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Well, then. - 22 February 2007
Feb. 22nd, 2007 02:54 amA semi-fortunate break in the gaming today - I didn’t really understand the assignment put forth before me, and if there’s no real lab to speak of tomorrow, I’ll go pester the instructors by e-mail. I think I get what I’m supposed to be doing, but I didn’t do so hot on Entity Relationship Diagrams the first time around, and now I’ve got two to visualize and draw out (by the way, any good programs for Ubuntu/Debian that will do ERDs? Since I think visually in this case, a program that can mirror that would be awesome). I guess, through all of this, I will need to be mindful of the Tao of programming.
Progress made on seeking Ultimate Power - got all the offensive Tera spells in order - now, I just need to get the defensive ones up and going. Which will take significantly longer, because spell distribution is based on overall level, not skill. Healers don’t do the fighting bit too well, and they don’t get offensive casts, so they’re at the mercy of bonus experience. It’ll take a while.
As for other linkie-sorts of things, let’s start with something tame. Like how the SETI@home client was able to reunite a geek with his laptop. That may very well be deserving of one of the Science Scouts merit badges, which are quite fun all on their own.
And then something fun - the front page of DrawerGeeks!, who were responsible for the children’s monster pictures that appeared yesterday.
An Illinois senator has introduced a bill that would require public libraries in Illinois to prohibit access to social networking sites. I do not like this idea, professionally or personally. This ban is being touted as “kids can do things that their parents wouldn’t approve of at the library!” Which is potentially true of any place that has Internet access and the parents are not around to monitor. Let me reiterate for the record - we try to make the library a physically safe place for everyone. We do not guarantee anything about intellectual content in the library. In fact, there is a good chance that there is something in the collection or accessible from the library that will be offensive to you. If you wish to ensure that your children are not looking in places you do not want them to, you must accompany your children wherever they should go in the library. The library staff will only intervene on “bad behavior” if it violates the library’s policies. And while saying that word is akin to invoking certain mustachioed dictators of years past, this is a censoring maneuver. Libraries should try to be an intellectually free place, even if nowhere else in the community is. Imposing rules like this on the library strongly inhibits the ability of the library to be a free and inviting place.
Of course, the kids could request that the filters be turned off, too. Depending on the policy of the library, they might manage to have the “social networking” filter turned off.
To lighten the mood after such weighty matters, an invitation to compose some verse extolling the virtues of the word scrotum. Although the deadline may have passed, the entries are definitely worth a read. And then, the ever-excellent Neil Gaiman puts up a a small bit about how glad he is that there's finally a rule of thumb for quality literature, and he references a very helpful guide to youth literature with scrota in them, so that those so inclined can fin and remove the potentially-threatening word from their youth collections.
J. Brad Hicks says that we have made television history not too long ago, with Dateline NBC's latest "To Catch a Predator" series quite possibly having shown the first suicide live on national television. Although not actually having the camera on the person killing themselves while they did it. And this show was taped in advance, and yet, it still ran. That disturbs Mr. Hicks greatly - because there doesn’t seem to be any repercussions, or even an admission that this politician’s death may have been directly caused by their show. What I suspect, though, is that a large amount of people will say “Well, he was a pedophile! That makes him universally-reviled scum, and it’s probably better off that he offed himself than continued to prey on the kids.” Perhaps not in so many words, or so bluntly, but I can feel that kind of current as a possible justification. A lot of the commentators feel that it’s a slightly more base appeal to the Lowest Common Denominator and going for shock value at best.
As has been strewn about the Intarwebs, George Takei utilized one of the best ripostes possible when someone attacks you or your beliefs. He makes a joke out of it, and turns it back on his accuser. Not only do you get to laugh at the hints, you get to laugh at how ridiculous the position held by his opponent really is. For further commentary on the matter, and how some view those comments, see the following two bits: the Concerned Women for America press release, calling the comments "harmful", and lamenting that he's played into the hands of the homosexual lobby by giving them fodder. The CWA says, though, that it’s perfectly okay to be homophobic, so long as you don’t say that you hate the people you think are behaving immorally and unnaturally. Following up on that is a Jon Swiftie that says Tim Hardaway makes homophobia look bad. (The interpretation of the CWA article above is his, as well, and I found it quite useful.) Jon Swift wants to take things a step further - journalists, don’t ask what athletes think about any topic, and athletes, don’t tell us what you think about any topic. We’d get along so much better that way, right?
The Buddhist Geeks present a different way of thinking about practice and the road to the enlightenment that people of all religions seek. Perhaps we need to be more like spiritual athletes, training regularly and with determination, being able to put the mental training at the forefront of our lives. As noted, though, taking a two-week retreat regularly does not pay the bills, nor does it necessarily endear one to the boss. So perhaps we’ll have to be a bit less professional and a bit more enthused amateur.
