currently 11:09pm Friday 5th September, 2008 (NYC, New York)
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November 2005 archives
The following are all the entries published for the month of November 2005. thanksgiving day
Thursday 24 November, 2005 at 11:51AM (Nereus) :: permalink :: comments (2)
I think we're supposed to go out with IceQueen's parents for dinner, although that may or may not still be happening - IceQueen cut her thumb quite badly late last night while slicing some bread - it was bleeding a fair bit and the cut looked to be pretty deep, although not too big lengthwise, fortunately. I bandaged her up and stopped the bleeding, but we may go into the local hospital emergency rooms today anyway in case it requires a stitch or two. I'm already planning what to take, as on a normal day you can spend 6 hours or more in their waiting rooms, so gawd only knows what it will be like on a public holiday when most private practitioners are closed. Anyway, thanks to Thanksgiving, I have today and Friday off, so it'll be nice to take a breather ..although I have a couple of exams next week and some big projects to do, so I'll be studying most of the long weekend regardless. Hope you have a good day! good and bad news
Wednesday 23 November, 2005 at 6:46PM (Nereus) :: permalink :: comments (0) Some good and bad news regarding study. The way my major is structured, I would have had to return for another semester in Fall 2006 at KCC to do just one subject (Accounting 22) in order to complete my associate degree. I tried repeatedly to get the college to let me do it in Spring 2006 instead, but they've always said no - the reason being that I'm doing Accounting 21 in Spring 2006, and Accounting 21 is a pre-requisite for Accounting 22. Apparently this happens quite a lot to accounting majors, but the college never budges on letting students do those two subjects together. Bah. After talking to my Accounting 12 professor the other day about it, she took me to what would eventually be my Accounting 22 professor, and in view of my GPA and my current professor's assurances, he was ok with me doing Accounting 22 at the same time as Accounting 21. The big mission however was to get the Dean to ok it. Apparently he was reluctant at first, but my professor was persuasive enough to get him to grudgingly waive the pre-requisite, which is something they just do not do usually ..hey, he had a Monty Python theme song as the ringer on his cellphone, and anyone who has that can't be all that bad imho *grin*. As a result, I will be graduating after next semester! Yay! Huge thanks to my prof for that! Ok, I said there was some bad news too. My intention has been to transfer to NYU and their Stern School of Business (pretty much the top business school in the world). They only take people in once a year (the Fall semester) which is why completeing my associate degree in Spring 2006 was so vitally important - I would've had to wait a whole year extra to go to NYU otherwise, just for the sake of one subject worth 3 or 4 credits. Another big concern with NYU is money - it costs about US$35,000 a year to go to NYU. I don't qualify as a minority here ..yes, I know, there's not exactly heaps of NZ'ers in NYC, but whatever, apparently my skin is the wrong color. I know that sounds bad, but I went through the entire list of available external scholarships and I didn't qualify for any - mostly because of ethnicity, and the remaining ones because I wasn't coming straight from high school into college. Apparently if you're white, male and have US citizenship (I'm a dual citizen btw - NZ and USA), then it seems to be assumed that you are wealthy and don't need any scholarship help. As much as that sucks, that is the way it is here. Of course if you say anything about it you're immediately branded a racist - in a recent story in the news a university student (not in NYC) had to drop out because she was being harrassed so much for speaking out about this exact type of unfairness in the US education system - and before any readers here get all self-rightous about it and start throwing around labels, the student was African American, not white (my point being, she did not bring up the issue because she was being disadvantaged, but because she saw an injustice, and I applaud that). Anyway, I would still qualify for govermental financial aid and some internal financial aid from NYU, and possibly one scholarship through the honors society, but not enough to cover all the fees. The balance would be via loans, which would be unreliable at best since I have absolutely no