A Poor Cousin of the Middle Class
By DAVID K. SHIPLER
aroline Payne embraces the ethics of America. She works hard and has no patience with those who don't. She has owned a house, pursued an education and deferred to the needs of her child. Yet she can barely pay her bills. Her earnings have hovered in a twilight between poverty and minimal comfort, usually between $8,000 and $12,000 a year.
She is the invisible American, unnoticed because she blends in. Like millions at the bottom of the labor force who contribute to the country's prosperity, Caroline's diligence is a camouflage. At the convenience store where she works, customers do not see that she struggles against destitution.
......
Sobering.
1/20/04
1/19/04
Been working like mad building an online survey to assist with a Bowen island community engagement process. Check out the snug cove plan at http://www.bowenisland.info. Took a trip to Bowen first time Sunday to participate in the workshop. 125 people showed up for the meeting out of a population of 3700. Probably another couple 100 over the week in the other meetings. Amazing public participation.
Been tossing around career ideas from planning school, to law, to snowboard instructor. The last is appealing but not overly lucrative. Planning has some interesting possiblities with a project and a consulting company wrapped around the idea of the use of the internet in public participation and capacity building at the local government level. Could also be a Ph.D. I'd have one more degree than my sibling. Not that we're keeping score or anything. :-)
For those of you keeping score from abroad Marchand is engaged to be married. Pass the scotch. :-)
Been tossing around career ideas from planning school, to law, to snowboard instructor. The last is appealing but not overly lucrative. Planning has some interesting possiblities with a project and a consulting company wrapped around the idea of the use of the internet in public participation and capacity building at the local government level. Could also be a Ph.D. I'd have one more degree than my sibling. Not that we're keeping score or anything. :-)
For those of you keeping score from abroad Marchand is engaged to be married. Pass the scotch. :-)
Cows with guns
One of the best ways to waste 5 minutes I've seen in quite a while. Kudos to the little blue people at the smurftower for this link. Soundcard required. Work Safe.
http://www.shagrat.net/Html/cows.htm
One of the best ways to waste 5 minutes I've seen in quite a while. Kudos to the little blue people at the smurftower for this link. Soundcard required. Work Safe.
http://www.shagrat.net/Html/cows.htm
1/9/04
Cash!
Signed a contract with Natural Resources Canada today to do some web design/programming/community engagement work. Nice to be gainfully employed at a reasonable wage. Interesting how things change over time. I spent years doing political science and thought I'd be a policy wonk.
Today I spent time researching Open SSL, secure programming techniques at the macromedia website and then spent some time coding. Instead of peace order and good government my thoughts turn to...
(Brackets chopped off so code would display)
CFIF IsDefined("form.newItem")
Check the data for the required parameters. If invalid data is found end the process and notify the user.
Check title: Accept only letters, numbers .
cfset checkdata = ReFindNoCase("[^a-zA-Z0-9\., -]+","#form.title#")
cfif checkdata GT 0
cfset result = StructInsert(validationstructure,"Title","#checkdata#")
/cfif"
On the other hand have dual monitors to keep me happy. :-)
S.
Signed a contract with Natural Resources Canada today to do some web design/programming/community engagement work. Nice to be gainfully employed at a reasonable wage. Interesting how things change over time. I spent years doing political science and thought I'd be a policy wonk.
Today I spent time researching Open SSL, secure programming techniques at the macromedia website and then spent some time coding. Instead of peace order and good government my thoughts turn to...
(Brackets chopped off so code would display)
CFIF IsDefined("form.newItem")
Check the data for the required parameters. If invalid data is found end the process and notify the user.
Check title: Accept only letters, numbers .
cfset checkdata = ReFindNoCase("[^a-zA-Z0-9\., -]+","#form.title#")
cfif checkdata GT 0
cfset result = StructInsert(validationstructure,"Title","#checkdata#")
/cfif"
On the other hand have dual monitors to keep me happy. :-)
S.
1/8/04
Ten Steps for Cleaning Up Information Pollution (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox): "
Information pollution? Sacrilege. I must have my information now.
