Wheeeeeeee - 10 January 2008

Good day at work today. Long day, but good. Have much to do tomorrow now. To keep the happiness wave running, I’ll take the advice of the Happiness Project and make changes at the appropriate level needed. Not doing too little when lots is needed. And not getting into the trap that only big change will make you happy.

For those aspiring to create characters that have spent time on the streets, kaigou offers up some knowledge that will help make that characterization real based on her own experiences in the streets. It’s two parts, with the second part of her experiences on the street available as well.

From the looks of things so far in the primaries, Mr. Paul is not going to be any sort of serious threat. That could change, but for those who haven’t held their primaries, know this - Ron Paul denies knowing about racist remarks printed in his name and under his banner. So either he did write those things and is denying them, or he’s not smart enough to know someone was making racist remarks in his paper. Either way, Mr. Paul is not a suitable candidate for President, and we expect him to continue to fail dismally.

Regarding the destroyed CIA torture tapes, one of those subpoenaed will tell all, but they want immunity from prosecution first. That they’re even asking for something like that makes me wonder just how deep this rabbit hole goes.

Institutional stupidity ahoy. Two anecdotes from the airport, first - trying to get clarification on the lithium battery rule only creates more confusion. Second, from the airport, your laptop will be searched by customs officials if you are entering the country. So encrypt, and don’t provide your password to customs agents unless they provide you with a warrant specifically requiring it.

More stupidity - Jane Austen portrait changed to make her look more attractive on the covers of Wordsworth Editions versions of her books. Yep, classic and well-known author has picture changed because she’s not hot enough to attract people. Why not let the actual work speak for itself, as it has over time? And if it’s not speaking well, then maybe it’s time for it to gracefully fade into the regular canon and be replaced by something else.

International stupidity - in 2005, Blackwater dropped riot control gas in Iraq, something forbidden by the conventions of war and supposedly requiring the President’s approval to use in a strictly defensive situation. Blackwater claims it was an accident, their contract has forbade them the use of the gas, but these are the people supposedly tasked with making Iraq a better place. There were no recorded incidents when the riot control gas was used, either. So the riot control stuff may have been used just to try and clear traffic. Stupid, stupid well-funded and financed rat creatures. Also, why did it take this long for this to appear?

Stupidity by individuals, instead - people who say their identities are protected and put out personal data get burnt. Admittedly, a large part of it is because other institutions are not following their own policies to the tee, but still, armed with the knowledge that your financial institution may be lax, it’s probably not a good idea to put out personal data to just anyone. Additionally, trying to pass off a dead friend as alive to cash his Social Security check is probably not the brightest thing in the world to do.

Further stupidity - arson, with a goat drained of blood in the yard. Conclusion reached? "SATANISTS!" Yep. All based on one goat and some Internet research. An organization with a better reputation, the Christian Science Monitor, did their research and ran an article about the growing presence of violent antigay people in Slavic-language areas, focusing on a group called Watchmen on the Walls.

Finally, a little problem with the newspapers. In a bit of a Dewey Defeats Truman moment, the Telegraph and the London Times ran a story about Hillary's defeat in New Hampshire. This was based on polls that had Obama comfortably ahead when the issues went to press in the UK. Ooops.

Everyone point and laugh - the FBI's wiretaps have been disconnected for nonpayment of the bills. The telecoms will shred the Constitution willingly and spy on Americans, but if you don’t pay them, you’re out. On Countdown, Mr. Olbermann jokingly called it “a saving grace of capitalism”.

In technology, Vogon technology used to make every surface vibrate with sound has been discovered. Now every surface can potentially be used for targeted advertisement.

Futurologists in 1908 speculated on what the world of 2008 would be like. So now, futurologists in 2008 are speculating on what 2108 will be like. May we live long enough to see it.

The future might be one where Alzheimer’s is controlled, if not cured, assuming that the usage of etanercept continues to be able to arrest and reverse Alzheimer's symptoms.

The Cool things are the last things for tonight - the Gaslight Justice League of America, perfect for a time-travel plot, and making edible googly eyes, which is then put to good use making an edible Flying Spaghetti Monster.

If you think you can describe in 150 words or less what a particular fictional character means to you, NPR's looking for some submissions.

Instead, I crash and snooze. I don’t think I could fit my character essay down into 150 words.

Off and off again - 11 January 2008

Well, turning in this one early because I’ll be away for the weekend. More work, and hopefully some fun, to be done with friends. I might be able to check e-mail on occasion, but you’ll probably have to do without the digests for a bit. Should arrange for a guest poster or something.

Leading off tonight - if your Adjusted Gross Income is less than $54,000 USD and you live in the United States, there are several services and software programs that you can do your taxes on for free. Hat tip to welah for pointing it out, and to the IRS for providing such a handy resource.

