Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Public service announcement - Shareaza

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 04:30:01 GMT

Spread the Word - SHAREAZA™ is the property of the Shareaza development team.

Spreading the word - online petition to support science education in Florida

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 12:53:51 GMT

From: http://www.flascience.org/wp/?p=416

Florida Citizens for Science has created an online petition. Please take a moment to sign it. Provided we can collect a decent number of signatures, we then plan on printing a copy and presenting it to the State Board of Education. We don’t have much time, though, so please don’t put it off!

Plus, meandering has created an LJ feed of the Florida Citizens for Science here: fl_citizen_sci.

Musical Interlude

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 03:00:15 GMT

Hey, gardenwaltz, I think you'd enjoy this.

http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2007/11/29/re-vos-cerveaux/

(It's a few days old, but that's because I'm lazy!)

In related news, fizzgig_bites got me a near-complete JoCo collection for Hannukah, making me a very happy little code monkey. :) I love the little Creative Commons logo on the corner of the CD sleeve!

Quick meme before bed.

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 02:31:08 GMT

Ximinez - 1/2 a cup of flirting - 2 heaping tablespoons of sexiness - 2 teaspoons of caring Blend together quickly and serve.
'What is your personality recipe?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Unconfirmed news

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 17:29:49 GMT

From http://cariaso.livejournal.com/34309.html

I cannot verify the accuracy of any of this. I pass it on it hopes that it may be true.

> Dear All,
>
> Kindly forgive the brevity and the lack of
> formatting of the following email. I am now sending
> this information out as we are now receiving it. As
> many of you are now aware phone lines have been cut,
> mobile networks have been disabled, and Internet
> access has also been disabled. Information,
> therefore, is now very difficult to obtain and
> confirm. I therefore am unable to confirm any of
> that which follows, but my sources are adamant that
> this is the truth:
>
>
> Soldiers from LID #66 have turned their weapons
> against other SPDC soldiers and possibly police in
> North Okkalappa township in Rangoon and are
> defending the protesters. At present unsure how
> many soldiers involved. Some reports cite "heavy
> shooting" in the area.
>
>
> Other unconfirmed reports have stated that soldiers
> from LID #33 in Mandalay have refused orders to act
> against protesters. Some reports claim that many
> soldiers remained in their barracks. More recent
> reports now maintain that soldiers from LID #99 now
> being sent there to confront them.
>
>
> Reports of approx. 10,000+ protesters gathering
> around the Traders Hotel in Rangoon.
>
> Reports of 10,000+ protesters gathering at San Pya
> Market in Rangoon.
>
> Further reports of approx. 50,000 protestors
> gathering at the Thein Gyi Market in Rangoon.
> According to Mizzima, an unknown number of soldiers
> from Central Command and South East Command are
> presently on their way to Rangoon to reinforce SPDC
> army troops.
>
> Also according to Mizzima, an unknown number of
> aircraft have been scrambled from "Matehtilar"
> airbase - probably a reference to Meiktila in
> Mandalay Division.
>
> According to one journalist, SPDC have turned water
> cannons against crowds at Sule Pagoda. The report
> maintains that the water contained some type of
> chemical. awaiting further information.
>
>
> Please circulate this information as widely as as
> quickly as possible.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jason
> Research Director
> Human Rights Documentation Unit
> National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma

More blatant self-promotion, as if you care.

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 02:20:59 GMT

A few days ago, I created a few syndicated accounts for some of my self-indulgent blather. I recently created another one for my Google Reader shared items at ximinez_greader. Again, shouldn't be much overlap with other feeds and such, just because of the way I use it.

This time, I waited until it initialized so that it won't slam anybody's friends page the first time around.

Hey, I forgot I could do that

Sat, 08 Sep 2007 02:18:36 GMT

Reminded earlier today that I can create syndicated accounts on LiveJournal now, I created one for my del.icio.us bookmarks at ximinez_delic, and one for my Twitter micro-blog at ximinez_twitter.

I don't tend to crosspost (much) between them, so anyone interested is not likely to see a whole lot of redundant garbage. No, it will be mostly new and unique garbage. How cool is that?

Edit: Catch up on your friends page before adding these. The first pull off the feed was a doozy.

High school injustice.

