: #0000FF;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; white-space: normal; ">Your first package description is done! It’s time to run mkPackage and create your package:</span></div></pre></div><code>mkPackage.exe --pfx-file=sample.pfx --pfx-password=password funlib.xml</code><br /><p>You should have an MSI outputted which is your CoApp package. If you double click on the file, it will attempt to download and install the coapp-engine and install itself. Since the coapp-engine doesn’t currently exist, this won’t work. If you want to just see the msi install for testing right now, run this from the command line:</p><code>msiexec /i <name of msi file> COAPP_INSTALLED=1</code><br /><p>ONLY DO THIS FOR TESTING BEFORE COAPP-ENGINE IS AVAILABLE! If you do this after that, you could cause a bunch of problems with your system!</p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold; ">But that was way too hard!</span><br /><br />Yeah, we know. The SmartManifest program in development will handle a bunch of those steps, including the creating of the manifest and security catalog and signing the assembly, as well as adding in the CatFile, Manifest and Publisher elements for you. Once that’s around all you’ll have to do is create your package’s xml description, call SmartManifest and mkPackage and you’ll have a nice new CoApp Package available.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-73667312180797888462009-08-22T14:22:00.001-05:002009-08-22T14:22:59.788-05:00Letter to Reporter<p>During the period of negotiations between Mercury Marine and their employees, we’ve heard continuously of Mercury Marine’s dire financial straits. Out of curiosity, I viewed Brunswick’s quarterly report and what I found was surprising.</p> <p>Mercury Marine did indeed have sales decrease over 40% from a year ago quarter and lost $7.8 million. While that sounds pretty serious, it doesn’t tell the whole picture. That loss of $7.8 million included restructuring charges of $9.6 million. Restructuring charges are one-time charges related to layoffs and worker buyouts. Often quarterly results are reported in financial media excluding one-time charges; since the charges happen once they don’t tell you much about the state of a business. If we take the very reasonable action of ignoring these $9.6 million one-time losses, Mercury Marine had a quarterly profit of $1.8 million. Let me reiterate, Mercury Marine had a PROFIT of $1.8 million in the second quarter. Mr. Schwabero didn’t mention to the media, community and the workers that Mercury Marine actually was profitable based on its operations. Did Mr. Schwabero do this to extract more painful concessions out of its workers and more generous government incentives? Mr. Schwabero, I challenge you to explain your reasoning for making your company’s financial situation seem worse than it really is.</p> <p>Mercury Marine is proposing permanent wage and benefit reductions to cover a loss caused by one-time expenses. Additionally, the current financial situation is caused by a 43% downturn in outboard business versus a year ago. The market will improve substantially over the next few years. If Brunswick isn’t satisfied with Mercury’s quarterly profit $1.8 million, they can wait a few years; it’ll get better. A more equitable method of restructuring would have Mercury offer generous early retirement packages to their workers in order to reduce manufacturing capacity.</p> Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-86520690611538141292009-02-02T10:45:00.001-06:002009-02-02T10:45:53.013-06:00It’s just like that… except it’s not at all.<p>Ruben Navarrette Jr. had an <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/02/navarrette.stimulus/index.html">apoplectic fit</a> over increased funding for birth control in the stimulus bill. He takes issue particularly with a comment by Speaker Nancy Pelosi about how funding for birth control helps the economy:</p> <blockquote> <p>“The family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now, and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those -- one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.”</p> </blockquote> <p>Navarrette squeals about how this implies Pelosi support eugenics just like Margaret Sanger. But is Pelosi saying anything incorrect?</p> <p>Children cost money. Maybe in Navarrette’s world they don’t but here in real world they do. They cost money to the parent for food, clothing, etc and to the government for education, health care, food stamps, etc. More children = more expenses. Pelosi is not advocating forcible sterilization like eugenicists; she’s saying kids cost money and if people have less kids, we don’t have to spend as much. It’s common fucking sense.</p> <p>Navarrette seems to think there’s something racist about what Pelosi said but perhaps Dr. Martin Luther King would disagree. From his acceptance speech winning the Margaret Sanger Award from Planned Parenthood:</p> <blockquote> <p>“The Negro constitutes half the poor of the nation. Like all poor, Negro and white, they have many unwanted children. This is a cruel evil they urgently need to control. There is scarcely anything more tragic in human life than a child who is not wanted. That which should be a blessing becomes a curse for parent and child. There is nothing inherent in the Negro mentality which creates this condition. Their poverty causes it. When Negroes have been able to ascend economically, statistics reveal they plan their families with even greater care than whites. Negroes of higher economic and educational status actually have fewer children than white families in the same circumstances.”