Journal Journal: HTML is a Four-Letter Word
The new Bob the Angry Flower is particularly apropos, at least to anyone who's on the Internet...
Journal Journal: Rustin, Where Are You? (Where *is* Rustin, anyway?) 3
(Back story: Rustin has gone to Portland, without leaving me contact info, so I don't know where he is at the moment.)
Rustin, if you're out there, please get in touch. I've got about a hundred questions I need to ask you.
Anybody who knows where Rustin is, could you please grab him by the ear and get him to call me, collect is ok. If he doesn't have my number, e-mail me at shgstewart at gmail dot com.
Thanks!
Rustin, if you're out there, please get in touch. I've got about a hundred questions I need to ask you.
Anybody who knows where Rustin is, could you please grab him by the ear and get him to call me, collect is ok. If he doesn't have my number, e-mail me at shgstewart at gmail dot com.
Thanks!
Journal Journal: It Ain't An Insult (X-Post from ?!ish LJ/Interroblog) 1
As the old Kenny Rogers song goes, I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in, and it turns out the unwashed barbarian hordes have taken it over. A friend of mine just sent me a link to this Language Log post called "A Brief History of Spaz." All this was brought on by Tiger Woods' saying, "I was so in control from tee to green, the best I've played for years... But as soon as I got on the green I was a spaz" in an interview.
I found the Language Log article rather wryly illuminating, particularly in that apparently, across the pond in England, "a BBC survey ranked 'spastic' as the second-most offensive term for disabled people, just below 'retard.'"
Now wait just a goddam minute here. Who took over a perfectly legitimate, precise piece of medical terminology and stripped away its medical meaning such that it became a pejorative "slightly less offensive than 'twat' and 'piss off,' and slightly more offensive than 'slag' and 'shit'"?! Granted, that's in British English, where, if they aren't creatively mangling the language out of some kind of perversely offhanded dismissive contempt for loanwords, then every second noun, verb, and adjective has some kind of pejorative connotation. However, the rest of the Language Log post suggests that "spastic" isn't doing so well here in North America, either.
The passage that particularly sticks with me from the comments to the article (and if I could find where to send an e-mail to the poster, I'd comment too, in a similar vein) is this one:
I found the Language Log article rather wryly illuminating, particularly in that apparently, across the pond in England, "a BBC survey ranked 'spastic' as the second-most offensive term for disabled people, just below 'retard.'"
Now wait just a goddam minute here. Who took over a perfectly legitimate, precise piece of medical terminology and stripped away its medical meaning such that it became a pejorative "slightly less offensive than 'twat' and 'piss off,' and slightly more offensive than 'slag' and 'shit'"?! Granted, that's in British English, where, if they aren't creatively mangling the language out of some kind of perversely offhanded dismissive contempt for loanwords, then every second noun, verb, and adjective has some kind of pejorative connotation. However, the rest of the Language Log post suggests that "spastic" isn't doing so well here in North America, either.
The passage that particularly sticks with me from the comments to the article (and if I could find where to send an e-mail to the poster, I'd comment too, in a similar vein) is this one:
When it crossed people's minds that I actually was a spastic, they were usually surprised and bit embarrassed by having said something with a sense that they hadn't thought of. Then, depending on testosterone levels, whether they liked me, and how polite they were, they either apologised or didn't. But I knew that they knew that they felt they should have. So it must have been reasonably offensive...
I have a similar anecdote, since, if it isn't entirely clear from context, I do have Cerebral Palsy, and I actually am a spastic (quadriplegic). A colleague of mine at my last full-time gig liked to sneak up to my office door in the mornings and rap on the little glass window, which, of course, would startle me, and I'd jump. She started calling me "Spazz," which I put up with for a while, since I just sort of assumed she knew that was kind of accurate for me. Then one day, I said, "You realise that I actually am a spazz, right?" The dialogue went as follows:
Colleague: Get out!
?!: No, really, I actually am a spastic quadriplegic.
C: You're kidding me!!
?!: No, c'mere, I'll show you...
She turned approximately purple and spent about five minutes falling all over herself to apologise for having ever called me "Spazz" in the first place. Now, that's kind of too bad, since as far as I'm concerned, "Spazz" is one of the if not nicer, then at least more accurate nicknames I've ever had. It certainly didn't bother me too much. On the other hand, that does beg the question: How the hell did "spastic" become so much of a pejorative that some people aren't even aware that it's a legitimate medical term?! How did that happen?
