Posts by webweaver
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As one of those dirty smokers I have a vested interest in this conversation I suppose, so here goes...
I wouldn't dream of smoking in my house or car, or anyone else's house or car. Gross. I used to live in a 7th-floor flat with no garden and so all four of us smoked indoors and my god it smelled revolting on a Sunday morning after a heavy Saturday night on the fags.
When I bought my house 10 years ago I decided it would be a no-smoking zone, so I go outside for a cigarette, which is perfectly fine and pleasant. If it's raining I have a porch I can shelter under, otherwise I smoke in the garden.
I also (obviously) go outside to have a cigarette if I'm at work, and I'm very careful not to sully any passers-by with my second-hand smoke - by which I mean if I'm leaning up against a wall somewhere having a fag and someone walks past me on the pavement, I'll hold in my mouthful of smoke until they've gone past.
I prefer places where smokers congregate rather than just standing at the edge of the pavement, because you're less likely to invade a non-smoker's air that way.
I don't generally smoke while I'm walking, because I don't like walking behind a smoker myself (it's no fun getting lungfulls of someone else's smoke, even if you're a smoker). I don't smoke in crowds generally either - like at an outdoor concert or whatever - I'll move out of the crowd and away from people first.
I try not to smoke in front of my friends' kids, and if one does catch me having a sneaky fag in the garden they get the "don't ever start smoking, it's a disgusting habit, I wish I'd never started because now I can't give up and it's gross" speech.
I wouldn't dream of smoking on the dancefloor - even at an outdoor dance party - because I think it's horrible to get smoked on in that situation where you're breathing heavily anyway, and I don't like it when it happens to me, therefore I wouldn't inflict that on anyone else. Again, if I want to smoke I'll go somewhere away from people before I light up.
I really like the fact that bars and restaurants are non-smoking zones, I think it makes for a much more pleasant atmosphere, and I don't mind going outside for a cigarette at all. That's fine by me. But I do think it's reasonable for me to expect to be able to do that without being yelled at or lectured to by non-smokers when I'm outside in the open air.
I think I've gone just about as far as I can go in terms of being a considerate smoker to the majority who don't smoke, but I'm not prepared to give up the fags entirely just yet, so perhaps anyone who feels like they want to give me a lecture about how disgusting I am and how I'm killing myself by choosing to smoke can just shut.up and go away. I know that, thanks very much.
Ross - this:
But then, as I keep at my friends who do smoke, "Which part of 'you are fucking nuts' don't you understand?".
...would quite possibly encourage me not to be such a good friend of yours, were I your friend in the first place. I'm not 12, I'm a grown-up and I don't think that being lectured endlessly about "being fucking nuts" would have any effect on my habit whatsoever, in fact it might make me want to light up more often when you were around, just to annoy you :) Either that or not hang out with you so much any more...
Anyway... I find it interesting that I'm slightly shocked when I see old telly progs or movies where people are smoking indoors - at home or in the workplace or at the local bar or whatever. It shows how far we've come in such a relatively short time.
And as for censoring or R-rating stuff with smoking in... good grief. To me that's way over the top, but then I guess I'm biased.
I certainly would consider it to be the height of nuttiness to go back to old movies, posters, artworks, TV progs and the like and edit out the demon weed. Good lord.
Perhaps those that would approve of that kind of carry-on should make an appointment with Winston Smith at the Ministry of Truth - I'm sure he'd do a bang-up job for them.
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And -as another extremely disgruntled Vodafone customer - anybody got any suggestions for an laternative ISP? Other locals use Orcon & Telstra Clear...
I decided to go with Actrix, cos they are (or were originally) Wellington-based and they did very well in the Consumer ISP customer satisfaction survey last year.
It's taken me such a long time to change ISPs cos I was absolutely convinced it would be a complete nightmare and that I'd be offline for days, but seeing as that was already happening on a daily basis with Vodafone/ihug, I figured it wouldn't make much difference anyway.
I applied to Actrix a few days ago, got the confirmation email the following day, and yesterday I got switched across. Interestingly, my ihug access was still working as well, which meant I didn't lose any access to the internet at all during the switchover. Five minutes on the phone with Actrix to re-set my modem and email prefs and it was all sorted.
