If you use Firefox and Greasemonkey  you might be interested in this script I just wrote. Its the first script I have written for Greasemonkey, but I have been using it without issue. What it does is allow you to view the content behind LJ Cuts without having to leave the current page you are on (or open a new window/tab). Simply click the cut link, and the text will appear right below it. Click the link again (or the hide link at the bottom of the post) to make it go away.

Here are two screen shots of my post below.

Before:


After:


You will know that the script has modified the link because it will be enclosed with between a stars. In the example above, the cut link text was "Cut Link" and it was changed to "**Cut Link**"

You can get the script from http://www.stillnotchase.com/userscripts/inlineljcut.user.js

If you don't have firefox or greasemonkey, but you want to get them, follow the links at the top of the post.

Current Issues:
Currently the contents shown when you click a cut link are from the point of the cut until the end of the post. This means that if there are other cuts and/or uncut text after the cut that you click, the content that is shown is going to include the contents of those cuts and the uncut text.

If you do use it, please let me know. Feel free to let me know any feedback you have on it as well.

This is an example of how my greasemonkey script works

Michigan voters passed a measure that makes it illegal to use race or gender for college admissions or hiring of faculty.

The ACLU and NAACP are fighting the measure.

Okay, I understand the NAACP. They are the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. If they don't think Colored People can advance without preferential treatment, then fine.

The ACLU? What Civil Liberties do we have that guarantees anyone preferential treatment based on race or gender? Whether its giving that treatment to white men, or black women. If you want to argue that there is a social obligation to make up for past cases of discrimination, fine. You'd be wrong, but at least the argument applies. But does anyone believe that someone seriously has a right to be treated better based on their race or gender? If you do, then why? More specifically, why do they have the right to preferential treatment in college admissions? Finally, how do we decide which races get such treatment? Do some get more preferential treatment than others? Or is it just a case of either you get it or you don't?

My company just went live with a new website. I made the website. Check it out: http://www.endeavortelecom.com

Even though I'd have no idea who she was if I hadn't woke up at 4am and be unable to get back to sleep, I think I am in love with Tanith Belbin.

* Muslims fly commercial airliners into buildings in New York City. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslim officials block the exit where school girls are trying to escape a burning building because their faces were exposed. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslims cut off the heads of three teenaged girls on their way to school in Indonesia. A Christian school. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslims murder teachers trying to teach Muslim children in Iraq. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslims murder over 80 tourists with car bombs outside cafes and hotels in Egypt. No Muslim outrage.
* A Muslim attacks a missionary children's school in India. Kills six. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslims slaughter hundreds of children and teachers in Beslan, Russia. Muslims shoot children in the back. No Muslim outrage.
* Let's go way back. Muslims kidnap and kill athletes at the Munich Summer Olympics. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslims fire rocket-propelled grenades into schools full of children in Israel. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslims murder more than 50 commuters in attacks on London subways and busses. Over 700 are injured. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslims massacre dozens of innocents at a Passover Seder. No Muslim outrage.
*Muslims murder innocent vacationers in Bali. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslim newspapers publish anti-Semitic cartoons. No Muslim outrage
* Muslims are involved, on one side or the other, in almost every one of the 125+ shooting wars around the world. No Muslim outrage.
* Muslims beat the charred bodies of Western civilians with their shoes, then hang them from a bridge. No Muslim outrage.
* Newspapers in Denmark and Norway publish cartoons depicting Mohammed. Muslims are outraged.

Dead children. Dead tourists. Dead teachers. Dead doctors and nurses. Death, destruction and mayhem around the world at the hands of Muslims .. no Muslim outrage ... but publish a cartoon depicting Mohammed with a bomb in his turban and all hell breaks loose.

source: from www.boortz.com

I have a few, but the big one is losing weight.

I am not starting quite yet, but very soon.

No Jay, You didn't inspire me, I had made this resolution a few weeks ago, although you gave me the idea for a ticker and to try your method as well.




I'll put this in on my profile page as well, in case anyone actually cares about keeping track.

Tags: weight loss

Keep me in your prayers. Don't worry, nothing is wrong, in fact, for the first time in a while, things are right. I still could use my friends praying for me though.

