Friday's on my mind...

2017-10-20 16:46[personal profile] lagilman
lagilman: coffee or die (Default)

Today has been an interesting mix of moments of satisfaction and panic, with occasional flurries of competence, and ending on a sharp spike of exasperated rage that left me with a faint aching need to hit something, except I'm too tired.

And the hound puppy down the hall is singing the song of his doleful people. I hear you, little one, I hear you. Now hush. Your people will be home soon.

Weekend at the Tasting Room, and it's club release weekend, so I expect to be busy (hope so, anyway!).  Busy is always better than not-busy, unless not-busy brings with it a nap....

 
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First World Problems to the Max!

2017-10-20 13:32[personal profile] lil_m_moses
lil_m_moses: (pikachu)
I just got a Pokemon Go EX raid pass! (It's an invite-only chance to catch a critter only available through these infrequent events.) Unfortunately, it's located at a Sprint store a few miles from work, and only for noon to 12:45 next Friday, and I'm scheduled to be in a sim until at least 2. Should I temporarily entrust someone with my account to go do the raid, just for the experience for them (and maybe a Mewtwo for me)? Or should I just not go and let that be my feedback on their weird invitation system?

You'd think they could do something crazy like see where I spend the vast majority of my Fridays at noon (or the vast majority of all weekday business hours) based on my in-game activity before sending me a pass. None of those hours are spent anywhere near that gym.
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So, it used to be that we hadn’t upgraded to

2017-10-20 13:38[personal profile] copperbadge
copperbadge: (Default)
So, it used to be that we hadn’t upgraded to Windows 10 because our IT department hadn’t cleared it as “secure” enough (it’s not that it wasn’t secure, it just hadn’t gone through the security affirmation process). Now apparently it is, since they upgraded me to 10. I’ve never really had 10; I decided not to upgrade my personal laptop, though for a while the laptop I used for travel had it. 

I know this is just me getting older, but I am weirdly suspicious not of Windows 10 as a system but of the Windows 10 aesthetic. Everything is too smooth and square. Things that should be rounded are pointy and things that should be pointy are rounded. Everything is well-animated and in soothing pastel greys. 

I come from an era where computers weren’t even MEANT to be soothing, where it was just accepted that they would challenge you visually as well as implicitly. And I’m not saying we should go back to a Windows 3.0 aesthetic or anything, I don’t want computers to be difficult, I’m just saying. It’s…

It’s quiet. Too quiet. 

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Plugin Problems

2017-10-19 19:06[personal profile] jimhines
jimhines: (Shego - Facepalm)
My Journalpress plugin is no longer posting things to Dreamwidth. I've seen reports that this is due to a change Dreamwidth made in their site security or configuration, but I'm not sure.

I'll be looking for solutions, but in the meantime, you can always find everything on the website at http://www.jimchines.com/blog/
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So, I think someone high up in management at my institution got hacked last year or something, since

2017-10-19 19:56[personal profile] copperbadge
copperbadge: (Default)
So, I think someone high up in management at my institution got hacked last year or something, since in the past year we have developed some serious paranoia regarding data security. Not to say that data security isn’t important or that I dislike the changes, I think they are for the most part sensible, but we went from like, zero to Steranko-System-in-Leverage in the course of a month or two. 

The latest development is a mysterious edict that we all have to leave our computers at work but logged out tonight so that they can “encrypt” our computers somehow – I assume it’s some kind of software they’re going to install, but there’s been a dearth of information over what exactly this Encryption Of Computers entails. Furthermore, I was told that my computer is incompatible with encryption (loose lips sink ships, laptop!) so it will have to be wiped completely and upgraded. Which I’m fine with, all my work is on a network drive anyway and I just had to remember to move a few files. 

But my laptop apparently heard them and knows it’s being wiped. Yesterday the flash stopped working and today my Outlook has decided to neither send nor receive any email. Additionally, a retail clothing website just broke Firefox so hard it no longer allows me to log into anything. 

What I’m saying is that this laptop is going down swinging, and I kind of admire its fighting spirit, but goddamn, could it not have waited until the end of the workday so I wouldn’t have to use Microsoft Webmail to do the last two hours of business today. 

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A Bright Light in Gainesville...

