This is the FINAL ENTRY for this Movable Type weblog .. which is based on an older version of MT5 Pro. [ For which you can find all the individual entries listed � OLD ENTRIES LISTED HERE. ]

The new weblog is based on the current version of MTOS 5 (Movable Type Open Source 5).

You can read all about it in the first entry of the new installation posted here � Movable Type Open Source (MTOS 5) � The Final Freebie from Six Apart (again).

You can find all the new entries for the new weblog listed here � NEW ENTRIES LISTED HERE.

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Rad note � The text contained in this entry originally came from another entry. It was lifted and transferred here because the subject drifted far enough to warrant its own, separate entry.

(Search engines like it better when entries with different topics get their own separate page.)

At the end of this entry (that you are reading now) you will find a link to return you to the exact spot from which this entry was taken.

Einstein at Chalkboard at PrincetonHere ya go...

The Community College

Speaking of teaching .. I would like to share with you an article written about our community colleges ..

.. which I found very interesting .. titled � The Promise and Failure of Community Colleges.

Which basically says that � "a very large group of young Americans are not prepared, either financially, cognitively or socially, for that kind of education."

Because only ~8% of community college students transfer to a 4-year college (.. like the Film school girl did) ..

.. and only one third will earn a two-year degree within 6 years.

Qualified to Comment

I have spent considerable time at community colleges .. mostly in California, so I feel qualified to comment.

Especially since both the dog and my brother went to Ivy league schools (Columbia & Yale). Both home-town schools.

You may find it interesting that roughly HALF of all students enrolled in college at any given time .. are studying at a community college.

Wow, that's a lot.

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Rad note � The text in this entry originally came from another entry. It was lifted and moved here because the subject drifted far enough to warrant its own, separate entry-page.

(Search engines like it better when different topics get their own separate page.)

At the end of this entry (that you are now reading) I have provided a link to return you to the exact spot from where this entry originated. Here ya go ...

Adobe Dreamweaver CC & Enabling Maximum Creativity with the Creative Cloud

Adobe Dreamweaver CC (2014)Update .. my curiosity got the best of me so I downloaded and installed a trial copy of the new Dreamweaver (called "CC") ..

.. and took it for a creative spin around the new 64-bit block .. to see what it's like.

Wow. What a piece of software. What a well designed piece of software.

Elegant. Smooth. Rock stable. My first 64-bit Dreamweaver experience. Beautiful. I'm definitely impressed.

Tho I'm sure that the performance gains due to this new quad-core-based 64-bit laptop (10 years newer) have something to do with this favorable impression.

I must say .. that the interface is quite different from the CS4 version that I have become so accustomed to, since it was first released autumn of 2008. So it has been some 6 years to the CC 2014 release.

This current version [ "CC" ] was released Sept 2014. A development span of 6 years. A lot can change in the world of web design in 6 years.

CC stands for � Creative Cloud. I like the way that Adobe markets themselves (pimp their wares) .. as [ a suite of ] � "The World's Best Creative Apps".

Difficult to disagree.

Adobe bought up, over the years, all these different creative digital apps and committed themselves to developing them into suite of creative capabilities that work together in order to produce the most creative environment possible. No mean feat.

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Rad note � The text contained in this entry originally came from another entry. It was lifted and moved here because the subject drifted far enough to warrant its own, separate entry.

(Search engines like it better when different topics get their own, separate page.)

At the end of this entry (that you are now reading) I have provided a link to return you to the exact spot from where this entry originated. Here ya go...

David Carr (1956-2015) David Carr Dies of Lung Cancer at 58

Speaking of cancer .. did you hear that David Carr died of cancer? .. at age 58.

I did not know that a person could die of cancer without even being aware that they had it.

So I have been thinking about that ever since he (so surprisingly) died (.. 6 days ago on Feb 12).

Maybe later I will return to share some comments on both the man and his death ..

.. tho I cant help but wonder � did he know .. that he had cancer?

I heard that some people cannot tolerate the treatment and say, "Fuck it. Just let me die."

I must say, I certainly understand the sentiment. Such a decision would depend on a number of factors, including age and health.

Regarding David Carr dying at 58 .. it may sound trite, but worth noting nonetheless .. that it's not how long you live, but how you live the years you have.

Update Sept 14, 2015 � The Times announces a fellowship named for David Carr. <end update david carr fellowship>

[ Here is another guy, Simpsons creator, Sam Simon, who just died of cancer in his late 50's. ]

Citizenfour | Edward Snowden Citizenfour | Edward Snowden | Oscars

I find it somewhat curious ..

.. that David Carr had just finished interviewing Laura Poitras, Glenn Greenwald and Edward Snowden (live via Moscow) that very same day ..

.. about the filming of Citizenfour, which has been nominated for Best Documentary ..

