steve cooley presents

Did you say witch hunt? Seriously??

2008-11-18T22:56:02Z

File under: “PEOPLE UNCLEAR ON THE CONCEPT”

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1403369.html

Many Mormons believe they are being unfairly targeted and compare the anti-Mormon sentiment to a witch hunt.

“This is not fair – a lot of people wanted this passed, not just Mormons,” said Lynnette Black of Sacramento who rallied in support of Eckern in front of Music Circus last week. “We (church members) worked hard and within the law. It’s very hard to see this attitude toward Mormons.”

West, spokeswoman for the church, said the Mormons were part of a coalition that supported the ballot measure.

“We’re only 2 percent of the population,” West said. “We feel we’re getting too much credit.”

IRONY ALERT!! WOOP! WOOP! WOOP!

They wanted to unfairly discriminate against a minority class of citizenry, now they don’t feel like it’s fair to be the TARGET of that kind of sentiment?

The REALLY ironic thing here is that while prop 8 will likely be overturned in the courts, the self-selection and identification of these people as homophobic hate mongers will last forever.

Technorati Tags: bad judgement, irony, mormon, prop8, LDS

Prop 8, this ain’t over yet

2008-11-07T09:12:12Z

My brother in law Justin just sent this to me. It’s a No-on-8 rally in LA that went on.

cnn says

Chetry: It’s very interesting the grounds for which they are challenging. At least in one of these lawsuits they said that it was a constitutional revision rather than an amendment. And that means it would need two-thirds approval of the House in the legislature. So do we think it could go to the state house in California as well as being fought in the courts?

Hostin: I really think this is going to be a legal issue. I think this is going to go before the California Supreme Court. And we already know as you mentioned that there are three cases pending before the California Supreme Court. And what is interesting to note is that it’s the very same court that allowed these marriages in the first place.

The one comforting thought I had when I contemplated the passage of this legitimized bigotry and hatred was that there’s no freakin’ way it would stand up in court.

In my opinion, the best thing we could do for the state is amend the campaign finance laws to abolish out of state funding entirely for state ballot propositions. That would keep big businesses and evil rich people out of my state’s politics.

It cost the church members $35M+ to pass this, and forced an equal amount of wasted dollars on trying to fight this stupidity. What an amazing waste of money. What could we have done with $70M+ dollars instead? how about help get people on the streets some help? Maybe bolster early childhood education? How about k12 teacher retention programs? How about maybe just sticking that money right back in your wallet for a rainy day instead?

Wasted wasted wasted money. Down the tubes. And for what? What does the church get out of this? That’s one hell of a weird recruiting campaign. I don’t know who their target market was for this. Nobody I’d want to congregate with, that’s for damn sure.

The Specials sang a great song, it goes like this:

If you have a racist friend
Now is the time, now is the time for your friendship to end

If you are a racist or a bigot, you are not my friend.

Technorati Tags: prop8

about that vetting process

2008-11-06T20:54:51Z

Fox news doing it’s own post-mortem of Sarah Palin and dishing dirt. This would be the first time I’ve heard something actually fair and balanced from Fox news entertainment. thanks milk and cookies…

Uh… No.

2008-11-04T18:16:47Z

One thin line

2008-11-03T21:53:34Z

How to fill out these stupid optical scan paper forms. Seriously, how lame is this system if it needs you to use ONE THIN LINE. Is it really that fragile that if I scrub a few darker lines in to connect the dots it will not accept my vote?

Anyway, this is how you apparently MUST fill out your ballot. Once again, I will wear my “I VOTED” sticker and wish it said “I VOTED, WAS IT COUNTED?”

Technorati Tags: 2008, california, vote

prop 10: uhhhhh No.

2008-11-03T20:25:56Z

Prop 10 is largely funded by energy companies. It seeks to buy billions in bonds of offer rebates to consumers who buy compressed natural gas cars (CNG). And a few other things, but this looks to be the meat of the proposition.

