toxic

Food poisoning is quite possibly the only thing in life I've found less pleasant than a full blown migraine, though the only reason it ranks so highly is because it goes on... and on... and on...

Point of interest: it might just have been the particular staff on duty, or that I went in at 7am (instead of my traditional evening "oh god kill me" time for migraines) but emergency seemed a lot kinder this time. I wonder if people with "real" problems like serious dehydration and vomiting get more sympathy than those with something as trivial as mere pain?

Nah, it was probably the 7am thing. Emergency was relatively quiet--I guess people with the less critical problems are sleeping, or waiting for a clinic. I ended up so thoroughly stoned on medication that I couldn't really panic about all the needles, but I was still dimly unimpressed with the guy who kept pushing back the curtain to stare at me. (Had I been fully coherent, I'd have verbally murdered him.)

Sorry for the woefully personal entry. I'm still intending to update, but I've just been too busy to keep up on the news.

conservapedia

I found an interesting article about activists trying to get a chimp legal status as a "person". The really hilarious part? I found the link on the Conservapedia, titled, "Liberals oppose a legal right to life for unborn children, but demand legal rights for chimps."

The Conservapedia bills itself as "The Trustworthy Encyclopedia." Because as we all know, the Wikipedia is a den of liars, abortionists, and bleeding heart liberals. Why does an encyclopedia have to be political?

feisty fawns in your backyard

Dell computers now come pre-loaded with Ubuntu (Linux). Even if you're not on the bleeding edge of the tech industry, there are indications that Linux is creeping farther into the mainstream. It isn't just weirdos like my brother who run Linux systems these days.

Corey is a strong promoter for Ubuntu, so he's happy about it. In fact, Canonical is sending him to Spain for a conference next week. (Yes, I'm jealous.) But it's interesting to be close to someone so passionate about open source technology. I'm learning things—and finding interests—that I never knew were accessible to non-techs like myself. I'm not going to be playing around with source code any time soon ever, but that doesn't mean it isn't something I can support. I've chipped in on a couple of the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletters, editing and smoothing out bumpy grammar. It isn't much, but I find that the sheer passion behind open-source is a hard thing to ignore. People put forth professional-quality work… for free. It boggles my inner cynic, but they do it out of love for the concept.

Think that Linux is nerdy stuff that has absolutely no bearing on your existence? Try using the multiple desktops that come with something like Ubuntu, then go back to using Windows. It feels kind of cramped. Switching to Ubuntu after years of Windows is a bit like putting on a running shoe when you're used to wearing hiking boots; it feels really weird for a few days, but once you're adjusted, you can appreciate its virtues. Running shoes and hiking boots are both comfortable, but they have different strengths. Linux systems aren't much for video games, but they're pretty spiffy for usability.

Linux also opens new subcultures. Before I started dating Corey, I put a passing reference to using Linux systems at work on a dating site profile. The queries came pouring in, titled things like, "linux?" or asking about my workplace. I'd tapped a new vein of nerd-subculture in the mining expedition of my geekiness.

More importantly, Linux opens up work experience and career opportunities. Corey could probably turn his high-level volunteer work into a real job in the industry, if he were willing to live in another country. All I seem to be able to get out of it is a broader dating pool. But maybe, someday, using my editing skills to contribute (albeit in a tiny way) to the Ubuntu community might make a difference in my career.

Alas, no trip to Spain for me. And I worry about being "just a girlfriend" almost as much as I worry about crashing in too much on Corey's hobbies. It seems to be the catch-22 of being the rare female in male-dominated fields; you get so used to people questioning your reasons for being there that you end up questioning yourself just as much.

can't stop the signal

09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0

"On 1 May 2007, technology news site Digg began removing posts containing the number, and in some cases, closing accounts which created those posts. The Digg community responded by creating a high volume of posts containing the key, many using creative ways of semi-directly or indirectly inserting the number, such as in song, in images (either representing the digits pictorially or directly representing bytes from the key as colors), and on merchandise. At one point, Digg.com's "entire homepage was covered with links to the HD-DVD code or anti-Digg references." Eventually the Digg administrators gave up and stopped removing such submissions, stating, "You’d rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won’t delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be. If we lose, then what the hell, at least we died trying.""

The first hacked HD DVD was Serenity. How poetic is that? I am not a hacker, and I am not a programmer. To me, it's just a symbol. A very powerful symbol.