It's nigh impossible for the Department of Education to get funding lately, especially here in Massachusetts. Sciences and creative arts especially are being cut left and right, as money is being filtered away to pay for Vietnam II.
After discussing this with a relative who works for the DoE, however, there is one gain to come of this...In a scramble to save money across cash-strapped states, much of New England is beginning to use free software licenses on much of the code they contract for online teacher registration programs, and the idea is spreading to other areas of the department.
Colleges and universities, at least a few of the ones I've visited and tinkered at, tend to have names for all of the computers in their UNIX labs, as well. Simmons has a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"-themed lab, and a female authors-themed lab in the communications department...Northeastern's are named for superheroes or constellations. Et cetera. Students refer to computers by their names, and it's easily recognizable: "I was rendering an animation on Giles, when suddenly the whole thing froze up..."
It gives an air of familiarity to the computers here, since Buffy has a cult following at Simmons, especially in the graphic arts labs. Art majors here tend to get freaked out by technology pretty badly.:P
The swagload I walked out with this was so good, I'm considering going into business with my parents...
I ended up with a Samsung 17" flat-panel monitor, black, to match my customized case, and a matching 2-port KVM switch to connect it to both of my machines, from my 'rents. My aunt knitted my a Slytherin Harry-Potter-style scarf, and my other aunt got me an accurate Doctor Who scarf.
As for the weird end of the presents, I ended up with a Bruce Springsteen "best of" album and a Linkin Park album from a distant relative; she would've been hard-put to find two bands I dislike more, but it does translate to store credit at the used CD-shop when i get back to Boston. The Victoria's Secret gift certificate from my elderly, conservative aunt threw me off a bit, too.;)
...money, or a Microcenter certificate. My family has managed (with good intentions, obviously) to screw up buying even the most piddly trinket of hardware. I mean, I run FreeBSD! What the hell am I going to do with this stack of nonworking USB webcams?;)
...hackers who don't necessarily write code? There's plenty of problems to be solved and questions to be answered without the use of a computer. Would this logo apply to urban explorers, who often refer to themselves as "tunnel hackers?" What about body hackers?
I, for one, have trouble accepting ESR's argument with a straight face. As much as he's contributed to the culture, he's got too large an ego and too wrong-headed a bunch of ideas for my liking.
I'm partial to the breed of "found on the floor in lecture hall" pens, though I'm especially fond of Bic Round Stic Medium Grip pens, which come in a rather pleasing shade of forest green ink. Not only are they durable, the ink flows smoothly and keeps doing so until the very last drop of it has been spent. I've never had one explode on me, leak on me, or resurface, damaged, after a grueling ordeal of being tossed and crushed about at the bottom of my messenger bag. The rubber grip is soft, and wide, which is good for me, since I don't hold a pen "normally." A pack of twenty runs me about $.99 at Staples, too.
Best of all, they come in green! How cool is that?!
They didn't loudly shout people down who didn't adhere to their preferred terminology for certain concepts and tried to engage them in discussion.
Recalling the afternoon I once spent hanging out and eating Chinese food with RMS after he gave a talk...well, my personal fear of being yelled at by a software g!d whom I admired caused me to speak and argue much more carefully. We fought over the wording I casually used, knowing that he would understand what I was talking about, but he didn't give a damn; it didn't matter who I was talking to, I couldn't allow people to get confused about ideology. That made a difference in how I talked to people about software after that meeting, all because I was terrified that he was going to yell at me again.;)
...He gives really great hugs, too; nobody that maladjusted can bear hug.:)
...and it's easy enough to find yourself a good used CD shop. There's at least 10 of them within a five-mile radius of my home in Boston. It's one of the best ways to persuade people to stop giving their precious paychecks to the RIAA, simply for these reasons:
- You're not "missing out" on popular music by giving up on buying music altogether.
- Purchasing used media is far cheaper; it's not difficult to find a good album for $1 or $2 in some places.
- Because they cost less, it's easier to convince the RIAA's biggest customers, the young people and the poor college students, to shop there.
- Usually, by shopping there you're keeping an independent business alive. There are no enormous used-record-store "chains" or monopolies.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll depart to go listen to my $2 Pearl Jam album.:}
Terry Gilliam's Orwellian comedy, "Brazil." The entire setup is bleak and extreme, and yet oddly funny. (..plus, the Brazil Samba is enough to make anybody want to move.)
