Just wanted to get the date for at least one post to read February 29th, 2004:

"A leap year is a year in which an extra day in added to the calendar in order to synchronize it with the seasons. Since the tropical year is 365.242190 days long, a leap year must be added roughly once every four years (four times the fractional day gives ). In a leap year, the extra day (known as a leap day) is added at the end of February, giving it 29 instead of the usual 28 days.

The leap year was introduced in the Julian calendar in 46 BC. However, around 10 BC, it was found that the priests in charge of computing the calendar had been adding leap years every three years instead of the four decreed by Caesar (Vardi 1991, p. 239). As a result of this error, no more leap years were added until 8 AD. Leap years were therefore 45 BC, 42 BC, 39 BC, 36 BC, 33 BC, 30 BC, 27 BC, 24 BC, 21 BC, 18 BC, 15 BC, 12 BC, 9 BC, 8 AD, 12 AD, and every fourth year thereafter (Tøndering), until the Gregorian calendar was introduced (resulting in skipping three out of every four centuries). The UNIX command cal incorrectly lists 4 AD as a leap year (Vardi 1991)."

USS Clueless: "It's long been observed that there are two kinds of bloggers, which I once referred to as editors and writers, and which others immediately pointed out could also be called linkers and thinkers. Of course, there are a lot of people who do some of both, but I've always concentrated on writing."

In contrast I would love to concentrate on writing but find instead that I'm slapping together a virtual scrapbook that is interesting but not necessarily terribly creative. It will remind me of where I was & what I was doing when I look back at it, but there's not much of me there beyond the fact that I found a particular post to be interesting at a given moment. I am a "linker" in the worst way!! I am also nervous about posting personal information and opinions, & find those who do to be courageous. Come back soon.

Wil Wheaton speaks for me: "Personally, I don't think the government should be involved in marriage in any way. I believe that marriage is between two people who love each other, who wish to make a commitment to stay together through good times and bad. I suppose that it can also be between those people and whatever god they choose to worship, but even then . . . wouldn't it be stupid for the government to tell couples which god can bless their marriage? And who cares what sex they are?

An interesting thing has happened since San Francisco started granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples: my marriage is just fine!

That's right. Even though there are thousands of gay and lesbian couples affirming their love for and commitment to each other, my marriage -- my affirmation of love and commitment to Anne -- isn't threatened at all. As a matter of fact, the only people who can really "threaten" my marriage are . . . well . . . the two of us.

And this brings me to the first thing that's so profoundly upsetting about this entire issue: it's not about marriage, it's not about love, it's not about family, it's not about commitment. It's about hating homosexuals. It's about treating homosexuals as if they are second-class citizens. It's about dividing this country into those who support discrimination, and those who don't."

& The Divine Comedy

"I travelled among unknown men,
In lands beyond the sea;
Nor, England did I know till then
What love I bore to thee.

'Tis past, that melancholy dream!
Nor will I quit thy shore
A second time; for still I seem
To love thee more and more."

MSN Tech & Gadgets: "SAN FRANCISCO--Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates predicted the demise of the traditional password because it cannot 'meet the challenge' of keeping critical information secure.
Gates, speaking at the RSA Security conference here on Tuesday, said: 'There is no doubt that over time, people are going to rely less and less on passwords. People use the same password on different systems, they write them down and they just don't meet the challenge for anything you really want to secure.'
RSA is working with Microsoft to develop a SecurID technology specifically for Windows. Both companies agreed there is a need to remove the vulnerabilities associated with employees using weak passwords.

SecurID is the best-known two-factor authentication system and is used by many large enterprises. It generates a constantly changing sequence of numbers that a user has to type in alongside their normal password or PIN. Creating a specific system for Windows could mean that rolling out strong authentication across an enterprise will be far easier and cheaper. "

So maybe I'm just feeling ranty today, but maybe this blog is finally taking shape and developing a purpose beyond it's poorly-defined and narrowly focussed beginnings. Maybe what I'm really interested in, after nearly a year, two servers and three site templates, are the boundaries of taste & consumption in pop-culture & the ways in which we're all squaring off to duke it out in November. The essential question for me is "what will it take to turn a couple of those red states blue?"... and isn't that what Janet, Justin, Howard & all that other stuff is really all about. 'tis a turf-war for decency!! Let's ope that this time the people make their mind up definitively & that the Supreme Court Justices are a thousand miles away when the results are announced.

"Tuesday, February 24 will be a day of coordinated civil disobedience: websites will post Danger Mouse's Grey Album on their site for 24 hours in protest of EMI's attempts to censor this work.

