onfocus

A Confederacy of Denial (washingtonpost.com): "Ashcroft, Norton and their supporters would do well to go back and look at the words of Confederate leaders before joining any chorus of Confederate nostalgia. In 1861 the vice president of the Confederacy, Alexander H. Stephens, declared that his new government's 'cornerstone rests upon the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition.'" I can't believe that there are still people in this country (and people that hold the highest offices in the land) who are civil war deniers. I also can't believe how often issues that should have been decided during the civil war are still with us today. Between these cabinet nominees and the georgia flag debate, the civil war still seems to be a hot topic. Coincidentally, I just started reading Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz.

what can you write when you can't write what you want to write?

[a pause in the silence.]

it's time for a good old fashioned FREAK OUT. who's with me?

CNN: Most members of Bush's Cabinet are millionaires: "A look at Bush's nominees show that most are wealthy, all with a net worth in at least six figures. Many hold stock in companies affected by federal actions."

The mainstream media didn't really cover the inauguration protests though an estimated 15,000 turned out for them in San Francisco alone. [via sfblogs] I sympathize with the protestors and feel it's a good way to show support for a cause, but this kind of statment is ridiculous: "Another part of the group locked arms in front of the Gap. Store management informed the police that they would not arrest the protesters because it 'happens all the time'." I swear these types of protestors are plants for the other side. That's just idiocy.

oneminute.blogspot.com: "...but in 2000 use of the Vocoder spread throughout pop music like gonorrhea in a Navy seaport."

Ralph Nader weighs in on the California power situation: "...the utilities have vast worldwide assets that could more than cushion their financial problems in California – without reaching into consumers' pockets for higher rates and a bailout."

SFBG : Confederate Cartel's war against California: To escape this bind [Governor Gray Davis] should take lessons from Franklin D. Roosevelt. As governor of New York, FDR noticed that electricity cost $19.50 for a typical 250 kilowatt-hour bill in Albany but only $2.79 across the border in Ontario. So he created the New York State Power Authority – along the lines of publicly owned Ontario Hydro – to reduce the disparity...he asserted that the people have the "undeniable right" to set up "government-owned and operated utility services as a national yardstick to prevent extortion against the public."

Jose Gonzalez wrote a Blogger + XML + PHP tutorial as well. He says, "Don't worry, it is not as difficult as it sounds." He's also experimenting with Flash and Blogger. exciting stuff!

ps. If you use Blogger, Anil also has a poll asking how much you'd pay per month to use a pro version.

Matt Kingston modified my Blogger + ASP + XML tutorial to show how it's done with PHP. very cool. This reminds me that I've always intended to write more about XML + Blogger. (eg: how to set up a simple search, how to write out the archive index on any page, or how to enable remote editing.)

Not related to Blogger...a lot of the picture stuff I have on this site is done with writing out XML representations of file structures on the server...then transforming those with XSL. I've been meaning to write some of that stuff up too.

Anyway, the archive XML file for this site is here. And the XML for this page is here. And I have the auto RSS version (w/ a beta Blogger Pro) here.

Speaking of Blogger Pro, Anil Dash has an amazing page outlining some of the new features. (or possible features.) Does he have the office bugged? ;)

While I'm in Texas having fun with web folk, skp will be in New Zealand touring wineries. And believe it or not, it's just part of her job. Must be rough. ;)

I just finished up the arrangements for my trip to Austin for sxsw. (no music for me this year, just interactive.) I'm already looking forward to it. (Now where did that sxsw blog go?)

I love all paradoxes. The only paradox I hate is the fact that I love all paradoxes. (har har.) Anyway, I've been thinking about them because I stumbled across Berry's Paradox: "'The least integer not nameable in fewer than nineteen syllables." Really makes you stop thinking.

