I signed into X-Box Live on the expiration day of the two month free trial that came with HaloDos! The maps are downloading now. The next set of maps (The Killtacular Action Pack) become free on June 28. Can we wait that long?
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
request for feedback
so, i have been working on this sketch for a blog redesign for a little while and would like some feedback. it is not a very radical change because some people do not like fixed backgrounds, and others do not like really wide, left hand sidebars. but, not being one to take critcism personally i muttered vindictively and messed around with it a bit more.your thoughts are greatly appreciated. even yours and yours.
Burnt Orange Report - Our Dumb Legislature
Burnt Orange Report - Our Dumb Legislature:
"Sec. 32. (a) Marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman.
(b) This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage."
I had to read it a couple of times to get it.
Monday, May 30, 2005
How not to honor fallen soldiers.
SCENE: Me, Brian, Mindy and Juan across the street from their townhouse on the lawn of an abandoned church playing croquet on Memorial Day. A car drives slowly past.
Teenage kid in car: "Ya'll fuckin' suck!"
Mindy: "I don't think soldiers died so he could do that."
Teenage kid in car: "Ya'll fuckin' suck!"
Mindy: "I don't think soldiers died so he could do that."
The D-70
I rented a D-70 this weekend for a last minute wedding. Fortunately, i had so many other things going on. I wanted to try and squeeze in a shoot of Adolph and Amber, but amber was busy buying shoes and i had both a graduation and a wedding to shoot.
I realized that i had been shooting with a 'point and shoot' for too long, but i can't say that that has been all bad - i took a lot of the in-your-face tactics you can use with a camera like the sd10 and put them to good use with the d-70.
What i came away with is that i am going to purchse a digital slr in the near future, although i'm kinda usure as to which one. more than likely i will go nikon or fuji since i already have a couple of nikon lenses.
I realized that i had been shooting with a 'point and shoot' for too long, but i can't say that that has been all bad - i took a lot of the in-your-face tactics you can use with a camera like the sd10 and put them to good use with the d-70.
What i came away with is that i am going to purchse a digital slr in the near future, although i'm kinda usure as to which one. more than likely i will go nikon or fuji since i already have a couple of nikon lenses.
My Memorial Day Morning Ecological Footprint
I've been caring for my neighbor's cats while she's been away for the Memorial Day weekend. After cleaning out the litter box, i borrowed her manual pushmower to give it test run on my yard (i had asked her previously).
It took a real change in how one thinks about cutting yards. I couldn't throw the small machine back and forth over the lawn and irregular corners (like the spaces around the a/c) the way i do with the gas powered mower. The manual mower will only cut going forward. This was the most challenging thing about the mower; so challenging in fact, that i proceeded to cut the front as well just so i could get used to it.
Ultimately, however, i don't think i'll be getting a manual push mower for my yard. I can't say that i didn't enjoy watching the blades of grass shoot out from the spinning blades, but i can say that it doesn't completely cut the grass. it took a lot longer to do because i found myself going over spots several times in order to completely cut the grass. in many instances the mower simply wouldn't cut certain blades of grass that were beyond a certain height resulting in an uneven cut. Another thing were the sticks from the pecan tree. Every time the mower would lock up, stop, and send the bar into my chest i could hear mr. trudeau's words of woe resonate in the 'clank!'.
The mental images i have of myself listening to my ipod while i cut the grass though, are very very very powerful.
As for my ecological footprint, i cancelled out any good i may have done by keeping the gas powered mower in the shed with my burger and hot dog fire. Although, i can't be sure that simple smoke from fire is acutally counts as pollution. Doesn't smoke give the water in the air something to stick to, creating clouds? Am i responsible for the clouds when i BBQ? I plan on throwing the ashes from my previous BBQ (a mixture of pecan and oak wood) into the compost, so that's a plus too, huh?
It took a real change in how one thinks about cutting yards. I couldn't throw the small machine back and forth over the lawn and irregular corners (like the spaces around the a/c) the way i do with the gas powered mower. The manual mower will only cut going forward. This was the most challenging thing about the mower; so challenging in fact, that i proceeded to cut the front as well just so i could get used to it.
Ultimately, however, i don't think i'll be getting a manual push mower for my yard. I can't say that i didn't enjoy watching the blades of grass shoot out from the spinning blades, but i can say that it doesn't completely cut the grass. it took a lot longer to do because i found myself going over spots several times in order to completely cut the grass. in many instances the mower simply wouldn't cut certain blades of grass that were beyond a certain height resulting in an uneven cut. Another thing were the sticks from the pecan tree. Every time the mower would lock up, stop, and send the bar into my chest i could hear mr. trudeau's words of woe resonate in the 'clank!'.
The mental images i have of myself listening to my ipod while i cut the grass though, are very very very powerful.
As for my ecological footprint, i cancelled out any good i may have done by keeping the gas powered mower in the shed with my burger and hot dog fire. Although, i can't be sure that simple smoke from fire is acutally counts as pollution. Doesn't smoke give the water in the air something to stick to, creating clouds? Am i responsible for the clouds when i BBQ? I plan on throwing the ashes from my previous BBQ (a mixture of pecan and oak wood) into the compost, so that's a plus too, huh?
Welcome Dudley
Adolph graciously took me to Fry's this weekend assist me in the purchse of a new harddrive. I think i may have destroyed my 40gig by using the wrong powercord. Besides my labeling of my new powercord, are there any maitenance routines i should follow in order to keep my new external safe and happy? Disk utility once a month is prolly a good idea ... any others?