DJ Danger Mouse created a remix of Jay-Z's the Black Album and the Beatles White Album, and called it the Grey Album. Jay-Z's record label, Roc-A-Fella, released an a capella version of his Black Album specifically to encourage remixes like this one. But despite praise from music fans and major media outlets like Rolling Stone ("an ingenious hip-hop record that sounds oddly ahead of its time") and the Boston Globe (which called it the "most creatively captivating" album of the year), EMI has sent cease and desist letters demanding that stores destroy their copies of the album and websites remove them from their site. EMI claims copyright control of the Beatles 1968 White Album.

Danger Mouse’s album is one of the most "respectful" and undeniably positive examples of sampling; it honors both the Beatles and Jay-Z. Yet the lawyers and bureaucrats at EMI have shown zero flexibility and not a glimmer of interest in the artistic significance of this work. And without a clearly defined right to sample (e.g. compulsory licensing), the five major record labels will continue to use copyright in a reactionary and narrowly self-interested manner that limits and erodes creativity. Their actions are also self-defeating: good new music is being created that people want to buy, but the major labels are so obsessed with hoarding their copyrights that they are literally turning customers away.

This first-of-its-kind protest signals a refusal to let major label lawyers control what musicians can create and what the public can hear. The Grey Album is only one of the thousands of legitimate and valuable efforts that have been stifled by the record industry-- not to mention the ones that were never even attempted because of the current legal climate. We cannot allow these corporations to continue censoring art; we need common-sense reforms to copyright law that can make sampling legal and practical for artists."

The Institute of Official Cheer

James Lileks explores some corners of pop-cultures past. "Welcome to the Institute - where old pop culture is subjected to our patented Re-Ironization Process, and converted into chipper, spiffy, feather-light postmodern commentary on commercial culture. Or, to put it another way: there’s enough here to kill two, maybe three lunch hours." Culture Wars of long ago.... What would Michael Powell say?

The Washington Times: Business: " In the Washington area, viewers were subjected to two such mishaps Tuesday.
NBC affiliate WRC-TV (Channel 4), during its 6 p.m. newscast, aired a report in which Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Shaquille O'Neal uttered an obscenity. Sports anchor Wally Bruckner later apologized for the incident on air, explaining that the failure to edit out the offensive word was unintentional.
Because of an apparent technical glitch, Fox affiliate WTTG-TV (Channel 5) briefly aired footage of a woman breast feeding a child during a report on the recent shootings at the District's Ballou High School.
Also yesterday, Infinity Broadcasting, parent company of WJFK-FM (106.7), suspended afternoon drive hosts Don Geronimo and Mike O'Meara for allowing an obscenity on the air. An Infinity spokeswoman would say only they violated company policy and would be suspended without pay through Feb. 13. "

America divided on decency: "America's culture war is red hot again.
The Super Bowl halftime show that launched a thousand FCC complaints has stirred new outrage over what many Americans perceive as a decline in popular culture, from music videos with nearly naked dancers to pop stars using the F-word.
The idea of a culture war is nothing new, but recent issues from gay marriage to TV decency have brought it to the forefront again. Nothing illustrates the rift better than reaction to the halftime show, which outraged some Americans and had others shrugging their shoulders, wondering what the fuss was about.
'It wasn't anything that I haven't seen on television before,' said Rachel Johnson, 17, a senior at Myers Park High in Charlotte.
Have the two Americas -- one that held parties for Sunday night's finale of 'Sex in the City,' the other waiting in line for Mel Gibson's 'The Passion' -- really grown so far apart?"

Northwest Indiana News: nwitimes.com - News: "SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Radio giant Clear Channel Communications on Wednesday announced a 'zero-tolerance' policy designed to keep indecent material out of broadcasts on its 1,200 or so radio stations.

The policy comes the day after the San Antonio company announced the firing of a Florida DJ whose sexually explicit morning show antics prompted a proposed $755,000 fine from the Federal Communications Commission last month.
'Clear Channel is serious about helping address the rising tide of indecency on the airwaves,' Mark Mays, president and chief operating officer, said in a statement. 'As broadcast licensees, we are fully responsible for what our stations air, and we intend to make sure all our DJs and programmers understand what is and what is not appropriate.'

The policy will include companywide training, possible fines against DJs, and automatic suspensions for anyone accused by the FCC of violating indecency rules on the air, company officials said.

'If the FCC accuses us of wrongdoing by issuing a proposed fine, we will take immediate action,' Mays said. 'We will suspend the DJ in question, and perform a swift investigation. If we or the government ultimately determine the offending broadcast is indecent, the DJ will be terminated without delay.'"

Forbes.com: Howard Stern suspended from Clear Channel stations: "NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shock jock Howard Stern's show was yanked Wednesday from Clear Channel Communications Inc. radio stations after an incident on his show Tuesday, the first casualty of its zero tolerance policy on indecency.

