Chatty pony

[altivo]

According to LJ, this is my 500th post. What I find more astonishing though, is the fact that I'm getting very close to my 10,000th comment posted. Well, no one said horses didn't have big noses.

Yesterday afternoon we were entertained by watching a huge thunderstorm front roll by. The weather alarm never went off (later I discovered that someone had changed the station frequency, so we were listening to the wrong county) but the weather service radar map and what we could see through the glass curtain wall to the north was clear enough. Only the edge of the storm grazed us, but there was some hard rain and bean-sized hail for a moment.

The new software is running smoothly. A few complaints about the change, mostly related to filtering which is not our choice but is required by law. Everyone but politicians knows that filters don't really work. However, in switching from one system to another, the things that get blocked are bound to change. One family is saying they will write a letter to the library board complaining that they can no longer get to neopets.com.

That one surprised us a bit, both that anyone would think it was that important and that it would be blocked. I went and checked, and yes, indeed, it is blocked. The interesting thing is, the block is not from the filter software at all. It appears to be on a banned domain list hard-coded by the software vendor. An e-mail to them confirmed this, and produced a two page list of domains that were blocked. Most of them I've never heard of, but shockwave.com is on there. The issue, oddly enough, seems to be excessive use of Flash animation, which apparently overloads the system and causes throughput to plummet. As a dialup user, I can agree with that. Flash is garbage from the devil himself, wasting bandwidth and time to transfer a seven megabyte file just to put some pointless and irritating animation on your screen. It wouldn't be so bad if web designers used it to actually convey useful information, but mostly they use it for advertising or pointless frills.

So now even in its absence, Flash garbage causes irritation as we get complaints from people that "it's not working."

No work today, off to the dentist to have teeth floated this morning. Bai.

Comments

[calydor.livejournal.com]

I am a bit surprised that, after ranting for so long about ditching proprietary software and OS, you don't seem to have a problem using software with a hardcoded ban list that you apparently can not edit.

What gives?

[niko-winterset.livejournal.com]

*laughs* I love a good dig first thing in the morning. I will have a smile on my muzzle all day over that.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

See my answer below. Caly needs to find a sharper spade if he's going to dig.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Simple. With this vendor's software, I was able to immediately tell the nature of the block, they responded in less than 15 minutes with a list of the sites that were blocked and a clear explanation of the reason, and they offered to unblock any of them if we wanted to risk the performance degradation they might cause.

With Microsoft and Comprise, it would have taken two weeks of phone calls to get a response, if we got one at all. They would have first denied that they were blocking any sites, then admitted that they were but refused to give us the list of sites. Instead, they would say we could ask about any specific site and they would tell us if it were blocked or not.

The real difference, from my point of view, between the two software configurations is this: the new setup is more reliable and much easier to maintain and tune, it costs half as much to operate, the vendor is ten times more responsive than the old ones were, and I really have much better control over the aspects of the system that caused us so much trouble in the past.

Filtering or blocking of domains and specific sites doesn't really bother me. We are providing a free service. People who don't like what we offer don't have to use it. If we don't let them look at porn or sit in chat rooms on our equipment and connection, they have no say in that. They can go out and buy their own equipment and pay for their own connection. The library is here to provide information and education first, and entertainment only within certain guidelines. This is not an infringement on anyone's freedom. The library doesn't subscribe to Playboy or Hustler magazines either, and we don't buy Harlequin romance novels or snuff films. That's just the way it is.

[niko-winterset.livejournal.com]

*chuckles* you just can't take a little good natured digging without getting all defensive and serious can you? Lighten up stallion. :)

[calydor.livejournal.com]

It wasn't a dig, so please stop being so defensive. It almost sounds to me like you know what I mean.

Yes, Microsoft would undoubtedly deny until Hell froze over, but that's not what this is about. It is about a piece of software that goes against the Good Nature of Linux which you have been praising so much. It is a piece of software where you need to contact the vendor AT ALL to make changes to a list of banned sites (one that could just as well be soft-coded to a seperate file so you didn't delete or overwrite it by accident). To me it seems like you find this okay, for the sole reason that YOU would've banned those sites as well had you thought of it.

This isn't about library policy, Tivo. It is about not being consistent regarding what you find to be good software practice.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Good software practice in this case is giving me something I don't have to micromanage myself. I don't want to do anything to that system. I don't want to be called on when it won't print, won't display, won't behave. I've spent the last four years doing exactly that, with a system that didn't even have printed or online documentation, that was all a proprietary secret, and that I couldn't even install or remove by myself.

I do have control of the actual filter. I can block or unblock sites at will, something I could not do with the old system. On that, every time we caught kids looking at porn we had to call the software vendor to get the new porn site added to the list of blocked sites. This really is a great improvement.

