Hmmm... been a couple days. I finally got to the point at work that I can take vacation. So... I took vacation. And I spent it sitting around working on websites. All three of the Dragonfly sites are now rebuilt with unified templates and a PHP base. To the best of my knowledge, everything is updated and functional. I will, however, admit to the very slight possibility that I may have missed a thing or two. The main site is Dragonfly. The 2nd is dorei, which is just a portal for some friends. Well.... one friend at this point. The third site is private. If you want to know about it, let me know. I'm not trying to be cryptic or sneaky, it's just a site for friends, and isn't for everyone. (e-mail "webmaster" at this domain)

Anyway... They're all up and running. All based on the same template, with color mods and basic changes inherent in the sites. I like them. They turned out quite well. ... And I learned a few new tricks.

That's the good.

The evil.... well... that would be the blog-spam. Friday night I got about a dozen spams to the blog--all of them the same. Grrr. Evil. Hsssssss.

Oh.. and someone put a Bush/Cheney sign in my yard. GRRRRRR.

I ripped it up. If others want to express their political opinions in their yards, that's their perogative. But putting it in [i]MY[/i] yard? Up yours, you little bastards.

EDIT: Emptied the litterbox this morning... the evil sign is now under the used cat litter. Good place for it.

{t}

Hee hee... Maybe I [i]am[/i] a geek after all.

I spent yesterday rebuilding a small site as all css instead of graphics-heavy; it's hosted elsewhere, and the host has had to take some drastic measures in regards to graphics, making the page virtually unreadable. I really like the new layout. Very clean and simple... elegant. Much easier to read, and it won't suffer from broken image tags.

Today, I was up early and started playing around with some graphics and layout changes for this site. Then I did a little research to find out about using php to create templates. It turns out that what I wanted to do takes [b]one line of code[/b]. And a [i]short[/i] line of code, at that. It required that I go through *all* my pages, fix any internal links, and strip out all the duplicate "framing" code--the stuff that was the same on every page. That was 99.44% of the work. I even got the gallery to fit into the new format. The only thing I haven't gotten into the new format is the calendar, and I'm not going to. There are size factors that just make it ugly. But I don't mind. There are enough comonalities with the the theme I built for the calendar that it fits.

Hee hee... I have a php-based CMS (of sorts). I feel so Geeky. I won't use this on geekniche... at least not for a while. That site is a bit complex, and it doesn't get enough use to warrant the effort it would take. I'll probably change over the members' site next weekend. I have Friday off (my first official vacation day!) and absolutely no plans, whatsoever. Whee!

So... go check out the site, and see what's been changed. The content is pretty much all the same, but it's cleaner, prettier, and PHP!!

Yep... I'm a geek.

I just got an IM from a name I didn't recognize.

It turns out it's a lovely young lady that I was good friends with back in my Texas days. She stumbled across my website and took the time to say "hello".

It's [i]SO[/i] good to hear from her. It's also very nice to know that people don't forget about me when I move away.

{much happy-dancing ensues}

Get me outta here!!!!!!

(Reallydon't wanna be at work right now.)

I'm sitting in a different office (actually an office, not a cubicle) for a while today. They tore apart our cubicles at work in order to move things around for us (my new space is *huge*) and they didn't get the electrical hooked back up before they left. Whee.

So, I'm in the office of the safety guy, who's on vacation this week. He's also in charge of ergonomics as part of the safety/workers' comp stuff. His computer is set up in the most [i]uncomfortable and unusalbe[/i] configuation I have ever seen. It's physically painful to use.

Ugh.

For those of you that link straight to here, rather than going through the front page (or for those of you who [i]do[/i] link through the front page, but are too oblivious to notice when things change), I thought I'd give you a head's-up. I've changed the entry page. I've been trying to learn a little bit of PHP and I finished my first homework assignment: Kymrian Tarot. I've had the random shield graphics for a long time now. Well... I added some stuff to it. Now, as each graphic pops up, there's a set of text that goes with it. The text is a little fortune. Currently there's only 25 of the total of 101. Writing these things is [i]hard[/i].

There will be more in the future.

