Well, Bill Gates is baffled and he's not afraid to admit it. He can't figure out why more kids aren't studying the computer sciences! Even if high salaries and job opportunities for college-educated computer scientists aren't well publicized, Gates believes that since kids use technology they should be interested in studying it!
While I generally believe this is true, I use cars every day but I am not at all interested in studying how they work. Also, I use the weather report everyday, but I know nothing about how a forecaster does his job, nor am I at all interested in learning meteorology. Further, I spend much of my day sleeping and, for the record, I have no plans to become a sleep therapist!
I think that the information revolution is at hand. People are going be very interested in using the technology to advance their own lot, but I don't think that translates directly into recruiting people who are driven to improve or study computer science. During the industrial revolution, factory owners harnessed the technology to improve their output. However, these factory owners didn't quit their jobs to study industrial processes at the local university.
Also, many kids go through high school without much exposure to the computer sciences. As mentioned on this blog previously, computer science classes are being cut from the high school curriculum due to a shortage of funding.
Given this, there is going to be a major shortage of American-educated tech workers in the near future. This is only going to increase the amount of off-shoring. Once people see this, they are going to be less likely to encourage their kids to enter the field of computer science at college or technical school. This will only serve to increase the need for off-shoring yet again. Do you see the negative feedback loop we can create?
Something needs to be done to correct this sooner rather than later. Thoughts?
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Supreme Court Nominee Announced
It was just announced, moments after 1pm, that President Bush would announce his nominee for the Supreme Court at 9pm this evening. I have not yet been contacted by the President to congratulate me on the nomination. However, I do expect that call to come anytime now. Listen for my name in the news later tonight.
Backstory: First, second.
Update: Well, the fairy tale is over. At 8pm tonight, a White House source told the news networks that the President's nominee will be Judge John Roberts Jr. Better luck next time!
Backstory: First, second.
Update: Well, the fairy tale is over. At 8pm tonight, a White House source told the news networks that the President's nominee will be Judge John Roberts Jr. Better luck next time!
Most Stolen Cars
Do you leave your car doors unlocked? Do you think to yourself, "No would want to steal my car."? Either way, you better check out this list to see if you car is highly prized by thieves.
Topping the most stolen list is the Acura Integra. Officials say the car is popular among evil-doers for two reasons. First, the car's engine is quite powerful and can be fitted under the hood of other Honda cars. Second, the car is common among street racers. Once racers customize their cars for speed, others will do anything to get their hands on it. Speaking of which, how do you transfer the title for a stolen car?
Cars just outside the top 25 include:
26: Plymouth Horizon
27: Dodge Dart
28: Amphicar
29: Chevy El Camino (It's a car and a truck!)
30: Ford Pinto
In a related story, I was once questioned by police because they thought I was trying to steal cars. It's a long story, but suffice it to say that just because you are sneaking around a carport late at night with a screwdriver in your pocket does not necessarily mean that you are intent upon boosting cars.
You never know when you might need to tighten a screw during a late night game of hide and seek, right?
Topping the most stolen list is the Acura Integra. Officials say the car is popular among evil-doers for two reasons. First, the car's engine is quite powerful and can be fitted under the hood of other Honda cars. Second, the car is common among street racers. Once racers customize their cars for speed, others will do anything to get their hands on it. Speaking of which, how do you transfer the title for a stolen car?
Cars just outside the top 25 include:
26: Plymouth Horizon
27: Dodge Dart
28: Amphicar
29: Chevy El Camino (It's a car and a truck!)
30: Ford Pinto
In a related story, I was once questioned by police because they thought I was trying to steal cars. It's a long story, but suffice it to say that just because you are sneaking around a carport late at night with a screwdriver in your pocket does not necessarily mean that you are intent upon boosting cars.
You never know when you might need to tighten a screw during a late night game of hide and seek, right?
Monday, July 18, 2005
Put some ICE on it
In case of emergency, who would you want rescuers to call?
In Britain, promoters of the ICE (In Case of Emergency) initiative are urging cell phone users to place the acronym ICE in their address book to designate people to be contacted in case of emergency.
In a life-or-death situation, EMTs may need to contact someone who is aware of the victim's medical history or treatment status. Paramedics may waste crucial time dialing address book entries searching for someone who can answer the following:
Should we try to resuscitate? Is this person allergic to emergency medicines? Is there a history of heart attacks or high blood pressure? In the case of a traffic accident, is there someone traveling with this person that may need to be rescued as well?
These are just some of the questions that rescuers hope can be answered by ICE designees during an emergency. Participation in the program is simple: attach ICE before the address book entries of people that you want to be contacted during an emergency. For example, instead of "Dad" use "ICE - Dad".
Of course, if your cell phone is stolen, thieves could use this information to uncover information about your relatives or, indirectly, more information about you. Downsides like this are absolutely not going to deter me from using this simple, but potentially very helpful, tactic.
From my year's in the ER, quick access to a person that is able to provide detailed information about a victim is invaluable. This is just another way that current technology can be used to make a major, positive impact on our safety!
In Britain, promoters of the ICE (In Case of Emergency) initiative are urging cell phone users to place the acronym ICE in their address book to designate people to be contacted in case of emergency.
In a life-or-death situation, EMTs may need to contact someone who is aware of the victim's medical history or treatment status. Paramedics may waste crucial time dialing address book entries searching for someone who can answer the following:
Should we try to resuscitate? Is this person allergic to emergency medicines? Is there a history of heart attacks or high blood pressure? In the case of a traffic accident, is there someone traveling with this person that may need to be rescued as well?
These are just some of the questions that rescuers hope can be answered by ICE designees during an emergency. Participation in the program is simple: attach ICE before the address book entries of people that you want to be contacted during an emergency. For example, instead of "Dad" use "ICE - Dad".
Of course, if your cell phone is stolen, thieves could use this information to uncover information about your relatives or, indirectly, more information about you. Downsides like this are absolutely not going to deter me from using this simple, but potentially very helpful, tactic.
From my year's in the ER, quick access to a person that is able to provide detailed information about a victim is invaluable. This is just another way that current technology can be used to make a major, positive impact on our safety!
Terror Report
Today two leading British think tanks released a report saying that the war in Iraq has given "a boost to the al Qaeda network's propaganda, recruitment and fund-raising".
I hope that report was cheap to commission because for $10, or the equivalent in coffee, I could have told you the very same thing.
According to a CNN.com quickvote attached to the above story, 80% of 13817 respondents believe that Britain's involvement with the United States in the war on terror (including Iraq -- I know it's a stretch) has made it more of a terrorist target.
I hope that report was cheap to commission because for $10, or the equivalent in coffee, I could have told you the very same thing.
According to a CNN.com quickvote attached to the above story, 80% of 13817 respondents believe that Britain's involvement with the United States in the war on terror (including Iraq -- I know it's a stretch) has made it more of a terrorist target.
Sandra Bullock Marries
According to reports, Sandra Bullock married Jesse James. James is the star engineer and designer on the Discovery Channel show "Monster Garage".
The pair arrived in style -- a tricked out truck driven by Mr. James.
Does this pave the way for "Speed 3: Terror on Two Wheels"? You heard it here first.
The pair arrived in style -- a tricked out truck driven by Mr. James.
Does this pave the way for "Speed 3: Terror on Two Wheels"? You heard it here first.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Wedding Crashers Review
We got the posse together and saw Wedding Crashers last night. Given the cast and the premise, I had high hopes.
I was not disappointed. Vince Vaughn straps the movie on his back and carries it. His character is almost exactly like every other character he has ever played: fast talking, quick witted, charming and absolutely hysterical. When you have a winning pony, why ride a horse?
The movie featured three (3) tear-jerker moments. These aren't sentimental or sad tears. Oh no, these were tears of laughter.
As I like to say, the plot tended to interfere with the movie. There were several unfortunate minutes of actual character development and storyline.
There is a surprise cameo near the end of the movie. I won't ruin the surprise, but I have very strong, negative feelings for this actor. His role, which lasted for a matter of minutes, was almost enough to destroy the movie. This performer's negative vibe was countered by a surprisingly funny performance by Christopher Walken. So, it all worked out!
I'm giving it an A. I'll be seeing it again this week!
Did you see it? Tell me what you thought! Use the comments or email realwasteoftime@gmail.com.
I was not disappointed. Vince Vaughn straps the movie on his back and carries it. His character is almost exactly like every other character he has ever played: fast talking, quick witted, charming and absolutely hysterical. When you have a winning pony, why ride a horse?
The movie featured three (3) tear-jerker moments. These aren't sentimental or sad tears. Oh no, these were tears of laughter.
As I like to say, the plot tended to interfere with the movie. There were several unfortunate minutes of actual character development and storyline.
There is a surprise cameo near the end of the movie. I won't ruin the surprise, but I have very strong, negative feelings for this actor. His role, which lasted for a matter of minutes, was almost enough to destroy the movie. This performer's negative vibe was countered by a surprisingly funny performance by Christopher Walken. So, it all worked out!
I'm giving it an A. I'll be seeing it again this week!
Did you see it? Tell me what you thought! Use the comments or email realwasteoftime@gmail.com.
Karl, Karl, Karl (Updated)
The Republicans claim that Rove is in the clear. The Democrats are backing down. What will happen to our (anti)hero?
In an article in this week's Time magazine, Cooper claims that Rove was the first person to tell him that Wilson's wife was a CIA agent. The article does confirm that Plame's identity was not common knowledge in the media circles as Rove would have wanted us to believe.
There are other very interesting tidbits in the above article. Here are my favorites:
Back in reality, what do you think Rove's punishment will be?
Update: Despite the Republican's gloating, Fitzgerald's investigation has not yet concluded that Rove learned Plame's identity from the media. Another anonymous source has stepped forward and "said Sunday that Rove learned about the CIA officer either from the media or from someone in government who said the information came from a journalist (ref)."
Imagine this game of Telephone in the halls of the West Wing:
Source: "I read that confidential memo and it said Plame was undercover and married to Wilson, pass it on!"
Rove: "Wilson's wife works for the agency, she's not covert and I learned that from the media, pass it on!"
