March 2008 Archives
As Michelle and I were driving over to a friend's house last night, it occurred to me that there are a couple of musical artists and bands that I can always listen to. What I really mean, I guess, is that these are the staples of my music collection. I thought I'd share . . .
- Crowded House
- I'm gay for Crowded House. Sorry. Really like Neil Finn and the boys, and have for a long time. They got together for a new album last year, and toured in support of it. Michelle and I drove to Philly to see them. DEFINITELY worth the trip. Their music is timeless. Neil's lyrics are super intelligent, curious, quirky, and very deep all at the same time. Heck, these guys are playing right now as I type this. . .
- Radiohead.
- These guys are so different and so eclectic. I can always find something of theirs that fits my energy level. I'm never disappointed by Radiohead
- John Hiatt
- JH is an underrated song writer. His stuff is smart and revealing, and very timeless. Listening to him reminds me of club hopping in Nashville, where you got to see some incredible artists - local artists - that kicked butt. John is an Indiana boy, which makes me smile, too.
- The Replacements
- Minneapolis Punk Rock. Almost an oxymoron. I got interested in these guys back in the late 80s. With songs like "Gary's Got A Boner" and "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out" as well as their more normal fair -- these guys rock, and don't take themselves too seriously. Great music to drive fast to. These guys aren't together anymore, far as I can tell.
- Liz Phair
- I am a lover of Liz Phair, too. She's been around for a long time -- her first album is classic, and the next two are really good, too. Liz is someone that I can listen to anytime, anyplace.
- Arc Angels
- This was a surprise find. I was a big Charlie Sexton fan, back in the day. On a fluke, back in the 90s, I went to a club in downtown Nashville called "Ace of Clubs" or something like that. The band was playing that night, which I didn't know until I paid the cover. Charlie comes out with Dwayne Bramhall III and the rhythm section from Stevie Ray Vaughn. I just about crapped my pants. It was one of the best shows I've ever seen, and their one CD is in my car all the time, and gets played at least weekly. Very good CD. Even better band. Too bad they aren't together anymore.
- The Rave-Ups
- Another pitifully unappreciated band. Most people only heard them playing in the movie "Pretty in Pink" (see Wikipedia). These guys got me and Dan Ballard through a great kayak trip back in 1992, I think it was. The CD "Chance" was and is another timeless CD that rocks, again, with intelligence, great melody, and awesome lyrics.
I'm not a Sunday Morning News Geek, but I do watch when I'm not at church or can catch a replay on one of the other affiliated cable shows. I caught General Hayden this morning, answering some great questions posed by Tim Russert regarding the CIA and the current Global War On Terrorism.
I was impressed by the quality of the answers that the General provided. I think that the CIA is in better shape today than it's been in quite a while, and mostly because if his leadership and the growth that the organization has undergone. There is a large number of sub-five-year employees at the CIA -- Russert wrongly attributed this to employee turnover. The General was quick to point out that the staff has increased considerably over the past several years, and that the critical experience levels would begin to rise (the five to fifteen year employees) over the next few years. It's indicative of the criticality of the organization.
There is a transcript here.
I was impressed by the quality of the answers that the General provided. I think that the CIA is in better shape today than it's been in quite a while, and mostly because if his leadership and the growth that the organization has undergone. There is a large number of sub-five-year employees at the CIA -- Russert wrongly attributed this to employee turnover. The General was quick to point out that the staff has increased considerably over the past several years, and that the critical experience levels would begin to rise (the five to fifteen year employees) over the next few years. It's indicative of the criticality of the organization.
There is a transcript here.
I ran across this via HowToForge and thought it worthy of mention. I am working a project where something like this will eventually be used, so I'm constantly looking for options.
iTALC - Intelligent Teaching And Learning with Computers
From the website:
"iTALC is a use- and powerful didactical tool for teachers. It lets you view and control other computers in your network in several ways. It supports Linux and Windows 2000/XP (Vista support will come) and it even can be used transparently in mixed environments!