.. and is the odds-on favorite. (Trailer.) Timing is everything, they say.

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Rad note � The text in this entry originally came from another entry. It was lifted and moved here because the subject drifted far enough to warrant its own, separate entry-page.

(Search engines like it better when different topics get their own separate page.)

At the end of this entry (that you are now reading) I have provided a link to return you to the exact spot from where this entry originated. Here ya go ...

Toshiba 17-inch Satellite with AMD and Radeon R5 New 17-inch Toshiba Laptop with AMD & Radeon

But before I get too deeply into that .. I should first mention that I got a new laptop. After 10 years with the old one.

Which I bought when the Bug was a newborn. (He is now 10.)

There was a mix up with the rent and I could see that I would be living out of my car (Porsche in Laguna) for a while ..

.. and FOR THAT I would need a laptop ..

.. which I could then use at either the coffee shop or the library. That was the impetus for the purchase.

(Doncha just love those little side-excursion detours down memory lane?)

I doubt you know many people who have been able to keep a computer running for as long as I have .. using it hard nearly every day.

I got a (black) 17-inch Toshiba Satellite ($399, bro bought it for me) .. with an AMD A8 CPU (quad-core) and 6 gigs of memory and a 750 GB hard drive.

I have never had an AMD chip before. The good thing about AMD is that .. it comes with Radeon R5 hardware graphics acceleration .. because AMD bought ATI, who made the Radeon gfx chips.

My old laptop has an Intel chip (Celeron) and uses software (CPU) gfx acceleration. But Intel also has its own version of hardware gfx acceleration.

So I feel like I died and went to laptop heaven. I am using it right now to write this entry.

Switching to (free) MS Expression Web from Dreamweaver

Microsoft Expression WebTho I am using Microsoft's (free) Expression Web 4, which is pretty similar to Dreamweaver, which I have been using for years. And which I know well.

But I cannot get my old copy of Dreamweaver to even install on this new operating system (Windows 8.1). {My old laptop ran Windows XP.)

So I totally bypassed both Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Dreamweaver now runs on a subscription-only basis for $20/month .. if you sign up for a whole year.

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Day #23 for Patient #23

� Today is day #23 since the end of my chemo and radiation treatments. The blood-count nadir for this chemo is � "14-23 days". So that means I should definitely be on the mend beginning today.

The chemo doctor said that the three-weeks-after-treatment is done will suck-the-worst. (I'm paraphrasing, of course.)

She was right. Actually, I would put the sucky focus on days 3-13 .. as the worst of the worst.

FrankensteinI could certainly elaborate but will spare you the gory details.

Worst is Behind

Between you and me .. the thing I am really looking forward to ..

.. is that day when it occurs to me .. that this 'thing' ..

.. this cancer thing & especially the EFFECTS of its brutal treatment regimen .. is/are behind me.

I cannot say that today, tho. Because this 'thing' is all up in my ass, presently. Like a toothy croc munching on your butt.

But certainly, day #23 represents at least the beginning of the end.

And that alone brings a degree of comfort .. that I made it beyond treatment and survived.

In other words � the worst is now behind. (Tho, no .. I admit, it does not feel that way.)

It was not that long ago, you know, when I was writing � "This shit does not look doable. Not from where I currently stand .. at the mid-way point of treatment."

(And it didnt, either. Nor was it later on in treatment.)

Treatment in the 23-Day Old Rearview

Cancer Treatment in the 23-Day Old Rearview MirrorTwo days after treatment ended, my chemo doctor examined me and said, "Well, I must say .. for having JUST finished treatment .. you look fantastic."

(Tho no, I confess I hardly felt fantastic. Closer to Frankenstein than fantastic. Much closer.)

That was the day she gave me a big hug. "Completion hug," she said with arms wide.

"That was pretty hard," I had to admit. "What an ordeal." (I will take a hug from my chemo doctor any time.)

Hardest Thing You'll Ever Do

While I was waiting recently to see the chemo doctor .. the nurse for the radiation doctor came out and saw me. She came over and sat down and we chatted for 10 minutes .. there in the big waiting room.

She has seen me violently shaking and projectile-vomiting, during my 2nd clinical trial .. so our level of familiarity goes beyond the usual niceties of social grace.

It's interesting how we can develop these mini relationships with people that feel surprisingly intimate ..

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The Day Dostoevsky Stopped Suffering

Rad note � The text in this entry originally came from another entry. It was lifted and moved here because the subject drifted far enough to warrant its own, separate page.

At the end of this entry (that you are now reading) I have provided a link to the exact spot from where this entry originated, Here you go ...

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) The Day Dostoevsky Stopped Suffering

By the way .. it has nothing to do with today's entry, but today (Feb 9th) is the day that Dostoevsky died (in 1881).

134 years ago.

