
I just watched [An Inconvenient Truth](http://www.climatecrisis.net/). I had been avoiding it because I knew how it would depress me. But after it won [two](http://oscar.com/oscarnight/winners/?pn=detail&nominee=AnInconvenientTruthMusicSongNominee) [Oscars](http://oscar.com/oscarnight/winners/?pn=detail&nominee=AnInconvenientTruthDocumentaryFeatureNominee), I figured the time had come. The most interesting thing that was somewhat new to me was the parallels drawn between the battles between Money and Science about the topics of "smoking kills" and "global warming". Particularly the statement about the "repositioning of X as theory rather than fact" struck me as such a parallel to a recent pet peeve of mine, the "debate" over evolution. I liked this quote, by [Upton Sinclair](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upton_Sinclair):

> It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.

I hope that all of you will rent/buy/download this movie and watch it. Will it piss you off? Yes, definitely. Hopefully it will affect you enough emotionally to, at the very least, make global warming a top priority when you next find yourself enclosed in a voting booth.

It almost brings me to tears to imagine how much better off the people in the alternate universe where [Al Gore actually won the election in 2000](/2006/06/05/depressing-rolling-stone-article/) are.

\[Edit\] Oops, that last link goes to the wrong stolen presidential election.


That Al Gore Movie


Today, during my morning headline perusal (RSS killed the newspaper), after a few clicks, I came upon this blog entry: [Thank You, Richard Dawkins](http://cosmicvariance.com/2007/02/14/thank-you-richard-dawkins/)

I found it very interesting, and highly recommend it. That blog, which might have the best name and subtitle of any blog, often has good [intellectual candy](http://cosmicvariance.com/2007/02/23/why-does-emc2/) on it. Anyway, the most interesting concept that the article introduced to me was the [Overton window](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window).

Personally, I find the concept of [what you can't say](/2006/08/08/what-you-cant-say/) to be extremely interesting, and I love the visual analogy of a window that can be shifted along the spectrum of discourse. I'm just now reaching an age where I can remember when the zeitgeist was noticeably different on some issues.

That's it. I just wanted to share that blog entry and add the term "Overton window" our vocabulary. I will no doubt find a way to use it in future discourse.


Overton Window


Marga's sister, Belén, turned 28 on Friday. On Sunday, we had a family meal. <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539501036_5c38bc1e7b_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG3081.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539501036_05d4727ced.jpg" alt="CIMG3081.JPG"/>
</a>

Juan and Marce make scrambled eggs with [gulas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angula).

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539504002_7a4872c61d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG3083.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539504002_bf5bc8ae18.jpg" alt="CIMG3083.JPG"/>
</a>

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539620793_a42c3d391a_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG3084.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539620793_5adb4b9631.jpg" alt="CIMG3084.JPG"/>
</a>

Marga looks admiringly at her grandfather.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539510248_2c44507600_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG3085.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539510248_a24e99bfa2.jpg" alt="CIMG3085.JPG"/>
</a>

Mmmm! Chicken!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539627421_7993376b67_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG3087.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539627421_d8de7b8528.jpg" alt="CIMG3087.JPG"/>
</a>

The girl with her eyes closed is Maikel's girlfriend, Jenny. Maikel is Marga's cousin.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539629195_98fcdc5dda_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG3088.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539629195_765ff94613.jpg" alt="CIMG3088.JPG"/>
</a>

Marce models a lacy apron.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539518518_eb8571f55b_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG3090.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539518518_794712c541.jpg" alt="CIMG3090.JPG"/>
</a>

The birthday girl was dressed like a zebra.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539635573_6c6279fa49_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG3092.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539635573_724946d934.jpg" alt="CIMG3092.JPG"/>
</a>

Alejo gives a hearty laugh.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539525068_afe6ba0fbb_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG3093.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539525068_f1828be933.jpg" alt="CIMG3093.JPG"/>
</a>

Cake? Check. Candles? Check. Fire?

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539528072_bbf95c358f_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG3094.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539528072_310b0374e0.jpg" alt="CIMG3094.JPG"/>
</a>

Check.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539645479_83299531d6_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG3095.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539645479_c073568d2a.jpg" alt="CIMG3095.JPG"/>
</a>

Her boyfriend, Gorka, instructs her on the proper blowing technique while the rest of the candles are lit.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/403250359_aad82d8744_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Twenty-Eight Candles">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/403250359_aad82d8744.jpg" alt="Twenty-Eight Candles"/>
</a>

I love this picture.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539533998_11ede9f2ae_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG3097.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-26-belens-birthday/539533998_e39001e03b.jpg" alt="CIMG3097.JPG"/>
</a>

Whoosh!