More importantly, how can we stop it? I'd really like my descriptor back from the forces of bigotry and semantic pollution, thank you.
Journal Journal: SofC 3
Whenever I eat a tall glass of melonade, what I really want to know is, how the hell can they be elements, huh? The truth? You can't handle the truth, ve'rak ani yode'a ma she'at sho'elet be'emet. Don't tell me what to do, don't tell me what to say, ma zot omeret? Laisse-moi d'etre ta corrida, welcome to the jungle, we got fun and games. Be'agam ha'barbarim, yesh li khaverim. I have been, and always will be, your friend. Home is where, when you go there, they have to take you in. Good fences make good neighbours. Hu bahur ha'bashkhuna. I'm just a girl who like boys who like boys to be girls who paid to the man who put up the rent and always should be someone you really love...
See? Anyone could have written Finnegan's Wake. James Joyce just got there first.
See? Anyone could have written Finnegan's Wake. James Joyce just got there first.
Journal Journal: Geek Prom! 2
I really want to go to this! Unfortunately, it's all way the hell and gone parsecs out in Minnesota, which is too damn far for me. Do visit the yearbook pages and check out the photos of the cute, sweet, geeky lesbians. :)
I thought I should try to put together a proposal to get the Ontario Science Centre to host one of these. That way, I could wear my new earrings (I bought 'em for Tomble!) with my outfit, since I remembered that I can paint the hooks with clear nail polish and they won't react with my ears that way... (Funny how, when you don't have any fingernails to speak of, nail polish kind of slips under your radar.)
It would also give me an excuse to wear my anime-chick outfit (leather pants and a cheongsam top in black and red), not to mention getting my date into a cool outfit of some sort. (I don't hold with the dressing like a nerd thing.)
__________
In other news, I had a random recruiter contact me about a (short) contract job today, and an HR person from a publishing house contact me about an editorial job, and thanks to dave-tx for taking my resume off to parts southwest; someone from your neck of the woods has been on my site.
Things are looking up, and my recent bout of crushing depression has broken like a bad fever. That is to say, I'm not having suicidal ideation anymore, but I am still feeling a bit fragile. My body chemistry's a bit out of whack, too, but that'll fix itself soon, since I at least seem to have some appetite back...
I thought I should try to put together a proposal to get the Ontario Science Centre to host one of these. That way, I could wear my new earrings (I bought 'em for Tomble!) with my outfit, since I remembered that I can paint the hooks with clear nail polish and they won't react with my ears that way... (Funny how, when you don't have any fingernails to speak of, nail polish kind of slips under your radar.)
It would also give me an excuse to wear my anime-chick outfit (leather pants and a cheongsam top in black and red), not to mention getting my date into a cool outfit of some sort. (I don't hold with the dressing like a nerd thing.)
__________
In other news, I had a random recruiter contact me about a (short) contract job today, and an HR person from a publishing house contact me about an editorial job, and thanks to dave-tx for taking my resume off to parts southwest; someone from your neck of the woods has been on my site.
Things are looking up, and my recent bout of crushing depression has broken like a bad fever. That is to say, I'm not having suicidal ideation anymore, but I am still feeling a bit fragile. My body chemistry's a bit out of whack, too, but that'll fix itself soon, since I at least seem to have some appetite back...
Journal Journal: Network or Die! 4
I am inspired to write this post because of my LiveJournal friend Dorable, who posted this entry recently about her employment status. It looks like it worked, judging from the next entry... So, because Rustin's always urging me to be completely shameless, I did one of my own:
Ok, here's the situation. As Dorable said about herself, I too need a job, and I need your help. You should help me because I too am capable, competent, and smell nice. I meet deadlines, I always finish projects under budget, and I know a lot of people, so I can give referrals back. Also cookies. And Timbits. Technical writers and Timbits go together like double-doubles and guys in flannel shirts.
If I can't get some sort of gig before I run out of money, I'll have to go on Welfare again, which will surely cause me to jump in the river (there's a bridge 500m from my house, you know), and then Nero will be sad forever and Tomble will cry, and we don't want that, do we?
What I am Looking For: I need a technical writing, editing, or communications consulting job, preferably contract and telecommuting.
What I Can Do: I specialise in writing in-program help files, courseware and training materials, procedural documentation, and business communication.