Like a Rock
Adolfo IV is asleep, hard. He skipped his nap today. Ezra, his cousin who is about nine months older and doesn't nap, showed up around 11 this morning. They zipped around the house and then into the backyard. Once everyone had eaten their fill of hamburgers and hot dogs the kids took their tricycles and pedal cars out into the cul-de-sac where they ran and fought, and reconciled, and scooted around till they were dripping with sweat. Adolfo was happy to have his cousin and his best friend, cole, around. After we could no longer stand the heat, all the kids ended up back at our place. Ezra left first. After that, Adolfo and Cole shared a cooling bath. They both relaxed in front of 'James and the Giant Peach' till cole finally had to go home.
Adolfo is pretty easy to diagnose. He was sooooooo tired. The telling is in the movement of his limbs. He's got pretty good control of himself, but when he's tired he just hangs like an old shirt. Of course he also whines, pouts, throws himself about, clings to his mama, and loses all sensibility (what little there is in a two-year old.)
Not long after she went in to put him down, i heard her in the bathroom. "He's out." I knew that instantly, not from what she said, but how she said it: not in a whisper. Normally we tiptoe around for the first half hour he hits the bed. Any noise will rouse him. The second she finished his bedtime story he was snoring.
It has crossed my mind that skipping naps may be the thing to do in order to get him to sleep at a normal time, but the trade-off (clingy, crying, tantrum throwing) is too high i think. Can any of our older child-experienced readers sound-off on this?
Adolfo is pretty easy to diagnose. He was sooooooo tired. The telling is in the movement of his limbs. He's got pretty good control of himself, but when he's tired he just hangs like an old shirt. Of course he also whines, pouts, throws himself about, clings to his mama, and loses all sensibility (what little there is in a two-year old.)
Not long after she went in to put him down, i heard her in the bathroom. "He's out." I knew that instantly, not from what she said, but how she said it: not in a whisper. Normally we tiptoe around for the first half hour he hits the bed. Any noise will rouse him. The second she finished his bedtime story he was snoring.
It has crossed my mind that skipping naps may be the thing to do in order to get him to sleep at a normal time, but the trade-off (clingy, crying, tantrum throwing) is too high i think. Can any of our older child-experienced readers sound-off on this?
Grandma's House, now my mothers.
Went down to the Valley Friday evening to celebrate my Mother's and my birthday. June 4th (hers) and May 30th (mine).
My mother has been in the process of redecorating my Grandmother's house that she now lives in and has domain over, while renting out ours (hers) which is next door.
During the course of rearranging furniture and painting my mother stumbled across Grandma's secret coin collection.
WHO KNEW?
One of the coins was this BEAUTIFUL 1858 Seated Liberty Half Dollar.
Amongst the coins there were a 1897 Quarter. 5 Liberty Head or "V" nickels ranging from 1911 to 1920.
A 1931 Buffalo/Indian nickel. A couple of 1922 Silver Dollars. A first press 1967 JFK Silver Half Dollar.
and a LOT of Silver dimes.
I had always know my Grandmother collected dimes, I never knew why.
I remember as a kid taping 10 dimes to a birthday card to surprise her.
I thought it was just some weird eccentricity she had.
It is a beautiful collection, that however will not see the light of day.
Weird money issues amongst family members means that showing this to her siblings means liquidation.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Scooters and The Environment
So Taggart and Liz own a moped scooter, a 2003 Yamaha Vino, and they very graciously allow Todd and I to make use of it.Most scooters have two-stroke engines, as opposed to the 4-stroke engines powering motorcycles and automobiles.
I decided to poke around the internet and learn about two stroke engines. I ended up at howstuffworks.com where I found an excellent explanation of how two stroke engines work.
From this explanation I learned the various disadvantages of two stroke engines, namely that they produce a lot of pollution and do not use fuel efficiently.
This got me thinking about something I read in one of Sara's posts. She was writing that her boyfriend drives a scooter because he wants to "leave a smaller ecological footprint than most humans do."
If he is riding around on a scooter with two-stroke engine (I don't know what kind of scooter he rides...), is this really helping to leave a smaller ecological footprint? I wonder how it works out with Taggart's Vino, for example. The Vino gets around 80 miles-per-gallon. But in doing so it dumps a disproportionate amount of pollutants into the air...
It seems like the best idea, if the environment is a concern, is to get a four stroke scooter like the Honda Metropolitan...
Friday, May 27, 2005
Sanctions, Incentives, Etc.
Here is my latest letter to Cyclingnews.com. I was shooting for letter of the week, but I think the fact that it is in response to another letter may have hurt me. Then again, a guy who responded to my last letter on there got letter of the week. Must be some sort of conspiracy.
On a completely unrelated note: I love the captions that The Economist puts on photos. This is one of the best ever.
On a completely unrelated note: I love the captions that The Economist puts on photos. This is one of the best ever.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Score!
I stopped by Half Price Books earlier this evening on my way to meet some coworkers in Rice Village. I found a brand new copy of Hal Varian's Intermediate Microeconomics, 6th Edition for $15! It lists for $133 and Amazon's price is $122. Woo hoo!
