Ari Fleisher Laughed out of the White House Press Room
See: this post to IP. Here is a (requires RealPlayer) Direct Link. Fast forward to about 28 minutes. I sensed a little smirk on Ari’s face, but how on earth can he say there’s no quid pro quo in diplomacy? The whole game is “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” And that applies whether the topic is trade or war!
Go Janece!
Workings of the Mind redesigned/changed out their flaky backend.
Beliefnet
Interesting site: Beliefnet.com
Unhide the Safari Debug Menu
Here’s a neat trick, for those of you using Safari. If you want to see the debug menu (which includes goodies like a DOM tree viewer and a “snippet viewer”, which lets you take a snippet of HTML and view it as Safari will render it, sort of like a split-screen WYSIWYG editor) just shut down Safari, open up Terminal and type:
defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeDebugMenu 1
And start Safari again. To turn it off again, run the same command with a 0 instead of a 1.
via Steve Champeon on webdesign-l
Good Day, Good Lunch, Good Ness Let’s Eat
That title is meaningless. Today was good. Work was interesting. I get a sense that the job security where I am will be good for the near term. It had been indicated to me that the gig would be 2-3 months, but I’m reading tea leaves that indicate job security through October. This is a lovely thing altogether.
Had lunch with some excellent friends slash colleagues slash men (and one woman) about town in the web sphere. Great ideas and rants exchanged.
I’m thinking of starting a tech news blog for San Diego. It’ll be an alternative take. I may need contributors. Maybe make it slashdot style? No. I don’t want a giant forum. But it would be nice to have some interaction. Perhaps it would be good as a MovableType blog with comments? It can cover news and gossip in web dev (my favorite), biotech, wireless, and the like. Could be a fun diversion. If it sucks, we kill it. Simple enough!
No progress on the car. But soon.
I opened a bank account today. A local one for when I have to get into a bank. This is a good move. Practical.
Also, I think I’m gonna kill my land-line and get a mobile phone. It too would be a helpful thing. It’s time to join the 21st Century maybe.
Incidentally, I’m writing this from the Claire de Lune Coffeehouse. It’s a public net terminal. Gotta catch the bus soon. Or maybe get a ride.
Enough for now.
Some Quickies
Strictly speaking I don’t have any time to write, have to get ready for work. But i want to write some things quick-like.
The radio was really great. As opposed to the show on blogging, (see words)- there were only 2 guests instead of 3. This made more time my time. Also, there were many more call-in callers. They all had good questions, and made for good discussion.
The host, Tom Fudge, was quite a nice guy. Always nice to put faces with the voices on the radio, yes? Interestingly, he actually did look like his voice.
It went well, and I got some kind email afterwards from some folks who heard me. It makes me wonder if, say, anyone I haven’t seen in a long time heard it. Is that that Joe Crawford? Naaaah! Couldn’t be!
Leah drove me, as I have no functional car. She hung out in the green room while I did my thing. After, we went to the estimable D.Z. Akins and Leah had what she described as “the best grilled-cheese sandwich I’ve ever had in my life” — which she says is high praise. It was a nice victory meal.
I didn’t pre-publicize it. No. I didn’t want to skew it with call-ins from friends. I wanted to be Mr. Un-Hype for a change. It worked out, and people noticed anyway.
I like being on the radio. I would do it again, and I think I was good at it. Maybe this is a new career avenue? Geek-on-the-radio?
After all that, I worked half-day. I still got the skillz to pay tha billz.
Bused it home and chilled out. I finished reading Pattern Recognition. The latest Gibson. It was good. Dreamy, fun, current, plausible. Everything you want in a techno-thriller.
My back hurts a bit. Gonna take some Motrin.
Okay, gotta go to work!
ONWARD!
Radio, Radio.
So yeah, I was on the radio again – for a full hour on Tom Fudge’s show These Days on local NPR affiliate KPBS. Also on the hot seat talking about web design and web sites was Pam Dixon. It all went quite well. But I must now do some real work. More later.
Lessons About San Diego Transit
When it rains, more people seem to be on the bus. The buses I took to and from work today were packed. People who have to transfer rely on the timing of the buses, and as transit is different in the rain, people miss their connections, and get surly, and are on buses they did not expect to be on. Tonight it was standing room only. But what can you do? You make do of course!
It was funny though, one guy carped out loud “This is a safety hazard! How many people are you gonna fit on this bus!” — to which the bus driver (a woman in her early 30s maybe) piped back — “Why don’t you count?!” — she got chuckles from everyone else but carping man. He replied “There are too many people on this bus for more people!” — and the suggestion to this from our heroine bus driver was “Well you could get off” — the whole bus roared with laughter, and we let more people on. It was standing room only, but the buses are set up now with straps and poles that hang down so people can stand and hold on fine.
I really like the reaction of the bus driver. On reflection, her responses are probably the result of lots of complaining passengers, but I’m struck by the way laughter can defuse what could be a contentious situation. I’m pleased by my fellow San Diegan Commuters. It’s raining. It’s wet. Cold. Miserable. But people find a way to make the best of it. I think people were more polite than they usually are.
At lunch I went out — and it was sunny. I went and had a taco and tamale for lunch. Cheapo Mexican food. I enjoyed it. But when it was time to go back to work the rain had started back up. Bucketfulls. (or is it Buckets full?) It was pouring for my several-block walk. I of course neglected to bring my umbrella. I didn’t bring it out of some sense of hope that the weather had improved. Or perhaps forgetfulness. Anyway, several people nodded at me in commiseration as I did that hunched over trot that people do when they have no covering and have to walk in precipitation.
That’s the end of my rain and transit stories. Good night.
Oh, I will have a new entry on Words, a new radio thing, by the end of the day tomorrow. Don’t want to say where though. Don’t want to jinx it.
Disdain for $
I like this…
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
Samuel Adams, speech at the Philadelphia State House, August 1, 1776.
They Killed BBEdit Lite!
See: http://www.barebones.com/products/bblite/index.shtml:
Thank you for your interest in BBEdit Lite. As of February 25, 2003, BBEdit Lite has been discontinued and is no longer available.
Sad. Sad. Sad.
