Tech

Tech-focused ramblings. Computers, blogs, and whatever else fits.

On This Day: Jul 15

by

Since I’ll hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 30 posts previously published on July 15th

  • 2023
    • Year 50 Day 74 Wandering around Capitol Hill as I wait for the Mercury to open its doors. ➡
  • 2022
  • 2020
  • 2018
    • Book twenty-eight of 2018: Stories From the Twilight Zone, by Rod Serling. 🌟🌟🌟🌟 ➡
    • How Vertigo foreshadowed ‘catfishing’, AI and #MeToo: “Sixty years since it was released, Vertigo resonates powerfully in the age of the internet, virtual reality and artificial intelligence.” Just watched Vertigo again two nights ago, and this article is spot on. ➡
  • 2016
    • Apparently it’s #nationalicecreamday – so we’re celebrating! ➡
    • Well, this is odd. Got back from lunch to find my building without power. Guess I’ll just sit here in the dark for a while. How very goth. ;) (197/366) ➡
    • Chucks of the day (45/45): grey high tops with red, blue, and white graffiti tag style “Converse” wrapped around the heel and onto the side. And this wraps up this project (for now, at least) – after 45 pairs, I’ve made it through my Converse collection. Not too shabby! #chucks #converse ➡
  • 2014
    • Ever caption I try to come up with for this one sounds like I’m depressed. I just liked the effect I came up with. ➡
  • 2010
    • Links for July 14th through July 15th Sometime between July 14th and July 15th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too! • Colonoscopy: It’s Time to Check Your Colons • How the Old Spice Videos Are Being Made • What, if Anything, Is Big Bird? • “Fleeting Expletive” Ban Lifted ➡
  • 2009
    • A Goodbye Renda Horn brought a lot of joy into this world, both through her many years of music and work with the choir and just by the simple virtue of being herself. My heartfelt condolences go out to her family, many friends, and the many, many kids and parents whose lives she touched. She'll be missed. ➡
    • Back To the ’80s! Chances are you're either going to love me or hate me for posting this. Personally, I think this is great -- my tolerance for cheezy pop is really high -- but there will be no hard feelings if you blame me for wanting to brillo pad your brain clean after watching this. :) ➡
    • Links for July 14th through July 15th Sometime between July 14th and July 15th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too! • Why America Is Flunking Science • Psychotic Letters From Men: Customer Disservice • How to Scan a Cat and Other Subjects • Pinboard - Antisocial Bookmarking • Spectacular Dream Yachts to Set Sail ➡
  • 2005
    • Everything old is new again A random comment on a Flickr photo led me to do some digging, and after reading a summary of Seattle transportation efforts, all of a sudden it's no surprise that we've seen such ridiculous controversy over our light rail and monorail plans. ➡
    • Phrase Origins Mom forwarded this to me today. I can't personally vouch for the accuracy of everything in here, but it all sounds pretty reasonable to me, and there's some fun tidbits in here. ➡
    • Twelve hours to go… ...or a bit more than twelve hours, actually, for Prairie and me. Since we pre-ordered our copies (yup -- one for each of us) through Amazon, they'll show up sometime tomorrow. ➡
  • 2004
    • Mac OS X Panther Hacks I just wanted to toss out a quick congratulations to Phil, who with the release of O'Reilly's Mac OS X Panther Hacks, is now officially a published (co-)author! ➡
    • In the not very distant future… One sunny day in 2005 an old man approached the White House from across Pennsylvania Ave, where he'd been sitting on a park bench. He spoke to the US Marine standing guard and said, 'I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.' ➡
    • I’m (almost) an uncle! Emily started labor last night, and so Kevin just called to let me know that he's flying back to Mississippi to be there for the birth of his baby! Apparently things are still early in the process — the hospital sent Em home last night after she went in — so chances are good that Kev will be able to be there for the birth. ➡
  • 2003
    • Tablet PCs I just had someone ask me what I thought about TabletPCs. Honestly, I haven't given a whole lot of thought to them. I have, though, been a fairly regular reader of Robert Scoble's for a while now, and he's big into the TabletPC thing, so I just pointed them to his site. ➡
    • That's it, I'm moving The pseudo-porn attractions of hot pants and bared midriffs are simply grotesque compared to the unostentatious (but hardly demure) eroticism of the kimono. ➡
    • Pings? Why is it that when using a desktop blogging client (I've noticed this behavior in three so far: UserSpace, Kung-Log, and NetNewsWire), pings don't seem to be sent when a post is published? ➡
    • Too much going on… Well, it looks like the US is finally starting to wake up to the fact that the Bush administration hasn't exactly been entirely truthful with the American Public. About damn time. ➡
    • Move, you momos So why do none of you move enough to let me by? It doesn't do any good for me to move to one side or the other, I'm still faced with a wall of corporate momos that I can't get past. Would it kill you to leave a little space for people walking the other direction? ➡
    • News to nobody Something I just discovered, thanks to a comment at Etherfarm. If you're running Windows XP, on-screen text legibility can be drastically improved by switching on ClearType. ➡
    • Random is fun There's something wonderfully surreal about listening to my iPod on the way to work, and going directly from Coolio's 'Ugly Bitches' to 'American Wake (the Nova Scotia Set)' off of Bill Whelan's 'Riverdance' soundtrack. ➡
    • About that homework Marilyn Monroe's 'My Heart Belongs to Daddy' reminded me strongly of a Björk song, but I couldn't think of which one. I've tracked it down — have a listen, and compare and contrast. I'm quite curious as to whether Björk may have had this in mind when she recorded 'It's Oh So Quiet'. ➡
  • 2002
    • More on TIPS Facism is a term thrown about too freely, and I don't believe we're at a point that its use is justified -- but an oppressive and intrusive government, however you want to label it, does not ride into town wearing the uniforms and waving the flags of recognizable evil. ➡
    • Wanna join the secret police? ...the Terrorism Information and Prevention System, or TIPS, means the US will have a higher percentage of citizen informants than the former East Germany through the infamous Stasi secret police. ➡
    • It just works I'd been with Microsoft for so long, who are complacent and hoard their customers, that I'd forgotten what it's like to use an operating system built by people who want it to cooperate with the rest of the world. ➡

