I've noticed that I don't hold my mouse the way they're designed to be held. My hand goes over it kind of sideways, so that my pointer finger rests on the scroll wheel. That's the most comfortable position for me. When I go to click on something, I slide my pointer finger over, which is awkward. I feel the stress running through the rest of my hand when I do it.
They should redesign the mouse to fit the hand's actual resting shape.
Friday, April 7, 2006
An unexpected visitor
Tom Hanks is all about Koizumi's hair
As are we all.
But Koizumi made a gaffe:
But Koizumi made a gaffe:
During the brief, jocular meeting at Koizumi's office, the 64-year-old prime minister also told Hanks, 49, that he looked much younger in his films.Come on, Jun-Jun; we Americans are blunt and all, but we're also horribly self-conscious about our ages :>
Hanks grimaced but quickly replied, "My children are constantly reminding me what an old man I am."
Thursday, April 6, 2006
I know you won't believe it, but I took more pictures
Yes, I am trying to create horrible load times on my front page.
Here's today's lunch.
I went out to the park next to the station and had lunch on the lone picnic table. Then I went back and forth about climbing the tree next to me. I went so far as to take my shoes off and try to get a leg up on the tree. Then I decided I didn't want to try it in a skirt while there were people around, so I gave up and headed back to the table. It was at that point that I noticed my feet were covered with pine sap.
After that, I stepped back into my sandals (effectively gluing my feet to them) and wandered around for pictures.
Mom had told me she wanted to see a particular tree up close, so I strolled down the street to get a picture of it. The tree is in front of a house two or three doors down from the Always Christmas house.
After that I got my best picture of a dandelion EVAR.
Here's today's lunch.
I went out to the park next to the station and had lunch on the lone picnic table. Then I went back and forth about climbing the tree next to me. I went so far as to take my shoes off and try to get a leg up on the tree. Then I decided I didn't want to try it in a skirt while there were people around, so I gave up and headed back to the table. It was at that point that I noticed my feet were covered with pine sap.
After that, I stepped back into my sandals (effectively gluing my feet to them) and wandered around for pictures.
Mom had told me she wanted to see a particular tree up close, so I strolled down the street to get a picture of it. The tree is in front of a house two or three doors down from the Always Christmas house.
After that I got my best picture of a dandelion EVAR.
The purpose of MySpace: to pimp your music?
I keep receiving MySpace messages from people I don't know who want me to listen to their band's music. Does this tactic work? I usually just ignore the messages.
Quest for karate master leads to...nothing
Poor kids.
Three Singaporeans were found safe on Thursday after getting lost on what they said was a mission to find a legendary karate expert on a snowy mountainside in Japan.Here, in case you're interested, is a size-comparison picture of Singapore and Japan (thanks be to MultiMap).
One of the three men told police in Hirosaki, near the northern tip of Japan's main island, that they had come to Japan after his dying father, a martial arts expert, had ordered them to seek out the karate teacher, TV Asahi said on its Web site.
"Japan looked so small on the world map that we thought we would be able to find him straight away," one of the group, aged between 25 and 50, was quoted as saying.
All three were dressed in light clothing and huddling in an abandoned car when they were rescued from the slopes of 1,600-metre (5,249-ft) Mount Iwaki in the early hours of the morning after calling for help on a mobile phone, a police spokesman said. "Neither police nor local people know of anyone running karate classes in this area," the spokesman added.
North Augusta woman leaves 15-month-old in car for nine hours
Obviously, the child died.
My first reaction upon hearing this story was to growl, "Death penalty!" I think I scared my coworker.
According to the Chronicle, the woman's coworker said she was having trouble finding a babysitter. There needs to be a solution for this. I'm tired of hearing about children dying due to neglect, and I'm tired of hearing excuses. I can understand feeling trapped, needing to make money to feed the kid and so being afraid to call in to work to stay home with the kid...but honestly, leaving the child in the car all day? The stupidity here is mind-boggling. Parents need to be smarter.
And there needs to be a community solution that helps single parents or parents who both have to work to have decent childcare during the day. Because regardless of how well we try to educate people, there are always going to be morons. We need to have systems in place to protect our children from them.
My first reaction upon hearing this story was to growl, "Death penalty!" I think I scared my coworker.
According to the Chronicle, the woman's coworker said she was having trouble finding a babysitter. There needs to be a solution for this. I'm tired of hearing about children dying due to neglect, and I'm tired of hearing excuses. I can understand feeling trapped, needing to make money to feed the kid and so being afraid to call in to work to stay home with the kid...but honestly, leaving the child in the car all day? The stupidity here is mind-boggling. Parents need to be smarter.
