CopperBot Media

Joomla BreezingForms Preview Issue

2009-06-28T16:35:00.000-07:00

If you have installed the BreezingForms component and find that the preview pane for all of your forms is muddled in such a way that the site styles are being displayed and making it difficult to see your changes you'll need to update the following:

Line #2833 - File: administrator/components/com_facileforms/admin/element.html.php

Remove the /
$ff_mossite.'index2.php'

This should remove the site styling from the preview and make it nice and clean.

EDIT: I've noticed that on some sites that use styles setting the background to say, black... the above still doesn't fix the issue completely. Add the following lines to your stylesheet to make a nice clean white background.

body.contentpane{
background: #FFFFFF;
}

Joomla! sh404SEF Component Notes

2009-06-16T19:08:00.000-07:00

General notes for installing the sh404SEF search engine optimization component

Joomla! 1.5+

1. Select Extensions ->Install/Uninstall
2. Browse to and select the latest version of the sh404SEF component.
3. A successful unzip/install should notify you appropriately. If the upload fails check to be sure your ftp_path variable for your joomla install is correct.
4. Go to Site->Global Configuration and click on the Site tab. Be sure that the Use Apache mod_rewrite value under SEO Settings is set to "Yes".
5. Go to Components->sh404SEF, switch to the extended display on the right. Verify that there are no errors reported for the folders the component uses. You may need to set some to 777 initially to get the component working.
6. Click the sh404SEF Configuration icon.
[a] Main Tab - Basic Configuration - Set Enabled to Yes & select your own custom 404 Page (created in the article manager) as the value for the 404 Page.
[b] Advanced Tab - Advanced Component Configuration - Rewriting mode = with .htaccess (mod_rewrite)
7. Download the textfile htaccess.txt, upload this file to the root level of your joomla site and rename it to .htaccess (hidden system file)

If the planets are aligned properly you should be set.

Joomla - Relocating Your Site to a New Server

2009-06-15T21:27:00.000-07:00

How do you relocate your Joomla! 1.5+ website from one server to another?

The idea of moving your Joomla! site may seem a bit daunting when you first think about it, especially if you've gone through the trouble of installing heaps of modules and custom components to get your site exactly how you want it. In truth however, this task is actually quite easy.

1. Backup your mysql database
Joomla! runs on top of a mysql database. I believe it may be possible to configure Joomla! to work with other types of databases but if you're reading this guide chances are your Joomla! install was setup to use the default database type: mysql. Most web servers that use mysql have phpMyAdmin installed as a web based database administration tool. phpMyAdmin makes backing up your database easy!

[Note: If you're web server doesn't have phpMyAdmin installed hop over to the mysql GUI tools page to obtain a copy of their free database administrator tool. If you need help with these tools feel free to respond with your questions and I'll be glad to help.]

Login to phpMyAdmin by entering the URL for your mysql database server into any web browser. This information should have been provided by your web host, but on the off chance you've lost it and can't get in touch with them you can find all the information you'll need in the configuration.php file located in the root of your Joomla! website folder. See the values listed below.

var $host = 'mysql.mywebhost.com'; <-- Your mysql server URL
var $user = 'project88'; <-- Your username
var $db = 'project88'; <-- Your database
var $pass = 'password'; <-- Your password

Once you've logged in, click the databases link under mysql, select your database and click the Export tab at the top. Be sure to make sure ALL database tables are selected, click the save as file check box and hit go. Save the file somewhere on your computer.

2. Backup and transfer your Joomla! site
Essentially you want to zip the entire site into a single zip file and then upload this file to your new site and unzip it there. There are scores of ways to do this so I won't go into detail here. If you're unsure how to do this ask your web host if they can create a site zip for you, and alternatively have them unzip it on your new site after you transfer the file.

I typically create a zip file called zippedsite.tgz and once uploaded to the new site I unzip it using a php page that contains the following code:

<?php

exec('tar -xzf zippedsite.tgz');

?>

3. Setup your new mysql database
Connect to your new database server using phpMyAdmin like we did above but instead of clicking the export tab click the SQL tab instead. Open the database backup file you created with Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac) and copy the contents of the file into the SQL query window of phpMyAdmin and click go. If you're successful you should see a list of tables appear down the left side of the screen.

4. Configure Joomla! to work on your new server
Open configuration.php from the root folder of your new site and update the following values:

var $log_path = '<*see below>/logs';
var $tmp_path = '<*see below>/tmp';
var $ftp_host = 'ftp.yournew.server';
var $ftp_port = '21';
var $ftp_user = 'your_new_ftp_username';
var $ftp_pass = 'your_new_ftp_password';
var $ftp_root = '<*see below>';
var $host = 'mysql.newserver.com';
var $user = 'newproject';
var $db = 'newproject';
var $password = 'newpassword';

* - For the values above replace <*see below> with the absolute path for your new server. To find this value create a new php document that contains the following code:

<?php

phpinfo();

?>

Call this file whatever you want, I typically call it deleteme.php so I remember to remove it later. You don't want to leave this file on your server. It's a major security risk. Upload the file for now and navigate to it in your web browser. Search the results displayed for the string _SERVER["DOCUMENT_ROOT"]. The value stored in this variable is your absolute path.

Once you've updated these values delete the temporary file deleteme.php and you should be good to go.

BreezingForms - Multiple Recipients for Email Forms (Joomla)

2009-06-14T16:32:00.000-07:00

How do you modify an email notification form using Joomla and BreezingForms so it can be sent to multiple recipients?

1) Open the form you want to modify.
2) Put the form into edit mode.
3) Select the submit pieces tab.
4) Under the "Begin Submit" section select "Custom"
5) Below is a sample of the php code you will place in the text box

BEGIN CODE
----------

// declare globals used in this piece
global $mosConfig_mailfrom, $mosConfig_fromname;

// include FacileForms standard library
$this->execPieceByName('ff_InitLib');

// Note: txt_firstname and other variables below are simply the names I used. Be sure to update the values you place here to match YOUR form.
$emailSenderName = ff_getSubmit('txt_firstname')." ".ff_getSubmit('txt_lastname');
$emailSenderAddr = ff_getSubmit('txt_email');
// Multiple recipients declared here
$emailRecipients = 'tester@copperbot.net, me@myprivatemail.com';
$emailSubject = 'Enter the email subject here';

$emailMessage = "Message received from webform:\n";
$emailMessage .= "\n";
$emailMessage .= "Company: ".ff_getSubmit('txt_company')."\n";
$emailMessage .= "First Name: ".ff_getSubmit('txt_firstname')."\n";
$emailMessage .= "Last Name: ".ff_getSubmit('txt_lastname')."\n";
$emailMessage .= "Email: ".ff_getSubmit('txt_email')."\n";
$emailMessage .= "Street Address: ".ff_getSubmit('txt_street')."\n";
$emailMessage .= "City: ".ff_getSubmit('txt_city')."\n";
$emailMessage .= "State: ".ff_getSubmit('list_state')."\n";
$emailMessage .= "Zip/Postal Code: ".ff_getSubmit('txt_postal')."\n";
$emailMessage .= "Phone Number: ".ff_getSubmit('txt_phone')."\n";
$emailMessage .= "Website: ".ff_getSubmit('txt_website')."\n";
$emailMessage .= "How did you hear about us: ".ff_getSubmit('list_hearaboutus')."\n";
$emailMessage .= "Serial Number: ".ff_getSubmit('txt_serial')."\n";

// send the mail
$this->sendMail(
$emailSenderAddr, // email addr of submitter (1)
$emailSenderName, // name of submitter (1)
$emailRecipients, // email of recipient (2)
$emailSubject, // subject of the mail (3)
$emailMessage // body of the mail (3)
);

Creating an Autorun CD or DvD

2009-06-08T16:51:00.001-07:00

How can you easily install the Autorun feature on a CD or DvD?

Earlier today I was asking myself this very question. Wow, who knew this could be so easy? How I've managed to go this many years working in the IT field without creating a single Autorun CD is beyond me but as of today I finally know how and I'd like to share that information with all of you.

Truth be told I'm not a big fan of the Autorun feature on windows machines (I now primarily use the OSX partition on my MacBook Pro) but in cases where you need to distribute functional copies of websites (or other media) to clients via CD this is something good to know. Computer users are becoming more and more savvy every day but there are still heaps of people out there who may not know that opening the index.html file located on the root level of the CD will open the site. Using Autorun can eliminate some initial confusion and help make the disk distribution more successful.

We'll create two text files to achieve the desired result: (autorun.inf and autorun.bat)

Note: You cannot tell an autorun to directly open a HTML file. This is why we have the .bat file as well, to serve as the "middle-man". Windows will treat the .bat file as a program, run it, and in turn the .bat file will open our index.html page.

Contents of autorun.inf
[autorun]
open=autorun.bat

Contents of autorun.bat
@echo Loading CD
@start index.html
@cls
@exit

Once both of these files are created, place them in the root of your local website folder (this is where your index.html file should also be located) Now simply burn the contents of your local website folder (including the two new files we created) to disk. When you pop the disk into a windows machine it should automatically load the index.html page in the machines default web browser. It's as simple as that.

Can you use autorun for other file types?
Absolutely! Alternatively you could use this same process to autoload a flash presentation, game, excel spreadsheet, or anything else (as long as the required software is loaded on the target machine). Simply modify the line @start index.html, replacing index.html with whatever file you want to automatically load.

It's worth noting that this process won't work on Macs or Linux machines. I'll have to sort that out in another post.

Human Beings Are Sad Creatures

2009-06-08T14:03:00.000-07:00

World Oceans Day

Reading the comments posted for this story reminds me of those I heard when an Inconvenient Truth came out. Rather than at least saying "Hmmmm, you might have a point. Perhaps I could be less wasteful in my own personal life. Thank you for the reminder. I'll do my part to help..." people always immediately attack the messenger.

The sad thing about human beings is that we rarely change our ways until we're forced to. People can go on and on about jobs, livelihood and the need to eat all day long but just who do you think you're educating? These are givens and you're not breaking any new ground by restating them. The point is, we need to adapt, to consistently strive to do more with less, that or we have to cap our own population. It's not rocket science. This bubble we call earth is finite, it can only provide so much. Fail to recognize this and perish, it's quite simple. Defaming the messenger because what they say is "inconvenient" rather than at least acknowledge that conservation and moderation is always sound practice is really stupid.

BreezingForms Captcha Issues (Joomla)

2009-04-21T14:19:00.000-07:00

Recently I was having problems with captchas using BreezingForms on one of my Joomla sites. The captcha was working fine for the sample contact form but not for the new form I had just created. Using the sample form as an example I was was sure to create the captcha on my new form in the exact same way but for some reason it simply refused to show up.

As it would happen, this was just one of those things that happens when you're new to a given CMS. Here are the steps I took to fix the problem:

1. Go to the BreezingForms form manager
2. Open the form you want to edit.
3. Select the "Edit Form" icon (top right)
4. Click the "Form Pieces" tab
5. In the "Before Form" section set Type = "Library" and choose FF::ff_InitLib for pieces.
6. Click save.

Huzzah! Your BreezingForms captcha should now work!