If you need a piece of software documented, I can do that. If you are a developer and would really like to reduce your tech support calls, talk to me.
I can also rewrite your resume, send a professionally nasty business letter to a deserving party, help you put together your business plan, proposal, or formal report, and coach you through difficult communicative situations at work (eg. grievance process, office politics).
I do specialty research-for-hire, on any subject matter.
I can help your company adapt its communications to the English-language market, if you are overseas. I speak, read, and write conversational French and Spanish.
I am an experienced and fully equipped telecommuter. Besides the usual stuff, I have my own legal copies of Help&Manual and FrameMaker. I can provide work in the following formats: Word document, Rich Text Format, PDF, Windows Compiled Help, WinHelp, FrameMaker document, OpenOffice document.
I am reachable by e-mail, telephone, Skype, and IM. Please see my website for contact details.
Ok, here's the situation. As Dorable said about herself, I too need a job, and I need your help. You should help me because I too am capable, competent, and smell nice. I meet deadlines, I always finish projects under budget, and I know a lot of people, so I can give referrals back. Also cookies. And Timbits. Technical writers and Timbits go together like double-doubles and guys in flannel shirts.
If I can't get some sort of gig before I run out of money, I'll have to go on Welfare again, which will surely cause me to jump in the river (there's a bridge 500m from my house, you know), and then Nero will be sad forever and Tomble will cry, and we don't want that, do we?
What I am Looking For: I need a technical writing, editing, or communications consulting job, preferably contract and telecommuting.
What I Can Do: I specialise in writing in-program help files, courseware and training materials, procedural documentation, and business communication.
If you need a piece of software documented, I can do that. If you are a developer and would really like to reduce your tech support calls, talk to me.
I can also rewrite your resume, send a professionally nasty business letter to a deserving party, help you put together your business plan, proposal, or formal report, and coach you through difficult communicative situations at work (eg. grievance process, office politics).
I do specialty research-for-hire, on any subject matter.
I can help your company adapt its communications to the English-language market, if you are overseas. I speak, read, and write conversational French and Spanish.
I am an experienced and fully equipped telecommuter. Besides the usual stuff, I have my own legal copies of Help&Manual and FrameMaker. I can provide work in the following formats: Word document, Rich Text Format, PDF, Windows Compiled Help, WinHelp, FrameMaker document, OpenOffice document.
I am reachable by e-mail, telephone, Skype, and IM. Please see my website for contact details.
Journal Journal: "Westinghouse'm" -- FUD Campaigns Past and Present 4
Rustin and I were just having a conversion about the (as he put it) "800 pound gorilla in the room," tactics to create Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt in the public mind about everything from software to streetcars. This is not news, exactly; it's the same technique, rhetorically speaking, as anything calculated to create a moral panic in the public mind. Observation of the phenomenon probably goes back to the first edition of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, written in 1841 (!). As a tactic, it was refined further in the 20th Century by Edward Bernays in his legendary volume Propaganda.
As Rustin mentioned, the high-profile examples would be Edison's campaign against Westinghouse around AC electricity (and, by extension, demonstrating electrocutions using DC), GM's multiple campaigns (either alone or jointly with the rest of the highway lobby), and, of course Microsoft. Oil companies have also been phenomenally efficient at creating a PR campaign against biodiesel, and, as I wrote about here, so has Monsanto in undermining independent canola farmers.
As I said to Rustin, this is a big systemic problem. If we are really serious about doing something about the professional liars who are thwarting our technology and society and making the possible suboptimal, we have to stop trying to cut the heads off the Hydra and start aiming for the heart of the beast.
That said, please go on over there and give Rustin some examples, or post them here in the comments. Two brains are better than one, and a Beowulf cluster of geeks is better than two brains, jars notwithstanding. *grin*
As Rustin mentioned, the high-profile examples would be Edison's campaign against Westinghouse around AC electricity (and, by extension, demonstrating electrocutions using DC), GM's multiple campaigns (either alone or jointly with the rest of the highway lobby), and, of course Microsoft. Oil companies have also been phenomenally efficient at creating a PR campaign against biodiesel, and, as I wrote about here, so has Monsanto in undermining independent canola farmers.
As I said to Rustin, this is a big systemic problem. If we are really serious about doing something about the professional liars who are thwarting our technology and society and making the possible suboptimal, we have to stop trying to cut the heads off the Hydra and start aiming for the heart of the beast.
