tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39169202024-03-07T04:45:58.298-05:00ZellynBlogging since 1963Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.comBlogger239125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-58976075297900371182011-08-02T13:06:00.000-04:002011-08-02T13:06:30.130-04:00Tim Bray on RepublicansHeh.<br />
<blockquote>
There may be one or two Republican readers out there, and to them I’m sorry, but in the Dubya-and-since era, treating that party as substantially either crazy or stupid is a fairly mainstream position. Possibly the Republicans are right that homosexuality weakens marriage and tax cuts don’t cause deficits and imprisoning a world-leading proportion of your population increases public safety and deregulating the finance industry is good economics and invading large Middle-Eastern nations (then staying) improves America’s security, as does spending more on the military than the rest of the world put together. And maybe the rest of the world is wrong on these things. I doubt it, though.</blockquote>
-- <a href="http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2011/07/31/Talking-Points-Memo">Tim Bray</a>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-78829618505269227492010-03-13T20:41:00.001-05:002010-03-13T20:43:33.764-05:00Things I would like to build (real world)<div><ul><li>A <a href="http://www.pdracer.com/">puddle duck racer</a></li><li>An <a href="http://orbcamp.com/">orb</a></li></ul></div>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-81227476426316155612010-03-13T20:30:00.003-05:002010-03-13T20:42:17.012-05:00Things I would like to build (software)<div><ul><li>A python equivalent of <a href="http://wiki.opscode.com/display/chef/Home">Chef</a> or <a href="http://reductivelabs.com/products/puppet/">Puppet</a></li><li>A python equivalent of <a href="http://vagrantup.com/">Vagrant</a></li><li>A new auth system for <a href="http://www.djangoproject.com/">Django</a> that works with: <a href="http://openid.net/">OpenID</a>/<a href="http://oauth.net/">OAuth</a>, <a href="http://developers.facebook.com/connect.php">Facebook Connect</a>, <a href="http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Automatic_Authentication">Facebook app authentication</a>, <a href="http://www.jasig.org/cas">CAS</a>, etc.</li></ul></div><div><a href="http://reductivelabs.com/products/puppet/"></a></div>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-9415919915450149362009-10-11T02:08:00.004-04:002009-10-11T02:24:13.550-04:00Adventures with Django<p>On Thursday evening, I gave a short talk at <a href="http://pyatl.org/">PyAtl</a> on <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/zellyn/django-at-the-ajc">Django at the AJC</a>. It went well, and there were a good number of questions afterward on our system and architecture, as well as on how Django is perceived within the company.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, our ridiculously amazing Django group at the AJC is being broken up. In a move that makes a lot of sense, Cox is pulling web development into a central group that will take care of 128 radio stations, television stations, and newspapers across the country. However, they're shrinking the number of development positions by almost half. We are keeping a team at the AJC, but it too is shrinking by half, and shifting focus a bit to deal more with legacy system integration and AJC-specific projects.</p>
<p>We have to apply for positions within the new organizations: resumes, interviews, the whole shebang. While completely understandable, the uncertainty, unknown timeframe, conflicting schedules, and confusing process are making things difficult for everyone involved. The 50% shrinkage means that we all have to be looking for jobs outside of AJC and Cox too, just in case. The AJC has already lost the best manager I have ever worked for, and I'm sure there will be more.</p>
<p>These are certainly exciting times to be working in the media industry: whether exciting-good, or exciting-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_you_live_in_interesting_times">bad</a>, it's sometimes hard to tell! I will be more than happy if I get to keep doing what I'm doing now, either at the AJC or in the new central group.</p>
<p>And if you are looking to hire Django developers: sadly, I may have a few amazing candidates for you shortly.</p>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-86690371460668186652009-05-23T11:29:00.004-04:002009-05-23T11:45:12.944-04:00Biking<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxUUHOSYrN5UbZBs3wO2uvAtIRZvMhsaRKJf4Ws0bIVKsWsrDH7RFq7n12mbIwsVle0FZiFLwO3TpHK8cPImCuVN7iEAiTObczsHz4mBVu7aM59l3g5pXFoNifVjDWIx3DyfoKnA/s1600-h/05-16-09_1349.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxUUHOSYrN5UbZBs3wO2uvAtIRZvMhsaRKJf4Ws0bIVKsWsrDH7RFq7n12mbIwsVle0FZiFLwO3TpHK8cPImCuVN7iEAiTObczsHz4mBVu7aM59l3g5pXFoNifVjDWIx3DyfoKnA/s320/05-16-09_1349.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339043572118570754" border="0" /></a>Last weekend, we joined Charles and Dawn and Leif, and Mark and Donna Marie and Gwennan and Will, on a crazy adventure, biking to Anniston, Alabama.