2017-10-18 09:42[personal profile] lagilman
lagilman: (dissent)
 
So, noted white supremacist and general PoS Richard Spencer is giving a speech at the University of Florida, in Gainesville. And the University, in a rather amazing show of WTFkery, has allowed Spencer's camp to screen journalists, only allowing "approved" ones press access. Their excuse "they rented the hall, it's their event."

Apparently, University of Florida is disclaiming any responsibility for anything that happens within a rented hall on their property. That can only end well, don't you think? I wonder what their journalism department has to say about freedom of the press, these days? (feel free to ask them)

But! There is a bright light in Gainesville (actually, quite a few, but one I'm showcasing in particular). Alligator Brewing Co.

If you bring in a (free) ticket to the abovementioned event, before the event, you can exchange it for a beer, thereby a) getting a free beer and b) leaving an empty seat in the hall, as they will dispose of said ticket.

Alligator, in the name of decent folk, beer drinking or otherwise, everywhere, we salute you. 
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Good Lord, I Hope So...

2017-10-17 19:04[personal profile] lil_m_moses
lil_m_moses: (libra)
Libra Horoscope for week of October 19, 2017
A woman I know, Caeli La, was thinking about relocating from Denver to Brooklyn. She journeyed across country and visited a prime neighborhood in her potential new headquarters. Here's what she reported on her Facebook page: "In the last three days, I've seen three different men on separate occasions wearing sundresses. So this is definitely the right place for me." What sort of signs and omens would tell you what you need to do to be in the right place at the right time, Libra? I urge you to be on the lookout for them in the coming weeks. Life will be conspiring to provide you with clues about where you can feel at peace, at home, and in the groove.
...especially after getting yet another rejection letter yesterday, doing another troll through Indeed for any jobs in Traverse City (nothing for me), and getting depressed again.

Josh's is similarly hopeful:
Aquarius Horoscope for week of October 19, 2017
I predict your ambitions will burn more steadily in the coming months, and will produce more heat and light than ever before. You'll have a clearer conception of exactly what it is you want to accomplish, as well as a growing certainty of the resources and help you'll need to accomplish it. Hooray and hallelujah! But keep this in mind, Aquarius: As you acquire greater access to meaningful success -- not just the kind of success that merely impresses other people -- you'll be required to take on more responsibility. Can you handle that? I think you can.
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Writing is slow today, in-between other things, but it IS happening...

2017-10-17 14:46[personal profile] lagilman
lagilman: coffee or die (Default)
Project 1: I was told my objection to manure was a relic of my, and I quote, ‘soft city life.” I told them to spend a summer riding the subway and get back to me on smells.


Project 2: "Only in the corner, in a small box, was there notice of unrest between several “anxious young men” over “matters political.” But it did not say what those matters had been, nor how it had been resolved."
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[Book Reviews] "Homage to Catalonia"

2017-10-17 11:03[personal profile] ivy18
ivy: Two strands of ivy against a red wall (Default)
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FIC: All Out!!: Sticky [Ebumi/Ise; R]

2017-10-17 09:22[personal profile] ldybastetNSFW
ldybastet: (All Out!! - Sekizan & Ebumi)
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(no subject)

2017-10-16 20:47[personal profile] lagilman
lagilman: coffee or die (Default)
New life goal: to make Carrie Fisher's ghost cackle with pride in me.

"Even after her death Carrie Fisher is having none of your bullshit. 

 

Heather Ross, a friend of Fisher's, spoke to a local radio station in Tucson, AZ. about her experience with sexual assault in Hollywood. On the 94.9 Morning Mix, Ross recalled inappropriate advances from a big name producer and how Fisher made clear she had a zero-tolerance policy for that kind of behavior.

After Ross was assaulted by "an Oscar-winning producer" – not Weinstein, but another – Fisher was furious. After the initial shock and fear wore off, Fisher ran into the producer at Sony and delivered him a package.

"It was a cow tongue from Jerry’s Famous Deli with a note that said, ‘If you ever touch my darling Heather or any other woman again, the next delivery will be something of yours in a much smaller box.’”

The cow tongue was all Fisher's idea, natch, and she made sure to deliver it in person and watch him open the box."



 http://mashable.com/2017/10/16/carrie-fisher-heather-ross-cow-tongue/#Hsa_I4ursmqT


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(no subject)

2017-10-16 08:18[personal profile] copperbadge
copperbadge: (radiofreemondaaay)
Good morning everyone, and welcome to Radio Free Monday!

