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Weekend, yo - 22 Feburary 2008
Feb. 22nd, 2008 06:30 pmHaving arrived at the end of another week, we have done all the things we need to do for this week. At least, that’s what we keep thinking, anyway. It’s not right, and there’s more stuff coming soon, but for now we’ll have a nice happy thought.
Before the usual rundown begins, my professional self has two links it would like to provide. First, demonstrating the flexibility of the Creative Commons license, The Nebraska Library Commission has catalouged (and printed, where possible) several Creative Commons-license books. This presented some headaches for the cataloging librarian, because something like place of publication or even who the publisher is are a little harder to answer on a CC license, and on an Internet-released work. things apparently worked out, and they were able to contribute some entries to OCLC as well.
Second, if you have children, work with children, or have a problem and want to work it out, Vanderbilt University has released a study that suggests children are better able to work out a problem when they talk to their mothers. Mom is not providing any help or speaking, but somehow, talking to Mom and working the problem out with her makes it stick more. The study authors think this extends generally to parents, and that the point really is that getting people to talk out loud and vocalize their problems is an effective way of working through them. So maybe talking to yourself isn’t such a bad thing after all. Talking to other people, as I have found out myself, is even better.
And then there’s the news. Apparently, al-Sadr would like to continue to cease-fire agreement. Probably a wise idea on his part, just so that he doesn’t lose people should the U.S. Army decide he’s really a hostile character. Of course, with Turkey stepping up cross-border raids on the PKK, al-Sadr may be thinking that he doesn’t want to get involved in big shooty things any time soon.
Domestic politics: Conservative opinions appear to have taken to Senator Obama in much the same way a shark takes to chum. Peggy Noonan wonders if the Obamas have any connection to the average American, Victor Davis Hanson believes Senator Obama and Senator Clinton are blaming government for all ills, rather than the decisions of the people, Ken Blackwell says that Obama's rhetoric and policies don’t match at all, and Betsy McCaughey has unflattering questions for Senator Obama and Senator Clinton about their respective health care plans.
Things coud have been bad for Senator Obama after word supposedly came down from the Secret Service that persons trying to get in to see him should pass through without a security check. Had one of those people been armed and intending to do damage, then the story would read very differently. Amazing that someone would say to stop checking when there was that whole Bhutto assassination thing that happened. That said, Senator Obama and Senator Clinton still seem to be friendly rivals rather than bitter enemies. Even if Senator Obama is the choice of Democrats living outside the United States.
Gabriel Schoenfeld thinks that the idea of the Bush Administration being the most secretive of administrations is untrue because of the torrent of leaked information coming from the administration. In The Bush Secrecy Myth, he decries the practice of leaking information as detrimental to the security of the nation and accuses leakers of giving information to the enemies of America. The justification for such secrecy appears to be rooted in the belief that the War on a Concept is an actual justification for secrecy of government action. We’ve seen what happens when this administration keeps secrets - disappeared persons, secret military facilities, treatment of detainees with the bowlderized “enhanced interrogation techniques”, wiretapping of private communications without warrants or court orders, and the “unitary executive”. We’ve even seen what they can do when they deliberately release information, like the name of a CIA agent working under cover. Openness and transparency, wherever possible, is the hallmark of a good government. An administration that thinks most of its actions should be kept secret is not an administration to be trusted. Perhaps if the Bush administration were more open about their dealings, the leaking would dry up some. Of course, it would also be nice if they would adhere to the rule of law, but baby steps, I suspect, are all we’ll get out of this.
The Republican Party is doing a fair share of fearmongering, too. Head to the home page and listen/watch their “FISA 2008 - America at Risk” video. They’re definitely trying to scare the American people into thinking that they aren’t safe because the government now has to go through courts and do things the legal way, rather than gathering the information first and getting a warrant for it later. Does it potentially leave the country open to attack? Sure, but warrantless wrietapping didn’t help prevent 11 September. Intelligence failures did.