Joomla Resources

2009-04-06T15:06:00.000-07:00

Heaps of great Joomla resources in this article:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/01/05/joomla-developers-toolbox/

Domain "Don't"s

2009-03-29T18:07:00.000-07:00

Attn: Entrepreneurs
Everyone knows that if you are going to operate a business in today’s world you need a domain name. It is advisable to look at the domain name selected as other see it and not just as you think it looks. Failure to do this may result in situations such as the following (legitimate) companies who deal in everyday humdrum products and services but clearly didn’t give their domain names enough consideration:

1. A site called ‘Who Represents‘ where you can find the name of the agent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name… wait for it… is
www.whorepresents.com

2. Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at
www.expertsexchange.com

3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at
www.penisland.net

4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at
www.therapistfinder.com

5. Then of course, there’s the Italian Power Generator company…
www.powergenitalia.com

6. And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales:
www.molestationnursery.com

7. If you’re looking for computer software, there’s always
www.ipanywhere.com

8. Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church. Their website is
www.cummingfirst.com

9. Then, of course, there’s these brainless art designers, and their whacky website:
www.speedofart.com

10. Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website at
www.gotahoe.com

How to embed Flash

2009-03-25T17:15:00.000-07:00

http://perishablepress.com/press/2007/04/17/embed-flash-or-die-trying/

Artistic Inspiration

2009-03-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

http://ffffound.com

Images: Rounded Corners in Photoshop

2009-03-25T14:59:00.000-07:00

I'm sure there are hundreds of different ways to do this. I myself have used several different methods over the years to obtain rounded corners for my images. However, for consistency this is the method I now use:

1. Place the image in your work space
2. Select the layer that contains the image you want to adjust with rounded corners
3. Select the mask layer tool (located at the bottom of the layers section)
4. Choose the rounded rectangle tool from the toolbox with black as the forecolor and the option "fill pixels" set to on
5. Draw the rounded rectangle over the top of the image
6. Hit CTRL-I (Apple-I on the mac) to invert the new rounded rectangle you just created.

Cake!

Noah Stokes (Web developer extraordinaire!)

2009-03-24T17:12:00.000-07:00

Holy crap this is hilarious!

http://noahstokes.com/

Test for New Website

2009-03-14T16:29:00.000-07:00

Though I hate to make a fluff post for the sake of testing I need to in this case. Months ago when I was studying Flash I wrote a class to parse RSS feeds from blogger and input this information into a flash file. It's been months since I looked at my code or any of the classes I used to do this but a friend asked me how it was accomplished. Now I'm making a fluff post with the label travelingtroll for the RSS Reader to pick up.

Special HTML Characters

2009-03-01T13:42:00.000-08:00

http://www.degraeve.com/reference/specialcharacters.php

Nice reference page for those of us who can't remember them all.

Creative Commons Flickr Images

2009-03-01T12:26:00.000-08:00

Occasionally you find a page on the web full of content that makes you go "OMG HOLY SHIT WTF?!?!" and you immediately mash the bookmark button as fast as humanly possible on your browser only to quickly worry that after you do so the page may be taken offline someday down the road robbing you of this newfound source of little known information. If you're a nerd like me this leads to blogging about it and/or saving the html for the page to your harddrive somewhere. I've decided to go with the 1st option today, mainly because I'm at work and can't save a copy right away. In short this link tells you "How to use Flickr to find copyright free images for your website or graphics project" Enjoy!

http://www.skelliewag.org/a-complete-guide-to-finding-and-using-incredible-flickr-images-162.htm

Take Flight

2009-02-19T01:16:00.000-08:00

Finished and submitted! *WHEW*

Clicky!

Art Update

2009-02-18T02:48:00.000-08:00

Thank you to those of you who have continued to follow my blog and comment on my work. I know I'm not half as amusing as I used to be around here or anywhere near as animated for that matter but I'm glad some of you still read. I'm starting to really mellow out and I don't typically get as fired up about things anymore or feel the need to rant like I used to. I've become this sorta Buddhist, Taoist, and Christian Frankenstein monster and like Frankenstein (at least during the first half of the book) I'm more content to observe quietly and only interject when I must. That said I doubt my days of ranting are over so enjoy it while it lasts.Completely unrelated ramble aside, here is my latest update on the Conchords image. It is ALMOST done now! Just a bit more text, a few tweaks to the airplanes, some clouds and that should do it. Even if I don't win I've decided to print this and frame it. I love it too much not too.

Clicky clicky

Keeping my promise to myself...

2009-01-25T04:43:00.000-08:00

... and keeping the art updates flowing. This is Anvina the Succubus. For those of you following my updates Anvina is Lynamy's pet, Lynamy being the gnome warlock I posted a week or so back. Here's to keeping my nose to the grindstone and more art just around the corner.

Time for bed... *snore*

Artistic Improvement

2009-01-17T23:52:00.000-08:00

Tonight, after finishing the colors on my latest character design, I decided to do a side by side comparison of my latest digital project with my first... and despite being a complete slacker and only cranking out a few images a year I must say that I am pleased with the progress I've made. Here's to putting my nose to the grindstone and making some serious leaps forward artistically in 2009.

New Year - New Me?

2009-01-17T14:58:00.000-08:00

How much change is one person capable of? At what point does changing portions of one's self result in a completely new person altogether? Put another way, how much of me can I change and still be me? Perhaps I'm looking at the concept of "self" from the wrong angle... perhaps the self is a fluid concept, ever changing, ever growing. After all, am I really the same person I was as a 10 year old, as a teenager, as a young adult? In some ways yes, but in most ways the obvious answer is no. Change then must be natural and necessary in life.

This realization leads me to a new question: Is real "personal" change obtainable through conscious focused effort or is real change merely a result of life experiences that present themselves? Rephrased, am I merely a product of my environment or can I focus my efforts and modify my person? To be 100% honest with myself, I've never been all that good at focusing on any one thing for a very long time. As a result, and as I've said before in this blog, I've always been one of those "try it all, and not excel at anything" kind of people. I'm in modest shape, I'm a modest singer, a decent artist, an average programmer, a fair speaker, a mediocre writer... the list goes on. Most of the meaningful changes I've experienced have been the direct result of unexpected experiences and opportunities that have presented themselves. I've adapted to life abroad, life on the move, life in bigger cities and different cultures and I'm a changed man as a result. I changed because I "had to" and yet I didn't literally have to. I could have refused, I could have said it was too much and retreated back to the relative safety of my old self. That said even these changes required focused effort. I was able to do it because I wanted it bad enough. I wanted to live abroad, to experience new cultures, to try new things and I made it work.

So what now? What change do I seek within my self? The list is fairly short but do I want it bad enough? I guess it's time to focus. I'm not one for New Years resolutions. I don't think the coming of a New Year is enough to make me want a given change enough to make it happen. I have to think bigger than 2009, I have to think about life long change. More than the change itself... I want to prove to myself that I can pick a goal and obtain it.

Moving forward never forget...

2008-11-06T14:42:00.000-08:00

... she got THIS close! The fact that she was actually running in the VP slot aside the fact that so many American's gobbled up this dingbat hook line and sinker is a scary reflection of who we are as a nation. Yes just yesterday I made a rather "nicey nice" post about moving forward, about how I feel it is important to move past two-party politics. I still hold to those sentiments, and I will continue to do so for the rest of my life but the fact remains: This woman was in no way prepared for the White House and she almost got there. 5 million votes saved our asses folks... ONE PERCENT

My advice: Get involved politically. Start with your local city elections, educate yourself, help campaign, help educate others. This has nothing to do with republicans, nothing to do with religion, but everything to do with common sense. Christians need to learn that they cannot simply back someone because they wear a pretty smile and publically praise jesus. Read your bibles a bit and you'll realize that God explicitly states (time and time again) that the Anti-Christ himself will present himself as a "religious" leader, as a spiritual guide. He'll say all the right things and "look" the right way... but you have to look under the surface. Not to get all religious on my readers but coming from a conservative christian background it drives me crazy how blindly Christians will gobble up anyone who "supposedly" speaks for God.

Sinclair Lewis
"When facism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."

Taken from:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/us-election/insiders-spill-the-beans-on-sarah-palin/2008/11/07/1225561084675.html

Leesha McKenny and Peter Hawkins
November 7, 2008 - 9:18AM

Weeks after Sarah Palin was lampooned by the country's comedians, her own party is catching up.

John McCain's aides have revealed their vice-presidential candidate did not know Africa was a continent and in fact thought it was a country.

She also had no idea which countries made up the North American Free Trade Agreement [NAFTA], or that the United States - along with Canada and Mexico - was one of them.

Fox News anchor Carl Cameron, the source of the leaks, reveals the party's one-time darling was already shaping up as a scapegoat before the defeat to the Democrats sank in.

"There was great concern in the McCain campaign that Sarah Palin lacked the degree of knowledgeability necessary to be a running mate, a vice-president, and a heartbeat away from the presidency," he said.

"We're told she didn't understand that Africa was a continent rather than a country just in itself - a whole host of questions that caused serious problems.

"I wish I could have told you more at the time but all of it was put off the record until after the election."

The Alaskan governor's big spend on clothes emerged publicly last month, but McCain's aides also said that she spent "thousands more" than the reported $US150,000 on clothes during the campaign, much to the shock of the donor that footed the bill, the Daily Mail reports.

An angry aide, quoted in London's Times, described the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast", and predicted that the truth would eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

She had been advised she should buy three new suits for the Republican National Convention in September and three additional suits for the campaign, expected to come to a total of between $US20,000 and $US25,000, two top aides said.

Cameron also revealed the Alaskan governor started to "go rogue" early on, such as after her first disastrous CBS interview with Katie Couric.

"She got very angry at staff, thought that she was mishandled, was particularly angry about the way the Katie Couric interview went," he said.

The moment was then satirised by Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live in a video clip watched by millions.

"She didn't accept preparation for that interview and the aides say that that was part of the problem. And there were times that she was hard to control emotionally - there's talk of temper tantrums at bad news clippings," he said.

Cameron cites a "truncated" vetting process for Palin's selection after McCain's camp decided the then-shortlist was inadequate to "change the game" in the race for the presidency.

So they opted instead for a candidate who reportedly once opened the door to one of McCain's aides in a towel.

The relationship between McCain and Palin was further strained after she was recorded falling for a prank call by two Canadian comedians pretending to be French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

"Her staff didn't know the name of the French President," Sebastien Trudel told The Globe and Mail. "They asked us to spell it."

McCain and Palin both left Phoenix in separate cars yesterday, but Palin, for her part, "bears no ill-will to staff", Cameron said.

Palin has not ruled out a 2012 tilt, but Tina Fey has told Entertainment Weekly that she's hanging up her Palin wig.

Email Links on Webpages

2008-11-05T15:05:00.000-08:00

*A web development best practice from one of my coworkers*

Email links on webpages
There is now a serious issue with spammers 'harvesting' email addresses straight off web pages - you know the standard <a href="mailto:..."> tags we sprinkle on our sites without thinking. The problem is that bots can easily crawl thru sites and harvest these addresses and then use them for spam mailouts (as either recipient or supposedly as sender...).

It is now regarded to be bad practice to put email links onto web pages 'in the clear' i.e. in form which is readily recognisable as a email address by a bot. What we should be doing instead now, is using a technique called 'email obfuscation' to mask or hide an email address from bots while it still magically looking and acting like a normal email link to human visitors.
I have developed a small program which can be used by designers to create a 'masked' email address. Simply go to

http://www.appliedtechsolutions.co.nz/tools/encoder/
and fillin the form fields. The program will create you a fragment of HTML which can then copied/pasted into your web page. If interested to understand how this works, let me know

Such a memorable day

2008-11-04T23:39:00.000-08:00

During the last few weeks I've been a bit of a ghost here on Blogger, but with good reason. As I mentioned in my last post I started a new job. I now work for one of the top web design companies in all of New Zealand and I'm loving it. The only downside to this glorious news is that having a full-time job is well... a full-time job. It doesn't leave a lot of time for me to update but I think it's a fair trade. At some point in the near future I'd like to post an in depth update about the job and what it's like to work amongst so many amusing kiwis but not tonight. Tonight I want to talk about the election.