I chose this because I will spend less time managing it, rather than more. I'd much rather be choosing books for the library and cataloging them, thank you. The old vendor did not respond to bug reports or problems at all, or did so by accusing me of "mismanaging" things. The first time I called them, they insisted there must be a virus in our servers. There was not, of course.

This vendor has been extremely responsive, helpful, and cooperative. They have actually modified the specs of their product several times at my request, and accelerated enhancements so fast that they became standard features in a week's time just because I needed them.

I don't see how you can say it violates Linux standards. The Linux is just that, Linux. There are commercial products running on top of it, and I can configure those but not alter the source code, yes. The Linux advantages are much longer run time without crashes or the need to reboot, much better security against viruses and user abuses, the elimination of half a dozed add-on security products that were needed to make Windows work in a public access environment, and a much lower overall cost, as I've pointed out several times.

[calydor.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to get into this. I didn't question your choice of product, only why you thought it okay that part of the ban list could only be edited by the vendor, regardless of how fast they do so.

You have used a tone in this post and it's replies that I really had not expected from you, Tivo, and quite honestly ... I am hurt. You chose from the beginning to see this as an attack, and quite unlike you you decided to simply counter that attack without thinking if it was really what you first thought.

I am not used to this behavior from you.

And I really don't like seeing it.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I don't see why you should be "hurt" about it.

You're right. I see nothing wrong with part of a commercial product being only alterable by the vendor. That is the normal state of things with commercial software products.

If you were to see this side by side with what I just got rid of, I think you'd understand. Even though parts of it are proprietary, I have far more control than I ever had with the old setup. And even though I have more control, it is much easier to exercise that control than it ever was to do what little I could do with the old setup.

[dakhun.livejournal.com]

Possibly for pricipled, intellectual types, the word "inconsistent" can be taken as an implicit insult, because it comes with the implication that they haven't thought things through?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Dunno. I may sound overly defensive of this change because I had to fight so long and hard for it. I started three years ago from my saying "Get rid of Comprise. Anything has to be better, I don't care what," and being told we couldn't afford any replacement, there was too much invested in what we had.

One of the problems with Comprise has been that every year they have blamed their ills on the hardware not being good enough, or the Windows version not being new enough. A year ago they went too far, demanding that we purchase a dedicated hardware proxy box, a specific and expensive one, or no longer be supported. Since we had made several previous costly purchases of software and hardware in order to retain their support, and yet their support has been worth very little, I finally won out with my pleas to go to something else. Then I had a steep uphill battle to get a non-Windows solution accepted. Now it's in place and working but I'm really tired of being called on to defend the choice. I feel that the smooth conversion (it really has been smooth considering the scope of it) and the already obvious improved reliability just in the first week should be enough to satisfy anyone, but of course folks here on LJ can't see that part of it.

[songdogmi.livejournal.com]

It does seem a little strange to block sites like shockwave.com and neopets.com, but only because the layperson (e.g., me) thinks of blocked sites as being immoral, evil, and bad. Blocking a site because it'll overload the system is very valid.

I don't mind there being Flash on the Web, if the purpose of the Flash is to entertain -- you know, like Homestar Runner or things like that. If you are looking for that, fine. What I really dislike is websites designed in Flash even though the main point is providing information. They don't need the flash -- I really agree with you that those are a waste.

Good luck at the dentist's office.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Actually they have a new feature in this system that will allow them to eliminate the block on the worst Flash sites. On a terminal by terminal basis, I can specify whether Flash content is downloaded automatically (as Internet Explorer normally would do) or only after the user clicks on it to specifically ask for it. A blank space appears with the words "click here to reveal Flash content." This solves the big problem with flash: multiple users on sites like neopets, where every page has five or six flash animations that all try to download huge files at once can just completely devour a limited bandwidth.

[songdogmi.livejournal.com]

That's a cool feature. My mom's e-mail has a setting that prevents photos from loading until she cilcks a similar link on the message.

It's possible to create Flash files that aren't very big. Maybe they're not very intricate, or they don't have elaborate music or something. Or maybe creators don't care how big the files are because all of their intended audience has broadband (or so they think). I sure wish they did care, because I'm stuck with dial-up at home for a while yet, and hate using all the bandwidth when I'm at work.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Then you've seen what Flash can do to a connection. And when five users are sharing a single ethernet cable, it does the same thing there if they all start downloading the stuff with abandon.

The trouble is, most users have no concept of what they are doing or the size of the data chunks they are requesting. More and more web designers seem to have little more sense themselves. All that they care about is how it looks, and then they only check it on their own high powered mega-memory workstation with a dedicated T3 line, I swear.

[dakhun.livejournal.com]

Teeth... floated?
Is your dentist's name Bob? ;-)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Nope. Her name is Arlene.

"Floating" is the term for what an equine dentist does, smoothing sharp points and catches so they don't make a horse's mouth sore or cause difficulty in eating. ;)

I often use it to refer to semi-annual cleanings.

