Meaningless Scribbles

Things that make me not want to live on this planet anymore, part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 03:32:00 +0000

Anti-Evolution Missouri Bill Requires College Students to Learn About Destiny

FTA: HB 291, the "Missouri Standard Science Act," redefines a few things you thought you already knew about science. For example, a "hypothesis" is redefined as something that reflects a "minority of scientific opinion and is "philosophically unpopular." A scientific theory is "an inferred explanation...whose components are data, logic and faith-based philosophy." And "destiny" is not something that $5 fortune tellers believe in; Instead, it's "the events and processes that define the future of the universe, galaxies, stars, our solar system, earth, plant life, animal life, and the human race."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you can redefine words by law to mean something completely different in order to fit your views. That's utterly nuts. And don't get me started on "destiny"... let me guess, the destiny of the entire universe was to deliver white Anglo-Saxon Christians to the promised land of the USA, with dominion over all others? Something like that?

Time for reform in the land of the "free"

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 13:49:00 +0000

Carmen Ortiz and Stephen Heymann: accountability for prosecutorial abuse

I agree that the prosecution of Aaron Swartz is much bigger than just the political ambitions of two federal attorneys. It's part of a calculated climate of fear and harassment towards whistleblowers, activists, and anyone else who challenges the elites. Just look at the disparity in the charges that bankrupted Swartz and drove him to suicide versus the slap on the wrist given to a bank that knowingly laundered money for drug cartels and terrorists. The bank doesn't get broken up, no banker is arrested or banned from his job (that was part of Swartz's plea deal, too) and any fine the bank agrees to only makes a small dent in its profitability.

The CFAA also needs to be reformed. Violating the terms of service (TOS), acceptable use policy (AUP), or end user licensing agreement (EULA) should in no way be a felony. Yet the government wants to make it a felony to use a fake name online. Insane.

Caturday antidote

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 04:08:00 +0000

How come dogs don't get their own day of the week?

Back to the real world

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 02:44:00 +0000

Vacation is over but I am in no way ready to return to the "real" world. I had a good time but I needed to relax more than anything else and that's not exactly possible when flying coast to coast with small children. Last summer I took a short 3-day vacation by myself, maybe it's time to do that again. I am feeling very, very burnt out.

Purple crocuses

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 18:34:00 +0000

From my front garden. This is slowly but surely becoming a botanical blog.

It's spring!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 15:14:00 +0000

First crocus of the spring

Something got into me last fall and I bought around 200 spring bulbs. This was unusual for me because I have a love/hate relationship with landscaping. I want things to look nice but I dislike the entire concept of a lawn. I see a flat, perfectly cut grassy monoculture to be gigantic waste of time, money and energy and my lawn shows it. It's patchy, generally scruffy looking, and full of weeds and moss but it's also full of life. Insects and spiders of all sorts and a large number of monarch butterflies, since I mow around all the milkweed that pops up.

But back to 200 bulbs. Historically, I have not been a very outdoorsy person, especially not the dirt-under-fingernails variety. For most of my life, "outside" was the giant room with the bright light and the blue ceiling. It started looking more and more like a bad decision with all the work required to dig out sections of lawn or restoring neglected flower beds. It was certainly more work than repotting some plants and remembering to water them. It look a few weekends and some more weeknights, but I did it. I got them all in the ground before the first frost and some areas even look halfway decent. Now everything is coming up - crocuses, tulips, daffodils, giant alliums, leucojums, and hyacinths. I'm practically giddy checking what's popped up overnight or during the day. I have spring fever!

A good book on the history and ridiculousness of the lawn is The Lawn: A History of an American Obsession. It influenced my attitude towards the lawn and got me a bunch of dirty looks from certain suburban types on the commuter rail.

Aloe fhtagn

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 05:00:00 +0000

The aloe plant that I rescued from death by neglect in my son's room has taken a turn towards the Cthulhu.

I swear I just repotted it and watered it regularly, and didn't invoke an Elder God.

Netflix to the rescue!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 19:06:00 +0000

My household is probably a bit atypical in that we have only one television set connected to a cable or satellite source. At least, atypical compared to how I grew up and compared to other households were there's TVs in living room, family room, kitchen, garage, each bedroom, etc. We also are living like primitives without a DVR because we've never upgraded our satellite system (Directv) in the 11 years since we got it. Why would we? We've had the same TV the entire time. Yes, yes, primitive, I know, but it works.