Ways To Give:

Ashley linked to a fundraiser set up by a California credit union, Redwood Credit Union, to help communities impacted by the California wildfires. You can read more and give at their donation page.

[personal profile] kuwdora is a long-time fandom vidder who recently enrolled in a career coaching program with tv/film editor Zack Arnold, and she is now working to pay off the last installment of the program and transition from a vidding hobby to a professional editing career in Hollywood. You can read more here, give to her gofundme here, and buy art from her etsy here.

[tumblr.com profile] catlinyemaker linked to a fundraiser for [twitter.com profile] neolithicsheep, a disabled Navy vet and sustainable agriculture educator who is raising funds to get a border collie to help them with their Sovay sheep. You can read more about the fundraiser and retweet in a twitter thread here, and purchase various shirts and other branded goods at their Teespring here.

[personal profile] xturtle linked to their friend Marcia, who is raising funds to help cover vet bills for her sick bunny; she is running out of unemployment benefits and looking for work; in the meantime Caspian needs testing to determine what the lump in his stomach is and get his teeth fixed. You can read more and help out here.

Anon linked to a fundriaser for [tumblr.com profile] ohcrakerjacks, a victim of black toxic mold. She and her parents are raising funds to replace walls, insulation, flooring, and furniture. You can read more and check out commissions here and give to her ko-fi here, which will support supply purchases for the cross-stitch embroidery she sells.

Buy Stuff, Help Out:

[tumblr.com profile] suriel's husband is about to have two surgeries, each costing several thousand dollars, and they are raising money to cover expenses. They have sales in all their online shops: Fandom buttons and more, caramels and toffees, and their band shop. You can read and reblog here.

Anon linked to [tumblr.com profile] vaspider, who is running a sale on their Etsy shop ($10% off $30 or more) to help with living expenses and home repairs after a job loss and other unexpected life events this year. You can check out the Etsy shop here; it includes a lot of nerdy/geeky Judaica as well as secular clothes, accessories, and cosplay.

News To Know:

[personal profile] brainwane linked to a writeup that [personal profile] kaberett posted about desensitizing themselves to board games; Board Game Desensitization Process is a template for people who may have a difficult relationship to card/board games but want to participate in the increasingly popular social events focused around them.


And this has been Radio Free Monday! Thank you for your time. You can post items for my attention at the Radio Free Monday submissions form. If you're not sure how to proceed, here is a little more about what I do and how you can help (or ask for help!). If you're new to fundraising, you may want to check out my guide to fundraising here.
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[Book Reviews] "A First-Class Catastrophe"

2017-10-15 08:06[personal profile] ivy18
ivy: Two strands of ivy against a red wall (Default)
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Because I am me, I systematized my home search as much

2017-10-15 14:15[personal profile] copperbadge
copperbadge: (Default)
Because I am me, I systematized my home search as much as I could – I have a spreadsheet in google that has not just my list of Best, Acceptable, and Totally Unacceptable buildings in it but also my mortgage calculator from the bank and various other financial stuff. I also went into the top few real estate websites (primarily Zillow and Estately) and set several different searches to be sent to my non-fandom inbox, where they were then filtered into a Housing folder (different from my other Housing folder, which has all my documents/communications with my realtor). 

Now I’m looking at my Housing folder which constantly has new emails in it and wishing there was just an “I BOUGHT A HOME, YOUR SERVICES ARE NOW IN VAIN” button I could press to notify all of those sites that no, really, I seriously do not anymore need your Real Estate Tips And Tricks newsletter anymore. 

Fortunately changing my address everywhere won’t be the nightmare my mum always complains it is, because I also have a spreadsheet of every website I’ve ever built a login for, and I just go through the spreadsheet (also it’s an excellent opportunity to delete my account from sites I never use). 

I’ve rarely lived anywhere for more than five years, and my phone number was deeply unstable for a while for similar reasons, but it’s a small wonder our generation prefers email to most other forms of communication – after all, my gmail addresses have been stable now for more than ten years. 

I believe I have now been Copperbadge On Social Media for longer than I have ever lived in any single residence. 

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getting into the (political) kitchen....

2017-10-13 18:29[personal profile] lagilman
lagilman: coffee or die (Default)
 Washington State's voter pamphlet has arrived. I'm preparin' to do my thing for Democracy and Sanity....
 
