tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30862942024-03-13T00:43:11.312-04:00Kookstera waste of timekooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-74565260844723112662007-01-04T15:02:00.000-05:002007-01-05T09:30:05.660-05:00MovedWell, I've decided to run my own blog on my own site.<br />So from now on, find me on <a href="http://www.beginsinwonder.com">begins in wonder</a>. For historical laziness, this will remain, but look for me elsewhere. or on <a href="http://www.technorati.com/claim/ccgp539u" rel="me">Technorati</a>.kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com61tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-76678891305780163022006-10-24T13:46:00.000-04:002006-10-24T13:52:45.330-04:00hours of halloween audio fun<a href="#" onclick="window.open('http://web.prx.org/scream/popup.html', 'mywindow','location=0,status=0,scrollbars=0,resizeable=0,directories=0, width=399,height=500');return true;"> <img border="0" src="http://media.prx.org/feature/scream/badge.gif"></a><br />Checkout the scream stream of free halloween public radio, brought to you for gratis by the fine folks at <a href="http://www.prx.org">PRX</a>.kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1158699941672225962006-09-19T16:55:00.000-04:002006-09-19T17:51:21.820-04:00FeedTools and FeedUpdater funPlaying around with<a href="http://sporkmonger.com/projects/feedtools/"> FeedTools and FeedUpdater</a>.<br /><a href="http://sporkmonger.com/articles/2005/08/11/tutorial/">Fun stuff</a>.<br /><br />Had a few lessons learned I wanted to share:<br /><br /><h4>1) load the rails app feed config file</h4><br />To get FeedUpdater to find my 'feed_updater.yml' file, I had to make a small change to some of the file loading logic. It kept loading the example/default comfig - so I changed the list of paths to look for my file first, by climbing out of the vendor directory, and getting the file in the regular rails app config directory.<br /><br /><pre><br />config_file = FileStalker.hunt([<br />"./feed_updater.yml",<br />"../config/feed_updater.yml"<br />])<br /></pre><br /><br />to:<br /><br /><pre>config_file = FileStalker.hunt([<br />"../../../config/feed_updater.yml",<br />"./feed_updater.yml",<br />"../config/feed_updater.yml"])<br /></pre><br /><br /><h4>2) Use the rails app model objects in the custom updater script.</h4><br />This took some experimentation to figure out.<br /><br />As the <a href="http://wiki.rubyonrails.com/rails/pages/HowToUseActiveRecordThroughStandAloneScript">rails wiki says</a>, you need to require the environment script to be able to use the rails app goodies in a standalone script. But where, pray-tell, should you put this require?<br /><br />Use the on_begin method of the custom script.<br />So if you have in your 'feed_updater.yml':<br /><br /><pre><br />load_script: lib/my_feed_updater.rb<br /></pre><br /><br />Then in this file, you need something like the following:<br /><pre><br />class MyFeedUpdater < FeedTools::FeedUpdater<br /><br /> on_begin do<br /> #load all thing needed to use rails app stuff<br /> require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../config/environment'<br /><br /> #use your model like its going out of style<br /> end<br /> <br /> on_update do |feed, seconds|<br /> self.logger.info("Loaded '#{feed.href}'. Updated (#{feed.title}) in #{seconds} seconds.")<br /> end<br /> <br /> on_error do |href, error|<br /> self.logger.info("Error updating '#{href}':")<br /> self.logger.info(error)<br /> end<br /><br /> on_complete do |updated_feed_hrefs|<br /> end<br />end<br /></pre><br /><br />Hope someone else gets some fun out of this.kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1144010156362727502006-04-02T16:35:00.000-04:002006-04-02T16:39:01.580-04:00Decreation - Anne Carson, triple threatWorking my way through <a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781400043491"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Decreation</span> by Anne Carson</a>.<br /><br />I got tipped by a literati family member to <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780375701290&view=rg">Autobiography of Red</a> awhile back, and so when my local <a href="http://www.brooklinebooksmith.com/">amazing bookstore</a> posted the new book to their poetry section, I snagged it. And then a week or so later came the <a href="http://bostonreview.net/BR31.2/mcsweeney.html">review</a> in the aptly named <a href="http://bostonreview.net/">Boston Review</a>.<br /><br />I can't do it justice, I'm just trying to appreciate it - go read for yourself.<br /><br />The Knopf site has <a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/authors/carson/performance.html">clips of the author performing</a> pieces of this. Can you beat that?kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1143986246656043482006-04-02T09:40:00.000-04:002006-04-04T08:17:27.316-04:00grups<a href="http://newyorkmetro.com/news/features/16529/index.html">Grups</a>, at least the etymology is a clever repurposing from "speculative" pseudo-Twilight Zone original Star Trek sci-fi, monosyllabic, and easy to remember.