Bjorn Tipling

I really like programming. My education isn’t in computer science though. I have an anthropology undergraduate degree and a masters in library science. Maybe I took a wrong turn somewhere because I didn’t feel comfortable about my math. I work as an engineer now, but a recent experience has led me to believe that I’m not skilled enough for my choice of career.

So I am going back to school. I took precalculus in college and did well, but I know I didn’t have a grasp on the fundamentals enough to move forward. In high school I had a lot of problems where I lived at the time and just wasn’t able to excel. So I’m going to start over.

I’m going rebuild my math fundamentals. I have signed up at San Jose’s City College and will register for summer classes in Geometry and Intermediate Algebra. Just a refresher. Some have suggested why not read a book or learn online, and my answer is that I need the structured discipline a classroom environment provides.

My goal is to continue to take math classes until I can begin taking computer science courses, with the hope of transferring into San Jose State for a second Bachelors in computer science. I predict this will take more than a few years. But ultimately I will benefit.

The spam was getting out of control. Maybe Jaiku will send me an invitation.

So I’ve been working on a little paste bin project for the new Google App Engine. I am having a ton of fun. It just feels great to be a part of something so cool, and it being in Python! Man I hope Python developers represent and put some cool stuff up.

Edit: Oh, also my app is in the app gallery.

It’s just awesome you know because it’s for developers and I’m a developer and I made something. I stepped up. You know what I mean. I’m making the time, I’m putting something together and having a blast.

Of course that paste bin needs a lot of work. I made it open source and you can view the code for it here: PyBin.

Hosting the app on Google, and hosting the source code on Google too! Every time I svn up, it stores it on Google’s server, which is great because if my drive dies, all my work is safe. I plan on spending a lot more time on this, and I got two other ideas.

Paul Krugman recently wrote about economic rescue plans from the three presidential contenders McCain, Obama, and Clinton. He had this interesting sentence in there:

“Mrs. Clinton, we’re assured by sources right and left, tortures puppies and eats babies.“

I’ve been thinking about this since he wrote it. It’s silly right, kind of funny?

I gave it much thought. Yes, ridiculous, eating an infant, I’ve gone of the deep end. Clearly my opinion of Hillary Clinton is absurd.

Let’s entertain my fancy. Imagine in August, just before the convention in some dark room the final small group of undecided super-delegates gather along with our esteemed senator from New York in secrecy. They bring her to a table with a defenseless baby, and they offer her their votes if she eats the tiny newborn.

Guaranteed the Democratic party nomination, right there, served on a silver platter. What would my imaginary and twisted version of Clinton do now?

Not eat the baby and lose? This cute little thing? She’s shocked obviously. This isn’t right, but who would believe her? The delegates have all sworn to deny the indecent proposal. What if she just killed it without eating she suggested jokingly, and nervous, not really committing but hinting at a serious willingness. I mean what’s a baby when the country is at stake? She doesn’t even know the parents, or the newborn’s name.

What else would go through the mind this supremely evil version of my imaginary Clinton? Would she be revolted at the thought of having to eat the baby, or be horrified for the sake of the baby’s safety? She asks if maybe she could torture a puppy instead? She’s told no. It’s baby eating time; these faceless, secretive delegates want nothing less.

Maybe at this point my evil version Hillary would try a hint of emotion to see if should get one of the people around her to break from the rest. You know, maybe try a tear or two.

It’s absurd. And it took me thinking this scenario through and writing it down to see how absurd it was. Hillary Clinton isn’t evil. Ambitious? Yes. But is she a bad person? Forget the eating infants silliness, but consider the question. I think the answer is no.

I experienced some kind of breakthrough. I find her ‘antics’ throughout this primary distasteful and I find it hard to reconcile this with what I think is a well respected person, liked by many. My overall opinion of her seems to be tainted by irrationality. I can’t form a conclusion about her because I no longer can trust my intuition.

That Krugman thinks highly of her adds to my conundrum. I can’t just blindly resent anyone who backs her. Why can’t this primary be over already. I’m tired of it.

I’ve always respected Krugman, and his positive opinion of Hillary has been ad odds with my own. I’ve veered between disliking him and considering his opinion.

Photo Source

I am not a fair-weather supporter. I gave serious consideration to who I support and why. I didn’t decide who I support based on a tv commercial and I didn’t base my support on some comments about a debate. I based my decision on who the candidates are as people. I considered where they came from, I considered what they’ve done with their lives. I considered their ability to lead. I congratulate Hillary Clinton on her success today, but I continue to support Barack Obama. I know he would make a great president. I think all three top candidates would make good presidents, so all in all, I’m not unhappy with our future.

…the first season on Xbox Live. The overall premise of a town isolated by a nuclear war should be interesting, but when an entire episode centers around the local town library burning down…can’t say I’m hooked. A lot of little town drama filtered through bad writing, and not the best acting, and not a lot of info on what’s happening outside of the town. The interesting parts are about five minutes at most in each show. This is one show that should have stayed canceled. I’m still watching it though.

You might want to reconsider. Take a look at these confused rules about what you can’t do with your facebook application. Here’s a great example:

Present a user with a subsequent friend invite page if the user has already clicked a Facebook-rendered Skip, Cancel, or Skip This Step button, unless the user explicitly selects to invite friends from a page that offers more than just the friend invite option. If the application presents the user with a friend invite page that does not include a Facebook-rendered Skip, Cancel, or Skip This Step button, the application must offer some navigation option to leave the friend invite process, and the application must never present the user with a subsequent friend invite page unless the user explicitly selects to invite friends from a page that offers more than that single option.

