codergeek42

With the recent clamour over Nautilus' default spatial-paradigm navigation mode as the default in Fedora, I decided to take a page from the book of David Nielsen and force myself to use spatial mode for a few solid days (at least). Having been a "Browser" user mostly of habit since I first started with Linux in 2003, I want to know first-hand why this decision is making so many people upset.

I'll report back soon with my findings! :)

It took two years of hard campaigning, lots of FUD-debunking, and countless sacrifices of time and labor, but we did it. Here at last, Barack Obama is officially the president-elect to serve as this country's 44th leader. This election brings to the White House the first African-American leader. As his victory has thusly overturned one aspect of our traditional government, my hope is that he as a leader can overturn the setbacks and failures of the past several years and bring this once-great nation back on the road to prosperity and civil freedom.

This victory for Senator (now President-elect) Obama comes only decades after various civil rights laws were enacted to enhance the civil and legal equalities for African American people. That said, many leading polls for Prop. 8 are not looking good: It's likely to pass with about a 52-55% “Yes” vote. Just when I thought we had learned from the mistakes of our history, we go and restrict one of the most basic civil rights of people: to marry the person they love. How is it then, that we as a society emphasize tolerance when we cannot even show such a fundamental right to our own citizens?

Up until this point, signs and ads for Prop. 8 have held a myriad of slogans, such as “Prop 8 = Protects Marriage,” “Prop 8 = Free Speech,” and “Prop 8 Protects Our Children.” These are all absolute hogwash, except for one, which reads: “Prop 8 = Civil Rights” - and that is exactly what this is. While current civil union and domestic partnership laws do give these couples most of the benefits of normally given to a marriage between a man and a woman, it lacks many important aspects of marriage, such as proper employment and insurance benefits for one's spouse (among other things).

One of the main arguments for it was that it passed in 2000 and was wrongly overturned by the State Supreme Court. But just because people agree to it does not make it fundamentally a correct idea. Was slavery wrongfully outlawed? Were the Jim Crow laws wrongly overturned, too? Were the laws denying women suffrage also wrongly overturned? I know what you're thinking, probably: “Oh, but that was different. That was racism and sexism and stuff.” Oh, come now; don't give me that load of crap. This is exactly the same thing, only against another group of people. I, for one, am ashamed at how closed-minded we can be as a society, and even moreso at how dumbfounded we can be to believe the outright lies and scare tactics that were used in advocacy of this proposition. Are we as a people so apathetic that we can simply be spoon-fed this nonsense and believe it so unquestioningly? Can we not think logically for our own selves and realize the idiocy of this?

One thing that strikes me as odd with it is the Judeo-Christian (and similarly-believing) religious groups who advocate against gay marriage and this proposition, but then proceed to preach about tolerance and love to they neighbor. Many (such as the Mormon Church) even went so far as to raise several millions of dollars in support of the “Yes on 8” groups...Why did they not spend that amount on, I don't know, things like feeding and housing more homeless? Hah!

As a final sentiment, to those of you who voted “Yes” on Proposition 8: I pray that you can one day forgive yourself for such irreverence. Until then, live forever with the guilt that you helped directly restrict so many loving couples and their families the happiness of taking their love just a bit further in the eyes of the law. It was you who helped directly remove the simple right of so many millions of people to marry their beloved. And it is you who keep them separate but equal.

(And now that the rant is done...) Fedora 10 (Cambridge) Preview was released today! Go try it out and help make it rock-solid for its full release ! :)

I didn't get a chance to watch it live due to classwork; but thanks to C-SPAN's YouTube channel, I was able to watch it recorded online when I got home last night. I'd like to make a few comments about John McCain's demeanor and stated plans, if I may.

The first question to both of them was, essentially: Why is your economic plan better than his? Senator Obama clearly - I felt - explained his plan to cut taxes for the lower 95% of people and raise them a bit for the remaining large businesses and whatnot that could afford to pay such taxes, citing examples of Exxon Mobile and other oil companies which intake multi-billion dollar annual profits already. Yet, in your mention of the "Joe" that Obama spoke with, you assure Joe that Obama's plan would create fines and levy more taxes on him as a small business owner...immediately after Obama had already stated that small businesses were "the drivers of this economy" and would likely receive a decrease in taxes and be exempt from these fines. "Decrease" and "increase" are antonyms. (That means the words' meanings are opposites.) Please don't confuse the two; thank you. Twice later you state that Obama wants to increase the average family's taxes again. Oy!

