Thursday Roundup

RACISM IN THE VALLEY
Thirteen-year-old twins from down the road in Bakersfield have come out with an album which is receiving plenty of attention. The thing which sets these American idol wannabes apart from the other pretty faces out there is that they are Neo-Nazis -- apparently brain-washed by their parents. Sad. (via)


ANOTHER LOOK AT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
Charlie Lehardy, who lives in Tucson, Arizona, has written a series of posts which attempt to put a face on immigration and the underlying causes. He's does a good job. Part 1 / Part 2


JET-LAGGED
We got 12 hours of sleep Tuesday night -- so things were not too bad yesterday -- although my thinking was fuzzier than normal. Today will be an even better day.


TRAFFIC LIGHTS WORKING
The traffic control lights at the intersection of Crowell and Christoffersen, in Turlock, are fully functional as of Wednesday. However, they still haven't moved the control box which they randomly dropped in front of the church's sign. Sigh.


WORSHIP REFLECTIONS FROM AN AGING BOOMER
The concert has won. The worship service has lost. We will trade one for the other, but it is not a fair trade. It's a loss of what we once had and could count on in almost any church. Link


JOHN WESLEY & JOHN CALVIN
They shared more than a first name. Article by Keith Drury and Chris Bounds


SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES
The English are fighting over a proposed smoking ban.

One of the great things about living in California is that there is no smoking allowed in public buildings at all. In other words, we're not assaulted by second-hand smoke when we go to restaurants and malls. (I was reminded of how wonderful this is when we were in Guam, where everyone seems to be puffing away and the smoke in restaurants easily drifts into the "no smoking" sections -- barbaric). If the English get this right we may have to go for a visit.


MEN & WOMEN PREFER DIFFERENT WEBDESIGNS
Where visuals are concerned, males favour the use of straight lines (as opposed to rounded forms), few colours in the typeface and background, and formal typography. As for language, they favour the use of formal or expert language with few abbreviations and are more likely to promote themselves and their abilities heavily.

A selection of the University websites was then shown to a group of individuals of both sexes who had to rate their appeal on a scale. In almost every case women preferred those sites designed by women and men showed a preference for those created by men.

-- Press release from the University of Glamorgan


ALTERNATIVE BUILDINGS
Just to keep my buddy Sean tuned in to my blog, here is yet another link to alternative designs.