</p></blockquote> Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-59555182278401762222009-01-05T12:00:00.001-06:002009-01-05T12:00:23.210-06:00Aren’t Republicans FOR AIDS Relief?<p>With the huge stimulus package, some conservatives are crying foul over the increased debt it will require. Since the states are requesting up to $1 Trillion in funding, state Republicans are throwing in their two cents. <a href="http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=144731">Glenn Grothman</a> sent out a press release saying how Doyle should cut programs instead of asking for more money. That’s not out of the ordinary. But read the second to last sentence:</p> <blockquote> <p>“Be it their past energy package, agriculture package, transportation package, No-Child-Left-Behind program or <em><strong>AIDS relief</strong></em>, we have had enough stimuli out of Washington.” (Emphasis added).</p> </blockquote> <p>Is Glenn Grothman OPPOSED to AIDS relief? The other complaints are just standard conservative complaints but AIDS RELIEF?! Bush’s only international success has been PEPFAR and he’s been in favor of increased foreign aid to fighting AIDS.</p> <p>I called Grothman’s office and they stated that Grothman doesn’t support deficit spending and has concerns about some parts of the AIDS relief program. I mentioned that he didn’t say that, he implied that AIDS relief was not something worth spending money on and asked if Senator Grothman really wanted to take that position. They didn’t really respond.</p> <p>We knew Grothman was crazy but seriously, opposed to AIDS RELIEF?</p> Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-6051412684305047132009-01-03T09:32:00.001-06:002009-01-03T09:32:55.902-06:00Slashdot | Overzealous AirTran Boots 9 Passengers Off<p>So here’s what I don’t get. Let’s say these 9 passengers were really terrorists. They’ve gone through metal, bomb and explosive detectors. What is it that they could possibly do to a plane? Yell annoyingly at others?</p> <p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09%2F01%2F02%2F2148216">Slashdot | Overzealous AirTran Boots 9 Passengers Off</a></p> Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-37540296492847352652008-12-30T23:07:00.001-06:002008-12-30T23:08:03.143-06:00Sex offenders must hand over passwords - Crime & courts- msnbc.com<p>How much longer until we put them in camps and begin their extermination? We’re at that point almost already.</p> <p><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28437829/">Sex offenders must hand over passwords - Crime & courts- msnbc.com</a></p> Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-50623046997290612702008-12-30T06:07:00.001-06:002008-12-30T06:07:36.169-06:00Spore is horribly single threaded<p>I received Spore for Christmas and so far I do like it. It’s not exactly what I had hoped but its a fun distraction. One thing that bugs me though is how often the game slows down. Entering a planet’s atmosphere becomes slower and slower as more models are no longer kept in the graphics cache. What’s odd though is that PC specs are well above the recommended system requirements for Spore. To simply explain, in the Windows Performance Ratings my computer rates at 5.2 while Spore recommends a computer rated at a 4. Why should I have a problem?</p> <p>I investigated and looked at one of the most important performance bottlenecks today: the lack of multi-threaded programming. Using the Vista’s built-in performance monitor, I checked CPU core usage over 30 minutes of game time. The graph below illustrates the problem.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjUXZrziVJMYrwRE4eBF1TxKtoz8RMCdTiwh54YW1bOaqPUyx_Ec6-4fYhK1si_zv-26ba8iWNbzpaDN5AqC2mjfbfdbytTZAFzKCXZAnXFId_rHgZKvC6NWR_XEzsWg0UUTuusg/s1600-h/Spore%5B4%5D.png"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="Spore" border="0" alt="Spore" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix9PYMdAJWxLecdmx4V0lx_716Mgo8o20VzDoyDf8pU_avXScEILoOkbAx2IgiG1d6K3IGqNx94dxujTD9m2rf1z8s-N8KGaAjl2LyKNpUIU5GjlCXYqnHGsF9s7Y9zEll_Ih_rg/?imgmax=800" width="644" height="263" /></a> </p> <p>Look at the core in yellow. At no point does its usage go above 20% while the purple core goes to near 100%. In short, Spore is not correctly multi-threaded. What’s silly is that model generation can be done in a totally parallel fashion since models aren’t dependent on each other. AI requires some level of connection but a large amount of the computation can be done separate. </p> <p>To sum it up: EA got lazy and their customers suffer because of bad multi-core performance.</p> Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-16291650215834655642008-12-30T05:46:00.001-06:002008-12-30T05:46:48.044-06:00I’m back<p>I’m back writing my blog. No idea how long I’ll feel like doing it but here we go.