Any Dream Will Do

The Forgotten Employed

2009-11-14T12:06:00.000-08:00

The article in the Irish Times today quotes Taoiseach Brian Cowen

"Prices are falling at the fastest rate in 75 years. The latest inflation figures published on Thursday show that prices fell by 6.6 per cent in last 12 months. This means that the real value of take-home pay and welfare payments has increased by that amount in the last year,"

He goes on to say that the hardest hit are the unemployed... which is true, of course. I have huge sympathy for those who have found themselves unemployed at a time when there is so little employment to be had.

But what he, and so many others miss is that they are not the only ones impacted. Thousands have taken pay cuts, either through deliberate pay cuts or because they are self-employed or they make commission or tips as a primary part of their income.

I work on a basic that is lower than minimum wage and commission. Looking at my payslips, I took about a twenty percent pay cut this year, just in lack of commission and volume bonuses (this wasn't much anyway... I've never made the average industrial wage).

There were no big stories about pay cuts in my company. We didn't have any negotiations. Nobody lowered our bonus target levels. The company just happily ticked on by as the staff suddenly struggled to pay for the basics of life.

Those higher up are more cushioned, with higher basic wages and a smaller part of their income which is dependent on performance. For those of us at the bottom, we have nothing but the hopes that Christmas will bring more than peace and goodwill, but a small amount of money to pay those bills.

I'm told often I'm lucky to still have my job. It'd be nice to feel that way when payday arrives.

Love and Marriage... go together, right?

2009-11-13T03:07:00.000-08:00

Yes! Like a horse and carriage! *sings*

You know what bugs me? Well, if you've been reading my blog or twitter, or have ever met me, you know a lot of things bug me. But that's not the point... not today anyway.

I won't talk now about what bugs me (I'll tell ya later), but I'll tell you what doesn't bug me. Couples who are truly, stupidly in love.

I don't know what's been up with me lately, but it seems everywhere I'm seeing couples who really love each other, which, for me, is a stark contrast to the usual "Can't stand him but what can you do?" I hear from women I happen to see everyday. And nothing... well almost nothing... makes me happier than seeing two people (or more, hey I'm open minded!) genuinely crazy about each other.

I have to say, for all their faults, the one thing my parents taught me is that love is possible. They're together still... my mom's first marriage and my father's second. Thirty-four years of two very different people with almost a decade's age difference and still they kiss each other hello and good bye like they mean it. I'm not saying my parents make out in front of me (ew), but their quick kisses are sweet and more than just routine. And that's a good thing. On paper, these two have almost nothing in common other than geographic proximity, but somewhere in each other, they found that connection that kept them going through some hard times.

As I passed through my teen years, I grew more and more convinced I was not capable of that kind of connection. I thought there was something wrong with me. I went to university and dated a bunch of guys -- really lovely guys most of whom are still friends of mine. And still, no real connection. Three years into university, I decided to stop dating altogether. It wasn't working and was a total waste of my time. I threw myself into other things, but gradually my life began to fall apart.

Today isn't the day for my coming out story, but suffice it to say that when I stopped dating men, other things started to become clear... far beneath the surface, and caused several serious crises for me.

The long and short of it is that became very depressed, and then I figured it all out. But in figuring it out, I never replaced my conviction that I wasn't capable of a real connection with anyone. It's as if I simply transfered the idea that I couldn't have a real connection with a man to women. I just started sleeping with girls, with no real expectation that I could achieve true love.

I moved to England, where my coming out process really took shape. Away from family and expectations, I "found myself" in a very non-ironic way. I met some amazing people and was very humbled to be able to call them friends. All of them totally accepted me for who I am. I dated off and on, but for two years, I was pretty much celibate.

After two years, immigration issues caused another move, this time to Ireland. Not far from my new English friends and far enough from my family who were still struggling with accepting my sexuality.

A few months after I moved to Ireland, I met a guy who got me "back on the horse" so to speak. He forced me to talk to some women at the George (THE Dublin gay bar at the time). On the back of that, I met the woman who in 2005, I married. (Thanks Mike.)

She said it was love at first sight... for me it took a bit longer. I guess I didn't believe I'd find love and she was not what I was expecting either. Love totally took me by surprise, but before I knew it, was ready to say, "I love you" and the word "forever" rolled off my tongue... and felt perfectly right.

So seven years on, I've settled into a sweet domesticity. Coming home from work is still exciting. I'm always delighted to see her and to just be in her presence, even if we're both busy with other stuff. I'm really lucky and I know it. I found that connection I never thought I'd have.

So, what brings me to all this right now? Why after four years of marital bliss and the three preceding non-marital blissful years do I find myself thinking on the nature of coupledom and true love?

