Clips
Included here are clips demonstrating various aspects of my work. Some are published works, others are demonstrations of particular genres. I’m happy to provide before-and-after clips of editing work on request.
Ten Keys To Classic Couture
Gentlemen, do you know how to dress?
No, I don’t mean the white shirt and black pants you wear to work every day, and I certainly don’t mean that powder blue leisure suit you still have hanging in the closet from your Saturday Night Fever days. I mean real, classic dressing, the kind of style that made Cary Grant the model for James Bond. If you’re lacking a bit when it comes to suave style, keep reading, this one’s for you.
I’ve written before about spotting fashion staples and what to wear when you go to the mall. Now it’s time to talk about putting what you’ve learned to good use.
1. Invest in quality. Quality clothes stand the test of time. Conservative suits, traditional shoes, and elegant accessories never go out of style. Sure, the width of ties changes every few years, and wild trends come and go, but the classics stay forever. It may cost you a little more to buy up front, but when you can pull your best black suit out of the closet ten years from now and still look as sharp as you did the day you bought it, you’ll be glad you coughed up for the good stuff.
2. Find a tailor and make friends. Getting the right fit on your clothes is essential. A good tailor can make the difference between a shirt that resembles a parachute and one that looks like it was made for you. Real tailors are a lot harder to find these days than they used to be. However, they’re still out there. Find a good men’s store (preferably a local, traditional outfitter, not a mall chain store) and ask them who you should go to.
3. Dare to be daring. Edward VIII, later the Duke of Windsor, is the patron saint of classic style. Many of the elements best known in classic style started as flights of fancy when he was Prince of Wales. One of the things he knew best was that a bit of adventure is good for the soul, and so it is for your clothes. Don’t be afraid to mix and match patterns, stripes, and solids. If you’re a bit skittish, find someone you can trust and have them proof your ideas before you put them on.
4. Shine your shoes. It used to be said that the first thing a woman looked at was a man’s shoes, and if they weren’t up to snuff, she wouldn’t think he was either. I don’t know that such is the case any longer, but a well-shined pair of shoes is still a mark of a man who cares about how he looks. Buy quality (remember what happened to me) and find out where you can have them looked after.
5. Never, ever, ever underestimate your accessories. A man who accessorizes poorly looks sloppy, and one who doesn’t accessorize at all looks worse. At the very least, your belt should match your shoes, and your socks should coordinate with your trousers. Note I said coordinate, not match. Matching things makes us look like we just stepped out of a shop window, or in the extreme, like Johnny Cash; coordinating makes us look stylish. If you’re wearing black pants, a black or dark gray sock with a light pattern is appropriate (note: the bright red socks with Santa on them are never appropriate); if you’re wearing brown, something in tan would be nice.
5. (Part II) Things like pocket handkerchiefs, tie-tacks, and lapel pins (among other jewelery) are dangerous territory. You don’t need a collection of silk handkerchiefs in three dozen colors. A nice white linen hanky in your top pocket is very stylish; your choice on whether you fold it and show a straight line or “floof” it. Tie tacks and lapel pins are, for the most part, well, tacky. I’ll let you get away with a small one on your lapel if it’s for a good cause. As for other jewelry, just be careful. Big sports watches have no place with suits. Neck jewelery, if worn, should only be known to you and God. (That means tuck it out of sight.) Wedding bands are permitted by default, and a family or signet ring would be okay — more than one ring, though, is too much. As for earrings, they look great — on the right person — with casual clothes, but have no place with a suit. Sorry, not even a diamond stud, stud.
6. Sweat isn’t sexy. Always, always, always wear a t-shirt under your dress shirt. White is nice, but has a tendency to show through light shirts. If that happens, wear a light gray one instead; for some reason, gray doesn’t show through. A-shirts (you know, those white, ribbed things with the domestic violence associations) won’t cut it — they don’t reach under your arms. You should also carry a white cotton handkerchief folded in your pocket — if it gets warm and you start to resemble a fountain, you can mop your brow with it. It’s also useful if nearby ladies, overcome with emotion, burst into tears — but for heavens sake, only offer it if you haven’t had to dry off.
7. Speaking of moisture, get an umbrella. Gene Kelly got away with singin’ in the rain, but you won’t if you turn up looking like a drowned rat. Keep a small umbrella in your briefcase at all times, and use it. A quality raincoat — gabardine, please — is also a good idea, but won’t protect you when that beautiful day turns unexpectedly drizzly.