On This Day: Jul 14

by

Since I’ll hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 29 posts previously published on July 14th

  • 2024
  • 2023
  • 2020
  • 2018
    • It’s @norwescon picnic day! ➡
    • A Landmark Legal Shift Opens Pandora’s Box for DIY Guns: Ugh. Defeating restrictions against 3D printing guns may be legally and technologically interesting, but in my eyes is also ethically and morally reprehensible. This is a disturbing story. ➡
  • 2016
    • IT is a truth universally acknowledged, that a man in possession of a spinny chair must be in want of an occasional spin. (196/366) ➡
    • Chucks of the day (44/?): black lightweight fabric (a little shiny…nylon?) high tops. #chucks #converse ➡
  • 2014
    • At least it cooled off. It’s only 92 now! ➡
  • 2010
    • Links for July 13th through July 14th Sometime between July 13th and July 14th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too! • “Fleeting Expletive” Ban Lifted • Mayor McGinn Proposes Letting Bars Stay Open Later, or All Night • Reviewing the History Channel's World War II shows as if they were genre fiction TV • Soccer fans shun hookers for art's sake • Embattled Marysville School Board member resigns ➡
  • 2009
    • Links for July 10th through July 14th Sometime between July 10th and July 14th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too! • The 15 Creepiest Vintage Ads of All Time • Top 10 Myths _about Mythbusters_ • Watchdog Group: Dozens of Active-Duty Troops Found on Neo-Nazi Site • The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin: A Round-Up • DateLine ➡
  • 2008
    • Links for July 14th from 11:50 to 17:00 Sometime between 11:50 and 17:00, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too! • Blackbird that can mimic the sound of ambulance's siren makes family's life hell • Citizen Camera • McCain encourages adoption, unless you're gay • Building demolition based on old Japanese game • FoxTrot does Webcomics ➡
    • This is Journalism? I'll freely admit that, while geeky, I'm not one who will stand in line for hours for an item I can get faster and easier if I wait a few days. I'm less concerned with 'firsties' than with my own convenience. That said -- I _love_ the fact that the customer in this video actually calls the reporter on his idiotic 'reporting.' ➡
    • Goodbye (and Good Riddance) Alfaretta! On Eighth Avenue and Seneca Street, the wrecking ball is halfway done leveling this old brick building.... 8th and Seneca. I used to _live_ at 8th and Seneca, in an old brick apartment building. I don't suppose... ➡
    • Links for July 9th through July 14th Sometime between July 9th and July 14th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too! • The Greatest Sideshow Video Ever Made • A Web of Geeks, Every One of Which Knows a Lot about Something • iPhone BookShelf • Snack Foods That Sound Like Sex Acts • Wonderlic Test] ➡
    • Two Phrases ...how egotistical does one have to be to automatically assume that their respect is _so fucking important_ that one must jump through multiples hoops in order to _earn_ it? How about we give people respect because they are _humans_ with _lives_ and _feelings_ just as important as our own? ➡
  • 2006
    • 300 Multiple Choices The idea for using server response codes as SMS shorthand that's going around right now is cute, but I still prefer an idea I from January of '04, when I ran across the idea of applying server response codes to dating. ➡
    • Mt. Ranier from Discovery Park This is my current desktop background, too. Could be sharper, but not bad for being handheld using my old $40 all-manual zoom lens. ➡
  • 2005
    • Playing with MT 3.2 Beta I'm spending a little bit of time playing with the just-released public beta version of Movable Type 3.2 on a separate weblog. ➡
  • 2004
    • Photographers Protest at the Ballard Locks How wonderful. I can't claim total inspiration for this, as all I did was point to the article regarding Ian Spiers' run-in with Homeland Security while photographing the Ballard Locks, which brought it to the attention of Myk O'Leary of Life, it is a Travesty. After reading that article, however, Myk is organizing a peaceful protest at the Ballard Locks. ➡
    • Men and Sex From Dr. Joyce Brothers — how much do you know about men and sex? ➡
    • The TSA: Security, or petty thieves? This inspector found a lighter that I was given by my step daughter for our first Father's Day together. It was a cigar lighter that did not run on Liquid Fuel, but gas. He looked at it and exclaimed, 'Wow I have always wanted one like this'. Then proceeded to tell me that he had to confiscate my lighter. ➡
  • 2003
    • Great minds think alike (and so do ours) It does matter, dad. I'm glad it matters to you, I'm glad that, thanks to you, it matters to me — and I'm glad that, even with all our disagreements, you're my dad. ➡
    • Homework Bring Marilyn Monroe's "I Belong to Daddy" in to work tomorrow so I can let Bethany hear it and compare with some of Björk's work. ➡
    • What's going on? All of a sudden, the right-hand sidebar, rather than displaying on the right side of the page, is being shoved underneath the left-hand sidebar, after all the main content — at least, that's what's going on in IE6 on the PC. ➡
    • Greek Mythological family tree Now, the Newmans' work has been published by the University of North Carolina Press as 'A Genealogical Chart of Greek Mythology: Comprising 3,673 Named Figures of Greek Mythology, All Related to Each Other Within a Single Family of 20 Generations.' ➡
    • Stubble fun Silly advantage to having a shaved head: that sixteenth of an inch stubble makes a great impromptu scrub brush! ➡
    • Filler X: useful people, Y: girls with nice breasts, Z: filler. ➡
    • Batteries Note to myself: Pick up a 9-volt battery for the smoke alarm on the way home tonight. That painfully loud chirp every five minutes or so is getting really annoying. ➡

On This Day: Jul 13

by

Since I’ll hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 23 posts previously published on July 13th

  • 2023
  • 2020
    • 📚 twenty-nine of 2020: The Peacekeepers, by Gene DeWeese ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #startrek 🖖 A bit of early TNG taking on the Prime Directive. A marked improvement from the last (first) novel, but still obviously at a point where the characters were still being developed. ➡
    • On This Day: Jul 13 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from July 13 ➡
  • 2016
    • Got my @cah @cardsagainsthumanity Donald Trump Bug-Out Bag today! All sorts of emergency supplies in case of electoral disaster. I’m ready for the Trumpocalypse! #cah #cardsagainsthumanity #gasmask #seeds #foodration #harmonica #whistle #flashlight ➡
    • It’s a gorgeous day outside…so I’ll sit here bathed in fluorescent light, working on my pallor. ;) (195/366) ➡
    • Chucks of the day (43/?): olive green high tops with darker green skull print amidst blue/green/yellow flowers. #chucks #converse #skull ➡
  • 2015
    • Me at the eye doctor, via #deepdream alteration. ➡
    • So I uploaded a picture of Cthulhu I found on the ‘net to a #deepdream image processor…. ➡
  • 2014
    • Playing with my niece Finn. I was a boat that she was driving. ➡
  • 2009
    • MiniBreak: Corvallis Emily, my sister-in-law, is just finishing her doctorate in oceanography, and has accepted a position doing post-doc work at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Great news, of course, but it _does_ mean that they're all moving across the country. Since that's going to be a lot harder to visit than Corvallis, we wanted to make sure to get a visit with them in before they left. ➡
  • 2006
  • 2005
    • Word of the Day: Prostitots Prostitots: It's a term my friends & I use for the jail bait young twits who walk around in outfits that prostitutes wouldn't pull tricks in... (_synonym_: kinderwhores) ➡
    • Movable Type 3.2 is coming… Okay, sure, to a certain extent, it's all propaganda. I've got to admit, though -- Six Apart's Pronet series 'Our 32 Favorite Features in Movable Type 3.2' is doing a bang-up job of getting me looking forward to MT's next release. ➡
    • Podcast 05: A Fine Day’s Mix I'm posting a series of mix sessions I did a few years back. This is A Fine Day's Mix (22m 51s, 26.16Mb). Download, drop into your .mp3 player, and -- hopefully -- enjoy! ➡
  • 2004
    • Google to me in eight clicks Meme time, started by A Whole Lotta Nothing, and being tracked by Kottke: how many clicks to get from Google's homepage to your website without using the search box? ➡
    • U.S. Grammar School Interim Report to Parents This piece is attributed to Nancy Greggs of The Guardian UK. I found it on BOP, who could only locate another copy at ToppleBush, though a quick Google also found copies on Democratic Underground and LiveJournal. Since there's no real 'original' to post, I'm reposting it here. It's worth it. ➡
    • Buckminster Pinhead Yesterday was the 109th birthday of Buckminster Fuller, inventor of Geodesic domes and many other nifty technological goodnesses. However, in a rather bizarre turn of events, the U.S. Postal Service chose this date to issue a commemorative stamp featuring the visage of famed Hellraiser Cenobyte Pinhead. ➡
  • 2003
    • League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Wandered up to one of the downtown theaters today to catch a the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Enjoyable, and worthwhile as either a matinee or a rent, but unfortunately, not a definite must-see. ➡
    • Why spelling is important i have a mini datsun in my lap ➡
    • Tweaking TypePad Templates Up until now, all the various design tweaks I've made on this site have been conducted from within the TypePad interface, without my mucking about with any of the code. That's starting to change, however, as I start to tweak the templates to my liking. ➡
    • Kickshaw grumbles Last year at the Bite of Seattle, I discovered an incredible local acapella group called Kickshaw that blew me away when I walked up in time to hear a flawless acapella performance of one of my all-time favorite songs, 'Papa Was a Rolling Stone'. ➡
    • NOW Presidential Forum Len posted a report on the NOW Presidential Forum in Washington D.C. that he found in the comments somewhere on Blog for America. It's an excellent summary, and well worth perusing — so I'm shamelessly snagging a copy of it. ;) ➡
  • 2002
    • Doomsday Book Set in England both in the near future and in the 1300's, as an archaeologist travels back into the 14th century and gets trapped there when a mysterious illness starts infecting the people in the modern world, leaving her to deal with the onset of the Black Plague in England. ➡

On This Day: Jul 12

by

Since I’ll hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 27 posts previously published on July 12th