Down to the Wire
This Giro is still really close as we head into the final stages. My fantasy squad had another up-and-down day. Gilberto Simoni attacked on the final climb and took over second place in the standings. I think Savoldelli can hold him off, but only if he can beat him by a good margin in tomorrow's time trial. Another problem is that Jose Rujano moved into third overall. I was really hoping Garate could get a podium spot. There is still hope as Garate is a better time trialer than Rujano and Simoni.
Oddly enough, I moved up into 8th place in the competition despite only having the 6th and 7th placed riders on today's stage. I guess not many people had Savoldelli or Garate on their teams.
Oddly enough, I moved up into 8th place in the competition despite only having the 6th and 7th placed riders on today's stage. I guess not many people had Savoldelli or Garate on their teams.
Dead Body at the Medical Center?
Almost immediately after arriving at my desk this morning, carol called me saying that she saw a dead body lying along the side of the street in front of Baylor covered in a silver sheet and t.v. crews all around the area. It was especially creepy cause the man's arms and legs were poking out from under the sheet.
Here are the details.
Here are the details.
Authority vs. Truth
"Disobey authority. In a connected world, ordinary people often have access to better information than officials do."In terms of bad information, I think there are two types: the kind you get when someone is ignorant and the kind you get when someone thinks they know a higher truth. In Wired's commentary about NIST's report on the WTC event it seems that governmental authority is often both.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Read it and weep
A Discussion of the Downing Street Memo From the NY Review Of Books.And Then Read This and be Encouraged?
Using cold deep-ocean water and hot surface water to produce electricity.Having gone for a walk
Carol sent me out of the house tonight to walk. I have been out of sorts lately, excessively nervous, anxious, worrying the whole gamut from paying bills to the smell of my house to the look of my lawn. Mostly, though, it's the bills.And so i have been shaken to the core, my body is reacting with migraine headaches every other day, stomach pains another, and i go through my days with a general malaise.
Tonight, i set the sprinkler up in the front yard and walked down the street towards the park. What i noticed: Dapne's sod she put down about three weeks ago is starting to take to her lawn. Three people on my block were watering their lawn, not including me. Cockroaches are starting to congregate on the sewer grates as the sun goes down. By the evening there are maybe twenty or so just hangin' on each of the sewer grates along the street. There is currently no grafitti on the Costa Rica bridge, but there is new grafitti on one of our park benches.
Bats. There were three bats fluttering spastically above me while in the park. I didn't know we had bats in the area.
On my way home, i took a bag of recent yard clippings from my neighbors curb for my compost. The green will help to break down all the brown (old leaves) i've got in there.
The walk didn't help my constitution much, but hopefully i'll get some good compost out of it later.
Adobe Reader 7.0
It launches incredibly fast. A quickie test opening my neighborhood newsletter beat Preview out by several seconds. Download it here.
Dodged a Bullet
My fantasy Giro team got lucky today. It was a rolling stage and I was hoping that Petacchi would be hungry enough for another victory that he would have his team chase down any breakaways. But a huge group got away and stayed away. As a result, none of my riders scored points today. But since the break consisted entirely of unknown riders (it was the winner's first ever professional victory), I managed to keep my place in the standings.
Tomorrow's stage features some short steep climbs and a mountaintop finish. I expect the remaining contenders to take their shots at Savoldelli ahead of Friday's time trial.
Tomorrow's stage features some short steep climbs and a mountaintop finish. I expect the remaining contenders to take their shots at Savoldelli ahead of Friday's time trial.
PDF printing
My boss created a PDF from an InDesign CS2 document and asked me to print it. The PDF opened fine on my machine. I looked it over, and sent it to the wide-roll printer, my HP5500PS 60".
I should give you some background: my boss loves gradients and drop shadows.
The resulting printout had white boxes wherever a drop shadow lay over a pantone spot color, as if the printer couldn't make sense of the layover. I did a quick google search suggested that drop shadows over spot colors in InDesign wasn't a good idea (nor are they a good idea visually) and that i should try converting (in acrobat) the colors to process. Didn't work. I also visited the macDesign forum
Instead a ventured into my boss' office and had him show me how he exported the file: exported to PDF from InDesign CS2 using the default settings (using acrobat 5). For shits and giggles i had him export a new version using Acrobat 7. This not only cleared it up, but it also rendered his color more reliably, giving us more neutral grays and a truer color to our calibrated screens (mine, at least). Question left: Why would the resulting export using acrobat 5 look fine on screen (even after pre-flighting and looking at the overprint preview) and not print the same way?
I should give you some background: my boss loves gradients and drop shadows.
The resulting printout had white boxes wherever a drop shadow lay over a pantone spot color, as if the printer couldn't make sense of the layover. I did a quick google search suggested that drop shadows over spot colors in InDesign wasn't a good idea (nor are they a good idea visually) and that i should try converting (in acrobat) the colors to process. Didn't work. I also visited the macDesign forum
Instead a ventured into my boss' office and had him show me how he exported the file: exported to PDF from InDesign CS2 using the default settings (using acrobat 5). For shits and giggles i had him export a new version using Acrobat 7. This not only cleared it up, but it also rendered his color more reliably, giving us more neutral grays and a truer color to our calibrated screens (mine, at least). Question left: Why would the resulting export using acrobat 5 look fine on screen (even after pre-flighting and looking at the overprint preview) and not print the same way?
Bon Voyage
Adolph pointed me to this really neat page about the Voyager 1 spacecraft's entry into the beyond...