8. Leave the flair to Chotchkie’s. If you’re in a profession where you’re expected to look a bit odd, we’ll let this one slide, but for the rest of us, err on the side of conservative. Wild print ties, socks, and yes, even boxer shorts, have no place in classic style. If you work in an artistic setting, but still want to look classic, choose classic items and give them a bit of artsy flair when necessary.
9. Look for clues. If you want classic style, pay attention to what people with classic style are wearing. Ask where they shop, and if you’re comfortable with it, what advice they might have for you. Look to your boss — provided he knows how to dress — for guidance on what’s best for work.
10. Never, never, never wear something you’re not comfortable with. Being at ease in your skin, and by extension, in your second skin, is essential to looking good. If you feel uncomfortable in what you’re wearing, people will pick that up, and you won’t end up looking classic — you’ll look comic. That’s not what we want.
If you follow these suggestions — and know when it’s okay to bed them a bit — you’ll be sporting classic style in no time.
Originally posted on JustinRyan.com
Beleaguered Senator Backs Down
Faced with a full blown filibuster after resorting to procedural trickery to force through a pro-immunity amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was forced to withdraw the controversial measure and allow the Senate to consider both versions after the Christmas holiday.
The controversy over amendments to FISA has been ongoing for months, and have culminated with two versions of the proposed amendments being voted out of committee. The Intelligence Committee’s version includes a provision providing immunity to any telecommunication’s company that cooperates with government surveillance activities, while the Judiciary Committee’s version omits the controversial provision. Sen. Reid, who controls the scheduling of legislation considered by the Senate, attempted to prevent the consideration of the Judiciary Committee’s version by invoking a procedural vote.
Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd orchestrated the filibuster, which forced Reid to withdraw the proposal and leave the matter until after the Senate reconvenes in January. The immunity provision is intended to thwart a bevy of lawsuits filed by citizens who believe their privacy was violated by illegal surveillance undertaken by the Bush Administration. President Bush has pledged to veto any amendment that does not include the immunity provision.
Originally posted on Linux Journal
Microsoft Goes Open Source?
In a move drawn straight from a geek’s worst nightmare, Microsoft has been formally inducted into the Open Source community.
The Open Source Initiative, the body tasked with safeguarding the Open Source community, initiated the Empire with the formal acceptance of Microsoft’s two “Shared Source” licenses, the Microsoft Public License and the Microsoft Reciprocal License.
According to a blog post by Michael Tiemann, the OSI’s chief shepherd, the Initiative had no choice but to accept the licenses. “Microsoft came … and submitted their licenses according to the published policies and procedures. [They] didn’t ask for special treatment, and didn’t receive any.”
Originally posted on Linux Journal
Create a personal stability plan
I had a chat with a friend of mine last week about the unfulfillment of the post-college, early-to-mid twenties years. Jen has been in her job for a couple of years, a nice, safe, corporate job, but with very little advancement potential and very little to do with the things she is passionate about. She’s an intelligent, amazing woman with endless potential, but she just doesn’t feel actualized.
Our conversation was really one of those “I just need someone to listen” conversations, but I found myself writing down what I heard her saying as she went. I realized as she went along that what she was really saying was that her life lacked stability, and I started to think perhaps it was the lack of stability that made her feel unfulfilled. When she finished what she needed to get out, I read back to her the list I’d made, and then we talked about what it might mean.
What I heard her saying was that even though her job is bearable and pays the bills, she never knows what the next day is going to bring. She likes her friends, but feels that many of them lack direction, and that the chaos in their lives is breeding chaos in her life too.
What I suggested was that she make a stability plan, a written outline for the areas she feels are unstable, and ideas on how to achieve stability. For example, one area she wants to develop is her social circle: Her college friends are great, but unfocused. She’d like to meet some older friends: professionals in their late-twenties to mid-thirties, because she feels she would relate better with them, and some who are older, more parental figures. I suggested that her stability plan might involve picking out activities where she could meet such a group, such as a book club or the local artist’s circle, and then scheduling firm times to attend the activities. I volunteered to attend a weekly event of her choice with her so she wouldn’t have to go alone.
