The current free ebook is located at this link:
http://haggishell.com/ridgeproject.pdf

For details about the ebook, click here.

131018. This post is directed to the attention of Ken Kiraly, also known as Kenneth Paul Kiraly, believed to have been, at one point, a resident of Menlo Park, California; a lead engineer at Amazon Lab126; one of the architects of the Amazon Kindle; and a generally unpleasant person and most likely a sociopath :P

Friday, October 18, 2013 might be Ken Kiraly's birthday. His birthday is somewhere around this point. I'm not sure of the exact date because... well, most of the regular readers know the drill.

I'm preoccupied with other matters. However, it is Ken's 50th birthday. He is old now :-) Forty is the old age of youth. Fifty is the youth of old age. The occasion ought to be be noted.

The question of what to say, though, is interesting,

If there is such a thing as a “villain” in the classic sense, a stereotype that used to be more clearly delineated in U.S. movies, Ken Kiraly would be a better fit for the role than most of his family members.

It's not a perfect fit.

Ken Kiraly did not hesitate to hurt people, even his Mother Grace Kiraly. But the issue was not as simple as vindictiveness. It's true that Ken was full of anger and hatred. Most likely born of the palpable tension that permeated the Kiraly household day and night.

Tension that saturated the air both day and night. The atmosphere was not conducive to normal development.

But, for Ken, cruelty was about casual convenience. It was even about amusement. In short, Ken had the characteristics of a sociopath.

Grace Kiraly, Ken Kiraly's own Mother, was less significant to him than a discarded toy. A worn-out toy that might wish nothing more than to be granted its role.

I do not like Grace Kiraly. It is my prayer that after a lifetime of giving what there was to give, after being stalked by the Kiralys for two years — it will be two years after Thanksgiving next month — that, someday, I will be done with these people.

That, someday, I will never need to think about them again.

I want nothing more to do, most of all, with Grace Kiraly. Grace Kiraly never understood the difference between fact and fantasy. It is the reason that she was able to cope for decades with her abusive husband, Jim Kiraly. Grace's fantasies are what led to the current situation.

But I am disturbed, even now, by how Ken Kiraly treated our Mother. Even Jim, the violent one, buried the part of himself that did not care.

Ken Kiraly had a sense of humor. I was one of the people who knew how to make him laugh. But Ken was cruel, even savage, and utterly without remorse.

Or honor. That part might be more important.

The filk artist Tom Smith sang a wonderful song years ago called Rocket Ride. To quote from the lyrics:

Give me a villain with style and grace
And a little bit of fencing skill
They used to be angular, sneering, and bald
If someone got killed, even they were appalled
They tried to marry the heroine, no thought of rape
And they sure as hell knew how to wear a cape
They never tortured, they never lied
They'd honor a promise if it meant they died
Let's find a villain with professional pride

The honor part... Ken Kiraly didn't quite measure up. Ming the Merciless would worked out better. He'd have had honor.

The illustration used here is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial No Derivatives 3.0. The artist is Laura Ingis.

I said earlier that Ken had the characteristics of a sociopath. But what is a sociopath, exactly?

Society is about groups. Some groups are important. Others are less so. The most important group is defined by a circle that you yourself draw. The circle is drawn around the people that you see as human.

If you are like most people, those who are outside the circle are objects. Nothing more. A sociopath is simply somebody who has drawn the circle to be quite small.

Ken Kiraly has a wife. Virginia Chang Kiraly. A rising political star.

Ken Kiraly has two sons. If I remember correctly, the sons are named James Kiraly and Paul Kiraly. I will write about the choice of the name “James” another time. The name “Paul” is taken from Ken's middle name. Note: There is no connection to the Paul who killed himself in 2011 as I lay in pain on the floor.

Are these three people in Ken Kiraly's circle of “human” ? Does he hurt them and laugh at their pain? I don't believe so. There are no signs of this. Therefore, Ken Kiraly does not meet the strictest definition of “sociopath”. That definition requires that the circle of “human” be limited to one person. The sociopath himself.

I thought about saying more today. I considered talking about everything, Ken. Perhaps another time.

Happy Birthday, Little Brother. Welcome to Old Age.

It is the time of life where you are meant to reflect. Or even to experiment with introspection. Do you do this? Do you look in the mirror to examine the Hero that you see there?

Or is it sufficient that Virginia and the boys view you as such? Have you made the “choice” to take Grace's route... to dive into a pool of fantasy and never surface again? Well, at least you have done better than Tom. Whatever you are, perhaps you are still yourself.

Ken Kiraly has met the Knight. A couple of decades ago. They are the same age. How is this possible? How could both of them be 50 years old?

I told the Knight today... “I'd trade you for Ken”. Actually, I'd trade a cat for Ken. Cats are self-centered. But, truth be told, though they are self centered, they have feelings. There is no evidence that that Ken Kiraly meets this limited standard.

