An Entire Month of Blogging!
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1859 hrs
You may have noticed that I managed to write a blog entry every single day of the month of December. I hadn't started December with this goal in mind, but after about four or five consecutive days with new posts, I thought it would be fun to try. I'll admit that it was tricky at times, and I really phoned it in once or twice, but here we are at day 31! I can't promise that the posts will continue to flow with this same regularity, but I would definitely like to write more blog entries in 2008 than I did in any of the previous years.
I'd like to wrap up 2007 with the My Year in Blogging meme, which I saw on LG's blog. Basically, you write the first line from the first entry of each month this year. See you guys in 2008!
January: As the year rolls over, it's once again time to reflect on the previous year's resolutions and see how well I did, then state new resolutions for this year.
February: I was going to write a post about the Aqua Teen Hunger Force LED sign bomb scare in Boston and how the terrorists are winning, but I think this "scandal" has jumped the shark.
March: FOX's new show, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader, premiered on Tuesday night with mind-boggling ratings.
April: I just got back from a dental checkup where I was told that I had the cleanest teeth of anyone they had seen that day.
May: Kickass British Indie Rock band The Kooks are playing a show in Seattle tonight.
June: Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet.
July: Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet.
August: Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet.
September: We just got home from Pig Out in the Park where Booker T. Jones (of Booker T. and the MGs fame) played a gig.
October: Over the weekend, the entire state of Michigan almost didn't have a government.
November: I know that Mara didn't actually start this meme, but she tagged me, and since I have a hard time saying no to pretty girls, I'll participate.
December: Everyone who reads this blog knows that I'm pretty open about most of the details of my life.
Secular Sunday XII - Proof of Accuracy in the Bible
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1213 hrs
I just read an article about a Notre Dame professor who determined that the star of Bethlehem mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew may have actually been a supernova.
His discovery is the result of research into whether or not the mysterious star actually existed and why it was so bright. As it turns out, about 2000 years ago, Kesteven 75 went supernova in the constellation Aquila, which viewed from Babylon or Persia after midnight would have appeared, "in the East."
To say that this is the star of Bethlehem is pure conjecture, though, since no one is quite sure when Jesus was born - best guesses put his birth as early as 8 B.C. - and there were multiple astronomical phenomena around that time.
This article seems to be part of a growing trend to prove that God is real by proving that events in the Bible actually happened. Astronomer Phil Plait commented on the article saying, "why do people who believe in miracles try to back them up with science, negating their entire premise?"
We've long known that certain events described in the Bible took place. Time and again, science has proven aspects of the Bible to be true. But just because a story contains an event that actually happened doesn't mean that the entire story is true. That would be a bit like saying 2 + 2 = 5 is true, because 2 and 2 are both numbers, and so is 5.
The mentality that God can be proven through science is what Intelligent Design is all about, and it shows that atheism is a legitimate threat to Christianity. That Christians now feel the need to prove their faith on atheists' terms is exactly what's wrong with modern religion. Christians are being taught that tangible evidence can support faith, which is simply not the case.
What's wrong with taking it all on faith? If you believe in God, if you believe in miracles, if you believe what the Bible says, what does it matter what other people believe? Isn't believing in spite of contrary evidence kind of the whole point? Isn't God supposed to test your faith by sending people like me to tempt you?
I think the best way to sum this all up is to point out a comment in the original article. Someone going by the name "Ted" wrote, "why try to find…justification? Either you believe in a comforting faith or you face reality with your own moral compass."
The War is Over
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1939 hrs
You could easily argue that the browser war between Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer has been over for quite a while, but if there was ever any doubt, it can be put to rest. Yesterday, AOL announced that as of 1 February 2008, Netscape Navigator will be officially dead.
Back in 1995, when I first started browsing the internet on a daily basis, Netscape Navigator was my browser of choice. It wasn't until late in high school that I started to prefer Internet Explorer (which was a good browser at the time, as hard as that may be to believe), and since switching away, I have never seriously used Netscape for web browsing.
From time to time, I fondly recall the afternoons I spent after class in the computer lab at my high school. A handful of us had discovered GeoCities and we would spend hours building web pages. Netscape Navigator 3 Gold came with a WYSIWYG editor, and I loved how quickly and easily I could work on my website.
No matter how much time had passed since I last used it, I still considered Netscape one of the "Big 5" browsers (the others being Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, and Safari). Being a web designer, I dislike the fact that there are so many browsers out there, because they all render pages slightly differently. The death of Netscape is a boon to my industry, but it still makes me a little sad.
On BoingBoing's tribute to Netscape, one user very accurately summed up how many of us feel: "This is like reading the obit about someone you chummed around with in high school but lost track of when you went to univ."
Well Netscape Navigator, 13 years after I first started using you, I'm saying goodbye forever. I can't say that I'll miss you, but I'll always fondly remember you.
Friday Funday CLXXIX
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 0558 hrs
Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet. Funday links will open in a new window.
Mr Bean - iTunes ad [del.icio.us]
An iTunes-style ad starring Mr. Bean.
Some guy accuses two Hollywood cops parked illegally [del.icio.us]
A couple of police officers park illegally and an upright (if somewhat annoying) citizen confronts them about it on video. They're less than pleased and utilize a few other questionable tactics to escape.
The Human Calendar [del.icio.us]
At first this doesn't seem like much, but it gets really impressive once you figure out just how hard it must have been to make.
Drug Dealers Vs. Geeks [del.icio.us]
An oldie but a goodie. And so true.
Christophe Huet [del.icio.us]
Christophe Huet's art is nothing short of amazing. Some of the images have a "making of" feature, which makes the Flash interface worthwhile.