As all of you already know, history was made today as Barack Obama became the first African American president-elect of the United States of America. Over the past few months I have waffled back and forth between feelings of overwhelming optimism and feelings of utter dread. On the one hand I saw a candidate that gave me hope and renewed my sense of pride in my country, someone who possessed many of the attributes I felt most pertinent to the presidency at this point in our nations history. On the other hand I saw scores of people ripe with blind hatred, distrust, fear, bigotry, and many of the most shameful attributes a human being can possess. When it comes to McCain I have to respect and admire the man. Truth be told as far as republicans go I think he's a pretty decent guy. I've disagreed with a lot of the choices he has made during his time in the Senate and his intense campaign for the presidency but I don't dislike him as a man. Truth be told, considering Bush's approval rating, the shape or country is in, and his horrible choice in a running mate I'm amazed by how well he did. He ran a race that was rough around the edges, but then if my grandfather were still alive so would he in the same situation and I adore my grandfather.

The point I'm trying to make is this: Despite the fact that my candidate won and despite the fact that it's been such a rough and stressful campaign full of "WTF?" and "Oh you have to be kidding!" moments I do not feel the need to be "in your face" about it. I thought I would want to jump up and down and say NEENER NEENER! I even designed T-shirts that said "Dodged that bullet!" and "EPIC FAIL!" which pictures of McCain and Palin... but the feeling I'm experiencing now is one of a very somber nature. I'm happy but I realize this is just the beginning and my sentiments were reflected in every word of Barack's speech tonight. We can't go back. We can't become complacent. We can't turn around and say "Ok he's in office, it's going to get better now." All of us have to keep our hands on the wheel. We're in this together. I commend McCain on the way he accepted his defeat. As I said, I may not agree with the man's ideals... but he's a good man.

One thing about work: My coworkers declared today America Day at work with me being their only American employee and it being election day. 1/4th of my day was spent answering questions about American politics as a whole, and questions about the specific area of the states I come from. They were all anxiously watching the CNN and Google map updates, occasionally asking for my predictions on various states and voting trends. As I left the office today, shortly after Obama was declared the victor on the front page of CNN I let everyone who was still at work know. One girl at the front desk said: "I'll always remember where I was when America nominated their first black president and I'll always remember who told me. I was working at HL and Jay the American (thats what they call me) told me on his way home." It was a glorious day!

And last but not least, because I'm a huge nerd and a bit of a gamer here is a political image I found extremely amusing.

Combo Breaker!!!!

Hank & Mike

2008-10-17T03:40:00.000-07:00

Rented two movies tonight: Charlie Wilson's War (Pretty good movie) and Hank & Mike (pictured below) If you're a fan of weird off-beat destined to be a cult classic type films Hank & Mike is a must see.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsW4RhymEwo

In other news the job is going well. I worked 4 days this week and I'm going back on Monday. I'll post some details in my next update... for now it's too effin late and I'm exhausted.

Contractually Obligated

2008-10-13T11:19:00.000-07:00

Some good news on the job front. Yesterday morning I received a phone call from Hairy Lemon. For those of you following this story HL was the first place I applied and the first place to turn me away. Since then I've come to realize they were right to do so as I was certainly not ready for that position. Still, last Friday they had me in for an informal meeting, during which I expressed my desire to get into the industry even if it meant taking a pay cut, working part time, or starting as an intern. They warmed to this proposition almost instantly, and despite having no clear cut slots to fill promised to see what they could find for me. So yesterday morning they offered me some contract work. It's not programming or "design" work but it's work they need done and I'm happy to help. In NZ it seems to be more about who you know and the connections you make than the specific skills you have. That said, getting in there this morning and doing what I can is a brilliant start and I'm thrilled. Work starts in an hour and a half! I just finished my morning workout so now it's off to the shower and then time for breakfast.

Insert Witty Title Here

2008-10-08T22:06:00.000-07:00

As of right now my new C# book is in Auckland and should be on my doorstep by tomorrow afternoon. Today I managed to find a zip file containing all of the old project code from the Visual Studio 2005 class I took at Drury three years ago. You know, it goes without saying that some of the finer points of this technology have slipped through the cracks since then. I've yet to find a job where I could actually utilize half the things Chris taught me! Still, I have to give myself credit. I'm amazed at how many of the basic concepts I still remember... basically just enough for me to say "Yeah, glad I ordered that book." It's not just about learning a language, it's so much more than that. There are best practices to follow, a host of design methodologies to learn about and so on. This is ultimately why I need to get a job as a developer. Anyone can learn a new language on their own, but to learn how to design FOR the team AS a member of that team you need to be part of... a team. Candid meeting tomorrow with Harry Lemon. I plan on making my case then. I'll offer to work part time, as an intern, whatever... just get me into the field!

C# - Same story, different day (and language)

2008-10-06T21:06:00.000-07:00

Ordered yet another book off of Amazon last night. [Beginning ASP.NET 3.5 in C#] I swear, I've purchased more technical books in the last year than all the years of the rest of my life combined... unless of course you count the mandatory book purchases in college. But hey, what can you do? Wanna make a career change? Everyone requiring several years of experience and/or an extensive portfolio? Better get to learnin! It's a slow process but I am enjoying myself so there is a silver lining.

As of right now I'm working on designing a new site for the GNADS comics I've been posting from the ground up. The Flash site I started on a couple months ago is on hold. I WILL be finishing it, but I need to get my C# and ASP.NET 3.5 skills up to snuff first. Overall ASP.NET is a more marketable skill so what else can I do?

As of this afternoon I have a first draft at a database design for the Gnads site up and running and a set of classes implemented in C# using Visual Studio 2008. Tonight I'm starting on a Data Access Layer (DAL) that I can use to simplify all communications with the database. Keeping all of my database communications in one place has the added bonus of making my code modular and easier to update. (None of that pesky data retrieval code mixed in with my presentation code) Nerd speak for "doing it the right way"...

The job prospect emailed me yesterday asking me to please continue to be patient as they review yet another possible candidate. All in all I think it's pretty tacky to make me wait two weeks (it will be three by this Friday) for a solid yes or no when the initial feedback made it sound like a done deal. It's made me question whether or not I actually want to work there at this point. So I've emailed my other job placement contacts and asked them if they had any other prospects for me. I've also set up a meeting with the staff at Hairy Lemon (the first place I interviewed) to meet everyone and get my name around. If by this coming Monday nothing has come of any of this I'm taking a temporary job as a backup. I simply need some income and need to get out of the house. I'll feel 100% better once I'm making some money which will ultimately put my mind at ease and make learning the skills I need for a real job less stressful. Right now I feel as if I can't possibly learn fast enough due to the lack of income.

Comic #2: Vulvarine

2008-10-04T04:05:00.000-07:00

Dirty minded nerd humor ahead. A few weeks ago I was linked to an article on the interweb detailing how the US government was planning to spend tax dollars researching the possibility of terrorists training, planning, and coordinating attacks from inside an online game like World of Warcraft. Is this true? I have no idea. Could it be? Nowadays I wouldn't be surprised. Did I find this amusing? You bet! Here is the article:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/86341-Terrorists-Might-Plot-Attack-in-World-of-Warcraft

Originally I had planned to poke fun at the phrase "duty-bound" that was used in the article... but after the panels were drawn and I took a good hard look at Houston dressed up as his Night Elf character (Ryukotsu) I couldn't help but think... "Man, he looks like a cross between a vagina and Wolverine!" Is this funny? I think so. Will other people find it amusing? Frankly I don't care, but it would be cool if they did. I'm sure there are at least a couple people out there with my weird sense of humor.

Vulvarine

Things to do, and the list is long...

2008-10-01T20:14:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling quite gloomy today for no particular reason. Though I know I have many things in my life to be thankful for lately I have started to feel as though I'm having a mini, and premature, mid-life crisis.

ARTIST
I'm artistic, but I have sold very little art. I have works in digital form but nothing in print. I don't really have anything TO PRINT either because all the works I've done so far have been commissions and I rarely finish something I start for myself. Two months ago I started to draw up some rough ideas for some original art but the pressure to find a job started mounting as the funds began to dry up so I put it aside and started pouring myself into Flash.

PROGRAMMER
I'm technically minded and logical (usually) but I'm not much of a programmer. I have the ability, I just don't have the knowledge. I'd like to be able to say with 100% certainty that this is merely because I've never had a job that excites me... but I don't know that. I was supposed to get a job offer Monday but it's now Thursday and they still haven't called. Silently, in the very deepest parts of my mind, a fear has been growing that they aren't going to call and that I'm going to be back at square one all over again, lost and disappointed.

MUSICIAN
Five months ago Vanessa and I bought a beautiful acoustic guitar. I vowed that I would constantly practice because I've always wanted to learn. I did for about a month, and about the same time I quit drawing to focus on Flash I stopped picking up the guitar. My mind was too preoccupied with other things to even try. It's no excuse, just the truth. I still want to learn, I still want to practice... but I can't sit down and do it, it feels like wasted time right now.

SPIRITUAL BEING
I'm in spiritual limbo and I don't know where to go. I can't go back to being a Baptist because it's horseshit. No offense to anyone reading this that's Christian but I spent the first 25 years of my life as a Christian and the hypocrisy and contradictions always bothered me. Now that I'm out of the bible belt and thinking for myself I realize it's not for me. The problem now is finding my own way. I still believe in a lot of the core values Christianity taught me, I've just chose to strip away all the double standards and bigotry on behalf of the bible. I still believe in God, I still believe in Jesus... but the details... I can't agree with all the details. If God is speaking to me right now then what he's telling me is to open my eyes so I'm doing just that.

ATHLETE
I'm out of shape, and it makes me angry. Every time I start a routine I do awesome for about two months and then something comes up that throws me off track. Again, it's no excuse just the truth. In Wellington I was on a roll, 3 times a week minimum, had a progress chart to track all of my exercises, started to see results and we moved. Get to New Plymouth, wait a couple months to rejoin a gym, start a routine there, winter sets in, COOOOLD wet mornings, gets harder and harder to get myself there, then the job hunt starts ramping up and I drop it again. I don't BLAME the moving around but it certainly hasn't helped. I need routines to get things done, and it's hard to make new ones.

FRIEND
I had to edit this one in as an addition. Years ago I lived in Springfield surrounded by friends I had known since middle school and friends I had made through work. On any given evening I had a host of options for people to hang out with. On top of this I was extremely active in several online communities, one of which granted me a group of new friends all over the world, some of which I would visit on a regular basis. Fast forward today and I have neither. Living overseas I naturally had to give up my group of long time local friends as far as options go for hanging out day to day. I figured most would want to keep in touch with me though via the wonders of the internet though. Sadly most have not. I rarely if ever get random "how ya doin?" emails or messages... and when I send out travel updates I'm lucky to get a single response. I try not to over analyze this too much but it's hard not too. For the first time in my life I'm reevaluating how I've always thought people perceive me as a friend.

FAMILY
A final edit before Ness gets home and we go for a jog. About a month ago my mom and I had a rather heated discussion about politics. Now, while this discussion didn't come as a surprise to me, the extent to which my mother was willing to go in defense of her opinion left a sour taste in my mouth. I've always ALWAYS tried to be the "This is what I believe and I can respect what you believe" kind of person and I strive to be sure I maintain that way of thinking... but I've never felt more disconnected from another human being in my life and this was my mother. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but when that opinion is formed based on half truths, selective reasoning, and "because the bible says so" it's very hard for me to swallow. To have my mother telling me I "need to be sure and check my facts" when she openly admitted most of where she is coming from isn't based on facts or research but what the church tells her is right was very frustrating... The real clincher though had to be when she started going on the defensive and making snide remarks about how I was acting high and mighty as I calmly tried to logically illustrate why I believe what I believe point by point so it was simple, non-inflammatory and easy to follow. Case in point, she didn't want to hear it and I felt like an outsider amongst my own family for the first time.