I have a different ISP for my domain name (they host my website) so then all I had to do was give them a call and get them to talk me through switching over the redirect of emails to my webweaver email address from my ihug account to my Actrix one.
Once that was done I was without incoming emails for 3 or 4 hours (although I could still send emails out) while the email redirect was sent out across the ether, and by yesterday evening I was completely sorted.
Not NEARLY as much of a nightmare as I had feared, and considering that the length of time I was without incoming emails yesterday was probably less time than an average Vodafone outage this week, I think it went pretty well. I should have done it years ago.
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Hilary - I think I use "opshop" in a much broader sense than just the Sally Army etc, and I generally prefer the vintage clothes shops in Welli like Hunters & Collectors where they have a more interesting selection of clothes, or the designer ones on Tinakori Road (are they still there? Haven't been there for ages).
My best score from Hunters & Collectors is a Trelise Cooper embroidered coat from her Winter 2003 collection - I have a blue version of the ones in pics #64 & #66 - it cost me $180 - I guess it was probably $600+ when it was bought new, so it was a pretty amazing find.
I think there are a couple of other "old clothes" shops that have recently opened in Welli - one on Cuba Street and one on Aro Street that sound interesting and which I'm planning to check out. I guess you'd definitely call their clothes "vintage" rather than "second-hand".
As for thinking about who owned the clothes before I did, I confess I don't think about it much - in that it doesn't bother me at all - except I would draw the line at underwear I think :)
So no, I don't worry at all about the karmic essence of the last owner - except to feel vaguely comforted by it - I don't know why that is, seeing as I have no clue who their previous owners were. But then again I love all kinds of old stuff - my house is full of second-hand furniture for example - in fact the only new piece of furniture I own is one of my sofas, so there you go. I guess I like old stuff.
My house had its 100th birthday this year, and I do love the feel of it - I'm absolutely convinced we have ghosts which I assume are the previous people who've lived here leaving something of themselves behind (dead or not!) - but I don't mind that at all - again, I find it rather comforting in a funny sort of a way - and the cats certainly seem to like the ghosts - they're always looking at them - so that's OK.
I suppose I do think about the era my clothes came from though, especially when I was in my 50s dresses phase and practically living in the vintage clothes shop down the road in Nottingham where I lived. I love the way old clothes are made - the quality is so much better - and of course when you buy vintage you're extremely unlikely to ever see anyone wearing the same stuff as you, which is a Very Good Thing.
I think also when you buy old clothes, especially really old clothes, they're less likely to have been made in sweatshops anyway - although I guess ultimately you just can't tell.
At least when you buy pre-loved clothes you're getting a better wear-per-dollar ratio for the clothes themselves, which is good - and if you wear pre-loved leather shoes at least you're not contributing to another animal getting killed for the leather.
In the end though I suppose you have to find the place where you feel comfortable with the ethics of how your clothes and footwear are made - because it's hard to guarantee that their provenance is ethical - whether they are new or pre-loved. I would love to only buy organic cotton, for example, but it's very hard to find.
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OMG where do I begin???
The 1950s black & white cotton frock I found in an opshop and wore until it fell apart (and which I still have somewhere in the back of my wardrobe) - and the white one with red flowers all over it.
The purple shot silk ballgown I also found in an opshop, complete with whalebone corset, which I wore on many occasion, appropriate or not, often with a pair of Docs (and which I still have somewhere in the back of my wardrobe).
The Cat in the Hat long-sleeved green sweatshirt I wore until it fell apart (and which I still have somewhere in the back of my wardrobe).
The pair of wollen striped black and white leggings that I wore for years when I was a student and resurrected 15 years later when I was working at The Gathering, complete with badly-sewn patches round the bum (and which I still have somewhere in the back of my wardrobe).
The enormous grey cardi that I knitted myself and which I wore all.the.time for a very long time. It hasn't yet fallen apart (and I still have it somewhere in the back of my wardrobe).
The yellow sweatshirt and orange long-sleeved T-shirt gifted to me by Love of My Life #2 (he used to wear them) that I wore until they fell apart (and which I still have somewhere in the back of my wardrobe).
The many pairs of brightly-colored hippy flared pants and tops I wore in my dance party days (and which I still have somewhere in the back of my wardrobe).
