Project Tracker: 2004-11-12

Boxcar Website: I finished up the survey application and sent the URL and login credentials to Matt/Erin for approval.

6DC Slideshow: I made a slideshow with quality and size that I'm pretty happy with it. I exported lower res. versions of it to the web for Justin and Jad to take a look at. You can watch it here.

posted by geoff on 11/12/2004 08:03:17 PM
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Post-election thoughts

A lot of my friends have written things in response to their feelings about the election and they all reflect the same feeling of loss, of frustration, of trepidation, but additionally, I can't think of a time when people have come, independently, to the same conclusions. Maybe there's something positive in that, I don't know. The interesting thing, is that people have the same feelings and thoughts about the elections, the issues in it, the reasons people voted a certain way, or didn't and there's been so little communication between people. I feel like my voice has been stolen and that any time I try to talk through my feelings about American politics, it comes out muddled and confused. Hopefully the words of my friends might articulate some of the things that I can't.

My friend Jason writes in e-mail:

So it is over. I just watched Kerry concede and Bush declare victory.
There is a dull ache somewhere in my head and my stomach is cranky. I
feel the need to articulate something to somebody, and hope that makes
me feel better. Though, this could be read as my sour grapes. : )

A snippet from a CNN exit poll illustrates my concerns:
22% called "moral values" the election's most important issue (79% of
those were backing Bush), 20% believed it was the economy (80% of those
were backing Kerry), 19% pointed to terrorism (~79% of those were for
Bush), and 15% pointed to Iraq (75% of those for Kerry).

Granted, exit polls are not the most reliable, but I suspect that this
is a good snap shot of reality. Here's my take...

America is dangerously conservative and unabashedly uncritical--this is
the momentum of our electorate. They care more about the behavior of
same sex partners than they do about issues of import.
Republicans are good at conjuring red herrings that rely on fear and
moral issues--this is the momentum of our politics, and the media is
only fostering it. And the paucity of integrity and lack of
appreciation that people should come before profits afflicts politicians
on both sides.

Now Bush has a legitimate mandate, and this is scary. Before he ruled
by fiat of the Supreme Court and even then carried on with an air of
entitlement. What the Republicans do with this new vote of confidence
and the additional gains in Congress will be frightening. Expect bold
new appointments, sneaky politics, shady bills, and some Supreme Court
action.

Every other liberal jokes of moving out of the country (me included of
course), some seem serious. But we need a liberal (hell, even a
moderate) America more than ever, so I hope this attitude doesn't give
way to political lethargy. The U.S. needs people like us to advocate
for the marginalized and the environment, and keep a watchful eye on our
military and economic misadventures. We'll bring the debate to them and
get a productive discourse going. Our history has seen shittier times,
but through action, often at the behest of true leaders, people beat it.
So as the country becomes increasingly divided and as domestic and
global politics heat up, I believe that Republicans will be held to
account. I think we'll be instrumental in this.

Think of this way. Without representatives to stand in for us, we've
got to own our politics more personally. So while we are out of power
formally, we will pick up the slack in our regular lives. In some
respect this is cool and empowering. We are on the offensive, we will
find solidarity, and we'll meet success sooner or later.

My friend Becca writes on her livejournal:

resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.
resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.
resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.
resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.
resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.
resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.
resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.
resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.
resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.
resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.
resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.
resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.
resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.
resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.resist.


please. it's going to take all of us
My friend Mike, who I haven't really talked to since we both lived in Edinburgh wrote in e-mail:

i'm completely devastated by this election, and it is not going away. i wonder if you feel the same. the only explanations are ones which shatter beliefs about this country that i need to be true: that it is not filled with stupid, silly people and that it is not easily cowed by political reduction of macroscopic problems.



posted by geoff on 11/11/2004 01:54:12 PM
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Project Tracker: 2004-11-11

Boxcar Online Inventory: Sent e-mail to the httpunit-development mailing list to see if changing the form action with javascript is supported. If it's not, I guess the next thing to do will be to rewrite the checkout script so that the validation will be done in the PHP script instead of with the javascript.

posted by geoff on 11/11/2004 01:42:44 PM
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Components for Automatic Flashpoint Camera



posted by geoff on 11/10/2004 01:53:00 PM
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technology and activism links

World Changing
D4PA-Design for Political Action
Bureau of Inverse Technology

posted by geoff on 11/10/2004 01:12:24 PM
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A Strategy of Tragedy, or a Strategy of Change

From Cradle to Cradle by McDonough & Braungart:

It may be tempting to try to turn back the clock. Yet the next industrial revolution will not be about returning to some idealized, preindustrial state in which, for example, all textiles are made from natural fibers. Certainly at one time fabrics were biodegradable and unwanted pieces could be tossed on the ground to decompose or even be safely burned as fuel. But the natural materials to meet the needs of our current population do not and cannot exist. If serveral billion people want natural-fiber blue jeans dyed with natural dyes, humnanity will have to dedicate millions of acres to the cultivation of indigo and cotton plants just to satisfy the demand--acres that are needed to produce food. In addition, even "natural" products are not neccessarily healthy for humans and the environment. Indigo contains mutagens and, as typically grown in monocultural practices, depletes genetic diversity. You want to change your jeans, not your genes. Substances created by nature can be extremely toxic; they were not specifically designed by evolution for our use.

