A quick search for “nigel mcfarlane” on Feedster turned up more details, saying not much more than he passed away suddenly and was a passionate evangelist of the open source and Mozilla community.
I saw him give a presentation last August at the Mozilla Developer Day conference, and I’ve heard people remark that before Firefox became mainstream, Nigel was the sole person out there writing articles on Mozilla development and technology.
This post first appeared on From the Belly of the Beasts, a weblog from some of the people who build O’Reilly websites.
Being the “new guy,” I had to attend an ergonomics orientation yesterday morning, led by an guy from our insurance company. Which makes sense if you think about it. Lower the incidence of RSI and you improve productivity while decreasing worker’s comp payouts. According to that logic, it’s a wonder health insurance companies aren’t doing more to get people to quit smoking, eat less, and exercise more. Or maybe they are, who knows?
So for an hour on Tuesday, a handful of new folks, some RSI sufferers, and I got to watch this guy sit in an office chair and give us pointers on how it should be adjusted, where our legs should be, what position our wrists and neck should be in. It was all useful information, but some of the off-the-cuff remarks he made suggested that we were being fed mostly anecdotal advice.
Anyway, last night I spent several hours writing some code and blog posts in my normal posture: laying down on the couch with a pillow propped up under my chest. Granted on Monday I went on a 2 hour hike/run and I was still sore, but I could feel all sorts of aches and pains in my neck and back. And all I could think about was this guy harping on the fact that if we endure moderate amounts of pain now, in few years we may be suffering from chronic wrist/neck/back pain. Ugh. Boo to that.
I think it may be time to investigate getting a computer desk at home with adjustable height and a supportive, adjustable desk chair.
update: I swear this is an affliction! Last night I spent an hour at Office Depot and Best Buy trying out ergonomic office chairs and desks. I picked up the best chair I tested–which conveniently ended up being the cheapest, $32.99. I hope that’s not a harbinger of quality.
This post first appeared on From the Belly of the Beasts, a weblog from some of the people who build O’Reilly websites.
I’m going to have to get a TV so I can start watching The O’Reilly Factor just to stay in touch with this inadvertent O’Reilly subculture. Maybe find a way to get them turned onto Perl as a way to redirect their insecurities and anger. Converting Fox News fans into paying customers will be my hidden agenda.
Just a question?
I loved the show night, but the key issue is are we at “WAR”? Only the Congress can declare war. No they did not. The United States is in a conflict less than war; “Legally bu [sic] International Law”.
Therefore, the Geneva Convention does not apply and International Rules do not apply. The U.S. is free by the rules of “Westphalia” [A region in Germany? -ed] to protect its citizens and take the gloves off when we, our children, and way of life is threatened into distinction [It took me a minute, but acrobatic use of language was a dead giveway–we’re getting emails from the President. -ed].
If we are horrid [sic] by the events of 9-11, then take off the gloves and do what our ancestors did, kill them like rabid dogs [emphasis added], because you can not negotiate with them. That is what I and fellow Soldiers are doing today.
Do you feel safe at sleep tonight? How about your family, friends, and most importantly your children? We do not matter they do.
This post first appeared on From the Belly of the Beasts, a weblog from some of the people who build O’Reilly websites.
A few times a week an email gets sent to webmaster at oreilly dot com from someone intending to get through to Bill O’Reilly. Yeah, that Bill O’Reilly.
It turns out there is actually a bill at oreilly dot com who I’m told enjoys getting the sometimes supportive, other times combative emails intended for the other “Bill.” A quick search online suggests bill@billoreilly.com or oreilly@foxnews.com might be more effective outlets.
Since everyone in OPG sees the webmaster emails, every once and a while I get a chuckle out one of these gems:
As I was channel surfing this evening I caught a glimpse of your “take” on Arnold our governor getting booed at a commencement address. You called the protesters “leftist” “morons”. As someone who is to the right of you in my political views, I take offense at being called a leftist moron. [That’s frightening. -ed.] Although I was not at this protest, I agree with their point of view. The person you were interviewing understood what I mean as she did not agree with your view either. I am a teacher who is facing critical cuts in an already fragile budget and I am not happy with Arnold along with some fifty+ per cent of Californians. He stole 2 billion dollars from our budget which he promised, in writing, to return, and has now changed his mind. He refuses to work with the legislature and the other special interests such as nurses and fire fighters, but does not feel that his millionaire friends are special interest groups. I have been a dedicated Republican for years, but have told the Republican fund raisers that call that no more funding will be forth coming from this household until Arnold is out of office. [Thank god for that. -ed.] He is trying to bulldoze over us with his agenda and be an egomaniac dictator instead of the public servant that he should be. I am highly educated and certainly do not consider myself a moron. [Clearly. I’m curious who you voted for? -ed.]
Perhaps we should publish a book called “Political Hacks”!
This post first appeared on From the Belly of the Beasts, a weblog from some of the people who build O’Reilly websites.
