tyroneclio

Secrets of the Beauty Insiders
$11.97 (was $14.95– save 25%!)
Available at: Amazon.comHave you ever met one of those women who is a sucker for self-help books? Uber-obsessive. Always trying to improve upon herself. You know the type. I’m kind of like that, only my obsession is beauty and fashion manuals of all types. I’ve read so many that I’ve become completely jaded. When I got word that yet another beauty manual was headed our way, this one penned by beauty writer and fellow blogette Nada Manley, I knew I couldn’t trust myself to be impartial. I love a good beauty trick like a stockbroker loves barely legal insider tips. But what about the everywoman? What would the average girl about town think about a book devoted to telling her how to make herself just a little bit more beautiful? I decided to turn over Nada’s new book to the Stiletto Jungle Girl Talk panel to see what they thought about the usefulness of this beauty how-to.

Here’s the lowdown on the book in question. Secrets of the Beauty Insiders is the brainchild of Nada Manley, a recognized fashion and beauty writer with over 1,000 magazine articles to her credit. She is also a former beauty editor with more than a dozen years of experience. She has made numerous television appearances as a fashion and beauty expert on FOX News and E! Entertainment Television and she even has her own well-known blog– Beauty Insider Blog. Secrets of the Beauty Insiders is the culmination of her lifelong obsession with beauty and includes tips and tricks from 79 top beauty professionals, including groomers to the stars like Nick Arrojo, Napoleon Perdis, and Terri Apanasewicz. The credentials are certainly impressive, but what did our panelists have to say?
Kim”Nada Guirgis Manley does a great job in her book about beauty secrets. She really establishes credibilty creating an easy to read manual that can help everyone from the beauty freak to the misguided female. The book takes complex beauty decisions and lays out several solutions, with quotes from beauty experts. Manley helps the reader focus on who they are instead of who they want to be, meaning being honest with yourself, especially when it comes to skin color and hair color. Manley is honest and makes the reader understand that the more they know, the easier it will be to choose a product. For example if you have dry skin and you are buying a cream that is drying out your skin more, you are not knowledgeable about your skin type. What is even more fascinating about this book is that she gives you the solution right then, helping you find out what skin type you have. Manley simply outlines the pros and cons of different beauty products without making it seem she is biased towards one. Because, as she puts it, everyone is different and, ‘treatment is only fabulous if it works.’ The book is divided up into sections, which makes it organized and less cluttered than most beauty books. I love how at the begining of each chapter she identifies with the reader by giving a personal example of her struggles with the issue or some relateable story.”
– Kim; 23; La Jolla, California

Hannah”Quite frankly, I knew I was going to have issues with this book the second I got it in the mail. Why? It proffers 199 pages of beauty advice, from product recommendations to application techniques, and doesn’t contain one single picture or diagram. Ignoring for a moment the fact that humans are visually oriented beings, the very concept of physical beauty is undefinable without accounting for the visual component of it. Yet here we have a book of beauty secrets which is 199 pages of nothing but text, not one single example of what is being discussed… interesting.

Picture issues acknowledged and addressed, I did try to read this book with an open mind: with so much content, some of it was bound to be worthwhile. Also, Manly’s list of contributors is both impressive and extensive, so I knew there was probably some valuable info to be had here, and there is. The advice contained on these pages is clearly knowledge obtained through years of education and experinece. The further I got into the book though, the more overwhelmed I felt. It’s expert and extensive to the point of being too much. There are like 15 contributors to each chapter, each has advice (sometimes conflicting) about how something should be done, and each has a favorite product they’d like to recommend (usually from their own line). For instance, there are 14 product recommendations in the ‘What the Pros Choose’ section for acne treatments alone, and each topic has a ‘What the Pros Choose.’ What happened to ’simple or straightforward?’ Simple and straigtforward to me means have a concrete idea about what I’m doing when I’m done reading it, not a million suggestions I have to follow up on.

I think the main issue here is that the author and contributors to this book are beauty professionals. They spend all day every day doing this and so have the time to play with techniques and products to find what works best in any and every circumstance, and to differentiate their circumstances by a whole host qualifying factors. They forget that the average woman doesn’t have the time, inclination, or money for that, nevermind the patience and bathroom shelf-space. Certainly none of my friends who are married and/or have kids do, a couple of my single friends might wish they did.