That said, please go on over there and give Rustin some examples, or post them here in the comments. Two brains are better than one, and a Beowulf cluster of geeks is better than two brains, jars notwithstanding. *grin*
Journal Journal: We're Taking Over the World! 6
From The Toronto Star, March 8, 2006:
Troops to get java fix, Timbits
Tim Hortons to open in Kandahar
HAMILTON--Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan are getting their wish -- Tim Hortons will be serving double-doubles and doughnuts soon enough.
This just goes to show at least one thing -- wherever there are sufficient numbers of Canadians, Tim Hortonses are inevitable.
On a more serious note, however, I'd just like to ask: Instead of bringing Tim Horton's to our "army guys"* in Afghanistan, why don't we just bring our army guys to Tim Hortons, here, at home where they belong? What, exactly and precisely, are we as a nation supposed to be doing over there with our military, anyhow? Obviously we're neither apprehending terrorists (a job better left to Interpol anyhow, I should think), keeping peace, nor rebuilding the country in any meaningful way (a task which should probably be left to various UN, governmental, and non-governmental organisations, by dint of training, experience, and skill). Pointless war-fighting largely at the behest of foreign powers is not, and should not be, part of the Canadian military mandate.
No thanks, of course, to the Stephen Fucking Harper government, which would like to see this go on for a long, long time, the psychopaths.
* This is a well-known and ubiquitous piece of Canadian slang.
Troops to get java fix, Timbits
Tim Hortons to open in Kandahar
HAMILTON--Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan are getting their wish -- Tim Hortons will be serving double-doubles and doughnuts soon enough.
This just goes to show at least one thing -- wherever there are sufficient numbers of Canadians, Tim Hortonses are inevitable.
On a more serious note, however, I'd just like to ask: Instead of bringing Tim Horton's to our "army guys"* in Afghanistan, why don't we just bring our army guys to Tim Hortons, here, at home where they belong? What, exactly and precisely, are we as a nation supposed to be doing over there with our military, anyhow? Obviously we're neither apprehending terrorists (a job better left to Interpol anyhow, I should think), keeping peace, nor rebuilding the country in any meaningful way (a task which should probably be left to various UN, governmental, and non-governmental organisations, by dint of training, experience, and skill). Pointless war-fighting largely at the behest of foreign powers is not, and should not be, part of the Canadian military mandate.
No thanks, of course, to the Stephen Fucking Harper government, which would like to see this go on for a long, long time, the psychopaths.
* This is a well-known and ubiquitous piece of Canadian slang.
Journal Journal: My Scarily Long List of Indexing Keywords 2
Those of you who've been around for a while know that every so often (when the madness strikes), I slap up another index entry for this journal (alas, despite my recent posting pace that resembles a tortoise climbing a greased glass ramp, probably not as fast as I write the damned things, although I tend to index 'em 25 at a time). I'm currently working on Index Entry #3 (50-75), but it's going to take me a while, since some of the posts in the queue involve lots of keywords, lots of links, and lots of content.
In the meantime, amuse-toi bien with my Truly Massive List O' Keywords.
1984 (book)
2600 Magazine
abstinence education
ACM [Association for Computing Machinery]
activism
activism (boycotts)
AI [Artificial Intelligence]
American Exceptionalism
Amnesty International
Andrew Ortony
Andrew W. Osler
Al Qaeda
animals (fish)
art
aviation
Baltimore
Bell Canada
Benito Mussolini
bioethics and medical issues
birth control
Bruce Sterling
C-POP Gallery
calligraphy
Calvinism
cartels
civics
climate change
clothing and costume
clothing and costume (19th. C.)
clothing and costume (fashion)
clothing and costume (medieval)
community issues and communitarianism
computer-mediated communications
communication theory
conservatism
conspiracy theories
consumer affairs
copyright
corporations and corporate issues
Counterpunch Magazine
Coventry Patmore
credit cards
cryptography and cryptanalysis
cultural issues
Darth_brooks
David (Aleksandr)
Dayglo Abortions
Dead Kennedys
DeBeers
Detroit
DGlenn
diamonds
disability issues
DTD
economics (capitalism)
editing
education and education issues
Edward Bernays
EHS Corporation
electric cars
Ellem
engineering
ETD
"Fascism for Beginners"
feminism
Feodor Dostoevsky
food and cooking
French (language)
FUSE Gallery
geekdom
General Motors
George Orwell
George W. Bush
Google
gun control
HCI [Human-Computer Interaction]
health issues
Heliocentric
heraldry
Heritage Foundation
history and historical issues
history and historical issues (1950s)
history and historical issues (1960s)
history and historical issues (19th C.)