In summary, I'm lost. The world I used to reside in (or the way I perceived it at least) no longer exists. Furthermore, the person I have become in my 29th year isn't a good fit for the world as it exists today. I have no sense of direction or where I want to go and basically do nothing instead of picking something up because I'm afraid I'll end up having to drop it again anyhow so why start. The worst part, or maybe the best part depending on how you look at this, is that I'm PAINFULLY aware of all of these things and I know it's all my fault. So I've found step one...

Step One: Recognize the source of the problem.
Step Two: ???
Step Three: Profit

Another thing bothering me is time. Right now I have plenty of time to get my life in order again but it doesn't feel like it. I start listing off things I need/want to accomplish and it seems daunting.

Create prints to sell
Become a better IT professional
Consequently GET A JOB
Learn to play the guitar at least at a novice level
Find a spiritual place and a routine for growing spiritually
Create an exercise regiment and stick to it so I can look the way I see myself inside.

Big broad goals... but getting there? One step at a time. *sigh* I don't really have a choice here. I HAVE to do this or I'm never going to be completely happy. My confidence in myself has started eroding away over the last year despite the great things that are going for me... why? Because I don't feel like I've brought those good things into reality. So much of where I am and what's going on feels like it's being handed to me and I don't deserve it. I have a wonderful loving wife who thinks I'm adorable for some reason I'll never fully understand. I live in one of the coolest backwater countries in the world. I have new experiences waiting for me just beyond my doorstep I just have to seize them... so here's to me getting my shit together. If you're reading this just say a silent prayer or send me some positive energy. I gotta get this ball rollin.

Learning is fun, yet there is SO MUCH to learn!

2008-09-29T02:06:00.000-07:00

As my last post illustrated, Vanessa and I are now living on the south island of New Zealand. We've been here for a little over a week now and we've started to settle in nicely. With the move to our new city my job search has intensified but it seems that one of my prospects may come through. Last Monday I went in for an interview at a local web design company and they liked me enough to have me back the following day for a skills assessment. Both meetings went well. They could have gone better but all in all I feel that I represented myself in the most accurate way possible so I have no major complaints. After speaking with the gentleman from the job placement agency that organized the initial interview it would appear that their response was positive. In fact, I was told to expect a phone call with details regarding an offer any day.

So this is all good news and I'm very excited. There isn't really a down side to this situation accept for the fact that I spent months prepping in Flash only to find a job that won't likely utilize me in that fashion. I don't really care since I can easily continue learning Flash at home but I wish I had spent time polishing my ASP.NET skills and/or improving my familiarity with C#. Still, there is no such thing as wasted knowledge and everything I've learned while studying Flash may still be of use at some point. Regardless of whether or not those skills are ever needed for this job I've at least shown myself (once again) just how easily I can jump in and change gears when necessary.

So I've installed a copy of Visual Studio 2008 complete with the most recent version of Microsoft AJAX. I received my CSS book from Amazon last week and have started devouring it as time allows. My AJAX book is en route and a ASP.NET C# book is in the queue. So much learning, so much fun, so little time! That reminds me. I need to update my Goodreads list soon! Last but not least, Ness and I found a cute cafe downtown where I might be able to showcase/sell some art prints. Now I just need to finish those I've started and get them up! Gawd, why can't I just be into ONE thing? :D

Travel Update #13: Operation Relocation

2008-09-28T17:08:00.000-07:00

A concept so simple...

2008-09-14T03:37:00.000-07:00

... Matt Damon gets it.

Nothing against Matt Damon it's just that I don't typically put a lot of stock in Hollywood opinions. Then again, he explains in simple straight forward english (without all the rambling I would attach to any point I try to make) why we should all be very afraid right now.

Earth Shakin - Round 2

2008-09-14T02:29:00.000-07:00

Just experienced our 2nd Earthquake in New Zealand. Was sitting at the table working at my computer, Vanessa sitting across from me when the screens to our laptops started swaying ever so slightly in unison with the water in our glasses. Like last time we looked up from what we were doing and at each other relatively slowly as if to say with our faces "Did you do that?" No sooner had we looked at each other than the shaking ramped up significantly, enough that it felt like someone kicking my chair back and forth underneath me. "Move to the doorframe..." I told Ness, where we stood looking at each other while the shaking calmed down. The tremors were mild here, nothing fell or was broken, but Earthquakes are still by far the most terrifying and weird natural thing I've ever experienced...

We're living on top of the northmost yellow square on that map.

Make the Cut or Make a Comic

2008-09-12T05:52:00.000-07:00

Make the Cut or Make a Comic

The job hunt continues...

McCain closing the gap as Rednecks rally to the cause

2008-09-11T16:55:00.000-07:00

Taken from: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080929/pollitt

While I may not feel as strongly as the author of this article about each point she raises, I do feel that this article does a great job of illustrating most of my issues with Sarah Palin. A few days ago my mother and I had a knock down drag out on the phone about the upcoming elections where I tried to communicate some of my concerns. Unfortunately, despite the fact that I love my mom very much, she has already swallowed the republican campaign hook... so completely in fact that trying to raise a few points only served to put her on the defensive. This if course is why I refuse to associate myself with the religious right anymore. I have no desire to be part of a group that believes something just because... where logic plays no part. God created me as a thinker, someone who questions and needs to know why... and you'll have a hard time convincing me that something God created me to do naturally is wrong.

My main issue with the religious right is two fold, and I'll expand on this in another post later. First and foremost, they want to better society or so they say. Their goal is to make us a better people, a more Godly people, to save the world if you will and yet, with all of their numbers and all of their financial support they've never picked up the cup of poverty, homelessness, or hunger in America. Of all the things they could rally together to fight they have chose abortion and gay marriage instead of something more beneficial like those three. Furthermore, they use the bible and the word of God as their backing for everything they do, yet refuse to admit that they pick and choose what they support. When you try to point this out they get defensive and deny it. Yet supporting legislation that bans same sex marriage but not supporting legislation that would ban divorce and premarital sex is picking and choosing. Am I advocating they support those additional ideas, heavens no, but it illustrates my point. They want to ban abortions in all cases including rape and incest because life is sacred, yet most of the time (not all) these same people support the death penalty. If you're going to be pro-life you don't get to choose which life. Anyway, more on that later... here is the article.

Lipstick on a Wing Nut
Subject to Debate
By Katha Pollitt

John McCain chose the supremely under-qualified Sarah Palin as his running mate partly because she is a woman. If you have a problem with that, you're a sexist. She talks incessantly about being a mother of five and uses her newborn, Trig, who has Down syndrome, as a campaign prop. If you wonder how she'll handle all those kids and the Veep job too, you're a super-sexist. "When do they ever ask a man that question?" charges that fiery feminist Rudy Giuliani. Indeed, Palin, who went back to work when Trig was three days old, gets nothing but praise from Phyllis Schlafly, James Dobson and the folks at National Review, who usually blame all the ills of modern America on those neurotic, harried, selfish, frustrated, child-neglecting, husband-castrating working mothers. Even stranger, her five-months-pregnant 17-year-old, Bristol, gets nothing but compassion and respect from Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh and others who have spent their careers slut-shaming teens for having sex--and blaming their parents for letting it happen.

If there were an Olympics for hypocrisy, the Republican Party would have more gold medals than Michael Phelps. And Palin would be wearing quite a few of them. It takes chutzpah for a mother to thrust her pregnant teen into the world's harshest spotlight and then demand the world respect the girl's privacy. But then it takes chutzpah to support criminalizing abortion and then praise Bristol's "decision" to have the baby. The right to decide, and privacy, after all, are two of the things Palin wants to deny every other woman, and every other family, in America. Palin's even said she would "choose life" if her daughter was pregnant from rape. Can't you just hear Bristol groaning, "Mo-om...!"

The Republicans bashed Barack Obama as a "celebrity," but now they've got a star of their own, so naturally the rules have changed. Nothing would suit them better than for the media to spend the next two months spellbound by the wacky carnival on ice that is the Palin family: Todd, aka the First Dude, the kids, Levi the hunky bad-boy dad-to-be--well, maybe not him so much after his expletive-adorned MySpace page briefly came to light ("I'm a fuckin' redneck"; "I don't want kids"--whoops). The snowmobiles, the moose burgers, the guns, the hair, the glasses that are flying off America's shelves (starting at $375 a pair, and she has seven). Fretting over the work/family issue alone should take up enough column inches to employ all the female journalists in America from now to next Mother's Day. And don't forget that op-ed staple, What Does This Mean for Feminism?

Well, I'm not playing. I don't care about Sarah Palin's family. I don't care if she's a good mother. I don't care if she's happily married, or who shops and who vacuums, or who takes care of the kids while both parents are at work. I don't want her recipe for caribou hot dogs, either. Life chez Sarah and Todd might make an adorable sitcom (Leave It to Jesus?) or a scathing tell-all a decade or so down the road (Governor Dearest?). Either way, so what? This is an election, not The View. As for feminism's meaning, what can you say after you've said that her career shows that even right-wing fundamentalist women have taken in feminism's message of empowerment and that's good, but that Palin's example suggests women can do it all without support from society and that's bad?

Count me as a feminist who never believed that being PTA president meant you could be, well, President. The more time we spend on dippy ruminations--how does she do it? Queen Bee on steroids or the hockey mom next door? how hot is Todd, anyway?--the less focus there will be on the kind of queries that should come first with any vice presidential candidate, and certainly would if Palin were a man. Questions like:

§ Suppose your 14-year-old daughter Willow is brutally raped in her bedroom by an intruder. She becomes pregnant and wants an abortion. Could you tell the parents of America why you think your child and their children should be forced by law to have their rapists' babies?

§ You say you don't believe global warming is man-made. Could you tell us what scientists you've spoken with or read who have led you to that conclusion? What do you think the 2,500 scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are getting wrong?

§ If you didn't try to fire Wasilla librarian Mary Ellen Baker over her refusal to consider censoring books, why did you try to fire her?

§ What is the European Union, and how does it function?

§ Forty-seven million Americans lack health insurance. John Goodman, who has advised McCain on healthcare, has proposed redefining them as covered because, he says, anyone can get care at an ER. Do you agree with him?

§ What is the function of the Federal Reserve?

§ Cindy and John McCain say you have experience in foreign affairs because Alaska is next to Russia. When did you last speak with Prime Minister Putin, and what did you talk about?

§ Approximately how old is the earth? Five thousand years? 10,000? 5 billion?

§ You are a big fan of President Bush, so why didn't you mention him even once in your convention speech?

§ McCain says cutting earmarks and waste will make up for revenues lost by making the tax cuts permanent. Experts say that won't wash. Balancing the Bush tax cuts plus new ones proposed by McCain would most likely mean cutting Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. Which would you cut?

§ You're suing the federal government to have polar bears removed from the endangered species list, even as Alaska's northern coastal ice is melting and falling into the sea. Can you explain the science behind your decision?

§ You've suggested that God approves of the Iraq War and the Alaska pipeline. How do you know?

Very upsetting...

2008-09-10T20:07:00.000-07:00

I'm so angry right now, so angry beyond words. *sigh* Let me offer some advice to anyone out there who is considering going into I.T. based on claims you have heard that I.T. is a creative and rewarding field. AVOID THE BULLSHIT! I.T. is a world of fucking drones, cube farms and fluorescent sadness. If you have an ounce of creativity in your body, working in I.T. will suck it out and leave you a rotten bitter husk of a human being. How do I know this? I'm that rotten and bitter husk.

