BASwimStud: yea, i punch myself in the crotch for fun
BASwimStud: you should try it sometime
BASwimStud: fuking fantastic
BASwimStud:

He later asked for me to put this in my profile. I did one better and put it here. There ya go.

Categories: Quotables
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So, I work for a local park district back home. I won’t say which one. My boss wants me to make a couple of websites for her, because she knows what she does not know, quite the respectable trait. So, I go and inquire around as to how to submit my HTML, and if I could use PHP and get an MySQL database to run a nice CMS to help keep everybody in touch.

Know what I found?

The entire website is written using Microsoft Publisher *AND* The webmistress of the park district site doesn’t know about web technologies, nor how to use anything other than Publisher! I could only stare in disbelief. I thought she was joking. “She’s the webmaster, and yet the term ‘HTML’ goes over her head?” I mean, HTML is only like, what, 13 years old? Of course someone webmastering a government organization’s face on the Internet is gonna know that at least. Of course not. She couldn’t tell me how to make a website other than to get someone else to help me make a page in MS Publisher, because she didn’t know how to do it.

First, came the “blind rage” stage. Everyone and anything connected to website, excluding myself of course, was logically a raving moron and should be summarily removed from the gene pool for the good of Humanity. After cooling down, I came to acceptance. I don’t understand why, but I’ll get something that works now, and work to fix the website that’s an obvious Wrong Thing. Then, I reached Enlightenment™. My rage is not to be directed at those just doing their jobs, not knowing anything beyond what they were told, for they have Ignorance. Ignorance is not a mortal sin. It is easily corrected with Learning. The proper target of my wrath is the event chain that led up to this event, with some key, unnamed, people in this chain. To begin with, it appears that the park district did not solicit bids for their website. There are plenty of students at the local high school in web design courses which would have just loved to not only have a job, but a job running a website that they can later add to their portfolio. And it would have been not only cheap, but effective. But instead, somebody says “Microsoft Publisher” and gets it done. And manages to accomplish every last Wrong Thing that can possibly be done. And instead of teaching the staff how to properly run a website, they are encouraged to simply “use Publisher”. Which makes ugly output, by the way. This short-sightedness and stupidity on the part of the decision makers is not only a waste of tax dollars spent on creating the system, but is doing a disservice to the community with a poor website, that’s often broken, and inaccessible to the visually impared or not using Microsoft Internet Explorer for Windows. Shame on them.

Categories: Geeky Peawee, Life of Peawee
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As of late, there’s been talk about killing the Space Shuttle program. You know what? I agree. The Space Shuttle has never lived up to its promise of a low-cost reusable launch vehicle. Even before the Columbia disaster, the shuttle has required an almost complete rebuild between missions, that some say are due to initial price reductions in the design during the inflation-crazy 1970’s (”See? We save $30 million here, and only need to spend $5 million on maintence between flights to make up for it! What else can we price cut?”). The Space Shuttle was also designed to compliment an American space station, which evolved into plans for Space Station Freedom during Regan’s administration. The International Space Station that replaces it is an effective sham, a large pork-barrel project floating miles above our heads. Private industry is chomping at the bit to push into low Earth orbit. Let them. NASA has always been the “dreamer” arm of the US government, so I say let them use their budget monies for dreamer projects, and let the routine fall upon the private sector. In other words, let the private sector worry about launching commercial satelites and removing trash from the ISS. Let NASA focus on things like moon bases and manned missions to Mars. Heavy launch vehicles like the Delta IV can provide suitable heavy lift capacity, as can the Shuttle-C programme, until private industry techs up to mach. And while private contractors are busy making space work, NASA can be busy with developing advanced spacecraft, and pushing the limits of mankind.

Categories: Geeky Peawee, Political Peawee
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So, last night, I went to see Mr. & Mrs. Smith with Margaret the other night. I’ve heard that the critics didn’t take too nicely to the movie. They’re stupid. The movie is touted as an action flick. Which it is, but I think people are taking this “action flick” thing way too seriously (people meaning “advertisers”). When John and Jane Smith hunt each other, it’s almost like Spy Versus Spy with Angelina Jolie in a little black dress. And then when they start fighting melee, it gets comical. If you can wrap your mind around that you can laugh at an action movie, this is honestly funny in a good way. Hell, part of it looks downright so fake it has to be puroposeful camp. It’s a really funny movie that I highly suggest watching. Oh, yeah, and Angelina’s really really hot.

I’ve also just got done with the Battlestar Galactica first season. HOLY CRAP This series has honestly got to be one of the best things ever to air on TV in… ever. It gets everything right. And then when the Cyclons (robots who blew up civilization-as-we-know-it) start preaching religion to the humans… it’s intense. Quote the Cyclon lady: “We are all God’s children”. The plot has more twists than the latest roller coaster. There are no flat characters in the show; everyone is at least fully dimentioned. Some, like the Adamas and the blonde Cyclon, are more faceted than a buckyball. And the last show of the first season just completely blew me away. I was literally breathless by the end of the show. It needs… it needs a position on prime time US TV on a major network. I can’t wait for the second season.

On a completely unrelated note, I’m going to start redecorating this site. I think Blog:CMS’s default themes are fugly, with the current one you see being the best available. I’m going to start learning how to theme this beast and hopefully start a theme repository. Failing that, I can always switch to WordPress.

Note Again: I switched to WordPress a long-ass time ago…

Categories: Life of Peawee
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Alright, went for a ride today. At Rubio Woods (map incomplete), an attractive young woman, on a Lemond lady-model road bike, was pulling onto the trail as I was passing through. She stuck on me for about a mile, and in a nasty upwind strech suggested we form a formal paceline. Her reasoning: she got shelter from the wind, and I got shelter as well, and could freely stare at her ass as well. She sold me on the idea. After a few more miles of that, we got to a stoplight and started talking. Now, this is when I got a better look at her. Closest comparison I could make is to Angelina Jolie. In cycling shorts and a sports bra. On a $1300 road bike. *drools*.

So, we were riding together for the rest of my ride. She is about as capable of a cyclist as I am, and a sophmore at U of C, home for the summer. Her major is in Poli Sci, and wants to be one of the upper staffers to a Democratic administration in the White House. Now, here’s the kicker: She told me to call her, and we’d go out for coffee sometime this week. BUT I FORGOT TO GET HER NUMBER.

So, Joan, if you’re out there and for some reason read this blog and go “Hey, that was me!!!” please email peawee [at] peawee [dot] net. Mmmkay?

Side issue about cycling: wind sucks when it’s strong enough to force you to pedal downhill.

Categories: Life of Peawee
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