history and historical issues (20th C.)
history and historical issues (Arabic)
history and historical issues (Byzantine)
history and historical issues (Greek)
history and historical issues (medieval)
history and historical issues (Victorian Era)
HTML
humour (black)
humour (computer)
humour (gaming)
humour (political)
humour (SCA)
humour (sexual)
humour (sick)
humour (Slashdot)
humour (workplace)
individualism (philosophy, American)
intellectual property and related issues
Internet and Internet issues
Iraq
James Dobson
Japan
Jaques Derrida
Jello Biafra
Jerry Falwell
John Donne
John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton
Joseph Goguen
Katha Pollitt
KMFDM
Knute (Skippy, James Kennedy)
language geekery
Libertarianism
linguistics
LiveJournal
London [Ontario]
Marie Curie
Marshall McLuhan
Martha Stewart
MarvinMouse
media and media issues
memorials
Microsoft
Ministry (band)
minutiae
moderation system
monogamy
Moral Majority
MPAA
MSDSs
music
Nash Jewellers
Neil Randall
New York City
Notes From Underground
NRDC
OHIP [Ontario Health Insurance Plan]
Osama bin Laden
OSes [Operating Systems]
OSes (Linux)
OSes (Windows)
OSes (Solaris)
OxyContin
Panda (Jeff Stan, Jeff Timbrell)
Peter Crisp
PDF
pedestrian issues
Pennsic
personal debt
phreaking
Pierre Trudeau
politics
politics (Canada)
politics (car)
politics (gender)
politics (marriage)
politics (sexual)
politics (US)
politics (world)
"Politics and the English Language"
polyamory
poverty and poverty issues
power and power issues (lobbying)
privatization
programming
public and social policy (drugs)
public and social policy (financial, monetary)
public and social policy (medicare)
public and social policy (public works)
public and social policy (welfare and social assistance)
public and social policy (women's issues)
publishing
race relations
radio
relationship issues
religion
religion (Islam)
REM (band)
reproductive issues
rhetoric
RIAA
Robert Herrick
Robert Jensen
Robert M. Young
Saddam Hussein
satire (social)
SCA
science and technology
Scientology
September 11th
sex
SF [Speculative/Science Fiction]
SF Eye Magazine
SGML
Sian (Barbara Slade)
SIGDOC [Special Interest Group on Design Of Communication, see ACM]
Slashdot
smoking (tobacco)
smoking (marijuana)
"Song of Myself"
structured documentation
Stuart Hood & Litza Janz
"Taklamakan"
telephony
Terry Winograd
The Nation
Toronto
Toxic Sludge Is Good For You
TTC [Toronto Transit Commission]
UI and UI issues
UN
University of Waterloo
University of Western Ontario
Village Voice
Visual Basic
Voynich Manuscript
W. Edwards Deming
Walt Whitman
War on Drugs
Winston Smith
W.P. Kinsella
World Bank
writing
writing (technical)
writing (fiction)
writing (journalism)
writing (poetry)
Zora Neale Hurston
Endnote: The point of this is, of course, to sort of revisit Rustin's entry from some time ago on subject competency. Besides giving people a look at exactly what is here, buried in the (copious quantities of) back issues, the other point of doing these indices is to give myself more consciousness of exactly what sorts of things I talk about, and what I can talk about.
In the meantime, amuse-toi bien with my Truly Massive List O' Keywords.
1984 (book)
2600 Magazine
abstinence education
ACM [Association for Computing Machinery]
activism
activism (boycotts)
AI [Artificial Intelligence]
American Exceptionalism
Amnesty International
Andrew Ortony
Andrew W. Osler
Al Qaeda
animals (fish)
art
aviation
Baltimore
Bell Canada
Benito Mussolini
bioethics and medical issues
birth control
Bruce Sterling
C-POP Gallery
calligraphy
Calvinism
cartels
civics
climate change
clothing and costume
clothing and costume (19th. C.)
