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Posts Tagged ‘Web of Things’

Europe’s Future Internet initiative – a Semantic Internet of Services & Things

November 13, 2010 Leave a comment

I spent some time today checking out the EC’s Future Internet initiative to glean insight into the EC’s vision of the future of the Internet. STI International made the video below titled The Future Internet: Service Web 3.0 to communicate the essence of this vision:

Service Web 3.0 is actually a sub-project of the broader Future Internet initiative. Core to this vision are:

  • A semantic web
  • An interconnected web of data and things
  • A connected web of services
  • A social web

A couple interesting related publications are:

There are also a couple interesting videos from Graham Hench of STI International on semantic service-oriented architecture. The first video, titled Service-oriented architectures, presents a broad overview of service-oriented architecture as it applies to a semantic service web:

The slide deck from Hench’s talk can be found here. The second video is Service-oriented architectures: Case study.

In the first video, Hench presents an interesting slide that illustrates how the EU views/organizes the core programs of work encompassed within the Future Internet initiative. Here’s the slide:

At the center of this slide are four core themes:

  1. Network Architecture and Mobility
  2. Internet of “Things”
  3. Content Creation and Delivery
  4. Services Architectures

And of courses, as Hench mentions in a previous slide, there is a pervasive “need for semantics in order to meet the challenges presented by the dramatic increase in the scale of content and users”.

Interesting stuff.

Designing for the Web in the World – Fascinating

September 5, 2010 Leave a comment

Another wonderful talk from Interaction 10. This one from Timo Arnall titled Designing for the Web in the World:

I found the presentation very beautiful actually – particularly the segment where a little girl is interacting and playing with RFID-enabled physical objects in her world (odd that this potentially invasive technology could be experienced as having a humanizing effect).

The pace of innovation and change is so incredibly rapid, it’s almost hard for the nervous system to adapt (well, my nervous system anyway!)

Hyperlocal – Key Technologies

February 14, 2010 3 comments

This is the fourth in a series of posts on key dimensions of Hyperlocal. Other posts in this series are:

In this post we consider key enabling technologies that many of the hyperlocal platforms mentioned in previous posts will leverage.

Key Enabling Technologies

The initial post in this series identified the following key enabling technologies for Hyperlocal solutions:

  1. Identity and Personalization
  2. Social Media/Social Web
  3. Real-time Web
  4. Geolocation
  5. Search
  6. Mobile
  7. Machine Learning
  8. Structured Data/Semantic Web

Let’s explore each in turn.

*** Update January 5 2010 ***

It looks like ReadWriteWeb concurs with my identifiation of key enabling technologies for emerging web-based applications. See ReadWriteWeb’s Top 5 Web Trends of 2009. I think leaving out Geolocation is a fairly important omission on RWW’s part. I didn’t make reference to the Internet of Things in my list, but have referred to Web Meets World (another name for the same thing), and its impact on HyperLocal, in previous posts.
*** End of Update ***

Identity and Personalization

Identity is a key part of any online platform these days. Not only does Identity represent one’s online presence, but it’s the basis for relating to other in the context of one’s social graph.

Chris Messina has some great insights into the emergence of Identity as a platform – here’s video of his Identity is the Platform presentation from October 2009, and the slideshow accompanying his talk.

The two key players positioned to dominate the Identity Platform space are:

Identity forms the foundation by which to deliver and manage personalized content for a user. I’m not going to discuss Personalization strategies in detail here, but ReadWriteWeb has an excellent piece on the topic.

Social Media and Social Web

I’m not sure too much needs to be said here. Obviously, Social Media and Social Networks, or what’s often referred to as the Social Graph, is a key feature of the Web today. If you’re going to host and service a Community on your website, you won’t get very far if you don’t design your website for the social web.

Interestingly, the Identity Platforms mentioned in the previous section – OpenID and Facebook Connect – allows you to import the Social Graph from external platforms into your Community site. Alternatively, you may also want to promote your content on other sites on the Social Web – including Twitter and Facebook.

Another important concept to be aware of in the context of the Web and HyperLocal is that of the Social Object. The Social Object is any piece of Content or information that a community might potentially socialize around. So for example, Twitter posts, news articles, photos, business listings, videos, URLs, movies … all are potential social objects that a community might share and discuss.

Social Media is any form of publishing that facilitaties social collaboration and sharing of information, content, and conversation. Social Networking sites, Blogs, Wikis, Microblogging platforms etc. all fall under this category.

The following are just a few of the more popular platforms on the social web:

It’s important on your website to enable key forms of social behavior, including sharing and bookmarking content, commenting, rating and reviewing, and so on. These are features that any social website should support, and the key community platform players, such as Jive, Pluck, and Lithium all support.

Real-time Web

With the viral adoption of Twitter, the real-time web has really taken off of late. To understand the state of the Real-time Web heading into 2010, see the following:

The Real-time Web can be viewed from a number of different angles. Three are:

Real-time Feeds/Sreams

This is the core of the Real-time Web – the underlying real-time feed protocol. Please see:

Real-time Search

Here, see:

Real-time Geo, or Geo-streams

Here, see:

For more on real-time geo and geolocation trends, see the Geolocation section that follows.

Managing the Real-time Firehose of Information

With the Real-time Web, information bursts furth as a massive stream – or firehose – of information, which is then filtered or consumed according to one’s particular social filters and interests. It can be overwhelming at first, as Nova Spivak discusses here.

… This post is a work-in-progress. Please return later to view the completed post.

Impact of Web meets World on HyperLocal

December 30, 2009 5 comments

Google and HyperLocal – Jeff Jarvis opines

In typical fashion, Jeff Jarvis has a couple of great blog posts on recent announcments by Google, and what it foreshadows for the future of Hyperlocal.

In the first of these posts – Google’s synchronicity – Jarvis describes a coherent emerging Local/Mobile strategy from Google that leverages geo-location, place profiles, real-time search, image recognition, entity-based content aggregation, social search, and recent acquisitions/interest in AdMob, Yelp, and Trulia.

In the second post – The annotated world, Jarvis further explores Google’s Hyperlocal/Mobile strategy, and embeds some videos highlighting some of these capabilities. (For additional Google-related topics/videos, see my previous blog posts here, here, here, here, and here).

Web meets World – the pace accelerates

The above initiatives by Google, while very cool, are really concrete examples of a deeper trend identified earlier this year by Tim O’Reilly and John Battelle as Web Squared, or as it was originally termed “Web meets World“. Web Meets World, as I understand it, is the notion that the Web will extend its reach into the world of things (through real-time device-based sensors), will feed that data into the Cloud, whereupon intelligence derived from that data (contextual to our identity, interests, activities, location, social graph, etc.) will inform our real-time actions and decisions.

Anyway, powerful trends that in time will change the way we experience and relate to our physical and social surroundings.

Place Profiles – The convergence of Listings & Reviews, HyperLocal, Local Search, Maps, and Mobile platforms

November 11, 2009 1 comment

Very interesting to see how the emerging “Places” technology space is unfolding. With Google’s recent launch of Places Pages, I believe we’re witnessing the intersection of Listings and Reviews, HyperLocal, Local Search, Maps, and Mobile platforms into an integrated product offering.

Google’s powerful Location-based Search platform

First there was the announcement from Google on September 29th 2009 of Place Pages for Google Maps. Mashup’s analysis re: the implications for Yelp is here: Place Pages: Google Launches Rival to Yelp.

The very next day, Google launches an improved mobile search service. Again, here’s what Mashup had to say on the matter: Google Launches Mobile Local Search: More Bad News for Yelp.

The combination of Google’s Maps, Places, and mobile Local Search services are a powerful trio. Throw in Google’s efforts in Semantic Web technology – of which Google Snippets is an example – and you’ve got quite a platform.

So what are “Place Pages” exactly?

Well, imagine that places – historical sites, monuments, your city, your community, your business, your residence, the mall, etc – were on Facebook. To my way of seeing it Place Pages is like Facebook for Places. Here’s an example of a place page for the Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. Note the map, reviews, products and pricing, pictures, etc. on this page. Here’s another place page for the city of Tokyo, Japan.

I tell you, there’s some serious semantic technology at work here. Welcome to the Web of Things (see also Tim O’Reilly and John Battelle’s Web meets World – aka Web Squared – presentation, which I blogged about here).

Here comes Microsoft

Not sitting still, Microsoft also has some powerful technology and products to bring to bear. First, in 2008 Microsoft acquires Semantic Search engine Powerset to integrate into their Bing Search platform.

Then, just days ago, Microsoft announced a significant upgrade to their Bing Maps platform.

Meanwhile Microsoft continues to invest in Local Search technology, and the Semantic technology experitise they acquired with PowerSet should position them well moving forward.

So where does this leave Yelp?

Well, we’ll have to see. Certainly Yelp’s new augmented reality iPhone app is mighty cool. And they’ve got a solid strategic position. But look out for the big boyz!

Location Technology – beyond Maps

For additional insight into the future of location-aware technology, see my previous blog post on O’Reilly’s Where 2.0 2009 conference.

