Job Applications, Away! - 23 March 2007
Mar. 24th, 2007 02:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silveradeptWell, that was fun. Eight applications for jobs turned completed, and a ninth sort of done automatic-like, because of one of the eight. And still had enough time to rewrite my observation from scratch to conform a bit more with the style being sought. No work on the programming - that’s tomorrow, and this time, I should have what I need to at least have a go at succeeding. That’s what we’re hoping for, anyway. Maybe by tomorrow, assuming the first example works, I can get all the rest of them to go “Yep!” and thus implement AJAX where I want it to go. There will have to be some trickery involved, of course, if I do it right, just to be sure that everything appears and disappears as needed. Eventually, I’ll have to turn my eyes toward CSS and navigation and making it all look pretty. Which I suppose is something nice, but I did all the legwork on the first release, d00ds. I’d like to be able to relax a bit (which I suppose I have, in the sense that I’ve been doing other work.) Anyway, this might be the lightweight release because all the other projects are starting to come due up, and so I have to devote attention to them. Plus, you know, there’s that whole job market thing.
Anyway, the links come flying fast and hard tonight, so strap in and let’s get going.
I knew things were familiar in a previous preseidency! (See previous post about executive privilege) In fact, although he espouses it now and says the situation’s changed, Tony Snow was getting on Clinton's case about invoking executive privilege during the Lewinsky scandal. Just the thing I needed to feel smug and superior. Okay, moment over, moving on.
Okay, one more gloat, namely that the RIAA is getting smacked and forced to go ahead with trial or face a dismissal with prejudice on one of their cases. Bad situation all around for them, ars technica says. In other piracy matters, the dogs trained to sniff out optical discs (to combat piracy by leading humans to caches of discs otherwise marked as other things or as legitimate objects) have made enemies out of the syndicates, apparently. A bounty has been placed on their heads. So I hope that those who look after the dogs keep a very good eye on them.
One more? Oh, very well. McDonald’s is trying to get dictionary makers to remove "McJob" from their books, claiming the term is offensive to the company and out-of-date. They may be right about the out-of-date part, as I don’t think Mickey D’s has done much for making more jobs. The concept, however, much like McMansions, might be around to stay. Sounds like there’s a lot of work to do. (Also, how recent has it been that the OED is including slang-like words or relatively recent words in it, if at all?)
Leading off the weird is a bartender who has recovered from a sixteen-story fall. He hit an awning on the way down, and the people who treated him think it might have saved him. On a similar note, the gent who jumped off a cruise ship had also had quite a bit to drink. Further weird is burglars who stole a 220-pound gold bar after the case it was in was left open for visitors to touch. Rather impolite of them to do such a thing. If you want to get weird and outside reality for a bit, then check out the conclusion that, if you go by certain definitions and assumptions, there are no more than 512 vampires in the Buffyverse. The commenters, being good scientists, (or fans, at least) promptly shred the conclusion by drawing in more variables. Maybe someday we’ll figure out how many there really are.
The idea is nice, but I’m in no position to participate (and I’m already in violation - and so are you, if you’re reading it.) Shutdown Day would like us to turn our PCs off for twenty-four hours and see if we can’t, y’know, survive. In my case, I can’t. Schoolwork and all that. Plus, were I to want to watch the television, I’d have to turn my computer on. Of course, to some, the very idea of Shutdown Day is anathema.
Getting an edge on the competition, the edge brownie pan is a good solution for everyone who wants chewy edges on their brownie pan. So long as it cuts and can be lifted out easily, I think it’s good to go.
Be careful what you claim in products - occasionally someone decides to test you on it. In the case of a GlaxoSmithKline drink, two high school students in NEw Zealand found it didn't have the vitamin C in the quantities it claimed. Chemistry at its finest produces an interesting result, and as a result, the company’s being charged with breaches of the Fair Trading Act of New Zealand. Truth in advertising is always good.
Ron Rosenbaum in Slate is not happy about yoga - well, rather, he’s not happy about how yoga is being latched on to by new age feel-good parasites. The Buddhist Geeks are also not particular pleased with the way Zen is also potentially being co-opted by this group. At least, when they’re missing the point by a wide margin or not getting the full Zen out of it. (Although, I suspect “full Zen” is at least a slight contradiction.)
Sanctions are on the way for Iran. The newest sanctions were put into final form, with a vote expected soon. It’ll likely pass, and then we get to see what happens as a result.
