Romulus' Livejournal

romulusnr @ 2009-02-01T16:35:00

2009-02-02T00:36:01Z

Seen on a license plate frame - verbatim:

STUPIDITY

SHOULD BE PAINFULL

at the gas station

2009-01-29T04:17:30Z

I was pumping gas for nomadraven and while I was standing there, minding my own business, a woman at the pump on the other side said to me, out of nowhere:

"Did you hear how Obama was on the Arab News station? ...Al-Jazeera."

I was a little caught off guard, but after a beat, I picked it up.

"Actually it wasn't Al-Jazeera, it was Al-Arabiya."

Now it was *her* that was caught off guard, although my tone wouldn't have indicated any such attempt, since in all fairness, her opening statement *could* have been neutral, after all. Well, that didn't last.

"We can't negotiate with terrorists."

Okay. I sort of expected this, but before I could get my words together, she proceeded.

"And this bailout? It's payback."

As she started to go down another line of disrespect for her nation's duly elected president, I responded.

"If every person who watches Arab television is a terrorist, then we have a lot bigger problems than the economy."

She demurred, copping out with a "Well, it's wait and see, buddy" as I moved over further to my side of the pump island. As she got into her car, she finished with "For national security, now we've got nothing."

What gets me about all this is not that she and people like her still think they are Right and still think they are the majority (although nothing else indicates this). Nor is it that people believe that Fox News tripe.

No, what gets me is why she chose to bring this up to me, a stranger, with no obvious political indications. And what way did she expect I would respond to her? Do I not look sufficiently hippie/Berkeley-radical anymore? Why did she seem so unprepared to get a minimally clever retort?

Why Dittoheads Fail, chapter one.

{rain,snow}pocalypse 09

2009-01-08T15:48:41Z

First it was the snow, now it's the rain.

Every highway out of this area is closed except for Interstate 5 going north from here. Which means the only place to go out of Seattle is Vancouver, Canada, except by plane, assuming flights aren't delayed or canceled due to things like storms or say a flooded or too-slick runway.

There's no way around, at least not without going through Canada.

Times like now make this feel like a lot less like a major urban area and a lot more like smack in the middle of literally nowhere. I can't imagine being completely unable to get from, for example, Boston to Providence or NYC by roads of any sort, but that is pretty much functionally analogous to what is happening here.

And it happened last winter too.

romulusnr @ 2009-01-07T11:37:00

2009-01-07T20:16:49Z

So I was peeking at my StyleFeeder page today. StyleFeeder is a site that some old friends of mine work for, and it is based on this principle: given the set of things you own or want, you can extrapolate more things you want from the set of all things. (Let's just accept this postulate for now; I've got issues with it, or at least their application of it so far, but TNHNT.)

So, you create a "feed" of things you own or want via the site; for example there is a nifty FF plugin that you can use when you are on any common e-commerce site's product page and it will near-automagically import that item into your feed. In addition to this, they have a feature on the website which you can look up your Amazon wish list, and it will be imported into your feed.

Well, the page doesn't work. Not in FF or IE, due to JS errors.

Warning: Empty string passed to getElementById().

Error: $ is not defined
Source File: http://www.stylefeeder.com/amazon-wishlist.html
Line: 34

Well, I figured, if the form is sound, I can look at the source, find the form, follow its action and the form inputs, and generate a query. Well, in Web 2.0 we don't simply use a form to send values via GET; we use a form to send values to a JavaScript function to send a GET. So instead of a FORM ACTION there's a FORM OnSubmit.

OK, so look at the whole page source and find the function -- hopefully its not buried in a slew of referenced .js files. No, it's there: function wishlistLookup(pagenumber). This calls another function, which determines whether the value you enter into the textbox is your name, or your email address. It does this by determining whether or not your text had an @ in it. (John Sm@th is out of luck.) It takes 10 lines to do this, btw.

The wishlistLookup() function goes on to take the result of this determination, which the backend is apparently unable to figure out on its own, and the value itself, and pass it to the backend. The result looks something like this:

Find your Amazon wishlist below:
(Not available) preview
Bob123 preview
(Not available) preview
Bobby44 preview
BobDobbs preview
(Not available) preview
(Not available) preview
UncleBob preview

OK, so this is a list of matches on the text "Bob" which does not have an @ symbol so it searched by name. Each name has a link next to it so you can see the actual wishlist and make sure it's actually yours.

Remember now, though, that this is Web 2.0, and links aren't actually links that will take you places, but things to click on that will trigger onClick() actions that call JavaScript functions... that will take you places. (Fuck, why do we even bother with web browsers? We should just run JavaScript interpreters and write JavaScript functions to do all the things that we used to need browsers for!)

Anyway. I looked up that function, and determined its GET call, and managed to get an XML dump of my Amazon wishlist. Still, because I'm not wrapped in the right DIV on the original page (Web 2.0 strikes again!), I haven't actually gotten to the step where I can actually import the wishlist, which was my intention. But I've figured out a lot.

