Thursday, March 18, 2004

Attendance
Ken B, Chris J, Mel W
The mailing list was down.

Meeting Business

PegaSoft Summer Retreat

PegaSoft's Annual Summer Retreat is a 3-day weekend in Ontario vacation
country with computer hacking, boating, fishing and an all-you-can-eat
breakfast.  This year's summer retreat is tentatively scheduled for the
August 21 weekend.

Membership

Chris B and Dan B owe membership dues.

PegaSoft Project Updates

Software Projects

BUSH
  - basic records (structures)
  - user-defined procedure "in" (read-only) parameters
  - user-defined functions
  - template processing (similar to PHP)
  Ken demoed BUSH's template processing features.

Second Call for Projects

MPEG Logger
  - "Linux Toys" book has a chapter on creating your own Linux VCR and another
    chapter on Linux video archiving
  - LT recomments P4, 1 Gig RAM, and certain video cards / drivers
  - it may be possible to modify a TiVo machine.  TiVo is Linux-based and
    the company invites modifications to its machine
  - Chris J will investigate examples and post to the mailing list
  - Ken B will post old docs to an accessible location

Contract Work
  - Ken was approached by someone looking to outsource the rewrite of a
    mid-sized Linux project.  No details yet.

Discussion: Logical Reasoning (Chris Jezovnik)

- Fallicy of Inconsistency: "We are all of us equal, but some are more equal
  than others."
- Circular Reasoning: "Free trade is good because it removes the barriers to
  commerce."
- Begging the Question: "You cannot let this man go free, because your sister
  or daughter may be his next victim."
- Leading or Loaded Questions: "Do you think the token efforts by City Hall to
  address the homelessness problem have been effective?"
- Invincible Ignorance: Galileo's colleagues refused to look through his
  telescope because they knew there were only 7 heavenly bodies.
- False Alternatives: "Jesus: Madman or Messiah?"
- Moralism: "An unusually high number of AIDS victims are
  homosexuals.  This proves that homosexuality is unnatural and morally
  wrong."  (implies facts/reasoning)
- Negative Proof: "No students have complained.  Therefore, the assignment is
  fair."
- Abusive Ad Hominem/Guilt by Association: Attacking the messenger instead of
  the message.
- Circumstatial Ad Hominem: "Of course you oppose student participation on the
  board of trustees, Dean Kelso.  It would dilute the power of your office."
- Tu Quoque ("You're another"): Instead of addressing the point of contention,
  the opponent attacks you on the basis of your social group.
- Appeals to Fear: "You shouldn't go down there, 'cause I'd hate to see him
  give you another embarressing butt-kicking".
- Appeals to Sympathy: "I know you're suspicious of me, and I'm suspicious of
  you, because you're shrewd in your own way, but..." (Scopes "Monkey" trial)
- Appeals to Inexpert Opinion: "Ken's an expert on programming.  Let's find
  out what he thinks about your hard drive problem."
- Appeals to Tradition: "That's just the way it is.  Somethings will never
  change."
- Appeals to Common Practice: "Nobody ever went wrong going with Microsoft."
- Poisoning the Well: Nietzsche: "Those who disagree with me when I say that
  mankind is corrupt prove that they are already corrupted."
- Chronological Snobbery: "This distribution of Linux is newer therefore it
  must be better than the older ones."


Next Meeting

The next meeting will be Thursday, April 22, 2004.  Mel Wilson will discuss
Python.