The Armchair Politician

The MESSENGER probe successfully completed its flyby of Venus, and heads towards Mercury.

Seriously, these guys are incredible. We want probes to get where they’re going fast, but going fast in space has one nasty implication: slowing down requires just as much energy as it took to speed up. In order to shed some of that speed, NASA sent their MESSENGER probe past extremely low by Venus to pass excess energy into Venus’ atmosphere.

Now the probe is heading on to do a flyby of Mercury, which will point it straight at the Sun. The technical ability this kind of feat requires is nothing short of astounding. It’s the world’s largest billiards trick shot, with the balls spaced 25 million miles apart.

I’m examining a few different options for getting to and around Georgia Tech’s campus. Driving is always a possibility, but parking permits run $575 for an entire year, which is quite steep. It also doesn’t afford me any convenience for getting around Atlanta; parking inside the city sucks. Alternatively, I’m considering taking MARTA, then riding a bike around campus.

So far it seems to be pretty good. It’s $40/mo for a MARTA monthly student pass, which works out to be about $100 less than the parking spot. It has some other fiscal advantages, too: I’m not going year-round, so I don’t have to pay for the months I won’t be there. And, the Clean Air Campaign is willing to pay $3/day for cleaner commuting, up to 90 days. Figuring thee classes a week, I could earn $115 or so — enough to basically pay for three months of MARTA fare.

Not to mention, there are a ton of side benefits. It’s a good bit of exercise, which should not only keep my gut in check, but wake me up and keep me focused before all my courses. It’s also convenient as hell for getting around Atlanta. What would be a thirty minute round-trip walk between places suddenly takes three both ways. And, well, it’s fun.

Only one problem: I need a bike. I bought one at a local bike store, but it ran almost $500, when you include the additional things I’d need: gloves, mounted water bottle, air pump, and a sturdy U-lock. Then, while riding around yesterday, my chain broke. Not good news for a new bicycle. I hoofed it about a mile and a half to the nearest bike shop I could find, and they repaired it. I bought a chain tool, which should allow me to fix it if this ever happens again, but that cost another $16. So, there’s not really a financial advantage in biking any more, but it does win over parking by convenience, in spades.

So, I don’t know. I’m going to try and get graduate housing next semester, but am not sure how lucky I’ll be. If I do, I’ll want to have a bike anyway (there’s no sense in using a car, at that point), so perhaps all this money will have been well-invested. I have thirty days to return the bike, if I’m not satisfied, but I’d still be $100 down the hole. Better than $500, though, I suppose

Yes, you can all hate me. Jessica and I have front row seats to see the MythBusters guys, Jamie and Adam, at Georgia Tech.

Neener. See you there!

I went to the orientation for graduate students at Georgia Tech today. The campus is incredibly neat; you hardly feel that you’re in the city.

I’m glad I finally got a lot of this stuff sorted out. Finally had my student account (and thus email, etc.) activated, so I can finally catch up on departmental stuff I’d missed so far. Which, apparently isn’t much because they’d forgotten to add me to the mailing list for incoming Computer Science graduate students. So far, I apparently missed the fact that I’ll need to go back Thursday and Friday for the CoC orientation. At least I found out in time, no?

They have a campus-wide wireless network, obviously. However, it can be slightly annoying to use for anyone with NetworkManager under Linux. Thankfully, NM is somewhat easily configured to connect seamlessly.

First, the Georgia Tech wireless ESSID is hidden. This normally isn’t a problem, but they have a parallell service being offered whose ESSID is broadcast. However, this is a pay-for service meant for campus visitors only. The problem is, if you’ve connected to it (which is somewhat necessary in order to find the ESSID and WEP key for LAWN, the service provided free for students), NetworkManager prioritizes this network over the one you truly want.

Not too tough to get around, just slightly annoying. To remove NetworkManager’s memory of the network, run the following command (which purges it from gconf).

gconftool --recursive-unset /system/networking/wireless/networks/FASTPASS

Now that that’s out of the way, we need to do a few more things. First, NetworkManager detects that a network with a hidden ESSID exists based on its AP MAC address. Since multiple access points cover the campus network, you’ll need to have all of these added to the network profile so it reliably detects the network all around campus. If all of these are not set, you’ll have to re-enter the ESSID and WEP key whenever you’re in an area of campus you haven’t been before. This will likely mean another trip to the pay-for network, where you can (for free) look up these values. But, you’ll have to purge the information from gconf again, with the command above.

