The Morning After
A fun piece from Zina Saunders.
UPDATE: Whoops! Here's a link to the book, for those who want more! There's a few more pics in there.
A fun piece from Zina Saunders.
UPDATE: Whoops! Here's a link to the book, for those who want more! There's a few more pics in there.
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Fox News, Fair and Balanced
Look, it says so right in the pic!
I mean, jeez, how much more proof does anyone need?
For the first time in my life
I am proud to be an American citizen. Thank you all so much!
UPDATE:
Though I am very happy about yesterday, there is a lot of ambivalence here in California. For some, yesterday was a very mixed blessing. In my opinion, however, at least yesterday felt like two steps forward, one back, as opposed to the other way 'round.
UPDATE:
Though I am very happy about yesterday, there is a lot of ambivalence here in California. For some, yesterday was a very mixed blessing. In my opinion, however, at least yesterday felt like two steps forward, one back, as opposed to the other way 'round.
late night post, hi everyone who cannot sleep!
Hi all!
I'll never sleep tonight. Maybe in a bit, I'll lay down. But I will just lay there. I'm too wound up.
Too much is at stake tomorrow. This summer has been long and hard on me, and I'm just sitting here on the fringes of political existence. I'm exhausted. Well, my brain is exhausted but my body does not agree with me right now. I cannot even begin to imagine what this election has done to Barack Obama (hell, or even Johnny boy).
I'm so wound up I've commented like 40 times on the stupid advertisement thread. Am I the only one this crazy? This did not happen to me on the last 2 presidential elections.
As some guy in Airplane said once, "looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking!"
I'll sleep tomorrow after I know.
UPDATE:
Feel free to use this post for open discussion, since I have nothing better to do while I hang 'round!
I'll never sleep tonight. Maybe in a bit, I'll lay down. But I will just lay there. I'm too wound up.
Too much is at stake tomorrow. This summer has been long and hard on me, and I'm just sitting here on the fringes of political existence. I'm exhausted. Well, my brain is exhausted but my body does not agree with me right now. I cannot even begin to imagine what this election has done to Barack Obama (hell, or even Johnny boy).
I'm so wound up I've commented like 40 times on the stupid advertisement thread. Am I the only one this crazy? This did not happen to me on the last 2 presidential elections.
As some guy in Airplane said once, "looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking!"
I'll sleep tomorrow after I know.
UPDATE:
Feel free to use this post for open discussion, since I have nothing better to do while I hang 'round!
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Forget Red vs. Blue, The Only Color That Matters is Green
This makes me feel a little weird. On the left col of the TPM front page, we have two ads. Removing the articles, this is what we get:
Now obviously, one of these ads is placed by Google, TPM likely has no control over exactly what ad comes up there. To me, it's highly disappointing which one it is. I want to give TPM the benefit of the doubt, I really like it here. But this is a little odd.
Is this what it takes to run a profitable website? If so I'm very sad. Someone please comfort me!
Now obviously, one of these ads is placed by Google, TPM likely has no control over exactly what ad comes up there. To me, it's highly disappointing which one it is. I want to give TPM the benefit of the doubt, I really like it here. But this is a little odd.
Is this what it takes to run a profitable website? If so I'm very sad. Someone please comfort me!
Awww, poor townhall!
They're so sad! I almost feel sorry for them! Oh wait, I don't. Townhall debunked. in 30 seconds. Enjoy!
Two Silvers and One Gold
Sounds good, right? Like our buddy Romney is almost winning! Wow!
Except, that this actually means he is a terrible failure.
A silver medal in politics? Uh, correct me if I'm wrong, but that means you LOST! There is no gradation like in sports. You've won, or you've lost. In a two party system, there are usually only two choices. No middle ground. Pass / fail.
By this measure, Romney is 1 for 3 or 33.3%. In my school, when you got grades like that, we called you an unmitigated FAILURE.
Have a nice day, Mitt. I think you're a shoe-in for the bronze in 2012!
Except, that this actually means he is a terrible failure.
A silver medal in politics? Uh, correct me if I'm wrong, but that means you LOST! There is no gradation like in sports. You've won, or you've lost. In a two party system, there are usually only two choices. No middle ground. Pass / fail.
By this measure, Romney is 1 for 3 or 33.3%. In my school, when you got grades like that, we called you an unmitigated FAILURE.
Have a nice day, Mitt. I think you're a shoe-in for the bronze in 2012!
Of Technology We Do Not Speak
On a topic near and dear to my heart, the McCain campaign is refusing to say "boo". ThinkProgress has the scoop. The McCain campaign completely ditched another potentially uncomfortable event, leaving the event organizers holding the bag. During the time he was supposed to appear at this debate, Douglas Holtz-Eakin appeared on an MSNBC interview.
Where In The World Is Joe The Plummer?
Joe? Joe? Where are ya Joe?
I guess he got what he needed from John and so he's outta here...
I guess he got what he needed from John and so he's outta here...
Open Source America
In the world of computer programming, an interesting trend has grown massively since the early 80's. The idea is very much a socialist one. I use that word very purposefully because I will attempt to show you how this is absolutely not a bad thing.
Let's back up a little bit. A few years ago, I worked for a shady company that was attempting to make money off of the big Microsoft class action suit. One of the fellows that worked there read an article in Forbes (if I remember rightly) and was questioning the fact that Linux was written by one guy. He didn't understand the difference between an operating system kernel and the tools that run on it.