And there needs to be a community solution that helps single parents or parents who both have to work to have decent childcare during the day. Because regardless of how well we try to educate people, there are always going to be morons. We need to have systems in place to protect our children from them.
Wednesday, April 5, 2006
Pictures
I posted more pictures last night and forgot to mention it. (Or was too tired to mention it, whatever.)
The first group is a small set from Monday's lunch, when I had Sean's car. I went to Wife Saver and got some catfish strips, then went to the North Augusta boat dock (and dropped my tea, spilling it all over the parking lot. Alas).
I also finally got some decent shots of the WBBQ radio towers. They dominate the skyline in certain parts of North Augusta, so I'm always taking pictures of them, but rarely are they ever, you know, not washed out.
Well, I like it, anyway.
The next set is from yesterday, when I walked to Burger King.
People haven't been commenting on my pictures, and no one (except Mom) ever goes to my actual gallery and posts comments, so I have to come to the conclusion that my pictures are terrible.
I'll keep posting them anyway. :P
The first group is a small set from Monday's lunch, when I had Sean's car. I went to Wife Saver and got some catfish strips, then went to the North Augusta boat dock (and dropped my tea, spilling it all over the parking lot. Alas).
I also finally got some decent shots of the WBBQ radio towers. They dominate the skyline in certain parts of North Augusta, so I'm always taking pictures of them, but rarely are they ever, you know, not washed out.
Well, I like it, anyway.
The next set is from yesterday, when I walked to Burger King.
People haven't been commenting on my pictures, and no one (except Mom) ever goes to my actual gallery and posts comments, so I have to come to the conclusion that my pictures are terrible.
I'll keep posting them anyway. :P
Local television Web producer tired, hungry
One of the male anchors from work was in my dream last night. He was giving a Bible study class about how forgiveness is a theme in both the New and Old Testaments, and for some reason he was talking about Job...except in the dream version of the story, Job had children who were also put through horrible trials. In retrospect the lecture makes absolutely no sense, but in the dream I found it very moving.
I'm at the station a little early this morning due to not having a car. Same as yesterday. Bleh.
Yesterday I walked to Burger King for lunch. There are plenty of places I can get to in a 20 minute walk. I didn't bring a lunch today, so obviously I'll be walking again. The sad thing is that I forgot to eat breakfast. I thought about walking somewhere for that, but I really didn't feel like it. Maybe I have enough change to get a honey bun or something out of the snack machine.
This week has already run me ragged, and it's only Wednesday morning!
I'm at the station a little early this morning due to not having a car. Same as yesterday. Bleh.
Yesterday I walked to Burger King for lunch. There are plenty of places I can get to in a 20 minute walk. I didn't bring a lunch today, so obviously I'll be walking again. The sad thing is that I forgot to eat breakfast. I thought about walking somewhere for that, but I really didn't feel like it. Maybe I have enough change to get a honey bun or something out of the snack machine.
This week has already run me ragged, and it's only Wednesday morning!
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
Saving the world, one souvenir at a time
Newsweek: Vanishing Acts
This article discusses the wonders of the world, and how, due to various factors, we are losing them. It concludes that one of the major forces of destruction might be molded into a savior.
As the world changes, new things replace old things. Even if we go back and try to preserve something, we ultimately have to sacrifice something else. Is the 1970s concrete block of a building worth less than the 1950s house it replaced? Aren't both icons of their time period? How do you choose which to restore?
This is not to say I don't think we should try and save the wonders of the world--it's just that I find the perspective of this article to be a little naive.
I am personally a big fan of tourism done right. I would like to see more tourism here in Augusta, for the history and beauty rather than for the Masters. The idea that tourism could be used to "save the world" is attractive to me.
This article discusses the wonders of the world, and how, due to various factors, we are losing them. It concludes that one of the major forces of destruction might be molded into a savior.
A world awash in tourists can be a curse for its endangered treasures, or a source of funds to save them. Getting the balance right could be the difference between future generations beholding the living wonders of the world, and merely reading about them in a story book.It seems to me that the world has always been changing, and things we would call landmarks today disappear regularly throughout history. But I suppose there is more of a global awareness now that might make it seem as though everything is vanishing all of a sudden.
As the world changes, new things replace old things. Even if we go back and try to preserve something, we ultimately have to sacrifice something else. Is the 1970s concrete block of a building worth less than the 1950s house it replaced? Aren't both icons of their time period? How do you choose which to restore?
