Posted on February 7, 2003 at 1:00 pm | No Comments
A Tour of Duty…
Yesterday, after almost 5 years of Massachusetts residency, I was summoned for Jury Duty for the first time….
Thursday, February 6th, 10:34 AM: Two hours into my first day of Jury Duty, and all I can think is “I’m gonna need a bigger book”. I brought two short ones, and I’m already halfway through the first. Fortunately, I’ve got a notepad and a pen for some old-school blogging action.
So here I sit in the Roxbury Courthouse, wondering if I can still write in cursive, killing time with as part of this small slice of summoned society… about 30 of us in all. We checked in at 8:30, and were each assigned to a jury “panel” (I’m in Panel 3, Juror #1… wonder if I’d be the foreman if selected?). Shortly after arrival we were paid a visit by today’s presiding judge, a distinguised older gentleman (hell, he could play one on TV) who introduced a video on “how to be a juror”. It was hosted by Chief Justice Margaret Marshall, the first woman to serve as Massachusett’s Chief Justice. Although her intro must have been filmed since her appointment in 1999, the rest of the video was clearly a 1980’s production, judging by the feathered hair and unfortunate fashion choices of all involved.
Our court officer disappeared during the 15 minute video (locking the door to our small, stuffy room behind him), so it was back to reading for most of us. For those without a book, the exciting choices involved dozing off, staring out the windows at the winter-blue sky, or staring at a television blue screen. Gotta think ahead, folks… you can only read through the Metro so many times. Ten minutes go by, and then… startling, deafening white noise. The long-finished videotape had run out, and the TV volume was up to 11. We’re talking Poltergeist-style end-of-our-broadcast day fuzz here. And no one moved. At all.
So I got up, walked to the front of the room, and turned the volume off. There were no applause. Ingrates. Y’know on Survivor, when one person unwittingly makes themselves the center of attention instead of flying under the radar… and soon enough gets the boot? Well, I might just get voted out of the courthouse. The return to silence was worth it, though.
11:03 AM: There are way too many people coughing in here.
11:16 AM: At some point, the judge is supposed to come back in here and tell us if there are actually going to be any jury trials today. Basically, he goes through the schedule, talks to all involved, and if a case cannot be settled, the jury gets selected immediately. Well, whatever ‘immediately’ means in this place. Seems time flows differently here.
Fun fact #1: Only 1 in 10 cases actually goes to trial. I knew it was low, but not that low. So… His Honor is finishing up another in-progress jury trial (one witness left, he said), working his way through the list, and either cutting us loose or starting the selection process. I’m fascinated with this whole experience, so I’m hoping for a trial, believe it or not. Hell, I’m here… might as well get the full ride. In Massachusetts, they work under the “1 day or 1 trial” rule of summoning. Most trials, when they happen, are a day or less. Some can go as long as 3 days, and rarely longer. Once your trial is done, you’re in the clear for 3 more years, then you’re up for grabs again. Even trial judges get summoned, believe it or not, as our judge recently did himself. He tried to make us feel better by saying it annoyed the hell out of him, too. Is it unusual for me to actually be into this whole thing? Hmmm…
11:33 AM: I had gadgety plans for making the day go by… mp3 player, my work iPaq handheld, maybe even the digital camera to document my experience. Then everyone’s half-joking Roxbury remarks (“You’re going to Roxbury? Nice knowin’ ya…”, etc.) changed my mind. You see, I’d never been to Roxbury, but I’m not one of those guys who likes to listen to generalizations until I’ve experience a place firsthand…. I wanted to give the Rox the benefit of the doubt. I think of all the regular folks who live here, work here, grew up here… and how they must feel about their neigborhoods, knowing how the rest of Boston perceives them from the outside. I was determined not to walk in scared, paranoid, judgemental.
So I get on the Orange Line at the Back Bay T-station, headed outbound. As we pull into the first stop, Mass. Ave., I grab my copy of the Metro and catch the front-page headline: “Pregnant Woman Shot On Orange Line”. She’s my age, in critical condition, and now baby-less. 9 months pregnant, just 12 hours earlier… pulling into this very station… maybe right near where I was sitting. A bit much to process. So much for not walking in scared.
