You can't make this stuff up. Everyone please write your $35,000 checks immediately to solve this problem.

Courtesy US Treasury Department:

How do you make a contribution to reduce the debt?

Make your check payable to the Bureau of the Public Debt, and in the memo section, notate that it is a Gift to reduce the Debt Held by the Public. Mail your check to:

Attn Dept G
Bureau Of the Public Debt
P. O. Box 2188
Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188

Let's pretend I have a job that is linked to the economy, maybe real estate or something (read: auto makers). Economy takes a crap, I'm not doing so good, can't sell houses (cars). Now I'm having trouble paying the bills now. Oh and by the way, no bank wants to loan me money because in all likelihood I won't be able to pay it back or I'll go bankrupt if the economy doesn't turn around. So then of course I must make a last ditch effort to stay afloat so I go to one of my good friends (the government) with lots of money laying around (nevermind he is already in debt up to his eyeballs). I lay out my plan complete with expenditures and whatnot, say I need $35,000 to get me through to January. Then my friend says, well, I want to help you out, I can't allow you to fail, you are a big part of my life. Nevermind that no one else thinks investing in you is a good idea. Here's $15,000. I look back at my friend, extremely confused.

Me: Didn't I just tell you that I needed $35,000 to not go bankrupt?

Friend: Yes

Me: Didn't you just say I can't be allowed to fail?

Friend: Yes

Me: Isn't bankruptcy failure?

Friend: Yes

Me: Don't you have $35,000?

Friend: Yes, but I'm only giving you $15,000.

Me: Wha?! So basically you are going to "loan" me $15,000 knowing that I'm not going to be able to get the $20,000 difference, forcing me to go bankrupt and default on the $15,000 you loaned me? So you've pretty much "loaned" me $15,000 that you know you won't get back.

Friend: *Crickets*

UPDATE: Mike Huckabee made the same point on FOX News, The O'Reilly Factor, on December 12.

Recently IPv6 addresses were added to some of the DNS root servers. Many have tauted this as one of the last barriers to running pure IPv6 networks. However, in reality this is not the case. There are still two major problems to overcome.

First, many of the Top Level Domains (TLDs) do not support IPv6 (AAAA) glue records. This is the next "layer" in the hierarchy below the roots mentioned above. It includes major TLDs such as .org, .us, and most other countries. Without support at these TLDs, DNS servers (such as those for nabber.org) cannot be contacted natively with IPv6, an IPv4 lookup must be used instead.

Second, the domain registrars also need to support IPv6 (AAAA) glue records. These registrars typically have a web interface in which to change the IPv4 glue records and name of the domain's DNS servers to use. Many of the registrars have not added this support for IPv6 glue records so that it is accessible to end users. The end result is the same, IPv4 must be used to query DNS records at second level domains like nabber.org, IPv6 cannot be used.

As it stands today, the only way DNS can be used with ONLY IPv6 is if 1) the requested TLD supports it, and 2) the domain registrar for that domain supports it. The odds of having both of these happen is extremely low.

UPDATE: My DNS Check tool will now check for full IPv6 compliance as described above.

What if I told you that I had a device that has no limit on the amount of music that you can listen to? What if I told you that you could listen to the latest sports scores, news, and music instantaneously and in real time. There is no need to download podcasts with your computer. What if I told you that it would run for hundreds of hours before the battery needed to be recharged or replaced? What if I told you that this device cost pennies on the dollar compared to an iPod? This technology exists today and has been around for over 100 years, it is called, radio.

If any of you have ever tried to find out information about Time Warner business class cable internet in the San Diego area, you will notice that the website is lacking any real information, like prices and speeds. I was interested in switching from DSL to cable because I really hate paying AT&T (formerly SBC) for a phone line that I rarely use (I called and they do not offer naked DSL). I was hoping they would offer comparable prices to what I am currently paying for DSL from DSLExtreme, but not even close:

Time Warner Cable Business Class

$149 per month
4000 kbps down/384 kbps up (plans available up to 10 Mbps down/8 Mbps up)
Includes 5 static IP addresses
Allows for servers

DSLExtreme

$55 per month (plus basic phone service approximately $11)
3000 kbps down/512 kbps up
Includes 8 static IP addresses
Configurable firewall (All servers blocked, major ports blocked, no ports blocked)
Configurable reverse DNS entries