It's 4:50AM PST. I've been up since 9AM. I've been coding since 10:30AM. Despite starting this morning with an allergy induced migrane (which drove me home in case the OTC drugs failed and I had to take something stronger), I have been coding solid. Okay, that may be a slight exageration. It takes between 6 to 10 minutes between my compiles and I am trying to optimize an ancient piece of code. In the time that it takes to compile, I have occasionally had the free time to make something to eat, quickly confirm with my mother what I am buying my brother and sister for Christmas, find out that the insurance company is closed so I don't discover why they sent me two differing health insurance cards, and writing the first ever (if I can actually get it out this year) of my Yule Greeting letters.

See, I am what many would call pagan. I'm not any of the top five religions and have beliefs that some would call faith based and I would not since I believe they have a root in science as yet undiscovered. Many of my relatives are blissfully ignorant of my non-Christian (since most of them are Christian) beliefs. Since I am most decidedly not Christian, I am quite aware of many adopted traditions that are "pagan" in origin. In any case, I have decided not to reference Christmas explicitly seeing as it is merely a time when work is shut down so I have time to spend with my family... and the traditional gift giving. And censored anything that might tip the more devout that I am heathen-like.

Many of my relatives are also not aware of the notion that people dating often share the same house these days. Yet another omission.

Other than my mother, I am pretty much the only computer geek in the family. All my friends that I would normally write to would understand my humor. I find myself trying to explain what a pre-IPO company is to the relatives and wonder if they will stare at my sarcasm html tags

Since misery loves company (or shared burden is lessened the more that carry.. take your pick), I'm wondering what your holiday censorships are.

Well, I've just found 6 more items I can optimize in the code, but since I have to check the delta on each of them with proprietary compilers and language, that will likely take over another hour and I think it is time for a long nap break :)

Um, isn't "without legal authorization" the equivalent of "illegal?" Let's take a look at Merriam-Webster: "not according to or authorized by law." Looks pretty damn equivalent to me. Just like on a military base, if you do not show authorization (even if you have it) then you are not permitted entry and doing so may have a number of guns trained on you instantly. Remind me not to hire Thomas Brill if I need legal representation. And possibly to recommend him to my opposition.

Today was the first time I ever even heard a valid argument for granting a license to an illegal immigrant: because with a drivers license you are able to register a car and more illegal immigrants would obtain a license specifically so that their cars will not be confiscated for lack of registration. Because we all know that a license and taking tests doesn't automatically make you a safe driver or even one who obeys the laws as Bustamante would have you believe. I can look out on 101 and 280 where the average speed is 15 miles above the speed limit to get any example.

I think that offering licenses opens up a whole new area of possibility for fraudulent id and identity theft. I'm not worried so much about terrorists and frankly consider them a scare tactic into getting lots of freedom-eroding legislation signed (though I believe that they are more likely to get ID in California because of something like this). I think that offering a state service to people who already don't and won't ever pay taxes is yet another drain on the economy.

I hear about that lawyer from the same sfgate article thinking that the illegal immigrants he represents *deserve* to be compensated because the plaintiffs consciously decided to take a ride without a seatbelt.

A "mean-spirited change to the driver's-license law in 1994?" I'm tired of people bring race into this argument and using it for political agenda. I'm tired of hearing opponents say that prop 187 was mainly to try to keep the Latino population out of California. I'm sick of hearing politicians say that they support non-emergency services for illegal immigrants while campaigning.. especially when they were against them during regular office.

I'm a Seattle, WA, USA born citizen. My family is full of legal immigrants. My workplace is full of legal immigrants. My SO is on an H1-B. I'm sick and tired of other people trying to skirt laws and get privileges that law-abiding people are having such a difficult time even obtaining.

And Georgy, when are you going to reply to my email about this issue? I'm an absentee voter. That means I'm 80% likely to vote according to staticics. And I'm voting sooner than others because I'll be out of the state during election week.

My mother, over 50 years in age, software engineer from day 1 at a job, has a plexiglas case with blue neon lighting.

When I first saw mod cases, I thought, "Cool!".. Then I realized how odd they would look in places not completely done in the same type of motif. And it certainly looks odd on my parents thick hardwood table with various other computer miscelania scattered around it.