In contrast to widely used commercial equivalent software, iTALC is free! This means you do not have to pay for expensive licenses or things like that. Furthermore the source-code is freely available and you're free in changing the software to fit your needs as long as you respect the terms of iTALC's license (GPL). Freedom in two ways!"
Yay GPL!
iTALC - Intelligent Teaching And Learning with Computers
From the website:
"iTALC is a use- and powerful didactical tool for teachers. It lets you view and control other computers in your network in several ways. It supports Linux and Windows 2000/XP (Vista support will come) and it even can be used transparently in mixed environments!
In contrast to widely used commercial equivalent software, iTALC is free! This means you do not have to pay for expensive licenses or things like that. Furthermore the source-code is freely available and you're free in changing the software to fit your needs as long as you respect the terms of iTALC's license (GPL). Freedom in two ways!"
Yay GPL!
An atheist is walking through the woods one day when all of a sudden a huge bear runs out to attack him. The atheist runs as fast as he can but trips over a stump and falls to the ground. As he turns rover the bear is standing on top of him, paws stretched wide ready to maul him.
“Oh God” screams the atheist.
Suddenly time stands still, the bear freezes in the attack position and a voice out of heaven says “Yes, you called?”
“Oh” says the atheist “you really do exist! Can you make this bear go away?”
“Why should I?” says God. “You’ve been denying my existence all your life”
“Fair point” says the atheist. “Ok, how about this. Can you turn the bear into a Christian instead?”
“Ok” says God and time resumes once more. The bear stops in attack, bows his head meekly and says “Dear God. Thank you for what I am about to receive…”
We took advantage of the really nice sunshine to get a pic of the family to celebrate the holiday. We've had a great day at Church and eating lunch at one of the only restaurants open today in our little town.
Today is also Savannah's 13th Birthday. I'm feeling older by the minute . . .
We'll be enjoying the weather some more outside today -- may even get in the boats and float in the marsh for a while.
Today is also Savannah's 13th Birthday. I'm feeling older by the minute . . .
We'll be enjoying the weather some more outside today -- may even get in the boats and float in the marsh for a while.
- I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.
- Borrow money from pessimists - they don't expect it back.
- Half the people you know are below average.
- 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
- 42.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
- A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.
- A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
- If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.
- All those who believe in psycho kinesis, raise my hand.
- The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
- I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met.
- OK, so what's the speed of dark?
- How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?
- If everything seems to be going well you have obviously overlooked something.
- Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
- When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
- Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.
- Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off now.
- I intend to live forever -- so far, so good.
- If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?
- Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
- What happens if you get scared half to death twice?
- My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder."
- Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
- If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.
- A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.
- Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
- The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread.
- To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.
- The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.
- The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.
- The colder the x-ray table, the more of your body is required to be on it.
- Everyone has a photographic memory; some just don't have film.
On Sunday afternoon, we had the great opportunity to run up to Williamsburg and meet up with my good friend Vance and his daughter Kayla. They were back on the East Coast for a school trip.
Vance had another one of the chaperons take this picture of us all together, a block off of DOG street behind the Apothecary Shoppe.
Thanks, guys, for dragging us along with you!
Vance had another one of the chaperons take this picture of us all together, a block off of DOG street behind the Apothecary Shoppe.
Thanks, guys, for dragging us along with you!
From the article: For Scientists, a Beer Test Shows Results as a Litmus Test
by Carol Kaesuk Yoon (3/18/08, NY Times)
"After years of argument over the roles of factors like genius, sex and dumb luck, a new study shows that something entirely unexpected and considerably sudsier may be at play in determining the success or failure of scientists — beer.
According to the study, published in February in Oikos, a highly respected scientific journal, the more beer a scientist drinks, the less likely the scientist is to publish a paper or to have a paper cited by another researcher, a measure of a paper’s quality and importance."
Read more.
by Carol Kaesuk Yoon (3/18/08, NY Times)
"After years of argument over the roles of factors like genius, sex and dumb luck, a new study shows that something entirely unexpected and considerably sudsier may be at play in determining the success or failure of scientists — beer.