</p> Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-67003219037225652202007-10-16T12:24:00.001-05:002007-10-16T12:24:04.801-05:00I'm not weird<p>Apparently <a href="http://msmamma.blogspot.com/2007/10/weird-like-us.html">Ms. Mamma thinks I'm weird</a> so I have fill out this survey. Here goes...</p> <p>1. What kind of SOAP is in your bathtub right now? Irish Spring I think... It's whatever mommy buys.</p> <p><br>2. Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator? Nope</p> <p><br>3. What would you change about your living room? Make it so we can see the floor.</p> <p><br>4. Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty? Nope.</p> <p><br>5. What is in your fridge? A lot... The refrigerator is in the other room and I'm not close to ambitious enough to go check and write it down. Therefore I will simply say... ketchup.</p> <p><br>6. White or wheat bread? Both usually<br></p> <p>7. What is on top of your refrigerator? Lots of dust and I believe an old bowl of plastic fruit... with dust on top of it.</p> <p><br>8. What color or design is on your shower curtain? It's dark green</p> <p><br>9. How many plants are in your home? None</p> <p><br>10. Is your bed made right now? Ha</p> <p><br>11. Comet or Soft Scrub? I think we use Comet</p> <p><br>12. Is your closet organized? No</p> <p>13. Can you describe your flashlight? We've got too many... one of them has a regular bulb, and a white and red LED that you can switch between</p> <p><br>14. Do you drink out of glass or plastic most of the time at home? Plastic</p> <p><br>15. Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now? Nope, we're not iced tea drinkers</p> <p><br>16. If you have a garage, is it cluttered? It contains a backyard wrestling ring, lawnmowers, corpses, tools, cars, etc.<br>17. Curtains or blinds? curtains, most particularly these tan fuckers from the 70s</p> <p><br>18. How many pillows do you sleep with? 1 usually, sometimes two</p> <p><br>19. Do you sleep with any lights on at night? Not intentionally but the lights from the cable modem, router and sound system never go off so there's a constant sickening electronic glow</p> <p><br>20. How often do you vacuum? Not enough</p> <p><br>21. Standard toothbrush or electric? Electric... I've heard those vibrating brush handles can be used for certain activities. Not that I'd know anything about that. *cough*</p> <p><br>22. What color is your toothbrush? White and turbocharged like Heidi said</p> <p><br>23. Do you have a welcome mat on your front porch? nope<br></p> <p>24. What is in your oven right now? pots and pans</p> <p><br>25. Is there anything under your bed? yep, lube, a box of various t-shirts that I want to keep for nostalgia and whatever clothes accidentally get pushed under it</p> <p><br>26. Chore you hate doing the most? All of them? I don't know... washing dishes is pretty fucking awful</p> <p><br>27. What retro items are in your home? Honestly I can't think of anything that's intentionally retro</p> <p><br>28. Do you have a separate room that you use as an office? Nope, bedroom is my room for all important computer related activities</p> <p> <br>29. How many mirrors are in your home? Two I think</p> <p><br>30. Do you have any hidden emergency money around your home? No, we have these wild places that hold onto your money are liable if they lose it. I think they're called banks or something like that...</p> <p>31. What color are your walls? white except for a small area of the kitchen that is orange (this house is sooo 70s)</p> <p><br>32. Do you keep any kind of protection weapons in your home? From what? the roving bands of suburban teens? Its not like I need protection from anything in particular. And by the way dear, I do have condoms ;)</p> <p><br>33. What does your home smell like right now? guinea pigginess</p> <p><br>34. Favorite candle scent? okay there are basically no non-gay guys that have a clue how to answer this so I'm stumped</p> <p><br>35. What kind of pickles (if any) are in your refrigerator right now? *shrug*</p> <p><br>36. What color is your favorite Bible? Burning Flame orange?</p> <p><br>37. Ever been on your roof? I think so... not sure what for though</p> <p><br>38. Do you own a stereo? Computer with a nice speaker system</p> <p>39. How many TVs do you have? Two</p> <p><br>40. How many house phones? Two</p> <p><br>41. Do you have a housekeeper? If we do, he or she is doing a fucking awful job.</p> <p>42. What style do you decorate in? Eastern/Buddhist feel</p> <p>43. Do you like solid colors in furniture or prints? it can be nice</p> <p><br>44. Is there a smoke detector in your home? yes, I guess that's something I'm protected against</p> <p><br>45. In case of fire, what are the items in your house which you’d grab if you only could make one quick trip? Guinea pigs and maybe computer if I could... I don't think the odds of this happening are all that high though.</p> <p><font size="1">Revelation 4:11: "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."</font></p> Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-85013612335566349202007-10-04T05:13:00.001-05:002007-10-04T05:13:04.725-05:00Turning my stomach<p>I advocate strongly for mandatory HPV vaccines for all pre-teen girls (and after the trial gets done, boys). The vaccine prevents the type of HPV that causes 80% of the cases of cervical cancer, a disease that afflicts 12,000 young women every year in the United States and kills a quarter of them. The vaccine is expensive still but is totally worth the cost.