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« October 2004 | Main | December 2004 »
I think this is the funniest commercial I've seen in a long time:
I started messing around with Flash MX in hopes of making a funny movie or adding some dynamic content to this site. It turns out that making flash movies is a lot harder than I thought it would be -- a lot harder in fact. After a couple hours of work last night I managed to churn out this masterpiece:
I know, it's amazing. The text doesn't move exactly how I wanted it to and that red box is supposed to move around and morph. No dice on that one, though. So yeah, it's no End of the World or YATTA!, but we're getting there.
Abstract: Firefox is a new browser for Windows, Mac, and Linux/Unix. It beats the crap out of the competition. Download it. Here's why:
I generally don't post computer related topics on here because, well, nobody would care. I thought that this one was important enough and wide-reaching enough to do it. I'm basically plugging a new web browser called Firefox. It isn't exactly new, though. Firefox is the product of over six years work on a project called Mozilla. Mozilla sought to develop a web browser whose source code was public domain. The theory behind it is that, when it's public domain, many people work on its development and it is thus more robust than a browser like Internet Explorer.
Performance
Enough with the history of it. I downloaded Firefox and the first thing I wanted to know was how well it performed. So, I gave it the simple task of rendering a huge page that I often load. It has a table with almost 3,500 rows. Here is the result for how long it took the browser to render the page and how long it took to close the window once it was open:
| Browser | ||
| Firefox | 10 Seconds | Instantly |
| Internet Explorer | 25 Seconds | 17 Seconds |
| Safari | 50 Seconds | 30 Seconds |
| Camino | 13 Seconds | 1 Second |
These were all done on my iMac, so results might vary across platform. But, for me, Firefox outperformed all of the rest. On top of this, the browser simply renders ordinary pages faster than other browsers. The startup time of the browser is almost instantaneous. This has been a problem that Mozilla had faced for a long time, but it seems to be fixed.
Innovation
So the performance is great, but it also includes a ton of new innovations. The thing I like best is the 'Extensions,' system. The Extensions system allows you to download third party software that incorporates itself into Firefox. Take FoxyTunes, for example:
This little extension allows me to control iTunes from the bottom of my browser. But FoxyTunes isn't just for iTunes -- FoxyTunes also works with WinAmp, Windows Media Player, and a slew of others. So there are all kinds of neat little gadgets to install with Firefox.
Besides extensions, there is also a 'theme' system that lets you control how your browser looks. That means that every person using Firefox can have a custom look and feel for his or her browser. Take a look at the difference between these browser screenshots:
It looks like three different web browsers, but all three are Firefox using different themes.
Firefox also has pop-up blocking, which may be of key concern to some of you Internet Explorer users out there.
Bottom Line: Download It
NutkinI feel so old saying I love listening to NPR, but I really do. The other day I found myself listening to the story of Nutkin the squirrel. The story goes something like this. An elderly couple adopted a squirrel in South Carolia, effectively domesticating it. They then moved to Pennsylvania and the game ward there would not have it. Lawsuits ensued for years over it because the couple kept fighting for Nutkin until the final decision came down last Friday.
A cute story, for sure. But -- the best part is the opinion written by Superior Cour Judge Joseph A. Hudock. Please read this:
J. A29015/04
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, Appellee
BARBARA GOSSELIN, Appellant
IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
No. 1978 MDA 2003
BEFORE: HUDOCK and KLEIN, JJ., and McEWEN, P.J.E.
OPINION BY HUDOCK, J.:
FILED November 5, 2004:
This appeal revolves around the life and times of Nutkin the squirrel.
Nutkin's early life was spent in the state of farrae naturae, in the state of South Carolina, and, as far as we can tell, in a state of contentment. She apparently had plenty of nuts and trees to climb, and her male friends, while not particularly handsome, did have nice personalities. Life was good.
Then one day tragedy struck: Nutkin fell from her tree nest!
But fate was kind. Nutkin was found and adopted by Appellant and her husband, who, at the time, were residents of South Carolina. Appellant lovingly nursed Nutkin back to health, and Nutkin became a family pet. A large room-sized enclosure was built so that Nutkin had plenty of room to run and climb. Life was good again.
Nutkin's captivity and domestication were perfectly legal in South Carolina, possibly a reflection of that state's long tradition of hospitality to all.