The Age of Things
Last night in the checkout line of the grocery store a guys says to me, "I like your shirt," and I say thanks and move on to pay and look down to see what I am wearing. It is the gray "The new PowerBook G4s" t-shirt. It reads January 7, 2003. It is hard to believe that my computer is that old. The ones they are selling now are close to twice as fast and have DVI instead of analog VGA output, but are otherwise very much the same as two years ago.
This morning Paul says that he is getting software legal and buying a license toOmniGraffle. This inspires me to break out my old copy and I look at the license date and it is September 9, 2003. So old!
Days of Being Wild
The The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is playing an old Wong Kar-Wai film that I played in my house on Hopkins street a long time ago, Days of Being Wild. I think the wilting heat and humidity of the film is perfect to kick off summer in Houston. I wish I was there for the film but am glad I am not there for the summer.
This richly colored labyrinth of desperation and unfulfilled need established Wong Kar-Wai as one of modern cinema´s undisputed visionaries. Days of Being Wild follows six characters in 1960s Hong Kong through their individual searches for love, intimacy, and connection. The cast includes Wong veterans Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, and Tony Leung, and the intoxicating images of master cinematographer Christopher Doyle (Hero) become characters in their own right.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
The First RSS Casualty: MacInTouch
MacInTouch is a website where I have been getting Mac-schooled since the mid-nineties. It is the first site that I have dropped from my Safari RSS feeds. I'll still visit the site daily, but the dribble of information that is posted there daily wasn't suitable for RSS--the home page is more of an RSS feed itself. Double RSS suxx0rs.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Let us now praise Carol's beans.
It's a day later and I'm still thinking of how good those beans were that Carol brought to the knitting meeting yesterday. Fabulous stuff.
Me: I haven't so much cooked lately. In fact, the tuna fish diet I started while recovering from oral surgery has continued. I'm so sick of tuna. I wanted to make a burger when I got home, but was too exhausted to clean the kitchen enough to attempt to make a burger. Maybe tomorrow. I also thought very seriously about going to get lunch today, but decided to get an iced latte instead. I wonder what horrible things I am doing to my body by skipping lunch and getting a cup full of milk and espresso instead? At least it's from Kaveh Kanes instead of the 'Bucks.
Food: so much better when other people make it for you.
Me: I haven't so much cooked lately. In fact, the tuna fish diet I started while recovering from oral surgery has continued. I'm so sick of tuna. I wanted to make a burger when I got home, but was too exhausted to clean the kitchen enough to attempt to make a burger. Maybe tomorrow. I also thought very seriously about going to get lunch today, but decided to get an iced latte instead. I wonder what horrible things I am doing to my body by skipping lunch and getting a cup full of milk and espresso instead? At least it's from Kaveh Kanes instead of the 'Bucks.
Food: so much better when other people make it for you.
House Joint Resolution Number 6
So I was reading about proposal HJR-6 which will be on the November 8 general election ballot and I came across the following
Two others prompted hoots in the Upper Chamber: One by Hinojosa would have barred thrice-divorced Texans from marrying again, and another by Van de Putte would have required married heterosexual couples to have sex.
My new iBook battery arrived
a mere 3 days after I submitted the request. Pretty impressive turn-around time! Too bad I have to send in the potentially combustible old one...I wouldn't mind having a spare battery lying around ...Also, my Weather Widget has got it all wrong:
unless you are living in Austin, PA.
One Down, Two to Go.
Today was the first of the three flat stages remaining in this year's Giro. And Allesandro Petacchi won it! If he can grab the other two, it will really help my chances. The bad news is that Rasmussen and Olaf Pollack have both retired from the race. I was hoping for a stage win out of Rasmussen and I was counting on Pollack to show up somewhere in the sprint results.
Despite losing some time to his rivals yesterday, Savoldelli is still holding on to the leader's jersey.
Despite losing some time to his rivals yesterday, Savoldelli is still holding on to the leader's jersey.
a long weekend and a little drawing
)
Diana went to her interview last friday and feels pretty positive about it. for those who don't know, Diana apllied for and was given the opportunity to interview for a one year oncology PA residency at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. There were a total of five interviewees for two positions.It was a nice, if rapid, trip. I got to see Lil' D, and Los Chavez and their semi nude child.
Yesterday i did something i have not done in quite a while. I actually drew something just for me. ta-da!
Google Search: "mac os x" usb sensor
I wonder if there is a tinker kit for controlling and sensing things via USB on a Macintosh. The kit would contain something like a serial adapter and SDK (libraries and samples applications). Google Search: "mac os x" usb sensor
Name Abbreviations
This weekend Taggart, Liz, Amber and I visited the San Antonio museum of art. Afterward we wandered around downtown for a bit, looking for coffee. One of the things in the skyline there is the Hotel Robt E. Lee. I had forgotten how names are sometimes abbreviated and we thought up some other names that can be abbreviated. Robert, Thomas, Charles, William, hmm, what else? This is different from names with a diminutive or shortened version. "Robt" is an abbreviation; "Bob" is a shortened version and "Bobby is a diminutive. Where and why did name abbreviations develop and why?
