Archive for April 2007
34 Gigabytes
That’s about how much data that I may have lost today. Sometime between when I stepped out to head to the Revenue Office to renew my car tags and when I tried to restart my computer, the external hard drive that I keep most of my data on decided to stop responding. I’m hoping for the best and that it’s just a faulty enclosure but I’m worried that it’s the hard drive itself that’s gone bad.
This hard drive holds my 20GB music collection, an encrypted file containing passwords to over 20 web sites that I probably don’t remember, and countless other irreplaceable files including agendas, minutes, and newsletter templates for an organization of which I am a member.
If the problem isn’t limited to a $40 hard drive enclosure, then I’m screwed—and not in that good way.
Update: The problem was, thankfully, confined to the hard drive enclosure. I replaced it and the drive is working fine.
links for 2007-04-30
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What leading conservative proponents of the war in Iraq said before and just as it was starting.
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“Reliance on abstinence-only sex education as the primary tool to reduce teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases — as favored by the Bush administration and conservatives in Congress — looks increasingly foolish and indefensible.”
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“More than 142 years after a band of state militia volunteers massacred 150 sleeping Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians in a misdirected act of vengeance, a memorial to the tragic event was officially dedicated Saturday.”
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Rise of the eMac
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“If I were making a pile of money by doing something illegal and I got caught, do you think I’d be able to get off just by agreeing not to do it again? I guess if what I was doing was making illegal prescription drugs, I could.”
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“I don’t want to have this surgery, but I don’t have any choice.”
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Excerpts from former CIA director George Tenet’s new book.
links for 2007-04-29
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“Brad Archer, curator of the geology museum at Arizona State University, hurried out to the site near Lindsay and McKellips roads Friday when he got the news that John Babiarz, owner of Greenfield Citrus Nursery, was carefully excavating bones found at th
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“It’s one thing when they have bat boys and aliens in the tabloids, but this false headline is going to get people killed.”
Sunburn and $82,000
Today was our local March of Dimes WalkAmerica event. I helped out with registration table and wound up getting a sunburn on just one side of my body. I hate it when that happens. Anyway, the walk today brought in about $6,200 in cash at the registration table and somewhere around $82,000 altogether which is just a bit shy of last year’s total but still a respectable sum.
The bulk of the money came from teams and businesses’ matching grants, but there were a few outstanding individuals who raised money by themselves. I know one woman raised at least $275 on her own. I think she’s the mother of a premature child so she had some extra incentive but that doesn’t make it any less admirable.
It was a great day (75° and sunny) and a great cause. I’m proud to have been a part.
links for 2007-04-28
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“An active-duty Army officer is publishing a blistering attack on U.S. generals, saying they have botched the war in Iraq and misled Congress about the situation there.”
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Arguments for and against.
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“Rudy Giuliani, one of the most pro-gay politicians in America, is now pulling a Mitt Romney and trying to pretend that he’s really not THAT pro-gay. You see, like John McCain and Mitt Romney before him, Giuliani is busy re-inventing himself for the Repub
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“The device, found in a duffle bag Wednesday, “was configured in such a way to cause serious bodily injury or death,” said David Carter, assistant chief of the Austin Police Department.”
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“What kind of country do we live in where teachers let high school kids write articles about tolerance in the school papers? Next thing you know, we’re going to be teaching children about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.”
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Doonesbury skewers Dobson on his hypocrisy
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‘”It should not be forgotten that the Turkish armed forces are a side in this debate and are a staunch defender of secularism,” the statement said.’
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” A 27-year-old Austin man was arrested on Friday and charged with placing an unexploded bomb containing some 2,000 nails outside an abortion clinic in the state’s capital.”
links for 2007-04-27
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“New Line has signed Queen Latifah to topline a remake of All of Me, the 1984 supernatural comedy that starred Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin, Variety reported.”
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“You give me fever: President Bush hosts a Senegalese dance troupe on Malaria Awareness Day at the White House in Washington”
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“not only didn’t McCain bother to show up, neither did the Republicans’ other great defender of the war, Lindsey Graham (R-SC). The only Democrat not to show up, Senator Tim Johnson, had a pretty good excuse – a brain hemorrhage. What was McCain’s and Gra
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“A bill introduced in Congress Thursday aims to overturn a controversial royalty fee increase that Internet radio advocates say threatens to cripple their services.
The “Internet Radio Equality Act,” introduced by Reps. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and Don Man
Is all India this stupid?
Or is it just a few agitators and a judge in the city of Jaipur?
An Indian court issued arrest warrants for Hollywood actor Richard Gere and Bollywood star Shilpa Shelty on Thursday for kissing at a public function, media reports said.
Judge Dinesh Gupta issued the warrants in the northwestern city of Jaipur after a local citizen filed a complaint charging that the public display of affection —which he called an “an obscene act” — offended local sensibilities, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
India may arrest Richard Gere over kiss – USATODAY.com
P.S. I have a few friends from India and I am confident that it’s not all of India. I doubt they would have any problems with a few kisses on the cheek.
links for 2007-04-26
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“Journalists in Iraq’s Kurdistan face arrest and harassment for reporting on government corruption and poor public services, the United Nations said in a report on the autonomous region.”
