An Unmentionable Question

A Question That Shouldn’t Be Asked Ever, but Must Be Asked Now:

The political fallout from the Katrina disaster raises some ugly thoughts in my head – thoughts I’m embarrassed to admit to, though I’m going to anyway. Suppose the next humanitarian crisis to hit America – natural disaster or otherwise – happens to land on a predominantly white, middle-class area. Further, suppose a Republican – perhaps even still George W Bush – is in the White House. Question: Is there a possible model of federal response that would not be open to damning criticisms from the opposition? Especially if GWB still has the federal reigns in his hands, it’s a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t scenario. Succeed in drastically improving the swiftness and efficacy of the federal segments of the relief effort, and you’ve shown what a drastic disparity exists between the resource management for poor nonwhites versus well-to-do whites. On the other hand, fail miserably and you’ve shown that the system is “still broken” and that no lessons have been learned.

Granted, there are unmentioned upsides to the fallout from a hypothetical success case, at least inasmuch as there are better possible responses to the inevitable criticisms. But as much as I hate to be thinking this way in a time like this, I think it’s crucial that this question be put to the most vocal critics of the Bush administration now, not later. The question is “if the next disaster happens to hit America in a wealthy or white area, how would you define success for the federal response?”  Without the opposition being overwhelmingly documented as on-record beforehand demanding improvement in such cases, I fear that charges of racism are only likely to increase in volume if the relief efforts are perceived as “better” than those in response to Katrina.

Deroy Murdock on Hurricane Katrina on National Review Online

I recommend reading this entire article, but this short summary contains some of the more noteworthy incidents of criminal activity in Katrina's aftermath:

Deroy Murdock on Hurricane Katrina on National Review Online: "For all their mismanagement, Bush, Brown, Blanco, and Nagin have had to operate during what likely is the worst natural disaster in American history. Katrina flattened and soaked 90,000 square miles that remain in a state of emergency — an area nearly that of the United Kingdom. The problems these officials faced were (and are) mammoth, Herculean, and gargantuan. For all their shortcomings, at least they have not operated from malice.

That cannot be said of the shameful New Orleanians who darkened and complicated an already grim situation. Few begrudge those who stole water and food to stay alive. Those criminals who ripped off TV sets, jewelry, and enough pairs of jeans to complete their Christmas shopping four months early behaved without a thread of ethical justification. However, one at least can see how they personally would benefit from their thievery.

But imagine the unvarnished evil of a sniper who fired at doctors and nurses who tried to evacuate patients from Charity Hospital. Terrified of bullets, medical personnel kept the infirm in sweltering rooms where some expired.

A flotilla of private boats prepared last week to rescue stranded hurricane survivors. The boat owners turned back when they were shot at. Those dying on their rooftops had to wait longer, perhaps fatally, thanks to their own murderous neighbors.

Scott Harney posted this news on the New Orleans Times-Picayune’s website:

Spoke to my uncle this morning (Thurs) in Riverbend near Carrolton and St. Charles. He and several (elderly) residents are holed up there and the security situation is getting desperate. Heat is extreme, and there are roving gangs of looters with guns. The looters have also commandeered a backhoe and are ramming homes…While Leake Avenue and River Road are dry, they are afraid to leave as they fear they will be shot, carjacked etc.

Michael Shellie of Oregon told the New York Post about looters who broke into his New Orleans hotel: “They threw everything out the windows just for the fun of watching it crash — televisions, vending machines, beds. And they robbed the manager at gunpoint, so he fled.”

The Saks Fifth Avenue near the fashionable River Walk was sacked over the weekend. Soon thereafter, it burned in yet another fire that authorities blamed on arsonists.

Rather than applaud as 14 contractors crossed the Danziger Bridge to fix the 17th Street Canal that faltered and submerged their city, a well-armed band of hoodlums instead opened fire on these engineers. NOPD officers, on hand to provide security, shot back at these hooligans. In a magnificent and morally pristine use of force, the NOPD killed two of these goons and wounded two others in a firefight. They also captured two more who fled, one of whom was injured in an exchange of bullets.

If these derelicts hindered the levee-doctors’ work for even a quarter hour, that would have been 15 minutes too many. Katrina’s still-trapped victims can thank these criminals, not George W. Bush, for this latest delay in getting help.

