New Photography set format! What do you think?
2 minute read
October 16, 2009, 8:58 PM
Okay… the way-too-long-anticipated Urban Demolition II photo set is now available in Photography. This photo set is like “part two” in Photography’s quest to reinvent itself, to become distinct from both Life and Times and the Journal.
The first attempt at a format change was Operation Sea Arrrgh. While it moved away from the old format, it didn’t go as far as I should have taken it, and looks kind of like a bunch of photos just thrown together – despite that it took a while to put it all together in a way that I liked. The one thing I liked about the Sea Arrrgh set from a design standpoint is that it places the photo captions on the full-size page, and not on the photo set page itself, which allows me to be a little more creative with the layout, because I don’t have to allow for potentially wordy captions when doing layout.
Now with Urban Demolition II, I’ve laid it out more like a gallery, with the same click-for-the-full-size-images procedure as always. The images on the set page are smaller, and there are more of them on a page. I like this layout because it tells a little story, and then lays out the images that go with that part of a story in a grid format.
So now I need to know if you like it or not. If you like it, let me know. Use the contact link and drop me a note. More importantly, though, if you don’t like it, I want to know what you don’t like, and why you don’t like it. I am looking for constructive criticism here. I want to know if you like it, and why you like it, and also if you don’t like it and why.
Continue reading…Categories: Schumin Web meta
On Sunday, the LGBT community and their allies took to the streets…
7 minute read
October 13, 2009, 8:19 PM
On Sunday, thousands came out into the streets to demonstrate in support of civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people. I’ve always considered this to be a bit of a no-brainer. What part of “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws,” in the Fourteenth Amendment do some people not understand? Obviously, to some, all people are created equal, but some are more equal than others.
Thus we had the National Equality March. We marched for civil rights for the LGBT community in all fifty states. I’m not gay, but equal protection under the laws for LGBT individuals, including the right to marry whomever they wish, is something I feel very strongly about. After all, marriage in a legal sense has nothing to do with any alleged supreme being, or even anything to do with love. The minister on Spaceballs had it right when he said, “I am trying to conduct a wedding here, which has nothing to do with love.” While love certainly makes a marriage last, marriage ultimately is a contract between two people. And as a contract, it falls under the law, which according to the US Constitution, must apply equally to all.
Ahead of the march, much of DC’s radical community was deciding how it was going to handle the march. Of course, we support the underlying concept, but some of our views differ from the mainstream. Calls for pink-and-black blocs were put out, and ultimately there were two locations tossed about. One was for a pink-and-black bloc meeting on the Ellipse at 10 AM on Sunday. Another called for a pink-and-black bloc to meet at Dupont Circle at 11:00. As I considered the Ellipse location a little far-flung as far as Metro accessibility went, and a little bit early, I chose the Dupont Circle location. Thus I took Metro from Wheaton to Dupont Circle and arrived a bit early – around 10:30. I was early, but better to be early and waiting at the appointed location than to be waiting on the train hoping to make it on time, or to be late and potentially miss what I was going for in the first place.
Categories: Activism, Black bloc
The raid of the Ideal Org was ideal in so many ways…
5 minute read
October 12, 2009, 6:44 PM
We had our first “real” raid at Scientology’s new Ideal Org at 1424 16th Street NW on Saturday. On our permit application, we listed a start time as 12:00 noon, and an end time of 8:00 PM, and I think we were at our peak around 6:00 in the evening. Very few stayed the entire eight hours, but all in all, it wasn’t too shabby, if you ask me, as this was a bigger crowd than some of the more recent “global” raids we’ve had in DC.
I showed up a little after 3:00. We had about five people at the Ideal Org, and as I would soon learn, a bunch of people at the Founding Org.
The Ideal Org was pretty quiet when I first arrived. Scientology spokesmodel Sylvia Stanard was there, Sadie was there, as well as a gentleman who smoked a lot.
Categories: Project Chanology
So this is the beard as of Saturday…
< 1 minute read
October 12, 2009, 5:39 PM
Categories: Myself
What exactly possesses people…
2 minute read
October 11, 2009, 11:55 PM
What exactly possesses people to bring their dogs to political demonstrations? Seriously, take a look…
Categories: Activism
And the ice has been broken…
4 minute read
October 10, 2009, 12:48 AM
Yes, the ice has been broken. Scientology’s new Ideal Org at 16th and P Street NW in Washington DC has officially been raided. And the first raid at the new location was a resounding success.