For the last several weeks I've been looking for a web design job. Why? It's the logical choice for someone that's both technically minded and artistically gifted. Job #1 said I wasn't technical enough, based on the fact that I didn't have a sufficient mastery of CSS, short for Clearly Simple Stuff. If you can program in C# or any object oriented program it should be a given that you can handle CSS. But nope... I'm not ready for the gauntlet yet, not until I've mastered it. Fine... my CSS book is on the way, I'll finish it and get back to you. /growl

Job #2 was a more design centered job, but apparently I'm not "designy" enough for them. I'll never stop laughing at these minimalist web artists who think they've somehow managed to channel the pen of God through the use of basic shapes and reduced color palettes. I guess I should be impressed, but considering I can already do that with no schooling... I'm not. I didn't get a specific reason as to why I'm no longer being considered. They liked me enough to email asking to see more of my work. Unfortunately I didn't have any more. I offered to create as many layouts as they wanted for review but they were no longer interested. /growl

Case in point, most I.T. companies view you as expendable and they don't really care to invest in you. Furthermore, developers who actually get into the more enjoyable jobs like web design and so forth often come across as pretentious aholes, even if they have less overall experience than you. And no, I haven't JUST applied for 2 jobs, these are just the top two that turned me down. My list of jobs that actually interests me is growing slim as the database and other "cog in the machine" style jobs start bubbling up to the top of the stack.

I'm angry, I'm bitter, and I'm really pissed off. Good thing is, with my personality it just solidifies my belief that I'm better than this. I'm going to finish my flash site, then I'm going to create another for my web comic, and a third for the game project I'm starting on. After that I'll just keep making sites and keep drawing until eventually someone with a brain realizes I have talent they should put to use. Fuck this world, and fuck job hunting...

I love John Stewart so much!

2008-09-04T18:41:00.000-07:00

Disappointed...

2008-09-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I could be wrong... but I'm fairly sure they won't be offering me the job. I feel as though I may be continually caught in this chicken & egg scenario where I need more experience to get a web design job, but I can't get experience because nobody will hire me. The job I applied for, when discussed over the phone... is a CSS/HTML job... take the designs from the designers, use CSS to patch them into the site. I know CSS is powerful and all but doesn't it kindof go without saying that if I am comfortable and proficient in several languages, and cited several examples of things I've taught myself / listed how much I LOVE the challenge of learning something new I can handle CSS? I'm not trying to jump the gun here, but the lead programmer I interviewed with didn't leave me with much hope at the end of the call. He said I interviewed well but that ultimately they were looking for someone with more CSS experience... this just before he wished me luck. Now maybe he means with HR when he delivers his report of the interview, maybe he means in future jobs. It wasn't really clarified so I don't know. All I know is that if I get passed over for this job because I lack CSS experience I'm going to laugh about it. From my impressions of the company they're smarter than that. I could get a book on CSS and learn it in a month. Maybe he realizes that and I'm not out of the running... I'm trying to be optimistic here but I was really hoping for something more substantial at the end of the interview...

As a side note I was told that I interview exceptionally well, and that I have little problem demonstrating my people skills or passion for new things. Initially I was pretty upset about the way the interview went, borderline angry because I feel like my lack of experience is really killing my overall potential. After cooling down a bit though, and giving it more thought, the entire experience will only serve to further motivate me forward. EVERYTHING happens for a reason. That's always been my philosophy, and now is a perfect opportunity to walk my talk and keep my chin up.

Job Interviews and Rugby

2008-09-03T17:11:00.000-07:00

So I have a phone interview with a web design company based in Christchurch in T-minus four hours and counting. I haven't been this excited / nervous about a new job since I was 16. I found the posting on SEEK and it sounds RIGHT up my alley.

WEB DESIGN INTEGRATOR
Give your portfolio a boost with a boutique award winning web design and media agency. HairyLemon is one of New Zealand’s fastest growing companies, based in Christchurch, with a variety of clients throughout New Zealand and overseas. You will work with large clients as well as smaller, growing organisations, to merge the exciting designs produced by our specialists with the development code needed to produce highly functional web-sites. You will get exposure to a variety of designs, techniques and programming languages, and be expected to work to a high standard, including functional testing.

Experience and a high proficiency in HTML and CSS is essential; while knowledge of programming languages will be helpful you will be sufficiently briefed in our products and services and given excellent technical support.

Yes the company is actually called HairyLemon. Case in point, with a name like that I'm 99% sure I'll fit in perfectly. According to the job description I'm over qualified as far as programming languages are concerned so that's a major plus. I also like a job that melds design with programming so this is right up my alley. Now I just have to hope they'll see it that way as well. I feel confident I'm right for the job, just nervous for the interview because I'm so excited.

In other news we attended our first live Rugby match last night. New Zealand vs Samoa. Samoa is one of the few countries we've seen that will actually issue a challenge to the Kiwi's before the match. For those of you unfamiliar with Rugby or what I'm talking about by a challenge take a look at this video. The Haka, is a traditional Māori (Māori being the indigenous people of New Zealand) posture dance with shouted accompaniment, performed by a group and can have many meanings. The Haka New Zealand's Rugby team performs is a variation of a war haka, or 'peruperu'. These were originally performed by warriors before a battle, proclaiming their strength and prowess in order to intimidate the opposition.

The Samoans, as I said, are one of the few teams I've seen echo this challenge and I applaud them for it even if they were sorely defeated (101 - 14). I took some video which I will post to youtube soon of the two teams facing off pre match with their tribal dances. There is something unbelievably powerful about something of this nature surviving through the ages and still being used today. Kiwi's should be proud of their heritage and proud to continue performing the Haka!

Questionable Police Raids

2008-08-31T17:47:00.000-07:00

Posting the links to merely save them at this point, personal comments incoming. For now let me just say this: The situation smells foul...

StarTribune Article
TEXT FROM ARTICLE
Police raids enrage activists, alarm others
Officers confiscated items deemed dangerous. One City Council member was critical.

By HERON MARQUEZ ESTRADA, BILL M c AULIFFE and ABBY SIMONS

Last update: August 31, 2008 - 12:43 PM

Aided by informants planted in protest groups, authorities raided at least six buildings across St. Paul and Minneapolis to stop an "anarchist" plan to disrupt this week's Republican National Convention.

From Friday night through Saturday afternoon, officers surrounded houses, broke down doors, handcuffed scores of people and confiscated suspected tools of civil disobedience.

The show of force was led by the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office in collaboration with the FBI, Minneapolis and St. Paul police, the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office and other agencies.

But a St. Paul City Council member described it as excessive, while activists, many of whom were detained and then released without charges, called it intimidation designed to quash free speech.

At least five suspected leaders of the RNC Welcoming Committee, a self-described anarchist group, were taken to the Hennepin County jail, and another was being sought, said Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher.

On Saturday afternoon, he displayed a number of the confiscated items: a gun, throwing knives, a bow and arrows, flammable liquids, paint, slingshots, rocks and buckets of urine.

"We know these things were going to be used as weapons," Fletcher said, a charge protesters and their advocates vigorously disputed.

Fletcher however, stressed that he and other agencies had informants planted inside this and other groups for "a long period of time."

He described the raids as a strike against the RNC Welcoming Committee, which has vowed to block delegate buses at the convention, among other disruptive actions.

The raids began Friday night when Ramsey County sheriff's deputies, guns drawn, used a battering ram to get through a door and into the former Smith Theater on St. Paul's West Side that was being used as a gathering space by a protest group. About 60 people were inside 627 Smith Av. S. watching a movie and eating when the raid began. No one was arrested, but everyone inside was handcuffed and interviewed.

"This is not the way to start things off," St. Paul City Council Member Dave Thune said Saturday morning. "This is sending the wrong message. Regardless of how you feel about these people ... they had a right to be there."

At a news conference Saturday, Cheri Honkala of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, one of the protest groups, described the Friday raid as "terrorism" intended to divert attention from issues the groups are raising.

As Honkala spoke, Ramsey County deputies were raiding three homes in south Minneapolis. The search warrants, signed Friday by a judge, sought multiple items, including electronics and MP3 players, rags, jars, Molotov cocktails, communication between RNC Welcoming Committee members, urine and feces, said Bruce Nestor, an attorney with the National Lawyers Guild, a group that represents the demonstrators.

"This is a charge that police use for preventive detention," Nestor said about the charge filed against the suspects, conspiracy to commit a riot. "It requires that no actual criminal act be committed and borders on criminalizing political advocacy."

The alleged urine, Nestor maintained, was actually three buckets, two of which contained dirty water used to flush toilets while conserving water. The third was seized from an illegal apartment occupied by someone not connected to the RNC protests. There was no bathroom in the illegal apartment and urine was collected in a bucket, Nestor said.

Randi McClure, 23, said she was one of about 10 people handcuffed and made to lie face down at gunpoint by police at 3240 17th Av. S. She was not arrested.

"Everybody I know who's protesting is going to be peaceful," she said. "I think the violence is caused by the cops."

More raids followed Saturday afternoon in St. Paul, including at a duplex at 949-51 Iglehart Av. The owner, Michael Whalen, said he was letting members of a New York-based group called I-Witness Video, known for videotaping police conduct during protests, stay in the house.

Whalen and the I-Witness videographers were handcuffed and seated on a picnic table and chairs in the backyard during the two-hour police search.

Their warrant specified that they were authorized to look for weapons, evidence of involvement with terrorism, and various electronics, but they took nothing.

"Why should that be inviting trouble?" Whalen said when asked why he had rented space to the journalists. "They're here to support freedom of speech. Last I looked, that was still in the Bill of Rights."

Fletcher said the RNC Welcoming Committee is "a criminal enterprise made up of 35 self-described anarchists ... intent on committing criminal acts before and during the Republican National Convention.

"These acts include tactics to blockade and disable delegate buses, breaching venue security and injuring police officers," Fletcher said.

In a statement read Saturday by member Tony Jones, the RNC Welcoming Committee denied criminal intent and described the police actions as "violence" that is a sign of more extreme police measures to come.

"We will not be intimidated," Jones said.

Salon.com Article
TEXT FROM ARTICLE

Glenn Greenwald
Saturday Aug. 30, 2008 12:44 EDT
Massive police raids on suspected protestors in Minneapolis

[updated below (with video) - Update II - Update III - Update IV]

Protesters here in Minneapolis have been targeted by a series of highly intimidating, sweeping police raids across the city, involving teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets. Last night, members of the St. Paul police department and the Ramsey County sheriff's department handcuffed, photographed and detained dozens of people meeting at a public venue to plan a demonstration, charging them with no crime other than "fire code violations," and early this morning, the Sheriff's department sent teams of officers into at least four Minneapolis area homes where suspected protesters were staying.

Jane Hamsher and I were at two of those homes this morning -- one which had just been raided and one which was in the process of being raided. Each of the raided houses is known by neighbors as a "hippie house," where 5-10 college-aged individuals live in a communal setting, and everyone we spoke with said that there had never been any problems of any kind in those houses, that they were filled with "peaceful kids" who are politically active but entirely unthreatening and friendly. Posted below is the video of the scene, including various interviews, which convey a very clear sense of what is actually going on here.

In the house that had just been raided, those inside described how a team of roughly 25 officers had barged into their homes with masks and black swat gear, holding large semi-automatic rifles, and ordered them to lie on the floor, where they were handcuffed and ordered not to move. The officers refused to state why they were there and, until the very end, refused to show whether they had a search warrant. They were forced to remain on the floor for 45 minutes while the officers took away the laptops, computers, individual journals, and political materials kept in the house. One of the individuals renting the house, an 18-year-old woman, was extremely shaken as she and others described how the officers were deliberately making intimidating statements such as "Do you have Terminator ready?" as they lay on the floor in handcuffs. The 10 or so individuals in the house all said that though they found the experience very jarring, they still intended to protest against the GOP Convention, and several said that being subjected to raids of that sort made them more emboldened than ever to do so.

Several of those who were arrested are being represented by Bruce Nestor, the President of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers' Guild. Nestor said that last night's raid involved a meeting of a group calling itself the "RNC Welcoming Committee", and that this morning's raids appeared to target members of "Food Not Bombs," which he described as an anti-war, anti-authoritarian protest group. There was not a single act of violence or illegality that has taken place, Nestor said. Instead, the raids were purely anticipatory in nature, and clearly designed to frighten people contemplating taking part in any unauthorized protests.