My current list of access points is:

• 00:03:93:ED:EC:B8
• 00:0F:8F:3D:D7:81
• 00:0F:8F:3D:D8:31
• 00:0F:8F:3D:D9:D1
• 00:0F:8F:3D:E4:11
• 00:0F:8F:3D:E4:51
• 00:0F:8F:3D:E4:61
• 00:0F:8F:3D:E4:D1
• 00:0F:8F:40:7B:D1
• 00:0F:8F:40:7E:C1
• 00:0F:8F:40:7F:81
• 00:0F:8F:40:82:D1
• 00:11:20:4B:FB:01
• 00:11:20:4C:01:B1
• 00:11:20:52:C9:01
• 00:11:5C:A1:B2:A1
• 00:11:5C:A1:B4:11
• 00:11:5C:A1:B4:41
• 00:11:5C:A1:B4:81
• 00:11:5C:A1:B5:01
• 00:11:5C:A1:B5:11
• 00:11:5C:A1:B5:41
• 00:11:5C:A1:B5:D1
• 00:11:5C:A1:B5:F1
• 00:11:5C:A1:B6:11
• 00:11:5C:A1:BE:E1
• 00:11:5C:A1:BF:31
• 00:11:5C:A1:BF:41
• 00:11:5C:D4:7E:A1
• 00:13:5F:55:15:91
• 00:13:5F:55:17:61
• 00:13:5F:55:17:E1
• 00:13:5F:55:18:D1
• 00:13:5F:55:19:F1
• 00:13:5F:55:2C:A1
• 00:13:5F:55:34:31
• 00:13:5F:59:17:C0
• 00:13:5F:59:2C:80
• 00:13:7F:BB:40:21
• 00:13:7F:BB:41:A1
• 00:13:7F:BB:41:B1
• 00:13:7F:BB:41:D0
• 00:13:7F:BB:44:81
• 00:13:7F:BB:44:F1
• 00:13:7F:BB:45:71
• 00:13:7F:BB:45:B1
• 00:13:80:94:43:31
• 00:13:80:94:47:91
• 00:13:80:94:52:71
• 00:13:80:94:52:A1
• 00:13:80:94:5D:51
• 00:13:80:94:5E:51
• 00:13:80:94:5F:51
• 00:13:80:94:60:61
• 00:15:2B:42:50:81

I’ll (hopefully) add more as I come across them later on.

The gconf command to insert these is

gconftool --set /system/networking/wireless/networks/GTwireless/bssids -t list --list-type string "[00:13:5F:55:18:D1, 00:13:5F:55:19:F1, 00:13:5F:55:15:91, 00:13:7F:BB:40:21, 00:0F:8F:40:7E:C1, 00:0F:8F:3D:D7:81, 00:11:5C:A1:B5:D1, 00:11:5C:A1:BE:E1, 00:13:7F:BB:44:F1, 00:11:5C:A1:B6:11, 00:11:5C:A1:BF:41, 00:11:5C:A1:BF:31, 00:13:5F:55:34:31, 00:13:5F:55:17:61, 00:11:5C:A1:B5:01, 00:11:5C:A1:B2:A1, 00:0F:8F:3D:D8:31, 00:0F:8F:3D:E4:51, 00:13:80:94:60:61, 00:13:7F:BB:45:71, 00:13:7F:BB:45:B1, 00:0F:8F:3D:E4:61, 00:0F:8F:40:7B:D1, 00:0F:8F:3D:E4:D1, 00:13:7F:BB:41:D0, 00:11:5C:A1:B5:11, 00:0F:8F:40:7F:81, 00:11:5C:A1:B4:11, 00:0F:8F:3D:E4:11, 00:0F:8F:40:82:D1, 00:03:93:ED:EC:B8, 00:11:5C:A1:B5:41, 00:11:5C:A1:B5:F1, 00:11:5C:D4:7E:A1, 00:11:5C:A1:B4:81, 00:13:7F:BB:41:A1, 00:13:80:94:5E:51, 00:13:7F:BB:44:81, 00:13:80:94:43:31, 00:13:7F:BB:41:B1, 00:13:80:94:5F:51, 00:13:80:94:47:91, 00:15:2B:42:50:81, 00:11:20:4C:01:B1, 00:13:80:94:52:71, 00:11:20:52:C9:01, 00:13:5F:55:2C:A1, 00:13:5F:55:17:E1, 00:13:5F:59:2C:80, 00:13:5F:59:17:C0, 00:11:5C:A1:B4:41, 00:11:20:4B:FB:01, 00:13:80:94:5D:51, 00:0F:8F:3D:D9:D1, 00:13:80:94:52:A1]"