clothing and costume (fashion)
clothing and costume (medieval)
community issues and communitarianism
computer-mediated communications
communication theory
conservatism
conspiracy theories
consumer affairs
copyright
corporations and corporate issues
Counterpunch Magazine
Coventry Patmore
credit cards
cryptography and cryptanalysis
cultural issues
Darth_brooks
David (Aleksandr)
Dayglo Abortions
Dead Kennedys
DeBeers
Detroit
DGlenn
diamonds
disability issues
DTD
economics (capitalism)
editing
education and education issues
Edward Bernays
EHS Corporation
electric cars
Ellem
engineering
ETD
"Fascism for Beginners"
feminism
Feodor Dostoevsky
food and cooking
French (language)
FUSE Gallery
geekdom
General Motors
George Orwell
George W. Bush
gun control
HCI [Human-Computer Interaction]
health issues
Heliocentric
heraldry
Heritage Foundation
history and historical issues
history and historical issues (1950s)
history and historical issues (1960s)
history and historical issues (19th C.)
history and historical issues (20th C.)
history and historical issues (Arabic)
history and historical issues (Byzantine)
history and historical issues (Greek)
history and historical issues (medieval)
history and historical issues (Victorian Era)
HTML
humour (black)
humour (computer)
humour (gaming)
humour (political)
humour (SCA)
humour (sexual)
humour (sick)
humour (Slashdot)
humour (workplace)
individualism (philosophy, American)
intellectual property and related issues
Internet and Internet issues
Iraq
James Dobson
Japan
Jaques Derrida
Jello Biafra
Jerry Falwell
John Donne
John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton
Joseph Goguen
Katha Pollitt
KMFDM
Knute (Skippy, James Kennedy)
language geekery
Libertarianism
linguistics
LiveJournal
London [Ontario]
Marie Curie
Marshall McLuhan
Martha Stewart
MarvinMouse
media and media issues
memorials
Microsoft
Ministry (band)
minutiae
moderation system
monogamy
Moral Majority
MPAA
MSDSs
music
Nash Jewellers
Neil Randall
New York City
Notes From Underground
NRDC
OHIP [Ontario Health Insurance Plan]
Osama bin Laden
OSes [Operating Systems]
OSes (Linux)
OSes (Windows)
OSes (Solaris)
OxyContin
Panda (Jeff Stan, Jeff Timbrell)
Peter Crisp
pedestrian issues
Pennsic
personal debt
phreaking
Pierre Trudeau
politics
politics (Canada)
politics (car)
politics (gender)
politics (marriage)
politics (sexual)
politics (US)
politics (world)
"Politics and the English Language"
polyamory
poverty and poverty issues
power and power issues (lobbying)
privatization
programming
public and social policy (drugs)
public and social policy (financial, monetary)
public and social policy (medicare)
public and social policy (public works)
public and social policy (welfare and social assistance)
public and social policy (women's issues)
publishing
race relations
radio
relationship issues
religion
religion (Islam)
REM (band)
reproductive issues
rhetoric
RIAA
Robert Herrick
Robert Jensen
Robert M. Young
Saddam Hussein
satire (social)
SCA
science and technology
Scientology
September 11th
sex
SF [Speculative/Science Fiction]
SF Eye Magazine
SGML
Sian (Barbara Slade)
SIGDOC [Special Interest Group on Design Of Communication, see ACM]
Slashdot
smoking (tobacco)
smoking (marijuana)
"Song of Myself"
structured documentation
Stuart Hood & Litza Janz
"Taklamakan"
telephony
Terry Winograd
The Nation
Toronto
Toxic Sludge Is Good For You
TTC [Toronto Transit Commission]
UI and UI issues
UN
University of Waterloo
University of Western Ontario
Village Voice
Visual Basic
Voynich Manuscript
W. Edwards Deming
Walt Whitman
War on Drugs
Winston Smith
W.P. Kinsella
World Bank
writing
writing (technical)
writing (fiction)
writing (journalism)
writing (poetry)
Zora Neale Hurston
Endnote: The point of this is, of course, to sort of revisit Rustin's entry from some time ago on subject competency. Besides giving people a look at exactly what is here, buried in the (copious quantities of) back issues, the other point of doing these indices is to give myself more consciousness of exactly what sorts of things I talk about, and what I can talk about.
Journal Journal: How Many States are Contiguous With Canada? 7
In light of the recent disturbing developments in South Dakota and Missouri, I'd like to update my previous entry where I shamelessly grabbed Katha Pollitt's article on emergency contraception (EC) and cross-posted it here.