The Knight greets Ken Kiraly. The Knight says, “Be aware, Ken, that it is all downhill from here!” The point is intended, of course, to be humorous. It can be taken two ways. When I mentioned this to the Knight, his reaction was, essentially, “Indeed”.

Ken Kiraly may recall Montasar Swaiss as well. Monty is the one who drove me to Ken's Bachelor Party. The occasion where Ken Kiraly was not able to look me in the eye. Say, why was that, Ken?

Ken, Monty Swaiss says “Hello”. Monty does not say much more than that. Except that he does not try to murder his Brothers. Apparently, this is not as usual as your actions have suggested :P

John Dee says Hello to Ken Kiraly too. Ken Kiraly will remember the John in question. John Dee was a friend to Ann Quisenberry who Ken Kiraly and Tom Kiraly did not like. Ann was an assertive young woman. Therefore, my two Kiraly Brothers, who disliked assertive women, referred to Ann Quisenberry as a “Lesbian”. As though there would be anything wrong about that.

John Dee, like others, points out that 50 is halfway to triple digits. He wishes Ken well, quite kindly. I remember this person as kind. I wish that I had valued him more.

Skittles wishes to pass a message on to Ken Kiraly. Skittles is usually outspoken. However, on this occasion, he has limited his remarks to this point:

“Happy 50th.”

Mr. Meow adds the following enthusiastic sentiment:

<MrMeow> tell your brother i said “REDACTED you” :p
<OldCoder> I will soften that
<MrMeow> lol

I had dinner on Thursday night 131017 with DNA the 82 year old attorney. We went to Armadillo Willys. DNA agreed with Skittles. DNA believed that I should simply say “Happy Birthday” to Ken and leave it at that.

DNA's advice didn't stem from sentiment regarding family members. He told me that he'd considered having his own Brother prosecuted in connection with crimes that his Brother had committed.

However, that Brother passed away from an illness before DNA could arrange to have him arrested. DNA said he hadn't even thought about him for a year until our discussion.

Blue Dream and Phenek echoed Skittles and DNA. The view was that “Happy Birthday” would be sufficient.

Kappelin offered the following thoughts:

Are you planning on giving him anything? I could suggest a nice book of poetry thematically related to your feelings about him. Write him a sonnet. Reflect to childhood or former years. Tell him he will lead a miserable life full of knee pain and such from this day on.

The part about knee pain was not clear. However, Kappelin may have been referring to the fact that Ken and I are both over 50 now. My own left knee has malfunctioned for months. Sometimes, I can't stand up. But then I can walk. And, after a while, I can still run.

Kappelin continued:

Do you have your writing backed up and stored in many places? How much is left to finish? Work on that first.

Time is but a number. Significance and resonance last a lifetime.

you are not here to wage a war
you are not here to suffer
you are not here to die
you are not here to make others suffer

do what is right as opposed to justice
justice and right are not the same thing
what is right
is on the most fundamental level
justice is serving fairness
to those who deserve it

Swizec, the evolving writer in Europe, said this:

Families are hard, on one hand there is a lot of societal pressure to treat family as somehow special. But at the same time, why wouldn't you treat them based on merit just like everyone else? I don't know, I guess it depends on the particular person for me.

OldCoder said: So biological relationship is noted. But of limited significance?

Swizec replied: Yes.

OldCoder said: What is normal or usual? Is the truth, throughout the West at least, that “family” is a myth beyond childhood, a period that is different, and that subsequently biological associations... at least sibling hood... are of limited significance? Exceptions are based on the personalities of those who would sacrifice for people regardless. How much of this is true?

Swizec replied:

I'd say it's very true

Bacon Bits offers Ken Kiraly the following Doge Meme Birthday Greeting:

The Masked Lua has the following positive sentiment to offer Ken:

Tho you have persecuted him in the past, a happy birthday is what I'll wish for you, however, may all the days outside of that be REDACTED with pits of REDACTED you REDACTED, may you experience REDACTED as be proper for those of your kind who are but REDACTED of those who do nothing but good for others.

I spoke with Aequus about Ken Kiraly late Thursday night 131017. Aequus told me that his own Brother passed away decades ago:

Mine didn't make it that far. It's a sore spot. A bad time. He'd be 52 right about now. I was more a caretaker. He was a special child. Hit by a drunk driver when he was 4. Fell into a river at 28 and that was it.

We do the best we can with what we have. My brother tried very hard. Good kid. Not very bright, but a gentle giant of sorts. Towered over me. He was happy pushing a broom. I used to tell people, If only I could be happy pushing a broom...

I always had him to compare to the rest of the world. Even myself. I've never thought I was any better than him, or worse. Just different.

Your brother made it to 50. You can tell him that's good. Half way to triple digits ;)

The last thing I told my brother was I never wanted to see him again. He went out to the river, got drunk and fell in.

I saw them pull him out. Was out looking for him. My life is strange. Emergency vehicles parked all around the bridge. Tried not to look. Hate gawkers. Did anyway and it was him. Bad day.

It's been a long time. Not too bad to talk.

