Any Number of Things

2010-10-17T04:38:00.002-04:00

I feel like David After Dentist. Is this real life? Is this going to be forever?

2010-10-05T09:02:00.003-04:00

"The true fascination of desire, however, and the reason for its enduring centrality to western literature has resided not in its dramatic potential, but in its capacity to illustrate the core of human identity. In that sexual desire ties us to others with bonds of such incredible strength, it serves as perhaps the most basic mainspring of the dynamic between the self and society. It mediates between the individual’s perception of himself and his conception of his place in relation to others. The way in which desire is given shape, given rein, or held in check, touches upon the core of self-identity. It is, indeed, no exaggeration to say that it is through desire that we reveal the manner in which we truly see ourselves, and the way in which desire has been understood throughout history is the history of our changing conceptions of ourselves. And until its final, jarring stages, this history is a tale of ambiguity, paradox, individuality, and utopian dreaming."

from A Short History of Desire

2010-10-02T15:31:00.003-04:00

Awareness or, when it comes to our own thought, metacognition does not mean changed or understood behavior. Merely being aware that you act a certain way or knowing why you act how you do does not mean that you can or will change that behavior. This is possibly the largest shortcoming of "awareness."

Life!

Autumn

2010-09-29T06:14:00.012-04:00

Autumn is a time of sentimentality for me, but also a time in which I feel most alive. Summer is a bland sort of constant. If it isn't that hot, it's bright. And I'll welcome Spring with open arms when it comes around. But Fall and Winter are about the fight. The fight to lasso the emotions and corral the senses. Staying warm is important to me. Being with other people in the warmth is even more important. Don't you feel that?

Creating this years habits for feeling alive because the sun isn't there to do it for you. The danger of course being letting the darkness get the hold of you. That urge to listen to Death Cab (or any similar sad-hibernation habit) must be titrated, but not ignored. Let your emotions embrace the color palate of the dimming harvest, but don't let it define your soul and outlook.

Lesson for this year: Phoenix is a much healthier alternative to Death Cab that allows for emotional color without dragging you too far down.

"Plans" is locked in a most tumultuous time.

2010-09-13T05:21:00.004-04:00

Some things are just too complex to ever feel good about. Sometimes because they're too enormous and sometimes because you can't quite get a handle on where it's coming from. The latter is where lots of emotional complexities fit for me. Some emotions or things similar to emotions are too complex to be fully understood. And often times we are asked to explain those emotions to the satisfaction of others. It's not enough to know how you feel, they need to know why you feel. Well I don't always have the answers, goddammit. /emotions

9/11

2010-09-11T19:07:00.001-04:00

"The great masses of the people... will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one." -- Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf

"The individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists." -- J. Edgar Hoover, former FBI director

"Only the small secrets need to be protected. The big ones are kept secret by public incredulity." -- Marshall McLuhan

“Naturally the common people don’t want war. But after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and for exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.” --- Hermann Goering, Hitler’s Reich Marshall

GROW UP AND BLOW AWAY - dedicated to Steph and Nadre

2010-05-31T06:10:00.020-04:00

I am going to talk about growing up and childhood.

The Peter Pan trope of not wanting to grow up and face the troubles of adulthood are interesting. I am presented at all times conflicting messages modulating between "stay young" and "grow up." Depending on who you are, one message might seem positive and the other very negative. Staying young is to have an excitement about the world that when you "grow up" gives way to dullness and drudgery. This problem comes from our distorted ideas about childhood and adulthood.

First, in our attempts to not harm the minds of our developing children we censor the world. We try to create a stress-free climate for our children and that includes making sure the world has no contradictions (e.g. lack of justice, moral absolutism). This, while seemingly noble, has other affects on children. Children are in a prime state to learn as much as they can about the world, and the older they are the more able they are to deal with the complexities of adult social systems.