You can blame most of it on YouTube.

Enter Portia deRossi and Ellen Degeneres. While I'm not a fangirl of either, I'm crazy about the two of them together. Warning: This video will induce happy sighs.

Ellen and Portia have that magic... you can see when Portia is talking that Ellen is simply enthralled. It's all over their faces.

Then there was this, which I hadn't seen when it first aired. It's the video of the Obamas dancing at the Inagural Ball.

Two things about that video.

One: The Obamas have such undeniable chemistry. They're both attractive, intelligent and they dance and laugh as though there's no one else there, never mind the whole world is watching. They look grateful to be in each other's arms. This is a couple who knows they're lucky to have found each other.

Two: You'll hear Rachel Maddow as the sole female voice in the commentary. There are a couple notable quotes from her: "How much of a trial can it be to dance with your beloved?" and "That careful, sweet turn? It's not getting old."

I'd be remiss if I didn't point to Rachel herself and her girlfriend, Susan Mikula as another example of a truly fairytale type love.

From an article in Newsweek from December 2008:

She says their relationship "is the thing about which I am most proud and most protective. And if it made sense for my relationship with Susan that I needed to stop being on TV, and stop being on the radio, and go live full time in the Upper Peninsula in Michigan and raise chickens, we'd go live in the Upper Peninsula and raise chickens. It's the single clearest thing in my life."

Bingo. This is that thing of which I speak. Why settle for anything less than the relationship that makes you feel like that?

Ok, getting to the point (because I do have one).

What is the point of me showing you all these incredibly happy couples? What is the reason I decided to rant about how lucky I am to be in love?

Because one of the things I have learned from being in love is that love recognises love and wants there to be more of it.

Since falling in love, I am a far softer version of myself. I see those around me differently. I see people knowing that someone loves them. That in someone's eyes, that person is perfection, home and the whole world.

That worldview shift is massive. And I can see it in the couples I've mentioned and so many others. Unlike lotto wins, or fame and fortune, love is one of those amazing things that is quite everyday and quite within the reach of everyone. Love is naturally egalitarian. Love doesn't understand the boundaries that humans create. Love doesn't recognise race or ethnicity or age or beauty or IQ. And most of all, it doesn't recognise gender.

Yes, this is my point. For those people who really understand how lucky they are to have found true love, the question of same sex marriage has to be a no brainer. We are all invariably improved by our experiences of being in love, and being loved.

To attempt to limit the recognition and encouragement of this experience for a minority group is a hateful, useless and destructive path that I can only imagine is endorsed by people who have such a limited experience and understanding of love that they do not know the massive impact it can have on individuals and then, as follows, on society at large.

Seriously. Love is incapable of hurting us, and is infinitely more capable of improving us than any other force we know.

Go Go Go Rachel!

2009-10-16T01:25:00.000-07:00

This was full of win. Ok, I'm in my thirties and not entirely sure what that means, but I'm pretty sure that this interview is awesome.

There's not much to say, but Rachel eloquently slammed Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, who are pretending to be a grassroots organisation campaigning against health reform. What they really are is corporate "astroturf", funded by huge corporations. He was well spoken, genial and he did very well, but Rachel went up one side of him and down the other without so much as breaking a sweat. Hot. Sorry. But it is.

Just watch. This time she asked the tough questions, and it was amazing. This so makes up for the limp Rick Berman interview.

And we're all delighted to see her back and well.

Part 1

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Part 2

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Go Ireland!

2009-10-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, long story, short.

Government in a mess. Greens threatened to pull out, causing an election when Fianna Fail is more likely to be hanged than reelected.

So the Greens negotiate and they jointly produce a Proposed Renewed Programme for Government which the Green Party has to approve. From the whispers, it sounds like it will pass easily.

There's a lot about the economy (which I frankly do not understand) and some good stuff about cycling, more teachers, and...

If they all stick to this, I could be one very happy lesbian.

Because a bisexual character would be dirty

2009-10-10T02:08:00.000-07:00

Last night, I was watching Criminal minds when Neal Baer, Executive Producer of Law & Order SVU, tweeted that the star of that show, Mariska Hargitay, was sitting with him. He asked for questions for her.

He got a lot of questions about her baby and her hair (she really liked those questions). She also got a lot of inevitable questions about when her character, Olivia, is going to hook up with Christopher Meloni's Elliot Stabler or Stephanie March's ADA Alexandra Cabot.

I suspect it wasn't Mariska, but Neal who came up with "Mariska asks: Who do you want me to make with more? Chris or Stephanie." Just historically, Mariska has never shown much eagerness to play with her lesbian fans or A/O shippers, unlike Stephanie March, who loves to tease us. And we love her teasing us.