<br /><br />Gen-x is too old, gen-y is too young, and a guy who would rather buy scissors for $5 and cut his own hair than spend $100 at a salon cannot be described as "metro"; but now, it seems, I have been labeled. sigh.<br /><br />I feel less than comforted, and it certainly makes me rethink buying a 3rd pair of pumas (oh, yeah wore them before they were cool and had a huge Newbury St. store).<br />I haven't bought distressed jeans since an embarrassing acid wash incident in the actual 80s - most folks I know got their distressed blues by never throwing them away (and for a few of us, by still being able to fit into what we bought 15 yrs ago).<br /><br />Maybe it will catch on, maybe it won't. I just can't get all that excited by yet another attempt to establish a stereotype for fertile aging cool kids. Besides I have more jazz than Interpol on my iPod, thanks very much.<br /><br />I think this may be like writing a horoscope for the 30-ish; there is enough there in its 8 pages for us all to read and find a few things applicable, while remaining vague, superficial and a bit obvious.<br /><br />You don't want to wear a suit!<br />You wear jeans and a hoody!<br />You would rather snowboard than work!<br />You never stopped listening to new music!<br /><a href="http://newyorkmetro.com/news/features/16529/index.html">GRUP</a>!kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1143938275086761252006-04-01T18:37:00.000-05:002006-04-01T19:37:55.133-05:00too long, and too much is wrongWay too long since I last posted, but more time is at hand. <br /><br />Talked to my brother, he's hopefully dodging an <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/31/ippr_irregular_migration/">ID</a> card since he is already in Scotland, and is legal and all.<br /><br />What a lovely time. Tech makes nations and geography less important (arguably), while politicians highlight the importance of national origin as the difference between <a href="http://www.myleftwing.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=7073">criminal and patriot</a>.<br /><br />Does it need to be said? Villainizing illegal immigrants is a PC way to hate minorities. You know, it's not that they are different and poor and not white, it's that they are criminals (they're illegal , so that means they're criminals, right?) and probably terrorists to boot (right out of the country).<br /><br />Besides, they are all thieves because they are stealing our jobs. I wonder if the politicians noticed that these "criminals" can't vote before they made them into congressional punching bags?<br /><br />So maybe, just maybe, this is all code - some subtle form of racism (on second thought, not all that subtle).<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/30/international/europe/30smashers.html">When the riots start</a>, please remember I am a petite liberal and not worth smashing.kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1136221904698716612006-01-02T12:11:00.000-05:002006-01-02T12:11:45.880-05:00Kooser for PresidentAs the <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5074282">talk</a> about the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-kerry-2008,1,792490.story">2008</a> <a href="http://primary2008.typepad.com/presidentail_primaries_20/2008_candidate_sites/index.html">race</a> gets started, my vote is for a <a href="http://www.valleyadvocate.com/gbase/News/content?oid=oid:136448">Kooser</a>/<a href="http://www.walken2008.com/">Walken</a> ticket.kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1136091231984105582005-12-31T23:53:00.000-05:002005-12-31T23:53:52.020-05:00The 2005 Mark Twain Prize celebrating Steve Martin<a href="http://www.pbs.org/weta/twainprize2005/">The Kennedy Center Presents: The 2005 Mark Twain Prize celebrating Steve Martin . Home | PBS</a><br /><br />In a similar vein, Steve Martin is still funnier than you.<br />Get used to it.kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1136076011680818372005-12-31T19:40:00.001-05:002005-12-31T19:51:30.080-05:00Worst Job Ever - ad nauseum<a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1514168659738935009">Yes yes yes...</a><br /><br />Sweet lord that is some good comedy.<br /><br />Makes you wonder why there is so much drivel on television (i.e. mad tv, snl) when you see something like this. At least Chapelle is coming back.kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1136037478791624132005-12-31T08:57:00.000-05:002005-12-31T08:57:59.840-05:00Remembering those we lostWe lost many artists this year, and I see the press about the biggest names like Richard Pryor, Pat Morita, and Carson. But look, here is one that touched a nerve for me: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Juhl">Jerry</a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Juhl">Juhl</a>.