If you want a good reason why many people in this state want out of it, have a look at this: Houses in the Detroit area will sell for less than the cost of a new car. Now, that’s probably in large part because of the giant white flight that happened/continues to happen that drives prices down and kills the economy. But the Detroit-based automotive plants are not doing too well, either. When your economy stagnates, well, this is part of the result. It doesn’t look like it’ll change much until the state can manage to get off of its dependence on cars to drive the economy.
The Dumb Criminals File has another entry: A Chicago man trying to open bank doors after they were closed for the evening. The officer, off-duty, noticed, called in backup, and the man was arrested. Next time, come back during regular business hours.
Something much more interesting - back when nuclear power was newer and we were thinking that we could make it work small-scale, Ford Motor Company designed a nuclear-powered car. It never saw daylight, but if we had managed to make a small reactor that didn’t irradiate everything and wasn’t a radioactive risk in an accident, how would the future have changed?
Perhaps an aide to our DDR selves, or to just dancing in general, a yellow robot called "Keepon" is aiming to find the beat and groove to it. The research on Keepon is hopefully helping roboticists build bots with beats, so that they can not only bust out moves, but they can shift their voice cadence and body language to bob in time with what they hear. Truth be told, I think they’ve hit on something here. A lot of human interaction happens to a beat or an internal rhythm of some sort. If robots can tap the beat, then they can act a lot more human, just by knowing the cadence. Might also help them detect emotions and match moods, as computers and robots at MIT are trying to do.
Golf is a water-expensive hobby. So much so that The Morning News starts breaking down the cost of keeping the greens in condition, among all the other water-wasteful habits of Americans. There’s also material from the United Nations about how much of the world is still experiencing water-scarcities and a worsening of their water quality. Fixing the problem is more than just matters of reducing water usage, though - it’s finding ways of making sure everyone has access to clean water. All in all, water’s a lot more political of a thing than most people think. (There was a ruffling of feathers about other states sucking up Great Lakes water some time ago, if I recall correctly - so we’re not immune to water disputes even between states.)
The cool thing for tonight, though, is a look into parcours and free-runners, people who eschew the sidewalk in favor of covering ground in a more efficient way. They see the world outside more like an obstacle course, and plot out and make runs of the areas around them. There are videos around, some of which I know I’ve seen, because I was enthralled at the way they used the environment and the artistry of their moves to do things that normal people might not have thought of. It’s like watching someone do all the tricks and techniques from wire-fu movies in real time without the wires. Fun stuff to watch.
So that’s it tonight. Out of those eight or nine applications sent, should I expect any of them to want to get a hold of me for anything? (Obviously, until I have a job I want, I’m going to keep sending out applications.) Or do I just keep going along and be pleasantly surprised if one should say “Can we schedule an interview?”
Anyway, the links come flying fast and hard tonight, so strap in and let’s get going.
I knew things were familiar in a previous preseidency! (See previous post about executive privilege) In fact, although he espouses it now and says the situation’s changed, Tony Snow was getting on Clinton's case about invoking executive privilege during the Lewinsky scandal. Just the thing I needed to feel smug and superior. Okay, moment over, moving on.
Okay, one more gloat, namely that the RIAA is getting smacked and forced to go ahead with trial or face a dismissal with prejudice on one of their cases. Bad situation all around for them, ars technica says. In other piracy matters, the dogs trained to sniff out optical discs (to combat piracy by leading humans to caches of discs otherwise marked as other things or as legitimate objects) have made enemies out of the syndicates, apparently. A bounty has been placed on their heads. So I hope that those who look after the dogs keep a very good eye on them.
One more? Oh, very well. McDonald’s is trying to get dictionary makers to remove "McJob" from their books, claiming the term is offensive to the company and out-of-date. They may be right about the out-of-date part, as I don’t think Mickey D’s has done much for making more jobs. The concept, however, much like McMansions, might be around to stay. Sounds like there’s a lot of work to do. (Also, how recent has it been that the OED is including slang-like words or relatively recent words in it, if at all?)
Leading off the weird is a bartender who has recovered from a sixteen-story fall. He hit an awning on the way down, and the people who treated him think it might have saved him. On a similar note, the gent who jumped off a cruise ship had also had quite a bit to drink. Further weird is burglars who stole a 220-pound gold bar after the case it was in was left open for visitors to touch. Rather impolite of them to do such a thing. If you want to get weird and outside reality for a bit, then check out the conclusion that, if you go by certain definitions and assumptions, there are no more than 512 vampires in the Buffyverse. The commenters, being good scientists, (or fans, at least) promptly shred the conclusion by drawing in more variables. Maybe someday we’ll figure out how many there really are.