From a young age children are herded into buildings with people of the same age, rather than connecting with adults in their community. In high school relationships are constructed not from adult norms, but High School Student norms, including any sexual norms. Curiosity, sexual or otherwise, about taboo subjects are forbidden to "children." We treat teenagers as "children" in the information we are willing to give them about important life issues (drugs, sex, money, vocation), but when they are immature in their reactions we become annoyed that they don't act like adults. This carries on into college, where students are again segregated amongst their own age for most of their social interactions.

Innocence, in mind and body, is seen as very important and held to the highest esteem. The most obvious example is in female sexuality, where virginity is sacred in our religious society and you're either a lady or a slut, nowhere in-between. It could be said that this sort of simplification is itself childish, and does not recognize the grey areas in what are usually complex situations.

Innocence of the mind is seen as not just important for moral issues but also structural issues. Religion, ideologies, governments, all are structures that can feature indoctrination at a young age. The idea is that children believe what you tell them, so if you want them to believe your view of the world when they're older, make sure they accept your ideas fully as a child. The problem, of course, is that these ideas are presented in a time of trust, and when that trust is broken it all goes out the window later on. America is the greatest country in the world. Christianity is the one true religion. Capitalism is the best economic system in history. As children we took these ideas for granted. When these ideas are questioned later and do not hold up to the scrutiny of the expanding mind, indoctrination can be seen and rejected, but it is important to remember that this mind expansion is already taboo. Marijuana isn't illegal because of health concerns as it causes no deaths (as with LSD under controlled, safe environments) but they are illegal because of what they do to the mind, and why we fear our children's access to them. What if they learn we've been censoring the world? We'll just have to tell them that the discontinuity is because the "real world" is different.

Second, adulthood is seen as past the loss of innocence and at the point of no return. Indeed, we are at the beginnings of a loss of the malleability of the brain to some extent, but "adulthood" in its qualities is far from rich and exciting. When we create the image of adults as dull and boring we allow it in our own lives as a possibility. We forget that adulthood makes up the majority of the experiences of human life. Youth is so celebrated that plastic surgery and cosmetics are billion-dollar industries. Adulthood is seen as where childhood goes to die.

The other side of adulthood is what I see as an arrogant side. You are an adult, therefore you know a thing or two. But, what things do you know. Are they things based on many life experiences viewed from a perspective of a bigger picture, or are they the feedback loop of indoctrination? This is a lot of the problem we see in the "respect your elders" argument. While many of us live to see our older relatives in progressing senility as an example of this, a better example is the upholding of the ideologies of our parents (political, religious, and social) that are clearly misguided yet upheld by habit. Resistance to the Civil Rights Movement now seems like folly, but many of our elders were opposed to ending segregation.

Related to this is the adult preoccupation with money. Money skills don't come to us as easy as learning our native language, but is just as complicated and just as integral to society. This area of adulthood is where many of the negative connections to adulthood come from. The need for money. Money can never again be dedicated solely to music and candy. Forever more things are Complicated. This is coupled with the fact that now that you're an adult you're far closer to death and are running out of time! Soon you'll be too old!

Slowing down is a big problem here. We slow down our children's absorption of adult knowledge and then suddenly speed it up. We maybe believe that children don't think about things as we do and have no use for such knowledge, but often the earlier this knowledge comes the easier it is to utilize later.

Joan Rivers is an example of age-denialism and its visible consequences. We are doing something wrong when we no longer value ourselves as older humans and seek to fool the world and/or ourselves that we still have youth in us.

BUT if we are to be real explorers, we cannot linger in the past. The experience of aging and adding knowledge and experience to your personality and brain are key to understanding anything at all in the world. We should never stop being curious, though, because then we'll think we've got it figured out. If there stops being Wonder in the universe it's because you've stopped looking. Adventures come cheap to kids, but for adults they are a different experience completely, and often rich in subtlety.

It's hard to be alive whenever it is, and I think it's a shame that we have to be afraid of being ourselves (for we all age).

2009-04-11T01:30:00.004-04:00

I hope that Hank Williams IV grows up and determines to redefine and revive country western music. Like Country's King David. A good one comes only every few.

New Star Trek movie still looks sweet.