Liberal Eagle engages in some self-reflection of his own, upon the realization that after the current President is gone, the ease of taking positions for and against, or defining good and evil, will likely vanish. Those that made themselves on Bush-bashing will have to find a new venue or adapt themselves to the new political climate. Which, barring premature termination, means that in 2009, a whole new paradigm will come into play. But that has to be thought out by election time in 2008. So, liberal-types, get on your horses and make definitions for the next incarnation of politics. If you get caught unprepared, it may be easier to demonize the opposition, but one of these times, you’ll actually get elected, and then what?
In the “Umm...” department of politics, Fox is hosting a Democratic candidate debate. Is this just to get fodder for Bill to use against the Dems in the campaign season? Or is Fox genuinely interested in hearing and understanding the opinions of the Democratic candidates? Further along in “Umm...”, Mr. Cheney says the United States wants to finish its mission in Iraq and return with honor. He says this despite rising opposition in polls and on the streets, a spectacularly low approval rating for both him and the President, and a Congress that could conceivably tell him to pack things in and bring the troops home or fight out the rest of his war without funding. (Not that it will actually happen that way.)
Internationally, the IAEA is preparing a report on Iran's nuclear activities, the results of which are likely to trigger harsher sanctions. Iran continues to insist that it is only working for energy purposes, and not for weapons. Have to give them respect, though, for saying that they would consider stopping uranium enrichment - if the Western world did the same thing. It would be nice if we could all work together on building a renewable, nontoxic energy source that could be used worldwide. The creation of such a thing, though, would probably spark conflicts.
On a slightly more tabloid-like level, Second Lieutenant Harry of the royal family of the United Kingdom may be going into Iraq on deployment. Which is creating security nightmares for those around him, and has others worried that the people he’s around may be exposed to greater danger, because of the status of the Second Lieutenant.
Australia made an interesting bid to curb its greenhouse gas productions - Incandescent lightbulbs are now banned in Australia. I’ve heard that there are particular occasions where flourescent bulbs are problematic, because of refresh rates, or because they tint things differently, or other things. Does anyone deal in professions where this kind of ban would be severely detrimental to their work?
Low testosterone in men may be a diabetes risk factor. Fantastic - now there’s another reason for men to worry that they aren’t being manly enough (if you believe that testosterone production is your grade of manliness, though, there needs to be some more thinking involved.)
Google founder Larry Page urges scientists to market themselves and get into politics, with the aim of raising awareness and cash for great science and technology. Which makes a certain amount of sense - people don’t always choose the superior technology, but they will generally choose the well-marketed one. Scientific discoveries could use more marketing - if they get into the populace’s consciousness, then maybe the populace will start learning the science to try and understand the cool thing they just read about. Couldn’t hurt, really. More maths and sciences elected in schooling would be a benefit. That way ,we could do more with this picture of a dying star than going “Oooh, colorful.” (The color’s added on later, isn’t it?)
Second Life through cell phones? Might be a specialized segment of the virtual world, but for those on the same type of mobile access, it could be a very interesting way of keeping one foot in both lives. (And wouldn’t it be interesting to have two people meet after they’d been chatting avatar to avatar on mobile platforms...) Looking out at the world from the technologies, MIT is developing cameras and computer models that mimic human vision, being able to detect things like cars and other important visual objects. With all that information being generated, new ways of storing it and archiving it will have to come to the fore. Thus, projects like George Bell's personal digital archive may hold clues on how to capture as much of the human experience as is possible, and then make it accessible through machine-assisted memory.
I may be catching a bit of deja vu over this, but if so, it’s probably worth repeating. In the span of a few hours, the Iraqi Prime Minister went from a serious investigation of a rape charge to discrediting the woman who brought the charge and rewarding the officers that were accused of the rape. Something rings wrong here, and it’s not just the fast flip of opinions. Maybe this pairing of posts from Baghdad Burning can put some light on it. Rape is a serious allegation, and (hopefully) not one we take lightly here. In another country, where the wrong word in someone’s ear could lead to a lot of bloodshed and revenge, I suspect rape allegations are considered very carefully before being leveled at anyone. In some of those countries, the woman may have to get witnesses, lest she suffer the lash for adultery. Although I’d be labeled as a defeatist by the current Administration and its supporters, I have to wonder whether she’s right - that this particular conflict was over once it began, and destined to be a failure.