'It was vulgar, offensive and insulting, not just to women and African Americans but to anyone with a sense of common decency,' Clear Channel Radio Chief Executive John Hogan said in a statement.

'We will not air Howard Stern on Clear Channel stations until we are assured that his show will conform to acceptable standards of responsible broadcasting,' he said.

Clear Channel has about 1,200 stations in the United States though it was not immediately clear how many aired his show. "

MSNBC : "LONDON - Visitors to Britain will find a new stop on London?9s site-seeing route this spring: a usable public toilet enclosed in one-way mirrored glass situated on a sidewalk near the River Thames. The contemporary art exhibit, which allows the user to see out while passers-by cannot peep in, toys with the concepts of privacy and voyeurism.

"I think there'd be a twinge of not believing that people outside couldn't see you," said Jeff Boloten, as he peered into the glass cube to see the metal prison toilet and its transparent walls."

Local exec meets with Bush, gets the scoop - Saturday, 02/21/04: "Rex Hammock just had a big day in Washington, D.C.
Thursday, the Nashville businessman happened onto a John Kerry street rally, where he took in the Democratic political swirl all around him. After about 10 minutes, he resumed his walk to the Old Executive Office Building, where he happily shot the breeze in a private meeting with George W. Bush. Then he hailed a cab to take him to Baltimore-Washington International Airport.
Now it's time, he thought, to collect my thoughts.
He did so by turning to his laptop and his Weblog ?4 rex.weblogs.com."

Unless I want to wade into my really old pages and dress them up in the clothes of my fancy new template. Nah!! All of the sections match now, anyway, & so once again my "make over your website while you're in-between jobs" episode is over.

SB Capital Group > News: "PITTSFIELD, Massachusetts - January 29, 2004 - SB Capital Group, LLC was approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware as part of a consortium of retail specialists to orchestrate store closing events in at least 356 stores nationwide. In addition to the initial list of stores, KB Toys will identify by February 11 a secondary group of 19 to 115 stores slated to close. KB Toys, which filed for bankruptcy protection on January 14, is restructuring to address financial challenges created primarily by the price war during the 2003 holiday season, mass merchants' increasing use of toys as loss leaders during the holiday season, and increasing price competition in the toy market during the remainder of the year."

Crayola Works Creativity Studio & Store Closes, Web Site Discontinued: "Thank you for visiting CrayolaWorks.com.

Because the Crayola Works Creativity Studio & Store closed to business on Monday, February 23, 2004, this Web site will be discontinued. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

If you would like to purchase Crayola products, please visit an area retail store or the Crayola Store online at www.CrayolaStore.com. If you would like to visit The Crayola FACTORY, an interactive, hands-on family discovery center in nearby Easton, Pa., visit www.Crayolafactory.com or call 610-515-8000.

For arts and crafts projects, printable coloring pages, online games, and information about Crayola products, go to www.Crayola.com.

Those who have group or birthday party reservations, hold Crayola Works gift certificates, or are Crayola Works Loyalty members should call 1-800-CRAYOLA for more information.

Crayola Works Creativity Studio & Store thanks you for your support.

Crayola Works Management
Binney & Smith Inc.
Easton, Pa. "

BBC SPORT : "Scotland 13-35 England

England secured a second victory in the defence of their Six Nations title over a battling Scotland at Murrayfield.
But the world champions failed to find the fluency of their opening win in Italy, despite scoring four tries.
Ben Cohen, Iain Balshaw and Josh Lewsey all grabbed soft scores, Danny Grewcock weighing in with a fourth and Paul Grayson adding 15 points with the boot.
Chris Paterson landed two penalties and converted Simon Danielli's second-half try for the Scots.
It was Scotland's first try against England for four years but despite the scoreline, the home side competed admirably with their vaunted visitors. "

So where are we?

Well, the site is pretty seamless now, & the blogger bugs are fixed. I am running far too many lil' Java applications in the rightr hand column though. It is slow on my broadband & must be killer on dial-up. I'll fix it. Otherwise I just have to re-format the Native Americans in London pages to match the rest of the site, & perhaps change up the response form, & we're done.

So as you can see I have gone a little update crazy. I needed to do something cool with my day off. This new web template has a couple of bugs that I will work out asap, & it looks like my archive pages will stay in the old blogger basic format, but that's OK. I used 3 column split from blogskins.com in an effort to look all moveable type smooth without having to go out & buy a server. Thanks to the creators for their excellent work.

Hopefully this will also provide a color scheme & background for a reworked John Rodgers Jewitt Hub, so that all my sites have a cool new "house style".