Information pollution? Sacrilege. I must have my information now.
A Baker's Dozen of Holiday Classics and the Project Management Lessons They Teach
For example:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Another tale of unauthorized resource appropriation.
Lessons Learned: Sooner or later, the resources have to go back to Whoville. And sooner or later the team members (Max) need a chance to ride, instead of pull, the sleigh.
For example:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Another tale of unauthorized resource appropriation.
Lessons Learned: Sooner or later, the resources have to go back to Whoville. And sooner or later the team members (Max) need a chance to ride, instead of pull, the sleigh.
1/7/04
Wired News: Bush Grabs New Power for FBI
While the nation was distracted last month by images of Saddam Hussein's spider hole and dental exam, President George W. Bush quietly signed into law a new bill that gives the FBI increased surveillance powers and dramatically expands the reach of the USA Patriot Act.
The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 grants the FBI unprecedented power to obtain records from financial institutions without requiring permission from a judge. Under the law, the FBI does not need to seek a court order to access such records, nor does it need to prove just cause.
Once you give up your freedoms life is so much easier.
While the nation was distracted last month by images of Saddam Hussein's spider hole and dental exam, President George W. Bush quietly signed into law a new bill that gives the FBI increased surveillance powers and dramatically expands the reach of the USA Patriot Act.
The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 grants the FBI unprecedented power to obtain records from financial institutions without requiring permission from a judge. Under the law, the FBI does not need to seek a court order to access such records, nor does it need to prove just cause.
Once you give up your freedoms life is so much easier.
1/4/04
While we made it through the holdidays. Family came to town and then dashed back to the big smoke. They will be missed. The baby kept growing and got lots of presents. Her eyes have turned blue and she is now focusing and interacting with her environment. Everyday is new and exciting. The feedings in the middle of the night not quite as exciting. :-)
Lots of snow, for vancouver at least. There have been some beautiful moments of the winter light bathing the downtown vancouver towers with the snow covered coastal mountains in the background. The one day we leave the digital camera at home.
Was out a couple mornings in a row before everyone was up. The silence that snow brings is great to experience - even in the middle of a city.
Dropped by the downtown public library today to return a book. Still love that building years later. Inside, the essence of civil society. A library packed to the gills with people from all parts of the city. Public knowledge and public access. You won't see it on global television but it's still going on.
Signing off for today a link picked up through Slashdot.
What you can't say
(This essay is about heresy: how to think forbidden thoughts, and what to do with them. The latter was till recently something only a small elite had to think about. Now we all have to, because the Web has made us all publishers.)
Lots of snow, for vancouver at least. There have been some beautiful moments of the winter light bathing the downtown vancouver towers with the snow covered coastal mountains in the background. The one day we leave the digital camera at home.
Was out a couple mornings in a row before everyone was up. The silence that snow brings is great to experience - even in the middle of a city.
Dropped by the downtown public library today to return a book. Still love that building years later. Inside, the essence of civil society. A library packed to the gills with people from all parts of the city. Public knowledge and public access. You won't see it on global television but it's still going on.
Signing off for today a link picked up through Slashdot.
What you can't say
(This essay is about heresy: how to think forbidden thoughts, and what to do with them. The latter was till recently something only a small elite had to think about. Now we all have to, because the Web has made us all publishers.)
12/23/03
Listamatic: Listamatic: one list, many options
Really cool things you can do on the web using stylesheets. This is the next generation in web design.
Really cool things you can do on the web using stylesheets. This is the next generation in web design.
It's time to change your browser
I've been testdriving the firebird browser available from www.mozilla.org for the past month. Tried on laptops, desktops, windows me, 2000 and xp. It runs faster, renders better and provides a great productivity jump over internet explorer. You will have to add some plugins but the built in links make this fairly easy. It is worth reading the instructions to understand what can be done. For those in jobs requiring multiple web windows the tabbed browsing with background downloading will be a godsend.
I love the keyboard shortcuts. Follow that link in the article listed below to see what you can do without taking your hands off the keyboard.
I've used almost every other generally available browser and this one comes out ahead. (IE, Netscape, Mozilla, Camino, Safari).