What? What if I make a friend-invite page that has a partly Facebook-rendered Skip button that has no other options other than the option to Cancel via a non-Facebook-rendered Withdraw button, which then leads to a Facebook-rendered Cancel page with and without options to not invite none of your friends provided that you hit the Facebook-rendered Skip this step three times previously? What then?

They might want to ease up on the explicit micro-managing and institute some more general ‘best practices.’ I think making a Facebook app can add value to a service or website if you have users asking for it, or if you can plainly see a benefit. Personally I think Facebook applications have gotten out of control, and I see the need to regulate, but there are better ways to do this.

I’ll let Facebook have the last word on this.

I’m sure pretty soon I’ll start writing about something else other than the election. Just this has been consuming my attention. I have been reading, and contributing a little, to comment threads on the New York Time’s political blog, and also I’ve been reading comments others have left on Salon, and on the LA Times, and other places. One thing has really stood out for me:

It’s really bitter out there right now.

And obviously, I haven’t been exactly neutral. It’s led to some self-reflection. About a year ago, actually more than a year now, 2006, is when I began supporting Obama. I liked what he had to say, I think I liked Hillary Clinton ok too, but I just seemed to gravitate toward Obama. I bought an Obama bumper sticker sometime in May of last year. Someone peeled half of it off when I parked on the street. A sign of things to come I suppose. But anyhow, at that time, my support for Obama felt very positive. I saw his candiacy in a very good light. I didn’t feel guilty for saying he inspired me, something if you say now someone or other will mention kool-aid. It’s off limits to say the i word, you don’t want someone to think you’re part of a cult.

So things have changed. I don’t feel positive anymore. I think I’m very disappointed. I think it was silly and naive for me to think that if people would give him a chance they would see what a great president Obama would make. I thought that is what happened in Iowa. But that’s not what happened. Once he became known, everyone didn’t embrace him. About half of us were revolted and clinged to their candidate, which is ok. The meanness isn’t. Maybe, with the way the election went this weekend with all these wins for Obama, things are changing, but I’m not sure. The comments I have read about my candidate, that he’s sleasy and manipulative, that he’s lying, that he’s pulled the race card, that he’s been subversive and underhanded, have left me dumbfounded. I have really tried to step out side of myself and see if I could see those things in Obama too, but I haven’t been able to.

But yet, I don’t feel the same anymore. I don’t think it is Obama’s fault. I don’t want to place blame on anyone else. I’m probably partly responsible, because I have felt so repulsed by Clinton’s campaign.

It just sucks. This thing has turned bitter and ugly and nasty and I’m tired of it.

You know what else bothers me about Hillary Clinton? She doesn’t give concession speeches. She just pretends nothing happened. When Obama lost in New Hampshire he gave a great concession speech, the one that’s been named the ‘Yes We Can’ speech that will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas turned into a music video that has been viewed over two million times on YouTube. The speech itself has been viewed over 300,000 times. 300,000 times for a speech. Hillary Clinton lost three states in a sweep to Obama today, will she even mention it?

I really want to vote for her if she wins the nomination. I want to vote for her for our future, and for my daughter. But man, she is making it really tough for me. I may not vote for anyone this November…

UPDATE:

From the NYTIMES

Mrs. Clinton said nothing about the day’s results as she spoke to a cheering crowd at the Jefferson-Jackson day dinner shortly after Mr. Obama was named the winner of the Nebraska and Washington caucuses.

Her campaign argued that Mr. Obama had greatly outspent her on television advertisements in all three states.

You know what, I’m tired of this. I’m tired of her. I’m not voting for her if she wins the nomination. I’ll write in Obama or Gore or something.

He’s beating Hillary Clinton by pledged delegates, by states, and still it doesn’t seem like people are giving him the benefit of the doubt. Every one of his wins is spinned into insignficance. Every time he defeats Clinton, there’s some excuse that takes shape in the media, and they’re still waiting for Hillary to come out on top. So tell me, you’re going to discount Iowa? Ok. South Carolina? Sure. Georgia, yeah it’s just one more state. How about Washington, Kansas, Illinois, Colorado Nebraska, Idaho, Lousiana, Delaware, Missouri, Alabama, Alaska, Conneticut, Minnesota, and Utah. Somebody out there got some kind of lame excuse why they don’t matter too? The US is more than just New York and California. And Obama won a share of delegates in those states too. Time to stop doubting. Polls put him over McCain.

Right now Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are at a point where both have a solid base of supporters. It’s split the Democratic party in half, so to speak (many independents vote for Obama). The thing to do now for one of them to win, is to appeal to other’s base of supporters enough to get a majority. Obama is doing that by getting endorsements from prominent politicans that appeal to Clinton’s base. Clinton however is turning just about everything Obama says into some kind of skewed half truth, At every point she’s diminishing Obama and his accomplishments in the primary race thus far. Considering how passionate Obama’s base is, I don’t see how that’s going to get her to break out from just her supporters.

Obama is more likely to draw in Clinton’s base, than vice versa.

But still everyone expects Hillary to win. I don’t get it. What will it take?