So my bottom line impression is: This is a great book for anyone who is very very into make-up/ beauty/ fashion trends, going into cosmotology, or wanting a beauty encyclopedia of some kind. It is not really a practical book for the average woman though. If you are looking for something that will help you develop ageless style, simplify your routine, and choose reliable, quality products… Well, there are better books out there. Many of which come with pictures.”
– Hannah; 31; Corona, California Click on the photo at the top left of this post to link directly to where you can purchase Secrets of the Beauty Insiders by Nada Manley online and on sale. Don’t miss any Girl Talk reviews. Subscribe to Stiletto Jungle and get free updates by e-mail or RSS.

Related Stories:
>> Girl Talk: Beauty Product Re-Mixes
>> Girl Talk Reviews: Getting Stuck on Stylin’ Tape
>> Girl Talk Reviews: Aromatherapy Sunscreen

UPDATE: I guess most people are not getting what this technique does in the first place. It sets the expiry of the JavaScript to years and not days. Once the JavaScript file is downloaded it is never downloaded again, ofcourse unless you force it by removing the file in the cache. If you visit the site often the JavaScript will not be removed from the cache. If you make any changes to the JavaScript you only need to change the version of the file and the new file will be downloaded. The older file is automatically removed from the cache when it is no longer requested. And just to add one more point this can be done on the WebServer itself without using this technique, but that has its own drawbacks. To further speed up the download you can gzip the JavaScript.

If you have developed an AJAX based web application you would know how many JavaScript files are required per webpage. If you use the prototype or dojo toolkit library you would know how big those JavaScript files can turn out to be.

A few months back I was developing a website dotbeta.com (You won’t see anything there as I changed my webhosting company recently), though I never completed it, I learned a few things about caching and how you can speed up your website for users who visit your site often. A website like digg takes up more than a minute to load on my dialup connection even though the main page is no more than a 27-32 KB. The real time is taken up by the JavaScript files. The solution for this problem is to cache the JavaScript files. Though caching improves the speed but it causes a problem when you have to update the JavaScript files, since the browser will not look for updated files if they have been cached.

Since your files are cached they will not be requested by the browser and you will not be able to send out updated JavaScript files. The solution to this problem is that you use a different name for your JavaScript file every time, or you can version control your directory. So for version 0.1 of your project http://testserver.com/javascript/0.1/test.js, and for 0.2 http://testserver.com/javascript/0.2/test.js

Thought this solution is good but it’s still difficult to implement, and soon you will have multiple directories to take care of, and you will face problems when only one file needs to be changed.

After facing the trouble of a slow server and the JavaScript file being downloaded every time, I came up with this solution for PHP and .net based web application. You need to download getjs.php or getjs.aspx depending on your server. To load a script file use
<script src=”getjs.php?file=test1&version=0.1″ />
<script src=”getjs.aspx?file=test2&version=0.2″ />
In this example we load two files test1.js and test2.js. This solves two problems firstly it will work even if you have virtual hosting and secondly it solves the problem of multiple files. So if you wish to change only one file change the version from 0.1 to 0.2 and the new file will be downloaded and cached. In the next article I will try to tell you how this has been implemented, though if you know PHP or VB.net and have some idea about HTTP you won’t face too many problems.

You can view a demo to see how you can improve your own web applications using prontoCache.
<?php
/*
* Author: Vivek Jishtu
* Copyright (c) 2006 Viamatic Softwares
*/

/**************************************************
This acts like a security measure also. So no
other extension except JavaScript can be downloaded.
**************************************************/

$filename = $_GET[”file”]. “.js”;
header(”Content-Type: text/javascript”);
if(!file_exists($filename)) {
echo “alert(’The file [” .htmlspecialchars($_GET[”file”], ENT_QUOTES). “] does not exist. Please inform webmaster.’);”;
exit;
}

$if_modified_since = preg_replace(’/;.*$/’, ”, $HTTP_IF_MODIFIED_SINCE);
/**************************************************
The javascript never expires so if we get any
Request for a modified page we send back that
javascript has not been modified.
**************************************************/
if ($if_modified_since != “”) {
header(”HTTP/1.0 304 Not Modified”);
exit;
}

/**************************************************
Set the cache such that it does not expire. In
this example we set it till 22nd Feb 2011.
You can change the date to whatever year you want,
any year in the future.
**************************************************/
header(”Last-Modified: ” . gmdate(’D, d M Y H:i:s’, time()) . ‘ GMT’);
header(”Expires: Tue, 22 Feb 2011 05:00:00 GMT”);
header(”Cache-Control: public”);

echo “/* prontoCached on “. gmdate(’D, d M Y H:i:s’, time()) . ” */\r\n”;
require_once($filename);
?> The PHP Code
<%@ Page Language=”VB” %>
<script runat=”server”>
‘
‘ Author: Vivek Jishtu
‘ Copyright (c) Viamatic Softwares
‘
Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
‘**************************************************
‘ This acts like a security measure also. So no
‘ other extension except JavaScript can be downloaded.
‘**************************************************

Dim FileName As String = Me.MapPath(Request.QueryString(”file”) & “.js”)
Response.ContentType = “text/javascript”

If Not My.Computer.FileSystem.FileExists(FileName) Then
Response.Write(”alert(’The file does not exist. Please inform webmaster.’);”)
Response.End()
Return
End If
‘**************************************************
‘ The javascript never expires so if we get any
‘ Request for a modified page we send back that
‘ javascript has not been modified.
‘**************************************************
If Request.Headers(”If-Modified-Since”) “” Then
Response.StatusCode = “304″
Response.StatusDescription = “Not Modified”
Response.End()
End If

‘**************************************************
‘ Set the cache such that it does not expire. In
‘ this example we set it till 22nd Feb 2011.
‘ You can change the date to whatever year you want,
‘ any year in the future.
‘**************************************************
Response.AddHeader(”Last-Modified”, DateToHTTPDate(Date.Now))
Response.AddHeader(”Expires”, “Tue, 22 Feb 2011 05:00:00 GMT”)
Response.AddHeader(”Cache-Control”, “public”)
Response.Write(”/* prontoCached on ” & Date.Now & ” */” & vbCrLf)
Response.Write(My.Computer.FileSystem.ReadAllText(FileName))
Response.End()

End Sub

‘Source for DateToHTTPDate from http://www.motobit.com/tips/detpg_net-last-modified/
Function DateToHTTPDate(ByVal OleDATE As Date) As String
On Error Resume Next
OleDATE = OleDATE.ToUniversalTime
Return engWeekDayName(OleDATE) & _
“, ” & Right(”0″ & Day(OleDATE), 2) & ” ” & engMonthName(OleDATE) & _
” ” & Year(OleDATE) & ” ” & Right(”0″ & Hour(OleDATE), 2) & _
“:” & Right(”0″ & Minute(OleDATE), 2) & “:” & Right(”0″ & Second(OleDATE), 2) & ” GMT”
End Function

Function engWeekDayName(ByVal dt As Date) As String
Dim Out As String = “”
Select Case Weekday(dt, 1)
Case 1 : Out = “Sun”
Case 2 : Out = “Mon”
Case 3 : Out = “Tue”
Case 4 : Out = “Wed”
Case 5 : Out = “Thu”
Case 6 : Out = “Fri”
Case 7 : Out = “Sat”
End Select
Return Out
End Function

Function engMonthName(ByVal dt As Date) As String
Dim Out As String = “”
Select Case Month(dt)
Case 1 : Out = “Jan”
Case 2 : Out = “Feb”
Case 3 : Out = “Mar”
Case 4 : Out = “Apr”
Case 5 : Out = “May”
Case 6 : Out = “Jun”
Case 7 : Out = “Jul”
Case 8 : Out = “Aug”
Case 9 : Out = “Sep”
Case 10 : Out = “Oct”
Case 11 : Out = “Nov”
Case 12 : Out = “Dec”
End Select
Return Out
End Function

Public Function DateFromHTTP(ByVal HTTPDate As String) As Date
Dim Swd As String, d As String, Sm As String, y As String, h As String
Dim m As String, s As String, g As String, Out As Date
HTTPDate = LCase$(HTTPDate)

If Mid$(HTTPDate, 27, 3) = “gmt” Then
Swd = Left$(HTTPDate, 3)
d = Mid$(HTTPDate, 6, 2)
Sm = Mid$(HTTPDate, 9, 3)
y = Mid$(HTTPDate, 13, 4)
h = Mid$(HTTPDate, 18, 2)
m = Mid$(HTTPDate, 21, 2)
s = Mid$(HTTPDate, 24, 2)
Out = New Date(y, mFromSm(Sm), d, h, m, s)
Out = Out.ToLocalTime
End If

Return Out
End Function

Function wdFromSwd(ByVal Swd As String) As Integer
Dim Out As Integer
Select Case LCase$(Swd)
Case “sun” : Out = 1
Case “mon” : Out = 2
Case “tue” : Out = 3
Case “wed” : Out = 4
Case “thu” : Out = 5
Case “fri” : Out = 6
Case “sat” : Out = 7
End Select
Return Out
End Function

Function mFromSm(ByVal Sm As String) As Integer
Dim Out As Integer
Select Case LCase$(Sm)
Case “jan” : Out = 1 : Case “feb” : Out = 2
Case “mar” : Out = 3 : Case “apr” : Out = 4
Case “may” : Out = 5 : Case “jun” : Out = 6
Case “jul” : Out = 7 : Case “aug” : Out = 8
Case “sep” : Out = 9 : Case “oct” : Out = 10
Case “nov” : Out = 11 : Case “dec” : Out = 12
End Select
Return Out
End Function
</script> The VB.net Code

Incase you have the rights to change the expiry of JavaScript on the webserver itself, you can still use the version technique to send out new versions of files using <script src=”test1.js?version=0.1″ />. The version parameter is there to make it clear, you can also use any random value if you want.

After looking at suggestions from people I guess the best option is to use <script src=”test1.js?timestamp={timestamp(’test1.js’);}” />. This is a simplest way of doing it. To get the timestamp of a file is language/platform dependent. But anytime the file is modified the timestamp would be changed. Using this method you would not have to make changes in the version either.

Technorati Tags: javascript, AJAX, prontocache

Stage Directory:

Main Stage - exactly what it sounds like, the biggest stage
Outdoor Theatre - this is the second largest stage, it has the same atmosphere as the main stage but with a less powerful sound system and no video screens
Sahara Tent - this is the largest of the three tents and is home, primarily, to electronic acts, though some bands did play there this year
Mojave Tent - medium-sized tent, notorious for getting extremely hot inside
Gobi Tent - smallest tent, can get really packed, but also has excellent ventilation

Friday, April 27

Friday was the only day that we got there before the first act even went on. I was so excited I could barely contain myself and I was flipping out as the security people were taking forever to check bags and frisk the patrons. Finally I got in, just before the 2 PM start time, and ran directly to the main stage.

Flosstradamus featuring Kid Sister (Main Stage)

The bass was loud, and these guys put on a pretty decent dance party, but maybe it was the heat or the lack of alcohol in my system, but I just could not get my groove on for the life of me. Chicago DJs Flosstradamus do the mash-ups quite well, but 20 minutes in, I was already starting to lose interest. I was hoping Kid Sister would liven up the show, but she only succeeded in annoying me and I left as soon as the next act I wanted to see came on. It wasn’t the greatest start to the weekend, but thankfully it was not an omen of things to come.

Noisettes (Mojave Tent)

Ahhh, here we go, now this was the proper start to Coachella 2007. I really wasn’t familiar with much of the Noisettes’ music, so this was a pleasant surprise. Singer Shingai Shoniwa thrashed around the stage, jumping off the drum-riser and bringing so much energy that the crowd couldn’t help but to go nuts for them. Their music is pretty straight-forward garagey rock, but the force it’s delivered with and the huge smiles on their faces made them a pleasure to watch.

Comedians of Comedy (Gobi Tent)

Now this was a brilliant idea. Other festivals, like Bonnaroo, have entire tents devoted to comedy, but this was the first time that Coachella gave it a go. Not only were the comedians amazing and hilarious, but this gave people a chance to sit down in the shade during the hottest part of the day. It was a fantastic way to conserve energy and my feet were definitely thanking Patton Oswalt, for coming up with this idea, later in the evening. I left the Noisettes set for a few minutes to see Aziz Ansari, who had the audience rolling on the ground laughing. I left for a few minutes and then returned to see the core members of the Comedians of Comedy, Maria Bamford, Zach Galifianakis, Brian Posehn and Patton Oswalt. All of them were awesome and I understand why they work so well as a group, as they all have very different styles so there’s really no chance of them infringing on each other’s territory. The highlight of the show was definitely the end of Zach Galifianakis’ set, where he took off his shirt and pants to reveal a dress underneath. Suddenly “Tomorrow” from Annie started blaring over the soundsystem and Galifianakis was dancing around, lip-synching and tearing pages off a giant sketch pad. The crowd erupted into a standing ovation when the final page was torn off, but I won’t reveal the punchline. Watch it here (it’s three parts, be sure to watch part 1 first).