We also went to the one-year anniversary mass for Marga's uncle, Jose Luis, who died last February. It's pretty stupid. The poor widow has to pay the priest to get her husband's name mentioned in the "And we also pray for..." list at the end of the service, and 50 family members and friends have to sit through the entire half-Spanish, half-Basque church service. It'd be one thing if it was more like a funeral, and the deceased was actually talked about. But the priest just has to read a name and collect the money. Having 50 caring people around did way more for the widow than the priest's words. Of that, I'm certain.


Belén's Birthday


I fried some chorizo the other day for dinner. That's spicy Spanish sausage. Then I left the sausage grease in the pan overnight. When I got up the next morning, it had congealed. I already had some hot boiling water in the kettle, so I poured some into the frying pan to turn the fat back to liquid while I did the other dishes. When I got around to cleaning the frying pan, it looked like this... <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-23-greasy-art/539495452_8ac6e701c9_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG3079.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-23-greasy-art/539495452_d650da221e.jpg" alt="CIMG3079.JPG"/>
</a>

The red (from the paprika in the chorizo) grease had formed itself into perfectly evenly spaced circles in the water.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-23-greasy-art/539611547_c48c2f9d6a_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG3080.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-23-greasy-art/539611547_f66ae51788.jpg" alt="CIMG3080.JPG"/>
</a>

I've forgotten most of the chemistry that relates to how oil and water interact with each other, but I'm fascinated with self-organizing systems. I thought it worthy of a picture and a blog entry.


Greasy Art


They tore down a building in my neighborhood this week. It was the one that I had taken this photo of last year because, coming from a country that is a maze of plastic shopping malls, I loved the quaint antiquity of the structure, despite its obvious years of dilapidation.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-22-nothing-lasts-forever/398589040_f7cdf893bf_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Plaza Campo de las Ferias">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-22-nothing-lasts-forever/398589040_f7cdf893bf.jpg" alt="Plaza Campo de las Ferias"/>
</a>

**Plaza Campo de las Ferias** - A street sign in Colindres, Cantabria, Spain.

The following are pictures that I took yesterday.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-22-nothing-lasts-forever/539469616_06ca3353b0_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG3075.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-22-nothing-lasts-forever/539469616_e88ac2607a.jpg" alt="CIMG3075.JPG"/>
</a>

Well, at least we can see the mountains better when we leave our front door. At least until they build the next structure there. There is snow on that distant peak (you might have to click on the image to see it). I took this picture in short sleeves on the way to get the daily bread.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-22-nothing-lasts-forever/539585897_ca8c218c9a_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG3076.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-22-nothing-lasts-forever/539585897_883e68e7d5.jpg" alt="CIMG3076.JPG"/>
</a>

Having empty houses has made parking not really a problem in our neighborhood. I fear that it might become a problem very shortly.

Anyway, losing this building made me reflect on the transience of our lives and the things we create....but only for a second. Even that thought was fleeting.


Nothing Lasts Forever


I just got an email asking me about my [Revver Wordpress Plugin](/2006/10/24/revver-wordpress-plugin/). I had made a mistake in packaging the plugin and it was not compatible with FrontPage. I was unaware that anyone had used FrontPage since about 1998. Anyway, I checked out his website... [Alsoran: Music for Race Horse Lovers](http://alsoranland.com/)

The absurdity of the title itself should be intriguing enough to make you click on it. It's this dude that dresses up in a horse costume and talks and sings from the point of view of a horse character that he's invented called Alsoran. It's comedy though clever ridiculousness.

Sites like this please me because they highlight the immense freedom of expression that the internet provides us. It's an enormous marketplace of both self expression and attempts to get other people's attention. If you can make enough people smile enough to pass on your website to their friends, then you have the potential to make a lot of money. This is the [Ze Frank](http://www.zefrank.com/) philosophy: riches through low budget, universally-pleasing absurdity.

I know from my [Ze Frank Parody](/2006/08/08/ze-frank-parody/) and [Clippy: The Clothespin Stunt Man](/go.php?http://www.clippystunts.com/) projects how hard it is to both come up with ideas, produce videos, and get noticed.