Nestor indicated that only 2 or 3 of the 50 individuals who were handcuffed this morning at the 2 houses were actually arrested and charged with a crime, and the crime they were charged with is "conspiracy to commit riot." Nestor, who has practiced law in Minnesota for many years, said that he had never before heard of that statute being used for anything, and that its parameters are so self-evidently vague, designed to allow pre-emeptive arrests of those who are peacefully protesting, that it is almost certainly unconstitutional, though because it had never been invoked (until now), its constitutionality had not been tested.

There is clearly an intent on the part of law enforcement authorities here to engage in extreme and highly intimidating raids against those who are planning to protest the Convention. The DNC in Denver was the site of several quite ugly incidents where law enforcement acted on behalf of Democratic Party officials and the corporate elite that funded the Convention to keep the media and protesters from doing anything remotely off-script. But the massive and plainly excessive preemptive police raids in Minnesota are of a different order altogether. Targeting people with automatic-weapons-carrying SWAT teams and mass raids in their homes, who are suspected of nothing more than planning dissident political protests at a political convention and who have engaged in no illegal activity whatsoever, is about as redolent of the worst tactics of a police state as can be imagined.

UPDATE: Here is the first of the videos, from the house that had just been raided:

Jane Hamsher has more here, and The Minnesota Independent has a report on another one of the raided houses, here.

UPDATE II: Here is the video we took from the second house as the raid was occurring. We were barred from entering but spoke with neighbors outside as well as with Bruce Nestor, the President of the Minnesota Lawyer's Guild, regarding these raids:

Over at FDL, Lindsay Beyerstein spoke with the property owner whose house -- the fourth one we now know of -- was being raided while the raid was in progress, and Lindsay has details here ("About an hour and a half ago 20 to 30 heavily armed police officers surrounded the house. One of my roommates said 'I want to see a warrant' and she was immediately detained"). Meanwhile, Indy Media of Twin Cities -- an association of independent journalists in the area -- just told me that several of their journalists have been detained while trying to cover these raids. Their site, with ongoing updates, is here.

The Uptake also has several reports of the various raids, including video of the raid at the property whose owner Bernstein spoke with as the raid occurred. That video includes an interview with a lawyer from the National Lawyer's Guild who was detained and put in handcufffs, explaining that the surrounded house is one where various journalists are staying. Additionally, a photojournalist with Democracy Now was detained at that house as well. So, both journalists and lawyers -- in addition to protesters -- have been detained and arrested even though not a single violent or criminal act has occurred.

UPDATE III: FDL has the transcript of part of my discussion about these raids with the National Lawyer Guild's Minnesota President -- here.

The Uptake has this amazing video interview with the Democracy Now producer who was detained today. As the DN producer explains, she was present at a meeting of a group called "I-Witness" -- which videotaped police behavior at the 2004 GOP Convention in New York and helped get charges dismissed against hundreds of protesters who were arrested. The police surrounded the St. Paul house where they were meeting even though they had no warrant, told them that anyone who exited the house would be arrested, and then -- even though they finally, after several hours, obtained a warrant only for the house next door -- basically broke into the house, pointed weapons at everyone inside, handcuffed them, searched the house, and then left. Here is a blog post from one of the members of I-Witness asking for help during the time when they were forced to stay inside the house (see the second post -- it reads like a note from a hostage crying out for help). This is truly repugnant, extreme police behavior designed to intimidate protesters, police critics and others, and it ought to infuriate anyone and everyone who cares about basic liberties.

UPDATE IV: More here, including on the Federal Government's role in these raids.

Related Article Here
TEXT FROM ARTICLE

Glenn Greenwald
Sunday Aug. 31, 2008 11:46 EDT
Federal government involved in raids on protesters

(update below)

As the police attacks on protesters in Minnesota continue -- see this video of the police swarming a bus transporting members of Earth Justice, seizing the bus and leaving the group members stranded on the side of the highway -- it appears increasingly clear that it is the Federal Government that is directing this intimidation campaign. Minnesota Public Radio reported yesterday that "the searches were led by the Ramsey County Sheriff's office. Deputies coordinated searches with the Minneapolis and St. Paul police departments and the Federal Bureau of Investigation."

Today's Star Tribune added that the raids were specifically "aided by informants planted in protest groups." Back in May, Marcy Wheeler presciently noted that the Minneapolis Joint Terrorist Task Force -- an inter-agency group of federal, state and local law enforcement led by the FBI -- was actively recruiting Minneapolis residents to serve as plants, to infiltrate "vegan groups" and other left-wing activist groups and report back to the Task Force about what they were doing. There seems to be little doubt that it was this domestic spying by the Federal Government that led to the excessive and truly despicable home assaults by the police yesterday.

So here we have a massive assault led by Federal Government law enforcement agencies on left-wing dissidents and protesters who have committed no acts of violence or illegality whatsoever, preceded by months-long espionage efforts to track what they do. And as extraordinary as that conduct is, more extraordinary is the fact that they have received virtually no attention from the national media and little outcry from anyone. And it's not difficult to see why. As the recent "overhaul" of the 30-year-old FISA law illustrated -- preceded by the endless expansion of surveillance state powers, justified first by the War on Drugs and then the War on Terror -- we've essentially decided that we want our Government to spy on us without limits. There is literally no police power that the state can exercise that will cause much protest from the political and media class and, therefore, from the citizenry.

Beyond that, there is a widespread sense that the targets of these raids deserve what they get, even if nothing they've done is remotely illegal. We love to proclaim how much we cherish our "freedoms" in the abstract, but we despise those who actually exercise them. The Constitution, right in the very First Amendment, protects free speech and free assembly precisely because those liberties are central to a healthy republic -- but we've decided that anyone who would actually express truly dissident views or do anything other than sit meekly and quietly in their homes are dirty trouble-makers up to no good, and it's therefore probably for the best if our Government keeps them in check, spies on them, even gets a little rough with them.

After all, if you don't want the FBI spying on you, or the Police surrounding and then invading your home with rifles and seizing your computers, there's a very simple solution: don't protest the Government. Just sit quietly in your house and mind your own business. That way, the Government will have no reason to monitor what you say and feel the need to intimidate you by invading your home. Anyone who decides to protest -- especially with something as unruly and disrespectful as an unauthorized street march -- gets what they deserve.

Isn't it that mentality which very clearly is the cause of virtually everyone turning away as these police raids escalate against citizens -- including lawyers, journalists and activists -- who have broken no laws and whose only crime is that they intend vocally to protest what the Government is doing? Add to that the fact that many good establishment liberals are embarrassed by leftist protesters of this sort and wish that they would remain invisible, and there arises a widespread consensus that these Government attacks are perfectly tolerable if not desirable.

During the Olympics just weeks ago, there was endless hand-wringing over the efforts by the Chinese Government to squelch dissent and incarcerate protesters. On August 21, The Washington Post fretted:

Six Americans detained by police this week could be held for 10 days, according to Chinese authorities, who appear to be intensifying their efforts to shut down any public demonstrations during the final days of the Olympic Games. . . .

Chinese Olympic officials announced last month that Beijing would set up zones where people could protest during the Games, as long as they had received permission. None of the 77 applications submitted was approved, however, and several other would-be protesters were stopped from even applying.

On August 2, The Post gravely warned:

Behind the gray walls and barbed wire of the prison here, eight Chinese farmers with a grievance against the government have been consigned to Olympic limbo.

Their indefinite detainment, relatives and neighbors said, is the price they are paying for stirring up trouble as China prepares to host the Beijing Games. Trouble, the Communist Party has made clear, will not be permitted.

Would The Washington Post ever use such dark and accusatory tones to describe what the U.S. Government does? Of course it wouldn't. Yet how is our own Government's behavior in Minnesota any different than what the Chinese did to its protesters during the Olympics (other than the fact that we actually have a Constitution that prohibits such behavior)? And where are all the self-righteous Freedom Crusaders in our nation's establishment organs who were so flamboyantly criticizing the actions of a Government on the other side of the globe as our own Government engages in the same tyrannical, protest-squelching conduct with exactly the same motives?

Just review what happened yesterday and today. Homes of college-aid protesters were raided by rifle-wielding police forces. Journalists were forcibly detained at gun point. Lawyers on the scene to represent the detainees were handcuffed. Computers, laptops, journals, diaries, and political pamphlets were seized from people's homes. And all of this occurred against U.S. citizens, without a single act of violence having taken place, and nothing more serious than traffic blockage even alleged by authorities to have been planned.

A man whose sister was one of those arrested at one of the raided houses in Minneapolis yesterday emailed me a photograph of her and her friend who was also arrested -- Monica Bicking (r.) and Eryn Trimme -- and he wrote this:

They are still in custody. I've been told that the police have 36 hours to charge her, and that 36 hours starts after the labor day holiday, so they only have to charge her sometime Wednesday. It seems unlikely that they'd do anything to expedite her or Eryn's release.

They were then planning to actually board up her house for unspecified "code violations", but apparently her neighbors were very vocal, and the police ended up agreeing not to do anything so long as the front door was fixed by 6pm (the front door they'd busted in).

Heres is the extraordinary blog item I linked to yesterday from Eileen Clancy, one of the founders of I-Witness Video -- a NYC-based video collective which is in St. Paul to document the policing of the protests around this week's Republican National Convention, just as they did at the 2004 GOP Convention in New York. Clancy wrote this as a plea for help, as the Police surrounded her house and (before they had a search warrant) told everyone inside that they'd be arrested if they exited the home:

This is Eileen Clancy . . . The house where I-Witness Video is staying in St. Paul has been surrounded by police. We have locked all the doors. We have been told that if we leave we will be detained. One of our people who was caught outside is being detained in handcuffs in front of the house. The police say that they are waiting to get a search warrant. More than a dozen police are wielding firearms, including one St. Paul officer with a long gun, which someone told me is an M-16.

We are suffering a preemptive video arrest. For those that don't know, I-Witness Video was remarkably successful in exposing police misconduct and outright perjury by police during the 2004 RNC. Out of 1800 arrests, at least 400 were overturned based solely on video evidence which contradicted sworn statements which were fabricated by police officers. It seems that the house arrest we are now under and the possible threat of the seizure of our computers and video cameras is a result of the 2004 success.

We are asking the public to contact the office of St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman at 651-266-8510 to stop this house arrest, this gross intimidation by police officers, and the detention of media activists and reporters.

That sounds like what it was: a cry for help from a hostage. Hours later, the Police finally obtained a search warrant -- for the wrong house, one adjacent to the house where they were being detained -- and nonetheless broke in, pointing guns, forced them to lay on the floor and handcuffed everyone inside (and handcuffed a National Lawyers Guild attorney outside). They searched the house, arrested nobody, and then left.

Any rational person planning to protest the GOP Convention would, in light of this Government spying and these police raids, think twice -- at least -- about whether to do so. That is the point of the raids -- to announce to citizens that they best stay in their homes and be good, quiet, meek, compliant people unless they want their homes to be invaded, their property seized, and have rifles pointed at them, too. The fact that this behavior is producing so little outcry only ensures, for obvious reasons, that it will continue in the future. We love our Surveillance State for keeping us safe and maintaining nice, quiet order.

UPDATE: A Professor at the University of Minnesota who lives in the neighborhood where one of the homes was raided yesterday sent photographs he took which rather conclusively demonstrate federal involvement in these raids:

And Feministing has the video -- here -- of the scene yesterday where journalists were detained, along with an interview with the homeowner whose house was raided.