SVU "shippers" (those who want a relationship to develop, or believe there is already a relationship, between the characters on the show) are roughly divided between those who 'ship Elliot & Olivia (E/O) and Alex & Olivia (A/O). There are other ships, but these are the two largest.

When @TheRealJackie tweeted "Both!" Neal or Mariska tweeted back

@TheRealJackie Hey now, it"s not that kind of show
Link

WTF? It's not what kind of show exactly? Not a show about a strong, bisexual cop? Or it's not that kind of show, as in... it's not porn?

Insert large loud sigh here.

Since when does bisexuality = porn?

For a show that routinely juxtaposes really hot actors and actresses in revealing clothing, with rape scenes, that statement can be taken really the wrong way.

Maybe they read it as "at the same time". And I'm hoping they did. Biphobia is uncool.

Thank you, again, Keith

2009-10-08T23:57:00.000-07:00

Keith Olbermann on Healthcare reform

Just trust me, you need to watch this.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Fashion Police!

2009-10-08T23:53:00.000-07:00

Awesome.

Things to consider before attacking a man in a dress

2009-10-08T07:28:00.001-07:00

... he might be able to take care of himself. In heels, better than you can.

Read the story here.

And watch the CCTV footage here.

Oklahoma Bill H.B. 1595

2009-10-08T07:16:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to a .rtf version of the Bill itself.

This is the questionnaire:

Individual Abortion Form

(TO BE COMPLETED FOR EACH ABORTION PERFORMED)

1. Date of abortion _________________

2. County in which abortion performed ________________

3. Age of mother _________________

4. Marital status of mother ________________

(married, divorced, separated, widowed, or never married)

5. Race of mother ________________

6. Years of education of mother ________________

(specify highest year completed)

7. State or foreign country of residence of mother ________________

8. Total number of previous pregnancies of the mother ________________

Live Births _________________

Miscarriages _________________

Induced Abortions __________________

9. Approximate gestational age in weeks, as measured from the last menstrual period of the mother, of the unborn child subject to abortion _______________________________

10. Method of abortion used:

Suction Aspiration ___________

Dilation and Curettage ___________

RU 486 ___________

Methotrexate ___________

Dilation and Evacuation ___________

Saline ___________

Urea ___________

Prostaglandins ___________

Partial Birth Abortion __________

Hysterotomy ___________

Other (specify) ___________

11. Was there an infant born alive as a result of the abortion? __________

If yes:

Were life-sustaining measures undertaken? ___________

How long did the infant survive? ___________

12. Was anesthesia administered to mother __________________

If yes, what type? _________________

13. Was anesthesia administered to the fetus? ___________

If yes:

What type? _______________________

How was it administered? _______________________

14. Method of fetal tissue disposal _______________________

15. Reason for abortion (check all applicable):

Mother cannot afford the child ______

Emotional health of the mother is at risk ______

Mother suffered from a medical emergency as defined in Section 1-738.1 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes ______

Mother wanted a child of a different sex ______

Abortion necessary to avert the death of the mother ______

Pregnancy was a result of forcible rape ______

Pregnancy was a result of incest ______

Other (specify) ______

Patient was asked why she is seeking an abortion, but she declined to give a reason _________________________

16. Method of payment (check one):

Private insurance _______

Public health plan _______

Medicaid _______

Private pay _______

Other (specify) _________________

17. Type of medical health insurance coverage, if any (check one):

Fee-for-service insurance company ______

Managed care company ______

Other (specify) __________________________________

18. Sum of fee(s) collected ___________

19. Specialty area of medicine of the physician ___________________

_______________________________________________________________

20. Was ultrasound equipment used before, during, or after the performance of this abortion?

Before? _____ Vaginal, abdominal, or both? _____

During? _____ Vaginal, abdominal, or both? _____

After? _____ Vaginal, abdominal, or both? _____

21. Was the information required by paragraph 1 of subsection B of Section 1-738.2 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes provided to the mother? ___________

a. If yes, was it provided:

In person ___________

By telephone ___________

b. Was it provided by:

A referring physician __________

The physician performing the abortion _________

An agent of a referring physician ___________

An agent of the physician performing the abortion ________

22. Was the information required by paragraph 2 of subsection B of Section 1-738.2 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes provided to the mother? ___________

a. If yes, was it provided:

In person _______

By telephone _________

b. Was it provided by:

A referring physician _________

An agent of a referring physician ________

The physician performing the abortion ________

An agent of the physician performing the abortion _______

23. Did the mother avail herself of the opportunity to have the printed materials described in Section 1-738.3 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes mailed to her? ______________

24. Were the informed consent requirements of subsection B of Section 1-738.2 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes dispensed with because of a medical emergency necessitating an immediate abortion:

To avert death ______

To avert substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function arising from continued pregnancy _____

25. Was the probable gestational age twenty (20) weeks or more? _____

a. If yes, was the mother provided the information described in subsection A of Section 1-738.8 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes? _____

(1) If yes, was the information provided:

In person ______

By telephone ______

(2) If yes, was the information provided:

By a referring physician _____

An agent of a referring physician _____

The physician performing the abortion _____

An agent of the physician performing the abortion _____

b. Did the mother choose to be given or mailed the materials described in Section 1-738.10 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes? ___________

c. To the best of the information and belief of the reporting physician, did the mother go on to obtain the abortion? ________

26. Was the abortion performed within the scope of employment of an Oklahoma state employee or an employee of an agency or political subdivision of the state? ________

27. Was the abortion performed with the use of any public institution, public facility, public equipment, or other physical asset owned, leased, or controlled by this state, its agencies, or political subdivisions? _________

28. If the answer to question 26 or 27 is yes:

a. Was the abortion necessary to save the life of the mother? _______

If yes, what was the life-endangering condition? __________

b. Did the pregnancy result from an act of forcible rape? _______

If yes, list the law enforcement authority to which the rape was reported ___________________

List the date of the report ___________

c. Did the pregnancy result from an act of incest committed against a minor? _________

If yes, list the law enforcement authority to which the perpetrator was reported ________________

List the date of the report ___________

THIS PORTION TO BE COMPLETED IN CASE OF MINOR

29. Minor’s age ___________

30. Was a parent of the minor provided notice prior to the abortion as described in Section 1-740.2 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes? ________

a. If yes, how was the notice provided?

In person _______

By mail _______

b. If yes, to the best of the reporting physician’s knowledge and belief, did the minor go on to obtain the abortion? ________

31. Was informed written consent of one parent obtained as described in Section 1-740.2 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes? ______

If yes, how was it secured?

In person ___________

Other (specify) _________

32. If no notice was provided nor consent obtained, please indicate which of the following apply:

Minor was emancipated ___________

Abortion was necessary to prevent the death of the minor _____

Medical emergency, as defined in Section 1-738.1 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes, existed ___________

Minor received judicial authorization to obtain abortion without parental notice or consent ___________

33. If no notice was provided nor consent obtained because a medical emergency existed, please indicate:

Whether parent was subsequently notified (state period of time elapsed before notice was given) ____________

Whether judicial waiver of notice requirement was obtained ________

34. If the minor received judicial authorization to obtain an abortion without parental notice, please indicate which of the following applies:

Judge ruled that minor was mature enough to give informed consent on her own ___________

Judge ruled that abortion was in the best interest of the minor ___________

Filed this ____ day of __________, _____ by:

______________________________

(Name of physician)

_____________________________

(Physician’s license number)

Too early for this level of wrong

2009-10-08T01:56:00.000-07:00

In the American state of Oklahoma, a law requiring the details of abortions to be published on a public website is set to take effect on November 1, 2009.

While HB1595 does not require the publishing of names, the questionnaire that is to be filled out certainly contains plenty of identifying details that should have Oklahoman woman fleeing the state to have their pregnancies terminated. Certainly women in rural areas will have no hope of anonymity.

And not surprisingly, the text of HB1595 contains a reference to the "Unborn child", in one of the questions women will be required to answer as part of undergoing the procedure.

I'm not sure why this is just making the rounds now, but I could have missed it back in May when it was signed into law as a "reporting [and] compliance bill" according to an anti-choice site.

And in case anyone thinks this is a thinly veiled attempt to undermine a woman's right to choose, think again. It's not veiled at all.

Representative Dan Sullivan and Senator Todd Lamb are the authors of the legislation that Lauinger says is a key to helping further reduce the number of abortions in the state.
(From LifeNews.com)

Courthouse News Service reports that two women are challenging the law.

The Oklahoma law, H.B. 1595, also changed definitions of abortion terms, used terms already thrown out by a court and barred certain procedures for the first time, according to the filing.
(From CourthouseNews.Com)

I just realised

2009-10-07T13:48:00.000-07:00

That my very first post mentioning the amazing Rachel Maddow is all crappy and negative.

To counter that, this post will be my adoring, fawning ode to the cocktail shaking, Rhodes Scholar, AIDS activist butch with her awesome footwear choices.

First, I'll have to get all negative again and say I'm not a huge fan of the debutching of Maddow. Her MSNBC appearance reminds butch lesbians at every turn that they are not attractive enough in their own right, and that biology is indeed, destiny, regardless of brains, personality and a Rhodes Scholarship.

But before the makeup people have put sea-green eyeshadow on her eyelids and pale sixties-style lip gloss on her lips, she's brainy butchy sexy.

