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It's good to know that there are still people out there willing to stop what they're doing on a 30 degree night and help a lone young woman change her flat tire without asking anything in return.

I have some paying forward to do.
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So, apparently the US has a 2000 mile long blizzard, and down in Australia they're staring into the mouth of a cyclone that just took out equipment designed to withstand a category 5 storm.

Can we believe in global climate change now, please?
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http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/371414/january-18-2011/the-word---disintegration

I don't know why embed code seems to have stopped working... but, the fight that's taken over my Dad's life got featured on the Colbert Report! Not that I expect the "non-partisan" majority to care, but it's good to hear someone on a national level mock the bozos. :D
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Announcing the Written Insight Etsy Shop! Natural jewelry and wearable literature, a line of pendants and earrings incorporating the best parts of an afternoon spent under a tree with a book.

Please check it out and let me know what you think!

Watch This

Mar. 29th, 2010 09:55 pm
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I know it's 90 minutes. I don't care. Set it to play in the background while you do something else if you have to. Just make sure that something else is mindless.

Douglas Adams: Parrots, the Universe, and Everything

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This isn't something I do that often, but if you can, please consider helping out greyladybast. She and her son have just been thrown out of her father's house with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.

Also, on a happier note, thanks to romaine24, djinnj, bewarethesmirk and cluegirl for snowflakes! :D
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I don't have a title for this one, but since two of the lovely people over at [profile] livelongnmarry have agreed to help me with my second draft, this is my start at passing the love along. This is for [personal profile] marginaliana, who also bought disappearing people.

Summary: Harry doesn't understand his son's obsession with the electric guitar. Not, that is, until he's talked into taking lessons himself.
Word count: 1176
Rating: G
Author's Notes: Sorry this took so long, [personal profile] marginaliana! I hope you enjoy it. :)

Harry sighed as James stood, his nose pressed to the window, ogling the neck of the electric guitar in the window of Finnegan Music Emporium. )
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And then I actually did die! Sort of. Ok, not really, it just felt like I did. But I'm alive now, and I made it through the stomach bug without puking on anything irreplaceable. Yay? Now I get to figure out how many extra hours I need to shoehorn into the next pay period to have enough on tax day.

In lieu of an actual update, links!

First, [personal profile] liz_marcs is kindly hosting an ongoing discussion of health care stories from the US and elsewhere in her journal. Go read, learn, and ask questions of your fellow journalers.

Second, the White House has released their version of a viral e-mail. It needs a bit of help. As various commenters have mentioned, it's too long, has a slightly confusing organization, and lacks both a hook and a sparkly gif. That said, it's not hopeless... Anyone up for helping trim this into three viral e-mails, giving them a bit of polish and sending them on their way? I lack the ability to create something sparkly, but I do plan to do some re-writing on it and I'll see if I can get permission to use some good hook stories from the lovely people over in [personal profile] liz_marcs's journal.

EDIT: Someone already did it! Still considering splitting it up, but here's a draft to be getting on with. Start spreading the e-mail, kids. :D

Third, I found this to be a nice theory about the mentality of a certain sci-fi author who has been causing offense of late, not to mention certain leaders in the Republican party.

And finally, for the US people reading, please write your senators and representatives to ask them to support this:

Photobucket

It's been introduced in the House, and has a sponsor in the Senate. Why am I bringing this to your attention? The federal government has several critical need areas in which there is already a shortage of trained individuals, or such a shortage is projected. These areas include engineering, medicine and public health, foreign languages, information technology and law. The Roosevelt Scholars act would create a civilian corps similar to the ROTC programs, which have been wildly successful in recruiting the best and the brightest into the military. In exchange for tuition and a small stipend, Roosevelt Scholars would take a federal position for a minimum of three years after graduation. You can find more information, including a petition, here.

Personally, I would like to apply to be a Roosevelt Scholar, and I can't do that if the bill doesn't pass, so go forth and encourage your respective politicians to be supportive!
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So, Mac people! First, does anyone happen to have the restore disks for a Powerbook G4? I find myself unwilling to pay for diagnostics and time on a problem that has a 50% chance of being too expensive to fix (logic board vs. DC-in board), but I can't seem to place my hands on my restore disks to do the hardware tests myself.

Second, as the power icon on my laptop flickers between charging and not, despite being plugged in the entire time, I'm backing up like a crazy thing and surfing the Apple website for a replacement. I think I'm leaning towards an iMac, just because to get to the processing level of what I'd like to do this time around is a difference of around $400 between desktop and laptop world. :( That said, the software that they offer has changed quite a bit since I did this 5 years ago. Does anyone have any experience with/comments on the following?