My Worst Mix 2009 is coming along smoothly.

First Mugging

2009-03-19T02:28:00.010-04:00

If you want to know the details of my mugging, I'll tell you them in person. Or give me a call.

They were bullies. It was obvious. And they were dressed pretty nicely, considering. And they were assholes. Not because they mugged me even, but because of how they acted when they did it. Not to say that a large amount of criminals aren't assholes, that seems very likely, but these guys seemed like the kind who would mug someone for fun. Not because they needed money, but because they thought it would be a good time. And that's what bothers me about this. I'd actually be more fine with everything if it was some raggedy old crazy person mugging me who clearly could use the cash. But these guys had a car, friends (such good friends they'd mug someone with them), nice clothes.

I got my iPod stolen 25 days ago. Clearly it isn't my month. Suddenly I have no access to my money. Suddenly I have no way of proving my identity.

But I feel secure in knowing that they would have mugged someone if not me, and that being targeted might have saved someone else from something worse. And considering what they could have done, I'm glad it didn't go badly. It's an important reminder. People get mugged every day. People are murdered, every day. There is crime. People do not treat each other like human beings. That is life. So what good is it for me to be mad at some people for being assholes.

This affects people. Racism is sometimes a byproduct of crime, regardless of how ill founded it is. Irrationality is life too. Sometimes you get close to giving up on humanity and maybe that one person just ruins your ability to tolerate people.

Maybe I might never give someone directions again.

What do I do now? What have I learned, all four and a half hours later? I think that maybe the muggers just affirmed something to me: money and goods aren't what life is about. Wanting those things will make you do terrible things to get it. Being alive is worth everything.

10 of 12

2009-03-02T15:30:00.003-05:00

Yeah. I respect all of these bands and don't like them, with Radiohead and the Beatles being the exception. And the Beatles article writer has a point.

2009-02-28T04:05:00.001-05:00

What music do you think is uniquely American? Genres? Bands?

2009-02-19T16:55:00.001-05:00

Barry Schwartz makes a passionate call for "practical wisdom" as an antidote to a society gone mad with bureaucracy. He argues powerfully that rules often fail us, incentives often backfire, and practical, everyday wisdom will help rebuild our world.

Tyra

2009-02-18T15:09:00.001-05:00

Thing's Arent So Bad

2009-02-06T07:15:00.001-05:00

Microsoft's Songsmith shows us that it's not so bad after all.

2009-02-05T23:34:00.001-05:00

From Obama's Dreams From My Father
“You ain’t my bitch, nigga! Buy your own damn fries!”

2009-02-04T00:46:00.003-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Lawrence Lindsey

Daily Show Full Episodes
Funny Political Videos

Important Things With Demetri Martin
More Funny Videos

Kid Drugged Up after Dentist

2009-02-02T22:21:00.000-05:00

Yells at one point, otherwise funny.

2009-01-29T20:12:00.000-05:00

Not a game new under the sun

2009-01-28T01:24:00.003-05:00

I think that stealing people's ideas can be important. Sometimes you make something really awesome. That's why I'm against Intellectual Property (ideas are plentiful, those who profit act quickly or make products better). Intellectual property creates stagnation in the market, and is almost against the Free Market.

That aside, did you like the Lion King? Is it your favorite Disney movie? If you believe that someone should own their ideas forever, then the Lion King should never have existed. Exhibit A, Exhibit B.

it'll change your life, I swear

2009-01-27T01:28:00.001-05:00

THINGS

2008-12-09T17:36:00.003-05:00

Things: will they be alright?

The world economy is in really terrible condition. The only thing we seem to have going for us is that we've elected a smart president, but he can't do anything until about a month from now.

So what do we have to hope for when the world is going further into the hole? Tell me.

Thing 23 Explored further

2008-11-15T06:50:00.003-05:00

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
Reading and commenting on Library 2.0 articles

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
It has made me more optimistic about Library 2.00

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I was surprised how much I wanted to share with everyone and how well they received it.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
Better walkthroughs and a better explanation of the culture that comes with each Thing.