Went to the zoo today. Pictures behind the cut.

( Pandas like Bamboo )

Tags: rachel, zoo

If so, come join tmq

The next quiz starts tomorrow.

If your eyes follow the movement of the rotating pink dot, you will only see one color, pink.

If you stare at the the black + in the center, the moving dot turns to green.

Now, concentrate on the black + in the center of the picture. After a short period of time, all the pink dots will slowly disappear, and you will only see a green dot rotating.

It's amazing how our brain works. There really is no green dot, and the pink ones really don't disappear. This should be proof enough, we don't always see what we think we see.

http://www.techcentralstation.com/100305A.html

I can't really summarize it or say it any better myself, so just read it.

Anonymous posting enabled, IP logging off, comments unscreened. Flames and flippant posts will be deleted, so don't try it.

Tell me a secret. Get something off your chest. The only conditions are that it must be true, and that you comment anonymously.

In fair exchange, one of the comments will be my own.

Multiple secrets and discussion are fine too, as long as your responses are also anonymous.


Everyone have fun! Personally I say the juicier the better, and feel free to make multiple comments too!

You are a Social Liberal (60% permissive) and an... Economic Conservative (81% permissive) You are best described as a: Capitalist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid

Not suprising, there were a few questions I might have answered differently if they hadn't been so vauge that would have pushed me into the libertarian area.

I like this law proposed by another test taker:
"I would dictate that...people who stand up before the seatbelt sign goes off on a plane would be immediately shipped back to wherever they came from and have to do the journey over until they understood the rules"

Ugh, I get so sick and tired of the fact that its "okay" to bash Christianity, even if you have no idea what its even about.

In a community I am in, a post was made about the fact that Candace Cameron is going on a mission trip. Well, comments are made such as "what a loon" and "i hope they **** kill her, missionaires are so obnoxious" and "I took the 10 commandmants test on her site, I failed it, I'm going to hell"

1.) Why does following christianity make you a loon, but being an atheist, agnostic, pagan, wiccan, buddihst, etc, make you enlightened? I'm not saying you have to share my beliefs, but just respect them. Especially when you are going to be the first one to cry out how horrible someone is if they don't respect your beliefs

2.) Wow, you hope they kill her? Okay, lets just ignore that. Has anyone ever been on a mission trip or observed what they do, that is taking part in the bashing? No. Missionaries don't go into areas, force conversions, and then leave. They go into areas and bring medicine, medical attention, build schools, etc, etc. They share their faith at that time, but they never force anyone to convert, they never stay in areas where they are wanted, they don't make what they do dependent on a certain number of people attending a church service they may hold, or on a certain number of people converting. They also don't tear down all the things they built if no one converts. Its not a "bribe" its not a "convert and we will build you a school" kind of thing.

3.) Christianity isnt about condemnation, its about grace and redemption. I guarantee you the "10 commandments test" on her site is failed by most everyone. I guarantee you that she would be the first person to admit that she failed it.


You will rarely (if ever) hear me making negative comments about religions or faiths I don't believe in. If you do, it will either be i blanket "I don't belive in it" statement, or it will be a critical examination of exactly why I don't agree with a belief, or why it doesnt make sense to me, or how it compares to what I do believe. You will never hear me call anyone a loon for what they believe.

The thing is, I know all of what I just complained about is actually something that is part of the "end time" prophecies. Its something that just confirms to me even more that what I believe is correct. Yet I just can't help but get upset over the striking double standard that exists.

And don't try and blame it on things the Church has done in the past. Yes, there have been many many times, way too many times, that humans have used religion, and mainly christianity, for their own personal gain. But that doesn't give anyone an excuse to demand respect for their beliefs while not giving that same respect to others.

When someone like Osama Bin Laden uses Islam to advanced his own ideals, people scream about how he doesnt represent true Islam. Yet, Pat Roberston makes one of his dumb statements, and we are lead to believe that every Christian on the planet believes the exact same thing. Osama Bin Laden blows up a building in the name of Allah, and we are told over and over again that he is the minority, that he doesnt represent the majority of muslims. However, the Christian church still has to answer for the crusades and inquisition. It is still advanced by many that those are examples of what Christianity really is all about. Why why why why?