Our Actual News Headline for the day has been paired with a graphic courtesy of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
theweaselking, and is probably NSFW - Alien Sex Offenders Being Deported From Virginia. While that’s just a play on a headline, the following account is true, scary, and should never ever happen again. Gunfire was exchanged between two people, one who had his children in the car with him, when one passed the other for going too slowly. Apparently the passed car took offense, may ahve tried to ram the passing car, but definitely opened fire on the driver, who fired back. What’s worse is that after the dad dropped his kids off at school, he went hunting for the car that shot at him and continued their battle. No Darwin Awards to be handed out here, but I think both of those men deserve a Zombie Award, because they are certainly lacking in brains.
Similarly lacking brains is our Federal Emergency Management Agency which has released a document on what to do if the pieces of the shot-down spy satellite should come to rest near you. The advice is... well, just remember that these people were responsible for cleanup and assistance on the hurricane disaster.
And because I can, ghostbusters called into an East Sussex water treatment plant because of the possible presence of a zombie there.
Deserving of hot cheese-filled pastry to the face, in my soapbox opinion, is Gary Hubbel, who talks about the demographic of the Angry White Man, who resembles the very worst of the cantankerous white man, complaining about immigrants taking jobs here and outsourcing to elsewhere, and accomodation of languages other than English is anathema to him. He believes himself to be the Manly Man, who is always heterosexual, chivalrous, the sole breadwinner, provider, and decision-maker for his family, the poker buddy, the handyman, the firearms owner, and the man with a remarkable lack of conscience when it comes to killing people in the context of military service. He doesn’t discriminate against people of other races, but he expects them to behave as close to being white as they can. He fits the CEKSM profile, could reliably be called a boor, and probably qualifies for being a Nice Guy(tm). What may be the scariest about that piece is not the intimation that there are a lot of people that are Angry White Men, but the possibility that he’s right.
The Mighty Ponygirl makes a very important point about society - "Shut up and play the game" is not an acceptable dialog about the role of sexism in on-line games. Just like in the real world, if female gamers want to be treated equally and with respect, then they deserve to be treated equally and with respect. (Even if they don’t want it, they do deserve it.) Unfortunately, what happens is a lot of smokescreen - “Girls are played by d00ds, so you’re wanking to a d00d, haha.” “Well, ladies just want to be treated fairly. We’re not those feminists who delight in driving spike heels into guys’ genitals.” “Talking about sexism encourages sexism”. And, of course, “Shut up and play the game.” Right, Blizzard follows the trope that the less a female is wearing, the more protected she is. Which means that there’s skin showing almost all the time, and thus, Nice Guys(tm), Angry White Men, and other CEKSM will do their utmost to talk about the physical appearance rather than the actual skills of the player. Someone should make a piece of armor for these games that is little more than a male thong, give it ridiculous defensive stats, and then see how players justify wearing it... and whether those players get told they’re homosexuals or to not wear that kind of armor because the other players are squicked by the sight of so many digital men in steel underwear. And then, the agents of change should be right there ready to say “What? It’s just a game. Shut up and play.” and we’ll see how well that goes over.
Earning some pastry themselves is the advertising agency that thought they could sell sport brassiers off the premise that unbound women would have their breasts striking them in the face. The difficulty of that idea is that the advert ended up making the women look like they were being domestically abused. So that was a less-than-excellent idea. Fortunately, the firm asking for advertising ideas rejected those concepts because they were similarly offended by the images presented. Unfortunately, for those who might have been abused, or worse, raped, those who want a rape kit examination often end up paying for it out-of-pocket. Once again, Viagra - covered. Birth Control? Sometimes not. Rape kit? Oh, never, no never. Thanks, private insurance. Is this your own little way of saying “Well, she obviously deserved it, whatever it was”? The Jezebel comments along express the rage felt.
Anti-Scientology activist found dead, apparently of suicide. There is no foul play suspected in the matter, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t speculations about what the Church of Scientology may have done. I doubt it would be a matter of direct involvement, but from what we’ve heard of what the Church does to people they don’t like, it’s not inconceivable that someone would end up taking their own life just to get away from the relentless character assassination that tends to happen. But that’s all speculation, which may make it good enough for Anonymous to use as one more bullet.