"Web meets World" – what comes after Web 2.0

September 12, 2009 7 comments

Tim O’Reilly and John Battelle gave their view on how Web 2.0 is evolving at the Web 2.0 Summit in June 2009 – something they’ve name Web Squared, or “Web meets World”. Here’s the presentation video on YouTube.

Here’s a link to the slides on Slideshare.

Dion Hinchcliffe provides his commentary here, as well as provides this great visual summarizing the differences with Web 2.0:

Will investigate this whole Web Squared notion in the next few days, and provide additional comments.

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Backfired or Not?

My plan to sneak fruit into food has been detected by my oh-so-clever son, Jon. Last night after I was done cleaning up dinner from Hannah and I, Jon comes home and announces that he is hungry. I told him that I would make him some GF Pancakes; that way I could make and freeze extras for the rest of the week while I was at it. As I was getting ready to mix up the pancakes, I saw a banana that needed to be used and decided to add some applesauce to the mixture as well. To try to distract from the healthy things I added, I balanced it out with a few chocolate chips per pancake. I was hoping that since he wasn’t going to be having any veggies with dinner, the added fruit to the pancakes would make a somewhat healthy meal. I also made him a bowl of homemade applesauce to have on the side. I put his plate down in front of him and go back to making the other pancakes to freeze for the week. He calls me over to the table to show me that he doesn’t think that the pancakes are cooked all the way through. I told him that yes, it was cooked all the way through, what he was seeing was a small chunk of banana. He was not pleased with me at all. LOL! He asked me why I had to ruin his pancakes. I reminded him that he loves, not just likes, my banana bread that I make that not only has banana, but chocolate chips in it. There really isn’t much difference with the pancakes, and he can put syrup on these, what is better than that?!?! Aaron pointed out to him that I was right and he should just suck it up and eat the pancakes. He grumbled about them the whole time he was eating, but he finished them. Oh, he had them for breakfast today too. I think he may have forgotten all about that added fruit today. :) I win. Oh, and BTW, I tasted the pancakes and they were awesome!

Gluten-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

2 cup of Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix
2 eggs
1 TBSP Oil
1 TBSP Applesauce (I used sweetened, homemade)
1 mushed up banana
1 1/2 cups milk or water (I used water, but usually use milk)
Chocolate Chips to sprinkle on each pancake as they cook

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Heat griddle or pan.
3. Pour batter into pan. Sprinkle a few chocolate chips onto each pancake as they cook, before you flip.

Makes approximately 12 4-inch pancakes. These freeze very well.

4 Responses

  1. Thank you so much for this recipe!!!! Can I substitute Coconut Milk for the liquid portion? Thanks in advance!!!

  2. […] Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes […]

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Painting Buoys At Art Haven Today Pics From Sista Felicia

Get your kids down there tomorrow and be part of the great tradition. Take a pic of your kid’s painted buoy, send it in ahere at and I promise to post it on GMG.  Don’t forget to add your kids name.

  • What a great project! Can’t wait to see the end result!

  • All the buoys are great but that lobstah takes the cake. Hilarious and very serious all at the same time.

    Question: like the man with two left feet, does that lobster have to cruncher claws? I know it is artistic license battling realism but it adds to the lobster angst.

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Full Story

Resident Evil: Origins Collection Revealed, Wesker Mode added to Resident Evil 0

by David Pooleon September 1, 2015
Capcom has just announced that there will be a physical collection of the stories that started the nightmare that is Resident Evil for the current generation. The HD remasters of both Resident Evil and Resident Evil 0 will be released together physically, an answer to those waiting to get these games on an actual disc. […]

Street Fighter V Collector’s Edition and Pre-order Costumes Revealed

by David Pooleon August 31, 2015
Almost towards the end of the relaunch of the first beta, Capcom has just announced that Street Fighter V will now have a Collector’s Edition. Considering that all future content can be unlocked for free, it can be assumed that people who buy the Collector’s Edition will be set for the rest of their Street […]

Final Fantasy 15 Release Date Coming in March 2016

by Tatiana Dinuon August 31, 2015
Even if most of us were expecting a release date to be announced at PAX this year for Final Fantasy 15, none of our wishes came true. However, game director Hajime Tabata has confirmed that the game will launch in 2016. More details will be reveled in March at a special event. Also, it was confirmed […]

A new iPhone might be Revealed Next Week

by Tatiana Dinuon August 31, 2015
Every year in September, Apple is hosting an event, usually to reveal a new iPhone. According to CNet, next week, on September 9, Apple will launch a new iPhone. The company has started recently to send invitations for the event. Everybody is expecting them to unveil the 6S and the 6S Plus. Until now, the iPhone 6 and […]

Mad Max PS4 Version Gets a New Trailer

by Tatiana Dinuon August 31, 2015
Those who own a PlayStation 4 and a copy of Mad Max will be happy to know that an exclusive content will be released only for them. Below is a trailer that offers more details about the extra content. You’ll get 12 extra hood ornaments, which will be exclusive for the PS4 owners until November 30. Mad […]

Review | 1849: Gold Edition

by Charlie Grammeron August 29, 2015
Last year we checked out the game 1849, a city builder that takes place during the Gold Rush that tasks you with developing and sustaining several California cities. Now, with the recent release of 1849: Gold Edition, we’ll check out the expansion and new Epilogue. Since we have already reviewed the base game, this review […]
"Come on, give me a hug!"

Review | Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls

by Charlie Grammeron August 29, 2015
Spike Chunsoft and Nippon Ichi Software have recently released another entry in their popular Danganronpa series, known as Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls. Unlike previous games, however, this isn’t a visual novel, but is a third-person shooter. Will the change from visual novel to city under assault by the beloved mascot, Monokuma, be well […]
minority 2

Time Machine VR arrives on Steam Early Access

by Charlie Grammeron August 29, 2015
Time Machine VR, one of the first truly native VR games to hit Steam Early Access, is currently available. PAX Prime attendees can visit Minority Media’s booth (number 7408) to check it out for themselves, and others can download a playable 10-minute demo from Steam right now. If you try out the demo, playable on […]

Claimony and WB Games team up for Mad Max Achievement Road contest

by Charlie Grammeron August 29, 2015
Claimony and Warner Brothers Games have announced that, starting on September 1, 2015, the Achievement Road contest will go live in order to celebrate the release of the Mad Max game. One week later, the winner, or “true wasteland warrior,” as they put it, will be crowned. For those who haven’t heard, Claimony is a […]

Speedy Ninja now available on iOS and Android

by Charlie Grammeron August 29, 2015
Earlier this week, NetEase was delighted to release their first mobile game for the West, known as Speedy Ninja. This title is free to play on both Android and iOS, allowing players to dash through bamboo forests and even the high skies that are run by mystical dragons. Just check out the official launch trailer […]

Pocket Platoons now available on iOS and Android

by Charlie Grammeron August 29, 2015
Earlier this week, En Masse Entertainment, well known as the publisher of one of the most-played MMORPGs on Steam, TERA, was excited to announce the launch of Pocket Platoons for iOS and Android devices across both North America and Europe. Amazon Kindle Fire gamers will be able to look forward to getting their hands on […]

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GEPS 026: Replace 'make' for Gramps build

From Gramps
Revision as of 01:12, 25 March 2012 by Romjerome (Talk | contribs)

Jump to: navigation, search

Move Gramps away from using Makefiles and to using [1][2][3]2621

  1. the core developers don't know Make, which was the case also in the past. Somebody of a company with expertise contributed the make system to Gramps.
  2. we need to update makefiles when adding changing files. With you only need to worry about changing directories, so simpler
  3. with make it happens from time to time that a new file is forgotten to be added in a release, causing overhead for the release manager
  4. gramps is pure python, we don't need a makefile system checking for a lot of things it is checking now
  5. we need less dependencies for installing gramps in linux. Already on windows makefiles are not used
  6. more and more projects that need make switch to cmake, ..., we should not stay with old technology just because it was already present

  • PEP 345: Metadata for Python Software Packages 1.2 [4]
  • PEP 376: Database of Installed Python Distributions [5]
  • PEP 386: Changing the version comparison module in Distutils [6]
  • PEP 390: Static metadata for Distutils [7]


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Cheney Throws Down Gauntlet, Defies Prosecution for War Crimes

Please read article, cited after the quote. Articles open in a new window.

Dick Cheney has publicly confessed to ordering war crimes. Asked about waterboarding in an ABC News interview, Cheney replied, “I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared.” He also said he still believes waterboarding was an appropriate method to use on terrorism suspects. CIA Director Michael Hayden confirmed that the agency waterboarded three Al Qaeda suspects in 2002 and 2003.

U.S. courts have long held that waterboarding, where water is poured into someone’s nose and mouth until he nearly drowns, constitutes torture. Our federal War Crimes Act defines torture as a war crime punishable by life imprisonment or even the death penalty if the victim dies.

Under the doctrine of command responsibility, enshrined in U.S. law, commanders all the way up the chain of command to the commander-in-chief can be held liable for war crimes if they knew or should have known their subordinates would commit them and they did nothing to stop or prevent it.

