onfocus

Proof that the LazyWeb is a misnomer. Ed pinged the LazyWeb with my Vigil Trackback wish, some brainstorming ensued, and he set up a TopicExchange page for the subject: Peace Vigil Metablog. If you're taking pictures or writing about peace movement activities in your area, this is a way to let others know about it. Just ping directly from Movable Type (add this URL to your Peace/Activism category so the pings are automatic), or use the form at the bottom of the Peace Metablog if you're using another weblog tool.

I finally have SpamAssassin working on my Windows server. It's actually really good at catching spam. Once in a while one slips through, but for the most part it's made my email more useful. I thought I'd share the solution in case anyone else wants to do it.

Here's what you need to mirror my setup:

• Windows Server
• XMail Mail Server
• Outlook SpamAssassin plugin
• A WSH script and batch file to call SpamAssassin
  (I wrote this part.)

You just install the Outlook plugin—even if you don't have Outlook on the server. And then add an entry that calls the WSH script to any tab file in the Xmail filters folder. I have more detailed instructions in the WSH file. Just want to share the spam-filtering goodness!

This is a great idea: Self-portraits at a family/friends gathering with a digital photo booth. (I wish my camera had a remote switch like this.)

If you have a cell phone with a WAP browser and you point it toward onfocus.com, you'll probably get a WAP version of this site. I've had this up for a while, but I haven't said anything about it because there's not much there. When you browse here with a phone you get a few choices:

1. Latest Post
2. 5 Recent Posts
3. Bookwatch
4. Random Quote

That's it for now. The book titles in the Bookwatch link to the Amazon WAP page for that book. Eventually I'd like to add the latest mophos for WAP browsers that support color images. (I just realized I could do this for phones that send an HTTP_PROFILE header and announce their graphics ability. Here's the profile for my phone model.) I put this together so I could start to learn about WML and building WAP applications. WAP is the future, ya know. ;)

One reason big media has always been pro-war, ratings. (NYT)

Protest marches and peace vigils continued for the 3rd day in many places yesterday. It seems like there were even more people involved overall and far fewer arrests. I think that says something about the majority of people involved in the peace movement. Of course, that also means there's even less coverage in the media. Here are some local stories about San Francisco (1) (2), Portland, Fresno CA, Ithaca NY, Ft. Collins CO, Houston, TX.

Jason has great photos of Satuday's march in NYC. And Kevin Burton has shots from San Francisco's rally. And there are pictures from Saturday at Portland Communique.

There should be a central Trackback-blog so people could consolodate their independent coverage of vigils and protests in their area. I think most peace rallies are, well, peaceful, and that doesn't make good news. But I bet there are still plenty of people interested in what's going on out there...especially in their hometowns. For example, here's a scene from Friday's "Stand for Peace" here in Corvallis:



If you have words or pictures from peace demonstrations in your area, feel free to post them here.

FAIR: Networks Megaphones for Official Views. This articles gives some researched facts that go along with my thoughts from a few days ago about big media always promoting the favored view—and what effect that must have on opinion polls. Also in the NYT: Critics Say Coverage Helped Lead to War.

Massive anti-war protests (NYT coverage) happened yesterday in many cities across the US. The local TV stations here in Oregon had continuing live coverage as Portland protestors shut down bridges and closed freeways at various points of the evening. There were similar protests in Eugene and Ashland. Beyond this civil disobediance, there was little violence and few arrests. Which is amazing when you consider the number of people involved. There are similar stories in San Francisco (though many more arrests...a record, in fact), Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Flagstaff, St. Louis, Austin, Boston, Madison, Athens OH, Delaware, Maryland, Detroit, Bennington VT, Albany NY, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Olympia WA, Santa Rosa CA, Erie PA, and more. I wonder if the war budget included the cost of civil unrest at home for states that are already struggling to get by. My other question: did the protestors get it out of their system? Or are we looking at a prolonged campaign?

Portland IndyMedia has independent coverage of the protests here in Oregon.

Some weblog coverage of protests: Lisa Rein, Kevin Burton, Kung Fu Grippe, and Jason Zada in San Francisco. Raph Levian in Berkeley. Stephen (recounts being pepper-sprayed) and The One True b!X (several posts with pictures) in Portland.

Whatever your position on the current military action, I've heard one bit of advice today that I completely agree with and want to pass on—"This is not a time to be alone and watch television coverage of the war." I think talking with friends and family about this war helps everyone clarify their thinking about it. An overdose of media coverage without real human interaction on the subject isn't good for anyone.

matt said, "...Imagine a marketing group saying that in 6 months, no one will talk about Google.com any more...Then imagine them pulling it off..." But then imagine that this fictional marketing group owns and controls almost all media. Then it doesn't seem so outlandish. And the marketing strategy wouldn't even have to be that good.

I realized something today that's somewhat related. Big media opinion polls don't just reflect the beliefs of large numbers of people, they reflect the effectiveness of the media at persuading large numbers of people into believing the favored view. Perhaps the unprecedented numbers of people involved in peaceful demonstrations around the world reflect a failing of mass media. And I think the Internet has played a key role in that failure by providing alternative views. (Not to mention its role in connecting and organizing people of similar views.)

Woke up this morning, checked the server logs, found slashdot linking to Google Smackdown. What other site can illicit joy and dread at the same time? Of course the Google API developer key maximum of 1,000 queries has been reached for today, which sucks. But maybe some will get their own key if they really want to try it out.

So far the server is doing ok with the blip in traffic:



I've mentioned it here before, but you can find the code for Google Smackdown in the new O'Reilly book Google Hacks. (Which is currently ranked #10 on Amazon overall!)

The Corvallis Gazette-Times covered the peace vigil.