Directv also works well for us because we have a very clear view of the southern sky (usually getting a 98 or higher on the signal meter), except on snow days like today. My kids spent the morning outside in the snow as kids should on a snow day and came in to warm up at lunch. Disaster! Half the channels they like to watch were out. Then I had a brilliant idea - Netflix on the Wii. Quick download and setup and bam, they are watching How It's Made from the Science Channel without all the skeevy commercials for Oddities that freak my kids out. And I look like some big damn hero.

Why isn't this how we watch everything, on every channel? It's 2012 for crying out loud, why is there still a notion of a broadcast schedule? Like I said, we don't have a DVR so I don't know how it is for people who have them, but I would gladly pay the same amount I'm paying for satellite & Netflix to be able to watch whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, and not get gouged in the process or be limited to only older seasons, the latest 3 episodes or whatever "windowing" nonsense the media companies design to maximize shareholder value. It's sad how much we are letting ourselves be held back by the old cultural gatekeepers so they can continue to keep their heads buried in the sand and refuse to adapt their business models to new realities.

"Where did you get that beagle?"

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:22:00 +0000

While I was out walking our dog yesterday afternoon, I was stopped by a passing driver who wanted to know where we had gotten our beagle. This has happened four or five times now, including at the vet's office. Each time the questioner is surprised and somewhat disappointed to find out that she's a rescue dog from Puerto Rico. Most times they are looking for someone in the area selling or breeding beagles, and once we were asked rather directly if we were breeding our dog. Maybe I'm a prude, but is that really a question for polite society?

Deep in contemplation about how best to
steal something off the kitchen table.

Pure bred? No idea. Former street dog? Quite possibly. Eats cat poop? Constantly. More photos below.

"Is that a squirrel?"

"You know what would be nice? A jacket, human."

"Is that a squirrel?"

"Can we go back into the sun?"

"Enough with the photos already."

I wonder if the NYT will claim fair use or innocent infringement

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:42:00 +0000

From the Boston Phoenix Phlog: Hi Bill Keller. The New York Times just stole our column. Should we sue?

If SOPA & PIPA had passed and been signed into law, the Boston Phoenix could have demanded that all ad networks cease operations with the NY Times, all credit card companies stop processing their payments, and then have the entire domain name blacklisted in the US. All for linking to a PDF. Our copyright system is completely screwed up as it is, and things like SOPA, PIPA and ACTA will make it a nightmare.

Report cards for science standards

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:46:00 +0000

Your state's science report card

My state, New Hampshire, got a D. Right across the fence (literally, if I look out my home office window) Massachusetts gets an A-. I guess it could be worse... like the F my home state of Oregon received.

This is why I spend a lot of time talking about science with my kids, watching quality educational programs, etc. They are also getting old enough for me to break out some textbooks to supplement whatever they get in school. Interestingly enough, New Hampshire has a new state law that throws educational standards to the four winds. Any parent can object to any content in any classroom and demand accommodation. Neat how that's written to be non-specific enough to not trigger any Constitutional challenges like Edwards v. Aguillard, huh? The only hitch is that replacement materials have to be paid for by the parents, but hey, I'll gladly pay for a textbook if that means evolution is taught in my sons' school!

Of course, this isn't enough for some parents here in NH. They want a bill that would allow parents to pull their kids from school districts that adopt the International Baccalaureate program because that's one step away from one world government or something.

It could be worse, though. In Indiana, a senator wants to include religion in the science curriculum and is trying to get around constitutional grounds by including more than just the creation science view. The bill now reads, "The curriculum for the course must include theories from multiple religions, which may include, but is not limited to, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Scientology." Somehow, I don't think the parents who would support this bill will support anything but Judeo-Christian teachings in their classroom. What about my belief system, that world was created from the dead body of Ymir the giant? Will that be on the test?

Lunch!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 17:53:00 +0000

Loco moco, a Hawaiian favorite. I am neither Hawaiian nor have I ever been to Hawaii, I just read about it and then found a recipe online.

"Fun" at lunch

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:13:00 +0000

This was how I spent my lunch "hour" yesterday. I'm fine and so is the car, but it was still not exactly a fun experience.