What annoys me about all this is not so much the Web 2.0 supercriticality, or the fact that the page doesn't work, but that I can figure out all that, yet still haven't gotten a new job, in a field where most people in it wouldn't have had any idea where to start on this.

romulusnr @ 2008-12-29T20:16:00

2008-12-30T04:23:04Z

The snow has melted, everyone. Temp is steady at 40. We had strong winds today, there were evergreen bits everywhere, and a 2 second power blink. We're back to a normal Seattle winter.

I drifted up here wayward like a snowflake
And as soon as I arrived, I wished that I was home
But a good friend said: My man, this is your home now
Though it might be stark as a hole in hell, as cold as a frozen gnome*
I know you've come a long long way
From your sweet warm house in the USA
And cold has more than one way to turn you blue
But here we relieve the inner chill with a choice word or two

It's always Christmas in Siberia
Santa practically lives in this town
Such a winter wonderland, Siberia
And I never have to take all of my lights down

*I can never quite make that line out...

romulusnr @ 2008-12-21T20:50:00

2008-12-22T04:51:37Z

It's snowing here. Like, a lot. Like, officially "real snow" by any northerner's estimation.

And I almost assuredly lost my car keys in it last night.

It keeps snowing, too. Pretty much all through last night and today.

romulusnr @ 2008-12-12T22:07:00

2008-12-13T06:10:05Z

At his Seattle screening of My Name is Bruce, Bruce Campbell was randomly asked whether we should bail out the auto companies. After dithering, he says "I'd bail them out, but I'd say 'You're fired, you're fired, you're all fired, we're gonna get some new people in here,' and stop making cars that burn any sort of carbon."

He got a big round of applause from this, of course. So I yelled out, in proper Seattle snark, "You're only saying that because you're in Seattle."

"What, you think I'm pandering to this crowd? Wanna go out and get vegetarian after this?" he replied.

Writer's Block: Traditional Pursuits

2008-12-10T17:14:28Z

There are a lot of things we see most often in December, like caroling, potato latkes, mistletoe, mulled wine, eggnog, and returning gifts. What's your favorite holiday tradition?

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Sticking it to the theocrats.

Writer's Block: Prohibited

2008-12-06T05:57:02Z

Today marks the passing of the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which repealed Prohibition. It might seem crazy to us now, but alcohol was illegal in the U.S. for 13 years. What common vice do you think is most likely to be outlawed in the future?

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Independent thought

romulusnr @ 2008-12-05T21:52:00

2008-12-06T05:53:16Z

tree	wreath	outside

romulusnr @ 2008-12-05T15:17:00

2008-12-05T23:19:48Z

Spent half the day yesterday running around North Seattle looking for vegetarian dress shoes. None of the veg-friendly shoe stores had any.

So I came back, empty-handed, went to the mall after dinner, and found four different styles of synthetic man-made-material men's dress shoes at Payless for $30.

Grr.

Writer's Block: Gone but Not Forgotten

2008-12-04T18:09:28Z

Many beloved television shows are no longer with us, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Six Feet Under, and Mystery Science Theater 3000. What defunct television show do you miss the most?

View other answers

Firefly, anyone?

Damn kids

2008-11-29T23:31:38Z

Apparently the 9 year old found a way to hack the TiVo parental controls.

OmgWtf.

romulusnr @ 2008-11-25T09:37:00

2008-11-25T17:39:30Z

align (ah-LINE) v.t.
4. [Human Resources] To find new employment for former employees.

romulusnr @ 2008-10-22T08:54:00

2008-10-22T16:06:35Z

The only Smashing Pumpkins song I actually like.

(The video is utterly dumb. This is what happens when you let your pretentious girlfriend direct your video, Billy.)

romulusnr @ 2008-09-29T15:20:00

2008-09-29T22:25:16Z

Selfish desires are burning like fires
among those who hoard the gold
As they continue to keep the people asleep
and the truth from being told
Racism and greed keep the people in need
from getting what's rightfully theirs
Cheating, stealing and double dealing
as they exploit the people's fears

Now, Dow Jones owns the people's homes
and all the surrounding land
Buying and selling their humble dwelling
in the name of the Master Plan

Cause paper money is like a bee without honey
with no stinger to back him up
and those who stole the people's gold
are definitely corrupt

Credit cards, master charge, legacies of wills
real estate, stocks and bonds on coupon paper bills
Now the U.S. mints on paper prints, millions every day
and use the eagle as their symbol cause it's a bird of prey

The laurels of peace and the arrows of wars
are clutched very tightly in the eagles claws
filled with greed and lust,
and on the back of the dollar bill,
is the words IN GOD WE TRUST

But the dollar bill is their only God
and they don't even trust each other
for a few dollars more they'd start a war
to exploit some brother's mother

- Last Poets, "E Pluribus Unum" (1973)

New glasses

2008-09-14T03:22:46Z

Spontaneous chiptunes at PAX

2008-08-31T06:05:40Z

Apparently this guys name is Circles, from Bellingham, check out his myspace and the crew he's in, CrunchyCo.

if these were posters

2008-07-15T21:53:43Z

i would buy them.

and put them in my non-existent mancave, or something.