Tilly and the Wall (Mojave Tent)

I’ve always wanted to see Tilly and the Wall live to see the tap-dancing in action, but I never liked their music enough to actually motivate myself to buy a ticket, so this was the perfect opportunity. Even though I only saw their first two songs, I feel like I got a pretty good idea of what they were all about, and honestly, they were quite good. They oozed energy and enthusiasm and had there not been a band I really wanted to see playing at roughly the same time, I would’ve stuck around for more of their set. Now if they could just write some stronger songs. . .

Of Montreal (Outdoor Theatre)

Even though I had just seen Of Montreal at the State Theater a couple of months ago, I had to go back and see them again, they’re just that good live. Unfortunately, the start of their set was marred by sound problems and singer Kevin Barnes was clearly getting annoyed. “Heimsdalgate Like a Promethian Curse” just didn’t have the oomph behind it that it’s supposed to have and the crowd was clearly starting to get restless when all was saved by a fantastic version of “She’s A Rejecter.” They finally had the crowd’s attention and Barnes’ mood cheered up almost instantly. They stuck mostly to material from the new album, dipping slighlty into Satanic Panic in the Attic and The Sunlandic Twins. When Barnes climbed the ladder and put on his final costume during the set’s penultimate song, “Gronlandic Edit,” he had the crowd in the palm of his hand and they went nuts.

Silversun Pickups (Main Stage)

Unfortunately, I only caught their last song, but it was rather epic and I immediately regretted not having watched more of their set. Damn conflicts! This happens all the time at Coachella, where multiple bands you want to see are playing at the same time. I’ll have to catch the Silversun Pickups and their re-hash of the Smashing Pumpkins-esque streamlined shoegaze sound the next time they come to the DC area instead.

Amy Winehouse (Gobi Tent)

Alright, will the guy at Goldenvoice who decided to put Amy Winehouse on the smallest stage at the festival please come forward to be slapped upside the head? What were they thinking doing this? The Gobi Tent was more packed than I have ever seen it in my 3 years of Coachella, with people spilling out of both sides as well as way out of the back of the tent, interrupting traffic and angering both those trying to watch Ms. Winehouse and those trying to get to other stages. I wasn’t able to get remotely close to the stage, but from where I was, Amy actually seemed somewhat sober, which shocked me. Her lack of alcohol didn’t seem to affect her perfomance at all, however, as her voice seemed spot on. It still amazes me hearing that incredible voice come out of that little body. After a few songs, I got too annoyed with the crowd and went to get food. I made it back just in time to catch the set closer, a stunning rendition of “Rehab,” which had the crowd (much smaller at this point, I think a lot of people were pissed) grooving.

Arctic Monkeys (Main Stage)

I hadn’t really planned on seeing them, but I decided that to get a good spot for Jesus and Mary Chain, I needed to start making my way to the stage in the middle of the Arctic Monkeys’ set. They put on a decent show, but I really don’t think I’m the one to review one of their shows, I’m just not a huge fan. I like some of their singles, but I just can’t get into most of their stuff. Still, these guys are soooo young, and I’m rather impressed they’ve been so successful at such a young age.

Jesus and Mary Chain (Main Stage)

These guys are one of the main reasons that I travelled all the way across the country, and though it wasn’t the best show of the weekend, it was still pretty damn good. Brothers Jim and William Reid stood at least 15 feet apart at all time, perhaps to help quell the urge to punch one another in the face, but it didn’t hinder the set at all. They mowed down all of their big hits, “Head On,” “Happy When It Rains,” “Sidewalking” and just about everything else from the first half of the 21 Singles compilation. What surprised me was how straightforward the songs were. I had heard stories of the crazy amounts of noise and feedback that these guys delivered live in the older days, but this performance was just hit after feedback-less hit, most of the songs sounding almost identical to the recorded versions, a pretty remarkable feat for a band that hadn’t performed live together in ten years. The most talked about moment is sure to be when they brought out a special guest to sing backup on “Just Like Honey,” a song many people from my generation know from the film Lost in Translation, and the guest happened to be none other than the film’s star Scarlett Johansson. She was never formally introduced, but even clad in a hat and scarf she was easily recognizable. She turned in a so-so performance, but it hardly mattered, the song went down almost flawlessly. They closed the show with “Reverence” from 1992’s Honey’s Dead and Jim Reid’s snarling screams of “I wanna die!” over and over will be one of my fondest memories of the weekend.