90% of MoveOn.org readers agree with this:

This truly frightening bit is that this was the #2 Action Item on MoveOn.org as of 1:55pm CST Thursday Sept 8th...

ActionForum: "Is this country headed toward a revolution?

When the guardsmen were sent back from Iraq to restore order in New Orleans, they described the looters as 'insurgents'.

Bush sent troops but held back the Red Cross and refused many offers for help. That does not look good.

In case of confrontation between the police and demonstrators, in Washington DC or elsewhere, I have little doubt that Bush will not hesitate to use force. It is clear that if asked to shoot to kill 'insurgents', most soldiers and guardsmen would not dare disobey orders.

Against that backdrop, will civil disobedience and passive resistance work?

Would Blacks in this country have obtained civil rights without bloody confrontations with the police?

I really think that a labor action is the best way to deal with the current situation but if one chooses to demonstrate and confront the police, he better be ready. One should ask oneself: 'what would I do if confronted with a tank?'.

It becomes clearer every day that we are in a dictatorship. I say: if we opt for a confrontation, we cannot be choosy. We have to bring in all the forces that are hostile to the present order. I can understand that some would be reluctant to associate Farrakhan with this movement but, let's face it, Bush is not scared of us 'liberals'.

When we choose to take our message to the streets, we have to be ready for a bloody confrontation with the police or the army. In that case, why not put all the chances on our side. We have to force Bush to resign. That's the only way out and that's what is at stake today.

].[Scarier still is that (presumably the same) 90% of MoveOn.org readers who voted seet this as an item deserving Five out of Five stars in importance.]

Democratic Underground - I did not stop to help a W supporter today.

This is really sick:

Democratic Underground - I did not stop to help a [Bush]* supporter today.

Note: "Bush" is apparently replaced with an asterisk, either by the author of that posting, or by the board software settings.

Blogcritics.org: I Won't Contribute to Katrina

Holy cow, this is unbelievable:
Blogcritics.org: I Won't Contribute to Katrina

CNN.com - Black lawmakers angry about federal response to Katrina - Sep 2, 2005

CNN.com - Black lawmakers angry about federal response to Katrina - Sep 2, 2005:

"Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Illinois, said too much focus has been placed on the looting, taking away from what should be the priority: getting food, water and stability to the tens of thousands of displaced victims."

One could say that too much focus has been placed on the Bush administration, taking away from same admittedly high priorities.

Federal agents are charging a man with shooting at a military rescue helicopter in New Orleans - MSNBC.com

I've heard said that the shooting at helicopters story was apocryphal, which makes me wonder if the feds are charging a mannequin. You'll need to scroll to the last item in the 'other developments' bullet-point list to see the quote on MSNBC:

Bush to seek another $40 billion for Katrina aid - Hurricane Katrina - MSNBC.com: "Federal agents are charging a man with shooting at a military rescue helicopter in New Orleans. Wendell Bailey was arrested Monday night after gunshots were fired from an apartment building in the Algiers neighborhood. He is charged with trying to damage an aircraft and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm."

New Orleans' Unfinest Hour (David Frum)

David Frum answers a smattering of Katrina-related criticisms of the Bush administration from the left.

City of New Orleans Emergency Preparedness

From the horse's mouth... what the City should have done:

PowerPoint to Flash download and review - convert PowerPoint to Flash from SnapFiles

PowerPoint to Flash

Download and review - convert PowerPoint to Flash from SnapFiles: "PowerPoint to Flash allows you to (batch) convert PPT files to Flash (.swf) format. In addition to the .SWF file, it can also generate the HTML container pages, as well as an optional CD autorun file. You can convert the entire presentation to a Flash slideshow, or create a .swf file for each slide individually. The program allows you to resize the slides/images and adjust the JPEG output quality as well as font quality. PowerPoint to Flash does not support background music. "

The Code Project - Cheat's Outlook Bar - Menus & Toolbars

The Code Project - Cheat's Outlook Bar - Menus & Toolbars:
Cheat's Outlook Bar
By Gary Perkin