I slept in this morning (well, woke up early, rolled over, woke up again, played with the laptop (yay wireless!), went back to sleep, woke up, laid there for a long time, [i]then[/i] got up) until after 9:30. That's astoundingly late for me. I'm usually up before my alarm goes off at 6. Then I went straight into the kitchen and started doing dishes. My kitchen has been a disaster area for the last month or more. I'd do some of the dishes, but not all of them, and then they'd start to pile up again.... it was bad. Well.. I hooked up my new toaster oven first (Mom got it for me because my old one died--it was only about 20 years old ) . Then I did dishes.

Then, about 11:00 or so, I sat down with my laptop and started looking up information on PHP and SQL. I found a few resources that were kinda okay, and pieced together a script to do what I wanted. That only took me about 7 hours.

BUT ... I got the script to work. It'll be showing up on my site in a little while. I still have a guam-load of typing to do for the text fields. And... it [i]may[/i] instigate a minor redesign of my site. Basically, it would involve moving some of the verbose text from the front page onto a new page, and making the front page a little simpler and more dynamic. My hope is that I can learn enough PHP to rebuild the site using PHP. If I'm right about how this stuff works, it would make it a lot easier for me to modify certain aspects that are site-wide. However... I'm not that good yet. I do know this: I won't be changing the design to one where it's main page that's a blog. That's just a little to common for my tastes. I want a site that's got diversity and interest--one that makes you dig just a little.

I know that I'm not exactly ranked as a "top 100" site... and I'm not trying to pretend that I am. But I do want to have something that's interesting. Hmmm.. I know there's a few of you who are regulars here. Any suggestions? I'm not saying I'm going to implement them, but I may. You know what I have here... What else would you like to see? Or what would you suggest I change? Is the navigation list too confusing? Would it be friendlier if I moved some content around? Let me know. I'm interested in hearing what you have to say.

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has decided to take up the case (actually, cases) involving the display of monuments to the Ten Commandments on state property. This is gonna be a brawl. Oh my... this is definitely gonna be a brawl.

On one side, we have those who believe in the separation of church and state {1}.
On the other side, we have those who say the Commandments are the foundation of our law.

I know where I stand in the debate.

Let me take a look at what the other side has to say. In order to do this, however, we have to first decide which Ten Commandments we're talking about. {2} Since the people who get all uppity about this subject are usually protestants, I'll use that one.

Statement:
The Ten Commandments are the basis for modern law.

The Evidence (quick summary)
The commentary. the score

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Nope. There are no laws specifying which gods get to be first, best, most popular, coolest, or any other adjective. In fact, this is expressly forbidden by the First Amendment. 0/1

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth...

Nope. There are no laws against sculpture, doll-making, lithography, or other artistic depictions of the various critters of the Earth. No laws against worshipping them, either. (See that First Amendment thing again). 0/2

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain...

Nope. There are no laws against saying "God, that was sooooo cool!" 0/3

4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy...

Nope. There are some remnants of "blue laws" which don't allow people to buy beer on Sunday, but these are abberations, not a "foundation of our law." They're also really annoying when you run out of Guiness during half-time, or discover a sudden need for Glen Morangie when you realize that tomorrow is monday and you have to go back to that really boring job you have. 0/4

5. Honor thy father and thy mother...

Well... Sorta. There are laws that specify that parents are legally responsible for the actions of their kids, and that kids are subject to the reasonable rules of their parents. But that's not really "honoring" them. That's more "trying to avoid being punished by them while still finding ways to get drunk and make out in the back seat." And it's certainly not a "foundation of our law" 0/5

6. Thou shalt not kill.

Okay. Yes. This most definitely is a basic and pervasive foundation of our legal system. 1/6

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Umm... again, not really. There are some laws out there against adultery, but they're mostly only used as a reason for divorce. I don't believe that there's a Bureau of Adultery and Parental Honoring (BAPH) out there. And... considering the habits of our Founding Fathers, I'm rather confident that they didn't enshrine "you're not allowed to get some on the side" as a foundation of our laws. 1/7

8. Thou shalt not steal.

Yep. That's another one. An expectation that people who take your stuff will be soundly punished is a basic premise of our legal system. 2/8

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Depends on how you read this. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and go with the perjury route. It is a basic premise of our legal system that lying in court, slander, and libel are wrong. You can't get away with that stuff. It's wrong, bad, naughty, and just not right. 3/9

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.

