Amazon recommendations

Submitted without comment:

Bush vs. a real journalist

Seems that the White House screwed up and allowd Dubbyah to be interviewed by a journalist from Ireland. He didn't do very well. Here's a review of the interveiw from Stupid Evil Bastard and the video of the interview itself. One question that a US journalist would never ask: "Do you think the hand of God is guiding you in this war?"

Ghost Of A Chance

Like a million little doorways
All the choices we made
All the stages we passed through
All the roles we played

For so many different directions
Our separate paths might have turned
With every door that we opened
Every bridge that we burned

Somehow we find each other
Through all that masquerade
Somehow we found each other
Somehow we have stayed
In a state of grace

I don't believe in destiny
Or the guiding hand of fate
I don't believe in forever
Or love as a mystical state
I don't believe in the stars or the planets
Or angels watching from above
But I believe there's a ghost of a chance we can find someone to love
And make it last...

Like a million little crossroads
Through the back streets of youth
Each time we turn a new corner
A tiny moment of truth

For so many different connections
Our separate paths might have made
With every door that we opened
Every game we played

Somehow we find each other
Through all that masquerade
Somehow we found each other
Somehow we have stayed
In a state of grace

I don't believe in destiny
Or the guiding hand of fate
I don't believe in forever
Or love as a mystical state
I don't believe in the stars or the planets
Or angels watching from above
But I believe there's a ghost of a chance we can find someone to love
And make it last...

— Rush

Well, we'd never used it... 'till now.

Seems that just one month after ol' Ashcroft said that section 215 of the PATRIOT act had never been used, the FBI went and used it.

At the copa

Today the Supreme Court declared the Children's Online Protection Act (COPA) unconsitiutional and sent it back to the lower courts to give the chance for the feds to reargue the case since technologies have chanced in the five years since the law was originally passed.

In this MSNBC.com article Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo is quoted as saying “Our society has reached a broad consensus that child obscenity is harmful to our youngest generation and must be stopped.”

Excuse me but just what is "child obscenity." There is "child porn" and there is "obscenity". Child porn is legaly defined as obscene. So just what the heck is "child obscenity"?

The record player that will play any record

On June 17th, Cory Doctorow gave a talk to the folks at Mircosoft about Digital Rights Management (DRM) basically telling them how bad for everyone the whole idea is. Even if you have no idea what I'm talking about you should read the transcript of his speech. It is very non-technical, funny, and educational.

Seattle photos

I've created a page of photos from my Seattle trip. These photos are of better quality, (i.e. not from my Treo) and include images of the Seattle Public Library and the Science Fiction Museum & Hall of Fame.

Quote

"In politics, when you find yourself in a hole, the first rule is to quit digging; if you're blind to the possibility of error or determined not to admit it, you just look for a bigger shovel."
— My Life, Bill Clinton

Web design book update

The Neal-Schuman web site has a picture of the cover and I actualy like it. IT's a lot more interesting than the last three covers. In other news, the cover price for the book is oficially $75.00 but Amazon.com has it currently listed for $55.01 and are selling it for a disounted price of $37.41. Order your copy now before they fix the mistake.

More on those cds for libraries

According to the NPR station in Seattle this morning, the Seattle Public Library received 48 copies of "Scarry Sounds for Halloween" by Martha Stewart as part of the CD settlement.

Hotel woes

It seems that the Holiday Inn Express in Marysville, WA is somewhat behind the times. No high-speed Internet access, no pool, no fitness center. Well, at least I only have to drive 18 miles to the nearest bookstore with the new Clinton bio after class.

An adventure

Last night after class I decided to head out to find Cape Flattery, the western most point in the continental US. (Also the most North-Western point.) two hours later I think I got there, technically. I was definitely on the cape but not in the place where the tourists are supposed to be. It seems that I took a right when I should have taken a left. The second time my car bottomed out on the "road" that was more two ruts through the woods I figured that I should turn back. I did find one pullout and did get an amazing view along with a great pic (on the photoblog) but this is not the photo everyone else gets of the cape. It was also very foggy to the pic is a little fuzzy but you'll get the idea.)

Washington

I'm currently in Port Angeles, WA. Find it on a map; you can't get much more North-West in this country. I've posted photos on my PhotoBlog with more to come.

