So I got a form I need to fill out for this cancer research conference I’m going to, and the return address is:

I do, all the time. This article explains the concept, using FOX News and politics as strawmen.

It’s why I don’t participate in many online groups and lists anymore. The frame is already configured in such a way that my ideas are never objectively understood — and never will be within that context.

So I’ve got my own little soapbox here now, and if you care to listen to what I have to say, you can come and join in the fun. I like LJ because that friends page gives me precisely that — a huge set of disparate frames. LJ itself does impose a frame, but it seems less restrictive . . . nothing about the technology itself imposes a “drama queen” or “camwhore” environment on this blog.

On the plus side, this quote sums it up nicely:

In addition to that, community building is extremely important because Hillary is right: It does take a village. Children do react to how their peers live and what their peers’ values are, and you can’t do it alone. You have to be in a community where people take care of each other. Other values that follow are things like fairness and freedom. If you empathize with someone, you want to be fair to them. If you want them to have a fulfilled life, you want them to be free and have maximal freedom to carry out their dreams. So there are values like fairness, freedom, fulfillment, trust, cooperation, building communities. These are important progressive values that come out of nurturing families.

I’m proud to have changed from a “strict father” style family to my own, newly-created “nurturant parent” family.

“I think the engineers today are designing more junk than ever,” he said, in a manner that seemed to exempt me from the otherwise broad condemnation.”

Read more.

Some of you may know that I work as a Product Manager for this company. I’m also involved in revamping its marketing.

I’d like to ask you all a favor, if you please. Please visit our website. Check out a bit of our product information as well, like this brochure. Don’t spend too much time on this, maybe about 5 minutes max. Then, answer the following question:

BE HONEST. You can’t hurt my feelings. If you have more comments, please leave them on this posting.

Jem and the Holograms DVD slated for release in 2004 by Rhino.

Check out Open H.323. See if you can get OpenPhone to work to connect two Windows machines together. Or one Windows machine and one OSX machine.

Last night I tried this, and failed. I even tried Netmeeting <-> ohphonex (the OS X client), and it connected — but no audio/video packets were transmitted. (Don’t tell me to try Netmeeting <-> Netmeeting on two windows machines.)

This is insane. Open H.323 has been around for years now, I would have figured they would have implemented the damn thing correctly by now. That it would at LEAST work for the same program communicating between two different computers. On the same platform no less!

But it doesn’t. And I can’t figure out why. Not even with both sides not using any NAT or firewalls.

The only telling sign: incoming connects say they’re coming frommy IP instead of the remote side’s IP. Attempted connects say that the other side “refused” my call.

I give up…

Without a television (by choice), I tend not to keep up to date on the latest society/celebrity poop. So after reading a comment about Paris Hilton on some article I read about semantic analysis, I got confused. (The article mentioned that if you really want to stay in the Hilton in Paris, typing “Paris Hilton” into Google won’t get you the relevant link very easily.)

So why should I care about this woman? Well, my reaction is neatly summed up by a Mr. Fred Topel, about.com’s guide to action-adventure. His Paris Hilton essay tells it like it is:

• “I think all rich people have sex in a daze, whether they’re on drugs, or just naturally out of it. They have no worries of responsibility, so why should they be aware of what their bodies are doing?
• “I happen to prefer brunettes, but even the blondes that are awe-inspiring – the Uma Thurmans, the Kate Bosworths, the Cameron Diazes, the Reese Witherspoons – have some unique look about them. Uma’s nose, Kate’s cheeks, Cameron’s smile, Reese’s overall cuteness. Paris Hilton is really just your average blonde.
• “Then there’s The Simple Life, the ridiculous high-concept reality series made before Paris Hilton’s infamy, that has benefited greatly from her sudden pornographic notoriety. Who really cares about seeing two rich brats forced to do manual labor? [ed: From reading the episode guide on FOX’s website, it sounds 100% staged. Even rich brats know better than to do some of the things mentioned. They were either told to “act up” or it was scripted from back to front.]
• “I guess the most baffling thing to me is that we’re so interested in someone who’s never done anything. Even models do that somewhat. Paris Hilton has done nothing but be someone’s daughter. If she weren’t thin and blonde, would anyone still care?”

From anyone who’s seen it, is the 2½ minute tape worth seeing? It sure sounds like it isn’t.

Discuss. or not.

For me, this is the end of a year, and the beginning of a new one. I recognize the 25th and the 1st as public holidays, but really for me it’s all about now.

At 2:04 AM EST, we reach the solstice — the point at which Sol is at maximum distance from Earth’s equator. Sol is at this point the furthest from the celestial equator: 23.5 degrees from the ecliptic, over the Tropic of Capricorn, and is the lowest in the sky in the Northern Hemisphere or the highest in the sky in the Southern Hemisphere. Here, it’s the official start of Winter; “down below,” it’s the official start of Summer. To me, this will always be a more concrete, measurable, and predictable start of the new year than any other calendar system.

This past year has been all about rediscovery for me: rediscovering myself, my loved ones, my friends, my interests, and my memories – both good and bad. Having my mind “switched on” also means being ready for all of the good and bad that comes from that.

Somehow, I’ve felt more ready these past 12 months than I have all my life. My path may be blindingly fast in some ways, but is excruciatingly slow in others. My only resolution for this new year is to communicate more — both within and without. So look to these pages for more spontaneous speech.

It’s been a great journey so far. Let’s see where this year takes us, shall we?

Read today’s Dr. Fun. Major Gary Larsen nostalgia. Thanks