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?
Absolutely.

2008-11-15T06:43:00.000-05:00

“I sincerely believe that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.”

- Thomas Jefferson

Did it.

2008-11-06T21:57:00.002-05:00

L&P@CML Summary

2008-10-29T17:34:00.004-04:00

So now it's over. And what have we learned? What have we changed?
I don't know. I have no idea really.
But I've enjoyed what I've seen in other staff. I like that the smart people that I work with are able to use many more tools than they were able to this summer. I'm seeing people excited about something they found on the internet. Heck, TJ found a neat way to brew your own cider out of all this. If nothing else, there's that cider. Which is what this is about: finding new ways to get the stuff you're interested in.
Being able to help our customers do this might be the biggest benefit, but hopefully the staff has really started to think about Library 2.0

2008-10-18T15:51:00.005-04:00

"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation." -Sarah Palin

1) What are the parts of America that are anti-America
2) Are those of us who live in cities Fake Americans?
3) Are those of us who live in cities lazy and unpatriotic? Whose patriotism? The ignorant, chanting, violent, hateful, and xenophobic patriotism? Or the patriotism that loves civil liberties and the Constitution and wishing for a nation of intelligent, well-informed people?

In other news, ignorance is all too often given a podium: Obama and the Ohio Flag

BEHOLD

2008-10-18T15:06:00.004-04:00

I will now, just to make you feel bad, I will finish Learn and Play @CML.

20. I've been posting YouTube videos on this blog for a while. I use alot of video sites. Surprise.
21. I don't listen to podcasts, but there are some great search tools out there, and one of my favorites is iTunes. The subscription model is nice.
22. MOLDI sucks for downloading stuff. Not even worth trying for more than a few minutes. Yuck. Also: The iPod holds the majority market share of MP3 players yet they don't support them. They support Windows. Oh, everything else on MOLDI? Windows only. Even when Apple has the majority share on something people can't seem to get over Windows type copy protection. MOLDI, of course, opens a can of worms. We let them watch movies whenever, let them listen to music whenever, and let them read books whenever, all for free online. So....why does anyone pay for anything? Well, copy protection on MOLDI ensures that you dont. Right? Except that some of them you can burn to disk....so theyre not copy protected. Think about that.
23. My thoughts about this whole L&P@CML: Provocative- more on that in another post.

Things

2008-10-11T09:46:00.001-04:00

17. I have used GoogleDocs many times. They are neat.

18. Web 2.0: I use Reddit.com. Reddit and Digg are great. They each have their own personalities and annoyances, but I still love em just the same. Mostly.

19. The Firefox search bar add-on is the only part of the CML tools that I like. Toolbars are annoying. Some of our less experienced users have a real hard time getting rid of those, so they just pile up on their browsers. I once helped a woman when I was in tech support for a major DSL company (who never stops working for you) and when we did a screen-sharing session, found that she had 7 toolbars on Internet Explorer, obscuring the visible web to about half a screen.

Word of the day: scrutiny

I am tired

2008-10-10T05:55:00.002-04:00

I get a little political sometimes. And other times, a lot political. I want to put my energy somewhere else. I want hope again, and I can't find that in politics. I have to focus on people for a while. If I can't combat ignorance and despair all over the country, I'm going to try to do that for a few people here. I can't forget that sometimes I can do more for one person at a time, on a personal level, than anything else I do. I'm going to try to make the people I care about hope again. Then I'll worry about my hope. And then I'll worry about everyone else's.

Facts aren't even real

2008-10-07T20:29:00.004-04:00

When a person cannot express an opinion or discuss issues without someone dismissing them as being a liberal or conservative or some other cut-and-dry label, that is when you have ignorance.

Instead of scrutiny from all sides, where everyone attacks each candidate, no leader can be considered fit.