credit rating or credit history here. Anyway, that was one issue, but not the most major one as it turned out. Yesterday I had a meeting with the Director of the KCC career guidance / transfer department. It was the director I met with because she was best qualified to help with transferring to NYU as opposed to another CUNY college. She had talked with the NYU people to find what I require since it is very tough to get in to Stern - one requirement is a minimum 3.7 GPA (I have 3.94 at the moment). We then discussed finances and yeah, there really isn't much I can do about it other than loans.. hmm, up to US$70k in loans to pay off when I graduate from NYU? Not a good feeling.. however there was worse news to come. NYU went over what I will have on graduation at KCC, and of the 74 or 78 credits I will have gained, NYU will only accept 18 of them. That just blew me away. In one foul swoop, the two years I thought I'd need at NYU to get my baccalaureate degree had suddenly become four years, the (up to) US$70,000 had become $US140,000, and the two years I will have spent getting an associate degree would virtually be wasted effort. Unfortunately that kind of money and another four years of full time study starting almost a year from now has pretty much put my hope of being a NYU graduate out of reach. My intention is to gain CPA licensure and gain a masters degree after that, but do it preferrably before I die of old age! Fortunately there is a backup plan. I have already had a meeting with people from Brooklyn College, and there is better news there. They will accept at least 60 of my credits from KCC, and have already said I will be accepted to the college with my GPA. As they will transfer most of my credits, it should only take another two years of full time study to complete my baccalaureate degree, not four as it would with NYU. They also said because of my high GPA I would be put in their TOCA program - a 'fast-track' program for transfer students - which means I'm basically guaranteed to get into the classes I need, even if they are already full (no delays in other words). As a bonus, they are situated only a couple of miles away from where we live. I have one of their recruiters going through my stuff at the moment to confirm what will transfer over and be used towards my degree there - I should be meeting up with him again next week I hope - I just hope that most of my transferrable credits will actually count towards a baccalaureate degree in accounting there. Please keep your fingers / paws / miscellaneous appendages crossed that it all works out - just because they will transfer the credits does not necessarily mean they can be used towards my degree there.. ok I'm being pessimistic maybe, but not without reason. Once I've graduated from Brooklyn College I'd then do my CPA exams, and at some stage after that I'd like to do my masters degree part-time, which would hopefully be at NYU.. which means I could end up as a graduate of NYU after all and have a masters degree on top in about the same amount of time it would take to just get the baccalaureate degree at NYU. Brooklyn College is a lot cheaper than NYU too, yet it has a good reputation. Maybe these things happen for a reason. damn spammers
Saturday 19 November, 2005 at 8:29AM (Nereus) :: permalink :: comments (11) I have switched off trackbacks completely due to the sheer amount of spam I've been getting hit with. Nothing was getting published thanks to SpamLookUp, but the CPU load was getting hogged by the SpamLookUp process - something I predicted would happen when 6Apart (creators of MT) decided to get rid of MT-Blacklist in favor of SpamLookUp. I am really not impressed - in fact, pissed would be a better description. I hardly get any comments to this weblog now since only TypeKey registered comments get published immediately, which kills any flow of conversation due to the nature of visitors to this blog - something I also predicted would happen when 6Apart dropped MT-Blacklist. If I opened up commenting again, this weblog would be inundated with spam comments and trackbacks in no time - something that MT-Blacklist was able to control that SpamLookUp cannot. I can only presume that traffic to this site has more than halved since upgrading to MT3.2 and the SpamLookUp system as a result, as illustrated in the following bar chart. Unfortunately Jay Allen (creator of MT-Blacklist and now 6Apart Product Manager) decided not to upgrade MT-Blacklist for MT3.2, so that was the end of that, unless someone who has the skills decides to take up the reins. Sadly, nobody has.
