Hey guys!

There have been a couple of posts about bike commuting, thought I'd see if anyone rides from Davis to the Waltham area. I have done it a few time in the past weeks, and it might be fun to have a partner. I pretty much am on Rt 60 the whole way...

It's a great ride! The hard part is getting there, coming back it's basically all down hill. about 9 miles.

Lemme know!

Occasionally I suffer from writer's block, especially when what I want to say is totally at odds with what I need to say.  Dan Savage taught me a great trick for coping with this problem: write down what you want to say!  Express the poison!  Then, having written it and got it out of your system, write whatever it is that you need to communicate instead.  So, here is the Mother's Day card that I'm not sending to my grandmother:

	Dear Nana, Happy mothers' day, you hyperjudgmental old cow.  Please quit nagging my brother and my mother.  I know the kid can't get a job; the economy's crap and he's lazy anyway.  Trust me, I'm painfully aware of both facts, as is my mother.  However, every time you bring it up, it sincerely makes my mother cry.  My mother, your daughter, the one who got her fingers trapped in a ringer washing-machine at age 10 and didn't cry, the one who chased a bear off of said brother at age 55.  She's tough, but you installed all her buttons and are merciless about pushing them.  Knock it off.  And quit thinking that you're a psychological expert just because you watch talk shows on daytime TV.  In case you haven't noticed, our family is quite a lot different to the sort of idiots who will go on chat shows, so the "lessons" you learn aren't even relevant, let alone applicable. Also, one more crack about my weight, and I will sincerely bitch-slap you. Your Loving Grandchild.

Just a head's-up: The Republican National Committee's first (that I know of) anti-Obama website. --CNN

For anyone who cares, the actual site is here.

I suppose it's an attempt to start all this 'vetting' of Barack that they say still needs to be done? Too bad about 98% of their questions have been asked and answered. :D

Still, good sign, eh? Onward to November.

This is unexpectedly cool. I'd seen this weird contraption up on the top of Tuft's Tisch library, partially assembled, and wondered what it was.

It's an interactive sound installation using the noises of the city to make music.

WASHINGTON -- The American Federation of Government Employees endorsed Barack Obama Friday, giving the Illinois senator fresh momentum toward capturing the Democratic nomination for president.

"Our people, I think, recognize the enthusiasm and vitality behind Senator Obama's campaign," AFGE President John Gage said.

Gage, a previously uncommitted superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention, said he is also personally endorsing Obama.

Obama, the Democratic front-runner, is vying with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for the party's presidential nomination. His candidacy has been picking up momentum since Tuesday, when he handily won the North Carolina primary and held Clinton to a narrow victory in Indiana.
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life is ridiculously overloaded with circus stuff right now, so i wanted to take a moment to record a great day.

yesterday, i and about 7 other members of various Honk related bands presented a workshop to an instrumental music class at Somerville High School. our goal was to expose them to New Orleans brass band style street music. at this point in their musical development (generally speaking), music is played sitting down, facing a stand with sheet music, in front of director leading the entire group. it was our plan to show then another way, music made while standing (and dancing!), played by ear, freely embellished and improvised, and with no explicit leader. we went over the blues form and taught them all an easy riff they could play to fit over it. then we taught them a simple call and response style New Orleans brass band standard, had different groups take different part and then started playing it over and over. we even got some kids to take improvised solos!

at one point, i broke down the barrier of us standing in front of the class and i climbed up onto the band riser into the sax section. i don't know if they were freaked out or embarrassed (it's generally tough to read anything but disinterest from high school kids, they were it like a mask regardless of what they're feeling), but we all kept rocking along. for the most part, they all kept up with it, but only a few started to break out a bit. then for the glorious end of the class, we got everyone out of their seats (which i was pulling for from the beginning), started up the song and then paraded out into the hallway in between classes. it was so wonderfully rebellious to be making that much racket in the halls, and lots of kids poured out of classrooms to see what was happening, some even danced! the best part was when we invaded the cavernous library. one make-shift brass band along with 30+ band students make for a stark contrast to your average library environment. ;) we eventually ended up finishing the parade outside where we jammed for a bit. all in all it was an amazing experience, and a reminder of what i would be far happier doing with my life.