The first day, Bevin and Dawn rode 27 miles, while Charles pulled Leif in a bike trailer. We joined up with Donna Marie (in the minivan) for lunch in Rockmart, and then the girls and Leif joined the minivan crew while the guys rode the remaining 56 miles to Anniston. Foolishly, I decided to join them. I think I only slowed them down by an hour or two, and only cramped up badly enough to have to walk once!
The next day, Bevin and I biked 44 miles back to Cedartown, keeping just ahead of a rain storm that unfortunately caught everyone else while they were waiting for babies to finish bottles, etc. The picture shows Bevin and I just inside Georgia, looking back towards the border where the Silver Comet Trail becomes the Chief Ladiga trail.
The stretch of trail from Anniston to Cedartown is beautiful, and although it passes through some decently large hills, it follows an old rail line as is almost perfectly flat. Between Piedmont, AL and the border, the trail criss-crosses Terrapin Creek repeatedly over beautiful bridges.
So, 71 miles for Bevin and 127 miles for me in two days! A new record, for sure. Weather permitting, Bevin and I are planning on biking from the border to the beginning of the Silver Comet trail on Monday… we'll let you know how it goes!Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-27390508464406193652009-03-15T20:31:00.002-04:002009-03-15T20:51:55.996-04:00Martinis on the Titanic<p>I started working for the <a href="http://www.ajc.com/">city paper</a> in Atlanta in October, almost a year and a half ago. As we <a href="http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/freshloaf/2009/03/11/ajc-layoffs-this-week-or-next/">brace for layoffs</a>, Clay Shirky has <a href="http://www.shirky.com/weblog/2009/03/newspapers-and-thinking-the-unthinkable/">reminded me</a> why these are such interesting times to be in, and especially to work for a newspaper.</p><p>We are watching the complete destruction of the print-based publishing world we all grew up in. The internet is doing to the printing press what the printing press did to hand-copying illuminated texts, and things are getting fascinating.</p><p>Working at a paper gives me a ringside seat. I sometimes morbidly joke that we're sipping martinis on the deck of the Titanic, watching the water and the great ship as she slides under the waves. But it's important to remember that this is not the death of Journalism. It's just the ruthless removal of all the artificial frictions of publishing. In the post-post-Gutenberg world, <span style="font-style: italic;">this</span> is publishing. Already, almost a quarter of the earth's population has internet access, and could theoretically read this blog post. That's almost as crazy as the fact that about 60% of the earth's population has cell phone access, and could hit 10 or 15 buttons to call me and talk right now!</p><p>Crazy times… and exciting. Let's see where we go next!
</p>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-47226005366669206072008-11-14T14:35:00.002-05:002008-11-14T14:39:09.916-05:00Being famous takes work<p>I haven't posted a fake beauty post in a while, so here's something in a similar vein: <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/nov/14/busy-bodies/">Celebrity beauty is a full-time job</a>.</p>
<p>It's depressing how “attractiveness attributes” (low weight/high weight, no tan/suntan) match with whatever you'd need disposable income and leisure time to accomplish.</p>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-60524671117818268042008-11-05T01:44:00.003-05:002008-11-05T01:53:21.575-05:00Who is Barack Obama?<p>The next president of the United States of America!</p>
<p>What to say? We watched the coverage at Ben and Jen's house, then drove down Peachtree and part of Auburn at about 1am to enjoy sporadic revelry.</p>
<p>I am excited and honored to have taken part in this historic election. I will proudly tell my children that I voted for Barack Obama.</p>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-41869828142770922252008-11-01T16:40:00.002-04:002008-11-01T16:45:13.911-04:00Wicked<p>Last night, we went to see Wicked at the Fox. It was awesome. We got the last two seats available, so we couldn't see the whole stage, and we couldn't hear a lot of the words because, well, it was the Fox, but it was still awesome. I am a total sucker for musicals, though: I even liked High School Musical, which we watched the other evening.</p>
<p>Today is perfect weather, part of which I spent dozing in the sun on the lawn at my parents-in-law's house, which makes a very nice end to a rather horrible week. I have been calling insurance people all week, and finding out that my poor Malibu is “totalled” — the repairs will cost more than 70% of the book value. RIP Malibu: 1999-2008.</p>
<p>I should edit this more, but I have vague intentions of following the one-post-per-day thing for November, so I want to be able to see improvement over time!</p>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-30494141243470852452008-10-23T11:40:00.000-04:002008-10-23T11:41:01.472-04:00Amen“Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim American kid believing that he or she could be president?” — <a href="http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/10/19/powell/">Colin Powell</a>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-43906657553917557432008-10-20T20:46:00.005-04:002008-10-20T21:46:12.544-04:00Politics<p>Oh damn it! I am excited about Obama becoming president. I am not impartial. I am not detached, disinterested, jaded, cynical, skeptical, disbelieving, or apathetic. I will be disappointed if Obama is not elected. And I will be disappointed if he does not live up to the promise he has shown.</p>
