Tony Goggin’s Blog

I get to order two software packages and install them next week. One of them is one of my all-time favoritest pieces of software. The other is the work of an unearthly being bent on destroying humanity one brain cell at a time.  I’ll let you guess which is which.

This software makes my life so much easier. Its side-by-side HTML/Code with design preview taught me HTML and CSS. I haven’t tried the new CSS features, but every enhancement they add is intuitive and easy to figure out, and generally propels the product forward. I love how it recognizes my ASP.net code and lets me arrange and edit, all while it figures out the best way to represent the design in code.

As if the design and code interfaces weren’t enough, I use it to manage the sites on all of my non ASP.net projects. With the push of a button, it publishes just the files that have changed to my FTP site. It has features that allow me to not accidentally publish backup and temp files. It now even includes Subversion integration. While I’m still using CS3, I can’t wait to upgrade to the new CS4 soon.

Whenever I create new folders and move images around between folders, or files around, it automatically updates all of my links. No search and replace required - it simply figures out the new location and updates all my anchor references correctly. All in all, this is one of the best thought out WYSIWYG web-design packages around.

OK, I have no real beefs with Excel, Powerpoint, or whatever-the-Hell-Livenote-is, but let’s talk a moment about Word. Now, I’ve been using word processors for a very very long time - text editors and word processors were probably my first real apps. Every time I start Word, I end up understanding it less and less. I want to move something *here* and not *there* - why won’t you move that table?

I want to change this font - why do you keep changing it back? Where is that feature I found last week? Why do I have to navigate all these terrible menus? Why did this change so much from Office 2003, which I was just getting used to?

WHY DID YOU CRASH ON ME????

Yeah. Word makes me hate life, but it’s the only thing that seems to understand that silly “docx” format. And for that matter, what was wrong with the old file format? Why change?

Word seems to be the worst example of software bloat. I remember when Word was revolutionary, combining the functionality of an expensive publishing package with the simplicity of a word processor. But every few years, Microsoft seems to add, change and move features at random that fairly much demand that you purchase some kind of how-to book that you have to have in one hand while you attempt to use the product in the other.

The only good thing about Word? The Home & Student bundle appear to be on sale for a fairly excellent price - around $70 as I write this, which is actually cheaper than trying to purchase Word outside of the bundle.

Some days, I wish I could just turn back the clock, go back to DOS, and just ahve something simple that works well. That thought occurs to me every time I start Word.

It’s Oscar night, again!

Yes, it’s time to have the (sometimes) annual 2008 TCFF Oscar Party at it’s new location, the newly renovated Traverse City State Theater.

The  State Theater has been showing Oscar nominated movies all month in preparation for the event.  The first ever “State Theater” Oscar Party will open the doors on Sunday, Feb 24th, 2008, at 7:30pm.  Party starts at 8.  There will be a direct feed from Hollywood showing the Oscars live - and if it’s anything like the first party at the Resort, it will be commercial free, with Jon Stewart practicing his lines.  Popcorn and pop is free - well, after the $20 admission fee.

Once again we’re doing the “Guess the Oscars” contest.  The person with the most right guesses  wins something cool - I’m pretty sure it was their own private island, or a date with Scarlett Johansson, or maybe some tickets to the Traverse City Film Festival, I forget.  Whichever it is, it’ll be a lot of fun.

Traverse City Film Festival folks can check here for the 2008 Guess the Winners contest.

For those a little farther south, WMFVA members can check here for WMFVA 2008 Oscar Winners.

See you Sunday!

- Tony

 

This person needs a job. This individual seeks an executive position.
He will be available in January 2009, and is willing to relocate.
(Please don’t skip the last section!)

 

RESUME

GEORGE W. BUSH

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC 20520

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

Law Enforcement:
I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver’s license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving record has been “lost” and is not available.

Military:
I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam.

College:
I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader.

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE:

I ran for U.S. Congress and lost.

I began my career in the oil business in Midland Texas , in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn’t find any oil in Texas. The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.

I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money.

With the help of my father and our friends in the oil industry (including Enron CEO Ken Lay), I was elected governor of Texas.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS:

I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil companies, making Texas the most polluted state in the Union. During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America.

I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in borrowed money.

I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American history.

With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida , and my father’s appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President of the United States, after losing by over 500,000 votes.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT:

I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record.

I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week.

I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury.

I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. history.

I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.

I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.

I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the U.S. stock market. In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues.

I’m proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history. My “poorest millionaire,” Condoleezza Rice, has a Chevron oil tanker named after her.

I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S. President.

I am the all-time U.S. and world record -holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations.

My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. history, Enron.

My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision.

I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation or prosecution. More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest corporate rip-offs in history. I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed.

I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.

I changed the U.S. policy to allow convict ed criminals to be awarded government contracts.

I appointed more convicted criminals to my administration than any President in U.S. history.

I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States Government.

I’ve broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history.

I am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission.

I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law.

I refused to allow inspector’s access to U.S. “prisoners of war” detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.

I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 US election).

I set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any President since the advent of television.

I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period. After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.

I garnered the most sympathy ever for the U.S. after the World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history.

I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protests against any person in the history of mankind.

I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. Citizens and the world community.

I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families in wartime.

In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq and then blamed the lies on our British friends.

I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.

I am supporting development of a nuclear “Tactical Bunker Buster,” a WMD.

I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES:

All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father’s library, sealed and unavailable for public view.

All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review. I specified that my sealed documents will not be available for 50 years.

PLEASE SEND THIS TO EVERY VOTER YOU KNOW!

 

___________________________________________________________



“Of course the people don’t want war. But after all, it’s the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it’s a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.”

– Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials