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December 21, 2001

Here is a message from

Here is a message from Sadako's children. Sadako's been fighting breast cancer, and helping immigrant women fight for access to health care. I've been lucky enough to host her web site on the Achieve server for a couple of years. We all wish her and her family well over the holidays. Sadako's ""Living with Breast Cancer"" page Holiday message from Sadako's family: This winter holiday our family has been faced with a difficult turn in life. It has given us the chance to really appreciate those around us, especially the ones you love. Our mother (breast cancer survivor of six years) has recently been dealing with a serious metastisi of her cancer in her lungs this month. It has made breathing very difficult and she is currently in the hospital. Despite the grave news, my mother's radiant spirit continues to be expressed through her small hand gestures, smiles, facial expressions, and written words. We would love to get her home this holiday. We would like to put together a collection of positive words and strength from everyone who has been touched or affected by our super-mom, and try to read them to her. If you would like to send your love this way, please send it (in English or Japanese) to sadako@yukazine.com and we'll get it to her. Happy holidays! Nana, Yuka, Kentaro & Tomo Dec., 21, 2001"

Posted by jason at 09:27 PM

December 19, 2001

The University of the South

The University of the South Pacific - USP Sounds like a good place to work at, eh? Just have to check out the exchange rate."

Posted by jason at 02:10 PM

December 18, 2001

Wheeeee... just ordered a LaCie

Wheeeee... just ordered a LaCie PocketDrive CD-RW:

. OF course it will take forever to arrive, but that's that. I've wanted my own CD-rw for a long time, and have been using my sisters'. I can return it to them now."

Posted by jason at 05:33 PM

December 15, 2001

"squish - 12/10/2001: """" email"

squish - 12/10/2001: """" email makes us assholes that I know is true. I've done it by myself a million times plus two. But if it is the bathos to which one casts oneself it is a the quiet reflective blog where we redeem our sorry butts. (something I wrote on Salmon's squish blog)"

Posted by jason at 08:39 AM

It is the most beautiful

It is the most beautiful of mornings today. The most beautiful of the fall... we live overlooking a medium sized park, Grange Park, nestled in behind the Art Gallery of Ontario. There is a group of old houses about the same size as the park, next to it, and the city surrounds us all. The park, and the streets around it, is filled with trees, probably Norway Maple. And the snow of last night has left them all quietly coated with silver snow, of setting the bark, made black by contrast. The morning sky, a single sheet of orange and purple tinted cloud with a yellow-blue sky at the edges, makes it seem an impossible view. And the border of red brick warehouses beyond encloses it all like a framed vision of urban calm."

Posted by jason at 08:36 AM

December 13, 2001

Betty Holberton Dies; Helped U.S.

Betty Holberton Dies; Helped U.S. Develop Computer Languages (washingtonpost.com) Frances ""Betty"" Snyder Holberton, 84, the software pioneer who programmed the groundbreaking ENIAC digital computer for the Army in the 1940s and later helped create the COBOL and FORTRAN languages used to operate the world's computers, died Dec. 8 at the Kingshire Manor assisted-living community in Rockville. She had suffered a stroke and had diabetes."

Posted by jason at 03:50 PM

Oh well. There's nothing happening

Oh well. There's nothing happening in my life right now worth talking about. Try one of the blogs on the left and see. Dave and Miao both have baby pictures, and Kat has crawled out of her exams long enough to post. And salmon, emma and hildegarde all have new snippets to share. I'm sure even sarah's saying the same old thing in new ways. Well, Joel Weiss, Vera Nincic and I are finishing off a book chapter for Peter's book, the Pedagogy of Difference, called tentatively ""The Net, Ethnicity and Difference"". So that is something interesting I guess. But it is in such a nebulous state that there's not too much I can say about it, so it feels like nothing happening; just something getting ready to happen. Oh, and DAVE SAID I COULD BORROW HIS MACKIE BOARD!!!"

