***Dave Does the Blog

Sic Transit Gloria Blogger

I've rebuilt my site in Movable Type, which means two things:

1. I am no longer dependant upon Blogger.com being up and operating (a Good Thing).

2. This is no longer (as of today) my current page.

My new current page is (drumroll, please ...)

http://www.hill-kleerup.org/blog/

So update those links! Click that URL! Check out the all-new, all-different, all- ... well, actually it's got pretty much the same look, but, uh, well, ... the ALL-MOVABLE-TYPE "***Dave Does the Blog"!

(If you still haven't got it, click the link above to go to my new real blog page. And save that page as the link you want to go to, not this one any more. Got it? If not, mail me. I'll try to 'splain.)

(And, no, I don't want to autoforward because some folks haven't read the entries below yet, and I don't want to screw around with importing Blogger stuff to Movable Type, and why don't you just click the link above and be done with it?)

See you on the flip side!

5:59 PM  •  0 comments

Mmm-mmm Good

The Joy of Soup.

Margie's been simmering some turkey soup. I think we're having it tonight. Yum.

10:10 AM  •  2 comments

Next, please?

Downloaded the CityDesk Starter Edition.

Pros

All hail Haengr the Insane!

Get your Viking name. (Unlike the previous version of this one, you actually get asked some questions.)

Also your Cereal Name ("Available in low-brow convenience marts everywhere, it's: Cracklin Choco Crisps!")

Your Hillbilly Name ("Your name is Bobby Joe Winchester but everyone calls you Buster.")

And, of course, your Exotic Dancer Name: ("The stage clears, and all eyes turn to you, The Fantastic Warren Cox.")

(Via Netsloth)

10:01 PM  •  2 comments

The Magically Depopulated Kingdom

The ongoing slump in Florida tourism is forcing major cutbacks at Disneyworld.

Actually, the saddest thing here was the description of the Port Orleans resort, where we stayed in October at the Gartner Group symposium, as "mostly closed." We found Port Orleans to be a fine place, very scenic and quiet, with easy transportation (by land and water) to the various parts of the park. If we were to go back, I'd strongly consider returning there.

Hmmmm. That Port Orleans mug might become a collector's item.

(Via Boing Boing)

9:05 PM  •  0 comments

Bad Dog! Have Another Biscuit!

Evil, evil, naughty Micro$oft! You bad, bad company! You acted monopolistically, leveraged your economic strength to put your competitors out of business -- those you didn't destroy by manipulating your control of the OS. You are a monopoly the likes of which has not been seen since Standard Oil, and you're darned lucky those Bushies decided not to push to break you up.

However shall we punish you, then?

Oh! Well, that Federal settlement is clearly too lax! We several states and various private parties will really hold your feet to the fire! We will! We want you to pay! Pay! Pay!

What's that? Hey ... Bill ... that's a great idea! Rather than making you pay cash, we'll make you do something useful -- like give away a bunch of software! And hardware! Well, it's old hardware -- and fully depreciated -- and it will count as a charitible contribution, so it won't really cost you any money ... but think of all the people it could help!

What's that? Hey, an even better idea! Let M$ contribute it to schools! Schools can always use more computers, right? And M$ can decide which schools, too.

What's that? Oh, just those ingrates from Apple, noting that this is letting Micro$oft flood the educational market, the one market it does not yet dominate, with its own hardware and software, thus creating an established base for future domination of the K-12 world. And noting that M$ will get to choose which schools to contribute to, like, maybe, ones that might buy other peoples' computers. Like Apple's. What a bunch of trouble-makers. What a bunch of spoil-sports!

What a bunch of losers.

(Via LargelyPro)

8:20 PM  •  1 comment

A taxing time

Captain Rooba got screwed over by H&R Block. Find someone else to do your taxes, everyone, assuming that the vagueries of TurboTax, et al., are too much for you.

Pass it on.

6:52 PM  •  1 comment

Decking the halls

Doyce is going all frantic over Christmas decor, since (a) they are in a house finally, (b) they don't have any Christmas decor stuff since they've not been in a house before, and (c) the 'Rents (his) are visiting for the holidays.

Meanwhile, over at the Consortium ... relative laziness reigns.

We're, once again, going off to visit our families miles away this season. (And it looks like we're driving, which will be a post or twelve on its own.) So there's no specific need to do boughs of holly festoonage. Especially since (a) Katherine is too small to appreciate Christmas decor, and (b) Katherine is too small to be around Christmas decor.

Next year will be different. Thanksgiving weekend -- decoration and an artificial tree. (Yes, we're doing the artificial thing. Colorado is just too dry for cut trees, and live trees fare badly after being inside for over 48 hours and then being thrown into the winter again.) Break out two families-worth of decor, and let it snow, let it snow, let it etc.

But this year -- laziness. At least about cleaning and decorating.

About cards and gifts and travel arrangements and work and a zillion other things ... that's a different matter.

5:49 PM  •  0 comments

Searches a-plenty

Searches that found me:

Ironwood+comic
Maxfield+Parish
the+Helena+Standard+dress+form
gorilla+racks
fantasy+art+mage
book+cover+illustration+copyright+infringement

Eclectic 'R' Us.

5:39 PM  •  0 comments

Iraq plays the Israel card

Iraq, definitely feeling that "little red dot" pointing its way, is once again rattling sabers and threatening to destroy Israel if the US attacks it.

Oddly enough, you'd think that would only encourage the rest of the Arab world to support a US attack on Iraq ...

(Via LGF)

3:35 PM  •  0 comments

Actions, meet consequences

You could almost predict the headline. "He’s a really good boy."

That was the reaction by the parents of John Phillip Walker Lindh, 20, who is among the captured Taliban after the prison uprising.

But Walker [his mother] says she was shocked by her son’s statements of support for the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. She says he had never expressed any interest in the Taliban or a any other militant version of Islam. “If he got involved with the Taliban, he must have been brainwashed,” she says. “He was isolated. He didn’t know a soul in Pakistan. When you’re young and impressionable, it’s easy to be led by charismatic people.”

“I’m proud of John,” [his father] says. “He’s a really good boy. A really sweet boy.”

(Via NextDraft)

9:29 AM  •  0 comments

Flag-waving

Asian Bastard provides a fine rant about mindless flag-waving -- inspired by some doofus in a van, proudly festooned, who showed all-too-common disregard for approaching emergency vehicles, even though everyone else was pulling over.

I could never quite articulate just why all this flag flying bothered me, but now I know: when the display of the American flag becomes a fad, a mindless display, a pompous badge, it turns that act from something noble and purposeful to something as vacuous as wearing a t-shirt with a Nike swoosh. I have more respect for those who burn the flag in protest than guys like Minivan Man; the flag-burners at least recognize the importance of the flag, even if they reject what it stands for.

No one should display the American flag, or any other symbol, unless they mean it; and if they mean it, they should live by it. If we don't, that flag might as well be a Jack in the Box antenna head.

Of course, valor in the face of defending the homeland doesn't necessarily imply intelligence, or even politeness. But it does, on a higher level, imply a moral virtue -- which is, in turn, squandered when you act like a frickin' doofus.

This is certainly not the first rant I've read on this general topic -- how there seems to be an inverse relationship between driving consideration/quality and the likelihood of the vehicle being decorated with a flag, a Jesus-fish, a "Baby On Board" placard, or something similarly implying special status. I don't know if it's true, or if it's simply that such folks are more visible targets of ire. But in either case, it's certainly rant-worthy.

If you're going to make a point of declaring your civic, moral, or paternal virtue -- then follow up your "words" with deeds. Otherwise, you not only deny your beliefs, but you do so in a very public (and therefore damaging to those beliefs) fashion.

Hmmm. Sort of a mini-rant from me, too.

(Via Xkot)

7:31 AM  •  3 comments

Thank God

(Via Scattered Thoughts)

9:27 PM  •  0 comments

Happy Birthday

Today is my Dad's birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad!

9:22 PM  •  0 comments

Because my life is not full of enough projects at the moment

Never mind that, with NaNoWriMo over, my time is only booked about 150%.

Fog Software has released CityDesk, which looks to be a PC-based blogging tool (actually, it can be used for any sort of article publishing, like running a newsletter, a paper, whatever). I've been intermittently unhappy with Blogger's service (and occasional quirks), but haven't been willing to invest in learning a web/CGI-based tool like Movable Type. (And, yes, I know, it's not all that difficult. Still ...).

CityDesk looks like it will have the advantages of (a) being highly WYSIWYG, and (b) letting me do stuff offline and publish later. Both of which are Good Things, IMO.

So I'm gonna check out the free personal edition, to see if it's usable. And, if so ... well, that might make a few things easier than they have been. And, if not ... c'est la vie. In either case, I'll let y'all know.

UPDATE: "The free starter edition is not yet ready for download as of November 29, 2001. Please check this page again in a few days." *Sigh*

9:13 PM  •  2 comments

PunditWatch's Quote of the Week

"In Europe they call it socialism, here we call it a stimulus package."
              --David Brooks

8:52 PM  •  0 comments

A case for wartime censorship?

I am a huge proponent of the First Amendment.

But this story -- about US government policy to quash news about the Japanese "balloon bombs" gives one cause to think. The Japanese, in WWII, launched some 9000 balloons, with various explosives, into the wind currents that would carry them over the US. The idea was to (a) cause massive forest fires in the West, diverting US manpower, and (b) cause mass hysteria among the US population.

About 300 of the balloons are recorded in government records as having actually made it. But the government quashed the story at the time, both to avoid the panic that the Japanese were looking for, and to deny the Japanese the intelligence that the balloons were actually making it (and where they were landing, and what was or wasn't working when they got here).

If it were happening today, I've little doubt folks would be screaming about censorship, about government cover-ups, about the public's right to know. We're more cynical about the government's motivations these days -- with more than a little reason, to be sure. Still ...

Of course, if it were happening today, would we know? And would that be a good thing?

(Via InstaPundit)

8:45 PM  •  0 comments

"It"

Through both intentional and unintentional hype, Dean Kamen's under-wraps invention (initially called "It," and then, "Ginger") because a subject of intense speculation as to what it acutally was earlier in the year. Now it comes out from under wraps.

It's a seriously-cool, one-man, self-balancing, energy-efficient scooter called Segway.

("It won't beam you to Mars or turn lead into gold," shrugs Kamen. "So sue me.")

How cool is it? Check it out.

Developed at a cost of more than $100 million, Kamen's vehicle is a complex bundle of hardware and software that mimics the human body's ability to maintain its balance. Not only does it have no brakes, it also has no engine, no throttle, no gearshift and no steering wheel. And it can carry the average rider for a full day, nonstop, on only five cents' worth of electricity.

[...] Kamen's aspirations are even grander than that. He believes the Segway "will be to the car what the car was to the horse and buggy." He imagines them everywhere: in parks and at Disneyland, on battlefields and factory floors, but especially on downtown sidewalks from Seattle to Shanghai. "Cars are great for going long distances," Kamen says, "but it makes no sense at all for people in cities to use a 4,000-lb. piece of metal to haul their 150-lb. asses around town." In the future he envisions, cars will be banished from urban centers to make room for millions of "empowered pedestrians"--empowered, naturally, by Kamen's brainchild.

Kamen's dream of a Segway-saturated world won't come true overnight. In fact, ordinary folks won't be able to buy the machines for at least a year, when a consumer model is expected to go on sale for about $3,000. For now, the first customers to test the Segway will be deep-pocketed institutions such as the U.S. Postal Service and General Electric, the National Parks Service and Amazon.com--institutions capable of shelling out about $8,000 apiece for industrial-strength models. And Kamen's dreamworld won't arrive at all unless he and his team can navigate the array of obstacles that are sure to be thrown up by competitors and ever cautious regulators.

[...] Exactly how the Segway achieves this effect isn't easy to explain; Kamen's first stab at it involves a blizzard of equations. Eventually, though, he offers this: "When you walk, you're really in what's called a controlled fall. You off-balance yourself, putting one foot in front of the other and falling onto them over and over again. In the same way, when you use a Segway, there's a gyroscope that acts like your inner ear, a computer that acts like your brain, motors that act like your muscles, wheels that act like your feet. Suddenly, you feel like you have on a pair of magic sneakers, and instead of falling forward, you go sailing across the room."

(Via Boing Boing)

3:30 PM  •  1 comment

Geeks and spooks

Here's a transcript of Bruce Sterling's speech at "Global Challenges, Trends and Best Practices in Cryptography," the Information System Security and Education Center, Washington, DC, on 20 November. It's a fascinating story about where we are on cryptography, thus computer privacy.

So: flame on. Here's the story as I see it. The big story about crypto is a power struggle between two American tribes: geeks and spooks. Occasionally innocent people blunder into this situation, but they get lost, either because they don't understand the technology (that's what geeks say) or they're not to pry any further into stuff beyond the reach of mere civilians (that's what the spooks say).

[...] The truer and sadder story of crypto was that the spooks and the geeks both beat the hell out of our democratic process, rendering lawyers, consumers, the Congress, the industry, and the Administration totally irrelevant, and leaving crypto as a blasted technical wasteland, in a kind of Afghan-style feud, where every single party was necessarily a crook, or a scofflaw, or a deceiver, or weirdly suspect, and there was no legitimacy, and no common ground, and still, today, no good method to assemble any.

(Via Boing Boing)

3:10 PM  •  0 comments

"Eat them up, yum!"

Potted Swan

Bone and skin your swan, and beat the flesh in a mortar, taking out the strings as you beat it.

Then take some clear fat bacon and beat with the swan, and when it is of a light flesh-colour, there is bacon enough in it; when it is beaten till it is like dough, it is enough.

Then season it with pepper, salt, cloves, mace and nutmeg, all beaten fine; mix it well with your flesh, and give it a beat or two altogether.

Then put it in an earthen pot with a little clart and fair water, and at the top, two pounds of fresh butter spread over it. Cover it with coarse paste and bake it with bread; then turn it out into a dish. Squeeze it gently to get out the moisture ... and when it is cold, cover it with clarified butter.

"Swan. It's what's for dinner."

2:20 PM  •  0 comments

Big Brother Does the Blog

One unexpected side benefit of switching to a new hit-stats provider (yes, this is another one of those posts ... scroll ahead if you're tired of hearing about it) is that I can put the counter on all my pages, which I've done (hence the hilarity regarding FrontPage).

That lets me see, among other things, what sorts of searches are hitting my other pages. Today's amusement:

What to do, what to do ...

Scientists are looking for ways to take reminder software and move it into the real world.

Such absent-mindedness may be frustrating to you, but to researchers and technology companies, it presents a potential market for memory aids, devices that will deliver reminders based not on calendar entries but where the user is at any given time. Unlike time-based alarms, like the ones used with a digital organizer or an e-mail program, these devices will sound off when you walk by the refrigerator, for example, or the file cabinet, reminding you of the frozen lunch or the printouts you need to carry to work.

To the scientists who are developing them, memory aids are much-needed appliances, the fruit of advances in computing that could improve the lives of many. But to critics, memory aids could well be an example of innovation driving need, an overkill of sensors and sophistication to do the work of Post-its.

11:28 AM  •  1 comment

But without the embarrassing scandals

11:01 AM  •  4 comments

Mutter mutter mutter ...

"Oh, darn, look at that -- my home page still has the Stats4All link on it, not the SiteMeter link. I'd better fix that."

"Oh, my, look at that -- FrontPage has wiped out my comments and archive directories again. Golly."

"Oh, drat, I seem to have burst a blood vessel. Hmmm."

9:14 AM  •  2 comments

Rudolph Redux

I grew up on the 1964 Rankin-Bass "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" special, though it's been years since I've seen it. This year I'm seeing commercials for a new "sequel." Interestingly enough, while the original was in stop-motion, this one is computer-generated. What's fun is that the stuff that's faithful in form to the original (they obviously didn't get permission from the Ives estate to use "his" snow man) is remarkably good. The simple, cartoony forms of the stop-motion models lend themselves very well to CG.

Not that I have any intention of sullying those childhood memories with whatever new abomination they've devised. But the translation of one "animation" to another is most interesting.

8:38 PM  •  2 comments

BlogSnobbiness

I've joined the BlogSnob sorta-webring, which is why there's the little BlogSnob section at the end of my Link List o' Mojosity off to the left. What happens with BlogSnob is:

Making the grade

Is it a bad sign when I find myself agreeing with our current Supreme Court?

In arguments this past week about the case I mentioned (involving peer grading in classrooms and whether this violated a Federal law regarding educational record confidentiality), the Supremes certainly seemed less than welcoming to the outrages clamed by the plaintiff.

Mr. Wright said schools should seek prior parental consent as they now do for sex education, special examinations and field trips.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that sounded like allowing one parent veto power over the class.

Mr. Wright said the law sponsors sought to shield the entire grading system and block schools from the "unfettered, unshackled right to disclose a record to anyone they choose," even to publish exam scores in the newspaper.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist chided Mr. Wright, saying the attorney was arguing that an adverse ruling "would allow a teacher to do something that no teacher has ever done."

7:15 PM  •  0 comments

Occupational hazard

Whatever your profession, you know you are liable to be consulted for free about it outside of the work place. You know, the Doctor whose family constantly calls with medical problems (hi, Eric!), or the Contractor whose friends ask for consultations about home improvements (hi, Jim!).

Or, in my case, the Computer Guy whose family consults him whenever there's a problem. Despite the fact that I've not been a hands-on tech support guy in several years. If I had more hair, I'd be the Pointy-Haired Manager from Dilbert.

And now, whenever Katherine's little beginning learning program on Margie's computer hangs or crashes or otherwise comes up with an error ... she calls out, "Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Da-da. Da-da."

I'm doomed.

6:26 PM  •  0 comments

It's best you don't know

Wisconsin has an "Employees Right to Know" law (section 101.58 in the Wisconsin Statutes) that requires employees to be informed if toxic chemicals are used or stored at the workplace. One exception, despite containing lye, explicitly noted by the statute (101.58(2)(j)(2)(f)), is lutefisk.

Mercifully, a Scandinavian delicacy that Margie's family has never thrust upon me ...

(Via Overlawyered)

6:20 PM  •  1 comment

Today's humor from Top5 list

After having mentioned how Philip Morris is changing their corporate name to Altria, I feel obliged to provide the Top5 list on the subject.