Story of Stuff
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 2140 hrs
I don't have much to say today (even if I did, I don't have enough time to write about it), but I did want to pass on this link to storyofstuff.com that was sent to me by a friend. It's pretty interesting stuff, and the video packs quite a bit of info into 20 minutes.
Boxing Day
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1234 hrs
Today is Boxing Day, which in the United States doesn't mean very much. Boxing Day is observed in the Commonwealth of Nations, where it is celebrated with a day off from work and, depending on where you live, soccer games and giant after-Christmas sales. But the origins of Boxing Day have little to do with sportsmanship and commercialism. Although the etymology of the day's name is well debated, the day has historically been a time to give out gifts to the poor.
For most people living in the United States, poor is a relative term. I suspect that this is partly because of the American Dream, where we tend to think of our wealth in terms of what those around us have — the classic scenario is of two neighbors engaged in a constant battle of oneupmanship. While there's nothing wrong with keeping up with the Joneses, too few people in this country have a clear understanding of just how privileged they really are.
In 2006, the poverty threshold for a family of four was an annual income of $20,444. There are much larger families in other countries that can't even imagine earning $20,444 in a lifetime. Granted, the cost of living in our country is higher, but our government makes concessions for those who have difficulty providing for their families.
There are millions of people the world over who are homeless and hungry, and our country alone has tens of thousands of homeless people, including very young children.
I've been thinking a lot lately about those who are underprivileged and how, although Morah and I may not have everything we want, we're quite lucky to have what we do. We're saving up to buy a house, at some point soon we'll need a new car, and not a single day goes by where we don't look at all of the food in our fridge and decide that we're not in the mood to eat any of it. When I compare what we have to other people our age who own nice houses or fancy cars, I do tend to get a little jealous, and wish that I could afford the accouterments of their lifestyles. But when I compare what we have to people who don't have a place to live or food to eat, I am eternally grateful for the lifestyle to which I have become accustomed.
Yesterday's Christmas haul was quite a good one; everyone got some great presents and we had a fantastic — and very filling — turkey dinner (it was the first time I ever cooked a turkey on my own!). After we had opened all of our presents, as we sat in the living room goofing around with our new toys, I thought about the people in the world who didn't open any presents. I thought about the people who weren't sitting in warm living rooms sipping their favorite holiday beverages. I thought about the people who would go to sleep with stomach aches not because they were full like mine, but because they were completely empty.
Boxing Day has traditionally been a time for the "haves" to think about the "have nots." I would be delighted if the United States would recognize Boxing Day, but helping the poor doesn't require a presidential aegis. Take a moment today to reflect on the things you have and see if you can commit to helping those in need, both in this country and around the world. No matter what you decide to donate, you can feel good knowing that you're giving something to those who have nothing, and that you're doing your part to make the world a better place.
The Christmas Spirit
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1422 hrs
Many people who know me also know that I dislike Christmas music. The reason for this is because, when I was in high school, I worked at a Christmas store for a few months — and yes, one of those months was December.
While working there, I had to listen to Christmas music most of the time, until the Christmas season rolled around, at which point I had to listen to it all the time. The store has long since closed, but even back when I quit, I had heard enough Christmas music to last me for the rest of my life.
As Christmas rolls around each year, shops and radio stations begin to play Christmas music, which inevitably annoys me, mostly because it seems to happen earlier each year. My worst nightmare is that eventually Boxing Day will become the first shopping day of the Christmas season, and we'll be stuck listening to the crap all year long.
Despite my dislike of Christmas music, there is one day on which I enjoy listening to it, and that's Christmas day itself. There is a certain feeling of completeness that Christmas music lends to the day, and while I could live quite happily without it, Christmas certainly wouldn't be the same.
I may be a bit of a Scrooge in the days leading up to Christmas, but I am always happy to be with friends and family, eating good food, opening presents, and taking a moment to celebrate life. I hope this day, whether you celebrate Christmas or not, finds you with friends and family, eating good food, opening presents, and celebrating life to the fullest.
Secular Season's Greetings!
Battling Spam
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1858 hrs
While MovableType has done a pretty good job of stopping spam comments from making it through, it still has a hard time with certain types of spam. To help save me from having to deal with the spam comments that MT lets through, I'm setting up filters. Below is a list of strings that will trip the spam filter, so don't put them in your comments (unless you want them to get junked).
- yello pages
- Nice site. Thanks
- Very good site. Thanks
- Yhanks you
- Hi, my sites
- Nice site. Thank you.
- Very good site. Thank you
- Cool site. Thanks.
- Cool site. Thank you
- Good site. Thank you.
Secular Sunday XI - Christmas
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1830 hrs
Every year on December 25th we celebrate Christmas. Well, perhaps you don't celebrate Christmas, but I do, along with over half of the population of the world. One popular sentiment is that, "Jesus is the reason for the season," but that's not exactly true.
The Bible doesn't go into specifics about when Christ was actually born, but in the year 221, Sextus Julius Africanus (how's that for a name?) published a history of the world entitled Chronografiai, which named 25 December as the official date of Christ's birth. As was the case back then, no real evidence was necessary to make any statement true, so everyone just jumped on board.
When evidence is brought into play, it's still a tough sell (which is pretty much always the case with Christianity). December 25th is nine months after March 25th, which was the date of the vernal equinox (on the Julian calendar), which was the fourth day of the creation of the world (on which there is light), and therefore, an appropriate day for Christ's conception.