An alternative 'minimal-code' Outlook-style Menu Bar

The Code Project - Cheat's Outlook Bar - Menus & Toolbars

The Code Project - Cheat's Outlook Bar - Menus & Toolbars:
Cheat's Outlook Bar
By Gary Perkin

An alternative 'minimal-code' Outlook-style Menu Bar

The Code Project - Exception Handling Best Practices in .NET - .NET

The Code Project - Exception Handling Best Practices in .NET - .NET: "All Topics, .NET, C# >> .NET >> Patterns and Practices

Exception Handling Best Practices in .NET
By Daniel Turini

Design guidelines for exception handling in .NET which will help you to create more robust software "

The Code Project - An Introduction To Performance Counters - .NET

The Code Project - An Introduction To Performance Counters - .NET: "All Topics, .NET, C# >> .NET >> General

An Introduction To Performance Counters
By Michael Groeger

An introduction to monitoring performance of applications. "

The Code Project - Runtime Object Editor - .NET

The Code Project - Runtime Object Editor - .NET: "All Topics, .NET, C# >> .NET >> Unedited Reader Contributions

Runtime Object Editor
By Tutu

A powerful window/object editor to be used at runtime that allows changing of properties and method invocation on a control/object. "

The Code Project - Network Stuff (easy socket v3) - C# Programming

The Code Project - Network Stuff (easy socket v3) - C# Programming: "All Topics, C#, .NET >> C# Programming >> Network

Network Stuff (easy socket v3)
By rantanplanisback

A class with event handlers for TCP, UDP or ICMP sockets; includes ping, traceroute, whois, ARP, and IPHelper functions and raw packets forging/ capturing. "

Anti-Virus-Programme und aktive Bekampfung (Troj.Startpage remover)

frmo Anti-Virus-Programme und aktive Bek�mpfung: Trojan Remover (englisch, aber top)
Immediate Purchase and Downloadable Trial

Trojan Remover was written to aid in the removal of Trojan Horses from a computer when standard anti-virus software has either failed to detect the Trojan Horse or is unable to effectively eliminate it. The majority of Virus and Trojan scanners are well able to detect malicious Trojan Horses but are not very efficient in removing them if they have already been triggered. Trojan Remover was written specifically to carry out such a removal without the user having to manually edit system files, including the Windows Registry. Trojan Remover also removes the additional system modifications some Trojans carry out which are ignored by all other Virus and Trojan scanners.
Get the free trial here: http://www.sellshareware.com/ProgramInfo.asp?AfID=5079&PrID=30492

Using SQL Server's XML Support

Using SQL Server's XML Support: "sp_run_xml_proc

Another limitation of SQL Server's XML support exists because XML results are not returned as traditional rowsets. Returning XML results as streams has many advantages, but one of the disadvantages is that you can't call a stored procedure that returns an XML result using a four-part name or OPENQUERY() and get a useful result. The result set you'll get will be an unrecognizable binary result set because SQL Server's linked server architecture doesn't support XML streams."

Cross-Browser XMLHttpRequest - Web Site Design - Andrew Gregory's Web Pages

Cross-Browser XMLHttpRequest - Web Site Design - Andrew Gregory's Web Pages

MSDN Transact-SQL Tips - Expanding Hierarchies using a Stack

This is a nice implementation...

"The following Transact-SQL procedure expands an encoded hierarchy to any arbitrary depth. Although Transact-SQL supports recursion, it is more efficient to use a temporary table as a stack to keep track of all of the items for which processing has begun but is not complete. When processing is complete for a particular item, it is removed from the stack. New items are added to the stack as they are identified."

CREATE PROCEDURE expand (@current char(20)) AS
SET NOCOUNT ON
DECLARE @lvl int, @line char(20)
CREATE TABLE #stack (item char(20), lvl int)
INSERT INTO #stack VALUES (@current, 1)
SELECT @lvl = 1
WHILE @lvl > 0
BEGIN
IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM #stack WHERE lvl = @lvl)
BEGIN
SELECT @current = item
FROM #stack
WHERE lvl = @lvl
SELECT @line = space(@lvl - 1) + @current
PRINT @line
DELETE FROM #stack
WHERE lvl = @lvl
AND item = @current
INSERT #stack
SELECT Child, @lvl + 1
FROM Hierarchy
WHERE Parent = @current
IF @@ROWCOUNT > 0
SELECT @lvl = @lvl + 1
END
ELSE
SELECT @lvl = @lvl - 1
END -- WHILE

