Lee.org

Internet Explorer viewers of this blog can now see what Firefox viewers have been enjoying for the last year or so…

The green bar behind “Lee.org” at the top of the blog wasn’t visible in IE til I fixed a .css file. Actually, the issue was that IE didn’t follow CSS specs, but it’s hardly worth griping about. IE 6 doesn’t see the background image in my CSS file when it reads as such:

background-image: /* url("http://lee.org/blog/images/reason-villege-old-spring-green.jpg");*/

url("http://lee.org/blog/images/reason-villege-old-spring-green-right-justified.jpg");

I suppose it’s because IE sees the text being on 2 lines (there’s a carriage return in there)   as being 2 elements. But I’m not going to spend any more energy figuring it out.

The writing actually phonetically spells my name in Japanese. Logically, it’s an odd collection of thoughts… “Lee” sounds like “Reason”. Then “Son” and “ko” sound like “village” and “old”.

I have to thank Miki Kawabe for the translation. At Burning Man in 2004, we won the Second Annual Semi-authentic Finnish Wife Carrying Event. We won her weight in beer.

Yes, really!

2 weeks ago I found a CMS system called Pligg. Before using it, I took a look at the blog on the site. I noted what looked like an overly emotional post about Dreamhost and a billing problem they had recently.

The line was crossed not when they billed me prematurely for two years of service, but rather when they issued an apology email and blog post which felt unapologetic and insincere.

Dreamhost’s blog post opened “Um, Whoops” and had an image of Homer Simpson holding up his finger, an arrow pointing to his finger saying “fat finger”. The post was in Dreamhost’s usual overly plucky tone. If you’ve ever gotten one of their monthly updates, you’d know what I’m talking about. Every one is a parody of itself it’s so plucky… It’s their shtick.

I wrote on Pligg’s blog a comment describing what I thought about Pligg’s criticism. The comment didn’t show up immediately, the system said it had entered moderation, which is a common spam filtering method. I was very surprised when I came back a week later and my comment hadn’t been posted. So I posted it again. A week later, still nothing. Apparently, moderation isn’t just for spam but for differing opinions as well.

My comment was mostly a response to Eric “Yankidank” Heikkinen’s followup comment to his post

January 17th, 2008 at 2:24 pm

Transparent about the whole thing? You mean admitting to charging users $7.5 million that they don’t owe? Dreamhost is a host I have supported for a long time, but their friendly/amateur approach to everything isn’t something that I’m comfortable with in situations like yesterdays debacle. I am especially upset when I feel that a sincere apology is due and they take their usual playful route “oops, we have a fat finger that caused some users to be billed for thousands of dollars”. Granted the charges were reversed within 24 hours…

Here is the comment I was trying to leave on the Pligg blog. Admittedly, it’s a bit sarcastic, but I welcome comments about it (unlike Mr Heikkinen)

>but rather when they issued an apology email and blog post which felt
>unapologetic and insincere

Would the insincere part be the part where they explained exactly what went wrong, why it went wrong, how the problem was fixed, and how they made sure it wouldn’t happen again? Or is it the part about how this problem was discovered and remedied within hours? Maybe it was the part about taking full responsibility for the problem and then doing something about it. Any way you slice it, I see what you mean. I wouldn’t trust Dreamhost after this either.

>Dreamhost has lost our endorsement

And Pligg has lost mine. He he. Pretty funny, huh?

In a recent calendar update from Scott at PlantTrees.org, Scott interjected this one-liner:

High-Fructose Corn Syrup, High Fat Diet = Severe   Liver Damage http://www.naturalnews.com/022836.html

I emailed a response to him today saying:

Scott,
You would do well to point out some of the other studies that indicate animals fed on high fat diets (sans high-fructose corn syrup) in a sedate lifestyle is also bad for 2 and 4 legged creatures. This recent mania about high-fructose corn syrup doesn’t seem overall helpful for the people or the land. This single product is not solely responsible for the many ills that have been attributed to it. Making it a scapegoat misdirects where the critisism should really lie. The real reasons for poor health are nearly as easily understood.

Here are some articles about fat-sans-high-fructose corn syrup that I am referring to:
http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/news/ng.asp?n=62967-liver-fat-sugar
http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2008/02/25/do_fast_food_binges_lead_to_liver_damage.php
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071101144851.htm
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/112228929/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

Thanks and have a great day,
Lee Sonko
http://lee.org

From the Pocono Record

John T. Finnegan, 37, of Stroudsburg, died on Monday, March 17. Raised in Acton, Mass., he was the beloved son of Gail and Robert Finnegan. He was the loving husband of Colleen Ann Capuano, with whom he celebrated nine years of marriage.

John was employed by QA Associates and served as a respected quality assurance engineer. John Finnegan was one of the founders of the New England Roleplaying Organization, a national Live Action Roleplaying group. He was the organization’s heart and soul, spending countless hours enhancing the gaming experience. Its customers benefited from John’s magnetic personality and his extraordinary creative talent for unique stories and unforgettable characters.

