An article entitled "Against School*" is the very best piece of writing I have encountered in weeks. Not only does it accurately sum up how I felt in public school, it goes on to explain why I felt that way, and why it is no accident. Once again I am reminded of a Paul Simon lyric:
When I think back
On all the crap I learned in high school
It's a wonder I can think at all
President Bush gets my praise and gratitude today for his decision to protect a vast swath of the Pacific Ocean from fishing. Mr. Bush, please make more decisions of this sort.
"This is really for the first time saying the primary purpose of this area of the ocean is to be a pristine, or nearly pristine, kind of place," said David Festa of a private group. "It would take it off the books as a fishing ground. That's really the first time we'll have done that in any kind of sizable area."
We're in the middle of World Cup Chaos over here in Germany.
GOAAAALLLL! WE'RE THE WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!! WE WON! WE'RE THE BEST!!!!
What? Oh. Too soon.
Anyway, I just came a cross a marvelous quote about European labor markets (and soccer) in a great article about what it takes to have lots of start-up companies (like in Silicon Valley):
European public opinion will apparently tolerate people being fired in industries where they really care about performance. Unfortunately the only industry they care enough about so far is soccer. But that is at least a precedent.
Mark Shuttleworth recounts a depressing encounter with the US immigration thugs. It is really sad that traveling to the US has become so difficult. Here in Germany, I know scores of people who have told me they'll never go there just because of how they expect to be treated at the airport.
I fell in love with the USA once. It was built on beautiful principles. Alas, it appears to have forsaken those in the name of security and expediency. As a result, I think the world is looking for a new source of inspiration - a new country where the most interesting people of the world can arrive, feel welcome, and feel free.
The new release of the E-Commerce package for Drupal 4.7 is very impressive. It sports lots of new features. Especially welcome is a bunch of documentation... something that has been all but absent up until now. Definitely worth Digging!
New Features Added
- Full HTML email notifications
- Improved transformation of content like audio, images and other files into their own products
- Shipping from multiple distribution centers via Fedex, UPS and USPS
- Develop your own address book, or integrate with CiviCRM
- More robust transaction auditing
- New documentation at the E-Commerce handbook
- New payment gateways
- 4.7 E-Commerce modules now automatically install their own tables
- Support for PostgreSQL installations
After evaluating many different CMS solutions and finally narrowing the field down to three contenders, Greenpeace UK has decided to go with Drupal. More on their selection process here.
It's been an extremely tough decision to make because there are very real advantages (and disadvantages) to each of the products we've considered. And all the people we've interacted with throughout the process we've followed have been so friendly and helpful and passionate which makes even announcing this difficult, but in the end, given our specific requirements and situation, we've decided that Drupal makes the most sense.
I am married, and getting married was the best decision I have ever made. My marriage is the fundamental base on which my entire life and self rests. The ability to marry the person of my choice is a right so basic that I would be willing to fight, and to die, for it.
The fact that George Bush, the president of what is supposed to be a country that values freedom, would willingly deny any two humans the right to marry each other, is barbaric. It is so backwards, bigoted, fearful and full of hate, that it makes the man unqualified to be put forth as a leader or example of how Americans should live.
I took the time to write a lengthy response to a blog posting I found that asserted that Drupal couldn't be used because of the way it is coded:
This module requires that module which depends on just the right version of another module. And when you dig into to code, you just decide you’ll have to live with things or write your own module somehow. Life’s too short. I’m not hacking CMS software anymore which just has to be re-hacked to re-install the same features when the next update comes out.
