lunedì 30 aprile 2007

Unione Europea = Unione Sovietica?

Ecco un video di un signore che a quanto pare ha qualcosa da dirci:



Si tratta di Vladimir Bukovsky e non nasce come Anti-Europeo nel senso lato. E' un Russo che si è fatto 15 anni in campi di igene mentale e goulag perché ci teneva a esprimere le sue idee. Il testo lo trovate qui. Qui una sua intervista, assolutamente da leggere, per l'intervento al parlamento europeo. Parlamento che come cito qui sotto non conta praticamente un cazzo:

PB: But we have a European Parliament which is chosen by the people.

VB: The European Parliament is elected on the basis of proportional representation, which is not true representation. And what does it vote on? The percentage of fat in yoghurt, that kind of thing. It is ridiculous. It is given the task of the Supreme Soviet. The average MP can speak for six minutes per year in the Chamber. That is not a real parliament.

Un altra testimonianza viene da questo signore (senza nome) che dice di essere 91enne e lituano/Americano. Di avere vissuto l'invasione Tedesca e quella Sovietica e sopratutto che ci presenta una lista di problemi dell'unione europea che sottoscrivo pienamente, in grassetto quelli più inquietanti:
  1. Regulatory nightmare. British grocers have been arrested and fined for continuing to sell bananas and other produce by the pound instead of by the EU's newly mandated metric weights. Similarly, the EU dictates on the shape and size of cucumbers, the consistency of marmalade, the texture and taste of chocolate, and thousands of other consumer items.
  2. Acquis communautaire. The EU already operates under the doctrine of acquis communautaire, which holds that all members must adopt EU law in its entirety, and further, that once the EU usurps the right to legislate in a new area, its authority in that area is guaranteed in perpetuity. Thus, power is guaranteed to flow in one direction--from the member states to the central government.
  3. Corpus juris corpus juris n. the body of the law, meaning a compendium of all laws, cases and the varied interpretations of them. There are several encyclopedias of the law which fit this definition, the most famous of which is Corpus Juris Secundum. Several states have such series of books covering explanations of the law of that state.. The corpus juris is the new legal code initiated by the Amsterdam Treaty that will, among other things, set up a European Public Prosecutor with overriding criminal law jurisdiction throughout Europe. Habeas corpus, trial by jury and other important protections will be swept away.
  4. Unlimited migration. Signatory countries of the EU Schengen Agreement have given up their right to police their borders, thus allowing illegal aliens--including terrorists--to travel freely between countries. With Russia and other former Soviet states, along with Turkey, scheduled for membership, we will soon have millions of new migrants, including many Communists and militant Muslims migrating at will throughout Europe--much like what could happen to the U.S. if the FTAA is implemented.
  5. Economic control. With the establishment of the euro currency and the European Central Bank, the EU countries have lost control of their fiscal and monetary policy as well as their currencies.
  6. Destroying agriculture. The EU's Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) has taken control of nearly all agriculture and has nearly destroyed British agriculture.
  7. Power to tax. The EU already claims the authority to dictate indirect tax policies such as the VAT (value added tax) on clothes, food, public transport, fuel, construction, homes, etc. The Treaty of European Union declares that EU decisions to "impose pecuniary obligation on persons other than States shall be enforceable." That means direct taxes on individuals.
  8. Coercive military and police power. If the Eurocrats have their way, they will soon have European military and police forces to enforce their increasingly dictatorial edicts.
Il mio punto di vista? Mi sembra chiaro che su a Brouxelles ci siano parecchie cose poco chiare. Da cose ottime come il mercato europeo e la libertà di circolazione si sta passando a cose assolutamente riprovevoli come il tentativo di fare passare la costituzione senza il voto dei cittadini e per la prima volta l'imposizione di norme PENALI a livello comunitario per scavalcare le leggi dei singoli stati. (Direttiva IPRED2).

Se da un lato quindi ci sono effetivamente cose positive e desiderabili dall'altro c'è il mio sospetto del tutto personale che questo sia dovuto ad una politica di tipo "panem circenses" ovvero dare qualcosina da mangiare a tutti per poi metterglielo in quel posto. Ho parecchi amici a Brouxelles che potrebbero confermarlo. In agginta negli europalazzi del potere c'è una corruzione endemica radicata da anni che la stampa cerca di coprire in ogni modo ma che ogni tanto viene, ciononstante, a galla. Fatevi una ricerca con Google.