Let the market decide. With my NO vote on prop 10, I’m telling T. Boone Pickens this: Bring your products to market on speculation that we’ll find CNG desirable and play the traditional risk-reward game. Prop 10 seems to stack the deck in t. boone pickens’ favor at the expense of billions in debt for my state.

If t boone. pickens really wants me to buy his compressed natural gas, maybe he should think about offering me an incentive to buy into his system in the form of a subsidy from his own extraordinarily deep pockets. The fuel I’ll end up buying will more than repay the cost of a subsidy, long-term.

I actually do want to buy a CNG car, so I would absolutely welcome T. Boone Pickens to pony up some speculative cash and put a couple of CNG gas stations in San Jose. I think there’s one at the friggin’ airport, but that’s too far to fill up on a regular basis.

Technorati Tags: 2008, prop10no, vote

Be prepared, Stay in line

2008-11-03T17:45:14Z

Your vote matters, be prepared to wait to vote for hours if necessary. Bring a fully juiced iPod and wait in line, don’t leave. VOTE.

Technorati Tags: 2008, vote

remembering how to paint, part 3

2008-10-30T09:25:33Z

here’s the third and possibly last painting post for 2008. This is a tryptic. Each piece is 24″ square, for a total of 72″ x 24.

I’m not sure of the title yet. I… have some ideas. I also have a full timelapse movie in the works for this piece as well. So when I get that done and figure out the title, I’ll post ‘em up.

Technorati Tags: 2008, abstract, acrylic, art, painting, san jose, stevecooley

remembering how to paint, part 2

2008-10-30T09:17:03Z

Here’s the second painting I’ll be showing at uproar ‘08. I’ve been working on this one all year, so it’s nice to finally figure it out and finish it up.

Ah, finally.

Technorati Tags: abstract, acrylic, art, painting, stevecooley

remembering how to paint

2008-10-29T17:07:25Z

Since my son was born ~6 months ago, I’ve been trying to cram in as much of what I used to do before he was born into my nights after he goes down for the night. I’m glad there are outlets for getting your work shown in the south bay area like Heart of Chaos and Works/San Jose because their events are good motivators to get some artwork finished.

So, here’s a new piece:

I have a tryptic and another piece that I’m wrapping up for Uproar 08.. posting soon…

Technorati Tags: 2008, abstract, acrylic, painting, stevecooley

Welcome back to earth, pundits.

2008-10-23T01:40:37Z

Re: Sarah Palin wearing $150,000 worth of new clothing since becoming McCain’s tragic pick for VP. This is embarrassing to watch, but it’s good to see these people pull their heads out of their ass for once.

I’m sure they’ll find more comfort putting their heads back up their asses soon enough. Oh well. Enjoy it for the moment it is.

2008 Auction Info

2008-10-21T16:56:47Z

Works/San Jose is having their art auction!

At last: the Benefit Art Auction! You are the key to Works’ renewal!

Dear artist and friend of Works/San José:

For the first time in two years, Works, your community art and performance center, is asking for your art for the 2008 Benefit Auction! Works is right now working toward a stable home, rehiring its part time gallery coordinator, restarting music and performance nights, and accepting exhibition proposals for the new year in its current space as the guest of the property owners. This will be the most important auction ever for a south bay arts organization, and your commitment and most inspired artwork are needed now to move works into the future. Over the previous few auctions works has nearly doubled its revenue from this essential fundraising event. At this critical time, with your help, we can and must continue this trend.

PLEASE CONFIRM right away that you will contribute to this important event by sending an email to auction@workssanjose.org. Include the spelling of your name, email address, and phone number, so that we can include you in auction press releases and on our website as early as possible. Please find artist donation forms, instructions for sending a jpeg image of your work, and auction updates at: www.workssanjose.org

Please deliver art to 451 South First Street in downtown San José on one of these 3 days: Thursday, November 6, 3 to 7pm, Friday, November 7, noon to 4pm—or 8 to 10pm during South First Friday, or on Saturday, November 8, noon to 4pm. All work should be complete with frame, glass, etc. as appropriate, or otherwise ready to hang or display. You may retain a percentage of the sale of your work or donate the entire sale amount to works. As just one token of our appreciation, we offer you a free one year membership to Works/San José.