that would generally be enough to make a day great, but then last night we had our first major cast meeting and rehearsal for Mischief in the Machine. up until this point, everyone has been working in their own little bubbles with supervision from the director, so last night was the first time many of us got to see each other in action. many performers got to hear and work with the band in person for the first time, and the band got to see the ensemble cast and several featured performers that they've never seen before. it was so much fun to finally get so much happening in one space. we still have a lot of work in front of us, but the performances are coming along splendidly. it seemed like everyone walked away from it with an increased sense of unity and excitement, which was my primary goal and we exceeded my expectations. this has set a very strong and optimistic tone for the arduous and intense weeks that we have ahead of us, and now i am even more confident that this show is going to be amazing.

seriously, you will regret it if you miss this and hear people talking about in the aftermath. ;) tickets aren't officially on sale yet, but you can contact tickets at ensmb dot com to get ticket info.

Tacit: Can you really prove that you are you, though? I mean, really?
Xtina: Depending on what philosopher you read, I am the only real person in the universe, there is no single "me" to respond to this, or there's no cohesive "me" to respond to this.
Xtina: So I'm not sure!
Xtina: I can prove I am me right now.  I am not the me who started this conversation, although we have a lot in common.  If I were to be more non-social than social, then that would be a different aspect of me, so you could argue that we would be different people entirely.
Xtina: And if I accept as true that I am myself, then I am the one giving anything meaning in this world, from disasters to the shapes of these letters, and so not only am I me, you are only you because of me.
Xtina: Depends on the hour, really.
Tacit: *blink*
Xtina: You asked.  :)
Tacit: I did, it's true.

contentlove writes about her concerns regarding the recent raid of a polygamist community in texas.

i have similar concerns. it wouldn't be the first time law enforcement has used the possibility of child abuse (without proof) to persecute those with different sexual practices than the mainstream.

with more time, i might also write about the disturbing refusal of mainstream society to healthily acknowledge the powerful sexuality of adolescents and how that refusal plays into situations like this, but it's a work day, so.

for now, i suppose we're all waiting on evidence.

http://www.everythingsysadmin.com/archives/000215.html

April Showers bring May Flowers. What does May bring? Three-day weekends that make A/C units fail!

This is a good time to call your A/C maintenance folks and have them do a check-up on your units. Check for loose or worn belts and other problems. If you've added more equipment since last summer your unit may now be underpowered. Remember that if your computers consume 50Kw of power, your A/C units should be using about the same (or more) to cool those computers. That's the laws physics speaking, I didn't invent that rule. The energy it takes to create heat equals the energy required to remove that much heat.

Why do A/C units often fail on a 3-day weekend? During the week the office building has its own A/C. The computer room's A/C only has to remove the heat generated by the equipment in the room. On the weekends the build's A/C is powered off and now the 6 sides (4 walls, floor and ceiling) of the computer room are getting hot. Heat seeps in. Now the computer room's A/C unit has more work to do.

A 3-day weekend is 84 hours (Friday 6pm until Tuesday 6am). That's a lot of time to be running continuously. Belts wear out. Underpowered units overheat and die. Unlike a home A/C unit which turns on for a few minutes out of every hour, a computer-room A/C unit ("industrial unit") runs 40-50 minutes out of every hour. Something running that much has to be specially engineered.

Most counties have a 3-day weekend in May. By the 2nd or 3rd day the A/C unit is working as much as a typical day during the summer. If your computer room doesn't survive that weekend, imagine a summer full of days just like it.

To prevent a cooling emergency make sure that your monitoring system is also watching the heat and humidity of your room. There are many SNMP-accessible units for less than $100. If you detect temperatures of 38 degrees C you should be alerted. More if that rises to 40 within 30 minutes it is unlikely that the temperature will go down on its own. You can reduce some of the heat in the room by simply shutting down some non-essential machines (The Practice of System and Network Administration has tips about creating a "shutdown list"). Having the ability to remotely power off machines can save you a trip to the office. Lacking that, shutting down a machine will make it generate less heat even if it is powered up. Sitting at a "press any key to boot" prompt often generates little heat compared to a machine that is actively processing. If powering off the non-critical machines isn't enough, shut down critical equipment but not the equipment involved in letting you access the monitoring systems (usually the network equipment). That way you can bring things back up remotely. Of course, as a last resort you'll need to power off those bits of equipment too.

