![[Memories of the Future Jellyfish]](/darren109/memories-of-the-future-jellyfish-basic.jpg)
I just learned tonight that Wil Wheaton has a new podcast out, called Memories of the Futurecast.
The podcast is a promotion of his latest book, Memories of the Future, Volume One, which is Wil’s going-down-memory-lane review of the first 13 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
I listened to the first episode of the podcast already, and I’m looking forward to hearing the rest (12 of 13 have been published so far, as I write this). I enjoy everything Wil Wheaton does.
The autosave feature in recent versions of WordPress (versions 2.5–2.7) is actually a misfeature:
… A misfeature is not a bug. Nor is it a simple unforeseen side effect; the term implies that the feature in question was carefully planned, but its long-term consequences were not accurately or adequately predicted (which is quite different from not having thought ahead at all).
The improper functioning of the WordPress autosave has bitten me several times. It’s supposed to prevent you from losing work by periodically saving your blog edits in the background, when in fact it has caused me to lose work by its very operation.
![[WordPress Logo Inverted]](/darren109/wp-logo-login.png){kind=logo}
Basically, the most recent edits made to a blog entry often get dropped when you go to “Preview” or “Publish” the entry. In other words, during either of these two operations, it reverts you to what it had autosaved in the past and the new edits are lost. The frustrating thing is that most users would expect the “Preview” operation if not the “Publish” operation to properly save what’s in the edit box. So often, you might end up publishing an incomplete or incorrect version of your blog entry without even knowing it.
This is madness. Let’s stop it.
Find the following four files in the wp-admin/ directory of your WordPress installation:
page-new.phppage.phppost-new.phppost.phpand comment out the following line:
wp_enqueue_script('autosave')
by changing it to:
//wp_enqueue_script('autosave')
This will disable the autosave feature in the WordPress user interface.
A secondary part of the solution, too, is to always hit “Save Draft” before hitting “Preview”. I’m not sure if this is strictly necessary, but now I’m paranoid.
Thanks to Allen Day and William Lone for showing me how to do this.
Have you ever had that feeling in your gut when someone close to you is about to tell you bad news? Or what about the pit in your stomach when you know you have to face something that you know you don’t want to face? Well, behind these feelings and physical sensations are thoughts. These thoughts are sometimes conscious and oftentimes subconscious, but they are there.
These feelings and the thoughts behind them demonstrate that thoughts are energy. The thoughts that we hold in our consciousness, and those that lie below the level of consciousness, have an effect on our emotional lives. Through them, we can be lifted up and “energized” or be brought into states of fear and anxiety. Where you end up on this scale depends on the level of spiritual consciousness of the thought itself.
![[Cultural Creative Figure]](/darren109/cultural_creative.jpg)
Along these lines, then, we can find way to achieve relaxation and calm the body through conscious thought. Basically, ask yourself the question, “What does gratefulness feel like?” Now, this is not a question for the intellect, to be mulled over and processed by the thinking mind. No, hand your awareness over to your body as you enter the state of being grateful.
How do you do that? Well, this may be slightly different for every one of you, but I start by thinking about things I am grateful for. That is, I enumerate the wonderful things in my life, from the exceptional to the mundane. But the key is this: I don’t stay at the level of the thinking mind. Instead, as I bring each thing into conscious thought, I start to pay attention to how I feel—in my body. In other words, I shift my attention from the mental image to the sensation in my chest (or in my heart or in my forehead). For me, this immediately shuts off the thinking mind and allows me to enter into the awareness of who I AM—the thinker behind the thought.
Now, as you read this, I encourage you to give it a try. Examine for yourself what gratefulness feels like and where it shows up in your body. How does it differ from the feeling of universal love? Which emotions work best for you as a way to connect with and relax your body?
As you practice and become increasingly familiar with this method of relaxation and meditation, you can start to use it in your daily life to change how you feel in any situation. You can shift your thoughts to what you want to focus on and to the emotional state you wish to achieve in any given moment.
Does the following dialog box make sense to you? That is, are you able to answer the question it asks?
![[Nonsensical dialog box]](/darren108/dialog_yes_or_no.png)
Think about it for a bit, then see the comments for this post for the answer.
![[xkcd's 11th Grade]](/darren108/11th_grade.png "And the ten minutes striking up a conversation with that strange kid in homeroom sometimes matters more than every other part of high school combined.")
Interestingly, Python was first released when I was in Grade 11. Via xkcd.
![[Made in China]](/darren108/made_in_china.jpg)
© 1984 Saskia Davis
Be on the lookout for symptoms of inner peace. The hearts of a great many have already been exposed; and it is possible that people, everywhere, could come down with it in epidemic proportions. This could pose a serious threat to what has, up to now, been a fairly stable condition of conflict in the world.
Signs and Symptoms of Inner Peace
- A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences.
- An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
- A loss of interest in judging other people.
- A loss of interest in judging self.
- A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
- A loss of interest in conflict.
- A loss of the ability to worry. (This is a very serious symptom.)
- Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
- Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.
- Frequent attacks of smiling.
- An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
- An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.
WARNING: If you have some or all of the above symptoms, please be advised that your condition of inner peace may be too far advanced to be curable. If you are exposed to anyone exhibiting any of these symptoms, remain exposed only at your own risk.
— Saskia Davis
(For permission to reprint, write to Saskia Davis, 10640 Exeter Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98125.)
Hey, it’s the First of May y’all! And you know what that means…
“First of May”, by Jonathan Coulton (4:10, 4.8 MB)
Christmas is for remembrance. The love manifesting through our gifts to each other typifies the offering of Life, the givingness of Spirit to its creation. The hands of the Eternal are outstretched through our hands, and the heart of the Infinite beats in the human breast. But the giver must give of himself, for “The gift without the giver is bare”.
It is not, then, in lavish gifts that we find true giving but in the sweet simplicity of remembrance, in the kindly thought, the tolerant mind and the gentle act. Love alone can give love, sympathy alone can sympathize and only goodness can really do or be good.
The one who gives for reward does not give at all; he seeks to bargain; to trade for spiritual gifts, hence he senses loss on his own giving and finds no completion through the act. But he who gives half his meat to the hungry, feels justified and is warmed by a real sense of comradeship. He has established an actual unity between himself and other offspring of creation.
Great causes succeed when there is a giving of humanity. With the cheque must come the one who wrote it, his interest, his enthusiasm, his love. The cheque must be a symbol of his desire to impart himself—then shall it multiply its benefits and do good. Charity is cold but love is warm. When heart speaks to heart a divine conversation has taken place, a heavenly discourse.
Each of us has something to give. Let each see that he gives of his best. If we are bringing gifts to the altar of love, nothing less than the best will be acceptable, nothing less than all is enough.
May the real spirit of Christmas—the giving of self to life—enter and abide in you now and through all time.
This is what the Lindy Hop looks like.
And I should add that watching this dance routine gives me goosebumps. 🙂