It’s been a month and a half since I’ve posted-things are finally settling down a bit. We moved to an apartment in Laguna Beach mid-August. It was a ton of work. Now we’re in a smaller place that’s more expensive. The bit about ca$h still applies-we need money!!!Anyways, we’re getting settled in-Matt started Kindergarten Tuesday. Colin is really sad about it-he wants to go too.
OK, here’s a longish recap: visited parents, swam, got sunburned, went to a baby shower for our minister, had to install XP on my computer-was really slow, packing, Erika got a UU chalice tattoo, we moved-kids went to Wild Rivers and kite day at Seal Beach, more LBCCB, work day at Journey school, party at Emerald Bay, got DSL for $14, started Tai Chi & dropped it-no Yang. Got a Yamaha QY-10-fun. Got a flat tire-it failed, I was having a bad shimmy and it was the tire… That’s it! We ate out a few times, the usual work, shopping. So, what else is there? I laid sod in our yard, we haven’t finished unpacking, Matt loves school.
And here come the rants.
M$ finally named Longhorn to Windows Vista-this is old news now. They also just released WinFS to beta. It looks OK, with cool transparencies and layouts. Problem is that it doesn’t address a lot of what’s wrong with Windows-secure code, outdated and bloated software, closed architecture, outdated UI. Linux-not sure either-though it has more promise. We need something simpler and with a more intuitive UI-it’ll eventually need to land on phones, eyewear and rollable screens. We’ll interact using voice, fingers and head motions. Having to train someone to use a computer means something’s wrong.
CAFTA passed. This is a mess-NAFTA was nothing, or nothing but bad, depending on who you ask. And it’s all tied up with immigration issues. Having a free trade zone is useless if it doesn’t regulate working conditions and environmental issues. Hmmmph!
OK. Here we go. So the guy from FEMA is so fired. Bush is taking heat, and some guy said on air to Cheney-“go fuck yourself”. What am I talking about? One of FEMA’s 3 biggest potential disasters, after a New York terrorist attack and a big California earthquake. FEMA’s batting .667…wish they had actually listened to their own forecasts… Here’s a scathing rant from a guy in London: When, America, when?. Here’s a story from 2 EMS folks: The real heroes and sheroes of New Orleans-I’m actually not 100% sure of the veracity of this story, but it’s convincing… It’s hard to say more-Katrina has flattened more than just New Orleans. Democracy Now! has been hammering this story too. Team Chimpy has been lying, even when the cameras have clearly contradicted them. We’ll see how this plays out. The problem is that the human cost is so high, and the displaced so overwhelmingly poor and black, that everyone wants to turn away when all the body bags are counted. The White House is desperately trying to force the media to not take pictures of dead people-sorry, too late. My wife is trying to get school supplies to kids in Houston. Regular people are the ones that are making the difference here.
Rehnquist died. Chimpy nominated Roberts to replace him-a good conservative-for-conservative swap. He’s light on experience (sound familiar?) and paper trail, and may not be able to handle the job, but he will get confirmed easily. Whoever he nominates for the O’Connor slot is going to have a tougher time-since O’Connor was a swing vote there’ll be pressure to nominate a moderate. I think Team Chimpy is completely unable to do that-they so live in la-la land…
Here’s the software I downloaded: IBM Able,rob fantastic mp3 encoder,old next apps, synergy,google talk,rife,adieu,ibm htp,espeaking,enigma sim,NetStumbler,Guitar scales,derby,jsf,cpaint,asterisk,uima,gnu source installer.