2008 DNC - Hillary Clinton's Speech

2008-08-26T21:56:00.000-07:00

One word, granted it's a blend of two: Fan-fucking-tastic! This speech honestly, made me feel proud to be an American again, and gave me hope that we can actually make things better. While neither of the two major parties fully embody who I am as a person, there is no contest this year as to which of them has my support. I said this once jokingly, but the more I think about it the more I feel I should stand by it: If McCain somehow manages to strong-arm his way into the Whitehouse I won't be coming home from New Zealand. At this point I can't imagine how my fellow American's could let that happen and I'll do everything in my power to avoid letting that happen. The speech, in full, can be found below:

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 08:10 PM

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

I am honored to be here tonight. A proud mother. A proud Democrat. A proud American. And a proud supporter of Barack Obama.

My friends, it is time to take back the country we love.

Whether you voted for me, or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose. We are on the same team, and none of us can sit on the sidelines.

This is a fight for the future. And it’s a fight we must win.

I haven’t spent the past 35 years in the trenches advocating for children, campaigning for universal health care, helping parents balance work and family, and fighting for women’s rights at home and around the world . . . to see another Republican in the White House squander the promise of our country and the hopes of our people.

And you haven’t worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership.

No way. No how. No McCain.

Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our President.

Tonight we need to remember what a Presidential election is really about. When the polls have closed, and the ads are finally off the air, it comes down to you -- the American people, your lives, and your children’s futures.

For me, it’s been a privilege to meet you in your homes, your workplaces, and your communities. Your stories reminded me everyday that America’s greatness is bound up in the lives of the American people -- your hard work, your devotion to duty, your love for your children, and your determination to keep going, often in the face of enormous obstacles.

You taught me so much, you made me laugh, and . . . you even made me cry. You allowed me to become part of your lives. And you became part of mine.

I will always remember the single mom who had adopted two kids with autism, didn’t have health insurance and discovered she had cancer. But she greeted me with her bald head painted with my name on it and asked me to fight for health care.

I will always remember the young man in a Marine Corps t-shirt who waited months for medical care and said to me: “Take care of my buddies; a lot of them are still over there….and then will you please help take care of me?”

I will always remember the boy who told me his mom worked for the minimum wage and that her employer had cut her hours. He said he just didn’t know what his family was going to do.

I will always be grateful to everyone from all fifty states, Puerto Rico and the territories, who joined our campaign on behalf of all those people left out and left behind by the Bush Administrtation.

To my supporters, my champions -- my sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits – from the bottom of my heart: Thank you.

You never gave in. You never gave up. And together we made history.

Along the way, America lost two great Democratic champions who would have been here with us tonight. One of our finest young leaders, Arkansas Democratic Party Chair, Bill Gwatney, who believed with all his heart that America and the South could be and should be Democratic from top to bottom.

And Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a dear friend to many of us, a loving mother and courageous leader who never gave up her quest to make America fairer and smarter, stronger and better. Steadfast in her beliefs, a fighter of uncommon grace, she was an inspiration to me and to us all.

Our heart goes out to Stephanie’s son, Mervyn, Jr, and Bill’s wife, Rebecca, who traveled to Denver to join us at our convention.

Bill and Stephanie knew that after eight years of George Bush, people are hurting at home, and our standing has eroded around the world. We have a lot of work ahead.

Jobs lost, houses gone, falling wages, rising prices. The Supreme Court in a right-wing headlock and our government in partisan gridlock. The biggest deficit in our nation’s history. Money borrowed from the Chinese to buy oil from the Saudis.

Putin and Georgia, Iraq and Iran.

I ran for President to renew the promise of America. To rebuild the middle class and sustain the American Dream, to provide the opportunity to work hard and have that work rewarded, to save for college, a home and retirement, to afford the gas and groceries and still have a little left over each month.

To promote a clean energy economy that will create millions of green collar jobs.

To create a health care system that is universal, high quality, and affordable so that parents no longer have to choose between care for themselves or their children or be stuck in dead end jobs simply to keep their insurance.

To create a world class education system and make college affordable again.

To fight for an America defined by deep and meaningful equality - from civil rights to labor rights, from women's rights to gay rights, from ending discrimination to promoting unionization to providing help for the most important job there is: caring for our families. To help every child live up to his or her God-given potential.

To make America once again a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws.

To bring fiscal sanity back to Washington and make our government an instrument of the public good, not of private plunder.

To restore America's standing in the world, to end the war in Iraq, bring our troops home and honor their service by caring for our veterans.

And to join with our allies to confront our shared challenges, from poverty and genocide to terrorism and global warming.

Most of all, I ran to stand up for all those who have been invisible to their government for eight long years.

Those are the reasons I ran for President. Those are the reasons I support Barack Obama. And those are the reasons you should too.

I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?

We need leaders once again who can tap into that special blend of American confidence and optimism that has enabled generations before us to meet our toughest challenges. Leaders who can help us show ourselves and the world that with our ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit, there are no limits to what is possible in America.

This won’t be easy. Progress never is. But it will be impossible if we don’t fight to put a Democrat in the White House.

We need to elect Barack Obama because we need a President who understands that America can’t compete in a global economy by padding the pockets of energy speculators, while ignoring the workers whose jobs have been shipped overseas. We need a President who understands that we can’t solve the problems of global warming by giving windfall profits to the oil companies while ignoring opportunities to invest in new technologies that will build a green economy.

We need a President who understands that the genius of America has always depended on the strength and vitality of the middle class.

Barack Obama began his career fighting for workers displaced by the global economy. He built his campaign on a fundamental belief that change in this country must start from the ground up, not the top down. He knows government must be about “We the people” not “We the favored few.”

And when Barack Obama is in the White House, he’ll revitalize our economy, defend the working people of America, and meet the global challenges of our time. Democrats know how to do this. As I recall, President Clinton and the Democrats did it before. And President Obama and the Democrats will do it again.

He’ll transform our energy agenda by creating millions of green jobs and building a new, clean energy future. He’ll make sure that middle class families get the tax relief they deserve. And I can’t wait to watch Barack Obama sign a health care plan into law that covers every single American.

Barack Obama will end the war in Iraq responsibly and bring our troops home – a first step to repairing our alliances around the world.

And he will have with him a terrific partner in Michelle Obama. Anyone who saw Michelle’s speech last night knows she will be a great First Lady for America.

Americans are also fortunate that Joe Biden will be at Barack Obama’s side. He is a strong leader and a good man. He understands both the economic stresses here at home and the strategic challenges abroad. He is pragmatic, tough, and wise. And, of course, Joe will be supported by his wonderful wife, Jill.

They will be a great team for our country.

Now, John McCain is my colleague and my friend.

He has served our country with honor and courage.

But we don’t need four more years . . . of the last eight years.

More economic stagnation …and less affordable health care.

More high gas prices …and less alternative energy.

More jobs getting shipped overseas …and fewer jobs created here.

More skyrocketing debt ...home foreclosures …and mounting bills that are crushing our middle class families.

More war . . . less diplomacy.

More of a government where the privileged come first …and everyone else comes last.

John McCain says the economy is fundamentally sound. John McCain doesn’t think that 47 million people without health insurance is a crisis. John McCain wants to privatize Social Security. And in 2008, he still thinks it’s okay when women don’t earn equal pay for equal work.

With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they’re awfully hard to tell apart.

America is still around after 232 years because we have risen to the challenge of every new time, changing to be faithful to our values of equal opportunity for all and the common good.

And I know what that can mean for every man, woman, and child in America. I’m a United States Senator because in 1848 a group of courageous women and a few brave men gathered in Seneca Falls, New York, many traveling for days and nights, to participate in the first convention on women’s rights in our history.

And so dawned a struggle for the right to vote that would last 72 years, handed down by mother to daughter to granddaughter – and a few sons and grandsons along the way.

These women and men looked into their daughters’ eyes, imagined a fairer and freer world, and found the strength to fight. To rally and picket. To endure ridicule and harassment. To brave violence and jail.

And after so many decades – 88 years ago on this very day – the 19th amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote would be forever enshrined in our Constitution.

My mother was born before women could vote. But in this election my daughter got to vote for her mother for President.

This is the story of America. Of women and men who defy the odds and never give up.

How do we give this country back to them?

By following the example of a brave New Yorker , a woman who risked her life to shepherd slaves along the Underground Railroad.

And on that path to freedom, Harriett Tubman had one piece of advice.

If you hear the dogs, keep going.

If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.

If they're shouting after you, keep going.

Don't ever stop. Keep going.

If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

Even in the darkest of moments, ordinary Americans have found the faith to keep going.

I’ve seen it in you. I’ve seen it in our teachers and firefighters, nurses and police officers, small business owners and union workers, the men and women of our military – you always keep going.

We are Americans. We're not big on quitting.

But remember, before we can keep going, we have to get going by electing Barack Obama president.

We don't have a moment to lose or a vote to spare.

Nothing less than the fate of our nation and the future of our children hang in the balance.

I want you to think about your children and grandchildren come election day. And think about the choices your parents and grandparents made that had such a big impact on your life and on the life of our nation.

We've got to ensure that the choice we make in this election honors the sacrifices of all who came before us, and will fill the lives of our children with possibility and hope.

That is our duty, to build that bright future, and to teach our children that in America there is no chasm too deep, no barrier too great – and no ceiling too high – for all who work hard, never back down, always keep going, have faith in God, in our country, and in each other.

Thank you so much. God bless America and Godspeed to you all.

My blessing is my curse

2008-08-25T16:21:00.000-07:00

So I'm kindof a big deal... like, on the scale of 1 - "AWESOME" I fall somewhere in the vicinity of "SUPER GREAT". Why am I super great? Because I'm a jack of all trades, I do a bit of everything, and I do it fairly well. This is my greatest gift, my blessing if you will. I'm a quick study, and an attentive student with an eye for detail. This is also my curse... because while I can do just about everything at a decent level, my desire to do a little of everything keeps me from being AWESOME at any one thing. I've no real room to complain though. I mean, I'm this way for a reason. It suites my personality to dabble in everything and never be bored. I also dislike having other people do things for me and would much rather do everything myself... but it does get frustrating at times when I can't figure out why one section of my code is bugging out, or what exactly it is about that last image I drew that didn't look right.

This is where I'm at now, one of those moments where I feel as though I'm neglecting certain skills because I've decided to learn yet another. Skill being neglected - drawing, new skill in the queue - flash. Do I regret this decision? No. Do I need to draw some pictures soon? Yes. In fact just last week I had a request for a tattoo design for a friend that is still sitting here unfinished. If only there were more hours in every day! Actually wait... then I'd die "younger" and feel even less accomplished. Negative ghost rider, I'll make the most of what I've got.

Mental Check List (Tasks to finish)

Color these images - Eventides Lynamy Anvina

Finish Robot Tattoo

Finalize JayAndVanessa.com Design

Print an entire ream of resumes and scatter them from a plane over the south island

Flash Resources

2008-08-25T14:39:00.000-07:00

Flash, oh how I love it! It's challenging at times, make no mistake, but the rewards are so awesome when you get everything wired together properly! "IT'S ALIVE!!! IT'S ALIVE!!!!" Well it's almost alive, JayandVanessa.com that is. I scrapped some of the design ideas that didn't mesh with the overall look of the site, and to be honest I already know I'll be revamping the look/feel again before too long. At this point I merely want to get my first flash site up and running. I can always slap a few coats of paint here and there / knock out that unnecessary wall later.

While driving along interstate CS3, destination FlashMaster, I've certainly hit my share of snags but I've also managed to find some really awesome resources.

Actionscript.org
(Awesome forums, helpful people, a wealth of information if you don't mind searching a bit)

GoToAndLearn
(Free high quality, downloadable video tutorials)

Recommended Reading

Essential Actionscript 3.0

Foundation Flash CS3 For Designers

Foundation Actionscript 3.0 Animation

Foundation ActionScript 3.0 with Flash CS3 and Flex

This reminds me, I should link to my GoodReads list on here... hmmmm....