Alsoran has had the idea to ask for paypal donations so he can run in the Kentucky Derby. While not quite as clever as [that guy who demanded payment not to kill his rabbit](http://www.savetoby.com/), it's not a bad effort to dupe rich idiots out of their gold.

Anyway, this dude's got more time and talent than I, and I applaud him. His site is pretty well designed, despite the use of FrontPage.


Alsoran


Tragedy struck yesterday... I was in the process of migrating my photos and projects and things from my old [Power Mac G5](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Mac_G5) to my new [MacBook Pro](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook_Pro). Moving my 17 GB of pictures between the machines over wifi was going to take 8 hours, but I found that if I copied them from the G5 to my iPod, and then from the iPod to the MacBook, the process only took 90 minutes. So I blew away all the music and videos on my iPod (they were all on the G5) and copied the pictures. Then I did the same with my iMovie projects. My documents were small enough to copy over the network.

My G5 has two 250 GB hard drives (yep, that's a half terabyte, baby!). I wanted to reinstall my operating system on the main system hard drive because it's just that time again. Mac OS X needs a reinstall every 2 - 3 years when used by a power user such as myself. Compare that to every 4 - 6 months I had to reinstall Windows before I saw the light. I double and triple checked that I had everything that I wanted from the primary hard drive (that's like a "C drive" to you heathens).

My secondary hard drive (HD2) was completely full of software, movie, and music downloads. I had a few dvd images and my 80 GB music collection. Yes, that's two solid months of non-stop music. I had every episode of House ever broadcast, including three new ones that I hadn't seen yet. I had two full seasons of 24. Three seasons of Family Guy. One season of The Simpsons. One season of The Office (US). Every episode of Prison Break. A dozen or so feature-length films. Anyway...you can see how my quarter terabyte was full.

I couldn't find my OS boot disc, but luckily I had a copy of the image on HD2. (The one that came with my MacBook gave a kernel panic "WTF is PPC?" message when I tried to boot from it.) So I burned the boot disc to a DVD and rebooted.

In the OS install, I chose to erase my hard drive and install the OS. I realized one second after I hit the "Yes, really erase" button that I had selected HD2 instead of my primary disc for erasure. I hit cancel, but it was too late. I canceled the install and rebooted. My entire music library was gone. Every last nibble of it. 0 kb used, 250 GB available.

When I told Marga, her first question was, "Did you lose any pictures!?" I smiled, because this confirms what they say about photo albums being the most important objects that people try to save in fires and other domestic disasters. I agree that losing my pictures would be much more of a disaster than losing my music, half of which I still have in dusty untouched-in-years CDs.

My MacBook only has a 120 GB hard drive, and I had been pondering how I was going to play my music on it. That problem's solved now. :-) Of course, I know I'm just [synthesizing happiness](/2006/12/22/the-secret-to-happiness/). But at least I know that's just as good as real happiness, right?

> I canÂ’t remember if I cried When I read about his widowed bride, But something touched me deep inside The day the music died.


Geek In Mourning

USA Trip 2007


My father has written his usual write-up of activities from this year's Myrtle Beach Classic. As usual, it's very well written and entertaining.

[![](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-14-myrtle-beach-classic-2007/539571841_2275ef1562_o.jpg)](/downloads/195/MB2007.pdf "Download PDF")


Myrtle Beach Classic 2007


This entire week, I'm working in my company's offices in Raleigh. I'm staying at my grandmother's house. On Monday morning, when I left for work, my Aunt Carol, mother, and grandmother were feeling very motherly and treating me like their boy that was going off for his first day of work. My mother enjoyed filing her maternal role of making me breakfast.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-13-at-the-office/539376063_fda3bfd1c0_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG3063.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-13-at-the-office/539376063_8882064ea7.jpg" alt="CIMG3063.JPG"/>
</a>

Mmmm! Pancakes!

Michael, a coworker of mine, brought his Jack Russell puppy, Maggie, into the office. She's _adorable_! This is just a quick picture I took with my new laptop's camera.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-13-at-the-office/539263792_3d085be34f_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="maggie">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-13-at-the-office/539263792_15f0b3648c.jpg" alt="maggie"/>
</a>

Maggie has [her own blog](http://www.michael-ventura.com/?src=erikblog), if you want more.


