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Fire up the links! - 16 February 2007
Feb. 17th, 2007 03:12 amToday was not totally sacrificed to Rails. Actually, only a very small part of it was. But in that small part, I finished the assignment. Everything requested in the spec works. Now it’s polish, collecting all the code and printing it out. I shudder to think of what the final project’s code requirements are going to be. And how many trees will be sacrificed in its name for each of the code releases. Yeesh. But, I emerge triumphant over another problem. Many thanks to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
unspeakablevorn who unlocked the secret method that I needed to make things work early on, and helped me fix my code. The app itself is ugly as sin, of course, but I’m aiming for functionality, not pretty. Pretty will happen only after all the rest is done. And probably only once, at the very end of the project, after all the rest works and works well.
Is break in two weeks? Doesn’t feel like it. Although, after this, it could very well be the hump and significantly more downhill from here - although there’s still stuff to learn. Have to learn to do authentication, have to do AJAX, have to do this, that and the other thing. Oh, yeah, did I mention that I also have other stuff to do, too? I may be running all the way to the end on this semester. And somewhere in there, I’m supposed to be finding a job, too, aren’t I? Oh, goodness. I don’t want to put off the job thing, but I may have to. Unless I can rope in several enterprising people to do the seeking for me.
Anyway, I did take a break tonight and go bowling. In three games, posted 101, 125, 120. Pretty close to average. I also managed to obtain a $20 U.S. gift card to the bowling alley by putting my name in a box. On the frame I won the card, I picked up the spare.
Onward, links! Fight for your right to be displayed and exploited! Fight to be places alongside a link to doll-size scientific glassware and tools!
Peanut butter warning widened. The FDA now says, if you bought Peter Pan peanut putter since May of last year, toss it.
Viagra, which, as you'll recall, opens blood vessels and permits freer and greater flow of blood, was used to save a premature baby's life. So now not only can you use it to make babies, you can use it to save them. Mad props to the mad scientists who thought up this fix.
Restoring sight is getting better, as well. A new set of bionic eyeglasses could restore a lot more sight to those who've lost their natural stuff. This does require that they have functioning ganglia, but the camera transmits wirelessly to the computer, the computer to an implant, and the implant stimulates the ganglia. From there, it’s all biological. Newer designs are shrinking in size and able to stimulate more of the ganglia. Perhaps we’ll soon be able to see in living color, regardless of whether it’s machine-assisted or not.
Gmail opens its doors to all comers. No more invitations needed, at least for now. It’s still not out of beta, though, so there’s still work to be done on it.
In not necessarily so benevolent technology, RFID tags that store up to a 38-digit number are small enough to be considered a powder when put together. So all the good/bad things that RFID can do for you, in a small enough size to sprinkle around and then read back. Quite the potential nightmare for those paranoid about RFID and their privacy.
Politics, Domestic-like: Barack Obama revised his website, apparently with some good results. The social-networking site look and feel has produced more than 2400 groups affiliated with the site. And that may be the tip of the iceberg. Whether this is being in tune with the younger generation or looking to exploit them, the Myspace method seems to be working for him. This particular election has even garnered the attention/interest of the Chinese state-controlled paper. They say regardless of who wins the primary, the Obama/Clinton combo will be close to unstoppable. I include American Samidzat’s commentary on it because it’s a worthwhile thought - what sort of real choices are the American people being given in their elections? Is it a matter of voting for an original or a clone?
The non-binding resolution expressing disapproval went to vote in the house, and it cleared the chamber. So the House disapproves of the surge. We'll see what the Senate does. And when push comes to shove and there’s actual money involved, whether they vote this way again.
An ingenious way of saving money - a bomb-shaped bank. Write on it with the included white marker, deposit, and when the time comes to withdraw, you can literally break the bank (or give it the hammer treatment) to get out the cash inside. That has to be a satisfying conclusion to fiscal responsibility.
Updating already from previous entry, GM is possibly looking to buy Chrysler. Isn’t GM in the middle of their own problems, though? Why would they be interested in buying, unless they want to absorb as many losing companies as they can before they implode. If GM’s willing to do that for the auto industry, well, more power to ‘em.
And further updates and retributions - Mercury rising suggests that the IRS be innundated with complaints that William Donohue overstepped the bounds of a 501(c)(3) organization in publicly calling for the resignation of the Edwards campaign bloggers. And has at least one update of another organization that’s defending Donohue that they want a similar complaint filed against. What does this mean, for those of us not so cognizant of tax law? What action or nonaction is a 501(c)(3) restricted to, and what, other than the revocation of the 501(c)(3) status does it hope to accomplish?