Saturday, May 21, 2005
The Giro
It was a mixed bag today for my Giro d'Italia fantasy team. On the downside, Robbie McEwen and Stefano Garzelli did not take the start. I knew McEwen would bail before the mountains, and he won a few stages, so I am not bothered by that. But Garzelli leaving is a bit of a shock. I figured he would finish in the top 5 overall. And worse yet, I picked him instead of Danilo Di Luca who is performing far above what I expected.
On the upside, I moved into 9th place in the standings out of about 800 participants thanks to a nice ride by Juan Manuel Garate and also Paolo Savoldelli taking over the Maglia Rosa (the jersey awarded to the leader of the race).
I need three things to happen over the remainder of the race in order to take a top placing. 1) Paolo Savoldelli has to win the final GC. 2) Alessandro Petacchi needs to win all of the remaining sprint stages. 3) Someone like Garate or Michael Rasmussen needs to win a stage.
On the upside, I moved into 9th place in the standings out of about 800 participants thanks to a nice ride by Juan Manuel Garate and also Paolo Savoldelli taking over the Maglia Rosa (the jersey awarded to the leader of the race).
I need three things to happen over the remainder of the race in order to take a top placing. 1) Paolo Savoldelli has to win the final GC. 2) Alessandro Petacchi needs to win all of the remaining sprint stages. 3) Someone like Garate or Michael Rasmussen needs to win a stage.
Friday, May 20, 2005
EYEBALLS
I had lasik surgery yesterday.
The operation itself was mildly invasive, and very very fast.
My quality of vision is so so right now.
I have no idea of what to expect.
I could get better......maybe not.
My vision is much better out of my left eye than my right.
It's just so confusing.
To say that I am disappointed would be true.
I had mild expectations that I would have SUPER vision.
20/10 or something.
I would have been happy if it was as good as when my glasses were on.
Right now it is less than that.
The doctors say to be patient and that it will get better.
Patience has never been an asset of mine.
The operation itself was mildly invasive, and very very fast.
My quality of vision is so so right now.
I have no idea of what to expect.
I could get better......maybe not.
My vision is much better out of my left eye than my right.
It's just so confusing.
To say that I am disappointed would be true.
I had mild expectations that I would have SUPER vision.
20/10 or something.
I would have been happy if it was as good as when my glasses were on.
Right now it is less than that.
The doctors say to be patient and that it will get better.
Patience has never been an asset of mine.
My iBook Battery Has Not Yet Burst Into Flames
But apparently it is defective and Apple has set up an exchange program. Hopefully the new one will get here before my current one spontaneously combusts. And to think that at one point I had it in my head that Apple shipped quality hardware. Lucky for them that their software is so sweet.More Star Wars
Y'all may have already seen this clip of Triumph The Insult Dog Pooping on Star Wars Fans, but is worth watching again.Wednesday, May 18, 2005
The Raveonettes @ The Parish
The Raveonettes are a dynamic duo + 3 from Denmark. I caught them last night at the Parish- a perfect venue for this band's thick wall of sound. They put on a really great show and I really recommend that you check them out live if you get the chance. Otherwise, their latest effort Pretty In Black is worth a listen too.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Car Alarms
Thankfully, I do not here car alarms sounding off that often any more. Instead, I regularly hear mocking-birds mimicking the pattern. Todd does not believe me but other people have heard the same thing.Also, Bill Moyers' speech to the National Conference for Media Reform is an interesting read.
One reason I'm in hot water is because my colleagues and I at NOW didn't play by the conventional rules of Beltway journalism. Those rules divide the world into Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, and allow journalists to pretend they have done their job if, instead of reporting the truth behind the news, they merely give each side an opportunity to spin the news.
Stuff like this sounds straight out of Chomsky:
"In other words," says Jonathan Mermin, "if the government isnt talking about it, we dont report it." He concludes: "[Lehrers]
somewhat jarring declaration, one of many recent admissions by journalists that their reporting failed to prepare the public
for the calamitous occupation that has followed the 'liberation' of Iraq, reveals just how far the actual practice of American journalism has deviated from the First Amendment ideal of a press that is independent of the government." Take the example (also cited by Mermin) of Charles J. Hanley. Hanley is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Associated Press, whose fall 2003 story on the torture of Iraqis in American prisons before a U.S. Army report and photographs documenting the abuse surfaced and was ignored by major American newspapers. Hanley attributes this lack of interest to the fact that "it was not an officially sanctioned story that begins with a handout from an official source."
Monday, May 16, 2005
Sunday, May 15, 2005
I don't. Nay, won't.
Today I had another fight with my boyfriend.
Some backstory for those who don't know me or Brian very well: We've been together for nearing three years. Most people who have seen us in action agree that we have somewhat of an antagonistic relationship, but that it works well for us. We both have a healthy distaste for convention and tradition. I dye my hair red and he wears geek t-shirts. Though he is largely apolitical, he does things that I admire, like driving a scooter because he wants to leave a smaller ecological footprint than most humans do. I'm a hard-core liberal, which he admires because if he had the energy to be political, he'd be a liberal, too. No other relationship I've had has been nearly as fulfilling as this one and I know he would say the same for himself. Above all: we make each other laugh and we are seriously, comfortably happy when we're not talking about what I'm about to talk about.