At The Office


Recently, I've been experimenting with the new [D programming language](http://digitalmars.com/d/). One thing that's really amazed me is the power of the templating system. Here are three code-saving templates to help avoid the deadly programming sin of code duplication.

### Generic opEquals and opCmp

In D, if you want your objects to be comparable with the ==, < , <=, >, or >= operators, you have to implement opEquals(Object) and opCmp(Object) that take the generic Object type. This is annoying, because it forces you to have to do type checking in _every single one_ of your opEquals and opCmp methods in each class. I have devised a solution.

`template GenericEquals(T) {   public int opEquals(Object o)   {     if(this is o)       return true;     T that = cast(T) o;     if(that is null)  // catches failed casts       return false;     else       return this.opEquals(that);   } }`

...and...

`template GenericCmp(T) {   int opCmp(Object o)   {     if(this is o)       return 0;     T that = cast(T) o;     if(that is null)  // catches failed casts       return 1;     else       return this.opCmp(that);   } }`

Then, you can define opEquals and opCmp in your class with the right type of parameter and include the generic forms with a mixin!

`class MyClass {   private MyField myField;      mixin GenericEquals!(MyClass);   public int opEquals(MyClass that)   {     return this.myField == that.myField;   }      mixin GenericCmp!(MyClass);   public int opCmp(MyClass that)   {     if(this.myField > that.myField)       return 1;     else if(this.myField < that.myField)       return -1;     else       return 0;   } }`

But look at that opCmp(MyClass) method? Gross! Can't we remove some of that logic into a template too? Yes, we can! Presenting...

### Generic compareFields Template

When you have more than one field that needs to be compared to check for equality and natural ordering of your class, your opCmp method can get pretty ugly and repetitive. For example:

`class MyClass {   private char[] name;   private int age;      public int opCmp(MyClass that)   {     if(this.name > that.name)       return 1;     else if(this.name < that.name)       return -1;     else if(this.age > that.age)       return 1;     else if(this.age < that.age)       return -1;     else       return 0;   } }`

I've written a compareFields() templated method that will do this for you. But the true beauty of the method is that it is completely type-safe at compile time. It requires an even number of parameters and every pair of parameters have to be of the same type. Behold!

`int compareFields(T, R...)(T a, T b, R rest) {   if(a > b)     return 1;   else if(a < b)     return -1;   static if(rest.length)   {     static assert(rest.length > 1);     return compareFields(rest);   }   else     return 0; }`

The method to compare both name and age member variables now becomes:

`class MyClass {   private char[] name;   private int age;      public int opCmp(MyClass that)   {     return compareFields(this.name, that.name,                          this.age, that.age);   } }`

If I leave off a parameter, or accidentally pass "this.name, that.name, this.age, that.name", it will fail because the second pair of parameters are not of the same type. And again, all this happens at compile time!

This is all made possible by D's unique [variadic templates](http://digitalmars.com/d/variadic-function-templates.html). Enjoy!


Useful D Templates


Another Superbowl has come and gone. That can only mean one thing... It's time to clean off the old golf clubs and get ready for the [Myrtle Beach Classic](http://www.erik-rasmussen.com/MB/2006/Home.html)! I'll never forget arriving in the Charlotte airport in 2006 for the tournament. I was rolling my airport baggage cart with my suitcase and my golf clubs, in their big, hard-shell, warhead-sized case, and [Al Green](http://www.erik-rasmussen.com/MB/2006/Additional%20Resources.html) (who would later go on to win the tournament) said, in a very loud voice, "So, did you bring your weapons of mass destruction?" Luckily we weren't sent off to Guantanamo for his remark.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-05-weapons-inspection/539121565_6e4b46eaa2_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG2981.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-05-weapons-inspection/539121565_d59e3b3dd4.jpg" alt="CIMG2981.JPG"/>
</a>

My golf shoes are pretty dingy and could use a shining.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-05-weapons-inspection/539125239_8404d8c922_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG2982.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-05-weapons-inspection/539125239_0646bffac4.jpg" alt="CIMG2982.JPG"/>
</a>

Much better! That oughta blind the competition.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-05-weapons-inspection/539127067_8edd54b8a7_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG2983.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-05-weapons-inspection/539127067_d1aa116845.jpg" alt="CIMG2983.JPG"/>
</a>

The first few clean clubs begin drying.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-05-weapons-inspection/539012914_71cbce5860_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG2985.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-05-weapons-inspection/539012914_a3f21c6353.jpg" alt="CIMG2985.JPG"/>
</a>

Scrubbing the next four.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-05-weapons-inspection/539016294_d68244e5d8_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="CIMG2986.JPG">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-05-weapons-inspection/539016294_738ac0904f.jpg" alt="CIMG2986.JPG"/>
</a>

The entire arsenal. There are only fourteen! Count 'em!