Having cooling emergency? Cooling units can be rented on an emergency basis to help you through a failed cooling unit, or to supplement a cooling unit that is underpowered. There are many companies looking to help you out with a rental unit.

If you have a small room that needs to be cooled (a telecom closet that now has a rack of machines) I've had good luck with a $300 unit available at Walmart. For $300 it isn't great, but I can buy one in less than an hour without having to wait for management to approve the purchase. Heck, for $300 you can buy two and still be below the spending limit of a typical IT manager. The Sunpentown 1200 is a unit one can purchase for about $600 that re-evaporates any water condensation and exhausts it with the hot air. Not having to empty a bucket of water every day is worth the extra cost. The unit is intended for home use, so don't try to use it as a permanent solution. (Not that I didn't use it for more than a year at one company.) It has one flaw... after a power outage it defaults to being off. I guess that is typical of a consumer unit. Be sure to put a big sign on it that explains exactly what to do to turn it back on after a power outage. (The sign I made says step by step what buttons to press, and what color each LED should be if it is running properly. I then had a non-system administrator test the process.)

In summary: test your A/C units now. Monitor them, especially on the weekends. Be ready with a backup plan if your A/C unit breaks. Do all this and you can prevent an expensive and painful meltdown.

Clinton's Iraq Primary Election Exit Strategy...from the LA Times:

Election 2008
Clinton advisers talk exit strategy

By Peter Nicholas

Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — She's darting across the country like a full-fledged presidential candidate, but the conversation within Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's circle of advisers and donors has turned to how she can make a dignified exit from the race.

Outwardly, Clinton operated Thursday as if the disappointing results from Indiana and North Carolina never happened. She made stops in West Virginia, South Dakota and Oregon, while her husband held a conference call with top fundraisers. Before dawn, one of her advisers, Mark Penn, crafted a memo to outline the campaign's strategy.

But for all the signs of normalcy, much of the infrastructure that keeps the Clinton campaign going — the aides, donors and political allies — is resigned to the reality that the Democratic nomination is out of reach.

"There is a profound sadness [among the staff]," one Clinton aide said Thursday. "I don't think anyone sees that there's a clear path to victory here."

Richard Schiffrin, a national finance co-chairman for Clinton, is scheduled to meet with other fundraisers and her next week. He said he will tell her: "Let's look at the situation as it exists and think about whether there's a credible path to the nomination, and if there isn't, what's Plan B?

"The bottom line is she's going to make a decision that in my view will be in the best interests of the party and the country."

Clinton on Thursday launched a three-state, 21-hour, cross-country marathon campaign swing. Speaking to several hundred supporters in Charleston, W.Va., Clinton acknowledged she has come under growing pressure to drop out. She suggested she will stay at least until Tuesday's primary.

"Some folks say, 'You've got to end this before you get to West Virginia,' " she said. "I think we want to keep this going so the people of West Virginia's voices are heard."

After a stop in Sioux Falls, S.D., Clinton concluded her day Thursday night with a town-hall event in Central Point, Ore.

Sen. Barack Obama, meanwhile, was on Capitol Hill, where even Republican lawmakers elbowed past colleagues in the House chamber to shake his hand.

On NBC's "Nightly News with Brian Williams," Obama denied he is now the presumptive nominee. "Not yet. I will be," he said. "If Senator Clinton decides not to go on, or if we complete the six contests and we are ahead as we are now. But nothing is certain. I don't want to take it for granted."

Having invested 16 months and raised more than $200 million, Clinton might find it difficult to quit. Her campaign persona is solidly built on the idea that she's working-class America's scrappy warrior. So dropping out with six contests left would be awkward.