Another issue is that SpamLookUp blocks trackback pings where the ping IP doesn't match the IP of the weblog it supposedly comes from. Good idea on the surface, but it doesn't take into account services like Haloscan, which host comments and trackbacks off-site. I found this out by chance when glancing at the junked trackback pings one day and found valid trackbacks being wiped out thanks to SpamLookUp - no idea how many had been deleted prior to that. As a result I now have to take time to check through all junked pings, which renders SpamLookUp pretty much pointless in that area. Sure I could whitelist Haloscan and other similar services, but then spammers also use those services, so once again I'd be stuffed. Nice one. I used to get a lot of 'drive-by' comments and trackbacks on this site - this is, comments and trackbacks by first-time visitors, often visitors who returned if a conversation started up. This return traffic has been lost with a significant portion of the blame being the SpamLookUp process not allowing open commenting. Yes, SpamLookUp has a word filter option, but it is not nearly as effective as MT-Blacklist imho - particularly when it comes to the different data types. I also have a suspicion that if I relied only on that and put a huge list in there like I had on MT-Blacklist, CPU load would again get out of hand, something that MT-Blacklist had dealt with. Perhaps I should try it anyway? Has anyone had success using SpamLookUp purely as a wordfilter blacklist with open commenting, and not had CPU load jump up? I need a service that works, allows open commenting, and does not use up my time administering it. MT-Blacklist served that purpose comparatively well, SpamLookUp presently does not, and I don't have time to feck about with these options - I have study to do. Apparently MT-Blacklist will work with MT3.2 with some minor adjustments to the codebase, so perhaps I'll try that, although the damage has already been done, and the master blacklist for MT-Blacklist is no longer readily available or updated. keeping busy
Saturday 12 November, 2005 at 1:01PM (Nereus) :: permalink :: comments (1)
Amber stayed with my Mum in Auckland a few weeks back, so I was able to spend heaps of time on the phone with her which was awesome. Mum sent me a couple of photos of Amber too - wow I can't believe how much she has grown - and she certainly looks older than her 11 years too! When I have more time I will put some photos up on the site - I still haven't had time to redo the photo area since I redesigned the site a while back ..maybe after exams are over? Amber is doing really well - she's won all sorts of trophys and awards for her dancing, and got the top marks with honors too in her jazz-ballet exam recently - awesome. Amber is also surfing a lot and doing well at school too. I'm really proud of her. I miss Amber heaps. Ok better go - it's Saturday and I have a heap of study and project work to do by Monday, and the other Weasel wants an egg for breakfast *giggle*. Cheers. which action hero would you be
Friday 11 November, 2005 at 10:07PM (Nereus) :: permalink :: comments (0)
You scored as William Wallace. The great Scottish warrior William Wallace led his people against their English oppressors in a campaign that won independence for Scotland and immortalized him in the hearts of his countrymen. With his warrior's heart, tactician's mind, and poet's soul, Wallace was a brilliant leader. He just wanted to live a simple life on his farm, but he gave it up to help his country in its time of need. Yeah, sounds about right. heh. I was almost Zorro, but the quiz asked me an extra question at the end to decide it. Here's how my scoring went: William Wallace (67%), El Zorro (67%), Indiana Jones (63%), Lara Croft (58%), The Terminator (54%), Captain Jack Sparrow (50%), Maximus (50%), Neo, the "One" (50%), The Amazing Spider-Man (38%), James Bond, Agent 007 (33%), Batman, the Dark Knight (33%). Click here to try out the quiz. twenty questions
Monday 7 November, 2005 at 7:00PM (Nereus) :: permalink :: comments (2) :: trackbacks (1) John from John P Hoke's Asylum tagged me with this little meme a couple of weeks ago, so I thought I'd better take a stab at it and see how it turns out. If you're a blogger, feel free to have a thrash at it yourself (and send a trackback ping if you do). (1) If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone? (2) If a new medicine were developed that would cure arthritis but cause a fatal reaction in 1 percent of those who took it, would you want it to be released to the public? (3) If you were able to live to the age of 90 and could choose between retaining either the body or the mind of a 30 year old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want? (4) If at birth you could select the profession your child would eventually pursue, would you? (5) If you knew there would be a nuclear war in 1 week, what would do? (you can't stop it) (6) Would you accept twenty years of extraordinary happiness and fulfillment if it meant you had to die at the end of the period? (7) If the person you were engaged to marry had an accident and became a paraplegic, would you go through with the marriage or back out of it? (8) Someone very close to you is in pain, paralyzed, and will die in a month. They beg you to give them poison so they that they can die. Would you? (9) Given the choice of anyone in the world, who would you want as your dinner guest? as a close friend? as a lover? (10) What is the worst psychological torture you can imagine suffering? (it cannot involve any physical harm to you)? (11) You and a person you love deeply are placed in separate rooms with a button next to each of you. You know that you will both be killed unless one of you presses the button before 60 minutes pass; furthermore, the first to press the button will save the other person, but will immediately be killed. What do you think you would do? (12) Would you be willing to go to a slaughterhouse and kill a cow? (13) For $20,000 would you go for 3 months without washing, brushing your teeth, and using deodorant? Assume you could not explain your reasons to anyone, and there would be no long-term effect on your career. You are not choosing one option here - you would have to go without all three. (14) Which of these restrictions could you best tolerate: leaving the country permanently, or never leaving the state in which you now live? (15) If you could choose both the gender and the physical appearance of your soon-to-be-born child, would you do it? (16) Would you be willing to decrease your life expectancy by 5 years if you could become extremely attractive? (17) If your friends and acquaintances were willing to bluntly tell you what they really think of you, would you want them to? (18) Would it disturb you much if, upon your death, your body were simply thrown into the woods and left to rot? (19) Would you like to know the precise date of your death? (20) Would you be willing to give up all television for the next 5 years if it would induce someone to provide for 1,000 starving children in Indonesia? Wow what a marathon that turned out to be. how to become a sex offender
Saturday 5 November, 2005 at 8:15PM (Nereus) :: permalink :: comments (0) :: trackbacks (1) I read this story on the Chicago Sun Times website about three months ago and bookmarked it, fully intending to blog about it later the same day ..of course fate had different plans, time sped past, and just now I 'rediscovered' the bookmark and am actually writing about it, so here's the story - yet another stunning example of just how ridiculously obtuse the US justice system can be. Best you sit down for this one - it's phenomenonally absurd. He said, She said:
As a result of this 'altercation', Mr Barnaby is now a registered sex offender. *stunned silence* Yes, it's true - the Appellate Court of Illinois said the 28-year-old Evanston man must register as a sex offender. While acknowledging it might be unfair for Barnaby to suffer the stigmatization of being labeled a sex offender when his crime was not sexually motivated, the court said his actions are the type that are "often a precursor" to a child being abducted or molested. "Unfair"? BWAHAHAHA! Yeah right, there's the understatement of the year! "His actions are the type that are often a precursor to a child being abducted or molested"? Give me a fucking break! Hell's teeth, I'd confidently say that 99.9% of adults out there who have had to deal with children on a regular basis have had to, at some stage, hold the child by the arm or shoulders and look them in the eye and give them a stern reprimand for doing something very stupid in order for the seriousness of their actions to sink in. How the hell do you think they learn things like how important it is not to cross the road without looking? So are they ALL sex offenders too? Of course not, unless they happen to end up in court over it. But wait, we're not done yet. The court system considered being even more stupid: Though Barnaby was acquitted of attempted kidnapping and child abduction charges stemming from the November 2002 incident, he was convicted of unlawful restraint of a minor -- which is a sex offense. OMFG can you believe that? Attempted kidnapping and child abduction charges? Holy crap are they completely insane? As a result of the sex offender conviction, Mr Barnaby will have to tell local police where he lives and won't be able to live near a park or school. His picture will be published on the internet and all his neighbors notified that they have a sex offender living in the area. Of course in the interests of privacy, the authorities won't actually advise the neighborhood what he actually did to deserve this conviction. How considerate of them. "This is the most stupid ruling the appellate court has rendered in years," said Barnaby's Chicago attorney, Frederick Cohn. "If you see a 15-year-old beating up your 8-year-old and you grab that kid's hand to stop them and are found guilty of unlawful restraint, do you now have to register as a sex offender?" Apparently, yes. Cook County state's attorney spokesman Tom Stanton said Barnaby should