Thursday, September 12, 2002I confess to being a knee-jerk, pacifist-leaning, NPR-listening, white-wine-swilling, heart-bleeding, Kennedy-voting, cigarette-banning, tie-dye-wearing, Mondale-mourning, Vineyard-vacationing, West-Wing-Tivo-ing, decade-old-spare-joints-in-a-bottom-draw-stashing, male-distrusting, race-apologizing, criminal-coddling Jewish atheist pointy-headed bleeding-heart middle class middle aged Liberal.
So, http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/255/living/Conservatively_sp">Alex Beam's column in the Boston Globe today was thought-provoking. (I usually find his writing just plain old provoking.) He points out that the Conservatives have much more fun than we do. They get to drive in their SUV's, blow up bad guys, and rant on talk shows about how the media don't give conversatives any air time.
There's something to this. They're the Bad Boys/Girls. We're the scolds. It'd be real good to make Liberalism fun again.
Again? Yes, kiddies, there was a time when being a lefty-liberal meant that you were cool and the conservatives were squares. We got to smoke dope while they watched John Wayne movies. We got free sex while they reproduced via the missionary position. We got to rethink the world while they were pledging their allegiance. If nothing else, the left was the happenin' place to be. Now it's as glamorous as sensible shoes.
We should work on changing this. Maybe a new hairstyle or something. [JOHO the Blog]
- Posted by Richard Chlopan - 10:19:09 PM -
eWeek's Lisa Vaas conjured up this list:
Don't even think about trying to get a job in IT without at least several of the following skills. Based on eWeek Labs analysts' experience and feedback from IT veterans, even IT newbies should strive to have:
- The ability to take apart a computer (and put it back together again)
- Basic skills in Windows 2000, Windows NT and Linux administration
- Familiarity with at least one of the significant databases (Oracle, DB2, SQL Server)
- Experience in security hardening and knowledge of security issues
- Strong skill in HTML creation and editing
- At least a working ability to create and edit XML, XML Schema and DTDs
- Knowledge of a scripting language
- Working knowledge of at least one significant modern programming language
- Familiarity with router and switch configuration
- Experience with using an SNMP system to track system faults
- Ability to automate desktop management tasks such as disk cloning for new-system setup
- Familiarity with (and frequent visits to) key knowledge bases, including BugTraq, Slashdot and major vendors' Web sites
- People skills, especially the ability to work as part of a team
- A tough skin
Reminds me of this bit from Robert Heinlein's "The Notebooks of Lazarus Long", 1978, aphorisms from Time Enough for Love.
A human being should be able to:
- change a diaper,
- plan an invasion,
- butcher a hog,
- conn a ship,
- design a building,
- write a sonnet,
- balance accounts,
- build a wall,
- set a bone,
- comfort the dying,
- take orders,
- give orders,
- cooperate,
- act alone,
- solve equations,
- analyze a new problem,
- pitch manure,
- program a computer,
- cook a tasty meal,
- fight efficiently,
- die gallantly.
Specialization is for insects.
I like that weblogs touch on the fullness of life. If only the hiring process did too. The Notebooks at Amazon.
[a klog apart] - Posted by Richard Chlopan - 10:12:58 PM -
It takes about 25 bored fans in a stadium to start a Mexican wave, reports a study in Nature. The title of the paper "Mexican waves in an excitable medium" brings a new meaning to the usually dry scientific definition of "excitable medium".
More at Science Nature Update
[David Harris' Science News] - Posted by Richard Chlopan - 12:08:22 PM -
Beautiful pictures of atmospheric phenomena, common and rare. You can also run your own halo simulations if you like... (Found in New Scientist's Weblinks, an extensive, annotated collection of all kinds of science links from all over the web.) [MetaFilter]
- Posted by Richard Chlopan - 10:18:45 AM -
