Purchasing a random (well, not so random) plane ticket at 2:30am in the morning to head out to the west coast immediately following thanksgiving...
I need a vacation, I've got a ton of holiday days stacked up and no time left to use them in, and there's a woman to see (no, I'm not stalking her; yes, it might feel that way; maybe, I know what I'm doing). All-in-all, I'm crazy, but I sure hope it's the good kind of crazy. Wish me luck!
It's not that I want to start a flame war. It's that I'm bored and I haven't posted anything in a while and I want to let everyone know that I'm alive and kicking.
Or something like that.
How many Bush Administration officials does it take to screw in a light bulb?
None. Nothing is wrong with the light bulb; its conditions are improving every day. Any reports of its lack of incandescence are a delusional spin from the liberal media. That light bulb has served honorably, and anything you say undermines the lighting effect. Why do you hate freedom?
And it's not that I hate freedom, it's just that I'm beginning to think certain people in this country should really be less free than others. Like those who voted for Bush the second time around...
P.S. the previous comment was a troll. Basically to see if some old die-hard Bushie friends of mine are still around
Last thought for this post: why can't you select "No people who can't take a joke" from the comment posting restricting box?
Okay, so it seems I lied back in November when I said I was back. This time I promise to stick around.
Really.
I mean it.
There's a lot to relate, job promotion (last June already, but something tells me I neglected to mention it to most of you), new apartment right off of Times Square, and a bunch of other stupid stuff.
Also, right now I'm looking to hire a Senior Systems Administrator with enterprise experience (someone who's worked with storage and blade servers and automating tasks in large clustered/distributed environments, as well as being familiar with some of the larger application servers like Weblogic and JBoss). Depending on how things go, I may also be looking for a mid-level systems administrator too (samba, ldap, cyrus-imap, kerberos, backup solutions, etc.). The jobs would be in NYC, if you're interested, or know someone who might be, drop me a line.
Well, after a year and two months, I'm back.
It's been a *crazy* year, and a ton has happened to me. In short, four years of work ending in what could have been a painful lawsuit, a new job, and a huge promotion.
I hope at least a few of the old gang are around, sorry I disappeared on you all, I hope to rectify this immediately
Very interesting article by Michael Wolff in the new New York magazine about the Dean money machine, and its parallels to McGovern's direct mail fundraising
... and about the dangers of relying on the liberal base vs. understanding the general voter http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/media/columns/medialife/n_9188/
Fascinating read, and yet another reason why I think Dean can't beat Bush. Let's hope Clark runs, or the Democrats have no chance in 2004.
The bulk of it is here in this long post.
The short of it is that I am the Chief Technology Officer and Head Developer of a company which, among other things, produces automated essay grading software.
Our website is in the middle of an upgrade, so excuse it's current look. The company is RocketReview Incorporated, and the essay grading software is RocketScore.
If you'd like access to poke around, just drop me an email (seth at rocketreview dot com) and I'd be glad to let you in or answer any questions you have.
Anyway, for those of you who don't know, I live in the middle of Brooklyn, New York. Yesterday, I was in Central Park when the power went out.
Well, 12-13 miles and 5 hours later, I got home. That's right, I walked all the way down Manhattan (figure from 60th Street and 7th avenue to -30th and 2nd avenue), then a mile or so over the Manhattan bridge (the bridge was crazy, there was a sea of people like nothing I've ever seen before), and then all the way through Brooklyn to get home.
So right now, I'm in serious pain. I mean, I'm in good shape, but I just wasn't ready for that kind of a walk. And I had been walking a bunch beforehand too. So, umm, ow.
At least the power's finally come back on. On the other hand, I got some quality reading of The Da Vinci Code in while the power was out, so far, it's an excellent book.
Here's to hoping the power gets on and stays on for everyone else who's been affected by this.
P.S. I'm not looking for any sympathy or empathy, I just need an outlet to complain
Have you got three minutes. Because that's all you need to learn how to defeat the Republican Right. Just read through this handy guide and you'll have everything you need to successfully debunk right-wing propaganda.
This article was just written for our Perfessor (if not by him) =]
Oh, and GMontag, I'd love to hear your take on this. But read the whole thing first =]
That's it from me.
Now the reason I bring that up, is because it took me until today (well, yesterday actually) to realize something. Em emalb is "Blame Me" backwards.
Anyone else feel dumb for not realizing this until just now? Or am I the last one to catch on?
Em, I don't blame you for anything, except the sometimes poor poll options
First off, head over to Perfessor Multigeek's recent journal entry to New York area slashdotters. I figured, "Hell, why not?" and, after getting directions emailed to me, headed over this evening.
In short, a good time was had by all.
In long, tonight was quite interesting. The first thing that was found out, is that the perfessor (did anyone else never notice that Rustin has it spelled "perfessor" as opposed to "professor" until just now?) and myself are alumni of the same high school. Stuyvesant High of New York, New York, to be exact. Stuy is an amazing place, and its alumni run everything, from DC Comics and Mad Magazine (yes, I've met him) to the Home Depot (no, I haven't) to things too numerous to mention (yes and no, in that order). You just can't go anywhere without bumping into a Stuy grad. Not even Tibet.
So, after a few beers (sorry, this journal really isn't about beer, it just made a catchy headline) and about half an hour of waiting, the debate got under way.
The rules were simple. As with high school debate, there were three rounds, a four minute opening statement, a three minute rebuttal, and a two minute closing. Time limits were strictly enforced. The loser of each round (by lesser round of applause) had to take a shot supplied by our bartender. The MC went over all this in a very smooth fashion with nice color commentary. And heckling was encouraged.