This was mainly an entry to vent, not to start a debate or discussion, so I am turning comments off. Please respect that and don't go to another entry and make a comment, if you do, I will delete it. If you still feel you need to make a comment about it, you can IM me about it. I'm just tired of back and forth commenting. Esp after what just happened in that community. Also, do me a favor. If you pray, pray that the lord will calm me down a bit, cuz right now I just feel so angry, and I know I shouldnt feel that way.

This is an open invitation, if you dont want to join me, thats cool. Starting this evening, I am doing a "Bible in one year" reading plan. Its not straight through, but actually goes chronological (so you read some of genesis, then job, then back to genesis, as well as jumping around in other areas).

If you want to join me, download the excel file I am linking to below. I figure this way if we are all reading together, we can consult each others if we have thoughts, questions, etc. If you comment and say you are going to do it, I will also make a special filter just for those joining me in this, so if I feel like posting anything about something I've read, you'll be able to read it, but those that don't want to join me, wont have to read it.

If you dont see this till after the 6th, you can still join up, either pick up on that day you start, or just read a bit extra at first till you catch up.

http://www.stillnotchase.com/BibleReadingPlan.xls


Also, I am going to be reading through a daily devotional that my pastor gave me as a graduation present. This one is really good for using a seperate reading plan, because there are no verses tied into each devotional. Obviously you don't have to have a devotional if you are going to join me, but I just thought I would mention it in case I reference it in a future post

edit: If you don't want to join in, but would like to be on the filter anyway, let me know. I am gonna try and post at least a little something for each day, whether its right after, or before I read the next days sections.

Tags: 1 year reading, bible, bible study

So far at work I haven't done much coding. There has been training as well as other menial tasks. Since I don't really know the system all that well yet, and since there are some other more important issues at the moment, there hasn't been much to code.

Well, now that are logistics operation has started up, we are shipping stuff out more often and in large volumes. Currently we ship via fedex using their shipping manager software, totally seperate from our own software for placing/tracking orders. So, today I started the integration of fedex API functionality into our software. So far I have just been working on getting the communications with fedex stuff working. That is just about done, and I will finish it up pretty early Tuesday. Then I will start to actually integrate that into our software. Because of the way I am writing the code on the current part, the integration should be very simple and easy.

For those of you that understand software development speak, I will explain more in depth what I have done:
Fedex provides an API for sending shipment orders, tracking packages, getting shipping rates, etc. I was able to find a PHP class (what our software is written in) that uses the API. The only problem is that the class was confusing, returned hard to use data (basically returned it directly from fedex, which is in a very confusing format). So, I spent today writing my own class (which used the class I downloaded) but cut down the number of functions to just what we needed, as well as parsed the returned data into a more readable/useable format. When it comes time to integrate, it will mainly just be a case of calling those functions, as well as writing some code on the front end to handle a few tasks (like selecting which address to use after an address verification, or which shipping service to use, etc)
---END DEVELOPER STUFF---

Anyway, while I have been happy at work since I started, I really really enjoyed today. At one point as I was sitting there writing code, I thought "I love doing this, I can't believe I am getting paid to do this!" I know it wont always be this fun. In fact, when I am modifying or extending existing code, I don't find it near as enjoyable as just writing my own stuff from scratch. Sadly the majority of my work, at least at first, will be the former. Hoepfully though, when we move into actually adding new functionality to our software (like warehouse management) we can do it the same way I am doing the fedex stuff. Writing the backend from scratch, and then using that to easily integrate it into the current software.

Tags: job

Last night I dreamed that economics was the only class I had left before I graduated. The class, of course, was being taught by my highschool econ teacher, and my friends in the dream were a mix of highschool and college friends. Anyway, I needed a C to graduate, and I got a D. I argued and pleaded and tried my best to get her to bump up the grade, but she wouldn't. If that wasnt bad enough, after I woke up, realized it was a dream, and went back to sleep, the dream picked up where it left off. I guess technically you could call this a nightmare, but it wasn't "scary" so I just consider it a dream.

I've gone the last 6 years having at least 1 dream like that a week. Failing classes, forgetting to go to classes until the final, etc, etc. Now that I have graduated, why havent they stopped?