ZDNet: Ego Finds A New Outlet In 'Blogs': "As we get more mobile, it will be easier and easier to put spontaneous thoughts out there," Merholz says. "The increasing omnipresence of the Internet will allow for the publishing of thought pretty much as it occurs."

reminds me of blogs: "It is not entrails that we try to interpret these days, nor even hearts or facial expressions; it is, quite simply, the brain. We want to expose to view its billions of connections and watch it operating like a video game...All that fascinates us is the spectacle of the brain and its workings. What we are wanting here is to see our thoughs unfolding before us – and this itself is a superstition." - John Baudrillard from America.

crazy. (everything is still on here. but for how long?)

why do I always leave stuff at home? today I forgot my headphones. Last week it was a network card. Often it's the network card dongle. On particularly bad days, I've forgotten my laptop altogether. (but that hasn't happened since I stopped putting my backpack in my trunk. Out of sight, out of mind. Out of sight, might not be there.)

just when the weather turns nice, my health turns bad. ugh. In other news, the latest issue of Brill's Content (I'm now forgiving them for past pissing-me-offs [I realize this makes me sound like a grudge-holding cranky old man {eg. "60 minutes? Shut that off! I've been mad at them since Andy Roony blasted the mail delivery service back in '56. The mail gets here just fine, dammit!"}]...and I still subscribe) has a great article by Ralph Nader about the past election. It also has a scathing indictment of the TV news folks and their combined (probably illegal) election results service. And now, back to feeling sick. And it wasn't caused by this election info. I think.

more IT related news: A revolutionary new wheelchair. (this was one of Kamen's earlier (related?) inventions.)

oh yeah, and the power crisis continues. Rolling blackouts start at 4pm. If you're in California and reading this today, go shut off a light somewhere. You're taxing the grid, man. (Diablo Canyon 1, why can't you be more like Diablo Canyon 2?)

this storm is some of the worst weather I've seen since I moved to CA. As I drove to San Francisco this morning, my windshield wipers couldn't keep up with the horizontal rain the wind was throwing around. The palm trees along the Embarcadero were shivering. If you stand outside for two minutes your clothes get completely soaked, and the wind simply eats umbrellas. So yeah, the rain sucks. But the sound of the rain on the roof is calming.

Have you heard about IT? this must be IT. [via the clever boingboing] (this device is hated by the knights who say ni!)

They tell me the beaches over there are black
From lava gone into the sea
And unroll at the foot of an immense peak fuming with
    snow
Under a second sun of wild canaries

- Andr

I highly recommend Genghis Blues. (universal music.) I also recommend State and Main. (cutesy cinecism.) I somewhat recommend All About My Mother. (complex roles.)

CNET.com: Linux to star on silver screen: "The film promises to be a Linux lover's dream, featuring shots of the Gnome desktop, consulting work by Linux leaders, and cameos by at least one of the Linux movement's geekiest idols." Whenever you see "real-world" technology in a movie, it's always this weird alternate-universe technology. Usually with HUGE UI elements. Like a big red box that takes up an entire monitor flashing ACCESS DENIED. or in Independence Day: uploading virus. Maybe this movie will get it right.

I sure have been swearing a lot lately. I'm not mad. just swearing.

"Beginning is easy – continuing is hard." - Japanese Proverb

wired news: Dot-Com Begs for Bucks: "So Pyra, which has kept its service free of ads, is turning to its members in the hope that users will be grateful enough to cough up a few dollars to keep it going."

here's a list of weblogs talking about the server fund. thanks weblogs.com!

the talk of the web world is the blogger server fund. the response is amazing. (and of course there's a metafilter thread about it.)

hmm, I stand corrected. something new is happening at Blogger. (if you like this site or any of the thousands powered by Blogger, consider helping out. and thank you!)

the new year doesn't feel like a new start or a new beginning to me. (with the exception of the year I moved to California around this time.) it feels like more of the same. spring always feels like a new beginning. when the weather changes, and flowers and trees that used to be dead start to wake up, the world seems full of new life. I'm going to celebrate my new year in a few months.

I spent some time at the coast today. It was such a beautiful day...a wonderful way to start the year. I took a whole roll of film as skp and I watched some big waves. I also took some digital photos at Bodega Head.