But most importantly, she's got smart things to say. And she says them well.

And while her critics may be sometimes right, that she takes the easy shots and sometimes fails to dig below the surface... and sometimes takes stuff out of context when it's pretty damn obvious what was meant, her investigations into fake grassroots organisations ("astroturf") and her interviews with liberals and conservatives alike are the stuff of great television. It's amazing to finally have a real queer, feminist liberal on television -- warts and all. Because at the end of the day, we liberals are ourselves -- our greatest credit and failing at the same time.

That said, I'm not sure the level of discourse I'm seeking is possible on a 5-night a week show. Rachel certainly has raised the bar.

And I can stop explaining now, because this youtube video will convince you as much as anything I can think of to say:

*swoon*

I love you Rachel, but...

2009-10-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

... but Rick Berman wiped the floor with you last night.

He showed himself to be dressed in super PR teflon. Nothing stuck.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

You had three pages of notes in front of you during the interview. Did you really have nothing other to ask him other than who was paying him?

He said, "It costs nothing to put up a website." Somehow I don't see him with Photoshop and Dreamweaver open, putting together these websites in his spare time. He pays someone to do these. It does cost money. Even if he forks it out himself, someone paid him first.

Also, his facts are absolutely wrong. You could have attacked him on that, but you let him off, preferring to keep asking him to reveal his funding, which he is not going to do. You could have nailed him to the wall with some good research instead of letting him just sit there and grin and make very good points, while happily ignoring your questions.

This is so frustrating because you are so smart. If you weren't, it would seem inevitable, but you have more brains in your pinky finger than this guy could dream of.

I know you're pressed for time and I know it can be hard to come up with questions on the spot but for now I have some suggestions for the next time you have Rick Berman on the show.

Ask him about the medical implications of HFCS. No independent study I can locate has cleared HFCS of being a main culprit in insulin resistance and the epidemic of obesity. Only studies funded by the industry itself have made that assertion.

Ask him does he feel any guilt. Ask him how he feels, being an overweight person himself, about miseducating the general public. Ask him is he worried about diabetes.

And why wasn't he pressed on his ridiculous assertion that the average minimum wage worker has a household income of $50k? One of your viewers worked it out and tweeted that it would take two minimum wage workers working 66 hours a week, 52 weeks a year to make a combined income of $50k.

Since minimum wage workers are disproportionately women (60% of minimum wage workers are women, while we comprise only 46% of the workforce), he could be arguing that a low minimum wage is ok, because women usually have male spouses, who make more than they do. Of course single women and lesbians do not benefit from this serendipidous reality.

On most days, you would find me an adoring, fawning fan. But today, there was too much left unsaid

LEAD TEASER! STEPHANIE MARCH and BALLERINA TEASER!

2009-03-01T13:25:00.001-08:00

Woooooooooooooooooooooo!

Backing Up to prevent reinstall hell

2008-06-30T01:11:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday I reinstalled windows Vista and Ubuntu for the 3rd time. I don't know what happened, but I'm pretty sure it was a cross between my fluffing the install of Ubuntu last time, so that it ended up on a weirdly high numbered partition (oops) and the Vista updates that had installed the last time I turned my laptop off.

Anyway, partitions suddenly had disappeared, and even the Super Grub Disk couldn't help me... I couldn't even find my Ubuntu files to back them up, so I lost everything from the past month.

On the upside, the install went quicker than before and my blog post about my issues from the 2nd time came in very handy.

Oh and the pink shadows issue is gone with this new install, i didn't have to put the fix in at all. There must be new nVidia drivers.

Actually it was a weird install; I used a disc that came with a Linux Format magazine and it had all sorts of KDE apps on it and tonnes of stuff in the menus that didn't belong there at all. Still, it had loads of stuff preinstalled that I would have spent the evening installing so that was pleasant.

So I spent the evening sussing out backup options to prevent this from being an issue again! I have been backing up evolution (it has a built in backup facility) to a folder on my desktop which I hope will cause me to remember to copy it to my external HD from time to time. The email really was the heartbreaker in all of this, setting up the folders and filters took ages.

The other heartbreaker was firefox... my add-ons and especially my bookmarks. I have LOADS of bookmarks and I love them. So I searched and discovered Foxmarks which saves my bookmarks on a server and allows me to have the same bookmarks on both computers, but most importantly, allows me to restore my bookmarks if I have to reinstall again. Brilliant. Firefox should make this a permanent part of the package. I know Opera have a similar feature (I use Opera mini on my mobile phones).

And for the rest of the stuff, I have downloaded Simple Backup Solution and configured it to back up to a samba share. Fingers crossed!

