Don't Back Down

While my earlier example illustrated the concept of automating pagination with Smarty in your Movable Type archives, I had a couple of problems with it.

Read "True Smarty Pagination" »

Today, Get Fuzzy and Pearls Before Swine essentially shared the same strip. Anyone know what's up?

Thanks to Peter Chu and Xavier Robin, the Bloglines Toolkit is now available in Chinese (Taiwan, R.O.C, zh-TW) and French (fr-FR), respectively. Automatic updates should process this change automatically, or you can use the link to download the update.

Our country was formed on a series of checks and balances. For good reason, it was decided that each branch of the government would operate independently of the others. In this way, it was assumed, no single branch - or single person - could wield too much power. While this is certainly up for debate, I for one am glad that it works as well as it does.

House Republican leader Tom DeLay warned that lawmakers "will look at an arrogant and out-of-control judiciary that thumbs its nose at Congress and the president", and that sounds to me like he's just tiffed that the judicial branch of government did what they were supposed to do - uphold the law. And that they have done, regardless of what wackos like Mr. DeLay think about it.

For the first time in probably a month, the process of saving an entry completed all the way through - I even sent out a ping to announce the entry. Unbelievable. All of this is thanks to the dynamic category and monthly archives. I think I'll hold off on converting anything else for the moment - I'm just so excited!

I could claim that the last entry on the subject was simply an April Fool's joke, but in reality there are two reasons why that is not the case. One is that there are so many such jokes on the internet that the world doesn't need one from me. Two is that it just wouldn't be true.

Read "Another Toolkit Release" »

In case any of you were worried about the increased visibility of video blogging, and more specifically the likelihood that you'd have to watch me do it, rest easy. Not going to happen. I won't say that I won't ever have any video blogging. But if I do, I'll make sure to get a nice looking model to provide you with a more pleasant experience. Or maybe I'll use one of our dogs. Either should be a huge improvement over having to look at my face.

Patrick easily beat me up in the first annual DBD basketball tournament challenge. I did a better job picking early on (at least in regard to points), but Patrick came back strong, nailing not only the participants in the finals, but eventual winner North Carolina. He tries to console me by saying he didn't do well in this other pools. Like that helps.

"Let's be clear: Children under the age of 21 cannot procure alcohol; children under the age of 18 cannot vote; children under the age of 15 cannot drive; but a child aged 14 can enter into a legally binding union with another child in North Carolina -- if the girl is pregnant. And it's the committed gay couples we need to worry about?"

Well said, Ms. Flaxman. This is the sort of thing that I just don't get. Whether you are for or against same-sex marriage, surely it's clear that getting the government involved is not a good thing. There's a point where we just need to buckle up and be responsible for our own actions, rather than hoping the government will legislate it. Doing that is just asking for trouble.

I can't count how many times I have seen someone move like lightning because the next checkout lane over suddenly opened, and that person wanted to be the first person there - no matter if they were the last person to arrive in the current line. Does anyone remember elementary school, where someone taking such an action would immediatley be accused of cutting, and sent to the back of all lines.

I can't even imagine how many times I've seen people drive on the shoulder to make sure they travel as far as possible before merging into traffic, just to get that extra half-a-second jump on those other morons waiting their turn. No thought at all goes out to those people in line who are waiting patiently, who now just moved even further back in line, or to the traffic pattern as a whole that you just completely distorted.

Those sort of actions just make no sense. How about instead of looking out for number one, we look out for everyone else? It might just make things a little bit better, and can't we all use a little of that in our lives? The world is competitive enough - how about taking a look around you and realizing that you aren't the only person in it?

In speaking of idols, it occurs to me that, while catchy, a name such as American Idol for a television show might be a little over-the-top. Well, it is Fox, so it probably is over-the-top.

But is this what we have come to? Creating idols on television? A lot easier than carving them from stone, to be sure. And while I understand that the winner of the show will not necessarily be an idol in the strictest sense of the word, it seems to me that we very much approach idolatry in our world on a very regular basis. Maybe that isn't such a good thing.

Another thing that made me wonder about it is the recent death of the pope. Don't get me wrong - I have nothing against the pope, or people honoring him for his life, or even against Catholicism in general. I just wonder about the millions who rush to see his body. How many of those millions do you suppose think of his life, his death and their loss? Probably most.

Now how many of that same group do you think consider not these things, but His death? I'd be willing to bet that the number is smaller, and that's a shame.

On our way home from baseball practice last night, we noticed a strange beast trying to cross the road. I turned around and parked the van in front of it to try and get him back over to the side so that he didn't get crushed.

Read "A Turtle a Day" »