Blog posts

Since upgrading to the latest version of moveabletype I’ve been experiencing a litany of issues getting this blog to rebuild properly. So far attempts to fix that have led to me ditching the previous template for this front page (hopefully it’ll be back soon) and now to making a slight change to the MoveableType code and switching off monthly archives. Right now, it seems to be working, but I’d rather like to get monthly archives back. And my old design. Hopefully within the next few days…. ...

When I’d visit Grand Rapids every few months and need ways to fill my days while Kari was at work, I kept an eye on Alan’s reviews of Grand Rapids WiFi Locations. It was great to have such a comprehensive list of locations that I could get online, get good coffee, and only pay for the latter. When Alan left Grand Rapids, Topher took over the listings and moved them to grwifi.net. And now they’ve changed hands again. I’ve just completed the first stage of a redesign/reworking of the site. Now with search functionality, polling and the promise of comment facilities and XML feeds. You can find it all at grwifi.net. ...

The refrain about WMDs and WMD programmes and *insert qualifier here* WMD *insert further qualifier here* is not just all too familiar, it’s ridiculously familiar. It seems that the US government, and the Bush junta in particular are not content simply to watch their hens come home to roost in Iraq, they’re looking for opportunities to be surrounded by still more poultry. I’m writing, of course, about yet another increase in rhetoric about Iran. Thankfully it looks as though the European powers have defused the situation for the time being (and I don’t think the US is likely to invade any time soon, troops are in too short supply) but this time the key thing that leapt out of this BBC coverage was the US government’s proposed deadline to Iran. ...

I try and refrain from blogging too much about the latest online tools/toys I’m playing with, but this one was just too good to pass up. It may be the biggest money saving device I’ve found this year and it all works from your bookmarks bar. What it is is a script that will let you generate a ‘bookmarklet’ (a useful script you can place in your bookmarks) that will take you from a book listing on amazon to the corresponding book on your local library’s search system. ...

For those who were enthralled by Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Ying Xiong (Hero) is likely to be a must-see. We were certainly engrossed, with disbelief quickly suspended in the face of such fine cinematography. The film made an interesting juxtaposition with the trailer for Alexander that preceded it. That film’s tagline (The Greatest Legend Of All Was Real) not only drawing questions from me as to how “great” a man who destroyed Persepolis could be considered, but also as to Hollywood’s propensity for either/or dichotomies and the need for a “greatest” hero. ...

Despite pleas from one over-eager reader, this blog has been rather neglected of late. It could be the process of moving into the house (it went very well, very few boxes remain, furniture is in place, DSL has been connected for a while now). It could be beginning to prepare jystewart.net to see if I can’t get some freelance web work to fill my time and bank account. Or it could be that I just never quite seem to get round to it. ...

Our belongings are in the new house, but I’m at Grand Rapids Public Library (Main Branch) as the DSL is not hooked up till tomorrow. The boxes have been disappearing at a surprising rate but my hunch that the further into the process the box comes the longer it will take to unpack appears to have been correct. And this is my 200th post on this blog.

While on the subject of Slacktivist, he has also had some amusing critiques of Bush’s recent claims regarding Social Security. It would appear that the President is not aware of how his own Social Security system works, believing it to be a savings programme rather than a tax that provides for the current generation of retirees. Perhaps Bush was confused as I was when Kari’s most recent Social Security statement arrived, showing how much she had contributed over the years. I had always understood Social Security to work the way it does in fact work, but receiving such a document forced me to go back and check. Perhaps the President was confused by the misleading propaganda that arrived in his mailbox? ...

The blog world has been awash with commentary on the Washington Post’s recent attempts to defend their editorial decisions in the run up to the Iraq war. In the wake of print media’s critical take on blogging during the Democratic National Convention the opportunity to let loose at a bastion of the traditional press has been too much to resist for many who see blogging and traditional journalism in opposition. It is sad that such an opposition between two complementary mediums continues. ...

Through Salon I picked up this piece in today’s Guardian. In it, Simon Tisdall, the lynch-pin of the Guardian’s US election coverage speculates that: The US charge sheet against Iran is lengthening almost by the day, presaging destabilising confrontations this autumn and maybe a pre-election October surprise. and goes on to suggest that: The US will ask a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency on September 13 to declare Iran in breach of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, a prelude to seeking punitive UN sanctions. ...