[gratuitously lifted from a message board, where it had been lifted from some site, somewhere.]This recap at Live Apartment Fire prompts me to provide some proper context of expletives:
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| posted at: 19:11 | permanent link to this entry |
My Overly-Simplistic Guide to the 2008 Ballot (Part 2 of several)
Amendment: Suspension of property tax for Forest lands1. Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to provide that the General Assembly by general law shall encourage the preservation, conservation, and protection of the state´s forests through the special assessment and taxation of certain forest lands and assistance grants to local government? My vote: Grumble, bitch, moan, complain, yes. The only benefit from this amendment is that maybe, trees will live a little longer than normal, and I suppose that's worth the price of the leeching of our state treasury by the plantations. I still think that eventually, these type initiatives will lead to the introduction of gambling in the state of Georgia, it's just a matter of placing straws in the milkshake glass before it's filled. Amendment: Repurposing of Special Purpose taxes.2. Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to authorize community redevelopment and authorize counties, municipalities, and local boards of education to use tax funds for redevelopment purposes and programs? My vote: Hell, no, I'm not going to legitimize embezzlement of funds gathered for a specific purpose. Double Hell No, when that embezzlement drives capital poisoning. Amendment: Corporate Cities3. Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to authorize the General Assembly to provide by general law for the creation and comprehensive regulation of infrastructure development districts for the provision of infrastructure as authorized by local governments? My vote: No. More with the capital poisoning, just the "rural" version. Double No, when I consider the prostitution of local councils that already occurs in this state, Triple No when I consider that most real estate "development" these days is really just urban decay in a can. |
| posted at: 18:44 | permanent link to this entry |
My Overly-Simplistic Guide to the 2008 Ballot (part 1 of several)
Time to shoot from the hip, and display my tendency to vote 'no' on such things. First, the local stuff.
Fulton Elderly 50% homestead exemption1. Shall the Act be approved which provides a homestead exemption from Fulton County ad valorem taxes for county purposes in the amount of 50 percent of the assessed value of the homestead for residents of that county who are 65 years of age or older and whose household income does not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty level? My vote: No. 50 percent of an arbitrarily assessed value will be 80-100 percent of whatever Fulton County wants to collect. I think this is a red herring. Atlanta Homestead exemption to 40k2. Shall the Act be approved which provides a new increased homestead exemption from City of Atlanta ad valorem taxes for municipal purposes in the amount of $40,000.00 of the assessed value of the homestead for residents of that city who are 65 years of age or over whose income does not exceed $40,000.00? My vote: No. Beyond my aversion to smoke-and-mirrors, I really can't consider any decrease in taxes for Atlanta at this time. Base homestead exemption to $30k3. Shall the act be approved which increases the homestead exemption from Fulton County ad valorem taxes for county purposes from $15,000.00 to $30,000.00 after a three-year phase-in period? 4. Shall the Act be approved which increases the homestead exemption from City of Atlanta independent school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes from $15,000.00 to $30,000.000 after a three-year phase-in period? 5. Shall the Act be approved which increases the homestead exemption from City of Atlanta ad valorem taxes for municipal purposes from $15,000.00 to $30,000.00 after a three-year phase-in period? My votes: No, Yes, and No, respectively. In general, I don't think there should be an exemption at all, actually, particularly given the near-bankrupt status of the City. However, if we're looking at playing shell games with "education" funds, we should be looking at taxing less. [I know, government doesn't speak that language, but we can. Hence, a big fat 'Yes' for item 4, in lieu of a rate reduction]. $275M Library Bond Issue6. Shall Fulton County issue general obligation bonds in the principal amount of $275,375,000.00 to implement the Library Facility Master Plan for improvements to library facilities, including the cost of acquisition, design, construction, and equipping of new library facilities and renovation and expansion of existing library facilities owned by Fulton County? My vote: I grew up, in part, in libraries. But $275 million? For Fulton County? You're kidding, right? After the Plantation Movement, I don't consider Fulton County to exist as a cohesive entity. So, my vote is No. |
