2007 half-time show (me, me, me)

So the year is half-over. Well, it had to happen eventually. Let's take inventory, pillar-style.

Volity Started ramping up in late March and really went into overdrive two months later when I had a conversation with daerr about how the web client ought to work. I've been working on that by myself since then - about one month, now - which is great, though it's sucked all the life out of one pillar, and made another teeter until I got a better sense of balance over it. I am so obsessed with this that I'm starting to feel doomed at the fact that it's not done yet, and start getting mad when I spend an entire day away from it because I'm instead having fun with my friends or something. We'll see where it is in another month.

Dating classicaljunkie and I have been dating this whole time. This is now officially longer than I've seen anyone else, and things develop and mature in nice ways. Subjectively, though, it doesn't seem like it's been as long as it has; for more than three months she's spent almost every weekday far away on business, in Houston or Toronto or the middle of Louisiana. (But the Volity and work projects consume my focus so wholly, it's not like I sit by the window pining while she's gone...)

Money In April, unsatisfied with the good-intentioned but poorly fitting pseudo-part-time setup I had with ITA, I acted as a truly independent software contractor for the first time and landed a contract with a company who advertised their need on jobs.perl.org. This has turned out to be a very nice fit. While we've had our differences in culture and implementation, this client has proven an excellent and clear communicator. This not only makes tasks easier to accept and accomplish, but it helps us work through our differences as well. It's rather an ideal first self-actuated contract, and I consider myself fortunate. It also pays enough that I decided it was safe to drop the ITA dealie just a couple of weeks ago. So, for me, the money thing is set for now.

Video I was on fire with video projects through April, cutting the best Gameshelf yet and shooting most of another one, but then cooled off as Volity became re-ascendant. The only really recent things I've made is the Youtube version of my Volity lightning talk, as well as Youtube cuts of some Gameshelf reviews, but these barely count. I am self-conscious about having left this pillar unattended for so long but I am so howlingly focused on the Volity web client that I really can't bring myself to spend any time on it right now.

Skype

FWIW, I am starting to use my Skype account again, at least while I'm on the clock with my main client - it's their main IM & presence thing. I am zendonut there.

The irredeemable 27 percent

Found via Making Light, a 2005 post on Kung Fu Monkey that's become relevant again as Bush's poll numbers have broken the 30-percent barrier (traveling downward, I mean) in several major polls.

Yo, TSA, wake up

So where's the ban on driving an SUV to the airport, already? I wanna see some action

Mitt Romney's stances on science

I got called out about insinuating in an earlier post that Romney would institute an ultrapatriarchal dystopia should he become POTUS. Listing my justifications for this hyperbole, I came to the realization that, while he is famously anti-abortion and anti-teh-gay[1], I wasn't able to name his stances on the big political-scientific issues. So let's do a little research, shall we?

Generally, I get the impression that he doesn't really give a shit about any of this stuff and is willing to say whatever his machine thinks the base - that magical 27 percent - wants to hear, with each position given the little "but we don't know for sure!" wink meant to mollify more moderate conservatives cough cough. But I did find at least one surprise here.

Global Warming: As his governorship started to morph into a presidential run, he publically mumbled that maybe there wasn't any global warming, and later backed the state out of environmental responsibilities. Now his campaign issues press releases talking about "the radical environmental ideas of the liberal left ".

Stem cells: Oh, I remember this now. He's been openly anti-stem-cell-research for years, telling researchers in his own state to stuff it. He hasn't changed his mind in current press releases, where he speaks of how, after he thought about it for a while, it became clear to him that stem cell research is a dead end, and nevermind what some ethically challenged eggheads up in their towers think.

Evolution: In a recent interview, Romney said he found it reasonable to believe that God set evolution in motion - a common position for non-backwards religious folks to take, and one I don't have much of a problem with. This surprises me, because it's not the obvious cynical "Teach the Controversy!" play to the jesus-base. Keep your eye on this one; it's a clear outlier and I bet it changes.

This all just confirms for me that Romney's down in the "I'd vote for a random number generator over this guy" category, much like our current president. I don't know if the lack of a bumbling-manchild vibe makes him more or less likable than GWB. But really, it doesn't matter.

[1] Yes yes, lol flip-flop. Listen, that's allowed. In 2004 I spit acid at those who mocked Kerry for changing his mind on positions ever, and I reserve the same treatment for those who challenge Romney on the same grounds. You get some spit in both eyes if you defended Kerry then and attack Romney now on this non-issue. There are so many more valid targets than this, folks.