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Fold3 - Historical military records - 6 views

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    Yes,this site costs, but it it has an abundance of information.
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Avalon Project - Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy - 30 views

    The Avalon Project is a site from Harvard University that contains thousands of documents relevant to Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government. These documents also include links to supporting documents that were referred to in the text.
    The documents are sorted by date range and go all the way back to 4000BC. The documents are fully searchable and are also sorted by collections such as American Revolution, Jefferson Papers, Geneva Convention, the Middle East, and more. There are even transcripts of witness testimony in the Nuremberg Trials. Pretty amazing stuff.
    This is a priceless resource for any educator or student, teaching or learning, reading or researching these topics. These documents are primary sources and can be used for a variety of learning.
    The Avalon Project will mount digital documents relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government. We do not intend to mount only static text but rather to add value to the text by linking to supporting documents expressly referred to in the body of the text. The Avalon Project will no doubt contain controversial documents. Their inclusion does not indicate endorsement of their contents nor sympathy with the ideology, doctrines, or means employed by their authors. They are included for the sake of completeness and balance and because in many cases they are by our definition a supporting document.
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    Another great site for historical resources.
    EyeWitness to History - history through the eyes of those who lived it
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    "Waymarking is a way to mark unique locations on the planet and give them a voice. While GPS technology allows us to pinpoint any location on the planet, mark the location, and share it with others, Waymarking is the toolset for categorizing and adding unique information for that location. Groundspeak's slogan is "The Language of Location" and our goal is to give people the tools to help others share and discover unique and interesting locations on the planet. We invite you to share your part of the world with us through"
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    "If you're a teacher, what are you doing to foster collaboration among your students? And I'm talking more than putting them into groups of four and having the students create a PowerPoint presentation together. What are you really doing to fundamentally change the structure of your classroom from one of isolation (do your own work), to one of collaboration (work with others)? What are you doing to build their skills to succeed in a corporate environment that requires them to collaborate on a global scale?

    If you're a student, what are you doing to improve your own collaboration skills - and those of your peers? What are you demanding of your schools, your teachers, your administrators to help prepare you for the collaborative marketplace that is your future?"
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Cars Suck, Reason #32370

Expand Messages
  • Jym Dyer
    =v= A teevee ad depicts a father teaching his son to drive, taking over the parking, and nearly causing an accident. His response is to chuckle indulgently at
    Message 1 of 2 , Mar 2, 2001
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      =v= A teevee ad depicts a father teaching his son to drive,
      taking over the parking, and nearly causing an accident. His
      response is to chuckle indulgently at his oopsie. Teach 'em
      young. Just to ice the cake, the ad ends on the car's new
      brand name motto: "Wake Up And Drive."

      =v= Another teevee ad is using The Specials' "Enjoy Yourself"
      as background music. "Enjoy yourself/It's later than you think/
      Enjoy yourself/The world is on the brink." Yeah, it sure is,
      thanks to CARS!!!

      =v= The Specials aren't about cars, dammit! They're about
      racial harmony and getting around town on little two wheeled
      vehicles (Raleigh Twenties come to mind) while wearing snappy
      two-toned clothes and porkpie helmets.

      P.S.: All teevees should sport "Kill Your Automobile" stickers.
    • De Clarke
      Some thoughts on cars as culture, and the *other* reasons people drive -- besides laziness or a subconscious hostility to all life forms including themselves
      Message 2 of 2 , Mar 6, 2001
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        Some thoughts on cars as culture, and the *other*
        reasons people drive -- besides laziness or a
        subconscious hostility to all life forms including
        themselves :-) (warning, this is long and rambling)

        Across the street from me is the yuppie dotcom
        family with two parents, two little kids, and five
        cars. These are car-culture folks to the max -- not
        old-money people who pay others to service their
        fleet, but nouveaux riches who grew up with hot
        rods, and now have more money to buy more hot rods
        and dirt bikes :-) they have two boys, one going
        on four or so, the other around 2 I think.

        Practically every toy the boys play with is a car or
        a motorcycle imitation. They don't have trikes --
        they have a little plastic pedal car and a little
        plastic pedal "motorbike" with training wheels.
        When one of them had a birthday recently, the
        parents rented one of those inflatable
        trampoline/cages -- you know, the kids go inside and
        bounce around on the air cushion, behind netting
        walls. The whole darned thing, about 15 ft high,
        was in the shape of a giant offroad truck.

        Dad spends quite a few of his weekends off-road
        motorcycling at places like Laguna Seca, and his
        evenings tuning up the various vehicles in the
        fleet. Sometimes he and his brother ride mini-bikes
        around and around and around *in the back yard*
        (this is in a suburban residential neighbourhood,
        not out in the sticks btw). The kids sit watching,
        mesmerized. You just know they are dreaming of being
        big enough and old enough to ride a "real" bike
        that goes Vrroom.

        I have a strong sense of nostalgia as I watch all
        this, because I too grew up not with a silver spoon
        so much as a 13mm box-end wrench in my mouth :-)
        Cars are a way of life as well as a commodity item
        and a status symbol and a laziness-enabler. This
        guy works really hard on his cars (and his four
        motorcycles). They're his obsession, like gardening
        or gourmet cooking or collecting stamps. My family
        used to rebuild engines together :- )

        The Jesuits used to say "give us the child until he
        is seven" meaning that cultural/religious
        indoctrination is more effective during early
        childhood than at any subsequent time. Obviously
        this is not a sure thing, or there would never be
        rebellions against any established order -- human
        society would just go on the same century after
        century with everyone behaving/thinking exactly as
        they're acculturated. But early childhood
        experiences are very powerful (one reason why
        advertisers are so interested in getting more access
        to children). Growing up in a family such as the
        one I describe has to make it very hard to question
        the primacy of the automobile. Heck, it took
        me some 15 years away from home to get a clue,
        despite questioning all sorts of other social
        conventions first :-)

        One thing that makes anti-car work so hard is that
        people like this are deeply, emotionally bonded to
        their cars and the amateur mechanic culture. Tell
        them Cars are Bad and you're attacking their family,
        their traditions, their pet hobby. The same kind of
        impasse occurs when trying to oppose the logging
        industry -- that's a long family tradition for many
        loggers; or the drugs trade for crime families :-)
        people can have very positive associations of pride
        and tradition with activities that, objectively
        viewed, are quite harmful.

        It's easy to say that those people should just start
        repairing and collecting bikes instead, but that's
        a massive change of culture and context. I don't
        know where one could even begin to talk to people
        such as my neighbours about the idea of freedom from
        cars. To them it would be like "freedom" from
        everything that's familiar, the whole pattern of their
        leisure time and family life. Hard to imagine how
        one would not be perceived as coming like a thief
        and a destroyer to *take away* something precious
        from their lives. How do we get past this?

        Cars are not just industry, they are culture... like
        TV ads. Recently I was at a meeting to review a
        police grant proposal for bike/pedestrian safety
        measures. The grant had been strongly criticized for
        pro-auto, anti-ped/bike bias. While waiting for the
        meeting to begin I was sitting at the table with
        police officers, safety analysts, etc. Their topic
        of conversation: how sexy and cool the new car was
        that one of the analysts had just bought; how much
        she was looking forward to driving it on weekends;
        how the superbowl game wasn't that great this year;
        how they all thought the commercials were *the best
        part* of the game.

        So I sat there while these adult professionals
        recited the scripts of commercials to each other,
        laughing and slapping the table... and while they
        all expressed their envy of the shiny new black
        ragtop sports car and how much fun it would be to
        drive it really fast w/the top down (nudge-nudge
        wink-wink here from the traffic cops)... and this is
        the *cultural* context from which they are making
        decisions about public health and safety and urban

        When the other cyclists walked in to the discussion
        in their bike clothes, helmets, etc. you could see
        the laughter and camaraderie on the City staff's
        faces die away: it was Us vs Them, the bike people
        were like space aliens in that atmosphere of cosy
        car-centred, TV-centred, commercialist culture. It
        was a vivid illustration of what "mainstream" means
        and what it means to be outside it. If you- all are
        old enough to remember "hippies" and the reaction of
        law enforcement officials in the bad old days to any
        guy with long hair or a girl wearing too many beads,
        then you know what I mean :-)

        The cultural divide is daunting... dealing with
        carcentrism (recent though it is) is just like
        dealing with any other "ism" that's deeply
        enculturated, like race or class or sex prejudice.
        We learn it as kids ("You Have to be Carefully
        Taught") and it's re-inforced every day of waking
        life. Undoing it is very difficult.

        So what I'm finally getting at here is that I
        support Larisa's argument, that shaming and
        insulting people is not the best way to change
        hearts & minds on the ground... the divide is
        already in place, and rock-throwing can only deepen
        it. I wish I knew what would work better.