(yes, this state sends you a pamphlet a month before the election, with all the issues and candidates up for decision, so you have time to actually look at things and learn about them before you MAKE your decision....

And then you can mail it in, and track your vote all the way to the counting pile.

Oh, and we use a Top 2 Primary system, rather than a party nominating system. So the general election is not inevitable R vs D, but "the two candidates out of the whole pack who got the most votes in the primary."

Washington State's not perfect, but it's got a pretty decent handle on this democracy thing, right now.
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The owners of the condo I offered on have accepted my offer at $180K, with the only condition that..

2017-10-12 13:54[personal profile] copperbadge
copperbadge: (Default)
The owners of the condo I offered on have accepted my offer at $180K, with the only condition that they will do no repairs or remodels before I take possession. 

*head between knees*

GONNA BE A HOMEOWNER.

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In the Ongoing Dumpster Fire that is the Current White House...

2017-10-11 10:14[personal profile] lagilman
lagilman: (dissent)
In case - among the visual horrors of the California fires and the abandonment of Puerto Rico, as well as the destruction of our environment for financial gain of corporations and shareholders, you missed this tidbit:

45's regime is attempting - despite there being no actual science to support it- to define life as beginning at conception.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/10/look-at-the-junk-science-about-contraception-in-the-health-departments-new-manifesto/

Yanno, if you're going to claim religious exemptions for employers to not pay for birth control, and why abortions should be limited, then you need to either a) allow those of us whose religion ALLOWS contraception, and abortion, and protecting the health of the mother above all else - to have religiously-protected access to same, or b) admit that you're angling for a Christian theocracy, and your "freedom OF religion" really means "bow to MY religion."

In this, as in so many other bullshit ideologies being pushed by Pence et al.

/rant



 Also, Trump has apparently tweeted (what else) that NBC should lose their broadcast license for, um...being critical of him, apparently.

He seems to have forgotten (or not actually listened to) part of the oath he actually took in front of a scattering of witnesses:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.“

Including the 1st Amendment, not just the 2nd.

In response, the National Association of Broadcasters, who actually DO know their Constitution, issued the following statement:

“The founders of our nation set as a cornerstone of our democracy the First Amendment, forever enshrining and protecting freedom of the press. It is contrary to this fundamental right for any government official to threaten the revocation of an FCC license simply because of a disagreement with the reporting of a journalist.”
 

https://www.nab.org/documents/newsRoom/pressRelease.asp?id=4253
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Temperate Front

2017-10-11 08:12[personal profile] lil_m_moses
lil_m_moses: (mythbusters)
OMG! The outdoors...feels like the INDOORS! Whaaaat??!?

Yes folks, this is what a tiny break in the weather feels like in Houston. Don't worry, it'll be back to all hot all the time tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm relishing the smidge of open-window time.

I long to move back to a land where we can wear our jackets outdoors and carry them indoors, not vice-versa.
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[Book Reviews] Wednesday book meme: disappointing past books, better hopes for the future

2017-10-11 00:11[personal profile] ivy18
ivy: Two strands of ivy against a red wall (Default)
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A Plea to Conventions About Name Badges

2017-10-10 15:26[personal profile] jimhines
jimhines: (Default)

I have a favor to ask of conventions: please design your badges so that names can be easily and clearly read.


I’ve never been good with names. It’s frustrating as hell, and it’s become a bigger problem as I travel to more conventions. I get introduced to so many people, and within 24 hours, a lot of those names escape my brain like Batman villains from Arkham Asylum.


Most of the time, it’s not that I forget the people — just the names. (Sorry, Darla!) Especially if it’s been a while (folks I see once a year at a given convention, for example) or the context is different. Even when my brain retains a tentative grasp on a name, I tend to not trust myself, and still try to check badges to make sure.


Compare these two badges. The one on the left is from Convergence. The one on the right I made up as an example, but it’s pretty close to some I’ve seen at various conventions.


Convergence Badge Fake Convention Badge


Convergence’s badge is relatively easy to read, with clear black text on white. Even my old eyes should be able to read that at a distance. Whereas the other example uses small type in a non-standard font, and is hard to distinguish from the background.


(This will also give me a better chance of spelling your name correctly if I’m signing a book!)


I know folks like cool artwork on the badges. I know a lot of people are better at remembering names than I am. But please take pity on those of us with older eyes and leaky brains.


Thank you,

Jim and the Society of People Who Suck at Remembering Names






Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.

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