<p>In 1994, I voted in my first election, in the first free South African elections, driving down to Atlanta with my Dad. To my shame and everlasting regret, I didn't vote for the ANC, thinking in some teenage-logical way that since the result was certain, keeping things slightly more balanced was important. I voted against Nelson Mandela.</p>
<p>I learned that my vote may not count mathematically, tactically, or practically, but voting is not just numeric: mysteriously, you vote also with your heart. The slips of paper, the tallies, glow with something borrowed from the human spirit.</p>
<center>….…</center>
<p>Of course, I see flaws, inconsistencies, dangers, reversals, politicking, unknowns. I don't think things are simple, and I don't pretend to understand enough to know how things like economics and foreign policy really work. I know that to some extent, all we see are polished, manufactured images. I want to avoid the mindless adulation/hate and/or hate/adulation craziness, and the endless batting back and forth of pre-rolled talking points. But I also want to avoid the cynical disengagement, the simplifying decision to assume that all candidates are equally fake.</p>
<p>For better or for worse, I like both candidates. I believe they are both gloriously and ingloriously human, they both care deeply, they both struggle to do right and best, they are both motivated by the fair, the noble, the admirable, as well as the other crap. Are we not all? I like McCain, and think he would make a fine president. But right now, Obama has my heart!</p>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-24367281733622740382008-10-20T19:58:00.003-04:002008-10-20T20:06:37.617-04:00Weekend Camping Trip<p>This weekend, Bevin and I went camping at Lake Conasauga with the Rothnies and the Sims. It was beautiful: wet and misty at first (and freezing at night), and sunnier as time went on (and freezing at night). We left on Friday and returned on Sunday afternoon, taking it easy and not feeling the need to hurry. It was Spenser's first camping trip — he did great, and loved it, although he got a lot of, “You're very pretty to be out <i>here</i>” comments because the poodle people gave him a super-poofy hairdo.</p>
<p>On the way home, we ate at our favourite Mexican restaurant in Ellijay, out on the dog-friendly porch — cheap and delicious!</p>
<p>We'd love to go camping more often!</p>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-8160215653056999122008-09-19T18:41:00.002-04:002008-09-19T18:45:56.848-04:00On page numbers and electronic texts<p>I recently signed up for an account on <a href="http://www.readernaut.com/">Readernaut</a> (still in closed ßeta), a beautifully and thoughtfully designed reading community site. It uses page numbers to track progress, giving the option of avoiding “spoilers” by hiding notes from other readers pertaining to unread pages.</p>
<p>Alas, I am now reading mostly on my new Kindle, which displays an abstract “position” but no page numbers. I'd love for Amazon to include “real-word” page numbers in its electronic book format, but unfortunately, the problem goes deeper…</p>
<p>Right now, I'm reading Robert Louis Stevenson's <i>The Black Arrow</i> on my Kindle. I found an HTML-converted Project Gutenberg text, and cleaned it up a bit myself before converting it and loading it onto my Kindle. Although it was undoubtedly displayed on pages of a book long ago, the numbers are long since gone.</p>
<p>And what about articles, essays, or even longer works written for the web? They never even had page numbers! Should they?</p>
<p>Readernaut's creator, Nathan Borror, argues that for digitized books at least, page numbers are <a href="http://twitter.com/sketch22/statuses/927586633">essential UI</a>, and their absence is a design flaw. I have to agree.</p>
<p>For my <i>Black Arrow</i> conversion to include page numbers, Project Gutenberg would have to settle on a simple text markup convention for noting page numbers, we'd have to come up with a matching convention in HTML, and Amazon would have to teach the Kindle about page numbers. Let's get started!</p>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-49280663386852606842008-07-22T22:18:00.006-04:002008-07-23T10:18:23.698-04:00The Dark Knight<p>Bevin and I went to see the latest batman movie tonight. It was extremely well done, and very suspenseful. Overall, it was... okay.</p>
