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silveradeptAs silly as it sounds, I was very happy that I got my official name tag and lanyard today. No longer am I just “Staff”, but a named and titled person with that credential hanging off my neck. It’s silly, but it’s another mark that I actually belong where I am, and it’s not as likely that I’m going to be replaced by someone else in a sudden and abrupt management gesture. Passing the performance review at six months will really help that out. But, yay! I got my name badge today. And I sat it on the baby explorers program, and it was adorably cute, and not just because of the babies. Although that certainly helped. And there was chocolate today. So it was definitely a good day today.
Going from my day to the day of people in the world, the unintentional swastika on a naval base will be camouflaged and re-landscaped to hide the emblem, to the cost of about $600,000 USD. It’s still rather interesting that the predominant association is not the one that’s been around for many hundreds of years in a peaceful manner but the one that was brutish, violent, and short-lived. I’m not saying we don’t need to remember the lessons of that time, but um, could we make them a footnote when dealing with the symbol, rather than making all the other stuff the footnote?
New recall for the week is frozen hamburger with E.coli in it. Has this always been like this, and now we’re finally getting to the point where we can learn about it as fast as it happens?
Turning slantways into tech stuff, adding two more sensors to a CD/DVD drive turns it into an effective medical scanner, according to some medical hackers in Spain. While the precision’s not superfine, it is good enough for most work, they say. With the correct software, and putting a sample, or several thousand, on a CD, that could be a breakthrough for a cheap medical scanner. Still some refinements to the procedure needed, though. If it’s good, though, the next generation of players could correspond to an increase in the sensitivity and capacity of the instrument. Another potential use for a DVD laser diode is transforming a MiniMag from flashlight to laser emitter, by removing the bulbs and putting in the diode.
Department of Homeland Security demonstrates that electrical power systems can be disrupted through remote access, but assures us that the risk is very low. From the way the description is, it would take someone with at least some specialized knowledge to hit the right control system, overcome the security protocols, and then set things as to cause damage and blackouts. They are working to correct the problem, of course. That this was previously classified material seems to indicate to me that they feel far enough ahead of the curve to safely say that it’s not really likely to happen. Which either indicates that DHS takes the idea of transparency in government seriously, or that they’re trying to add fuel to a fire of improbable events that might happen. Maybe a little of both.
This much we do know - the DHS and the military-industrial complex have become so popular and so profitable that a Maryland high school offers a curriculum in "Homeland Security Science" or other related instruction. Jesus’ General would like to know what Homeland Security Science is, and whether it might include some of the things that Homeland Security has already authorized.
Hooray? Portland federal judge finds FISA as modified by the Patriot Act violates the Fourth Amendment. Not the SCOTUS, but might be an in to them, where we could hope that the SCOTUS agrees and requires the Administration to cease with the warrantless wiretapping and actually get probable cause before searching.
Around the world, Mr. Gorbachev wants Russia to remember its history and avoid returning to Stalinism. Popular opinion seems to be against him, with many young Russians thinking that Stalin’s age was an age of greatness. Sounds more like the matter of “Well, the current era sucks, and we’re poor. It looks like, while it was politically frigid, oppressive, and lots of people died, Stalin’s era at least had people able to eat and live decently. Maybe there was something in that system after all.” Here in the United States, though, I think the majority of the people distressed with the way things are moving forward are the generations just beyond “the young”. They’re still there, and they have some political clout, but at some point, unless they can transmit their desire on to the younger generation, they’ll pass into history. Young people, however, tend to be able to spark revolutions, and so they could very well achieve their ends, if there was enough determination.
In Burma/Myanmar, security forces have opened fire upon Buddhist monks and other protesters, escalating the incident further and drawing even more attention and negativity from the international community. The possibility of things exploding completely out of control (over a fuel price hike, no less) is now significantly more likely to occur. Even more so if monks are harmed or killed in the process. This is what happens when the people get momentum on a cause they can get behind. There are plenty of people who would like to see America doing something like it - not violence, but a protest to bring back the rule of law and government. Failing that, or the ability to make critical mass, many will give advice on how to fight the system/government/power structure by oneself. Possibly even if the police, like in New Zealand, open up a wiki to ask the world community to comment on proposed legislation.
Iran’s president told the United Nations that the matter is closed on its nuclear programme, and that it will have nuclear capabilities. Iran says that their ability is to be peaceful in nature, the United States thinks they will build weapon capabilities out of enriched uranium. Time will likely be the only thing that tells us if either or both of those positions is correct.
Bridging technology and nature, check out Inhabitat's Treehouse gallery. There are houses to be built in trees, houses made out of trees, and all sorts of creative talent applied to the idea that arboreal living might be a sustainable idea. If they can link up with the people making solar-powered homes, which are still going strong in a slumping housing market, then it could be a wave of the future to live in the woods. I wonder about the commute to work, though, if there is one.