[ruwhei.livejournal.com]

Better flash, than Java. Ugh, Java.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't like Java that much either. The problem with Flash is bandwidth. People create multi-megabyte files to do what a simple animated GIF could do in 60K or less.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Gad you're on fire *puts a fireblanket over you, before realising* Oh...whoops sorry...faux pas >.

[heavens-steed.livejournal.com]

Oh how fun, the dentist :P Actually, the funny thing is that going to the dentist usually doesn't bother me at all, but I still always get really nervous when I go to the doctor. I used to be required to have a physical examination every three years, but now that I don't, it's been almost 5 years since I last had one.

Almost 10,000 comments? That is amazing. I for one really appreciate the fact that you try to comment as much as possible, although I haven't seen you comment on any of my last few entries which has me wondering if I did something wrong.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

The dentist was fine. The drive there and back is the pain.

You've done nothing wrong. You just haven't given me much material to work with. I don't want to repeat the same thing over and over, or you'll think I'm a parrot instead of an equine. ;D

[pioneer11.livejournal.com]

I could never figure out "filtering" here myself. For what its worth,
I'm binary about this stuff, either your in or out.

Nice hoss is /in/. ^_^

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, I could logically use some filtering on LJ occasionally. My fiber and yarn-related posts are of interest to only a limited number of my friends I think. But since no one has complained yet, I haven't bothered.

The filtering discussed above is the "other" kind, used by libraries to block out porn, gambling, and illegal drug sites mostly.

[goldenstallion.livejournal.com]

We just need to get a-bouncing together on my big, beautiful, inflatable, Pegasus pool toy on a hot, sunshiny day, and then you will have plenty to talk about.

Of course this requires a hot, sunshiny day, something lacking IRL! GRRRR!

Grin.

Imp

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yes, we aren't getting that warm yet are we?

On the other hand, we had some sweet corn last night that was actually good. Summer will get here.

[niko-winterset.livejournal.com]

*grins* Come see me. There is lots of warm weather here. I think it is going to be in the 90's for the next week or so.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

No thanks. That's too warm. About 78 degrees would be just about right.

[niko-winterset.livejournal.com]

*snickers* It is that cool overnight here...sometimes. All in all though I think I am adjusting to the heat ok.

YAAY!

[goldenstallion.livejournal.com]

At long last, it is sunshiny today.

Got good hours in at work so taking the day off. All five horses are flat and both dogs are flat basking sun.

Bear is asleep and I am in a kind of funk just enjoying the sunshine and slight breeze. Doing odds and ends and having a great day to myself.

Our horses need the teeth floating and hoof trims. Bear did Thunder's fronts the other day much to his chagrin since the little shit was not being very cooperative. Well, Bear used to horseplay with him like two stallions and now Thunder tends to go down on his knees all bity and nippy and horseplay fighting thus Bear tells me he really needs to stop playing with him like that since he is now a big boy.

Heh, such fun that little guy I love so much. Bear too, btw.

Oh, flash animation... yea, that is stupid. How many icons use that and very annoying just like the adds. Get over it, people. This is not cute, and it is so annoying one wants to delete you from his lists.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

They could use you at one of our local libraries, the computers and connection are so slow I read several chapters of a book trying to get my yahoo mail.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

The trouble with providing zippy access for free is that it attracts a lot of people who wouldn't otherwise come into the library. They tend to be demanding, rude, and noisy, shouting into their cell phones and abusing library staff when they don't get their way.

I've been saying for years that we made a terrible mistake letting this junk into the library at all. The net is a useful tool, but it's 90% commercial drivel at this point.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Very much so, then you get freeloading types who expect everything for nothing. I never like those types, I have to deal with them sometimes.

[goldenstallion.livejournal.com]

You big dolt.

My hug is your hug. I hug you as much as I miss you ya big lug.

Mine are yours and I know you miss mine too. Thankfully I have my Bear or would go seriously insane.

You big lug.

I love you as much as I can understand what love is. Thank goodness for you, my dear rider.

Rides forever,

Max. Er.... Imperator.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

*blush*

Goodness, maybe there's something to the old "absence makes the heart grow fonder" thing? Or is it playing hard to get that wins me such attention?

I have always loved you from when I first met Cherokee. You know that. It does not change.

Coming back from Woodstock just now saw two Arabian mares with tiny foals, probably no more than a week old. So cute! Passed a lady grazing her horse on the tall grass along the road, wanted to yell at her about the amount of pollution in that from passing traffic, but just waved at her. Poor Tess. Vet says she came through with no damage, but can't have any grass until it starts to dry out in late June. I guess I should go sit in the barn with her. She's not happy being shut into the arena all the time.

Your loving Rider

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

He doesn't use a lug wrench on you does he? ^.^

[altivo.livejournal.com]

No, though he's been known to threaten me with a good kick now and then. :)