Note to any Georgia Tech staff reading my page: this will not give you campus access. It will only ensure that NetworkManager detects the wireless connection in the areas serviced by these access points.

We’re almost done. If you’ve connected to LAWN and fired up your web browser, you will find that you’re redirected to a login page, where you have to enter your student account name and password. This is easy enough to do, but we can automate it, so you never have to see this page again. Thankfully, the folks at Georgia Tech who set this system up were kind enough to give a few niceties to Linux users, and include an easy API over the command-line, through tools like curl or wget. I prefer wget, so the script I use to automate this login uses it. However, instructions to use cURL are on the LAWN information page.

NetworkManager lets you drop scripts into /etc/NetworkManager/dispatcher.d/ which get run whenever it brings up an interface. I’ve attached the script I wrote to automate this login process. It’s nothing complicated, but it does ensure that an exit status of 0 is set when access is granted or when you’re doing anything other than bringing up the Georgia Tech wireless network (i.e., it does nothing when you’re connecting to other networks), and it returns 1 upon failure. This is opposite from the return values they give you, but oh well.

Drop this script into /etc/NetworkManager/dispatcher.d/99gtwireless. Once you’ve done so, run

sudo chmod 700 /etc/NetworkManager/dispatcher.d/99gtwireless

This will allow it to be executed, and prevent it from being read by other users on the system. Second, replace the USERNAME and PASSWORD variables with your personal Georgia Tech student account information. Yes, these will be saved in plaintext on your hard drive. However, the earlier chmod to 700 should be sufficient in preventing normal users from accessing its contents. Make your own decision about the potential security implication of storing passwords on your hard drive. For me, I consider this relatively little risk. I’m the only user of my laptop, and the aforementioned chmod is enough to prevent casual users from stumbling upon it. But, to each his own.

So I’ve been up pretty much all night. The TV was on, so I got to see plenty of infomercials, most of them promoting some manner of real estate sales program.

I always thought the concept of these programs was silly; if endless amounts of money could be made in the real estate market, why would anyone want to advertise that fact, opening it up for thousands of other people? The more people who enter into the market, the less money is in it for everyone else. Yeah, they make money selling the program, but I doubt it offsets the amount they would stand to lose if their advice actually worked.

Clearly, they’re really not offering killer, reliable advice that will allow millions of people to profit by abusing their own personal investment strategies. But is the effort really worth the money they make by selling this crap? Thinking about it more, I realized something: they’re probably profiting quite significantly — but indirectly.

The more of the unwashed masses (or hoi polloi, if you will) that are trying to make it in your market, the more easily you can make money. When you’ve injected thousands of poorly-informed investors into an economy that’s slowing down, the easier you can take advantage of their naïvete, or even their blind obedience to your principles.

One scenario I can clearly see is in real estate. It’s long been noticed that there’s a huge bubble in the housing market, which is due to burst. It isn’t as large as the dot-com bubble, but it’s certainly there. And taking advantage of that knowledge can lead to significant profits. New and inexperienced investors act as a safety valve. If and when that bubble starts to burst, those with investments already in the market can offload them onto the amateurs who don’t have the savvy to know better. After all, when prices start to drop, someone is going to have to take the brunt. And those who built their wealth on the housing market have to have some kind of escape route for their existing investments.

Even more scary are the investment firms who tell you they’ve simplified the process of stock market or foreign exchange investing to a simple matter of reading red and green arrows. Green is good, and means buy. Red means bad, so sell.