Wow, that was fast

I just listed an early edition of a Horatio Alger, Jr. novel on eBay and had my first bid in 13 minutes. Now, if I can just find a few more bidders...

Friday plans

Next Friday I have the day to spend in Seattle. I plan on seeing the new public library but also the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame which opened today. I'll send pictures. I promise.

Worse than the dust bowl

Despite the fact that it's been raining for the past three days, the dought here out West is the worst in 500 years.

LIS4202

For those that are interested in the class that I'm teaching at DU this session, Intro to Knowledge Technologies, here are the blogs that my students have created for tracking their progress on their case studies.

• http://karainwa.blogspot.com
• http://blinn.blogspot.com/
• http://mimyers.blogspot.com/
• http://chawk.blogspot.com
• http://shhcairn.blogspot.com/
• http://radio.weblogs.com/0139080/
• http://lis4202.blogspot.com
• http://stillearning.blogspot.com/
• http://page04.blogspot.com/

Free cds for libraries. but do they want them.

A few library blogs have mentioned the lack of quality in the CDs received from the price fixing settlement so I wasn't going to mention it. However, I have decided to mention that the story is actually getting mainstream media attention.

Why you should get there early

If there's one thing I've learned over the past seven years as a trainer is "arrive early, test everything." Case in point, DU last night. I was told that the campus had wireless access so I trudged onto campus 1.5 hours before my class just to be sure. I found my classroom, booted up the laptop, found several connections, chose one, connected and promptly got the DU "warning your connection is insecure until you download this iVPN client to secure it. Oh, and until you download that client, you can't surf away from this page." So, click on the link to download. Nothing happens. I wait two minutes and get "document contains no data." Call network support, ping the site, it's up. Try the IP numbers as URL, same lack of response. O.k. go over to the helpdesk at the library. (Luckily just across the street.) Get to the help desk, wait ten minutes and get some help. I show them the problem so the just plug me in to the wired connection and download the client. Install the client. (It takes three tries.) I no longer see any of my network adapters. The iVPN client had completely messed up my laptop. It doesn't even shut down properly any more. Another tech chimes in: "Oh, the iVPN client doesn't work on TabletPC." Thanks, where were you ten minutes ago!? Try to uninstall the client, it won't. Do a system restore to before installing the darn software. Computer back to "normal". Wireless still doesn't work and I don't have a LAN cable on me. They give me one and I go back to my classroom. The class itself went without a hitch.

Firefox 0.9

The new version of Mozilla Firefox is out but I stongly recommend not using it as your primary browser just yet. (I've learned this the hard way.) The main reason is that none of the extensions work yet. (They're all being tested for compatibility first.) If you do install it, you cannot install it over a previous version. You must uninstall the previous version first or install it into a new directory. One significant improvement though is that this new version does import settings and bookmarks from previous versions, Mozilla, Navigator, and Internet Explorer.

Yours

You, with your hand outstretched
Finger on the key
This lock that you release
Is opening but isn't free
And I hope that you can see
How it beats inside of me
Instead of pushing fear aside
I want to run I want to hide
I am vulnerably yours

She, who is wanting me
Whose touch can make me cry
I can only understand
By never asking her why
Hear the contradictions fly
And as hard as I may try
Every truth becomes a lie
In the ache of her reply
I am passionately...

Yours
And the saddest eyes are
Yours
And the softest skin is
Yours
And the hope I borrow is
Yours
So won't you let me in I'm yours
All that I begin is yours
Every prize I win is yours
At your feet again I'm yours
All I am is yours

All I am is wanting you
I've fallen down and I can't seem to come to
If I should die before I wake
I commend my soul into this ache
Up above the world so high
Where the water tends to meet the sky
She's all I'm after by the toe
And I won't let go...

And I wanted you to know
That if you reap what you would sew
I would take it blow by blow
All I am is...

Yours
And the saddest eyes are
Yours
And the softest skin is
Yours
And the hope I borrow is
Yours
So won't you let me in I'm yours
All that I begin is yours
Every prize i win is yours
At your feet again I'm yours
All I am is yours
Yours

— Blues Traveler

Quote

"I'm rage passion laughter and the need to know why."
— Battle of Someone, Blues Traveler

Why is o'hare "ord"?

Thanks to Rosario for this little tidbit I've always wondered about.

What would michael do?

