Click here, no .. there!

I'm sure it's just me, but whenever I encounter a website like Sheldrake Online where the majority of the hyperlinks say [Click here] I immediately brand the culprit a moron and move onto another site. I seldom - if ever - get past that Bad First Impression.

In my last job, I worked with a moron who thought [Click Here] was a good idea on web pages. What he couldn't seem to get into his birdlike brain was this scenario:

Teacher: Click where it says [Click Here].
Student: Which one? Eleven links say [Click Here]!
Teacher: Click the [Click Here] to the right of the phrase you want!
Student: Why not just make that phrase the place to click?
Teacher: Because [Click Here] just seemed to make sense.
Student: You're a moron.
Teacher: Perhaps. But I'm a moron with tenure.

The Wo-ah

Although it ended 140 years ago, some ignert Southerners still cling to what they must consider The Glory Days of the South, when it was legal to own other people and to hang them from the nearest tree if they looked at you wrong. I'd offer than in many parts of The South, those feelings still exist, and will continue to do so for many, many generations yet to be born. Why? Because that's what their mammas and their pappas believe, and since they all Home School their younguns, that's what they're lernin.

I thought about this when I saw a query on a genealogy forum, saying their "proud ancestor" was in the War between the States in a specific outfit, etc. Since they didn't know this ancestor personally, how can they possibly say anything meaningful about him? I never knew my own American Civil War* ancestors (on both sides of The Mason-Dixon line) and they could've been Horse Thieves, as far as I know; I'm not about to deify them.

*yes, Civil War - some say "there was nothing civil about that war" and they may be right, but just because a word has more than one meaning doesn't mean you have to become a zealot, flying the Confederate Battle Flag to show How White You Are

Some of the more bizarre euphemisms include The War of Northern Aggression and (my favorite) The Recent Unpleasantness. There's a long list of alternate names for The War (pronounced Wo-ah) at CivilWarHome.com (I guess TheRecentUnpleasantness.com was already taken).

Books, the dog

Last night, I wandered over to Nerdbooks.com in Richardson, to catch up on the local Unix user group. When I first became aware of the group, they were meeting at the SGI office (which no longer exists) near LBJ-635 and Preston. Then, for several years, they met in the basement of a JC Penney building (which is being sold) near LBJ-635 and Coit. Now, they're meeting in a bookstore near 75-Central and Campbell.

As far as bookstores go, NerdBooks isn't a bad place. While I'm sure the bulk of their business is conducted via the web, Nerdbooks(.com) is a place where you can go inside and wander the aisles, sit down and read-before-buying, and then go to one of their kiosks and buy the book online (to get the web discount!). I even spotted a soda dispenser where one's thirst can be quenched while geeking out.

Also, I have high regard for any bookstore where a Dog is allowed to wander freely. The chocolate Lab(rador Retriever) who calls Nerdbooks home is named Books. Perhaps a better name would've been Biff, but that reference would be lost on 99.486% of the people. Books, the Dog is friendly, yet (like Beta the Wonder Dog) gravitates toward anyone who has food. At the Unix meetings, pizza is always available; some traditions continue for years. An annual $12 fee buys you as much guilt-free pizza as you can stuff in your face. Ah, life is good.

The last time I saw A Dog In A Bookstore (before last night) was when I'd go to Opamp Technical Books (Los Angeles) and would have to step over the sleeping dog ("Let Sleeping Does Lie") to find the manuscript of my choice. I never learned that dog's name; he was a German Shepherd Dog and was probably named Hans or Franz or something equally Deutsch.

The only other hi-tech bookstore I like in the Metroplex is the one inside MicroCenter (75-Central at Spring Valley) which is near Texas Instruments. The one at Fry's Electronics is laughable in comparison to both Nerdbooks and MicroCenter, unless you consider an entire aisle dedicated to "Dummies" books worthy of your time (granted, it's amusing to see titles as varied as Wine for Dummies; Sex for Dummies; Lawncare for Dummies (you get the idea ...)).

quit fooling! who said that?