This is just ripe for exploitation. When these folks see the green arrows and buy, they have to purchase the investments from omeone who already has it. Same for selling: some shmuck has to buy it. But that’s where these “red/green arrow” companies come into play. Their advice probably is reasonable — I assume the stocks they predict do have potential for growth, but it doesn’t have to be much. Only enough to appear enticing. So, before they broadcast to their subscribers that a stock is a sure bet, they buy enough of that stock to satisfy the demand they’ll create just by publishing that information. Now that they have a ton, they post the information. Subscribers start to snap it up; as they do so, the price rises. Since they “know” the stock will perform well, later subscribers will still be willing to pay the inflated price for it. The frenzy dies down, the stock goes back to a reasonable value, and those who got in early probably make a small, but reasonable profit. On the other hand, the investment firm sold a massive amount for increasing amounts to their customers. And, due to the price spike from their large sales, the advice looks good.

A similar scenario goes for stocks they advertise as about to do badly. They probably pick stocks that they expect to do well or better in the long run, but may drop a little now. Publish that the stock is about to go down the tubes, and everyone listening will be more inclined to get rid of it, at further and further declining prices. Prices drop a bit, and the firm buys all the stock their clients are willing to sell, at a massive discount. After the selling frenzy is over, the price normalizes and they’re holding on to a bunch of stock they bought at a discounted price.

Individually, they probably don’t make a ton of money. But by publishing dozens of bulletins every day, they stand to do very well indeed. Increasing their customer base makes a huge impact on the amount of profit they make with every recommendation. Scary, no?

In a few weeks, I’ll be starting graduate-level Computer Science courses at Georgia Tech. Tuition will be a few thousand dollars, plus I’m trying to save up to move into campus housing next semester.

None of this, however, sits well with the fact that I like to spend money.

I make enough at my job so that this doesn’t end up being too much of a problem, but I’m not a very good saver. I need goals, or something to motivate me to put money away. Graduate school is probably as good a reason as any, so I’m giving GnuCash another whirl. This isn’t my first time using it, but I’ve kept up for a month now, so with any luck I’ll be able to stick with it.

Basically, GnuCash is your standard accounting program, similar (I assume) to Quicken, Quickbooks, and the other bevy of personal accounting software. Only, GnuCash is available for Linux.

It’s got a ton of useful features. Standard, of course, is double-entry bookkeeping. When you enter an expense, for example, you tell it that the expense comes from some Asset of yours (i.e., a bank account or wallet) or adds to a liability such as a credit card. This way, any expense you make or income you receive is automatically synchronized between the two places. It becomes trivial to then monitor your expenses and income while still keeping accurate records of your financial situation.

More cool things include the ability to automagically track stock and mutual fund prices over the Internet, calculate tax liabilities (although admittedly, I still have to actually set this up…), present charts, graphs, and diagrams for things like expenses and net worth, plan budgets, reconcile your accounts, and so on.

Already I’m noticing places where I can tighten my belt a little, like eating out. At work, I go out for lunch almost daily, which adds up to a few hundred every month. Cutting back on that should significantly increase the amount I can save. I’m also rather prone to impulse purchases — mostly books and games. I don’t think I’ll stop with that, but at least I can monitor how much I’m spending on these types of purchases, and ensure it doesn’t go over a reasonable amount. It’ll also hopefully encourage me to hold off on some borderline impulse buys, if I see I’m hemmorhaging money.

At any rate, by using it I’ve already been saving up a lot more money than I had previously. This, incidentally, saved my ass when I got a notice from the IRS that I’d miscalculated on my taxes. I’ll leave it as an exercise to the reader to figure out in which direction.

I’ve moved to WordPress. Hopefully, all of the permalinks will stay the same.

We had to put Nero to sleep today. I don’t want to go into details, but it’s for the better–she’s been in a lot of pain for the past few days, and it had to be done. I’m going to miss her like hell; I loved her more than words can describe.

I’ll miss you, girl.

I’m planning on going to the Brick Store Pub this Saturday evening with Jordi and as many friends as I can possibly muster. Anyone who wants to go drink excellent beer paired with great food that compliments it perfectly should let me know.

This is the best pub in the state of Georgia, and it’s just inside the perimeter in Decatur. Trust me, you want to come.

My email password expired, and they’ve put some new restrictions on where you can access the shell accounts from.