Another idea, and one that is much more likely, is that the Christian church "borrowed" the day from the Pagans. The Romans had this awesome week-long holiday in mid-December called Saturnalia, which basically consisted of getting drunk, getting naked, cantillating, and gambling. Saturnalia was celebrated from the 17th through the 24th, and honored Saturn, the god of agriculture. The poet Catullus described Saturnalia as the, "best of days," and with all that partying, I'm sure he was right.
On December 25th, the Romans celebrated Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, which translates as, "the birthday of the unconquered sun." Wait, the unconquered sun? Don't the Christians have an unconquered son? Even The Catholic Encyclopedia states that the Sol Invictus festival has a "strong claim on the responsibility" for the date of Christmas. Many Christian writers pointed out that the apparent coincidence between the dates is awfully convenience, and even Saint Cyprian made light of it, saying, "O, how wonderfully acted Providence that on that day on which that Sun was born…Christ should be born"
It's also interesting to note that, for a long time, the celebration of Jesus' birth was observed on January 6th, the date of his baptism.
The traditions of Christians and Pagans that are celebrated at this time of year have more in common than just the dates.
Christmas trees have been the subject of much debate in recent years, and the banning of Christmas trees in the Seattle-Tacoma airport a few years ago left a sour taste in the mouths of many Christians. I don't have any problem with Christmas trees, since the practice is a Pagan one. Germanic tribes in pre-Christian times would sacrifice 9 males of each species (how this was accomplished is beyond me) at the sacred groves every ninth year. There were many important trees, one of which was Thor's Oak. In 723, Saint Boniface (then called Winfrid) was doing missionary work in Germany. In a rather dramatic display, he called upon Thor to strike him down if he chopped down the oak, which he proceeded to do. When the tree was felled and Boniface stood unharmed, the locals agreed to be baptized.
Boniface is credited with inventing the Christmas tree, because after felling Thor's Oak, he pointed out a small fir tree growing in the roots of the oak and said, "This humble tree's wood is used to build your homes: let Christ be at the center of your households. Its leaves remain evergreen in the darkest days: let Christ be your constant light. Its boughs reach out to embrace and its top points to heaven: let Christ be your Comfort and Guide." At first, Christmas trees were hung upside-down from the ceiling — a practice that is becoming popular again today. Martin Luther is credited with turning the tree right-side up and adding lights.
Other Norse traditions celebrated by Christians are the burning of a Yule log, the hanging of mistletoe and holly, the eating of Christmas ham, and stuffing Christmas stockings. Even elements of Santa Claus predate Christian Christmas celebrations.
I'm not advocating for Christians to stop celebrating Christmas; after all, what Christians are really celebrating is the birth of Christ (at least, that's what they're supposed to be celebrating). What I am advocating is for people to know the real history of their beliefs and traditions, and not to simply accept what other people say as the absolute truth.
The New Place About Which We Do Not Blog
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1319 hrs
Now that I've been at my new job for a couple of weeks, a lot of people have been asking me how it's going and if I like it. The answer is simple: it's going great and I love it!
I had thought that my first few days would be slow, with me mostly learning the company's procedures, watching the other programmer work, and trying to learn ColdFusion. Instead, on my second day there, I was tasked with creating the company's holiday eCard (among other things), which ended up being sent out to almost 400 of the company's clients.
The people at KAI are a lot of fun, and it's particularly nice working with people my age (unlike at FOX, which is mostly people in their 40s and 50s), as well as with people who know about design and programming. I'm enjoying working downtown, and taking the bus every day has worked out well so far. I've started to learn ColdFusion, and pretty soon I'll have to start learning ASP.Net. Probably the coolest thing I've done so far is order nearly $10,000 worth of computer equipment.
With all of the responsibility that has been placed upon me after just 2 weeks, I feel like I've been working there for 2 months, except that I still don't know where everything is.
Friday Funday CLXXVIII
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1631 hrs
Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet. Funday links will open in a new window.
Secular Season's Greetings from ALLO!
Rudolph: The Lost Scene [del.icio.us]
In this old Bandwidth Theatre episode, Rudolph and Hermey visit The Island of Misfit Chinese Food. This is really only funny if you've seen the Rankin/Bass production of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Possibly NSFW.
Create Your Own Snowflakes [del.icio.us]
Then twirl them around in 3D.
ElfYourself [del.icio.us]
If you haven't seen this by now, you must be dead, so instead, check out Santa-Gram, which is basically the exact same thing.
Snow Line [del.icio.us]
It's like Line Rider, but with a goal. Is it just me, or does that pencil look a lot like a condom?
An Advertising Parable For The Holidays [del.icio.us]
If you've ever working in advertising, or know much of anything about the advertising business, then you'll find this video hilarious. If you don't know about the advertising business, then this is pretty much how things work, except with far less singing.
And because this is that time of year when everyone gives everyone else presents, here's a bonus link:
The Killers - Don't Shoot Me Santa [del.icio.us]
In case you don't read Emily's blog, this video is awesome.
Robbed! Well, Sort Of...
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1955 hrs
Yesterday, Morah got back to the car after work and found the contents of our glove box piled up on the passenger seat, the garage door opener out of its compartment, and the driver's seat too far back. She called me to see if I had used the car, but I hadn't (and even if I had, I certainly wouldn't have left it in the state it was in).
As far as we know, our car was broken into, but the windows are intact, the automatic locks work fine, and nothing is missing. Then again, it's not as though we have anything worth stealing in our car - even our stereo is pretty crappy. I wonder if the criminal was upset that there wasn't anything for them to take.
So the story has a happy ending, but it's still a bit scary to think that our car was broken into in the lot where Morah parks every day. If nothing else, it's proof that when you keep nothing of value in your car, nothing of value will be stolen.
