This is nearly random stuff pulled together from my morning surfing; and it really scares me…
This:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkmRPJv5jZE
when combined with this:
http://xkcd.com/652/
Is a really scary combination, isn’t it?
If you are looking for work in the Northern Virginia area (Sterling, right near Cascades) you should know that Neustar just published about 50 new job openings:
http://www.neustar.biz/careers/index.cfm
I am currently contracting at Neustar through Pivotal-IT.
This weekend was going to be a living history public show at Colonial Plantation in Media, Pennsylvania with La Belle Compagnie, but the wise event coordinators cancelled/postponed the show given the inclement weather.
Many members of La Belle gathered at our home instead, where we could talk, work on projects, eat all the food that was already prepared for the event, and have a good time warm and dry indoors. The house was full of laughing children and fun loving medievalists; and I am thoroughly happy, if tired.
One of my nieces is going to tour Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia as a possible school to attend next year. How does one share with a young person the horrible reputation of the place without discouraging them? This should be a time of hope, adventure, and learning… and yet I cannot in good conscience neglect to warn her of it’s reputation. What would you do with your own child or niece or nephew?
I am considering a bulk purchase with some co-workers to try to reduce costs on several Kidde Silhouette smoke detector/alarm units. These units differ form the crappy builder ones in most homes in four ways:
I think the real costs comes out to be a wash, but these fancy detectors mean less ladder climbing and annoyance for me.
If your smoke detectors are 10 years old, you should replace the entire detector.
If you are replacing expensive 9v batteries every year (and you should be) that adds up, and this might be a better option.
If you are interested; let me know.
Update: David discovered that this specific detector is only good at detecting actual smoke from open flames and not so good at detecting the ionization from slow smoldering electrical fires. We may end up doing a mixed solution with some of these and some that use two methods of detection.
Due to the long rains, soggy ground, and likely very low public turnout the wise coordinators of the Colonial Plantation Event this weekend in Media, PA have Cancelled the event.
If you were planning to attend, find other plans.
I am “strangely comfortable” with this turn of events (the thought of spending all weekend in cold rain was a bit depressing I will confess… and I generally like rain).
On November 3rd, Virginia holds it’s most important state-wide general election in about a decade. Registered voters will be able to pick Virginia’s next Governor, Lt Governor, and Attorney General. Voters in each of Virginia’s 100 house of delegates districts will be able to pick their next delegate to the state legislature.
In order to vote in the general election, voters must be registered by October 5th! You can check your voter registration status online and learn how to register here:
http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/Misc/Frequently_Asked_Questions.html
This election is critical because the 2010 census triggered redistricting will happen while the people elected this election are in office. All state elections are important if you are concerned with what Virginia does with your money and what laws get made, and you should be if you live here or pay taxes here.
The State Board of Elections Website has candidate lists for all the Delegate’s races in PDF format here:
http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/documents/List_of_Cidates_By_Office_District[HOD].pdf
You can also find out what is on your ballot here:
https://www.voterinfo.sbe.virginia.gov/PublicSite/Public/FT2/PublicElections.aspx
You can find out which district you are in by looking at your own voter registration card, or by entering your full zip code at Project Vote Smart:
http://www.votesmart.org/
The calendar of events pertaining to this election (registration deadline, absentee voting dates, etc) is here:
http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/documents/Election_Calendars_Schedules/09NOV_CAL.pdf
Election Officers are frequently needed in just about every precinct, so contact your County Election officer if you want to work as an election officer. I recommend that every voter do this at least once in their life, it is a long day for relatively little financial reward, but you will understand the system a lot better and have participated in our great democracy.
Virginia: please vote in this very important election.
The contracting firm I am currently working for, Pivotal-IT has several Quality Assurance openings at all levels, and one (possibly more soon) Linux/Unix Systems Administrator openings. Check out the postings on Pivotal-IT/Careers. At least one of the work centers is in Sterling, VA near Cascades Parkway and Route 7. I like Pivotal a lot and have been working for/through them since June.
You may be shocked to learn that I simply do not believe Bob McDonnell when he disavows his own controversial thesis ideology. McDonnell has be amazingly firm in his commitment to those right-wing ideals throughout nearly all of his long political career. It is either commendable or laughable that in 18 years of politics, over the 20 years since that thesis was written, Bob McDonnell did not change one bit until he began actively campaigning for the governor’s office. No growth, no admission of error, no reversal until suddenly his extreme views become baggage for seeking higher office. I find that reprehensible, calculated, dishonest, and way too convenient to be believed. Sorry Bob; you can’t run from your past that easily unless you really have forgotten it.
If you’d written that thesis then gradually changed over the years, I might find it a fiction harder to dismiss; but you didn’t. You have been opposed to privacy, humanity, education, and equality for a very long time; I do not believe that you have suddenly seen the light. Your “heavenly lies” will not work on this unbeliever. As recently as 2001 you voted against equal pay for women. You actively pursued at least 10 of the goals in your thesis that you now disavow throughout your 14 years in the general assembly. While in the assembly, you voted to forbid private companies from extending insurance benefits to domestic partners. That is not even government’s place!
Where are my Libertarian friends? Call this “government should only be big to monitor your bedroom” clown out and help defeat him.
Where is the outrage about McDonnell’s positions on women’s rights and equality in the work place?
I am offended as a Buddhist by McDonnell’s theocratic ideals. I am offended as a married man by McDonnell’s treatment of women and gay friends. I am offended as a former divorcee by McDonnell’s attempt to make it hard for people who have made a mistake to correct their own mistake at minimal expense (No Fault Divorce).
It is outrageous that either of the two major parties in our country can even think of backing this man. It is also completely unbelievable that McDonnell’s sudden shift towards more moderate positions is so perfectly timed to coincide with his serious run for the governor’s office.
He is clearly dishonest and is not even apologetic about it. It is also scary the kinds of ideals that Regent University’s propaganda agenda in education fosters.
Update: wow, I wish I had read Vivian Paige’s excellent posting on the same subject before I wrote this, she is far more eloquent than I am, and her posting on Bob McDonnell’s World is definitely worth a reading.
Here is a big picture article about health care options available around the world and (interestingly) all in some use here in the USA today…
http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2009/Senate/Maps/Aug17-s.html#1
It helps put things in perspective anyway.
