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01 oktober 2004

Got Milksop?

Lobbing errant potshots over the wall of anonymity. Accusations of hurtful behavior by some human invertebrate. Gutless innominate.

Sometimes the internet is a moist, dark place that proliferates profligate organisms that even a fungus can look down upon.

Posted by jeff at 09:51 am | Comments (0) | TrackBack

29 september 2004

Faster, Pussycat

Whether I've mucked around too much with OS X Server, or, having already lost its Firewire ports and the analog side of its video card (DVI/ADC still works), hardware is to blame, the blog server at home has been illin' for the past week.

The G4 Cube is a wonder...8" on a side, built in CD-R and AirPort (that's 802.11b, to you nerds), 100BT ethernet, DVI video, firewire, and NO FAN. It's been a trusty machine for a while now. The ethernet port may be to blame, but the AirPort connections were also very slow. That suggests a software issue. We Live In Hope.

Until the Cube is back up and running—assuming it gets there—this friendly neighborhood blog is being served up to you by Sam's iMac, lovingly known as "Fred".

Posted by jeff at 08:41 am | Comments (0) | TrackBack

28 september 2004

Gall, Up.

Gallup.com runs the headline: Bush Retains Lead, Up by Eight Points. Now, while that's factually correct, I'm assuming (I don't know that for sure, actually, I'm just taking their word), is it true? Let's break it all down into little tiny meaningless bits, just like the hordes of wonder-free, nuance-free, respect-free Republicans do. No, c'mon, it'll be fun!

Let's take the first part. "Bush Retains Lead". So they're saying he's had a lead, and he's keeping it.

Let's take the second part. "Up by Eight Points." This one isn't so clear. He's still up by 8 points? He's up by 8 points more? Both?

Well, it can't be both. Here's where I'm going to apply a little syllogistic reasoning (no clicking that close-box in the upper left corner of your window!). If he's up by eight more points, he can't remain up by eight points because his numbers cannot have changed while remaining the same. If you think it can, I've got some non-Euclidean acreage to sell you. (and yes, nerds, I know that the surface of an oblate spheroid is non-Euclidean, but try finding a real estate agent who will take that into account. And if you do, run!).

But notice that the gallup headline wants it both ways? "Retains" is good news! "Up" is good news! Why not put both in a headline!

Here's where the self-enfeebled Republican's mind may see the wheels falling of the wagon, but here goes: the headline implies a thing, too. History. Trend. Retain is a word that states a relation to the previous. Up is also a word that requires a relative value.

Gallup is trying to tell the skimmers something, indeed! They're casually allowing you to believe that the trends are clearly in Bush's favor. It takes until the third paragraph for them to tell you that Bush's lead, as compared to numbers from less than two weeks ago has dropped to almost half of what it was. Yes, folks, he went from a supposed 13-point lead to an 8-point lead in just under two weeks. (Yes, I'm having fun with numbers, with the almost-half's and the just-under's).

Let's restate them more "concretely": Bush's lead is 62% of what it was 11 days ago. He's lost more than 2/3 of his lead!

This doesn't sound much like a 'retain', does it? But to be fair, Bush is still up, in the numbers. Just not 'up' from last time they measured. In fact, that sounds a lot likes Bush's numbers are down, doesn't it?

So Bush doesn't retain the lead he had 11 days ago AND his numbers are down. You can have both of those. In fact, you must have both.

Read the first paragraph of the article. Then look at the pretty graph. Then read the second paragraph. Then read the third paragraph. The last sentence of the third paragraph: "All of these changes among registered voters are within the poll's margin of error."

That bears repeating: All of these changes among registered voters are within the poll's margin of error.

<EMILY_LITELLA>Oh. Nevermind.</EMILY_LITELLA>

Posted by jeff at 09:30 am | Comments (0) | TrackBack

27 september 2004

Sex, Drugs and....House!

Sam and I went to the Folsom Street Fair yesterday. It was actually an entire day and night full of leather folk. Well, not for Sam and me. We're only leather-ish. And folksy. -Esque, if you will.

I read somewhere that Folsom is the 3rd largest event in California. Not the third largest gay event, but any event. Behind the Rose Bowl Parade (#1), and San Francisco Gay Pride. Must be all the Republicans.

I had a fucking great time. We walked around with friends, each met some people who "knew" us through our blogs. I finally met Stephen from Syracuse, who's incredibly handsome..and built like a brick shithouse. I hope he manages to move to San Francisco. We'd all be lucky to have him here.

We met with other friends, and friends of friends. We met up with Eric and Dave, saw him, saw him (and his boyfriend, Fuad)—still miss him.

We drank a lot and I got sunburned. We were dirty. And dirty with friends. All good clean kinda dirty, though. You know what I'm talkin' 'bout, Mary.

We ended up down at the Lonestar—had to stand in line, the horror!—and then went down to the Real Bad XVI event (hi, Skittles!). Lots and lots of fun. It's my favorite club/dance of the year.

This year, however, was easily the best, because I was with my best Little Man, who presented me with one of the best surprises EVER: Edgar! Of my former next-door neighbors, Bill & Edgar, who I've written about in lavish superlatives here. Sam came over to me while was on the dancefloor and said he had a surprise for me. He stood to the side, and there was Edgar. Oh. My. G--!

Even I had no idea how much it would affect me, seeing Edgar out of the blue. I just kept smilng and screaming and kissing him and then smiling and screaming and kissing Sam and all the world was perfect. Well, except that Bill wasn't there.

We left there near midnight to head home. After we got there, we "got there".

And good times were made. And making it was a good time.

Posted by jeff at 10:25 pm | Comments (0) | TrackBack