Sign of the Apocolypse: IE8 Passes Acid2!
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 2055 hrs
Web developers around the world are raising their voices in cheer today because of the IEBlog's grand announcement: Internet Explorer 8 passes the Acid2 Test.
Readers of this blog who are not web designers are probably wondering what all the fuss is about. Simply put, Acid2 tests how browsers work with some specific features across several different web standards. Go ahead and put your own browser to the test; chances are, it won't pass (here's how it's supposed to look).
Pretty much every web designer in the world has made fun of Internet Explorer 6 over the years, but when Microsoft put IE7 together, they genuinely listened to what we (web designers) had to say. IE7 fixed a lot of the problems caused by IE6, and although it caused a whole new set of headaches, it's rare to build a page that works in Firefox, but not IE7.
It's important not to get too worked up over this - the Acid2 is only one test and there are other technologies that the Explorer team will have to stay up to date on. I'm just glad that they're developing IE again. Now if only we could get rid of IE6 altogether...
Five More Things You Have Learned on the Job
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 2012 hrs
Some of you will remember my previous Five Things You Have Learned on the Job That Other People Might Find Useful post, wherein I posted 5 things I learned on the job, then challenged my readers to do the same.
Well, here we are with round two! I've been meaning to post this list for months, but never got around to it until now. Just as last time, here's the deal: Think of five things you have learned while on the job. They can be pretty much whatever you want, but they should be things that you have found useful and from which you think other people might be able to benefit. They can be task-specific (for example, how to do something more efficiently) or just general observations (for example, bosses tend to respond better to your mediocre work when you first show examples of crappy work done by your competitors).
If you decide to participate, I would also appreciate a link back to my blog (it doesn't have to be this post specifically, just my blog in general). Feel free to post a link to your own blog post with this meme in the comments of this post.
So, without further ado, here is my list of Five More Things I Have Learned on the Job That Other People Might Find Useful:
- Most clip art in Word is vector-based. This means you can copy and paste them from Word to Illustrator and preserve their vector properties. You'll have to ungroup them, but you can add, remove, and edit the clip art to serve your needs. You can also copy and paste vector art from Illustrator to Photoshop. To maintain the vector properties, select "Smart Object" from the menu that pops up.
- Another great way to preserve vector properties in Photoshop is to "place" vector images into your compositions. You can find "place" under the "file" menu. I have a note here that says "in most cases," so your mileage may vary with this one.
- Here's one more great Photoshop tip: If you want to change the brush size quickly, you can do it using only the keyboard. Simply press "[" or "]" (the open and close square brackets). This works on any brush, including the pencil, clone stamp, and even the eraser.
- Did you accidentally close a tab in Firefox and wish you could open again quickly and easily? There's a keyboard shortcut for that! On a PC, press Ctrl+Shift+T. On a Mac, press Command+Shift+T.
- This last tip is only for people who have multiple monitors and are running Windows. Did you move Firefox (or some other application) to the other screen and now it keeps opening up there? Want it back on the original screen? Most programs remember their last position, so open a new window and make sure that it is not maximized. Move it to the screen you want the program to open in. Now close all of the windows, ending with the one you just created and moved. The next time you launch the program, a window should open on the correct side.
That New Armpit Smell
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1946 hrs
I recently noticed that my armpits smell different than they used to.
I know, this is a weird post. But it's interesting to me, and this is my blog.
For a long time, I always thought my armpits smelled a bit like the sap from an aloe cactus (the real stuff, not the crap you buy in a bottle). And that was fine; after all, they didn't smell bad, and the odor wasn't strong.
A few weeks ago, I noticed that my armpits had a new scent. I can still make out the aloe, but a delightful new smell has taken over. I'm not really sure how to describe it other than "more manly" - which makes me feel a bit weird, but there it is.
At first I thought the change had something to do with a new deodorant I was using, but it was giving me a rash (as do nearly all deodorants), so I stopped using it and the smell persisted. I mentioned it to Morah, who suggested that my body chemistry has probably changed a bit, resulting in the new odor. That sounds reasonable enough, although I can't help but wonder what triggered the change, and if at some point down the line my armpits will take on a new smell. I like this one well enough; I'd hate to have it change for the worse.
I'd like to point out that I don't sit around all day smelling my armpits. For all I know, the change happened months ago and I didn't notice until recently. So if you see me on the webcam and I look like I'm smelling my armpits, I'm really not.
Really. You have to believe me.
Secular Sunday X - Choose Your Battles
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1626 hrs
A couple of weeks ago, the City of Spokane agreed to remove crosses from the patches of its police chaplains as part of an out-of-court settlement in a federal lawsuit filed against it.
The lawsuit was filed by Ray Ideus, a Lutheran pastor of 30 years turned atheist. Ideus, a 75 year old senior police volunteer - whose duties do not include working as a chaplain - argued that it's unconstitutional to have a cross on an official City of Spokane insignia. The lawsuit posited that having the cross on police chaplains' patches is an "impermissible incorporation of a particular religious symbol in a government insignia."
Despite being countersued by Assistant City Attorney Rocky Treppiedi (who claimed the lawsuit was "false, and unfounded, malicious and without probable cause"), police chief Anne Kirkpatrick announced the settlement to the City Council, adding that chaplains may still wear lapel pins with crosses or other insignia showing personal religious preferences.
Said Ideus of the decision: "It's very important that they'll have to take that cross off. It's not a Christian police department. The chaplains have to minister to all faiths and non-faiths."
This is a great victory for atheists, right? It would seem so, but I'm not really convinced.