Check out some more details and download this browser at:
Reasons to switch to Firebird
I've been testdriving the firebird browser available from www.mozilla.org for the past month. Tried on laptops, desktops, windows me, 2000 and xp. It runs faster, renders better and provides a great productivity jump over internet explorer. You will have to add some plugins but the built in links make this fairly easy. It is worth reading the instructions to understand what can be done. For those in jobs requiring multiple web windows the tabbed browsing with background downloading will be a godsend.
I love the keyboard shortcuts. Follow that link in the article listed below to see what you can do without taking your hands off the keyboard.
I've used almost every other generally available browser and this one comes out ahead. (IE, Netscape, Mozilla, Camino, Safari).
Check out some more details and download this browser at:
Reasons to switch to Firebird
Voice activated computing...sounds like a great idea when you are reduced to one finger typing and web surfing because the baby is asleep on your chest.... (Post edited after the baby shifted and I could get both hands on the keyboard)
There is a wonderful joy to having an infant happily asleep and snuggled up on your chest. It cuts into your productivty but I keep telling myself she'll only be this small for a short period of time. :-) Like other human beings she is happier snuggled up and asleep then alone in the crib or the carseat.
I am amazed at how fast she is growing. In just over a month she has grown 30 percent. 6 pounds to 9 pounds. Can you imagine putting on 30 percent of your body weight in just over a month? She's still small but stretched out she's probably about 2 feet long.
It's a blur of bottles, formula, pink outfits and never sleeping for more than 3 hours at a time. I now write everything down since my short term memory is gone.
There is a wonderful joy to having an infant happily asleep and snuggled up on your chest. It cuts into your productivty but I keep telling myself she'll only be this small for a short period of time. :-) Like other human beings she is happier snuggled up and asleep then alone in the crib or the carseat.
I am amazed at how fast she is growing. In just over a month she has grown 30 percent. 6 pounds to 9 pounds. Can you imagine putting on 30 percent of your body weight in just over a month? She's still small but stretched out she's probably about 2 feet long.
It's a blur of bottles, formula, pink outfits and never sleeping for more than 3 hours at a time. I now write everything down since my short term memory is gone.
Have you ever wondered . . .
If the library were like amazon.com....
Yet another reason to supprt public services. privacy, free willl...
If the library were like amazon.com....
Yet another reason to supprt public services. privacy, free willl...
Letters of Marque: Sauron: Offer and acceptance
Yet another example of law students with too much time on their hands.
Yet another example of law students with too much time on their hands.
The Globe and Mail
Once the kids realize it's not some rotund stranger bringing the goodies, and rather that it's what my brother calls the parental units, they also begin to understand the grave responsibility of the season -- of not hurting anyone's feelings, of appearing to madly love all the presents, of being happy and agreeable so everyone can go to bed figuring they've had the best time and gone some distance to living up to the imagined Hallmark Christmas we all carry in our heads.
In truth, there are few of those. What there are instead are the infinitely more tender, flawed and sometimes downright odd celebrations of ordinary families in ordinary houses.
Once the kids realize it's not some rotund stranger bringing the goodies, and rather that it's what my brother calls the parental units, they also begin to understand the grave responsibility of the season -- of not hurting anyone's feelings, of appearing to madly love all the presents, of being happy and agreeable so everyone can go to bed figuring they've had the best time and gone some distance to living up to the imagined Hallmark Christmas we all carry in our heads.
In truth, there are few of those. What there are instead are the infinitely more tender, flawed and sometimes downright odd celebrations of ordinary families in ordinary houses.
11/28/03
The Tyee: index
By David Beers, Editor
TheTyee.ca
Why The Tyee? Glad you asked. Maybe you mean, why the name? The tyee, generally understood in these parts, is a savvy salmon with plenty of fight. Like this electronic newspaper, it roams free, goes where it wants . . .
But maybe you are asking, why create The Tyee? Why now? For starters:
Because big media in this province are owned by a powerful few with their own agendas.
Because that leaves many people here hungry for news and comment that reflects their actual lives, their own values.
