January 2010 Archives
Dynabook
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Dynabook concept was created by Alan Kay in 1968, two years before the founding of Xerox PARC. Kay wanted to make "A Personal Computer For Children Of All Ages." The ideas led to the development of the Xerox Alto prototype, which was originally called "the interim Dynabook".[1][2] It embodied all the elements of a graphical user interface, or GUI, as early as 1972. The software component of this research was Smalltalk, which went on to have a life of its own independent of the Dynabook concept.
The Dynabook concept described what is now known as a laptop computer or, (in some of its other incarnations) a tablet PC or slate computer with nearly eternal battery life and software aimed at giving children access to digital media. Adults could also use a Dynabook, but the target audience was children.When Microsoft came up with its tablet PC, Alan Kay was quoted as saying "Microsoft's Tablet PC, the first Dynabook-like computer good enough to criticize," a comment he had earlier applied to the Apple Macintosh.
Kay wanted the Dynabook concept to embody the learning theories of Jerome Bruner and some of what Seymour Papert-- who had studied with developmental psychologist Jean Piaget and who invented the Logo programming language -- was proposing. The hardware on which the programming environment ran was relatively irrelevant. Since the late 1990s, Kay has been working on the Squeak programming system, an open source Smalltalk-based environment which could be seen as a logical continuation of the Dynabook concept. Toshiba also has a line of sub-notebook computers called DynaBook.
Alan Kay is actively involved in the One Laptop Per Child project that uses Smalltalk, Squeak, and the concepts of a computer for learning.
Though the hardware required to create a Dynabook is here today, Alan Kay still thinks the Dynabook hasn't been invented yet, because key software and educational curriculum are missing.
from: va.gov
Veterans may be eligible for disability compensation and health care benefits for diseases that VA has recognized as associated with exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides:
- Acute and Subacute Peripheral Neuropathy
A nervous system condition that causes numbness, tingling, and motor weakness. Under VA's rating regulations, it must be at least 10% disabling within 1 year of exposure to Agent Orange and resolve within 2 years after the date it began. - AL Amyloidosis
A rare disease caused when an abnormal protein, amyloid, enters tissues or organs. - B Cell Leukemias
Cancers which affect B cells, such as hairy cell leukemia. - Chloracne (or Similar Acneform Disease)
A skin condition that occurs soon after dioxin exposure and looks like common forms of acne seen in teenagers. Under VA's rating regulations, chloracne (or other acneform disease similar to chloracne) must be at least 10% disabling within 1 year of exposure to Agent Orange. - Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
A disease that progresses slowly with increasing production of excessive numbers of white blood cells. - Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2)
A disease characterized by high blood sugar levels resulting from the body's inability to respond properly to the hormone insulin. - Hodgkin's Disease
A malignant lymphoma (cancer) characterized by progressive enlargement of the lymph nodes, liver, and spleen, and by progressive anemia. - Ischemic Heart Disease
A disease characterized by a reduced supply of blood to the heart. - Multiple Myeloma
A cancer of specific bone marrow cells that is characterized by bone marrow tumors in various bones of the body. - Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
A group of cancers that affect the lymph glands and other lymphatic tissue. - Parkinson's Disease
A motor system condition with symptoms that include trembling of the limbs and face and impaired balance. - Porphyria Cutanea Tarda
A disorder characterized by liver dysfunction and by thinning and blistering of the skin in sun-exposed areas. Under VA's rating regulations, it must be at least 10% disabling within 1 year of exposure to Agent Orange. - Prostate Cancer
Cancer of the prostate; one of the most common cancers among men. - Respiratory Cancers
Cancers of the lung, larynx, trachea, and bronchus. - Soft Tissue Sarcoma (other than Osteosarcoma, Chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, or Mesothelioma)
A group of different types of cancers in body tissues such as muscle, fat, blood and lymph vessels, and connective tissues.
Calley apologizes for My Lai massacre - Military- msnbc.com
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32514139 - Cached -
William Calley apologizes for My Lai massacre - News - Ledger ...
Calley apologizes for My Lai massacre | ajc.com
Calley Apologizes for 1968 My Lai Massacre
Calley Apologizes For My Lai Massacre | The Onion - America's ...
