Rang de Basanti from the film Rang de Basanti (2006)
Teri Mehfil Mein from the film Mughal-e-Azam (1960)
Rob Van Dam wins the WWE Championship at One Night Stand (2006)
CM Punk wins the World Heavyweight Championship (2008)
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I have recently received an update from our friend in Iran regarding the mounting censorship and political repression in that country. The "Islamic Republic" is now attempting to block Internet access to the Marxists Internet Archive (http://www.marxists.org) within Iran. When an Internet user attempts to access MIA though Google or by directly typing the main URL, the following message is received:
The requested material is filtered according to Islamic Republic of Iran rules & regulations. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused you.If the requested URL is incorrectly blocked, please submit for further considerations.
Now, as I understand it, Iran's effort to "filter" MIA is rather short-sighted and it is relatively easy to circumvent the censorship in its present form. For example, MIA can still be viewed when the site is entered via a page other than the main URL, such as the "Library" index located here: http://www.marxists.org/archive/index.htm. Additionally, Internet users within Iran can access MIA via site mirrors such as the German mirror located at http://marxists.catbull.com.
The yoke of Political Islam continues to weigh heavily on the people of Iran. Political Islam, by and through its very nature, will drive the ruling clique of the Islamic Republic to further censor and suppress dissent with greater force as they cling to power through any and all means. History, however, is on the side of the workers, activists and dissidents who carry on the struggle for equality and freedom.
Please note: Bloggers, activists, organizers and like-minded individuals and groups are encouraged to share the above tips on how to circumvent Iran's efforts at censoring marxists.org. Additional information will follow as it becomes available.
Many thanks to "K." for his continued efforts. Aluta continua!
McAfee SiteAdvisor his finally changed their rating on marxists.org after months (or maybe longer) of warning web users to refrain from using marxists.org. Within the past few days (not sure exactly when), all info on McAfee’s SiteAdvisor safety ratings now accurately reflects that marxists.org, a reputable Internet archive that has existed in various forms for around 15 years, is officially a “good” site. Their updated rating includes the following note:
Feedback from credible users suggests that this site is safe to use.
Still safe. Way to eventually get it right, folks. It doesn't explain the whole story, but it'll do.
Our new Intel iMac arrived yesterday. Last night, we spent a couple of hours
rearranging our furniture and workspace to accommodate the new
unit. This "couple of hours" included: (1) disconnecting
the computer and all peripherals (2) moving all the furniture around to
new aesthetically and ergonomically "better" locations (3) realizing that our new furniture arrangements were no
good (4) moving all the furniture pieces back to their original
positions and (5) reconnecting all peripherals and networking the two
computers (old and new) together. It was a textbook "Mike and
Thomai" operation.
We
got our new iMac from MacMall which had the best price we could
find. Our iMac has a 17" display (the 20" was a bit too pricey)
and we got a RAM upgrade and a new Microtek scanner as well. The
new iMac is amazingly fast. I haven’t checked out much of the new
software and features, but I was particularly amazed by the new setup
feature which allows users to connect an old Mac via FireWire and
quickly import all applications, files, settings and keychains from the
old computer to the new computer with just a few clicks of the
mouse. Maybe I am easily impressed, but I had never seen anything
like this before. It was considerably less intense than my last
OS upgrade.
I
am not accustomed to the flat screen display yet and I didn't like the
new mouse at all, so I have replaced it with my trusty old Logitec
trackball. The iChat video conferencing feature has some minor
problems with blurry video when chatting with 2 or more people at a
time, but I am thinking this is a fixable problem.
All in all, it's an exciting piece of equipment and I think we’re going to get a lot of good use out of it!
It
seems I have been a bit harsh on someone over the past few
months. My dear, dear older sister recently pointed out that I
have a tendency to poke fun at her from time to time when she calls me
with a computer-related question. It’s not that I am a computer
whiz myself, but I guess one could accurately say that I might be a bit
above average when it comes to the "ins and outs" of home
computers. But I supposedly
have a tendency to chide my dear sister now and again with comments
like, "Gee, Anne...It sure is a good thing that computer skills weren't
a prerequisite for your cushy, cushy job" or "Grab a crayon and write
this down" and so forth.
Well, it just so happens that I was
struggling with the setup on my new router/firewall earlier this
evening and I vented a bit to my sister during a phone chat. Anne
shared that she had recently made a call to a technical support outfit
when she was having trouble with her own wireless router and that the
tech had recommended that she shut down all her components in "reverse
order" and then bring them back up. A bit later, I applied the
tip to my own setup and — wouldn't you know it — everything is working
just perfectly now. Anne has advised me that the only thing that
can make up for my weeks and months of ridicule is public acknowledgment of her deed, so
here it is:
For a fleeting instant on March 30, 2006, Anne knew more about computers than I did.
(Believe it or not folks, this is the short version.)
Tuesday night seemed to be as good a night as any to upgrade my Mac OS to Tiger.
I have upgraded Mac operating systems before and occasionally I have
experienced a bug here and there, but nothing truly horrifying or
catastrophic. I had other things to do that evening, including
helping out with the kids and getting some more work done on our
three-months-and-running bathroom refurbishment project. As I inserted
the first disc into my computer, the last thing I recall thinking was,
"Ah...How long can this take?" So, I started the Installer and
sat down to eat dinner with Thomai and the girls.