From Fox News:
LA JEUNESSE: Tonight as those candidates debate, an army of internet fact checkers will be trying to separate fact from fiction, acting as judge and jury as to which candidate is telling the truth or a tall tale. While most of these sites are non-partisan, timely and useful, like Factcheck.org and Politifact, remember, they are uh...well, their facts are -- no one is checking the fact checkers. And their facts...unlike science...the facts are not irrefutable. And now to Washington.

You heard it from Fox News! Facts are not irrefutable!

2008-10-01T02:15:00.008-04:00

Wikiwikiwild, wikiwild, wikiwikiwildwildwestjimwestdesperado

2008-09-27T11:24:00.004-04:00

So, the listed Library wikis where interesting. But not that interesting to me. I don't know why. Wikipedia and Uncyclopedia (Potentially NSFW) are still my favorite wikis. Much more useful for my current lifestyle.

Now, here are my thoughts about Wiki in general.

Wiki is awesome. No doubt about it. It has considerable flaws, but it's totally worth it because of the freeness of aggregated knowledge, especially when there is citation. No longer are we bound to Britanica or Encarta. Or minimal bias.

Hoorah!

Monologue

2008-09-26T07:38:00.005-04:00

Watching John McCain and Sarah Palin talk about issues is like talking to an chatterbot. They can say things that are sentences that make sense and are topical, but there's no context or content. There's nobody there. It's just talking points.

John McCain was a maverick, and then he sold his soul and gave up everything he believed in to run for president. He has lied about the issues, changed his positions to bolster a more conservative base, and chosen a VP who lacks the basic skills, smarts, and knowledge to do any job in Washington D.C.

I cannot believe that this is a man that people think would be a good president. I want to have faith that America is going to pull itself out of this and not be the world's greatest disappointment. We have so much potential right now, and I am losing faith in America.

It is harder to love my country when ignorance is celebrated. It is harder to love my country when people who lie in public are never questioned, lest they be offended. It's harder to love my country when an enormous amount of our population does not respect the Constitution that gave them their freedoms. I cannot love a country where the people have so little respect for each other that they cannot fathom the amount of influence that their personal decisions have on other people, including those not living in their own country. I'm tired of being embarrassed by our leaders and fellow countrymen.

Truthiness is the key here. Once you are allowed to have whatever facts you want, you can no longer have meaningful dialogue. If you can just dismiss anything that goes against what you want to think, you no longer have to think, and you are only yelling. You no longer have to listen. You no longer have to exchange ideas.

Consider our lables. Liberals and Conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, Red and Blue. If we can dismiss the views of someone else as being wrong merely because you think they fit into one of those categories, then you lose the value of personal intelligence. Why even talk at all. We could just wear colored shirts and save time.

Library 2.0

2008-09-17T19:31:00.011-04:00

Now what? We have the internet, we have libraries, we're integrating them. CML isn't doing a ~~great~~ terrible job, but they're trying to get there, and they're trying to take their staff there too.

So, libraries are integrating with technology and using them to give the users a better experience. We're changing what the library does. Wendy Schultz says that once we get it all together, we'll move on to the 3D library in virtual realities like second life and that's Library 3.0. Why isn't this Library 2.0? We're already late if we assume that VR integration comes later. We don't even know what web 3.0 is.

Web 1.0 was content created by someone (usually paid) that you read or saw
Web 2.0 was content created by anyone that you read, see, edit, or share.

What is Web 3.0. We just don't know yet. Web 3.0 is probably the integration of daily life where you live with the internet. So, your iPhone interacts with other phones around you, you see what people in your area are talking about and responding to them.
If I had to guess, Web 3.0 is wireless, geographic internet. You no longer have a big computer to lug around, you aren't hindered by having to find Wi-fi, you organize your life around incoming, personalized data that changes as web-chatter changes.

Sooo, the library needs to go there. We need to allow for chatter wherever. We need to see trends and integrate them into physical locations.
"Did you see that NOVA rerun last night on PBS?"
"Yeah, I blogged about, geocached it, and the librarians in our area noticed that a lot of people were interested in it. They sent comments out letting people know that the library had the DVD, books related to it, etc, and when I got to the library there was a display up for that subject."

