Guardian of the Non Sequitur

bare pate roue

WordPress on the iPhone

Arrrg!

The WordPress for iPhone buttons are disappearing on me!

I just lost a whole post because of it. I think it may have worked if I tapped the navigation bar where the button was supposed to be, but I didn’t know where that was.

Blogging from bed…

August 20th, 2008 Posted by bshirley | Uncategorized | no comments

BarCamp Houston 3


Digital Photography Session

uploaded by David Herrold

I attended the BarCamp Houston 3 on Saturday at the Houston Technology Center.

Most people assumed this meant I was going on some kind of pub crawl, but the term bar is actually a computer science term, and as such you should guess that this “unconference”, as it terms itself, has a high geek factor.

Anyone, who wants to present on a topic (and you are encouraged to do so) can have a 30 minute block of time. Everyone proclaims their intentions on a white board at the beginning of the day, and the lectures, panels, and discussions begin.

I enjoyed the following topics: (more…)

August 10th, 2008 Posted by bshirley | Uncategorized | 3 comments

The Unavoidable Malware Myth

A good read:

The idea that Apple will inherit Microsoft’s problems is based in the ignorance that Windows’ security problems are rooted in its popularity, rather than its poor architectural design. That is not true, as countless examples of viruses attacking minor platforms attest. Malware targets weakness, not popularity. Windows is plagued with malware, not because it is ubiquitous, but because it is riddled with weaknesses.

The Unavoidable Malware Myth, roughlydrafted.com

April 3rd, 2008 Posted by bshirley | Uncategorized | one comment

In Defense of Patriotism

There was a brilliant essay by Ron Rosenbaum in Monday’s Slate.com that I didn’t hear until today on Slate’s daily podcast. It’s titled In Defense of Obama’s Patriotism: a dissent on the pledge.

You should read the whole thing, but here’s a snip:

I certainly feel allegiance, though less to the inanimate flag than to “the republic for which it stands,” but, paradoxically, the moment when I feel most rebellious about that allegiance is when I’m being forced by state or social coercion to pledge allegiance. The America I feel allegiance to isn’t the America that requires compulsory displays of loyalty.

All in an atmosphere of Barack Obama being chastised for his purportedly less-than-patriotic behavior, this short piece gives a few lessons on Minnersville School District v. Gobitis, et al. that most Americans could do to relearn.

November 13th, 2007 Posted by bshirley | Uncategorized | one comment

The Pentagon Papers and Rumsfeldian song

A very sobering article titled The Pentagon Papers. An insiders view of the war planning and unprecedented overhauling of institutional knowledge within the intelligence and defense parts of the administration. By Karen Kwiatkowski on Salon.com

To balance off that outrageousness, there was lighter news recently on NPR, last year’s book The Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld, which my mother bought me, but enjoyed so much never gave to me, has been set to music. Any you must hear it!

One of the classic Rumdfeldianisms below. Jon Stewart had fun with it when it happened. And BBC-4’s great collection of Rumsfeld Soundbites of course has the original quote.

The Unknown

As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don’t know
We don’t know.

Department of Defense news briefing
Feb. 12, 2002

the theme to both: we don’t know,
-b

March 13th, 2004 Posted by bshirley | Uncategorized | no comments

advert in the satellite wars

This Viacom advertisement ran in the Wednesday, March 10, 2004, New York Post. The ad outlines Viacom's position on the dispute with Echostar/Disk Network satellite television. Echostar/Disk Network suspended transmissions of Viacom's signal, effectively pulling CBS, MTV, BET, Nickelodeon and other popular channels owned by Viacom off the air for their satellite television customers.  The dispute lasted about 48 hours and Viacom  content is back on Echostar. (AP Photo/Viacom via The New York Post)

I had a hard time taking sides in this battle between two oversized media conglomerates, but it humors me.

-b

March 12th, 2004 Posted by bshirley | Uncategorized | no comments

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