The new Ninjai episode is out.
Check out this crazy CSS previewer! It'll take a long time if you try to use it with a complex page (like, say, this page), so watch out.
Via LGF, WorldNetDaily: The world's collective amnesia.
Fantastic short article, and I'm forcing myself to resist quoting the entire thing.
Wow, check out this list of Java Terminology and Acronyms by Oliver Tseng!
It's a bit overwhelming with the alphabet soup of terminology related to Java. So, I decided to create a synopsis of some of the Java terms and acronyms.
Lemonodor:
I've always been suspicious of Semantic Web people because it seems like I've never heard one talk about just how hard this is.
I've always thought the same thing. You should try to do simple things you can do, not everything at once. Any attempts to describe everything at once are doomed to failure.
Via WHEDONesque, on Christianity Today: Don't Let Your Kids Watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer "But you can tape it and watch after they go to bed."
An evangelical father and church leader recently told me that his "must see TV" includes the news shows and weighty fare one would expect from an informed and discerning Christian. "And when no one is looking," he said, "I watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer." He's not alone.
However, as in the Harry Potter debate, sometimes it isn't enough merely to list the contents in a show or a book to determine its merit. How a taboo topic is dealt with can be just as important. In Buffy, the "how" is intriguing because of the show's honest portrayal of consequences.
What saves the show is its realistic grounding. Sure, it's about a skinny girl who throws demons around, but the writing honestly depicts how individuals struggle in their lives. Characters make mistakes and sin but pay consequences and change over time. In this way, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has consistently confronted human suffering and addressed compelling themes.
As director and head writer up until last season, Whedon crafted Buffy into one of TV's most socially relevant and well-crafted hours. Buffy's plot arcs, characterizations, and dialogue are some of the best on television. It is also the most experimental. When some critics claimed Buffy only had clever dialogue, Whedon wrote the almost entirely dialogue-free "Hush." Last season's most daring episode was a critically acclaimed musical.
(Yeah, he left and then last season sucked ass)
The show's handling of complex themes works on a grander scale as well. Entire seasons work around a central point, and long-term character arcs chronicle particular struggles. This is what makes the show tick: Realistic characters who grow, learn, and face the ramifications of their actions and ghosts of their past. Problems and temptations don't vanish each week when the music swells.
As for witchcraft, last year's season finale capped off a long-running storyline tracing Willow's budding fascination with magic. At first, the bookworm found it innocent and enticing. Over a few years however, simple tinkering (like levitating pencils) led to darker business. Witchcraft consumed her and hurt those around her. A personal tragedy sent her off the deep end. She killed a human (something taken seriously on Buffy) and threatened others. Willow, with black eyes and dark clothes, raised a pagan temple to use its powers to end the world.
But someone stopped her. It wasn't the chosen one with her super strength. Nor was it someone fighting her witchcraft with more witchcraft. Instead, a friend since kindergarten stood in her way -- not armed with a crossbow, but with love.
Hatred, vengeance, and witchcraft turned Willow evil, but Xander's unconditional love showed that no sinner is beyond grace. Moments like this explain why Christians such as myself watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Yeah!
Backup Brain:
Matt Haughey writes about his recent experiences with Amazon's Super Saver Shipping, which, oddly enough, duplicate exactly my iPod purchasing experience. We both have found that the way that Amazon saves money on free shipping is by, well, not shipping. Ever. Eventually, you get fed up and change the order to paid shipping, and voila! your items ship.
Bad Amazon. We'll see how long it takes for my stuff to ship. Buy.com is much better about their free shipping.
Interesting design decisions by Joel for the forums he's built.
I just had a totally awful day dealing with bureaucracy between NJIT and Rutgers. It's not worth telling the story, but -- Aaaaaaah.
Via Slashdot, StarLogo, Logo for Java, over at MIT.
Thursday, September 19, 2002
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new⇒Acknowledging the Arrival of Peak Government
In many ways, Peak Oil isresponsible for this newuselessness of the big g...
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