        Venting our frustration does have its place -- say,
        in political cartoons, satire, and sarcastic
        rantings! A political cartoon lambasting the Unimog
        is desperately needed :-) and I'm sure one will pop
        up soon. Cartoons challenging American
        overconsumption of resources, poking holes in
        people's smugness and complacency, are part of the
        countercultural effort (culture jammers have
        developed a lot of other interesting ways to
        "subvertise"). But on an individual or community
        level, standing up in City or County meetings and
        insulting the car-driving residents is unlikely to
        get results. They close ranks against the zealots.
        And wouldn't we do the same?

        Every countercultural movement faces this burning
        question: how to reach out to the opposition in
        ways that are neither insulting nor condescending --
        yet without watering down one's message to the point
        of complete sell-out and ultimate futility. Argh.

        I do hope there's more than sheer laziness to appeal
        to. After all, if Americans were *only* creatures of
        total laziness, they wouldn't recycle; but in fact,
        recycling programs are popular. Now, recycling is a
        pathetic effort in the face of our overconsumption
        (there was a very, very funny article in _The Onion_
        on this topic a while back!). But the success of
        popularizing it does show that people will make a
        small extra effort if they feel it's worthwhile.
        The trick is to expand the notion of what is

        I like Adams' Hypermobility essay because he points
        out that if you show people a car-centred
        neighbourhood or city, and then you show them a
        human-centred design, they will prefer the second
        picture. So as well as appealing to laziness, car
        reduction activists can offer people a choice --
        which neighbourhood would you rather live in? and
        would you be prepared to drive less in order to live
        in the more pleasant one? Between the evident
        advantages of fewer cars, and the willingness to
        make small alterations of lifestyle if the social
        consensus on good citizenship is shifted a bit,
        there's some room to work *with* people.

        Enough room? I dunno. If we didn't have multiple
        billions of dollars being poured into propaganda
        campaigns to keep people buying, buying, buying,
        (and driving, driving, driving) it would be easier
        to conduct this discussion in public. As it is, the
        machineries of government and media are so strongly
        biased towards the auto and road industry that it's
        hard for any dissenting voice to be heard. A Polish
        film maker once commented that the censorship of
        governments can be protested, challenged, and even
        defeated -- but the censorship of money is almost
        impossible to overcome.

        As usual, no answers. Only questions :-) I'm
        curious to know what people on this list have done
        themselves, personally, that has had any effect
        on others (that we know of)...

        :De Clarke, Software Engineer UCO/Lick Observatory, UCSC:
        :Mail: de@... | :
        :Web: www.ucolick.org | Don't Fear the Penguins :
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In Zimbabwe, an Irregular But Less Violent Election

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  • Greg Cannon
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15037-2005Mar31.html?referrer=email In Zimbabwe, an Irregular But Less Violent Election Mugabe Lauds Free and
    Message 1 of 1 , Apr 1, 2005
    • 0 Attachment

      In Zimbabwe, an Irregular But Less Violent Election
      Mugabe Lauds 'Free and Fair' Vote as Opposition Cries

      By Craig Timberg
      Washington Post Foreign Service
      Friday, April 1, 2005; Page A16

      HARARE, Zimbabwe, April 1 -- Zimbabwe's opposition
      Movement for Democratic Change appears to have run
      strongly in its urban strongholds, winning 21 of the
      first 24 seats in national elections announced on
      Friday morning, but more than 100 seats, including
      most of those in the ruling party's traditional
      heartland, remained at play.

      Opposition party officials said their informal
      calculations showed them making gains in some other
      areas previously held by the party of President Robert
      G. Mugabe. But the opposition was in danger of losing
      some seats they previously held, and party officials
      worried openly about what they said were reportedly
      high turnouts in rural precincts where the opposition
      was unable to monitor the counting.

      The parliamentary seats won in official announcements
      mostly were in Harare, the capital, and Bulawayo,
      Zimbabwe's second-largest city. The margins were
      lopsided, as they were for the two rural seats won by
      Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic
      Front. Up for election are 120 seats in the 150-seat
      national legislature. Mugabe will appoint the
      remaining 30 seats.

      "Everybody has seen that they are free and fair
      elections," Mugabe said after voting in a poor
      township here in the capital. "The people are behind
      us. We are going to win. By how much, that is what we
      are going to see."

      But the Movement for Democratic Change said the vote
      was flawed. "The distorted nature of the pre-election
      playing field and the failure to address core
      democratic deficits precluded a free and fair
      election," it said in a statement released after the
      polls closed Thursday night.

      In Washington, Richard A. Boucher, the State
      Department spokesman, told reporters, "Generally we'd
      say that the campaigning took place in an atmosphere
      of intimidation."

      Police arrested nearly 100 women on a main square in
      Harare on Thursday evening as they held a prayer

      There were reports of at least two cases of youths
      from the ruling party threatening voters and also of
      attacks on opposition party poll workers. In one rural
      district, the opposition candidate went into hiding
      after allegedly being threatened by the ruling party

      Five foreign journalists were arrested or detained by
      police and several others were threatened with arrest.

      Many voters said they feared that the relatively low
      level of violence would be temporary and the that
      ruling party's thuggish tactics would return once
      foreign journalists and independent observers left the

      A purple dye applied to voters' fingers to prevent a
      person from casting multiple ballots was easily washed
      off, and the voter roll had as many as 1 million
      fictitious voters, including many dead people, the
      opposition said.

      As of 2 p.m. Thursday, with five hours of voting left,
      at least 1 million Zimbabweans out of an electorate of
      more than 5 million had cast ballots, officials here
      said. Zimbabwe Electoral Commission officials said on
      Friday that more than 135,000 voters -- around 10
      percent of those who showed up on Thursday -- were
      turned away from polling stations in six of Zimbabwe's
      10 provinces because they lacked proper identification
      or their names did not appear on the voter roll, said
      George Chiweshe, chairman of the national election
      commission. At stake is the political and economic
      future of a nation of 13 million that was once
      regarded as one of Africa's most prosperous countries.
      Mugabe, 81, in power since Zimbabwe became independent
      in 1980, has, over the past five years, cracked down
      on political dissent, closed independent newspapers
      and presided over an economic collapse. The country
      has 80 percent unemployment, widespread food shortages
      and the world's highest rates of inflation.

      Dozens of interviews throughout the rural areas
      surrounding Harare suggested a weakening of Mugabe's
      traditional base there but also the enduring
      popularity of the land redistribution campaign he
      launched in 2000, when he sanctioned invasions of
      white-owned commercial farms that were later given to

      "I was in ZANU-PF party, but this time I'm not sure,"
      said Lawrence Ndadziyira, 44, who said he fought under
      Mugabe in the liberation war of the 1970s but now eats
      just three days a week. "A lot of people, they are
      sick and tired about the government."

      Fakie Bernard, 34, a former ruling party supporter,
      said he still admired Mugabe but had lost faith in his
      party's ability to repair Zimbabwe's economy. "The
      people, they are crying for hunger," said Bernard, who
      has been unemployed since October. "It's too hard to
      find work."

      Mugabe supporters said they remained loyal because of
      the land program, which was criticized internationally
      as violent and chaotic. Patuma Mudaga, 46, said she
      received 15 acres, allowing her to support her five
      children more easily.
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text:
The taffybar package

[Tags: bsd3, library, program]

A somewhat fancier desktop bar than xmobar. This bar is based on gtk2hs and provides several widgets (including a few graphical ones). It also sports an optional snazzy system tray.

[Skip to ReadMe]

Versions0.1.0, 0.1.1, 0.1.2, 0.1.3, 0.2.0, 0.2.1, 0.3.0, 0.4.0, 0.4.1, 0.4.2, 0.4.3, 0.4.4, 0.4.5
Dependenciesbase (>3 && <5), cairo, containers, dbus (>=0.10.1 && <1.0), dyre (>=0.8.6), enclosed-exceptions (>=, filepath, gtk (>=0.12.1 && <0.14), gtk-traymanager (>=0.1.2 && <0.2), HStringTemplate, HTTP, mtl (>=2), network (<3), network-uri (<3), old-locale, parsec (>=3.1), process (>=, safe (>=0.3 && <1), split (>=, stm, text, time (>=1.4 && <1.6), time-locale-compat (==0.1.*), transformers (>=, utf8-string, X11 (>=, xdg-basedir, xmonad, xmonad-contrib [details]
AuthorTristan Ravitch
Home page
Source repositoryhead: git clone git://
UploadedSat Apr 4 03:50:39 UTC 2015 by TristanRavitch
DistributionsDebian:0.4.5, NixOS:0.4.5
Downloads2479 total (116 in last 30 days)
0 []
StatusDocs not available [build log]
All reported builds failed as of 2015-07-20 [all 4 reports]

network-urinetwork hackEnabledAutomatic

Use -f <flag> to enable a flag, or -f -<flag> to disable that flag. More info

Maintainers' corner

For package maintainers and hackage trustees

Readme for taffybar-0.4.5

This is a desktop information bar intended for use with XMonad and similar window managers. It is similar in spirit to xmobar; it is different in that it gives up some simplicity for a reasonable helping of eye candy. This bar is based on GTK+ (via gtk2hs) and uses fancy graphics where doing so is reasonable and useful. Example:

The bar is configured much like XMonad. It uses ~/.config/taffybar/taffybar.hs as its configuration file. This file is just a Haskell program that invokes the real main function with a configuration object. The configuration file basically just specifies which widgets to use, though any arbitrary Haskell code can be executed before the bar is created.