I'm in the KC airport and I head that they need one passenger to give up their seat. So I decided to spend two additional hours in the airport from Hell. In exchange I got a first class seat on the next flight home (my first after seven years of traveling so I was overdue,) and a free round-trip ticket (which is going to get me back to Rochester for Christmas/New Years.) This was just a deal I couldn't pass up. Unfortunately the flight did lead me to discover that while in first class I am able to sleep on the plane.

New alien vs. predator preview

The first trailer is now available. (QuickTime required)

There's something karmic about this but I'm not sure what

Exactly six weeks ago I was in a hotel room at the Holiday Inn in Lee's Summit, MO. Guess where I am tonight... In the exact same hotel room in the exact same hotel.

Savonburg pictures

Pictures from my day at the Savonburg, KS Public Library can be found on my moblog. There is also a pic of The Majestic Steakhouse where I got to have dinner with Louise again. (Yes, she drove down from Des Moines for dinner.)

Savonburg, ks

Welcome to Savonburg, KS. Population 91.

Walkin' My Baby Back Home

But it's great after stayin' out late
Walkin' my baby back home
Arm and arm over meadow and farm
Walkin' my baby back home

We go along harmonizing a song
Or I'm reciting a poem
The owls go by and they give me the eye
Walkin' my baby back home

We stop for a while, she gives me a smile
And cuddles her cheek to my chest
We start into pet, and that's when I get
Her powder all over my vest

And just when I try to straighten the tie
She wants to borrow my comb
One kiss and then we continue again
Walkin' my baby back home

Well, gee but it's great after stayin' out late
Walkin' my baby back home
Well, arm and arm over meadow and farm
Walkin' my baby home

Well, we go along singin' a song
I'm recitin' a poem
Well, the owls go by and they give me the eye
Walkin' my baby back home

We stop for a while, she gives me a smile
And cuddles her cheek to my chest
Well, we start into pet, and that's when I get
Her powder all over my vest

And just when I try to straighten the tie
She wants to borrow my comb
One kiss and then we do again
Walkin' my baby back home

— Johnnie Ray

Everything

I can be a nightmare of the grandest kind
I can withhold like it's going out of style
I have the bravest heart that you've ever seen
And you've never met anyone who's as positive as I am sometimes

You see everything, you see every part
You see all my light and you love my dark
You dig everything of which I'm ashamed
There's not anything to which you can't relate
And you're still here

I blame everyone else, not my own partaking
My passive-aggressiveness can be devastating
I'm the most gorgeous woman that you've ever known
And you've never met anyone who's as everything as I am sometimes

You see everything, you see every part
You see all my light and you love my dark
You dig everything of which I'm ashamed
There's not anything to which you can't relate
And you're still here

What I resist, persists, and speaks louder than I know
What I resist, you love, no matter how low or high I go

You see everything, you see every part
You see all my light and you love my dark
You dig everything of which I'm ashamed
There's not anything to which you can't relate
And you're still here

And you're still here
And you're still here...

— Alanis Morissette

Alternate harry

Here's an alternate soundtrack to the first Harry Potter movie. I'm planning on trying it this weekend.

Now, if we can just convince the women

According to a new report "men who are seen reading a book are more attractive to the opposite sex."

Laura forwards a funny

George Bush is visiting a primary school and he visits one of the classes. They are in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings.

The teacher asks Mr. Bush if he would like to lead the discussion of the word "tragedy."

So the illustrious leader asks the class for an example of a "tragedy."

One little boy stands up and offers: "If my best friend, who lives on a farm is playing in the field and a runaway tractor comes along and knocks him dead, that would be a tragedy."

"No," says Mr Bush," that would be an accident."

A little girl raises her hand: "If a school bus carrying 50 children drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy."

"I'm afraid not," explains the exalted leader. "That's what we would call a great loss."

The room goes silent. No other children volunteer. Mr. Bush searches the room. "Isn't there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?"

Finally at the back of the room a small boy raises his hand. In a quiet voice he says: "If a plane carrying George Bush were struck by a missile and blown to smithereens that would be a tragedy."

"Fantastic!" exclaims Bush, "That's right. And can you tell me why that would be tragedy?"

"Well," says the boy, "because it sure as hell wouldn't be a great loss and it probably wouldn't be an accident either."

Translation challenge #3

E mafai ona e talaina se siaki?

