Mac OS X Server

I'm doing a test run of Mac OS X Server (Tiger) — not for hosting, just for general server duties on my network. So far, so good. It is nice that OS X server is essentially as pleasant as Tiger normally is, it just has a bunch of servers ready to be activated and slick GUI administration tools to keep the system in line.

I'll be writing on how I like it quite a bit more in the coming weeks.

TQ: Attire

Mark provides another interesting TQ that I'm answering really late.

1. Do you think your attire effects [sic] the way you work?
Yes, and in a two-fold way. In some settings, I will probably be better off in a suit (or at least a sports jacket) — say giving a presentation or talk. I wouldn't be comfortable otherwise, so I'd probably stumble somewhat. Comfort is another matter. I won't function very well if I'm hot, so in the middle of the summer, a dark suit or trousers or anything of the sort is probably going to decrease my productivity.

Incidentally, in the realm of pants, my bottom level is khakis or other similar types of trousers, preferably with a pleat, not jeans. I don't like jeans. My shorts are similar in style to my pants, only, well, shorter. Short sleeved polo shirts are pretty much my standard shirt, unless I'm wearing a suit; I will occasionally wear a t-shirt.

2. Do you think your attire effects the way others judge your work?
I know so. I've been told by people that they appreciated that I was not dressed as casually as my colleagues in projects. (In one memorable incident, I was wearing a suit, while another fellow was wearing a polo shirt and jeans. Almost everyone around us had at least dress slacks.)

3. Do you judge others by the way they dress?
Yes, in two ways. Incidentally, can you tell I'm in a class that is studying Aquinas at the moment? On every answer I feel obliged to say, “I answer in x number of ways.” I always like Aquinas's straightforward ordering of his arguments. But, I digress.

I'd say, first, I judge people improperly in this. Sometimes, I'll look down on someone, say, at church, for not dressing up a bit more. That's wrong, I know, and its petty. I've gotten better over time, but I'm still not completely over it.

The second way is more appropriate. The way someone looks and dresses says something about them. Someone who dresses entirely inappropriately for whatever event and looks like they could care less probably isn't taking the situation seriously. There may be exceptions, especially in the case of someone who cannot afford proper attire (or doesn't typically attend things demanding proper attire), but in other cases… You don't go to a job interview wearing your 1982 World Series T-Shirt, a ratty baseball cap on backwards and jeans that should have been retired three years ago.

Probably far more meaningful is when someone dresses in a way that obviously takes a lot of work (so their appearance is not from a lack of concern or effort) yet it is disturbing. I'm dubious about goth, for example. I'm dubious about overly baggy pants. I'm dubious about overly revealing clothes. That kind of thing. Those likely speak something about the person.

4. Do you think attire as a society is overrated, underrated or just right? Explain.
Overrated in the amount of time people worry about it, underrated in that every day is super-casual Friday now.

5. Do you think pay scale should dictate your dress code?
Not really. Attire is dictated more by the job position than the amount of money tied to the job.

Note: The questions on this page written by Mark are governed by the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.5 license. I believe my responses are allowed under fair use and therefore are not licensed under the Creative Commons license (I don't want people messing with adapting my personal opinions, thank you very much).

What a Run!

From July 1 through November 8, I believe I posted at least one blog post everyday. It was the longest run I've ever done of daily blog posting. It was a good exercise, I think, because it forced me to say what was on my mind rather than writing posts that were more like articles. Blogging in that mode serves as a form of catharsis and deconstruction of the day. I played with some creative ideas on days that I didn't have anything in particular I wanted to post about. It was good.

Unfortunately, on November 9, I forgot to post, somehow. I'm not sure how — I thought I had, but if I did, the post was lost in cyberspace. And, since the record was already ended, I figured I might as well take another day off yesterday. But, I'm back now. Perhaps if I get time tomorrow, I'll verify I really did post all of the rest of the days.

Incidentally: I'm really upset with the late theologian Francis Schaeffer. I've never read any of his works, and tonight I ran into one of them cheap on Amazon, so I used “Look inside” to read some of it. In the small part I saw, he labeled Karl Barth, T.S. Eliot and Soren Kierkegaard as part of those who have taken society below “the line of despair.” From the reviews, it sounds like he views Thomas Aquinas as part of the problem of creating this “line of despair” as well. What in the world would give him such an idiotic idea?

Life Moves On

So, we lost the election — locally (for Talent, though not for Rep. Todd Akin) and nationally. And cloning is constitutionally enshrined in Missouri's constitution. It was a bad day yesterday.

But, life moves on. After following the World Series and then the leadup to the most interesting mid-term election in recent memory, I shall return to my usual types of posts. Thanks for bearing with me while I went on some side excursions.