Posted by jason at 06:33 AM

December 09, 2001

I got my first christmas

I got my first christmas present today... a hardcover first edition of William Gibson's Mona Lisa Overdrive. I was at Jamie Fraser Books on Queen Street, in Toronto, and it was on the shelf. I'd taken Yuka, my mom and step-father Lars (aka Large) to Jamie's to see his collection of mystery pulps, and to check on my stack of books I have put aside to purchase later, and was going ot add MLO to the pile, when Lars decided to buy it for me as a christmas present. The dust cover is a bit rough around the edges with a slight tear, but it has a mylar jacket, and is otherwise in really good condition. And I don't even have a reading copy of it.... for shame. Thanks Larz"

Posted by jason at 02:46 PM

"O.K., O.K., I'm Going Cellular"

O.K., O.K., I'm Going Cellular ... no, not me. But this joker makes the compelling argument for cell phones in the post september 11th age. And I still don't want one. Perhaps I've survived another non-cellphone life test. [And yes, I don't need to be told who does need one: people in unsafe environments, people who move a lot, have children, are children, want one.]"

Posted by jason at 08:21 AM

December 08, 2001

Let-Me-Stay-For-A-Day.com - The Official Website

Let-Me-Stay-For-A-Day.com - The Official Website is just cool, and way beyond what I'll ever have guts for... Ramon Stoppelenburg is travelling around the world for free. Without any money or plan. He's totally relying on schmoozing free accommodation, food, transportation. And it is a blog!!!"

Posted by jason at 11:16 AM

December 07, 2001

It is official. My position

It is official. My position with the Division of the Environment ends July1, 2002. The course I've been teaching, ENV321Y, has been cancelled, as has the position of Associate Educational Coordinator, a part time faculty position at the University of Toronto. Poof! Gone in a fit of cost savings. Five years of course development... gone. It is official. My position as Scholar in Residence has been extended to August 31, 2002, with an option for renewal. And it includes work to continue co-developing the KMDI foundational graduate course. Life is sweet. Thank-you KMDI."

Posted by jason at 08:34 AM

December 05, 2001

It is a great day.

It is a great day. I found a penny on the way to work! The usual wish. But first last night... I got a phone call from simsim (see blog on left). Haven't heard from her in 6 months... so you know something's up. She's going to be interviewed this friday and wants to use my office. VH-1 (video station?) is flying up a TV crew to interview her as the penultimate Michael Jackson (the singer, not the wine specialist) fanatic. Simsim DID do an essay for my course at a graduate conference on the topic of transborder air pollution as interpreted in dance, using M. Jackson's music. Did it in front of my boss, an assistant dean and the consuls general for Canada and the US (Toronto and Buffalo). It doesn't get any more strange. So, today. I get to work. Late. Got the mail sent, and a coffee got. Plunk myself down, and turn on the CD player which is thankfully still full of a Concrete Blond CD. To my dismay, I realize I'd left my 'puck' at home. My puck is my power supply for my TiBook. Bummer. That means only 3 hours of work in OSX mode or 4.5 in OS9 mode. Check the snail mail only to find that my Madsonline ""Generation Gap"" adapter came in!!!!! It allows me to use old pucks from iBooks on the newer TiBooks. Not only that, but even though I only ordered one ($50 CDN including shipping) 2 (two) were in the pouch!!!! And there was much rejoicing."

Posted by jason at 11:56 AM

December 04, 2001

New design... borked CSS... compliments

New design... borked CSS... compliments of me, and Yuka... who did the drawing and quality control. I only did the scanning, vectorizing, and breacking of the CSS to get it on the page."

Posted by jason at 05:20 PM

"MacInTouch: Mac news, information and"

MacInTouch: Mac news, information and analysis The State of Maine has announced the conditional award of a contract to purchase 38,600 iBooks from Apple for $43 million: ""Under the plan approved by the Legislature for the Maine Learning Technology Endowment, all seventh grade students and teachers will begin using portable, wireless computers in the Fall of 2002, and all eighth grade students and teachers will be equipped the following year."""

Posted by jason at 08:23 AM

December 03, 2001

Sarah just sent this to

Sarah just sent this to me, along with a reference for bioluminesent computer screens. Technology's looking up: An Inventor Unveils His Mysterious Personal Transportation Device"

Posted by jason at 08:13 AM