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 20:57:22 GMT

Student suspended for tricking rival fans into insulting themselves

Totally worth it.

Ear bugs

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 12:44:57 GMT

Listening to TWiT this morning on the way in to work. They were talking about the 25th anniversary of the CD, and went around the panel talking about their first CD. Naturally, this triggered me to think about my first CD, which I'm kinda embarrassed to admit was Guns and Roses' Appetite for Destruction. Coincidentally, Anna was going through my CD collection the other day, and asked me to play that CD for her. (Because she "thought it would be cool." Heh.)

With the combination of the two, now I've got Welcome to the Jungle stuck in my head, and I can't shake it.

Maybe I'll re-queue Coverville's Led Zeppelin cover story to try to drown it out... ;)

Keyboard woes

Wed, 30 May 2007 22:55:57 GMT

I wonder if there will be a nice ergonomic keyboard in today's woot off.

My keyboard suddenly died. They tend to do that when you spill half a glass of water into them.

*sigh*

Luckily, I kept the keyboard that came with my computer. Unfortunately, it's a "normal" keyboard that my big hands and bitchy wrists are having trouble with. As a bonus, most of the "extra" keys surprisingly seem to work with my out-of-the-box Ubuntu Linux installation. On the downside, the calculator button is crammed in next to the left ctrl key, and I keep hitting it by accident.

So, in all, not dead in the water, but not very happy about it either.

First of May

Tue, 01 May 2007 12:47:50 GMT

Somebody celebrate for us, because this house sure ain't in the mood...

I woke up this morning
I had a scone and a large house blend
And then a little conversation with my squirrel and chipmunk friends
I said I’m sick and tired of winter
And I wish that it was spring
And then a little fellow named Robin Redbreast
Began to sing

And he sang
Ooh ooh child, what’d you think the cold winter’s gonna last forever?
Ooh ooh child, now’s the time for all the people to get together
Outside

Cause it’s the first of May, first of May
Outdoor fucking starts today
So bring your favorite lady
Or at least your favorite lay
The water’s not cold baby dip in your big toe
Maybe I’ll see you in flagrante delicto
Grass below you, sky above
Celebrate spring with a crazy little thing called fucking outside

I thanked him for the information
I cried a little when he flew away
I watched an episode of The People’s Court
And I tried to plan my day
I called up my old lady
She wasn’t home so I called my girl
I asked her if she’d like to join me as I
Entertain the world

And I said
Ooh ooh child, I’ll bring a blanket and I promise I will brush the ants off
Ooh ooh child, you’re gonna like it when we’re taking each other’s pants off
Outside

Cause it’s the first of May, first of May
Outdoor fucking starts today
So bring your favorite lady
Or at least your favorite lay
The water’s not cold baby dip in your big toe
Maybe I’ll see you in flagrante delicto
Grass below you, sky above
Celebrate spring with a crazy little thing called fucking outside

So we went to the park together
We were walking in the midday sun
We met all kinds of people and we
We fucked everyone
We fucked a lady who sells ice cream
We fucked a man with a tan Shar Pei
Everyone who needed fucking well they
They got fucked today

So come on
Ooh ooh child, open your mind and your heart, feel the spirit moving through you
Ooh ooh child, you’ll feel the warmth of the love when I stick it to you
Outside

Cause it’s the first of May, first of May
Outdoor fucking starts today
So bring your favorite lady
Or at least your favorite lay
The water’s not cold baby dip in your big toe
Maybe I’ll see you in flagrante delicto
Grass below you, sky above
Celebrate spring with a crazy little thing called fucking outside

http://www.jonathancoulton.com/songdetails/First%20of%20May

Awesomeness

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 16:20:51 GMT

My wife is the most awesomest wife of all the awesome wives in the whole world. :-D

The story: I'm at an all-day meeting at a satellite office. I brought my laptop, but forgot my power brick at home, and the docking station on my desk is too unwieldy. So I asked very nicely and she found my power, and drove it all 8 miles down here to this other office. It may not sound like much on the surface, but she saved my ass. Again. And for no reason other than the fact that she's awesome.

Ear bugs

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 13:37:49 GMT

I hate this new-ish Alka Seltzer commercial - the one with the fake rock / concert video. There's one hook that keeps getting stuck in my head, and I'm having the damnedest time shaking it.