If you’ve ever had a deja vu about products and designs, or you see something in a different store that’s clearly a rip-off or a copy, You thought We Wouldn't Notice is the place for you. Pictures and descriptions of things that are eerily similar, if not total copies.
In technology, encrypted disk keys are apaprently left in RAM for a while after power stops flowing - long enough for an attacker to obtain them and use them for spying on your sensitive data. Which sort of defeats the purpose of the crypto in the first place. Better usage of technology is using satellites in the sky to spot where old ruins are in the rainforests.
Rubber-like compouns can re-stick together, even after being cut. The substance, using vegetable oil combined with an ingredient in urine, replaces strong but brittle bonds in conventional rubbers with weaker but reformable hydrogen bonds. It’s a substance that can be torn apart, cut apart, or broken and then stuck back together with no discerible loss of strength or of seal. Neat.
Google is possibly branching out into the health records area, running a test by storing a few thousand people’s medical records and making them available with the same Google services password. There are HIPAA concerns, plus the concern that Google knows too much about us as it is, and the worry that if an account is compromised, then there’s even more data that can be used for nefarious purposes.
Our Retro-Future department has found an on-line exhibit of the work of Arthur Radebaugh, responsible for such material as Closer than We Think. So for those of us still waiting for our antigrav belts, take a swing back in time to see what the 1930s thought we’d have by now. At least some firefighters are getting a little training on what might happen should a UFO land, so maybe we’re getting closer to that retro-future than we thought.
Next to last for tonight, an unfortunate coincidence - St. Patrick's Day falls during the week before Easter, which means that feasts and festivals for the saint are in a “no-fun” zone. This, understandably, has the laity and the priesthood at a bit of odds. A lot of places are moving their celebrations forward to days outside of “Holy Week”, but a brave few are going to hold theirs right on the day.
Last for tonight, Oxford University scholars will spend $4 million to try and figure out why man keeps the concept of God. Perhaps if they are sucessful, we’ll know why we would invent God, if he happens not to exist in this universe. And, just so that I can make a joke about “seeing God”, (probably one in poor taste. Apologies, but the connection’s there) researchers are claiming that 1) the G-spot of legend exists, but 2) not every woman has one.
So that’s the way things are. Definitely time for other activities now...
Before the usual rundown begins, my professional self has two links it would like to provide. First, demonstrating the flexibility of the Creative Commons license, The Nebraska Library Commission has catalouged (and printed, where possible) several Creative Commons-license books. This presented some headaches for the cataloging librarian, because something like place of publication or even who the publisher is are a little harder to answer on a CC license, and on an Internet-released work. things apparently worked out, and they were able to contribute some entries to OCLC as well.
Second, if you have children, work with children, or have a problem and want to work it out, Vanderbilt University has released a study that suggests children are better able to work out a problem when they talk to their mothers. Mom is not providing any help or speaking, but somehow, talking to Mom and working the problem out with her makes it stick more. The study authors think this extends generally to parents, and that the point really is that getting people to talk out loud and vocalize their problems is an effective way of working through them. So maybe talking to yourself isn’t such a bad thing after all. Talking to other people, as I have found out myself, is even better.
And then there’s the news. Apparently, al-Sadr would like to continue to cease-fire agreement. Probably a wise idea on his part, just so that he doesn’t lose people should the U.S. Army decide he’s really a hostile character. Of course, with Turkey stepping up cross-border raids on the PKK, al-Sadr may be thinking that he doesn’t want to get involved in big shooty things any time soon.
Domestic politics: Conservative opinions appear to have taken to Senator Obama in much the same way a shark takes to chum. Peggy Noonan wonders if the Obamas have any connection to the average American, Victor Davis Hanson believes Senator Obama and Senator Clinton are blaming government for all ills, rather than the decisions of the people, Ken Blackwell says that Obama's rhetoric and policies don’t match at all, and Betsy McCaughey has unflattering questions for Senator Obama and Senator Clinton about their respective health care plans.