Vegetarian Cooking

2008-08-21T19:04:00.000-07:00

Since one of my favorite lady friends mentioned vegetarian (or more specifically vegan) cooking earlier as a normal step towards becoming a full fledged hippy, I thought it would be beneficial to share a couple of my favorite recipes. If there is sufficient interest I could be persuaded to share more.

A few weeks ago we made lentil curry with silverbeet salad:

I promise it tastes better than it looks. I'm not much for presentation when it's just for Ness and I and I overcooked the lentils a bit so they are a tad too mushy. Still the taste is wonderful! Here are the recipes:

Lentil Curry

8oz red lentils
2 tbsp chopped onions
1.5 teasp salt (or to taste)
1 inch cinnamon stick
1/2 teasp turmeric
2.5 - 3.5 cups of water (start with 2.5 and add another cup after 8-9 minutes of cooking)
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp oil (whatever kind you like, we used vegetable oil)
1 teasp mustard seeds
3 dry chillies (you can sub chili flakes if you want and season to taste)
1 sprig curry leaves (optional... its nice if you have them, but still great without)
1/2 cup coconut milk

Wash the lentils until the water turns clear. Drain. Place lentils, half the curry leaves, half the onions, the cinnamon, turmeric, garlic, salt and the initial 2.5 cups of water into a saucepan. Slow cook until the lentils are soft. You want the mixture to lightly bubble.

In a separate pan heat the oil and add the remaining curry leaves, onions, chillies (roughly cut up), and mustard seed. Keep frying until the mustard crackles and the onion is light brown. Be careful not to burn the mustard or it will become bitter. Add this with the coconut milk to the first mixture and continue to simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Silverbeet Salad

1 bunch silver beet
1 medium onion
1 teasp turmeric powder
3 garlic cloves
1-2 oz of desiccated coconut
2 green chillies (or again you can substitute flakes, or black pepper corns if thats more your taste)
Salt to taste
1/4 cup of water

Wash the silver beet leaves and shred them by hand into small bits (around an inch square) Put the shredded leaves into a saucepan with all the ingredients except the coconut. Stir well over medium heat for 5-7 minutes. (Basically you just want the greens to wilt and become soft). Add the coconut and continue stirring reducing the heat to low until the coconut absorbs all the remaining liquid.

...

That's it! It's really easy honestly and tastes wonderful. As you can see from the picture above we served ours with rice. We chose basmati but you could use regular white rice or whatever you prefer. Enjoy!

ActionScript 3.0, moving, and me!

2008-08-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

G'day friends! Well what can I say? The last few weeks have been PRETTY intense! As many of you probably know Vanessa and I are currently preparing for our fourth major move within New Zealand. Major moves being those that involve long term relocation from one city to another. The official list includes Auckland, Wellington, and New Plymouth; and in just over five weeks it will include Christchurch as well. Luckily, we don't have a lot of possessions to tote along. Unfortunately, we still have a ton of prep work to do before we can get there. Apartment shopping, saving for our renters bond, purchasing a used car, job preparation / hunting (for me), and transferring bills just to name a few. I wouldn't say I'm all that stressed about it, at least not externally... but there is a lot to be done.

At this point most of my energy is being poured into learning ActionScript 3.0 and Flash CS3 in hopes that doing so will increase my appeal to potential employers, namely web design companies. So far I'm thrilled with the technology and I've enjoyed working through the various Friends of Ed books that I purchased on the subject. I even found a fantastic online community, actionscript.org, where I can pose questions and find assistance. I've only been a member for a couple days now but the activity level on their forums is off the charts and I'm really pumped to see what I can learn there. All in all I'm LOVING it, there is just a lot to learn, and not a lot of time. This of course brings me to the purpose of this blog entry. You may notice that this blog has been labeled with the tag "travelingtroll". From this point forward any posts on my blog that I want to export via rss and display on vanessa and I's website (which is being redesigned as a flash travel site) will be marked as such. Over the last two days I managed to figure out the basics for importing RSS/XML documents into a flash site. That probably sounds like a lot of time for something so simple but I'm still an XML novice at best and a complete ActionScript newb so it took a while. Furthermore, the RSS feeds from YouTube (for our travel movies) and picasa (for our travel pictures) are both massive and unique. I spent a fair amount of time dissecting these so my code would know what to look for.

Anyhow, from here on out you will probably see a lot more travel oriented posts. Don't worry though, I'm sure I'll still find time to rant about politics and the stupidity of the human race. I'm an optimist I swear!

The sad state of American consumerism

2008-07-23T17:14:00.000-07:00

Copied from: http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating/2008/07/sos-save-our-starbucks-600-stores-closing.html (In case the initial link dies)

SOS: Save Our Starbucks Movement Forming
Posted by Erin Zimmer, July 23, 2008 at 11:30 AM

You might not expect grassroots organizers to get behind the bastion of corporate coffeehouses, but "Save our Starbucks" is an emerging effort mobilized by nostalgic consumers, not ready to lose their neighborhood store. As much as people loved carping about the massive, un-indie global chain, now they're devastated to see certain Starbucks go. Even if another one sits a mile away, it's not the same; it's not your Starbucks.

Online petitions have formed on the "Save our Starbucks" website, where people are urging each other to "stop the insanity." A loss of Starbucks symbolizes a loss of community. As the Dallas Morning News points out, it's more than a logo, it's a hang-out for young and old, and very much a middle-class status symbol. If your neighborhood can afford a four-buck coffee, you get a Starbucks, and that's validating for many Americans. Affected areas thus represent a "downwardly mobile" part of town.

As reader Adrian Riojas commented on the Dallas Morning News Opinion blog, "it's more than just a food chain or brand. It's part of who we are." When he and his wife met in college, they frequented the Green Oaks and Cooper location, where they "laughed and studied" almost nightly. "Our relationship grew into what it is today thanks to the great conversations we had over our coffee there."

Is your store vulnerable? Are you holding back tears?

Dear lord... where can I even begin with this one? Keeping in mind the last few posts I've made about the economy in general and the ever rising cost of fuel and other necessary commodities I could only roll my eyes when I read this article. Actually that's a partial lie; I rolled my eyes and groaned in mental anguish... What the hell is wrong with these people? Times are tough, banks are starting to fail, people are losing their homes (granted partially due to their own stupidity), all the signs ahead point to still tougher challenges and THIS is one of the things American's have decided to come together about? I'll ask again since I've yet to find the answer: WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?

I'd like to quote one of the responses to this article since it summarizes the way I feel about this idiocy:

If the loss of a Starbucks symbolizes the loss of a community then this society is in a sad and sorry state. I try to frequent the small mom & pop places first.

I mean I know a lot of American's think going to starbucks makes you cool and all, and I'll be honest, I've been through the Starbucks drive-thru a few times for a morning cup, or a holiday cider... but damn people... when did large corporations start defining the local community? Do people really sit down and have a chat with the people that brew their coffee at Starbucks? I've never been able to get a word in with their frantic caffeinated assembly line running full steam. Do people just go hang out at Starbucks and chat about the meaning of life, politics, and the future of humanity? I've never really felt like any of the locations I've visited have been very cozy or welcoming for that sort of thing. So what is it?

I mean, I'm not going to turn this into an anti starbucks post. Sure I think the amount of locations they have around the world is re-goddamned-diculous, and when compared to a cup of finely roasted coffee from a local cafe (if you find the right cafe) Starbucks coffee is sub par but all in all they do make some efforts to be respectable. (caving to no longer carry hormone infused milk products, offering their employee's insurance and other benefits) Put another way, while I may dislike them, they're nowhere close to Wal-Mart when it comes to sucking the soul out of their employees and the surrounding community. I just don't understand what the allure is. Now that I'm living overseas it's even harder for me to understand. Here in New Zealand the watered down, tasteless, ridiculously huge coffees that Starbucks serves are laughed at... as illustrated in this image:

Creating 100% digital art

2008-07-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I started on my first 100% digital image. That's right, no pencils or sketch books here, just an artistic love triangle between Photoshop, a Wacom tablet, and myself. This is going to be an image called "By Any Means Necessary" and it's based on a D&D campaign I played in WAY back in highschool. The guy on the far left is Ferekar Greyrobe, my grey elf mage. The guy on the right is Galahad Breechworth, my friend Derek's paladin. There is a TON of story here so I'll summarize. Basically Ferekar was true nuetral and Galahad chaotic good. For those unfamiliar with D&D that means Ferekar is a moderate. He tries to analyze every situation logically and choose the best course of action. Galahad is like a pentecostal preacher on steroids. He believes there is only one way to live a good and just life, which is the way of his diety, and those that delve into darkness, or for that matter the grey area inbetween the dark and the light... he is quick to deliver swift punishment.

Well our group ended up in Ravenloft, a land of gothic horror full of zombies, vampires, werewolves, etc... where every magical spell you cast has the potential to warp your body and poor Ferekar fell victim to this several times. (Hence the wings and horns) Being the logical thinker he was he decided if he was waist deep in darkness, why not wield a bit of it for his own safety and so... he began to dabble in necromancy in secret. When Galahad found out it didnt matter that he and Ferekar had been long time friends and companions. The two had always disagreed about everything, and the paladin was quick to take action. Pictured here is my rough first attempt at capturing their epic battle. The undead haven't been added yet though. :D

More about the economy, in comical fashion...

2008-07-23T00:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the laugh, otherwise I would just be angry

Bank failures and frustration...

2008-07-16T17:27:00.000-07:00

You know, it's amazing when I look back and think of how much my political views have changed in the last eight years. When Jr. was initially elected I was an ignorant college kid that thought "Republican conservatives are right with Jesus and a'ok with me..." I was such a simpleton. Nowadays I'm still a bit naive and overly trusting, but I'm making an effort to never blindly accept what I hear at face value. That said, when I saw the videos below I almost thought they were fake. Why? This is some scary shit folks... and we've got some tough times ahead.

Bank runs follow the failure of Indy-Mac bank

Yay greed! I love the idea of capitalism on paper, but in practice I feel it consistently falls short of my expectations for reasons like this. I swear I feel like a borderline socialist anymore, maybe I am and just don't know it yet. I just believe in power of working together and helping lift the weakest an least fortunate up. How is it that saying goes? You can judge the greatness of a nation by it's poorest citizens... or something like that. But I digress, that's a conversation for a different time. Seeing this movie I want to slap these people. Running to the bank to gobble up every penny you can get isn't going to help. In fact thats how the great depression snowballed out of control. YOU HAVE TO THINK AND ACT AS ONE if you want to survive hardships!!! But unfortunately that isn't a mentality we embrace in America.

Sure I understand it's their money and they should get what is rightfully theirs. But the thing is, ignorance abounds here. If you have less than 100,000 grand in the banks you're fine the fed is going to insure you so pulling out in a panic is stupid and dangerous. If you have more than 100,00 in there then I don't feel sorry for you either. What person in their right mind puts more money in a bank than the fed can insure when said bank has been publicly making loans to people with no real stipulations whatsoever. Once again Americans choose blind faith over thinking for themselves with bad consequences.

Why wasn't the fed watching this...? (Watch the part with bush at the tail end...)

This video infuriates me... I especially love the part where the anchor and financial advisor are talking and he asks "Why wasn't the government watching this?" and she says "Oh they were like... we see it, we don't see it" with her hands over her eyes. PEOPLE! This is the very root of what is wrong with our country. We don't watch our government or keep them in check so why should we act surprised when they fail to do the same? Our voter turnouts are still abysmal and we're more concerned with who lost on American Idol last night, the most recent football scores, or what other piece of useless consumer garbage we need to buy next than what our government is really up to. Open your eyes people and take our country back...