About 20
minutes into it, I went over and checked the computer. Now even
with the benefit of hindsight, I can't honestly say what
worried me at this point, but hopefully it will be sufficient to
just say, "Something didn't look right." Soooo...I decided to
abort the Installer. I am pretty sure this was my first
mistake. I prompted the Installer to quit and I was asked how I
wanted to restart the computer...My options were basically to restart
from the CD or the HD. I was really reconsidering my decision to
upgrade at this point, so I thought, "Better restart from HD and make
sure everything still works." The HD icon didn't look right — It
said something like "Macintosh HD: OS 10.4" and I briefly thought
"That's weird; I don't have 10.4 yet. That's what I am upgrading
to. I wonder how this will work." Yep, that's what I
thought. Then I hit "Restart."
Time to reconsider an old cliché or two:
Murphy's Law: If anything can go wrong, it will.
Corollary 1: Nothing is as easy as it looks. Corollary 2: Everything takes longer than you think
When
I restarted, I got a gray screen with the power icon in the background
and a message stating "You need to restart your computer" in about 8
different languages. Over top of all this was computer code that
was mostly gibberish to me, although I did note the word "panic" and
"We are hanging here..." among the code. I have seen Macs do
stranger things, so I manually restarted again and hoped for the
best. The same thing happened. It was time for my first
meltdown of the evening.
Our eMac is full of materials
that we have created and amassed for years and years. Journals,
stories, photos, songs, web-based projects...And I don't really have a
good way to back it all up. I have never really gotten around to
buying a huge external storage system for backup (although we have a 10
GB external HD that we have used for selected projects) and I can't
bring myself to back up on scores of CD-Roms that become useless once I
update the original versions on the HD. At this point in the
evening, I am thinking all of that is gone. It's about 6:30 PM.
I
tried restarting a total of about 5 times with each attempt ending the
same way. It was around about this time that I started cursing
how stupid I am for even attempting any of this to begin with. I
told Thomai what was going on so she could share in the misery.
I
decided to restart from the CD and I restarted the Installer.
Installation (when uninterrupted) takes around 2 hours. So I set
it to work and sat down and stewed, obsessing about how expensive it
would feel to take the computer in for service and how nerve-wracking
it would be to know that someone would have all my personal files (if
they hadn't already been deleted by now) at his or her disposal to
peruse for two weeks or longer. We were both on pins and needles
while life went on around us. The television was on and the kids
were running around and playing while we felt the computer grinding
away silently in the corner of the room.
I had a brief moment of
optimism when installation appeared to be successful for disc
one. The computer restarted and basically froze. I
restarted, waited and then it froze again. Not a good
feeling. I have owned at least 5 Mac desktop computers 3 laptops
(of varying quality) and I have only experienced 2 significant system
failures in the past, but I have never had so much to lose. Time
for my second meltdown...
I called David, who is a good friend
and a fellow Mac user. David is out on the West Coast. It
was 5:00 his time and I apologized for calling. His response was
classic...Something like "No problem; I'm at work, so I can talk as
long as I want." We chatted for a minute. He sounded a
little concerned but cautiously optimistic. He suggested I call
our mutual pal Brian, who is on the East Coast. Brian was
great. Very businesslike, but almost therapeutic at the same
time. He would make a good psychologist (Yes, that is a
compliment). He said things like "No worries" and then asked me
if I back up my HD. I had to tell him the truth, to which Brian
responded: "You have learned a valuable lesson tonight." Very
true, very true. Brian walked me through a few things and told me
he was optimistic that I hadn't lost the data on my HD. He ultimately
recommended I attempt installation again. The two-hour process
began anew.
In the meantime, Thomai put Zoya to sleep and Kalli
kept us company for a while. Once Kalli went to sleep, we tried
to watch television while we stewed about the situation. If there
was anything worthwhile on TV, we were too preoccupied to know it.
Around
11:00, the Installer indicated the software on disc one had been
successfully installed. The computer automatically restarted and
then slowly made its way to the Installer, prompting me to insert disc
two. We were almost done, but it was difficult to be
optimistic. I tried to maintain a "reverse karma" attitude,
figuring that if I resigned myself to the fact that all was lost,
somehow things might magically work out (Yes, I know how irrational
this is). At one point, I even grabbed the phone book and started
writing down phone numbers for local Mac repair services.
Initially, disc two wouldn't install. Installer would cycle
through to "keynote" and then stop and restart. This happened
three times or so. I ultimately restarted off the CD and started
installation of disc two again. This time it worked.
At
about 11:35, my desktop finally appeared. We knew everything was
intact when we saw my desktop pattern, which is a vintage picture of
Ozzy and Randy Rhoads. We both yelled out, hugged and collapsed
on the sofa. Let's return to the title of this particular entry:
Wyszkowski's Second Law Anything can be made to work if you fiddle with it long enough.
Indeed.
After
making few phone calls and sending an e-mail or two, the adrenaline
wore off and we got a half-decent night's sleep. All is in order
now...In fact, everything is working better than ever!
Over
the last 30 days or so, I know have already posted 2 other entries
featuring photos of Randy Rhoads. I can't resist posting one more
so everybody can see the image that made us shout out in unrestrained
elation after enduring 5½ hours of pure agony. Two horns up!
I have recently received an update from our friend in Iran regarding the mounting censorship and political repression in that country. The "Islamic Republic" is now attempting to block Internet access to the Marxists Internet Archive (http://www.marxists.org) within Iran. When an Internet user attempts to access MIA though Google or by directly typing the main URL, the following message is received:
