Sorry for the problems here.
My e-mail posting ability has been non-functional for a while, and it seems that all the test posts I tried are coming in all at once. Damn broken Xanga.
I'm deleting them as they come in, but if you see random crap on here, please ignore it.
I'm not sure if all of my readers are aware of Google
Books. The theme that Google claims to maintain over all of
it's projects is access to the worlds information. This can be seen in
Google Web Search, Google Maps, Google News, Google Reader, and so on.
Google Books is another manifestation of this.
Google has been given access to several
notable libraries, and has used this access to scan books. Up
until now Google Books has displayed only snippets from books. However,
just
recently Google opened up all public domain books for free
use. Which means anything written before 1923 is fair game.
Quite frankly, it's a veritable Library of Alexandria free and online, and it's ever growing.
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I got woken up this morning by a phone call from my work offering me the supervisor position for the next 9 months. I said yes.
For
me, this comes at a very interesting time. I posted in the past about
being a missionary in Japan. Let me recap. I few months back, I felt a
calling to become a missionary in Japan. This was, for the most part,
the sort of faith-based strong calling that I get from time to time; by
that I mean, I knew it certainly. But as I started perusing the
Japanese language, and getting in contact with a Japanese missions
organization, the realization that the whole thing was highly
impractical started to settle in. You see, I still have a solid 6000
dollars in outstanding student debt, and it's difficult the leave the
country for a few years with this kind of thing looming. Not only that,
but my self-study of Japanese was hitting a bit of a wall, and I
realized that I really did need some formal training. This was not
possible, as my awkward work schedule precluded such lessons. In the
end, I decided to take my time getting to Japan. I would stay here
until my debt was cleared, and then go to Japan with a little more
freedom.
Recently I've been getting back into
web development (trust me, it ties in). This website is a product of
that. Web development is a thing I enjoy and pursue as a hobby, while
most people in the field do it for a living. Since the money I make is
well under the poverty line, I've been thinking recently that I should
put my resume out, and test the waters for a web development job. It's
sort of a mixed bag for me though. It would be a career, while my
current job is just a job. I couldn't help but wonder how this would
effect my "free" future; the one in Japan. So I prayed about it, and
decided that this time I would let God show me organically. I asked him
to open and close doors as he sees fit.
Fast
forward two days, and I'm offered the supervisor position for 9 months.
And understand that this is not something I saw coming. I had met the
new supervisor, and he had been in for training. Things were lined up
for him to take the position. However, he missed one of his training
days, and then came in and hour and a half late today. So my current
supervisor canned him, and called me. Out of the blue, really.
So
I'm not sure exactly how to take it, but it is interesting. With the
day shift I'll be able to join Freedomize, and subsequently a house
group. In addition, I'll probably start looking into formal Japanese
lessons again. There is a modicum of a pay raise, but it's mostly
ceremonial. I'm still going to put out my resume, I think, and let God
decide what will happen, but this change is startlingly well placed. I
guess we shall see.
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I also found this
video. It's a little more
informative.
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comments, click here.
Many of you have probably heard one thing or another about Creative Commons. You can't get far online without running into the license. Then again, if you never look at copyrights (and who doesn't) maybe you haven't. The image used as a background for this website is via OpenPhoto.net a Creative Commons image repository.
I mention it because I really like it. It seems unreasonable copyright is causing more and more problems all the time. Albeit this is mainly from large cooperations (and people being sued by the RIAA), it can be a problem for less intensive content creation.
Part of what CC is good for, is lending credibility. Even if you are creating something, and you don't really mind if someone uses it, it's not legal for them to do so. Full copyright is automatic. Therefore, anybody who listens to copyright laws will ever use what you make. With a CC license, however, you can open material up for reproduction and reuse.
For example: you post a poem on you blog, and some internet traveler happens upon it, and thinks: I should put this on my blog too. However, this wandering blogger cannot, or not legally anyway, unless you specify that he is allowed to do so.
Not that I create much original content (most of mine is ripped form other sources), but I think I'm going to put a Creative Commons flag up here somewhere. It'll be good for the internet.
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Ok Go, the band who brought you "The Treadmill Video" Presents:
Dancing in the Backyard
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Apparently this puzzle is on job applications in Japan. It's not that easy though.
Since the instructions are in Japanese, I'll give them to you here:
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As much as
Weird Al Yankovic is well known for being lame. I
couldn't help but enjoy this little ditty entitled "Don't Download This
Song". However, the title seems to suggest that you oughtn't press play
on that little player there.
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see others comments, click here.
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