Just to let everyone know, so far I LOVE my job. Knowing that I am going to play a big part in whether the company grows or dies really excites me. I haven't done too much yet, and will mainly be training and stuff the next week or two.

I want to talk about the company, since I have a better idea of what they do since I last posted about them.

They do a few things. The biggest thing right now is Field Services. Telecom companies bascially outsource their tech work (maintence, installation, repairs, etc) to my company. We staff a large number of technicians (usually independent contractors or very small companies) across the nation that we schedule to do the work. If you have ever paid with a credit card at a chick-fil-a, the credit card system (broadband based instead of dialup) it was installed by endeavor (and of course, supported by one of our customers). 80% of the mcdonalds credit card systems are the same way.

The second is fufillment. This is pretty small at the moment, but its one of the biggest areas for potential growth. If you have DSL or Vonage, chances are when you ordered the service, they sent you a modem or router in the mail, and you hooked everything up yourself. You did not need someone from the phone company or vonage to come install it for you. If we sign a fufillment contract with a company, when you order you DSL service, the router order will be placed with endeavor, where will we configure the device, kit it, and send it directly to you.

The third, and smallest at the moment, is tech support. We are starting to take tier I technical support calls for certain companies. Again, I'll use vonage as an example, even though they arent one of our customers (yet). If you have problems with your phone one day and call vonage tech support, the first person you talk to might be an endeavor employee. If we can't solve your problem, we escalate it to tier II, usually the company itself.

So, what do I do exactly? I am 1 of 2 developers (there is actually a 3rd who is a contract employee, and once the other developer and myself are up to speed on the system, he wont be around very much, if at all, so I say two since the meat of the work is going to be done by the two of us) Currently we use a system called the Endeavor Service Portal (or ESP). The system is used both by our call center employees to schedule technicians, keep track of when they start and end a job, etc. Customers are also able to login in order to add a new job to the system (which we will then schedule). Customers also call in jobs (esp emergency ones) and some even email or fax them. There is a lot of stuff not in the system now. There is no ability to add users unless manually added directly to the database. There are a lot of other things stored in the DB that cannot be added unless directly to the database. We are going to be adding that stuff to the ESP. We will also be attempting to optomize the database. Also, as more and more companies sign fufillment contracts, we arent going to want them to have to call or email whenever an order is placed. The most effiencent way will be to login to the ESP and enter the order there. We will be adding that to the ESP. One of our first tasks is to have an API (application programming interface) for that so that when we sign customers, we can push them to integrating with our system, instead of having us integrate with theirs (much more work for us!!). Also, since we are going to be storing all those items in our warehouse, we will need to add warehouse management functionallity to the program. Its a never ending project. There are no set release dates, its write it one day, use it the next, and there is never a final product. Once we do all that, we need to find a way to automate even more tasks, find a way to cut the time of a task for the call center in half, etc, etc.

So, as you can see, the job is going to be a lot of work and big challenge, but it will also be exciting. It will be awesome to know that what I do really matters.

Anyway, thats a brief overview. I'll make a post at the end of the week about exactly what I did this week, since it wont be anything up above there (I'll be training for a while)

Tags: job

People claim that when you train a dog, they dont understand that sit means to a certain action, they just learn that when they here that word, they do an action. Conditioning. And its all or nothing. Dogs arent supposed to be able to reason which scenario is going on, on whether to do one action, or the other.

I think dogs truely understand and can think and reason.

Example.

Sammie knows that when I say "ready to go to bed?" that it means its time to go back to my room to go to sleep. However, if she has to go to the bathroom, she'll run to the door, and after we come back in, she'll head towards my bathroom. If she doesnt have to go, she just heads straight for the bedroom. Its not just me asking if she's ready to go to bed either. When the TV is turned off and makes that turning-off-the-tv noise, no matter how asleep she was, her head pops up and looks at me. If she sees me getting up, heads to the door or my room, knowing its bedtime. At one point she would get up and start to head to the bedroom (or door) when I turned it off, but after a few times of me turning off the tv and not getting up to go to bed, she learned to look at me first, not just assume its bed time. There was also a time where I took her out late at night, and when we came in, she headed back to the bedroom. I told her "its not bedtime yet" and she came back out. Ever since then, if I don't mention bedtime before going out, she just comes back in like normal. If I do mention bed time, she heads towards my room, but slowly, making sure that I am coming.