Without knowing all of the details about the lawsuit, it seems like Ideus simply chose to sue the city to get the crosses off the patches. While he was successful in getting the crosses removed from the patches, which are located on the chaplains' arms, crosses (and other religious insignia) are now allowed to be worn on the chaplains' lapels - arguably a much more conspicuous location. Add to that the fact that police chaplains aren't technically paid with taxpayer dollars (their wages are paid by donations from fellow officers) and you have a publicly perceived "attack on Christianity."
In fact, that's exactly how City Counselwoman Nancy McLaughlin described the situation. “I didn’t realize this was going on. When people are intimidated into removing religious symbols, it’s not good for our country. I was amazed there was not more attention paid to it,” McLaughlin said.
Really, lady? That's the stance you're going to take? Talk about things not being good for our country...
The bottom line here is that while I agree with Ideus in principle, I do not condone his actions. Why stop at suing to have the crosses removed from only one part of the uniform? The lawsuit should have demanded that the position of police chaplain cease to exist altogether. If they're just serving as grief counselors, then call them grief counselors. You don't have to sack anyone, just change their title and take the religious symbols off of the uniforms. They don't have to avoid talking about God. They don't have to refrain from discussing religion with grieving officers (so long as the officer is not offended).
The real takeaway from this is choose your battles. If you look at the overall picture, what did Ideus accomplish? Nothing that benefits atheists. The crosses are still on the uniform (more prominently so) and a bunch of religious folk hate atheists even more. Way to go.
I don't disagree that atheists need to band together and take a stand against Christian privilege, I just think we need to carefully decide which issues to fight, and which to leave alone. A lot of religious people already call atheists "whiny" and lawsuits like this one only make it worse.
Always Look Both Ways
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 2131 hrs
When we're kids, adults always tell us to look both ways before crossing the street. And it's good advice, but not just for pedestrians.
On our way home, we were sitting at a red light when all of a sudden, a girls shouts, "what the fuck are you doing?!" I looked over to see a young woman in the crosswalk yelling at the driver of a car in the right-hand lane that was well into the crosswalk.
We didn't see what happened, but I suspect that the driver pulled up to the intersection, looked to the left for oncoming traffic, then started to pull into the intersection without first checking to see if any pedestrians were crossing. After seeing all of this, I looked up at the crossing signal, which showed a steady hand.
The guy in the car didn't check for pedestrians, but the girl didn't obey the traffic light, so which of them was at fault?
Unfortunately, looking through Washington state's pedestrian laws don't provide many answers. RCW 46.61.050 states that pedestrians must obey traffic signals; so by that token, the girl was at fault. However, RCW 46.61.235 requires drivers yield to pedestrians at intersections (regardless of whether the crosswalk is marked or not), and RCW 46.61.245 requires drivers to avoid colliding with pedestrians. Then again, RCW 46.61.235 dictates that pedestrians can't suddenly enter the roadway such that drivers cannot stop in time.
I think it's safe to say that mistakes were made on both sides, but if the case went to court, I would bet that any jury would find in favor of the pedestrian. What do you think? Who was at fault in this instance?
Friday Funday CLXXVII
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1539 hrs
Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet. Funday links will open in a new window.
The Laziest Cat In The World [del.icio.us]
All he needs now is a beer.
Chris Pops the Question [del.icio.us]
Oh my. Now I want to know what she said.
Trajan is the Movie Font [del.icio.us]
This had me laughing out loud. It's too true. Via Kris.
Rocket Weasel [del.icio.us]
Need I say more?
Sola Rola [del.icio.us]
The gravity maze. This is a pretty neat game.
The Christmas Meme
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 2202 hrs
It's getting closer to Christmas and I thought that some of you might be interested in my answers to the Christmas meme, what with me being an atheist and all. Feel free to fill this meme out on your own blog. If you do, post a link to it in the comments.
- Wrapping paper or gift bags? Honestly, you're lucky I take the gift out of the bag it came in. In fact, sometimes I don't.
- Real tree or artificial? My family has always had a real tree, but the past couple of years, Morah and I have set up a little two-foot tall fake tree. Have you seen fake trees lately? They're pretty damn nice. And if you have half a brain about how to store them, they won't collect dust.
- When do you put up the tree? When Morah says it's time to.
- When do you take the tree down? When I say it's time to. If the tree is still up on 1 January, it's been up too long.
- Do you like eggnog? Yes! I love eggnog mixed with lemon-lime soda (7-Up, Sierra Mist, etc).
- Favorite gift received as a child? There was this little electric car that my parents got me one year. That thing was sweet.
- Do you have a nativity scene? Morah got part of one as a gift last Christmas. The three wise men are missing, though.
- Hardest person to buy for? Everyone? I don't know.
- Easiest person to buy for? Me; I always know what I want!
- Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? Neither.
- Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I would say, but I'm not sure if the person who gave it to me reads my blog or not.
- Favorite Christmas Movie? Bernard and the Genie. Anything with Alan Cumming and Rowan Atkinson has to be good.
- When do you start shopping for Christmas? Pretty much all year long. If I see something that would make a good gift for someone, I'll buy it.
- Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes.
- Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Food? Kris will agree with me on this one.
- Clear lights or colored on the tree? It depends on how I'm decorating the tree, but my family has always been a colored light family.
- Favorite Christmas song? Carol of the Bells
- Christmas Song That, When You Hear It, Makes Your Eyes Bleed And Your Brains Start To Leak Out Your Ears, Because That Is Less Painful Than Having To Listen To That Fucking Song One More Time! Little Drummer Boy
- Travel at Christmas or stay home? 9 out of 10 times, we stay at home. This year is a travel year. Look out, Clarkston, here we come!