As for her career, the plan might involve checking the newspaper ads each day, setting up a Craigslist search feed for jobs that match her interests, and frequenting Monster.com or other sites where the jobs she’s interested in would be posted, then making a firm time each week to apply for all the jobs she found. It also might involve letting others in her social circle know she is looking for jobs in a certain field, so we can pass on information about any opportunities we might learn about.
The idea of a stability plan was really a spur of the moment idea of mine, but the more I thought about it, the more I decided it really was something that would work for those of us who desire more stability in our lives. Taking the time to sit down and write out the areas of our lives that are unstable, brainstorm ideas to provide more stability (with a good friend, if you like), and make a firm commitment to act on them, accompanied by a concrete schedule.
Some might find such an exercise too formalized, but for those of us who really want more stability in our lives, it just may be a great way to take the first step towards a more stable, actualized life.
Originally posted on Wisebread
The Latest From Apple: iSnoop?
Apple has been riding a wave of good publicity recently, stretching from the release of the much-anticipated iPhone through to last month’s debut of Leopard, the latest installment of Mac OS X. But the happy times may be headed for a dip after questions arose about whether Apple is using it’s technology to spy on users.
Users of Hackintosh — a popular site for Apple aficianados — discovered recently that several applications included in Apple products are reporting user data back to servers. According to Hackintosh, the applications involved include ones intended to track weather and stock information, as well as ones as seemingly innocent as Leopard’s calculator.
Just what Apple may be doing with the information — and what great secrets they plan to uncover from user’s math homework — remains a secret, as the computer giant has yet to comment on the discovery.
Originally posted on Linux Journal
MPAA Gets A Bit Of Their Own
The Motion Picture Association of America — one of the “Associations of America” notorious for single-minded focus on copyright enforcement — has gotten a bit of it’s own poison, as it’s been forced to remove software from it’s website designed to detect and report file sharing by university students.
The MPAA’s “University Toolkit” was touted in a series of letters sent to U.S. colleges in October, encouraging them to use the toolkit to help identify and punish students engaged in copyright-infringing file sharing. What the MPAA apparently forgot to check was it’s own copyright-infringing file sharing, as the toolkit was built upon GPL-licensed code from Ubuntu Linux.
The MPAA’s failure to publish the source code for the toolkit put it at odds with the GPL, and landed it’s ISP with a DMCA take-down notice from Ubuntu developer Matthew Garrett. Garrett indicates that he made repeated efforts to remedy the issue directly with the MPAA, but was unsuccessful, prompting the escalation to the association’s ISP.
Originally posted on Linux Journal
Build your credit with your monthly expenses
Credit cards are a way of life for many people: As of April 2007, US Consumer debt exceeds 2.7 trillion dollars. Unfortunately, the first credit experience for many people is a credit card that leaves a trail of negative debt that takes years to recover. The opposite extreme isn’t much better: if you shun credit cards, then your score suffers from lack of revolving credit.
How, you ask, do you use credit cards to build your credit without ruining it instead? My answer is: Build credit with monthly bills you have to pay anyway.
Anyone who lives on their own has recurring monthly expenses: Rent, utilities, cell phones, cable, insurance, and a multitude more. You have to pay these expenses each month, so why not use these recurring payments to build your credit?
Here’s the method:
Sign up for the lowest interest-rate card you qualify for (this is important: never pay more in interest than you have to). Forget the special promotions (bonus miles, cash back, etc.) because they really aren’t worth it. If you have difficulty, apply through your bank or for a store charge with a Visa attached (I like Target).
When the card comes in, setup all your bills to charge to it automatically each month. Most bills are eligible for this (rent may or may not, depending on your landlord), and don’t forget your car & health insurance, student loan payments, etc. Don’t put more than 75% of your credit limit on the card; the idea is to build your credit, not max out your card. Small bills are better than large ones if you have to choose.
Next, write down the card number and expiration date, and seal it up in an envelope in a safe place. If you have additional regular bills later, you can sign them up. (The envelope is intended as a reminder that the card is only for bills.)
Finally, cut up the card. That’s right, cut it up: It’s only for bills, and they’re done. If you think you might use the card number in the envelope, then burn it.
Your bills are now on the card. You’ll still get a statement for each bill, and to make sure you have the money to pay your credit card, put cash in an envelope (or a separate bank account) to cover it as each bill comes in. (Yes, put $52.17 in the envelope on the day the cell phone bill comes each month, etc.) When the credit card bill comes at the end of the month, take the cash in the envelope and pay the bill off outright. Never, I repeat, never leave a balance on your card; always pay it off in full every month.
