Every once in a while, it’s worth noting that the majority of people continue to disagree with the Bush/Cheney administration and their approach to the so-called War on Terror, even if we don’t talk about it much. Thank you, Keith Olbermann, for this searing critique. Transcript and video via the link.
Archives for August 2006
August 30, 2006
Zero!
My email inbox count is now zero. That’s right, zero email messages in my inbox. Once more, with feeling: ZEEEEEEROOOOOO!!! Praise the lord and pass the chocolate. It has been years, possibly ten years, since the inbox was completely empty. Typically on a major cleanup I can get it down to 15 or so. This […]
August 30, 2006
Trapping Telemarketers
Rather cruel for the telemarketing employee, but genius nonetheless. A little while ago I put together a little application on our phone system so that when a telemarketer calls in, I can transfer them to this extension and annoy the hell out of them. I thought about it a bit more and decided to make […]
August 29, 2006
IRS Installment Plans
In case you ever find yourself owing the IRS $12,363, here is what you need to know about payment plans and interest rates. IRS-PUB, 2005, IRS Publication No. 910, An Installment Plan to Pay Your Taxes If you are not able to pay all your federal taxes by the due date, a monthly payment plan […]
August 28, 2006
The Business Card Menger Sponge
If you had 66,000 business cards sitting around, what would you do with them? Make a Menger sponge? Wow, me too! The primary goal of the Business Card Menger Sponge Project was to build a depth 3 approximation to Menger’s Sponge as shown above, out of 66,048 business cards. This can be done by building […]
August 27, 2006
Rail Trail to Twigs
Most readers of this blog will be shocked to hear that I rode my bicycle 14 miles yesterday. I have owned this bike for ten years, and on yesterday’s one ride I probably doubled it’s total lifetime miles. One of the draws was the Rail Trail, a reclaimed railroad bed turned into a flat, well-maintained […]
August 25, 2006
Democratic Strategy
The smartest thing the US Democrats could do for the next two years is split the Republican Party down the middle between the church-focused social conservatives and the less-government economic conservatives. Karl Rove (has his middle name always been “Christian?”) and Grover Norquist have been masterful at holding these two unrelated groups together in one […]
August 24, 2006
TMI: Kundalini
Sanatan Society: Kundalini Yoga: The roused Kundalini energy moves upwards in the central nadi, the Sushumna, passing through each of the lower chakras to reach the seventh, the Sahasrara Chakra. This process is known in Kundalini Yoga as the piercing of the chakras and represents the merging of the female with the male. Kundalaini Teacher: […]
August 24, 2006
Now In Clogs
On May 10 I cracked a sole on my Birkenstock Chicago shoes. No biggie, they were six years old, and it was my second pair. The first pair failed the same way at about the same time. Not so bad: Spend $200 on shoes and wear them almost every day and they last six years. […]
August 24, 2006
Getting Things Organized
A great Flickr tour of an office organization system based on Getting Things Done. Really advanced implementation. See also: Martin Ternouth’s highly-regarded workflow system.
August 24, 2006
DIY Website Heatmaps
Fantastic. Fully documented source code for making your own heat maps of user clicks on websites.
August 23, 2006
Is Fear Always a Negative?
Kat asked, in a comment, “Is fear always a negative thing?” I briefly reflected, and here’s where I am now: I think of fear as a continuum between “an alert edge” and “paralyzed with fear.” What we generalize as “fear” starts at alertness, because at that point you can no longer be fully “open”—you are […]
August 23, 2006
Bats in the Belfry
On June 18, 2002, I awoke from a dream and wrote this: Recently, a problem has surfaced where huge numbers of bats suddenly infest a house, church or other public place. Sometimes the bats can reproduce so quickly that they overtake the people present, driving them out. Oddly, it doesn’t seem to happen at coffee […]
August 22, 2006
Is Psychoanalysis Elitist?
Was digging around the unblogged writing archives, and found this half-formed thought from July 22, 2003. A comment has been raised that psychoanalysis is the most narcissistic and elitist of pursuits. I’m beginning to wonder if “elitist” is like “affirmative action” – defined on the fly to suit and argument or perspective. Sure, rich people […]
August 22, 2006
Where the winds hit heavy
Fred Wilson posts an mp3 of Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash singing Girl of the North Country. Stunning. Well, if you’re travelin’ in the north country fair, Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline, Remember me to one who lives there. She once was a true love of mine.
August 21, 2006
Continuing Examples of Music Industry Stupidity
This is worth a lengthy quote: NY Times: Now the Music Industry Wants Guitarists to Stop Sharing Lauren Keiser, president of the Music Publishers’ Association, says guitar tablature Web sites reduce the earnings of songwriters. In the last few months, trade groups representing music publishers have used the threat of copyright lawsuits to shut down […]
August 21, 2006
Grids and Graphs
Free Online Graph Paper / Grid Paper PDFs Amazing collection of graph and grid paper downloads. Each is generated on the fly from your parameters: Doc size, border, grid size, grid color, etc. Way highly useful.
August 18, 2006
Weekend Fun, Friday Edition
George W. Bush reads Camus August 11: My anger at The New York Times subsides somewhat as I skim Foucault and Sartre. Surveillance serves its disciplinary function only if the populace is conscious of it. And if Americans aren’t wrenched from being-pour-soi to being-en-soi (at least in relation to an observer who is Other) by […]