Breaking News

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 15:05:06 GMT

This just in! Anna Nicole Smith is still dead!

Baaaah

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 23:34:27 GMT

Create your own visitor map!

How to tell you're a geek.

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 17:25:32 GMT

How to tell you're a geek, #21043:

This comic:

breaks your fracking heart...

Bleh

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 17:04:30 GMT

Happy Fucking New Year.

Hey kids!

Sat, 30 Dec 2006 03:30:27 GMT

Anybody wanna guess what time it is?!?!

Edit: Anybody have any experience buying machines with Linux pre-installed? I'm thinking laptop, but mostly, I want something that mostly works out of the box. I don't have time to do a full install, mess with drivers, etc. I found http://www.linuxcertified.com/linux_laptops.html via Google, but never heard of them. Opinions?

P.S. Will that smell ever get out of my nose???

P.P.S. fizzgig_bites is infinitely more patient than I!

World AIDS Day

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 18:56:27 GMT

gobble gobble

Thu, 23 Nov 2006 16:55:26 GMT

To those of you who celbrate it today, Happy Thanksgiving!

And to my friends in the United Kingdom: Neener neener neener!

(And, yes, I am fully aware that my Thanksgiving post last year was very similar to this one...)

Danny Rolling

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 13:47:27 GMT

This started as a comment over on a post by garygen, but I thought it would be worth posting:

I am against the death penalty as it is currently practiced. It is blatantly biased toward the poor and minorities, many of whom are punished much more severely than rich and/or white folks who commit the same types of crimes. I have little doubt that innocent people have been executed by the State, and I find that abhorrent, and reason enough alone to abolish the death penalty entirely.

Then there are people like Danny Rolling, Ted Bundy, BTK, John Wayne Gacy, Jeffery Dahmer, etc. The worst of the worst. Those who have killed over and over, in unimaginable ways, and who would do it again if given the chance. People that are so far gone from their humanity that we really would be better off as a society if they were permanently and irrevokably removed from it. There is a difference, and in that difference is where my support for abolishing the death penalty wavers.

One idea I heard a while back was to come up with a higher standard than "beyond a reasonable doubt" for the death penalty sentence. Something like "absolute certainty". Unfortunately it never got any traction anywhere, because politicians are stupid, corrupt assholes. But, as I understand it, Rolling definitely meets that higher standard. That said, I will not celebrate his death as so many others are doing. I will not mourn him, either. I'm mostly just relieved.

My opinion is conflicted, and I do acknowledge that. That's why I write computer programs instead of laws.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while...

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 13:53:17 GMT

For those of you who need inspiration for explaining why you haven't posted in a while:

http://www.jennshreve.com/thefblog/2006/10/sorry-i-havent-posted-in-awhile.html

Word of the day: nocebo

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 13:29:41 GMT

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=nocebo&x=0&y=0

Main Entry: no·ce·bo
Pronunciation: "nO-'sE-(")bO
Function: noun
: a harmless substance that when taken by a patient is associated with harmful effects due to negative expectations or the psychological condition of the patient

Yes, it's the opposite of placebo. The great example I heard was on Penn Jillette's Friday the 13th podcast where Michael Goudeau told a tale of wishing a magician "Good Luck" backstage, and the magician getting so freaked out at how unlucky that is that he burned himself on stage about a minute later.

For some reason, I really like this word.

LJ Talk

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 02:50:06 GMT

For those of you who don't read news, LiveJournal has started up an IM service using the Jabber protocol. Just another way to keep in touch, and if you've got a multi-protocol client like Gaim, setting it up is easy.

Mindmap thingy

Sun, 01 Oct 2006 15:35:32 GMT

MindMap

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Public service announcement - Shareaza

Spreading the word - online petition to support science education in Florida

Musical Interlude

Quick meme before bed.

Unconfirmed news

More blatant self-promotion, as if you care.

Hey, I forgot I could do that

High school injustice.

Ear bugs

Keyboard woes

First of May

Awesomeness

Ear bugs

Breaking News

Baaaah

How to tell you're a geek.

Bleh

Hey kids!

World AIDS Day

*gobble gobble*

Danny Rolling

Sorry I haven't posted in a while...

Word of the day: nocebo

LJ Talk

Mindmap thingy

gobble gobble