Why don't we have a Web-Chatter display: books that are being blogged about or talked about on the internet?

Steve Jobs realized that the computer would become the digital hub of a persons life and that they would have gadgets in the periphery that they would then carry around. If we get to the point where those gadgets are integrated into the hub, and we carry the hub around (think iPhone, but better) then we'll start seeing what Web 3.0 turns out to be. We are already in the past, so lets try to at least think ahead so that we aren't outdated the moment we churn something neat out.

Edit: Something that Ronda brought up was physical books. Library 3.0 will probably have more distribution of ebooks. Once computers come out that have good ereader capabilities (think, Tablets, e-ink readers) we'll start doing more reading in digital form. I don't think we'll have to worry about physical copies as much. There will always be a demand for physical books, but eventually we'll begin to distribute ebooks in great amounts. The logistics of allowing people to have digital copies for a limited amount of time is tricky. DRM is currently required to use digital books currently, but DRM is very exclusive. It currently excludes Macs, the interface sucks, and nobody wants to take the time to use extra stupid programs. It's a hassle. Once it's streamlined and easy (think Apple's iTunes and iPod, which streamlined buying music and putting it on your mp3 player) it will become popular. Then we'll see people sharing books just by sending them from one device to another, annotating sections (eg, comments and footnotes) for their friends, and then (God help us) editing Creative Commons licensed books!

A look into the future

2008-09-17T15:26:00.009-04:00

This weeks power outage has given me an important reminder. All that the digital world has to offer relies on electricity-homeostasis. I've thought about this before, but sometimes it's important to look at the catastrophes that might be yet to come.

What would happen to humanity's ten year accumulation of world knowledge (the internet servers) and it's infrastructure (the internet and its services) if there were a massive solar discharge, a new weapons technology, or a scientific experiment-gone-wrong that lead to the destruction of the internet as we know it?

Sometimes it's important to look at those things and try to figure out where we are going in the world. You look at where the stock market is today and you see the old systems of oversight destroying our current economy. You look at the American automotive industry that is now clamoring to produce fuel-efficient cars, something Japan has a head start on. People realize that the system is flawed too late because there is so much going on in the world. In our attempts to figure out the endlessly changing world of the internet, we have forgotten a means of making sure the infrastructure of the internet is safe.Google has talked about making offshore data centers. I don't know if that's the answer, but maybe it needs to be thought about more.

We have power again! That's awesome because I like having it so my food doesn't spoil.

Also, this is late, but you remember the image generator thing. A couple of years ago, I found this and forgot about it. It's BombayTV's Subtitle maker. Behold my creation:
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.grapheine.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Grapheine : Agence de communication studio graphique illustrateur création de logo sur Paris et Lyon &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;noembed&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/object&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/div&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Here is one I made a year ago.

Library Things

2008-09-12T23:06:00.006-04:00

I was doin a quick twitter, and I noticed that Joy had a tweet about her water being turned off. That is what twitter is about. Not just something like "sitting here doing nothing" but something small and human. That's a connection that doesn't happen otherwise, and that's neat.
My twitter is off to the left under my profile.

Here's my LibraryThing. It isn't that insanely useful to me yet.

So yeah, I've done lots of tagging. And delicious is neat. But not for me. I find that I prefer not to have my bookmarks on the internet and I don't want to take the time to tag stuff.

LHC and RNC

2008-09-08T17:22:00.007-04:00

Republicans got $1 mil after Palin's speech. Democrats got $10 after Palin's speech. That kinda says something. Thanks for criticizing community organizers, Ms. Palin. Who do you think runs the local campaigns?

Did you know that over 20% of presidents have been succeeded by their VPs. That's about one in five.

Also, the Large Hadron Collider will soon be turned on. And yes, it was very tempting to make an accidental typo with that last sentence.

RSS

2008-09-06T15:43:00.001-04:00

I don't really like RSS yet. Maybe if I used one of the programs, but certainly not on Bloglines. Pretty much all of the websites/blogs I like have RSS feeds, but I prefer just to go to the websites. Sometimes I like the format better. Searching for RSS feeds doesn't seem necessary for me because of that. That's all I have to say about that.