Exhibition: November 20 through December 6
Reception and Auction: December 6 starting at 5pm with auction at 7pm

We look forward to seeing both you and your work! All proceeds support exhibition, performance, and education programs at Works/San José, your nonprofit, volunteer-run, community art and performance center.

Thank you!

Sincerely,
The Board of Directors of Works/San José

P.S.: Please also pass this on to an artist whose work you would like to see in the Benefit Auction.

works/san josé is member supported, primarily funded by this single auction event and individual donations; and is also funded in part by the
city of san josé; and arts council silicon valley in partnership with the county of santa clara, and the california arts council.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS ANNOUNCEMENT

Technorati Tags: art, auction, san jose, San José, sanjose, works, workssanjose

NO on Prop 8

2008-10-21T01:04:17Z

Wow. Check out all the big ticket hate mongers and homophobes. http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pe2023SzWXxE8wYX5qWeoIw.

Despite what the talking points say for the measure (and I have read them), this ballot will officially discriminate against a minority class of citizens. That is very, very dangerous territory to walk into. Once you legitimize discrimination, who is next? Who will be targeted next if this law passes? Maybe you!

I was originally spurred into action when I learned that the Church of Latter Day Saints of Utah (utah!) has been sending in big bucks to pass this measure in California. Big, as in Millions of dollars. Aside from the obvious hypocritical nature of this (any church pushing a law legitimizing discrimination and hate), I think it’s a bad road to head down. Then I saw parents making their young children hold up yes-on-8 signs at the corner of my community center, and that really pissed me off.

I wish everyone on the above list would go read this post: http://californiamormonon8.blogspot.com/2008/10/view-from-california.html It’s extremely well written and thoughtful. Here’s one passage:

I know that the “Yes on 8” campaign has created deep divisions within Mormon families. As Mormons, we are obligated to search ourselves, to ask if our relationships with our family members are loving and appropriate. Do we reject or deny our family members because they are gay? Is the zealousness of the “Yes on 8” campaign an outlet for our own feelings of shame, revulsion, disappointment, and failure in having gay children or family members? Some of the leading Mormon figures with the California Mormon “Yes on 8” campaign have gay children. Does God want us to sacrifice our relationships with gay children and relatives in order to serve Him? God led Abraham to Mount Horeb to teach him that child-sacrifice, a common practice among pagan peoples, was no longer warranted. It was no longer acceptable to Him. Henceforth, only God would sacrifice His son, Jesus Christ, to atone for the sins of the world. Now, after that great and atoning sacrifice, the only sacrifice we are asked to commanded to offer is that of a “broken heart and a contrite spirit” (3 Nephi 9:20). Do we sacrifice our gay children to impress God?

Don’t fall for the suggestion that this proposition protects anyone. It strips civil rights away from a whole class of citizens. It protects no one, and I’d argue quite the opposite. Hatred, meddling, and discrimination are no values I believe this state should be about, which is why I’m voting no on 8.

Vote NO on proposition 8.

Technorati Tags: 2008, california, no_on_8, noprop8, politics, prop8, prop8no

Joe the Plumber admits he would receive a tax cut under Obama

2008-10-17T19:13:42Z

Things move pretty quick around here these days. Not two days ago, joe the plumber was all the rage in the Republican party, and now that he’s (presumably) heard solid advice from a finance-savvy person, he’s come to the understanding that, in fact, and despite his previous statements, and despite how the McCain camp would want the public to see, he would receive a tax CUT from Obama’s proposed plans. NOT an increase. Sentences intentionally running-on for effect.

So that sort of takes a lot of the wind out of the sails of McCain’s whole 3rd debate, doesn’t it? Yes. It does.