When you are suffering, Dostoevsky feels like he is right there with you.

Like he has boldly gone beyond anything you can possibly imagine. (Because he has.)

February in St. Petersburg is probably pretty cold and nasty.

Pushkin himself (1799-1837) also died in early February (on the 10th, tomorrow) in St. Petersburg.

Of all the superlatives that I have read about Dostoevsky ..

.. probably the most impressive praise is found on the inside flap of the hardback version of the Brother Karamazov ..

.. words which come from the beginning of a sentence which reads � "Beyond Dostoevsky's towering reputation as one of a handful of thinkers who forged the modern sensibility..."

Think about that. Think about what is required for someone to even make such a statement about you.

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Rad note » The text in this entry originally came from another entry. It was lifted and moved here because the subject drifted far enough to warrant its own, separate page.

At the end of this entry (that you are now reading) I have provided a link that will return you to the exact spot from where this entry originated. Here you go ...

» I continue to lose weight .. down to 154. That means I've dropped nearly 30 lbs. When I put on my pants, they are very loose. Nausea, no appetite, dry heaves. Wake-n-puke every morning. [ print: 'Hello world, cancer patient'; ]

Purple Nepal: An Indica StrainSo bad have I been feeling, so nauseous, so shitty ..

.. that I stopped by this place that sells legal medical cannabis.

I heard that you can purchase some for as little as $10.

But you cannot, I learned, just walk into a place and buy cannabis. No, sir.

Not even if you are being treated for cancer and you have all the paperwork to prove it.

Rather you must first go see a doctor and get an official license. (A medical 'recommendation,' I think they are called.) Which, they tell me, is no problem if you are being treated for cancer.

So I have not yet bought any. Because I first need to go see a doctor who writes these recommendations. Plenty of patients have said it does indeed bring a degree of relief to the nausea and even promotes an appetite.

It certainly cant make me feel any worse. Medical cannabis has been legal here in California since 1996. [ Think Windows-95 era. ]

The Dog was the first one to recommend it. He has friends who it has helped.

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Cancer is Such a Mystery

� I have been trading emails recently with the sister of clinical trials patient #24. (I was #23, like Michael Jordan.) Her brother is three weeks behind me in treatment. Today is his final chemo and he has one week of radiation left.

Cancer cells dividingMost interesting of all the things she wrote is this �

"Cancer is such a mystery. My brother was the epitome of health before treatment. A marathon runner, a tri-athlete and an elite cyclist.

He never smoked, he didn't drink and he ate a very healthy diet. He is only 39. So who knows?"

I read her statement multiple times. I could feel myself trying to wrap my head around the implications.

If nothing else, it doesnt seem fair, does it?

[ Here is a similarly-themed article about young, healthy, athletic people who have strokes. ]

As a cancer patient, you cant help but try to figure out this shit.

During my many rides down to Moores, I would talk to the drivers. I recall one saying �

"I smoked two packs a day for 25 years before I quit." [ And he never got cancer. ]

Myself, I smoked a little as a teenager, but never really enjoyed it very much. Rather, I was just trying to be cool.

My mother was diagnosed with lung cancer after not having smoked for 20 years. [ "Honey, we didnt know cigarettes were bad for you. When we found out, we quit." ]

I've never been much of a smoker or a drinker. Go figure.

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Killing the Incurable

� I was going to title today's entry � Moving Back the Oncolytic Goal Posts .. for reasons that will become clear. But that would have been the whiny title, the sniveler's title. The pussy title. And nobody appreciates a whiny, sniveling pussy .. especially when it's a guy.

Instead, today's title is .. well, you see it there .. which I will use as a springboard to discuss these oncologists � The Cancer Killers.

Let me just mention that, killing cancer is no big deal. If you simply throw the host into a sufficiently-hot furnace, the cancer will die within a matter of minutes.

The trick, it would seem, is killing the cancer without killing the patient.

It should be noted that, my experience with cancer, while growing up, with both mom and gramps, was that � following diagnosis, the patient is dead within a matter of months. The kinder and more loving the person, the quicker and more gruesome the death.

Is there a statistical correlation between kindness, compassion, empathy, and cancer? I have discussed this concept (and the possible theories for reasons behind it) with my shrink during our most recent weekly session.

Cinderella and her Wicked Step Mother Lady Tremaine played by Cate BlanchettHow many selfish, cold-hearted fucks do you know who get cancer? I'm talking empirically, here.

Not many, I bet.

But before I get into that, and discussing the cancer killers, let me update you on the status of my latest iterations.

Just when you think it couldnt get any more bizarre. Or challenging. Or trying. Or testing.

The Voice

My VOICE .. it has been a problem, off-n-on, for a week or so. The last time I saw the radiation oncologist, he said � "If your voice doesnt improve by the next time I see you, I am going to look at it."

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