US2006: At 10:30, STILL TOO CLOSE TO CALL

Amendment 2 is still failing at 52.6-47.4 with just over 50% of precincts reporting. The margin is lower than I'd like, but at least it is still failing. Let's hope it stay that way.

Talent is leading 51.3-45.1 still with just a few more precincts reporting.

Update (22:59): Clearly my projections have been off so far. The Dems appear to be taking the house, perhaps leaving the Senate to the GOP. My projection has been Talent will lose and Amendment 2 will win. I hope I'm wrong with those projections too — so far the results are still looking good, but nail bitingly tight. 52.4-47.6 for the no's in Amendment 2; 51-45 for Talent in the Senate.

Update (11/09 00:24): Not looking good. Talent is losing and Amendment 2 is winning. Let's hope the remaining 20% of the precincts will switch that back in the coming hours.

US2006: My Projections and More Results

My Projection: I think the Democrats will take the Senate, based on early results (if only because of independents supporting the Democratic caucus), while the Republicans will maintain a tenuous majority in the House. If this happens, you read it here first.

Talent and the fight against Amendment 2 are both still ahead, but with many rural counties tallies complete and St. Louis City still in motion, I fear the rapidly shrinking margins of the leads.

It seems that the choice to make English the official language of Arizona is popular so far; CNN is projecting it as passing. Likewise, CNN shows most of the bans on same-sex marriage as passing hence far, with several projections already given.

AMENDMENT 2: Presently, the Missouri Stem Cells/Cloning amendment is still failing at 53.8-46.2, the no's leading, although that is only with 33% of precincts reporting and hence too close to call — especially since exit polling still favors the amendment.

TALENT-MCCASKILL: Talent is leading 53-43 with 33% of the votes tallied.

US2006: Cautiously Optimistic

OK, it is way to soon to even say there is a chance for victory. I know as well as anyone that things could change — especially as more results come in from St. Louis City and Kansas City. But with 9% of precincts reporting, Talent is leading by about 10 points and Amendment 2 is losing by about 5. I expected that all the news would be bad, so even if only the early results are good, it is better than I expected. Still, maybe?

In other news, I'm pleased to see that Sen. Lieberman (I-CT) won over Democrat Ned Lamont. I personally like the man, as I've said before, though I disagree with him on quite a few issues. The big point is this: I disagree with Lieberman less than I disagree with Lamont, and ultimately politics is a pragmatic game. Moreover, any independent, even one who is a Democrat who lost his primary, is a good step toward getting more independent and third party candidates on the ballot.

Update (21:24 CST): I noticed in the current STLtoday report, the Post-Dispatch (as in its election guide) is being unusually honest on Amendment 2. The article states, “The Senate contest blended with the proposed constitutional amendment to protect research known as somatic cell nuclear ransfer, the medical term for cloning.” Very few supports of the amendment — and the Post was one of them — have honestly admitted they are supporting cloning.

Supposedly the results in so far are a blend of heavily Republican and Democratic counties, which is good to hear, though as the article referenced above notes, it does look like it could be a long night.

Update (21:39 CST): Don't forget that my fellow Cranium Leaker, Michael, is posting live updates and commentary.

Please Vote NO on 2 TODAY!

Please vote “No” on Amendment 2 in Missouri today and help reject protections for human cloning. If you aren't already aware of the amendment's implications, please see my earlier article. Thanks.

The Waste Land

For a long time now I've been meaning to read T.S. Eliot's the Waste Land. I have now done so, and I'm not sure I have anything useful to say just yet. I think I need to read it again. It is not exactly the kind of work that can be made sense of after just a cursory reading. It definitely shows the interesting mind that Eliot had to an even greater extent than the other things I've read of his.

I think I'll try to read it again in the next few days, and then maybe try to conquer the Four Quartets, his last great work.

Regarding my post from last night, I figured studying Eliot is one of the most fruitful things I can do when contemplating writing. Few others have ever had such a mastery of the classic form while freely being able to drift off into free form poetry. Unlike most poets of his age (and our own), his is still a poetry that retains a sense of meter and rhyme — something to drive the reader forward, and at times, faster and faster and faster into the abyss.

Hmm. I guess I had something to say after all.

Bring On the Fiber!

I need to write. I need some time free of distractions to write — and not to write something “practical,” but to see where the muses will take me. If it doesn't seem too strong of metaphor, I feel creatively constipated. I have ideas galore that need to be followed through on, but not the time and energy (at the same time) to do any of them. I need to get them out onto paper and see what can come of them. Even if they didn't accomplish anything, perhaps I'd at least be able to move on to better ideas.

I think I might try some experimentation here on asisaid for the moment. We'll see what happens.