See the link for complete code, example and explanation:
Transact-SQL Tips

ViewKeyXP

ViewKeyXP: "Retrieve your XP Product Key [CD Key]"

ISO Recorder Power Toy

ISO Recorder Power Toy

ISO Recorder Power Toy

ISO Recorder Power Toy

This app records ISO images <-> CD-ROMs. Nice and simple! :D
With this and Virtual DAEMON Manager, things should be much smoother.

AutoPatcher.com - AutoStreamer

AutoPatcher.com - AutoStreamer: " AUTOSTREAMER HOME
AutoStreamer is a easy and quick slipstreamer for Windows Operating Systems. All that is needed for AutoStreamer to work is a source (that being an original Windows CD or a local share) and a Service Pack file."

The Code Project - QueryCommander SQL Editor - C# Database

The Code Project - QueryCommander SQL Editor - C# Database

QueryCommander SQL Editor
By Mikael Håkansson

QueryCommander SQL editor with IntelliSense, wrapped in a Visual Studio type of environment. QueryCommander supports: Microsoft SQL Server 6.5-2005, MySQL 4.*-5.1, and Oracle 9i.

[Ed. - as cool as this is, what really cranks me about it is the borrowed-from-SharpDevelop support for syntax highlighting and IntelliSense over an arbitrary grammar. This in and of itself probably makes it worth downloading, reverse engineering & integrating into other projects.]

Enterprise Library

Enterprise Library

Summary

"The patterns & practices Enterprise Library is a library of application blocks designed to assist developers with common enterprise development challenges. Application blocks are a type of guidance, provided as source code that can be used "as is," extended, or modified by developers to use on enterprise development projects. Enterprise Library features new and updated versions of application blocks that were previously available as stand-alone application blocks. All Enterprise Library application blocks have been updated with a particular focus on consistency, extensibility, ease of use, and integration."

The Code Project - Compiling .NET code on-the-fly - VB.NET

The Code Project - Compiling .NET code on-the-fly - VB.NET: "
Compiling .NET code on-the-fly
By Jim Rogers

Compile .NET code programmatically, in memory, then use the resulting assembly to instantiate an object of a class, access its properties and methods, and call a static function. "

Driver Loader

Downloads:Driver Loader: "New and Improved V2.2! Installing and starting NT kernel mode drivers can be a hassle. This is especially true during the development stage of a project, before you've built an attractive gui-based custom installation program. Now, OSRLOADER eliminates your trouble. This GUI-based tool will make all the appropriate registry entries for your driver, and even allow you to start your driver without rebooting. It's even got a help file, for goodness sakes! If you write drivers, this is another one of those utilities that's a must have for your tool chest. x86 architecture."

DiskView

Downloads:DiskView: "DiskView

Description

The DiskView utility is a utility written by OSR, that allows ther user to view the MountPoints, Physical Disks, and Storage Adapters that make up the storage subsystem on the target machine. "

Teleflip

Teleflip

T E L E F L I P™

Teleflip™ started when the founder became increasingly frustrated at his inability to send text messages to friends' cell phones from his PC. It was of course possible, but you had to know the cell phone provider, the correct domain name and the correct syntax for the email address. There had to be an easier way....Teleflip™ was born. Teleflip™ was founded in 2003 in Los Angeles, California.

TELEFLIP™ A FRIEND

DotNetFirebird - Using Firebird SQL in .NET

DotNetFirebird - Using Firebird SQL in .NET: "Using Firebird SQL in .NET

Firebird SQL is a powerful open source database that can be easily used in .NET. I believe it has a big potential (it is full-featured, requires zero administration, can be embedded, etc.). However this potential has not been fully discovered by .NET developers who rely on Microsoft SQL Server heavily."