There are some generic pre-defined widgets available:

There are also several more specialized widgets:

An incomplete list of things that would be cool to have:


text:
Cheesey, Meet Delicious! Spicy Sausage Zucchini Casserole

10 08 2011

Let me tell you a story—a story of a family of women—who are all extremely critical of themselves.  HA.  On a recent trip to visit my family while Mr. Amanda was out of town, and before I get into what will definitely be the start of a grueling 4 years of school, the entire family sat around dinner one evening.  As we all chowed down on some delicious chicken, homemade coleslaw, etc,  Grandma Amanda mentioned that she didn’t know if it would “be that good” because she had just “thrown it together”.  We all thought it was absurd, and if you knew my grandma you would too, because rarely are any of her meals anything but stellar.  Needless to say, it was a delicious dinner, but the mere sound of my grandma saying these words reminded me of something I so often say to Mr. Amanda…… “Now, I don’t know how this is going to turn out…it may not be any good at all”.

In our house, I spend a lot, and I mean A LOT, of time trying new recipes.  I don’t know if this is adult onset ADD or just boredom, but I scour my collection of hundreds of cookbooks nearly every day looking for new things to try (you would think that, by now, I would have made just about everything I would want to try out of my collection—but if you think that, you haven’t seen my collection :-) ).  Recently, Momma Amanda came to visit on what I like to call “Mission: Make this House Look Like It’s Worth More Than It Is” (we were preparing the house to be put on the market)…not too catchy, huh?  Anyway, when she came, with her car load of goodies, she brought some of Grandma & Grandpa Amanda’s zucchini and yellow squash.  YUMMMM

In order to not waste precious, delicious squash, I looked for recipes that I could use them in.  This is where my “I don’t know how this is going to turn out” statement comes in…..after hours of looking for something that looked halfway appetizing, I gave up and decided to try something simply called “Sausage Zucchini Casserole”.  I had zucchini (obviously), and I had sausage…so it was a go.  I really thought it was a shot in the dark as to if this was going to be edible or not–I mean, one of the first few ingredients was……Velveeta….Not a commonly used ingredient in our house (aside from when making Super Bowl snacks!).  I made it….with my additions/modifications……then presented it to Mr. Amanda with my famous “I don’t know how this is going to turn out…..”.  Normally, almost immediately, after giving it to him and “my line”, I get a response made to make me feel better.  But this time there was no response.  I was sure I had failed.  But instead, what I found when I brought my own plate to the table was that Mr. Amanda was nearly 3/4 way finished with his plate.  I figured this was merely because he was hungry after a difficult workout, but decided to take a courageous bite myself.  And I was speechless.  DE-LI-CIOUS.  How does that happen?  How can such a strange mix of ingredients make something that you want to literally fight over the leftovers the next day?!  Now, I will warn you now, it’s not a “pretty” dish.  It’s not the dinner you make for a dinner party.  But, if you are looking for something comforting and sure to please the entire family, THIS IS IT!!!!!

Spicy Sausage Zucchini Casserole

1/2 lb turkey sausage (I use turkey breakfast sausage)

1/4 medium onion, chopped

1 Tb minced garlic

1/2 c water

1/2 c brown minute rice

2 c cubed zucchini squash

1 diced fresh tomato

4 oz Mexican style Velveeta, cubed  (Mexican style is needed for extra flavor)

1 (4 oz) can mushrooms OR 1/2 container of fresh mushrooms that have been cooked down (so that they have released their water)

2 tsp paprika

salt (to taste)

pepper (to taste)

large pinch of oregano

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

dash cayenne

Combine rice and water and cook according to package directions.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Cook sausage and onion over Medium Heat until only a little pink remains in the sausage.  Add in garlic.  Continue to cook until sausage is browned.  Drain any grease.

Stir in zucchini and tomato–cook until tender

Stir in rice, mushrooms, and cheese

Season with oregano, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne to taste.

Mix together thoroughly.

Spread into an 8 x 8 glass baking dish that has been sprayed with Pam or cooking spray of choice.

Bake 1 hour or until lightly browned at 325 degrees.

Nutritional Information & WW PointsPlus

Servings: 6 or 8

Per Serving: 1/6 or 1/8 of dish

Calories: 151 / 113

Fat: 6.75 g / 5.1 g

Fiber: 2.3 g / 1.7 g

Carbohydrates: 12.25 g / 9.2 g

Protein: 12.1 g / 9.1 g

WW PointsPlus: 4 PP / 3 PP

One response

14 08 2011

I’m so late on reading all your blogs, but I LOVE THIS ONE. I totally know what you mean about Grandma Amanda/Jess. I can’t wait to try out the recipe!

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Put Some STE(A)M into Your Valentines!

Put Some STE(A)M into Your Valentines!

This Valentine’s Day, spread friendship and kindness throughout your community by participating in Hilltown Families’ 6th annual Handmade Valentine Swap! Participation is easy – all you have to do is sign up, make ten handmade valentines and drop them in the mail, and you’ll receive ten handmade cards in return. Not only is the event an opportunity for families to connect with others in their community, participation allows families the opportunity to be creative together – an activity that can lead not only to creative-free play, but can also offer hands-on learning in fields like physics, chemistry, geometry and cultural studies!

COLOR THEORY: No matter how you craft your valentines, the activity itself will always be some sort of creative exploration. It’s a great time to try out a new medium or style, and kids often are inspired by the availability of new materials. To add depth to your children’s pre-existing artistic genius, try making valentines that feature a color study – the endless shades of valentine-y colors that can be created will amaze budding artists, and doing such a project can help them to get a better grasp on the science of mixing colors. If your kids prefer less structured activities, present them with a new type of paint, pastel, or pencil to try out and allow them to test it out on red or pink paper – when they’re done, you can cut heart shapes or fold cards out of the paper they’ve decorated with their testing.

PHYSICS: Throw in some physics by exploring the wonders of spin art . Make predictions about how your paper will look based on the amount of each color that you use and where you place the paint droplets. By the time you’re done, your kids will have learned firsthand about some basic physics principles! Using centrifugal force to make patterns with paint, dried paintings can be cut into hearts and glued to card stock.

CHEMISTRY: Older students can do some in-depth thinking involving chemistry and physics by making shaved crayon valentines by melting crayons between sheets of waxed paper. While you create, do several tests to experiment how the crayons melt. Which color crayons have lower melting points than other colors?  Ask your self why that is and work together to develop and test a theory.

GEOMETRY & CULTURE: Geometry and cultural studies can be blended into valentine-making, too, without much effort! Origami-style valentines can stand alone without any ornate decoration, or they can serve as cards with a message inside that you must unfold to find, like an origami fortune teller. While you learn some new folding tricks, be sure to learn about the history of origami and its cultural relevance in Japan! Some kid-friendly folded paper valentine projects include heart cards and individual hearts (big or small!). Geometry can be added to origami projects easily, making the craft into a multi-disciplinary expedition! With younger children, a discussion of the different shapes that you make throughout the process can be sufficient. Older students can discuss the symmetry of their creation, search for more specific and complex shapes, and assess the angles at which they fold the paper.

To see many of the mentioned ideas and to add some of your own, visit our Hilltown Families’ 6th annual Handmade Valentine Swap event page of Facebook.

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In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Muse.”image

The Eiffel Tower is so mobbed with tourists and pickpockets these days, it’s almost more kitsch than muse. Still, it is one of the most recognized and visited monuments in the world, and its profile is linked inextricably with Paris. Inspiring for a structure that was intended to be temporary. When it was first built, many Parisians hated it. Writer Guy de Maupassant used to eat lunch at the base because that was the only place in the city where it didn’t ruin the view.

The tower was built to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. Engineer Maurice Koechlin came up with and refined the design. That didn’t stop his boss, industrialist Alexandre-Gustav Eiffel, from taking all the credit. So much for egalite.

The monument proved its worth as a radio tower, and as a symbol of defiance when resistance fighters cut the elevator cables so that the Nazi occupiers had to climb the stairs. Hitler ordered its destruction, but didn’t get around to tearing it down.

ET, you deserve to be mobbed, and we tourists are justified to be thrilled by the sight, even if it’s just a tip of the tower.

If you squint you can see it.

Ode to Indigo

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “ROY G. BIV.”

ROY G BV? Like Pluto from the planets, indigo has been booted. Some say it should not have been included in the first place.

Isaac Newton is credited with listing the order of the colors in the spectrum of visible light — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.

There have been protests about the inclusion of indigo. Indignant, Goethe wrote a book in 1810 describing simple experiments that proved there are three primary colors and three secondary. Indigo didn’t make the cut.

There was speculation that Newton was influenced by the significance of the number seven in the bible, or that he wanted to show the connection between sound waves and light waves, and thus named seven colors to parallel the seven notes in the musical scale.