John graduated from St. Anselm College with a bachelor of arts degree in history. He was an avid reader of the fantasy and science fiction genres. He loved to spend time with his many friends, playing video games and especially Dungeons and Dragons. John could always be relied upon to offer a sympathetic ear or a shoulder to cry on.

In addition to his wife and parents, John is survived by his brother, Christian Finnegan, and his wife, Kambri Crews; his grandmother, Latrice Griffin; his brother-in-law, Patrick Capuano; his sister-in-law, Andrea Bacchi; father-in-law, Pat Capuano; mother-in-law, Laura Capuano; stepmother, Debra Finnegan; his stepsiblings, Matt and Sally McCracken, and Molly and Mirco Gaggiotti.

Visitation will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, March 21, at the funeral home. Additional visitation will be held from 11 a.m. until the time of the service, Saturday, March 22, at the funeral home. A Catholic prayers service will follow at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 22, from the Joseph J. Pula Funeral Home, 23 N. Ninth St., Stroudsburg, with the Rev. Fr. Thomas D. McLaughlin officiating. Cremation will follow the services.

In lieu of flowers and at the family’s request, donations may be made on behalf of his departed brother, Robert Finnegan Jr., to Children’s Hospital Trust, 1 Autumn St. No. 731, Boston, MA 02215-5301. Please attach a memo or note citing care of Robert Finnegan Jr.

:-(

I just received this (wonderful) announcement. Put the PTDR on your calendar!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, please brace yourselves for the following
double-barreled announcement.

You Said It Would Not Happen!
You Said It Was Better Last Year!
You Said There Was No Way You Would Stand In Those Concession Lines Again

BUT IT DID. AND IT WASN’T. AND YOU WILL.

Assorted parties are PROUD to present

The One And Only

POWER TOOL DRAG RACES

TWO WEEKENDS. . eekends. . . eekends. . .eekends

At The Maker Faire. . .aire. . .aire. . aire

Maker Faire Bay Area
May 3rd and 4th 2008
http://makerfaire.com/

And then AGAIN at ACE! International Speedway. . .eedway. . .eedway. .
.eedway. . .

Continue reading ‘Power Tool Drag Races!’ »

Saturday

Went on 2 pretty good appointments, driving around the entire Bay (SF->San Jose->Oakland->SF) weee, I’m dizzy…

Met our new neighbor Samantha. The welcome committee (Laurie, Cindy and myself) offered her and her friends celery as an official welcome committee gift. Had Sam over for leftover Tartine bread pudding. Aaron told of his amazing and harrowing journey bringing Shani to Boston (where she eventually met Charlotte) involving unbearable heat, “No Vacancy, Go Away” signs on hotels in Peabody, MA, crossing deep underground rivers and very little sleep. Had terrific Hungarian chicken and spaetzle. Had wonderful home-made (Trader Joes mix + blueberries) cup-cakes. Had all manner of people in the apartment in and out… Laurie, Rick, Samantha, Cindy, Aaron.

Went to BootieSF with Charlotte, Rick and Aaron. Turns out that Aaron is a darn high-energy and fun dancer. Daydreamed a lot to mashups involving 80’s tunes (apparently, I still remember all the words to 99 Red Balloons). Got out a lot of energy dancing like a fool. Saw just 10 minutes of Trademark G’s show

Sunday

Saw Rick’s groovy Oakland pad complete with geektronics, tube amps, vinyl records and giant screen TV.

Went shooting at Chabot gun range with Charlotte, having a simply wonderful drive with the top down over swooping roads. And quite a bit of fun shooting. Met 2 shooters in the next stall and tried their Walter P38. Vowed to get a speed loader since our thumbs were killing us by the end of shooting.

Isn’t it odd that this downright silly post follows such a very very serious post about Lucille Rathyen. Some truths: You’re born. You live. You die. How well that middle part goes is entirely up to you.

I reported previously that the Geostationary Banana Over Texas crew was busy. Well, it seems that Caesar Saez and crew is really trying to do it. There’s an assurance contract on ThePoint.com. The GBOT Team will float a giant banana over Texas if we raise $1,500,000. They’ve got a video on their site that implies they are really trying to do it! Here’s a local copy:

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

I’d pay at LEAST $25 to see a 300 meter long banana in geostationary orbit over Texas. I put myself in for $25 and said I’d chip in more when they answered a couple questions like what the actual conditions for “success” were.

Are you in? (update 3-10-12: sadly, the geostationarybananaovertexas.com website exists no more so I removed the link)

:-(

In 1989 I was a DJ at WMFO, Tufts radio station. I found a cart (image via) in the music library called “Stairway to Gilligan’s Island”. I fell in love with it.

Last year, I came to mentioning the song to a guy in a tiki bar in Alameda (I was there with some friends from my Improv class) because the song had been floating around in my brain. Amazingly, he said that he knew the guy who made the song and he lived nearby. (small world, eh?).

I really should look him up. Here it is, Stairway to Gilligan’s Island by Roger and the Goosebumps:

(on Youtube)

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I’ll likely be going to a mashup event Saturday night at the DNA Lounge, BootieSF.