131018. Here is a Lost Doge. To be clear, this is a meme.

I am certain that the Lost Doge will be all right. To paraphrase a favorite line from a 1970s S.F. movie, Doges Lost Can Be Found. Help is Available.

131018. This post is intended for webdevs and/or CLI engineers. Thanks go to Blue Dream, whose prototype musicians community site inspired this post.

There is a common PHP5 problem that some people may find frustrating as the fix is surprisingly obscure. This post outlines the problem and the fix.

Webdevs often use an upload feature that's built into PHP5 to upload files to their sites. On the client side, a normal HTML form is used to select a file. The HTML code for the form typically looks like this:

<p>Upload a data file</p>
<form name="dataform"
      action="senddata.php"
      method="POST"
      enctype="multipart/form-data">

<table border="0" cellpadding="5" width="550px">
<tr>
<td><input type="file"   name="data" /></td>
<td><input type="hidden" name="MAX_FILE_SIZE"
           value="30000000" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><center>
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
</center></td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>

The HTML form invokes a PHP5 script on the server side. The PHP5 script typically looks like this:

<?php
// If code is not added here to create the "data/" folder, it must
// already exist. Note that the folder must have  appropriate per-
// missions as well.

$data     = $_FILES['data'];
$datapath = "data/" . $data["name"];

if (move_uploaded_file ($data['tmp_name'], $datapath))
{
    // A success message could be generated here
}
else
{
    // An error  message could be generated here
}
?>

The client-side web browser uploads the file that is selected by the HTML5 form. The PHP5 script receives the file, stores it in a temporary location, moves it to an appropriate folder, and optionally generates a success or error message.

In most cases, this works fairly well. But uploads will fail if the selected file is “too large”. This is reasonable... but what is “too large” ? Where is the limit set? If the limit is too low, how do you increase it?

If you use the PHP5 upload feature and you need to increase the limit, try the following procedure. No guarantees, your mileage may vary, and if it breaks your system, you're responsible. Note: Replace the number 32 used here with the appropriate number of megabytes.

1. grep all .ini files located under /etc or /usr/local for parameters named: post_max_size or upload_max_filesize

2. Ignore any matching files whose names don't contain the string “php”. In the remaining files, change the values of any assignments to matching parameters to:

32M

3. If you're using nginx as a web server, locate the server block corresponding to the server side in the appropriate nginx configuration file. Add a line similar to the following near the top of the block:

client_max_body_size 32M;

4. In the HTML form that you use, be sure to include a MAX_FILE_SIZE entry of the form shown in the same HTML code above. Set the associated value equal to the appropriate number of bytes.

5. Reboot the server.

131017. These are some banners that Mark Test created recently. These images are distributed under the following license:

Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

The license is also known as CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

As a separate note, Ken Kiraly did not date Jacqueline Bisset. I believe that Jim and Grace Kiraly met Shirley Temple once, after she had become involved in business and politics. However, as far as I know, neither Jim nor Grace dated her.

131018. It's been a while since the last dog picture, aside from “doges”. So here is a sensible dog chewing on what appears to be a toy bone. We will throw in a flock of white pigeons for free. It is a bargain.

131018. This post is intended for developers interested in SEO.

I did a casual check of Google Images search results related to my sites on Sunday 131013. Here's what turned up. Note: The context is Google Images as opposed to Google Web Search. I'll review search results for the latter engine when time permits.

For reference purposes, here are links for the searches that are discussed in this post:

1. One trend was unexpected. Google had started to put more of the images on my sites at the top of Kiraly search results regardless of content.

The fish to the right, for example, was in the second row of a Jim Kiraly Google Images search done at the time.

2. If thumbnail images were disregarded (less than 125 pixels tall or wide), I had 77% of the results in the first three rows for the search in question. The number seemed high but I double checked it.

3. For a Ken Kiraly Google Images search done on the same day, I had about 48% of the results in the first five rows. Again, this excluded thumbnails that were less than 125 pixels tall or wide.

4. The numbers were similar for a Grace Kiraly Google Images search done right after the Ken Kiraly search. I had about 47% of the results in the first eight rows, excluding the thumbnails.

5. Results were weakest for a Tom Kiraly Google Images search done at this point. I had only 36% of the non-thumbnail results in the first eight rows of results.

6. If analysis was limited to relevant pictures of people, places, documents, or drawings, excluding thumbnails, the numbers were quite different.

For Jim Kiraly and Grace Kiraly searches, as far as I could tell, all of the pictures of this type (100%) in the first 15 rows linked to my sites. For Tom Kiraly, the number was about 90%. I'm not sure about the ratio for Ken Kiraly but he may have had a larger number of relevant results than I did.

4. Initial conclusions on 131013 were simply that my site content had turned out to be compatible with Panda and Penguin guidelines.

Essentially, Google prefers honest and original content. Over the top attempts to cheat are discouraged. To put it another way, SEO works differently than real life or the courtroom.

131018. This is a technical post intended for people learning 'C'.

A young Coder asked me recently for 'C' code that would illustrate how 'C' might be used to traverse a directory and list its contents.