<br /><br />The guy created Super Grover, wrote Gonzo out of thin air, and then made up the <a href="http://www.culttelly.co.uk/lyrics/fraggle.html">Fraggles</a> - where would you be without them?<br /><br />I only wish <a href="http://www.avenueq.com/">Avenue Q</a> would spark a new puppetry rennaisance, it's about time.<br /><br /><a href="http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/654/654602p1.html">Thanks</a> <a href="http://www.jimhillmedia.com/mb/articles/showarticle.php?ID=1669">Jerry</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001772286">2005: Lost lives that touched our own</a>: "Jerry Juhl, 67, who was head writer for 'The Muppet Show' before he co-created 'Fraggle Rock.' Juhl worked as a puppeteer on Jim Henson's first television show, 'Sam and Friends,' and later spent six years writing for 'Sesame Street' after its 1969 premiere. Juhl was head writer for 'The Muppet Show' from 1977-81, receiving two Emmys for his work."kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1136035217792213802005-12-31T08:20:00.000-05:002005-12-31T08:20:18.600-05:00End-of-Year Reflections from Ted KooserI am a <a href="http://www.tedkooser.com/">Ted Kooser</a> fan. Why aren't you <a href="http://www.americanlifeinpoetry.org/current.html">reading his work every day</a>?<br /><br />I read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1556592019/ref=pd_bxgy_text_b/102-5799610-7616166?%5Fencoding=UTF8"><span style="font-style: italic;">Delights and Shadows</span></a> last month, and am ready to buy more of this retired insurance salesman/poet laureate's work. Please don't let me try and do justice to describing his work, but I will say it reminds me of <a href="http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/31">Charles Wright</a> - I heard him speak once in NYC, I think he read from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374525366/102-5799610-7616166?v=glance&n=283155">Black Zodiac</a>.<br /><br />Differently, I also enjoyed his <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0803227698/102-5799610-7616166?v=glance&n=283155"><span style="font-style: italic;">Poetry Home Repair Manual</span></a>, which I am almost done reading, and only started digesting.<br /><br />And even if you could care less, he has excellent citations/examples, so you are also getting poems that have stuck with Kooser, like this oft-mentioned one from <a href="http://ccconline.org/about/biographies/joehutchisonbio.htm">Joseph Hutchinson</a>:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Artichoke</span> <i><br /></i> O heart weighed down by so many wings.<br /><br />To paraphrase Kooser, after you read that, can you ever see, or think about an artichoke the same way?<br /><br />If all else fails to convince, I like that he writes for those of us without advanced degrees in <a href="http://www.bway.net/%7Ehunger/ulysses.html">Ulysses</a>, and most of you will like that too.<br /><br />Today, while it has a 'rural elitist' slant (i.e. urbanites are spoiled, real life is in the country, the nobility of a rugged individual accomplishing of small things, etc.), he provides a bit on the end of the year. It's a breath of cold air to sweep the year into the dust bin.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5075948">NPR : End-of-Year Reflections from Ted Kooser</a>:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">december 31 </span> <br />Cold and snowing.<br /><br />The opening pages forgotten,<br />then the sadness of my mother's death<br />in the cold, wet chapters of spring.<br /><br />For me, featureless text of summer<br />burning with illness, a long convalescence,<br />then a conclusion in which<br />the first hard frosts are lovingly described.<br /><br />A bibliography of falling leaves,<br />an index of bare trees,<br />and finally, a crow flying like a signature<br />over the soft white endpapers of the year.kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1135891797272851722005-12-29T16:28:00.000-05:002005-12-29T16:30:41.923-05:00poetryIf for some reason you are still reading poetry even though you are no longer in school, nor work at a university humanities department, then this site is for you. Get your daily dose, for bitter or verse.kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1135867330156896562005-12-29T09:21:00.000-05:002005-12-29T09:42:10.196-05:00video ipod at lastAfter much thought (nano vs. video) I finally bought my own xmas present (with the encouragement of my lovely bride). I got the 60gig vid ipod - I am such a little consumer.<br /><br />A few problems: my laptop does not have sufficiently powered USB port (though they are usb2 hi-speed) to charge it. So I need to get a cradle...perhaps one like <a href="http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/72802/wo/XF3oTuu9vXoh2AFrwmv1yC1tbfG/2.SLID?mco=DFC7D8BF&nplm=TE708LL%2FA">this.