grumble grumble grumble!

Good news: yesterday I stumbled across a really nice and simple template which I've decided to use for this blog's next "look".

Grumble news: the back-up of existing posts is NOT going well!

Firstly, the Blog Collector (Lite) is such a bare-bones program it's actually extremely unappealing to use. And it only works "properly" on Kosh's side of the 'puter [his account, maybe because he's the administrator?] - on top of that, the "remove blog" or "refresh" commands could not be executed either! In addition, it only saves the posts, not the post page which includes comments. And worst of all... they say that the free/lite version has a limit to the number of posts per blog that it will back-up, but nowhere on the site did I find an actual number... if I'd known it was around 60 I wouldn't have even bothered with it! I have over SEVEN HUNDRED posts! And you know what, I ain't gonna shell out USD 70 to remove this limit when I'm not impressed with the program itself anyway!

Coming to that conclusion took a few hours, what with the downloading, installing, failed attempts to back-up from my side, backing-up from Kosh's side, etc etc etc... so then we looked at HTTrack, which unfortunately didn't have much going for it Mac-wise... if we were really adventurous we could try to play around with a Linus-based package for it, but well, we ain't gonna.

So... looks like it's gonna be manual back-ups for me! Gaaarrhhhh!!

So consider this blog to be on vacation this week: hopefully by this time next week she'll be revamped and ready to go again.

'till then,

ciao!

narrow-IQ-vision

Seeing this made me want to scream "DUH!!!":

Intelligence not linked to wealth, according to US study

Wed Apr 25, 8:15 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Intelligence has nothing to do with wealth, according to a US study published Tuesday which found that people with below average smarts were just as wealthy as those with higher IQ scores.
[...]"Your IQ has really no relationship to your wealth. And being very smart does not protect you from getting into financial difficulty," Zagorsky said.

The study confirmed previous research which has shown that smarter people tend to earn more money, but pointed out there is a difference between high pay and overall wealth.

[the complete Yahoo!News article here]

Ugh, I thought it was already a given that what we term "IQ" is a woefully inadequate measure of a person! I'm sure we all know someone who may not have a great IQ but is totally people-smart, word-smart, creative-smart, handy-smart, resilient-smart, adaptable-smart, etc, and doing quite well for themselves tyvm. There's so much more to a person that that one number!

I'll concede that looking purely at income, a high IQ will likely have you drawing a higher paycheck. But how you manage your income - whether high or low in quantity - indicates a certain amount of money-smarts. And how much *beyond* "quantity of pay" and "likelihood of financial difficulties" did they go in defining "wealth" anyway?

And to what end, really?

But I suppose I'm looking at things from a much larger perspective: they are looking at pay vs wealth and are focusing on moolah, while I'm thinking of happiness and satisfaction, and how dependent these are on attitude and mindset.

I wonder how much $$ went into this study....

blog update update

(First talked about here, then here)

So I've been playing around with a New Blogger template, and I've pretty much got the hang of it. Also came to the conclusion that I didn't really need a 3-column layout, because I found a few nifty hacks/services that can reduce the clutter on my sidebar. And I've found one or two nifty templates out there I can just tweak slightly in order to get the look I want. Kewl!

Now for the not-losing-everything-when-I-move part:

I'll drive myself cross-eyed doing the back-ups manually [serves me right for not keeping on the ball since last August?!!]... Found a potentially very helpful service provided by Blog Collector, (and perhaps to a lesser extent, HTTrack).

I *will* get going on this so that I can really sink my teeth into tinkering with this site... I'm sooooooooooooo bored with its looks right now! :)

Also, I've crumbled and succumbed to the Google Monster at Blogger's repeated urging:

• for all blog/internet-related correspondence I will now be using azlynne1972[at]gmail[dot]com, so fellow blog-buddies, go ahead and update your address books accordingly, thanks!
• IMPORTANT NOTE to friends, ex-colleagues, and acquaintances (established from 1995 - ~2004): please stick to azlynne1972[at]yahoo[dot]com, okay? It's easier for me to segregate personalities this way :-)

Now, off to get groceries. Shouldn't shop while I'm hungry though, LoL!

the interview meme, part deux!