He had gotten a FOSS httpd daemon written in 'C' to build and run. The daemon displayed HTML files correctly. However, it didn't include code to handle cases where web clients tried to access a directory that didn't have an index.html file. Cases of this type produced errors.

The Coder decided that he wanted such cases to produce directory listings instead. So I wrote the 'C' code displayed below and gave it to him as a starting point. If you'd like to download the code as opposed to browse it, use the following link:

qclistdir.zip

// qclistdir.c - A simple 'C' directory listing example
// Original author: Robert Kiraly (OldCoder)
// License:  MIT/X
// Revision: 131013

//--------------------------------------------------------------------
// Overview.

// This is  a  sample Linux 'C' program that checks a directory speci-
// fied on the command line.

// If the directory contains an "index.html" file,  the program simply
// reports this. Otherwise, the program displays a  directory  listing
// in HTML format.

// The program was written for somebody who wanted to  extend a  basic
// webserver.  Specifically,  they  needed  to see how 'C' code  might
// check for the presence of an "index.html" file in a specified  dir-
// ectory and produce a listing  of the directory if the file  was not
// present.

//--------------------------------------------------------------------
// Instructions.

// To compile this program under Linux:
//
// cc -o qclistdir qclistdir.c
// strip qclistdir

// Usage (specify any directory instead of "/tmp"):
//
// qclistdir "/tmp"

// Note: You may need to use "./qclistdir" instead of "qclistdir".

//--------------------------------------------------------------------
// Standard header files.

#include <dirent.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>

//--------------------------------------------------------------------
// Basic constants.

#define ZERO        0
#define ONE         1
#define TWO         2

//--------------------------------------------------------------------
// Support routine.

// This  routine takes one argument,  which should specify a directory
// path as an argument.  Note: A directory path in the  current  Linux
// filesystem, as opposed to a web server document path.

// This routine  proceeds as  explained in the Overview.  Normally, it
// returns zero.

// If the directory path is invalid, or if  other errors  are detected
// at this level, this routine returns -1.  In this case, nothing else
// is done.

int qclistdir (char *dirpath)
{

//--------------------------------------------------------------------
// These are the variables that the routine will use.

    char *buf;                  // Points to a buffer
    int n;                      // Holds an integer
    struct stat sbuf;           // Used by a "stat" call

    DIR *dirptr;                // Used to traverse a directory
    struct dirent *entry;       // Points to data about  one thing in-
                                // side a directory
    char *dename;               // Points to the name of one thing in-
                                // side a directory

//--------------------------------------------------------------------
// Some initial sanity checks.

                                // Is the  specified  pathname  either
                                // null or empty?
    if ((dirpath == NULL) || !*dirpath)
    {                           // Yes - This is an error
        return -1;              // For now, just quit in this case
    }
                                // Is the pathname a directory?
    if ((stat (dirpath, &sbuf) != ZERO) || !S_ISDIR (sbuf.st_mode))
    {                           // No  - This is an error
        return -1;              // For now, just quit in this case
    }

//--------------------------------------------------------------------
// Make a pathname for "index.html".

// We are going to check to see if "index.html" is present in the spe-
// cified directory. To do so, we will  need  a full pathname for  the
// file. This code constructs the pathname.

#define LET_THERE_BE_SLACK  25

    n   = strlen (dirpath);     // Length of directory pathname
                                // Make a buffer that is  large enough
                                // to hold the pathname with  "/index.
                                // html" added
    buf = malloc (n + LET_THERE_BE_SLACK);

    if (buf == NULL)            // Did the buffer get created?
    {                           // No  - This is an error
        return;                 // For now, just quit in this case
    }
                                // Put the pathname plus "/index.html"
                                // in the new buffer
    strcpy (buf, dirpath);
    strcat (buf, "/index.html");

//--------------------------------------------------------------------
// The main enchilada.

                                // Is "index.html" in the directory?
    if (stat (buf, &sbuf) == ZERO)
    {                           // Yes - "index.html" is there
                                // Do  whatever  should  be  done with
                                // "index.html"
        puts ("I see index.html there");
    }
    else
    {                           // No  - "index.html" is not there
                                // Let's produce a directory listing

                                // Open the directory for reading
        if ((dirptr = opendir (dirpath)) != NULL)
        {                       // The open was successful
                                // Output an HTML header
            printf ("%s", "<html>\n<body>\n");

                                // Loop through all the entries
            while ((entry = readdir (dirptr)) != NULL)
            {                   // Process the next entry
                                // Point to its name
                dename = entry->d_name;
                                // For now,  skip entries whose  names
                                // start with a period. These are con-
                                // sidered to be special cases.
                if (*dename == '.') continue;
                                // Output the entry.  Note: In the fu-
                                // ture, a link might be generated for
                                // subdirectory entries.
                printf ("<p>%s</p>\n", dename);
            }
                                // Output an HTML trailer
            printf ("%s", "</body>\n</html>\n");

            closedir (dirptr);  // We are done with the directory.  So
                                // close it.
        }
    }

    free (buf);                 // Release the buffer
    return ZERO;                // Normal exit
}

