James Ogley

Google Summer of Code on Planet SUSE

James Ogley james at rubberturnip dot org dot uk — Fri, 09 May 2008 09:12:00 +0000

Participants in the Google Summer of Code will now be recognised on Planet SUSE by having GSoC in front of their names at the top of their posts.

If you're a student on the GSoC and you don't see this with your posts, please drop me a line and let me know.

A haiku for a sunny summer day

James Ogley james at rubberturnip dot org dot uk — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:48:00 +0000

In the summer time
When the pollen count is high
I wish plants would die.

Making my life easier

James Ogley james at rubberturnip dot org dot uk — Thu, 08 May 2008 08:26:00 +0000

For those who either have to use Windows occasionally or (poor, poor people) all the time, there are kick-ass OpenOffice.org 2.4.0 builds now available at Go-OO.org.

Why does this make my life easier? The presentation PC at church runs Windows and this means I can now upgrade the OOo install on it.

Green, scaley and oh so cute!

James Ogley james at rubberturnip dot org dot uk — Wed, 07 May 2008 11:10:00 +0000

It's great to see openSUSE Lizards launched. People blogging on Lizards will soon start to appear on Planet SUSE (basically as soon as they start posting). Where they have an existing blog and both will continue to be active, their entries from Lizards will be prefixed with Lizards:

Mmmm, irony!

James Ogley james at rubberturnip dot org dot uk — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:08:00 +0000

'Free Tibet' flags made in China

Haiku

James Ogley james at rubberturnip dot org dot uk — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 11:15:00 +0000

I find when tired
My mind can wander a lot
It's in Brazil now.

Haiku

James Ogley james at rubberturnip dot org dot uk — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 03:42:00 +0000

When I get sleepy
I seem to think in Haiku
Why does this happen?

Haiku

James Ogley james at rubberturnip dot org dot uk — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 01:43:00 +0000

I am at St Paul's
Church is praying through the night
Need more caffeine please.

Clinton's momentum

James Ogley james at rubberturnip dot org dot uk — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:49:00 +0000

Just been looking at Electoral-Vote.com and specifically its poll trackers for Obama/Clinton vs. McCain.

According to the latest polls, Senator Clinton would beat Senator McCain by possibly as many as sixty electoral college votes. Senator Obama would also be projected to win but in his case, only by at most thirty votes and possibly it would be an exact tie.

Now, of course there's a long way to go but based on these polls, the accepted wisdom that there's no way a Democrat loses this year's election doesn't seem to hold entirely true if Obama gets the nomination.

What's interesting is (as I said earlier) that in the key swing states, Clinton's the horse to back. Let's look at some specifics (and of course, this is just based on the latest polling data). In Florida, Clinton beats McCain by a whisker while McCain pummels Obama. This is a characteristic I suspect of the elderly population in Florida. In Ohio, Obama loses to McCain by roughly the same margin as Clinton beats McCain. There are a couple of notable states that go the other way of course. Michigan projects an Obama victory (by a whisker) but a Clinton defeat and North Carolina sees Obama and McCain tying while Clinton would lose to McCain. Finally, in Missouri, Obama loses by a sizable margin while Clinton sneaks a win.

At one of the debates before the Pennsylvania primaries, both candidates were asked if they would make the other their running mate if they win. Neither answered. It's looking like Clinton's going to be best placed to win in November but Obama could make a fantastic run in eight years' time. The dream ticket could be the one with both names but Clinton's at the top. After all, right now she's the one with the Big Mo.

International affairs

James Ogley james at rubberturnip dot org dot uk — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:23:00 +0000

Overnight, Senator Clinton won the Pennsylvania primary by about nine points. This not only the effect of giving her the lion's share of that state's delegates at the convention but also swings the momentum back to her. Her appeal to the super-delegates may have seemed a little undignified but she may well be showing that in key swing states, she's the democrat best placed to beat Senator McCain on November 4th.
Zimbabwe's churches appeal to the international community, warning of genocide if there is no intervention. Mugabe's determination to steal another term in office by brutalising and crushing the people of Zimbabwe sickens people around the world and it's important to see clerics from across the ecclesiastical spectrum standing up and allowing themselves to be counted.