Calley Apologizes For My Lai Massacre | KOSU Radio
kosu.org/2009/08/calley-apologizes-for-my-lai-massacre/ - Cached -
An image of Gautama Buddha...
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And a goatee,
And if his eyes looked pretty glazed...
If He looked spaced out
Would you buy his story?
Would you believe he had an eye infection?
And yeah, yeah, God looks baked
And yeah, yeah, God smells good,
And yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah...
What if God smoked cannabis?
Hit the bong like some of us?
Drove a tie-dyed microbus,
And he subscribes to Rolling Stone?
When God made this place,
In the beginning,
Did He plant any seeds?
Or did he put them there for Adam and Eve,
So they'd be hungry for the
apple that the snake
Was always offering?
And yeah, yeah, God he smells good,
And yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah...
What if God smoked cannabis?
Do you suppose he had a buzz
When he made the platypus
When he created earth, our home?
Does He like Pearl Jam or the Stones?
And do you think He rolls His own
Up there in heaven on the throne?
And when the saints go marching home,
Maybe He sits and smokes a bowl.
The day after his wife disappeared in a kayaking accident, an Anchorage man answered his door to find two grim-faced Alaska State Troopers.
"We're sorry Mr. Wilkens, but we have some information about your wife," said one trooper...
"Tell me! Did you find her?" Wilkens shouted.
The troopers looked at each other.
One said, "We have some bad news, some good news, and some really great news. Which do you want to hear first?"
Fearing the worst, an ashen Mr. Wilkens said, "Give me the bad news first."
The trooper said, "I'm sorry to tell you, sir, but this morning we found your wife's body in Kachemak Bay ."
"Oh my God!" exclaimed Wilkens. Swallowing hard, he asked, "What's the good news?"
The trooper continued, "When we pulled her up, she had 12 twenty-five pound king crabs and 6 good-size Dungeness crabs clinging to her and we feel you are entitled to a share in the catch."
Stunned, ! Mr. Wilkens demanded, "If that's the good news, what's the great news?"
The trooper said, "We're going to pull her up again tomorrow."
O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle--be Thou near them! With them--in spirit--we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with hurricanes of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it - for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.
Terry Nelson & C Company
Once upon a time there was a little boy who wanted to grow up
And be a soldier and serve his country in whatever way he could
He would parade around the house with a sauce pan on his head
For a helmet, a wooden sword in one hand and the American flag in the other
As he grew up, he put away the things of a child but he never let go of the flag
My name is William Calley, I'm a soldier of this land
I've tried to do my duty and to gain the upper hand
But they've made me out a villain they have stamped me with a brand
As we go marching on
I'm just another soldier from the shores of U.S.A.
Forgotten on a battle field then thousand miles away
While life goes on as usual from New York to Santa Fe
As we go marching on
I've seen my buddies ambushed on the left and on the right
And their youthful bodies riddled by the bullets of the night
Where all the rules are broken and the only law is might
As we go marching on
While we're fighting in the jungles they were marching in the street
While we're dying in the rice fields they were helping our defeat
While we're facing V.C. bullets they were sounding a retreat
As we go marching on
With our sweat we took the bunkers, with our tears we took the plain
With our blood we took the mountains and they gave it back again
Still all of us are soldiers, we're too busy to complain
As we go marching on
When I reach my final campground in that land beyond the sun
And the great commander asks me, "Did you fight or did you run?"
I'll stand both straight and tall stripped of medals, rank and gun
And this is what I'll say:
Sir, I followed all my orders and I did the best I could
It's hard to judge the enemy and hard to tell the good
Yet there's not a man among us would not have understood
We took the jungle village exactly like they said
We responded to their rifle fire with everything we had
And when the smoke had cleared away a hundred souls lay dead
Sir, the soldier that's alive is the only once can fight
There's no other way to wage a war when the only one in sight
That you're sure is not a VC is your buddy on your right
When all the wars are over and the battle's finally won
Count me only as a soldier who never left his gun
With the right to serve my country as the only prize I've won
As we go marching on
Glory, glory hallelujah glory, glory hallelujah
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<span id="lyrics"> Sometimes I feel like I'm fading away<br /> You're looking at me, I've got nothing to say<br /> Don't make me angry with the games that you play<br /> <br /> Either light up or leave me alone<br /> <br /> Walk in my room, you lie on my bed<br /> Open your mouth, shoot someone dead<br /> All of a sudden you're inside my head<br /> <br /> Either light up or leave me alone<br /> <br /> Spending my bread like it grew on a tree<br /> You're trying to tell me 'bout the birds and the bees<br /> The skirt that you're wearing is way past your knees<br /> <br /> Either light up or leave me alone<br /> <br /> You're up all night preaching your mind<br /> Come home in the morning with your latest find<br /> I'm gonna have to lay it to you straight on the line<br /> <br /> Either light up or leave me alone<br /><br />
Now, this is where the WGG (writch 'greater grabber') comes in. While the tool was originally designed merely to strip the 'forward/reply' markings ("> > >") from emails, it has other text processing capacity, including decoding from the various WWW standard encodings (gotta have that to keep sane in this job).