People at my school don't dislike me because I'm smart, or because I dress differently from them. People dislike me because I'm a know-it-all jerk. An arrogant one sometimes. Same goes for the rest of my nerdy friends. We're all seniors; the way I've seen it, at this point most people have outgrown their old methods of judging people by how they look, and instead sort prospective friends in two ways: their personality, and how helpful it would be to oneself to befriend them.
Thus, the friendly kids, the ones who can tell a good story or help someone else out in a jam, are befriended by the popular people, the rich kids and the hockey team, and aren't beaten up or tripped. The kids with a lousy attitude toward other people, and are extroverted about it as well, are going to catch a lot of grief throughout school. Being different or looking different is not their fault, but high school is a hostile environment that one has to adapt to in order to thrive. Everyone knows how cruel kids can be. It's not right, but students know what they're in for, and if one chooses to buck the crowd, they're asking for what they get, unfortunately.
...what's unromantic about RAM? just last year i gave my long-time boyfriend RAM for valentine's day, and i daresay he liked it. i sure as hell could use some for my machine, too; making it move a little faster would make my heart just go pitter-pat.
Currently, I'm trying to figure out if the Gap cashes their gift certificates...I've got about $150 worth of gift cards to the store, and I refuse to wear sweatshop-assembled clothing, nor do I properly fit into any women's sizes there.
I'm still in high school, so I stayed home while aunts and uncles and cousins all came by to visit.
Every year, I get the holiday blues. It's just some sort of empty feeling. Christmas is a nice opportunity for me to see my family and relatives, and have an immense dinner with them all, but the gifting aspect of the day just ruins the fun. It's stressful wondering if you got a decent present for somebody, and I always feel guilty returning things that people bought for me.
Bah. I'm blowing this pity party, there's leftover stuffing in the fridge.:)
...what are your thoughts on perhaps the most popular fanfiction slash pair around, Kirk x Spock? Is there any truth behind it, or are you going to spoil the dreams of thousands of fangirls the world over?
Slashdot Mirror
It's nigh impossible for the Department of Education to get funding lately, especially here in Massachusetts. Sciences and creative arts especially are being cut left and right, as money is being filtered away to pay for Vietnam II.
After discussing this with a relative who works for the DoE, however, there is one gain to come of this...In a scramble to save money across cash-strapped states, much of New England is beginning to use free software licenses on much of the code they contract for online teacher registration programs, and the idea is spreading to other areas of the department.
Colleges and universities, at least a few of the ones I've visited and tinkered at, tend to have names for all of the computers in their UNIX labs, as well. Simmons has a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"-themed lab, and a female authors-themed lab in the communications department...Northeastern's are named for superheroes or constellations. Et cetera. Students refer to computers by their names, and it's easily recognizable: "I was rendering an animation on Giles, when suddenly the whole thing froze up..."
:P
It gives an air of familiarity to the computers here, since Buffy has a cult following at Simmons, especially in the graphic arts labs. Art majors here tend to get freaked out by technology pretty badly.
I worked at Blockbuster video. Sometimes, when you tell customers that they have a late fee, they'll punch you.
The swagload I walked out with this was so good, I'm considering going into business with my parents...
;)
I ended up with a Samsung 17" flat-panel monitor, black, to match my customized case, and a matching 2-port KVM switch to connect it to both of my machines, from my 'rents. My aunt knitted my a Slytherin Harry-Potter-style scarf, and my other aunt got me an accurate Doctor Who scarf.
As for the weird end of the presents, I ended up with a Bruce Springsteen "best of" album and a Linkin Park album from a distant relative; she would've been hard-put to find two bands I dislike more, but it does translate to store credit at the used CD-shop when i get back to Boston. The Victoria's Secret gift certificate from my elderly, conservative aunt threw me off a bit, too.
...money, or a Microcenter certificate. My family has managed (with good intentions, obviously) to screw up buying even the most piddly trinket of hardware. I mean, I run FreeBSD! What the hell am I going to do with this stack of nonworking USB webcams? ;)
...hackers who don't necessarily write code? There's plenty of problems to be solved and questions to be answered without the use of a computer. Would this logo apply to urban explorers, who often refer to themselves as "tunnel hackers?" What about body hackers? I, for one, have trouble accepting ESR's argument with a straight face. As much as he's contributed to the culture, he's got too large an ego and too wrong-headed a bunch of ideas for my liking.