Thanks to my mad research skillz, I have additional updated information to add to the subject. As opposed to what I reported in my previous JE, EC is now available behind-the-counter without a prescription (the same as our famous Tylenols with codeine) in all Canadian provinces and territories. At my local pharmacy, a course of EC costs about $40, and is sold under the Plan B tradename, just like in the US. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the term, "behind-the-counter" means that the medication in question is available without a prescription, but in order to buy it, you have to ask the pharmacist for it. (I am a veteran of behind-the-counter medications, everything from Lactaid [which used to be] to Rid to Tylenol with codeine.)
While I agree with the Canadian Medical Association Journal that the behind-the-counter placement is suboptimal (compared to straight OTC), I'm pleased that EC has become available without a prescription Canada-wide, especially considering some of my and Tomble's misadventures recently with walk-in clinics. (That said, thank goodness there are walk-in clinics, even if it's still somewhat difficult to get medical attention even here on a Sunday afternoon, especially if you don't have a car.)
One point that Katha Pollitt made that I'd like to reinforce is, if you or someone you know might be in the position of having a pregnancy scare (and believe me, it is scary!), know where you can go to get EC.
Thanks to my mad research skillz, I have additional updated information to add to the subject. As opposed to what I reported in my previous JE, EC is now available behind-the-counter without a prescription (the same as our famous Tylenols with codeine) in all Canadian provinces and territories. At my local pharmacy, a course of EC costs about $40, and is sold under the Plan B tradename, just like in the US. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the term, "behind-the-counter" means that the medication in question is available without a prescription, but in order to buy it, you have to ask the pharmacist for it. (I am a veteran of behind-the-counter medications, everything from Lactaid [which used to be] to Rid to Tylenol with codeine.)
While I agree with the Canadian Medical Association Journal that the behind-the-counter placement is suboptimal (compared to straight OTC), I'm pleased that EC has become available without a prescription Canada-wide, especially considering some of my and Tomble's misadventures recently with walk-in clinics. (That said, thank goodness there are walk-in clinics, even if it's still somewhat difficult to get medical attention even here on a Sunday afternoon, especially if you don't have a car.)
One point that Katha Pollitt made that I'd like to reinforce is, if you or someone you know might be in the position of having a pregnancy scare (and believe me, it is scary!), know where you can go to get EC.
Journal Journal: Wow! Cool! A Mr. Fusion For My Birthday! 3
Just what I always wanted!
(Hat tip to Perfessor Multigeek, but I did come up with the "pure...satisfaction" part.)
To quote Rustin, "I don't need to explain this. All I need to say is, 'It's desktop fusion,' and we're done." It's real, and at RPI and UCLA, no less. The RPI press release even has a picture, which you all should see.
It delivers a 200 000 EV wallop, which would probably require a stepdown converter for domestic use, but hey, I can get one of those at the surplus place...
Pardon me, what tech level are we at again?
BTW, Rustin has submitted this to the front page, so keep watching.
(Hat tip to Perfessor Multigeek, but I did come up with the "pure...satisfaction" part.)
To quote Rustin, "I don't need to explain this. All I need to say is, 'It's desktop fusion,' and we're done." It's real, and at RPI and UCLA, no less. The RPI press release even has a picture, which you all should see.
It delivers a 200 000 EV wallop, which would probably require a stepdown converter for domestic use, but hey, I can get one of those at the surplus place...
Pardon me, what tech level are we at again?
BTW, Rustin has submitted this to the front page, so keep watching.
Journal Journal: The Perfessor is Back! (And so is Tomble, ish. *sigh* ) 1
For those of you who didn't notice, Perfessor Multigeek has a new JE up for the first time since the fire.
Also, I packed Teh Tomble off to Tombleland today, so I'm not feeling particularly verbose. However, I will be posting more party pics and stuff soonish, assuming Fucking Symantec doesn't randomly freak out again and temporary-like nuke my computer like it did about fifteen minutes ago, completely eating a half-completed blog post of mine (not long enough to be bothered saving in a text editor, but long enough that I don't want to go to the trouble of retyping it right now).
Thanks to Sol for her nice pics of herself and Blinder, Johndii, Pancho, and Daoine (wow!), also.
Also, I packed Teh Tomble off to Tombleland today, so I'm not feeling particularly verbose. However, I will be posting more party pics and stuff soonish, assuming Fucking Symantec doesn't randomly freak out again and temporary-like nuke my computer like it did about fifteen minutes ago, completely eating a half-completed blog post of mine (not long enough to be bothered saving in a text editor, but long enough that I don't want to go to the trouble of retyping it right now).