Things coud have been bad for Senator Obama after word supposedly came down from the Secret Service that persons trying to get in to see him should pass through without a security check. Had one of those people been armed and intending to do damage, then the story would read very differently. Amazing that someone would say to stop checking when there was that whole Bhutto assassination thing that happened. That said, Senator Obama and Senator Clinton still seem to be friendly rivals rather than bitter enemies. Even if Senator Obama is the choice of Democrats living outside the United States.
Gabriel Schoenfeld thinks that the idea of the Bush Administration being the most secretive of administrations is untrue because of the torrent of leaked information coming from the administration. In The Bush Secrecy Myth, he decries the practice of leaking information as detrimental to the security of the nation and accuses leakers of giving information to the enemies of America. The justification for such secrecy appears to be rooted in the belief that the War on a Concept is an actual justification for secrecy of government action. We’ve seen what happens when this administration keeps secrets - disappeared persons, secret military facilities, treatment of detainees with the bowlderized “enhanced interrogation techniques”, wiretapping of private communications without warrants or court orders, and the “unitary executive”. We’ve even seen what they can do when they deliberately release information, like the name of a CIA agent working under cover. Openness and transparency, wherever possible, is the hallmark of a good government. An administration that thinks most of its actions should be kept secret is not an administration to be trusted. Perhaps if the Bush administration were more open about their dealings, the leaking would dry up some. Of course, it would also be nice if they would adhere to the rule of law, but baby steps, I suspect, are all we’ll get out of this.
The Republican Party is doing a fair share of fearmongering, too. Head to the home page and listen/watch their “FISA 2008 - America at Risk” video. They’re definitely trying to scare the American people into thinking that they aren’t safe because the government now has to go through courts and do things the legal way, rather than gathering the information first and getting a warrant for it later. Does it potentially leave the country open to attack? Sure, but warrantless wrietapping didn’t help prevent 11 September. Intelligence failures did.
Our Actual News Headline for the day has been paired with a graphic courtesy of
theweaselking, and is probably NSFW - Alien Sex Offenders Being Deported From Virginia. While that’s just a play on a headline, the following account is true, scary, and should never ever happen again. Gunfire was exchanged between two people, one who had his children in the car with him, when one passed the other for going too slowly. Apparently the passed car took offense, may ahve tried to ram the passing car, but definitely opened fire on the driver, who fired back. What’s worse is that after the dad dropped his kids off at school, he went hunting for the car that shot at him and continued their battle. No Darwin Awards to be handed out here, but I think both of those men deserve a Zombie Award, because they are certainly lacking in brains. Similarly lacking brains is our Federal Emergency Management Agency which has released a document on what to do if the pieces of the shot-down spy satellite should come to rest near you. The advice is... well, just remember that these people were responsible for cleanup and assistance on the hurricane disaster.
And because I can, ghostbusters called into an East Sussex water treatment plant because of the possible presence of a zombie there.
Deserving of hot cheese-filled pastry to the face, in my soapbox opinion, is Gary Hubbel, who talks about the demographic of the Angry White Man, who resembles the very worst of the cantankerous white man, complaining about immigrants taking jobs here and outsourcing to elsewhere, and accomodation of languages other than English is anathema to him. He believes himself to be the Manly Man, who is always heterosexual, chivalrous, the sole breadwinner, provider, and decision-maker for his family, the poker buddy, the handyman, the firearms owner, and the man with a remarkable lack of conscience when it comes to killing people in the context of military service. He doesn’t discriminate against people of other races, but he expects them to behave as close to being white as they can. He fits the CEKSM profile, could reliably be called a boor, and probably qualifies for being a Nice Guy(tm). What may be the scariest about that piece is not the intimation that there are a lot of people that are Angry White Men, but the possibility that he’s right.