According to the study, published in February in Oikos, a highly respected scientific journal, the more beer a scientist drinks, the less likely the scientist is to publish a paper or to have a paper cited by another researcher, a measure of a paper’s quality and importance."
Read more.
From Websters: of acute mental vision or discernment : keen
Ran across this while Digging. This is pretty interesting, although I'm not sure about the validity of the data.
Check it out here.
One of my best friends, someone whom I have known for over 20 years, was in Williamsburg with his daughter today. Vance and Kayla were in town for a spring break trip. We met up with them on the lawn in front of the Governor's Palace and hung out for most of the afternoon. The sun came out, it warmed up a bit, and we got caught up while faking our way into the tours (they were paid, we were pretending to be a part of their group.)
Vance and I spent many-o-day-and-night in the Upper Mojave Desert blowing stuff up (legally, for the Marine Corps, and in the name of God and Country). We've been able to keep in touch -- off and on, like what happens when your friendship is bi-coastal -- since 1986.
Vance was and is one of those few guys that you meet in life that is an instant brother, a person for whom you develop tremendous respect and love. It's a blessing to know Vance and his family.
So, we had a great, great Sunday in Southern Virginia.
Vance and I spent many-o-day-and-night in the Upper Mojave Desert blowing stuff up (legally, for the Marine Corps, and in the name of God and Country). We've been able to keep in touch -- off and on, like what happens when your friendship is bi-coastal -- since 1986.
Vance was and is one of those few guys that you meet in life that is an instant brother, a person for whom you develop tremendous respect and love. It's a blessing to know Vance and his family.
So, we had a great, great Sunday in Southern Virginia.
This is how a five year old copes with a missing Godzilla head. You use a plastic Pointsetta bloom in place of a cranium and call it good.
This is the sort of stuff that makes all the hard parts of being a parent worth it. Thank God we can laugh.
This is the sort of stuff that makes all the hard parts of being a parent worth it. Thank God we can laugh.
I watched "30 Days of Night" last night on DVD. Easily, EASILY, the best Vampire movie E-var. Ever. I'm sure you disagree, but here's my case. These vampires are the new standard in vampires, and here's why. Beware spoilers. . .
I give it five out of five.
- The vampires weren't posers. They were animalistic bad-asses with no sense of the theatrical.
- The vampires didn't have fangs. Fangs are for snakes; these vampires are eaters, and need teeth for ripping and tearing. Think shark when you think of their teefers.
- The vampires didn't "clean up after themselves." They ate, got messy, and left the mess on their faces and shirts. Kind of a reminder to everyone that they didn't give a rat's ass about any of it.
- They were pretty damn strong, but not so strong as to make you call bullshit. It took more than several of these monsters to flip a Ford Bronco over on it's roof.
- They couldn't be killed via the traditional vampire death mechanisms, like silver bullets and garlic and that sort of crap -- except for the sunlight thing (which is the premise for the movie, duh).
- They didn't dress nicely. See #1 above.
I give it five out of five.
I know, I know. I'm giving myself up as a ridiculous geek just by linking to this blog entry. That said, how many of us haven't wanted to make our Excel data look better or do something automatically very cool and useful? Being a former Lotus 1-2-3 macro hacker, I used to spend lots of time just trying to get my spreadsheet better understood and more useful to the other users. Back in the day . . .
Anyway, I ran across this and thought it worthy of sharing with the . . . zero readers of my blog. Except for Charlie in CA, that is.
Here's the link: http://chandoo.org/wp/2008/03/13/want-to-be-an-excel-conditional-formatting-rock-star-read-this/
Anyway, I ran across this and thought it worthy of sharing with the . . . zero readers of my blog. Except for Charlie in CA, that is.
Here's the link: http://chandoo.org/wp/2008/03/13/want-to-be-an-excel-conditional-formatting-rock-star-read-this/
My favorite: Modeling Surprise
Combining massive quantities of data, insights into human psychology, and machine learning can help manage surprising events, says Eric Horvitz.
Link here
Combining massive quantities of data, insights into human psychology, and machine learning can help manage surprising events, says Eric Horvitz.
Link here
I'm beyond lucky. I swear.