More here: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004402372_dems09.html

---

I say she should drop out after West Virginia...by then Obama will have likely exceeded her in super-delegates (as her lead is now been reduced to 3 as of today) and she'll get a win...although really i have no idea what hte polling is out of there, it's certainly favored but whether it's a blowout for Obama...I actually doubt that it will be on top of all the other recent contests where Clinton can't seem to get more than 10% point wins, and in fact Indiana where I certainly thought and most post suggested a 7-10% win for her, it ended up just being 1% (and prior to the strong black support coming in from Lake County, IN the lead was down to just 4%). Yes, she could win even without campaigning in Kentucky...but she might have a chance in Montana and South Dakota as well. I haven't seen polls from those locations. At this point I think the argument that him loosing a state to Clinton after she's dropped out would look bad isn't very strong anymore. Everyone knows he's the nominee, the media is treating him as such, everyone already knows he's got issues with some white voters, i don't think anyone expects him to win the remaining contests in Clinton-favored areas just because she's out of the race anyways just because of how competitive this whole contest was even up to this point. Clinton herself if she drops out after next Tuesday could ask voters in the other states to vote for Obama instead and give him the mandate he needs to solidify the Democratic Party if she's so concerned about it. But at this point, i'm about ready to stop even paying attention to these primaries.

The Coolidge Corner Theatre is showing Dhamma Brothers next weekend, a documentary about a mindfulness meditation program at a high-security prison in Alabama. I could go on the 17th or the 19th. Anybody interested in going with me?

Are any of you doing this tomorrow? We have planned events here in the Bay Area.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/vfchome

On May 10th, Barack Obama is launching Vote for Change, an unprecedented 50-state voter registration and mobilization drive. More than 100 events will be held across the country that day. Obama volunteers will register new voters as the start of a six-month voter registration drive.

( Read more... )

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/014605.html

Eight-year-old brother speaking to four year old brother in high pitched witches voice: First I'll burn you to a black crisp in a huge oven, then I'll start with your flesh...
Four-year-old: What will it taste like?
Eight-year-old brother, without pausing: It will taste like a delicious steak, then I 'll eat your teeth and they'll taste like crackers! But your hair, your hair will be completely burned off.
Four-year-old: [Giggles maniacally.]

--C Train

Overheard by: never having kids

Barack Obama had not been in politics for long when he got his tail whipped by a veteran Chicago Congressman in his own backyard. For a brief period that followed, Obama seemed a bit unsure about what to do with his life--the same kind of unsettling early stumble made by others who went on to seek--and often win--the presidency. Yet within four years, Obama had won a seat in the U.S. Senate. Less than four years after that, he has all but clinched the Democratic nomination for President.

How did the man who is virtually certain to face John McCain in the fall come so far so fast? Much of the answer can be traced to the lessons of his first thumping. It was after that brief race in 2000, say dozens of aides and associates who spoke with TIME, that Obama learned how to be a politician. He jettisoned his Harvard-tested speaking style for something more down-home. He learned how to cultivate those in power without being defined by them. And he learned how to be different things to different people: a reformer groomed by an old-fashioned machine boss, an African American heavily financed by white liberals, a Harvard lawyer whose bootstrapping life story gained traction with white ethnics. Abner Mikva, a former federal judge and Congressman from Chicago, credits Obama with figuring out "how to appeal to different constituencies without being inconsistent."
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In the spirit of our emphasis on party unity, generosity, warmth, and forgiveness, please stay cool at this latest news. Let's be the mature ones here and not overreact. No name-calling, please.

It only represents a tiny speck of sand of Clinton's supporters. All it does is help Barack and push superdelegates to more quickly endorse him. Let them self-destruct on their own. (See Wright Makes Super-Dels MORE Eager To Back Obama.)

Here's the news. I'm happy most of us never actually contacted superdelegates.

Clinton Supporters Send Last-Ditch Obama Attack Emails To Supers (HuffPo):

As the Democratic primary nears its long-awaited conclusion, undecided superdelegates have been drowned under a sudden deluge of angry, sometimes vicious emails from Hillary Clinton supporters urging them to not fall in line behind Barack Obama.