As the months go by, your credit will build steadily, using only the regular expenses you were going to pay anyway. The credit card company won’t be able to decide if it loves you (for carrying a high average daily balance) or hates you (for paying the bill in full each month). But the credit bureaus will love you, and your credit score will thank you.
Originally posted on Wisebread
Someone Actually Wants SCO?
As astonishing as it sounds, someone actually wants to buy SCO, the bankrupt software company that has spent the last few years biting at the ankles of the Linux community.
York Capital Management LLC, a New York investment firm, has asked the United States Bankruptcy Court for permission to buy SCO’s Unix business for $36 million dollars. The deal would also reportedly include $10 million in funding to cover SCO’s litigation fees.
The motion came just after Novell filed a motion to lift the automatic bankruptcy stay that is preventing the companies from going to trial in U.S. District Court in Utah to settle the question of how much is owed to Novell from Unix licensing fees wrongfully collected by SCO.
Originally posted on Linux Journal
The Empire Strikes Back…In Nigeria?
A recent Linux victory has turned into a blow from Big Evil. It wasn’t that long ago that Mandriva won a contract to provide the Nigerian government with 17,000 Intel PC’s for local schools — complete with the latest version of Mandriva Linux. The deal was hailed as a triumph for open source over evil.
Little did anyone know that Microsoft was still hard at work. Just as the systems were delivered, the Nigerians announced they would be replacing the pre-installed Linux with Windows. François Bancilhon, Mandriva’s CEO, is feeling the blow particularly hard, and is letting his feelings be known in an open letter addressed to the Prince of Darkness himself, Steve Ballmer.
“How do you feel looking at yourself in the mirror in the morning?” he writes, among a laundry list of charges against the Microsoft CEO. The full text is available on Mandriva’s blog.
Now that we’ve seen the Empire’s latest move, there is only one question the true geek can ask: “What will the Jedi do now?”
Return of the Jedi…Er, Mandriva
Last week, we reported that Microsoft — which we affectionately like to think of as “The Empire” — had struck a blow against Linux in developing countries by destroying a Nigerian deal to provide Mandriva Linux to school-children.
We ended by questioning what would happen next, and now we know: Mandriva’s Jedi have returned. In an unexpected double-take, the Nigerian government has overruled the local supplier that planned to replace Linux with Windows on 17,000 Intel PCs.
The government’s stand doesn’t seem to matter to Microsoft, though, as their local manager is claiming the government really does prefer Windows. Ordering 17,000 Linux PC’s seems like a funny way of showing they love Windows…
Originally posted on Linux Journal
Being Frugal Doesn’t Have to Hurt
For some reason, a lot of people seem to think being frugal means becoming an ascetic. When I tell people that I write for a personal finance and frugal living blog, they often look at me as if to say “How odd, you don’t seem like a masochist!”
Being frugal doesn’t mean you have to read de Sade for tips on elevating penny pinching to penny torture. Being frugal is about saving money, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not about depriving yourself and your family in order to do so. Frugality is about being prudent and economical.
Being prudent with your finances means that you carefully consider your purchases, and you save money where you can. You use coupons and discounts when they are available, and you avoid spending more for an item if you know you can get for less. You don’t have to do without the things you need, or for that matter, the things you want, you just have to be smart about how you go about getting them. Indeed, if you’re good at being frugal, you’ll be able to afford more of the things you want, because you won’t have spent too much for the things you need.
Being frugal also means recognizing value — if you pay more in the long run for substandard items than you would have if you’d bought quality, then you aren’t achieving frugality. Sadly, many people don’t understand the importance of value, and judge only on price. This is a huge mistake.
A good example: Several years ago, I bought a pair of classic black dress shoes from a very nice men’s store, and paid about $150 for them. I was quickly denounced by my frugal family because the price was “excessive.” Because they were so expensive, I took very good care of them, making sure they were aired out after each wearing and regularly polished. Now, seven years later, I still have those dress shoes, and they still wear as well as they did the day I bought them. I consider them a triumph of frugality, because I’ll probably get another seven or eight years out of them, at which point I will have $10 per year invested, and I got to wear really nice shoes during that time.