In any case, indigo’s persistence in the lineup serves as a reminder that visible light is like race: a continuum, not discrete colors; and its beauty gives lie to the notion that the word primary is anything more than a label.

Off Season in Cozumel

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Off-Season.”

In Cozumel, Mexico, off-season means empty streets and empty beaches. Switch the sun screen for an umbrella and you’re good to go.

During the tourist season, cruise ships bring 25,000 visitors every day, to an island with a population of 100,000. During the rainy months that number drops in half, and many passengers stay on board.

Travel tips for off-season Cozumel:

Jim with sharks-2

Rain? Pshaw.

1. Swim. The water is still warm.

2. Visit San Miguel, where most locals live. Waterfront businesses are priced for cruise ship passengers, but a few blocks inland is a vibrant community of shops and businesses, some willing to bargain.

Souvenirs, anyone?

3. Visit the national preserve Punta del Sur at the south end of the island. Miles of undeveloped coastline, large lagoons, complete with crocodiles and flamingos, and a great beach for snorkeling. During high season the place is mobbed by visitors tearing up and down the access road in four wheel drives vehicles. When the weather isn’t so nice, the place empties out.

4. Visit Mayan ruins.

Mayan Temple at San Gervasio. Take the staff up on the offer of mosquito repellent.

5. Sign up for a turtle release party.

Turtles need protection from vultures, feral cats, dogs, poachers and tourists.

Two species, loggerhead and green turtles nest on the island, and several others migrate through and feed in the vicinity. Nesting season runs from May to November. The Parks and Museum Foundation’s Punta Sur Park Turtle Salvation Program, takes visitors out with turtle brigades (maximum of 15) to assist with release of hatchlings, and for study and guard duty. The City of San Miguel’s Volunteer Turtle Salvation Program, also helps protect nesting turtles. Both groups are in need of volunteers and financial support.

6. Eat. Our two favorite restaurants: Kinta Mexican Bistro and Kondesa, owned by chef Kris Wallenta and his brother Jason. Kinta focuses on traditional Mexican flavors and dishes with an imaginative twist — wonderful sauces, cozy setting. Kondesa’s bar opens to a garden restaurant with a zen theme, and it’s menu features locally caught fish. The guak (guacamole) trio appetizer was fantastic.

7. Learn about recent history, politics and environmental issues. Visit the museum, learn about the impact of six boa constrictors released from a film set, of resorts on turtle nesting sites, how the island was affected by Hurricane Wilma in 2005, and by the 2008 financial crisis.

8. If all else fails.

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “On the Way.”

Are there events — historical, political, natural — that divide your life into a ‘before’ and an ‘after’?

We were on the last leg of a trip home from overseas, when the pilot announced that since we were early, he’d give us a treat. “Look out the windows,” he said, and made two low, tight circles around the caldera of that sleeping dragon, Mt. St. Helens.

Welcome home.

It’s been thirty-five years since St. Helens exploded.

Photo source: Wikipedia.

Fifty seven people died.

Photographer Reid Blackburn’s car. Photo source: Wikipedia.

One of my brothers got married a few days later. He and his bride drove off for their honeymoon in a cloud of ash.

Auto dealership in Idaho. Photo source: Boston.com

A generation ago.

A naptime away in volcano time.

Sleep long and deeply St. Helens.

What natural phenomena has impressed you? Were you in New York for Sandy, New Orleans for Katrina? Nepal for the earthquake? The Northeast this past winter?

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Broken.”

Beach, in the conservation area at the southern tip of Cozumel, Mexico:

A lot of the trash did not appear to come from Mexico. Skiing, anyone?

The 2,500 acres set aside in Faro Celarain Eco Park, also known as Parque Punta Sur, are home to nesting sea turtles and several species of exotic birds.

Every year the nonprofit group Ocean Conservancy organizes volunteers around the world to pick up trash from beaches. The top ten items most frequently found:

Photo Source: Ocean Conservancy

Two years ago our town banned the use of plastic bags for carrying out groceries (produce bags still allowed). Oh, the hue and cry. There were letters to the editor in protest. One letter writer threatened to shop in another town. Business would suffer! Yet now, no one complains. There’s a sense of civic pride.

How many other used, disposable and broken things could we easily re-use, fix or not use at all?

Have you been to the coast lately? Any broken stuff on the beach?

That’s an MRAP

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Enveloped.”

What kind of equipment does the police department own in your town?

Wrapped in MRAP

Photo Source: Raymond Wambsgans, courtesy of Flickr.com

Remember back in 2013 or so? Reports were just surfacing that the U.S. military was giving away extra equipment to police departments and campus security offices. In my state, $11 million in surplus equipment was handed out to fifty law enforcement agencies, including several in our county. The program was part of the counterterrorism strategy set in place after Sept. 11, 2001.

Lane County, Oregon, is not exactly a haven for terrorists.

While in college, I visited Romania, when the country was run by the communist dictator, Nicolae Ceaucescu. What a shock to visit a country where airports and government buildings were ringed by soldiers toting automatic weapons.

Yet, here we are.

Washington, D.C. police. Photo source: Matthew Bradley, Courtesy of Flickr.com

It took tragedies to raise awareness, but the spirit of protest is alive and well.

Photo source: scottlum, courtesy of Flickr.com

In response to public pressure, this week President Obama banned the federal government from providing armored vehicles, weaponized aircraft , firearms and ammunition of .50-caliber or higher, grenade launchers, bayonets and camouflage uniforms to police.

To qualify for Mine-Resistant Ambush Protection vehicles (MRAPs), drones or battering rams, law enforcement agencies will have to explain why they are needed, how they will be used, and how officers who use them will be trained.

We are far from recovering from September 11, 2001. The first response — to envelope ourselves in weaponry — will haunt us, perhaps for as long as we are a country. Still, we made progress this week. Maybe we’ll find our way out of the deep freeze.

Does your state college have a mine-resistant vehicle? What do you think about the federal program to give surplus equipment to local law enforcement?

Water Withheld

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Forces of Nature.”

Rain, evaporating before it hits the ground.

“The planet is fine. The people are f—ed.”
― George Carlin

How’s the weather in your part of the world?

Here in the northwest US, water and snow are in short supply. It’s a big change for us, who are used to winters so rainy that sometimes moss grows in the middle of the streets.

In the Willamette Valley where we live, the warm, dry winter brought a lush spring. Strawberries appeared at the farmer’s market two months early. Apple trees are loaded with fruit, and the roses are already in bloom.

On the eastern side of the state, where we visit to watch birds, hike and enjoy the quiet, evidence of the dry winter is everywhere — empty ponds —

Krumbo pond. Last time we visited, the pond was full of water, and migrating birds..

— Low snowpack.

Riddle Ranch, South Steens Mountains

One dry year does not an apocalypse make, and, as climate scientists keep reminding us — the weather outside the window isn’t evidence of climate change one way or the other — but California is four years into a drought. Drought could happen here, too.

“Men argue. Nature acts.”

— Voltaire

Last days

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Motion.”

Spawning salmon at Whittaker Creek

The air was still and cold when we took this photo, and there was only one fish holding in a ragged pattern below the surface of the water.

Salmon are a keystone species, that is, their effect on the immediate environment is disproportionate to size or numbers. They return  to their natal site to spawn before they die. Salmon runs push nutrients from the ocean far upstream, endowing richness and diversity, feeding aquatic plants, insects, soil and forest.  We’ve visited this site over the years, and seen the number of fish who return diminish steadily. All are in motion: water, fish, the times.


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Hornbill Unleashed

July 21, 2012

Let there be a ‘yellow’ sea in court

Filed under: Politics — Hornbill Unleashed @ 12:11 AM
Tags: , ,

RK Anand

A coalition of NGOs is calling on Malaysians to turn up at the court next week to express their support for Bersih.

Imagine hundreds if not thousands of Malaysians decked in yellow descending upon the Jalan Duta Court Complex here next week.

This is what a coalition of NGOs hopes to see when the High Court hears electoral watchdog Bersih’s challenge against the home minister’s decision to declare it an unlawful outfit.

On July 1 last year, Hishammuddin Hussein claimed that Bersih was allegedly “being used for purposes prejudicial to the interest of the security of Malaysia and public order”.

The minister’s order was issued eight days before the mammoth Bersih 2.0 rally, which drew tens of thousands to the city streets.

Speaking to FMT, WargaAman secretary-general S Barathidasan called on Malaysians of all races to congregate at the court next Tuesday morning to express their support for Bersih and its leaders.

Calling it a show of solidarity, he said Malaysians must send a strong message once again to the authorities that Bersih represented their voice.

“It is imperative that we show our support for [Bersih co-chairperson] S Ambiga and the other leaders. These people are not criminals but those fighting for our rights.

“Bersih is only demanding for clean, free and fair elections. How can this be prejudicial to national security? Perhaps it is a threat to Barisan Nasional’s security,” he added.

Barathidasan pointed out that Bersih leaders, especially Ambiga, had endured much harassment and intimidation as a result of standing up for Malaysians.