- Can you name all of Santa’s reindeers? Not only can I name them all, I know Donner and Blitzen's real names.
- Angel on the tree top or a star? Again, it depends on what I'm going for, but if I could have whatever I want, I'd go with a star.
- Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One present on Christmas Eve, the rest the next morning.
- Most annoying thing about this time of year? People and everything that entails.
- Favorite Christmas Tradition? Christmas dinner!
- Outdoor decorations? None to speak of.
Recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 2052 hrs
Does the House honestly not have anything better to do than pass bullshit resolutions like this one?
Overheard on the Bus
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 2052 hrs
This morning on the bus, the driver and the only passenger by myself - a woman in her 60s - were having a conversation that went something like this:
Driver: "You know goths?"
Passenger: "Yeah."
Driver: "Well, I couple of them got on and sat down in the elderly seating area. They talked to each other very quietly and didn't cause any problems. An elderly woman got on and they offered her their seat, and I was like, whoa! That really opened my eyes about goths."
I just chuckled to myself.
I Has A Kitty Hat!
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 2114 hrs
Isn't this hat sweet?! People have been giving me interesting looks all day, but most people seem to smile, and quite a few people have said that they like it.
On a side note, USPS has a lousy tracking system. Not only did it take days for any information to show up on the site, but when it did, what was there just confused me. This post on the 37 Signals blog echoes my thoughts exactly.
First Day at the New Job
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1539 hrs
Wow, lots of stuff going on here. I'm going to be doing a lot of things I've never done before and have no idea how to do. Yet. It's a little intimidating, but I wanted a job that would challenge me, and a challenged will I be!
And, as suspected, the webcam is a go. Look for me online tomorrow!
Secular Sunday IX - Mitt Romney's Factual Foul of Faith
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 0948 hrs
Mitt Romeny's nutty pro-Mormon speech pissed a lot of people off (including many Mormons), so in his latest speech, he tried to buy back some faith by lumping all religions together in a war against secularism. His now infamous line, “freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom," should serve as a call to arms for atheists and agnostics everywhere.
Romney had it right when he said, "we separate church and state affairs in this country, and for good reason. No religion should dictate to the state nor should the state interfere with the free practice of religion." Yes, good, and if he would have just stopped there, I would have been on board. But he continued, saying, "in recent years, the notion of the separation of church and state has been taken by some well beyond its original meaning."
Its original meaning? He just correctly stated its original meeting! What in the world could he be talking about?
The founders proscribed the establishment of a state religion, but they did not countenance the elimination of religion from the public square. We are a nation 'Under God' and in God, we do indeed trust.
"We should acknowledge the Creator as did the Founders - in ceremony and word. He should remain on our currency, in our pledge, in the teaching of our history, and during the holiday season, nativity scenes and menorahs should be welcome in our public places. Our greatness would not long endure without judges who respect the foundation of faith upon which our constitution rests. I will take care to separate the affairs of government from any religion, but I will not separate us from 'the God who gave us liberty.'
What. The. Fuck.
- "In God We Trust" was not added to our currency until 1864.
- It was not our national motto until 1956.
- "Under God" was not added to the pledge of allegiance until 1954.
- Christmas was not a national holiday until 1870.
The Treaty of Tripoli, which was ratified by a unanimous vote of Senate in 1797, states: "The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion."
So, Mitt, what were you saying?
The Big News
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 2012 hrs
A number of you have been asking me about the big news that I alluded to in my post The Start of a New Chapter. I told those who asked that was I waiting until after I was no longer working at KAYU to make the announcement, and that day has finally come.
Morah and I have been talking a lot about where we want to live. The four cities that keep coming up are Spokane, Seattle, Honolulu, and Portland. A while back, we decided that I would try to get a job in Honolulu, and we would move there, and as hard as it might be, we would make it work. We made some initial plans, I applied for a fantastic job, and we prepared to have the cat be allowed to skip having to stay in quarantine. Right around the time we realized I didn't get the job, we also realized that moving to Hawaii just wasn't feasible. It's way too expensive, and all of the problems that existed when I lived there before are still present, and in some cases, much worse.
Seattle was our next great hope, as we were already fairly familiar with the city and we have several friends who live there. Seattle has a ton of things going for it, but it also has a number of drawbacks that for us were deal breakers. It's an expensive city to live in, buying a house is tough unless you live outside of the city, there's a ton of horrible traffic (especially if you live outside of the city), and the public education system in Seattle is less-than-desirable. My parents know some people who moved to Spokane from Seattle and their kids, who are quite clever, were actually behind their Spokane classmates and really struggled to catch up. Honolulu also has that problem, and as much as we'd like to send our kids to private school, it's tough to afford while living in either city.
We went to Portland for our first anniversary with an ulterior motive: to scope out the city and decide if it's somewhere we want to live. Portland is a beautiful city and has a lot to offer, but after talking about it, Morah and I both decided that it's not our first choice.
In the end, Spokane is still where we want to live. That's not to say that Spokane doesn't have its own drawbacks, but it has a number of positives going for it, not the least of which have to do with raising a family.
So that brings me to the big news.
I know what you're all expecting me to say, and I admit that I'm teasing you a little bit on purpose.
Morah is... Not pregnant. Not yet, anyway. The big news is that we are going to buy a house in Spokane and settle down. The time line for moving is sometime in the next 6 months, as the housing market in Spokane is currently amazing for buyers. If we can buy a house before spring, all the better, as prices will likely go back up a bit (because, honestly, who wants to move in the winter? If it saves me a few thousand dollars, I do!).
