November 9, 2008 J. Max Wilson

Updated Software, Theme, and Comments Policy

I have long resisted running my blog on WordPress because so much of the actual code is messy and because I prefer a more object oriented approach than it employs.  I chose Textpattern for many reasons that at the time made it superior and have used it since 2005.  Even before that, when we first started the Millennial Star blog, we chose b2Evolution over WordPress because of its superior coding. (I’ve also used Joomla and Drupal)

However, looking at the situation now and the huge community and momentum that WordPress has amassed, it pretty clear that WordPress is easier to use for general blogging than any of these others, despite a number of annoying architectural, geeky complaints that just wont go away. Continue reading →

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Category: blog maintenance
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November 3, 2008 J. Max Wilson

My 2008 Presidential Endorsement

The impulse for corrective change in our national government is righteous. Everyone is sick of the corruption, the hypocrisy, and the failure of those whom we have selected as temporary stewards over our best interests. The politicians of the Republican party have, in many instances, proven themselves unworthy stewards and earned our reprobation .

Barack Obama has attempted to targeted this impulse for positive change with his rhetoric of “hope.” I have a number of friends and family members for whom this message is reasonably attractive. Obama has painted himself as a proponent of “new politics,” rising above the partisanship of the past.

I firmly believe, however, that this post-partisan visage is demonstrably a hypocritical mask, calculated to play upon the righteous sentiments of the people in a way to win votes, but offered completely insincerely. The mainstream media have been complicit in perpetuating this lie.

As part of this false post-partisan persona, Barack Obama has tried to paint his primary opponent as merely a continuation of the Bush administration, pointing out that John McCain has voted in-line with the Republican Party 95% of the time. But, according to non-partisan sources, Barack Obama has voted in line with his party 96% of the time (see this analysis from FactCheck.org)

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October 29, 2008 J. Max Wilson

LDS Technology: Why Are Flickr Users In And Near Utah Less Likely To Share Photos Publicly?

Today on the popular technology blog, TechCrunch, Michael Arrington posted the following map provided by Elizabeth Churchill, who he describes as the principal research scientist at Yahoo!.

Map - Flickr Photo Sharing by User Location

The map represents data gathered from the popular photo sharing website Flickr.com, which is owned by Yahoo!. Flickr allows users to upload their photos and make their albums public, so that the pictures may be viewed by anyone, or make them private, so that they may only be viewed by limited friends or family. The map shows the privacy settings for a sample of 1,000,000 users in 2005. Green spots show users who have chosen to make their photos public. Red spots represent users who have chosen to keep their photos private.

Arrington comments about what the map reveals:

The US is widely public except for users who seem to be hovering around Utah, and varies by state. Europe, by contrast, is largely private, and more so as you move north. The Middle East is wide open. South East Asia is mixed. India is private.
(emphasis added)

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October 21, 2008 J. Max Wilson

Voting for Proposition 8 And Against Same-Sex Marriage Is Not Irrational

Lately I have seen a lot of activity in blog comments and social websites where people who are promoting California’s Proposition 8, which will amend the state constitution to define marriage as only between a man and a woman, are being called bigots, homophobes, and fools, and their arguments dismissed as irrational, ignorant, and unfounded.

While there are certain to be fools and bigots among the opponents of same-sex marriage, just as there are among its proponents, opposition to same-sex marriage is not irrational. It is not ignorant or uninformed.

Just as those in favor of same-sex marriage have legitimate concerns and rational arguments for their stance on the subject, so do those of us who oppose it. Going around trolling the blogs and facebook walls of those who support the traditional definition of marriage and describing their position as irrational and ignorant certainly isn’t going to win you many converts.

So rather than shut down constructive conversation by treating those with whom you disagree as idiots, why not acknowledge that at least some of their points are valid concerns; that you can see how they would be concerned, even if you think that other considerations should overrule that concern.

Same-sex marriage advocates certainly have some strong arguments in their favor. So do opponents. That fact should be acknowledged.

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Category: politics
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