Conclusione: Se l'europa è un unione di popoli ben venga, ma se il progetto invece è la costituzione del Soviet allora no e dovrò essere euroscettico.

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giovedì 26 aprile 2007

La Vita a Londra

Londra, citta' bellissima con un piccolo problema. Qui hanno tutti troppi soldi! La mia amica che fa traduzioni guadagna 3000 pounds al mese (4400 euri). In italia gli davano 1000 euri e un calcio sui denti. Allora sara' ricca? no. Anzi la sensazione e' che qui sia peggio che a milano e roma messe assieme, tutti questi che lavorano mi sembra che non abbiano una buona vita... mi spiego, guadagnano una frega di soldi ma poi tanto li spendono tutti in stronzate sotto l'ufficio perche' non hanno tempo di vivere. Cosi' qui sotto ho contato 3 ristoranti italiani, 3 risto francesi, 5 (cinque) Sartbucks Coffe, svariate altre caffetterie di lusso e assolutamente 0 supermercati veri.
(Nella foto il grande Struzzi, di nero ingiacchettato davanti la sua prigione di vetro)

Quindi la moneta cattiva scaccia la buona e a londra tutto costa il triplo o il quadruplo. Lo hanno capito perfettamente i pakistani/indiani e altri terzomondini che lavorano al centro in piccoli chioschetti dove un panino di merda costa almeno 3,5 euro (stiamo parlando di supermercati). Se pero' vuoi mangiare qualcosa che il giorno dopo non sei alla sala rianimazione dell'ospedale devi andare in posti "di qualita'" (li chiamano cosi').
Un esempio di posto di qualita' e' il "Marks&Spencers" che sembra il nome di una societa' di avvocati di quelle che stanno qui sotto... invece e il nome di un bastardo che ha unito il supermercato alla gioielleria di famiglia. Entrando li dentro ho avuto la nettissima sensazione di stare in un IKEA del cibo, dove pero' la baghette mi costa quanto il tavolino knulla, qualche esempio:
  1. Panetto di burro del contadino - 100 grammi 3,5 euro - Deve essere fatto strizzando le tette della figlia bona del contadino, altrimenti non si spiega il prezzo
  2. Sacchettino di plastica luccicante, griffato M&S, contenente 1 carota spezzettata finemente e 200 grammi di fine cavolo altamente selezionato, gia pronto per il minestrone (quello che da pupo mi faceva schifo tanto per capirsi) - 6 euro
  3. Cola, di qualita' non la coca-cola, dentro bottiglia da discount ma griffata M&S, 3euro al litro.
E questo era il supermercato di qualita' per i bambini viziati che lavorano nella city.

Approposito di Lavoratori di concetto: E' molto interessante lo stile di vita degli "inglesi" che lavorano da queste parti. Adesso vi spiego il lifestyle e come mai il mio amico Struzzi è coraggioso:
  1. Alzarsi il più tardi possibile e fare finta di non avere l'hangover
  2. Correre fino all'ufficio, ogni mezzo è valido per evitare la luce del sole
  3. Passare le prime 4 ore bevendo caffe e prendendo pause. Se c'è internet è lecito consultare siti di ogni genere e chattare, altrimenti si fa finta di lavorare
  4. Dalle 16 alle 18 si fa lo sprint finale perché l'hangover è passato
  5. Ore 18 -Si corre di nuovo, questa volta con più foga, è finito il lavoro e finalmente il sole è nascosto dall'altra parte della terra; finalmente si puo andare a prendere una bella decina di birre al PUB; ovviamente con tutti i colleghi ; e ovviamente tutti nello stesso PUB, tanto per cambiare l'ambiente. Tutti sono felici e sorridenti, ma non sanno perché...
  6. Il giorno dopo ti risvegli nel tuo letto, non ti ricordi come ci sei arrivato ma non è importante, è gia tardi e devi correre! Si riniza dal punto 1.
Questo è il Lifestyle che la maggior parte dei dipendenti ingiacchettati di nero segue. Ho brevettato una frase per descriverli: "bacarozzi che temono il sole"(tm) Leggere di più? Qui le foto

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lunedì 23 aprile 2007

Grecia!


Grecia! La mia seconda patria (spirituale almeno). Mi sono accorto che mi manca più di quello che pensavo. Così c'è questo piccolo video per farne una quasi adeguata promozione

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giovedì 19 aprile 2007

108 Mbps Router & Wireless Access Point SpeedShare Turbo Pro

"108 Mbps Router & Wireless Access Point SpeedShare Turbo Pro"

Trust
Site - Firmware

Kcorp KLG-575
Site - Firmware

TopCOM Skyr@cer WBR-654
Site - Firmware

INTRODUCTION
At a first glance the TRUST router is easy to operate and configure BUT under heavy usage I found frequent disconnects. I then investigated the causes for this behaviour for quite a few days.

