Update 15: Client as Server, Chapter 2, WSJ, Graduation, Italy, Finland, Tahoe!

From: "David Weekly's Update" <david@weekly.org>
Subject: Client as Server, Chapter 2, WSJ, Graduation, Italy, Finland, Tahoe!
To: "The Update List" <david@weekly.org>

   m a y    1 8 ,   2 0 0 0
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< david.weekly.org > Update #15
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------[ client as server ]
Hello, everyone! I've been thinking about distributed systems
for some time now, so last month I sat down to write a bit
about what my vision for the future might be. I really think
that there will be a number of interesting services (of which
Napster and Gnutella are just the beginning) that client-
distributed systems will permit. The essay is called
"Client as Server" and was published as a Freshmeat editorial:

http://freshmeat.net/news/2000/04/16/955943940.html  or
http://david.weekly.org/writings/clientserver.php3

I got back some excellent comments on the essay with some
well-put critiques - look at the bottom of the freshmeat link
to see them.


------[ the necessity of subversion ]

I wrote a short essay by the same name that I thought you all
might enjoy:

http://david.weekly.org/writings/subversion.php3


------[ chapter two ]
Today I posted chapter two of The MP3 Book online. It is an
introduction to how sound is digitized and compressed into
formats like MP3. It's not as good as it could be, though,
and I'd particularly appreciate any constructive criticism
that you could throw my way.

I had some fun creating a little perl script that quickly
auto-formats the raw text and spruces it up for web
distribution. I'll be releasing the script to d.w.o/code/
in the next few days.

http://david.weekly.org/mp3book/
http://david.weekly.org/mp3book/ch2.php3


------[ napster / metallica ]

I've posted instructions as to how you can get back online with Napster
if you've been booted by Metallica:

http://david.weekly.org/code/napster-metallica.php3


------[ wall street journal ]

I was on the front page of the WSJ today; woohoo! Just a couple snippets
about what it's like to be Stanford CS and the intensity of the recruiting
that goes on...funfun.


------[ graduation / brother's wedding / europe / tahoe ]

Eep! For the first time in my life, I'm about to be out of school with no
obligation to return in the Fall. It's kind of mindboggling to change a
way of life that has been with me for the entirety of my remembered life.
(Ages 4-21!) In some ways it feels freeing and empowering, in other ways,
it's a little bit frightening. Any notion of a "nest" is now behind me.
Here comes the world!

After graduation, I'm heading back to Boston to marry my brother off
(I get to be his best man: woohoo!). Then comes my family reunion.
(Weekly Family Reunion, har har...) After that I'm going to chill out
in New York for a bit with my friend John Ito, then I'm going to go
to Europe with Vanessa! We're going to Italy for two weeks (Milan,
Venice, Nice [France, okay], and Florence) and then are going to
Sweden and Finland for two months while she does her research. Just
today and yesterday both her research grants got in AND she got
accepted into the honors program! Yay!!!

After Finland, I'm coming back to South Lake Tahoe (as planned) to chill
for a year doing conservation work; clearing trails, building houses,
etc. I figure it'll be good for my soul.


--------[ stats ]

4800 pageviews/day
628  list subscribers
23   days until graduation
-20  hours my logic homework is due in (oops!)

Take care, everyone!

BTW, David.Weekly.org will probably be "freezing" very soon. I.e., there
won't be any new content on it, possibly for a very, very long time. Just
thought you should know.


--------[ bonus ]

As an added bonus (oh what the hell!) here's the script that sent this
all to you (quikie hack): [requires perl 5 + Net::SMTP]


#!/usr/bin/perl -w

if($#ARGV+1 != 2){
    die "send.pl USERLIST.file MESSAGE.file";
}

use Net::SMTP;

$smtp = Net::SMTP->new('localhost');

$smtp->mail("david\@weekly.org");

$list = $ARGV[0];
$message = $ARGV[1];

undef $/;

open MSG, "<".$message;
$msg = <MSG>;
close MSG;

open LIST, "<".$list;
$lst = <LIST>;
close LIST;

@list = split(/\n/, $lst);
$smtp->to(@list);
$smtp->data();
$smtp->datasend($msg);
$smtp->dataend();
$smtp->quit;

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