As you may recall, I answered Kevin's interview questions earlier,,, now, here are Jeff's:

1. You have a gazillion blogs on your blogroll. Do really read them all and how much time do you spend daily reading blogs?
   Referring only to "my" [as opposed to the Lost Bloggers] blogroll: Yes, I read them all! Or try to, anyway. Certainly not on a daily basis though! I probably go through them all at least once a month. I know I've a few inactives, just haven't gotten around to doing any Spring Cleaning yet :p
   
   I'm thinking I should *really* get with the program and start using Bloglines or something, so I'll know when someone's published new stuff [blogroll's being really crappy about the "recently updated" feature lately!].
   
   Time estimate? That's tough - I can get sucked in for hours and hours and hours of blog-surfing and -reading, whether by visiting my blogroll, or using a link exchange directory thingy like Blog Explosion or Little Neo... I'd say AT LEAST 3 hours a day. And that's a VERY conservative estimate :-) I'm sure I've gone over 8 hours before:-) I'm a jobless bum, tho, so I've got loads of time to spare :-)
   
   
2. I've seen every episode of Xena: Warrior Princess. What would you think of a guy who admitted that?
   I'd certainly be amused, and perhaps tease the guy about it a little, but hey, I know I certainly preferred Xena to Hercules myself [See #23 here], and I've seen every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer *and* know the musical soundtrack by heart, so I don't see why I should judge someone for *their* taste! :-)
   
   
3. Have you become a US citizen yet? If not, do you plan on it?
   No, I'm not a US citizen - yet? - I have about 3 years before I'm eligible to even begin to apply for it, so I've got loads of time to decide. Frankly, it wouldn't be an issue at all if Malaysia recognized dual citizenship! Despite all its social and political problems, I feel the US resonates with me more than any other country I've been to / lived in. But Malaysia has such a skewed view on loyalty and nationalism that she'll disown me if I take up US citizenship... and I'd lose all those "rights" I have courtesy of an accident of birth that made me a member of the preferred race & religion [on paper, at least!]. Not that those things are that important to me. Meh. Bottom line: still undecided, check back in 3 years or so, LoL!
   
   
4. I counted at least 17 different posts where you mentioned Meat Loaf (and I'm sure there are more). Are you OK?
   Oh wow, you get A for effort, considering I haven't even gone back to label my old posts, LoL! Anyways... yeah, me and Mr Loaf.... Well, I do have an ever so slightly addictive personality :-) And more importantly, Meat Loaf / Steinman songs have played very important roles in my life: Paradise by the Dashboard Light totally blew my mind during college, both for the message of "be careful what you promise in the heat of the moment" as well as the whole mini-opera-in-a-song concept. It Just Won't Quit was my reluctant love song during college. And so many songs from the Couldn't Have Said It Better album seemed to outline Kosh's and my feelings & situations. What more can I say? :-)
   
   
5. I drive through Chicago about twice a year. Where should I stop for lunch next time?
   Good question! I'm not the solo-adventurous type, and with Kosh busy at work, I haven't done much exploring of Chicago, whether sight-seeing-wise or culinary-wise. But what pops into my mind right now is Greek Islands over in Greektown: excellent food PLUS free valet parking [you just needs a few bucks for the tip], which is always a plus in my eyes!

= = = = = = = = =
This is a surprisingly fun meme, and while I'm happy to be on the receiving end of the questions, I *would* like to be challenged to come up with 5 questions for *you*! So, want in on the fun? Here are the rules:

1. Leave me a comment with your email addy, or email me at azlynne1972[at]yahoo[dot]com, saying "Interview me."
2. I will respond by e-mailing you five questions. I get to pick them, and you have to answer them all.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

So, any takers?

last night I howled in bed!

So last night / this morning, I hit the hay around 130am.

By then, Kosh had been asleep for about 2.5hrs, and was pretty much in the same position as when I'd tucked him in: slightly to the middle of the bed, with a bent leg encroaching on "my" side.

Usually when I climb in, he'll stir and make room for me, all the while still sleeping.

This time, he added a little extra:
- He stirs,
- - - makes room,
- - - - - - then out of the blue *blaaarrrrrrrrrpppp!*

He'd belched.
And the aroma associated with digestion of orange roughy in lemon juice, garlic powder and tamarind chutney with a generous side of red and green peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, onion, garlic and cauliflower cooked in green chili chutney got blown right into my face.

At 130am, I howled in protest.