| posted at: 18:12 | permanent link to this entry |
Today's topic for discussion is:
| YEUNGLING IS NOW AVAILABLE IN GEORGIA. |
| posted at: 00:25 | permanent link to this entry |
| Hats off to the Fightins'. They stuck with Pat Burrell, stuck with Charlie Manuel, didn't try to "fix" Ryan Howard's strikeout problem, and figured out how to make Brad Lidge not suck. The result: A much-awaited claiming of a World Series trophy for the National League. |
| posted at: 00:25 | permanent link to this entry |
So, I dropped by the recently-opened Bookhouse Pub last night, and I've found my winter hangout. The pub itself is very small, seating 50 max, including a 10-seat bar. The whole place is medium-finish wood, except for the exquisite bar surface, which is a darker tone (yes, it's a solid wood bartop). It's a windowless, non-smoking space, with plenty of (unheated, at the moment) patio space in which to light up. I milled around, settled on a spot, and saw the following on the main tap: Saison Dupont, St. Bernardus Abt 12, Gulden Draak, Lindeman's Framboise , Chimay White, Allagash Tripel, and two others I can't remember offhand. Let me repeat this: Gulden Draak, St. Bernardus 12, Saison Dupont, and Chimay White, on tap. A.k.a., "my next four visits to this place". :) This does not include a couple of bottles I spotted, which look to be micro-batch brews of some kind. I'll report on the menu at a later time. |
| posted at: 04:45 | permanent link to this entry |
| Ladies and gentlemen, this election has gone plaid.
[gratuitously lifted from a message board, where it had been lifted from some site, somewhere.] |
| posted at: 01:08 | permanent link to this entry |
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Apparently, the javascript folks have discovered...compilation. Give them a couple years, and they're rediscover fire. |
| posted at: 01:07 | permanent link to this entry |
Today's topic for discussion is:
| The African Sausage Tree. |
| posted at: 01:08 | permanent link to this entry |
Let's review, and provide some context for the GOP's false outrage:
Color me less than impressed with the GOP's allegations. |
| posted at: 18:01 | permanent link to this entry |
And so, we've made it through the last of the debates for this presidential election, and it's time to despin some bullshit that's being spread by Senator Obama's supporters. Much like the GOP is using the lack of evidence to tie up the press until Election Day, Democrats are using irrelevant points to distract the discussion. The "dis"The loudest flap from the "town hall" debate was the alleged lack of respect shown to Obama from Senator McCain, through some form of fake handshake or another. This bullshit has been spread to mask the fact that both candidates, and the debate itself, were as fake as a slice of Velveeta. You heard me right: Obama recited a bunch of 18-month-old talking points and stump speeches. It was a complete snow job, and Obama may as well have saved his voice by playing chapters from a DVD. So, with nothing positive to say about their candidate, the flouncy-bouncy members of Dems have invented controversy: McCain withdrew a handshake offer? *Gasp*
What complete bullshit. The "gag"This one's making the animated GIF circuit: McCain, when caught in a "which way do I go" moment, will pretend to gag at the dilemma. Being old and scarred, this comes across with none of the range of body motion required to pull off slapstick comedy. Building on the pattern of distraction, many Democrats have channeled their repressed anger with a refreshing round of "Mock the Cripple", and general mocking of McCain's appearance. This is actually more insight into evil psyches than anything else, but the statements made by such animations are complete bullshit. |
| posted at: 17:36 | permanent link to this entry |
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Bacon Today: Daily updates on the world of sweet, sweet Bacon. |
| posted at: 17:35 | permanent link to this entry |
Georgia is Officially In Play.