I'll hop the pond on Wednesday, just in time for a practice round on Thursday before the three-day Myrtle Beach Classic 2007 tournament begins.


Weapons Inspection


I just watched a "[documentary](http://www.google.com/notebook/public/02974984225953741355/BDSENSwoQ0rm_tLUh)" about the Illuminati. Allegedly, a secret society is controlling all of the US and Britain. Every president since JFK has a masonic member. They presented a lot of evidence of corruption between Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. with Iraq, Saddam, oil, blah, blah, blah. I'm fine with the idea that H.W. left Saddam as a useful threat for W. It's all about one thing: money (aka. oil).

But for the rest of it.... Blair is a 33° member of the Illuminati and the same people that control him, control Bush...they hold secret bloody ceremonies directly in the houses of parliament in Westminster...1 of every 6 British police officer is a mason... Whatever. What a load of hooey!

Oh, and they all worship Lucifer. (this is about when I stopped watching)

It's so easy to say, "Everyone in power is a member of a secret society." If anyone is not in power, then they clearly aren't members, and everyone that is in power will obviously deny membership ('cause it's secret!). This is such a seductive, and, by definition, unprovable, idea. It works on the same grounds that makes Christianity such a powerful meme.1 It empowers the poor and takes power (or the merit of power) away from the rich and powerful. Any idea that favors the poor (who will eternally be the majority) will spread like wildfire.

Any documentary that casually slips in phrases like "Many believe that..." or "There are even some who believe that..." is immediately flagged as suspicious and probably wrong. I watched one a few months ago about the [Philadelphia Experiment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Experiment) (from the History Channel, no less!) that was nothing but a big steaming pile of factless speculation. But to a viewer who isn't thinking critically, it could make a lot of sense. These "documentaries" that feign factual bases are quite worrisome to me. Luckily, most gullible dupes sitting on their couch, munching on tortilla chips, watching the History Channel and feeling intellectual probably are apathetic enough to do nothing about their newfound revelations that Hitler and Saddam have (their deaths were faked) secret meetings in a pentagram-shaped sound stage made to look like the moon.

Sorry, I just had to rant a little bit. That's what blogs are for, right?

1[Meme](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme) is such a wonderful word and concept. Please read up about it, understand it, and teach others. \[wink, wink\]


Illuminati


[![Strawberry Groundhog](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2007-02-02-happy-groundhog-imbolc-candlemas-day/5431384974_ccd6336d61_t.jpg)](http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelpwilson/5431384974/ "Strawberry Groundhog by mw3106, on Flickr")Wikipedia is just too cool. The encyclopedias and hyperlinks are a perfect marriage. So let's investigate the various holidays that have been invented to celebrate this cross-quarter day between the [Winter Solstice](/2006/12/22/days-getting-longer/) and the Spring Equinox.  Most of you are familiar with the American Groundhog Day festivities, where a poor captive [whistlepig](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistlepig) (what a great name!) is annually tested for opaqueness, or rather his ability to produce an [umbra](/2006/09/07/shadow-parts/). It's pure ceremony. No one really believes that these marmots have any control over weather.[1](#footnote1) It's done in good humor. And it's done for the same reasons that people all over the world celebrate this day of the year: winter is almost over!

In Celtic Irish lore, it's a serpent that comes out of the ground and either casts a shadow or does not. Today is the ancient Celtic holiday [Imbolc](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbolc) and is dedicated to the goddess [Brigid](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigid), the goddess of poetry, healing and smithcraft.

When the Christians came along, they did their usual trick of inventing a saint with exactly the same name, same responsibilities, and festivals. [Saint Brigid](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigid_of_Ireland) is Ireland's second most important saint, after St. Patrick. Of course, the Christians aren't content to leave myths as myths, so they claimed that Brigid was an actual person who actually lived. She has official birth and death years and lots of detailed stories about pirates and jeweled swords. Of course the stories contradict each other and their authorship is unknown. Big surprise there. Anyway, [here are some recipes](http://www.celticattic.com/contact_us/the_celts/saint_brigid.htm) for a bread and beef feast to celebrate St. Brigid's day today.