Jarvis Cocker (Outdoor Theatre)

When I first heard that Jarvis Cocker would be playing Coachella, I about jumped through the roof at the thought of finally hearing all those old Pulp songs live. Unfortunately, I would later find out that he doesn’t play any Pulp songs live anymore, and my excitement quickly waned. I liked his new solo album, Jarvis, but I wanted more. I came over to the Outdoor Theatre with tempered expectations, but Mr. Cocker quickly showed me that even though he wouldn’t be playing any Pulp songs, he was here to entertain us thoroughly. After a bit a delay (which caused me to miss Faithless, but I’ll survive) due to some problems with the keyboardist’s equipment, Jarvis jumped right into the hardest rocking song from the new album, “Fat Children.” After seeing him flail his arms, jump awkwardly, shake his ass and show off some off-kilter dance moves, I knew I was in for a treat of a show. Not only does he rock, but the man is also legitimately hilarious, one of the few musicians who is almost as entertaining when he tells jokes as he is when he’s singing. Despite having to cut a song or two from the set because of technical problems, he still played 9 songs or so, sticking entirely to the new album with the exception of one brand new song, “One Man Show,” where he talked about the fascinating life of a single 40-year old (baked potatoes, woo!). The show closed with the crowd singing, at the top of their lungs, “cunts are still running the world!” over and over again. Definitely one of the highlights of the weekend.

I’ll follow Darren Rowse’s lead over at Pro-blogger, and start with a couple of his “most importants” that I share.

USEFUL CONTENT: The exchange of useful tools, websites and of specific technical help was crucial in 2002 when I started out and needed so much hand-holding. I’ve tried, in turn, to pass along some methods, ideas and software discoveries to my readers. But the crowd has changed, and the techy stuff seems to not get much response. So my USEFUL POSTS of late has turned more to the “check this out” variety, and more often than not, the topic has to do with air, soil, water, and health in general, planetary more than personal maybe. In coming months when setting up collateral pages is easier, I may set aside a page devoted to southern Appalachian natural history and environmental awareness. That seems to be where my heart is these days. And I consider my photography “useful content” from an aesthetic and educational perspective; but I could be wrong.

STIMULATION / CONVERSATION: This was probably both my end and my means early on: to stimulate my own thoughts by writing them out, and to cause my readers to turn their heads and look at the familiar in a different way. Looking back at my archives from the first two or three years, there was lively dialogue and interaction between commenters at Fragments. Friends met there and there for a while, it was truly the front porch conversation I had intended it to be. But over the past year or so, I feel the blog has become more of a one-way platform in which I expose my strong feelings about one topic or another, and that that intensity of passion almost guarantees it will be avoided for comments. So I do less of this, or at least post them less often, even after having written them. I still find the blog a wonderful repository for ideas I come back to, pick up again and follow a little farther. These from time to time become newspaper columns or maybe radio essays. So blogging stimulates my mind, whether it tweaks somebody else’s buttons or not; and that’s reason enough to keep it up.

SUSTAINABLE MODEL: I have to confess that I haven’t given much (probably not nearly enough) thought to the “model” for Fragments from Floyd. It has been hacked, restarted, moved and morphed so many times that I have never sustained any momentum in one direction for very long. I truly hope that becomes a thing of the past. And in the future, while I don’t intend to write to the audience, if I can keep my “brand” a bit more focused, spend more time getting to know today’s bloggers, and work with a little more zeal and passion in the good parts of life on Goose Creek, I think readership will grow beyond where it has been stuck for more than a year. Yes, I’d like to do better at “sustainable” in terms of the blog paying its way. A stable platform in WordPress, as I learn the ins and outs, should let me branch out into other kinds of monetizing. AdSense is paying the DSL, but there are so many other options to explore, given a blog that works consistently over the long haul, and grows.

AUTHENTICITY: I set out to be as close to 100% fully Fred in FFF as was possible. That has meant venting, whining and an occasional mild rant. It has gotten me in trouble with my wife who would NEVER tell publicly the tedious or embarrassing foibles of our domestic life. I’ve also brought to the center of the blog whatever was in the center of my life at the time, and unfortunately for those who see it as crass commercialism, the writing, then marketing of the book and notecards has cropped up here rather often–because it crops up in my daily routine rather often. I’ve assumed, perhaps wrongly, that those who have come to know me are interested in following along in this uncertain entrepreneurial journey conducted from a very back road from a county with 15,000 people. Genuine, personal, mundane daily rambles will continue to be the source for most of what goes to the keyboard here.