</p> <p>Despite the common sense of this, conservatives have made it a mission to prevent mandatory vaccinations because they feel that it will encourage young women to become sluts. How a good little girl will turn into a raging nympho because of 3 shots isn't really clear but damned if they care if it makes any sense. Additionally, some liberals are ostensibly opposed to it because its new and they don't like big Pharma but I've got the feeling there's a little puritan fear in most of them as well. All this is brought up in an article on Slate.com in which the author makes a very good point:</p> <blockquote> <p>"...fears about the health risks of Gardasil have obscured the hidden moral calculus of the conservative opposition to Gardasil: that in the end, it may be worth it for several thousand women to die from cervical cancer every year as collateral damage in the war against premarital teen sex. Because, of course, even if the vaccination <em>did</em> encourage promiscuity, it's not clear that it's OK for women to die as a result."</p></blockquote> <p>Reading that made my stomach turn. It states the real moral balancing act that is being performed by conservatives who oppose Gardisil. </p> <p>Apparently the idea of human sacrifice isn't so foreign to Christians after all.</p> <p><em><font size="1">Matthew 5:46-48: "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."</font></em></p> Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-23015286148089979632007-10-03T02:04:00.001-05:002007-10-03T02:04:27.090-05:00What's on my mind...<ul> <li>My neighbor killed himself yesterday. He was in his 40s, had 3 kids, seemingly good stable job. I don't know the details but I'm just... out of it right now. I don't get it. I wasn't close to him but almost once a day he'd be outside and would wave at me as I drove by. He also signed my nomination papers and put up one of my campaign signs. It's confusing in so many ways. It makes me understand why people believe in religion because I can see how it would be comforting in these situations.</li> <li>Speaking of religion, I watched JCTV tonight which is a station we just started getting about a month ago (along with 10 other religious channels). JCTV is a Christian music and extreme sports channel. Most of the music is metalcore even death metal. These bands are like Slayer heavy. I don't get it. Most of them say nothing about Christianity, so why are they Christian rock? All I've figured out is that Christian youth are fuckin' PISSED.</li> <li>It's 2:03AM and I have to be up at 7. Fuck me.</li></ul> <p><font size="1">2 Timothy 1:8-9: "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began...."</font></p> Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-72928308026562803312007-09-21T01:30:00.001-05:002007-09-21T01:30:42.226-05:00St. Elmo's Fire...<p>is a horrible movie. Honestly, it's one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Slightly entertaining but bad.</p> <p><font size="1">Psalm 33:6: "By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host."</font></p> Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-48389869831023277282007-08-09T13:50:00.001-05:002007-08-09T13:50:43.484-05:00Women have abortions to not get stretch marks<p>Or so <a href="http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=102271">says</a> our friends at Wisconsin Right to Life. WRTL claims that under the Healthy Wisconsin universal health insurance plan Wisconsin taxpayers would be forced to pay for abortions for any woman including(with my commentary in parenthesis): </p> <ul> <li>The married woman who isn't sure who the father of her baby is and doesn't want her husband to know she's got a boyfriend. (Evil slutty women... And couldn't that be in order to protect her safety from an abusive husband?) <li>The woman who is having her third abortion. (Evil slutty women) <li>The woman who doesn't want the inconvenience of a baby to interfere with her career plans. (Evil greedy slutty women) <li>The woman who doesn't want to appear in her bikini with stretch marks. (That's just too ridiculous to say something about here) <li>Any other Wisconsin woman, for any reason, at any time during pregnancy, for as many times as she would choose to have one, with no restrictions whatsoever.</li></ul> <p>The last one is laughable because it implies Healthy Wisconsin allows abortions past viability. However since the state still bans abortions past viability (hell the state actually bans all abortions but its an unenforceable law) these abortions wouldn't be covered anyway.</p> <p>Do they really think most women are so shallow as to have abortions to keep from getting stretch marks? How deluded are these people?</p> <p><font size="1">Isaiah 55:6-7: "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."</font></p>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-53484225323212464622007-08-09T10:40:00.001-05:002007-08-09T10:40:03.110-05:00Clearing the way for the oil brigade<p>"We don't need your hypocrisy <br>Execute real democracy." -- <em>Serj Tankian</em></p> <p><font size="1">Proverbs 17:17: "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."