The Dumb Criminals file has this gem - two people who tried to convince a store clerk that they could make his money multiply through the use of a "special potion". The clerk knew that there was no such thing as free money, and especially not with something like that. The criminals would probably do okay in a stage show, but now they’ll have to practice their sleights in prison.
Regarding rights for all persons, I’m not sure I trust the source on this, but supposedly the House's Democratic leaders may be thinking of dropping transgender protections from an upcoming Employment Non-Discrimination Act. This could cause schisms in activist groups on deciding whether some protections are better than none, or whether an all-or-nothing idea is proper. Something I note in there is that there are still provisions in the bill to exempt certain religious groups from the requirements of this bill. Yet, I suspect, those groups will probably have federal or state monies allocated to them to assist in social purposes. I’d like to believe that in our society, by accepting the funding from the governmental apparatuses, the religious organizations also accept the rules by which the governmental apparatuses operate, which include such things as nondiscrimination clauses. Even if only for those functions by which the religious group accepts the federal funding. Yes, I realize that if that were to be enforced, I’d probably kill much of the social assistance network that’s currently in place in the United States. Or create a sort of dual-network system, with one part being the government’s network and another being the religious ones. But that’s me, y’know. Knowing that the current administration has an entire office of faith-based initiatives that are giving programs saturated with Christian worship and promotion of faith-based material as the best, I think those exceptions are probably politically necessary for a shot, if the bill actually manages to get to Mr. Bush’s desk.
Of course, that wouldn’t necessarily stop private companies from doing thigns, either. Verizon Wireless first appeared to block, and then backpedaled strongly on the blocking of, pro-choice text messages being sent by NARAL. People who are worried about the neutrality and free-flow of information on the Internet, as well as pro-choice advocates, should be worried when communications companies start making decisions about what is and isn’t permitted on their networks. This has been classified as an isolated incident by the company, with many assurances that the censoring decision was incorrect. Time will tell whether this was deliberate or incidental.
The Happiness Project has something useful to all of our working days - some quick tips on how to boost one's alertness and energy levels, and all but one of them don’t involve chemical stimulants. Some of those techniques I’ve used myself to make sure that I don’t lull out. Occasionally, though, it takes a lunchtime nap to make things work again. (And when your’e on lunch, that power nap is okay.)
So, yeah, that’s the usual disjointed sequence of stuff, without rhyme, reason, or even much for transitions. It’s about par for me. So the last thing for tonight is using the CCTV camera system as a way of creating free cinema. Which is neat - capture the feed, utilizing the cameras already there, and make a movie. Although, that makes me wonder just how secure a CCTV feed actually is, if you can tap into it to create your own movies.
Going from my day to the day of people in the world, the unintentional swastika on a naval base will be camouflaged and re-landscaped to hide the emblem, to the cost of about $600,000 USD. It’s still rather interesting that the predominant association is not the one that’s been around for many hundreds of years in a peaceful manner but the one that was brutish, violent, and short-lived. I’m not saying we don’t need to remember the lessons of that time, but um, could we make them a footnote when dealing with the symbol, rather than making all the other stuff the footnote?
New recall for the week is frozen hamburger with E.coli in it. Has this always been like this, and now we’re finally getting to the point where we can learn about it as fast as it happens?
Turning slantways into tech stuff, adding two more sensors to a CD/DVD drive turns it into an effective medical scanner, according to some medical hackers in Spain. While the precision’s not superfine, it is good enough for most work, they say. With the correct software, and putting a sample, or several thousand, on a CD, that could be a breakthrough for a cheap medical scanner. Still some refinements to the procedure needed, though. If it’s good, though, the next generation of players could correspond to an increase in the sensitivity and capacity of the instrument. Another potential use for a DVD laser diode is transforming a MiniMag from flashlight to laser emitter, by removing the bulbs and putting in the diode.
Department of Homeland Security demonstrates that electrical power systems can be disrupted through remote access, but assures us that the risk is very low. From the way the description is, it would take someone with at least some specialized knowledge to hit the right control system, overcome the security protocols, and then set things as to cause damage and blackouts. They are working to correct the problem, of course. That this was previously classified material seems to indicate to me that they feel far enough ahead of the curve to safely say that it’s not really likely to happen. Which either indicates that DHS takes the idea of transparency in government seriously, or that they’re trying to add fuel to a fire of improbable events that might happen. Maybe a little of both.
This much we do know - the DHS and the military-industrial complex have become so popular and so profitable that a Maryland high school offers a curriculum in "Homeland Security Science" or other related instruction. Jesus’ General would like to know what Homeland Security Science is, and whether it might include some of the things that Homeland Security has already authorized.
Hooray? Portland federal judge finds FISA as modified by the Patriot Act violates the Fourth Amendment. Not the SCOTUS, but might be an in to them, where we could hope that the SCOTUS agrees and requires the Administration to cease with the warrantless wiretapping and actually get probable cause before searching.