How ’bout you? Where’s your blog-center? Has it changed over time?

Well, that about does it for me, and crimminy, those paragraphs are way past the average bloggers dwell time | attention span. Soon, I’ll be able to let you click a “read more” link to open the whole thing, then hide it again, like in the old Moveable Type days.

Are you the most special, talented, gorgeous Ensign ever, but only your writing group knows it? Well, what you need is a Mary Sue T-shirt. (The slightly irregular ordering information is here. [all props to Justine Larbalestier, who saw the shirt in the wilds of BEA]

In case you hadn’t noticed, zombies are walking the earth today (’cause Hell is too full, of course). Just hide in your safehouse of choice, and it will be all over tomorrow.

Locus Online has listed all of the newly-published books from early June that they’ve seen, including The Alton Gift by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J. Ross, David Anthony Durham’s Acacia, Jay Lake’s Mainspring, and more.

Cory Doctorow has an article in Information Week today, and it’s all about flower-arranging! (Couldn’t fool you, huh? OK, it’s about DRM and how the government is stupid and all the usual stuff. You folks are too savvy for me…)

Scott Westerfeld is cranky about Teh Grauniad’s review of Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union — specifically, that it demands certain “unwritten rules” for alternate history, which are not actually generally held now, if they ever were. (Go get ‘em, Scott!)

(Speaking of unwritten rules, here’s one: if you’re being positive or neutral, you call it The Guardian. But, if you’re complaining about it, that’s when it’s time to refer to it as Teh Grauniad. It just adds another level to the scorn.)

A study, recently published in The Lancet, found that a gene-bearing virus injected into the midbrains of 12 patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease showed motor function improvements. “The safety and effectiveness clearly indicate that this is something worth pursuing,” said Michael Kaplitt, neurological surgeon at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. The researchers used a harmless virus to transport a gene that codes for an enzyme, called glutamic acid decarboxylase, into neurons in the area of the brain called the subthalamic nucleus. The gene prompted the subthalamic cells to produce gamma-aminobutyric acid, which made the neurons settle down and restore motor function. The 12 subjects were monitored for a period of one year and their motor function showed up to 65% improvement. The researchers are hoping to have a full scale clinical trial for the gene therapy set by the year’s end.

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, recently announced the initiation of a new Phase II clinical trial designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of its tumor necrosis therapy (TNT) agent – Cotara – in patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a deadly form of brain cancer. In a pilot study, Cotara has demonstrated a 58% increase in the expected median survival time in a group of 28 patients suffering from recurrent late stage glioblastoma multiforme. “We anticipate that positive data from this study, together with dosimetry and dosing data being collected in ongoing U.S. Cotara trials, will help us determine the optimal design of Phase III product registration trials,” said Steven W. King, president and CEO of Peregrine.

Generex Biotechnology Corporation recently announced at the 67th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association, that the company is initiating a Phase III clinical trial of Generex Oral-lyn, an oral insulin spray product. The six month trial would include 750 type 1 diabetes mellitus patients. “We enter this trial with a great deal of confidence that the results will validate the successful outcomes that patients have experienced in previous clinical trials,” said Anna Gluskin, president and CEO of Generex.
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Murphy’s Laws of Computing
> When computing, whatever happens, behave as though you meant
it to happen.
> When you get to the point where you really understand your
computer, it’s probably obsolete.
> The first place to look for information is in the section of
the manual where you least expect to find it.
> When the going gets tough, upgrade.
> For every action, there is an equal and opposite malfunction.
> He who laughs last probably made a back-up.
> A complex system that does not work is invariably found to have
evolved from a simpler system that worked just fine.
> The number one cause of computer problems is computer solutions.
> A computer program will always do what you tell it to do, but
rarely what you want to do.

link (via migraineheartache)

Dispatches from the Front:

Coalition Troops Launch Operation Phantom Strike in Iraq

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13, 2007 (AFPS) — Coalition soldiers today launched a major joint offensive, Operation Phantom Strike, in a powerful crackdown to disrupt al Qaeda and Iranian-supported extremist operations in Iraq.

Recent coalition offensive operations have reduced the effectiveness of extremist groups, military officials said. Operations have denied terrorists safe havens, disrupted extremist support zones and supply lines, captured or killed significant al Qaeda and other extremist leaders, and liberated large segments of the Iraqi population from their grasp.

These combined operations included the coordinated and synchronized efforts of coalition and Iraqi security forces, appreciably improving the lives of the Iraqi people, U.S. officials said.

“Coalition forces and Iraqi security forces continue to achieve successes and pursue security throughout many areas of Iraq,” said Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Multinational Corps Iraq commander. “My intent is to continue to pressure (al Qaeda in Iraq) and other extremist elements throughout Iraq to reduce their capabilities.” In other operations over the past two days:

Coalition forces captured a key financier of “special groups” terrorists during a pre-dawn raid today in western Baghdad. The detained individual is believed to be a terrorist leader for the Bayaa province in western Baghdad. Coalition forces confiscated a vehicle, two computers, photographs and various documents that may lead to future operations targeting these groups. “Coalition forces and their Iraqi interagency partners continue to build on a series of successful, integrated operations,” said Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. “Breaking the financial support chain of the special groups is an integral part of dismantling terror networks that seek to kill innocent Iraqis and coalition forces. We will continue to pursue these special groups in order to promote peace and stability in Iraq.” Coalition forces conducted a cluster of operations in Tikrit over the past two days targeting senior leaders of al Qaeda and their close associates. The ground forces captured an individual who allegedly aids senior terrorist leaders and provides lodging during their visits to the area. Forces detained 14 more suspected terrorists during seven coordinated operations. Iraqi and U.S. Special Forces troops detained a suspected platoon leader of an extremist militia group during an operation yesterday in central Baghdad. The forces also detained five of the suspected leader’s associates. The primary suspect is suspected of conducting attacks targeting coalition and Iraqi security forces near Karada. Iraqi security forces, with U.S. Special Forces advisors, yesterday detained an al Qaeda doctor near Ghazalijah, in Baghdad. The doctor is suspected of harboring al Qaeda terrorists and providing logistical support to the group. Coalition forces captured 13 suspected terrorists with ties to extremist militia groups in a raid yesterday in Sadr City. Those detained are suspected of facilitating the transport of weapons and personnel from Iran into Iraq. They also are believed to have transported explosively formed projectiles from Iran into Iraq to be used against coalition forces. “Coalition troops continue in their pursuit of unhelpful foreign influences here in Iraq,” Garver said. “Those foreign influences are hindering the prospects of peace and stability in Iraq, and we will continue to dismantle their networks.”(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq, Multinational Corps Iraq and Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force Arabian Peninsula news releases.)

Media sources: The Associated Press, CNN, Reuters.

Tags: War, Military, terrorism, Middle East, Operation Iraqi Freedom, United States, coalition, Iraq, Navy, Army, Air Force, CENTCOM, Dispatches from the Front, Multinational Force, Qaeda, Marines, Marine Corps, USMC, Phantom Strike
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and Politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life, Culture, Buzz, Tension

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It’s always interesting when network personnel start eating their own (no pun intended; remember, Al’s a mere shadow of his former self).

Al Roker says Don Imus should exit stage right (wing):

I cannot tell you how many people have asked me about my thoughts on Don Imus. As a student of broadcasting, I know Don Imus was one of the original “shock jocks.

Yeah, so this week has been frustrating, which is lame because it started out really well.

Creatively I feel kind of stymied and unappreciated, though that’s mostly subjective, I think, and not what’s actually going on.

The annual Game Chef competition just entered its final phase and there’s been some discussion about how it went this year relative to times in the past, with a lot of miscommunication and hurt feelings on the part of both long-time participants and those who starting participating more recently. Everyone feels a large degree of ownership of and investment into this collective tradition, though each person understands it differently based on their own experiences. This makes talking about it difficult.

I’ve been helping to organize a StoryGames Boston, a weekly group that supports small-press games, but lately I’ve been less satisfied with what we’ve been doing. It’s not that we haven’t been playing fun stuff, but I feel like, in the past few weeks, I’m not growing or learning as a part of play and that’s critical for me. Every week I’d like to either:

1. Play a game I haven’t played before.
2. Play with several new people I haven’t played with before.
3. Play something that I can get invested in for more than a single session, where it’s possible that play will go somewhere really interesting.

I don’t mind that one of these doesn’t happen every week. I don’t expect it to. But none of these has happened in the past several weeks and that’s what’s beginning to get me down. Play has been fun, but unfulfilling. Like a light beer.

I’m going to try to get more sleep, participate less in online conversations (which generally makes me happier), and focus on doing things that I enjoy, whether other people care or not. Hopefully, that’ll make me less frustrated by the time the weekend rolls around…