have to register "because of the proclivity of offenders who restrain children to also commit sex acts or other crimes against them." I see, so everyone who restrains a child for whatever reason must be a sex offender then. I'd like to know if Tom Stanton has children. If so, I can bet he's restrained them on many occasions for various reasons - be it for their own safety, to reprimand them, or just in play - I guess that makes Mr Tom Stanton a repeat sex offender and pedophile too, huh? Better lock him up and throw away the key! Seriously, let's follow their logic for a moment. Walking into a local bank is "often a precurser" to bank robbery. Having a glass of wine is "often a precurser" to drunk driving and manslaughter. Aspirin is a drug, and drugs are "often a precursor" to violent crime and murder. Yup, think we better all just stop breathing while we're at it, because rapists breathe air too, so breathing's "often a precurser" to rape. Rampant stupidity. In the criminal case against him, Cook County Judge Patrick Morse said that "it's more likely than not" Barnaby planned only "to chastise the girl" when he grabbed her, but "I can't read his mind." So what the hell happened to innocent until proven guilty then, you farking nimrod? It's blatantly obvious there was no intention of anything sinister here, and if you're basing your judgement on not being able to read the accused's mind, then you have to assume he is innocent, not guilty, fool. How the hell do people like this become judges in the first place? And now for the kicker: Recognizing the stigma that comes with being labeled as a sex offender, the appellate court said "it is Barnaby's actions which have caused him to be stigmatized, not the courts." You arrogant pricks - how about that stupid little girl's actions huh? She is the one who ran in front of the car - it was her actions that led to this altercation, not Mr Barnaby's. The ruling suggests premeditation - which it most certainly wasn't. Damn how stupid can you get? No wonder the rest of the world hates America with retards like this running the country. I have absolutely no faith in the US justice system, and for the people who skip bail before getting a hearing - who can blame them when they see stories like this happening in the news? Hell, I doubt I'd want to stick around and trust the justice system if I was being taken to court for something I didn't do. Damn, the only victim here is Mr Barnaby, and I hope he successfully appeals and then sues the crap out of the justice system for this obvious miscarriage of justice. Unfortunately if that were to happen, it would be the taxpayers who ultimately end up paying for the stupidity of the court. I think it would be more effective if the judge and prosecution were heavily fined in a case like this - might make them actually use their brains for a change when making rulings in the future - accountability can make a world of difference. The moral in all this? Well, in Mr Barnaby's case, he'll know better next time - just run her the fuck over, and after that, heck, he could press charges against the girl! Yay America! |
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Happy thanksgiving day ..unless you're a turkey. It was supposed to snow a little last night and today, but that never eventuated - at least not so far. The weather (wind) let up enough for the Macy's big balloon parade to go ahead in Manhattan this morning, so that's all good.
The last few weeks have been pretty full-on with study - there's been at least one exam every single week, and they have all counted towards my final grade in each subject. I'm doing 17 credits in total this semester, as well as two honors projects on top, so it's a full workload (usually the maximum they let you do in a single semester is 18 credits - 12 credits being considered a full time course of study). It doesn't look like things are going to slow down at all until my finals are over in late December - I know I have at least one exam next week, and regardless of that, the last few weeks of a semester are often the busiest because professors suddenly realize how little time is left and how much they have yet to cover, so suddenly the workload doubles just when students need time the most for study towards the finals. I'm not complaining by the way - it's certainly better than sitting on my arse doing nothing, and it'll most definitely be worth it in the end. My results so far this semester have all been between 90 and 100%, so I'm happy with that - should get straight A's again this semester as long as I don't slack off, and I'll be on the Dean's List too (which is a good thing apparently).
Yes, it's one of those lame quiz things. I was trying to study but the neighboring apartment is playing rap music just loud enough to blow my concentration, and somewhere else a stupid little yappy dog has just started yapping away at gawd knows what, so I'm taking a break. I actually stumbled across this quiz on some blog a few days back but I got busy and didn't manage to post the entry. Whatever, here's my result.