We then burst into gales of laughter.

And I thanked him for giving me something to blog about today.

The end.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf Tech? (Part Two)

So I got totally side-tracked in Part One, because the social responsibility aspect kept wanting to be heard, so I addressed it as much as I could at that point in time.

But here's what I originally wanted to say.

If you recall, I started off with that most "excellent" of blame-shifters: "guns don't kill people, people do!"

Banning/severely restricting the sale/possession/use of guns wouldn't make much difference to someone who is intent on killing someone else. There are plenty of other weapons that can be just as deadly: Your fists. A baseball bat. A nearby rock. A 2x4. An unfortunate "accident". Arsenic. You name it. If the determination is there, the killing will happen.

BUT.

It is important to take note that the [totally non-exhaustive list of] examples involve getting up close and personal with one's target. The first 4 involve putting the attacker at similar risk as the target - what if the target fights back? wrests the bat out of your hand? Grabs a larger rock? Swings that 2x4 more viciously than you ever could? Chances are, the attacker would not emerge unscathed from such an attack. The other two examples involve patience and planning: less exposure than the previous examples, but perhaps less satisfying? After all, the killer may not be able to actually witness the death of its target, or, the death may not be dramatic enough, satisfying enough...

A gun, on the other hand...

Joe and Jane Average will probably freeze in fear just at the sight of such a machine in your hand. You can get off on the power surge of the control you have over them, and on the fear you elicit.

Depending on what you want, you can achieve loads of blood and gore, or you can leave a nice neat little bullethole. You can snipe or spray from the top of a building or open window, or up close and personal.

So many options.

So much destruction.

And so easily achieved results, compared to a baseball bat, a 2x4, etc etc etc.

Wanna get into WHY people kill people? There's no one easy answer. But in this day and age, we "society" as well as we "experts" have a good idea about causes, and therefore have set up many opportunities for identification, prevention and treatment.

However, we know from sad experience that all too many people make it past all these potential stops.

And when they do, guns seem to be a particularly destructive weapon of choice.

So what I'm saying is, while it's true that it's people who kill people, if the weapon chosen is a gun, things get nasty, fast.

Guns are not to blame for Cho Seung-Hui's behaviour. But guns certainly were a factor in Cho Seung-Hui's high body count*.

* NOTE:
Some might argue that if only other students had guns with them, they would have been able to shoot at / kill Cho Seung-Hui and minimize his damage. Yes, but, how do you know that these armed students wouldn't have added to the body count due to getting all panicked because they've never used their guns outside of a controlled environment like a shooting range??

Also, I wouldn't want to go to class wondering *who*'s gonna get pissed off at someone else and whip out a gun, threaten to shoot, etc etc... I'm all for responsible gun ownership. Unfortunately, my impression is that a lot of the noise about gun control and ownership comes not from problems with the responsible ones, but from those idiots who shouldn't have their hands on any weapon of any kind but because they can, they do,,, and then use guns to express their irritation that their neighbour's dog barks too loudly, that a passing car has too much bass, or their classmate cracked a joke they found offensive.

So yes, again, it boils down to the PEOPLE rather than the weapon.

But yet again, mixing people of certain characteristics with guns gives a particularly lethal combination.

The gun folk can't just sit there and point to everyone else.
Well, they are... but they shouldn't; they can, however, so they will.

Ugh.

I'm not even going to try to suggest a solution. There isn't one. There is no magic bullet. A whole variety of changes need to take place, among so many people, within so many systems, that it seems just a pipe dream.

But if we sit back and do nothing, nothing will ever change, except perhaps for the worse.

Ah, what fun times we live in....

[I realise I still have some loose ends to tie up: in Part Three!]

Stewie's Final Thoughts

I've had *my* squigglies since forever... never did get around to writing an ode to 'em, and now Stewie beat me to it!

oh squiggly line in my eye fluid
i see you there lurking on the periphery of my vision
but when i try to look at you
you scurry away

are you shy squiggly line?

why only when i ignore you do you return to the center of my eye?

oh squiggly line
it's all right
you are forgiven

[From The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Family Guy Episode 5.11]

If you don't find this amusing as is, well, maybe the actual clip will do it for ya: enjoy!

I was laughing my a** off when I first saw this, while Kosh was once again looking at me askance, probably wondering again about his choice of life partner, LoL!