//--------------------------------------------------------------------
// This is the main program.

void main (int argc, char **argv)
{
    int n;                      // Holds an integer

    if (argc != TWO)            // Is argument count correct?
    {                           // No  - Error
                                // Print usage text
        puts ("Usage: qclistdir \"/tmp\" or some other directory");
        exit (ONE);             // Error exit
    }

    n = qclistdir (argv [ONE]); // Pass argument to support routine
    exit (n ? ONE : ZERO);      // Exit with appropriate status
}

131010. Josef has notified me that somebody has told him... the Mountain View, California video game arcade that had the strange creatures painted on its walls three decades ago was named Central Park.

131010. This is just a fun IRC discussion with no redeeming social value :P

<MaskedLua> I've played pool, all for fun, and likely not adherent to any real rules
<MinnesotaFats> Without rules, how can you break them??!?
<MaskedLua> lol
* OldCoder will go talk with Minnesota Fats IRL for a while

<BicycleDog> welcome back OldCoder
<OldCoder> BicycleDog, thank you!
<BicycleDog> :D

<BicycleDog> OldCoder: do you like fun facts about ancient personalities?
<OldCoder> Sure
<BicycleDog> does Pliny the Elder ring any bell?
<OldCoder> Yes, it does
<OldCoder> Dramatic... he died trying to rescue friends from Pompeii

<BicycleDog> The story gets better, as told by his nephew
<BicycleDog> In a villa near Pompeii, where he parked the boat, there was a heavy rock rain from the volcano. So he entered a house, where he tried to keep everyone cool. He asked for a bath, while everybody was freaking out.

<BicycleDog> I am a terrible history teller
<OldCoder> You are doing fine

<BicycleDog> Well, then he asked for something to eat
<BicycleDog> There wasn't much that could be done, as rocks were falling from the skies
<OldCoder> Rocks are not good food

<BicycleDog> At some point, the house started to risk falling down. So everybody got a cushion, put it over the head, and run to the boat. But oh, poor Plinius, on the way to the boat he died of suffocation.

<OldCoder> Wikipedia wonders if his death was a stroke. As the others did not suffocate.
<BicycleDog> That would make sense
<BicycleDog> But, considering his age, and the pollution of the air, could also be a respiratory problem

<CeilingCat> Or he was squished by a rock and the others just changed the story to make it look better
<BicycleDog> Squished by a rock sounds epic
<CeilingCat> Depends on which parts get squished in what order

<BicycleDog> The wikipedia fails to mention how much fun his work “Natural History” is. It's full of random facts collected. Most of them are on the line of:
<BicycleDog> To cure yourself of a cough, you shall kiss a cow's nose
<BicycleDog> Not that he invented them, but because that's what people said

<OldCoder> Does it work?
<BicycleDog> Never tried
<BicycleDog> I like cows, though
<OldCoder> Cows are good

<OldCoder> Everybody likes cows
<OldCoder> We eat them (in the U.S.) but consider them nice
<OldCoder> It is an odd dichotomy

<BicycleDog> I am never against eating healthy animals that have had a good and fun life in green lands. But I could not slaughter them.
<OldCoder> People prefer not to think about that part
<BicycleDog> We like to put them names
<OldCoder> Daisy
<BicycleDog> Who would put a knife in good ol' Betsy?

<OldCoder> Farmers are fine with it. Most people are more distanced from the issue.
<OldCoder> Is it right or wrong to eat meat at all? I don't think it's wrong. But I am sympathetic to counter views.
* OldCoder is fond of steak

<BlueDream> Steak is good for the soul
* OldCoder would not slaughter a cow. He takes insects outside to free them.
<OldCoder> Steak...

131009. A High-School dropout asked me tonight what he might do to improve his chances of being hired as a Coder. This is my current response:

Note: This is for U.S. residents.

You will need a GED certificate (click here), a Social Security Number, and a bank account. For online jobs, a PayPal account may work instead of a bank account.

For conventional employment, including the Day Job discussed below, you may need two forms of ID, including one picture ID. The picture ID will be used to establish your identity. The other ID will be used to establish your eligibility to work. Some types of ID can be used for both purposes.

Examples of ID include a State Driver's License, a State Identity Card, a passport, a birth certificate (should be the type with the official seal), or a Social Security Card. A school ID card may or may not be accepted.

Select a core set of programming languages and frameworks. Spend some time building GitHub repos and websites that demonstrate proficiency. Include both back-end and front-end projects.

Document the code. This means comments in the sources and not just README files. Include module level, function or subroutine level, and inline comments.

Programming languages that may be useful include Python, Ruby, Javascript, Java, C, Perl, and PHP5. Note: You may be able to learn two or more of these languages at the same time as the syntax used is similar in some cases.

C++ is sometimes needed but it may take longer to learn than the others. If possible, add the design languages HTML5 and CSS plus the data formats or languages JSON, SQL, and XML.