The debate, for those of you too lazy to check out Rustin's journal on the subject, was about whether one could be a "native New Yorker" without having been born and raised in New York. Rustin, a born and bred New Yorker like myself, argued the affirmative, while a woman from San Antonio, Texas, argued the negative, that anyone could become a "native New Yorker." What follows is my account of the debate. I'm sure I've changed some points, spruced up the arguments, and moved ideas between sections. For this, I truly apologize.
But before I give you an account of the debate and the winners and losers, I must warn you that the odds were stacked against Rustin. I was the only born and bred New Yorker in the audience (besides the moderator and Rustin), and the rest of the guests - for the most part, while not born and raised in New York - considered themselves New Yorkers too.
To start off the debate, Rustin's opponent spoke of how unfair a question it was, because what is a "native" New Yorker to begin with. She spoke of the melting pot that is New York, and how it is all the immigrants (both domestic and foreign) who give New York its flavor. She spoke of the flare that non-New Yorkers bring to New York, the fashion and culture they bring, and the different ways of life.
While not a wonderful orator, she made a compelling argument which certainly resonated with the bulk of the guests.
Rustin got up and defined what a "native New Yorker" is. It's a frame of mind. It's an attitude. It's not wondering if you're smart or tough, it's wondering if you're smarter than the Nobel laureate living down the block, or tougher than the heroin dealer living next door. It's not getting into your best karate stance when someone threatens you, it's giving them the "my lawyers will eat your lawyers alive if you commense with this action" stare. He spoke of going all around the country (America, not upstate New York) and the things he's seen and experienced. Nothing holds a candle to New York. Non-New Yorkers come here to experience "the City" and the "capitol of the World." Some stay. But can these people become native New Yorkers? Their children certainly can. But can they? No. Because its an attitude fostered by being born and raised in the City. There is _no_ replacement, not even living out the bulk of your life here. It's the babysitter who goes off to perform at the White House, it's the friend down the block who is friends with the rapper 50 Cent because they used to go to school together in Brooklyn. It's knowing the guy who's friends with the CEO of FedEx. Being a native New Yorker is about being born and raised in the City, it's about attitude, and it's about connections. Non-New Yorkers can achieve two of those three, but not the third. Never the third.
Rustin was a terrific orator (he should be, we were both trained at Stuy, after all
:P ) who made a wonderfully elaborate, drawn out, and logical case. But when it came time for applause, there was thunder for his opponent, and dead silence for Rustin -- until I awkwardly cheered for him. People were voting for the side they agreed with, not the person with the better argument.
And the debate continued like this. Rustin was the better debater with the better argument. And, although he got more applause with each round, he lost every one.
In rounds which followed (sorry, I'm getting too tired to go into further detail right now) other insubstantial points were raised and the main points were hammered in. Rustin lost.
But I bet you're sitting here (if you've gotten this far) wondering how I feel about all this bullshit. Well, I feel just that, it's bullshit. I'm all about the shades of grey. There is truth to both arguments. But what fascinates me after tonight, is the attitude both orators had. Neither agreed with the side they had taken, although they both agreed with the arguments they had put forth. Rustin felt it was obvious that non-native New Yorkers could become native New Yorkers. His opponent felt that, after knowing native New Yorkers and non-native New Yorkers, there was a substantial difference. It's a snobby club you can't be granted access to: you're either born in or out.
You know, I could swear banky and red5 had this exact same conversation a few weeks ago. Oh well.
I'm in mozilla on my Winblows work laptop, and click on my messages tab. Suddenly, I hear "Text text text. They'd rather hear me speak."
So I freak out. I think I've gotten a virus.
But then I click back to the Slashdot main tab. There's an add for "Talking characters for your website. Roll over for AUDIO." Argh.
Talking ads? On Slashdot? Someone shoot me.
He finds the whole thing hilarious. Thank god, because if it was my pic from the photo contest being farked, I know I'd be rather uncomfortable with the whole thing.
UPDATE: It has begun.
Stanley Schmidt, Editor of Analog, writes great editorials in each issue of the magazine (pulp?), and this one holds to his high standard.
It addresses students' attitudes towards learning and discussion. What it focuses on are the problems caused when students have been brought up to be afraid to be wrong, or are never told they're wrong for emotional reasons. Schmidt says these are two of the most important problems facing students. When there is too much focus on keeping students happy, the students never learn how to be wrong. This causes serious problems when they encounter challenging work later on in their schooling or lives. And when students are penalized or made to feel bad for being wrong, it fosters them not speaking up in class, having hard times enterring a discussions, etc..
There is much more to the editorial than that, and it's a very interesting read -- well worth picking up a copy of this month's Analog (or at least browsing it at your newstand). The editorial's on page 4, so you'll find it easy, I promise. (Barnes and Noble normally has Analog in the Literature section, along with Asimov's, and some Mystery pulps. The magazine/pulp is a bit larger than an O'Reilly pocket reference, but not a full sized magazine.)
Anyway, sorry if this sounded like a book report or blurb for the back of a book, I was just trying to share some interesting information with MsGeek after her latest journal entry, and got a little caught up along the way.
And on that note, good luck MsGeek! Hope the return goes well!
P.S. If you're interested, you might want to check out What Smart Students Know. Great book, check out the comments on Amazon.com. And yes, I have a vested interest in this book, I work for its author. But the book is still great and worth your look. If you don't believe me, check the reviews on amazon.com.
The moon is made of green cheese. -- John Heywood