I also said I would talk about how I got the job. People always ask if I was looking, and I'm never quite sure how to reply. The basic answer is yes, but at the same time, I wasn't looking for this job. In fact, I hadn't even really begun to look for jobs in Spokane when this one found me.
I've known for several months that I had outgrown my position at KAYU. Even if we hadn't made the switch to the MyFox platform, my job wasn't teaching me anything new, had ceased to be much of a challenge, and wasn't paying me anywhere near what someone with my skills and experience should be. To their credit, when they found out I was leaving, they offered me a very significant raise, but it wasn't as much as what I'll be making at KAI.
So if I wasn't looking, how did I find the job? Well, it found me. My friend Tom invited me to a hockey game, saying that another friend of his was coming and he wanted the two of us to meet. I had never been to a hockey game before, so that was pretty cool. Tom's friend, Brandon, is also a web developer and he's been mulling over a project that he and Tom want to put together. They told me about it (it sounds pretty cool) and Brandon asked about my background. I explained to him what I do and what I'm capable of, and he said, "actually, where I work, we're looking for someone with those exact qualifications. You should apply." He gave me his business card and told me a few times throughout the night that I really should apply.
I e-mailed him to ask for more details about the job, and he put me in touch with his boss. She and I e-mailed back and forth, set up an interview, and they eventually offered me the position.
Leaving KAYU is definitely tough. It was a good job with people I liked, and one that afforded me a lot of freedom and room for personal growth. But like I said, I had simply outgrown it, and with Morah and I wanting to settle down, I need something that pays closer to my earning potential. KAI will offer more money, but also a wealth of experiences and knowledge that I would never be exposed to at KAYU.
So there you have it. Morah and I in Spokane. Better public schools, easier to buy a house, less annoying traffic, lower cost of living, and most importantly, we'll be very close to our families. And you know what that means: free babysitting.
Friday Funday CLXXVI
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 2317 hrs
Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet. Funday links will open in a new window.
Sorry it's late, this past week has been very abnormal, as I'm sure you can imagine.
The Key to Reserva [del.icio.us]
What happens when Martin Scorsese tries to direct a Hitchcock film? This. And it's awesome. Of course, it's not really real. The whole thing is a mockumentary, but that doesn't make it any less awesome.
I like Big Business [del.icio.us]
Some dumb kid gets on the Wal-Mart paging system and start singing Sir Mix-A-Lot. Its stupid and hardly worth watching, but the last two lines are pure comedy gold.
A quoi ca sert l'amour [del.icio.us]
An animated video that asks the question, "what's love for?"
Good Things Should Never End [del.icio.us]
This should keep you occupied for a while...
1000 Frames of Hitchcock [del.icio.us]
1000 Frames of Hitchcock is an attempt to reduce each of the 52 available major Hitchcock films down to just 1000 frames. We started with Hitchcock and ended with him as well. I think he would have liked it that way.
Unemployed
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1622 hrs
I just got home from my last day of work at KAYU. Until 8 A.M. Monday morning, I'm officially unemployed.
I've been really busy all day, and will be all evening (I should actually be getting ready instead of writing this), so this week's Friday Funday will be late. Check for it tomorrow!
Webcam Downtime
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 2238 hrs
I cleaned out my desk at work today, which meant taking down the webcam. If you've been watching the past few days, you've either seen Jimmy, the guy who's replacing me here at KAYU, or nothing at all.
Until I found out what the webcam policy is at my new job, the webcam will be offline for a while. I've been thinking about what to put in its place in the event that I can't have the webcam at work (although since I'll be working in the I.T. department, it probably won't be too tricky to convince them to let me use it). At any rate, there is a plan, no matter the outcome.
In the meantime, head over to Emily's blog for some ALLO webcam fun.
A New Level of Laziness
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1711 hrs
On my way to work this morning, I pulled up to a stop sign and witnessed someone taking laziness to a whole new level.
Across from the intersection is a park where a lot of people walk their dogs. It was still pretty early, so it was still quite cold. In the park's parking lot was a car driving slowly in clockwise circles, with a dog's leash hanging out the open driver's window, leading a German Shepherd that was trotting alongside the car.
I'm Feeling Much Better
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 2211 hrs
Not only was today a very productive day, but I'm feeling much better than I did yesterday. My body must have fought off whatever was making me sick. I'm not 100% better, but the headache, achy muscles, and general fatigue are pretty much gone. Most food sounds edible again, and my stomach only hurts every once in a while.
Here's hoping tomorrow finds me back to normal.
My Day Was Worse Than Your Day
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1643 hrs
5:30 A.M.: I wake up and have to pee. The alarm is set for 6, so I go back to bed.
5:45 A.M.: Fuck it, I can't sleep.
6:25 A.M.: I get out of the shower and start to get dressed. Out the corner of my eye, I notice water on the kitchen floor. Did the cat spill her water? There seems to be an awful lot of it...
6:30 A.M.: I turn on the light and discover that our apartment is flooding. Again.
6:32 A.M.: I can't deal with it all by myself, so I wake Morah up early - on her day off, no less.
6:34 A.M.: We put a couple of large towels down on the floor to soak up the water. Since this has happened before, I know that the water is coming in through an outdoor storage closet. For the first time since we've lived here, the closet is locked.
6:45 A.M.: Morah and I stand in the kitchen and discuss our options. While we're talking, the power flickers on and off a couple of times, then goes out for good. "You have got to be fucking kidding me," I say out loud.
6:50 A.M.: I call our managers (who now live off-site, but didn't tell us that) to tell them about the flooding and lack of power. I am told that the handy-man will be in at 9. Yeah, thanks. And what about the flooding that's still happening? We're up to 5 towels at this point.