Around the world, Mr. Gorbachev wants Russia to remember its history and avoid returning to Stalinism. Popular opinion seems to be against him, with many young Russians thinking that Stalin’s age was an age of greatness. Sounds more like the matter of “Well, the current era sucks, and we’re poor. It looks like, while it was politically frigid, oppressive, and lots of people died, Stalin’s era at least had people able to eat and live decently. Maybe there was something in that system after all.” Here in the United States, though, I think the majority of the people distressed with the way things are moving forward are the generations just beyond “the young”. They’re still there, and they have some political clout, but at some point, unless they can transmit their desire on to the younger generation, they’ll pass into history. Young people, however, tend to be able to spark revolutions, and so they could very well achieve their ends, if there was enough determination.
In Burma/Myanmar, security forces have opened fire upon Buddhist monks and other protesters, escalating the incident further and drawing even more attention and negativity from the international community. The possibility of things exploding completely out of control (over a fuel price hike, no less) is now significantly more likely to occur. Even more so if monks are harmed or killed in the process. This is what happens when the people get momentum on a cause they can get behind. There are plenty of people who would like to see America doing something like it - not violence, but a protest to bring back the rule of law and government. Failing that, or the ability to make critical mass, many will give advice on how to fight the system/government/power structure by oneself. Possibly even if the police, like in New Zealand, open up a wiki to ask the world community to comment on proposed legislation.
Iran’s president told the United Nations that the matter is closed on its nuclear programme, and that it will have nuclear capabilities. Iran says that their ability is to be peaceful in nature, the United States thinks they will build weapon capabilities out of enriched uranium. Time will likely be the only thing that tells us if either or both of those positions is correct.
Bridging technology and nature, check out Inhabitat's Treehouse gallery. There are houses to be built in trees, houses made out of trees, and all sorts of creative talent applied to the idea that arboreal living might be a sustainable idea. If they can link up with the people making solar-powered homes, which are still going strong in a slumping housing market, then it could be a wave of the future to live in the woods. I wonder about the commute to work, though, if there is one.
The Dumb Criminals file has this gem - two people who tried to convince a store clerk that they could make his money multiply through the use of a "special potion". The clerk knew that there was no such thing as free money, and especially not with something like that. The criminals would probably do okay in a stage show, but now they’ll have to practice their sleights in prison.
Regarding rights for all persons, I’m not sure I trust the source on this, but supposedly the House's Democratic leaders may be thinking of dropping transgender protections from an upcoming Employment Non-Discrimination Act. This could cause schisms in activist groups on deciding whether some protections are better than none, or whether an all-or-nothing idea is proper. Something I note in there is that there are still provisions in the bill to exempt certain religious groups from the requirements of this bill. Yet, I suspect, those groups will probably have federal or state monies allocated to them to assist in social purposes. I’d like to believe that in our society, by accepting the funding from the governmental apparatuses, the religious organizations also accept the rules by which the governmental apparatuses operate, which include such things as nondiscrimination clauses. Even if only for those functions by which the religious group accepts the federal funding. Yes, I realize that if that were to be enforced, I’d probably kill much of the social assistance network that’s currently in place in the United States. Or create a sort of dual-network system, with one part being the government’s network and another being the religious ones. But that’s me, y’know. Knowing that the current administration has an entire office of faith-based initiatives that are giving programs saturated with Christian worship and promotion of faith-based material as the best, I think those exceptions are probably politically necessary for a shot, if the bill actually manages to get to Mr. Bush’s desk.
Of course, that wouldn’t necessarily stop private companies from doing thigns, either. Verizon Wireless first appeared to block, and then backpedaled strongly on the blocking of, pro-choice text messages being sent by NARAL. People who are worried about the neutrality and free-flow of information on the Internet, as well as pro-choice advocates, should be worried when communications companies start making decisions about what is and isn’t permitted on their networks. This has been classified as an isolated incident by the company, with many assurances that the censoring decision was incorrect. Time will tell whether this was deliberate or incidental.
The Happiness Project has something useful to all of our working days - some quick tips on how to boost one's alertness and energy levels, and all but one of them don’t involve chemical stimulants. Some of those techniques I’ve used myself to make sure that I don’t lull out. Occasionally, though, it takes a lunchtime nap to make things work again. (And when your’e on lunch, that power nap is okay.)
So, yeah, that’s the usual disjointed sequence of stuff, without rhyme, reason, or even much for transitions. It’s about par for me. So the last thing for tonight is using the CCTV camera system as a way of creating free cinema. Which is neat - capture the feed, utilizing the cameras already there, and make a movie. Although, that makes me wonder just how secure a CCTV feed actually is, if you can tap into it to create your own movies.
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no subject
Date: 2007-09-28 07:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-28 07:43 pm (UTC)And then see what happens if she wants to keep the child, but doesn't want the surviving partner to see him, but also wants the partner to pay her child support to raise the kid with. See the clusterfrak going on?
no subject
Date: 2007-09-28 07:47 pm (UTC)I'm not sure the surviving partner would have to pay support if they weren't the guardian of the child, HOWEVER, the mother would be eligible for the SSI benefits that are given to children with one deceased parent.