Local Links:
Interesting Links to the Outside World:
Writing Links:
Photography Links:
|
 |
Writers' Rooms
Fresh (almost) daily from
Julie Barrett
Oh the things I find when I'm on another track entirely.
A Guardian feature called Writers' Rooms. They range form the almost depressingly (for me, at least) tidy to cluttered spaces that make my work area look depressingly tidy. It's interesting to see what inspires other writers.
I would love a space that overlooks a park or something architecturally interesting, but at this point that's not to be. And even if I had such a space the weather in this locale would force me to keep the window shade closed for much of the year. So I'll console myself with my shelf of toys below my secondary monitor and pictures just below the ceiling level. The rest of the space is taken up by shelves.
Before I happened across this article I'd come to the decision (again!) that I needed to do another purge in the office. Yeah, as if that will happen. I should do it while things are in a bit of a lull, but I also should spend more time on the works in progress. But it's so damned hot that perhaps cleaning is the better option. I'll give it some thought.
Tags:
Writing
7/5/2008 10:20:54 PM
| Got something to say?
(0)
|
Permalink
|
Fireworks Pictures!
Fresh (almost) daily from
Julie Barrett
You can see the rest on the Flickr set. Duplicates are uploading to Zooomr as I type.
And yes, Trevor, I do have July Challenge shots for yesterday and today, but they'll come after my nap.
I breathed in way too much smoke last night.
Tags: Pictures
7/5/2008 1:14:48 PM
| Got something to say?
(0)
|
Permalink
|
Back from firewrorks
Fresh (almost) daily from
Julie Barrett
I'm tired, I smell of smoke, and I have a CF card with 679 pictures. Twenty-thirty of them may be halfway decent, if I'm lucky. I'll probably end up with 10-20 good ones.
Instead of going to a fireworks display, we went out to a spot by the lake in an unincorporated part of the county. There, two fireworks stands face each other across the road. Each has a large field for shooting. It was very well organized. They had people directing traffic on premises. When we left, Sheriff's officers were directing traffic on the road. Cars were backed up for over a mile.
On the way home we ran into traffic from the Plano fireworks show. That's the one I shot last year. Took forever to get home, but we had a good time.
I'll probably process the shots sometime tomorrow, though I may end up posting one tonight. I'm pretty tired, and we're planning to get up for the First Saturday electronics flea market in the morning. That's the main reason I'm sitting here pulling pictures off of my CF card. I'd like a clear card to use tomorrow.
G'night.
7/4/2008 11:48:36 PM
| Got something to say?
(0)
|
Permalink
|
Fresh (almost) daily from
Julie Barrett
I've been busy on the tech museum today. Here's a list of new devices:
3Com Audrey
Amstrad PenPal
Casio A-11
Casio E-125
iPAQ 3635
iPAQ 4155
Jornada 430
LG Phenom Express
Connextix QuickCam
Sharp PC-1270
TRS-80 Pocket Computer
U.S. Videotel Terminal
And in the Toys section, a Merlin
Thanks to Larry Groebe for providing some of the pictures.
Tags: Technology
7/4/2008 7:06:39 PM
| Got something to say?
(0)
|
Permalink
|
Speaking of free speech...
Fresh (almost) daily from
Julie Barrett
Here's the Author Advocate Defense Fund, set up to help pay legal expenses for the folks who have been sued by Barbara Bauer.
Just so you can see what the suit is about, here's a link to the documents available at the EFF. They were defending Wikimedia (parent of Wikipedia), which was dismissed from the suit the other day. If you feel like slogging through the 35-page complaint you'll see links to some of the particular blog postings and web pages that are being cited as containing defamatory material. Some material may have been removed since the complaint was filed. If nothing else, you'll get some insight into the legal system that you won't see on Boston Legal.
The Author Advocate Defense Fund page also links to some background material, for those who don't feel like going through pages of legalese.
If you have a couple of extra bucks to spare, please consider donating.
Tags: Writing, Legal
7/4/2008 3:55:00 PM
| Got something to say?
(0)
|
Permalink
|
Weekend Assignment: Are You Indpendent?
Fresh (almost) daily from
Julie Barrett
Karen asks on this anniversary of the Declaration of Independence: How independent are you? Is it a good thing?
I work as a freelancer, which is about as independent as you can get. It's a good thing and a bad thing. The good is that I can set my own hours. While Chris was in school I had time to run down and watch him in a play or help inside the classroom. If he ever needed a breathing treatment I was close by. I also have asthma, so it's nice to be able to drop everything and go to the doctor if I need to without fear of retribution by my employer. (Yes, I worked at a place like that once.)
One of the best things about my job is the commute. Two cats in the hallway is the heaviest traffic I encounter on the way to work. I can work from the bed or the couch if I want - and I have at times when I've hurt my knee.
The downside: The work isn't steady. It seems to be either feast or famine, and right now with the economy the way it is I'm not getting a lot of new work right now. That will change. It always does. I don't have health insurance, but Paul has a good plan. If he didn't, then I'd have to work outside of the house.