The Mighty Ponygirl makes a very important point about society - "Shut up and play the game" is not an acceptable dialog about the role of sexism in on-line games. Just like in the real world, if female gamers want to be treated equally and with respect, then they deserve to be treated equally and with respect. (Even if they don’t want it, they do deserve it.) Unfortunately, what happens is a lot of smokescreen - “Girls are played by d00ds, so you’re wanking to a d00d, haha.” “Well, ladies just want to be treated fairly. We’re not those feminists who delight in driving spike heels into guys’ genitals.” “Talking about sexism encourages sexism”. And, of course, “Shut up and play the game.” Right, Blizzard follows the trope that the less a female is wearing, the more protected she is. Which means that there’s skin showing almost all the time, and thus, Nice Guys(tm), Angry White Men, and other CEKSM will do their utmost to talk about the physical appearance rather than the actual skills of the player. Someone should make a piece of armor for these games that is little more than a male thong, give it ridiculous defensive stats, and then see how players justify wearing it... and whether those players get told they’re homosexuals or to not wear that kind of armor because the other players are squicked by the sight of so many digital men in steel underwear. And then, the agents of change should be right there ready to say “What? It’s just a game. Shut up and play.” and we’ll see how well that goes over.
Earning some pastry themselves is the advertising agency that thought they could sell sport brassiers off the premise that unbound women would have their breasts striking them in the face. The difficulty of that idea is that the advert ended up making the women look like they were being domestically abused. So that was a less-than-excellent idea. Fortunately, the firm asking for advertising ideas rejected those concepts because they were similarly offended by the images presented. Unfortunately, for those who might have been abused, or worse, raped, those who want a rape kit examination often end up paying for it out-of-pocket. Once again, Viagra - covered. Birth Control? Sometimes not. Rape kit? Oh, never, no never. Thanks, private insurance. Is this your own little way of saying “Well, she obviously deserved it, whatever it was”? The Jezebel comments along express the rage felt.
Anti-Scientology activist found dead, apparently of suicide. There is no foul play suspected in the matter, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t speculations about what the Church of Scientology may have done. I doubt it would be a matter of direct involvement, but from what we’ve heard of what the Church does to people they don’t like, it’s not inconceivable that someone would end up taking their own life just to get away from the relentless character assassination that tends to happen. But that’s all speculation, which may make it good enough for Anonymous to use as one more bullet.
If you’ve ever had a deja vu about products and designs, or you see something in a different store that’s clearly a rip-off or a copy, You thought We Wouldn't Notice is the place for you. Pictures and descriptions of things that are eerily similar, if not total copies.
In technology, encrypted disk keys are apaprently left in RAM for a while after power stops flowing - long enough for an attacker to obtain them and use them for spying on your sensitive data. Which sort of defeats the purpose of the crypto in the first place. Better usage of technology is using satellites in the sky to spot where old ruins are in the rainforests.
Rubber-like compouns can re-stick together, even after being cut. The substance, using vegetable oil combined with an ingredient in urine, replaces strong but brittle bonds in conventional rubbers with weaker but reformable hydrogen bonds. It’s a substance that can be torn apart, cut apart, or broken and then stuck back together with no discerible loss of strength or of seal. Neat.
Google is possibly branching out into the health records area, running a test by storing a few thousand people’s medical records and making them available with the same Google services password. There are HIPAA concerns, plus the concern that Google knows too much about us as it is, and the worry that if an account is compromised, then there’s even more data that can be used for nefarious purposes.
Our Retro-Future department has found an on-line exhibit of the work of Arthur Radebaugh, responsible for such material as Closer than We Think. So for those of us still waiting for our antigrav belts, take a swing back in time to see what the 1930s thought we’d have by now. At least some firefighters are getting a little training on what might happen should a UFO land, so maybe we’re getting closer to that retro-future than we thought.
Next to last for tonight, an unfortunate coincidence - St. Patrick's Day falls during the week before Easter, which means that feasts and festivals for the saint are in a “no-fun” zone. This, understandably, has the laity and the priesthood at a bit of odds. A lot of places are moving their celebrations forward to days outside of “Holy Week”, but a brave few are going to hold theirs right on the day.
Last for tonight, Oxford University scholars will spend $4 million to try and figure out why man keeps the concept of God. Perhaps if they are sucessful, we’ll know why we would invent God, if he happens not to exist in this universe. And, just so that I can make a joke about “seeing God”, (probably one in poor taste. Apologies, but the connection’s there) researchers are claiming that 1) the G-spot of legend exists, but 2) not every woman has one.
So that’s the way things are. Definitely time for other activities now...