Never leggo my LEGO

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:42:00 +0000

An acquaintance on Facebook posted a link to BrickLink in a comment to one of my many status updates. I say "acquaintance" because no friend would post such a thing, not in a reply to someone like me. An enemy sure would - maybe I have my very first frenemy. I love LEGO, I have always loved LEGO, and my kids have inherited my love of LEGO, so that site is potential Kryptonite to my household budget. Take a gander at the vintage space sets, for instance. Looking back at the sets from 1979, either I was very good that year or the Sears catalog had one heck of a sale on the entire collection, because I remember building and playing with most of them. In fact, a whole lot of the space sets from 1979-1982 are pretty familiar. I distinctly remember that my very first "grown up kid" LEGO set was the space shuttle, and I built and rebuilt the Alpha-1 Rocket Base many times. But I had forgotten about many of the others, the mobile tracking station and mobile rocket launcher, the X1 patrol craft, space cruiser, cosmic cruiser and several others. I suddenly remembered them all and resisted the immediate urge to purchase them to reconnect with my childhood.

Which is in itself odd, because I still have them. I just don't know where they are exactly. I have somewhere between 80-90% of my childhood toys packed away in storage. LEGO, Star Wars, Transformers, GI Joe, Hotwheels, who knows what else. A big emphasis on "who knows." I was a very careful and conscientious child, careful not to lose a single piece or gun or whatever if I could help it. No, not obsessive compulsive... well, maybe a smidge OCD. When I moved out after college, I took it all with me. Unlike a lot of young adults, I didn't come home to find my things had been brought down to the dump 5 minutes the day after I moved into a dorm. Most likely because everyone knew that I'd leave and never return if that happened (I left and never returned anyways, so whatever). So I have a good portion of those LEGO sets still... somewhere. I am not one of those extreme hoarders you see on TV, I swear! Well, maybe a smidge of that, too.

Conversation with my son

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:30:00 +0000

I was sitting at the dining room table after dinner last night, watching Hawaii Five-O on Netflix and doodling in the margin of today's newspaper. Just 3-D geometric shapes, nothing fancy. My 9 year old son came over and wondered what I was doing,

Sam: "Did you draw these?"
Me: "Yep."
Sam: "Wow, I thought these were printed and not drawn. You are really talented."
Me: "Thanks, Sam! You know, I did take art classes for 6 years."
Sam: "I thought your parents didn't let you go to art school."
Me: uh-oh, little jugs have big ears "This was in high school. High school and junior high actually. I also took about a year's worth of art classes in college. Painting and drawing."
Sam: "I didn't know that you took those classes. I want to be an artist someday."

Somebody earned his Christmas presents this year!

I am bad at taking vacations

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:58:00 +0000

My employer has a use it or lose it policy when it comes to vacations and I had 4.5 days to use, so I'm using it this week. In theory, that is. In practice, I worked yesterday until about 4:30 pm. I wasn't working the entire time as I was letting some tests run in the background and installing some long-delayed software upgrades, but I was not exactly on vacation, either.

Baby, it's cold inside

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:56:00 +0000

As I write this, 11 pm on a Sunday night in December, it is 46 degrees in my home office. It should be no surprise that I am not writing this in my office, because working inside of a walk-in refrigerator is not exactly conducive to writing or any kind of work. Same with most forms of recreation, too, since it is a home office after all. But this is what I have to work with - an unheated, semi-insulated attic space that, due to the strange configuration of my house, isn't itself above any heated space from which it could draw some sort of residual heat. It is just cold. Very, very cold.

I heat the space using a portable oil-filled heater but it just cannot pump out the BTUs to heat the space beyond around 25 degrees above the outside temperature. Given I live in an area that gets down to 0 Fahrenheit regularly and has gone as low as -20 a few winters, this is more than a minor inconvenience. I have tried various portable heaters, from ceramic to forced air (just not powerful enough) to a parabolic heat discs (okay if you are in the heated zone, expensive to operate and dangerous with kids). An oil-filled heater has so far been the best combination of cost, heat and safety, but it still cannot do the job.

That affects, of course, how I do my job. I work from home but I am not required to work there or have a home office. It is strongly encouraged to have a dedicated space, however, even though we are allowed to work from libraries, coffee shops, or any place with a decent connection. But I work from home precisely so I don't have to commute anywhere. I've done my time, with 4 years doing a 5 hour round trip 4-5 days a week, and 4 more years with a 2.5 hour trip 5 days a week. Telecommuting is a perk of my current job and I want to make the most of it. The local library isn't open every week day and I don't want to be one of those guys parked in front of the library with a laptop for hours. There are lots of choices 30 minutes from here, but what's the point of working from "home" if there's still a commute, no matter how short?