Secondly, Obama (near the middle of the debate) specifically explained his affiliations with Ayers and ACORN and why they should not be held against him as a presedential candidate. Yet, a short time later, you go on to claim that all the details about Obama's relationship with Ayers and ACORN need to be known. RIght after he just told you those details. Are you not even listening to what Obama is saying? If you can't even pay proper attention to what one person is saying for 90 minutes, then how are we supposed to trust you to pay attention to what the 200-plus million voters¹ of our Public are saying for a full four years?

Soon thereafter, the two candidates were asked why their running mates would be the better president, should something unforeseen happen to either of these senators as president. Mr. McCain, when you were expounding on Governor Sarah Palin's good traits, you mentioned that she "resigned when she saw corruption." How is this a good thing? Running away from a problem is not the proper way to fix it.

Then, you went on to describe Senator Joe Biden's negative attributes; and said, "He voted against it [...] and obviously we had to take Sadam Hussein out of Kuwait [...]"; and, when mentioning Senator Biden's experience on foreign policy and past decisions he has made thereto, you stated that "He's [Biden has] been wrong on a great many of them." Two claims. No supporting evidence: be it demographics, statistics, quotes from other reputable experts, etc. We want to know what makes the Kuwait situation so obvious. We want to know some examples of Biden's wrong foreign policy decisions. Nothing? Seriously, Mr. McCain, 101-level classes in college teach that aspect of critical thinking. (*sigh*) If you don't tell us why you believe that what you're saying is true and valid, then what reason do we as a Public have to believe the same?

On the the other hand, Obama was very positive in his explanation. He did not belittle Sarah Palin; he merely explained why Biden was superior: more qualified, better understands the average family, etc. - specific and precise support for his claim. I feel that this helps show not just the aptitude for clear content in his talking, but the fact that he is skilled in keeping a debate or discussion peaceful when its topics are otherwise quite heated. This moderating ability is exactly a trait that a good leader requires - especially one who is and will undoubtedly play a top role in the governments of and interaction between nations around the world.

Both candidates were also asked about health care. McCain gave an overview for his plan to reform much of what is already in place and give everyone a $5,000 tax break which they should then further use for health costs. Only a few minutes later, he said, "The average cost of a health plan is about $5,800." So, Mr. McCain, you effectively want us to pay eight hundred dollars, all out-of-pocket, for our own health care. Essentially, encouraging people to accrue debt. As it stands, many can barely afford to pay that amount for rent or housing; how can they be expected to pay twice that for the added benefit of their health care plan?

Before concluding the debate, both candidates were also asked about their education policies. (Where to begin?!) Mr. McCain, you declared that we should recruit military veterans and create more teaching positions by allowing or perhaps encouraging them to become teachers while bypassing credentials and competency/qualtification exams. You want men and women who have just come back from fighting, potentially, a major war or battle...to teach our children and future generations of thinkers. ARE YOU BATSHIT INSANE?!

While I don't feel that Obama's plan is entirely right (I'm in agreement with James Cape on this one), I do feel that he has much of it in the right direction: especially the aspects of it that encourage higher pay for better-performing teachers and requiring oft recertifications, with additional and updated training for those who fail these.

Lastly, Mr. McCain, you mentioned that, instead of making college more affordable, we should increase the availability and repayment flexibility for student loans. Again, you're recommending that instead of fixing a problem, we workaround it by accruing debt.

Senator McCain, you truly scare me. Quite a lot. Increasing debt does not fix an economy. Running away from problems does not solve them. Soldiers as-is do not make good teachers. Aside from that, your age means that, purely from a statistical perspective², we can expect you to die within the next decade and even more likely, to die within the next four years - what would be your term of office should you become president. Not only have you shown yourself to be unfit for presidency in this debate, but Governor Palin has done worse against herself in the vice-presidential debates and if she took office...well, I think (quite frankly ) we'd be in an even more horrid position than we were at the lowest of George W. Bush's presidency.

As a final comment, Senator McCain's appearance and attitude versus Senator Obama reminded me quite heavily of the Nixon-Kennedy debates, wherein Nixon looked very unfocused and distant. This paralleled McCain last night with his squirming in the chair, constant interruptions for often-contemptuous remarks, and rarely ever looking directly at the camera (and through it, we, the American Public). He seemed to be in is own little world, as the saying goes.

This contrasted well with Obama's Kennedy-like behavior: he presented himself as very confident and very prepared, with well-thought out plans of action and many statistical, anecdotal, and other reasons for why he believes his views to be correct. He held our eye-contact through his talking. When watching it, I just felt like Obama was almost talking to me directly; while on the other hand, McCain seemed to be talking only to the audience of that university hall.

If McCain wins this election, the American People will lose, and quite drastically. As Forrest Gump would say: "That's all I have to say about that."
 

