Counter-Google-bombing

[borrowed from firecat]
Here is the entry for "Jew" in the Wikipedia.

womzilla writes:
Note: a group of racists have googlebombed the net to the point where the top link for "Jew" on Google leads to a hate-filled page o' spew. This post is part of a counterbomb, based in part on the knowledge that Google will prioritize links and sites that use the word "Jew" repeatedly.

Counter-Google-bombing

[borrowed from firecat]
Here is the entry for "Jew" in the Wikipedia.

womzilla writes:
Note: a group of racists have googlebombed the net to the point where the top link for "Jew" on Google leads to a hate-filled page o' spew. This post is part of a counterbomb, based in part on the knowledge that Google will prioritize links and sites that use the word "Jew" repeatedly.

Spreading purple, and other, cheer as I go

Last night, I arranged to meet my freelance client in the lobby of my gym to get the manuscript I'm editing for him, so all I had to do was exercise, shower and change, go upstairs, retrieve his voicemail apologizing for being slightly late, and greet him two minutes later. (He arrived within our agreed-on time.) In the course of exchanging email addresses, he mentioned a Palm, so I offered to beam my information to him. He didn't know he could do that, so I told him to turn his Palm on and picked "beam business card"; he tapped "accept", and now has my information and a fine new toy. I may make him very happy by having the manuscript back tomorrow. I'd promised Wednesday, but given that I'll be at my aunt's for a seder all afternoon, I'm going to try to finish before I leave tomorrow, so I can dive into Tiptree-award writing work without concern. I've done one pass on this MS, and think two will suffice; I don't expect to hit the five-hour limit we agreed on (I'm charging by the hour, not the page).

Then I went down to Chinatown for my usual lunch. As usual, I was seated at a round table with assorted strangers. I watched a few people, alone and in pairs, walk out rather than be seated that way. After a bit, a couple who I pegged as "tourist" (demeanor, combined with their obvious unfamiliarity with the menu and the sorts of things it contained) were seated next to me. I indulged myself by pouring tea for the woman who was seated next to me, after her companion poured himself some.

I was carrying Fudoki, to do a bit of re-reading/skimming and figure out what to say for the shortlist annotations (which need to be more than "Hey, this is cool!" and need to emphasize why it's a Tiptree-relevant book, rather than (say) why it's of interest to people who like cats or medieval Japan. I looked at the book briefly, put a bookmark in to flag a (non-Tiptreeish) quote I wanted to write down, put the book away, and started jotting down notes on Geoff Ryman's "Birth Days" instead.

The quote is:

We ascribe meanings because it is our nature to do so. The Tokaido means mystery and wonders and adventure. We can no more see a thing without searching for a meaning than we can see a snag in a robe without pulling on the loose thread.—Kij Johnson

On my way home, a complete stranger looked at me and said "I…love your hair!" I thanked her, and reflected that this hairdo (I redyed it yesterday) doesn't just please me, my beloveds, and a few other friends: it brightens the entire city. I also got a compliment on my cardinal tattoo at the gym; makes it much easier to smile through the silly ads about "looking your best" that pop up between the music videos.

Now, some jasmine dragon tea, then back to work; NYRSF proofreading has been tentatively scheduled for the subway ride to and from my aunt's tomorrow.

( gym numbers )

Spreading purple, and other, cheer as I go

Last night, I arranged to meet my freelance client in the lobby of my gym to get the manuscript I'm editing for him, so all I had to do was exercise, shower and change, go upstairs, retrieve his voicemail apologizing for being slightly late, and greet him two minutes later. (He arrived within our agreed-on time.) In the course of exchanging email addresses, he mentioned a Palm, so I offered to beam my information to him. He didn't know he could do that, so I told him to turn his Palm on and picked "beam business card"; he tapped "accept", and now has my information and a fine new toy. I may make him very happy by having the manuscript back tomorrow. I'd promised Wednesday, but given that I'll be at my aunt's for a seder all afternoon, I'm going to try to finish before I leave tomorrow, so I can dive into Tiptree-award writing work without concern. I've done one pass on this MS, and think two will suffice; I don't expect to hit the five-hour limit we agreed on (I'm charging by the hour, not the page).

Then I went down to Chinatown for my usual lunch. As usual, I was seated at a round table with assorted strangers. I watched a few people, alone and in pairs, walk out rather than be seated that way. After a bit, a couple who I pegged as "tourist" (demeanor, combined with their obvious unfamiliarity with the menu and the sorts of things it contained) were seated next to me. I indulged myself by pouring tea for the woman who was seated next to me, after her companion poured himself some.

I was carrying Fudoki, to do a bit of re-reading/skimming and figure out what to say for the shortlist annotations (which need to be more than "Hey, this is cool!" and need to emphasize why it's a Tiptree-relevant book, rather than (say) why it's of interest to people who like cats or medieval Japan. I looked at the book briefly, put a bookmark in to flag a (non-Tiptreeish) quote I wanted to write down, put the book away, and started jotting down notes on Geoff Ryman's "Birth Days" instead.