Yesterday, the man who climbed Everest first, with his guide Tenzing Norgay, Sir Edmund Hillary died at 88 years of age. I wonder if the next group up will clean up much of what’s been left behind and erect a small memorial to the mountain’s pioneer.

Regarding the incident with Iranian speedboats and United States naval vessels, the United States Navy is saying that the voices they heard may not have originated from the speedboats, but could have come from shore or another ship in the area.

The Republican political primary gets more vicious each day. First accusations about Govenor Romney’s role in the release of someone who ended up killing, now Mike Huckabee is the target of an attack ad regarding a serial rapist and murderer apparently released under his watch.

A marine who was about to testify in an incident has gone missing for a month now, and the longer she goes missing, the more likely it is that a permanent crime has captured her. What was the incident, I wonder?

Naomi Schalit warns America against the charge of politicians mixing as much religion into their campaigns as possible. Despite railing against fundamentalist Islam, and having an object lesson of what happens when religion and politics mix from the second World War, the signs continue to point toward politicians and the voting populace craving more God-talk in their government talk. I’m worried at how skillful we’re getting at establishing religion without establishing religion, and wondering when the trap will snap and a large part of America finds itself very much on the outside.

Speaking of the events of World War II, Mr. Bush demonstrates his cluelessness by declaring that America should have bombed Auschwitz. No doubt with the prisoners still inside, Mr. Bush.

Texting and driving is a bad idea - what you think was a mailbox when you hit it might actually be a 13 year-old child. Said child died from the incident. Driving while distracted isn’t something you want to do all that much, and with texting, which requires you to take at least one, if not both, hands off the wheel, it was really only a matter of time before something like this happened.

Looking the part does wonders for convincing people you are who you say you are. For example, a man posing as a security guard for a bank stole more than $100,000 by wearing a uniform that looked like a security guard uniform and making a bank's deposit pickup. Only after the actual guard came, was told another guard had picked things up, than reported to his supervisor about that fact was the crime part discovered.

If you are a fan of cannabis herbs, even if you don’t get charged with a crime, if the police show up at your house, they'll seize your cash and make you prove that you got it all legitimately. Because any sort of money obtained while there’s known presence of cannabis has to be drug money gotten by selling. The gentleman in the article finds this out the hard way, to the tune of more than $400,000 USD. He’s going to fight to get it back, but when your life savings have just been seized, it’s hard to find a good lawyer. Continuing in the money vein, the national taxpayer advocate has some suggestions on how the IRS can make more money, and how it should offer apology payments to those taxpayers who suffer unduly when the IRS messes up.

Forty-seven United States senators are asking the Interior Secretary to remove the restriction on firearms in national parks. Right now, regulations require that guns be difficult to access while on national park land. Those in favor of keeping current regulations note the low crime rate, and raise concerns about what happens if the wildlife on the land is subjected to hunters and guns.

A Japanese education company is recalling their "smart" globes because the entry on Taiwan was changed by the Chinese government. The globes were not going to be made, it appears, unless the entry on Taiwan made it part of China. That’s one way of making sure your side of the story is the official one.

Significantly weirder, Gizmodo has obtained scans of a Microsoft children's book about... servers in the home. You know, I doubt Rod Serling ever envisioned even the Twilight Zone like this. Serling probably never imagined that Pink Tentacle would report on the actual cost of a Gundam-type mobile suit made of aluminium alloy outside - $725 million USD. So, if you have that kind of money to burn, oh billionaires, and the space to set it up, why not try and create your own mobile walker?

If Gundams aren’t your thing, though, perhaps investing in a floating zepplin-like hotel? All the money in these ideas might be better spent, though, in building islands on top of ocean garbage deposits. Some part of me likens this to building a barn long after the horse has long bolted, but some other part says, “Well, it is making the best of a bad situation.” Good ingenuity, bad that there’s enough garbage there to do it in the first place.

For those of us without billions to spend, perhaps our odd indulgent luxury will be Monkey Picked Tea. Or the People's Car, a tiny (3.1m x 1.5m x 1.6m), 54mpg car meant for India. Or you might be one of the first in line to invest in a device that purports to be able to extract petroleum product from just about any organic matter, so long as it has hydrocarbons that can be freed by the microwave emitter. If philanthropy is your idea, though, you may want to join Pixel Qi's quest to build a laptop that will cost approximately $75 USD.

On a potentially NSFW front, more advice for aspiring authors - things to think about when writing about prostitutes.

Adopted children should know about their birth parents, one of the members of the House of Lords said, so that cases such as the twins that were separated and ended up marrying each other doesn’t happen. Once their true natures were revealed, their marriage was annulled. It is a pretty convincing reason to know, just so that people aren’t affected in that sort of manner.

Last for tonight, a good thing for managers and the self-employed to read. Rewarding Creatives talks about how choosing thoughtful gifts, sometimes even non-monetary ones, will help keep your creatives’ morale high and continuing to do their best work.

Okay, I’m gone for the weekend. Leave messages by mail or something.