it’s about time

little navi is back. shipped to me from mac medics yesterday. their services are highly reccommended for those in need.

and now i have an 80GB drive – w00t!

A Growing Movement

DSC02010
Originally uploaded by l@in.

Over the course of the past three days, I’ve watched an ever increasing number of Falun Dafa/Falun Gong practitioners hand out literature, raise awareness about the situation of the members of the Falun Gong members in mainland China, protesting the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Today, with the scheduled meeting of the US and Chinese Presidents, the area all around the White House erupted in an incredibly colorful, peaceful, and often joyful demonstration. Protests also took place when President Hu Jintao was in Seattle. The activists I saw were extremely well organized – with new publications of a small newspaper both yesterday and today, several different brochures and flyers, and professional looking signage. As a person who is fascinated by social movements, especially the role that technology plays in quick and successful organzation of these protests, I wish I knew more about how these protests were organized. Bi-Yun (Ruby) Huang, a woman that I had the opportunity to participate in a directed reading course in social movements with at IU, has been studying the role of technology in the organization of the Falun Gong movement. I look forward to reading her research even more on the heels of this recent protest movement

Vi/VIM resources

not very interesting for anyone but me. but i wanted to gather these puppies together so i can get to them easily from home or work. if anyone has further reccommendations please comment and i’ll add ’em.

– VI Lovers Homepage

– Adrian’s VIM Page

– Simple Guide to Vi/VIM

– A Quick Guide to Vi

– Vim The Editor

– Download 500+ page book on VIM

– simply type “vimtutor” into the command line for 30 minute tutorial

– Vim Cookbook

– Vim Quick Reference Card

– The Vi Mug (i should bring mine in to work)

– Vi Reference

I can’t wait to see this

An Inconvenient Truth

…why isn’t Al Gore President again?

infectious disease round-up

Necrotizing Fasciitis (NF) & Avian Flu (H5N1)

NF

necrotizing fasciitis or flesh-eating bacteria attacks soft tissue. There’s no known preventative measure one can take, besides “keeping your skin intact”. Some reports seem to indicate that instances of this disease are on the rise. The CDC does not officially track the numbers of patients that present with NF on a yearly basis, but based on a 1999 study 600 cases were reported, and it’s estimated that 500-1500 cases occur in the US on a yearly basis.

NF is part of the Group A streptococcus family. The non-invasive forms of this bacterium include strep throat, and impetigo.

– A doctor tells of his experience with necrotizing fasciitis in April of 2004

– Two women die in Johnson County, Kentucky. Kentucky Drs. have reported a 23 incident jump in NC from 2001 to 2004.

– A Hawaiian man fell into sewage polluted waters of Ala Wai Boat Harbor last week and has suffered massive organ failure in addition to the amputation of his leg below the knee.

– Edward Kopfman succumbed to necrotizing fasciitis on April 2nd. He’s the 9th person to become fatally infected in King County Washington this year.

– Woman dies of NC in Miramichi, New Brunswick.

– North Carolina woman dies of NC after hand injury.

– New treatment for NC could be on the way.

H5N1

– Avian flu found in dead swan in Scotland

– Cats may play a role in the spread and mutation of H5N1

– 9th person diagnosed with bird flu in Egypt appears to be stable

who knew?

bits of interest

– ahh…christian sexists, love ’em. honest.
listen to Chris Matthews suck, suck, suck up to Tom Delay, then Tom reveals his latent sexism.

– lost in translation
Jesus on Ice. Way better than Cinderella on Ice.

– Bush needs to spend more time on his knees

– I’m still pissed about McCain at Liberty University
Gary Bauer will speak at the baccalaureate service the night before. mmmm.

– how’s it coming?
one of the most well known right-wing Christian organizations breaks down the end times just for you

– Sen. Lieberman prepares for his big career switch
someone should tell him librarians aren’t really into the whole “shhh” thing anymore

– one more reason to leave town
The Eagle Forum Collegians hit DC June 8-9

weekend/link round-up

pete pretty much sums up the weekend. while The Orb was highly enjoyable, Roni Size, DJ Marky and MC Armani, all artists that i’ve wanted to see for years, really blew me away. I also forgot how nice crowds are at electronic shows. literally every time i got bumped, stepped on or elbowed, inevitable in a packed and dancing crowd, i always got a big smile and an apology. i even got an impromptu hug from a temporary dancing partner. i guess PLUR isn’t completely dead. :)

real quick:

– for all of my midwest pals you now have a new way to hop from midwestern city to midwestern city. Megabus offers cut-rate fares from Indy, Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, and other midwestern cities. But with tickets only available online, it seems that many people who might benefit from these low-cost fares might find them inaccessible.

– although prayer might not actually heal the sick, perhaps a similar study should be conducted on the effect of prayer on the success of political candidates as Sen. John McCain has recently agreed to speak at the ultra-conservative Liberty University.

– EPA headquarters in Washington DC is now using 100% green energy

– the flu season is peaking later

– if/when avian flu hits the US it’s thought that it will hit California first. on the upside it appears that it is difficult for H5N1 to pass from human to human because the virus “the virus concentrates itself too deep in the respiratory tract to be spewed out by coughing and sneezing” …at least you know, until it mutates.