During the work day in winter, I'm often wearing 4 layers - long underwear, regular street clothes, sweater or chamois shirt, and a hoodie, topped with a lap blanket, but I'm often still cold. There are, of course, other areas in the house where I could work and I often do, but I chose my space because it was in the back, away from the rest of the house and its associated noise. I could work downstairs in an old parlor off of the living and dining rooms, but my work day would then end at 3 pm, when the kids got home. By being far removed I can minimize distractions for the couple of hours until the end of the workday, but that would be impossible downstairs. Like many others, I also need a space to which I can simply retreat and be alone. Some men have a shop, some a "man cave" (ugh, I hate that insipid term. Show some dignity and call it a den), some have a home office like me.

Several years ago I got a quote for extending our existing steam system (it's an old house) which was basically "no you can't" that so I'd need a whole separate heating system installed at ridiculous expense. It wasn't even a replacement to the existing oil-burning boiler, just a second electric boiler and a second set of pipes running through my house, and the quote didn't include all the finish work involved to repair walls after the pipes were run through them. That is also the reason why I have resisted trying natural gas heaters or wood stoves. What if that too failed to heat the space, and now I was left with a hole in a wall or the roof that now needed repairing? Although, one of those triangular/conical center of the room fireplaces from the 1970s might be funky enough to try, especially if it was still painted in the delightful color schemes of the period. Avocado green or harvest gold, with sepia detailing.

Christmas Cactus

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 22:37:00 +0000

Our Christmas cactus is in full bloom for the holidays

My 9 year old son collected house plants for a while but rarely watered them, so most of them were dead when he finally turned them over to me this September. I didn't think that this Christmas cactus would make it, let alone bloom this year. It was very withered and hadn't been watered consistently for months.

That's all that I did with it and these other rescue plants. Repot, water every two weeks (every week for the croton) with plant food and place in a sunny location. There's another shelf below this with more cacti and jades.

This next set of plants is the result of two years worth of careful watering. They were all part of a single plant that had been in my wife's family for decades but was starved for sun, water and attention. The core and roots were rotten and all that was marginally alive where the bits on the ends. After a bit of research one afternoon, I decided to chop off the salvageable pieces and see if any of them would grow. To my surprise, they have and now I've run out of room! The leftmost plant in the first photo was the largest surviving piece of the original plant. It seems to have been permanently stunted and has grown a few new leaves over two years, but not much. Subtract those leaves and it looks much like it did when I performed the surgery on it. The last photo is all that's left of the original plant. Only in the past few weeks has it been moved to a sunnier location, so what green that was left has been dormant the entire time.

The nightmarish SOPA hearings

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:13:00 +0000

The nightmarish SOPA hearings

FTA: "If I had a dime for every time someone in the hearing used the phrase “I’m not a nerd” or “I’m no tech expert, but they tell me . . .,” I’d have a large number of dimes and still feel intensely worried about the future of the uncensored Internet."

Sad but true: "It’s been a truism for some time that you can tell innovation in an industry has ceased when the industry starts to develop a robust lobbying and litigating presence instead."

I've been saying something similar for a helluva long time now: "There ought to be a law, I think, that in order to regulate something you have to have some understanding of it."

via @ggreenwald

Power outage

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:05:00 +0000

Two feet of snow for Halloween, no problem. But a dusting of ice and snow brings a line down today.

Illegal dump site

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:51:00 +0000

The normal forest underbrush was crushed with the heavy snowfall on Halloween and we haven't had any snow since, so there are some clearer views than usual into the woods on either side of our road. I found two illegally dumped piles of tires today while walking my dog at lunch. This is the larger one and has been there for some time, judging from the amount of pine needles and moss on the bottom tires. The other pile was more recent and was near where I found a pile of car batteries a few years ago.
This is an unfortunate fact of life when living on a dirt road in rural New Hampshire. Besides a steady stream of alcohol containers of all kinds, lottery tickets, fast food and other household garbage, I've found a mattress, a folding chair, a vacuum, a pile of computer equipment (CRT, desktops, printers, smashed scanner) and other miscellaneous junk. Why do people feel they can do this on my road? There are scrap metal dealers and tire recyclers nearby, and the fees at the local dump aren't *that* much.