</font></p>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-10980785252743180172007-08-08T13:47:00.001-05:002007-08-08T13:49:05.770-05:00Big surprise, they're the first to do this<p>According to <a href="http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=102123">WisPolitics</a>, a group of recent UW grads have started the Free Trade Shop. No not the FAIR trade shop, the FREE trade shop. They're doing it to counter the fair trade movement because they claim fair trade is anti-capitalist, etc., etc. Puhleeze.</p> <p>Most fair trade is not government sanctioned but is conducted by groups who sell goods they bought at a price higher than standard and sell to consumers who are interested in those goods. Consumers buy these goods because for moral and practical reasons (the goods are often higher quality than what people buy in most stores). In other words its simply an example of the "invisible hand" working. People choose to pay a price they feel is reasonable for a type of good they want. Why they do so is irrelevant. There is demand for these types of goods and fair trade groups service them. </p> <p>One shirt they have indicates that they have a problem with fair trade coffee. The complaint makes no sense if they really believe in the market system. Starbucks had demand for fair trade certified coffee so they provide it. It's not supply and demand that's solely based on the price of the product, it's supply and demand period.</p> <p>I also find it funny when they say that some people are looking for low cost, high quality goods. If that was totally true, no one would buy their shirts. They would simply be priced out of the market. The whole idea of this store is laughable. I'm not surprised when they say they're the first to start a company over this.</p> <p><font size="1">Matthew 6:6: "But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."</font></p>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-4361271935070184552007-08-07T06:25:00.001-05:002007-08-07T06:25:54.574-05:00Eric says...<p><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/06/boy.killed.ap/index.html">shooting a snake in a tree</a> is a very poor way to get it down. Perhaps using a snake handler would be a better idea. If I find a crying child in a street who won't cooperate, I don't shoot them do I?</p> <p><font size="1">Romans 12:13: "Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality."</font></p>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-80861729324581509232007-08-07T03:57:00.001-05:002007-08-07T03:58:50.924-05:00Too many children<p>I've been thinking more about the Duggar brood and I become more disturbed the more I think about it. From what I've been reading, the Duggars live in part off charity they receive from local families. I have no problem with charity. I do have a problem with people getting charity that could be better spent in many ways other than subsidizing their baby factory. When a baby is born they stay with the mother for only a few months and then they get a "buddy" meaning an older child who then raises them. In other words they force their teenage children to adopt. Super.</p> <p><font size="1">1 Corinthians 11:32: "But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world."</font></p>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-67669057147957510062007-08-04T07:17:00.001-05:002007-08-04T07:17:49.080-05:00Abortion is Evil<p>Great title huh? <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk6t_tdOkwo">Watch this video.</a> In it the poster asks anti-abortion protestors, some of whom have volunteered about 5 years, are asked what the punishment should be for a woman who chooses to have an illegal abortion. Stunningly only one would accept that a woman who killed her unborn child should receive jail time. Every single protestor says without hesitation that abortion should be illegal but stammer and stumble when asked what the punishment should be for a woman who kills her baby. The conversation with the elderly lady is priceless and show how little abortion foes have thought through the consequences of their plans.</p> <p>As pointed out in <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20010696/site/newsweek/">Newsweek</a>, there are two ways of looking at this issues:</p> <ol> <li>Abortion is murder and if outlawed, women who get abortions should get some sort of jail time (likely similar to pre-meditated murder). <li>Abortion is not murder and abortion should be legal.</li></ol> <p>Abortion opponents claim without doubt that abortion is murder. If that's so, why should women get anything less than the punishment for murder? I'll be the first to support rehabilitation and compassion criminals but there's no chance I would support convicting someone for first degree murder and letting them go without some time in a prison or mental institution.</p> <p>By my estimation, if a pro-lifer supports anything less than a charge of first-degree murder for a woman who gets an illegal abortion they view the life of a fetus as less important than other life. Isn't that the meaning?</p> <p>Oh readers, what should the punishment be for a woman who get illegal abortions?