D-Link, TopCom and Kcomp sell the same router with a slightly different firmware and some different plastic container (well Kcomp router is exaclty built the same way as mine).

DIFFERENT FIRMWARES
There are plenty of firmwares avaiable to this router. Unfortunately the TRUST site has a old release that does not support XR (Extended Range). Other resellers firmware offer XR and superG mode.

POOR PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS
Analysing the wireless performance of the router we spot these problems:

1) The router after a reasonable "burst" (around 3 Mb/Sec) rolls back to a conservative sustained 300kb/sec

2) If the transfer is kept for a long time eventually the router disconnects and it is necessary a reset in order to be able to re-associate the router to the wireless card on the PC. This problem is reported also for the non wireless part on some P2P forums where users are complaining about resets using P2P Software.

SOLUTIONS
After going after a certified Atheros PCI card with SuperG and XR capabilities (48€) I was already rather pissed off. I have been blaming windows XP zero wireless connection service and Card drivers instead!

Now I am not suggesting that in order to solve your overheating problem you upgrade your router with a non certified firmware. That could invalidate your warranty. On the other hand the operation is quite reversible and looks innocent enought to me. Also with some exception the Kcomp firmware runs excently on my device giving improved performance. You could try this one as well from TOPCOM.

The first time I opened the router I couldn't help noticing that the engravings on the atheros chip where burnt and slightly brown. This could be due to two options:

  1. TRUST not wanting you to know what Hardware they run (paranoia?)
  2. Overheating of the chip.

When I first put my finger on it I realised that it was the second instance. A termocouple measure showed up 57+ C° during operations on the controller CHIP. It needed some punishment and I needed some HeatSink and some Thermal Conductive Tape. And I had it from a Vantec ICEBERQ4 VGA Cooler.

Need to say more?

Note: Doing what I did will invalidate your warranty. Tech supports have a long tradition of ignoring real problems and getting all the blame on costumers. If you do stick a Heatsink on the chip you will give them a good reason.

I first tested if heat was the cause. And the results where astounding. With a heatsink and air blowing I could transfer large files for over one hour without any disconnection!!! Also the transfer speed topped over 5mb/sec (2 mb more than the previous record). Obviously overheating was the problem.

SOLVING OVERHEATING
I just used one of the thermal pads to secure one Heatsink to the Chip.


The Chip heatsinked - Problem solved.

LESSONS TO LEARN
I learn that I should not think it is always fault of WinXP and Bill Gates. Then I understood why CISCO equipment costs a arm and a leg. I already knew that forums are a good source of

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YapPhone Driver - Restituite lo YapPhone alla vita

Works for: Windows 98 / ME /98SE - Windows 2000 - Windows XP (Limited functionality)
YapPhone alias Y@ap Phone drivers - This phone was built and commercialised in Italy by "Millecom" (Dead Link) a enterprise entering the VoIP business maybe too soon. The hardware was left unsupported and my requests to the staff were unanswered for a long time. It used in italy the Net2Phone carrier (still alive) and it looks like it is still commercialised by some Chinese resellers whose drivers are not accessible.
INSTALLATION
You will have to use the device manager to install this phone. For Windows XP use the Windows 2000 folder. During the installation you will be requested the infamous file "yapload.sys". This file is in the root of the installation directory.
After installing the drivers this phone can be selected as a default audio device for SKYPE or other VoIP applications. With some luck you can find it used on Ebay for as low as 10€.
Under Windows XP the phone keyboard loses functionality. And of course I didn't bother to test under other O/S.
Good luck.

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DLink-604T Ghetto Modding

D-link

Product Page official site

Cause: I was experiencing problems with the ADSL modem/router. During usage the wireless network becomes disconnected. When looking for wireless networks in winXP another network shows up but the PC is unable to connect to any. To reconnect you have to unplug the router.

Investigation: I found the router to be extremely hot. Disregarding any warranty I just opened it and found a really hot processor (around 75C°) - Also I took a look at various forums for similar problems. And of course found lots of information.