Because “The Big Smoke” of Vancouver/Victoria hears too little from the rest of the province and together we have plenty of challenges and solutions to talk about.
And because we British Columbians are such a good story – so many good stories every day that don’t get told. At The Tyee you’ll find investigative reporting no one else is doing, and fresh viewpoints from all over B.C.
By David Beers, Editor
TheTyee.ca
Why The Tyee? Glad you asked. Maybe you mean, why the name? The tyee, generally understood in these parts, is a savvy salmon with plenty of fight. Like this electronic newspaper, it roams free, goes where it wants . . .
But maybe you are asking, why create The Tyee? Why now? For starters:
Because big media in this province are owned by a powerful few with their own agendas.
Because that leaves many people here hungry for news and comment that reflects their actual lives, their own values.
Because “The Big Smoke” of Vancouver/Victoria hears too little from the rest of the province and together we have plenty of challenges and solutions to talk about.
And because we British Columbians are such a good story – so many good stories every day that don’t get told. At The Tyee you’ll find investigative reporting no one else is doing, and fresh viewpoints from all over B.C.
11/13/03
11/12/03
Been talking to various people about organizational systems and time management approaches.
Approach 1:
Do nothing. Let the crises come and use your head to keep track of your comittments.
Approach 2:
Basic to-do list for work related issues
Approach 3:
Master list of all things you have to do in your life. Sort into categories based on your approach. Your job roles, priorities, bosses priorities, context or subject.
Tools used:
Tickler file - Drop it in a folder to deal with it later. (i.e. due date november 18 drop it in a file for the 18 and deal with then.)
Keep all to dos, dealines in a single word file that you check each day by file topic.
Use microsoft outlook for appointments, todo's, contacts and email. Use the journal function to track all interactions with any contact. (phone calls, meetings committments)
Sort to dos by location. (i.e. home errands) - (home calls) (@home computer) (@work computer) (@office)
I am working on this system (gettingthingsdone.com) and not sure about effectiveness quite yet. Still in the collect everything you have to do and get it into the external system (i.e. palm). This means I have way too many things piled on my dining room table. Problem is that feel a bit overwhelmed by the collection process. The 'to do' just gets bigger and bigger. The coming baby looms over it all. Recent quotation from a friend "Control is an illusion"
One thing I've found really helpful is having labels and file folders available whereever I am working. If I get a piece of paper that I don't have an existing place for it immediately gets labelled and filed in an A-Z system.
Comments - how do you keep track of everything?
Approach 1:
Do nothing. Let the crises come and use your head to keep track of your comittments.
Approach 2:
Basic to-do list for work related issues
Approach 3:
Master list of all things you have to do in your life. Sort into categories based on your approach. Your job roles, priorities, bosses priorities, context or subject.
Tools used:
Tickler file - Drop it in a folder to deal with it later. (i.e. due date november 18 drop it in a file for the 18 and deal with then.)
Keep all to dos, dealines in a single word file that you check each day by file topic.
Use microsoft outlook for appointments, todo's, contacts and email. Use the journal function to track all interactions with any contact. (phone calls, meetings committments)
Sort to dos by location. (i.e. home errands) - (home calls) (@home computer) (@work computer) (@office)
I am working on this system (gettingthingsdone.com) and not sure about effectiveness quite yet. Still in the collect everything you have to do and get it into the external system (i.e. palm). This means I have way too many things piled on my dining room table. Problem is that feel a bit overwhelmed by the collection process. The 'to do' just gets bigger and bigger. The coming baby looms over it all. Recent quotation from a friend "Control is an illusion"
One thing I've found really helpful is having labels and file folders available whereever I am working. If I get a piece of paper that I don't have an existing place for it immediately gets labelled and filed in an A-Z system.
Comments - how do you keep track of everything?
Had a check up today for mom and soon-to-be baby. Given the signs may mean baby could be here in a week to two weeks. 7 to 14 days. 168 - 214 hours. Tick...tick...tick. Now that we've pulled apart the entire apartment we seem no closer to being organized. :-) Maybe tonight will beat back the domestic demons of disorder.
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