  • 2023
  • 2020
  • 2019
    • Heading out for this year’s Goth Tropicxs goth beach party night at the Mercury. Tweaked one of my favorite silly shirts in a particularly appropriate way, I think. ➡
  • 2018
    • Die Hard at 30: how it remains the quintessential American action movie: “The lesson of Die Hard, however, is that the small, incidental details are just as consequential – and often exactly what’s missing from the films that tried to emulate it.” ➡
  • 2017
    • Out at the park for tonight’s free concert. Enjoying living someplace where we actually feel like going outside! ➡
  • 2016
    • Absolutely blanking on a caption tonight. So no silly or snark or much of anything else. Just me. (194/366) ➡
    • Chucks of the day (42/?): black high tops with grey pinstripes. #chucks #converse ➡
  • 2014
    • Fresh picked green beans and cherry tomatoes from Prairie’s garden to go with dinner tonight. ➡
    • Lounging on the back patio while the nieces splash around in a kiddie pool. Aaahhh, summer! ➡
    • My nieces, all face painted at the farmer’s market. ➡
  • 2011
    • Awkward Family Photos: The Game! Long-time readers will know that my family has been featured on the Awkward Family Photos website not just once, but twice, and both photos were also featured in the Awkward Family Photos book. Well, you can't keep a good thing down -- we're now also featured in the Awkward Family Photos game! ➡
  • 2010
    • Links for July 4th through July 12th Sometime between July 4th and July 12th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too! • Invincible Apple: 10 Lessons From the Coolest Company Anywhere • What Could Possibly Go Wrong • The Name of the Game • Bookstore Embraces, Bucks Web • Mac SSD performance and TRIM in OSX ➡
  • 2009
    • Official Norwescon Photographer A couple of weeks ago I got an invitation from the Norwescon 33 publications director asking if I might be interested in the con photographer position. I, of course, said that I was very interested, and we agreed to meet at today's Volunteer Appreciation Picnic. ➡
  • 2005
    • Seattle Flickr Meetup A Seattle Flickr Meetup is in the works, folks -- first one is Thursday, July 28th at 7pm, at the Six Arms Pub. Stop by and say hi! ➡
  • 2004
    • Another thing I keep meaning to investigate Over the years, there have been two martial art forms that have caught my interest, and it was more than a little amusing to see both of them pop up tonight in my daily reads. ➡
    • Awww, shucks! This was rather flattering to run across tonight… ➡
    • Election Day USA: Protest music CD compilation I haven't downloaded any of these yet, so I can't vouch for any of the actual songs, but I like the project: Election Day USA. ➡
    • A bird in the hand is worth one from the Bush Adam, Brendan, and I rose our banner (the More Trees, Less Bush one) and he turned to wave to our side of the road. His smile faded, and he raised his left arm in our direction. And then, George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States of America, extended his middle finger. ➡
    • Kevin came through My little brother stopped by yesterday to hang out with Prairie and I for a while on his way down to Corvallis to scout out job and housing options, as he and Emily will be moving there soon after the birth of their baby. We had a fun time visiting for a few hours, playing music, swapping stories, and generally just hanging out. ➡
    • The terrorists have already won Okay, let me get this straight. Because we're worried about a terrorist attack disrupting the election process, we're planning to disrupt the election process in the event of a terrorist attack? That doesn't even start to make sense to me. ➡
  • 2003
    • Lego fun Leonard posted a ton of links too cool Lego creations. My personal favorite is the soccer stadium — complete with hooligans. :) ➡
    • Howard Dean, guest blogger Larry Lessig, one of the top copyright lawyers in the nation (I believe), and a well-known personality in the blogosphere is going on vacation next week, and his replacement guest blogger is going to be none other than Howard Dean! ➡
    • Capitol Hill Block Party Another addition to the various nifty clicky-bits (that's a technical term) here on the site! I spent some time today wandering around in the sun at the Capitol Hill Block Party and snapped a few pictures. ➡
  • 2002
    • Well, I’m not surprised Those who surf the Web using a Mac tend to be better educated and make more money than their PC-using counterparts. ➡
    • HIV-positive muppets? The first HIV-positive Muppet will soon join the cast of 'Sesame Street' in South Africa to educate children about the deadly virus that infects more than 10 percent of the country. ➡
  • 2001
    • Final fantasy, sleeping in a shoebox First off -- as soon as I can afford it, I need a bed. While I can deal with sleeping on the floor, it's not the most comfortable way of doing things. Ah, well...details, details, right? ➡

On This Day: Jul 11

by

Since I’ll hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 29 posts previously published on July 11th

  • 2023
  • 2021
    • 📚 25/2021: Jaws by Peter Benchley ⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is one instance where the movie is definitely better than the book. Not that the book is particularly bad, but it has subplots that haven’t aged at all well, all of which were omitted from the film. ➡
  • 2020
  • 2019
    • Book thirty-eight of 2019: White Trash Zombie Gone Wild, by Diana Rowland. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ More zombie conspiracy fun, this time in the midst of Mardi Gras and a zombie festival. Started off a little tougher than the rest, but got on track again fairly quickly. ➡
    • Book thirty-seven of 2019: Fall, or Dodge in Hell, by Neal Stephenson. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Still top of my favorite current authors list, Stephenson once again keeps my mind churning with a huge, complex, fascinating SF/F mishmash of VR worlds and religion. ➡
  • 2018
    • Test post. micro.blog cross posting to Facebook stopped working. Seeing if turning it off and on again does the trick. If this shows up on Facebook in a few minutes, I’m good. ➡
    • Guidelines for Brutalist Web Design. I’m entirely on board with this (and, actually, my current personal website’s design isn’t all that far away from this aesthetic). ➡
    • Linkdump for May 26th through July 11th An automatically generated list of links that caught my eye between May 26th and July 11th. • ALL POSSIBLE RESPONSES TO "THEY SHOULD GET IN LINE AND DO IT THE RIGHT WAY, THE WAY MY FAMILY DID,” WITH CITATIONS (ALSO JOKES) • Civility. Some thoughts. • What To Do When ― Not If ― Roe Vanishes • Really neat answer to this question about early Star Trek fandom • Why ‘Solo’ Works ➡
    • The audio from Trump’s bizarre and incoherent “I have no organ, the only musical is the mouth, the brain is much more important” ramble is just begging to be sampled into any number of songs. Just sayin’. ➡
  • 2016
    • Book thirty-one of 2016: Fight Club 2, by Chuck Palahniuk and Cameron Stewart. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ➡
    • Book thirty of 2016: Books of Blood Vol. 3, by Clive Barker. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (193/366) ➡
    • Chucks of the day (41/?): white high tops with black “paint splatter” design, red and blue sidewall stripes. #chucks #converse ➡
  • 2014
    • I was trying to take my picture for today, when suddenly I was photobombed by a mischievous little monkey! ➡
    • It’s hot enough here that the suet we put out for the birds is melting through the bottom of the cage! ➡
  • 2007
    • Club Blacklight’s Last Hurrah A few shots from the Blacklight's final weekend. Most are from Friday night, which featured a few performances by a local fetish group...and as such, range from mildly NSFW (near-nudity with pasties) to _extremely_ NSFW (bondage, domination, and simulated lesbian strap-on sex). ➡
    • Heat Wave 75 degrees already, and it's only 8:30 in the morning. An expected record-setting high of 96 degrees. Y'know, I _thought_ I moved to Seattle...who snuck up on me and shipped me to southern California? ➡
  • 2006
    • The M&M Army I've been meaning to document my growing M-and-M's figurine collection for some time now, and finally got around to it today, after spending a few minutes and fifty cents assembling a DIY lightbox. ➡
  • 2005
  • 2004
    • So then — off I fucked. Slate has a wonderful look at the history and vernacular of our Vice President's most notorious favorite four-letter word in A Very, Very Dirty Word. ➡
  • 2003
    • Debate time! There's a wonderful clip from Jon Stewart's 'Daily Show' online right now — a debate betwen President George W. Bush and Presidential candidate Governor George W. Bush — that is flat-out hilarious. ➡
    • [N]echo aggregators What surprised me while going through my newsfeeds tonight is that Dave, while he may come across as an ass at times, is certainly not one to sit on his ass while some new technological goodie comes across his screen (even if it's one he's not entirely thrilled with). ➡
    • Haiku Another thing I like about the Dean campaign — they're not afraid to have a sense of humor. ➡
    • Drink the Kool-Aid Robert Scoble switches Kool-Aid brands, if only for a moment. ➡
    • Jet-propelled sheep I can't help but think that this is one sheep that I wouldn't want to be standing behind when it passed gas… ➡
    • Just a suggestion… Re-Elect Pass the Buck and Wag the Dog for President in 2004! ➡
    • Politician-to-English translation But to think that somehow we went out of our way to insert this single sentence into the State of the Union address for the purpose of deceiving and misleading the American people is an overdrawn, overblown, overwrought conclusion. ➡
  • 2002
    • Creepy, and very interesting I guess the event that really opened my eyes took place only a few days after my arrival. A terrorist bomb destroyed a shuttlebus...sixty school children. There were no survivors. That day I vowed to put an end to terrorism.... And I will. ➡
  • 2001
    • In the shoebox, off the ‘net I'm currently without a way to get my computers up and running (my monitors are still in Alaska, coming down with Rick in a month or two, I can't get DSL until I get my first phone bill, and I don't have a modem built into any of my machines). ➡
  • 1998
    • [From Usenet: 7.11.98 2300] It's a fine day, people open windows, they leave their houses, just for a short while....it's going to be a fine night tonight, it's going to be a fine day tomorrow...etc. ➡