Going in, people weren’t quite sure how the foot traffic would be at this location. I try my best to only be in the area during the day, because spending too many late nights at the office starts to toe that fine line between go-getter and workaholic. Obviously, we would have a good amount of foot traffic right after 5:00 as people in 1400 16th Street and 1616 P Street (the office complex I work in on the same block) start to leave work. And, in fact, I saw five of my coworkers as they left work, plus some people from other organizations in our building. And then as the office traffic trailed off, the foot traffic kept coming! Turns out that the area around my office really is hopping well into the night. I knew I usually saw a decent amount of people out at night when I would leave work late, but when I know I’m going to be staying late, I will usually drive, and so I never really got to really appreciate it. All I have to say is wow – the foot traffic is amazing.
And many of the reactions were priceless, too. Since this was our first raid at this new facility, many questioned why we were at this location, since people usually see us outside the Founding Org at 20th and R. All we needed to do was draw their attention to the big “CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY” lettering on the building, and their question was pretty much answered. Some had never given Scientology much thought, but now that it was going to be their neighbor, they readily took our You Found the Card literature. One woman said that she was embarrassed for the neighborhood to have them nearby now.
Categories: Project Chanology
Funk the War 8 got the anti-war message out, and had a blast in doing so…
3 minute read
October 8, 2009, 8:16 PM
On Wednesday, October 7, anti-war protesters hit the streets of Washington once again in the form of Funk the War 8, organized by DC SDS. Demonstrators marched, danced, and all in all, had a great time in the process.
This Funk the War was a lot tamer than others I’ve been to – only one clash with police, no arrests, and no black bloc for the most part. Police let the unpermitted march take the streets rather than stick to the sidewalks. That last point in particular is important – when taking to the streets, it makes the demonstration far more effective, rather than pushing demonstrators to the sides. This also frees the sidewalks for regular pedestrian traffic. The crowd was also a bit smaller than in March, but while our numbers were smaller, it definitely gave the demonstration a more intimate feeling.
The message this time was specifically the war in Afghanistan. Much of the energy of the anti-war movement has been focused on Iraq, and Afghanistan has kind of taken a back seat. The march was timed to coincide with the eighth anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan, and we were out there reminding all that this war must end, too.
The route was fairly predictable, going around downtown Washington, visiting the Washington offices of various companies allegedly engaged in war profiteering.
And so the people marched…
Categories: Anti-war
If I go the IKEA route, this will be rather complicated…
3 minute read
October 6, 2009, 11:15 PM
You know, IKEA does some things very well, and some things seem just needlessly complicated. The comforter situation fits the latter quite well. I went over to IKEA this evening to get some ideas for a new comforter for my bed. I got my current one from Target in July 2007, and it’s not looking too good, mainly because it’s faded quite a bit. So I’m looking to replace it. The way IKEA sells comforters is more complicated than I think I like. The comforter itself is white – they only come in white. Then you buy a duvet cover that goes over the comforter that provides the pattern and what have you. While it certainly provides the most options for color vs. warmth and such, it’s WAY beyond what I’m going for. I can really see myself having a rough time getting that comforter into the duvet cover and then snapping it in all nice-like. Something tells me I’m going to go a different route than this. It seems more complicated than I want. Sometimes the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle is a good thing. IKEA’s bedspreads, which, while nice and simple, also failed to impress me. However, I’m probably not going to go to Target for another comforter, either. I think I’m probably going to hit Bed Bath & Beyond or something like that for the new comforter or bedspread.
However, they did have lots of nice things there, and I came to the realization recently that my apartment is really kind of blah as far as decor goes. The carpet is tan, and the color scheme pretty much follows that, as everything is different shades of beige. Schumin Web is all flashy with the rainbow-colored logo and the squares-in-squares background, but my house is less so. I need color and flair. I have a striped fitted sheet that I use for guests, and once, after Mom stayed over, I left the fitted sheet on the couch for a week after I put the futon frame back in the upright position. I loved it. So as things wear out, I need to start thinking about bright, vibrant colors. Plus I need to hang up those bloody picture frames, already…
Categories: Furniture, Schumin Web meta, Travel, Video games
I realize it’s been ten years, but I still think about it…
5 minute read
September 30, 2009, 10:59 PM
One of the more memorable things I did in high school was The East Coast Price is Right. We followed the rules as they existed in Season 27 (the current season at the time), and I had that set that emulated the classic green, purple, red, and orange colors on the turntable. It’s now been a decade since I did that show, but it’s still something I think about.