The idea is nice, but I’m in no position to participate (and I’m already in violation - and so are you, if you’re reading it.) Shutdown Day would like us to turn our PCs off for twenty-four hours and see if we can’t, y’know, survive. In my case, I can’t. Schoolwork and all that. Plus, were I to want to watch the television, I’d have to turn my computer on. Of course, to some, the very idea of Shutdown Day is anathema.
Getting an edge on the competition, the edge brownie pan is a good solution for everyone who wants chewy edges on their brownie pan. So long as it cuts and can be lifted out easily, I think it’s good to go.
Be careful what you claim in products - occasionally someone decides to test you on it. In the case of a GlaxoSmithKline drink, two high school students in NEw Zealand found it didn't have the vitamin C in the quantities it claimed. Chemistry at its finest produces an interesting result, and as a result, the company’s being charged with breaches of the Fair Trading Act of New Zealand. Truth in advertising is always good.
Ron Rosenbaum in Slate is not happy about yoga - well, rather, he’s not happy about how yoga is being latched on to by new age feel-good parasites. The Buddhist Geeks are also not particular pleased with the way Zen is also potentially being co-opted by this group. At least, when they’re missing the point by a wide margin or not getting the full Zen out of it. (Although, I suspect “full Zen” is at least a slight contradiction.)
Sanctions are on the way for Iran. The newest sanctions were put into final form, with a vote expected soon. It’ll likely pass, and then we get to see what happens as a result.
If you want a good reason why many people in this state want out of it, have a look at this: Houses in the Detroit area will sell for less than the cost of a new car. Now, that’s probably in large part because of the giant white flight that happened/continues to happen that drives prices down and kills the economy. But the Detroit-based automotive plants are not doing too well, either. When your economy stagnates, well, this is part of the result. It doesn’t look like it’ll change much until the state can manage to get off of its dependence on cars to drive the economy.
The Dumb Criminals File has another entry: A Chicago man trying to open bank doors after they were closed for the evening. The officer, off-duty, noticed, called in backup, and the man was arrested. Next time, come back during regular business hours.
Something much more interesting - back when nuclear power was newer and we were thinking that we could make it work small-scale, Ford Motor Company designed a nuclear-powered car. It never saw daylight, but if we had managed to make a small reactor that didn’t irradiate everything and wasn’t a radioactive risk in an accident, how would the future have changed?
Perhaps an aide to our DDR selves, or to just dancing in general, a yellow robot called "Keepon" is aiming to find the beat and groove to it. The research on Keepon is hopefully helping roboticists build bots with beats, so that they can not only bust out moves, but they can shift their voice cadence and body language to bob in time with what they hear. Truth be told, I think they’ve hit on something here. A lot of human interaction happens to a beat or an internal rhythm of some sort. If robots can tap the beat, then they can act a lot more human, just by knowing the cadence. Might also help them detect emotions and match moods, as computers and robots at MIT are trying to do.
Golf is a water-expensive hobby. So much so that The Morning News starts breaking down the cost of keeping the greens in condition, among all the other water-wasteful habits of Americans. There’s also material from the United Nations about how much of the world is still experiencing water-scarcities and a worsening of their water quality. Fixing the problem is more than just matters of reducing water usage, though - it’s finding ways of making sure everyone has access to clean water. All in all, water’s a lot more political of a thing than most people think. (There was a ruffling of feathers about other states sucking up Great Lakes water some time ago, if I recall correctly - so we’re not immune to water disputes even between states.)
The cool thing for tonight, though, is a look into parcours and free-runners, people who eschew the sidewalk in favor of covering ground in a more efficient way. They see the world outside more like an obstacle course, and plot out and make runs of the areas around them. There are videos around, some of which I know I’ve seen, because I was enthralled at the way they used the environment and the artistry of their moves to do things that normal people might not have thought of. It’s like watching someone do all the tricks and techniques from wire-fu movies in real time without the wires. Fun stuff to watch.
So that’s it tonight. Out of those eight or nine applications sent, should I expect any of them to want to get a hold of me for anything? (Obviously, until I have a job I want, I’m going to keep sending out applications.) Or do I just keep going along and be pleasantly surprised if one should say “Can we schedule an interview?”
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