The Buzz

So, does the Religious Right all have a heart attack now, or later?

The Fresh Ten

Recent events have made it clear that we are suffering from a broken moral compass.  People today could use some general guidance.

Since the original ten commandments seem somewhat narrow and obsolete (too much focus on livestock, servants, and jealous god issues), here is a modest first draft of a fresh set. 

  1. You shall treat all people with respect regardless of race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, or national origin.
  2. You shall not kill, assault, nor intimidate with threats of physical violence.
  3. You shall not rape, sexually coerce, nor intimidate with threats of sexual violence.
  4. You shall cultivate intellectual curiosity, be open to new ideas, and  respect the scientific method.
  5. You shall not cheat, nor cheat others out of what is rightfully theirs.
  6. You shall not lie, deceive, nor spread lies about others.
  7. You shall not steal, that is to say take or use what rightfully belongs to another person in a manner that causes harm. (Stealing is a trickier concept than it once was. How do you say yes to Fair Use and no to software patents?)
  8. You shall keep your promises.
  9. You shall not waste natural resources nor pollute the shared environment.
  10. You shall take responsibility for your actions and their consequences.

This is from Communicatrix’s (?) aunt.  Very well said – I am an atheist but I can totally get behind every one of these commandments.

Been to the library lately?

When you are growing up, there are two institutional places that affect you most powerfully: the Church, which belongs to God and the public library, which belongs to you. The public library is a great equalizer. — Keith Richards

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I grew up in the library.  I read every single book on the children’s section floor before I was out of 6th grade and had to argue with the librarian to let me upstairs.  Books were my friends and my solace.  Books gave me the huge vocabulary that let me place so high on the standardized tests.
Go read the article in the link above, it’s depressing.  One of the tech guys I follow went to a (sparsely attended) SXSW talk and tells us a little about it.
Two of my favorite people are librarians.  Neither of them get to work in libraries anymore.  My (30 year old) stepson is going to school to become a librarian.  I am having difficulty understanding his thought processes about it.  Not that I ever understand him, anyway, but library science in this day and age seems like a dead end.

Privacy: Voluntary Do Not Track

Are you using HTTPS when you browse Facebook?  You should be.   But only 2% of the FB users worldwide are. [Turn it on like this:  Top right corner:  Account, Account Settings, Account Security – Check the first box – Browse Facebook on a secure connection (https) whenever possible.]

Here’s another privacy tip – turn on the “Do not track” option in Firefox 4 and Internet Explorer 9.

Introduced in Firefox 4, the do-not-track option is fairly well buried.

Firefox 4 do-not-track preference

Internet Explorer 9 includes a do-not-track feature that is even better hidden. To enable this functionality, you need to click the Sprocket -> Safety -> Tracking Protection -> Your Personalized List -> Enable.

 

 

Why these settings aren’t enabled by default is beyond me.  No, really, it’s all about the money.  Advertising dollar$.

You’re welcome.</end privacy hygiene lesson>

 

Happy Birthday Steve

[BTW, I hate this new skin, needs major tweakage but I ran out of time]

From Quotes of the Day today

Steven Paul Jobs was born at San Francisco on this day in 1955. In high school he had the nerve to call Bill Hewlett to ask for some electronics parts for a school project. (He got the parts and a summer job.) He dropped out of college and was working at Atari when he started Apple, incorporating on April Fools Day 1976. He created the Apple, then the Macintosh. Losing a boardroom battle, he bought a tiny animation company and created the first all-digital motion picture, Toy Story. He created the technically stunning NeXT computer, then merged that company into Apple. He created the first successful portable digital music player, the iPod, then followed it with the hottest cell phone. Throughout, he would have an idea, evangelize it fervently, and brook no interference with those who didn’t share his belief.

In most cases, strengths and weaknesses are two sides of the same coin. A strength in one situation is a weakness in another, yet often the person can’t switch gears. It’s a very subtle thing to talk about strengths and weaknesses because almost always they’re the same thing.

Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.

Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me…. Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.

Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.

People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.

Nobody has tried to swallow us since I’ve been here. I think they are afraid how we would taste.
All from Steve Jobs

———–

I like how quality centered Steve Jobs/Apple is.  Even their packaging is so nice it always astonishes me.  Beautiful papers, cushions, forms … 

Cover art

Interesting, compelling cover photo on the latest Communications of the ACM magazine. Click it and look at it full size.

Also:  Happy Thanksgiving!  I am up WAY too late, doing food prep.  The oven in this new house is very small, I hope the turkey fits.  I know nothing else besides the turkey will.

And appropos of nothing in particular, here’s a picture of all the dogs (and Bob) trying out the new dog bed.  It was a hit. 🙂

Old

Two things that are okay about getting old:
1. My hearing is going, so much so that I no longer need to wear earplugs to bed most of the time. Now normal house/animal/people noises don’t wake me up every 6 minutes. Just every 12 minutes. It’s like a freakin’ vacation.

2. Mosquitoes don’t like me anymore now that I’m old and tough and bitter. When I was young, I always had quarter+ sized welts going. I don’t miss that. I adore seeing the mosquitoes homing in now on younger, sweeter meat, completely passing me by. It almost makes up for the stiff joints and the size Long bras.

Only funny if you’re geeky, be warned – You Could Do Better

January 27, 2010

NOTE FROM CHRIS:

Google’s first cell phone, the Nexus One, has
left a string of unhappy customers in its wake
after it’s debut a few weeks ago. Complaints
include spotty 3G connectivity, a high early
termination fee, poor customer support from
Google and problems with the touchscreen.

The Top 13 Biggest Complaints About the New Google Phone

13> The color scheme clashes unmercifully with your pocket
protector.

12> No matter what you’re searching for, it keeps responding
with, “I can see your house from here.”

11> The numeric keypad is in alphabetical order.

10> If you try to use Bing, it Tases you, then automatically
dials the FCC Monopoly Reporting Hotline.

9> When you search for your new boyfriend’s number, it only
returns: “You could do better.”

8> Default “Ch-ching!” ringtone.

7> That voice saying, “Wrong app, loser!” gets annoying after
awhile.

6> It’s uncomfortable wearing those 3G glasses.

5> If you hold it in your hand and drive 88 mph, you don’t
travel through time.

4> Whenever you hit the speed dial for “Dad” it keeps ringing
up Wilbur, the neighbor down the street.

3> Blocks all calls for Chinese take-out.

2> Phone keeps asking if you want to play a game of Global
Thermonuclear War.

and Topfive.com’s Number 1 Biggest
Complaint About the New Google Phone…

1> Every time you hit “I’m Feeling Lucky,” it dials Tiger Woods.

[ Copyright 2010 by Chris White/TopFive.com ]