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“Kulongoski is taking the weeklong challenge to raise awareness about the difficulty of feeding a family on a food stamp budget.”
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“Since September 11th, people have been increasingly worried about the misuse of legitimate scientific research to create dangerous weapons or to bypass security measures. Now a federal advisory board is about to recommend new guidelines to limit publicat
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“A dazzlingly detailed image released by NASA scientists on Tuesday shows the chaotic conditions in which stars are born and die — in this case in a huge nebula in another neighborhood of our Milky Way galaxy.”
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“Democratic leadership is really stepping it up. In the wake of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi’s recent strong words on Iraq, Rahm Emanuel gave a blistering speech at the Brookings Institution today.”
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‘The Governor is in a difficult primary (he was indicted last year) and is apparently holding this out as a reward for the mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging base if they support him. It’s ironic that he used the Terri Schiavo “special session” excuse for
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“The 51-year-old veteran who tried in vain to get his $1 million in lottery winnings paid out in a lump sum so that he could pay for costly treatments for his lung cancer, died Monday.”
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“The ”Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act,” is named for a boy who killed himself in 2005 after repeatedly being taunted at school and over the Internet.”
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“Only 22 percent of Americans think the country is moving in the right direction, while 66 percent think it’s on the wrong track, the poll of 1004 adults taken April 20-23 showed.”
links for 2007-04-25
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“An Illinois-based company and its Nevada partner have filed a lawsuit against Apple Inc., alleging that Mac OS X 10.4 “Tiger” treads on an interface patent that affects the operating system’s nearly universal use of tabs.”
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This just in: Vatican leadership insane.
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‘”Right now, we are discharging soldiers – at a time when we don’t have enough people to do the missions we need around the world – because they’re gay. Not because they’ve done anything, but just because they’re gay,” she said.’
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“In the time it takes you to read this article, four African children will die from malaria. Before the day is over, it will claim the lives of 3,000 children.”
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“Pat Tillman’s brother accused the military Tuesday of “intentional falsehoods” and “deliberate and careful misrepresentations” in portraying the football star’s death in Afghanistan as the result of heroic engagement with the enemy instead of friendly fi
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“We can think of ways to honor the troops (adequate armor; sufficient medical treatment; better pay), but Rove figures only if it means frogmarching him to Gitmo for a little waterboarding. It seems the least we could do for a man who contributed to the l
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“Then I had to wrestle with this issue in my own life. My wife was pregnant. No, it wasn’t unexpected. It was about as planned as it gets without using a fertility doctor, though thankfully, we did it the old fashioned way (much cheaper). Things were fine
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“There’s a growing brouhaha over the fact that some commentators have noted that 5 of the 9 US Supreme Court justices are Catholic, and all 5 sided against a woman’s right to choose in their latest decision released last week.”
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‘Kyl doesn’t mention that on two separate occasions during the Clinton administration, he voted explicitly in favor of setting “a specific date” for American troops to “walk off the battlefield”’
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“The biological functioning of my body is all over the news right now. Lawmakers and federal regulatory agencies are asking themselves whether I should be allowed to have abortions, and whether I should be allowed to take a drug that prevents me from mens
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“The FBI offered a $5,000 reward Tuesday for help tracking down whoever mailed dozens of threatening letters — including some containing a potentially harmful insecticide — complaining about TV coverage of college cheerleaders.”
links for 2007-04-24
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“More than 300 fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer raised about $3,500 for charity in a singalong screening of the musical episode “Once More With Feeling” in Pasadena, Calif.”
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“The discovery of the virus responsible for causing acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS, is announced Margaret Heckler, President Reagan’s secretary of health and human services.”
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“Introducing such a bill will again shine the light on what the junior Senator from NY and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s position is regarding marriage, equality and fairness”
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“He helped engineer the final collapse of the Soviet Union and pushed Russia to embrace democracy and a market economy.”
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It’s funny ’cause the Republicans are the ones spreading the politics of hate.
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‘Today in a “rare opinion article”, Army Sgt. Jim Wilt commended the President’s honoring of the Virginia Tech students, but wondered why he — and the American public — don’t pay as much attention to the U.S. troops who die in Iraq every day’
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“A man convicted of rape in 1982 was exonerated on Monday on the basis of DNA evidence”
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“You don’t hear about that American soldier at all anymore, because he’s an example of everything that is wrong with this war and its leadership in the Pentagon, the White House, and the then-Republican Congress.”
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“[Accidents] happen even if everyone knows there is dangerous stuff around. Like in a bioweapons laboratory. And when that happens, you don’t want to publicize it. Even if you are required to.”
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“ABC’s Bob Woodruff reported on a great American soldier who ended up trying to kill himself while serving in Iraq. His duty in Iraq seriously messed with his head, he tried to seek help, didn’t really get it, and then ended up in that fateful building 17
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“The media giant is forging partnerships with everyone but Google, a snub that could eventually take a toll on the search titan”
JeffSay... 
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