The Top 17 Rejected Slogans for The Altria Group

17> New Snazzy Name, Same Lying Scumbags!

16> Altria: The Curiously Strong Carcinogen

15> Altria: Because "al Qaeda" was already taken

14> Oh, like you never gave a fake name before screwing somebody?

13> Try Our Healthy Organic Oral Incense Sticks!

12> It's Latin for "Light up, Spunky!"

11> Altria: We shortened the name so you can say it without coughing.

10> We're not your father's multi-national corporate killing machine.

9> Hey, *you* try coming up with a good name when you HAVEN'T HAD A SMOKE IN TWO F***ING HOURS!

8> Altria: Because some little shit wanted $500,000 for the rights to eSmoke.com.

7> Have Fun Retyping All Those Lawsuits, Suckers!

6> And We're Also Referring to Lung Cancer as "Respiria"

5> Altria: The Name Just Rolls Off Your Yellow Tongue

4> Deaths to date from smoking Altria cigarettes: 0

3> Lame? Sure, but it's still WAY better than "Attack of the Clones"

2> Mr. Morris, If You're Nasty

and Topfive.com's Number 1 Rejected Slogan for The Altria Group...

1> We don't make cancer. We make it cancerier.

5:55 PM  •  0 comments

"What we have here is a failure to communicate"

Leon E. Prioleau Sr. was charged in a criminal complaint that says he told police he choked the woman because he believed she liked it.

"I squeezed harder," Prioleau told police after his arrest this week, according to the complaint. "I thought she liked it, so I kept squeezing harder."

It was not until it was too late, according to Prioleau, that he realized that he had mistaken the woman's gasps for air as sighs of passion.

(Via Obscure Store)

4:33 PM  •  0 comments

Okay, so this is kinda cool, too, only, heh heh heh, in a different way

Northwestern University is studying how women are aroused by porn. Beats watching rats run around in mazes, I'd wager.

Initial conclusions? Women are more, ah, broad-minded than men. I'd go into more detail, but my mom reads this blog. (Hi, Mom!)

(Via Obscure Store)

4:25 PM  •  0 comments

So way cool

Researchers have directly observed nerve changes for short- and long-term memory. Wow.

(Via Follow Me Here)

3:22 PM  •  0 comments

War is hell

The Times of London has a report, from folks on the ground, on the battle at the Qala-i-Janghi fortress/prison, which has turned into the bloodiest episode yet in the Afghan War.

What's clear from the account, however, is that this was not a case of the Northern Alliance (with American and British complicity) massacring a bunch of prisoners. These foreign fighters surrendered, thinking they were going to simply turn over their arms and be freed. When imprisoned, and perhaps thinking they were indeed going to be massacred, they used smuggled weapons to counter-attack, seized the armory of the huge Qala-i-Janghi complex, and ceased to be, in the terms of the Geneva Convention, prisoners. They returned to being combatants, and were treated as such, until finally they once again surrendered.

It's a brutal, bloody tale, full of stupid mistakes and violence. But, not to put too fine a point on it, it's war.

(Via USS Clueless)

3:11 PM  •  0 comments

Why Tolkien is better than Rowling

Brian Carney in the WSJ analyzes two tales of magic that are on the screens this winter, and determines that Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is much more sophisticated and moral than Rowling's Harry Potter.

This kind of moral complexity is simply absent from Ms. Rowling's books. Contrast Tolkien's careful use of the ring with Ms. Rowling's rather flip use of another great artifact of legend, the philosopher's stone. Alchemists believed the stone would turn lead into gold. As a bonus, it was also thought to confer eternal life. The conceit of "Harry Potter" is that such a stone has been made and the bad guy wants it.

This is a setup worthy of Tolkien; indeed, it mimics his tale in vital respects. But Ms. Rowling's story manages to bring to light none of the moral dilemmas--of mortality, wealth, power--that the existence of the stone naturally suggests. The reader simply accepts as given that both sides want it, no particular importance is assigned to its powers and Harry never shows any interest in using it. He merely wants to keep it away from the bad guy. Once that's accomplished, the stone drops out of the story, like a token at the end of some video game.

In Tolkien's world the temptation of evil is one that all, or nearly all, of his characters must confront. The argument of Tolkien's tale--controversial, to be sure--is that, while intentions matter, the way we act is far more important than why we act. His story, for all its narrative brio, presents a serious rebuttal to the idea that good ends justify using evil means.

I mean, Rowling was out to write a good story. Tolkien drew on grand themes, intentionally creating an epic with profound ethical implications. Both succeeded, but to compare the two is like comparing ... well, Goldfinger and Lawrence of Arabia.

Still, it's an interesting article. And it made me want to catch the first installment of LotR even more. Got to arrange a sitter for the 19th ....