Seek unpaid internships that will provide you with references.

Try for work at Elance or similar sites, but don't expect much to happen there. People in other countries will take most of the jobs because they are able to work for low rates.

Get a Day Job. If you did not complete High School and you have no experience, accept the fact that the Day Job may be McDonalds or similar employment. Go to Community College but don't carry a heavy courseload.

For some time, your life will be Day Job, School, and Real Life (Coding). In the end, it may work out.

Phenek adds:

<Phenek> list on languages is good one.. I would put PHP5 in the end of the list and start it with Python, Ruby, Javascript, Java

<Phenek> but I'd mention HTML5 and CSS as the view or design layer of everything as opposed to data layer like SQL and XML

<Phenek> there will be controller part which takes that SQL or XML or JSON and spits it out on HTML which is made beautiful with some CSS

131009. QuadCore presents a useful Bash snippet. It should work on most Linux systems. Note that the command presented here should be typed or pasted as a single line.

<QuadCore> OldCoder, I made a cool command
<QuadCore> uptime | sed -e 's/.*load average: \(.*\...\), \(.*\...\), \(.*\...\)/\1/' -e 's/ //g'
<QuadCore> load average
<QuadCore> I use this to make a loop script that checks load
<QuadCore> if load is 0.2
<OldCoder> awk and perl are useful too
<QuadCore> it kills all chttpd
<QuadCore> I like me bash
<OldCoder> You are a bash fan
<QuadCore> very :D

131009. The photo below shows taquitos that an associate obtained from a restaurant located in his area. The photographer says:

So, I ordered them, came as pictured (3 total). They are either deep fried or cooked at high temperature, very crispy but flakey. Chicken and cheese and peppers inside. Restaurant is in the center of the town I live in. I was sitting outside of course. 77 and sunny.

I'd like some taquitos.

Posted with permission. The license is Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0). For more information on the license, visit:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

131009. Recently, I posted a literary piece which speculated that Grace Kiraly's soul is part of the fabric of the female side of Lucifer; the part that brings joy based on lies.

Tactician, a startuper of faith, has weighed in on the matter. The following remarks are from him.

Your post concerning your mother, Grace Kiraly is surprisingly accurate. I'm not referring to the parts about her soul, lying, and illusions, but the part where you talk about Lucifer, and him having both male and female sides or aspects.

It's said that Lucifer's female aspect is commonly known as Lilith. Research indicates that angels are hermaphroditic in nature (having both male and female reproductive organs).

Ancient Hebrew texts also suggest that Adam was likened unto an angel, and hermaphroditic as well. When God made Adam, Eve was already a part of him, but that when God made Adam to go into a deep sleep, and removed his rib, that he separated Eve from him, and made her out of him.

It's why people who are supposedly searching for love, and the love of their life, they say that the person is their “other half”, “twin flame”, and that they “complete them”. This is because Eve was Adam's actual other half. God literally took her out of him.

It's why when people get married, they become “one flesh”. The two halves become united again.

131009. An IRL associate, Jacob, rebuilt an old laptop for me from September to October 2013. The laptop was an octocore that Jacob upgraded to 8GB of RAM. Not bad for an aging machine. But, then, sometimes aging hardware retains some bite.

Isn't this so?

The rebuilt laptop didn't support USB 3.0. I needed USB 3.0 because I wished to use the laptop to run virtual machines that resided on USB 3.0 external drives. However, there was no obvious way to do this.

The old laptap had USB ports but they were USB 2.0. The machine also had a Firewire port. Firewire was fast enough to work. But I was not able to find any “Firewire to USB 3.0” adapters. They did exist, but only for specific types of disk drives. And, in these cases, they were only available by special order.

But the laptop had an ExpressCard slot as well as the USB 2.0 and Firewire ports. I decided to try an “ExpressCard to USB 3.0” adapter.

I purchased an adapter of this type on Friday 131004. It was affordable. My Linux distro, LACLIN, recognized the adapter in question and, when I plugged a micro-size USB 3.0 disk into the adapter, it seemed to work.

So far, so good. But the USB 3.0 disk started to make clicking sounds after boot. Data corruption occurred. Disaster. My dreams of USB 3.0 were doomed :P

Hours of frustration followed. I tried a number of approaches but none of them worked. However, eventually, research identified the problem. As of Fall 2013, “ExpressCard to USB 3.0” adapters didn't provide sufficient power to support USB 3.0 disk drives.

Plugging USB 3.0 disk drives into such adapters meant the risk of data destruction. But there was no warning about the issue on the package for the adapter that I'd purchased. The need for a power supply was not even mentioned.

Gee, thanks, guys :P

A close inspection of the new USB 3.0 adapter showed that it had a barely visible male power connector. I found the connector circa 10:00pm at night on Friday 131004. A missing power supply was probably the issue. However, there was no chance of purchasing a compatible power supply at this hour of the night.