So, if you should run across some curiously encoded crap on the web and want to figure out what it is (or just want the lyrics you searched for), you can use this free tool that has not been substantially altered in over a decade (somewhat bug-free, we presume):
http://writch.com/tools/gg.html
EMINEM - stan
brian | MySpace Video
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A man is suing his ex-girlfriend for breach of contract for getting pregnant when they allegedly agreed she wouldn't.
Peter Wallis accuses Kellie Rae Smith of stopping birth control and forbidding him visitation once their daughter was born. The girl, named Taylor Smith, will turn 1 year old on Friday.
``I think people who are parents have responsibility for their children,'' Wallis said. ``I think that's within the definition of being a parent. But I don't think being in a romantic relationship leaves a person with no liability just because of the relationship. I think we have a duty to be responsible to each other even behind closed doors.''
Smith denies they had such an agreement, says she accidentally got pregnant while using birth control pills.
Wallis' Sept. 16 lawsuit accuses Smith of breach of contract, fraud and conversion of property - his semen. Wallis, 36, also recently filed a motion seeking a temporary visitation order; a hearing is set for Wednesday. Smith, 37, filed a paternity lawsuit against Wallis in June.
Wallis said he doesn't expect monetary damages and mainly wants a court to agree with his position. He said he also expects to pay child support and wants the child's name changed to Taylor Smith Wallis.
``I have little or no doubt that the child is mine but ask for a DNA test to confirm it,'' he said last week, adding he would pay for the test. ``I'm saddened, and I'm hurt for Taylor.''
Smith's attorney, Mary Han, said Wallis has never legally admitted to paternity.
``If he hasn't - and continues to challenge it - what right does he have to see this child?''
Women Behaving Badly; Reproductive Fraud
The Times (Britian) 28 November 1998
OPINION - by Mary Ann Sieghart
In the old days, sex was simple. The man did the deed and the woman paid the price. Sex meant pregnancy and pregnancy meant motherhood - either the shameful, single kind or, if the man was honourable, within marriage.
Now life is more complicated. Pregnancies can be terminated, whether the man likes it or not. And mothers can bring up children on their own, again whether the man likes it or not. Women may still bear the physical burden of motherhood, but it is increasingly men who are paying the price.
Only this week, an American, Peter Wallis, sued his former girlfriend for "intentionally acquiring and misusing" his sperm by having a child that he did not want. He claims that she deliberately stopped taking the Pill without telling him. She refused to have an abortion and he is now saddled with the lifelong costs - financial and emotional - of fatherhood.
I know we are supposed to side with our own sex, but here my sympathies lie almost entirely with the father. A lawsuit may be going too far, but what could be worse than becoming a parent against your will? Women who trick their partners into starting a family are dishonest and manipulative. Yet the poor man has no recourse.
Some say that it is his responsibility to ensure that such an "accident" does not happen. He could have worn a condom. That is true, but a relationship in which people are living together, as these two were, presupposes a certain level of trust.
Anyway, this is the same flinty argument used by anti-abortionists to women; that it is their responsibility not to get pregnant in the first place. Most women find this outrageous: they think they should have the right to choose whether or not to give birth.
But what about a man's right to choose? It seems that men no longer have it. They cannot insist that their partners have children. They cannot insist that they do not. They can, of course, take more responsibility for contraception though, in a long-term relationship, most couples prefer the less intrusive female methods.