If it's a "foundation of our law" to not want what your neighbor has, then throw a wall up around the country and start handing out the striped pajamas. Far from being bannned by our legal system, it's probably the single most influencial foundation for our way of life. We're lustful and greedy little bastards; that's what capitalism is all about. Nothing wrong with wanting things--not even the nieghbor's wife (especially if she's really hot and friendly and likes to sunbathe in tiny little bikini, her skin glistening with tropical oil, the smell wafting through the knot-hole in the privacy fence... err.. um... nevermind.) 3/10

30% Not exactly what I'd call a great foundation. But then, I'm used to building things on concrete--not religion.

{1} Just for the record, this is not spelled out in the Constitution--it is based on ideals presented by James Madison (? -- I'll check on that later) and interpretations of the First Amendment by the courts.

{2} I have no associate with this site, haven't read through all of it, and probably don't agree with 99.44% of what they have to say... but they do have this nifty little comparison chart which is handy for this post.

There's a discussion going on in a friend's Live Journal about mandatory voting--would it be a good idea for the US to institute?

The general concensus seems to be "Yeah, it's a great idea, but it'll never happen." I've tossed in my own comments on the subject, but I'd like to expand on them a bit, and think that this is probably a better venue for doing that.

Why not institute mandatory voting in the US? Get people to the ballot box.

I'd reverse that question: Why [i]should[/i] we institute it? What will it help? What good will it do?

I'm certainly no expert in the mechanics of voting, but I still have some ideas on the concept.

The thought behind mandatory voting is that it will get more people involved in the political process. Well... it would get more people into the polls, but would it actually get people more [i]involved[/i]? I doubt it. I'm going to pull some random numbers out of the air to use for examples. Let's say that there are 300 million eligible voters in the US. Let's say that turn out is about 33%. So... 100 million voters go to the ballot box. What would happen if that went up to 300 million?

Best case scenario? Nothing. Actually... less than nothing. The additional 200 million voters are most likely going to be statistically identical to the 100 million that already vote. After the election, the winners and losers would be the same, the percentages would be the same, just the raw numbers would be bigger. So... no effect. However, there would be the cost of printing 3 times as many ballots, shipping them to the polls, processing them, counting them, certifying them, destroying them, etc. There would also be costs associated with enforcement. I'm not saying that it wouldn't be worth the cost, just saying that there would [i]be[/i] a cost.

The other likely scenario? 200 million yay-hoos voting based on no information. Do we [i]really[/i] want 200 million additional [b]uninformed[/b] voters going to the polls? You can force people to show up, but you can't force them to learn anything ahead of time. How many of those additional 200 million votes would be based on who has the catchiest TV ad? Considering how many of the [i]current[/i] votes are likely based on that criteria, I shudder to think about what it would be if everyone was required to vote.

The flip side of this is a commentary on the perception of voting: Voting has nothing to do with being patriotic, being involved, or being a good citizen. Too many people walk down to the poll on the first Tuesday in November, pull a lever or check a box or touch a screen, pat themselves on the back for being such a good citizen, then walk away and ignore politics for the next 364 days. How many of those people actually pay attention to the actions of those they vote for? How many know which bills their senator voted for or against--and [i]why[/i] they voted that way? How many know what the laws are? Hell... how many can, in their own words, say what the amendements of the Bill of Rights are?

Voting does not a good citizen make.

Mandatory voting won't change that.

So... I spent all day Saturday playing with iCalendar, setting up the calendars, then modifying the theme--changing the css, creating new graphics and backgrounds, fitting it in with the theme of the rest of my site. You know... Geek stuff. +25 gp (geek points) to me!

I zipped up all the changes, and posted them to geek niche on the "goodies" page. Then I looked at the geek niche forum, and decided to do the same thing with the theme I built for there...

...and somewhere in the process, I managed to completely screw up a config file--to the point that I couldn't read a single word anywhere in the forum--including the admin pages. I ended up (after much trial, and even more error) giving up and just creating a new database for the forum. Then screwed up the import of data. -200 gp.

I did learn a bunch about my SQL admin panel (+25 gp), about modifying db exports (+15 gp), about truncating tables (+5 gp) , and about installing data into existing tables (+25 gp) .

The last 10 points is because I'm cool enough to get a whole big baklavah sampler from my mom. 40 pieces of various kinds of honey-nut-&-philo goodness.