March 31, 2002
Mysteries & Food
Remember the other day I wondered why all the Blogdex hits, and one for "Meister du Linkage" in particular? Aha! That, my friends, was Jenny! I have figured this mystery out! Now if only I could figure out this other one: when this machine was purchased, it came with MGI Photosuite (when I click on "About" it tells me I have ver. 6.5, which makes no sense, since the current retail version is 4.0). Anyway, yesterday I thought I'd try to use it to create a button, just for educational purposes. Big mistake. I have repeatedly created text and copied it into a large (800x640) image, and then shrunk the image to button size (100x30), being sure to check the "shrink to fit" box. When I do, the text either disappears or becomes an illegible line. I have searched the Help files (and death be to those who decided printed manuals were too costly to include with software), and I find nothing about layers, overlays, skins, or any other word which might indicate why my text goes awry. Anybody out there know anything about this software?
Is Easter brunch on the menu for anyone? This one is a big deal for us, because it will be the first outing for Mom for purposes other than medical in quite a while. We're (all six of us) headed to the Oceanarium, which has long been a favorite of ours for Easter. My nieces love (well, used to love...they're older!) to watch the fish, and the diver feeding them.
Update: Went to the brunch; here's part of the menu:
Omelet Station
Prime Rib
Salad, Poke, Sashimi, Fruit Bar, Waffles w/ Strawberries or Syrup, Cakes, Pies, Baklava
Eggs Florentine Benedict
Potatoes Boulangere (sliced red potatoes w/ onions)
Rice (huge cooker--must've been 5-gallon size)
"Scottish Bangers" w/ Peppers and Onions (no more Scottish than nothin'--I've had the real thing in Edinburgh; the authentic ones are full of filler and meal; these were good old American sausages, but FAT!)
Veal with Mushrooms in Sauce
Bacon
Smoked Salmon
Snow Crab Legs w/ Drawn Butter
Scallops, Shrimp in Sauce
And who knows what I missed. Mom had a great time; we got there about five minutes before they opened for the 9:00 seating, so I pushed the wheelchair around all the chow for her to look at.
March 29, 2002
Toys R Famous?
There was a story on our late local news last night about the induction of "Raggedy Ann"tm into the National Toy Hall of Fame. The sports guy expressed astonishment that there were only half-a-dozen toys in the Hall, and I had to agree with him. Turns out that the Toy Hall is new and distinct from the Toy Industry Hall of Fame, which has been inducting people (not toys) since 1984. Another toy, of a sort, is the online game "Everquest." Apparently its fictional setting can now be valued in monetary terms. I'm not sure I agree with the methodology, but... From toys to tech: where does my e-mail go when sent?
Here's a concept...ABC was correct to pursue Letterman? That's the premise of an op/ed which points out that last year's Presidential candidates got more air time from their appearances on Oprah, Leno and Letterman than they did on the network news. More cynicism desired? Try this, regarding campaign consultants' income. In fact, Howard Kurtz seems to have written an entire column about cynicism and hypocrisy. But, Linkmeister, you say, is there no joy left? Well, grasshopper, yes there is. Just in time for Easter, cloned rabbits!
March 28, 2002
Technology Today
Requiescat in pace, Billy Wilder.
Yes, yes, I know it's been declared "Angst-Free Day", but does anyone else feel as gloomy as this? "...the Web has lost its luster." Ah well, maybe they hadn't read about tracking balls and strikes. Admittedly it's not on the web, but still... More whimsy: Inventions in search of an innovator: Reset your alarm to an hour earlier without paging through 23 hours! MP3 players in toothbrushes! What more could one want? On the other hand, here's an innovation which I'd call awful, but then my sister is a part-time travel agent, and I once set up an accounting system for an agency myself. Alright, back to positive innovation. How about a Silence Machine?" From the same source, however, comes sobering news: you should neither laugh (it may cause asthma), nor take Prozac (it may inhibit cancer cell death). New Scientist was full of goodies this week: try their "Strange but True" column. Final bit of tech news: tracing the digital terrorist trail.
This is less annoying to me than some other ways my tax dollar is spent, but still...
Did Manhattan residents suffer PTSD post-September 11? I mean, come on!
March 27, 2002
Dissembler in Chief?
After seeing news clips of Ari Fleischer trying to defend DOE's Abrahams' meetings with industry officials, I've conferred a new title on him: Dissembler in Chief. Further analysis of the newly-released documents (released only after a court ordered it, btw) indicates "the task force added a section on the environment only after an outcry from environmentalists excluded from deliberations". Those of us who enjoy breathing won one today: EPA pollution standards were upheld in the US District Court of Appeals.
All of us who shop online, take note: online sales at J. Crew just overtook their catalog sales. If the trend continues, your mailbox may have slightly less stuff cluttering it in the future. Here's a profile of Monster.com, with some analysis of what it's doing to newspaper classified advertising. On to important issues: when is a pint (in UK pub circles) really a pint? Regulating the amount of foam in a glass of Guinness?
Requiescat in pace, Dudley Moore and Milton Berle.
March 26, 2002
Jesse Helms as Good Guy?
He has got to be the most unlikeliest of sources of help fighting AIDS, but nonetheless, Sen. Jesse Helms is offering to increase appropriations for USAID to do just that. More motherhood issues, albeit not quite as tragic for humanity: remember the mysterious deaths of Kentucky thoroughbred foals last year? So far, so good this spring. In other pregnancy news, the FDA has cleared an electronic gizmo which purports to relieve morning sickness. And someone has identified a need for Internet counselling to wean people away from online addiction. If anyone recognizes him/herself, don't blame the messenger.