-iWork vs. MS Office Suite: I'll be going into another very Windows heavy environment, and I'll actually be using Parallels to run SAS and EpiSuite on the desktop (hence the need for extra processing power), so I'm leaning towards the MS just for compatibility.
-Final Cut Express: I'll be getting the Adobe Web Premium suite (Dreamweaver Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks, Soundbooth, Acrobat, and Contribute), so I'm not sure if I'm duplicating functions with this one or not. I am planning on doing promotion both for my book and a couple of business ideas, so I may have a need for a video editing software with a bit more oomph than iMovie. Of course, I could always buy it when the need arises, but it's nice to have it pre-installed.
-Bento 2: I want to explore this site a bit more, but it looks really cool. Creating custom databases? I can think of about 10 different ideas for that off the top of my head, from world building to recipe organization. Yes, I'm a dork, why do you ask? :D
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If you use Twitter, set your location to Tehran & your time zone to GMT +3.30. Iranian security forces are hunting for bloggers using location/timezone searches. The more people at this location, the more of a logjam it creates for forces trying to shut down Iranians' access to the internet. Cut & paste & pass it on.

I cannot vouch for the veracity, or un of this notion, but I can say that for those of you Twitts out there who want to show some measure of solidarity to people struggling for their lives and freedoms so very far away, you could do many a worse show of sympathy. And if it helps to provide cover for some of those who are being hunted down and murdered in the name of 'order', then I'd say it's a karmically positive lie to tell as well. I do not Twitt myself, but I know there's many Twitts on my flist, so la; Let it be as you decide.
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From the Associated Press and Juan Cole's blog, it appears that Khamenei's promised violence in Iran has begun. My thoughts are with the protesters.

Also, a nice analysis of Supreme Leader Khameni's rise to power, by Jonathon Lyons, a former Reuters Tehran bureau chief.

Re-posted here )
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OMGWTF HOLY SHIT SPARKS JUST CAME OUT OF A LAMP!

Dude, I know this is a big storm but that is NOT kosher. I thought we'd been hit by lightning, the flash and bang were that big. And then the lights didn't go out and the internet is still on, so it must have been some weird atmospheric thing? There was a direct hit in the neighborhood, according to Dad.

Of course, this is the ancient, dirt ugly hanging lamp with the rubber Jesus pencil topper perched on top. Cue any number of jokes about gag gifts, protection, angry Jesus, etc. etc. etc.

Wow. Talk about an adrenaline rush...
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As an NCSU alumni and a someone who represented the university on a national level during my time as a student, I am extremely disappointed by recent events at my alma mater. It's not the hiring of Mary Easley that I object to; despite the less than open conditions surrounding her hiring, she was a valuable member of NC State's staff, and it is to the benefit of a university to have influential staff members. No, I am disappointed by the elementary mistake you made in handling the publicity surrounding her recent termination. You lied about something that was public record. Did you really not think that the truth would get out? Had you been honest and explained your motivations clearly from the beginning, what started as something somewhat distasteful in light of the budget crisis would have remained just that, and been forgotten within a week. But no, instead you lied, and you continue to lie, and now the university has lost not only a provost but its chancellor, and must go through the expense and uncertainty of replacing you at the same time that it is facing drastic budget cuts. Your departure not only leaves holes in the university's leadership, but leaves the students without two vocal advocates. As someone who had contact with and respected both of you during my time as a student, I have to say that I expected better.

Sincerely,
December 2009 Graduate
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It has come to my attention that, since I googled the heck out of the name Trance before using it for my fictional band three years ago, a whole genre called trance music has become popular. Dammit. Now I need another band name.

This is a three man boy band, based out of Romania and selling their sex appeal as much as their music. I'd like the name to be short, preferably one word with one or two syllables. I think I'm leaning towards Ice, but I don't really like any of what I've come up with. I need something that evokes that overly polished, slightly fake image of beauty that you got from, say, N'Sync or Hanson.

[Poll #1401483]
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The great and all knowing F-list informs me that a certain [personal profile] softly_sweetly has a birthday today. Or, perhaps had, though I see no problem with extending into the remaining time zones. Happy Birthday!
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Happy birthday [personal profile] femmequixotic! And anyone else who happens to have a birthday today!