Obviously Karl Rove went to preschool with me because all of my games of Telephone went like this:
First Student: Puppies are cute, pass it on.
Rove: I hate dogs and Will wets the bed!
UNFAIR!
Update 2: Today President Bush changed his mind. Previously the President said that he would fire anyone who was said to have leaked the name of a CIA operative. Now, however, he claims that he will fire anyone found to be criminally responsible for leaking the name of a CIA operative. This shift seems to signal that he concedes that Rove was one of the leakers. During today's briefing, the White House press corps was all over Scott McClellan pushing him to clarify the change in Bush's statement. McClellan refused to clarify and urged reporters to avoid reading anything into the comments that isn't there.
In an article in this week's Time magazine, Cooper claims that Rove was the first person to tell him that Wilson's wife was a CIA agent. The article does confirm that Plame's identity was not common knowledge in the media circles as Rove would have wanted us to believe.
There are other very interesting tidbits in the above article. Here are my favorites:
Time correspondent Matthew Cooper said he told a grand jury last week that Rove told him the woman worked at the "agency," or CIA, on weapons of mass destruction issues, and ended the call by saying "I've already said too much."
Was it through my conversation with Rove that I learned for the first time that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA and may have been responsible for sending him? Yes.
Rove's credibility "is in shreds," said [former White House Chief of Staff] Podesta, who appeared ... [on "Meet The Press"].
Back in reality, what do you think Rove's punishment will be?
Update: Despite the Republican's gloating, Fitzgerald's investigation has not yet concluded that Rove learned Plame's identity from the media. Another anonymous source has stepped forward and "said Sunday that Rove learned about the CIA officer either from the media or from someone in government who said the information came from a journalist (ref)."
Imagine this game of Telephone in the halls of the West Wing:
Source: "I read that confidential memo and it said Plame was undercover and married to Wilson, pass it on!"
Rove: "Wilson's wife works for the agency, she's not covert and I learned that from the media, pass it on!"
Obviously Karl Rove went to preschool with me because all of my games of Telephone went like this:
First Student: Puppies are cute, pass it on.
Rove: I hate dogs and Will wets the bed!
UNFAIR!
Update 2: Today President Bush changed his mind. Previously the President said that he would fire anyone who was said to have leaked the name of a CIA operative. Now, however, he claims that he will fire anyone found to be criminally responsible for leaking the name of a CIA operative. This shift seems to signal that he concedes that Rove was one of the leakers. During today's briefing, the White House press corps was all over Scott McClellan pushing him to clarify the change in Bush's statement. McClellan refused to clarify and urged reporters to avoid reading anything into the comments that isn't there.
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Habitat for Humanity
Once the Ironman mania faded, I realized that I would have plenty of time on my hands during the long Summer here in Charlottesville.
I have used the extra time to ponder my future. I realized that computer science is not as good a way to help society as I once had imagined. So, in parallel with my newfound interest in cooking, I decided upon a plan of action that would allow me to give something back to the community.
The idea was simple enough: provide free food to volunteer organizations. I have had plenty of interactions with volunteer groups and events in High School. My mom was always active in these groups and was a specialist in tracking down food to feed the volunteers. She always had a difficult time finding restuarants to donate. So, why not create a volunteer organization that would do this very thing?
Obviously embarking on the volunteer catering journey would require lots of overhead in terms of people and capital. People would be needed to prepare the food and deliver it and money would be needed to purchase the raw goods.
I decided to start small. I contacted the local Habitat for Humanity office and asked if they were looking for people to donate food for their Saturday builds. The volunteer coordinator was thrilled at the offer and set me up with this Saturday's build in downtown Charlottesville.
I was told to expect around 15-20 people. Last night, Amanda and I went to Harris Teeter to purchase the goods. We bought the following:
1.5 lbs of turkey and ham
2 loaves of bread
2 bags of chips (regular and bbq)
1 bag of pretzels
8 regular and 8 diet Cokes
24 bottles of water
2 green peppers
2 heads of lettuce
1 onion
2 tomatoes
3 cucumbers
1 bag of baby carrots
2 sticks of slice-and-bake cookies
and 2 stalks of celery.
We also bought plastic serving and sandwich plates. We spent about 1.5 hrs preparing the food for consumption: chopping, baking, and slicing. All of the food was displayed on the plastic presentation plates, stored in 2.5 galloon ziploc bags and refrigerated.
Note: Even refrigerated, veggies will significantly damage the structure of plastic plates if left sitting overnight. The plates won't be completely limp in the morning, but beware!
I called this morning to make sure that the build was still on. There was some rain in the area all week and I didn't want everything to have been cancelled when I arrived. While I was talking with the site coordinator, I could hear lots of hammers and power tools in the background. It sounded like lots of people doing lots of work. The site coordinator told me that they had "lots of people who were going to be hungry!"
Uh oh! I was worried that our 15-20 person estimate might be completely off. Would I have enough food? Would the people enjoy the food? I got really worried. I made a plan to deliver what I had and then travel back to the store to buy additional supplies if necessary.
All the worrying was for not.
When I arrived several volunteers helped me carry the food to a shady place and several others setup makeshift tables with corkboard and sawhorses.
These people ate like they hadn't seen food in months. It was great. Everyone was thankful for the free food. Several volunteers told me that when food is provided they normally have "bologna on white bread." Several others commented that they loved having cool veggies on a hot day. Everyone loved the water and some were glad to have the sugar of a regular or diet Coke.
I blamed the varied food selection on a girlfriend with peculiar eating habits. I said that she made me aware that not everyone enjoys lunch meat and that there should be a vegeterian option. That's a good lesson for anyone out there preparing food for a large group: everyone eats differently -- be prepared!
Several interesting observations from the day:
1. The wheat bread was gone almost immediately. People reluctantly took the white bread as a second choice.
2. The chocolate chip cookies went quickly and the sugar cookies were almost untouched.
3. People loved the cucumbers but reacted mildly to the green peppers.
4. Only 1 person ate more than one sandwich.
5. People loved having the water available. Few people drank the pop.
I was very glad to be able to help and the volunteers were very thankful for the food. I, however, was doing very little. They were the ones actually pounding, drilling, cutting and building a house for a family. Everyone plays a role in Habitat, but I can tell you that nothing would get done without those doing the physical work!
Hopefully there will be more opportunities for volunteer catering in the future!
I have used the extra time to ponder my future. I realized that computer science is not as good a way to help society as I once had imagined. So, in parallel with my newfound interest in cooking, I decided upon a plan of action that would allow me to give something back to the community.
The idea was simple enough: provide free food to volunteer organizations. I have had plenty of interactions with volunteer groups and events in High School. My mom was always active in these groups and was a specialist in tracking down food to feed the volunteers. She always had a difficult time finding restuarants to donate. So, why not create a volunteer organization that would do this very thing?
Obviously embarking on the volunteer catering journey would require lots of overhead in terms of people and capital. People would be needed to prepare the food and deliver it and money would be needed to purchase the raw goods.
I decided to start small. I contacted the local Habitat for Humanity office and asked if they were looking for people to donate food for their Saturday builds. The volunteer coordinator was thrilled at the offer and set me up with this Saturday's build in downtown Charlottesville.
I was told to expect around 15-20 people. Last night, Amanda and I went to Harris Teeter to purchase the goods. We bought the following:
1.5 lbs of turkey and ham
2 loaves of bread
2 bags of chips (regular and bbq)
1 bag of pretzels
8 regular and 8 diet Cokes
24 bottles of water
2 green peppers
2 heads of lettuce
1 onion
2 tomatoes
3 cucumbers
1 bag of baby carrots
2 sticks of slice-and-bake cookies
and 2 stalks of celery.
We also bought plastic serving and sandwich plates. We spent about 1.5 hrs preparing the food for consumption: chopping, baking, and slicing. All of the food was displayed on the plastic presentation plates, stored in 2.5 galloon ziploc bags and refrigerated.
Note: Even refrigerated, veggies will significantly damage the structure of plastic plates if left sitting overnight. The plates won't be completely limp in the morning, but beware!
I called this morning to make sure that the build was still on. There was some rain in the area all week and I didn't want everything to have been cancelled when I arrived. While I was talking with the site coordinator, I could hear lots of hammers and power tools in the background. It sounded like lots of people doing lots of work. The site coordinator told me that they had "lots of people who were going to be hungry!"
Uh oh! I was worried that our 15-20 person estimate might be completely off. Would I have enough food? Would the people enjoy the food? I got really worried. I made a plan to deliver what I had and then travel back to the store to buy additional supplies if necessary.
All the worrying was for not.
When I arrived several volunteers helped me carry the food to a shady place and several others setup makeshift tables with corkboard and sawhorses.
These people ate like they hadn't seen food in months. It was great. Everyone was thankful for the free food. Several volunteers told me that when food is provided they normally have "bologna on white bread." Several others commented that they loved having cool veggies on a hot day. Everyone loved the water and some were glad to have the sugar of a regular or diet Coke.
I blamed the varied food selection on a girlfriend with peculiar eating habits. I said that she made me aware that not everyone enjoys lunch meat and that there should be a vegeterian option. That's a good lesson for anyone out there preparing food for a large group: everyone eats differently -- be prepared!
Several interesting observations from the day:
1. The wheat bread was gone almost immediately. People reluctantly took the white bread as a second choice.
2. The chocolate chip cookies went quickly and the sugar cookies were almost untouched.
3. People loved the cucumbers but reacted mildly to the green peppers.
4. Only 1 person ate more than one sandwich.
5. People loved having the water available. Few people drank the pop.
I was very glad to be able to help and the volunteers were very thankful for the food. I, however, was doing very little. They were the ones actually pounding, drilling, cutting and building a house for a family. Everyone plays a role in Habitat, but I can tell you that nothing would get done without those doing the physical work!
Hopefully there will be more opportunities for volunteer catering in the future!
Friday, July 15, 2005
New Rove Information
According to yet another anonymous leak, Karl Rove emailed a top ranking security official about his conversation with Time reporter Matthew Cooper.
Republicans are hailing this as an exoneration of Karl Rove. However, I don't think it is that clear.