I rarely use my Windows install but there are some times it's handy, like when IT want to check my computer at work or if I'm on a dodgey wifi connection, Windows reconnects better than Ubuntu. Also the Nokia SDKs only seem to work on Windows so I have to use them sometimes too! But, there's nothing there I really care about if I lose. Anything I do on Windows I move to the external drive immediately anyway because I'll likely be needing it later when I'm in Ubuntu. So not worried about a backup solution for that.

I'll be happy if I never have to go through this again!

Driving is not a womens' issue

2008-06-29T02:20:00.000-07:00

Analysis, Opinion - Independent.ie

That's right Carol, I don't care how you phrase it. The new laws are not a womens' issue and have nothing to do with gender. Women are equally as capable as men of driving safely and passing their test, and I'm sorry if I sound "vociferous" but I actually bothered my ass passing a test (twice in fact, at home and in Ireland) and would prefer not to share the road with the lazy asses who think they're qualified to assess their own driving skill.

And no, there should be no amnesty for older drivers with clean driving records. Some of the worst drivers I know have "clean driving records" mostly because of the disgraceful lack of law enforcement on the roads of Ireland. I know a woman who has driven with no licence whatsoever (provisional expired) for over a year, every day, to and from work, picking up her kids (because having children is a licence to do what you want, with smugness). No garda has ever asked for her licence in that time. And she had a bloody breakdown when she realised, a week ago, that they might be checking licences in July... and she didn't even have a provisional, let alone a full licence.

Until the country starts enforcing laws, people won't bother obeying them... it's just that simple.

Ooooh Mariska!

2008-06-26T12:51:00.001-07:00

Dorothy Surrenders: Straight Gals Acting Like Gay Gals: Fight Club

Special Hotties Unit. Sorry, that was bad. But what’s not bad is the love that dare speak its name between Mariska Hargitay and Maria Bello. Look at those two lovebirds.

Best Blog post I've seen in forever. And yummy. Scrumdiddlyumpcious.

Go forth, and drool.

New ADA for SVU

2008-06-25T10:09:00.001-07:00

"Law & Order: SVU" has a new assistant district attorney: Young thesp Michaela McManus.

Interesting choice. I've never watched One Tree Hill, so I have no idea what she's like as an actress but she does seem very young for the part. Whatever happens I really hope she has some charisma. The show could really use some now that Munch rarely gets to speak, Benson is spending her days longing for a baby and Stabler is gradually self destructing under his massive ego.

I do hope we'll see Stephanie March reprise her Alex Cabot character, even if she won't be SVU's ADA.

Beanz meanz bigotz -- too right.

2008-06-25T05:06:00.001-07:00

Ben Summerskill: Heinz has insulted gay consumers | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

And while Heinz's decision to withdraw the ad might be seen by them as an easy way to palm off 200 fundamentalist Christian complainants, it seems to have been made under the quaint impression that it will cause no offence to Britain's 3.6 million lesbian and gay consumers. Or any of their friends. Or families. Or colleagues.

I thought I might be over this today, but I'm not. So much so that I've been searching the internet looking for some clue that Heinz might have figured out the huge mistake they made.

While searching, I cam across this article in the UK newspaper, The Guardian.

He says it better than I could or than anyone else has. Heinz made a knee-jerk decision based on a handful of complaints (200 complaints, while meaningful, was probably 1 church group in motion) and that decision has alienated millions.

They've also managed to draw attention to the high fat content of the advertised products as people have been pointing out that the complaints were groundless as the ads are not allowed to be aired during childrens' programming anyway.

I don't think I'll be happy anymore with the ad being reinstated. I expect a full on apology from Heinz. I've left a comment on their website, I hope you all will too.

Here's the link to tell them how you feel.

Queers United: Heinz Pulls Ad With Two Men Kissing

2008-06-24T02:46:00.000-07:00

Queers United: Heinz Pulls Ad With Two Men Kissing

This also comes under the "OH SERIOUSLY" category of stupid. I've seen this ad several times, and had a great chuckle. In fact, I hadn't thought of it as a "gay kiss" but that the idea was these sauces would make it just like having a New York Deli in your kitchen, sandwich guy and all.

I think it's disgusting of Heinz to bow to these weirdos. Newsflash: Gay is no longer a bad word. Get over it, or move to Iran.

(evil video in question)

(note the explicit gay sex)

(you don't see it?)

(look closer)

(watch it again)

(it must be there)

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

Nokia: Open source developers should play by our rules

2008-06-19T12:04:00.000-07:00

Fatal Exception | Neil McAllister
Nokia could be following Google's example. Instead, it has allowed itself to be bogged down by notions inherited from a computing model that's rapidly becoming outdated. As Jaaski himself admitted, "As an industry, we plan to use open source technologies, but we are not yet ready to play by the rules."