July 27 (Wednesday): am late for an evening, informal meeting. waddle into the bathroom, put left contact lens in eye. remove right lens, watch as it pops under the lens strainer. attempt to gently coax it to the surface. dreadful feeling as I watch the lens go down the drain, literally. decide not to attend meeting.

July 28 (Thursday): it's been 15 months since my last eye exam. decide to change from an optometrist in Plano to an opthalmologist in Richardson. call office, advise i'm a new patient. was told next available appointment is Thursday, August 11. i mention the reason i'm calling is due to lost contact lens. Hmm .. within seconds I'm told that they can see me Monday morning at 9am. go figure.

August 1 (Monday): eye exam is mostly uneventful, save for one itsy-bitsy detail: doc says i'm borderline for glaucoma. mom has it (the drug Xalatan was the clue .. a fact I'd stored on my ever-present PDA) and I'm nearsighted, so I'm "at risk". Bloody splendid. My eye pressure is 24 mm Hg but this could be a fluke; he wants to retest next week. He's aghast that the Plano doc didn't pick up on it. We did the dilation thing, took some eyeball photos, and (after signing a form to allow release of my records) doc says he'll get my prior retina/cornea/whetever photos for comparison. I leave, wearing a pair of those fashionable plastic-film sunglasses atop my glasses (post-dilation, the eyes are very light sensitive).

August 3 (Wednesday): doc's office calls my cell, leaves a message. I often go days between checking cellphone v-mail but today's an exception. replacement contact lens has arrived. I can go out in public again without the Coke™ bottles: woo hoo. Am now reading what I can (pre-Braille) about glaucoma, hoping to Ace The Test next week. If not, will investigate having Beta retrained to be a Seeing Eye Dog.

Zwillinge! (twins!)

Last night, it was off to the opening night of the Dallas Video Festival: Forgiving Dr. Mengele was showing at the Angelika.

... remarkable story of Auschwitz survivor and former Mengele twin Eva Mozes Kor and the transformation that led her to forgive her persecutor as an act of self-healing.

I'm not sure how long before (or if) this will make its way into the national independent theatres; few films attempt to deal with this dark subject. Without giving away the "plot" of this documentary, it would be hard to explain, but .. suffice it to say that there's more to this film than Eva Kor's opinions about forgiveness; it delves into a current day issue in the Middle East. It's an enormous lavendar elephant that few want to discuss; Eva Kor certainty doesn't.

Nosing around the web, I see two made-for-television movies: C.A.N.D.L.E.S.: The Story of the Mengele Twins (1990) and A&E Biography: Josef Mengele - Medical Madman of Auschwitz (1996) but nothing in wide release.

Related site: Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiments Survivors (CANDLES)

Hard to believe

A few days ago, the guy whose Toyota was rear-ended on Campbell Road left a message on my cell, calling to say thanks, and to advise that the Richardson Police caught up with the driver of the (mostly blue) Land Yacht.

Hard to believe, but .. he didn't have insurance. I know, I know .. you'd think that a responsible guy like that would have The Best Possible Insurance Policy, but .. in this case .. you'd be mistaken.

it's the pronunciation, stupid

The real reason that The Bush Regime changed "The War on Terror" to "The Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism" -- President Quagmire can't pronounce the word "Terror" .. it comes out as "Terra" every time. Ditto for his "nuclear/noocular" problem. He's still a unedjimicated dolt.

The new phrase may not exactly roll off the tongue, but President Quagmire will be able to deliver it with His trademark smirk completely intact.

Related: Michael Barone's hysterical column: Bush bashing fizzles. Maybe we should rename "Wayne's World" into "Barone's World"? I've not read his columns in the past, but this one strikes me as another hollow shell attempt to adhere to The Spin Machine.