Footnotes:

[1] This is according to the population pyramid from the 2000 US Census, assuming a significant majority of those in the "20-24" group and above are eligible and registered to vote. \

[2] The CIA World Factbook 2008 gave 2007 estimates of about 78.1 years for life expectancy at birth, with males having it reduced slightly to about 75.3 years. The United Nations also put out a list average for the 2005-2010 expected period, with numbers in approximate agreement: 78.2 years at birth, reduced to 75.6 years for males.

[No pun intended in the title.]

At my college this morning there was a table near the student center building with a bunch of young Proposition 8 supporters attempting to rally passing students into voting yes. Thankfully, nearly all of the students that were asked are vehemently opposed to the proposition; and to make the experience even more fun, we (as a group) we're debating the proposition with the advocates until they got stumped on facts, multiple times. Of the main supporting advocates in attendance, two young men correctly identified the issue as one of Civil Rights. They then went on trying to equate it to slavery (!!) and - as you can imagine - it all went downhill from there.

One young woman proponent (the wife, as we came to understand, of one of the aforementioned two young men) even tried sympathizing with us: telling us that she knows some gay friends and relatives who wish to get married - to which we promptly replied in thanks for her violent opposition of their happiness. Another of her arguments was that it would allow teaching children about homosexual couples and marriage, which are "morally wrong values." Yet, she admitted to being a couple of months pregnant and held a lit cigarette with her. What moral values does that teach our children, miss?

Along the side of the table were taped signs that proclaimed things such as "Protect Marriage!" "Prop 8 = Free Speech" and "Prop 8 = Less Government." For one, how does restricting marriage (especially that between two people who deeply love each other) protect it? Secondly, what the FUCK does Free Speech have anything to with this? The proposed amendment reads as follows:

"Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."

Nowhere in this is Free Speech mentioned. Nowhere. Not once. Cluestick, anyone? Last, but not least, is the "Prop 8 = Less Government" spiel. Someone please explain something to me about that. Prop 8, if passed, would add (keyword!) government restrictions to marriage. How does adding to it make it less?!

In conclusion, HOW DAFT ARE YOU PEOPLE, SERIOUSLY?!

The pen may be "mightier than the sword," as is said; but the trained mind is far sharper.

Recently, Fedora turned 5 years old; and Google turned 10! How I have missed such awesome passings until now is probably due to schoolwork and job-hunting. (Or it could be due to sheer laziness.) The numbers on the Red Hat news page are quite astonishing:

• "More than 13,500 Fedora Account System members [...],"
• "About 6,500 total source packages in Fedora with more than 10,000 binary packages in the development branch," and
• "Over 550 volunteer representatives in Fedora’s global Ambassadors program."

I am excited to see the Fedora community so strong, and continuing to grow steadily. In fact, the Statistics wiki page shows many strong metrics figures. With Fedora 10 set to be released in November (and the Beta of which is slated for release tomorrow!), I am so thrilled to see so many people - not only using it - but contributing back to it and helping ensure that for each of their contributions, Fedora is that much improved. Keep up the great work, everyone!

On the Google side of things, It delights me to read about Google's official position on California Prop. 8:

"[...] While we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of this argument, we see this fundamentally as an issue of equality. We hope that California voters will vote no on Proposition 8 -- we should not eliminate anyone's fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality, to marry the person they love." (Emphasis mine.)

I am hopeful that, with such extensive support as theirs, along with that of Senators Barack Obama, Dianne Feinstein, and Barbara Boxer, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (among many others), this stupid proposition will fail miserably, and the State Supreme Court's prior ruling in In re Marriage Cases will be upheld. This would mean that same-sex couples in California who would like to marry have ample opportunity to do so without such daft and staunchly conservative-religious beliefs precluding them from it.

Edit: Changed text referencing Statistics wiki page; was misinterpreted in the original post. (Thanks, simo!)

So, over the weekend my parents and I decided to head out of town for a bit, mostly on a whim. We came back to find that only about a fifth of our house's electricity worked: random outlets around the house gave us just enough for essentials: refrigerator/freezer, microwave, stove, some lights, one TV, and a couple of extra outlets for plugging in our mobile phones and other rechargeable portable electronics - and this was after being clever with the use of some extension cords. Apparently, one of the two main bus fuses to our house had literally cracked open due to the weather and the natural wear and tear of its nearly 20 years of loyal service to my family.

We were soon able to get the city's electric company to fix it all up nicely (and replace some of our outdated power cabling in the process); but this is such an antiquated part that it needed to be special-ordered. We ended up spending the past half-week or so just living on what we could power, and that amounted trying to stay out of the house much: dining at local restaurants and going out shopping or to the library, etc. It did give me much reading time though, so I finally finished Deathly Hallows. (!) When we were at home, there wasn't much to be done other than talk and read, or play Sūdoku on our phones, et al. (While I enjoy this abounding of quality family time, it just goes to show how much we've vested technology into the very fabric of our lives.)