This portion of the email from Rove to Stephen Hadley, then deputy National Security Advisor, was obtained by the Associated Press:
As a reminder, here is how Cooper characterized that same conversation in an email to his editor:
So, if you are following closely, someone is lying. Either Cooper heard something that Rove didn't say or Rove said something that he isn't reporting to Hadley.
Either way, this isn't over.
Update: The media has learned more about the memo that may have been the source of Valerie Plame's identification and her link to Wilson's trip to Africa. According to the article, the memo may have been delivered to Colin Powell while aboard Air Force One on or around July 7, 2003. The question being asked by Fitzgerald is, "who saw the memo?" Likely viewers include Ari Fleischer and other top administration officials who were onboard the flying White House at the time.
Republicans are hailing this as an exoneration of Karl Rove. However, I don't think it is that clear.
This portion of the email from Rove to Stephen Hadley, then deputy National Security Advisor, was obtained by the Associated Press:
"Matt Cooper called to give me a heads-up that he's got a welfare reform story coming. When he finished his brief heads-up he immediately launched into Niger. Isn't this damaging? Hasn't the president been hurt? I didn't take the bait, but I said if I were him I wouldn't get Time far out in front on this."
As a reminder, here is how Cooper characterized that same conversation in an email to his editor:
it was, KR said, wilson's wife, who apparently works at the agency on wmd [weapons of mass destruction] issues who authorized the trip.
So, if you are following closely, someone is lying. Either Cooper heard something that Rove didn't say or Rove said something that he isn't reporting to Hadley.
Either way, this isn't over.
Update: The media has learned more about the memo that may have been the source of Valerie Plame's identification and her link to Wilson's trip to Africa. According to the article, the memo may have been delivered to Colin Powell while aboard Air Force One on or around July 7, 2003. The question being asked by Fitzgerald is, "who saw the memo?" Likely viewers include Ari Fleischer and other top administration officials who were onboard the flying White House at the time.
Interesting Rove Twist
This article from the AP describes Karl Rove's testimony to the grand jury. The AP learned this information from a source that was briefed about Mr. Rove's testimony. Their identity will remain a secret since it is illegal to discuss testimony given to a grand jury.
I think that there are two interesting aspects to the portions of his testimony revealed in the above article. First, Rove claims that he had no inside information about Valerie Plame's identity. He testified that he learned about her true identity and covert status from people in the media. Only after hearing about it in the journalistic rumour mill did he pass it along to Matthew Cooper. Second, Rove admits that he told Time reporter Matt Cooper that Wilson's wife was a CIA operative "in an effort to discredit some of Wilson's allegations".
What happens now?
Update: This article from the New York Times has more on Rove's grand jury testimony from that same, anonymous, source. In this article, it is reported that Mr. Rove was the second source for Robert Novak's column that outed Valerie Plame. According to the source, Rove testified that Mr. Novak called him and told him about Valerie Plame and her connection with Wilson. Rove responded, "I heard that too." With Rove's confirmation, Novak had the much needed second confirmation and could source the story to a "senior administration official".
The New York Times article also reminds readers of a time when Karl Rove was fired from the Texas campaign to reelect President Bush in 1992 for leaking information about campaign fundraising weaknesses to Robert Novak. Both deny that Rove was involved with the leak.
With the identification of actual grand jury testimony, the White House is in a very difficult position. I will grant that Rove may not have used his security clearance to uncover Valerie Plame's operative status. But, given his position in the administration, his confirmation to Novak certainly added authority to the rumours about Wilson's wife. Without a second, high-level confirmation, Novak may never have been able to get that story past his editors.
There is no denying that he had something to do with the leak. Will Bush follow through on that promise?
Update 2: It appears that my conjecture was correct. An attorney for Rove has confirmed that Robert Novak used Rove as a second source for his article.
I think that there are two interesting aspects to the portions of his testimony revealed in the above article. First, Rove claims that he had no inside information about Valerie Plame's identity. He testified that he learned about her true identity and covert status from people in the media. Only after hearing about it in the journalistic rumour mill did he pass it along to Matthew Cooper. Second, Rove admits that he told Time reporter Matt Cooper that Wilson's wife was a CIA operative "in an effort to discredit some of Wilson's allegations".
What happens now?
Update: This article from the New York Times has more on Rove's grand jury testimony from that same, anonymous, source. In this article, it is reported that Mr. Rove was the second source for Robert Novak's column that outed Valerie Plame. According to the source, Rove testified that Mr. Novak called him and told him about Valerie Plame and her connection with Wilson. Rove responded, "I heard that too." With Rove's confirmation, Novak had the much needed second confirmation and could source the story to a "senior administration official".
The New York Times article also reminds readers of a time when Karl Rove was fired from the Texas campaign to reelect President Bush in 1992 for leaking information about campaign fundraising weaknesses to Robert Novak. Both deny that Rove was involved with the leak.
With the identification of actual grand jury testimony, the White House is in a very difficult position. I will grant that Rove may not have used his security clearance to uncover Valerie Plame's operative status. But, given his position in the administration, his confirmation to Novak certainly added authority to the rumours about Wilson's wife. Without a second, high-level confirmation, Novak may never have been able to get that story past his editors.
There is no denying that he had something to do with the leak. Will Bush follow through on that promise?
Update 2: It appears that my conjecture was correct. An attorney for Rove has confirmed that Robert Novak used Rove as a second source for his article.
White House senior adviser Karl Rove indirectly confirmed the CIA affiliation of an administration critic's wife for Robert D. Novak the week before the columnist named her and revealed her position, a lawyer involved in the case said last night. (ref)
Karl Rove Documents Du Jour (Updated)
Since I know that you are all very busy people, I have decided to aggregate all of the day's documents pertaining to Karl Rove.
1. This "memo" entitled "Joe Wilson's Top Ten Inaccuracies and Misstatements" details what the Republicans believe to be lies spoken by Joe Wilson. Along with each lie is a statement or document reference that, apparently, proves he lied.
2. Rep. Rush Holt of New Jersey, introduced this resolution to commission an independent investigation into the allegations that Karl Rove was the leaker. It calls for a complete dump of all White House documents pertaining to the allegations within 14 days of adoption.
3.Sen. Reid introduced an ammendment to the DHS appropriations bill that would revoke the security clearance from any person who leaks the name of a covert operative.
4. Senator Schumer of New York sent a letter to Chief of Staff Andy Card demanding that the information available as a result of the current investigation be released immediately. He also urged that a new investigation be started regarding the inconsistencies in the information made public by the White House.
This CNN article gives a good rundown of the day's events as well.
Update: I have linked to the text of the ammendment submitted by Sen. Reid. This ammendment was defeated by a vote of 44 to 53.
1. This "memo" entitled "Joe Wilson's Top Ten Inaccuracies and Misstatements" details what the Republicans believe to be lies spoken by Joe Wilson. Along with each lie is a statement or document reference that, apparently, proves he lied.
2. Rep. Rush Holt of New Jersey, introduced this resolution to commission an independent investigation into the allegations that Karl Rove was the leaker. It calls for a complete dump of all White House documents pertaining to the allegations within 14 days of adoption.
3.Sen. Reid introduced an ammendment to the DHS appropriations bill that would revoke the security clearance from any person who leaks the name of a covert operative.
4. Senator Schumer of New York sent a letter to Chief of Staff Andy Card demanding that the information available as a result of the current investigation be released immediately. He also urged that a new investigation be started regarding the inconsistencies in the information made public by the White House.
This CNN article gives a good rundown of the day's events as well.
Update: I have linked to the text of the ammendment submitted by Sen. Reid. This ammendment was defeated by a vote of 44 to 53.
Michelle Wie Advances
Cincinnati is hosting this year's USGA Amateur Public Links Championship. The championship was last held in Cincinnati in 1987 when it was played at Glenview Golf Course (ref).
What is more exciting than the tournament's return to Cincinnati? I'll tell you: Michelle Wie playing in that very tournament. Along with Anika Sorenstam, Wie is helping women break through gender barriers on the professional golf circuit. This time, she is competing with the men for the title of Amateur Public Links Champion and a place in next year's Masters.
She played just well enough on Monday to qualify for the match play, or head-to-head, portion of the tournament. In her first round match, she barely beat a recent Auburn graduate Will Claxton.
But, in the second round of match play, Wie dispensed with her competition quickly. Winning 6 and 5 over C.D. Hockersmith, Wie showed her ability to play with the men.
Note: Winning 6 and 5 means that Wie was leading the match by 6 holes with 5 holes remaining. In match play, you win a hole when your score is strictly less than your opponents. In the case of matching scores, the hole is halved.
Once and for all, her play today and Anika's play in the past should make it fairly evident that girls can play with the guys. If there is anyone left who doubts that, they are just worried about being beaten by a girl. Suck it up fellas.
Update: I fixed the typo in the opening line.
Update 2: Wie played her 3rd round match this afternoon. She continued her domination of male players by winning 3 and 1 win over Jim Renner. She is now only three match play victories away from a likely invitation to the Masters. She will play again tomorrow morning. More about the controversy of such an invitation if and when she wins the tournament.
Update 3: Wie will not be advancing any further. This morning Clay Ogden defeated Michelle Wie 5 and 4. Despite the loss, Wie has demonstrated that she can play with anyone. This was an open tournament. To gain her spot she competed on the same course, under the same conditions as everyone else. There were no sponsor's exemptions. What's your excuse now Mark Hensby?
What is more exciting than the tournament's return to Cincinnati? I'll tell you: Michelle Wie playing in that very tournament. Along with Anika Sorenstam, Wie is helping women break through gender barriers on the professional golf circuit. This time, she is competing with the men for the title of Amateur Public Links Champion and a place in next year's Masters.
She played just well enough on Monday to qualify for the match play, or head-to-head, portion of the tournament. In her first round match, she barely beat a recent Auburn graduate Will Claxton.
But, in the second round of match play, Wie dispensed with her competition quickly. Winning 6 and 5 over C.D. Hockersmith, Wie showed her ability to play with the men.
Note: Winning 6 and 5 means that Wie was leading the match by 6 holes with 5 holes remaining. In match play, you win a hole when your score is strictly less than your opponents. In the case of matching scores, the hole is halved.