In the Roman Catholic church, [Candlemas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candlemas) is traditionally celebrated 40 days after Christmas, taking it's name from a tradition of priests to bless the year's candles on February 2, and is sometimes called the "Purification of the Virgin". And the reason it is 40 days after Christmas is, quoting from Wikipedia:

> Under Mosaic law, a mother who had given birth to a man-child was considered unclean for seven days; moreover she was to remain for three and thirty days "in the blood of her purification."

You're guess is as good as mine as to what that means. 7 and 33 are important biblical numbers, so why shouldn't 40 be? And it's not really 40 days after Christmas, it's 39. But maybe the day of birth and the day of the purification are both counted. Like many ancient traditions intended to prevent disease (like not eating pork), what we know today about germs and medicine make it sound pretty ridiculous.

From this page on [Simeon the Righteous](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simeon_the_Righteous), it sounds like the tradition is more of a Jewish version of Baptism, where a newborn is presented to the Temple to be blessed. That's why Candlemas' official name is "The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple". How beeswax candles got involved is not clear, but today is the day to take your candles down to the local chapel and get them blessed for use in 2007. If I was more of a prankster and less apathetic, I'd take a bunch of lightbulbs down to the local church and claim to be an orthodox catholic and, since lightbulbs are the new candles, that I want the priest to bless all my lightbulbs for the year.

I leave you with this quote from the Candlemas wikipedia page. It made me laugh because it's so similar to other silly superstitions that the Spanish have.

> In France, Candlemas (French: La Chandeleur) is celebrated with críªpes, which must be eaten only after eight p.m. If the cook can flip a críªpe while holding a coin in the other hand, the family is assured of prosperity throughout the coming year.

Mmmm...críªpes...

1Of course the same people believe that a guy that may or may not have lived and died two thousand years ago has complete control over the weather and will change it if asked politely enough by unvoiced thoughts inside their own head.


Happy Groundhog Imbolc Candlemas Day!


[Gizmo Project](http://www.gizmoproject.com/) is a piece of [VoIP (Voice Over IP)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VoIP) software that allows you to talk to people over the internet. Like its chief competitor, [Skype](http://www.skype.com/), it has the capability to call landlines. I will now give you four reasons why Gizmo is better than Skype.

### Reason 1

Gizmo's rates for calling landlines are still a little bit higher than Skype's, but Gizmo has an [All Calls Free](http://support.gizmoproject.com/index.php?_a=knowledgebase&_j=questiondetails&_i=209) program that lets you call landlines of your other Gizmo contacts for free. They have recently deemed me worthy (you have to use Gizmo enough) of participation in the program. This means that I can call any other ACF member's home or mobile phone (as they have them set in their Gizmo profile) for free. I tested it yesterday, calling a colleague's mobile phone. It cost me nothing. We could have talked for hours and hours absolutely free.

### Reason 2

Gizmo uses an open, standard VoIP protocol, called [SIP](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Session_Initiation_Protocol). Most all VoIP providers also use SIP. This means that you can receive calls phones from other VoIP networks using the SIP protocol (estimated at [2.5 billion phones](http://www.gizmoproject.com/sip-number.html)). So if you have any business partners or friends that use VoIP phones (and if you don't yet, you will soon), you will be able to receive calls from them on your computer.

My employer recently got VoIP phones installed in the office, and they can call me all the way in Spain just by dialing my extension in their local system.

### Reason 3

Free voice mail. Skype makes you pay for voice mail. Gizmo provides it free. If you receive a call when you are not around or do not have Gizmo open on your computer, the caller can leave a voice mail message and their message will be emailed to you in a compressed wav file. How easy is that?

### Reason 4

A free "call in" number. Skype has this too, but it's not free. Gizmo will give you a free 775 area code (that's the area code for Nevada outside of Las Vegas) telephone number, so that anyone with a regular phone can call you, even if you're in Spain, for the price of a call to Nevada (if you want mine, and I know you, just ask). You can also choose to pay a small fee and get a phone number in another area code. If you did most of your business in one specific region, but often traveled away from that region, you could get a number in that area code and receive calls on your computer via Gizmo.

Gizmo also does chatting, like Skype, but it does not yet do video conferencing.


15 posts from February, 2007