I am determined to land tonight on something other than a depressing post, and thus, I have to go into the Magic Bag of Tricks and pull out... The Romantic Life of Brainiacs, a piece that refutes, reverses, and reveals that women with something more than a pretty face end up doing quite well, thank you very much, in matters of matrimony, maternity, and good romps in the sack. (And there’s even a bone of four tossed to the menfolk as well - they do all right, too. Guess those old wives’ tales are just that.) You’ll need to use BugMeNot or register to get the whole story. But it’s nice to see that brains aren’t as much of an impediment as they were thought to be not too long ago.
Progress made on seeking Ultimate Power - got all the offensive Tera spells in order - now, I just need to get the defensive ones up and going. Which will take significantly longer, because spell distribution is based on overall level, not skill. Healers don’t do the fighting bit too well, and they don’t get offensive casts, so they’re at the mercy of bonus experience. It’ll take a while.
As for other linkie-sorts of things, let’s start with something tame. Like how the SETI@home client was able to reunite a geek with his laptop. That may very well be deserving of one of the Science Scouts merit badges, which are quite fun all on their own.
And then something fun - the front page of DrawerGeeks!, who were responsible for the children’s monster pictures that appeared yesterday.
An Illinois senator has introduced a bill that would require public libraries in Illinois to prohibit access to social networking sites. I do not like this idea, professionally or personally. This ban is being touted as “kids can do things that their parents wouldn’t approve of at the library!” Which is potentially true of any place that has Internet access and the parents are not around to monitor. Let me reiterate for the record - we try to make the library a physically safe place for everyone. We do not guarantee anything about intellectual content in the library. In fact, there is a good chance that there is something in the collection or accessible from the library that will be offensive to you. If you wish to ensure that your children are not looking in places you do not want them to, you must accompany your children wherever they should go in the library. The library staff will only intervene on “bad behavior” if it violates the library’s policies. And while saying that word is akin to invoking certain mustachioed dictators of years past, this is a censoring maneuver. Libraries should try to be an intellectually free place, even if nowhere else in the community is. Imposing rules like this on the library strongly inhibits the ability of the library to be a free and inviting place.
Of course, the kids could request that the filters be turned off, too. Depending on the policy of the library, they might manage to have the “social networking” filter turned off.
To lighten the mood after such weighty matters, an invitation to compose some verse extolling the virtues of the word scrotum. Although the deadline may have passed, the entries are definitely worth a read. And then, the ever-excellent Neil Gaiman puts up a a small bit about how glad he is that there's finally a rule of thumb for quality literature, and he references a very helpful guide to youth literature with scrota in them, so that those so inclined can fin and remove the potentially-threatening word from their youth collections.
J. Brad Hicks says that we have made television history not too long ago, with Dateline NBC's latest "To Catch a Predator" series quite possibly having shown the first suicide live on national television. Although not actually having the camera on the person killing themselves while they did it. And this show was taped in advance, and yet, it still ran. That disturbs Mr. Hicks greatly - because there doesn’t seem to be any repercussions, or even an admission that this politician’s death may have been directly caused by their show. What I suspect, though, is that a large amount of people will say “Well, he was a pedophile! That makes him universally-reviled scum, and it’s probably better off that he offed himself than continued to prey on the kids.” Perhaps not in so many words, or so bluntly, but I can feel that kind of current as a possible justification. A lot of the commentators feel that it’s a slightly more base appeal to the Lowest Common Denominator and going for shock value at best.
As has been strewn about the Intarwebs, George Takei utilized one of the best ripostes possible when someone attacks you or your beliefs. He makes a joke out of it, and turns it back on his accuser. Not only do you get to laugh at the hints, you get to laugh at how ridiculous the position held by his opponent really is. For further commentary on the matter, and how some view those comments, see the following two bits: the Concerned Women for America press release, calling the comments "harmful", and lamenting that he's played into the hands of the homosexual lobby by giving them fodder. The CWA says, though, that it’s perfectly okay to be homophobic, so long as you don’t say that you hate the people you think are behaving immorally and unnaturally. Following up on that is a Jon Swiftie that says Tim Hardaway makes homophobia look bad. (The interpretation of the CWA article above is his, as well, and I found it quite useful.) Jon Swift wants to take things a step further - journalists, don’t ask what athletes think about any topic, and athletes, don’t tell us what you think about any topic. We’d get along so much better that way, right?
The Buddhist Geeks present a different way of thinking about practice and the road to the enlightenment that people of all religions seek. Perhaps we need to be more like spiritual athletes, training regularly and with determination, being able to put the mental training at the forefront of our lives. As noted, though, taking a two-week retreat regularly does not pay the bills, nor does it necessarily endear one to the boss. So perhaps we’ll have to be a bit less professional and a bit more enthused amateur.