Once and for all, her play today and Anika's play in the past should make it fairly evident that girls can play with the guys. If there is anyone left who doubts that, they are just worried about being beaten by a girl. Suck it up fellas.
Update: I fixed the typo in the opening line.
Update 2: Wie played her 3rd round match this afternoon. She continued her domination of male players by winning 3 and 1 win over Jim Renner. She is now only three match play victories away from a likely invitation to the Masters. She will play again tomorrow morning. More about the controversy of such an invitation if and when she wins the tournament.
Update 3: Wie will not be advancing any further. This morning Clay Ogden defeated Michelle Wie 5 and 4. Despite the loss, Wie has demonstrated that she can play with anyone. This was an open tournament. To gain her spot she competed on the same course, under the same conditions as everyone else. There were no sponsor's exemptions. What's your excuse now Mark Hensby?
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Lost Picture
I was searching through my "Trash" (aka "Recycle Bin" in Windows) tonight and happened across this great photograph.
This was taken during a trip to the Greenville Zoo in the Spring of my Senior year at Furman. It was so hot that day, but we had a great time. We got to see turtles (they were a hundred years old if they were a day),baboons and zebras. Plus, Amanda was there.
Baboons or Amanda? It's close, but I know what I would choose!
This was taken during a trip to the Greenville Zoo in the Spring of my Senior year at Furman. It was so hot that day, but we had a great time. We got to see turtles (they were a hundred years old if they were a day),baboons and zebras. Plus, Amanda was there.
Baboons or Amanda? It's close, but I know what I would choose!
Protection from DHS
On Monday, Senator Byrd introduced S.AMDT.1120 as an ammendment to the DHS appropriations bill. This ammendment, written by Sen. Feingold, makes "reports to Congress on Department of Homeland Security use of data-mining" mandatory. Senators Corzine, Leahy, and Sununu were cosponsors.
These reports include, but are not limited to,
1. a description of the technology used,
2. a description of the goals for data analysis,
3. an analysis of the impact on civil liberties and privacy, and
4. a description of the policies and safeguards that are in place to ensure the privacy and accuracy of data. The ammendment also specifies that the text of these reports must be made public.
The full text of the ammendment can be found here. The ammendment was approved by unanimous consent in the Senate yesterday. The bill as a whole will be voted on by the end of this week or early next week (ref).
Everyone knows that there are myriad ways the government collects, stores and analyzes data inappropriately. The Pentagon's "marketing" database is the most recent example. Such gross misuses and mishandling of that data will not be corrected overnight. However, ammendments like this are a good sign that legislators are stepping up, where possible, to protect our rights.
These reports include, but are not limited to,
1. a description of the technology used,
2. a description of the goals for data analysis,
3. an analysis of the impact on civil liberties and privacy, and
4. a description of the policies and safeguards that are in place to ensure the privacy and accuracy of data. The ammendment also specifies that the text of these reports must be made public.
The full text of the ammendment can be found here. The ammendment was approved by unanimous consent in the Senate yesterday. The bill as a whole will be voted on by the end of this week or early next week (ref).
Everyone knows that there are myriad ways the government collects, stores and analyzes data inappropriately. The Pentagon's "marketing" database is the most recent example. Such gross misuses and mishandling of that data will not be corrected overnight. However, ammendments like this are a good sign that legislators are stepping up, where possible, to protect our rights.
Linux Clean
Reposts from Slashdot are not normally my cup of tea, but this one is just too good to pass up.
The fine investigative reporting at Groklaw has revealed an email that was sent in 2002 to the CEO of SCO. This email reports on an extensive audit of the Linux source code. The audit was commissioned by SCO in hopes that copyright violations would be found to validate their claims and support legal action. Unfortunately, the auditor couldn't find any violations.
For those of you who are not abreast of news in the software community, SCO has been pursuing copyright infringement claims against Linux. SCO believes that there are cases where code that it owns was copied verbatim into Linux. Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, has long maintained that the Linux code was clean.
SCO's case against Linux was already weak. Attorneys supporting Linux from Red Hat and IBM have done an excellent job of fighting the lawsuit. This may be just the evidence they need to ensure that the lawsuit finally be dismissed.
The fine investigative reporting at Groklaw has revealed an email that was sent in 2002 to the CEO of SCO. This email reports on an extensive audit of the Linux source code. The audit was commissioned by SCO in hopes that copyright violations would be found to validate their claims and support legal action. Unfortunately, the auditor couldn't find any violations.
For those of you who are not abreast of news in the software community, SCO has been pursuing copyright infringement claims against Linux. SCO believes that there are cases where code that it owns was copied verbatim into Linux. Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, has long maintained that the Linux code was clean.
SCO's case against Linux was already weak. Attorneys supporting Linux from Red Hat and IBM have done an excellent job of fighting the lawsuit. This may be just the evidence they need to ensure that the lawsuit finally be dismissed.
Proud to be a Democrat
In pursuit of the best gossip about Karl Rove, I happened upon this New York Times article. According to the article, Democrats were preparing an amendment to a DHS spending bill that would revoke security clearance from any person who discloses the name of a CIA operative. While not specifically naming Rove, there is little doubt as to the reason for this proposed rider.
All that is boring compared to this nugget in the second paragraph:
That is why I am proud to be a Democrat. We are finally starting to play the games that have been used successfully by Republicans to gain their current stranglehold on the country.
I've never been one to lead the pack and this certainly falls under the "if you can't beat them, join them" or "better late than never" category.
Watch out O'Reilly. For their next trick, Democrats are going to learn how to couple absolute stupidity, intolerance and shouting to advance their agenda. You'll really be in trouble!
So proud.
Update: A link to the ammendment text was added. Please note that the ammendment was defeated 44 to 53.
All that is boring compared to this nugget in the second paragraph:
The Democrats hoped to attach the measure to a spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security. Should the maneuver succeed, and Republicans then resist the overall bill, Democrats could portray them as trying to block legislation vital to national security.
That is why I am proud to be a Democrat. We are finally starting to play the games that have been used successfully by Republicans to gain their current stranglehold on the country.
I've never been one to lead the pack and this certainly falls under the "if you can't beat them, join them" or "better late than never" category.
Watch out O'Reilly. For their next trick, Democrats are going to learn how to couple absolute stupidity, intolerance and shouting to advance their agenda. You'll really be in trouble!
So proud.
Update: A link to the ammendment text was added. Please note that the ammendment was defeated 44 to 53.
Hood Sliding like Bo Duke
Original Dukes of Hazzard actor Ben "Cooter" Jones is urging fans of the original series not to see the move remake.
Why is the former Georgia congressman telling fans to pass?
Really, that seems like a pretty lame excuse! The original show was hardly aimed towards the family with Daisy strutting her stuff in shorts that barely covered her cheeks.
If they wanted it to be a family show, they would have put Daisy in a long skirt and parka -- at least something compatible with the Bob Jones University dress code. Also, they would never have allowed her character to use sexual allure as a means to an end.
According to the above quoted article, Jones owns Cooter's Place -- a store where show memorabilia can be purchased. The article does not say, but I would assume that Jones was not asked to be a part of the remake.
Sounds like sour grapes to me.
Why is the former Georgia congressman telling fans to pass?
It's one thing to do whatever movie they want to do, but to take a classic family show and do that is like taking 'I Love Lucy' and making her a crackhead or something. (ref)
Really, that seems like a pretty lame excuse! The original show was hardly aimed towards the family with Daisy strutting her stuff in shorts that barely covered her cheeks.
If they wanted it to be a family show, they would have put Daisy in a long skirt and parka -- at least something compatible with the Bob Jones University dress code. Also, they would never have allowed her character to use sexual allure as a means to an end.
According to the above quoted article, Jones owns Cooter's Place -- a store where show memorabilia can be purchased. The article does not say, but I would assume that Jones was not asked to be a part of the remake.
Sounds like sour grapes to me.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
XM Radio
As you may know, today I drove back to Charlottesville from Cincinnati today. That's about an 8 hour drive. A majority of the trip is spent in areas with little or no AM/FM reception. As a matter of fact, my cell phone doesn't even work for most of the trip.
I was facing the trip with a dead iPod battery was dead and I didn't know what to do. With departure imminent, I happened upon an ad for a satellite radio receiver from Best Buy. At $49, how could I not try it?
I have had some chance to listen to XM radio in the past and really enjoyed it. Of particular interest are their news services. They offer CNN, Fox News, BBC, MSNBC, CNBC, ESPNRadio, ESPNews, Air America and more. Since today was supposed to be the return to flight of the shuttle, I had a particular interest in staying abreast of the news while in the car. So, I decided to go with XM instead of Sirius.
Again, for the price of a tank of gas, I found a way to dip my toes into the water of satellite radio. For me, XM radio turned out to be one of those things that you stumble upon and wonder how you ever did without. With XM radio, my 8 hours in the car almost flew by. I was able to hear the coverage of the shuttle "scrub" as well as commentary and updates on the Karl Rove situation.
I was without coverage for a total of 1 or 2 minutes during the entire 8 hours. Of course, the signal would always fade right when I was listening to a good story or a catchy tune. Even with these slight imperfections in coverage, the car ride today has made me a huge XM fan.
If you want to try XM on the cheap, I definitely recommnend the Roady2 receiver. Like I mentioned earlier, it is available from Best Buy for about $49. Of course, to listen to XM there is a monthly fee. The price per month varies depending on how far in advance you commit to the service. I am going "month-to-month" and paying extra for that lack of commitment -- about $13 per month.
XM will not entirely change what I listen to in the car. I still plan to download Bob and Tom to my iPod every morning and listen to that whenever possible. But, for road trips where my iPod is not available or when there are no new Bob and Tom shows available, XM radio is my goto technology!
I was facing the trip with a dead iPod battery was dead and I didn't know what to do. With departure imminent, I happened upon an ad for a satellite radio receiver from Best Buy. At $49, how could I not try it?
I have had some chance to listen to XM radio in the past and really enjoyed it. Of particular interest are their news services. They offer CNN, Fox News, BBC, MSNBC, CNBC, ESPNRadio, ESPNews, Air America and more. Since today was supposed to be the return to flight of the shuttle, I had a particular interest in staying abreast of the news while in the car. So, I decided to go with XM instead of Sirius.