Tsk tsk Nokia.

I've worked in mobile phone stuff in the past and it still fascinates me. But Nokia's attitude is less fascinating and more cringeworthy. While the overall quality and competitiveness of Nokia's handsets has plumetted over the past 18 months, other manufacturers are becoming better and more savvy. Nokia need a lead-in. They need something that will make their handsets must-have devices.

To do that, they need to open them up. They need to allow us to write apps that will work on their phones. They need to make them the most customizable (Nokia 5110 anyone?) phones available. They need to allow their phones to be the device that changes the way people interact with each other and the world. Phones are capable of this -- they've already done it -- and they are capable of bringing it along much, much further.

The open-source community are innovative, keen and clever. They are the end-users so they know what they want. Why the suits at Nokia feel they need to be telling the community how to operate is a question, but for those of us familiar with the feebleminded execs who head up most of these companies, it's not a tough one to answer.

Stephanie March Sex Change

2008-06-18T06:22:00.000-07:00

Seriously? I mean, the rest of the search terms all seem reasonable but... check out my list of search engine keywords that have lead people to my humble blog.

Open Source (aka there's more to the internet than p0rn)

2008-06-18T05:51:00.000-07:00

O'Brien: Mozilla's open-source model represents valley at its best - San Jose Mercury News: "For now, let's just be grateful to have Firefox 3.0 and the community that built it."

As I write, downloads of Firefox 3.0 have reached 6,124,310 since 18:16 UTC yesterday. It makes me happy :-) and I'll tell you why.

Now, I've loved the internet since I first encountered it in 1994. I spent my first year in university connected to a high-speed campus network, spending nights in chatrooms and meeting people around the world. I even operated a "pen pal" service in my dorm, matching 18 year old Canadian university students with Scottish grad students at the University of Edinburgh. I found a bulletin board for their university using Gopher.

I eventually met one of the Scottish students when I lived in England. Although we'd both changed and were no longer able to be friends, it felt incredible to know that we'd been such a presence in each others lives, having never met in person (although we did talk on the phone when my budget allowed). We'd even post each other books. That experience taught me early on that the internet was at its most powerful when connecting people.

I'm getting a bit weepy now. It's ok, I'll get over it. :-)

What does this have to do with Firefox? Granted, it sounds like I'm going to rhapsodise about Facebook.

I'm not.

While my earliest experiences taught me that the internet could connect people, what I have only just learned is that the internet can connect people and they can use those connections to make things happen.

WOW.

Think about it. On my laptop, I run Ubuntu as an operating system. It does everything my computer with Windows does. Only, people built Ubuntu because they wanted to. And they distribute it for free. And not free like some free software that only gives a company the ability to plant spyware and adware into your computer, but FREE. It's not costing you anything and they're not looking for anything in return (unless you want to help out!). It's also FREE as in "free speech". The source code is available. Anybody can look at it. Anybody can modify and make it suit their needs. Hardware companies can see the source code for themselves and provide drivers that work properly, instead of the guesswork involved with the OS source code is not available for viewing.

You've heard of Linux, right?

Basically, in 1991, this guy posted on newsgroup that he was setting up his own operating system, as a hobby. He was looking for feedback and suggestions. He never made it proprietary. He never claimed any kind of monetary rights to his OS. He never sought to sell it off to a company, he just allowed it to be used by the community and it became the root of the operating systems we call "Linux" (Distrowatch list 349). People just kept building stuff the way they wanted to use it. And they still do.

Wikipedia is an example of the same phenomenon in action. They claim 75,000 active contributors. While there are always warnings about the potentially unreliable information to be found on pages that can be freely edited, Wikipedia has proven to be one of the most reliable and current sources of information for those doing research, especially in the preliminary stages. I'd be hard pressed to find a reason to own a set of encyclopedias today.

Firefox, is of course, part of the same community developed phenomenon. The Mozilla Developer Center informs potential developers how to obtain the source code, write patches, and submit them for review and inclusion.

When you look at these (and so many other projects) it seems completely insane to continue supporting the proprietary software that keeps us bound to brands and restricted in our productivity(and charge us for it!). Recently the company I work for have started using Open Source projects, like Open Office. I also noticed our LCD display runs on a linux box when I unplugged it by mistake the other day and saw the startup script.

Perhaps there is hope for the old internet yet, beyond Bebo and porn.

Ubuntu vs Windows Vista?

2008-06-03T13:30:00.001-07:00

This guy asserts that the battle for our desktops is between Ubuntu and Windows Vista. He's not alone... I've been reading a lot of this since Ubuntu 8.04 was launched.