WELLESLEY, Mass., Feb. 16: " They had the stamina, the passion and the 'Will' to succeed. Wellesley College will go down in history as having read the entire works of William Shakespeare - unabridged - in less than 24 hours.
'We read all 39 plays and all 154 sonnets and all five narrative poems, and we did so in 22 hours and 5 minutes, finishing at 3:21 p.m., having started at sundown the day before, which was 5:16,' said organizer Maggie O'Grady of Yonkers, N.Y., a Wellesley senior and member of the college's Shakespeare Society. At the conclusion of the marathon, O'Grady, who had not slept since the contest began, proclaimed, 'I am thus quite delirious.' But for the Bard-loving Shakespeare Society, it was all worth it.
'We're excited and very tired,' she said. The event ended with the reading of 'Hamlet,' an intense conclusion to the 24 hours of non-stop Shakespeare. 'It was really magnificent and very, very dramatic,' O'Grady said. "

BBC NEWS: "The story is about whether Senator Kerry had a recent affair with a young woman intern. (Interns are young people, often students, who take short-term, unpaid jobs in political and other offices in order to get experience. Monica Lewinsky, of course, was one.)
The question, it appears, was first raised by aides in the campaign of retired General Wesley Clark, who himself was quoted as saying that Kerry's campaign might 'implode'. It has not so far and Clark has even endorsed Kerry himself.
Senator Kerry himself said initially: 'There is nothing to report' and then when that was challenged as a Clinton style non-denial, he stated clearly enough: 'I just deny it categorically. It's untrue.'
His supporters hope that this is an end to it. His opponents perhaps hope that he will be caught out. Lying in these cases is usually far worse than the original offence. "

Am updating my blog links with blogrolling.com, a service that I found because someone at the University of Birmingham linked to this blog. It is a bit time-consuming to get the links on there in the first place, but seems to allow for one click additions.... I have added Kerry, Edwards and Dean to the mix to track the end of the primaries through their official blogs. Watch to see what else gets added.

On that score. Google John Edwards and marvel at how he is trumped in the search results by John "I see dead people" Edward. Interesting.

BBC SPORT: "World champions England lived up to their billing with a comprehensive victory over Italy in the RBS Six Nations in Rome on Sunday.
Elusive centre Jason Robinson scored a hat-trick as England ran in seven tries in their first competitive match since winning the World Cup.
Full-back Iain Balshaw, wing Josh Lewsey, fly-half Paul Grayson and replacement Chris Jones also scored.
Italy's Rima Wakarua could only manage two penalties and a drop goal in reply. "

and call me back when you've got one: "Folks who blinked and missed the Super Bowl 'boobgate' incident as it unfolded on live TV flocked afterward to -- where else? -- the Web for a glimpse of Janet Jackson's exposed breast and sparkly nipple shield.
By Monday, enough users of the Lycos search engine had conducted searches on the singer's stunt for it to tie the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as the site's most searched-for event. Lycos said searches related to Jackson were 80 times greater than the usual No. 1 Internet search, Britney Spears.
Yahoo reported that Janet Jackson broke records on its site, too, accounting for nearly one in five of all queries from Sunday through Wednesday.
If you doubt that folks were hunting for titillating pictures, Lycos noted that traffic didn't rise at most news Web sites Monday -- except for The Drudge Report (www.drudgereport.com), which posted images of Jackson after her 'wardrobe malfunction.' Drudge drew 30 times its usual traffic on Monday."

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall: "For some time now, it's been conventional wisdom that most voters weren't overly troubled by the failure to find any weapons in the country, especially so long as other aspects of the war were going at least tolerably well. That assumption may have been very wrong."

The Seattle Times: "PORTLAND — Scientists can study the 9,300-year-old remains of the Kennewick Man, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld a decision in August by U.S. Magistrate Judge John Jelderks in Portland that the remains can be studied.

The Nez Perce, Umatilla, Colville and Yakama wanted the bones, found on the north bank of the Columbia River in 1996 by teenagers, to be turned over to them for burial.

The three-judge panel found that the remains do not fall under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and can be studied under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act."

Read the whole thing. The web has a life of it's own: The power of Google: "On the 3rd of February 2004, this page (or rather the page that was here) was swamped by requests and the server subsequentially failed. The reason was traced to Google introducing a fractal looking logo (see below), which when clicked, performed an image search for 'julia' and 'fractal'. The two most interesting resulting images on the top row of the list were on this page (or rather the page that was here).

In order to get this server functional again, the pages that were here have been moved somewhere else. It shouldn't be too hard to find them if you really want to, do a Google search for 'Quaternion fractal' or if you would like to create your own Quaternion fractals try POVRay. "

What these celebs have to do to promote an album nowadays: DRUDGE REPORT 2004�: "Top CBS executives approved a musical skit where Janet Jackson would expose her breast during the MTV-produced Super Bowl half-time concert, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

'The decision to go forward went to the very top of the network,' a well-placed source explained from New York. "