Again, for the price of a tank of gas, I found a way to dip my toes into the water of satellite radio. For me, XM radio turned out to be one of those things that you stumble upon and wonder how you ever did without. With XM radio, my 8 hours in the car almost flew by. I was able to hear the coverage of the shuttle "scrub" as well as commentary and updates on the Karl Rove situation.
I was without coverage for a total of 1 or 2 minutes during the entire 8 hours. Of course, the signal would always fade right when I was listening to a good story or a catchy tune. Even with these slight imperfections in coverage, the car ride today has made me a huge XM fan.
If you want to try XM on the cheap, I definitely recommnend the Roady2 receiver. Like I mentioned earlier, it is available from Best Buy for about $49. Of course, to listen to XM there is a monthly fee. The price per month varies depending on how far in advance you commit to the service. I am going "month-to-month" and paying extra for that lack of commitment -- about $13 per month.
XM will not entirely change what I listen to in the car. I still plan to download Bob and Tom to my iPod every morning and listen to that whenever possible. But, for road trips where my iPod is not available or when there are no new Bob and Tom shows available, XM radio is my goto technology!
My Supreme Court Nomination
Following up on an earlier post, it appears that my nomination to the Supreme Court is going well.
Just today, in remarks to the press, President Bush had this to say about the nomination process:
(emphasis mine)
He should have just said "graduate students" because we all know that's what he really meant.
Just today, in remarks to the press, President Bush had this to say about the nomination process:
We're considering all kinds of people -- judges, non-judges.
(emphasis mine)
He should have just said "graduate students" because we all know that's what he really meant.
Daily Rove Update
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan was subjected to another full day of questions about Karl Rove's involvement in the leak of Valerie Plame's identity.
Like yesterday, McClellan refused to comment on the basis that any response from the White House might jeopordize the grand jury investigation. As reporters properly pointed out, in 2003, when the investigation was ongoing, McClellan responded to identical questions about Karl Rove's involvement. His response was an absolute denial of involvement by Karl Rove.
Now that information has come to light that may implicate Karl Rove in the leak, the White House has decided to "respect" the grand jury investigation by not commenting.
Sounds like President Bush would group McClellan and Sen. John Kerry in the same group: FLIP FLOPPERS!
Read more about the long day in the White House press room here and here.
Like yesterday, McClellan refused to comment on the basis that any response from the White House might jeopordize the grand jury investigation. As reporters properly pointed out, in 2003, when the investigation was ongoing, McClellan responded to identical questions about Karl Rove's involvement. His response was an absolute denial of involvement by Karl Rove.
Now that information has come to light that may implicate Karl Rove in the leak, the White House has decided to "respect" the grand jury investigation by not commenting.
Sounds like President Bush would group McClellan and Sen. John Kerry in the same group: FLIP FLOPPERS!
Read more about the long day in the White House press room here and here.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
News Websites
Why can't anyone design a news website that doesn't suck?
I am not a usability expert and I am definitely not Jakob Nielsen, but I am a news junkie and I know what I want. I know that when I go to a news site, I want the headlines there for me to read. Obviously, breaking news should be displayed prominently when it is appropriate.
With the proliferation of broadband, I would also enjoy being able to watch video clips when the subject of the story cannot properly be conveyed through text. For instance, a story about the wrath of a hurricane would be nice to watch rather than read. I do not, however, want to be bombarded with thumbnails from these video stories. No icon-sized screen capture is going to make me decide to watch a video clip.
Instead of criticizing each available offering, I should tell people exactly what I want. So, here it goes:
1. Quick to load.
2. Broadband content (video/audio) should be voluntary and not mandatory.
3. Display news categories horizontally and not vertically.
4. Keep advertising free of animation or flash.
5. Keep advertising content clearly distinguishable from news content.
6. Feature the blogs.
These are just a few of the things that I think would help shape a great news site. Do you have any others?
I am not a usability expert and I am definitely not Jakob Nielsen, but I am a news junkie and I know what I want. I know that when I go to a news site, I want the headlines there for me to read. Obviously, breaking news should be displayed prominently when it is appropriate.
With the proliferation of broadband, I would also enjoy being able to watch video clips when the subject of the story cannot properly be conveyed through text. For instance, a story about the wrath of a hurricane would be nice to watch rather than read. I do not, however, want to be bombarded with thumbnails from these video stories. No icon-sized screen capture is going to make me decide to watch a video clip.
Instead of criticizing each available offering, I should tell people exactly what I want. So, here it goes:
1. Quick to load.
2. Broadband content (video/audio) should be voluntary and not mandatory.
3. Display news categories horizontally and not vertically.
4. Keep advertising free of animation or flash.
5. Keep advertising content clearly distinguishable from news content.
6. Feature the blogs.
These are just a few of the things that I think would help shape a great news site. Do you have any others?
'Charlie' Movie Premier
According to this BBC report, Britney Spears arrived at the 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' movie premier wearing a tshirt that said "I've got the golden ticket."
So far, the shirt seems fairly PG. Unfortunately, the tshirt also displays an arrow pointing from her stomach downwards. We can only imagine what that 'drrrty' girl is thinking.
Wait, that's a Christina Aguilera song. Oh, darn the confusion of those pop culture references!
Either way, I'm sure that this is what Roald Dahl imagined when he was first writing this children's novel. Ironically, it is fitting -- children throwing temper tantrums to get what they want only to have it lead to their demise. That could describe Violet Beaureguard and chewing gum or Britney Spears and publicity.
So far, the shirt seems fairly PG. Unfortunately, the tshirt also displays an arrow pointing from her stomach downwards. We can only imagine what that 'drrrty' girl is thinking.
Wait, that's a Christina Aguilera song. Oh, darn the confusion of those pop culture references!
Either way, I'm sure that this is what Roald Dahl imagined when he was first writing this children's novel. Ironically, it is fitting -- children throwing temper tantrums to get what they want only to have it lead to their demise. That could describe Violet Beaureguard and chewing gum or Britney Spears and publicity.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Cell Phone in NYC Tunnels
Authorities disabled cell phone service from within four tunnels leading into downtown New York City.
They first claimed that the service was disabled at the behest of law enforcement. However, that was not the case. They actually disabled the cell phone service without the blessing of the National Communication System. This is the organization that ensures communication availability during emergencies.
This just seems odd. Even the city's mayor questions the decision. If you want to keep people from planting cell-phone detonated bomb inside the tunnel, then you probably only want to disable incoming calls. But, more importantly, you have absolutely no desire to actually disable emergency cell phone communications originating from within the tunnel.
Cell phone providers have actually wired pico cells inside the tunnels to provide cell phone coverage. So, they could simply provision these base stations to only allow 911 calls through. More generally, they could lock-down these base stations to only allow outgoing calls.
Update: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority restored cell phone service in the two tunnels that it operates. Those two tunnels operated by the Port Authority are still without cell phone service.
Update 2: Cell phone service has been restored in the two tunnels operated by the Port Authority.
They first claimed that the service was disabled at the behest of law enforcement. However, that was not the case. They actually disabled the cell phone service without the blessing of the National Communication System. This is the organization that ensures communication availability during emergencies.
This just seems odd. Even the city's mayor questions the decision. If you want to keep people from planting cell-phone detonated bomb inside the tunnel, then you probably only want to disable incoming calls. But, more importantly, you have absolutely no desire to actually disable emergency cell phone communications originating from within the tunnel.
Cell phone providers have actually wired pico cells inside the tunnels to provide cell phone coverage. So, they could simply provision these base stations to only allow 911 calls through. More generally, they could lock-down these base stations to only allow outgoing calls.
Update: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority restored cell phone service in the two tunnels that it operates. Those two tunnels operated by the Port Authority are still without cell phone service.
Update 2: Cell phone service has been restored in the two tunnels operated by the Port Authority.
Karl Rove heating up
Within the last week, Karl Rove's attorney admitted that his client talked with reporters previous to Robert Novak's disclosure of Valerie Plame's identity.
Just today, however, Newsweek has published the contents of emails sent by Time reporter Cooper to his editor characterizing those conversations. Through these emails, it is plain to see that Rove identified the CIA agent.
Whether or not this admission was willful (and thus criminal) is now in the hands of the Grand Jury and investigator Fitzgerald.
The White House will not comment on this or the President's vow to fire the person responsible for the leak. Press Secretary Scott McLellan claims that commenting on the story would impede the investigation. Hysterical.
Information about the White House's refusal to comment can be found in this story. The Newsweek report disclosing the contents of the emails between Cooper and his editor can be found here.
Just today, however, Newsweek has published the contents of emails sent by Time reporter Cooper to his editor characterizing those conversations. Through these emails, it is plain to see that Rove identified the CIA agent.
Whether or not this admission was willful (and thus criminal) is now in the hands of the Grand Jury and investigator Fitzgerald.
The White House will not comment on this or the President's vow to fire the person responsible for the leak. Press Secretary Scott McLellan claims that commenting on the story would impede the investigation. Hysterical.
Information about the White House's refusal to comment can be found in this story. The Newsweek report disclosing the contents of the emails between Cooper and his editor can be found here.
Friends at work
You make friends with a coworker. The rumours start flying. People blog about seeing the two of you at lunch.
What is the lonely office worker to do when they want to make friends but are afraid of the social and career implications?
This article has plenty of suggestions.
Do you think that Tuba and I are dating? We do play on the same softball team! Oh my.
What is the lonely office worker to do when they want to make friends but are afraid of the social and career implications?
This article has plenty of suggestions.
Do you think that Tuba and I are dating? We do play on the same softball team! Oh my.
Charlottesville is (?) a great place to live
According to this study by CNN and Money magazine, Charlottesville is ranked as the 90th 'Best Place to Live' in America.
It seems that our town is in decline. We ranked much higher than average in property crime likelihood and much lower in education and entertainment opportunities.
The real estate agent that I worked with when I moved to UVA boasted proudly that Charlottesville was always ranked in the top 10 best places to live. She did caution me that she was not fond of that ranking. She claimed that when Charlottesville ranked that high, riff-raff were more likely to move into her beloved town.