In 1994, Appellant and her husband moved to Pennsylvania and brought Nutkin with them. Life was full of promise.
Dark clouds began to gather, however, in November 2002, when Appellant's husband phoned the Pennsylvania Game Commission concerning a hunter who he and Appellant believed was hunting near an area on their property where they had set out food for a deer. In response to that complaint, a Wildlife Officer became aware that a dear had been illegally shot on Appellant's property and dragged to a neighboring property. Appellant and her husband requested that the Game Officer further investigate the poaching of the deer. The Officer refused to do so, but when he spotted Nutkin in her room-sized enclosure, he advised Appellant that it was a violation of the law to keep Nutkin in this manner. The Game Officer acknowledged that the squirrel was too old and too tame to be released to the wild (A situation akin to that of an old appellate judge, like the undersigned, attempting to return to the boiling cauldron of the trial court after being tamed by years of peace and quiet above the fray. Chances of survival of both species are poor.) He offered to forgo citing Appellant if she would relinquish Nutkin to his control. Appellant and her husband refused.
The reasons for this refusal are not apparent of record, but familial ties no doubt played a part in the decision. (At oral argument, our esteemed colleage, Judge Klein, alluded to the possibility of "squirrel stew", but there is insufficient evidence to support this horrific supposition.)
Nutkin would learn the shocking truth that the cheery Pennsylvania slogan, "You've got a friend in Pennsylvania" did not apply to four-legged critters like Nutkin. On December 2, 2002, the Wildlife Conservation Officer issued a citation directed to Appellant's husband for violating section 2307(a) of the Game and Wildlife Code...
The the opinion goes on for many more pages but isn't nearly as comical. The long and the short of it is that Nutkin gets to stay with her adoptive family. If you want to read the whole decision, you can find it here.
The NPR report ended by playing "Prince Nez," a song by Squirrel Nut Zippers. I suspect I was one a handful of listeners who got that subliminal joke. It makes me wonder if they do that kind of stuff all the time on NPR. If you want to hear the NPR report, you can find it here.
In college things seem kind of abstract when you study them. That was no longer the case yesterday. Theories I studied in Racial Politics two years ago came alive yesterday, on the playground no less.
The story goes like this. One student started doing normal 6th grade stuff, provoking another student about how he 'wants to marry' one of the girls in the class. As it turns out, the student being provoked was one of the few white students in 6th grade and the girl was black. This was a major problem for the boy in question. He responded by saying, "That's impossible because I'd never marry a black woman. That's disgusting." That didn't go over too well with the girls in the two classes. They began chasing him around the playground calling him racist. He responded by noting that he was right about "blacks being mean, especially the women." He then backed up his comments to the students and teachers by saying, "I've been around a lot of blacks in my life and they've all been aggressive." The children berated him with further accusations of racism to the point where he got on top of the monkey bars and refused to come down.
The first thing I noticed came from Gunnar Myrdal's take on racism in An American Dilema. Myrdal claims that whites reject black people on different levels that go like this, from smallest amount to largest: economic gains, equality under the law, civic participation, use of public facilities, social interactions, and, finally, intermarriage. The student in my class was comfortable on some of the outer levels, up to use of public facilites apparently, but when it came to marriage it was off limits.
Next, I noticed that Gordon Allport's psychological explanation of racism was also in action. In "The Nature of Prejudice" Allport claims that whites are prejudiced when they cannot let go of predispositions in the face of new evidence. The question in my mind is whether or not the boy at school can eventually let go of his negative predispositions or if they are static.
Random academic anecdote/rambling, I know... but I thought it was interesting.
Please read this memo that went out to the staff at my school last week. The last paragraph is best:
NOVEMBER 5, 2004
TO: INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF
FROM: DR. DEAN
RE: CORPORAL PUNISHMENT
You will find attached to this memo a copy of this school district's policy on corporal punishment. Apparently, some of you need reminding about the procedures that Stern uses regarding physical punishment of students:
These rules are in place to protect you from liability claims and because we at Stern want to protect a school climate that is nurturing. I do not expect to see teachers or assistants walking around with yardsticks or rulers in ther hands ever again. If you feel that a child needs hitting, complete an office referral and bring the student to either Ms. Groff or me.