The biggest downside is the fact that I can work from anywhere in the house. It means that if a client has a problem, I'm here to fix it, even if it's late at night. That doesn't happen very often. And, of course, if I get a brilliant idea on something I'm writing, then sometimes I'm at the computer half the night. I sometimes have a real problem separating my work time from my leisure time. But (again, a plus for working at home) if I get fed up I can walk away from the computer any time unless I'm on a tight deadline.
Extra Credit: If you were to write some sort of Declaration today, what truths would you hold to be self-evident?
Sadly, it would be that all people are created equal. I say "sadly," because some people are still more equal than others. I suppose that even in a democracy that's bound to happen, but gender, skin color, or income (or a dozen other things) shouldn't be a barrier to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Another truth I'd have to declare is that we have a Constitution, and the Bill of Rights guarantees our most precious freedoms, the foremost of which is free speech. I'd also like to point out that it should be evident that we're a nation of laws and that this is not a police state. Photographers are treated like terrorists. And let's not even get into warrantless surveillance. Frivolous lawsuits abound. While the truth is the absolute defense against defamation claims, people still have to pony up the money to defend themselves in court, which (IMO) means that the truth is for sale to the person with the most money. Yes, a journalist or blogger has a moral and legal obligation to tell the truth, and we all have a right to protect our reputations. It's simply my opinon (and I'm not pointing to anything or anyone specific here) that the sheer number of these suits has a chilling effect on free speech. Free speech shouldn't be for sale to whoever can afford lawyers. Nothing against lawyers, or the fine folks at the EFF who fight for free speech every day. But it does seem to me that free speech is rapidly falling into the exclusive provence of those who can afford it. That, my friends, is not what the founders of this country had in mind.
Tags: Weekend Assignment
7/4/2008 11:07:10 AM
| Got something to say?
(1)
|
Permalink
|
*^&!@ Invitations!
Fresh (almost) daily from
Julie Barrett
I've had several invitations to social networking services in the past few days, two from the same person for the same service. One invitation told me I had a free gift. Oh, you want to SEE what your gift is? Hand over all your personal information. We're not going to tell you how this service works or how to check it out first. Just sign up for an account. Trust us.
Wrong.
I won't name the social networking site, but I'll name another that's got me ticked: Classmates.com. My high school decided to use that site to manage their reunion. I signed up for a free membership. Now I'm getting spammed with messages telling me that people looked at my profile or left a message on my profile. All I need to see 'em is a premium membership. Sorry, but no. I've read of too many problems with their service and how difficult it is to cancel. Perhaps if I knew who left a message on my profile, it might entice me to think about signing up. But just a generic "someone" isn't gonna cut it. Knowing my old classmates, the message was probably an insult. So why would I want to pay for that?
Every time I sign up for a social networking site, I'm asked if I want to scan my gmail and other online address books and spam my friends. No thanks. Some of the people are business contacts, and some are very casual acquaintances. I'm not sure who among my friends would be interested in a particular service. I'd rather send invitations one at a time. Or, preferably, ask my friends first. Sorry, but it just seems tacky to spam my casual and business contacts with invitations to web sites they may have absolutely no interest in.
Why would I want to join in a political discussion group with someone I barely know, and risk ticking off if we don't see eye-to-eye on some issue? Yep, I've been spammed for political social networking sites, TV sites, movie sites, darn near everything. I've signed up for some, but most I don't care about. I only have so much time in the day and I can't keep up with the sites I do try to use often. FriendFeed has been a big help in consoldating things, but it still has problems. For example, it won't connect to my Good Reads account because I have an author account. Authors read, too!
Let's make this simple: If you are in a social network or belong to a web site that you think I might find interesting, let me know personally. If I'm interested, then I'll ask you to send me an invitation - or give you my username if I'm already on the service. That way I can be on the lookout for the invite. Sometimes they end up in the spam folder and I may not see them for days if at all. Do this for your friends, too. Ask first. It's the polite thing to do.
Now, if you discover I'm on a site that you're on, please do the "friend" thing. If you're using a nickname that I might not recognize, please drop me a line so I'll be sure to reciprocate. No, I don't friend everyone. And no, that's not terrible. Allow me to give you an example: Someone on a photo sharing site wanted to swap pictures with me. I looked at the person's stream and it was all NSFW pictures. Not artistic nudes (which I don't mind at all), but amateurish snapshots of girls and their boobs. No, thank you. Besides, even if I were into that kind of thing, I don't think there's a wide angle lens made that would take in my sagging chest area. ;-) I reciprocate darn near evey request on photo sharing sites, but that experience taught me to check out the photo stream of the party making the request first.
Enough of the rant, although this did remind me of another subject I want to bring up soon: How much self-promotion is too much? I know I've crossed the line, much to my everlasting regret. I suspect the answer may vary, and I look forward to an interesting conversation in the comments trail.
Tags:
Technology
7/3/2008 4:52:37 PM
| Got something to say?