11:47 AM: The squad of motorcycle cops who gathered out front of Madison Park High School this morning didn’t help my impressions of the Rox either. Or the waiting ambulance, or the open paddy wagon. The yellow crime-scene tape across the street sealed the deal. Maybe walking the mile from the T-stop, down Malcolm X Blvd., to the courthouse wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had. Leaving my comic patch-covered bag and all my tech-geek stuff at home was a smart move, though.
Actually, it was too damn cold to be that paranoid, and there was hardly anyone on the sidewalk. Except for the police, of course. Wasn’t going to get jumped here. Y’know, I’m a big fan of well-timed irony, but even I couldn’t get a laugh from someone getting mugged on the way to jury duty. Especially if that someone was me.
12:45 AM: Are we going to get some kind of lunch break or what? It’s an hour later, and a large, bearded black man in a hawaiian shirt and a full-lenth black fur coat is singing what sounds like a hebrew prayer…. but what do I know? Judging from the body language, I think some of the other potentials are annoyed, but I’m loving it. His voice is a deep baritone, and the repetitive tones are almost hypnotic. I’m getting a head buzz just listening to him drone on and on. If this was a movie, we’d all be joining in.
1:09 AM: Fun Fact #2: As everyone knows, the verdict in a criminal trial must be unanimous. I knew that wasn’t the case in a civil trial, but I never knew the specifics. Well, it has to be 10 out or 12, and in Massachusetts, it can be 5 out of 6. Yup, some trials only get six jurors, although I don’t know in which cases. Fact check that, willya Matt?
1:27 PM: The novelty of fulfilling my civic duty is starting to wear off.
1:43 PM: Well, that’s a wrap. The judge just came in and told us we’re free to go, your services will no longer be required, thank you very much for coming in, see you in three years, etc., etc. He even gave us this little summary of his day: Seven cases, five of which had the defendant pleading guilty, one was rescheduled due to a sick lawyer, and the last had the victim changing her mind and not cooperating with the prosecution, so the case was dismissed. No jury trials, no selection process, no fun. Just five hours of sitting on my arse and writing this stuff. Well, at least I finished two books.
I want to say the whole experience was interesting, but it sort of amounted to a big pile of jury doodie.
Sorry about that last bit. Couldn’t resist.
Posted on January 27, 2003 at 4:29 pm | No Comments
Whoa, do I ever have a lot to blog about. Seriously. I’m overwhelmed. I can’t even see whelmed from where I’m at.
Ok, first of all… sometime this morning, the Almanac passed the 20,000 hits mark. Excuse me!? My brain’s having a hard time handling that one. For a little perspective: I started this site, and it’s web-counter, on February 7th, 2000, and started blog entries in July 2001. During the first two years of this site, I got 5,000 total hits. In the one year since, 15,000 more. Kinda nuts.
So my weekend was nearly destroyed by the SQLSlammer worm… the virus-like monster that took down half the Internet starting Saturday morning. Got paged at 6am, and much of the next two days consisted of explaining, and proving, that “it’s not us, it’s them!.” Had to convince annoyed employees that our company’s connections are fine on the inside… it’s just the Internet that’s tweaked. As much as I wish I had control over such things, I’m just not that powerful. Patience, folks.
Sunday was nearly a repeat of Saturday… I woke up to five messages, one of which claimed “the Vice President of the Company is Upset That You Aren’t Answering Your Pages“. Man, I was dead asleep. It was 6:45am. Sorry. Way to freak me out, though. Naturally, it was the Slammer worm again, and nothing I could have even fixed. Grrrrrrr.
Amusing Slammer aside: The worm, which exploits a Microsoft SQL Server vulnerability, actually hit Microsoft. Yes, it took down the servers at a place that released a fix for the issue last July. What, did they not even patch their own servers? Amazing. Ends up that anyone who bought Windows XP (or even tried to reinstall it) on Saturday couldn’t activate it through Microsoft. Way to go, M$.
