Archive for September, 2005

2005.09.12

Four Years Later

Do you feel more or less safe in America than four years ago?

Do you feel more or less paranoid about the world?

Do you feel more or less trust in the Federal government?

I’m curious what folks answers would be. Please leave a comment and don’t feel required to give reasons for your answers. For myself I would have to answer: less, less, less.

2005.09.08

Celtx: Scriptwriting and Preproduction

If you are an aspiring film maker you might be interested in Celtx. It is a free, open source (haven’t looked at the specifics of the license yet) package that includes two very important packages. The first is a scriptwriter. From what I’ve seen it seems quite capable and conforms to standards. The second is the ability to take an existing script and break it down by scene and scene elements (characters, props, wardrobe, sound, camera, lights, etc) and generate reports on what scenes there are, which characters are in each scene, which props are needed by scene, etc. In otherwords it helps the preproduction phase immensely. Brilliant! Plus you can add media elements (pictures, video files, audio files) to any element. It’s almost too much to ask for in a single package.

As a bonus there is a collaberative mode which allows multiple users to work on the same script. I haven’t looked in to this yet so I’m not sure how good it is. Just that it exists, though, is a great addition. If I run into anything particularly bad I’ll report it in the comments, but as it stands I’ve just found a very good free replacement for Final Draft. Nice.

2005.09.07

Ah! Another Freaking Blowout

As a few of you might remember my particular model of iBook has a faulty board that has the video commit suicide every once in a while. Fortunately it looks like the repair program is still in effect, but this is getting really old really fast. Right now I’m moving all my data to another computer, but it’s a hassle. I want a new computer but I can’t afford one.

You’d think after a while Apple would just replace the computer that keeps failing. I know they can’t do it for everyone, but how many of these things are still out there? It would be interesting to read some statistics.

Anyways, posting may be slow or intermittent for a while as I get this thing sorted out. Again. Is three times really the charm?

2005.09.06

Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs

First go read this editorial by Bill Whittle, then come back and read more here.

It’s a really good article that I don’t expect most people will really comprehend. Not at a deep level. At the same time I disagree with or feel the analogies used are limited and limiting. Here’s a good place to start and I agree with it except, perhaps, the baiting choice of pink. Note: I did take out one paragraph from this excerpt.

Now, for the rest of you, let’s get past Republican and Democrat, Red and Blue, too. Let’s talk about these two Tribes: Pink, the color of bunny ears, and Grey, the color of a mechanical pencil lead.

The Pink Tribe is all about feeling good: feeling good about yourself! Sexually, emotionally, artistically – nothing is off limits, nothing is forbidden, convention is fossilized insanity and everybody gets to do their own thing without regard to consequences, reality, or natural law. We all have our own reality – one small personal reality is called “science”, say – and we Make Our Own Luck and we Visualize Good Things and There Are No Coincidences and Everything Happens for a Reason and You Can Be Whatever You Want to Be and we all have Special Psychic Powers and if something Bad should happen it’s because Someone Bad Made It Happen. A Spell, perhaps.

The Pink Tribe motto, in fact, is the ultimate Zen Koan, the sound of one hand clapping: EVERYBODY IS SPECIAL.

Then, in the other corner, there is the Grey Tribe – the grey of reinforced concrete. This is a Tribe where emotion is repressed because Emotion Clouds Judgment. This is the world of Quadratic Equations and Stress Risers and Loads Torsional, Compressive and Tensile, a place where Reality Can Ruin Your Best Day, the place where Murphy mercilessly picks off the Weak and the Incompetent, where the Speed Limit is 186,282.36 miles per second, where every bridge has a Failure Load and levees come in 50 year, 100 year and 1000 Year Flood Flavors.

The Grey Tribe motto is, near as I can tell, THINGS BREAK SOMETIMES AND PLEASE DON’T LET IT BE MY BRIDGE.

Read more below the fold.

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2005.09.05

William H. Rehnquist, RIP

Chief Justice Rehnquist died last night. The conservative justice had been battling thyroid cancer for some time. Suddenly President Bush has two vacancies to fill. Why am I afraid for the future America I might be proud of?

Most people don’t understand the huge influence the Supreme Court has on America. From laying the groundwork for busting up monopolies, Civil Rights, Women’s Rights (and I’m not just talking Roe v. Wade), States Rights, Privacy Rights (such as they are), curbing the powers of the Executive and Legislative branches, and so much more.

Immediately prior to this summer the Court was in a delicate balancing act with equal numbers of conservatives and liberals, with one person who tended to vote in either direction. Earlier this summer Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the swing vote, retired. President Bush was now free to appoint a conservative judge which would tip the balance. Now with Rehnquist’s untimely, yet not unexpected, passing on Bush can “pack” the court with conservatives.

The impact of this won’t be immediate, but over time the decisions made by a conservative leaning Supreme Court will change the culture of this country. Understand I am not all against conservatism; I have many conservative attitudes. I am very afraid, however, that the type of conservative this second appointment might cater to the frightening religious social conservative that makes up a significant base for President Bush.

Only time will tell, but I am very worried. I would be less concerned if the current President were a conservative like McCain or Dole, but a neo-conservative with immense pressure from social and religious conservatives… the possibilities are frightening.

2005.09.04

Last Word on Stones

I promise, this is the last article (probably) about my kidney stone. Talking with NHK tonight I had a little insight. Kidney stones are people pearls.

2005.09.03

Stone Retrieval Complete

At least I assume so. The doctor gave me a strainer in the hopes that I could capture the stone as it tried to make its escape. I just captured it. What a nasty little thing, dark and painful. It’s amazing that such a small thing (about 1.5mm) could cause such pain. Obviously there is a design flaw in us that allows such a thing.

2005.09.03

The Thin Veneer of Civilization

Katrina ripped through the South and has destroyed an entire American city. New Orleans (I’ll refer to it as NOLA) may or may not be salvageable. The scope of this disaster is so immense it’s hard to distill my thoughts in a comprehensive way. What follows is a very disjointed post of random thoughts pertaining to the NOLA disaster.

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2005.09.02

Stones and Stoned

Tonight while working on Scott’s new school page (go in; doesn’t it look familiar?) I had a strange, new, and most unwelcome feeling. Severe shooting pain. It was located in my right kidney and my first thought was of my sister who told me a few months ago of having a kidney stone.

Wow. It hurt a lot. So much so that I had myself taken to the Kaiser ER. I am no fan of hospitals unless there is something really wrong so for me to want to go is exceptional.

I was taken care of by Doctor XXX Jaime Cintado, M.D. (I forgot to put his name in yesterday when I first posted this), who was very good and very to the point. No nonsense, and that’s what I needed. One of the nurses tried to stick a needle in me but I was having none of that. Instead she returned not long after and gave me two vicodin. They took a CT (cat) scan and sure enough, kidney stones. No pain anymore, but I’m not sure if that’s the drugs talking or that I’m mildly better.

While laying in bed I was trying to figure out how to describe the feeling of being on this stuff. I came up with, “It feels like my bones know the warmth of my flesh.” I can sort of understand why so many people get excited by this stuff. I’m sure NHK is chuckling.

Eventually they let me go with a prescription and an appointment on Tuesday to see another doctor. Many thanks to Scott for getting me there, and to Jon E. for getting me back. Meanwhile I’m just going to close out and go to bed. I have the feeling it’s going to be a good sleep.