(Via InstaPundit)

2:46 PM  •  1 comment

The agony of defeat

What's happened to all the big pro-Taliban, anti-American rallies in Pakistan? The collapse of the Taliban seems to have taken the wind out of them.

Rally organizers and supporters blamed Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, for the low turnout, saying that people were too busy fasting. Next they said the Pakistani security forces had intimidated people into staying home. Finally, they said the masses were in Afghanistan, waging jihad.

But when asked why they were not fighting in Afghanistan, it became obvious that many of the young men sporting Taliban-style turbans were more talk than action.

''I am ready, and I am going for jihad,'' declared Hezbollah, 20, an Afghan-born student at a Quetta madrassa, or religious institute ....

Asked when exactly he was going, he said: ''How can we go now? The border is closed, and the anti-Taliban opposition control the border town.''

Informed that he would be allowed to cross because he is an Afghan and that the Taliban still controlled the border town, he sputtered: ''There's no need to go. The Taliban are telling us not to go.''

Told that the Taliban supreme leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had called for Muslims to join the jihad, he replied that his brother had gone, so he didn't need to.

A groundswell of resentment has emerged in Pakistani tribal territories against a fundamentalist leader who took thousands to Afghanistan to fight for the Taliban and left them stranded, residents said yesterday.

Soofi Mohammad, head of Tehrik Nifaz Shariah Mohammadi (TNSM), was arrested and jailed when he returned from Afghanistan after the rout of the Taliban militia, leaving his men behind. Scores of the tribesmen were reportedly killed inside Afghanistan and more than 2,000 were still missing.

(Via InstaPundit and InstaPundit)

2:32 PM  •  0 comments

God help us

As InstaPundit puts it about this story, "Let's see: we're at war against religious fanatics who want to create a theocracy. What's an appropriate response? Hey, how about government-sponsored prayer! Yeah, that' makes perfect sense."

West Covina trustees were careful to emphasize that they intend the moment [of silence] to be secular, though individual students may pray if they wish. But parents at the meeting were delighted and said they were sure their children would use the time to pray.

[...] "I think our children are hurting and I think they are afraid," said Kathy Smith, a member of the Anaheim Union High School District Board of Education who is leading the petition drive. "Our children need and deserve to live in a country of renewed spirit which will help bind us as one."

I mean, are you praying with your kids at home? If not, why not? And if so, then how is adding a moment of silent prayer -- er, silence -- going to help "bind us as one."

And why do I hear the voice of Landru in the background?

I don't have a lot of problem with a moment of silence, to be honest. Hell, when I was teaching I would have killed to have a mandated moment of silence. Maybe stretch that into several minutes to an hour. What worries me, though, is the automatic leap that is made from moments of silence to moments of prayer. To my mind, as soon as we cross that line, we're into the realm of state-sponsored religion, a bit no-no as far as the Constitution goes, and bad public policy (in my opinion) to boot.

2:25 PM  •  0 comments

Airport Security Kills Kenny ... Film At 11.

South Park took on airport security at DIA. Not surprisingly, hilarity ensued.

2:08 PM  •  0 comments

Mutter mutter mutter

And I managed, via FrontPage (don't start, okay?) to zorch my Comments and Archive directories for my blog.

Feh. Bah, humbug.

1:07 PM  •  0 comments

More stats stuff you probably don't want to read about

Stats4All doesn't do a good job (in sifting through their reports) of showing me referring URLs, so I'm changing this page to SiteMeter, hence the change in the little logo.

Hmmm. Maybe I just find a logo I like, and leave it at that ...

8:45 AM  •  0 comments

Sea change

I'm not sure why, but I'm finding less and less interest in the News & Opinion section of my Link List o' Honor (previously to the right, now to the left, obla-di-obla-da).

Maybe it's because the same issue keep being rehashed. John Ashcroft -- Nazi Wannabe or Valiant Defender of the Nation? The War on Terrorism -- Quagmire or Triumph? I'm getting tired of the smugness on all sides of the ideological fence. And though I'm now Out From Under the Brightly-Plumed Albatross Which Was NaNoWriMo, I've still got a heck of a lot of things on my plate, and I don't need my blood pressure raised all that much.

So ... things that interest me I'll post about. Things that don't I won't. It's just the mix that will vary some. And the Link List will probably metamorphose (and consolidate) a bit, too.

9:46 PM  •  0 comments

I am Dave's Annoyance

Okay, so it looks like the problem I'm having with the Stats script has to do with the whole thing timing out in mid-stream.

So I think to myself, "Hey, let's let it load first, so that it doesn't time out." Hence the shift of left and right and how I've got my style sheets working all that good stuff.

And it works. About one time out of ten.

