blogwaffe

This plugin will cause WordPress to display on a category archive page only those posts which are direct members of that category, i.e. this plugin will exclude from that category page all posts which belong to any of that category’s subcategories but do not belong to the category itself.

Compatibility:
This plugin requires at least WordPress version 2.3 or higher, and I have tested it with the still-in-development WordPress version 2.8. If you haven’t already, upgrade to the latest WordPress.

Instructions:

1. Download the plugin.
2. Upload it to your wp-content/plugins/ directory (i.e. wp-content/plugins/just_one_cat.php).
3. Make sure the file has sufficient File Permissions to be read by your web server (you probably don’t have to worry about this step).
4. Activate the plugin called “Just One Category” from your Administration Panel’s Plugin Manager.

That should be it. No configuration is necessary.

Update: This plugin is now hosted on the wp-plugins.org repository. The download link above has been changed to reflect that.

My Quantum Field Theory professor, Professor Wise (check out the hot website), gives out change for correctly answered questions in order to encourage class participation. Previous to last week, I’d earned something less than a dollar for my efforts. There’s a couple people in the class who consistently make about ten or fifteen cents a lecture and there’s one person in particular who answers “zero” to every question for which that answer could be appropriate. Professor Wise has lauded (and suggested) this strategy, claiming that nearly all of the questions he asks can be answered correctly with that response.

In Tuesday’s lecture, we were discussing grand unified theories, and he posed the (implied) question, “Guess how many grand unified theories I understand.” I responded quickly and authoritatively, “Zero.” The professor immediately burst out laughing and headed for his wallet. Fishing around for a quarter he said, “No, no, no. That deserves something more”. He pulled out a single, but said, “No, no”, and pulled out a five spot. Coming over to my seat he proclaimed to the class, “This is the most money I have ever given out in all my days as a lecturer. No one has ever had the chutzpah to say something like that. Congratulations.” I expressed my deepest honor and gratitude and stuck it in my pocket.

The rest of the class responded with a mixture of laughter, shock, and (I’d like to think) admiration (for the both of us).

To make the deal even sweeter, Professor Wise also finalized his plans to take the class out to dinner the following evening.

Five bucks and a free meal for going to class and being a smart ass. Awesome.

A couple days ago, NASA reported that Voyager 1 has passed through the solar termination shock (and that their graphics people have made some pretty hot little movies). The termination shock is part of the interface between the solar wind exiting our solar system and the intestellar wind blowing about around us.

Suck on that, Jeff. None of this namby pamby kidney nonsense :)

I like Vroman’s. They’re not quite as massively chain like as Barnes and Noble or Borders, they make me feel like I’m shopping a bit more locally, and they put on pretty good events.

But this time they lost me.

Read more…

So I guess there’s an undergrad party tonight: Moonshine. Anybody interested in going? And if people do go, does anybody know if we’ll be disappointed as we were at the last Dabney party?

Me: “Where’s the bar?”
Undergrad dude: “There is no bar.”
Me: “…”
Me: “Where’s the bar?”
Undergrad dude: “There is no bar.”
Me (in my head): “It is only your mind that drinks.”
Me (out loud): “Perhaps I’m not making myself clear, or perhaps, being under the age of twenty-one, you are unfamiliar with the ‘bar’ concept. I am interested in obtaining alcoholic potables in some quantity. Whence might such libations be procured?”
Undergrad dude (out loud): “?”
Undergrad dude (in his head): “Jackass grad students. I can’t believe we always have to ask for funding from the GSC.”
Me: “?”
Undergrad dude: “…”
Me: “Peace.”

Hello,

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Soft Tabs also have less sidebacks (you can drive or mix alcohol drinks with them). No prior prescription needed.

You can get it at: [url removed]

Aside from the grammatical problems, there are a couple things that are just not right about the above spam message I recently received.

The first is that soft tabs seem difficult to cut in half. But supposing you actually manage to cut the things, it must be even harder to save the juicy bits from the second half for use later. Oh spammer, why not just make smaller pills?

The second is a problem of marketing. If someone is interested in obtaining the “best erections [he’s] ever had” lasting “up to 36 hours”, he sure as hell isn’t going to want anything called “Cialis Soft Tabs”. Come on, people. This impotent but yearning hypothetical man, this member of a readily exploitable demographic intent on a cure is going to want “Hard Tabs”. Or “Big Tabs”. Or, if he’s into that whole alliteration thing, “Turgid Tabs”. But “Soft”?

Please.

Maybe I should go into the marketing business peddling snake oil wares promising to reduce erectile dysfunction. Or maybe I should just hit the delete button faster.

Ever had a picnic in a parking garage? Didn’t think so. Neither had I until today when, after much delay, Caltech’s new underground parking structure was officially opened. To celebrate, the president, a trustee or two, and staff person who was actually involved in the construction project cut the ribbon and led all three hundred plus of us down in to the depths to eat free hot dogs and hamburgers (vegetarian options available).

It was really kind of neat. All the food was cooked just ouside the garage and served just inside. There were picnic tables set up deeper in, and people were happily chatting and eating where tomorrow there will be seven hundred cars parked. The folks in charge encouraged people to look around and scope out the scene; many people did.

The food was good (as in free as in beer) and the structure looked pretty cool (as far as parking garages go). I imagine the only people sorry to see it open are those like Dixie. Tough luck, girl. No more free cash for you.

When looking about for something to eat for dinner, I noticed an old bottle of Trader Joe’s General Tsao’s Stir Fry Sauce in the fridge. By ‘old’, I mean seven months or so. Don’t worry, it (apparently) keeps well. General Tsao’s is, perhaps, the material good I miss most from my days in Rochester. I think it was statuatory that all Chinese restaurants make it, make it well, and give it to you free if you phone in a sufficiently large delivery. I bought the sauce on a whim many moons ago to see If I could recreate the delicious dish I had grown to love. The answer: no. But I could make something pretty tasty nonetheless.

Cook up some chicken on George, slice up some arbitrary vegetables (tonight I found tomato and red pepper in the kitchen [uh… yeah, yours Paul.za]; broccoli and/or snow peas would have been awesome), and mix the lot together in your favorite metal stir frying object. Best served over sticky rice, but pasta serves well in a pinch (by ‘pinch’, I mean I was lazy).

A damn fine dinner.

The other rediscovery is quicker to explain but no less delicious: Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream. I feel no description is necessary.