This is not to say I don't think we should try and save the wonders of the world--it's just that I find the perspective of this article to be a little naive.
I am personally a big fan of tourism done right. I would like to see more tourism here in Augusta, for the history and beauty rather than for the Masters. The idea that tourism could be used to "save the world" is attractive to me.
Wireless billing scam?
I got an automated call just now from the telephone number 888-249-9735. The recording said it was from Sprint. The message stated that our wireless service was reading its "spending limit", and that to avoid "service interruption", which would occur within 48 hours, we needed to make a payment. It asked me to put in my billing zip code, and then to make an automated payment, at which point I hung up.
If this is a scam, it's a pretty clever one. I almost believed it for a second, because Sean does make a lot of long-distance calls. But there are several fishy things about the situation.
The phone number is unlisted on whitepages.com, and I don't see it on Sprint's website. Sean just paid our Sprint bill. Also, my number is not the primary line on our account; you'd think Sprint would deliver such a message to Sean's phone. And how could we reach a "spending limit" when we have unlimited night and weekend minutes and no long distance or roaming charges? :>
The most telling thing is this: there was no way for me to confirm that the caller was actually with Sprint. I had two options when they asked me to make the payment: either make one immediately, or put the line on hold to gather my account information and then make the payment immediately. There were no "We'll call you back later" or "Call us back later" or "Make your payment online" options.
I told Sean about it so he could check our account just in case, but I'm pretty sure this is a scam. I hope people are smart enough not to make payments to people who call them randomly on the phone.
If this is a scam, it's a pretty clever one. I almost believed it for a second, because Sean does make a lot of long-distance calls. But there are several fishy things about the situation.
The phone number is unlisted on whitepages.com, and I don't see it on Sprint's website. Sean just paid our Sprint bill. Also, my number is not the primary line on our account; you'd think Sprint would deliver such a message to Sean's phone. And how could we reach a "spending limit" when we have unlimited night and weekend minutes and no long distance or roaming charges? :>
The most telling thing is this: there was no way for me to confirm that the caller was actually with Sprint. I had two options when they asked me to make the payment: either make one immediately, or put the line on hold to gather my account information and then make the payment immediately. There were no "We'll call you back later" or "Call us back later" or "Make your payment online" options.
I told Sean about it so he could check our account just in case, but I'm pretty sure this is a scam. I hope people are smart enough not to make payments to people who call them randomly on the phone.
Ainu activist hopes to raise cultural awareness through children's book
Kayano Shigeru, an Ainu activist, wrote the children's book The Ainu and the Fox in 1974, and a picture book edition came out in 2001. This year, it is being released worldwide in an English edition.
"The Ainu and the Fox," which Kayano authored in 1974 based on an Ainu folktale, underscores the importance of people's co-existence with nature. In the story, a fox who faces expulsion because he ate a salmon caught by Ainu people claims that God created salmon and determined the number of the fish that go up the streams so that Ainu people, bears and foxes can divide them.Charles T. Whipple interviewed Kayano. The article isn't dated, but I'm guessing the interview took place around 1994.
This summer, (name) passed away, leaving one of the 10 Socialist seats vacant. Shigeru Kayano got that seat, and became the first Ainu Dietman ever.Unfortunately,
Immediately, the switchboard at the lower house office building was inundated with phone calls. "Can you wear traditional Ainu dress in the Diet?" some wanted to know. "Is it okay to ask questions in the Diet in the Ainu language?" others asked. All because Shigeru Kayano is also Japan's best known Ainu. He has devoted most of his life to the preservation and promulgation of Ainu language and culture. He's written 25 books on these subjects, one of which has been translated into English and dubbed "Our Home Was a Forest--an Ainu Memoir."
"Shamu (the Ainu word for Japanese) don't understand my Japanese," Kayano says, sitting in his corner Diet office. "They buy 50,000 or 60,000 of each of my books, but nothing happens. They don't understand."
Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone once said he was glad Japan was a homogeneous nation, because it was the blacks and the hispanics that pulled literacy levels down in the United States. As is the case with most Japanese, he ignored two other races -- the Ainu on Hokkaido and the Okinawans of the Ryukyu islands.
[...]
Working as a day laborer, Kayano watched his native culture gradually slide toward oblivion.
"I started going to Noboribetsu to work in the tourist traps," he explains. "We performed the bear-sending ceremony three times a day. In real life, it was done once in five or ten years."