All this talk about the vice president...

2008-09-02T19:59:00.000-04:00

It's important.

Something I used today

2008-09-02T17:05:00.000-04:00

So, I was on Lane Ave on campus and I needed to find a Key Bank to make a withdrawal, but I didnt know where one was. What I did instead of stopping to ask for directions was call 1-800-GOOG-411. Google 411 is a free directory service that uses voice recognition. It even connects you to the business' phone number so you can talk to them immediatly if you want.

Imagine: You're in a hotel and you don't know what pizza places are around. You know where you are (zip and address) but not where the restaurants are. You call Goog411 and tell them where you are, tell them you want pizza and they can call the place fo for you so that you can have it delivered. Neato.

Also, today Google came out with Google Chrome, their browser. It's sweet.

The web-cam-stop-motion-thing

2008-08-30T10:29:00.001-04:00

Anyone have a web cam? You can use the web-cam-stop-motion-thing to create stop motion gifs. Here's me drinking tea:

RSSmas

2008-08-30T10:22:00.001-04:00

Is it Christmas? Here's the RSS feed for isitchristmas.com
If you are using Internet Explorer, you wont see anything in that link. Why not try Firefox or Safari?

2008-08-27T16:18:00.001-04:00

Ubiquity for Firefox from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

Ubiquity is a next generation browser currently being tested by Mozilla, the company that puts out Firefox (The browser you should be using right now). The mechanisms used in the video remind me a lot of Quicksilver for OS X. Browsers are going to be integrated into future operating systems the way Quickview and PDF's are integrated into OS X. An advanced browser is a powerful tool because people spend most of their computer time in a browser. That should tell you something.

Cooliris is a great example of how the browser is becoming more and more advanced.

Bubblr

2008-08-26T20:22:00.000-04:00

You can make a flickr comic strip at Bubblr.
Here is mine.
Lame because it doesn't export to a jpg

Look at this thing

2008-08-26T20:11:00.001-04:00

from the side, originally uploaded by irksomecushion.

This is a comparison of the sizes of the most recent version (as of 8/25/8) of the iPod Classic (2008) with the original 5gig iPod (2001) on top of it. The bottom one is smaller and has 75 more gigs of space in it. Plus it plays videos. Imagine the iPhone in 7 years.

Flickr

2008-08-26T20:08:00.001-04:00

Festival of lights, originally uploaded by Tampen.

I hope everyone is beginning to hear about Cooliris (formerly PicLens). You install it for your browser and then navigate sites like Flickr in a way that is very much the future. Best for laptops with trackpads, but good with a mouse too. Give it a try.

When you've installed it, hover over one of the pictures in my favorites and click the Cooliris icon.

The Matrix: Have you heard of it?

2008-08-26T02:54:00.001-04:00

Watch this video of Carl Sagan. Now think of Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith in the Matrix. Craziness.

Update: Just found this

Joe Biden and the Internet

2008-08-25T19:42:00.000-04:00

Check out this Wikipedia article on Joe Biden's views on the internet and it seems to show that he is not as progressive on the electronic front as I would have hoped.

Four sweater vests!

2008-08-22T14:11:00.000-04:00

Clip from Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

John McCain and the Internet

2008-08-20T15:12:00.000-04:00

To fully understand the internet and what it means to today's society (and my generation) you have to regularly use it and like it. John McCain hates bloggers instead of trying to understand their systems. They're citizens too. He also opposes Net Neutrality. This is very bad. It means that he IS out of touch, no question about it.
I want a smart president with smart answers who thinks about things with some depth.

Internalization is the Hardest Part

2008-08-19T19:23:00.000-04:00

So, 7.5 habits. Here is what I think of them:

Begin with the end in mind (e.g. Goals)
I like learning without goals sometimes. If not most times. Diving into something and just trying to figure things out sometimes teaches you more than if you just wanted to accomplish something, though goals can keep you motivated.

