Socialist Sushi

Yes, finally. Sorry it’s taken so long.

This has the embarassingly simple font fix, so your font settings are now properly saved.

After I get some server weirdness fixed tonight or tomorrow, I hope to set up a real system to track bug reports. Probably Trac; it’s overkill for this, really, but it’s pretty simple to use.

Links: Binaries and source.

Also, there’s now a Google Groups list: portaPuTTY Users

Today marks my last day at VeriSign. I’ve taken a new job where I’ll once again be writing code.

I started at VeriSign in December of 2000. So, while I’m happy to once again be involved in development, it’s gonna be weird when I don’t have to put on the security badge with the goofy photo of me on it.

Preach about God Tomorrow

Is God in your sermon notes for tomorrow? Or do you have a more relevant message?

It’s amazing how often you can site in some churches and not hear anything about God. I’m thankful the church I attend isn’t like this.

Years ago I attended the funeral of a young girl. The woman pastor gave one of the best speeches I’ve ever heard. But it had nothing at all to do with God. I remember leaving and talking to my pastor as we walked to our cars, and saying how all those people, many of them who rarely darken a church door, just walked out without hearing a thing about Christ.

So, portaPuTTY was put on digg.com. And… oh my. My poor server; I had to redirect people from there to a plain page to try and save things.

And hooray for bittorrent!

As of right now (22:40 est) there have been 1775 downloads of the binary, and 423 of the binary.

It’s nice to come up with something actually useful 8)

There was a time when the church was very powerful in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being “disturbers of the peace” and “outside agitators”‘ But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were “a colony of heaven,” called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God intoxicated to be “astronomically intimidated.” By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide. and gladiatorial contests.

Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Par from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s silent and often even vocal sanction of things as they are.

But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it vi lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.

Letter from Birmingham Jail

I’ll write more later, but I’ve had several life goals for a while. They are:

1. Fund my own Bible translation
2. Have my own action figure
3. Be on The Daily Show
4. Be known as “The Bryan.”
5. and I just added a new one: Be verbally pimp-slapped by the Rev. Al Sharpton first thing in the morning.

portaPuTTY is a hacked version of PuTTY that stores all its information in files, not in the registry. I made this version so I could have a good SSH client to run from a USB drive.

Other than that, it’s the PuTTY you know and love.

Torrents: Binary and source

You can get the binaries here. The source is also available, if you want it.

Keep in mind that I haven’t gone through this thing with a fine toothed comb yet, so it may still use the registry somewhere. Feel free to send any comments along.

If you find portaPuTTY useful, I appreciate donations to my good sushi dinner fund.

Known Issues: Font information isn’t stored properly. A patch has been submitted. As soon as I check it and some other fixes out I’ll put out a new release. I’ve been planning to do this any day now for the past 2 months. I’ll try to get to it soon.

One-Fifth of High School Seniors Fail California Exit Exam

Nearly 100,000 California 12th graders — or about 20% of this year’s senior class — have failed the state’s graduation exam, potentially jeopardizing their chances of earning diplomas, according to the most definitive report on the mandatory test released today.
…
The exit exam, which has come under criticism by some educators, legislators and civil rights advocates, is geared to an 8th grade level in math and to ninth- and 10th grade levels in English.

Well isn’t that sweet. 1/5 failing reading at a level that should be 4 years behind them.