At the ripe old age of 29, Kayano was astounded at the tourists' naive questions:
"My, your Japanese is very good. Where did you learn how to speak that well?"
"Can you eat Japanese food?"
"You wear the same kind of clothes as a Japanese."
"Do you pay taxes?"
That's when he decided the Ainu language and culture needed saving. Since then, he hasn't deviated from that goal in the slightest.
A total of 3,000 copies [of "The Ainu and the Fox"] will be sold in Japan, North America, Australia, Britain and South Korea. Further details are available by calling its publisher, the Tokyo-based R.I.C. Publications, at (03) 3788-9201.That's not too terribly many, is it? Maybe I can get my hands on the Japanese edition :>
Monday, April 3, 2006
I can't sleep
Earlier, I fell asleep on the couch. Sean was sitting at the kotatsu and I wanted to be near him. I also wanted to ask when we were going to watch the latest Smallville, but he was busy so I was waiting for a break in his game. I guess one didn't come.
I woke up at about 12:30 and got online, where I did some reading and chatting and basic puttering around, and then I started trying to sleep. But I just sort of lie there, and nothing happens.
So I got up and got a few things ready, like the rent check and my tax documents, and organized some of my paperwork, and put my magazines in the bathroom. Then I tried to sleep again.
No dice.
So finally I gave up and got back online. I wrote some emails that needed to be written and sent out an invoice. I'm hoping that dealing with unfinished business will help turn my mind off, because it's just racing. I lie there in bed and I just can't shut my brain down.
I guess I've been staying up too late this weekend.
My car is at a real mechanic's shop, so tomorrow Sean and I will be sharing his car. I think what we'll do is let me keep the car, because that way we don't have to get up as early. We'll take him to work first (he's on his 9 to 6 this week) and then I'll go to my job. Originally he was going to drop me off first and then go to work, but that would mean I'd be in North Augusta two and a half hours early, and we'd both have to get up at a ridiculous hour.
I'm still probably going to get up at a ridiculous hour, because I have some more contract work to do.
This contract stuff is starting to wear on me. But I like it, so meh. I haven't done any extra work all week due to moving and the car situation. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to getting back into it or not.
I'm currently watching a new anime called Fate/stay night. (Yes, in English, with that capitalization.) It features...a normal boy with powers he doesn't know he has. Maybe that's just my genre?
But really, it's not all that similar to Kyou Kara Maou. For one thing, this guy, Shirou, is apparently attractive to girls. It's not quite harem, but it's close. For another, Shirou isn't the king of a country in another dimension(?). And of course, there aren't bishies everywhere.
The anime does share some vocabulary with KKM, though. Maryoku, for instance. The fansubber I'm using (the one that gets releases out the fastest, natch) translates maryoku as "mana", which is interesting. And I guess that makes sense. I don't know enough about the fantasy genre; I never would have thought of mana.
There is a difference in Japanese between mahou and majutsu, or "magic" and "sorcery". I'm still trying to figure out what the difference is. Here are some definitions from Jim Breen's WWWJDIC:
Anyway, those definitions don't help much. I got the impression from Kyou Kara Maou (and my understanding of the suffix -jutsu) that majutsu was more like a skill, something you had to learn, while mahou was more of an innate ability. Kind of like how we can all learn to walk on our own, but have to work a little bit at things like reading. But I don't know if that is actually the case, or if there is some other difference. The definitions give majutsu a darker connotation, but that doesn't necessarily conflict with my understanding. After all, black magic is unnatural because it does things that go against the normal flow; learned skills, it could be argued, are the same. It's not natural, for example, to build a skyscraper.
But obviously I'm just guessing here, following context clues, just like how I built my English vocabulary. It's a great system for remembering, but not necessarily for total comprehension. So those of you in the know, please feel free to enlighten me.
I went to Kohl's today and got some nice tops and a new pair of pants. They were finally selling shells; I guess it was just too early last time I went looking. I got three: a blue one, a brown one, and a pink one. I also got a short-sleeved purple sweater and a sleeveless blue sweater thing. I was going for tops that will be comfortable in the heat, but still nice-looking. The new pants were my response to not having any decent casual pants. I love my low-rider jeans and khakis, but the jeans have a hole in the butt and the khakis get terribly wrinkled. Both show their age. I was hoping to find replacements, but I ended up with some olive slacks instead. Meh.
When I was going through my paperwork I discovered a 10% off Kohl's coupon, so maybe I'll go back ;P
I don't feel tired at all, but I guess I should try to sleep some. Get at least a couple of hours in before the new day. So...'night.
