Tag Archives: art

A Bit of Science, Some Literature, A Tune or Two, and Some Crazy News

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This entry is part 23 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

I spent most of my day today, neck deep in code, tweaking Drupal API bits on a data entry form to bend it to the will of my client.

I am not exactly a programmer, so this isn’t my idea of a good time.

But, it needs to be done, and so it gets done. And there’s still a lot more to do, and a ticking clock hanging over every keystroke.

That’s how a lot of our life is–full of things that need to be done that we aren’t all that thrilled about doing. It’s a shame, really. I know people who love the bulk of what they do, but the bulk of people I know slog through the day, pulled forward only by the sweet promise of release from the drudgery of the day and the solace of a cold beverage or a few fleeting hours with their significant other/family/friends before they have to bed down and do the whole thing again tomorrow.

Time is, indeed, the most limited resource we have. (And according to one of the links below, it may literally be running out… that’s kind of trippy to think about… if you have a minute to spare.) Because of that, we should all be well aware of what we do with those precious moments we have where we are in control and can do what we want.

…and that’s about as deep as I have the time to go, since I need to get off to sleep as that code won’t write itself.

https://www.facebook.com/kierduros/activity/10152031641295981

Political Drift, Questionable Communications Decisions, A Classic Clip, History Online, Seal Snuggles, and Some SciFi Short Goodness

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This entry is part 14 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

The situation with Cliven Bundy (the man who’s been grazing his cattle illegally for years on federal land) continues to get more surreal. Now that he’s got a speaking stump, all sorts of things are coming out of his mouth that are being made a big deal of. In some cases, like his recent musings on whether blacks were better off as actual slaves than as a bunch of people on public assistance now, possibly more of a big deal than they should be.

The problematic thing is, there seem to be some questions at the root of this story that are very worthy of discussion. Like bringing into question how much “public” land the federal government owns and what can (or should) be allowed to go on with it. Or how we should all feel about federal officials, working well within existing law, can be dissuaded from carrying out their duties by a group of ornery and armed citizens. Or how the media is actually covering this story–what gets hyped where, what details get lost, what words quoted out of context.

All fascinating and important things that will likely be swept away under the torrent of “Crazy Racist Guy Pulls a Gun on the Government” spin. (Well… it’s not completely spin, which is part of the problem with Bundy being at the center of this.)

The other big news is the FCC’s decision to more or less throw the concept of Net Neutrality under the bus. With the potential merger of Comcast and Time-Warner cable providers on the horizon, there’s no more important time to ensure that the Internet stay as low a barrier to entry as possible. With what the FCC just did, though, carriers like Comcast can (and will–it’s already started with Netflix) give preferential treatment to some businesses, putting them in a beneficial spot for getting their content to customers. The new ruling does include provisions that theoretically prevent an actual “fast lane” where data transfer rates could be modified based on business agreements… but those safeguards only work if the FCC enforces them in a meaningful way… and I haven’t seen a lot to indicate the FCC will do anything in a meaningful way when it comes to this issue. This is the second time they’ve dropped the ball–the first being when the poorly worded, but generally accepted, net neutrality ruling failed to be defensible in court because of that poor wording.

Nail in the Net Neutrality Coffin, We Can Be Martians, Inside Mummies, American Dream Evaporated, and Pop Nightmares

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This entry is part 13 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

The big discussion thread today was all about Avril Lavigne’s new video, which was pretty universally panned by my friends (and me). The meat of the discussion, though centered around a minor dust up over what “art” is for and how dedicated one should be to avoiding “fluff” in life. Really fascinating stuff… and a clear example of how most people I know can be completely passionate about their points of view, yet still clearly communicate their positions.

The other two important things, neither of which FB seems to have decided to really push in front of people all that much just yet, were the FCC decision about Net Neutrality and an hour-long podcast about the 60-word sentence that opened up the can of worms we’ve been dealing with when it comes to our response to the 9-11 attacks way back when. It’s that whole “by any means necessary” and “affiliated entities” bit that’s really the problem. I highly recommend everyone take the time to listen to it (links in the stream below).

Guns, Crabs, “That’s not cutting a rug”, Dancing, Homeless Jesus, and SCIENCE!

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This entry is part 6 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Today’s stream of stuff, plus a few from over the weekend… the most popular of which was quite the discussion about the Second Amendment.

I’m at the computer far later than I’ve been trying to be lately. Mostly because I was at a Silver Spring Citizens’ Advisory Board meeting earlier in the evening. That always throws my schedule off. (Though not at much as those good ol’ town board meetings I covered when I worked for the paper up in rural NY… some of those ran until near midnight.)

There’s a lot that goes on in the Silver Spring area. There’s a lot more that’s going to be going on in the next decade or so. There seems to be a bit of misunderstanding–and distrust–of the process. I’ve seen that before (re: the aforementioned board meetings way back when). That’s a common problem when it comes to the public and government. I don’t have a good solution to offer, but it’s would have to involve the government finding time and money to more actively engage the public than it does while cleaning up any actual incorrect information. Of course, that requires people not being so paranoid about the government lying to them… which, of course, is a sadly earned reputation the government has acquired over the years.

So, here’s the thing: If you’re even close to being a concerned citizen when it comes to any topic, make an effort to look not just into the situation that has you concerned, but also get familiar with the process it goes through and check out other projects that have gone through that same process. Then, at least, you’ll know if you should be paranoid or not. You’ll also be able to (nicely?) let your officials know if they’re screwing something else or saying things that could confuse others.

Or, y’know, everyone can just continue to shout at one another… whatever… 😉