I think, when it comes to punk kids, there is a tendency to assume a position of moral superiority when it comes to environmental issues. I don't own a car, I ride my bike. I don't buy things, I re-use old ones. I recycle, I compost, I am part of the solution, not part of the problem. That is awesome. People should try to consume less. They should try to seperate their real desires and needs from those craftily cultivated by the capitalist media. It is still really, really unconscionable to drive a Hummer around. People should try to live their lives differently and try to minimize the negative effects that their existence produces. This weekend I spent some time on a farm where people had no sewage system, where they were trying to re-use materials, and to grow there own food. That's great. My friends read about greywater systems and veggie-oil vehicles. Awesome.

But when it comes down to it, those solutions, those improvements, are viable and real because they are difficult and only adopted by a few people. I question whether some of the practices that make sense in our lives or the life of a small community would be possible or even desireable at a macro level.

As much as we want to seperate ourselves from the irresponsibility of the world at large, we are part of it. Our very existence is part of a trend of massive overpopulation that, in itself, is taking a horrible toll on the planet. With mass suicide or war or other catastrophe being unviable, and in my oppion, undesireable, we have to look at other options. Every job we have ever worked, every dollar we have spent, every dollar that has been spent on us by the government our our parents has had a fraction of it cycled into the social machinary that is quickly destroying the planet. The point is, however "good" we live our lives, it might not be enough to outweigh the toll of our existence.

To take a few steps from the consumption and pollution of our world and then wash our hands of it all is to ignore the part that we continue to play in the destruction of the natural world. It is fair to say that negligence is as great a sin as gluttony. We can't be satisfied by being one step better than society at large, or two steps better - we must be always better as much as we can be. And it is not enough to live our lives better but we must struggle to try to make everything better. That means that we must acknowledge some of our impotence as (non) consumers or micro-producers and look to the need to engage and challenge large producers or governments or communities to do things differently. We must ackwnowledge that in order to do things differently, we cannot prioritize a result of destruction or change but must always struggle for what is possible and what is rational. We are not settling for one solution or another because we are not settling. period. ever.

posted by geoff on 11/08/2004 11:57:56 AM
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This Is Intended To Be Positive

The idea of punk as sub-culture or counter-culture, as somehow being isolated and distinct from mainstream culture, I am coming to believe, is a naive one. The ease with which punk iconography and culture is assimilated into mainstream, capitalist culture should be a constant and unfortunate reminder of this. We are a product of culture-at-large and we are subject to its same flaws. We are apathetic, we are greedy, we are short-sighted, we are irrational, we are ignorant, we are unwilling to confront our mistakes.

If there is something, however, that distinguishes us punk kids from the rest of the world we live in, it is that we are able to make things, even if for a short while, that reflect a greater sincerity, and that we can, perhaps, respond to these ideas with a greater compassion, or greater reason, or a greater willingness to change our lives.

With all the flaws we have in ourselves, and in effect, our politics, projects, and institutions, it is every bit as reasonable to level criticism against ourselves as it is to attack the corporation or the government or the church. Certainly, I would not say that these things should not be challenged. They are so large, so powerful, and often so corrupt that for the survival of any, even miniscule, alternative, it is neccessary for there to be some continued challenge, some continued conflict. However, I would strongly disagree that any self-critique is somehow less legitimate or comes at the expense of this struggle. At best, it fortifies such struggles by grounding them in more reason and better , more clear intententions.

For many reasons I have chosen to live my life surrounded by punk rock music and culture and other people who have made similar choices. I'm glad of this and I don't really care for the alternatives. So, it makes sense that in trying to challenge myself and ideas that might be negative, I would look first to my own community and my own friends, and to myself. I think that the idea of the failure of preaching to the choir comes not from the redundancy of the audience, but from that of the message.

posted by geoff on 11/08/2004 10:57:05 AM
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Indiana Driver's License

PDF of Indiana Driver's Manual

Bureau of Motor Vehicles License Branch

1612 LIBERTY WAY #A
(812) 336-3018

1.Start at 830 W 7TH ST, BLOOMINGTON - go <> mi
2.Turn Right on MAPLE ST - go 0.5 mi
3.Turn Right on W 2ND ST - go 0.5 mi
4.Continue on W BLOOMFIELD RD - go 1.5 mi
5.W BLOOMFIELD RD becomes IN-45 SOUTH - go 0.3 mi
6.Turn Right on LIBERTY DR - go <> mi
7.Arrive at 1612 S LIBERTY DR # A, BLOOMINGTON, on the Right

Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Wednesday: 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Thursday: 8:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Friday: 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Saturday: 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Birth Certificate (original not a copy) or Passport
State Driver's License
Social Security Card
Proof of Indiana Residece (e.g checkbook, Indiana Car Registration, bank statement, utility bill)

To get license:
50 Question Test
Eye Exam (so bring glasses)

posted by geoff on 11/08/2004 10:44:34 AM
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project tracker 2004-11-07

boxcar online inventory: I upgraded the replication software so the version on the boxcar computer now will e-mail me when there is a replication error. I had to implement this in a somewhat roundabout way since Python's SMTP logging module wasn't appropriate since it required a direct connection to an SMTP sever. Instead, I modified the replication program to use the HTTP logging module and then wrote a simple PHP program that receives the error log and then dispatches the mail message.

I added an administrative password to the router in the shop (can't believe there wasn't one before), and also changed the SSID and set up a WEP key.

posted by geoff on 11/08/2004 01:34:04 AM
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