I am working a 4 ten hour days, so I get 3 days at home.
Still trying to get my head around all this and figuring out how to balance blogging with all this.
Needless to say, this blog is not at the top of my work/family priorities, but I’ll try to stay on top of this.
My laptop is set up, and the Wifi is working, so we should start to see unsupported facts and bad writing here.
My new laptop, a birthday gift from DoD (Dear old Dad) has arrived, which means that I will be WiFi enabled down in Northern Virginia, which means that I can get my daily dose of Maddow online, and blog more.
So you will see more writing, but, as is my tradition, shamelessly swiped from the brothers Magliozzi, it will remain “unencumbered by the thought process.”
Still, being able to video phone back home on the weekdays via Skype is nice.
Between my daughter’s bat mitzvah yesterday, and her reception today, I am completely wiped. Everything went pretty much to schedule, but the last minute running around was completely nuts.
I’m starting a new Job on Tuesday,* so I am hip deep in continued preparations, and adjustments for some days, as I will be away from home 4 days a week.
Hopefully, I’ll try to get back into the proverbial groove over the next week or so.
*And there was much rejoicing
I’ve got some stuff queued up, but I am heading off to a family get together on the Delaware shore, and then my Daughter is having her Bat Mitzvah this Saturday, so I will generally be away from the computer.
I have some stuff queued up, but volume should be light.
I have post dated this post until Sunday, after her reception, so scroll down for new posts.
I mentioned the interview earlier.
I start next Tuesday, and you can be sure that I will post very little about my employer, even if I come across a story about them in the news.
I think that blogging about one’s employer is a good way to make an employer* a former employer.
Since they are near Dulles airport, about 80 miles away, I will be getting a room in area (already lined up), and it includes Internet (Wifi).
Unfortunately, I do not have a laptop at this time, so I am looking to get a wireless enabled one, which is why I’ve changed my donation button to read Matthew’s Saroff’s Beer (and Laptop) Fund and Tip Jar.
I will be using the laptop for blogging, and to Skype video calls to Sharon† and the kids.
It’s the 2nd item down in the right hand column.
Needless to say, my blogging time will be more restricted, though the fact that I will be without a TV may make the effect on my blogging a wash.
Still, having a job as an engineer after 11 months of not having one (the 1 month gig was as a tech writer) is a very good thing, and I am close enough to head home for just an evening occasionally.
*It’s a temporary contract, so technically, they are a client, but still…
†Love of my life, light of the cosmos, she who must be obeyed, my wife.
My Girl’s Bat Mitzvah, a family get together, and some other good news (don’t want to jinx it), is keeping me busy.
It means that I’ll probably be blogging less than usual.
Over at the inner walls.
He’s a physicist and software guy who is sometimes mistaken for Sasquatch.
If you know nothing of Maryland Politics, you don’t know who Joe Steffen is.
He’s a Republican political operative, formerly Bob Ehrlich’s aide, who is currently on the outs with the party, who is also known by his nickname, the “Prince of Darkness.”
I think of him as Lee Atwater writ on a state wide basis.
That being said, he tends to be rather more chatty about the comings and goings of Republican party politics in the state (In fact, it was imprudent postings on a BBS that were traced back to him which got him fired by “Bad Hair Bob” some years back), and so, despite my profound disagreements with him on issues of policy, I read his blog and I hear a lot of good inside baseball.
Case in point, he outs Republican party stalwart David Nawrocki for sending campaign emails from his work account.
It seems like a minor thing, until you realize that Nawrocki works for the Social Security Administration, which makes his email a criminal violation of the Hatch act.
Oopsie.
This is why I blogroll people and subscribe to their RSS feeds. It’s not because I agree with them, but because they can teach me things.
Brains!!!!!
Brains!
Brains…………
You know………
Hot Marshmallow, Hershey® Bar, and Graham Crackers would do nicely too…
Giant animated food, sounds like another horror movie…
But the kids are happy.
Natalie had a music competition in Hershey, PA which included entrance to the Hershey Park, so the rest of us got some (discounted) tickets to the amusement park, and we made a day of it.
It was a lot of fun, even if the Boardwalk, where most of the water rides are, was not yet open.
We had a lot of fun.
I made an interesting observation: The appearance of a child eating fresh, hot, S’mores is almost indistinguishable from that of a Zombie eating human brains.
Look at the bottom of the post.
I have added a “share this” icon at the bottom.
It loads quickly, and allows you to quote, or share with people more easily.
Once again, I see an ad on my site that espousing a position that I not only explicitly oppose, but actually ridicule.
In this case, it’s from Stop the CFPA dot com, and it’s run by the explicitly pro big business at the expensive of small business and implicitly Republican US Chamber of Commerce.
They are attempting to convince people that the CFPA is a an assault on small businesses, which is a flat out lie.
The CFPA puts burdens on lenders not debtors, and small businesses are overwhelmingly the victims of complex financial packages marketed by the big banks.
It would be nice if the Dems realized just how much the Chamber of Commerce is a Republican front group, and dealt with them accordingly.
Please note: once again, that I do not vet, nor do I endorse any ad that appears on my site, and I reserve the right to mock both the ads that appear on my site, as well as the advertisers.
Also, please note, this should be in no way construed as an inducement or a request for my reader(s) to click on any ad that they would not otherwise be inclined to investigate further. This would be a violation of the terms of service for Google™ Adsense™.