The way its supposed to work, when I turn off the TV, and she hears the noise, is she gets up and heads to the bedroom, unless she learns to just do nothing. She isnt supposed to be able to reason "okay this happened, which means that might happen, but i need to watch him and see" When I see "ready for bed" or "bed time" or "lets go to bed" that should either mean go to the door to go out, or go to the bedroom to go to sleep. She shouldnt be able to judge whether or not to go directly to bed.

This reminds me of a border collie my dad told me about. Apparently the dog had like 50 toys, all of them with names, like "bob", "bill", etc. I dont know if those were the names, but it works for the story. Anyway, they could put all the toys in a room, and from a different room say "go get bob" and the dog would go to the other room, find "bob" and bring him back. Here is the neat part. Say the dog didnt have a toy named "fred" they could put new toy among her current toys and tell her to go get fred. She was able to figure out that the new toy must be fred, since she didnt know that toy, and she also didnt know have a toy named fred, and bring it back. Much appreciation if anyone can find anything on the web about that dog for me.

Tags: dogs, sammie

Any of you that know me, know that I form emotional attachments easily, even to objects. Well, today I said goodbye to my first car*. We finally got around to have my graduation dinner, and since my dad is going to attempt to sell my car in some fashion, I was going to take it up to his house at some point. Well, it made sense for me to bring it tonight, one of my parents drive it back, and my aunt and uncle drive me back home. It was sad to see it go. I had driven that car for 7 or 8 years. The car still runs great, but it looks horrible (due to my many scrapes and bumps and few minor accidents). But how do you say goodbye to a car? The car doesn't have a soul, it doesnt feel emotions, or form attachments, but as we drove away, looking at the jesus fish, bush/cheney bumpersticker, and FIF bumpersticker (both stickers crooked of course)**, it was hard to not think that in some way, that car was hurt because it was being replaced. Anyway, there were a lot of memories tied up in that car, and I sure will miss it (but I sure do love my new car!!)


( * )
( ** )

Tags: old car
Current Mood: sad

More pictures here

Tags: graduation

I took my very last final today. I wasnt really stressed out over it, but I think I was more stressed than I realized. Between that, our project, and just general ending of school, begining of next stage of life stuff, I think I have been a bit more worked up than I realized. Now that the final and project are over, I am sitting here and I feel exhausted and a bit sick. I think its just a crash from the stress high I was unknowingly riding.

I'm trying not to really think about anything right now, especially the fact I am graduating in a about 38 hours, or starting a job in less than 2 weeks, or how much I have to get done in the next week before I start my job. I know if I do, the stuff I have to do will overwhelm me at the moment, and just cause me to freak out. I also know if I focus too much on the other big things, that I am likely to freak out a bit, and not in a good way. Even just typing this out, the "how am I going to surive 'on my own'" thoughts, and the "im not mature enough to handle a job and supporting myself" thoughts, and everything else like that are starting to float around in my head. Why do the moments that are supposed to be the most exciting in your life always end up as a source for depression and/or anxiety for me?

So, except for a brief intermission for graduation Friday morning, I am going to try and think about nothing at all and play video games until I start doing chores Saturday.

Well, It was always the plan that if I got a salary high enough, my first investment was going to be a new car. My uncle owns a ford dealership, so I had been talking with my cousin (he works there too) about possibly getting a Ford Five Hundred. Its a nice car, and with the current Ford promotions, I would be able to get a fully loaded limited for around 23k, with monthly payments under $500 (what I had budgeted). Well, My cousin knew I had an Accord and liked it, so when he got a 2004 Honda Accord EX w/ Leather in on a trade the other day, he told me about it. The thing is pretty well loaded. Leather, XM Radio, etc. Kelly Blue Book resale value is about 22-23k, and a comparable 2005 Accord would be 25-26k. I am getting it for 18.5k. Car is in great shape. A couple having a baby and wanting a bigger card traded it in on an Explorer.

( Pictures of the Car )

Tags: car

Just found out my official job title is: MIS Design Engineer

Tags: job