</a> Seriously, the cottage industry of ipod accessories must be a larger than farming in the US.<br /><br />Also made a trip to Waaa-wa-chusett (excuse me, I have allergies), but with many other <a href="http://www.bostonphoenix.com/ski/roundup.asp">options</a> in the area, all I need is for the weather to cooperate. Mainly, since I have friends who are much better riders than I am, the Wa was mostly a remember-what-I-am-doing kinda thing.kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1134533820828964222005-12-13T23:02:00.000-05:002005-12-14T10:39:52.210-05:00I miss my monkeypatch.<br /><br />If you have done a decent amount of python code, you've probably run into <a href="http://zopewiki.org/MonkeyPatch">monkey patching</a> - if you haven't, you're missing out. But in java, where I use an ever increasing number of open source libraries, I missed this lovely feature I was able to use to good effect in <a href="http://www.plone.org/">Plone</a>. But no more, now there is AspectJ to the rescue.<br /><br />First off, the problem I had was to extend the code generation capabilities in Axis 1.3 to generate java code from a WSDL (which is better than the other way around). But <a href="http://ws.apache.org/axis/java/integration-guide.html#WSDLParserAndCodeGeneratorFramework">WSDL2Java extension is limited</a>, and I don't feel like downloading all the Axis source and changing it and recompiling it myself. All I wanted to do was to make the java code that was created include a unique ID to make the objects easier to persist in hibernate (and just to be a show-off, yes I am using Spring too, but not for code generation - it's not good for everything :).<br /><br />So how to do it? Easy enough, use the <a href="http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2004/10/20/springaop2.html?page=2">cuckoo's egg design pattern</a> to replace Axis's current java class generator with an instance of my own when the constructor is called:<br /><pre><br />import java.util.Vector;<br />import org.apache.axis.wsdl.symbolTable.TypeEntry;<br />import org.apache.axis.wsdl.toJava.Emitter;<br />import org.apache.axis.wsdl.toJava.JavaBeanWriter;<br />import org.apache.axis.wsdl.toJava.JavaWriter;<br />import org.kookster.PersistentJavaBeanWriter;<br /><br />/**<br />* Use this to change the behaviour of the WSDL2Java axis code gen<br />*<br />* @author kookster<br />*/<br />public aspect ReplaceJavaBeanWriterAspect {<br /><br />//here's a pointcut to get the public constructor of Axis JavaBeanWriter<br />public pointcut javaBeanWriterConstructor( Emitter emitter,<br /> TypeEntry type,<br /> Vector elements,<br /> TypeEntry extendType,<br /> Vector attributes,<br /> JavaWriter helper ):<br /> call( JavaBeanWriter.new( Emitter,TypeEntry,Vector,TypeEntry,Vector,JavaWriter )) &&<br /> args( emitter,type,elements,extendType,attributes,helper );<br /><br />//here is the advice which calls the constructor for my object instead<br />JavaBeanWriter around( Emitter emitter,<br /> TypeEntry type,<br /> Vector elements,<br /> TypeEntry extendType,<br /> Vector attributes,<br /> JavaWriter helper) :<br />javaBeanWriterConstructor( emitter,type,elements,extendType,attributes,helper )<br />{<br /> return new PersistentJavaBeanWriter(emitter,type,elements,extendType,attributes,helper);<br />}<br /><br />}<br /></pre>kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1134480715036594702005-12-13T08:18:00.000-05:002005-12-13T08:31:55.046-05:00well, finally.<br /><br />I spent the last few days trying to revive an old pII/350mhz PC.<br />Having excorsized redhat9, an ill-timed installation as this particular curse damned itself in favor of fedora days after I installed, I had to pick a sexy new distro to play with...so what else, but go with little-miss-popular, i.e. <a href="http://www.ubuntulinux.com">ubuntu</a>?<br /><br />After downloading the ISO twice, burning four CDs at various speeds and orientations to the crab nebula and burning bushes, I got one that installed on my eighth attempt. <a href="http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2005/bruce-lee-screentest-p1.php">My kung-fu</a> is the best. So far so good, I am typing on it now, and looking for other fun to put it through its paces. Actually pretty usable for all that it is ancient - gee, maybe you don't need to gigs of memory to be happy after all.<br /><br />I also need some better way to get it networked, as I have no wifi card for it, and it is across the house from my hub. Like everyone else I am sure, I have a 50' ethernet cable around I am using at present, but as I don't wish to make yet another electrical hazard in my home, this is not a permanent solution...kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1134245366828818822005-12-10T14:59:00.000-05:002005-12-10T15:11:48.596-05:00So my brother, an aspiring evil scientist, plotting to take over a flat of his own, has relocated to the land of golf, sheep, and men in skirts. He too has caught the blogger-flu, and now reports from <a href="http://mightyreason.blogspot.com/">Mighty Reason</a>.