On This Day: Jul 10

by

Since I’ll hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 23 posts previously published on July 10th

  • 2023
  • 2020
  • 2018
    • Book twenty-seven of 2016: So You Want to Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ➡
    • “The website RateMyProfessors.com killed the ‘chili pepper’ rating that allowed students to rate a professor’s ‘hotness.’” Excellent — what a ridiculous and sexist ‘feature’ that was. ➡
  • 2016
    • Some days it’s the little things that keep you amused. Like the sidelong glances that make it clear that even in a college town, this isn’t standard Sunday morning attire for most people around here. #kilt #utilikilt #skeletons #imagomortis (192/366) ➡
    • Chucks of the day (40/?): black leather high tops with thick fuzzy inner lining. These are better for cool weather than summer, so they’re not being worn very long today. :) #chucks #converse ➡
  • 2014
    • For #throwbackthursday: 2006 was the last time I shaved off all my face fuzz. ➡
  • 2012
    • Political Compass (the third) This is the third time I've taken this test, though it's been a few years -- the first time was in 2002, the second in 2003, and now, nine years later, comes the third time. It seems I'm moving ever further towards that bottom left corner... ➡
  • 2008
    • Struck by Lightning From what i understand, it went through my left hand holding the camera, crossed my back and exited out of my right hand holding onto the metal railing. No entry or exit wounds, just a really good zap! ➡
  • 2006
  • 2004
    • Toilets of Doom While much was made about the fancy-shmancy automated self-cleaning public toilets that popped up here in Seattle a few months ago, I've yet to actually give one of them a shot myself. ➡
    • De-Lovely Quite aptly titled, this one. De-Lovely, the Cole Porter biopic is wonderful — good music (of course), wonderful to look at, and I wouldn't be surprised at an Oscar nod for Ashley Judd. ➡
    • Happy Birthday Jacqueline Prairie and I spent a very pleasant evening last night at Jacqueline Passey's birthday party. There was a wonderfully odd mix of people there, as she'd invited people from all the various disparate areas of her life: webloggers, economists, libertarians, sci-fi conventionists, and school friends. Needless to say, this made for quite a few very interesting conversations over the course of the night, and we both enjoyed ourselves. ➡
  • 2003
    • Howard Dean: Demand the truth What is now clear is that there are those in this administration that misled the President, misled the nation, and misled the world in making the case for the war in Iraq. They know who they are. And they should resign today. ➡
    • Is 'explosive' the best word to use? A long-awaited final report on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks will be released in the next two weeks, containing new information about U.S. government mistakes and Saudi financing of terrorists. ➡
    • Dark Fairytales All of the work revolves around the title's theme, 'Dark Fairytales.' The artists were asked to work with existing fairytales — either the 'classics' (such as the Grimm Brothers, or Hans Christian Andersen's stories) — or stories from myths and legends around the world. They could even make up a fairytale of their own. ➡
    • Always On I've got a definite heirarchy to my interactions, and online interactions are definitely at the bottom of the list. ➡
    • Howler! Ha! Woohoo — my Harry Potter Uno cards showed up this morning! :) Anyone up for a game? ➡
  • 2002
    • All they wanted was a ride Three women buy a beer for a guy they meet in exchange for a ride where they need to go, and end up trapped in the car during a wild police chase. ➡
    • Blogchalking Google! DayPop! This is my blogchalk: English, United States, Seattle, Downtown, Woody, Male, 26-30! ➡
  • 2001
    • A shoebox, a dragon’s kiss, and Kate I've got pics up here to share of the apartment and the building. It's pretty sparse at the moment, but hopefully I'll be able to rectify that fairly quickly. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get everything over there just yet...but I'll find a way. ➡
    • Buses are fun There are various repairs still being done around town from the earthquake last February, and they're currently closing down the Ballard bridge each night, forcing the bus to take a longer route. ➡

