Apologies

Sorry for the craziness with my blog over the last couple of days. MYSQL hates me, and I hate it right back. I think I’m 90% finished with the updates, and then we should be back in business.

Sweet

Suspecting just how unclean my job really is (how is it possible that the cleaners can finish going over this entire building in 20 minutes?), I’d never be able to do this, but it seems like a great idea and I wish the happy couple all the best.

Target’s Anti-Union Web site is, um, really blatantly anti-union

I get that not all professions or jobs need unions, but it’s kind of insane how Target doesn’t even pretend to be even-handed with their “informational” web site on how being a part of a union would affect their employees. Their scare tactics touch on everything from take-home salary to health benefits. Target’s message seems to be: “You don’t need a union. We’ll take care of you, promise! If you do join, we may have to lower your salary and/or decrease your health benefits. No pressure, though.” The current focus of this site is the store’s Valley Stream, NY employees. I wish them good luck throughout this process, and hope that their working conditions improve, regardless of the outcome of this election.

Sigh. Giggle. Sigh.

I would very much like to be Edith Zimmerman when I grow up. Why?

Is it because she does adorable crafts? No. I also do adorable crafts.

Is it because she is the editor and a popular blogger on a well-known web site? No, I’m far too lazy to admire that sort of consistent productivity.

The reason that Edith is my new hero is that she somehow managed to turn what could have been another boring celebrity profile, this time of Chris Evans, into something that completely transcends the celebrity profile genre. There’s humor, there’s pathos, there’s pecs. Allegedly.

Since we’re the same age and live concurrently, there’s no possible way for me to be reincarnated as Edith, but I’d like to live a day in her life, or at least somehow get the opportunity to give her first-hand information about what Chris Evan’s chest feels like.

Advice for young girls, or Ask a Disney Princess

Love it or hate it, the Disney Princesses hold a lot of sway with the younger set. If you don’t feel like sitting through 90+ minutes of some motherless waif ruthlessly changing herself in order to obtain true love, the princesses themselves have been kind enough to boil their life lessons into soundbite-length words of wisdom.

Belle:

Ariel:

Snow White:

This is not going to end well

Who’s got two thumbs and is going to be really unhappy on May 22nd? This guy!

Tethering with your Android phone

So you’re in a place without wifi (or with wireless that costs money, which to me is the same thing) and you’d like to use your laptop/tablet/etc…now what? My job’s wireless was out for a while, and even though we had some wired computers, I really wanted to sit at my desk with my computer, rather than use a communal machine. I did, however, use one of those those wired connections to search for a solution.

I first started with Barnacle Wifi Tether, which was recommended on an XDA-Developers forum. I used the settings that worked for some other Galaxy S owner, but to no avail.

Then, following instructions given on another thread, I downloaded Android Wifi Tether, which is a Google project. It only works on rooted phones, though, so make sure you’ve rooted your device before trying this app. Make sure you select the build that works on your phone. Once Wireless Tether is installed on your phone, take a look at the security settings. It would be wise to update the suggested passphrase if you keep the default encryption method. What I like most about this method is that, not only is it convenient, it’s also fairly fast. Keep in mind that you’re tethering using your data connection, so this is really only a good idea if 1) you have an unlimited data plan or 2) somebody else pays your phone bill.

It should go without saying, but maybe it’s not, so please be aware that I am not responsible for any damage that may occur to your phone  in your attempts to duplicate my awesomeness. You follow these steps at your own risk.

Let me help you slack

We all know that a little bit of procrastination just revs us up for when we get back to work, right? Right??? Anyway, in case you’re addicted to the mobile version of Angry Birds but are also aware that hunching over your phone at your desk is really conspicuous, I have good news for you: Angry Birds is now available as a web app for Google’s Chrome Browser. I don’t know how this could have seemed like a good idea.

Here’s a lower place

Just when I thought that the international mania surrounding the royal wedding couldn’t get any more ridiculous, I came across this gem: Knit Your Own Royal Wedding. That’s right, knitters: should the royal couple have forgotten to invite you to their zoo of a wedding, you can console yourself by knitting tiny representations of them. Because that’s not creepy at all. And the worst part is that, as of the time of this post, this book is #499 in Books. Not crafting books. ALL books.

Bad vegan! No tempeh!

It’s okay that I find a lot of (American?) vegan food boring, because I’m not vegan. A couple of my favorite food blogs are actually vegetarian and vegan (respectively), so it’s not that I can’t appreciate anything that’s not 100% carnivore-oriented (unlike my Southern father, who scoff at any meal I have that does not include at least one animal product). I just know that I’m not the target audience of vegan/vegetarian publications, so if what they’re showing doesn’t appeal to me, it’s not as though these outlets have somehow failed to reach their base.

Failing, in that case, might involve, oh, a vegan lifestyle magazine and web site using images of non-vegan/vegetarian foods in their spreads and only admitting to it after being found out by a blogger. Um…seriously? I don’t care how small your budget is, dude. If you’re trying to sell people on maintaining a vegan lifestyle, I would think that showing actual vegan products and foodstuffs, no matter how airbrushed, would be amongst the least of your efforts.