Michael Caine as Harry Palmer in Funeral in Berlin (1966)

Bob Gunton as Warden Norton in The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Yeah, they are both of old-styled men with horn-rimmed glasses holding a gun. I noticed that too. Something about that has an ironic classic kitsch to it.

plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

2008-07-10T18:29:49Z

Arrest the president
He's the criminal
No one's laughin this
I keep rappin this

...

Tapped your phone
Bugged your residence
Yo
Arrest the president

- Intelligent Hoodlum, "Arrest The President" (1990)

romulusnr @ 2008-07-09T16:05:00

2008-07-09T23:07:20Z

I often refrain from friending people I know (on any given soc-net site) in order to avoid the unbearable awkwardness of trying to figure out what to say to someone I haven't spoken to in ages.

Am I alone in this?

romulusnr @ 2008-06-30T18:18:00

2008-07-01T01:21:09Z

If I wasn't subscribed to the mind-numbing sensationalist all-that-is-wrong-with-America drivel that is ExposeObama.com, I might actually lose focus on why I've been supporting him.

From their latest email:

OBAMA SAYS: "We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK.... That's not leadership. That's not going to happen. "-Senator Barack Obama, Campaign Speech, May 2008-

That's Barack Hussein Obama's solution to the high price of gasoline... that's his energy policy -- in his own words!

In other words, Obama's energy policy is for you to eat less, drive a small death-trap of a car and let your family freeze in the winter.

Ahem. I feel like I need to go study some calculus just to rebuild the brain cells I just lost.

Attack of the diehards

2008-06-18T04:11:39Z

My car has an Obama bumper sticker on the back. I park in the garage at the bus stop downtown. A little over a week ago -- about a week after Hillary Clinton suspended her presidential campaign, my driver's side window had this on it.

Discuss.

romulusnr @ 2008-06-09T09:36:00

2008-06-09T16:43:43Z

BlueHampshire put it bluntly today: Political Parties Are not Sports Teams. But it's exactly how many Americans seem to treat politics, and exactly why American politics will remain fucked up for some time.

Cue the Angry Hillary Lady. Or any number of Hillary supporters (over a quarter) who are threatening to vote for McCain instead of Obama. Just what do these people actually believe in? Winning for their team, or electing a better leader for a better country in line with important values?

Seriously. You're female liberal has been defeated, so you will really vote for a white conservative man instead of a black liberal man? If so, you don't give a fuck about the country, and your vote only damages your country; FOAD.

Someone should start a series of polls to judge just how fucked in the head these people are. For former Hillary supporters, ask:

Obama or John McCain?
Obama or David Duke?
Obama or Ted Kaczynski?
Obama or Saddam Hussein?
Obama or an old dirty sneaker?

From Me To You Day

2008-06-07T05:06:49Z

We need a new gift-giving holiday.

Every gift-giving holiday is centered on giving people what they want. You feed their whims and desires by satisfying one or more of them. The idea is to make them happy, despite whether or not what they want is necessarily good for them.

We need a day where you give people something that shares something *you* like, or something you think they should have.

See, I would love to do things like send copies of Inconvenient Truth or Sicko or a season of 30 Days or a copy of The God Delusion. Thing is, the people I would like to send these to -- not so much that I want to convert them as to understand what I believe -- wouldn't want them. So, it's unsuitable as a gift for any existing holiday.

Of course, parents do sometimes give their kids gifts they think they should have (hopefully in addition to the things they want), in an attempt to expose them to a positive influence (i.e., an influence the parents think is positive).

I'd like to do that to some of my family. But doing it on birthdays, parent's days, and Xmas comes off as pretentious and rude.

So instead, we should have a "Share Yourself" day, where you gift people you love things that reflect who you are -- instead of who they are. Or rather, and here's an interesting point, who you *think* they are. Wouldn't it be nice to know, in a non-off-putting way, that your grandson is vegetarian and might not appreciate you donating a cow to an Indonesian village in their name (granted, maybe that was for milk)? Or that your grandson is atheist, and doesn't really enjoy all those religious Chicken Soup stories you've been forwarding him? Etc.? Wouldn't it be a great way to know others better, instead of maintaining and perpetuating your misconceptions because they don't know exactly a nice way to tell you how off base you are about them?

So. Share Yourself Day. Send your loved ones a gift that reflects yourself instead of your impression of them. All that's needed now is a day....