Please don’t misunderstand me: I’m not suggesting that the higher price is always worth it. You have to be very careful about judging value. For example, I usually buy store brands when I go to the grocery, because I don’t believe the name brands provide value for the extra price. If there isn’t an appreciable value to paying more, don’t.
In the end, remember that “frugal” doesn’t have to be a dirty word, and it certainly doesn’t have to conjure up images of self-flagellation. You can practice financial wisdom without ritualistically inducing pain on yourself or others.
Originally posted on Wisebread
Essential Software for Students
Between papers to write, tests to study for, projects to finish, and trying to actually have a social life, there’s a lot for students to do. There’s also a lot of software out there that promises to make things easier - unfortunately, a lot of it can break a student budget. Fear not, though, there is help!
Students have a lot of needs when it comes to technology, and thankfully, there are free solutions to most of them. From security to socializing, I’m going to walk you through the essential software for students to keep their schoolwork and schedules on track.
Security
AVG by Grisoft makes an excellent suite of anti-malware software. There are three programs in the suite: AVG Anti-Virus Free, AVG Anti-Spyware Free, and AVG Anti-Rootkit Free. They work well, update automatically, and you don’t have to worry about your subscription - and your protection - running out.
As for a firewall, ZoneAlarm is a great choice, free for personal and charitable use. When a program tries to access the internet, ZoneAlarm pops up a message requesting access – if you don’t know whether to allow it or not, ZoneAlarm will offer advice about what to do.
Web Browsing and Email
For web browsing, you should get Mozilla Firefox. It’s free, it has thousands of extensions to do anything you could possibly want to do with a web browser, and it has security features built in. If you don’t do anything else, get rid of Internet Explorer. It’s a magnet for viruses, spyware, and just about every other kind of security problem that exists.
While you’re switching to Firefox, check out Mozilla Thunderbird for email. It does everything Outlook does, and like Firefox, has great extensions and built-in security.
Office Applications
Eventually, you’re going to need to write something, or create a spreadsheet. Instead of paying $300 for Microsoft Office, get OpenOffice. It does everything that Microsoft Office does, and it’s completely free.
Likewise, why settle for the restricted features of Adobe’s Acrobat Reader? Get Foxit Reader instead – it’s faster, it lets you do things Acrobat doesn’t, and it’s free.
At some point, you’re probably going to want to do some image editing. You can shell out hundreds for Adobe Photoshop, or you can get The GIMP, a free, open-source alternative. GIMP can be a bit less intuitive, but once you learn to master it, there’s not much you can’t do with it.
Calendar
If you’re going to keep your schedule together, you’ll need a calendar. Paper calendars are great, and it’s a good idea to have one for those times when you can’t get to your online one. However, there are a lot of positives to online calendars: email and text-message reminders, guest invitations and RSVPs, group sharing, and of course, being able to access it anywhere in the world. When it comes to online calendars, Google Calendar is my favorite.
If you like having a desktop calendar program, I recommend getting a Google Calendar account and downloading Mozilla Sunbird, a full-featured calendar program that integrates well with GCal. If you’re using Thunderbird for email, you can get Lightning, a great calendar extension for Thunderbird.
Chatting
There are a lot of great services out there for chatting. MSN, AOL, Yahoo, and Google all have their own services. If you’re using them all, you should consider a multi-service client like Pidgin.
You can log into all your IM accounts through Pidgin and save the system resources used by running several different clients.If you want the ultimate in chatting, though, you should go for Skype. Not only does Skype provide user-to-user and group chats like the other programs, but it offers free user-to-user VOIP phone calls. You can even have large conference calls with groups of Skype users, anywhere in the world. Skype also offers plans that allow you to call landline phones, and to receive calls from landlines; in some cases, you can have your whole year’s phone service for less than you’d spend for two months with regular phone service.
Online Applications
There are some great online applications out there for students as well. Google offers a whole library of services, including Google Scholar, Google Book Search, Google Earth, Google Translate, and the previously mentioned Google Calendar.
For note-taking, NoteSake is an excellent online application. NoteSake lets you take your notes online, share them with others, collaborate with groups, organize them, and even provide copies to others who weren’t in class.
If you’re learning a foreign language, Mango provides free online language courses. You can choose from eleven different languages, with more to come. Mango is a beta release, however, so don’t be surprised if you find the occasional cucaracha.