Storm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhGuXCuDb1U

ERROR[3332]: Connection to SMTP server test failed.

Going to the web UI for a Sharp3100N printer, Network Settings, Connection test, got this error:
ERROR[3332]: Connection to SMTP server test failed.

Solution:
Change the SMTP server address to
smtp.google.com
Port: 587
SSL: On
Authentication: put in your gmail username and password.

Assuming your printer can find the internet, that should do it.

Today, +/- n days

Searching on google and stackoverflow wasn't much help; also, "man date", "man cal", "man calendar", "man time", etc are limited in there accuracy; so here:

What is today's date plus n days, let's say 61 days*?:
date -v+61d
Answer:
2011-02-18
Calendar marked.

*: This is the question that came into my head after reading this.

While I applaud them for making a testable claim, I doubt this. The stone age didn't end because we ran out of stones. But who knows, this time may different. Maybe some of us will have to start carrying around unmemorizable IPv6 addresses. Maybe we'll find a way to memorize them. Maybe IPv4 really was a gross underestimation of our capacity for connectedness (and maybe IPv6 isn't). We shall see; and thankfully soon.

Sex, not gender

Continued from here (where I seem to have reached the thread's size limit), regarding Disapora's choice to use a text field for Gender instead of a drop down for Sex:

I agree that sex is not a simple binary, although the vast majority of the human population is not hermaphrodite or neutered. But let's consider that n%, as I'm sure you'll agree it is the rights of the minority that are the most important when considering how to design a new society like Diaspora.

Are anyone's rights being infringed up by having a drop down for Sex (options being Male, Female, Other, ..) instead of a text box for Gender? You say such an approach would implicitly treat them as freaks- funny your usage of "implicitly" here, as though I am implying anything. I am not. If such a conclusion is reached, it is by inference, i.e., someone else is inferring it. In other words, it is their problem that they would think I am calling them a freak, not mine. Sorry to get tautological here, but if they are not male or female then they are not male or female, and as such should be given an option for neither. This says nothing about whether or not they are freaks. Any reading into it as such is just bringing one's own prejudices where they are not justified.

As far as denying their existence by giving them this option- um, no? Isn't giving them the option in fact recognizing their existence? Wouldn't it be a denial of their existence if the option wasn't given?

Think of it another way: gender is subjective. What is masculine in one culture may be feminine in another. What makes me manly in my eyes could make me womanly in yours. Sex on the other hand is objective. I either have a penis or vagina or neither or both. I may feel manly today and womanly tomorrow, but the sexual organs I have do not change on a daily basis. Male in Italy and Australia and 13th century France is male in America, today, yesterday, and tomorrow.

I want my user profile to reflect the fixed status of this aspect of my objective self. It seems other people want to have a non-fixed reflection of a subjective aspect of their self. Fine. How about this for a compromise: give users both the free-form text field for Gender and the drop down for Sex. This solution recognizes the validity of both our points, as I believe there both are. As it is right now, Diaspora is limiting its appeal by excluding people with preferences like mine, and I'm sure you'll agree that maximizing its appeal would be good for Diaspora.

Friend looking for employment

Anybody need pet-or-house sitting or house cleaning services? I have a friend who is in desperate need of funds. She has references and experience in these things.

testing 1

this is one of many test posts i'll be making today; these posts are only tests meant to debug an external system; had this been an actual post, you would not be encouraged to ignore this. this is only a test.

Why is my ASP:Image not accessible from the vb?

I just figured this out. Figured it might bite someone else someday.

Given this code in an aspx file:

      <table width="100%">
            <tr>
                  <td class="normaltxt10" colSpan="50">
                  <!--
                  <asp:DataGrid id="dgImage" runat="server" ShowHeader="False"
                                AutoGenerateColumns="False" TabIndex="5">
                        <Columns>
                              <asp:BoundColumn Visible="False" DataField="file"></asp:BoundColumn>
                              <asp:TemplateColumn>
                                    <ItemTemplate>
                                    -->
                              <asp:Image ID="screenShotImage" Runat="server"></asp:Image>
                                    <!--
                                    </ItemTemplate>
                              </asp:TemplateColumn>
                        </Columns>
                  </asp:DataGrid>
                  -->
                  </td>
            </tr>
      </table>

Why would screenShotImage be not accessible in the vb code behind?

Answer: because it's in the commented out DataGrid, and in my case, dgImage wasn't referenced at all in the vb.
Removing the commented out DataGrid will fix this.
Like so:

      <table width="100%">
            <tr>
                  <td class="normaltxt10" colSpan="50">
                        <asp:Image ID="screenShotImage" Runat="server"></asp:Image> 
                  </td>
            </tr>
      </table>

This is stupid in my opinion, but whatever. Now we know.