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Simple flashcards using JQuery
I wanted to create some flashcards for my Jesus and the Gospels class, where the final exam involves being given a large number of fill-in-the-blank questions. I also wanted to try out JQuery, a lightweight Javascript toolkit that has fascinated me for a while. The result is quite impressive for very little work.
To add items to the flashcards, you mark up text that looks like this:
How now brown cow?
So that it looks like this:
<p>How now <span class=”words”>brown</span> cow?</p>
I inlined the JQuery 1.2.1 library, wrote a tiny bit of glue to make things look good, and the result can be downloaded here: BI190 Flashcards using JQuery.
Vista pirated half as much as XP…. yay.
Microsoft is completely thrilled that Windows Vista has been pirated half as much as Windows XP. They shouldn’t be. All that means is that Vista isn’t worth the trouble at any price. Typically the people making software available for piracy are more technically adept, and those people just aren’t as excited about Vista.
An alternative to embryonic stem cells
In case you haven’t heard the news, there is a new approach to creating stem cells for research, one that does not involve human cloning or the destruction of human embryos. First Things’ Joseph Bottum had this to say about the development:
If the news of major breakthroughs in cell research should turn out to be correct, we are about to witness something like victory in the fight over embryonic stem cells.
And that will open a nest of interesting questions, beginning with this one: All those editorialists and columnists who have, over the past ten years, howled and howled about Luddites and religious fanatics thwarting science and frustrating medicine—were they really interested in technology and health, or were they just using all that as a handy stick with which to whack their political opponents?
You may remember back in the last election I opposed Missouri Amendment 2 because it authorized human cloning and destroyed embryos. Supporters even put Michael J. Fox on television, declaring that embryonic stem cells were the only hope to cure his Parkinson’s disease. But as the First Things article above suggests, support for embryonic stem cell research was not pro-science, it was pro-abortion.
With 2,000,000+ votes cast in 2006, Missouri Amendment 2 passed by less than 50,000 votes. With new science under our belts, perhaps now is a good time to begin efforts to repeal it.
Horizon Information Portal Search Shortcut
Just a quick one: I finally got tired of clicking through the Wartburg Seminary website, so I made a Firefox Search Shortcut out of the minimum URL needed. Just copy and paste this into a new bookmark in Firefox:
http://library.dbq.edu:8675/ipac20/ipac.jsp?profile=wts&index=.GW&term=%s
And set the keyword on the shortcut to lib. Then you can type lib Your Mom and get all items in the catalog that are about Your Mom.
Christian Ethics and the Right to Vote
The issues of abortion, euthanasia, the war, and political and economic justice place myself and many other people in a trap between the two major political parties in the United States. Often times people like me have been derided as “single issue voters,” though that has never been true for me. The choices involved, presented from a Roman Catholic perspective but holding universal application, are well presented in this article from the First Things blog.
Certainly, a Catholic elected to public office must make prudential judgments on how to best advance the rights and the dignity of the human person. There are many issues, in fact most issues, where Catholic politicians may disagree and adopt different policy positions—a just immigration policy, for example, or public-assistance programs for the poor, or health-care policy, or military engagement, or taxation policies.
At the same time, there are circumstances where to support a particular policy involves approval of an intrinsic evil.
Java printing broken in Ubuntu Gutsy
I use Asaph, a lead-sheet creation program for musicians, and I discovered that since upgrading to Gutsy, printing doesn’t work. Apparently this is a common problem, detailed in this bug on Launchpad.
The (albeit ugly) workaround: in Software Sources, add deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ feisty main as a “Third Party Source.” Then downgrade to cupsys version 1.2.8-0ubuntu8.
Koine Greek in Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon
IMPORTANT NOTE: This guide does not work as of Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx. Please see my new guide for directions on getting KMFL to work with iBus.
Here’s the simple process for installing Koine Greek input method support for Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon:
- Make sure you have
sciminstalled - Add this repository to your apt sources:
deb http://packages.sil.org/ubuntu gutsy main sudo aptitude updatesudo aptitude install scim-kmfl-imengine kmflcomp- Download scim-greek-koine.tar.gz, which contains a KMFL engine file I got from somewhere else that I have modified to work.
- Extract the tarfile and compile the kmfl file by running
kmflcomp GrkPolyComp.KMN - Run
scim-setup, click on the new “KMFL” option, click install, browse to the GrkPolyComp.kmfl file you just compiled.
It was a twisty road to get to this point, so if it doesn’t work for you, post in the comments and I’ll try to help you work it out.
WartVid updated
Just six weeks ago, I announced the open beta test of WartVid, a simple website to lend and borrow DVDs. Today I’m pleased to announce that there are over 1000 media items available to borrow and almost a quarter of the student body has signed up to use it.
There are two new features:
- Quickly browse alphabetically by title with the new “letter cloud”.
- TV shows and VHS tapes – everyone was entering these in anyway, so they are now searchable under the “Browse” tab.
Next up: allowing anyone to lend a DVD out to anyone else, whether they are a WartVid user or not, by typing their name in. Then maybe some Dojo.
WartVid launched
I created a system for lending and borrowing DVDs within the Wartburg community. The result: WartVid!
Here’s the announcement:
Greetings fellow students!
Realizing that many of us have prodigious DVD collections that often times collect dust, I have created WartVid, a simple website to coordinate lending and borrowing DVDs from other people in the Wartburg community.
It’s very easy to use – just create your account here: http://www.wartvid.com/signup and then (optionally) type in your DVD collection, one DVD per line (and try to capitalize correctly). Then you can browse other people’s movies, pick out ones you would like to borrow, and request them. It’s up to you to get in touch with the lender to get the DVDs, but the website coordinates the contact information for you.
When someone borrows your DVDs, you can keep track of who has what at all times. When you receive a DVD back, check it in to your library. The system sends emails to coordinate lending and borrowing, so please enter an email address you check regularly.
Best of all, WartVid is completely free. The service has been in alpha testing for a few weeks, and it has performed well. In fact, there are already 260 movies available for you to borrow for free right now.
I hope you enjoy WartVid. Please feel free to email me with questions, suggestions, or bug reports.
Peace,
Ted Carnahan, M.Div junior
Rural church internet
I was chatting with one of my professors today, and she mentioned a high-tech savvy Wartburg graduate a few years ago who went on internship to a rural congregation. By rural, she meant “no high speed internet.” We went on to have a lovely conversation about how backwards the church often can be with regards to technology.
My conclusion: You can send me anywhere, but pretty please let there be hot and cold running internet! Otherwise I’ll have to drag said congregation kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
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