This year, it appears that her wish was granted.
It seems that our town is in decline. We ranked much higher than average in property crime likelihood and much lower in education and entertainment opportunities.
The real estate agent that I worked with when I moved to UVA boasted proudly that Charlottesville was always ranked in the top 10 best places to live. She did caution me that she was not fond of that ranking. She claimed that when Charlottesville ranked that high, riff-raff were more likely to move into her beloved town.
This year, it appears that her wish was granted.
MS150 Day 2
Hello again.
I know that you were all waiting with baited breath for the update about the second day of the MS 150. My apologies for the delay.
Day 2 started quietly. We had a nice tailwind as we left the University of Dayton. That was definitely good since we had an incredible headwind going the opposite direction. For the remainder of the day, such tailwind/headwind swaps would not be present. Just my luck.
The first main challenge was my chain. It popped about three times before I could get it fixed. It happened so often that I learned how to replace the chain without getting off the bike. As long as we were going downhill I could position the chain on the ring and start pedalling. Within a few strokes the chain would be back in place. Once we got to the lunch stop we had the mechanic look at it and after he made some adjustments I had no problems with it for the rest of the day.
The hill that gave us that quick 37mph pace yesterday had to be tackled in the reverse direction. Needless to say no one scaled the beast anywhere near that downhill pace. But, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. There is something about going uphill that I really enjoy more than riding on flat ground. I think that my riding position is actually poor when going on flat surfaces. This really keeps me from getting the maximum power from my stroke. However, it would seem that once I stand up or shift to the back of the seat for a climb, my position is such that I get all the power out of each stroke. I guess I'll have to work on that.
Overall, it was a great weekend. Just about 5 hours from door-to-door both days. The weather could not have been better. There were some changes that I would have made to the course. For instance, riding through a gravel pit was probably not the best for 800 people with road tires on their bikes. But, that's just my opinion.
All told I was able to raise $425 for the National MS Society. Pledges are still welcome for those of you who are interested. The direct link to donate can be found here. Thanks to everyone who donated to support me. The people at the NMSS are wonderful and it is definitely a great cause.
I know that you were all waiting with baited breath for the update about the second day of the MS 150. My apologies for the delay.
Day 2 started quietly. We had a nice tailwind as we left the University of Dayton. That was definitely good since we had an incredible headwind going the opposite direction. For the remainder of the day, such tailwind/headwind swaps would not be present. Just my luck.
The first main challenge was my chain. It popped about three times before I could get it fixed. It happened so often that I learned how to replace the chain without getting off the bike. As long as we were going downhill I could position the chain on the ring and start pedalling. Within a few strokes the chain would be back in place. Once we got to the lunch stop we had the mechanic look at it and after he made some adjustments I had no problems with it for the rest of the day.
The hill that gave us that quick 37mph pace yesterday had to be tackled in the reverse direction. Needless to say no one scaled the beast anywhere near that downhill pace. But, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. There is something about going uphill that I really enjoy more than riding on flat ground. I think that my riding position is actually poor when going on flat surfaces. This really keeps me from getting the maximum power from my stroke. However, it would seem that once I stand up or shift to the back of the seat for a climb, my position is such that I get all the power out of each stroke. I guess I'll have to work on that.
Overall, it was a great weekend. Just about 5 hours from door-to-door both days. The weather could not have been better. There were some changes that I would have made to the course. For instance, riding through a gravel pit was probably not the best for 800 people with road tires on their bikes. But, that's just my opinion.
All told I was able to raise $425 for the National MS Society. Pledges are still welcome for those of you who are interested. The direct link to donate can be found here. Thanks to everyone who donated to support me. The people at the NMSS are wonderful and it is definitely a great cause.
Saturday, July 09, 2005
How to Tell a Story
While I was stuffing my face tonight at dinner, I overheard the following story being told:
"So, when I was in Miami I got a sunburn. It was the first time that I had ever gotten a sunburn so I went to the ER. I was screaming in pain and thought I was going to die. The doctors were in the hallway laughing at me."
Dead silence.
That is how you tell a story!
"So, when I was in Miami I got a sunburn. It was the first time that I had ever gotten a sunburn so I went to the ER. I was screaming in pain and thought I was going to die. The doctors were in the hallway laughing at me."
Dead silence.
That is how you tell a story!
MS150 Day 1
Day 1 of the MS150 is complete.
I rose on time this morning about 4:30am. I was one of the first people to get to the registration area. As a note to myself: get up at 5am next year.
The registration area was much nicer this year than last. There was plenty of space and there were no lines. Once I was registered, I settled in with some free food and coffee until race time.
I was able to meet up with the same people that I rode with last year. How crazy is that? Out of 200+ riders, I managed to find the same people two years in a row.
Cammy Dierking (local celebrity) was onhand as usual for the ride. She's recovered from her lower-extremity surgery and I believe she actually rode. Bad news, however: Steve Horstmeyer (another local celerity) did not race. He had a wedding to attend. Lame! I mean, marital bliss or bike race? Actually, I don't even think it was his wedding. And if it was, he could be late, right? No one's getting married without the groom.
Anyways, the course was completely different this year than in years past. Supposedly it was much flatter. I don't believe a bit of that, but if it makes everyone feel better to say it, then great. We hit the lunch stop (mile 35) by around 9:30am. From there it was on to the 25 mile loop.
The 25 mile loop was a special part of the course that would increase the mileage from 50 to 75. Again, this is a change from the past. Usually the standard distance is 75 miles and the extra distance is 100. This year, however, the standard distance was 50 miles and the extended "remix" was 75.
I guess the course designers figured that since those on the loop were going "above and beyond" they could make it as crazy as they wanted. The loop starts with a huge descent. We actually reached 37 mph on the way down the hill. That's probably the fastest I have ever gone on a bike. But, don't worry, you can't maintain momentum since there is a stop sign right at the bottom. Since the extra distance is a loop, you start and end in the same spot. Well, since we went down the hill to start, we had to make up that altitude somehow, right?
Well, it started with a small climb which I decided to really kill. As we crested that little gem, I got a glimpse of what was forthcoming -- an even bigger climb. So, foolishly, I put it down on that hill too. Once I reached that apex, what greeted my delirious eyes? A third climb. Oh yes, well, we must be done after three straight climbs, correct? No no. Left turn and one final climb right back to where we started.
While I was stupid to go so hard up those hills, I pleased that I had enough in the tank to do it. The group I was riding with thinned out up those hills and I ended up at the front with another guy who was riding a Softride bike. He's a cheater. That's like putting a motor on your bike.
But, we regrouped at the top and headed out for the last 15 miles. The last fifteen were devilish. The wind was strong and in our face. But, we made it.
By 12:19 I was off the bike and inside the University of Dayton welcome center.
It occurs to me that a) I have a roommate now and b) he's trying to take a nap. So, I will stop the incessant typing and let him be.
What can I say? There's 75 more tomorrow!
PS: I forgot my shoes. No shoes, no shirt, no service. I'm hungry!
I rose on time this morning about 4:30am. I was one of the first people to get to the registration area. As a note to myself: get up at 5am next year.
The registration area was much nicer this year than last. There was plenty of space and there were no lines. Once I was registered, I settled in with some free food and coffee until race time.
I was able to meet up with the same people that I rode with last year. How crazy is that? Out of 200+ riders, I managed to find the same people two years in a row.
Cammy Dierking (local celebrity) was onhand as usual for the ride. She's recovered from her lower-extremity surgery and I believe she actually rode. Bad news, however: Steve Horstmeyer (another local celerity) did not race. He had a wedding to attend. Lame! I mean, marital bliss or bike race? Actually, I don't even think it was his wedding. And if it was, he could be late, right? No one's getting married without the groom.
Anyways, the course was completely different this year than in years past. Supposedly it was much flatter. I don't believe a bit of that, but if it makes everyone feel better to say it, then great. We hit the lunch stop (mile 35) by around 9:30am. From there it was on to the 25 mile loop.
The 25 mile loop was a special part of the course that would increase the mileage from 50 to 75. Again, this is a change from the past. Usually the standard distance is 75 miles and the extra distance is 100. This year, however, the standard distance was 50 miles and the extended "remix" was 75.
I guess the course designers figured that since those on the loop were going "above and beyond" they could make it as crazy as they wanted. The loop starts with a huge descent. We actually reached 37 mph on the way down the hill. That's probably the fastest I have ever gone on a bike. But, don't worry, you can't maintain momentum since there is a stop sign right at the bottom. Since the extra distance is a loop, you start and end in the same spot. Well, since we went down the hill to start, we had to make up that altitude somehow, right?
Well, it started with a small climb which I decided to really kill. As we crested that little gem, I got a glimpse of what was forthcoming -- an even bigger climb. So, foolishly, I put it down on that hill too. Once I reached that apex, what greeted my delirious eyes? A third climb. Oh yes, well, we must be done after three straight climbs, correct? No no. Left turn and one final climb right back to where we started.
While I was stupid to go so hard up those hills, I pleased that I had enough in the tank to do it. The group I was riding with thinned out up those hills and I ended up at the front with another guy who was riding a Softride bike. He's a cheater. That's like putting a motor on your bike.
But, we regrouped at the top and headed out for the last 15 miles. The last fifteen were devilish. The wind was strong and in our face. But, we made it.
By 12:19 I was off the bike and inside the University of Dayton welcome center.
It occurs to me that a) I have a roommate now and b) he's trying to take a nap. So, I will stop the incessant typing and let him be.
What can I say? There's 75 more tomorrow!
PS: I forgot my shoes. No shoes, no shirt, no service. I'm hungry!
Friday, July 08, 2005
MS 150
Hello there.
It was quite a day. I am trying to head to bed so that I can be rested for the first day of the MS150 tomorrow. I am going to wake up around 4:30am and leave for the race at 5:00am. Riding begins at 7:30am and I will report on my condition later tomorrow afternoon.
Thanks to all of you who sponsored me through donations and thoughts. It is an important charity and it's great fun. However, there is always the danger associated with riding a bike for those distances. So, wish me luck.
Today was a fun day. My dad and I played golf and then mom and I learned how to Kayak.