Yet another reason for Team Gates to Fear the Penguin.
My weekend was saved by spending mucho time with Amie, a little island exploration with friends, and eating tasty snacks while watching relatively boring sports in between amusing commercials.
I’m stunned by this. I mean, I knew that my cousin Kasten was talented… I’d heard the word, and known she was given an award during her first year at art school (an award normally presented to upperclassman, even). I just didn’t know that I’d love her work so much. There’s so much variety and depth to the stuff she has on display there… sharp colors, moody black and white, and some excellent self-portraits. I only wish the thumbnails could be viewed at desktop sizes.. lotsa good wallpaper to choose from. She mentioned she has a gallery exhibition soon, and I can’t wait to see these pieces in person. I’m blown away.
Speaking of desktops … here’s a present. My new wallpaper, courtesy of the inaugural trip of the Boston World Explorer’s Foundation to Castle Island yesterday …
Everyone needs a little random Bruce in their life, and I’m betting his posse could kick Andre the Giant’s posse’s collective asses. It’s all about speed, you know.
Oh, and more island visit pictures will be forthcoming. For now, check out Heath’s full report. Excellent stuff. Glad to be part of the founding four.
Y’know, that reminds me, I’m waaay behind in overall Almanac picture posting (the ‘new photos’ are from last fall), and that’s something I must remedy. I wouldn’t want to disappoint you, y’know.
I got a little obsessed with my main home computer recently (resulting in an unplanned upgrade), and did a lot of research into video cards, overclocking, and cd burning. I ended up with a new Radeon 9500 Pro card and a TDK 52x burner, to go along with my 2ghz chip and spiffy new motherboard… and I learned a hell of a lot in the process. Massaging a Windows XP machine into accepting new video drivers, various versions of directx, and particular new games… what a freakin’ chore. Fun fact: the new directx version 9 sucks rocks, and slowed my games down big time. Going back to version 8.1 worked like a charm.
I even tried to force a 200gb hard drive in there using a controller card… baaaad news. After having to rebuild my operating system from scratch like three times, I finally figured out where my data was disappearing to… the card and XP just weren’t getting along. Returned the drive and card to Microcenter, picked me up that new video card, and all is well.
My video card investigation revealed all sorts of nifty resources, like the video card tweaks page at Sharky’s Extreme, the Rage3D Tweaker for amping up your 3D speed, and the RivaTuner, which is a software-based card overclocker. Doesn’t look like my new card can be forced faster, but that’s cool… no complaints here.
By far the most handy info I found was the video card benchmarks chart at Tom’s Hardware. A nifty graph comparing current cards and their speeds on a couple different machines. I was way the hell down at the Radeon 7200 / 32MB (22.2 fps), and I jumped up to the Radeon 9500 Pro / 128MB (78.4 fps). Nothing like tripling your frame rate. I even did some benchmarking of my own using 3D Mark 2001, and rated way high in my total speed score. Medal of Honor : Spearhead is looking super fine.
Once I got the whole video card thing outta the way, I decided I wanted to try some “backing up” (cough cough) of my PC games. I didn’t know a whole lot about current copy protection, so I did some digging and figured out a whole bunch o’ neat tricks for disc duplication (with no small help from Howard).
First off, you need the demo (and if you’re looking for more long-term use, buy the full version) of Elby’s CloneCD. The latest version works just fine (don’t install that Virtual CloneDrive stuff though… scary), both for making images and burning those images to blanks. CloneCD even comes with a system-tray utility that allows you to turn off “CD Media Detect”, which prevents games from knowing that you have a burned cd in your drive, rather than an original.
Before you use CloneCD, you’ll need the Clony utility… which determines exactly which copy protection scheme exists on your game disc, and tells you which settings to use in CloneCD. Very handy. Using them together allowed me to make a perfect backup of Medal of Honor and the Spearhead expansion. Not like I’m going to be spreading ’em around to friends or anything… just a challenge I wanted to figure out more than anything. Hey, we’re supposed to be able to make ‘personal backups’ of our property anyway, right? Sure.