In Salon, Amanda Marcotte explains why she resigned from the Edwards campaign - the noise being made by the right wing was probably going to damage the campaign’s chances. Since there appeared to be no end in sight to the din, much of it crude and misogynistic, by her reckoning, it was better to not drag the campaign down. Admittedly, it would be nice to see a political campaign stick to its hiring decision and just take the flak, but it would probably be suicide. In terms of the campaign, resigning was the right thing to do. In terms of giving a well-deserved double deuce to the people that offered her oral and other sexual acts, mostly nonconsensual, for her opinion on matters, it was probably not very effective. No doubt we’ll be hearing much fire and brimstone from both sides about this whole affair.
And there will be other flareups, as well. A family claims to have been denied service for an ear infection in a child by a Christian pediatrician because of the mother's tattoos. The pediatrician is saying he’s within his rights because he can enforce dress and behavior standards of his choosing, in the same way that “No shirt, no shoes, no service” works. The mother is saying that she was discriminated against. Somewhere in that void of strange, a child had an ear infection and spent the night without any treatment for it. I don’t know how serious it was, or whether it could have developed into something more serious. What I do know is that it looks more and more like the trend started by pharmacists refusing to fill birth control is leaking out into other medical professions. Soon enough, we might have to screen our doctors by their religion and belief systems, rather than expecting that they will do their professional duty, regardless of the person in front of them.
If you want to turn on the jets full blast, here’s a pair of things related to each other. The first, a memo sent in the name of a Georgia state Representative that claims evolution's teachings are really the religious teachings of an ancient Pharisee sect. According to the logic of the memo, the science we’ve been taught is really just another religious belief, and it’s causing us great harm to not know the truth. The memo directs people to http://www.fixedearth.com, which on first pass, has most, if not all, of the hallmarks of a Christian Z-lot(nik?) website. The colors, the boxes, the large text, all of it. The claims made are such that put the Earth, unmoving, at the center of the universe, and all revolves around it, as well as the Pharisee-evolution connection, I would think. There’s probably a lot that could be found very wrong with the contents of that website, and I’m sure there will be plenty of people who will do so in the coming time.
Anyway, that’s what I’ve got tonight. I’m really not awake enough for some witty banter or anything, so I’m going to just flop and snooze. Night, people.
unspeakablevorn who unlocked the secret method that I needed to make things work early on, and helped me fix my code. The app itself is ugly as sin, of course, but I’m aiming for functionality, not pretty. Pretty will happen only after all the rest is done. And probably only once, at the very end of the project, after all the rest works and works well. Is break in two weeks? Doesn’t feel like it. Although, after this, it could very well be the hump and significantly more downhill from here - although there’s still stuff to learn. Have to learn to do authentication, have to do AJAX, have to do this, that and the other thing. Oh, yeah, did I mention that I also have other stuff to do, too? I may be running all the way to the end on this semester. And somewhere in there, I’m supposed to be finding a job, too, aren’t I? Oh, goodness. I don’t want to put off the job thing, but I may have to. Unless I can rope in several enterprising people to do the seeking for me.
Anyway, I did take a break tonight and go bowling. In three games, posted 101, 125, 120. Pretty close to average. I also managed to obtain a $20 U.S. gift card to the bowling alley by putting my name in a box. On the frame I won the card, I picked up the spare.
Onward, links! Fight for your right to be displayed and exploited! Fight to be places alongside a link to doll-size scientific glassware and tools!
Peanut butter warning widened. The FDA now says, if you bought Peter Pan peanut putter since May of last year, toss it.
Viagra, which, as you'll recall, opens blood vessels and permits freer and greater flow of blood, was used to save a premature baby's life. So now not only can you use it to make babies, you can use it to save them. Mad props to the mad scientists who thought up this fix.
Restoring sight is getting better, as well. A new set of bionic eyeglasses could restore a lot more sight to those who've lost their natural stuff. This does require that they have functioning ganglia, but the camera transmits wirelessly to the computer, the computer to an implant, and the implant stimulates the ganglia. From there, it’s all biological. Newer designs are shrinking in size and able to stimulate more of the ganglia. Perhaps we’ll soon be able to see in living color, regardless of whether it’s machine-assisted or not.