I while back, I applied to, and did not make the cut for, the Washington Post‘s America’s Next Great Pundit contest.
Maybe it was the best outcome, though I could use the money, because it appears that the paper is now going to blogs and asking for links to their blogs post, as well as the authority to give said bloggers their assignments, for the princely sum of $0.00 (€0.00):
Five weeks ago, I received an unsolicited offer from the Washington Post. They asked if they could post my picture and biography on their website and link to every new blog post appearing here if I agreed to produce regular original content for them at their request. I turned them down. Why?
Because they wanted me to work for them for nothing.
The Post is organizing a “local blogging network” linking to selected blogs from their website and asking bloggers to submit original content, which would be edited by them. The Post’s rights to that content would be enforceable under a written agreement. That agreement was written as follows:
…………
The Post is also demanding the, “non-exclusive right to republish the Work (in whole or in part) on the Site in real time simultaneous with Your own publication of the Work, as well as the right to adapt, edit, display, store, and promote the Work in connection with such republication on the Site.”
This deal sucks worse than a coupon for a week of sessions at John Boehner’s favorite tanning salon, though it might not suck worse than a coupon for two weeks at John Boehner’s favorite tanning salon.
A few weeks ago, a reader told me that my site was crashing their browser.
I checked it out, and found no problems, and so I concluded that it was something that Google™ Adsense™ was serving.
Well, it appears that, on occasion, Google™ Adsense™ serving a bit more than just ads, as Avast has discovered that the large ad networks have occasionally served up malware:
Malware that exploits holes in popular applications is being delivered by big ad delivery platforms including those run by Yahoo, Fox, and Google, according to Prague-based antivirus firm Avast.
Viruses and other malware were found to be lurking in ads last year on high-profile sites like The New York Times and conservative news aggregator Drudge Report.com, and this year on Drudge, TechCrunch and WhitePages.com. The practice has been dubbed “malvertising.”
Now, researchers at Avast are pointing fingers at some large ad delivery platforms including Yahoo’s Yield Manager and Fox Audience Network’s Fimserve.com, which together cover more than 50 percent of online ads, and to a much smaller degree Google’s DoubleClick. In addition, some of the malicious ads ended up on Yahoo and Google sites, Avast claims.
Google™ Adsense™ is not mentioned, just DoubleClick, though there are ties between the two, since Google™ owns Double Click, and the worst offenders honors go to Yahoo and Fox.
In any case, please keep your spyware and virus filters up to date.
Please note: once again, that I do not vet, nor do I endorse any ad that appears on my site, and I reserve the right to mock both the ads that appear on my site, as well as the advertisers.
Also, please note, this should be in no way construed as an inducement or a request for my reader(s) to click on any ad that they would not otherwise be inclined to investigate further. This would be a violation of the terms of service for Google™ Adsense™.
I have been following the comings and goings in Zimbabwe since Tsvangirai’s election, subsequently stolen, as President in 2008.
At first, I did so because I thought that we could see a real game change and a peaceful transition from one of the nastier pieces of work on the African continent, Robert Mugabe.
This has not happened, largely because Mugabe does not care, but additionally because the surrounding community, in particular South Africa and its former President Thabo Mbeki, have been most accommodating to Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party.
I don’t see this changing, and I have been posting about once a month because I feel guilty about not caring any more, which is a silly reason to post.
I have little knowledge of the area, nor of the complex social and political dynamics of the region, and honestly, little interest, just some guilt, so I’m throwing the towel in.
I would suggest the BBC and the Guardian for updates if you want them.
I’ve reorganized the Google™ Ads™, in the hopes of getting a few more pennies, because my my application for extended unemployment benefits, has been put on hold by the petulance of Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK).
I figure that the narrow strip of ads under the title is preferable to my screaming, “Will no on rid me of this turbulent ‘Phant.”
Tonite starts the first two days of Passover, and my orthodox Mother-in-Law is here, so I’m off* for the next 48 hours.
According to my calculations, candles are lit in 18 minutes.
I do have a few posts of non-topical things that will appear randomly.
*I’m always a little bit off, I mean that I’m not blogging, or going on the computer at all.
Not sure I’m going to have much of a chance to post.
Posted via mobile.
Well, for the third time in about 33 months, I have broken $100 barrier in my Google™ Adsense™ account, which means that at some time in April, I will get a bank transfer for something in excess of $100.
As I have noted, it does not amount to much compared to how much Mickey Kaus is overpaid, but I try to consider it to be found money, and as such, I will spend it on something frivolous.
I’ll probably blow it on a nice dinner out with Sharon.*
Please note: once again, that I do not vet, nor do I endorse any ad that appears on my site, and I reserve the right to mock both the ads that appear on my site, as well as the advertisers.
Also, please note, this should be in no way construed as an inducement or a request for my reader(s) to click on any ad that they would not otherwise be inclined to investigate further. This would be a violation of the terms of service for Google™ Adsense™.
*Love of my life, light of the cosmos, she who must be obeyed, my wife.
I have made two minor tweaks to the blogg, I moved up my tip jar so that it is just below the RSS feeds, and I added a Digg button to my posts.
Any feedback, particularly on Digg, which does appear to take a half step off the front page loading time, is appreciated.
This is an open thread.