Suddenly, with the joy that debugging brings, I realized that on my kitchen floor there was an old USB 2.0 pocket size disk drive. A disk drive left over from previous eras.

In previous eras, the ancient days of three years before, disks of this type had come with two cables: a USB 2.0 data cable and a USB 2.0 power cable. The second cable was male USB 2.0 on one end and a female power connector on the other.

The second cable was intended to convert a USB 2.0 port into power sufficient to drive a pocket-size USB 2.0 disk drive. In later years, the cable in question was dropped; pocket-size USB 2.0 and 3.0 disk drives used just one cable for both data and power purposes.

Perhaps the old USB 2.0 power cable would help in the current situation. I took the old USB 2.0 power cable, plugged the USB 2.0 male end into a USB 2.0 port, plugged the female power connector into the male power connector of the new USB 3.0 adapter, plugged a pocket-size USB 3.0 disk into the data connector provided by the USB 3.0 adapter, and rebooted my distro.

It worked. I now had an octocore, 8GB of RAM, and USB 3.0. This was a sign from Heaven that all was well; if only for one night.

For a photo of the “ExpressCard to USB 3.0” adapter, including the old power cable that made the difference, see below.

131009. Copy of a letter to John Perrott.

This is a letter to John Perrott of Thomas Chase Stutzman. As a courtesy, this document is being copied to Michael Bonetto of Hoge Fenton, to other parties associated with the two firms listed here, and to other parties who are not associated with the firms in question. Printed copies may, or may not, be delivered at a later date to some of the people involved by registered mail, by courier, or by process server.

As a related note, as with other documents that the author has composed in the past or may compose in the future, this document may be posted publicly and distributed in a number of venues.

Additionally, the author reserves the right to analyze, blog, post, quote, or otherwise distribute or make use of actions or responses connected in any way to this document.

Dear John,

I appreciated the thoughts that you offered me the other day. Please excuse the fact that my response was delayed. At present, I am not always able to comment on things immediately. More than one factor is involved. However, I will reply as promptly as possible.

As a related note, we do need to be sure that email is functioning correctly. There are matters that need to be worked out.

1. You said, “Regarding Michael Bonetto, I suggest that you consider that the harassment necessary to build a Civil Harassment Case could include writing letters to the management of his law firm. It also could include posting lots of derogatory stuff about him on the internet.”

First, the notion that “writing letters”, with no other context indicated, is an issue is interesting. I assure you that I will most likely be “writing letters” to a number of people, regarding a number of legitimate and reasonable issues, for years to come.

Legitimate and reasonable issues may include a proposal to Michael Bonetto and/or to the management of Hoge Fenton. The proposal will state that they are welcome, if they wish, to review a document that Bar Association Investigators at the State Level have encouraged me to complete.

The document will require Time. But a number of parties will receive copies. This will include the Justice Department and lawmakers. Parties at different levels have expressed interest in the misuse of CLETS and in other issues connected to the recent cases.

As there may be an audience of a moderate size, I feel it is important that the document be carefully composed and as fair as possible. Therefore, I would like to include input from parties who wish to comment. Including people associated with Hoge Fenton.

Would Hoge Fenton, or Michael Bonetto, or you, consider an offer of this type to be unreasonable? If I decide to make the offer, we will see.

2. There are other points that I am certainly entitled to ask about. For example, does Hoge Fenton provide, to the public, case numbers for past cases that its people were involved in? Yes or no. Reasonable people might consider the answer “no” to be surprising.

3. Hoge Fenton is involved in charitable ventures. Even anti-abuse efforts. This is positive and praise-worthy. Does the firm discuss, with the public, its involvement in anti-abuse efforts? Yes or no. Reasonable people might consider the answer “no” to be surprising.

4. And Hoge Fenton seems to have played an important role in the selection of Professional Standards that attorneys in Santa Clara County are encouraged to follow.

The firm is, I assume, justifiably proud of this contribution. Does the firm discuss, with the public, its contribution to the Standards in question or its positions on individual elements of the Standards? Yes or no. Reasonable people might consider the answer “no” to be surprising.

5. Moving on, you used the phrase “posting lots of derogatory stuff”. The phrase in question is not clear. Are you referring to the posting of facts? Or to Free Speech statements of opinion? Or to the distribution of lawful and appropriate biographies of individuals?

Or to histories and analyses of the recent cases that are created for legitimate and reasonable purposes and distributed subsequently to news media, to anti-abuse organizations, to torts specialists, to Bar Associations at multiple levels and/or in multiple jurisdictions, and/or to any parties that I decide to distribute such histories and analyses to in the years to come?

6. John, there is a “theme”, to use a word you find useful, that you have raised occasionally. It is present in your recent letter. The “theme” is that I should be silent.

If it is all right, I would like to ask you a question related to this “theme”.

During the Kiraly Cases, I “made it clear”, to use a phrase that Thomas Evan Kiraly employed when he lied under oath, that I was not inclined to be silent. To allow Michael Bonetto of Hoge Fenton and James Francis Kiraly of Pismo Beach, California to abuse the process.

