Welcome to my site. Here you will find some info about me, the things I do and a listing of upcoming (and past) presentations and lectures. While I initially expected most of my posts to be about Open Source/Free Software (hence the name), these days it's mostly rants and ramblings about running.

Some of my favorite quotes from Martin Luther King Jr.

Modern psychology has a word that is probably used more than any other word. It is the word "maladjusted." Now we all should seek to live a well-adjusted life in order to avoid neurotic and schizophrenic personalities. But there are some things within our social order to which I am proud to be maladjusted and to which I call upon you to be maladjusted. I never intend to adjust myself to segregation and discrimination. I never intend to adjust myself to mob rule. I never intend to adjust myself to the tragic effects of the methods of physical violence and to tragic militarism. I call upon you to be maladjusted to such things.
from The Power of Non-Violence June 4, 1957 (full text available at http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=1131 )

The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? 1967

Many of the ugly pages of American history have been obscured and forgotten. A society is always eager to cover misdeeds with a cloak of forgetfulness, but no society can fully repress an ugly past when the ravages persist into the present. America owes a debt of justice which it has only begun to pay.
Where Do We Go from Here : Chaos or Community? 1967

Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus.
Speech at the Episcopal National Cathedral, Washington D.C. March 31 1968

Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Strength to Love, 1963

True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring
Speech at Riverside Church in New York City April 4, 1967

Don't let anybody make you think God chose America as his divine messianic force to be a sort of policeman of the whole world. God has a way of standing before the nations with justice and it seems I can hear God saying to America "you are too arrogant, and if you don't change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power, and I will place it in the hands of a nation that doesn't even know my name.
Address to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference August 16 1967

Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.
Strength to Love, 1963

Today's photos:

Building a snow fort in the park
 
 

lost hat?
 
 

Here in the trendy east village, even the trees accessorize

two weeks of daily posts and I'm still at it!

I'm a little surprised that I've managed to make it this long without missing a day.

Still working on a deadline so there's not much to say today, but I wanted to pass on this link. It's a statement posted to facebook by a group of Gaza youth. I'm not sure why, but it reminds me a bit of the Port Huron Statement.

A small excerpt:
We are sick of being caught in this political struggle; sick of coal dark nights with airplanes circling above our homes; sick of innocent farmers getting shot in the buffer zone because they are taking care of their lands; sick of bearded guys walking around with their guns abusing their power, beating up or incarcerating young people demonstrating for what they believe in; sick of the wall of shame that separates us from the rest of our country and keeps us imprisoned in a stamp-sized piece of land; sick of being portrayed as terrorists, homemade fanatics with explosives in our pockets and evil in our eyes; sick of the indifference we meet from the international community, the so-called experts in expressing concerns and drafting resolutions but cowards in enforcing anything they agree on; we are sick and tired of living a shitty life, being kept in jail by Israel, beaten up by Hamas and completely ignored by the rest of the world.

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Today's photos are of left behind remnants of a "trimmed" tree in Tompkins Square and a reflection in a puddle.

Net Neutrality, censorship and more photos of discarded items

today tabs:
An Interesting Response to Censorship
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local-beat/Museum-of-Censored-Art-in-D...
After pressure from outside groups, the Smithsonian pulled a video from the exhibit, outraging members of the art community. Now, that video is back, literally steps away from the gallery.

The Museum of Censored Art -- a mobile office trailer bearing the sign "Showing the art the Smithsonian won't" -- is situated just outside the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.

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Steve Wozniak to the FCC: Keep the Internet Free
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/12/steve-wozniak-to-t...
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And today's photos: a good day for grilling?; discarded furniture; why librarians should not be allowed be encouraged to purchase spray paint.

Top 5 ways to ensure that I will throw a snowball at your car

5: Block the crosswalk forcing me to climb a snow mountain to get across the street
4: Honk your horn at me when I'm in the crosswalk, crossing with the light, and you are in a hurry to make a turn so you can stop at the red light 20 feet away.
3: Jump the light to make a left turn before the cars that are going forward no matter how many pedestrians are in your way.
2: Go around the clearly marked barrier saying "Central Park is closed to traffic on Monday through Friday, 10am to 3pm" and lean on your horn because there are bicyclists in your way.
1: Make a right on red (illegal in NYC), roll down your window and say "hey asshole, look where you're going!" after nearly hitting me in the crosswalk.

Yes, these all happened to me today; I need to work on my throwing accuracy.

Today's photos are from Central Park: a lost child's shoe, a roll of wood fence and a sign that makes me wonder what type of seeds they planted.


kids books and snow

Today's short but sweet tab dump:
http://www.amazon.com/Thats-Not-Your-Mommy-Anymore/dp/156975926X/ref=sr_...
That’s Not Your Mommy Anymore is a public service announcement in the form of a rhyming children's book that teaches kids how to recognize zombies

http://io9.com/5729089/a-portrait-of-doctor-s+who+ss-teases-at-the-place...
Dr Who/Dr Seuss mashup

Today's photos are another broken shovel and some other snow scenes