As an aside, the kernel is a small central piece of the software on your computer which handles things like talking to your disk drive to save your work, communicating with your printer, managing multiple running applications, and a few other things. The tools that make up the bulk of an operating system, including command line commands such as "grep" which is used to search for text in files, or even the web browser you're using right now, are not part of the operating system, and were written by other people.
So no, I explained to my colleague, Linux was not written by one guy. The original version of the Linux kernel *was* written by one guy, but that by itself was not useful. In the years that followed that initial release, thousands and thousands of other people around the world donated their time and skill to improve that kernel and make sure desktop and server tools will run on it. Why did they do this? Two reasons stand out: 1) the love of doing it and 2) street cred - it's cool to have your code running on thousands or millions of computers worldwide.
The open source / free software world is not free of it's share of trolls, naysayers, fighters. This can be a very frustrating experience and has killed a few open source projects in the past. But many of them live on, and the people who get together and build this great stuff do so despite the detractors.
Fast forward to today. Linux is now an essential tool in the toolbox of capitalism. It allows companies to reduce their costs by not paying a huge Microsoft tax for each new server they purchase. This huge socialist network of people is actually turning out to be really good for capitalism! Sure, it changes the way money is made off of software. Instead of direct charging for the CD or whatever, now the model is a service one - technical support. So in that respect, the idea changes how some companies operate, and may kill a few companies who refuse to change. It will not however, kill the tech industry in any conceivable way.
People working together and not expecting anything in return can only be a good thing in my eyes. Self-serving, money hungry egotists have no place in the world in my vision of the future. I think if enough people were passionate about how our country runs and we were given a bigger stake in what happens, our country would be a much better place.
When I first moved to California from Illinois, I got my first taste of what this could be like. Here we have a large number of propositions on our ballot that lets us interact with the government in a much more direct way than I ever could in Illinois.
It's time we figure out how to engage the American people regularly. Find some way to get input from people early, so we don't hit a huge brick wall as we have this summer.
Socialists unite for an open source America!
Let's back up a little bit. A few years ago, I worked for a shady company that was attempting to make money off of the big Microsoft class action suit. One of the fellows that worked there read an article in Forbes (if I remember rightly) and was questioning the fact that Linux was written by one guy. He didn't understand the difference between an operating system kernel and the tools that run on it.
As an aside, the kernel is a small central piece of the software on your computer which handles things like talking to your disk drive to save your work, communicating with your printer, managing multiple running applications, and a few other things. The tools that make up the bulk of an operating system, including command line commands such as "grep" which is used to search for text in files, or even the web browser you're using right now, are not part of the operating system, and were written by other people.
So no, I explained to my colleague, Linux was not written by one guy. The original version of the Linux kernel *was* written by one guy, but that by itself was not useful. In the years that followed that initial release, thousands and thousands of other people around the world donated their time and skill to improve that kernel and make sure desktop and server tools will run on it. Why did they do this? Two reasons stand out: 1) the love of doing it and 2) street cred - it's cool to have your code running on thousands or millions of computers worldwide.
The open source / free software world is not free of it's share of trolls, naysayers, fighters. This can be a very frustrating experience and has killed a few open source projects in the past. But many of them live on, and the people who get together and build this great stuff do so despite the detractors.
Fast forward to today. Linux is now an essential tool in the toolbox of capitalism. It allows companies to reduce their costs by not paying a huge Microsoft tax for each new server they purchase. This huge socialist network of people is actually turning out to be really good for capitalism! Sure, it changes the way money is made off of software. Instead of direct charging for the CD or whatever, now the model is a service one - technical support. So in that respect, the idea changes how some companies operate, and may kill a few companies who refuse to change. It will not however, kill the tech industry in any conceivable way.
People working together and not expecting anything in return can only be a good thing in my eyes. Self-serving, money hungry egotists have no place in the world in my vision of the future. I think if enough people were passionate about how our country runs and we were given a bigger stake in what happens, our country would be a much better place.
When I first moved to California from Illinois, I got my first taste of what this could be like. Here we have a large number of propositions on our ballot that lets us interact with the government in a much more direct way than I ever could in Illinois.
It's time we figure out how to engage the American people regularly. Find some way to get input from people early, so we don't hit a huge brick wall as we have this summer.
Socialists unite for an open source America!
Inspiring
Hope in the rain. I love this. The feeling that the cold must eventually break and a new spring and summer must begin - these are the things I felt when Obama took the stage in the rain yesterday.
Call me an old fashioned hippy, but it reminds me of this great old classic.
Oh and BTW, Michelle Phillips can kick Sarah Palin's ass any day!
Also, in case you missed it, looks like there may be an interesting TPM chat tonight on lingr during Obama's television spot.
HOWTO: Become A Right Wing Nutbar in 3 Easy Steps
1) Go to Drudge, gather talking points.
2) Repost them to TPM.
3) Attempt to defend:
2) Repost them to TPM.
3) Attempt to defend:
The easiest way to full professorship at a major university is to be a left wing terrorist nut case. Ayers, Dohrn, Davis, Rudd, Rosenberg, plus Khalidi and Al Arian at Columbia and USF, plus Churchil at CU. Our schools are crawling with terrorists and their sympathizers.I love it, this is some comedy gold right here. I guess I shouldn't expect much from a self-proclaimed speaking dog, but I can't just let the dog turds lie in the middle of the sidewalk, so I attempt to pick them up without getting myself all dirty. Yes, I admit it, I feed the trolls, I can't help it. I prefer to think of it as "troll grazing". Trolling lite. I just push the buttons a little and see where we end up ;-)