For those of you interested, we learned four different kayaking strokes. The most important is the power stroke. This, apparently, is the stroke that will get you from point A to point B the quickest. In my case, the power stroke is the fastest way to get you from point A to point C to point D and finally to point B.
To steer, there are the sweep and brace stroke. Finally, there is the brake stroke.
Getting in and out of the craft are by far the most difficult parts of the entire kayak operation. My mom and I both had our fair share of difficulty. She had to request help because of a shoulder "injury". I toughed it out. I guess I should say that I tried to tough it out. To successfully emerge from the vessel, I did require assistance from Mom. Almost an hour of maneuvering and I was only a little wet. Hopefully there will be time for kayak adventures in the future.
Stay tuned for race updates tomorrow.
It was quite a day. I am trying to head to bed so that I can be rested for the first day of the MS150 tomorrow. I am going to wake up around 4:30am and leave for the race at 5:00am. Riding begins at 7:30am and I will report on my condition later tomorrow afternoon.
Thanks to all of you who sponsored me through donations and thoughts. It is an important charity and it's great fun. However, there is always the danger associated with riding a bike for those distances. So, wish me luck.
Today was a fun day. My dad and I played golf and then mom and I learned how to Kayak.
For those of you interested, we learned four different kayaking strokes. The most important is the power stroke. This, apparently, is the stroke that will get you from point A to point B the quickest. In my case, the power stroke is the fastest way to get you from point A to point C to point D and finally to point B.
To steer, there are the sweep and brace stroke. Finally, there is the brake stroke.
Getting in and out of the craft are by far the most difficult parts of the entire kayak operation. My mom and I both had our fair share of difficulty. She had to request help because of a shoulder "injury". I toughed it out. I guess I should say that I tried to tough it out. To successfully emerge from the vessel, I did require assistance from Mom. Almost an hour of maneuvering and I was only a little wet. Hopefully there will be time for kayak adventures in the future.
Stay tuned for race updates tomorrow.
Safely Home and London Terror
Hello all.
I just wanted to let everyone know that I have made it back to Cincinnati safely. The ride home was long. On the Eastern side of Charleston, WV, I ran into some traffic. The road I was travelling, 64-West, was closed because of an accident. This, however, was no normal accident. It involved about 15 cars, three of which were tractor-trailers. One of the tractor trailers was transporting live animals. This made things worse. The sensitive methods for removing these animals was the reason for the road's closure. To give you an idea of how difficult this must have been, officials said that the road would be closed for a total of 3 to 5 hours.
To be sure, my travelling was not the only news of the day. Terror attacks have ripped through London, England. Experts have said that these attacks were inevitable. No matter how much you believe the inevitability of terror, the actual event is quite traumatizing. My heart breaks for the families and loved ones of those who were lost or injured in the attacks.
The terror attacks do seem to have refocused America's wondering thoughts. Our main interests were drifting dangerously towards the trivial -- Michael Jackson, car chases in California and Tom Cruise. Perhaps in the wake of this terrible incident, public opinion will force the administration to focus on the actual war on terror. This war, unlike the one we are fighting in Iraq, would actually benefit the citizens of America, and the world, by keeping innocent people from being affected by terror attacks ever again.
No matter what your political position, these attacks force us all to remember that life is short. It forces us all to think about the way we leave each other's company. Do we hang up the phone annoyed? Do we mutter under our breath when we see someone we don't want to talk to? Do we fail to respond to a friend's email because its too much work?
What if events like the ones from today keep us from remedying the ways that we have taken each other for granted? These are some of the questions that haunt me daily. This is obviously bad for my sleep patterns, but I hope that concentrating on these questions will help me become the best friend, son, boyfriend, and friend that I can be.
I just wanted to let everyone know that I have made it back to Cincinnati safely. The ride home was long. On the Eastern side of Charleston, WV, I ran into some traffic. The road I was travelling, 64-West, was closed because of an accident. This, however, was no normal accident. It involved about 15 cars, three of which were tractor-trailers. One of the tractor trailers was transporting live animals. This made things worse. The sensitive methods for removing these animals was the reason for the road's closure. To give you an idea of how difficult this must have been, officials said that the road would be closed for a total of 3 to 5 hours.
To be sure, my travelling was not the only news of the day. Terror attacks have ripped through London, England. Experts have said that these attacks were inevitable. No matter how much you believe the inevitability of terror, the actual event is quite traumatizing. My heart breaks for the families and loved ones of those who were lost or injured in the attacks.
The terror attacks do seem to have refocused America's wondering thoughts. Our main interests were drifting dangerously towards the trivial -- Michael Jackson, car chases in California and Tom Cruise. Perhaps in the wake of this terrible incident, public opinion will force the administration to focus on the actual war on terror. This war, unlike the one we are fighting in Iraq, would actually benefit the citizens of America, and the world, by keeping innocent people from being affected by terror attacks ever again.
No matter what your political position, these attacks force us all to remember that life is short. It forces us all to think about the way we leave each other's company. Do we hang up the phone annoyed? Do we mutter under our breath when we see someone we don't want to talk to? Do we fail to respond to a friend's email because its too much work?
What if events like the ones from today keep us from remedying the ways that we have taken each other for granted? These are some of the questions that haunt me daily. This is obviously bad for my sleep patterns, but I hope that concentrating on these questions will help me become the best friend, son, boyfriend, and friend that I can be.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Supreme Court Nominations
Last night I sent the following message to the President of the United States of America. The President does get a few more emails every day than I do. For that reason, I won't expect a response tomorrow. However, I do expect to hear a reply before the start of next week. Wish me luck!
Mr. President,
Allow me to introduce myself. I am William Hawkins, a graduate student
at the University of Virginia. I am a student of Computer Science studying
for a PhD.
I have been following the news regarding the retirement of Justice
O'Connor. News reports suggest that you may have already undertaken the
task of creating a list of potential nominees. While listening to the
pundits pontificate about people they think may be on the list, I have not
heard my name mentioned.
Since I am still a relatively unknown person, I thought that I should
contact you directly to ensure that I had made it on the list of potential
nominees. Please allow me to address the three main reasons why I am
uniquely qualified to be a Supreme Court Justice.
1. I have absolutely no preconceived notions about the law. I have never
attended law school nor have I been indoctrinated with the formalisms of
traditional Constitutional study. I would bring a clean, empty mind to the
bench that would allow me to make decisions independently.
2. I am young. As a 23 year old, with no criminal record (aside from a
traffic ticket), I think that I could sail through the nomination and
confirmation process. Some other potential nominees will draw criticism
from the conservatives, liberals or both. Mr. President, you said that you
are a uniter not a divider. If you want a nominee that is a uniter not a
divider, I am your man. I would cause few problems for Mr. Thompson
throughout the appointment procedure.
3. I require no clothing or makeup budget. I can look clean, able and
confident in front of the national press with little more than a bottle of
Gatorade, Big Red chewing gum and a Klondike bar.
I hope to be the best Justice possible. Since Fall classes do not start
for another two months, I will be available for all the hearings that will
take place in the confirmation process.
Please acknowledge that you have received this message. I check my email
regularly, so all information regarding meeting times and places can be
sent to this address.
Thank you for your time, Mr. President.
Sincerely,
Future Supreme Court Justice Nominee,
William Hawkins
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Bush Falls Off Bike (again)
A pool report describes that President Bush has fallen off his bike. This is not the first occasion when Mr. Bush has wrecked a bike. This time, however, it may not have been a result of his clumsiness.
Just a short time before his accident, Mr. Bush met with U2's Bono. I believe that Mr. Bush's inability to maintain a perch atop his bicycle was a result of prolonged oxygen deprivation. You know, choking on Bono's ego can do that.
Other punchlines:
1. You can't expand your chest to take a deep breath when Bono's ego occupies all the space in a room.
2. President Bush suffered from Sudden Sniffing Bono Syndrome: a dearth of mental function resulting from the hair product applied by Bono to keep his horns covered.
3. The vacuum created by Bono's lack of personality sucked the ability to balance from Mr. Bush.
Just a short time before his accident, Mr. Bush met with U2's Bono. I believe that Mr. Bush's inability to maintain a perch atop his bicycle was a result of prolonged oxygen deprivation. You know, choking on Bono's ego can do that.
Other punchlines:
1. You can't expand your chest to take a deep breath when Bono's ego occupies all the space in a room.
2. President Bush suffered from Sudden Sniffing Bono Syndrome: a dearth of mental function resulting from the hair product applied by Bono to keep his horns covered.
3. The vacuum created by Bono's lack of personality sucked the ability to balance from Mr. Bush.
Politician, Actor and Politician Again
Fred D. Thompson is again dipping his toes into the world of politics. He was appointed to usher the President's Supreme Court nominee through the confirmation process.
Once a Senator, Mr. Thompson is recently best known as an actor on NBC's "Law and Order". IMDB has some great trivia about Mr. Thompson. Of particular interest, IMDB reports that Mr. Thompson was the first serving US Senator to take a regular acting job. IMDB also reports that Mr. Thompson was a regular on two different Law and Order TV series at the same time. More trivia about Fred Thompson can be found here.
What happens if the nominee gets into a scrape during confirmation hearings? Is Fred going to yell "dum dum" and hope that the cameras all cut to black?
Once a Senator, Mr. Thompson is recently best known as an actor on NBC's "Law and Order". IMDB has some great trivia about Mr. Thompson. Of particular interest, IMDB reports that Mr. Thompson was the first serving US Senator to take a regular acting job. IMDB also reports that Mr. Thompson was a regular on two different Law and Order TV series at the same time. More trivia about Fred Thompson can be found here.
What happens if the nominee gets into a scrape during confirmation hearings? Is Fred going to yell "dum dum" and hope that the cameras all cut to black?
Updates From Around The World of Blogs
I will dip into a little meta blogging this afternoon.
A fellow UVA CS graduate student has recently embarked upon a trip around the world. Spiegel will be spending a few weeks in Israel. His first report has been posted on his blog. From his first post, it appears that he has had some bad luck with the airlines. If I were cynical I would respond, "is that a surprise?" In either case, I'm glad that he made it there safely despite all the difficulties.