( Read more... )

"It was a 'spur of the moment' idea brought about by a blog (Taylor Marsh)," explained Shirley Luther, a Texas Democrat who threatened to vote for McCain should Obama be the nominee. "Tonight several of our bloggers came up with the idea of writing the super delegates. Someone on the blog found a list of emails and posted it.... Everything I wrote is the truth about my political background. The exit polls show I am not alone in refusing to vote for Obama and opting to McCain....

[Taylor Marsh stresses that she is NOT involved in this email campaign. She stresses that while she is strongly pro-Clinton, she is also strongly anti-McCain.]

At least two other party insiders wrote the Huffington Post expressing concern over the scope ("I've received emails like this for weeks but tonight it started in mass") and negativity of some of the Obama attacks, including one red-state Democrat:

"I spent my entire life in the two reddest states in the entire U.S. so please excuse me if I fail to discern the nuances of the arguments sent my way this evening in what appears to be an orchestrated campaign to intimidate the remaining unpledged delegates by threatening to leave the party and vote for a third Bush term if I and others like me don't vote for Sen. Clinton," wrote the exasperated superdelegate.

"I have been uncommitted throughout this campaign because I wanted to see how the candidates performed in a variety of settings. I am proud of them both. But I am horrified by this effort to threaten votes for McCain if super delegates don't vote for Sen. Clinton. I have received hundreds of emails from both sides - but I can say without exception that I have not received a single email from an Obama supporter that threatened a vote for McCain if I didn't support Sen. Obama. You really ought to be ashamed."

Phil Singer, a spokesman for Clinton, emails to say that the campaign knows nothing about the emails. Meanwhile, two readers write in to say they saw the campaign being coordinated at the friendly Clinton website Hillaryis44.org, as well as the blog page on Clinton's own website.

In desperation, Clinton supporters begin threats to Superdelegates (Daily Kos).

Збирка задатака из српског језика за квалификациони испит за упис у средње школе...

Поред назива дела додај име аутора и језик којим је писан: (Ваљда: писано, тј. написано!?)
Одговор девојчице с којом радимо српски:
а) "Житије светог Симеона" - свети Сава, СРПСКОХРВАТСКИ.

А на једно од питања аутори збирке су понудили неколико одговора, између осталог:
г) сугерисана је мисао да се младићу, упркос поразу у наџњевању и натпијању, указује могућност да оствари вреднију победу... Хахаха... НАЏЊЕВАТИ СЕ... ако досад нисте чули, запамтите...

... било би (и јесте) трагично...

Chicago, IL – Today, California DNC Member and superdelegate Ed Espinoza endorsed Barack Obama, citing his judgment, character, and ability to unite our country for change.

Espinoza is the 268th superdelegate to endorse Barack Obama. Obama is 163 delegates away from securing the Democratic nomination.

Espinoza said, “I am endorsing Barack Obama today because throughout this process I have seen him show a judgment and character that we need in our next president. From day one he opposed the Iraq war and has a plan to end the war in a responsible way and bring our sons and daughters home. He has shown he has the character to lead our great nation, from his choice to spend his career serving people in the poorest communities in Chicago to his commitment to speaking truth to the American people, even when it isn’t politically convenient to do so. To unify the country at this time in our history we need a president who has these qualities, and that is why I am proud to endorse him today. My good friend Bill Richardson, who backed Obama some weeks ago, knows what it takes to lead and I trust his judgment in this decision as well. I look forward to working with this great movement to bring victory in November.”
Source

This "tracker" daemon that crept into my computer with Hardy Heron and keeps starting itself up and grabbing large percentages of my CPU to index stuff -- it's extraneous, correct? I can 'sudo apt-get remove tracker' to get rid of it once and for all? The impression I've gotten from the man pages and forum threads is that it's some extra widget the Ubuntu people dropped in on top of everything else in order to make searching the file system more fun for the whole family, little realizing the beastie was a baby-eating monster (at least at the beginning).

