BunkBlog

You’re Hyde!

Which That 70’s Show Character are You?
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In the Salon article From programming to delivering pizza, there are many tales of woe. These are stories I have heard often in the media, especially online, which act as some sort of scary boogeyman for those who may want to join the high-tech field. What’s ironic is that we keep graduating fewer IT-related college majors, and yet we have plenty of jobs for them. We just want the jobs to pay no more than they pay in New Delhi.

I see these stories and I contrast it with my own experiences. Since separating from the military, I’ve had no particular difficulty finding steady employment with a decent paycheck. There was that period of two months when I was on terminal leave that made me nervous, but it was no big deal in hindsight, especially when placed beside these people who have been unemployed for two years.

Of course, there’s also the problem of underemployment, particularly for college grads who need to pay off their loans. It’s all well and good to tell people that any job is a good job, but if you actually require a minimum of 30 thousand dollars per year to pay off the long-term debts you acquired in college, 6 bucks an hour won’t cut it.

I can’t help but wonder if this unemployment problem in the IT field is really there or if there are some isolated cases that make good stories. I know I’ll probably never want for work, because I have a clearance and those jobs will never be outsourced. But if I wanted to get out of defense contractor land, would I be making a big gamble, or is it much ado about naught in order to sell advertising space?
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Is it horrible when you think, “eh, 64 piece of spam in one day – it’s slowing down a little”?

Is there a wood-based equivalent to silicosis? I wouldn’t want to develop Carpenter’s Lung from sanding the floor…

So I’m listening to the wonderful Ofra Haza‘s greatest hits at work yesterday, and notice the name “Flash Gordon” leaping out of the midst of her mideastern song. WTF?

Then, I slipped in the third CD and heard her singing in English, “You’ve Got a Friend.” That’s just wrong. Imninalu and Galbi to James Taylor?

People find my site with some odd searches:
pics of knives on stomachs
Star wars Tattoos

Huh? I don’t have any pictures of knives on any stomachs. Why are people looking for some of these things anyway? Odd folks.

Wesley Clark now says that Bush has created a new ‘axis of evil’. Even in this season of overinflated rhetoric, isn’t it a bit much to equate the perfidy, greed and cronyism of the Bush administration to actual evil? To make the implication that Bush is morally equivalent to Iraq and Syria is a bit too hard to swallow.

I wonder if the candidates are even trying to convince the fence-sitters and moderates any more. They seem to be preaching exclusively to the choir of late.

# Bake herb-crusted pork roast, covered with cinnamon and cloves and other wonderful spices.
# Fry up some potatoes and onions.
# Steam some broccoli.
# Present this meal to a four-year old boy.
# Watch him put barbecue sauce on the roast and sour cream (!) on the broccoli.
# Be thankful he’s eating.

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

In case you thought she wasn’t senile, the Queen will bestow knighthood to Bill Gates. Yeah, she’s off her nut.

Boston Brown Bread – love it, hate it, never heard of it? Discuss.

I’ve now got one food product that nobody else in the house will eat. Well, I didn’t ask the cat, but she doesn’t get a vote anyhow.

The cool Zipdecode Java applet sure can keep me amused for extended periods of time. Kind of neato, you type in a zip code and watch the white dots that show its area. For example, 9 is West Coast, 90 is Los Angeles area, etc. Got to see it to understand its evil addictive ability.

Ladies, if you got the Matrimony Mod as your proposal, would you be amused or horrified? Seriously, a computer used as a prop for a ring-giving. Interesting…

Janklow sentenced to 100 days in jail

The 64-year-old Republican was found guilty December 8 of second-degree manslaughter, speeding and running a stop sign for a collision that killed 55-year-old motorcyclist Randy Scott at a rural intersection on August 16.

100 days. For manslaughter. Think you’d get that kind of sentence for running a stop sign and running over a motorcyclist? Me neither.

Anyone have a car to spare?

Infiltration of files seen as extensive

Republican staff members of the US Senate Judiciary Commitee infiltrated opposition computer files for a year, monitoring secret strategy memos and periodically passing on copies to the media, Senate officials told The Globe.

From the spring of 2002 until at least April 2003, members of the GOP committee staff exploited a computer glitch that allowed them to access restricted Democratic communications without a password. Trolling through hundreds of memos, they were able to read talking points and accounts of private meetings discussing which judicial nominees Democrats would fight — and with what tactics.

create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide

Kellinator’s State of the Union synopsis falls in line with a lot of my thoughts. I didn’t watch all of the speech. As soon as Bush started praising the USA PATRIOT Act as a piece of essential legislation, I had to leave the room.

Microsoft Takes on Teen Over Web Site

I love the fact that Microsoft has retained the law firm of Smart and Biggar to assist them in Canada. And the fact that they are suing a 17 year old boy to get him to stop using his own name…

Iraq’s Arsenal Was Only on Paper

Tamimi’s covert work, which he recounted publicly for the first time in five hours of interviews, offers fresh perspective on the question that led the nation to war. Iraq flouted a legal duty to report the designs. The weapons they depicted, however, did not exist. After years of development — against significant obstacles — they might have taken form as nine-ton missiles. In March they fit in Tamimi’s pocket, on two digital compact discs.

The nine-month record of arms investigators since the fall of Baghdad includes discoveries of other concealed arms research, most of it less advanced.

Get that? Much of the research was less advanced than mere plans without any manufacturing at all. Less. Advanced. This is advanced?