On This Day: Jul 9

by

Since I’ll hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 35 posts previously published on July 9th

  • 2023
    • Year 50 Day 68 Out at a park for a picnic and evening performance of _Romeo and Juliet_. ➡
  • 2020
  • 2016
    • The circus is in town! We discovered the Wenatchee Youth Circus a couple years ago and enjoyed the show, so since we saw they were back, here we are! (191/366) #circus #wenatcheeyouthcircus ➡
    • Chucks of the day (39/?): bright green high tops. #chucks #converse ➡
  • 2015
    • Hiding in the shade before the parents show up. 102 degrees out here! Sure, I happily left Alaskka for warmer weather, but I may have overdone it a bit. ➡
  • 2014
  • 2013
  • 2010
    • In Memoriam, Don Brown Prairie's grandfather passed away this morning. He'd gone into the hospice last week (necessitating our trip down to Vancouver last weekend), and held on long enough to let all of the immediate family come by to say goodbye. ➡
  • 2009
    • Links for July 8th through July 9th Sometime between July 8th and July 9th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too! • Mythbusters to Test Star Trek’s Gorn Cannon • "Harry Potter" Stars Felt Pressure to "Ace" Kiss • Ritz Camera, Parent of Wolf and Waxman, Plans to Sell Remaining Stores • Paste Without Formatting by Default • Marvel Wants to Help You Look Stylish! ➡
  • 2008
    • Encroachment Taken near the Old Fishing Hole in Kent, WA. It was a gorgeous day, and the construction equipment looked really out of place against the blue sky and greenery. ➡
    • Links for July 8th through July 9th Sometime between July 8th and July 9th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too! • Octopuses given Rubik's Cubes to find out if they have a favourite tentacle • New Nikon D700 • Getting your point across • Ayluro → Corkboard. ⌘C and ⌘V are so 1984. • Exposure ➡
  • 2007
    • Boy in the Pool Since today's heading up into the 80's, we're thinking heading back to the pool sounds like a _really_ good idea.... ➡
    • Live Free or Die Hard In short: as far as summer blockbuster entertainment goes, _Live Free or Die Hard_ was everything that _Transformers_ should have been. Big, loud, funny, and -- and this is a key point -- _believable_ in its implausibility. ➡
  • 2006
  • 2005
    • Bring the camera, momo! After getting a call from my optometrist letting me know that my new sunglasses were ready to be picked up (I lost my old pair a few weeks ago), I got ready to go. On my way out the door, I looked at my camera sitting on my desk. Should I take it? ➡
    • Snack time! Today's headline of the day award (even though the headline's a couple days old, thanks to me being a bit behind in my newsreader, as always...) comes from CNet. ➡
    • Poor little rock crab… Photos taken a couple weeks ago at Golden Gardens Park. Layout done with Comic Life -- neat little program! ➡
  • 2004
    • Gay Marriage bumper stickers Two pro-gay marriage bumper stickers, in response to the 'Marriage = (Man) + (Woman)' bumper stickers apparently being given away by the 700 club. ➡
    • Two from This Modern World This Modern World kicks today off with two equally incindiary articles. Item one: According to The New Republic, Bush requests Bin Laden's capture in time for elections. Item Two: Children held and possibly tortured or abused in Abu Gahraib? ➡
    • It’s illegal to photograph the Ballard Locks That is, it's illegal if you look like a terrorist. ➡
  • 2003
    • Ari’s losing it I think the burden is on those people who think he didn't have weapons of mass destruction to tell the world where they are. ➡
    • Haunted Mansion Trailer I was a lot more interested in this before I saw Eddie Murphy in the trailer. Has he made anything even remotely funny since The Golden Child? ➡
    • So who was the speech to? After touring the island site that was a launching ground for slave traders, Bush gave an anti-slavery speech. Unfortunately, all the residents of the island had been herded up and penned in a football stadium. So much for anti-slavery. ➡
    • Game on! Next some other idiot is going to try to play Quidditch with a Dirt Devil, two bowling balls, a basketball, and a badminton birdie. Sha! ➡
    • Transsexual clownfish! Scientists could have written an R-rated, gender-bending plot twist to Disney's 'Finding Nemo': Clownfish have a natural ability to change their sex. ➡
    • S-11 Redux Culled from over 20 hours of television footage recorded over a one month period and across 13 networks, S-11 Redux is a sound-bite blitzkrieg that challenges the messages we have been fed from our mainstream media and the government it serves. Be warned - this video moves quickly and will require at least two viewings to digest its full impact. ➡
    • Pre-Natal Massage I know what it really means…but what it could mean had my co-worker and I alternating between really amused and really disgusted. ➡
    • Oh, by the way… For the record, though, I've decided to put The Long Letter on hold for the duration of the TypePad beta, to give me the most possible opportunities to participate in the collective tire-kicking here. ➡
    • Are friends electric? In any case, the point is that, at least for me, it's rare that I hesitate on posting something because of anyone who might read my site. Not unknown, but rare. ➡
    • Playing with Zempt Looks like UserSpace might have some competition down the line! As it stands right now, Zempt looks good for the Windows side of things, and UserSpace has my vote for the Mac side of the equation. ➡
    • The great bit bucket in the sky It seems to me there's a very simple solution to this, that, for me, outweighs any risk of my web-based life disappearing into the great bit bucket in the sky, and that's simply this: back up your files. ➡
    • Stonehenge again Cold, hard, and immobile — apparently the designer didn't have a very good sex life! ;) ➡
  • 2002
    • New element discovered Research at other laboratories indicates that administratium occurs naturally in the atmosphere. It tends to concentrate at certain points such as government agencies, large corporations, and universities. It can usually be found in the newest, best appointed, and best maintained buildings. ➡
  • 2001
    • My stuff, Hank, and my apartment I ended up with one pallette to be shipped — a grand total of 1,075 lbs. — and when I stood next to it, it looked like it was about 7 ft. high. Lots of crap, basically, but it's my crap, and it's the crap I wanted to keep. ➡