I also need to do something with the header. Oh, and find a more recent picture (since that one's from late June).

I'm so glad I have plenty of time on my hands now.

UPDATE: Well, I got it working on a version of the page on my local PC. And I tweaked things around to add all the borders (which is something I've been trying to do for a while). But the damned thing still doesn't reliably load (or at least display the little logo). Feh.

7:25 PM  •  0 comments

By God, they should hang him from the highest ... er ... tree ...

The leader of the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran church is in hot water over -- gasp! -- praying with others at an ecumenical prayer meeting at Ground Zero, and also for supporting someone else guilty of this heinous crime. I mean, Good Lord, there were other Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and Sikhs present!

The Rev. David Oberdieck, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Lebanon, Mo., is one of those who filed charges. He argued such ecumenical events promote syncretism -- the mingling of Christianity with other religions in the belief they are all equal. ``St. Paul said that we should flee idolatry but (Benke) did not flee idolatry,'' Oberdieck said. Benke ``participated in idolatry, by participating with non-Christians,'' Oberdieck said.

The other pastor who brought the charges, the Rev. Stephen Bohler, pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Crookston, Minn., said the reason for the meetings was not the point. ``Our church position is that the word of God forbids us from doing this,'' he said. ``The word of God is not set aside because of emergencies.''

(Via JillMatrix)

5:06 PM  •  0 comments

"Way up high, in the Rolie-Polie sky ..."

Internet usage interfering with television viewing aside, Margie and I have discovered children's television, as drawn to it by Katherine's demands.

There is good, bad and indifferent, but, one of our current favorites (and I mean Margie's and mine, as well as Katherine's) is Rolie Polie Olie, an Emmy-winning Nelvana production which is currently on "Playhouse Disney." It's all about a computer-generated world of robots, including the titular character. It's well-crafted, lots of fun, sweet and positive without being cloying, and highly imaginative. If you've got a preschooler, s/he would probably enjoy it.

Heck, if you've got adults, they'd probably enjoy it, too. We do.

4:42 PM  •  2 comments

Step away from the mask ... slowly ...

Native Americans, who religious rituals include masks and face paint, are concerned over provisions in anti-terrorism bills that "makes it a criminal offence to refuse a police officer's request to remove hand and face coverings, such as masks and face paint, in certain situations."

Possibly legitimate concerns. Of course, the article then goes evolves into a rant:

Eulynda Toledo-Benalli, Dine' founder of First Nations North and South, said the United States was founded on the terrorism and bioterrorism of Indigenous peoples. Benalli said the most recent limitations on civil liberties are alarming in the context of history, including the genocidial spread of smallpox to Indian people.

"How can a nation state, like the United States, an imperialist state, take such actions when their very principles of 'democracy' were founded on terrorism and bioterrorism. As far as I'm concerned, they need to clean up their acts, face the truths, and realize their roots of terrorism committed against the first sufferers and survivors of their terrorist acts before they accuse anyone else -- maybe then I will believe their 'truths.' It's really ironic to hear the myth of 'freedom' perpetuated in the U.S."

Benalli said Indigenous peoples have become prisoners of democracy.

(Via Boing Boing)

3:59 PM  •  0 comments

Doing their part to help writers

The Social Security Administration retains naming statistics for individuals born at different times. Great fun.

(Via Boing Boing)

3:41 PM  •  0 comments

The Horror ... the Horror ...

Another study on the evil effects of Internet usage.

Perhaps the study's most intriguing revelation about changing American behavior is that Internet users spend 4.5 fewer hours a week watching television than non-users. Yet most users report they spend about same amount of time they always have on other activities such as the evening meal and playing sports.

"The only social activity in American households that suffers significantly as a result of Internet use is time spent watching television," said Jeff Cole, director of the policy center, in a press release.

3:31 PM  •  0 comments

"Honey, can I pour you anything while I'm up?"

(via SillyCow)

3:24 PM  •  0 comments

Scripty goodness

The Stats4All scripts are causing Java errors. Depending on how your browser is set, you may either get a dialog box (just click to bypass), or a little warning blip down in the status bar, or whatever. It doesn't affect the page, but probably means I'm not getting any stats. Dagnabbit.

The help desk has been pinged. If I don't get pretty fast results, I'll switch again. "You get what you pay for."

3:03 PM  •  0 comments

Today is World AIDS Day

As speakeasy observes, the national obsession over anthrax, when AIDS has killed, and will kill, millions, is unfathomable.

I have been lucky enough to not have anyone close to me die of AIDS, so I can't speak to that personal aspect of it. But I will say this about the subject:

AIDS is largely avoidable. Indeed, aside from folks who have to receive transfusions, it's almost entirely avoidable.

