This Space Intentionally Left Blank: June 2004 Archives

12 Messidor CCXII (June 29, 2004)

And We Shall See Just How Interesting Mr. Martin Finds The Idea Of Porportional Representation

I spent the past hour and a half in the back of a car travelling from Moncton back to Fredericton and listening to the radio. (Farenheit 9/11 isn't playing in Fredericton, so a bunch of us made an after work road trip to catch an evening showing.) I'm not as surprised by the results as all the pundints are, but the exact result was slightly unexpected. The quote in the title says more than I could ever hope to say here, so I'll just toss out a point to whoever gets it.

Posted by g026r at 01:02 | 0 comments

10 Messidor CCXII (June 27, 2004)

But If You Don't Get The President Of The United States On That Phone, You Know What's Gonna Happen To You?

I've been in a generous mood lately, so I've decided to open up access to my FTP server to whoever wants it. Now, this doesn't mean I've allowed anonymous access, as I know the trouble you're asking for if you do that. Instead, I'm willing to give an account to anyone who wants one.

Now, with the purpose of making this entry somewhat related to the title, my new jacket arrived the other week. Of course, new is all relative, as it's really a conscript's jacket that dates from the mid-seventies to early eighties. (A guess based on the serial number stamped inside places it at sometime around '76.) As promised, it fits a size 36 chest (Russian size 46), and was in excellent condition for its age. It even still had the motor transport troops insignia on the collar. The only problems with it are that one sleeve is slightly tighter than the other, and that the buttons are plastic instead of brass, the last bit meaning that it was likely a field uniform as opposed to an everyday one. (Something the collar insignia seems to back up, being made of a dull brown metal as opposed to brass.) Thankfully, wash instructions for it were listed in both Russian and the standard symbols, so I didn't have to get Dmitrii to translate them for me.

On a completely unrelated note, Limca, bottled by the Coca-Cola Corporation (and purchased at an Indian grocery) is the oddest soda I've ever had. Essentially imagine carbonised lime-water with lots and lots of sugar added. I think I was thirstier after I finished it than when I started.

One point for the title, or you're gonna have to answer to the Coca-Cola Corporation.

Posted by g026r at 12:44 | 2 comments | Most recent by g026r | 1 Trackback

7 Messidor CCXII (June 24, 2004)

But You Let In Homer Glumplich

I recently received a gmail account, which means that I should be able to issue invites shortly. Two have already been spoken for, but, if anyone else wants one, just let me know and I'll send you one once I get the ability.

One point for the title; it's an easy one.

Posted by g026r at 17:39 | 2 comments | Most recent by g026r

6 Messidor CCXII (June 23, 2004)

Last Call

A reminder that there is still room for one more person to take part in the play-by-email/messageboard game of Diplomacy that will be starting on Monday. Unfortunately, since I let people choose countries, the person who takes this spot must take Italy. If you're interested, simply let me know before then.

Posted by g026r at 18:16 | 1 comment | Most recent by Derek

5 Messidor CCXII (June 22, 2004)

Really? Mine's "Grape". See Ya!

If you're seeing this, then that means that the web server and database have successfully been migrated from skoll and heimdall, respectively, and onto idun. There may still be a few bugs that I haven't spotted yet, so let me know if you hit any.

3 points for the title, because it's a real tough one.

Posted by g026r at 15:09 | 1 comment | Most recent by g026r

30 Prairial CCXII (June 17, 2004)

Well, Thanks To The Internet, I'm Now Bored With Sex

I took a few minutes to go into the database and update all the comment URLs to point to the sites of people who have 'moved'. The changes involved fixing Ryan and Derek's links so they no longer pointed to pumpkin, and adding the port info for Peter. If I missed anyone, then please let me know.

One point for the title.