I woke up at about 12:30 and got online, where I did some reading and chatting and basic puttering around, and then I started trying to sleep. But I just sort of lie there, and nothing happens.
So I got up and got a few things ready, like the rent check and my tax documents, and organized some of my paperwork, and put my magazines in the bathroom. Then I tried to sleep again.
No dice.
So finally I gave up and got back online. I wrote some emails that needed to be written and sent out an invoice. I'm hoping that dealing with unfinished business will help turn my mind off, because it's just racing. I lie there in bed and I just can't shut my brain down.
I guess I've been staying up too late this weekend.
My car is at a real mechanic's shop, so tomorrow Sean and I will be sharing his car. I think what we'll do is let me keep the car, because that way we don't have to get up as early. We'll take him to work first (he's on his 9 to 6 this week) and then I'll go to my job. Originally he was going to drop me off first and then go to work, but that would mean I'd be in North Augusta two and a half hours early, and we'd both have to get up at a ridiculous hour.
I'm still probably going to get up at a ridiculous hour, because I have some more contract work to do.
This contract stuff is starting to wear on me. But I like it, so meh. I haven't done any extra work all week due to moving and the car situation. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to getting back into it or not.
I'm currently watching a new anime called Fate/stay night. (Yes, in English, with that capitalization.) It features...a normal boy with powers he doesn't know he has. Maybe that's just my genre?
But really, it's not all that similar to Kyou Kara Maou. For one thing, this guy, Shirou, is apparently attractive to girls. It's not quite harem, but it's close. For another, Shirou isn't the king of a country in another dimension(?). And of course, there aren't bishies everywhere.
The anime does share some vocabulary with KKM, though. Maryoku, for instance. The fansubber I'm using (the one that gets releases out the fastest, natch) translates maryoku as "mana", which is interesting. And I guess that makes sense. I don't know enough about the fantasy genre; I never would have thought of mana.
There is a difference in Japanese between mahou and majutsu, or "magic" and "sorcery". I'm still trying to figure out what the difference is. Here are some definitions from Jim Breen's WWWJDIC:
魔法 【まほう】 (n) magic; witchcraft; sorcery; (P) [Ex][G][GI][S]I find "thermos flask; vacuum flask" hilarious. Is the connotation that being airtight is magical? What sorcery is this? :D
魔方陣 【まほうじん】 (n) magic square [G][GI][S]
魔法使い 【まほうつかい】 (n) magician; wizard; sorcerer; witch [G][GI][S]
魔法的 【まほうてき】 (adj-na) magic [G][GI][S]
魔法瓶 【まほうびん】 (n) thermos flask; vacuum flask; (P) [G][GI][S]
魔術 【まじゅつ】 (n) black magic; sorcery; (P) [Ex][G][GI][S]
魔術師 【まじゅつし】 (n) magician; conjurer [Ex][G][GI][S]
魔術的経済学 【まじゅつてきけいざいがく】 (n) voodoo economics [G][GI][S]
Anyway, those definitions don't help much. I got the impression from Kyou Kara Maou (and my understanding of the suffix -jutsu) that majutsu was more like a skill, something you had to learn, while mahou was more of an innate ability. Kind of like how we can all learn to walk on our own, but have to work a little bit at things like reading. But I don't know if that is actually the case, or if there is some other difference. The definitions give majutsu a darker connotation, but that doesn't necessarily conflict with my understanding. After all, black magic is unnatural because it does things that go against the normal flow; learned skills, it could be argued, are the same. It's not natural, for example, to build a skyscraper.
But obviously I'm just guessing here, following context clues, just like how I built my English vocabulary. It's a great system for remembering, but not necessarily for total comprehension. So those of you in the know, please feel free to enlighten me.
I went to Kohl's today and got some nice tops and a new pair of pants. They were finally selling shells; I guess it was just too early last time I went looking. I got three: a blue one, a brown one, and a pink one. I also got a short-sleeved purple sweater and a sleeveless blue sweater thing. I was going for tops that will be comfortable in the heat, but still nice-looking. The new pants were my response to not having any decent casual pants. I love my low-rider jeans and khakis, but the jeans have a hole in the butt and the khakis get terribly wrinkled. Both show their age. I was hoping to find replacements, but I ended up with some olive slacks instead. Meh.
When I was going through my paperwork I discovered a 10% off Kohl's coupon, so maybe I'll go back ;P
I don't feel tired at all, but I guess I should try to sleep some. Get at least a couple of hours in before the new day. So...'night.
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