http://zeroasterisk.com/blog zeroasterisk blog - alan blount & friends Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:51:39 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en US Contractors in Iraq's motto: "What happens here today stays here today." The Most Privatized War in US History.Blackwater USA: The US State Department pumps $700 million worth of security contracts into the soldier-for-hire company of a major Republican funder. Meanwhile, Paul Bremer signs Order 17 granting immunity to ... http://zeroasterisk.com/blog/index.php/2008/08/21/a-great-post-on-a-friends-blog/ Why You Should Turn Gmail’s SSL Feature On Now Let’s talk security and why you should take advantage of Gmail’s recent SSL feature, and why you might want to be careful using other non-SSL webmail services. But first, make sure your connection is secured using SSL. How do you know a ... http://zeroasterisk.com/blog/index.php/2008/08/21/gmail-users-should-go-ssl/ Poppy is growing up way too quickly. Anita cried a couple nights ago watching her sleep, and I can certainly understand... She hasn't technically doubled in size, but she seems like she is at least twice as big as she was at birth and many hundred fold more capable/developed/skilled/aware. She's babbling a ... http://zeroasterisk.com/blog/index.php/2008/08/18/poppy-babbling-teething-and-growing/ Rwandans look to Louisville for interfaith modelThe Rwandans invited the center's executive director, Jan Arnow, to visit their country, where in May, she conducted workshops and discussions with a group that included various faiths, from Muslims to Catholics to Quakers to Pentecostals.During that visit, she said, group members told her, ... http://zeroasterisk.com/blog/index.php/2008/08/13/a-great-article-on-jan-arnows-work-in-rwanda/ Poppy is a feirce 6 months now. She is sitting and crawling and talking a lot (though still mostly in vowels only).What's funny is to see her grab ahold of something (anything) and shake it. "What does this do? How about if I beat it against the ... http://zeroasterisk.com/blog/index.php/2008/08/07/penelope-lou-is-movin-and-shaking-anything-she-can-grasp/ Here's a list of computers being shipped by Dell with Ubuntu... decent savings, good systems, and pro linux... makes me really happy. http://zeroasterisk.com/blog/index.php/2008/08/06/dell-is-now-shipping-computers-with-ubuntu-installed/ I've gone for 72 hours without checking my email or getting online. Wonders will never cease. We've been finishing up packing and moving into our new house! As such - things are of course - crazy and i'm beaten down (in fact, I might have very very mild heat stroke) - but ... http://zeroasterisk.com/blog/index.php/2008/08/02/we-are-moved-in-yay/ photo-page / slideshowPoppy ate some broccoliPoppy slept with her papaand walked with her mamaAnd played with her bear and in her cribAnd then Poppy and Anita and several other friends went to Tyler Park for the afternoon http://zeroasterisk.com/blog/index.php/2008/07/11/poppy-photos-early-july/ Most changes are gradual - including this one... Poppy is sitting up pretty well now. Over the last two weeks she's been getting closet to sitting unaided and most of this week, as long as there's a pillow to protect her from occasionally flailing backwards - she's a solid ... http://zeroasterisk.com/blog/index.php/2008/07/09/poppy-accomplishment-sitting/ We have made an offer on 183 Coral Ave. and it was accepted (finally). You may have heard about the problems we had with the last house we were interested in, so were were trying not to get our hopes up too much - but now we are signed ... http://zeroasterisk.com/blog/index.php/2008/07/02/our-house-on-coral/ Alan's fingers were bent backwards and the ligaments are contracting/scaring... this is supposed to fix it (uncomfortably).Spring-Coil Finger Extension Splint (“Capener” or Wynn Perry)Coil springs are placed laterally to the PIP joint and move in line with the joint to increase extension. http://zeroasterisk.com/blog/index.php/2008/06/26/alans-finger-is-in-a-torture-device-2/ Our daughter is 5 months old today. The milestones of time help me take account of the monumental changes which have happened. We have a fully fledged baby - nobody would call her an infant... she will never be an infant again. This is both wonderful and ... http://zeroasterisk.com/blog/index.php/2008/06/25/penelope-lou-5-months-old/ We had gotten VERY excited about a house we were going to buy.We made an offer, they countered, we accepted... all today (Sunday). We were waiting on the counter-offer-paperwork to sign and send back... well, instead of getting that, we actually got notified that the offer was retracted. ... http://zeroasterisk.com/blog/index.php/2008/06/22/sadness-no-home-for-the-blounts/ I've been putting off upgrading to FF3 because I was afraid of plugins which wouldn't work and at this point, I live by many of my FF addons.Well I feel silly now - having updated... Things seem to be as smooth as possible and FF is much more responsive. ... http://zeroasterisk.com/blog/index.php/2008/06/20/holy-hand-grenades-firefox3-firebug12-amazing/ Poppy at Month four:This month has been quite productive. She has been growing by leaps and bounds, like normal. She's now reaching for everything and putting it all in her mouth and dropping it on the floor. Nothing is safe within a foot and a half of her. She is ... http://zeroasterisk.com/blog/index.php/2008/06/06/poppy-age-4-months-4-days-in-colorado/