The Code Project - DotLucene: Full-Text Search for Your Intranet or Website using 37 Lines of Code - C# Programming

The Code Project - DotLucene: Full-Text Search for Your Intranet or Website using 37 Lines of Code - C# Programming: "DotLucene: Full-Text Search for Your Intranet or Website using 37 Lines of Code
By Dan Letecky

An introduction to DotLucene, open source full-text search engine. "

Save Web Pages, Organize Internet Research with Surfulater

Save Web Pages, Organize Internet Research with Surfulater: "Surfulater is an essential tool for saving valuable information found on the internet, that you may otherwise never find again. Even if you could find a particular web site again, the information of interest may be long gone. Surfulater lets you keep it in a versatile offline database for as long as you choose. With Surfulater you can archive the Web."

[PCS - note, found through a CodeProject participant who is also the software's author]

SHELL EXTENSION CITY, millions of free Windows power tools, explorer enhancements, windows add-ons, tweaks, system utilities, freeware, ie5

SHELL EXTENSION CITY, millions of free Windows power tools, explorer enhancements, windows add-ons, tweaks, system utilities, freeware, ie5

The Code Project - Creating a shell extension with C# - C# Programming

The Code Project - Creating a shell extension with C# - C# Programming: "Creating a shell extension with C#
By Richard Birkby

Demonstrates building a Windows Explorer shell extension using C# and COM Interop. "

How to write Firefox extensions

How to write Firefox extensions: "Creating Firefox extensions

Contents

1. Learn By Example
2. Hello, world!
3. Looking inside the XPI
4. Re-configuring your extension's installation
5. Chrome is more than a shiny bumper
6. Skin that cat
7. Pack it up and try it out
8. An easier way to re-build
9. My Firefox got completely hosed up
10. Ensure server compatibility
11. Additonal help and information
12. Comments / Feedback

Learn by example

Everyone has a good idea at one time or another to implement a new feature in a web browser. Well, with the goodness that is Mozilla Firefox, now you can do just that. You need to have a vague understanding of XUL and Javascript, but you certainly don't need to be a master of either. When I started, I knew nothing about either one, really. I had seen some bookmarklets here and there, and tried to figure out just how they worked. Well, that's how I made my first extension, BugMeNot, which was used as a point of reference in my first tutorial that I wrote. If you'd like to see that tutorial instead of a generic 'Hello, world!' example, you can see it here."

Downloads:DeviceTree

Downloads:DeviceTree: "DeviceTree


Description

The greatest utility every written by master toolsmith and driver expert Mark Cariddi. This utility has two views: (a) one view that will show you the entire PnP enumeration tree of device objects, including relationships among objects and all the device's reported PnP characteristics, and (b) a second view that shows you the device objects created, sorted by driver name. There is nothing like this utility available anywhere else."

Downloads:DiskView

Downloads:DiskView: "Description

The DiskView utility is a utility written by OSR, that allows ther user to view the MountPoints, Physical Disks, and Storage Adapters that make up the storage subsystem on the target machine. "

Free image editing software - Download Scott's Box Shot Maker

Free image editing software - Download Scott's Box Shot Maker: "The Scott's Box Shot Maker program is a unique marketing tool and image-editing software that creates a virtual package for your product. A box shot is a colorful image of the box in which your product would be packaged if it were on the shelf at a software store. Now you can use your company's existing logos and promotional images to create a virtual box with ease, whether you've actually developed packaging or not. Box shots are a key motivating factor in potential customers' perception of overall product quality and their willingness to download your product."

The Code Project - DirectX.Capture Class Library - Multimedia

The Code Project - DirectX.Capture Class Library - Multimedia: "DirectX.Capture Class Library
By Brian Low

A .NET class library for capturing video and audio to AVI files. "

Neo (.NET Entity Objects)

Neo (.NET Entity Objects): "The .NET Entity Objects Framework

Neo is a framework for .NET developers who want to write enterprise applications with an object-based domain model. It is well suited for domain-driven design and agile development.

Neo includes tools that create an extensible object-based domain model as well as the database schema from a an abstract description of the model. At runtime, rich schema information is used to dynamically generate all SQL required for object persistence management. Being based on ADO.NET data sets, a Neo domain model is independent of the actual backing store and works equally well with databases and objects in an XML representation."