Posted by g026r at 14:14 | 0 comments

26 Prairial CCXII (June 13, 2004)

Nor Stony Tower, Nor Walls of Beaten Brass

I've spent the past couple of weeks working on and off on this, so I figured I'd post some pictures. In all, there's approximately 78 feet of 1 3/4" wide by 3/4&quot thick oak boards, ~20 square feet of 1/8" thick oak sheets, ~16 square feet of craftboard, 4 feet of 1/2" dowel, ~24 square feet of vinyl-coated polyester (in other words, pet resistent) screening, and an unknown number of 1/4" dowels, shelf supports, screws, and nails. (Along with half a bottle of wood glue.) It stands a few inches over 4 feet tall, and is approximately 2 feet wide by 2 feet deep. The two main levels can be seperated, along with the top section, which is currently serving as a resting place for my Diplomacy board.

The ramps took ten 4' long and 1/8" thick dowels (used to create gripping surfaces), 36 hot glue sticks, and in the range of 300 to 400 popsicle sticks. Surprisingly enough, an engineer did help design the trusses (for all the good that did), and the entire thing was completed by Greg, Dmitrii (who created his own cage out of pine), and I, with relatively few cuts and burns.

The first picture was taken before the ramps had been built, and the latter one was taken upon completion on Friday afternoon. There's all kinds of construction pics sitting on my camera, and if I ever get around to doing up a gallery I'll upload them.

Update: Well, I finally broke down and installed php. The gallery is here, for those of you who like wood.

One point for the title. Got to town on it.

Posted by g026r at 23:12 | 0 comments

22 Prairial CCXII (June 9, 2004)

Le Petit Mort

I received the following link from a friend on ICQ. I haven't asked how he found it, as my mind still hasn't gotten around the concept of it. So: clicky-clicky.

Be warned: while the link content is likely only a PG rating, or so, it's unlikely that any employers would be happy about their employees visiting a site caled "dialanorgasm.com"

Posted by g026r at 15:44 | 0 comments

18 Prairial CCXII (June 5, 2004)

I Come To Bury Caesar, Not To Praise Him

With this entry, I'm going to do something I rarely do, and that is dip into the realm of politics. For those of you without cable television, radio, or access to Internet news sites^*, let me sum up the background to this entry as such: at around 17:00 Atlantic time, Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, died.

Now, I've never been one to hide my political leanings, so it should be obvious that this will not be the type of glowing saccharine eulugy that will be keeping me from watching television for the next couple of weeks. Nor will it be a momentous tearing apart of the man, for, to be honest, I don't remember anything of the man's presidency. I was born when Carter was still president (although Regan was the president-elect by then), and didn't really become aware of politicians until closer to the end of the decade. Even then, I was only barely aware of Brian Mulroney, and had no idea who was President in the States until around 1991.

Continue reading I Come To Bury Caesar, Not To Praise Him

No, my post today refers to the cult of personality that appears to have sprung up around him since he left office. Now, some will likely come and tell me that he had this cult throughout his presidency. Now, there may be some truth to it, but a look at the numbers tells a different story. Yes, he did win the 1984 election by the largest percentage of electoral votes since James Monroe's 231 to 1 victory over John Quincy Adams in 1820. However, while the electoral college votes may have been lopsided, the percentage of the popular vote came in at a mere 58%, less than both Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 victory (61.3%), and Richard Nixon's second victory (60.9%), with the latter being against two opponents, and yet we don't here people expounding the virtues of their presidencies with as much vigour as Reagan's proponents do.

Nor do his policies bear any real reason for celebration. From his silence on the AIDS epidemic, to his arms for hostages and the funding of counter-revolutionary forces in attempt to overthrow left-leaning goverments (see: Nicaragua, a case where the actions continued even following the results of the coutry's first free elections in decades.) On the financial front, he hardly seemed like the model that the Republican party pushed forwards. While he did push through tax cuts, he was also responsible for the largest tax increase vis-a-vis the nation's GDP, and spending was always high for a president who wanted smaller government. In addition, the verdict appears to be still out on "voodoo econmics", with proponents and opponents basing their decisions more along personal beliefs than any real evidence.