Gmail opens its doors to all comers. No more invitations needed, at least for now. It’s still not out of beta, though, so there’s still work to be done on it.
In not necessarily so benevolent technology, RFID tags that store up to a 38-digit number are small enough to be considered a powder when put together. So all the good/bad things that RFID can do for you, in a small enough size to sprinkle around and then read back. Quite the potential nightmare for those paranoid about RFID and their privacy.
Politics, Domestic-like: Barack Obama revised his website, apparently with some good results. The social-networking site look and feel has produced more than 2400 groups affiliated with the site. And that may be the tip of the iceberg. Whether this is being in tune with the younger generation or looking to exploit them, the Myspace method seems to be working for him. This particular election has even garnered the attention/interest of the Chinese state-controlled paper. They say regardless of who wins the primary, the Obama/Clinton combo will be close to unstoppable. I include American Samidzat’s commentary on it because it’s a worthwhile thought - what sort of real choices are the American people being given in their elections? Is it a matter of voting for an original or a clone?
The non-binding resolution expressing disapproval went to vote in the house, and it cleared the chamber. So the House disapproves of the surge. We'll see what the Senate does. And when push comes to shove and there’s actual money involved, whether they vote this way again.
An ingenious way of saving money - a bomb-shaped bank. Write on it with the included white marker, deposit, and when the time comes to withdraw, you can literally break the bank (or give it the hammer treatment) to get out the cash inside. That has to be a satisfying conclusion to fiscal responsibility.
Updating already from previous entry, GM is possibly looking to buy Chrysler. Isn’t GM in the middle of their own problems, though? Why would they be interested in buying, unless they want to absorb as many losing companies as they can before they implode. If GM’s willing to do that for the auto industry, well, more power to ‘em.
And further updates and retributions - Mercury rising suggests that the IRS be innundated with complaints that William Donohue overstepped the bounds of a 501(c)(3) organization in publicly calling for the resignation of the Edwards campaign bloggers. And has at least one update of another organization that’s defending Donohue that they want a similar complaint filed against. What does this mean, for those of us not so cognizant of tax law? What action or nonaction is a 501(c)(3) restricted to, and what, other than the revocation of the 501(c)(3) status does it hope to accomplish?
In Salon, Amanda Marcotte explains why she resigned from the Edwards campaign - the noise being made by the right wing was probably going to damage the campaign’s chances. Since there appeared to be no end in sight to the din, much of it crude and misogynistic, by her reckoning, it was better to not drag the campaign down. Admittedly, it would be nice to see a political campaign stick to its hiring decision and just take the flak, but it would probably be suicide. In terms of the campaign, resigning was the right thing to do. In terms of giving a well-deserved double deuce to the people that offered her oral and other sexual acts, mostly nonconsensual, for her opinion on matters, it was probably not very effective. No doubt we’ll be hearing much fire and brimstone from both sides about this whole affair.
And there will be other flareups, as well. A family claims to have been denied service for an ear infection in a child by a Christian pediatrician because of the mother's tattoos. The pediatrician is saying he’s within his rights because he can enforce dress and behavior standards of his choosing, in the same way that “No shirt, no shoes, no service” works. The mother is saying that she was discriminated against. Somewhere in that void of strange, a child had an ear infection and spent the night without any treatment for it. I don’t know how serious it was, or whether it could have developed into something more serious. What I do know is that it looks more and more like the trend started by pharmacists refusing to fill birth control is leaking out into other medical professions. Soon enough, we might have to screen our doctors by their religion and belief systems, rather than expecting that they will do their professional duty, regardless of the person in front of them.
If you want to turn on the jets full blast, here’s a pair of things related to each other. The first, a memo sent in the name of a Georgia state Representative that claims evolution's teachings are really the religious teachings of an ancient Pharisee sect. According to the logic of the memo, the science we’ve been taught is really just another religious belief, and it’s causing us great harm to not know the truth. The memo directs people to http://www.fixedearth.com, which on first pass, has most, if not all, of the hallmarks of a Christian Z-lot(nik?) website. The colors, the boxes, the large text, all of it. The claims made are such that put the Earth, unmoving, at the center of the universe, and all revolves around it, as well as the Pharisee-evolution connection, I would think. There’s probably a lot that could be found very wrong with the contents of that website, and I’m sure there will be plenty of people who will do so in the coming time.
Anyway, that’s what I’ve got tonight. I’m really not awake enough for some witty banter or anything, so I’m going to just flop and snooze. Night, people.