How did I learn all this cd burning stuff, anyway? The invaluable CD Freaks site, and their forums. The definition of Too Much Information.
Sheesh, I am an unbridled computer nrrrd. You’d think I’d try and keep this stuff a secret. But noooo…
Also on the nrrrd tip… I love me the new version of MailWasher. I’ve plugged this spam-control program before, but didn’t realize a new build came out last month that includes hotmail support. It also has a better ‘bouncing’ scheme, which makes spammers think that your email address doesn’t exist. I’ve already noticed a decrease in my spam since I started using it regularly again a couple weeks back. Handy dandy.
Good to see that Jon Favreau’s Dinner for Five has started up with new episodes again. Anything that breaks down the celebrity wall, even a little bit, is a good thing. The premiere saw the cast of the upcoming oh-please-don’t-suck Daredevil movie (Baffleck, Colin Farrell, Kevin Smith, Jennifer Garner, and host Favreau) chatting about internet gossip and casting calls. Interesting insights, amusing anecdotes, even awkward insults. A not-so-guilty pleasure.
Our TiVo-love continues to grow, especially since I found out that it’s chief rival, ReplayTV, might bail out of the market. That’s a deep, deep hole you’ve got yourself in there, Replay. More business for TiVo is a good thing… it’s all about the market share.
Speaking of the Tee-Vizzo, they’re getting ready to unveil just the thing I’ve been hoping for… web-based home TiVo access. Oh man. Schedule recordings from any computer, any time. Connect your TiVo to your home network for viewing in other rooms (not like we’re going to get a second machine, but hey, nice idea). Damn fortunate that we waited and got the Series 2 recorder, which has the USB ports to allow this stuff. A couple months earlier and we would have been outta luck.
My personal musical peak will always be the early 90’s… it’s when some of my favorite bands started, and when I started playin’ in bands myself. It feels like the golden age, and it was just 10 short years ago. If you feel like getting nostalgic, as I just did, check out this little Shoegazing retrospective in 3am Magazine. Brings me back, it does.
Most Sunday mornings (at least, when I’m not freakin’ working thanks to some evil Honk Kong hacker), I skim through CBS’ morning program with Charles Osgood. Last week I learned about a place been right under my Boston nose, and I never knew it… Boston University’s Mugar Library Exhibits. Sure, I knew about the library, but never about Howard Gotlieb and what he has on display inside. Hundreds of writings, photos, and personal items from politicians, artists, and celebrities, all determined by Howard to be of ‘historical value’, and acquired for free from kind-hearted donations. This place is at the top of my must-visit list. Perhaps the B.W.E.F. needs to make the trip?
Growing up in Burlington, Vermont, I have a pretty close connection to Nectar’s, a hometown bar and restaurant that has somehow managed to pull off free live music, seven nights a week, for as long as I can remember. Nectar used to let me in to see bands with my dad years before I hit the legal drinking age, which meant a lot to me and my music-lovin’ ears. While I ended up outgrowing a lot of the cover bands and cheeze-rockers that so often graced the stage, I was always a big fan of the famous Nectar’s fries, and a big fan of the man himself. Both my dad and Peter Clavelle, Burlington’s longtime mayor, count themselves as former Nectar’s employees, having worked at his first restaurant, The Lure, back in the age of stone (kidding, dad). Well, seems it’s the end of an era… Nectar has sold the place. Mayor Pete even honored him today at a proclamation ceremony… he’s that much of a Burlington institution. Hard to believe, although I suppose it was inevitable. Things change. Actually, the new owners plan to keep things pretty much the same, which is good news indeed. Going to be strange not seeing Nectar’s face behind the counter though.
Well, my Friday night plans are set. Thanks to Mari Anne, I learned of the first area screening of a new documentary called El Tiante, about the former red sox pitching ace Luis Tiante and his performance in the 1975 World Series. I remember being a kid and being fascinated by the man, and he’ll be there in person to introduce the film along with it’s director. My dad’s even coming down from Vermont for the screening, so it should be a good evening all around.
Alright, enough blabbin’ outta me …