Thanks to Sol for her nice pics of herself and Blinder, Johndii, Pancho, and Daoine (wow!), also.
Journal Journal: Tomble, Sweetheart of the Internet 1
Hey there, I've just posted more party pictures on LJ, so you can see more of Tomble, if you want to. We just e-mailed SolemnDragon, as well, so it's been a regular Slashdotfest around here Chez Geek.
LPetrazickis was responsible for taking the vast majority of the party pictures, and there seem to be a disproportionate number of pictures of Tomble in them. (He has good taste, and his sexual orientation is apparently "yes.") I would have expected Leo to take at least a couple more of me in my leather rockstar pants (I feel sort of like Julie Newmar when wearing them, paradoxically, since I'm approximately as curvy as a rectangular prism with boobs and a butt stuck on), but oh well. Tomble is just cuter than I am, I guess, which is doubtless why Leo wanted to be in the middle. *snerk*
LPetrazickis was responsible for taking the vast majority of the party pictures, and there seem to be a disproportionate number of pictures of Tomble in them. (He has good taste, and his sexual orientation is apparently "yes.") I would have expected Leo to take at least a couple more of me in my leather rockstar pants (I feel sort of like Julie Newmar when wearing them, paradoxically, since I'm approximately as curvy as a rectangular prism with boobs and a butt stuck on), but oh well. Tomble is just cuter than I am, I guess, which is doubtless why Leo wanted to be in the middle. *snerk*
Journal Journal: The Secret Is Out 4
I was just informed that I shouldn't write what I was going to write originally, because it was "too cheesy," so I'm going to write something else. The problem is, I barely know how to say what I want to say.
At this moment, someone we all know and love is sitting behind me typing happily away into my newly resurrected DamnSmall Linux box (unlike my computer, which, in the immortal words of Strongbad, has "too much computer in it, and not enough typewriter"). We've also just connected it to the internet using a brand new switch and cables we bought this afternoon at Forest City Surplus.
Things are going along very well, except for some minor glitches. Tomble is a steely-eyed master of air hockey, and adapting well to visiting Soviet Canuckistan, where the people are nice, the food's great, and the weather sucks (sai'te!).
Last Saturday, I had a birthday party (Best. Birthday. Evar!) with some of the Usual Suspects (dramatis personae over here on LiveJournal where I can actually embed images). Highlights included aforementioned air hockey, a discussion of vibrating cock rings in a grocery store at about nine o'clock at night, and LPetrazickis succumbing to Tomble's masculine pulchritude and getting horny with him. *snerk*
(I have just been informed that I am a "loon," at least to the observer staring over my shoulder... I should point out that he's put some drugs up his nose.*)
* Prescription nasal spray; get your minds out of the gutter.
I will be posting pictures on LiveJournal, for those of you who want the gory details!
At this moment, someone we all know and love is sitting behind me typing happily away into my newly resurrected DamnSmall Linux box (unlike my computer, which, in the immortal words of Strongbad, has "too much computer in it, and not enough typewriter"). We've also just connected it to the internet using a brand new switch and cables we bought this afternoon at Forest City Surplus.
Things are going along very well, except for some minor glitches. Tomble is a steely-eyed master of air hockey, and adapting well to visiting Soviet Canuckistan, where the people are nice, the food's great, and the weather sucks (sai'te!).
Last Saturday, I had a birthday party (Best. Birthday. Evar!) with some of the Usual Suspects (dramatis personae over here on LiveJournal where I can actually embed images). Highlights included aforementioned air hockey, a discussion of vibrating cock rings in a grocery store at about nine o'clock at night, and LPetrazickis succumbing to Tomble's masculine pulchritude and getting horny with him. *snerk*
(I have just been informed that I am a "loon," at least to the observer staring over my shoulder... I should point out that he's put some drugs up his nose.*)
* Prescription nasal spray; get your minds out of the gutter.
I will be posting pictures on LiveJournal, for those of you who want the gory details!
Journal Journal: I Have A Secret 7
Of course, secrets are no fun unless people know there's something you aren't telling them.
Further, deponent saith not, except that maybe all will be revealed in time...
Further, deponent saith not, except that maybe all will be revealed in time...