Our one huge point of contention: marriage. You might think that, given how I describe myself, I wouldn't be so concerned with this sort of traditional display of commitment. But it is ingrained in the female mind to want to partner up for life, and so, I find myself in the position that so many females find themselves in: at the latter end of my twenties and feeling like it's time to settle down. Brian, on the other hand, is about as down on marriage as you can get. First he will tell you that it doesn't work; that all marriages are doomed for failure and everyone ends up miserable when they're ten years in. (I should tell you he is a bit of a pessimist). Second he will tell you that he just doesn't care either way; that maybe someday he could get married, but it isn't a "priority" and may never be.
The fight came up again today because he is getting serious about leaving his job and looking for a new one. In the museum biz, you go where the job is, so I've always known that there is a possibility that he might decide to pack up and move to Iowa or somewhere equally as distasteful (apologies to any Iowans reading, I actually know nothing about Iowa) for a good job at the Iowa State History Museum or whatever. So add to the fact that he doesn't want to talk about marriage the fact that he is also ok with leaving this relationship for his career, and we're talking major relationship breakdown.
Now some Houston opportunities have arisen and he's not taking quite the gung-ho approach I would have hoped for because he's pretty sure they won't pay enough. He doesn't know this for a fact, mind you, he just says he knows the museum biz well enough to know that these jobs won't pay enough. I don't think it will shock you to say that his feet-dragging is depressing me.
Here is where you come in: here is this group of men almost all committed to a woman. This is an unprecedented group to me, I am 27 and have been surrounded by flakes thus far in my life (except for my dear brother-in-law, who truly found his other half in my sister...it's the sort of thing you see in movies, but rarely in real life). I, and I'm sure countless other women, would love to tap into your collective knowledge:
Did you always know you wanted to be married? You hear a lot about men "growing up" and "settling down" and I think just as females are hard-wired to want to bond when they're young, males aren't and that marriage is a definite choice rather than an unconscious desire. Just let me know if I'm wrong on that. And, if you didn't always want to be married, did you at least accept it as part of the "way of the world" and know that you would eventually be coaxed into marriage?
Or does it all come down to the eyes of the woman you're with? One day you're a happy bachelor and then, without warning, here comes this girl and you say, "yes, this is it."
Because if that's it, I'm screwed. I tried telling Brian today that he wasn't going to be able to run away from this; every woman he would ever meet would eventually ask him, "um, dude, are you planning on making this legal or what?"
I've tried imagining myself staying in this girlfriend state forever and I can't. Am I asking too much of these three years we've been together? Should I expect a longer courtship?
Sorry for the Dear Abby letter, but I thought you all might have some insight.
Some backstory for those who don't know me or Brian very well: We've been together for nearing three years. Most people who have seen us in action agree that we have somewhat of an antagonistic relationship, but that it works well for us. We both have a healthy distaste for convention and tradition. I dye my hair red and he wears geek t-shirts. Though he is largely apolitical, he does things that I admire, like driving a scooter because he wants to leave a smaller ecological footprint than most humans do. I'm a hard-core liberal, which he admires because if he had the energy to be political, he'd be a liberal, too. No other relationship I've had has been nearly as fulfilling as this one and I know he would say the same for himself. Above all: we make each other laugh and we are seriously, comfortably happy when we're not talking about what I'm about to talk about.
Our one huge point of contention: marriage. You might think that, given how I describe myself, I wouldn't be so concerned with this sort of traditional display of commitment. But it is ingrained in the female mind to want to partner up for life, and so, I find myself in the position that so many females find themselves in: at the latter end of my twenties and feeling like it's time to settle down. Brian, on the other hand, is about as down on marriage as you can get. First he will tell you that it doesn't work; that all marriages are doomed for failure and everyone ends up miserable when they're ten years in. (I should tell you he is a bit of a pessimist). Second he will tell you that he just doesn't care either way; that maybe someday he could get married, but it isn't a "priority" and may never be.
The fight came up again today because he is getting serious about leaving his job and looking for a new one. In the museum biz, you go where the job is, so I've always known that there is a possibility that he might decide to pack up and move to Iowa or somewhere equally as distasteful (apologies to any Iowans reading, I actually know nothing about Iowa) for a good job at the Iowa State History Museum or whatever. So add to the fact that he doesn't want to talk about marriage the fact that he is also ok with leaving this relationship for his career, and we're talking major relationship breakdown.
Now some Houston opportunities have arisen and he's not taking quite the gung-ho approach I would have hoped for because he's pretty sure they won't pay enough. He doesn't know this for a fact, mind you, he just says he knows the museum biz well enough to know that these jobs won't pay enough. I don't think it will shock you to say that his feet-dragging is depressing me.
Here is where you come in: here is this group of men almost all committed to a woman. This is an unprecedented group to me, I am 27 and have been surrounded by flakes thus far in my life (except for my dear brother-in-law, who truly found his other half in my sister...it's the sort of thing you see in movies, but rarely in real life). I, and I'm sure countless other women, would love to tap into your collective knowledge:
Did you always know you wanted to be married? You hear a lot about men "growing up" and "settling down" and I think just as females are hard-wired to want to bond when they're young, males aren't and that marriage is a definite choice rather than an unconscious desire. Just let me know if I'm wrong on that. And, if you didn't always want to be married, did you at least accept it as part of the "way of the world" and know that you would eventually be coaxed into marriage?
Or does it all come down to the eyes of the woman you're with? One day you're a happy bachelor and then, without warning, here comes this girl and you say, "yes, this is it."
Because if that's it, I'm screwed. I tried telling Brian today that he wasn't going to be able to run away from this; every woman he would ever meet would eventually ask him, "um, dude, are you planning on making this legal or what?"