<br /><br />The real question is how much to extort from him in order to prevent me telling <a href="http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30007">mom his new URL</a>. Of course, there is the efficacy of mutually assured destruction . Hmm. I'll have to find another means to extort the secrets of his evil plans from him.kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1122220785758996062005-07-24T11:46:00.000-04:002005-07-24T11:59:47.076-04:00WLST fun<br /><br />I've been having somefun of late with BEA's WLST tools. I'm using 8.1 so the fun is that there are 2 versions, one online (while connected to a running admin server or instance), and one offline for doing configuration and creation of instances much as you would through the configuration wizard application.<br /><br />So here's the fun - it's jython based, but the tools start their own interpreter by default, but if you want to, you can create an ini file so you can import WLST as a module into a regular jython script.<br />But, for whatever reason, the offline version does not work for this...you always have to run the wlst offline class as the interpreter. I am testing a workaround, which since it is not particularly well documented, I am not quite ready to release into the world, but I am hopeful :)kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1091030570559773632004-07-28T11:20:00.000-04:002004-07-28T15:10:57.010-04:00So here in covention land, I beheld some weirdness.
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<br /> First off, faneuil hall has been a great for seeing big media, especially with MSNBC stationed there. They are not all my favorites - I watch CNN much more - but still amusing.
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<br /> Of that crew, I got to see Joe Scarborough (not that exciting) and Tom Brokaw (very cool).
<br /> Tom was actually a couple of blocks away, talking on his cell, and on his own walking around down town and trying to keep a low profile. I almost didn't recognize him with his wind blown hair, but talking into his cell phone was a dead give away - that voice cannot be missed.
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<br /> More fun than celebrities are the regular folks out to make a statement. One convertible promoting voter registration is rolling around with effigies of the candidates propped up in back. I don't think they'll be getting into the carpool lane, but clever none the less.
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<br /> Also on the T I stood next to a woman in medical white carting around a massage chair - her plan being to support the conventioneers (Californian in particular) by offering free massage.
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<br /> A less positive message was the site of 3 billboard sided trucks touring downtown and quincy market. The bill boards were blown up pictures of aborted late term fetuses - the kind of abortion where the fetus is broken up into pieces when removed. The pieces had been positioned to once again resemble a small baby (though not so small on the side of a truck) - which oddly enough is part of the procedure, so that the doctors can be sure the entire fetus was removed.
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<br /> Look, I'm pro-choice, so take my views how you will, but those billboards are just gross. At the same time, there are very few medical operations I would want to see blown up and displayed on the side of a truck touring the food court where I am eating. I wouldn't want to see a gall bladder or appendix after it had been removed, but that doesn't make me want to ban appendectomies; it just means I'm too squeamish to be a surgeon. There are pictures you could take of the most vital and life saving procedures, including birth itself, that I just do not want to see 10 feet tall and moving down the road while I am eating.
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<br /> Also amusing is the relatively common presence of supporters for <a href="http://larouchein2004.net/">LaRouche.
<br /> </a> I have found his pamphlets all over the place.
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<br /> And finally, my run in with a Nader-phile. Sitting in the Park T station, chatting with a friend, a Nader support tentatively asked if we were registered voters. We explained we were both registered democrats, and would both be voting for Kerry. She happily and helpfully explained we could still sign the petition to get Nader on the MA ballot. In a moment of great restraint, I managed to say only "I would prefer not to", rather than ripping the clipboard from her hands and shredding it and the republican-aiding signatures while she watched. But I would never subvert the democratic process that way - I'm just tempted.
