Arranged Delirium

I finally got around to re-designing my web site as well as this blog. Several folks have written in asking how I did certain things. It’s virtually all XHTML and CSS,with a lot of CSS doing the hard work of the rounded corners. There isn’t an external style sheet since the inset boxes with the pics are specific to each page - so I’ve included the styles in each file. If you’re running IE6 or earlier, you’re out of luck…but then again, there’s no good reason to be using IE as a browser.

The effect for the examples of student work comes courtesy of a javascript called Lightbox. You’ll find it on numerous sites. You can achieve a similar effect with straight CSS code, but I thought the js was less tedious to implement. I tend to avoid javascript whenever I can, but convenience and lack of time won the day this time through.

Just in case you were wondering we now have more data on the pointlessness of Twitter. Don’t get me wrong - the technology has been used effectively for some very important issues. But don’t kid yourself about how this content is actually more regularly used and consumed. Here’s a recent study by Pear Analytics. Read the entire White Paper (its quite short) for some interesting detail including a comparison on Facebook usage.

And if you are interested in the topic of how this kind of superficial communication limits our understandings of the world, take a (not so quick) look at Is Twitter Making You Stupid?

I’ve always been socially liberal but fiscally conservative, and I suppose that explains my moderate political positions. But one area that has always concerned me is how our government spends our money - rather inefficiently I’d say. This isn’t a partisan issue - history shows that both Democrats and Republicans are terrible at managing public funds. I tire of the ceaseless and rather inane invective concerning the issue. Much of what you read, hear, or see, simply isn’t based on true information. I don’t think the right can hold the position of being fiscally responsible anymore - the most recent Bush administration was responsible for generating the largest deficit in history. I fear though that the Obama administration will keep it going in order to address the many shortcomings in internal investment that the country has been ignoring for years. So, we should probably all keep an eye on the national debt. Another online debt clock recounts various other financial landmarks for the country as well (I can’t confirm its authenticity though, so I am leery of giving it too much credence - it’s numbers seem close enough the the US Treasury though). I lay most of the blame at the foot of Congress; but I think that the unnecessary war in Iraq has truly decimated our financial future. When you look at how much money foreign wars cost, my hope is that it really makes you question if they are worth it. Certainly, the expense of being distracted from Afghanistan into Iraq has all cost us quite a bit…

If you’ve been reading Arranged Delirium for a while, you know I’m a fan of Bento for personal database use. They’ve got an iPhone/Touch app out now and Apptell Review. I’m going to go pick it up now and give it a try…

Welcome back to the newly designed Arranged Delirium.

What’s new? Aside from a new design, I’ve streamlined a few things to focus on the content that folks seem to actually read and be (at least marginally) interested in. I’ve also implemented a few new mechanisms to help me thwart comment and trackback spam.

What’s gone? I removed the archives because I’m too lazy to repopulate the database. I also doubt that many folks want to see my posts all the way back to 2002. In fact, I’m not even going to generate archives in this version - but you can find earlier posts based upon tags or categories if you really want to.

Please Register! I’m also asking everyone to re-register if you’d like a membership. This helps me keep information current and makes it easier to cull fake membership requests. Membership does have its privileges, so please sign up and sign in when commenting or searching.

All Best,

Sam.