Monthly Archives: March 2009

50 Successful Open Source Projects That Are Changing Medicine

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Open source healthcare is forging forward quickly on the Internet. But, fast developments often produce many failures. But, many medicinal open source projects that have gained success development. This success shows that open source alone is not the solitary factor in development. Instead, look to great management, public relations, marketing and a sound program that stands up under the scrutiny of a growing number of peer users and, often, patients.

……… read it here …

This is actually quite interesting . Not every “project” is a linux app, as one might expect with the “Open Source” reference. But Open Source is not LInux, after all. Some of these projects are file or data format standards, some are webby project, and some are regular apps.

Have a look.

Gnome vs. KDE

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No, this is not a post about which one is better. Not yet, anyway. I just want to mention that today, March 18th, the next version of Gnome is expected to come out, and yesterday, March 17th, I finished my personal test run of KDE 4.whatever.

I like KDE … the new version …. to recommend it and to seriously consider using it just for fun on some computer somewhere. But my main desktop will remain Gnome because, well, it has not annoyed me and it works.

Keep an eye out for the new Gnome. Details here.

Economy + sucks = Linux 4TW

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As has been predicted, with the economy in a down turn, businesses (and everybody) are abandoning sucky proprietary software for free and excellent OpenSource software …

A February survey of IT managers by IDC indicated that hard times are accelerating the adoption of Linux. The open source operating system will emerge from the recession in a stronger data center position than before, concluded an IDC white paper.

Sixty-five percent of the 330 respondents said they plan to increase Linux server workloads by 10% or more this year. Sixty-three percent said they will increase their use of Linux on the desktop by more than 10% this year, although such an increase would still probably represent a miniscule share of all desktops. Forty-nine percent said they expect Linux will be their primary server platform within five years.

… continued …

Republican Circle Jerk Caught On Tape

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Illegal aliens are swarming across the border of Michele Bachmann’s district. Which is on the border of …. nothing, actually, it is a ‘landlocked’ district.

Uffda. Take a breather. OK, ready? Let’s keep going a minute more…

Can you handle more? Probably not, and that’s OK. Nobody really can. But if you want, we’ve got it:

Who is the poor guy who has to stand there and listen to this crap?

Fieldwork And The Child

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The other day Julia and I were driving somewhere (I had the con) and The Sphynx came up. The reason it came up is not important, but as we were talking, it occurred to ask me ask, “…hey, have you been to Egypt?”

“No,” she said. And after a moment, “Have you?”

I thought for moment and said “No.”

“Hmm,” she said, “I thought maybe you had. Maybe that was Ethiopia I was thinking of.”

“Not officially.” And we dropped it there.
Continue reading Fieldwork And The Child →

I had no idea Ben Frankelin was Jewish….

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Oh, but wait, he wasn’t. But Al Franken IS. That’s Franken, zero els.

A group promoting United States-Israel ties is raising funds for Norm Coleman with an e-mail that opens by referring to Al Franken by the not-particularly-Jewish-sounding name “Franklin”:

We are making an appeal for one of our friends and steadfast supporters of US-Israel relations, Senator Norm Coleman. The election in Minnesota and its recount have been distressing to follow. Coleman won the election. After the recount, Franklin came out slightly ahead, but tragically this recount was filled with many irregularities and is now being contested in court.

Both Franken, a Democrat, and Coleman, a Republican, are Jewish — as were the last two men to hold the seat: Rudy Boschwitz, a Republican, and the late Paul Wellstone, a Democrat. A letter that Boschwitz sent just before Election Day 1990 to “Our Friends in the Minnesota Jewish Community” asserting that Wellstone “has no connection whatsoever with the Jewish community” is sometimes blamed for Boschwitz’s loss to Wellstone that year.

…continued…

Oi ve.

Twin Cities Events of Interest: FSM Dinner and Ken Miller!

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On March 29th the Minnesota Atheists will have a Flying Spaghetti Monster Dinner!!!!!

Come bring your pirate hat, or arrive as ye be! Minnesota Atheists will be honoring that great noodly deity, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, by dining on noodles prepared in His image. There will be salad, bread, noodles and sauces galore, including vegetarian and vegan options. We will also have dessert and drinks. If you are interested in helping out by bringing a sauce to share, or some other booty, we’ll take yer treasures if you reply to this here email.

We’ll be crewing up in the Party Room at the Larpenteur Estates on March 29 at 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. Sail in when you can, deport when you must. Bus route 61 will get you there. Just park behind the complex, and follow the signs to the Party Room to take part in the spoils. Bring a donation of at least $6.66, and you can eat all you please.

Larpenteur Estates
1276 Larpenteur Ave. W.
Saint Paul, MN 55113

website

Also, TVbyGirls continues to seek volunteers for their documentary on diversity of beliefs.
Details on the Ken Miller visit.

Stay Off The Ice

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Thick ice is not good ice. Even thick ice can become ice that will break up on you if it experiences warm conditions for a while. Therefore, right now in much of Minnesota, NONE OF THE ICE IS SAFE. None of it.

Here is the rule: If you get two days above freezing, it takes two days below freezing (all day) to “reset” the ice. We are, at this point, beyond any possibility of that happening. The part of the year where you drive your pickup around on the ice … is over. We don’t need your stinking environmental hazard when you go through.

The previous message was applicable only to people in Minnesota. Thank you very much. That is all.

$1,000,000,000,000.02

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My wife just got a link sent to her by a fellow teacher that points to a site that shows visually what a trillion dollars and two cents would look like if you put it all in one place. Check it out:

What does one TRILLION dollars look like?

But be careful, DO NOT CLICK ON THE SITE. Just use your scroll bars to move around on it, because it will throw one of the more obnoxious ads evah in your face just when you least expect it.

Oh, I was only kidding about the two cents part.