Educating stakeholders in web development
This is a note to self: refer to this A List Apart article when starting new job in online marketing this month.
This is a note to self: refer to this A List Apart article when starting new job in online marketing this month.
My body conspires to defeat me at every turn.
An impossible accident at age six found me stuck under a swing and I ended up with a sprained knee.
At ages ten through 12, I did a lot of gymnastics and athletics (100m, 4x100m relay), and was the lucky recipient of multiple ankle sprains.
At age 14, I fell down some steps and sprained my ankle badly enough that there was no walking for a fortnight.
My mother warned me that I would be arthritic by the time I turned 30 if I kept doing high-impact sports.
Then I started smoking and sports took a very breathless back seat in my life.
There have been random ankle sprains, most notably while running for the bus (embarrassing), and most unbelievably, when walking to the bathroom in my own bedroom (more embarrassing, but at least I was alone).
When I quit smoking, I started jogging. So I’ve been jogging for almost five years. As I have mentioned on more than one previous occasion, I don’t LIKE jogging, I do it because it reminds me that lung capacity is a nice thing to have. And it’s free.
This year I decided to join a road / trail race once every month, to try and motivate myself more.
(When I feel unsettled, all my routines go to shit. Guess what. I’ve been feeling unsettled for almost a year.)
So, as Murphy would have it, my hips hurt every time I jog (the left and right take turns). When I sit still for any length of time, my knees start aching like mad. When I do nothing out of the ordinary, my knees and ankles hurt.
At age 31, I think I’m finally ready to take my mother’s advice and seek out low-impact exercises. My options are:
Walking. As cheap (free) as jogging. Has always been despised as the wimpy exercise (wow, is that coming back to bite me now). Great in Scotland’s great outdoors, since there’s so much of it. The only problem is regular walking in our neighbourhood is super boring as there is NOTHING to see except bad graffiti and broken glass. Outdoor access is possible, though.
Cycling. Great fast and low-impact way to get around. My problem with cycling is I’m quite unco-ordinated and too nervous about being unco-ordinated, plus a decent bike costs a lot, even if it’s not an ‘expensive’ bike. We’ve seen a couple of nice hybrid recreational bikes in the shops.
Swimming. I. Do. Not. Like. Swimming.
O-level exams to start one week earlier from 2007:
The Board said bringing the exams forward would allow results to be released earlier, enabling students to be admitted into junior colleges or the centralised institution at the same time in late January, instead of the current double-intake.
Jialat. Kids will now have to start studying for their O-levels while they’re in Primary 6, compared to the good ol’ days of studying for the O-levels from Secondary 1.
(I was one of those expected to start studying for my O-levels before I’d learned anything to revise — that came from my father who, as far as I’m aware, tanked in most of his exams.)
IMHO, the ballots weren’t difficult to understand (lots of people complained, but if they’d taken the time to read up on it beforehand or READ THE INSTRUCTIONS on the ballot papers, they shouldn’t have had any problems, plus there were officials there ready to explain how to vote). Although I do believe the complexity was more to justify the NEED for all these expensive systems, rather than have a really simple voting system (or hold the two elections on different days). I spoke to one of the elections officials / helpers and he said they’d seen lots of spoiled votes by the time I showed up (about 7:00pm).
(I got to vote for the full thing, parliament, regional, and local council.)
I heard someone who contacted the radio complain that he’d spoiled his vote by folding the ballot papers — I’m guessing he didn’t see the ginormous DO NOT FOLD printed in thick, black letters on the papers. Some weirdo destroyed some ballots by smashing boxes with a golf club and tearing up papers.
The counting in my constituency is pretty much all done, with the incumbent returned, but with a much reduced majority. I wonder if it’ll make them actually think about doing some work in the area, and showing up to their local office now and again to listen to their constituents.
It was a lovely day and a nice walk to the polling centre. Neil came with me, but didn’t get to vote because Mr. Procrastination never checked if he was on the register despite my nagging him fairly regularly. There’s a joke there somewhere.
Yay! My first time voting in an election for government. I participated in democracy! Because I don’t get to in my own country! Jesus H. Christ!!
Today will be the first time I have ever voted in an election — actually, I realised last night that I once voted in the Student Union elections at Uni, although I only joined the Union to take advantage of half-price beers at the Uni tavern.
Seriously. That was the only reason. I voted in those elections because I happened to be passing the voting booths and was accosted by political-type students.
I got my polling card yesterday. I’m going to go home after work and then walk over to my polling station. Yesterday, I was asked who I was voting for. I’m actually a little embarrassed for whom I have decided to cast my vote, but I think their policies are the most practical, given the current state of affairs. Unfortunately, most of Scotland (and voters in my constituency) do not agree, and I will be ‘wasting’ my vote.
A commenter (a secondary school classmate) once said it was overrated — voting, that is. I think having the opportunity to participate, even if you are only a single voter among millions, is worthwhile. We’re being given a chance to have a say in who makes up our local government / parliament. And even if who I vote for doesn’t get in, I have at least cast a preference in their direction.
I will be noting all my preferences in my ballot paper. I do not love the preferential voting system, and I am making damn sure the ones I DON’T want come in last.
I’m still awfully idealistic, I know, and it’s hokey and pathetic. But if more people had the energy to try to live according their ideals, the place could actually get better.
Watched bits if CSI: Miami last night (Neil’s excuse for watching it every week: “It’s so bad, it’s good.”). The episode was called Silencer, where two people were shot with (wait for it) a silenced weapon, and part of the case was solved through the decoding of an unofficial company bloog (note to producers: ‘blog’ does not equal ‘blog posts’).
It’s amazing how this receptionist could programme her bloog script so that it looks completely different from any other bloog out there — it looked more like a CD-ROM application. Unless she has l33t Flash skillz and is completely wasted working as the boss’ PA (and why the fuck would anyone write a bloog in Flash). Also the design was worse (although I could barely believe it) than the interfaces designed in Hackers. Hello, 1995.
Hackers was actually more believable than this episode.
Have you noticed that Horatio is a dirty old man and doesn’t actually appear to do any forensic work? He just makes cryptic, stupid statements and wears his sunnies indoors.
Election tomorrow.
SNP supporters on The Scotsman generally show themselves to be trolls and flamers, with no real facts to back up their opinions. I’ve generally given up reading the comments because of the religious-like fervour with which SNP supporters ‘attack’ the ‘Unionist’ Scotsman — at least the Labour supporter AM2 cited his sources, while most of the SNP commenters just shout and flail a lot.
(They remind me of someone I know in China, who ‘makes George Bush look like a hippie’. His tactic is to debate by volume.)
If that is your typical, average Scot, O.M.G. No wonder so many of those who have left absolutely dread the idea of coming back (perhaps also to do with the nicer weather in Asia). Anecdotal evidence only, of course.
Has anyone noticed the flyers we’re getting promoting the parties in the Scottish elections are all* printed on glossy paper, which is notoriously difficult to recycle? What about their ‘green credentials’?
* The Green Party’s flyer is printed on recycled paper that’s slightly glossy (I’m guessing they don’t want us to recycle their flyer, either).
Easiest tip ever: “Friendly fire deaths during the 2003 Iraq war have shown just how important it is to ensure that the fire power of our forces on the battlefield is directed at the enemy – and not at our own servicemen and women or at civilians.” — Friendly fire progress ‘too slow’
Women went nutso in London this morning, queueing up to get their mitts on Kate Moss’ range of clothing at Topshop. According to the BBC, she didn’t even design the fucking things. She ‘worked with merchandisers’ — exactly the same clothes sold everywhere else, just priced higher and with a different label.
WTF. If these women really want something special and fashion-forward, here’s a tip. Buy something basic and reconstruct it to suit you. It’ll be entirely one of a kind and you’ll have got it for very little money and some of your time, something to be proud of.
This just drives home what sheep people are when it comes to buying stuff, or as Neil says, People will buy ANYTHING, won’t they?
(The other thing that really brought it home was, at the party last weekend, at least a third of the women in attendance were wearing Pucci-esque print tops or dresses. Fashion zombies.)