(0)
|
Permalink
|
July 2008 Photo Challenge: Days 2 and 3
Fresh (almost) daily from
Julie Barrett
Tags: Pictures, July 2008 Challenge
7/3/2008 2:21:19 PM
| Got something to say?
(0)
|
Permalink
|
Is it morning, yet?
Fresh (almost) daily from
Julie Barrett
Yes, I know: It IS morning, but it sure doesn't feel like it. I took an OTC sleep aid last night. My unwritten rule is that if I have two bad nights in a row, then on the third I take the med. I got to sleep ... then woke up a couple of hours later. I did manage to get back to sleep, but this morning I could not wake up. I spent the morning stumbling around like a drunk. Two cups of coffee later, and I don't feel too much better. Ugh.
Maybe I'll take Chris down to the coffee shop in a bit and load up on more caffeine.
I did manage to get a few things on my to do list knocked off yesterday, even though I only had a couple of hours to spare. One of the major items involved getting hotel rooms for upcoming conventions straightened out. Turns out I can't do anything about one room yet because our plans are not firmly fixed, but they will be in a couple of weeks. I tried to rebook for a larger room for another convention only to be told the rooms haven't been released to the convention block yet. I'll try again at another time. And finally, I got my room for the LA trip booked. That gets my next few conventions taken care of, save the transportation to LA.
My other bit item was something I managed to take care of on Tuesday: I finally got the extra line dropped form our cell phone account. Calling Sprint customer service an be an adventure sometimes. First, I called the number on the bill. That turned out to be a special number for folks who have a corporate discount (which we get courtesy of Paul's present employer), but they had to transfer me to the correct department. One thing I will say is that these folks have much better music on hold. The rep made notes on the account, transferred me to the correct department, and after a few rings I got the "out of service" message. Lovely.
I grabbed a number from the web site and called again. One thing Sprint is trying to do (to improve service, I think) is replace the pusbutton menus with voice menus. That's a help on one level. If you're on a cordless phone or a cell phone and not using the speakerphone feature, then by the time you've found the button, pressed it, and put the phone back to your ear you've missed half the options in the next menu. Of course, it helps if the voice recognition actually works. Then there's the bit where they ask you to punch in your cell phone number. I did that twice at both places, only to get transferred to a rep who - are we surprised? - asked for my phone number. I was calling from the landline (the phone was on the charger), but shouldn't they be able to keep that bit of information with the call?
I finally got connected with the correct department, where - after providing my phone number yet again - they dropped the line with only a token plea for me to keep it going.
All that mess reminded me of the Monty Python sketch where the couple callse the fire brigade for help and spends five minutes answering all sorts of questions and then handing over their shoe size before they get any help. I tried to find that video to embed, but had no luck. I did, however, find a Terry Gilliam gem that I haven't seen in years called The Miracle of Flight. This is separate from his Python work, but still very much in the same style. Our PBS station used to air it as filler years ago, and I always wanted to find a copy. Thanks to the miracle of You Tube, I finally did. Now I'm inflicting it on you:
(Sigh. The video is no longer available.)
Remember that next time you go to the airport.
Off to get some work done.
Tags:
Life
7/3/2008 10:17:43 AM
| Got something to say?
(0)
|
Permalink
|
Lawsuit against Wikimedia Foundation tossed
Fresh (almost) daily from
Julie Barrett
According to Wikinews and The Asbury Park Press, a judge has dismissed the defamation suit against Wikipedia's parent organization the Wikimedia Foundation by literary agent Barbara Bauer.
This ruling only affects Wikipedia, and not the complaints against the other defendants.
Tags: Legal
Update: The Asbury Park Press link has been updated with one with better formatting. Same text, but easier to read - and with comments.
I
suppose I should make some halfway witty observation, but I'm still
digesting this. The Wikinews source is being continually updated.
First
take: It's a victory for free speech on the Internet. I'm not a lawyer,
but it seemed to me that the Communications Decency Act covered this
sort of speech. As for the others - it's my understanding that the
truth is an absolute defense against defamation. I suppose we'll just
have to wait for it all to come out in court.
7/1/2008 5:12:31 PM
| Got something to say?
(0)
|
Permalink
|
|
|
|
Julie Barrett is a freelance
writer and photographer based in Plano, TX.
Search the Archives:
Search Tags:
Thank you,
Karen!
Find me on Facebook
And on Pownce!
At Goodreads
At FriendFeed
Full RSS Feed
Short RSS Feed
Comments RSS Feed
Last
100 Entries
Latest Comments
Karen Funk Blocher in
Weekend Assignment: Are You Indpendent?
7/4/2008 8:11:46 PM
Karen Funk Blocher in
Monday Photo Shoot
6/30/2008 7:58:25 PM
Monica in
Round Robin Photo Challenge
6/30/2008 7:52:22 PM
maryt in
Round Robin Photo Challenge
6/30/2008 3:04:16 PM
maryt in
Round Robin Photo Challenge
6/30/2008 3:04:03 PM
Terror Alert Level:
Absolute Write Blogroll:
|