Right before I left for Philadelphia, I did a bunch of ironing. Usually, when I iron, I turn on the television and pop a tape of something in, in order to spice up an otherwise boring task. This time, I popped in a tape of old episodes of The Price is Right, from Season 27. That’s when I start thinking about my own version of the game that I did a decade ago. In the intervening ten years, I’ve thought about the games I did, and what I might have played if I could do it all over again. Recall that for that game, I did (in this order) It’s in the Bag, Dice Game, Push Over, Grand Game, Switch?, and One Away.
I think if I were to do it all over today, I would have swapped out two games. I think I did too many cash games, playing both “It’s in the Bag” and “Grand Game”. Additionally, as I messed up “Dice Game” a little bit, I would have done a different car game for the first half of the show. For that, I’ve often thought that Lucky Seven would have been a game that would have fit my production better. All you do for that is have them guess numbers, reveal the correct number, and then take the amount of dollars that comprises the difference (e.g. if they guessed a seven as the second digit and the correct number was five, the host takes two bucks back). Then they just need one dollar to buy the car. That’s the game that stands out most in the would-have-done category. Now as far as the cash games went, I basically had to do “It’s in the Bag” first, because setting it up on stage with the audience in place would have revealed the prices. That game was set up before the show started. But “Grand Game” was too similar to “It’s in the Bag”, and so I probably should have dropped that one, and considering how close I cut it on time, a quickie game like Danger Price or Most Expensive would have fit the bill quite well.
Categories: High school, Schumin Web meta, Television
So I made a little side trip into New Jersey on the way home…
7 minute read
September 27, 2009, 6:42 PM
My travel day on Friday went fairly well, and I am so glad to be home again. As much as I learned on this trip about Mac servers, and as much fun as I had, it’s still great to be back in Silver Spring.
That said, my travel day worked out pretty well for the most part, but I don’t think I’d actually want to live in South Jersey again. Many members of my family have found it wonderful, but I don’t think it’s for me.
After checking out of the hotel, I went down to Chinatown in Philadelphia. I hadn’t been there in ages, and so it was worth a visit. Turns out that Ho Sai Gai, a restaurant that my parents used to go to in the 1970s, has reopened its location at the corner of 10th and Race. We went to Ho Sai Gai at its new location up the street from the old one just about annually from 1996 to 2001, and during that time, the corner location had always been abandoned, with a few improvements here and there. Now it’s once again open for business:
Categories: Family, Glassboro, Philadelphia
“As we are committed to energy and resource conservation…”
2 minute read
September 23, 2009, 6:39 PM
I came back to my hotel room from day three of Mac OS X Server training this evening, and found the room to be in an amusing state. All the lights were left on.
Let me explain. From what I can tell, the trend at hotels nowadays (exhibited both here and at the Bolger Center last month) is to post material saying that first of all, they are committed to energy and resource conservation, and that secondly, they are not replacing towels or bed linens (the latter only every third day) unless specifically requested.
I’m all for that. Since I’ve been living on my own, I have invested in greener fixtures in the interest of saving money. A small financial reward in the form of lower bills is an excellent incentive to save energy and therefore conserve resources. Likewise, I don’t wash my towels daily at home, usually letting them go three or four days before a wash. I have big towels at home, and so it’s especially fine there.
Now I’ve been around online, and many have indicated that the move is likely more about saving money than it is in conservation. But you know what – saving money is a good incentive to go green. That’s why I found it somewhat amusing that all the lights were left on today when I got back. Seriously. I think the housekeepers probably negated any energy savings gained from my not having them wash the towels after one use and not changing the sheets every day by leaving the lights on. When I left this morning, I turned all the lights off. I’ve gotten into a good habit about that ever since I started living on my own, since I’d otherwise be lighting the house for no one whenever I’m away. Saves me money that way, even with the CFL bulbs in my light fixtures. And now they left all the lights on here, with non-CFL bulbs to boot.
One would think the housekeepers would be more cognizant of this, but oh, well…
Categories: Amusing
What is wrong with the drivers up here?
2 minute read
September 21, 2009, 11:21 PM
It makes one wonder – what the crap is wrong with the drivers up here? This is like the outer reaches of the Philadelphia region, and these people drive like maniacs. These drivers make Fairfax County drivers look calm. What really got me is when I got passed illegally on the right on a two lane road because the guy behind me thought I was going too slowly. That just blew my mind. Otherwise, these people won’t let you in, and show no mercy.
And what makes this even more frustrating is that it’s not like these people are doing this on a six-lane road like Georgia Avenue or Rockville Pike. This area looks like a cross between Staunton and Stuarts Draft. The roads are narrow, mostly two lanes. And the lines at the lights are long, and the area doesn’t even look like it would be jammed with commuters, but it is. One thing, though – Philadelphia drivers don’t honk like we do in DC. DC-area drivers are quick to lean on the horn, and I’ll admit having driven with my hand close to or on the horn more than once. In the DC area, we don’t give people the finger so much. We just blow our horns.