I heard a rather intriguing idea put forth today from one of the lawyers arguing for the families in the Supreme Court decision announced today. He suggested that there was apparently a double standard at work in the government's zero-tolerance drug policy for public housing occupants, since the President's daughter had been convicted of a drug-related offense, yet the government was not evicting Mr. Bush from the White House, although it too is public housing. Amusing, no? Remember the story about the Saudi religious police allegedly refusing to help girls escape from that Mecca fire due to their lack of abayas? Well, the Saudi government has now fired the Minister in charge of women's education, and merged his department into the principal Education Ministry.
Restaurant owners: Final Four Fat? Finally, here's one for Faith, or anyone else living in the big city and tired of car noise: Honku, a site which includes haiku about noise pollution. The organization (one guy) is based on Clinton Street in Brooklyn. I heard him interviewed on CBC today, and heard some of the "honku" quoted. Quite funny.
March 25, 2002
Blogdex?
For some unknown reason (unknown to me, anyhow) I'm getting a bunch of hits from Blogdex. I hadn't added my site to their system when the hits started appearing (I have now, after seeing the stats). Oh, yeah, one of them is even "Meister du Linkage," of all things. What is the meaning of these portents, I wonder?
A new e-zine devoted to personal publishing has just launched. Wait, that's too short a description. Here's a quote, 'This Corante Microblog covers what we call the "microcontent" sector: weblogs, Webzines, email digests, and the entire personal publishing sector. We also cover the business side of microcontent, including text-based microads, and corporate blogging.' Great...now what the heck is a "microad?"
For those of you who have been living under rocks, Eric has had some great news about housing, and he's also got another project going. It's called "Around the Web," and you can visit him to find out more. A little Oscar fashion commentary: "I tell you, things have come to pass when Woody Allen shows up anywhere looking better than Gwyneth Paltrow."
Think patent extensions on pharmaceuticals don't matter? Tell that to state governors and corporations, who are now spending gazillions on prescription drugs protected by patent long after the initial period expires. Something with no expiration date, and soon to be available on-line, if all goes well: the Gutenberg Bible. Not just the text, mind you, but actual digital scans of the pages' typography and paper surface. Flying foxes are not mentioned in the Bible, as far as I know, but by golly they may be a cause of ALS-Parkinsons dementia. Limit your consumption of the critters, please.
Finally, did you know the FDNY has a football league?
March 23, 2002
Poetry
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips.
"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Source: Liberty State Park
Do you know that all the great work of the world is done through me?
I am the workingman, the inventor, the maker of the
world's food and clothes.
I am the audience that witnesses history. The Napoleons
come from me and the Lincolns.
I am the seed ground. I am a prairie that will stand
for much plowing. Terrible storms pass over me.
I forget. The best of me is sucked out and wasted.
I forget. Everything but death comes to me and
makes me work and give up what I have. And I
forget.
Sometimes I grows, shake myself and spatter a few red
drops for history to remember. Then--I forget.
When I, the People, learn to remember, when I, the
People, use the lessons of yesterday and no longer
forget who robbed me last year, who played me for
a fool--then there will be no speaker in all the world
say the name: "The People," with any fleck of a
sneer in his voice or any far off smile of derision.
The mob--the crowd--the mass--will arrive then.
From: Original Text: Carl Sandburg, Chicago Poems (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1916), p. 172. PS 3537 A618C5 1916 Robarts Library.
Source: I AM THE PEOPLE, THE MOB
Aloha!
Hi! This is my new home, in which I am well pleased! I'll probably be more pleased when I really understand what the heck I'm doing with Movable Type templates, but...
I would like to thank Lee for the kind offer of space on her server. She did that even before Geocities informed its users that FTP would no longer work as of April 1, mind you! I'd also like to thank Shelagh for her patience and tips on adjusting this template to my (current) satisfaction. There will no doubt be changes as time goes on!
Again, thanks to both of you ladies; I couldn't have gotten here without you!
March 20, 2002
slowly, slowly
Links added; link pic added. Still gotta figure out how to get weather code and other buttons, but better idea of what I'm doing here.
Let us all know add some filler to see if by adding entry lines I can get the side items to appear on the side!!!!
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country, and yes, yes, I know it's sexist, but blame the typewriter inventor, not me.
March 17, 2002
Tinker, tinker...
Ok, so the web site is up; the links all point to the right place; now it's time to start mucking with the blog style itself.
1) Add the SOUL button code
2) Add the Linkmeister button
3) Add the Z-List button
4) Add links
5) Add weather code; possibly replace calendar with the weather button???
6) Add personal pages links (bio, resumes, books, places)
Hmmm....mucho left to do.
Edited to add:
7) Add Sitemeter button
8) Advise Sitemeter of new URL
9) Determine how to start sitemeter with current page view number
10) Eliminate the silly dotted lines
11)Add the pepys project button
12)Add the IsleTies button
March 15, 2002
Test with old data
Ok, baseball fans: spring training is upon us. The burning question is not whether the Yankees can compete for the World Series again (of course!), but rather, how does baseball manage to lose billions (by their own testimony) and yet remain in business? It's downright unpatriotic (and, given their antitrust exemption, possibly illegal) of them not to let the rest of American business in on this secret.
Testing, part 2
the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog's back 1234567890 times, all the while trying to get to this place.
Test, test
See if entry posts with no errors this time...