Technorati Tags: mccain, politics, unfit

text editors I have known

2008-10-16T20:26:32Z

I write code for a living. Primarily PHP, but increasingly HTML, CSS, XML, JSON, Objective-C/Cocoa, Processing, and Arduino code. Over the last 8 years, I’ve been going back and forth using several editors. It seems kind of silly to think that I could have used 5 or 6 different programs to edit text, but there are good reasons why. So here’s an incomplete list of things that caused me to use, stop using, and maybe restart using these GUI programs:

BBEdit this is by far the program I’ve used the most. It’s the only program I trust to open a 100 Megabyte text file. I’ve been lucky to have my company pick up the latest version of BBEdit pretty much immediately after it’s released, so I’m particularly excited by the version 9 features. Code completion is nice. It seems to be pretty good about knowing about PHP. It doesn’t automatically close tags for you, but it does seem helpful. Another great feature new in this version is being able to drop a folder onto the BBEdit icon, and it will give you a file browser in a sidebar, and let you edit documents, tab free, directly from the file browser. Like every other modern text editor, it has clippings, or snippets, which is helpful. It’s search really is the best I’ve ever used. It’s just really nice. It saves search and replace actions for easy callback. It uses Grep. It’s nice. I would be nice if you could choose other syntaxes, grep certainly seems powerful enough. Mostly it would be nice to get some interactive experience using other regex modes. Not a deal breaker, I get my work done when I use BBEdit. There are so many great features in BBEdit, it’s hard to condense it down to one paragraph. As of version 9 and these new features, this application is back in my application dock.  
TextMate Textmate popped up a few years ago and was a stark contrast to BBEdit at the time. It’s major features that are different from BBEdit would be tab-commands, where you predefine snippets or commands and assign them to a key combination. Then when you’re editing text, you can type things like snippet-[tab] and whatever you defined as “snippet” will be replaced. It’s very powerful and can be very, very helpful. It has support for lots and lots of languages, and I’m sure there are a ton of features that I don’t know about. For PHP, i haven’t found it to be spectacularly helpful. As I’ve gotten into using SVN, I’ve noticed that TextMate creates a hidden .filename for *every* file it comes into contact with. So along with not being extraordinarily helpful with code completion with PHP and creating lots of not-invisible files, I’ve taken this off my application dock for now. 
Coda Coda is kind of a lighter-weight text editing tool whose main focus is to reduce the number of tools required to do web development. It’s major feature is having text editing, CSS editing, web browser for code preview, terminal functionality, FTP connectivity through Transmit, and a slightly weird technical reference… all mashed into one application. It has some nice features… Really nice, in fact, for a budding programmer looking to learn or troubleshoot html/php/css code. I used this app to cement my understanding of how CSS works because of how easily you can roundtrip from editing to preview, in fact, on the same screen in the same window with screen splitting. Pretty nice. My particular job doesn’t require me to do this much, so while I admire the product immensely, I do not have this in my day-to-day set of tools. I am using it as a teaching tool, though, because I feel like it’s aimed directly at being fast and useful for learning CSS.  
Komodo Edit This app is a recent entrant to my toolbox, and I have to say that I’m *really* impressed. Komodo Edit is the “free” version of Komodo’s larger suite of development products, but I’m finding it to be very full-featured. What I love about this program is how extremely PHP aware it is, and how it helps me keep my tags closed. I find writing code in this program to be very easy, easy to read, easy to understand what’s going on where, and generally kind of awesome. There are a few things that aren’t quite as awesome as I would like, such as: It would really prefer you start a new project for everything. You can open individual files without doing this, but if you want to drop into a folder to edit more than one file, you gotta start a project. It’s not so annoying that it’s preventing me from seeing the awesome PHP code editing power it has, but I would love this app more if I could skip the project files and just edit files from a folder browser like every other text editor in this list. Also, I find the search and replace to be kind of annoying because it requires you to check a “replace” checkbox every time you bring up the search field. Even if you were just there and want to tweak your search or replace criteria. When I’m starting whole new projects, I’m trying to use Komodo Edit, but lately when I’m editing preexisting projects, I’ll drop them on BBEdit. 
Processing/Arduino IDEs I’m only putting these in this list because they have two features that i wish I had in other text editors: keyboard-shortcut code cleanup and reformatting, and a “prepare for discourse” function where it creates a snippet of HTML that’s ready to post to a blog or discussion board. Super nice. Otherwise, these IDEs are kind of painfully minimal. But I put up with them because of what they produce. Which is awesome. 
XCode Xcode is hands-down the best text editor I’ve ever used for objective-c and cocoa. It has *The Best* code completion niceties I’ve ever seen, and should be the absolute envy of every other text editor on this list. Hear that, everyone? Emulate the code completion functionality that XCode has. Sadly, XCode seems to want to actively not be useful for PHP. I’ve long held the idea that XCode would be a *killer* IDE for PHP if it only knew about its syntax. It’s unbeatable for Obj-C and Cocoa, and possibly for other languages, but I only use it for Mac OS X and iPhone development. Since all of these things are text based, I end up wishing I had some of the features from XCode in *any* of the tools I use for PHP… but oh well.