7:10 A.M.: I leave for work (ten minutes late). There's still no power, so I have to open the garage door manually, which gets my nice leather gloves all wet and dirty. There's water in my left shoe.
11:30 A.M.: I come home for lunch and get the final report: the power came back on an hour after I left and the final towel count reached 10. The handy-man had come and used a shop vacuum to suck inch-deep standing water out of the closet. The people who live across from us also experienced some minor flooding.
11:50 A.M.: Okay, time for lunch. What do I want? Nothing. Everything sounds gross. We settle on Subway, but I didn't really enjoy my sandwich.
12:40 P.M.: Back at work. I feel really tired. Really tired. What's up with that?
2:45 P.M.: My stomach feels upset, I'm getting a slight headache, my face feels warm, my entire body is achy. Seriously? Yeah, today has sucked balls. Why not get sick as well?
3:05 P.M.: It's a coworker's birthday and chocolate-mousse cake is being foisted upon me. Not the tiny sliver I wanted, but, "a man's slice." It tastes great, but makes me want to throw up.
4:10 P.M.: I get home and call to cancel my appointment with my chiropractor. I feel like crap and all I want to do is sleep. Instead, I check my e-mail and write this blog post.
Anyone want to stake a claim to having a worse day?
Secular Sunday VIII - No God Does Not Mean No Morals
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 0855 hrs
How is any of this constitutional?
Why do people continue to assume that all U.S. citizens are Christians, or at the very least, are religious? It amazes me that Alcoholics Anonymous is still the de facto choice for court-appointed help, despite its obvious religious agenda, and the fact that studies have proven it to be as effective as no help at all (I think the success rate for each was around 2%).
Worse still are the people who equate non-belief with amorality.
After all, where do morals come from? How do you measure morality?
Merriam-Webster defines moral as, "of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior." We can probably all agree that right and wrong are determined by society based on a number of criteria. I'm not really concerned with what exactly is considered "right" and "wrong" or how they are determined, but for the sake of this argument, let's assume that religious beliefs are being left out (that is to say, denouncing God would not be considered immoral).
In my opinion, the only way a person can be truly moral is if they choose to do what is "right" and eschew what is "wrong" completely on their own. Although many people will say that morals come from religion, I think the more likely reason that religious people try to be moral is because it's required for entrance into heaven (and even that isn't the case, depending on what religious group you belong to). So is it fear of the wrath of God that inspires theists to be good, decent human beings?
Being an atheist, I don't have a fear of God to guide my moral compass, but I would still consider myself a good person. True, I did go to a religious school for 13 years, but my argument isn't that religious teaching begets morality; it's that that fear of God maintains it.
You could argue that fear of going to jail prevents me from a life of crime, but some of my leisure activities are of questionable legality, and although they hurt no one, could potentially land me in jail (the world just isn't ready for urban exploration). Not that I would enjoy being in jail - I wouldn't - I'm just saying that the possibility of going to jail is not what determines my behavior.
So why do I strive to be a moral person? I have a saying by which I try to live: "Do the right thing because it's the right thing to do." It's not always as simple as that, and choosing the "right" thing to do is often not a binary decision, but we all have the ability to choose between good and evil.
This is by no means a thorough examination on the motivations of what makes us moral or immoral. I simply wanted to point out that for me, as an atheist, God in no way influences my decisions to be a productive member of society. Moreover, I feel it's wrong and insulting for religious people to claim to be moral simply because they are religious. Or, for that matter, to claim that non-religious people are immoral because they do not believe in God.
Morality, like everything else in life, is a choice. Every day, there are theists who choose to be immoral and atheists who choose to be moral. If everyone thought about the choices they make in their lives and honestly assessed who or what influenced those choices, I think many people would find that free will isn't really free.
Perhaps an even larger problem is that, often because of religion, people disagree on the line that separates moral from immoral. While I would argue that almost anything that benefits the world (embryonic stem cell research) or extends civil rights (gay marriage) are good, others - particularly those who are religious - would argue that those are bad and would contribute to the downfall of society.
Morality is at best a gray quagmire of differing opinions and beliefs. There is, however, at least one thing on which both sides can agree: hypocrisy is bad. I don't think anyone from either side would stand up and praise hypocrisy. Yet most religious people are dyed-in-the-wool hypocrites. They don't want the religious beliefs of others to affect their lives, but they have no problem at all when their religious beliefs affect other peoples' lives. They're upset when legislation is passed that flies in the face of their religious beliefs, and are pleased when legislation is passed that supports their religious beliefs.
How is that not being immoral?
Feeling Insecure
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1401 hrs
Everyone who reads this blog knows that I'm pretty open about most of the details of my life. I don't mind if friends, family members, coworkers, or even complete strangers read my blog, because if I have anything I don't want them to know about, I simply won't write about it.
There are, however, people who want to share their thoughts with a select group of people and not the world at large. There's nothing wrong with this, and I'm not trying to imply that these people have anything to hide - they simply don't want their thoughts, feelings, and lives out there for all the world to see.
For those who choose to keep their cards close to their vests, Blogger has a setting that allows you to restrict access to your blog to a list of people that you invite. This seems like a great idea, and overall it is, except for one little problem: oysters.
Now, you're probably thinking, "Thomas, why are oysters problematic for restricted access blogs on Blogger?"
The answer is quite simple: that photo of oysters that I linked to is from a restricted access blog. I can easily imagine a number of different reasons why authors of restricted access blogs would want their images to also have restricted access, and yet Blogger freely allows access to them.
How many authors of restricted access blogs know about this? I'm going to go with fewer than 1%. Doesn't this seem like something that Blogger should change?
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