While we have entered the final few weeks of this absolute marathon of a Presidential campaign, Check out this news from the Georgia Senate race: Saxby Chambliss has blown a tire, and both major-party candidates are now polling under 50%, with Senator Chambliss showing a 10% drop over the past month. Due to the timing of this dropoff, I have to wonder if Chambliss got caught blabbing some party line about a strong economy, or something similar. Also of note: Max Burns is running again, for the GA-12 House seat. Good luck to him. |
| posted at: 05:21 | permanent link to this entry |
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Flash game creation tutorials, from Kongregate. |
| posted at: 03:06 | permanent link to this entry |
| On Tuesday, Frontline aired a program recapping the two Senators' roads to this election. It's required viewing, IMO, if for no other reason, to remember that Frontline is still around, and still producing quality work. |
| posted at: 03:04 | permanent link to this entry |
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Since when did the abbreviation for 'advertisements' become 'adds'? |
| posted at: 05:27 | permanent link to this entry |
The New Fad: Domestic Murder-Suicide
| I've seen two or three of these stories show up in headlines lately: financially-strapped man shoots any family members in the house, then himself. It's an archetype already; I suspect the next good-sized killing that occurs will involve news trucks and live reporting (if yesterday morning's M-S in California didn't already draw such attention). |
| posted at: 05:27 | permanent link to this entry |
This weekend, I took a break from Scylla and Charbidis (aka "my current projects") to check out the second SIEGECon, a nascent gaming development conference. While it's currently a big networking/hobnob/recruitment meeting, it has a ton of potential. Here are some notes from my brief visit. (Graphics) Engines and Open SourceThis was very much an IT vs. IS meeting, both within the panel and between audience and panel. The main software guy on the panel (and one of four identifiable IS people in the room) was a former Dynamix developer, who was highly involved with the Tribes 2 engine. He's currently driving development on an open source framework for developing games (taking Eclipse as inspiration), the basic description of which places it on my list of projects to investigate. The other interesting thing I noted was the large presence of "Game Programming" students, and that most of them were actually there to find out (a) which open source library to use, and (b) in 2008, the effects of including open source libraries in their work. The audience didn't seem impressed when "do your homework" was the answer. :-) IT mentality was also present on the panel, as the DBA of the group kept resetting the focus when he felt the conversation was getting too deep. One of the speakers put integration problems of the various game engines in context, by stating that software written for one purpose (e.g., First-person shooter) probably won't be suitable for another purpose (e.g., strategy board game). This point is fundamental. Software, as crystalline thought, is built with the constraints and contexts of the time. Had I been thinking on my feet, I'd have asked the students in the group if they understood. Into the Den of SnakesI view advertising (and similar marketing disciplines) as a practice of devaluing experiences. That's as nice a term as I can use, actually. So, I had to think carefully before attending the "Advergames" panel. Since this was held in a large suite, I would be unable to hide any open disgust or contempt. As it turns out, the panel went very well: there was a serious (if futile) attempt to explain games' role in the context of marketing. The most impressive (not necessarily in a good way) aspect of this panel was that the conversation was mostly held within context of embedded, Flash games. There were mentions of other games, it was all Flash. The first highlight of this panel was the local entrepreneur throwing down the gauntlet to a (small) room full of marketers: "Don't make the games crappy {by using your ads}." More on that, later. The second highlight was the extemporaneous design given by one of the game designers, when asked to give an example of a (website) traffic-driver game. When SIEGE posts the audio, I'll revisit this topic with a link. The third highlight was the Flash "developer" in the audience, who bemoaned the lack of ability to capture users' changing of focus to another app, and even walking away from the computer to do something else. I had to resist the urge to openly mock him. And yes, advertisers are still asking about ROI, as if it's even relevant. That question was correctly swept under the rug. |
| posted at: 22:33 | permanent link to this entry |
Today's topic for discussion is:
| The heels are on, and the gloves are off. The latter exercise seems to miss the point. |
| posted at: 21:53 | permanent link to this entry |
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Tomorrow is the last day to register (in Georgia) to vote for the upcoming election. |
| posted at: 06:20 | permanent link to this entry |
In an online forum, the following were offered (mostly joking) as reasons why one should still like the U.S. "One of these things is not like the other...?" 
If you reacted with some combination of surprise, disgust, humor, and dread, give yourself full marks. Somehow, Jessica Simpson is considered on par with:
I mean, come on. Apple Pie. |
| posted at: 14:01 | permanent link to this entry |
Today's topic for discussion is:
| Another silly game: Filler. Inflate balls to fill up 2/3 of the map (Qix, anyone?), while avoiding an increasing number of smaller balls (arkanoid's multi-ball comes to mind), with gravity in effect. Time, ball, and life limits keep you honest. |
| posted at: 12:09 | permanent link to this entry |