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ICanHasCheezburger/~3/286915622/

http://icanhascheezburger.com/?p=50637

First, from Janet, the Friday Fill-Ins:

1. The _kiss_ had an extra secret ingredient; it was _filled with emotion and melted my knees_!
2. _I see pollen dancing_ through my window.
3. Right now, I need _coffee, which would be why I just got back from DD_.
4. _Home_ is where I went Thursday night; it was _quiet and filled with some TV watching_.
5. Why does _spring_ hurt so much?
6. All I can think of is the _how annoying breathing is right now_.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _hanging out with friends_, tomorrow my plans include _helping a different friend pack her house up_ and Sunday, I want to _see people I've missed_!

Second, from an LJ friend, a very spiffy link of science tattoos (6 pages of 'em).

Third, a wonderful quote found by KathyHowe:
"To wish you were someone else is to waste the person you are."
-Unknown

Happy weekend (I took today off)!

The other night my daughter (age 13) announced she has a boyfriend (her first). He happens to be African-American, although that didn't come up until her brothers and I went looking for him in her yearbook. Also, one of her good friends has two mommies. Meanwhile, one of my sons' (almost 16) best friends is (and I mean this in the most complimentary way) a flaming queen.

The kids take all of this for granted. This fills me with delight.

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/014604.html

Chick: What are you doing this weekend?
Guy: I'm going to a passover rave.
Chick: What the hell is a passover rave?
Guy: That's where we have a Seder, then drop ecstasy and go dancing.
Chick: That is so awesome. Can I come?
Guy: You're not Jewish.

--Waiting Room, Pacific College of Acupuncture Clinic

Overheard by: Colleen

Can I make a suggestion?

With Barack inches away from being declared the nominee, we should start thinking about making sure that that Senator Clinton's supporters feel welcome here. There are bound to be some very hurt and angry people if/when she finally concedes, and we can't antagonize them if we hope for them to join us.

I would like to suggest that from now on, we ease up on the anti-Hillary posts and comments. No more comments stating how awful/insane/horrible she is. We can express our displeasure with her actions without insulting her personally. I also think that when it is finally announced that he is the nominee, we make sure to not bash her in any way. We can jump up and down and cheer for him, but we should make sure to leave the "Take that Hillary!" comments out of it.

We need to keep in mind how hard it would be if the shoe was on the other foot. Can you imagine joining one of her groups, only to hear about how awful he is and we are for supporting him? How angry would you be to read comments laughing at him and mocking all of his 'Obamatrons?' Would it make you more or less likely to support her and the people backing her? We will need Senator Clinton and her supporters if we want Barack to win in November. We need to make sure that they will feel welcome and don't feel like joining us is a betrayal to their candidate.

I know we are all frustrated with how nasty this has gotten, and how long this has dragged out. But we need to rise above the (sometimes understandable) urges to lash out at what we see as the dirty, anything-goes politics played by Senator Clinton. But we are fighting for a candidate who stands for a change from politics as usual. We need to make sure we stick to his message and not let ourselves get dragged into playing the exact politics he is trying to change. We need to make sure that we are about building him up and not tearing her down.

It's almost over guys. We're almost there. :)

A college senior at UConn was sexually assaulted, fought off her attacker, then was circled and further assaulted by a pack of cheering dudes - whom she also fought her way out of.

On the one hand, her fighting back, then writing about it in the school newspaper, is awesome.

On the other hand, dude, you see a woman attacked and you laugh and attack her some more?

And then you start with your blame the victim bullshit, and confirm other girls' shame and feeling that they shouldn't come forward about their own experiences with rape and assault?

The title of this post was my favorite comment from the first linked article. If we can't change the attitudes that make these boys act they way they do, perhaps it's time to arm the female populace. Is rage all that will stop this?

So the Brimfield Antique Show is happening next week, with something like six thousand antique dealers spead over twenty-three fields in Brimfield MA.

I was pondering making a day trip of going up there next Saturday (the 17th), anyone interested in joining me? The plan would be to get up there relatively early (9-10am) and stay until we're tired of it and/or tired out (as there is no way to see it all in one day).

Best would probably be to meet somewhere (my place or off the Mass Pike depending who is coming), and carpool in with as few vehicles as possible. I can also offer limited crash space to people who'd want to come down the night before or not drive right back afterwards.


Also, so I don't lose it: www.fleamarketsource.com