Words
- A Super-Computer Named P.H.I.L. at the Moment of Conception
Sooo… I have access to piles and I mean piles of older non-functional laptops in various states of disrepair. I also have access to the resources to bring at least the CPUs of a handful of them back online. Many times a laptop might get junked when the screen goes bad or is broken and the cost of replacing it is near the cost of a newer better computer. This latter sort would be perfect for my plan because in the initial scenario only one of them needs a working video port, and none of them need their screens. I also have access to a defunct PowerMac G5 — a lemon of a liquid-cooled multiprocessor monster that was also the end of an era for MORE…
- In Which I Digress: PyVenv v0.0 released
UPDATE: As pointed out in the comments section, Python 3.3 includes support for virtual environments, and they’ve decided to call the module, you guessed it… pyvenv. Great minds really do think alike. Anyhow, I’m renaming my project because Python’s “pyvenv” is way cooler than mine (built in support only adds to my project), and besides my project is stalled. So everywhere below that you see, “PyVenv,” I want you to substitute, “PyBrat,” please. Enjoy. In Which I Digress… My new job as a ‘puter tech has left me with little time for projects — hence the infrequency of my recent posts here — but I did hit a milestone on a project I’ve been tinkering with for some time. It’s a useless little app to anyone MORE…
- No More (Culture) War! Stand for human rights and civil liberty, Mr. Obama.
No, I’m not done talking about the 2012 election, yet. In fact, I won’t be done for the next four years. I voted for Barack Obama because I wanted to hold his feet to the fire, because I think he’ll listen (somewhat). LBJ was elected and then pressured to get behind the Civil Rights Act. Similarly, I voted for President Obama to a second term so I could pressure him on the issues. I’ve written more about social justice here than any other single issue, and my stance should be clear: I’m firmly on the progressive side of the fence. I’ve sided with the targets of the culture warriors. You know, the Others. To me, it’s a matter of simple conscience — of morals — MORE…
- In Which I Digress: Star Trek, Linux, and the Joy of Hacks
As per the norm, I’ve been too busy to write the next piece in my series offering unsolicited advice to President Obama. “Too busy with what,” you ask? Too busy hacking. Not “War Games” hacking or Anonymous-style hacktivism — nothing so exciting. I’m talking about old-school hacking — otherwise known as “coding” or simply, “computer programming.” It’s an oddly rare craft in this digital age. Most folks’ idea of how to use a computer revolves around using a few appz and the Internet. Damned few of us are interested in transcending mere User status and poking around inside the machine. It’s just a toy or a tool to Users. To hackers a computer is kind of like a blank canvas, or a fresh piece of MORE…
- Obama’s Mandate a Victory in the Culture War – Let’s Keep It That Way
In this series I’m arguing that since Obama’s in his second term, progressives should pressure him to lean more left on issues of war, climate change, human rights and civil liberties. My next couple posts will focus on the last pair in that list. The progressive stance on the related issues of human rights and civil liberties are neatly encapsulated in the concept of social justice, rooted in the ideal of a socially justice society “based on the principles of equality and solidarity, understands and values human rights, and recognizes the dignity of every human being.” But to achieve the ideal, all the layers of society must first understand why social injustice exists, and how to prevent it. Achieving a just society is so difficult MORE…
- No More War: more advice for the President from a godless prole
Last time I wrote briefly about some of the big issues President Obama could tackle with his progressive mandate in his second term, unencumbered as he now is by the need to kiss centrist ass. If he’s going to betray some subsection of his constituency, I think he should betray the fickle middle ground — the undecided voters who only swung left at the last minute so they could win the pool. In that last piece, I highlighted four issue areas that a 2nd term president can better address than a 1st termer — war, climate change, human rights, and civil liberties — and talked a little about war. I realized I had more to say about war. I’d like the President to not only MORE…
- Whew! That was a rough election. What now for Godless Leftists?
I couldn’t even write about the election while it was happening. Too much information coming in too fast and I’m not one to make snap judgments. It’s a problem on timed exams, I’ll tell ya now. Obviously, I’m a total leftist. It’s something of a family tradition on my dad’s side: take the position furthest to the left and to pull the middle ground away from the damnable center. It’s a way of life, really. So despite my busy workload of late, between school and a new paying gig, I became obsessed with the 2012 U.S. elections. All of them. I’ve been on pins and needles, for instance, over the ousting of Alan West (TP, Florida) from his congressional seat. But now that the election MORE…
- Atheism+ and Climate Change: It’s in the Atheism, not the Plus
The ‘plus’ in Atheism+ is for social justice, but there’s an ongoing conversation on A+ friendly sites about whether or not environmental justice belongs on the list, as well. I think it does, but not just because environments include societies — each impacts the other, and an injustice to one can become an injustice to the other. Here we find ourselves in the ethical and philosophical ‘plus’ wing of A+. I would assert further that every atheist and skeptic — even those who are nonplussed by social justice issues (pun intended). Why? It’s simple, really: physics. Almost every atheist maintains that reasoning by the scientific method ought to replace believing by blind faith, and most atheists rely heavily on physics to confine gods to ever MORE…