Heidi's Journal

03/30/2011 18:49 #53947

Topic idea: alternate universe job
Category: topics

Topic Idea: "What would I have done for a living in an alternate universe?" suggested by tinypliny

I'd be a photojournalist, travelling the world to find the best light, the best shot, the best story.

I was a photographer for the Penn State yearbook and loved it. I really gave thought to at least minoring in photography but ended up just majoring in sociology and then going to grad school. One of the biggest obstacles for me is that I hate to travel. I figured this out in high school when I did a 10-day tour of Japan and then the next year did one in France with side trips to Italy and Switzerland. Travelling makes me crazy and sick. :-( Even to be a newspaper photographer wouldn't be very satisfying - it's a grunty tedious job and it would require living in a city. Oh, right, I currently live in a city. I have fantasies of being a light, easy traveler. I'm really much more of a turtle - I have to have my STUFF with me. I like stuff. I like consistency in my sleeping arrangements. If I could be a photojournalist with a small RV, that might work. *giggle*

tinypliny - 04/01/11 19:38
Hehehe, yeah, stuff gets in the way always.

metalpeter - 03/30/11 19:46
sounds like a great job......................

03/30/2011 18:41 #53946

Phones are a pain!
Category: tech

I love my phone. However, I left BOTH outlet chargers at Uncle Dudley's two weeks ago and charging from a USB port on my laptop takes a while and requires laptop to be on. (I know, I could use my tower, but that's in the living room and I use the phone for a back up alarm clock.) I forgot to plug it in last night and today I've been going from client to client and it's run out of battery twice. Client 1 showed me his super cool charging pack - a 3-cell mophie juice pack.

I'm in love. I want this sooo bad. But they don't make it for anything but iPhones. booo.

What do you think of this solar USB charger?

heidi - 04/02/11 00:35
I had no idea batteries are so cheap! Thanks for the idea. I'm wishing I had one now.

tinypliny - 04/01/11 19:39
Nevermind my comment. You probably meant A/C charger when you said outlet charger. lol

tinypliny - 04/01/11 19:38
There is also a direct A/C charger. I have it for my Nexus one and its dock.

paul - 03/30/11 21:07
The way I do it is that I bought a battery and phone charger stand on Amazon for like $30 and SN extra battery. That way each night I just switch out the battery. Or when traveling I have a spare battery with. Totally works awesome provided you gave a phone with swappable battery.

03/29/2011 18:55 #53940

Conference
Category: school

I presented at a conference on fracking at UB today. Last night I was pretty freaked out about how different I am - the dinner was excruciating - my dinner companions, fellow presenters at the conference, were cracking jokes about Pennsyltucky, and this one particularly arrogant companion was bitching how she had to go to Wilkes-Barre. oi. Hanging out with rich city folk can be very draining.

I talked about Pittsburgh's ban on natural gas extraction. Instead of taking a traditional zoning approach, PGH went the radical route and established a bill of rights for the community and nature: the right to water, the ecosystem's right to exist and be healthy, the right of residents to sue in defense of the ecosystem/nature. Then they said that for purposes of natural gas extraction, corporations aren't "persons". Corporate personhood is a long-established piece of U.S. law and it's almost impolite to question or challenge this concept. But I did it. They liked the pictures.

heidi - 04/04/11 00:44
This Story of Stuff video about the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission is a nice easy way to get the basics of the problem :::link:::

The really basic summary is that corporations have more rights than human beings. Both are considered "persons" under the 14th amendment, which was supposed to be giving former slaves the status of "person" rather than 3/5ths of a person as they were under the Constitution as it was written. It's also what provides babies born here with citizenship regardless of the status of their parents. Some Republicans are proposing to change the 14th amendment in the fear that people are immigrating here illegally to have babies and establish a foothold into becoming a citizen. Corporations have 1st, 4th, 5th and other amendment-based rights, the 1st amendment right was re-affirmed and expanded with the Citizens United case last year, a true disgrace of a decision, possibly as bad as Dred Scott or Plessy v. Ferguson. Because corporations have corporate personhood (without the death penalty and with very limited criminal responsibility due to limited liability), endless contributions to electioneering efforts, and many other rights, they end up with more rights than we do as humans and communities.

My (Tioga County) friend Chris just wrote a nice piece tying a few of these strands together and how it applies to the public-sector union busting we're seeing around the country: :::link::: I pointed him to a couple more sources that have answers to some of his questions:
American Legislative Exchange Council is one of the orgs behind the union busting. :::link::: This UW history prof also has an excellent analysis. :::link:::
and then the classic book by Sara Diamond that no one's heard of _Roads to Dominion_ :::link:::

tinypliny - 04/01/11 19:41
"Corporate personhood"

?! hehe, no wonder law jargon is always waaay over everyone's heads. Well, except lawyers, I reckon.

libertad - 03/29/11 19:02
Who are rick city folk?

Sounds really interesting, I want the dumbed down version, or is this it?

WB4LIFE!

03/26/2011 10:57 #53910

Infringement Festival
Category: holiday

You can donate to the Buffalo Infringement Festival to obtain naming rights to a venue/stage/sidewalk:

Donor will be given Venue Naming Rights. Donors can name a venue, such as a sidewalk or stage at a bar; the name will be used in the schedule and signage during the festival. Donor will also be thanked in the printed schedule, will receive a T-shirt, poster, sticker or magnet and will be thanked on the festival website.

You know you want it.

To submit a proposal (due May 1):

metalpeter - 03/26/11 18:33
I don't think I have the money but I would love for them to Name a Stag where I don't know The Stripteasers or some cool act was performing "The Metalpeter Stage" or maybe one where there where all kinds of photos being taken Peterazzi.... Ha.... But I know I don't even have close to enough money.... I will admit it is a great idea though.....

03/23/2011 22:42 #53902

It's tax time!
Category: work

Looking for those free efile options? Here's the link to the NYS ones:

You can do it!

metalpeter - 03/24/11 17:10
I paid to file mine..... The Fed is easy most of the time but the state is a nightmare most of time you have to use line so and so and it depends on what federal form you used then you have to go to some box to figure stuff out based off some other box.......... That being said I know there are some programs where if you qualify you can get them done for free.....