“So by turning up at the court, Malaysians will be able to express our gratitude and let the Bersih leaders know that the hardships they face are not in vain,” he added.

Noting that it was a working day, Barathidasan said those who could take time off should participate in the gathering.

WargaAman also urged Malaysians to spread the message via social networking site Facebook, emails and mobile phone text messages.

“Come next Tuesday, we hope that the court will look like a yellow sea,” he stressed.

“This will once again remind the government that Bersih is an organisation by the people and for the people. It represents the voice of all Malaysians,” he added.

Death threat

On April 28 this year, Bersih held another rally, which was on a larger scale than the previous one.

Both the 2.0 and 3.0 rallies dealt a severe blow to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s administration, which later accused the opposition and the organiser of attempting to recreate an Arab spring here.

Subsquently, Ambiga became the target of criticisms and numerous protests. Recently, she was also notified via email of a death threat against her.

The goverment and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) had also resorted to separate legal actions to claim compensation from Bersih for the damages incurred during the last rally.

Meanwhile, Bersih steering committee member Maria Chin Abdullah expressed gratitude to WargaAman for continuing to back the movement.

“We thank them for their support. We will wait for the court’s decision [to determine the next course of action],” she said.

  1. Ambiga should consider standing in GE13 against Najib at Pekan or wherever he goes.

    Comment by Ahmad Madon — July 23, 2012 @ 5:59 PM | Reply

  2. The only reason why the BN Government is so scare of Bersih is because they are ‘KOTOR’ Hence they have a phobia with the word Bersih.

    Comment by gagojackman — July 21, 2012 @ 12:58 PM | Reply

  3. The only thing illegal in this is Hish saying that Bersih is illegal

    Comment by Melanie — July 21, 2012 @ 8:12 AM | Reply

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A Birthday Cake For Fiona

Last night Mr Hungry Squirrel and I went out for dinner to celebrate my Mother-In-Law’s birthday.

I decided to make a birthday cake for Fiona as part of her birthday present.
The inspiration for this cake was Fiona’s engagement ring, which features a beautiful flower of aquamarine petals.

The cake itself was a classic Victoria Sponge, sandwiched with buttercream and raspberry jam.

I used the pretty Hydrangea Cutter for the delicate floral decor, and Ice Blue by Sugarflair colour paste to achieve this beautiful shade of blue.

I was thrilled with how the cake turned out, and it tasted delicious too! Most importantly, Fiona was over the moon.

I couldn’t resist showing you this cheeky looking Hungry Squirrel I picked up in Glasgow’s West End on Monday! :0)

16 thoughts on “A Birthday Cake For Fiona

  1. A beuatiful cake and wonderful colour choice but turquoise blues and duck egg are my favourites – loved the decorations – very classy! Your cupcakes are amazing also so beautiful work.

  2. Pingback: Happy (Belated) Birthday Edith Wharton - Tweetspeak Poetry

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Tag Archives: writing

An Interview with IAND

2 Apr

Hello to everyone out there in the land of the Undefined,

I thought it would be a nice change of things to do an interview with a fellow blogger! The author of Thoughtful Thoughts approached me with the idea, and I thought it would be a lot of fun. I used the pseudonym Molly, so the interview she did with a woman named Molly is IAND. I really enjoyed being interviewed and I hope you find it interesting!

The first ever Interview with I Am Not Defined!

Until next time folks!

I Am Not Defined

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26 Mar

Dear I Am Not Defined,
I recently reconnected with a childhood friend after a decade. He turned out to be a really nice guy, counting on the fact that he had always been rowdy and unruly when we were kids. What amazes me more is that he’s a musician. (I’ve always been weak at the knees for musicians.) He’s really sweet and all (I mean, he seems to be the guy I’ve been waiting for) but there’s a catch–he’s involved in a Christian youth group at his university. I mean, I love God too, but not to the extent that he does. In the midst of all my academic requirements, I don’t think I can commit to all the activities/meetings/etc. that he keeps on inviting me to. When we hang out (he’d walk me to the bus station since I pass by their school and he’s a dormer), we don’t talk about all the religious stuff as much as we talk about ourselves and each other. Still, I’m confused as to whether he just hangs out with me to convince me to join their organization or to actually get to know me better after all those years that we haven’t seen each other.

Dear Unsure,

It sounds like this guy is actually into you. If he only talked about his youth group when you were around, I would believe that he just wanted you to join the group. It sounds like he is actually interested in who you are as a person, not just interested in getting you involved in something he is into.

You have to remember that he is not defined by his youth group affiliation, and just because he is involved in it, doesn’t mean it is all he thinks about. It seems like he is going above and beyond the call of a friend to get to know you better, and it sounds like you would enjoy getting to know him better as well.

You can always test the water a bit; invite him to do something off campus that does not involve his youth group. It doesn’t have to be a date, just a chance to hang out. If all he talks about is the group, then maybe he doesn’t have room in his life for much more right now. If he talks about his life or continues making an effort to learn about yours, I would take it as a clear sign that he sees you as more than a recruit.

If you are interested in more than friendship from this guy, maybe you need to discuss it with him. Plenty of couples I know consist of two people who feel a different level of religious conviction. If he likes you for who you are, then he won’t feel the need to push his group on you. You will have to feel it out, and see if a conversation about a relationship or more than a friendship is something you’re ready for. It might suit you perfectly to get to know him better for a while and just let life happen!

-I Am Not Defined

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21 Mar

Dear I Am Not Defined,
The thing is, I really like a boy since about two years ago. I don’t want to like him, I tried to talk to him (but everybody says I didn’t. Maybe I just don’t know the way to talk to him because I think he’s too special to talk with a girl like me. I guess he doesn’t like me a bit, in fact, I do believe he hates me. Two years have passed, and I can’t go out with anyone else because I just can’t stop loving him. I’m afraid it won’t be over. Right now, I just want to let him go, but I don’t know how, I can’t stop thinking about him and because of that, I consider myself pretty weird. I don’t like being weird.
– Desperate

Dear Desperate,

I just want you to know that no guy is any more special then you are. You need to stop looking at him like he is someone better than you. It simply isn’t true. You as yourself are great, and you are just as valuable as any other person.

I can understand that you’re having problems with your crush on this guy. It sounds like it may be your first big crush, and that is always the hardest to get over. If you do not want to approach this guy, and try to make a go of it, then it is time to let him go. There is no special answer I can give you that will make you stop caring. You will have to make an attempt every day to see him as a regular person, who holds no power over you.

If all you can do is think about him, it’s time to re-train your brain to think about other things. Maybe you need to throw yourself into school work, or pick up a hobby. You will be even better off if you find something new to keep you busy that involves other people. Maybe you will meet someone else who you consider special enough for your attention.

I think it will also help if you figure out why this guy has a special hold on you. What is it that makes him seem so irresistible to you? Maybe you need to focus on what you don’t like about him, or focus on why you don’t want to be with him. If you truly don’t want him, you will get over it. It just takes time. There is no way to speed up the process of getting over someone, trust me, if there were, girls everywhere would be spared.

-I Am Not Defined

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19 Mar

Things started getting very difficult for me when I started questioning my mind. I wondered if everyone else felt as depressed and unhappy in life as I did. I seriously doubted all of my happy-go-lucky friends could feel like I did, and still smile and goof around all day.

Life started to wear me down, and I started dealing with long spells of deep depression, and I had no idea how to handle it. My family situation was still rough, and I felt like my friends were mostly superficial and fake. I had had a very hard time with a boy who I yo-yo dated in middle school and high school. I had never dealt with a guy who tried so hard to make me jealous, and my emotions were easily pulled down.  The guy I had seen off and on insisted on dating my close friends when we were not together, and loved making moves on them behind my back when we were together. I took it to heart, and felt like there must have been something wrong with me if he felt the need to act like that.

I was always blaming myself for everything, and I felt like people always treated me the way they did because of something I had done. I held everything in because I didn’t feel like I had anyone to share with, or knew anyone who could relate to my problems. I started feeling like I couldn’t handle things anymore, and that’s when I started to cut.

I don’t know why I thought that cutting was the answer, but at the time, I felt like it was a necessary release. I could beat myself up emotionally, but if I cut myself, I could really feel the pain. I think I was so fazed and numbed by life at that point, and it felt like the only way I could connect to something. It didn’t really make sense then, and I think back to it now, I wonder what I was thinking.

Cutting myself didn’t solve any of my problems. In retrospect, I think it made things harder for me. It was just one more hurdle to get over. Cutting didn’t fix the problems I had, or help my emotional pain go away, it didn’t solve anything. If anything, it made me feel worse about myself. It was a bad idea then, and I recommend it to no one, your body is important, you only get one, so you better take care of it. You can’t let people get to you; you can’t let life get to you.

So many people turn to self-abuse like it is a cure, but in reality it only makes the disease worse. You don’t feel any better about yourself, and it eventually makes you feel more depressed.