The hand-painted T-shirt with a poem on it in purple and green that my girlfriend Jane wrote and made for me that I wore until it fell apart (and which I still have somewhere in the back of my wardrobe).
Every pair of Docs I've ever owned, including a couple of velvet pairs and especially my hand-painted ones that I wore until they fell apart (and which I still have somewhere in the back of my wardrobe).
My green suede high-heeled boots that I wore all through 6th form and University, back in the days when I was conscious about my vertically-challenged stature and was still able to wear high heels without breaking an ankle.
I think there's a pattern emerging here. I never throw anything away that I've loved and worn until it fell apart.
These days, for some reason, I have stepped away from the wonderful, original, opshop-sourced, hippy-inspired clothes I used to wear and I seem incapable of dressing in anything other than jeans (short leg Lucky brand Sweet 'n' Low that I buy off ebay) and one or other of my grey or brown T-shirts. And a cardi. I appear to be in (very long) phase of wanting to blend into the background instead of standing out in my peacock clothes. Which makes me sad. I think it must be age. BOOO!
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Interesting responses from teh man in the street on Your Views in the Herald today. I don't go near Your Views as a rule - not unless I want my blood pressure raised - it's not exactly a hotbed of lefty/liberal thinking, but today I was curious to see what the general consensus was to the question Is Rodney Hide a bully?.
There are 24 responses, and I counted exactly one in favour of Hide. The rest are firmly of the opinion that he's a bully and quite possibly a nutter as well.
The most common additional comment refers to the debacle that is the Super City and Hide's part in it, followed closely by "Epsom, what were you thinking?", with a decent proportion of people also indicating that they're pretty sure ACT won't survive past the next election. A bunch of people are also still unhappy with his hypocrisy over the girlfriend/perks thing, and there are also a fair few people extremely unimpressed by their coat-tails riding with National and the fact that National have given ACT and Rodders so much power for so few votes.
There's also a poll on the Herald's front page with the question "Who has been most discredited by the Act leadership row?"
Heather Roy is on 15%
Rodney Hide is on 77%
No-one has been discredited is on 8%All of which, from the Your Views audience especially, does not bode well for Mr Hide or the ACT party as a whole.
Of course, I guess we knew all that anyway, seeing as it's only the good people of Epsom who are almost entirely responsible for this party being anywhere near Parliament in the first place, but I still found it rather heartening to read.
I also don't think it bodes particularly well for National. Key's getting quite a bit of flak for aligning National so closely with ACT, and I don't think it's all due to current events, either. I think (hope) there's a substantial group of National voters who don't like NACT at all, and never have.
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Oh! Wait! Can I play too?
AQ score 31
Myers-Briggs borderline INFJ/ISFJ (strongly I and J).
Definitely an energy-type introvert - social things exhaust me and I always reach a point where I just.have.to.leave.now - although I generally enjoy myself up that point as long as I know some people.
If I don't know anyone it's completely terrifying and I'm probably not even there, having made some lame excuse not to go at all unless we're all going to be wearing costumes (I can totally relate to the comment upthread about being more comfortable playing a role) or I know we'll all be wearing nametags with info attached (great idea, ScottY).
Generally find myself being a leader in small groups (like in a seminar/workshop situation, even if I don't know anyone) and often get asked to do the group preso at the end, which I don't mind - but the social drinkies bit afterwards is not at all fun for me.
Confess to definitely having obsessions about things (often to the exclusion of pretty much everything else), cannot for the life of me remember names because I can't recognise or remember faces out of context - or even in context unless I've met them a few times (see: prosopagnosia).
Also confess to sharing Russell's terror at the idea of "doing a turn" at a party, and yet I'm more than happy to play charades at the same party. Can give a speech or even do live telly/radio if I know my subject well, but put me in a room and tell me to be funny in front of even a bunch of people I know and love dearly and I turn to custard.
And of course I love to dance.
Heh. TMI?
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Entirely off-topic I'm afraid, but it's such good news I just had to mention it - California's anti-gay marriage legislation, Proposition 8, has been overturned because it's unconstitutional.
The money quote from Judge Walker (my bold):
[T]he evidence presented at trial fatally undermines the premises underlying proponents’ proffered rationales for Proposition 8. An initiative measure adopted by the voters deserves great respect. The considered views and opinions of even the most highly qualified scholars and experts seldom outweigh the determinations of the voters. When challenged, however, the voters’ determinations must find at least some support in evidence. This is especially so when those determinations enact into law classifications of persons. Conjecture, speculation and fears are not enough. Still less will the moral disapprobation of a group or class of citizens suffice, no matter how large the majority that shares that view. The evidence demonstrated beyond serious reckoning that Proposition 8 finds support only in such disapproval. As such, Proposition 8 is beyond the constitutional reach of the voters or their representatives.
Final ruling in full here (Scribd)
BBC story here - US judge overturns California same-sex marriage ban
Daily Kos commentary here - Prop 8 Struck Down: The Decision
Supporters of Prop 8 are planning to take this all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary, but the "careful logic and structure of Judge Vaughn R. Walker’s opinion" has made it much harder for them to win - In Same-Sex Ruling, an Eye on the Supreme Court (NY Times)
Hooray!
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I had a play with my colleague's iPad today. It was my first time even getting a glimpse of an iPad, let alone getting to play with one.
I like its reassuring weightiness. And I love the turny-roundy functionality. Yes yes I know... but I don't have an iPhone or an iTouch either, so this turny-roundyness is still quite a novelty for me :) Anyway - I loved how the Wired app for example had taken the time to reformat each page specifically for landscape and portrait views - completely different page layouts for each - nice attention to detail I thought.
My friend showed me Flipboard on his iPad with the intro "I normally HATE RSS with a passion - but this thing's amazing" - and it is rather wonderful. I didn't realise it was highly sought-after and invite-only, but I can kinda see why - it does amalgamate your social media stuff VERY nicely...
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Bradley Manning, aka Bradass87, was the leaker of the video showing the AH64 shooting in Afghanistan. Given that he's been in federal custody for several months now, I can't see how he could also be the leaker of this lot of information since the implication from Assange is that there's been coordination about release timing that involved the leaker.
According to the backstory I linked to, Bradass started copying stuff quite a few months ago (Pentagon now thinks it was last November but the Graun says they were incredibly slow to respond). He started sending it to Wikileaks at some point, and in Feb Wikileaks published a single document (presumably from Bradass) - the Icelandic communication.
Then in early April they published the AH64 shooting video from Bradass, but the Pentagon still couldn't find the source of the leak. All this time presumably Bradass is copying stuff and sending it to Wikileaks, and they're holding onto it (not publishing it yet).
On 21 May Bradass starts IMing Lamo (who knows why - maybe he just needed to vent the enormity of what he was doing to someone) and 2 days after that connection was first made, Lamo contacts the US Military. On 25 May Lamo meets with people from the Pentagon and on 26 May they arrest Bradley Manning at US Forward Operating Base Hammer, 25 miles outside Baghdad.
All of a sudden there's massive pressure on Assange, he's told he may be in physical danger, he goes to ground for a while. Talks to the Graun a few days later and tells them Wikileaks is preparing to get everything online, but then decides to do a deal with the Graun, the NYT and Der Speigel - both so that they can focus on and pull to the surface important stories that he's worried might otherwise be lost in the welter of raw data, and also so that the authorities can't stop them publishing (which they might do if he only approached one newspaper in one jurisdiction).
They spend a few weeks trawling through the leaked documents that Assange has made available to them - and then all together, they publish.
Meanwhile:
Meanwhile, somewhere in Kuwait, Manning has been charged under US miitary law with improperly downloading and releasing information, including the Icelandic cable and the video of Apache helicopters shooting civilians in Baghdad. He faces trial by court martial with the promise of a heavy jail sentence.
The timeline (and Assange's comments) fits with Bradass being the source of all the documents - not just the AH64 shooting video.
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The Grauniad has the backstory on the leak and the leaker:
For five days, Bradass87 [the leaker] opened his heart to Lamo [a hacker he approached and then IM'd for 5 days]. He described how his job gave him access to two secret networks: the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, SIPRNET, which carries US diplomatic and military intelligence classified "secret"; and the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System which uses a different security system to carry similar material classified up to "top secret". He said this had allowed him to see "incredible things, awful things … that belong in the public domain and not on some server stored in a dark room in Washington DC … almost criminal political backdealings … the non-PR version of world events and crises."