Liberal Eagle engages in some self-reflection of his own, upon the realization that after the current President is gone, the ease of taking positions for and against, or defining good and evil, will likely vanish. Those that made themselves on Bush-bashing will have to find a new venue or adapt themselves to the new political climate. Which, barring premature termination, means that in 2009, a whole new paradigm will come into play. But that has to be thought out by election time in 2008. So, liberal-types, get on your horses and make definitions for the next incarnation of politics. If you get caught unprepared, it may be easier to demonize the opposition, but one of these times, you’ll actually get elected, and then what?
In the “Umm...” department of politics, Fox is hosting a Democratic candidate debate. Is this just to get fodder for Bill to use against the Dems in the campaign season? Or is Fox genuinely interested in hearing and understanding the opinions of the Democratic candidates? Further along in “Umm...”, Mr. Cheney says the United States wants to finish its mission in Iraq and return with honor. He says this despite rising opposition in polls and on the streets, a spectacularly low approval rating for both him and the President, and a Congress that could conceivably tell him to pack things in and bring the troops home or fight out the rest of his war without funding. (Not that it will actually happen that way.)
Internationally, the IAEA is preparing a report on Iran's nuclear activities, the results of which are likely to trigger harsher sanctions. Iran continues to insist that it is only working for energy purposes, and not for weapons. Have to give them respect, though, for saying that they would consider stopping uranium enrichment - if the Western world did the same thing. It would be nice if we could all work together on building a renewable, nontoxic energy source that could be used worldwide. The creation of such a thing, though, would probably spark conflicts.
On a slightly more tabloid-like level, Second Lieutenant Harry of the royal family of the United Kingdom may be going into Iraq on deployment. Which is creating security nightmares for those around him, and has others worried that the people he’s around may be exposed to greater danger, because of the status of the Second Lieutenant.
Australia made an interesting bid to curb its greenhouse gas productions - Incandescent lightbulbs are now banned in Australia. I’ve heard that there are particular occasions where flourescent bulbs are problematic, because of refresh rates, or because they tint things differently, or other things. Does anyone deal in professions where this kind of ban would be severely detrimental to their work?
Low testosterone in men may be a diabetes risk factor. Fantastic - now there’s another reason for men to worry that they aren’t being manly enough (if you believe that testosterone production is your grade of manliness, though, there needs to be some more thinking involved.)
Google founder Larry Page urges scientists to market themselves and get into politics, with the aim of raising awareness and cash for great science and technology. Which makes a certain amount of sense - people don’t always choose the superior technology, but they will generally choose the well-marketed one. Scientific discoveries could use more marketing - if they get into the populace’s consciousness, then maybe the populace will start learning the science to try and understand the cool thing they just read about. Couldn’t hurt, really. More maths and sciences elected in schooling would be a benefit. That way ,we could do more with this picture of a dying star than going “Oooh, colorful.” (The color’s added on later, isn’t it?)
Second Life through cell phones? Might be a specialized segment of the virtual world, but for those on the same type of mobile access, it could be a very interesting way of keeping one foot in both lives. (And wouldn’t it be interesting to have two people meet after they’d been chatting avatar to avatar on mobile platforms...) Looking out at the world from the technologies, MIT is developing cameras and computer models that mimic human vision, being able to detect things like cars and other important visual objects. With all that information being generated, new ways of storing it and archiving it will have to come to the fore. Thus, projects like George Bell's personal digital archive may hold clues on how to capture as much of the human experience as is possible, and then make it accessible through machine-assisted memory.
I may be catching a bit of deja vu over this, but if so, it’s probably worth repeating. In the span of a few hours, the Iraqi Prime Minister went from a serious investigation of a rape charge to discrediting the woman who brought the charge and rewarding the officers that were accused of the rape. Something rings wrong here, and it’s not just the fast flip of opinions. Maybe this pairing of posts from Baghdad Burning can put some light on it. Rape is a serious allegation, and (hopefully) not one we take lightly here. In another country, where the wrong word in someone’s ear could lead to a lot of bloodshed and revenge, I suspect rape allegations are considered very carefully before being leveled at anyone. In some of those countries, the woman may have to get witnesses, lest she suffer the lash for adultery. Although I’d be labeled as a defeatist by the current Administration and its supporters, I have to wonder whether she’s right - that this particular conflict was over once it began, and destined to be a failure.
I am determined to land tonight on something other than a depressing post, and thus, I have to go into the Magic Bag of Tricks and pull out... The Romantic Life of Brainiacs, a piece that refutes, reverses, and reveals that women with something more than a pretty face end up doing quite well, thank you very much, in matters of matrimony, maternity, and good romps in the sack. (And there’s even a bone of four tossed to the menfolk as well - they do all right, too. Guess those old wives’ tales are just that.) You’ll need to use BugMeNot or register to get the whole story. But it’s nice to see that brains aren’t as much of an impediment as they were thought to be not too long ago.