Otherwise, though, the drive up here was uneventful. I-95 is kind of old and needs upgrading in places, but those drivers were fairly courteous. It’s these commuters that are ruthless.
Categories: Philadelphia
And tomorrow, I head to Pennsylvania for nearly a week.
2 minute read
September 19, 2009, 5:50 PM
Yeah, tomorrow is going to be a travel day for me. I’m going to a Mac OS X Server class at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia. Finally I’m going to get a really good understanding of Mac OS X Server, and this will be really useful when I get back to the office the following week.
Of course, this means I have to drive up Interstate 95 to get there, but it’s okay – I have a GPS this time around, and Lori (the name of the voice on my TomTom GPS) tells me where to turn. The only thing that particularly bugs me is all the tolls. It seems like just about every time you really get going, there’s a guy in a yellow safety vest with his hand out. And unless the tolls have changed, I’m going to have to pay $11.75 in tolls alone. That breaks down to $2.00 for the Fort McHenry Tunnel, $5.00 for the Susquehanna River bridge, $4.00 for the Delaware Turnpike, and then $0.75 for a short stretch of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
I’m just glad to finally make the trip – I’ve been trying to do this for four months now. First I was going to take the class in mid-May in Charlottesville, and it was cancelled. Then late May in Blue Bell. Then mid-July. Then late August. Now, for mid-September, they promised me that they are definitely having the class, and I got no notifications that they were cancelling. Dy-no-mite!
Categories: Work
How many public IPs does Augusta County have?
3 minute read
September 18, 2009, 7:05 PM
So I was talking to my mother on the phone this evening, and we discussed my day, and one of the things that came up was the stuff I did on Wikipedia during my lunch break this afternoon. As it turns out, I blocked an anonymous user for two weeks for vandalism, whose IP address, 216.12.45.78, is registered to Augusta County Public Schools, which is the school district where my mother teaches, and where I went to middle school and high school.
So I just kind of threw it out there to Mom: “How many public IPs does Augusta County have?” Mom was kind of taken back by that question, since we had a little language barrier here. What’s an IP? What does IP stand for? Explaining that was a little difficult, since in the few minutes I had to explain it, I had no chance of getting Mom to understand, though if I had a little longer, I might have had a way of figuring it out.
And now I did figure out how to explain it, after the conversation, of course. Basically, imagine you’re in a neighborhood. Each apartment building has a street address. That’s your public IP address. Let’s take “123 Sesame Street”, for example. Say that 123 Sesame Street has the IP address 123.456.789.000. Then each apartment inside 123 Sesame Street has a number. Thus the behind-the-router numbering of 192.168.x.x. Thus Gordon and Susan, in one apartment are 192.168.1.101. Bob is 192.168.1.102. Bert and Ernie are 192.168.1.103. Maria and Luis are 192.168.1.104. They all access the world by walking through the halls of 123 Sesame Street, and then going through the front doors of 123 Sesame Street. The apartment is your inside IP address, the hallways are your router, and then the door is your public IP. Thus Gordon and Susan’s computer, with a local IP address of 192.168.1.101, goes through the router and accesses the Internet via the public IP 123.456.789.000.
And then, they raided.
5 minute read
September 17, 2009, 10:39 PM
After photographing all the teabaggers around the Capitol, my day wasn’t over yet – not by a longshot. Anonymous had planned to raid on Saturday as well, and thankfully, the two demonstrations did not conflict. I finished getting my “daily dose of outrage” around 2:00, took the Metro from Union Station to Dupont Circle, and joined up with Anonymous to raid Scientology.
This was an unusual raid for me in one way – no mask or other form of costuming. Usually, I “mask up” for Anonymous “global” raids, even though Scientology has confirmed in writing that they know who I am. I usually wear the black or green zentai suit in warmer weather, or the standard Guy Fawkes mask. This time around, I brought a costume for raiding – I had the black zentai in my backpack, as well as the relevant accessories for it. But since I was already somewhat tired from the teabag protest, I basically said “screw it” and passed on the costume. I didn’t feel like changing in and out of the costume, and so I just came as I was.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, mind you. Anonymous needs people who are “out” and unmasked to function properly. I’m the one who files for the protest permits, since if Scientologists get their hands on the permit somehow, they don’t get any fresh information. And sometimes, members of the public are more likely to interact with non-masked people vs. talking to someone wearing a Guy Fawkes mask. I gave out all of my You Found the Card cards, for one thing.
Categories: Project Chanology