This has a lot to do with the massive failure of Windows Vista on lower-end machines. While €300 laptops are trumpeted as "Vista Ready", they don't support the vast majority of new features included in the new Microsoft OS, and they run incredibly slowly.

I was first introduced to Windows Vista at work, where I sell cellular devices that work with PCs. Before Vista I rarely, if ever, saw a customer in store with their laptop. The devices worked well with anything from Windows 2k onwards and Mac OS users were used to sorting themselves out, as were Linux users. Suddenly, I was working on several laptops at once, all low-spec machines running (or crawling!) Windows Vista. I remember explaining to the guy at tech support that after 5 minutes of silence that the laptop was still in the process of restarting.

The issue, of course, was that the defacto OS on most new computers is Windows Vista. This means that those who know the least about computers, spend the least on them and are largely uninterested in finding out how they work are all now saddled with one of the worst operating systems I have ever used. (And I've used just about everything available since my TRS 80).

In my senior year of High School I was the editor of the school newspaper. This is where I first met Macs. I fell madly in love with them and my first computer of my own was a Mac Quadra 605. I had that for almost 6 years. Ultimately I made the decision to buy a Windows 98 laptop because I had gotten sick of not being able to get software and peripherals for my computer locally.

My new laptop has Windows Vista on it, and I've used it. It's workable, and on my reasonably spec'd laptop, it runs quickly enough. The killer on Vista is the training wheels, guardrails, plug covers, rubber rounded corners and child proof cupboards. Using Windows Vista is like being told you're incapable of making wise choices, every minute. No matter what I try to do, a box jumps up and tells me that changing this particular thing might change something. No shit sherlock. It's seriously annoying. Not only that, but if you turn "Account control" off, Windows warns you you've turned it off all the time... and will not let you turn off the warning. The Aero effects are pretty, but I don't see any particular improvements on XP, which I think was possibly Microsoft's Golden Age. In summary, Windows Vista is pointless.

After I got my computer, I installed Ubuntu 7.10 on a small partition to try it out. Years ago I lived with my best friend and she used Linux on everything. I remember watching her setting up a new printer on it (all command line!) . I was so intimidated by it I promptly borrowed some money and bought my own computer with Windows 98 on it... which will go down in history as the worst computer I ever bought! Linux is a different beast these days. My first install was totally uneventful and it was love at first sight. It's pretty, very customisable and all the software I'll ever need is available in a little database. I just tick the stuff I want and Ubuntu installs it for me. I had to fiddle a few things (see my last post) but the information was readily available and command line makes things so quick. I've lost my fear of it now and am currently in awe. I hope someday that will all give way to understanding.

My point is that I don't think Windows Vista is a worthy opponent for Ubuntu. I've been reading however that Microsoft have far from buried XP and will likely be promoting it on lower spec computers, like the Asus eee (which first sold with Linux) in order to compete with the rise in Open Source operating systems and Free software.

It's still anybody's market but I don't think Linux-based operating systems can be dismissed out of hand. I also don't think Vista is going to be a real threat... in fact it may well be what drives some ungeeky users to trying the likes of Ubuntu.

My Ubuntu Install stuff

2008-05-31T12:13:00.001-07:00

I'm really just publishing this for my own reference, but it may help someone else!

I just reinstalled Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04 (just to get a larger partition) and had forgotten all the tweaking I'd done when I installed it the first time... so in case I'm doing it again, I decided to keep a record of what I have to do, and where to find the tutorials!

My Spec:

Dell XPS 1330

Core 2 Duo 2.0Ghz, 2GB RAM, 160 GB HD, Nvidia 8400 graphics card, Dell 1505 draft-n wireless card.
Dual boot Vista/Ubuntu, networked to my home PC in a workgroup with Windows XP.

First thing, I had to get my wireless working with Ndiswrapper. Although I've found articles out there about my own wireless card, they haven't worked for me. This does, even though it's for a completely different card. I even tried it with updated drivers and it didn't work. It works exactly as written.

Second, those pink shadows had to go. It's an issue with the Nvidia drivers apparently. But I just don't do pink! The workaround is here.

Third, I have to network my home PC so I can access all my multimedia on my external HD. Download Samba with Synaptic Package Manager. Go to terminal:

sudo /etc/samba/smb.conf

edit workgroup name to match the XP machine. save.

sudo /etc/init.d/samba restart

Wait a few minutes, then I should be able to browse the workgroup again.

That's it so far.

Time to re-think

2008-05-24T14:01:00.000-07:00

When your ITA ("I totally agree") moment occurs over a DailyMail aritcle, it's time to check in and sober the hell up.

On a related note, stupid people piss me the hell off.

And while I dislike people who publicise their personal lives, I have a far stronger contempt for bigots and people who agree with the DailyMail.