I'm partial to the breed of "found on the floor in lecture hall" pens, though I'm especially fond of Bic Round Stic Medium Grip pens, which come in a rather pleasing shade of forest green ink. Not only are they durable, the ink flows smoothly and keeps doing so until the very last drop of it has been spent. I've never had one explode on me, leak on me, or resurface, damaged, after a grueling ordeal of being tossed and crushed about at the bottom of my messenger bag. The rubber grip is soft, and wide, which is good for me, since I don't hold a pen "normally." A pack of twenty runs me about $.99 at Staples, too.
Best of all, they come in green! How cool is that?!
They didn't loudly shout people down who didn't adhere to their preferred terminology for certain concepts and tried to engage them in discussion.
;)
...He gives really great hugs, too; nobody that maladjusted can bear hug. :)
Recalling the afternoon I once spent hanging out and eating Chinese food with RMS after he gave a talk...well, my personal fear of being yelled at by a software g!d whom I admired caused me to speak and argue much more carefully. We fought over the wording I casually used, knowing that he would understand what I was talking about, but he didn't give a damn; it didn't matter who I was talking to, I couldn't allow people to get confused about ideology. That made a difference in how I talked to people about software after that meeting, all because I was terrified that he was going to yell at me again.
...and it's easy enough to find yourself a good used CD shop. There's at least 10 of them within a five-mile radius of my home in Boston. It's one of the best ways to persuade people to stop giving their precious paychecks to the RIAA, simply for these reasons:
:}
- You're not "missing out" on popular music by giving up on buying music altogether.
- Purchasing used media is far cheaper; it's not difficult to find a good album for $1 or $2 in some places.
- Because they cost less, it's easier to convince the RIAA's biggest customers, the young people and the poor college students, to shop there.
- Usually, by shopping there you're keeping an independent business alive. There are no enormous used-record-store "chains" or monopolies.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll depart to go listen to my $2 Pearl Jam album.
Terry Gilliam's Orwellian comedy, "Brazil." The entire setup is bleak and extreme, and yet oddly funny. (..plus, the Brazil Samba is enough to make anybody want to move.)
People at my school don't dislike me because I'm smart, or because I dress differently from them. People dislike me because I'm a know-it-all jerk. An arrogant one sometimes. Same goes for the rest of my nerdy friends. We're all seniors; the way I've seen it, at this point most people have outgrown their old methods of judging people by how they look, and instead sort prospective friends in two ways: their personality, and how helpful it would be to oneself to befriend them.
Thus, the friendly kids, the ones who can tell a good story or help someone else out in a jam, are befriended by the popular people, the rich kids and the hockey team, and aren't beaten up or tripped. The kids with a lousy attitude toward other people, and are extroverted about it as well, are going to catch a lot of grief throughout school. Being different or looking different is not their fault, but high school is a hostile environment that one has to adapt to in order to thrive. Everyone knows how cruel kids can be. It's not right, but students know what they're in for, and if one chooses to buck the crowd, they're asking for what they get, unfortunately.
...what's unromantic about RAM? just last year i gave my long-time boyfriend RAM for valentine's day, and i daresay he liked it. i sure as hell could use some for my machine, too; making it move a little faster would make my heart just go pitter-pat.
Currently, I'm trying to figure out if the Gap cashes their gift certificates...I've got about $150 worth of gift cards to the store, and I refuse to wear sweatshop-assembled clothing, nor do I properly fit into any women's sizes there. I'm still in high school, so I stayed home while aunts and uncles and cousins all came by to visit. Every year, I get the holiday blues. It's just some sort of empty feeling. Christmas is a nice opportunity for me to see my family and relatives, and have an immense dinner with them all, but the gifting aspect of the day just ruins the fun. It's stressful wondering if you got a decent present for somebody, and I always feel guilty returning things that people bought for me. Bah. I'm blowing this pity party, there's leftover stuffing in the fridge. :)
I got fired. Out of a job. The bookstore that I work at to pay monstrous upcoming college tuition bills is going out of business in three weeks.
:}
Still, it looks as though I'm not the only one. I foresee this comment field metamorphosing into one big Slashdot pity party.
...what are your thoughts on perhaps the most popular fanfiction slash pair around, Kirk x Spock? Is there any truth behind it, or are you going to spoil the dreams of thousands of fangirls the world over?