Karl Martino

Our Response to Paris Hilton's Response to McCain Shows Our Biases

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:30:11 -0500

Paris Hilton responded, via a video of her own, to John McCain's Celebrity advertisement.

How you see her video is completely based upon your pre-existing bias.

Want proof?

If you are liberal you see it as an endorsement of Obama's plan and as a smack down on McCain:

Open Left: Why Obama's Drilling Compromise Makes Some Sense

Talk Left: Paris Hilton Strikes Back

reddit: Paris Hilton Responds to the McCain Ad = McCain gets served.

If you are conservative, you see it as an endorsement of McCain's plan and as a smack down on Obama:

Althouse: Paris Hilton does a pro-McCain ad!

Hot Air: New third-party ad: Obama no longer the biggest celebrity in the race; Update: Her plan's better than Obama's, says McCain camp

Either Paris Hilton is a genius, or we are so wrapped up in our own points of view that we look for ANYTHING to reinforce it.

Maybe both is true. But that's a stretch right? Right?!?!?!

Beyond that, there is literally two takes on reality playing out over the video. And there are no links to opposing points of view - it is as if the opposing view point doesn't even exist.

Congrats

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:17:11 -0500

Congrats to Jeneane Sessum on her four years quit from smoking. Click for her 100 reasons to quit smoking.

Philly Blogger Meetup in 1 Week!

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 06:22:39 -0500

I've taken on as organizer of the Philly Blogger Meetup and we will be gathering in one week at The Memphis Taproom. I'm looking forward to hanging out with fellow bloggers and sharing a few drinks.

John Perry Barlow's "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace"

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 06:16:37 -0500

Do you remember when this was shared on the Net? It's worth a re-read. And some time to reflect. When doing research into my spondylolisthesis, I discovered that John Perry Barlow, cofounder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and lyricist for the Grateful Dead, is dealing with it as well.

Sun's default HTTP classes have come a long way, but...

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 06:14:48 -0500

Issuing POSTs is still way too cumbersome in comparison to Apache's HttpClient.

A nice gallery application

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 06:11:41 -0500

SimpleViewer looks easy to use and I'm spotting it on a number of photo blogger sites.

Spring 2.5 Brings New Features to Spring MVC

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 06:06:42 -0500

InfoQ: Spring 2.5: New Features in Spring MVC: As you can see there is minimal XML, no URI paths embedded in annotations, no explicit view names, the request handling method consists of a single line, the method signature matches precisely what we need, and additional request handling methods can be easily added. All of these benefits come without the need for a base class and without XML - at least none directly attributable to this controller.

Migrating to Movable Type's Standard Templates

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 06:05:24 -0500

I've been behind the curve in adding new features and functionality to this blog for a while, so I'm migrating paradox1x.org to a set of SixApart provided templates and rebuilding my look and feel. You can see it taking place here. This will include a change in link structure. To handle that, a query into Movable Type's mt_entry table will provide me with the URL patterns to add to .htaccess for redirection.

The latest "I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC" - Classic

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 07:04:15 -0500

Star Wars, Alpacas, YouTube

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 07:01:41 -0500

via geekadelphia

Star Blazers, electronica, and YouTube

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:58:06 -0500

Free book on Hyperlinks and their effects on society and business

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:37:02 -0500

This looks like a must read: The Hyperlinked Society: Questioning Connections in the Digital Age.

Two interesting chapters right off the bat:

Seth Finkelstein's concise description of PageRank and some of the interesting societal issues it raises: Google, Links, and Popularity versus Authority

David Weinberger's passionate arguments and assertions that links are good: The Morality of Links

I'd rather someone love me or hate me than be indifferent

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:22:54 -0500

That belief is reinforced by Shelley Power's thoughts on getting negative book reviews.

Sad News

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:43:43 -0500

Every day so many of us struggle with what we consider 'fair' or right in the world. Randy Pausch shows us that being consumed by that question can be a distraction from what is truly important - to live our lives to the fullest no matter the cards we are dealt.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Randy Pausch, noted CMU prof, succumbs to cancer.

His work has touched the lives of many, his "Last Lecture" has inspired people around the world.

Eight web development and programming links for today

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 05:56:53 -0500

Ted Dziuba - I'm Going To Scale My Foot Up Your Ass (via Comcaster Mr. Mat Schaffer): "If You Haven't Discussed Capacity Planning, You Can't Discuss Scalability" (Bingo!)

High Scalability: Flickr Architecture

Gustavo Duarte - Lucky to be a Programmer: "This analytical side is what most people associate with programming. It does make it interesting, like a complex strategy game. But in most software the primary challenge is communication: with fellow programmers via code and with users via interfaces. By and large, writing code is more essay than puzzle. It is shaping your ideas and schemes into a coherent body; it is seeking clarity, simplicity and conciseness. Both code and interfaces abound with the simple joy of creation."

TechCrunchIT: : "Geeks and enthusiasts wearing Wordpress t-shirts, using laptops covered in Data Portability, Microformats and RSS stickers lined up enthusiastically on Friday to purchase a device that is completely proprietary, controlled and wrapped in DRM."

Shelley Powers: Painting the Web now DRM Free and on Kindle (Congrats!)

Spartan Programming: SendAnEmail case study (print it out!)

Official Google Blog: Our Googley advice to students: Major in learning

BitWorking: Python isn't just Java without the compile