Time for a Black Light Resurgence

by

So—possibly goofy idea, proposed by someone with absolutely no medical background whatsoever:

One of the things I keep seeing about the coronavirus is that one of the reasons outdoor environments may be less transmissive (in addition to the natural ventilation) is that the ultraviolet wavelengths of sunlight break down the virus. (This doesn’t mean the virus can’t be transmitted outdoors, only that it breaks down faster—wear your masks!)

So what if we required that all indoor public spaces had to use lighting that consisted of at least, oh, 25% high-UV output sources like black light bulbs? It wouldn’t be anything like a guaranteed knockout punch for the virus, but might at least help to speed the breakdown of any airborne infectious particulates.

As a bonus—whether or not this would be a good bonus is an exercise left up to the individual—everything would get a bit of a cyberpunk glow to it, especially into the evening hours, and we might see a resurgence of ‘70s/‘90s-style UV-reactive neons, colors, and fabrics in fashion and pop art. 😉

Plus, who knew that LED black lights were so plentiful and relatively inexpensive? I’m tempted to find some way to work these into the home decor, whether or not there’s any medical benefit! (I don’t think Prairie would be as excited about the idea, though….)

Update: It’s been pointed out on Facebook that cancer might be a concern of notably increased UV levels. This, obviously, is why I started this post by noting that I’m not a medical professional (or even amateur). ;)

On This Day: Jul 8

by

Since I’ll hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 35 posts previously published on July 8th

  • 2024
    • Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold 📚: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Less action and more introspection, mystery solving, and Barrayaran politics, always with Bujold’s signature wit and incredibly well-rounded, imperfect, and very real characters. ➡
  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2020
    • Book twenty-eight of 2020: Ghost Ship by Diane Carey ⭐️⭐️ #startrek #tng 🖖 Painfully obviously early in the TNG novels (it is the first not adapted from an episode). Characterizations are wildly off base (Riker’s distrust of Data is basically overt racism). Just…oof. ➡
    • On This Day: Jul 8 Recognizing 20 years of blogging, here are my past posts from July 8 ➡
  • 2018
    • Book twenty-six of 2018: Tim’rous Beastie, edited by Amanda Lafrenais. 🌟🌟🌟 ➡
  • 2016
    • Pretty sure there’s now a tiny little Lego ’90s-era Tom Cruise in our collection. (190/366) ➡
    • Chucks of the day (38/?): blue and black dual-layer high tops with blue laces. An odd style that I picked up mostly out of curiosity and amusement (I’m not sure of the appeal of looking like I’m trying to wear two pair at once), but don’t wear often. #chucks #converse ➡
  • 2014
    • These crosswalk lines just got painted outside the building I work in. One of them — the one on the right in the foreground — is offset by about six inches (to the right, from this vantage point) away from consistency with the other three. This is going to drive my #ocd tendencies bonkers every ... Read more ➡
    • Early lunch today so I can go see a friend defend her master’s thesis this afternoon. ➡
  • 2009
    • 12:34:56 7/8/9 Just a fun little numerical oddity: at the time of this posting (more or less, as Wordpress doesn't let me schedule a post time down to the second), the combined date and time (if you drop the leading zero from the two-digit abbreviation for the year) becomes 123456789. ➡
    • Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Yesterday, nearly two years to the day after going to see Michael Bay's first 'Transformers' film, Rick and I once again channelled our inner 12-year olds, did our best to turn off our brains, and headed off to see 'Transformers: Rise of the Fallen'. ➡
    • Links for July 5th through July 8th Sometime between July 5th and July 8th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too! • Monsignor’s Confessional: Darkness That Exists Just for You • Introducing the Google Chrome OS • Sarah Palin's 10 Most Awkward Media Moments • Fiction World Rocked as Woman Claims No Sexual Attraction to Neil Gaiman • Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest 2009 Results ➡
  • 2006
  • 2004
    • Spamalot Coming to Broadway in early 2005: Monty Python's 'Spamalot', 'the musical lovingly ripped off from the motion picture, 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail.'' ➡
    • Meme fun This was originally a LiveJournal meme, but it was so goofy and intricate that I had to join in the fun. So. Bear with me. ➡
    • Reading protected LiveJournal entries via RSS How to read protected 'friends only' LiveJournal posts in your RSS aggregator. ➡
    • Kill Bill – Part Three I actually heard a rumor about this a couple of weeks ago, but I just now got around to a quick Google to see if there was any truth to what I'd heard. Apparently there is — Tarrantino is planning on a third part to the Kill Bill saga. In fifteen years. ➡
    • Another excuse called into question Now, there were enough records of human rights violations in Iraq under Hussein's rule that I in no way doubt that he is a bad, bad man who needs to be soundly spanked. However, from everything I've read to date, it very strongly appears that he told the truth when he said that Iraq had no WMDs, and he told the truth when he said that he heard of the Halabja massacre through the media, and did not order the gas attack. ➡
    • West Coast Bloggers Hellz yeah, biznatch — West Coast Bloggers, REPREZENT! ➡
    • Spidey vs. Doc Ock Worth watching — an absolutely incredible stop-motion animation short film of Spider Man battling Doc Ock…done entirely in Lego. ➡
    • Demand Space D just pointed me to Demand Space, just started by a friend of hers, and they've got a really good limited-time-only Grand Opening special (at least, it looks like it to me, though I haven't looked into these things in a while). ➡
  • 2003
    • Information overload I'm sure there's a lot of nifty stuff out there on the 'net right now. Guess y'all will just have to go find it yourselves. Sorry! ➡
    • Electronic voting problems Unfortunately, as is often the case, the reality looks to be falling far short of what is actually needed. New Zealand's Scoop magazine has a very disturbing article examining Diebold's electronic voting machines, and investigating just how secure they really are. ➡
    • Discovering TypePad It's definitely interesting being in a beta test period with weblogs that are public, and yet being bound by a (limited) NDA that prevents me from saying much of anything about the service itself. ➡
    • Putting The Long Letter on hold for a bit… NOTICE: This weblog (The Long Letter) will be going on hold for a bit. I'm not disappearing, though -- I'm just going to be using Eclecticism as my primary weblog for the duration of the TypePad beta testing project. ➡
    • Not Britney! Britney Spears admitted today that she isn't a virgin. ➡
    • iTMS Exclusive: LXG Soundtrack Looks like Apple's iTunes Music Store is catching on (or, at the very least, getting enough interest to warrant an interesting experiment): in the US market, the soundtrack for the movie The Leage of Extraordinary Gentlemen will only be available through the iTMS — no CD's will be pressed. ➡
    • How to proceed from here I'm working on figuring out the pros and cons to various ways of approaching the fact that I've now got a secondary weblog that I need to keep active as well as having this weblog that's been active for a good few years now at its current address. ➡
    • How do I do this? Okay, so I've got this new toy to play with, and I do need to make sure to play with it. I just need to figure out how to play with it. ➡
    • Mena's here too Mena's moved her weblog over to TypePad too. ➡
  • 2001
    • It works! You'll notice the new(est) look to the site -- finally found a layout I liked, and was flexible enough to work sitewide. Spent most of the day in front of the computer working on it, and now the majority of the pages are converted over to the new design. ➡
    • Headaches I think that I've got things so that they should be visible at the moment, but with IE crapping out every time I make a change, I'm not entirely sure. Keeping my fingers crossed, that's for damn sure.... ➡