The quote is:

We ascribe meanings because it is our nature to do so. The Tokaido means mystery and wonders and adventure. We can no more see a thing without searching for a meaning than we can see a snag in a robe without pulling on the loose thread.—Kij Johnson

On my way home, a complete stranger looked at me and said "I…love your hair!" I thanked her, and reflected that this hairdo (I redyed it yesterday) doesn't just please me, my beloveds, and a few other friends: it brightens the entire city. I also got a compliment on my cardinal tattoo at the gym; makes it much easier to smile through the silly ads about "looking your best" that pop up between the music videos.

Now, some jasmine dragon tea, then back to work; NYRSF proofreading has been tentatively scheduled for the subway ride to and from my aunt's tomorrow.

( gym numbers )

Green Room: feel free to sign up

A preliminary Minicon program grid is up (I know, but I was told this is preliminary, which I read as "don't hold us to anything, someone's flight might be cancelled, or they might point out that they told us not to program them opposite X"), so I figure I can now ask people if there are particular Green Room shifts you want/are willing to cover.

If you're not sure of your programming commitments yet, or otherwise want to keep your options open, that's cool. I'll print whatever I get and take it to the con, and use it as the start of a sign-up. But Bill Christ has asked that I let him know when I need staff for, so any information I can put together ahead of time will be useful.

I notice that the hours I've been asked to cover go through the end of programming on Friday and Saturday nights; I therefore suspect we can actually close an hour earlier, since there's no pressing need to warn people "your panel ends in five minutes" if the room won't be needed for anything else in the next ten hours.

Therefore, I'm looking for people to cover, in shifts beginning and ending on the hour (except for those first half hours, which we're sort of folding into the hour after):

Friday, 2:30-10:00 p.m.
Magenta, who is also shopping for supplies, has offered to handle set-up and, if necessary, the early part of Friday afternoon. If nobody offers to cover during Ask Dr. Mike, I may close down for half an hour so I can catch part of that, then reopen briefly to take care of the 10 p.m. panelists.

Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-11:00 p.m.
jenett has offered opening/morning.

Sunday, 10:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
jenett has offered opening/morning. Anything after 3 p.m. Sunday is effectively a clean-up crew.

Two people at a time is nice, because they can spell each other (if someone needs to run to the bathroom, or if we realize we're completely out of something and the con suite might be able to help) and keep each other company. However, given the choice, I'd prefer to have all shifts covered than to have half of them doubled and the other half unclaimed.

If you've never done this before, Green Room has an odd rhythm, because people mostly drift in no more than 15-20 minutes before their program items, and then hurry off singly or in groups just before the hour, and things then get quiet for a while, then repeat as above.

ETA: I have a query in about whether Program Ops is being run out of the Green Room, but even if it is, you will not be expected to make decisions if problems arise; this is basically about whether we're handling "your panel ends in five minutes," distribution of table tents with program participants names, and such.

Green Room: feel free to sign up

A preliminary Minicon program grid is up (I know, but I was told this is preliminary, which I read as "don't hold us to anything, someone's flight might be cancelled, or they might point out that they told us not to program them opposite X"), so I figure I can now ask people if there are particular Green Room shifts you want/are willing to cover.

If you're not sure of your programming commitments yet, or otherwise want to keep your options open, that's cool. I'll print whatever I get and take it to the con, and use it as the start of a sign-up. But Bill Christ has asked that I let him know when I need staff for, so any information I can put together ahead of time will be useful.

I notice that the hours I've been asked to cover go through the end of programming on Friday and Saturday nights; I therefore suspect we can actually close an hour earlier, since there's no pressing need to warn people "your panel ends in five minutes" if the room won't be needed for anything else in the next ten hours.

Therefore, I'm looking for people to cover, in shifts beginning and ending on the hour (except for those first half hours, which we're sort of folding into the hour after):

Friday, 2:30-10:00 p.m.
Magenta, who is also shopping for supplies, has offered to handle set-up and, if necessary, the early part of Friday afternoon. If nobody offers to cover during Ask Dr. Mike, I may close down for half an hour so I can catch part of that, then reopen briefly to take care of the 10 p.m. panelists.

Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-11:00 p.m.
jenett has offered opening/morning.

Sunday, 10:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
jenett has offered opening/morning. Anything after 3 p.m. Sunday is effectively a clean-up crew.

Two people at a time is nice, because they can spell each other (if someone needs to run to the bathroom, or if we realize we're completely out of something and the con suite might be able to help) and keep each other company. However, given the choice, I'd prefer to have all shifts covered than to have half of them doubled and the other half unclaimed.

If you've never done this before, Green Room has an odd rhythm, because people mostly drift in no more than 15-20 minutes before their program items, and then hurry off singly or in groups just before the hour, and things then get quiet for a while, then repeat as above.

ETA: I have a query in about whether Program Ops is being run out of the Green Room, but even if it is, you will not be expected to make decisions if problems arise; this is basically about whether we're handling "your panel ends in five minutes," distribution of table tents with program participants names, and such.