I've tried imagining myself staying in this girlfriend state forever and I can't. Am I asking too much of these three years we've been together? Should I expect a longer courtship?
Sorry for the Dear Abby letter, but I thought you all might have some insight.
Bulb flower along back fence
The back yard is blooming. This year's summer surprise was this bulb that carol's father planted when we first bought the house. I thought for a long time that this was a banana tree, but it turns out that it's some sort of flower; a big pretty red flower.
Also in the backyard are the dozen petunias i planted for my wife last year, a yellow mystery flower, a flowering bush, and two rose bushes that act more like vines than anything.
Also in the backyard are the dozen petunias i planted for my wife last year, a yellow mystery flower, a flowering bush, and two rose bushes that act more like vines than anything.
Friday, May 13, 2005
Thursday, May 12, 2005
art.com artPad
This is sweet! You make a painting, but the act of painting it becomes a movie that reveals the final product.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Listening to Kim Hiorthoy
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I'm not certain who gave me the Kim Hiorthoy albums, but I am really enjoying them (Madeline? Taggart?). After replacing the iPod's battery I cranked up the full library mix before walking the dog this morning. Sometime about an hour ago it started playing this amazing music that I had never heard before.
I think that often times that I can't listen to things right after someone gives them to me. I am typically obsessing about some other musical piece. The cool things about iTunes and the iPod is that I can happen into them later when I am ready for something different.
TOKION Kim Hiorth�y interview 2001 - English
Update: The iPod gave out at just past 5 after playing continuously since before 8.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Monday, May 9, 2005
McNamara Speaks!
It is time--well past time, in my view-- for the United States to cease its Cold War-style reliance on nuclear weapons as a foreign-policy tool. At the risk of appearing simplistic and provocative, I would characterize current U.S. nuclear weapons policy as immoral, illegal, militarily unnecessary, and dreadfully dangerous. The risk of an accidental or inadvertent nuclear launch is unacceptably high. Far from reducing these risks, the Bush administration has signaled that it is committed to keeping the U.S. nuclear arsenal as a mainstay of its military power-- a commitment that is simultaneously eroding the international norms that have limited the spread of nuclear weapons and fissile materials for 50 years. Much of the current U.S. nuclear policy has been in place since before I was secretary of defense, and it has only grown more dangerous and diplomatically destructive in the intervening years.
From foreignpolicy.com.
You might find Fog of War interesting as well...
Horsy Combinations
Say you have 20 horsies. How many combinations of the first four finishers could there be?
Sunday, May 8, 2005
Hand Your Keys Over to the Covernment
I've never been really big on biometric computer passwords. There was that guy in Japan who was able to fake fingerprints, the extra hardware and software didn't appeal to me. The below blog p0st notices that the Texas Department of Public Safety has been essentially collecting people's biometric passwords for years. At first I thought, WTF? Then I realized, well, the thumbprint and picture kinda serves as a long term biometric password for that critical identity document, the driver's license. Texas is unlike the state of affairs when I was a kid in Louisiana, where you could walk in to any drivers license office with anyones birth certificate, a couple check stubs, and a semi-convincing story and immediately walk out with a state ID with that person's name on it. Biometric passwording for a drivers licenses seems like a pretty good idea, even if it eliminates it for use in personal computers.
Grits for Breakfast: HB 2337: No warrant for police to get personal biometric computer passwords
Hand Your Keys Over to the Covernment
I've never been really big on biometric computer passwords. There was that guy in Japan who was able to fake fingerprints, the extra hardware and software didn't appeal to me. The below blog p0st notices that the Texas Department of Public Safety has been essentially collecting people's biometric passwords for years. At first I thought, WTF? Then I realized, well, the thumbprint and picture kinda serves as a long term biometric password for that critical identity document, the driver's license. Texas is unlike the state of affairs when I was a kid in Louisiana, where you could walk in to any drivers license office with anyones birth certificate, a couple check stubs, and a semi-convincing story and immediately walk out with a state ID with that person's name on it. Biometric passwording for a drivers licenses seems like a pretty good idea, even if it eliminates it for use in personal computers.
Grits for Breakfast: HB 2337: No warrant for police to get personal biometric computer passwords
Friday, May 6, 2005
Telco Powered Products%u2122 from Mike Sandman... Chicago's Telecom Expert
Telco Powered Products%u2122 from Mike Sandman... Chicago's Telecom Expert: "The Phone Company is a FREE Source of Electric Power!"
This is one of those things where you're like: well, I knew that there was power coming over the phone line and I know about POE (Power Over Ethernet), why didn't I think, oh use the phone line voltage to do stuff?
(via BoingBoing)
Drooling, drolly.
For those of you concerned about how my oral surgery went: I am well. I am on vicodin. Thus, I am well.
For those of you who had no idea that I was to have oral surgery: I had oral surgery today. Pulled one tooth. I love my oral surgeon. He's completely goofy.
For those of you who still don't know who I am: I am Sara.
For those of you who will care: I saw the new Star Wars yesterday. Yes.
For those of you who will care, part II: Check this Sunday's Zest section for the lead CD review by yours truly. Exciting!
Bye.
For those of you who had no idea that I was to have oral surgery: I had oral surgery today. Pulled one tooth. I love my oral surgeon. He's completely goofy.
For those of you who still don't know who I am: I am Sara.
For those of you who will care: I saw the new Star Wars yesterday. Yes.
For those of you who will care, part II: Check this Sunday's Zest section for the lead CD review by yours truly. Exciting!
Bye.
Thursday, May 5, 2005
Originalism
The rationalists saw the Koran as both the word of God and a historical document whose meanings change through time. For the traditionalists, the Koran is fixed and eternal.
This struggle reminds me, a little, of this one.
Wednesday, May 4, 2005
killy's home sick
and i've been overworked
it's been a job keeping my little angel-monster away from daddy - he is constantly asking where is daddy - where is daddy - i just hope he doesn't get it - i think the emotional stress caused by his sister's wedding really took it's toll - so now he's down - second day in a row - he's been home sick
but before all this - killy my good husband - made sure i took time for myself - this meant i was able to join sara's kitting party on sunday - it was fun - it was fresh - it was lively - and it was something i hadn't done in ages - hang out with friends without a care in the world - and boy - i really enjoyed that
plus i should inform everyone that Adolfo Fidel Chavez IV is potty trained - yup - he's in underwear now all day during the day - and I am so proud of him!
anyway - hope everyone is doing well!
it's been a job keeping my little angel-monster away from daddy - he is constantly asking where is daddy - where is daddy - i just hope he doesn't get it - i think the emotional stress caused by his sister's wedding really took it's toll - so now he's down - second day in a row - he's been home sick
but before all this - killy my good husband - made sure i took time for myself - this meant i was able to join sara's kitting party on sunday - it was fun - it was fresh - it was lively - and it was something i hadn't done in ages - hang out with friends without a care in the world - and boy - i really enjoyed that
plus i should inform everyone that Adolfo Fidel Chavez IV is potty trained - yup - he's in underwear now all day during the day - and I am so proud of him!
anyway - hope everyone is doing well!
Tuesday, May 3, 2005
Girl, 13, argues right to abortion: South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Girl, 13, argues right to abortion: South Florida Sun-Sentinel:
"Why can't I make my own decision?'
That was the blunt question to a judge from a pregnant 13-year-old girl ensnared in a Palm Beach County court fight over whether she can have an abortion.
'I don't know,' Circuit Judge Ronald Alvarez replied, according to a recording of the closed hearing obtained Friday.
'You don't know?' replied the girl, who is a ward of the state. 'Aren't you the judge?'"
Does Florida seem like such a crazy place because it is crazy unlike everywhere else or because the stories there make the news more often?
"The judge blasted the DCF [Department of Children & Families], saying the agency never asked the court to issue an order to take the child into custody after her most recent disappearance.
"To say that I am angry at that would be an understatement," Alvarez said. "To rush into this court on an emergency basis because this child is pregnant and wants an abortion, I don't know where our priorities in life are. The priority should have been to make certain that an order to take her into custody was issued as soon as possible, and that she was found and taken off of the streets or wherever she was. But nobody cared."
Monday, May 2, 2005
The deal with Brian.
So, yes, Brian was in a minor accident last week. The road was a bit wet and his back tire slipped as he was taking a turn too quickly and he fell and the scooter was banged up. He is fine, has a bit of a limp, but he doesn't think he needs to see a doctor. That's where he's at right now. The scooter is in the shop for a few hundred dollars worth of repair.
I found out when he called and said, "well, it finally happened. I wrecked." He sounded relieved that his first wreck didn't kill him.
Anyway, he's fine, just scrapes and bruises.
I found out when he called and said, "well, it finally happened. I wrecked." He sounded relieved that his first wreck didn't kill him.
Anyway, he's fine, just scrapes and bruises.
Education Laptops
Apple tries to recover in the classroom | CNET News.com
I wonder what is like as an eighth grader to receive a laptop from school. Do they get a case too? Are the classes restructured to take advantages of the laptops and eliminate the distractions? Are the laptops locked down? Does content created on the laptops belong to the school or the student?
I guess that me as an eighth grader now would be far different from me as an eigth grader back in the day, but I don't think I or many of my friends could handle $800 in fragility. At that age I couldn't take ten steps without dropping something.
I am sorry if this makes you feel ill too
From the NYTimesWell, I saw them bloody my buddy's nose, so I knelt down. I said a prayer. I stood up, and I shot them down.'
Dashboard Notes
One of the cool things about Dashboard widgets is that they suspend when the Dashboard is not activated--thus they don't take up any CPU power. One of the uncool things is that it takes them a few seconds to wake up and get new data from web services. This means that when I press F-12 to see the beautiful weather widget, I have to wait a few seconds to see actual results. This is still superior to visiting a weather website or installing a weather application that runs all the time, but I think that apps that rely on web services should advertize when they got their last data and if they are fetching new data.
Jurassic 5!
It has been a goal of mine for a while to see Chali 2na's staccato free-style live and I finally got the chance this weekend when I caught Jurassic 5 at Stubb's. Oh the vibe was fantastic good and DJ Nu-Mark kicked so much ass and thanks to my comfy shoes I was able to hop non-stop for the whole set. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to their new album- it is due sometime soon...Sunday, May 1, 2005
Victory?
The current release (0.3.2) is not fully Tiger compatible. It will actually install the patch code into NVRAM but it will fail to enable the execution of this code.
I have now created a new release (0.3.3) that addresses this issue.
From the iBook Screen Spanning Hack People
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