On This Day: Jul 7

by

Since I’ll hit 20 years of blogging this November, this year I’m posting a daily list of anything I published on this day in the past.

There are 22 posts previously published on July 7th

  • 2023
  • 2020
  • 2017
    • Made it out to the Merc! ➡
  • 2016
    • Taken this morning. We let the dropped seeds under the bird feeder do what they want during the spring, and we’ve got a nice little sunflower patch going right now. The birds seem to like the extra perching spots as well. ➡
    • “This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays.” — Arthur Dent, in Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (189/366) ➡
    • Chucks of the day (37/?): white high tops with blue lining and sidewall. #chucks #converse ➡
  • 2014
    • Another day of chatting about Law and Justice with incoming students’ parents. #cwu #cwupride ➡
  • 2010
    • DJ Wüdi Mashup: Give It A Crablouse Sources: The Lords of Acid's The Crablouse (In Its Native Environment (Album) and Whatever You Do, Remain Calm (Instrumental)) mixes, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Give It Away. ➡
  • 2008
    • Links for July 4th through July 7th Sometime between July 4th and July 7th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too! • Brendan Fraser lays out the 12 steps to an action movie's success • How English Is Evolving Into a Language We May Not Even Understand • Michael Bay's Rejected 'The Dark Knight' Script • No Matter How It Is Sliced, It Is Still Bologna • A bike for the final frontier ➡
    • 12,000 Free Hugs Buried in the midst of my Pride photos: my 12,000th photo uploaded to Flickr. Yeesh! Another 8,000-some shots and I'll have as many pictures on Flickr as I have tracks in iTunes. Photowhore _and_ musicwhore, that's me! ➡
  • 2006
    • Meez A cute little avatar, plus brief bits on my job, fourth of July fireworks, and an upcoming vacation. ➡
  • 2005
    • July First Thursday A few shots from tonight's 'Electric' Seattle Photobloggers exhibition at Art Rage Studios, as part of this month's First Thursday Art Walk in Pioneer Square. ➡
    • London Terror Attack Witnesses saw the top ripped off a double-decker bus near Russell Square close to King's Cross train terminal, and three more apparently coordinated explosions caused carnage on packed subway trains as Londoners made their way to work. ➡
  • 2004
    • Adsense down? Google's Adsense appears to be down at the moment, which is causing loading problems for my weblog. Apologies to all if it's hitting you, but there's not a thing I can do about it except wait for them to get things together. ➡
    • Step right up! Get yer tickets here! The automated systems that create the Google News pages occasionally make some rather odd decisions when combining headlines with summaries… ➡
  • 2003
    • First post! Yeah, it's cheesy. ➡
    • Greetings, Earthlings Just something cool: a weblog from space, written by NASA Science Officer Ed Lu from on board the International Space Station. ➡
    • TypePad beta testing! I got a surprisingly cool e-mail when I got home today -- I'm a TypePad beta tester! ➡
    • Marc, Laura, and a 12-egg omelette Oh, and one last thing — just in case you were curious, this is what happens to Alaskans who spend an entire day in the summer sun of the Gorge without bothering to use sunscreen. I don't recommend it. ;) ➡
  • 2002
    • NASA better get cracking Anybody think we'll be in a position to start colonizing planets other than Earth within the next 50 years? ➡
    • Rocky Horror what??? Here's a fairly disturbing idea -- celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Rocky Horror Picture Show by remaking it as a made-for-TV movie, keeping the original music and lyrics, but updating it to a more modern setting. ➡
  • 2001
    • Site design: why CSS? I'm redesigning the site to comply with current Cascading Style Sheet standards. While I'd been using CSS for a while now to standardize and simplify the formatting across the site, this is my first foray into using CSS for the actual site layout. ➡