Cure Part 1: In order to operate correctly the forums suggested to lighten the load on the modem CPU. Thus 1) Disable the DHCP 2) Disable the DNS Relay - This worked to some extent to speed up internet browsing and had a positve effect also on the disconnect problem.

But the real improvement comes when applying a heasink to the CPU. After that I didn't encounter any disconnect for all the winter time. You can find cheap heatsinks/thermal tapein VGA cooler packages by Vantec.

Cure part 2: Actually summertime is coming - Had lots of disconnects again. This time I resorted in building a ghetto cooling box.

How to build a box: You need Scissors, A quiet fan, tape, some cables, one plug, one power adapter to 12Vcc or even 9Vcc, soldering iron, a cardboard box, and a couple of screws for the fan.

1) Take the box - Cut with the scissors a hole in the box for the router to fit in. The hole should be tight enought so much air won't pass through when the box is finished.
2) Decide where to put the fan and once again cut the shape for the air intake and pinpoint the holes for the screws.
3) Put the plug on one side of the box, run the cables from the plug to the fan and solder (you might want to check the polarity)

You are finished. Plug the fan put the router in the custom airlock :D Mine is now working flawlessly. (I know it's ugly, but its effective!)

Considerations: You will need a separate power adapter. The one that comes with your router is nominally a 12V-AC adapter. Since it is alternated current it cannot operate the DC fan. My original project was to divert the power from this bick to the fan but it failed since I didn't take my time to read the power input specifications of the D-link.

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mercoledì 18 aprile 2007

Various Links

Soft & Links

 Use OpenOffice.org OpenOffice.org - This office suite started like a miracle: Sun gave up the code and license of their staroffice software to the open source community of the world. The results are astonishing, just like linux, a real O/S the openoffice suite of application can rival the established microsoft office. As a big bonus it is free and 100% compatible with the commercial option. Download by clicking the above button.

Get Firefox! firefox @ mozilla.com - Talking about free and excellent software this is a piece of art. Also an offspring of the first real browser. When microsoft forced netscape into a niche of the market the wise guys at netscape decided to start a foundation for free software. This foundation produced several interestiong opensourced programs that outperform commercial alternatives. Many of these innovations are going to be actually copied into microsoft products.

Get Thunderbird Thunderbird @ mozilla.com - Thunderbird, the email client that let you, not somebody else, in charge of your mail. Many people described Outlook as windows's default mailware installer :) Althought not properly correct this affirmation is sadly accurate. Most virus and malware propagates by internet mail. Outlook has been the favourite target of this scum. Two are the main reasons: 1) Outlook is used by compuyter illitterates - 2) Outlook is deeply rooted in Windows and if succesfully hacked can full permissions at root level to the hacker.

portableapps.com - Here you will finrd some modified open source programs. The modification permit you, the final user, to run all of these programs on a USB STICK! Now, even if you cannot afford a computer, you can have your own productivity/home environment on a usb keychain and bring it with you wherever you go! I personally use this to take my mail system with me while I am travelling. All you have to do is to get to any pc, insert your stick and use your favourite programs. When you are fished take the stick out and no data is left on the pc.

Free-av.com - The least known and most effective antivirus software on the internet. ad-aware - The malware/spyware scanner for your windows/OS Free of charge of course. Spybot Search & destroy - The most efficient and free to use bot removal tool (destroys pure malware)
Needless to say all of these programs are useless on the Macintosh I just use them on Windows installs. By that I clearly mean that Apple os is way more safe than Microsoft code.

MUSIC is funny up to the point you understand the system

downhillbattle.org - A young music activist group somewhere in the USA took a look into the music industry and didn't like it. They state that from the beginning big music corporations established rules and procedures crafted at art to exploit artists. Take a good look at the site because it is objective and proof based with many interviews to artists and managers. Also on this site iTunes is Bogus a parody of iTunes that points out to the flaws of the corrupted/corrupting music system of the USA. And this is really funny: whatacrappypresent

MAFIAA.org - Parody website about the activities of RIAA and MPAA

AllofMP3 - As for me I can suggest you safely buy your music in non DRM format - buy online - buy possibly from a nation with a copyright law that hasn't yet been bought by oligopolists. Kudos to Mr Putin for allowing me and my friends to buy MP3 (not the WMA Shit) @ allofmp3!

You can use this music on your portable player of any brand and burn them to your CDs. These medias in italy have a special surcharge for compensating artists throught a found run my SIAE. Note that the SIAE compensates ARTISTS with a fair share of 50% and it is completely legal to make copies for private/non profit use as long as this tax is due.

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