Accept responsibility for your own learning.
This is a pretty good idea. Sometimes this also means finding sometime to help you. Sometimes it means being willing to take a risk or to explore.

View problems as challenges
Sometimes problems are just problems though. Calling them challenges (for instance, computer problems) might suggest that these problems can be fixed by you. Sometimes problems are just problems.

Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner.
This is a hard one for a lot of people, especially when it comes to technology. Sometimes learning new things means learning a new way to think. What helps me is not to think as much about the tasks I am immediatly accomplishing, but in terms of learning new ways of doing and thinking about things.

Create your own learning toolbox
I have some websites that I read pretty regularly. One is BoingBoing.net and two user-aggregate sites I read are Digg.com and Reddit.com. These are news sites that have content chosen by its users. Have a look. These are where I go to make sure I'm thinking about issues that are important to me.

Use technology to your advantage
Learn with computers. Do it. Wikipedia awaits.

Teach/mentor others
Learning is better that way.

Play
Play!

Learn & Play

2008-08-16T16:27:00.000-04:00

So, Michael Stephens' Hyperlinked Library talk really makes me want to be a librarian all the more. Making the library open to all and making use of technology is necessary, and it's good that everyone's coming around to that. I didn't really enjoy the 7 1/2 steps thing. Not interesting to me.

I'll have to show you all the magic of Jott here in a day or two. It's neat.

Technology is neat and helps us be independent. This means we are able to do things ourselves, empowering us work at our own pace and accomplish more. A side of technology that is often ignored is the social side. While technology can allow us to be more social with things like facebook, twitter, and these blogs, the customer's side of their interaction with CML staff is drastically reduced with all the self service. I think that this is a good thing, but I offer this from the Dalai Lama.

"...consider that in place of our dependence on one another for support, today, wherever possible, we tend to rely on machines and services. Whereas formerly, farms would call in all their family members to help with the harvest, today they simply telephone a contractor. We find modern living organized so that it demands the least possible direct dependence on others. The more or less universal ambitions seems to be for everyone to own their own house, their own car, their own computer and so on in order to be as independent as possible. This is natural and understandable. We can also point to the increasing autonomy that people enjoy as a result of advances in science and technology. In fact, it is possible today to be far more independent of others than ever before. But with these developments, there has arisen a sense that my future is not dependent on my neighbor but rather on my job or, at most, my employer. This in turn encourages us to suppose that because others are not important for my happiness, their happiness is not important to me. "

2007-04-21T04:18:00.001-04:00

My dad is in the hospital. Because its bugging me, I'm going to take what the doctors have told me and make a post about it, thus piecing things together for myself so that I can understand what's going on better. Wikipedia is helping me remember all the things the doctor said. The bits and pieces definately add up and make sense:

My dad has a history of high blood pressure. He previously had heart palpitations. It was caused by atrial fibrillation. This caused the blood to pool in his heart, which can cause clots (Arterial thrombosis, can cause a heart attack).
Normal vs Atrial Fibrillation:

He started taking Warfarin (Coumadin), an anticoagulant to make sure he didn't get those clots. Warfarin also thins the blood. We were already worried by that point.
This is how the signals in the heart travels:

The second red dot, the Sinoatrial node, is what causes the rest of the beat to happen. It creats the electrical impulse. My dad aparently developed sick sinus syndrome, where the signal that leads to the sinoatrial node (and thus makes a heartbeat) has been compromised. Dangerously low blood pressure is the result. The coumadin didn't help with that. He had felt dizzy at work, came home and slept. When he awoke he could barely stand up straight, probably due to his back pain. He also had some lightheadedness. He was taken to the E.R. while I was asleep. They did an ultrasound and found some misalignments in his vertebrae, which was causing the back pain. He was admitted to the ICU around 7pm. He is going to be there for a bit. He will need a pacemaker. Today (4/21/07) he will be getting plasma to make sure he can clot properly and they will put a hole in a vein/artery near the neck and lower a temporary pacemaker to the heart. Monday, the permanent one will be implanted.