DevGlobalCache – A way to Cache and Share data between processes

DevGlobalCache – A way to Cache and Share data between processes:

The first Memory Mapped File demo code that ran right out of the zip. This one got MY five-star rating... :-)

PHP Editor Review - PHP Designer 2005 2.2

PHP Editor Review - PHP Designer 2005 2.2: "Whether you're an experienced web professional or just a novice starting writing your first PHP script, PHP Designer 2005 is designed to provide you with the complete set of tools you need to speed up your coding with code parameter hint and syntax colouring.

PHP Designer 2005 brings you a deployment environment that combines PHP, HTML, XHTML, CSS and SQL (Ingres, Interbase, MSSQL, MySQL, Oracle, Sybase and Standard SQL) packed in one single program with build-in dialogs/wizards, access to common code/script libraries, utilities and procedures in a nice and elegant design.
"

The Code Project - SMTP and POP3 Mail Server - C# Programming

The Code Project - SMTP and POP3 Mail Server - C# Programming: "SMTP and POP3 Mail Server
By Ivar Lumi

An SMTP and POP3 mail server written using the .NET Framework and C#. "

Lutz Roeder's Programming.NET C# VB CLR WinFX

Lutz Roeder's Programming.NET C# VB CLR WinFX: "Resourcer for .NET

Resourcer is an editor for .resources binaries and .resX XML file formats used with the .NET platform. The program allows the integration of bitmaps, icons and text strings into resource packages. Resourcer allows editing of name/string pairs, import of various kinds of data formats (bitmaps, icons, etc) and merging of resources from different sources.
Resourcer.zip - .NET Resourcer, Version 4.1.0.0"

Get and Diagnose Chrysler computer codes - Taking Advantage Of Technology

Get and Diagnose Chrysler computer codes - Taking Advantage Of Technology:
"Get and Diagnose Chrysler computer codes
Written by hevnsnt
Thursday, 20 January 2005

To get the codes, put the key into the ignition, push down the odometer reset button, then turn the key to RUN with your finger on the button - and then release the button. The odometer will go through 1111111 through 999999, then display the car's serial number, then show the error codes starting with P. I'm not sure what the other displays mean. Note that this method may not work with 2003 or later vehicles.

XML Visualizer for Visual Studio .NET 2003

XML Visualizer for Visual Studio .NET 2003: "Home Page: http://workspaces.gotdotnet.com/xmlviz.

Description Via Project Home

XML Visualizer for Visual Studio .NET 2003 (XMLVIZ) allows you to visualize most XML and XML-backed data sources during runtime a la Whidbey's 'debugger visualizers'. The difference is you don't have to wait for VS.NET 2005 because XMLVIZ will work with your copy of VS.NET 2003 today!"

Creating Custom Configurations

Creating Custom Configurations: "ASP.Net's introduction of the web.config file went a long way to filling the configuration hole we had to deal with in classic ASP. We actually went from having very little (global.asa was the closest thing) to a well-structured, change on the fly XML file. For the most part, the web.config file does the trick fine. However there are some limitations and constraints with using it, which you are probably already aware of. What you might not know is how easy is it to surmount those issues by creating a far more flexible alternative.

There have already been a number of articles written on this, so why write another one? Well, you can never have too many tutorials explaining how to do something. My goal is to present this in a cut and paste friendly manner which you'll be able to use right away, as well as provide some insight into the architecture."

XML.com: Web-based XML Editing with W3C XML Schema and XSLT

XML.com: Web-based XML Editing with W3C XML Schema and XSLT: "This article describes a technique in which an XML instance document can be edited through an automatically created form-based GUI, based on the schema of the instance document. The whole cycle of GUI creation (using XSLT), editing, and updating (using XUpdate) XML instances is presented here."

The Code Project - Code generator for Application Settings/Preferences graphic management - Free Tools

The Code Project - Code generator for Application Settings/Preferences graphic management - Free Tools: "Code generator for Application Settings/Preferences graphic management
By Stefano Basili

CM_ConfigBuilder generates and compiles the required files to manage your application's settings/preferences and to store/retrieve them in XML format. "

This looks like a great app on MANY levels, so place it high on the "check out soon" list. Unfortunately it's written in C++, but still, the logic for displaying the hierarchical XML should be portable without too much effort...