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<br />kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1089988055657651132004-07-16T10:27:00.000-04:002004-07-16T10:27:35.656-04:00Remind me to leave scraps of writing around other than phone numbers on ATM receipts; would you do that for me?
<br /><a href="http://www.blueear.com/message.cfm?MessageGUID=aea50541-32b8-4a44-a3b7-8abf328062b1">BlueEar.com Message: Albert Einstein's last words (Isa Daudpota)</a>: "In essence, the conflict that exists today is no more than an old-style struggle for power, once again presented to mankind in semi-religious trap..."
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<br />kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1088775976387934252004-07-02T09:44:00.000-04:002004-07-02T09:46:16.386-04:00Easily my favorite 7/4 related song -
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<br />Today’s the fourth of july
<br />Another june has gone by
<br />And when they light up our town I just think
<br /><a href="http://www.lyricsfreak.com/a/aimee-mann/4741.html">What a waste of gunpowder and sky</a>
<br />I’m certain that I am alone
<br />In harbouring thoughts of our home
<br />It’s one of my faults that I can’t quell my past
<br />I ought to have gotten it gone
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<br />-Aimee Mannkooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1088775788310790802004-07-02T09:43:00.000-04:002004-07-02T09:44:11.046-04:00<a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/s/steven_wright.html">If toast always lands butter-side down, and cats always land on their feet, what happens if you strap toast on the back of a cat and drop it?</a><p>
<br /><a href="http://www.mathsyear2000.org/thesum/issue8/sunbottom.html">Perhaps </a> <a href="http://www.flippyscatpage.com/catandtoast.html">some one</a> <a href="http://www.cockeyed.com/science/toast/toast1.html">can figure</a> <a href="http://www.xs4all.nl/~jcdverha/scijokes/2_21.html">this out</a>kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1088545344293072002004-06-29T17:42:00.000-04:002004-06-29T17:43:02.433-04:00Nil mortifi, sine lucre. == No killing without payment.
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<br />If you haven't spent some quality time at everything2.com, get your hide over there and soak up the url-light.
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<br />I'm not sure what is geekier, that I
<br /><li> like phrases in latin
<br /><li> like terry prachett
<br /><li> used "==" to mean equals
<br /><li> CowboyNeal*
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<br /><a href="http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=715982">The value of a human life (thing)@Everything2.com</a>
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<br /><font size="-2">* probably using CowboyNeal as an option is actual geekier than the other 4 reasons.</font>kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-108830573064707742004-06-26T23:05:00.000-04:002004-06-26T23:08:50.646-04:00Just got back from a <a href="http://www.juliaontap.com/jams.html">tap jam</a> at the <a href="http://www.bccaonline.com">BCCA</a>.
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<br />I've gone a few times, and think I danced better at some of them, but this time was really fun, not leastwise because I ran into my friend Matt who I had neglected seeing in quite a while, and he knew many folks there around our age to whom I had not been introduced before.
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<br />So in other words, good tap, good time.kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1088274342605719392004-06-26T14:25:00.000-04:002004-06-26T14:25:42.606-04:00Writing code is like flying a helicopter...sounds like the start of a bad, or only slightly dirty joke. I'll have to think of a good punchline.
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<br /><a href="http://www.artima.com/intv/dry3.html">Orthogonality and the DRY Principle</a>: "We've all worked on systems where you make one small change over here, and another problem pops out over there. So you go over there and fix it, but two more problems pop out somewhere else. You constantly push them back?4like that Whack-a-Mole game?4and you just never finish."
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<br />kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3086294.post-1088273045855351792004-06-26T14:04:00.000-04:002004-06-26T14:04:05.856-04:00Nice to see JPMC/Bank One getting on the F/OSS train.<br>
<br />It should surprise no one to see financial services companies getting on board new technology - they have the need and the resources to use all the good tech.<p>
<br /><a href="http://www.simc-inc.org/archive0304/opensource/speakers/carpenter/carpenter_v3_document.htm">Open Source Working Group</a>kooksterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981489803973809446noreply@blogger.com1