So men have to rely on their partners' good faith. And if that faith is breached, they can no longer even say to the woman: "You have the child if you want to, but don't involve me." Most Western countries now have child support laws that force fathers to pay up for 18 years even after a one-night stand. Indeed, one American court has ruled that an underage boy seduced by an older woman who was prosecuted for statutory rape was still liable for child support if her crime resulted in the birth of a child. That is clearly ridiculous.
It is reasonable to expect men who have consensual sex to face the risk of contraceptive failure. Technology has not completely divorced sex from pregnancy, even if we like to believe that it has.
But deception is different. Mr Wallis quite understandably feels betrayed and ill-used. And I share his anger when I see women behaving so badly. If we want men to be more equal partners at home, we must surely be prepared to share the most important decision of all - whether or not to bring other people into the world.
There is an Angel sent to watch over you. In order for her to work, you must pass this on to the people you want watched over.
(so, I suppose I hit the mark, Mark, eh?). This is a decent test: There's well over twenty-two people on the list (see below); I wish for world peace by sunset tomorrow PST.
;)
I hope y'all find this as moving as I Did.
Mark
A Return is Requested... .You'll see why.
Breakfast at McDonald's
This is a good story and is true, please read it all the way through until the end! (After the story, there are some very interesting facts!):
I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree.
The last class I had to take was Sociology.
The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with.
Her last project of the term was called, 'Smile.'
The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions.
I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway. So, I thought this would be a piece of cake, literally.
Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald's one crisp March morning.
It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.
We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did.
I did not move an inch... an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved.
As I turned around I smelled a horrible 'dirty body' smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men.
As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was 'smiling'
His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance.
He said, 'Good day' as he counted the few coins he had been clutching..
The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation.
I held my tears as I stood there with them.
The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted..
He said, 'Coffee is all Miss' because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).
Then I really felt it - the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes.
That is when I noticed all eyes in the
restaurant were set on me, judging
my every action.
I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray.
I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman's cold hand..
He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, 'Thank you.'
I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, 'I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope.'
I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, 'That is why God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope..'
We held hands for a moment and at that time, we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give.
We are not church goers, but we are believers.
That day showed me the pure Light of God's sweet love.
I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand.
I turned in 'my project' and the instructor read it.
Then she looked up at me and said, 'Can I share this?'
I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class.
She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings and being part of God share this need to heal people and to be healed.
In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald's, my son,the instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.
I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn:
UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.
Much love and compassion is sent to each and every person who may read this and learn how to
LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS -
NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE..
There is an Angel sent to watch over you.
In order for her to work, you must pass this on to the people you want watched over.
An Angel wrote:
Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart
To handle yourself, use your head..
To handle others, use your heart.
God Gives every bird it's food, but He does not throw it into its nest.
Send it back, you'll see why!
A box of gold
*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*
With a secret inside
that has never been told
*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*
This box is priceless
but as I see
*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*
The treasure inside is
precious to me
*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*
Today I share this
treasure with thee
*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*
It's the treasure of
friendship you've
given me..
*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*
If this comes back to you
then you'll have a friend
for life but, if this
becomes deleted, you are
not a friend.
Send this to everyone you
consider a friend!
This is a magic frog.
It will grant you one wish and only one wish,
that is, if you decide to send this to others. You can wish for anything.
Repeat your wish until you have stopped scrolling. Make it count!
FOR YOUR WISH TO COME TRUE YOU HAVE TO SEND IT TO:
3 PEOPLE - YOUR WISH WILL COME TRUE EVENTUALLY
5 PEOPLE - YOUR WISH WILL COME TRUE IN 3 MONTHS
10 PEOPLE - YOUR WISH WILL COME TRUE IN 5 WEEKS
15 PEOPLE - YOUR WISH WILL COME TRUE IN 1 WEEK
CAN'T WAIT A WEEK???
22 People-Your Wish Will
Come True In 1 Day!
****** **********REMEMBER* ********* ****
THIS MUST BE SENT OUT THE
DAY YOU READ IT FOR
YOU TO GET YOUR WISH
Still, he's family. I've never wished him ill fate (though he got plenty of that). In fact, what happened to him I wouldn't have wished on anyone.