In short, I don't understand why Reagan is so glorified. Yes, much of the Communist infrastructure crumbled on, or immediately after, his watch. But, it can be argued that this was doomed from the beginning. The only real argument that can be put forward for his causing this is that he outspent them, and that a president could spend the money faster than the other guy hardly seems like a good reason to build a legacy on. In the end, the only thing I can come up with is that he was a charismatic man who managed to come to power at the end of a scandal and crisis plagued decade. I wonder if we'll hear the same things from from the "Reagan was the best president ever" camp when Clinton, another popular and charismatic leader who, it could be argued, was more finanicaly conservative than Reagan. Somehow, I doubt it.

This rambled slightly more off focus than I planned, so let's just cut to the chase: One point for the title. It should be an easy one.

Posted by g026r at 23:16 | 2 comments | Most recent by g026r

16 Prairial CCXII (June 3, 2004)

Thus We Play The Fools With Time

The list of monthly archives was getting a little long, so I decided to do something about them. Basically, I looked at the output of Tunes2HTML, a perl script that makes a webpage out of your iPod database, and adapted the code used to cascade artists, albums, and songs into something usable for my purposes.

Those who want to know how I did it can find the info in the extended entry. Those who just care about points can make a guess at this 2 point title.

Continue reading Thus We Play The Fools With Time

Ok, here goes:

1. First off, you'll need the Compare and SetVarBlock plugins. Install them, and then continue on to the next step.

2. Now that you have the plugins installed, insert the following snippet of JavaScript onto any pages you want to use this feature:

<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">

var downImg = new Image();
downImg.src = "/img/tmpl/arrow-down.png"

var rightImg = new Image();
rightImg.src = "/img/tmpl/arrow-right.png"

function showYear( _yearId, _imgId ) {
	var thisYear = document.getElementById( _yearId );
	var thisImg = document.getElementById( _imgId );
	if ( thisYear.style.display == "none") {
		thisYear.style.display = "";
		thisImg.src = downImg.src;
		}
	else {
		thisYear.style.display = "none";
		thisImg.src = rightImg.src;
		}
}
</script>

I presonally recommend creating a new template module and using MovableType's include tag to include it on the pages, like so: <$MTInclude module="Script Name"$>

3. Now, you'll want to go to the section where you are creating your archive list and replace the MTArchiveList section with this tidbit:

<MTSetVar name="year" value="0">

<MTArchiveList archive_type="Monthly">

<MTIfNotEqual a="[MTArchiveDate format='%Y']" b="[MTGetVar name='year']" numeric="1">
<MTIfNotEqual a="0" b="[MTGetVar name='year']" numeric="1">
</div>
</MTIfNotEqual>

<MTSetVarBlock name="year"><$MTArchiveDate format="%Y"$></MTSetVarBlock>
<a href="javascript:showYear('<$MTGetVar name="year"$>','img<$MTGetVar name="year"$>');" style="text-decoration:none">
<img id="img<$MTGetVar name="year"$>" src="/img/tmpl/arrow-right.png" /><$MTGetVar name="year"$>:<br />
</a>
<div id="<$MTGetVar name="year"$ >" style="position:relative;left:+15px;display:none">
</MTIfNotEqual>

<a href="<$MTArchiveLink$>"><$MTArchiveDate format="%B"$></a><br />
</MTArchiveList>

4. Change the references to the images in both the script and template code to point to the images you want to use, and you're done. Finally, please remember to share and enjoy!™

Posted by g026r at 02:42 | 8 comments | Most recent by g026r

14 Prairial CCXII (June 1, 2004)

Obey Wario! Destroy Mario!

I was doing some cleaning earlier today, and took this picture while I was taking care of the cable nest around the TV.

Anyone got a Sega Saturn they want to sell?

Two points and proof that you have no social life if you get the title.

Posted by g026r at 21:38 | 4 comments | Most recent by g026r

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