What kind of thinker are you

This was an interesting little quiz to find out how your mind works instead of trying to give you a somwhat meaningless number. Here's my results. Think the results are accurate? (Let mw know your results in the comments area.)

The fcc song

Here's a little song Eric Idle wrote "while out duck hunting with a judge." NSFW!

Translation challenge #2

O.k. Laura got the Greek one. Here’s the next. (BTW: anyone can play I just assume that only Laura will bother.)

qaStaHvIS ramjep 'IQqu', QIt jIQub 'ej Doy'moH ghu', muqaDtaHvIS Hol tIQ 'ej taQ lu'angbogh paqmey qub... jIQongtaHvIS, pay' bachHom vIQoy,
ghaytan pa'wIj lojmIt qIptaH vay'
pa'wIj lojmIt qIptaHbogh SuchwI''e' tu'lu'law'
SuchwI' neH tu'lu'.

Curses, folied again

I was going to post this Thusday Next-related item but Louise beat me to it.

Cool song parts

Retro Crush has posted their list of the 50 coolest song parts. With Rush on the list for Tom Sawyer and Queen on the list not once, not twice, but three times, there's not much there for me to complain about.

XPsp2

Want to know what's in WindowsXP service pack 2? Check out this 10 minute video.

A sad day for rochester radio

It seems that due to the recent FCC overreaction to everything, University of Rochester radio station WRUR is no longer broadcasting live radio. Everything will now be pre-recorded.

Oh darn

Can't say I'm sorry that Creed has broken up but I have a problem with the article's opening line of "The biggest rock band of the past decade has broken up."

Evaluated book released

Sometime last year I reveiewed the manuscript for The Web Wizard's Guide to XHTML by Cheryl M. Hughes. Yesterday I received my complementary copy so it seems the book is out. As to wether or not the author followed any of my suggestions I've no idea and short of going back and digging out my comments and comparing them to the final copy (which I'm not planning on doing) I'll never know. It's a good book but I'd still recommend waiting for my book to come out. ;)

As someone who has collaborated on two books…

Neal Gaiman has some advice on survive a collaboration.

Fine!

O.k. Laura got the last one so I've changed the dates again. Unfortunately, I'm quickly running out of languages in the Blogger system that aren't painfully obvious, like Spanish. So, I've decided to include this one for her. Unfortuantely, the first word didn't translate at all...

Someday θα σας βρώ,
Σεληνόφωτο πίσω από σας,
Αληθινός στο όνειρο ονειρεύομαι.

Date change

O.k. After some dificulty with fonts and crashing computers Laura finally saw, and guessed in one, Hindi. Now onto something else Cyrillic...

Trailer

The trailer for Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 is now available on his Web site.

Cheaper and cheaper

Two months ago I spent $109 for a 160GB hard drive. Today I got an add for a 250GB hard drive for only $159. Further proof that there is never a "best" time to by computer equipment.

What is love?

"For love? Pah!" she answered, dismissing Estella with a wave of her hand in case the young woman got any odd ideas. "And what, in your tragically limited experience, is that?"

She didn't seem to be losing her temper, so, emboldened, I continued: "I think you know, ma'am. You were in love once, I believe?"

"Stuff and nonsense, girl!"

"Isn't the pain you feel now the equal to the love you felt then?"

"You're coming perilously close to contravening my Rule Two!"

"I'll tell you what love it," I told her. "It is blind devotion, unquestioning self-humiliation, utter submission, trust and belief against yourself and against the whole world, giving up your whole heart and soul to the smiter!"

— Jasper Fforde, Lost in a Good Book

Book proposal

I've written most of a new proposal for a book on blogging & RSS for libraries. I plan on submitting it to Neal-Schuman by the end of the week. (Chances are good as I know that they're looking for a book specifically on this topic.)

Change of date

Well, Laura finally guessed that the dates were in Macedonian. So, they're now in another mystery language. Let's see how long it takes her this time.

My brother isn't a drummer but he knows a few…

What do you call someone who hangs out with musicians?

A drummer.

What did the drummer get on his IQ test?

Drool.

Why do bands have bass players?

To translate for the drummer.

Did you hear about the time the bass player locked his keys in the car?

It took two hours to get the drummer out.

What's the difference between a drummer and a drum machine?

With a drum machine you only have to punch the information in once.

Thanks Laura.