</p> <p><font size="1">Philippians 2:9-11: "Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."</font></p>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-8356889973975770762007-08-04T04:29:00.001-05:002007-08-07T03:58:23.204-05:00His fucking name is Jim Bob<p>Can't we put <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/personal/08/03/17.kids.ap/index.html">these people</a> in prison for SOMETHING? It's the human equivalent of the crazy cat lady.</p> <p><font size="1">Isaiah 50:7: "But the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame."</font></p>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-36123089196487454792007-07-25T11:53:00.001-05:002007-07-25T11:53:02.997-05:00I emerged in London rain<p><em>"...I remember the night we walked along the Seine<br>Riding on The Metro..."</em></p> <p><font size="1">John 13:34-35: ""A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.""</font></p>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-3406489930148681282007-07-25T07:30:00.001-05:002007-07-25T07:30:13.457-05:00I think moaning should be involved<p>I'm apparently doing the moaning meme because the hottest MILF I know, <a href="http://msmamma.blogspot.com/">Ms. Mamma</a>, <a href="http://msmamma.blogspot.com/2007/07/for-fucks-sake.html">requested</a> I do so. So I am. Don't I just rock? :)</p> <p><strong>Five people who will be annoyed you tagged them:</strong></p> <p>No one. The only person I'd send this would be Ms. Mamma and since she already did it I can't send it to anyone. Sorry!</p> <p><strong>4 things that should go into room 101 and be removed from the face of the earth.</strong> <p>1. Bush (the president)<br>2. Bush (just guess)<br>3. Jesus freaks<br>4. Homophobia (I guess that relates to Jesus freaks) <p><strong>3 things people do that make you want to shake them violently.</strong> <p>1. Using the word 'gay' in place of the word 'stupid'.<br>2. Torture<br>3. Saying that people who don't have health insurance should "just go buy some." <p><strong>2 things you find yourself moaning about</strong> <p>1. Humidity (I'll second that babe)<br>2. Politics (Big surprise there) <p><strong>1 thing the above answers tell you about yourself.</strong> <p>I use too many parenthesis. <p>RULES<br>* Link to the original <a href="http://www.freelancecynic.com/2007/07/moaning-meme.html">meme</a> at <a href="http://www.freelancecynic.com">freelancecynic.com</a> so people know what it's all about!<br>* Be as honest as possible, This is about letting people get to know the real you!<br>* Try not to insult anyone - unless they really deserve it or are very, very ugly!<br>* Post these rules at the end of every meme!</p>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-91374177374490663182007-07-22T11:14:00.001-05:002007-07-22T11:14:58.183-05:00Where do you expect us to go...<p> when the bombs fall?</p> <p><font size="1">2 Corinthians 9:7: "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."</font></p>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-22085038819411567882007-07-07T07:28:00.001-05:002007-07-07T07:29:30.255-05:00Update on Vista Metadata Project<p>For anyone who cares, I just released Alpha Preview 2 of the <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/vistaprophand">Vista Metadata Project</a>. Has a few fixes but most of the major bugs are still there. Anyone who knows anything about C++ or is willing to learn and wants to help should contact me!</p> <p><font size="1">Psalm 34:8: "Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!"</font></p>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18381181.post-32904370631855376662007-07-01T16:42:00.001-05:002007-07-01T17:36:20.823-05:00iTunes is a bad neighbor<p>My brother got an iPod for graduation and he's been using my computer as his docking station. Since Apple must do everything their own way, that means I needed to install iTunes. While I personally dislike iTunes, it does have the ability to listen to Windows Media files. That was very helpful as it meant I didn't have to rip all my CDs into iTunes separately as I've already done that in Windows Media player. Unfortunately things didn't go as planned.</p> <p>You see iTunes can't actually play Windows Media files like every media player on the face of the earth, including players for Linux and Mac. No they have to "transcode" (which means convert from one file format to another) Windows Media files to Apple's own M4A format. M4A files take about the same amount of space as a Windows Media file so now my music takes twice as much space as before and Windows Media Player and Windows Search finds two copies for every song. That's annoying.</p> <p>I don't expect iPods to support Windows Media files. What I do expect is iTunes to keep the transcoded data in a format that doesn't double the size of my media library and hide it so Windows Search and Windows Media Player don't find two copies of every friggin' song. Shame on Apple for being horrible computing neighbors. Computers are tools to improve people's lives, not burdens to make our lives more difficult.</p> <p><font size="1">John 1:14: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."</font></p>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17855489846317305623noreply@blogger.com0