The most sure way to avoid it is to not have sex. That is followed by avoid sex with anyone who (a) is having sex with others, and/or (b) has had sex with others in the past, and has not yet tested clear. In other words, abstinance. Or, failing that, monogamy (and "trust but verify").

Short of that, and if you are willing to play Russian Roulette, at least use a condom. Yeah, they're not the greatest thing since sliced bread in the sensation department, but they're a hell of a lot better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. And they beat the hell out of getting AIDS. Really. Read about it. Look at the pictures. It's a bad, bad thing to happen to you. And you can avoid it.

But condoms are still a risk. They don't always work. If folks can get pregnant using condoms (and they do), than HIV can be spread with them (and it can). Operator error. Material failure. It can happen. Just not as easily. Really.

And abstinance is not impossible. Believe me -- I know. And even if it is (which it isn't), there are things you can do to cut your risk dramatically.

So do it. Really. Unwanted pregnancy is a Bad Thing. STDs are Bad Things. And AIDS will kill you, and/or your partners, in a very costly and gruesome fashion.

It only takes one time.

Don't be stupid.

2:29 PM  •  0 comments

More quizzes

If I was a James Bond villain, I would be Oddjob. I enjoy bowler hats, golf caddying, and killing people in hand-to-hand combat. I am played by Harold Sakata in Goldfinger. Who would you be? James Bond Villain Personality Test

(Via Xkot)

2:12 PM  •  0 comments

Speaking of LotR ...

Burger King, as an official sponsor, has all sorts of LotR-themed commercials going on. They all end with the One Ring looping around and turning into the round BK logo.

Okay, think about that one for a moment. We want to associate our company logo with an artifact of evil, forged in deception and darkness, by which the Powers of Doom will take over the land, corrupt all that is good, and fill the world with woe.

Either somebody didn't do their reading assignment before working this account, or I need to start eating at McDonalds more often.

1:42 PM  •  0 comments

I am Frodo

Or so this quiz says. Which Lord of the Rings character are you?

(Actually, that's not a bad match, for various reasons.)

(Via Bears Cave, though I have no idea how Doyce qualified to be a Nazgul)

1:39 PM  •  0 comments

Stats status

As of today, I've shifted over to using Stats4All (hence the groovy little "S" logo above the "Made by Blogger" thing). I was quite happy with Stats4You, but they've decided they have to go for a pay model, alas, and I can't quite justify paying for hit stat information, at least not while there aren't free services out there. My ego is not that sensitive.

If you notice anything odd about how the page loads, let me know. The Stats4All stuff is a rather large Java script.

Stats4All has a disadvantage to Stats4You, and that's that they do (or may) sell their list of users (not the stats, just the users) to others. That's part of what makes it free, of course, so I can expect an uptick in junk mail.

On the other hand, I can also put the counter on as many of my pages as I want, which is a distinct advantage.

We'll see.

Last month, btw, I had 1,080 visits; that's with at least one day, if not more, of AverDorky failure, so the figure should probably be closer to 1,200. A decent, if not wild, improvement over last month. Stats4All does a little bit different job than Stats4You of defining unique visits (twenty minute interval, rather than one hour interval), so the basis for my stat collection will be a little different, too, making comparison slightly more problematic. Oh, well.

1:26 PM  •  0 comments

Free at last, free at last!

NaNoWriMo is over. And so's my novel, clocking in at just over 59K words.

Wow. And whew. And -- that's why I haven't been blogging much over the past 24 hours, and just woke up at Noon.

I'd repeat the dedication, but that's what the Internet is for. You can read it here. I will quote some of the very nice congratulatory letter that the NaNoWriMo folks sent me when I filed my final word count.

Writing 50,000 words of fiction in a month is a task that most professional writers would run from screaming. You have eaten the challenge for breakfast, and cleaned your teeth with its footnotes. You are brave, talented, and brimming with the kind of loquacious storytelling aptitude that no doubt will serve you well in your new part-time job as up-and-coming novelist.

I am proud of you. Where four-fifths of all Wrimos turned back before reaching the goal, you pressed on. Through distractions and demands and obligations, you forged ahead. Your willingness to go out on a creative limb, to stand up and reach for an impossible goal, is an inspiring example to all of us.

You have done an amazing thing this month, novelist. And your accomplishment extends far beyond winning a novel-writing contest. By stepping out into the void, by risking failure, you have opened wide those channels of fantasy and wonder that adulthood has such a tendency to wizen. If you can write a novel in a month, who knows what you could do with a screenplay. Or a libretto. Or a canvas.

You never know until you try.

Now to take a shower. (I've managed to do so over the last month, thanks, but I haven't yet this morning.) More to blog (on topics of greater interest) later ...

12:19 PM  •  0 comments