One of the boys I grew up with was teased like crazy for being different. He once told me he started cutting himself because it made him feel something other than rejection. It wasn’t a good way for him to deal with things, and I didn’t know it then, but his adventures in self-mutilation eventually lead to his suicide. When I learned about his death, I started to really reconsider the way I was harming myself. I didn’t want to die. Sure I had dealt with some very depressing times, but I still had hope that better things were in my future. I immediately stopped cutting myself, and never picked up a blade again.

I wish I could say that was the end of me causing damage to myself, but my adventures in substances were just starting, and I had many miles on the road of addiction. I wish I could have told myself that taking it out on my body was a bad idea, but I had to learn that the hard way.

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Trust Issues~Advice

15 Mar

Dear I Am Not Defined,

There is a huge, complicated back story to my problem. All complications with an ex-boyfriend of mine, who I broke up with six months ago, and his new girlfriend (who used to be one of my best friends) and my (now ex) best friend.
My problem is that I have issues with these people but I can’t talk to them; they don’t want closure. I’m still hung up on the disloyalty of my (now ex) best friend because she lied about me, and spoke about me behind my back. I’ve always told every one of my friends to tell me if they have a problem with me, but instead she went to my ex-boyfriend and ranted to him about how I’ve changed, and how I’m a bad person; how I’ve apparently been talking about him in a bad light. Even though I despise him, I’m not that dishonest.
His new girlfriend got involved with an argument I had with him and now I’m no longer friends with her. I don’t feel like I can trust any of my friends anymore; I fear they’re all fake. What do you propose I should do about it, if anything?
-Trust Issues

Dear Trust Issues,

Closure is something I don’t really believe in. Is there really anything that your ex-boyfriend or friend can really say or do to make it better?  I think that you’re chasing down something that doesn’t exist. As hard as it is to know that your friends did this to you, be thankful they showed their true colors. At least you found out this guy was no good, and that your supposed best friend has a blabbering problem.

You don’t need people like this in your life. Create your own closure and write them and this situation off as a lost cause. They can’t really make this better, and you don’t need people like them in your life. It sucks to lose a friend, especially over a guy, but she made the decision to act the way she did, and does not deserve a friend who treats her better.

As for this guy, he shouldn’t have come between the two of you in the first place. It shows poor judgment on his part to get between friends, and to allow his girlfriend into an argument between you and him. He should not involve her in the personal issues the two of you have, and she wasn’t a very good friend for getting involved. It just creates a messy dramatic situation, where the cards feel stacked against you. You are so much better than this, and immature drama like this is beneath you.

It sounds like you make a conscious effort to avoid dramatic backstabbing situations with your friends, and if she had a problem with you, she should have talked to you about it. It was very low of her to take her issues to an ex of yours. He should have come to you as well, if he had an issue, instead of sending his girlfriend. I would just let them go, they can have each other. Stop talking to them, and avoid their drama. You are better off without their antics in your life!

-I Am Not Defined

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12 Mar

Dear I Am Not Defined

I feel like I don’t belong in my group of friends at school. I don’t have that “label” that people have for other people, such as: the friend that always gives good advice, the friend who always makes me laugh, the friend who never makes a moment awkward, the friend who has the best fashion and I love to shop with, etc. I don’t fit in the categories that my friends want me to be in.

I just don’t understand, all my friends are nice to me at school and school activities. I am social and talkative, but I never actually hang out with anyone. They never invite me to anything, and I am not sure why.

But I am also paranoid to ever hang out with one of my friends one-on-one. I don’t know why, but I am. I am scared of being awkward or not good enough or funny enough, and it really bothers me. I am scared that they like me, but find everyone else and their other friends way more appealing and more fun to hang out with. This also translates into my dating life, which is non-existent. I am so scared that I can’t go on real dates because I will be too awkward.

I don’t know, but I am tired of being lonely and awkward.

Dear Awkward,

Is it possible that you project your insecurities onto your attitude around your friends? Maybe they don’t invite you out because you don’t seem into it. Maybe your friends see your fear of being awkward as a standoffish attitude. Simply put, maybe they don’t invite you out because you don’t act like it would be interesting to you.

 Instead of worrying about how you could act or what you could do, let go and relax. Just be. You don’t have to be labeled as one thing or another. You are you, and that is plenty. You do not have to be any type of person for your friends to like you. They are your friends and they like you because you are awkward and undefinable. You don’t have to give great advice, or have perfect fashion sense to be a good friend, or to be liked by your friends. They obviously see something in you that you don’t see; maybe you’re just a good friend in an unconventional way. It doesn’t matter; you should be liked for being the person you are, not because you fit into some cliché category that doesn’t mean anything in the long run.

If you want to do more things with your friends, make the effort. Have you ever tried inviting one of them to do something? Maybe they don’t invite you to do things because you don’t ever try to do things with them. People make assumptions, it happens, whether it’s true or not. I am sure your friends would be more than willing to do more if you simply tried to do more with them. Who cares if your awkward, that is just part of who you are, embrace it. I know a lot of guys who love awkward, clumsy, shy, quiet, odd girls. Not everyone wants the girl who has the best outfit, or fills every awkward pause. Most guys want a real girl, odd character traits and all. You have nothing to be insecure about, who cares what people think of you, what matters is what you think of yourself.

Don’t be so hard on yourself. I have no doubt that most of your friends feel awkward in social situations as well. They just may not show it in the same way. I know I always worry if I’m talking too much, or laughing weird, and most of the women I know worry about similar silly things. Who cares if you say the wrong thing, or trip over your own feet, you’re a real person, and no one is perfect all the time, we all say and do things we wish we hadn’t. Give yourself the freedom to just be, you don’t have to worry about every little thing, if you do, you’re going to miss the awesome things happening in front of you. If you worry less, you will enjoy yourself more, and if you put yourself out there a bit, you will likely find your friends willing to do more. Guys will come, and the right one won’t care if your awkward, he will like you for all that you are, and are not. Just don’t miss him because you’re stressing about what to say or do!

-I Am Not Defined

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At Peace

26 Feb

High school was something I really had to fight for,  for the first time in my life. I didn’t want to go to the same school as all the people I grew up with, so with a teachers nudging, I tried to get into a local “special” school. I had been in advance classes all my life, and I was lucky enough to have a very caring teacher in middle school, to help me find direction.

I had the same teacher two years in a row for English and Science, she was a very involved teacher, and her classes were always fun. She saw me for the intelligent, but anti-social child that I was, and helped me grow out of my shell. She was very good at finding assignment’s that worked well for each student, and I always picked things up quickly in her classes. In my seventh grade year, she announced that she would be leaving our school, and taking a teaching position at a local high school for advance students. I was very sad to see her go, and unhappy that I wouldn’t get to have her as a teacher anymore. She told me that I was smart enough to go to the school she would be teaching at, and told me to apply when I graduated, and offered to write a recommendation letter for me.

When I graduated from middle school, I applied for the special school, and was denied. My grades were not up to their standards, so they would not be allowing me to attend. I was pissed to say the least; I found my classes boring, and easy. I slacked off because I already knew what my teachers had to say, and my grades reflected it. I talked to my school counselor about it. She and I had become fairly friendly over the years, having been in her office multiple times, for not getting along with other students. She understood my problem, and offered to help me re-apply with her recommendation, and I contacted my old teacher for another recommendation. The school decided that I was at least worth interviewing, and allowed me to come and discuss why I belonged in their school. I must have done well because they accepted me on the spot.

My freshman year in high school was a completely different experience than any other year in school. I was finally in a school with like-minded freaks and geeks, who were all closet nerds. I wasn’t as much of an outcast among them; the school was made entirely of outcast kids from all the local schools. It consisted of kids who were passionate about knowledge in some form or another, and had made the choice to go there. It was a very empowering feeling, not having to dumb down your language, or act a certain way so people wouldn’t judge you.

The school was all about personal accountability, there were no bells; you went to class because you knew it was time, and if you were late it was your fault. There were no hall passes; the students were trusted to do what was required of them. Students didn’t have to lug around backpacks full of books, they all had copies at home and in class, making lockers unnecessary. Sports were not even offered, saving me from the horrors of P.E. Instead students had to spend an amount of hours every semester at the gym, or participating in their chosen athletic activity.

I was very happy there. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all sugar and daisies. Every school has bullies, and every school has a popular crowd. The social ladder just wasn’t as high there, and it was much easier for everyone to be themselves. I was able to get away from the nicknames and rumors I had grown up with, and have a bit of a fresh start. I made new friends, and had a decent social circle of fun, silly, lovable people.

So what if some of the less desirable people I grew up happened to go there to right? Remember those “You Could Be So Pretty” girls? How about the guy from “Used”? I had a bit of a hard time because they all went to this school. I felt like I had this huge crowd of popular kids I had to avoid because of some stupid incident that had happened a long time ago. It shouldn’t have held me back, but it did. I was incredibly shy around all of them, and was constantly afraid that I was being judged. Why that mattered, I have no idea, but back then, it seemed like a pretty big deal to me. You shouldn’t let people affect you like that. Who cares if other people judge you, you should be free to be yourself, regardless of other people’s personal opinions. It really makes sense in hindsight, but I guess that’s why we all have these crazy life lessons where you figure out the bigger picture.

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