As you — and I believe Hoge Fenton as well — are aware, the recent cases were about a violent abuser fighting to silence his victim. Somebody in a wheelchair hundreds of miles away. Who was not asked in 2012 to do, or not to do, anything at all as an alternative to legal actions.

I believe it may be possible to demonstrate that Michael Bonetto, James Kiraly, and Thomas Kiraly used perjury, the threat of a violence database, and the process as a whole solely to extort agreements to limits on Freedom of Association and Free Speech. Limits so broad that no Court in the United States would, or could, ever have ordered them.

There was nothing else to the cases. It is possible that this may prove awkward both for my abuser James Francis Kiraly and for Hoge Fenton.

Thomas Evan Kiraly, James's Son, provided comic relief. As I've said before, a Monty Python element. No specific claims or allegations at all that were not outright perjury.

A detailed story about the police that was not only entirely false but in which Thomas did not even appear.

A Happy Birthday call, scheduled in advance, during which Thomas invited me to call back and stated the date to call back, with numerous consensual calls following; the initial call described under oath as “stalking”.

And the gift of the books of religious poetry in a Will being treated as tantamount to physical violence... What in the world was Michael Bonetto thinking?

This part raises concerns about Michael's competence. He exposed himself to ridicule. Even if he had almost nothing to work with, wasn't the attempt to use the books risky and even slipshod? On the other hand, I observed in April 2013 that Michael is a skilled thespian. I'd like to ask him about that issue. Was there formal training in this regard and did Hoge Fenton provide it?

But the situation as a whole was, and remains, a serious matter.

I used to be frightened and very quiet. All that my abuser needed to do was to say “Boo!” and I'd shake. But in 2012, these people didn't even ask me to do, or not to do, anything at all. They simply attacked.

I was not served; there was no time to find representation. My life was disrupted. I lost my life savings and job opportunities.

My neurodiverse nature was not only questioned by the people who had explained it to me decades ago; it was openly mocked. When there was no other way to hurt me, these people fought to film me so that my differences could be portrayed as frightening.

I was stalked online. I received death threats. I believe that at least two of the death threats originated with Michael Bonetto's clients or their associates. I nearly died on multiple occasions. I am not certain that I am recovered even today.

And, in an interesting development, some of these people are most likely involved now in highly prosecutable computer-related felonies. Felonies comparable to accusations that Michael Bonetto leveled against me but never spelled out.

Here is the question, John, that I promised you above. If I did not agree to be silent over one year ago, and if I was willing to endure what I endured, why would I be silent now?

7. John, you mentioned that a web page that I apparently wrote last year has a high search ranking for Michael Bonetto. I have not checked. But you indicated that the Bonetto page is in the top five for some type of simple search. Thank you for mentioning this. If the page belongs to me, I will need to update it.

By the way, would you be willing to notify Hoge Fenton that, as Kiraly Family Associates are now aware, certain types of takedown attempts may be prosecutable under CFAA? The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

For what it's worth, an attorney has advised me that the Act has teeth and is encouraging me to speak with District Attorneys in the relevant jurisdictions. I am also seeking advice from the head of a security firm in the Bay Area who has expressed a willingness to help.

As a related note, takedown attempts have a tendency to backfire. They often end up spreading information farther. Much farther, in some cases.

8. You seem to feel that a single respectable search result for Michael Bonetto is worth noting. But I have much of the first screen in Google Images for some of my family members. This development strikes me as more interesting.

It came as a surprise. I didn't know how high the rankings had gone until the Kiraly Family associate in Dallas, Texas was kind enough to write to me and advise me. I will need to figure out how this happened. Perhaps the knowledge will prove useful.

9. In the close to your letter, you suggested yet again that I should be silent. May I therefore comment again on the issue of silence?

I plan to seek changes to the system. Progress of this type is typically slow. Things need to proceed step by step.

There is a related development that is worth noting. The Kiralys don't even have the minimal Agreements that resulted from the recent cases any longer. Based on the evidence I've accumulated in recent months, and related research, the Agreements are not enforceable. “Reasonable” people are likely to agree.

But this is only part of the picture. And moving forward will require noise. Not silence. Silence is the tool that the rich and powerful use to preserve stasis. Accordingly, if it is necessary to spell this out:

“You ain't seen nothing yet.”

Regards, Robert (the Old Coder)

131008. Somebody believed to be an associate of Jim Kiraly and Tom Kiraly set up a Botnet to take down these sites. The core systems were located just 1,000 paces from a purported “old friend” in Dallas, Texas who had threatened me. This was foolish.

But the people involved have exhibited a lack of understanding that goes deeper. As I told the other side months ago, these sites are mirrored. DDoS attacks or takedowns of other types will most likely help the facts to spread more rapidly.

To demonstrate how it works, file transfers are in progress. Copies of the documents that the Kiraly Family's Botnet was targeting are being sent to Free Speech hosting sites and interested parties of different types.

It's not a dramatic process. However, as I tell the kids, one step at a time.