Technorati Tags: arduino, bbedit, coda, komodo edit, processing.org, textmate, xcode

November 8th: SIDESCROLLER3 : SHMUP LOVE

2008-10-14T01:00:21Z

it’s hard to believe, but it was a year ago that we did the last SIDESCROLLER event, so we’re WAY overdue. Come join us Saturnday, November 8th, from 6:00pm to midnight-ish for a night of retro and not-retro games in the genre of the futuristic side scrolling shooter. $5 donation is requested so we can help pay the rent and electricity bill at Works/San Jose. OMGWTF?! Sidescroller is t3h awesome!1!

Technorati Tags: game, games, gaming, retro, san jose, San José, sanjose, sidescroller, works, workssanjose

Subversion - svnserve - turning on access to logged in user

2008-10-13T08:43:45Z

So I’ve been using and enjoying subversion for many months now. I think there are a lot of things that I don’t use, but I still find it immensely helpful in my day to day work. Up until recently, I’ve been using it locally, so that would be “file:///” instead of “svn://” But now I have a need to set up SVN as a server, so I’ve been trying to parse through the instructions, and it seems almost too easy. You edit the “passwd” and “authz” files in the “conf” folder, annnnd… pliff.. nothing happens. You can’t check stuff in. So I was starting to doubt SVN as a viable tool for this project because I just couldn’t get it to work, and… I need to get past this stupid step and get on to getting things done.

And then Homg, I just figured out what this guy said:

> Any suggestions out there?

Look at the conf/svnserve.conf file in your repository, it defaults to
allowing only read-only access, to get write access you'll either need
to turn on anonymous writes, like this:

[general]
anon-access = write

Or you'll have to configure a password database, as described in the
file's comments.

-garrett

So there’s *ONE CHARACTER* that you have to delete from the “svnserve.conf” file. The pound character “#” in front of the line that is this:

# password-db = passwd

so that it (comically, at this point) reads:

password-db = passwd

I feel like this should have been more obvious, but I don’t know how it could have been more obvious. It just wasn’t for some reason.

Technorati Tags: svnserve, subversion, svn

household health costs

2008-10-10T17:19:17Z

the arduino project box project has begun

2008-09-25T01:01:58Z

Hey, come check out my arduino project box that I’m working on! That’s what the post about the SPDT switches was all about.

Arduino Project Box

2008-09-25T00:54:25Z

Hey, check out my fine art blog to see my new arduino project box. Here’s a little preview video:

arduino project box construction timelapse from stevecooley on Vimeo.

Technorati Tags: arduino, stevecooley

steve cooley presents

Did you say witch hunt? Seriously??

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