Anyway, now that I'm back online, I see I've got a whole slew of updates to bake for my various Fedora packages. I promise I'll get to those soon but I'm going through them as quickly as I can (and this Midori build failure is still driving me nuts...) - please be patient! I should have them all bumped and building by the weekend, assuming no other show-stoppers.

I've also got a solid 2300 new emails to sift through too. Evolution's filters help significantly, but it's still a mess sometimes. :( It eems that no matter how much I love it, technology and I just can't seem to get along quite right most of the time. Sadness...

(Oh, and L'arc~en~Ciel's new single album, "Nexus 4 / Shine" is AWESOME. Let it be so known!)

Ya acabo de ver la película «Big Buck Bunny», y ¡me gustó tanto!

Esta película habla de un conejito gigante (y guapo) que acaba de despertarse de una siesta. Después, ve una bella mariposa volando cerca de él. Pero él no sabe que un ratón y sus compañeros le darán mucha pena. Ellos la matan y sus acciones le dan al conejito ganas de vengarla. (No diré más...para que ¡la vean y se sorprendan! :)

La película no es larga (más bien es un poco corta), pero me importa porque es completamente de Contenido Abierto. Con toda la película se permite modificar y compartir (para ganar dinero, si quiere) con la única condición que tendrá que incluir los créditos en la manera apropriada. (Hagan el favor de leerla en su página web.)

Ahora tengo tantas ganas de abrazarlo (al conejito). ¡Que lindo es!

(Editado para corregir algunas cositas. ¡Gracias al usuario anónimo!)

There are many so-called "email stations" in my school's library, which are nothing more than minimal Windows XP installs locked down via group policies and such so that you can essentially do only two things: reboot/shutdown the computer, and open Internet Explorer. This is intended for students to have quick access to their web-based email accounts (such as Yahoo! or Google Mail).

As a fortunate corollary, students are permitted to download legally-acquired files (such as incomplete homework that one may have emailed to himself for later termination) to only one place (aside from USB drives, etc.): the desktop. Thus, it's fairly simple to "install" Firefox and OpenOffice.org Portable to the desktop in their own respective folders. This tends to work fairly well, minus some registry entries for default applications not being saved.

I had done this today between classes, as I was working on some extra credit for my Biology class, and a young woman came up to the computer next to me needing to type a document for her writing class, not realizing that these computers only had IE available to use. (When I inquired this of her, this was her first semester here, so that's quite acceptable. ^_^) She looked over and saw me typing out my Biology homework in Writer and asked me how I was doing that if these computers did not have Word available to use.

As any good advocate would, I immediately showed her the OpenOffice,org website and downloaded a copy of OpenOffice.org Portable for her, showing her what I was doing each step of the way. I explained to her that although it is very similar to MS Office and has a lot of the same functionality, the way to access that functionality can sometimes be different. She was wondering how to set her page margins to 1 inch around (as was required for her essay), which was a perfect segue into my continuing explanation.

I then showed her how to set the margins via the Format » Page options, and explained to her the basics of its documentation, so that she could find the help she needed after I had gone to class later. I also briefly showed her through the various support methods listed on the website, so that she could go on the mailing lists and such and have answered just about any question she had about OpenOffice.org.

She sidestepped back to the issue I had mentioned to her earlier about being almost compatible with Microsoft Office, so I also explained to her that it defaults to OpenDocument (and very briefly what OpenDocument is), but will happily open files from MS Office or save to the requisite MS Office format. Upon hearing this, she seemed quite happy that she could keep her documents in a format that she could later open with just about any recent Office application, instead of only MS Office.

Lastly, I explained to her that this was all free software: both no-cost and libre. I told her that it was all Open Source, meaning that we're not only allowed to make and share as many copies of it was we want, but we are encouraged to do so.

When all was said and done, including demonstrating the other applications to her (Calc for spreadsheets, Impress for presentations, et al.), I don't know if I explained the concept of it being completely Free to her well enough for her to have understood it in its entirety. (The no-cost aspect of it was probably one of the major reasons she likes it.) However, she seemed to be quite satisfied when I mentioned the OpenDocument explanation to her, and was quite thrilled that after a couple of quick inquiries for my help, she was able to find everything she needed to get her homework done quickly and easily.

She did not seem "computer-savvy" (as the phrase goes), but I could tell that she definitely liked OpenOffice.org, and I hope we (the community) made a good impression on her because of it.

On an aside, I really should be carrying around a few copies of OpenDisc with me for cases such as these. C'est la vie, I suppose. :)