<p>I say “okay” because it was so psychotic. Other than that, it was pretty amazing. I think perhaps it will grow on me, though...</p>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-32845355262295576542008-07-16T16:45:00.000-04:002008-07-16T16:46:16.297-04:00Doctor Horrible<p><a href="http://drhorrible.com/">Doctor Horrible</a></p>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-77454018889392086722008-07-08T11:07:00.003-04:002008-07-08T11:09:22.345-04:00Techie Stuff<p>For all of you out there who would like to learn how to build web pages, Opera is publishing a free <a href="http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/1-introduction-to-the-web-standards-cur/">Web Standards Curriculum</a>, <i>“a course designed to give anyone a solid grounding in web design/development, no matter who they are.”</i></p>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-78580745648355980882008-07-07T10:30:00.003-04:002008-07-07T10:32:35.453-04:00Ze Frank's Experiment<p>Interesting that the <a href="http://www.zefrank.com/zesblog/archives/2008/07/what_i_did_last.html">two write-ups (as of now) of Ze Frank's Facebook experiment</a> both record amazingly productive, enjoyable weeks while cut off from facebook.</p>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-90349748356705507492008-04-22T14:57:00.003-04:002008-04-24T17:33:10.880-04:00suds<p>If you're using SOAP in Python, give <a href="https://fedorahosted.org/suds">suds</a> a try. It's very simple to use, and the maintainers are very responsive.</p>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-25629561002880837942008-04-12T21:50:00.002-04:002008-04-12T21:53:47.196-04:00Two Good Movies<p>Two surprisingly good movies this weekend: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0891527/">Lions for Lambs</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119643/">Meet Joe Black</a>. Not that they have much in common with each other. Actually, I suppose the questions of mortality and purpose and meaning are common to many good films!</p>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-81627337124308892008-03-24T09:02:00.001-04:002008-03-24T09:03:18.816-04:00Ghost Ride the Prius“Oh man, I went to the Too Short show last night. So hyphy man, so hyphy. You should come by some time and we’ll ghost ride the Prius.”
—<a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/03/23/91-san-francisco/">stuffwhitepeoplelike</a>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-2277555783753961932008-03-19T22:36:00.000-04:002008-03-19T22:36:17.553-04:00Achieving Nirvana at Quizno's<p>Yesterday, I watched <a href="http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2008/03/jill-bolte-taylors-amazing-ted.html">Jill Bolte Taylor's TED talk</a> about her stroke, and about left/right brain functions. Then I walked down the street to buy a cookie. I tried to experience the world as she described in her talk, and it worked! I enjoyed the buzz of human activity in the crowded, noisy sandwich shop in a way I have seldom enjoyed it before.</p>
<p>I usually “zone out” by retreating into specific thoughts, like holding my breath and diving underwater (computer programmers are <i>very</i> good at this). In fact, I usually experience the world that way—I am seldom on the surface, noticing my surroundings. It makes me very quick at logical reasoning (useful or not), and very bad at experiencing the world of my senses. I think you would be surprised how little I notice of the world around me if you could step inside my thoughts!</p>
<p>During my walk, I managed to “zone in” and float on the surface - noticing only the shapes and colors of writing or the sounds of talking. It was a very interesting experience. I understood for the first time how some people find being in a crowd energizing—when the sounds, the music, the din of overlapping conversations were not an unwelcome distraction to be blocked out, they became a welcome presence of activity, of the energy of life happening around me. It was fascinating, and oddly relaxing.</p>
<hr width="50%"/>
<p>I realized during that walk that I risk information addiction. Or left-brained, language-based concept addiction. And that I need nature—somehow the colors, shapes, and and movement of natural things are calming—almost like they seep in through the eyes and ears and gently press the "degauss button" on my brain. Or perhaps it's more like turning the etch-a-sketch upside down and letting a thousand tiny pebbles wipe away the lines and figures.</p>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-76832052372044719012008-03-19T22:08:00.000-04:002008-03-19T22:08:04.518-04:00Nerdfotainment<p>I can't always take RandsInRepose, but sometimes he's dead on. <a href="http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2008/03/11/nerdfotainment.html">Nerdfotainment</a></p>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-28614581296462853572008-03-19T22:07:00.000-04:002008-03-19T22:07:25.774-04:00TwitterSnarkingverb: to make snarky comments on twitter or other messaging media about a meeting, while the meeting is in progress.Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-86391524061548654432008-02-22T17:42:00.002-05:002008-02-22T17:43:16.830-05:00Thanks!<p>To whomever the kind soul is that found my ID badge and Marta pass and came to my office and turned them in, thanks!</p>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916920.post-39201530945190047742008-02-19T09:32:00.002-05:002008-02-19T09:32:51.808-05:00Stuff White People Like<p><a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com">Stuff White People Like</a></p>Zellynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07004628970214511962noreply@blogger.com1