That said, I put my folks in a bind. I've disagreed with their treatment of him since I more clearly understood his condition last year when he stayed with me. I've pretty much confirmed my understanding with my sisters, and I think that (at least the siblings) are in lock-step on this topic.
I was aghast at the length of his leash. The kid doesn't have two neurons to rub together on any given day, and yet, my parents are still in denial and treat him as 'normally' as they can (which leads him to these insane grandiose stances).
He's brain-damaged. He's not got a lick of sense. He's still a liar, and a thief (and unfortunately a decent magician, still, who can palm damn near anything smaller than a shirt pocket).
But his six-year old niece caught him stealing her candy (and after catching him, caught him palming the evidence into his pocket). Yano, you really can't fool one who is still in the 'beginners mind'.
My own personal bitch is that my folks have spent the last two decades trying to make him feel 'normal' rather than addressing and coping with his (copious) deficiencies.
So, when they gave him the task of 'waking me up' to tell me they were on their way to pick us up, and he called my hotel room (next to his, on their dime) to chat about his high-school friends (in the early hours of the AM, before 10, when polite people don't call to 'chat'), I hung up on him. I took the phone off the hook because I knew that my hanging up on him (w/short term memory loss) would last about five minutes, and my folks had my cell-phone number.
Now, nobody has fessed up, but I expect that it was him who tried to break into my room during my shower that morning (I heard it and chalked it up to housekeeping, since it was just my first day, but it became obvious later that the hotel never sent anyone in to do doodly squat--'suites' yano?).
My Xmas was pretty scattered--my dad rousting me out of my room with my hair only half-tied, my teeth unbrushed, etc., since they were 'waiting' because they'd entrusted my brother with the 'message' that they were coming, but all he really can do is deliver his internal monologue.
The reason I'm writing this out is because of the rather obvious nature of their 'gift' (I had plenty of places to stay, all better than the hotel). We were supposed to stay till Tuesday night (their departure date). When I checked out a day early, they checked him out beforehand (and never even bothered to call me to say goodbye, even though they knew I was leaving).
In other words, it was patently obvious that they just bought the hotel room for me in order to make it look as if the fact that they had to put my imbecile brother up in the hotel was 'normal' (since I was there, too).
I find that somewhat offensive. I'd have said that to their faces if they'd bothered to ask, but they didn't bother.
My sisters won't suffer him to stay with them because he's a disruptive and annoying addition to the mix.
I'll suffer him to hang around me, but on the condition that he acknowledges his condition and ceases to act as if he's not got 'issues' (rather than he's 'normal'). Of course, my last assessment left him damn near suicidal (rational response to his condition, IMHO), but that's life (or death).
In any event, the net result was my mother trying the same-old 'guilt trip' thing on me ("Well, if that's the way you see it, then I guess you won't see me again, either"). I handed her her hat ("I guess that's the case, so, see you later, mom").
I like my family, but I'm not intending ever again to merely be a platform for making my brother 'feel' normal. If they don't want to tell him that he's not normal, and he needs to consider that most people have *no* interest in his monologue, that's their business.
It's not like he's not trainable. It was obvious that he wanted to spare himself the embarrassment of being assessed as an idiot in front of others (and he knew that if he opened his mouth in my presence again, that would be the response). If I can control his aberrant behavior that easily, it's clear that it's not impossible for him to be polite.
It's also clear that my parents are giving him license to be obnoxious and rude to family, friends, and strangers, and are willing to disparage their other children in order to foster his self-esteem.
But, at least, this won't happen with my time again. I plan to spend exactly zero percent of the future listening to this drivel.
As it turns out, while I've been denied some of the 'normal' aspects of life, I also have been spared the 'normal' (potentially expectable) results of 'normalcy'.
All in all, I suppose it's a null-set equation.
In ABQ, I had my eyes opened a great deal regarding my (lack of) OCD. I've got some tendencies, but they are all directed at that which is (generally) most profitable to me (and I love my work--and *still* would do it, and do, in spite of the fact that I might even *lose* money doing it).
But in Big-D, I was shown that I might have been blessed with childlessness.
I don't know that I would be able to handle watching my beloved child self-destruct.
Been shown three 'ghosts of xmas present' on that note, and each has cut to the bone.
If I could cry for someone else (just to offload their burden, if even for a moment), I would.