My mother has always been getting the 2nd best just after it was marked down due to new things coming out and then upgraded her purchases to top of the line once I was employed and out of the house. Part of it is because she is a gadget geek. Another part I'm sure was because my Dad, 3 years her senior, was not getting a high enough refresh rate on his FPSes. I never suspected my mom would go for something flashy like a modded case. Then again, I never thought my dad would get into FPSes when I watched him struggle with jumping in the learning part of Halo for a month.

Not of neon colors and big hair, but of the Orwellian kind...

I drempt that everyone had a microchip embedded in them. I was one of the few that had escaped having one. My luggage was exhaustively searched and mussed up by screeners as I tried to board a plane. Other people could get immediately waved through with the magic of a wand chip reader.

Some reporter was trying to interview passengers and then have her henchman swipe a reader to get the identification of the person making comments much to the commentator's discomfort. When she tried to get me to comment, I declined and the guy tried to read me but since I didn't have a chip, he couldn't. I lied saying that I had a dampener and that I should be allowed my privacy and anonymity while flying. I was suddenly pursued for identification.

I desperately tried to get away from them and get on board my plane but there were undercover operatives everywhere. I went to a boarding area where you had to have a ticket to get past to get away from the reporter, but some old guy there insisted he was with me and tried to get me to check in my luggage (assumedly so they could go through it again to try to find some identifier). I ran away from him to get on board a differing flight and yet another guy tried to board with me and tried to buy a ticket on the spot to get on an already over booked flight claiming he was with me. While I was insisting that I did not know him and tried to board my flight, I noticed that the luggage I had been carrying was missing. I frantically searched for it and in the middle of such, woke up.

I was very unhappy with this dream where want for privacy made you a target for investigation and am reminded of articles in the news of people who did not want to be identified by drivers' liscenses were subject to both greater scrutiny and sometimes not even allowed to board.

Is condescension nature or nurture? I've certainly run into it a lot lately.

Experience 1: Watching anime with acquaintances. Remarked that the episode just seen was one of the most depressing ever. Someone else quipped that Evangelion was more depressing. I asked why he thought that because I certainly couldn't remember anything comparable to what I'd just seen. His answer: "If you don't think it was less depressing, then you didn't understand it."

What did I do to get such a snobby response? This retort didn't give episode nor theme example. Maybe he could have been right, but after a comment like that, I'm hardly likely to bother with his opinion again. Good quote to summarize my feelings by Jane Austin:

"Elinor agreed to it all, for she did not think he deserved the compliment of rational opposition."

Experience 2: I commented recently that I stopped reading CNN a long time ago not only for their lack of good news, but the fact that they didn't even appear to run their articles through a spell checker. Not a grammar checker, a spell checker. We're talking words split randomly and letters reversed at will of typing and this is a professional site. No sane checker would get through that. Yes, I'm OC enough that I bothered to check.

The actual comment is here:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=45829&cid=4736240

I guess some people feel that their typing is professional and get uptight about any comment as to such.

Experience 3+: I get a lot of people thinking I'm a guy due to my nick. Little do they realize it is just my actual name hashed through the Speak 'n' Spell code. And you'd think they'd look a little further and wonder why a guy would choose to have an email with the name "Luthien" in it as well (maybe they haven't actually read LOTR). Because of the masculine sounding handle (or so I'm told.. I disagree, but I've had the nick since age 6 so I'm biased) I get a lot of "male" attacks when someone disagrees that ran along genitalia size. At least it is better than the RU hot come ons when I use some other nicks. But some of the slashdot comments reflect someone thinking they are obviously in the superior, especially with a comment directed toward me along the lines of, "You'll understand when you hit puberty." For Christ's sake, mapping their age to mine, I not only hit it before them genetically, but I seem to still be ahead if they're going to spout that crap.

So I'm curious about what other slashdot women do (and on more than just slashdot): do you inform them of their fuckwit status or do you take Jane Austin's route?

On a more disturbed note, I find politicians doing the "I'm in command so my paid information on this topic is better than your college education," route. And this is after it takes them 6 months to get back to my letters.