Also, I would like to mention another blog written by a friend of mine. She is an MD/PhD student at the University of Cincinnati. She specializes in neuroscience. She has a great writing style and I definitely recommend her blog to anyone who thinks that their academic career is stressful. It can be found here.
More updates will come later this afternoon.
Just a reminder that a link to donate money to the National MS Society in my name for the upcoming MS150 can be found a few posts down the page. Small donations are just as appreciated as large ones. Thanks for supporting the National MS Society.
A fellow UVA CS graduate student has recently embarked upon a trip around the world. Spiegel will be spending a few weeks in Israel. His first report has been posted on his blog. From his first post, it appears that he has had some bad luck with the airlines. If I were cynical I would respond, "is that a surprise?" In either case, I'm glad that he made it there safely despite all the difficulties.
Also, I would like to mention another blog written by a friend of mine. She is an MD/PhD student at the University of Cincinnati. She specializes in neuroscience. She has a great writing style and I definitely recommend her blog to anyone who thinks that their academic career is stressful. It can be found here.
More updates will come later this afternoon.
Just a reminder that a link to donate money to the National MS Society in my name for the upcoming MS150 can be found a few posts down the page. Small donations are just as appreciated as large ones. Thanks for supporting the National MS Society.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Computer Science Education
Many researchers in the field of technology education worry that high school students are not given the opportunity to learn the "science of computers" (ref). Among other reasons, they claim that computer science in high schools is not being taught because of limited funding.
Having been involved with tax levies to support public education, I know that there is way too little funding available for secondary education. First and foremost, the teachers are severely underpaid. Second, the students are not given the opportunity to participate in enriching activities because all the available funding goes to providing the basic elements of education. Money for education has been stripped down to the point where even reading, writing and math are taught on a shoestring.
Americans are worried that in the future all of our jobs will be outsourced. They whine on and on about how Americans should employ other Americans and help from people in other countries is unnecessary. The problem is, with the current public education system, soon there won't be any more American companies. Future generations will not have been properly tooled for owning their own businesses and/or ascending to the position of CEO at an already established country.
I agree with the article in many respects. It is important for high school students to be given the exposure to a wide variety of fields. Only through this dabbling with many things will students find their place. This leaves computer science as an elective course. It, along with mechanical engineering, domestic engineering, orchestra, band, choir, drama and other specialized classes should remain elective until the proper amount of funding is available for core subjects. Then, we can begin to demand that our students become well-rounded.
I benefited greatly from taking high school courses that taught all of these subjects. I know that without them, my understanding on the interconnection between disciplines would be limited. If the thinkers of tomorrow don't understand how A impacts B, then great ideas may go unnoticed or undeveloped.
However, information science should become mandatory. The Internet can be a great thing, but it must be used responsibly. Students, starting in grade school, research reports using the Internet. By the time they reach high school and college, they've become too reliant on the Internet for scholarly papers. Not everything on the Internet is true. But, some of it is. How do you tell the difference between the signal and the noise? How do you determine what is authoritative and what is opinion? I can't even do that reliably when I read news.google.com.
So, I think that if any new class should be mandatory in education, it should be this information science class. This class should teach the proper uses of the Internet and the proper use of the computer in the academic world. For instance, how to cite Internet data correctly. How to verify the information found on the Internet. How to avoid taking opinion for fact. How to use the Internet to access texts that may not be available in the local library. How to use the Internet to access microfiche, or other archived data.
Just ask librarians what they think about this. You'll probably get an earful.
Having been involved with tax levies to support public education, I know that there is way too little funding available for secondary education. First and foremost, the teachers are severely underpaid. Second, the students are not given the opportunity to participate in enriching activities because all the available funding goes to providing the basic elements of education. Money for education has been stripped down to the point where even reading, writing and math are taught on a shoestring.
Americans are worried that in the future all of our jobs will be outsourced. They whine on and on about how Americans should employ other Americans and help from people in other countries is unnecessary. The problem is, with the current public education system, soon there won't be any more American companies. Future generations will not have been properly tooled for owning their own businesses and/or ascending to the position of CEO at an already established country.
I agree with the article in many respects. It is important for high school students to be given the exposure to a wide variety of fields. Only through this dabbling with many things will students find their place. This leaves computer science as an elective course. It, along with mechanical engineering, domestic engineering, orchestra, band, choir, drama and other specialized classes should remain elective until the proper amount of funding is available for core subjects. Then, we can begin to demand that our students become well-rounded.
I benefited greatly from taking high school courses that taught all of these subjects. I know that without them, my understanding on the interconnection between disciplines would be limited. If the thinkers of tomorrow don't understand how A impacts B, then great ideas may go unnoticed or undeveloped.
However, information science should become mandatory. The Internet can be a great thing, but it must be used responsibly. Students, starting in grade school, research reports using the Internet. By the time they reach high school and college, they've become too reliant on the Internet for scholarly papers. Not everything on the Internet is true. But, some of it is. How do you tell the difference between the signal and the noise? How do you determine what is authoritative and what is opinion? I can't even do that reliably when I read news.google.com.
So, I think that if any new class should be mandatory in education, it should be this information science class. This class should teach the proper uses of the Internet and the proper use of the computer in the academic world. For instance, how to cite Internet data correctly. How to verify the information found on the Internet. How to avoid taking opinion for fact. How to use the Internet to access texts that may not be available in the local library. How to use the Internet to access microfiche, or other archived data.
Just ask librarians what they think about this. You'll probably get an earful.
MS 150 Ride
This is a programming note for all you loyal readers.
This weekend I will be riding in the Kroger Brand MS 150. This is the second year that I will be taking part. The ride is a tour through Southwest Ohio. All the riders get donations from family, friends, coworkers etc to encourage their training and racing and these donations are given to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
For the second year in a row, my major sponsor will be the Convergys corporation. They obviously realize a good cause when they see one and love to do their part to give back to the community. I have also pledged money to myself for this great cause.
Now, it can be your turn. According to the National MS Society website, almost 2.5 million people suffer from the disease worldwide. The disease affects the central nervous system. Fatty, scar tissue builds up around the nerves and inhibits their ability to transmit electrical impulses.
Would you like to support me this weekend? I've made it very easy for you to do so! This web site, provided by the National MS Society, allows you to make a donation securely using a credit card.
Thanks!
This weekend I will be riding in the Kroger Brand MS 150. This is the second year that I will be taking part. The ride is a tour through Southwest Ohio. All the riders get donations from family, friends, coworkers etc to encourage their training and racing and these donations are given to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
For the second year in a row, my major sponsor will be the Convergys corporation. They obviously realize a good cause when they see one and love to do their part to give back to the community. I have also pledged money to myself for this great cause.
Now, it can be your turn. According to the National MS Society website, almost 2.5 million people suffer from the disease worldwide. The disease affects the central nervous system. Fatty, scar tissue builds up around the nerves and inhibits their ability to transmit electrical impulses.
Would you like to support me this weekend? I've made it very easy for you to do so! This web site, provided by the National MS Society, allows you to make a donation securely using a credit card.
Thanks!
Martha Stewart's Prison Nickname
According to a new interview, Martha Stewart's jailhouse nickname was M. Diddy. Sounds like she must have been the man in those jailhouse romances.
In an exclusive interview, I was able to obtain some of the nicknames that her fellow inmates rejected before finally settling on M. Diddy:
1. M. Ziti
2. The Wino Rhino
3. Ice Cream
4. Salad Tosser
5. Braised Bitch
6. Vanilla Vixen
7. Good Thang
Editor's note: The above "punchline" could have been replaced with the following, equally lackluster, jokes:
1. Sounds like she followed the old adage, "get respect on the first day or never have respect."
2. Next, she'll appear on MTV in Making the Bake Sale.
3. In other news, she's training for Diddy Runs From the City Police.
4. The article also includes the following quote from her new Apprentice show: "You're fired. And by the way, it burns when I urinate."
In an exclusive interview, I was able to obtain some of the nicknames that her fellow inmates rejected before finally settling on M. Diddy:
1. M. Ziti
2. The Wino Rhino
3. Ice Cream
4. Salad Tosser
5. Braised Bitch
6. Vanilla Vixen
7. Good Thang
Editor's note: The above "punchline" could have been replaced with the following, equally lackluster, jokes:
1. Sounds like she followed the old adage, "get respect on the first day or never have respect."
2. Next, she'll appear on MTV in Making the Bake Sale.
3. In other news, she's training for Diddy Runs From the City Police.
4. The article also includes the following quote from her new Apprentice show: "You're fired. And by the way, it burns when I urinate."
Karl Rove Update
The rumblings about Karl Rove have grown louder. In an appearance on the McLaughlin group, MSNBC political analyst Lawrence O'Donnell claims that two authoritative sources have confirmed that Karl Rove was the "key leaker" in the Valerie Plame controversy.
O'Donnell also claims that this story will "break wide open" this week. Whatever the outcome, it will be interesting.
O'Donnell also claims that this story will "break wide open" this week. Whatever the outcome, it will be interesting.
Happy Fourth of July
I just wanted to wish everyone a happy Fourth of July. I know that most of my readership is American, so I won't bother to explain what this holiday is all about.
This weekend has been quite interesting. I am very, very glad to be here with my parents. It is always great to see them. Also, the time away from Charlottesville has been nice. Being in South Carolina has reminded me of Furman. In addition to being reminded of Furman, I have had the opportunity to be surrounded by some of my best friends -- all of which I met at Furman.
People seem to think that as friends spend time apart, their relationships must grow stale. I'm here to say that's not the way it always is. From the minute I saw my friends in the airport it was just like we never missed a step.
I knew that when I graduated I had made a great set of friends. There was no doubt about it. I was angry that I was going to have to make new friends. I was happy with my old ones. That feeling of anger slowly faded as I tried to make new friends. But, there is just something about these guys that is just not reproducible. Our currents paths have diverged slightly, but I know that at some point we are all going to be back together again.
I guess that would describe the weekend well. On a more practical note, today's events included 18 holes of golf, 45 minutes on the bike and 30 minutes running. We had a great dinner at the hotel and then got to watch some great fireworks.
My dad is quite the fireworks bad luck charm. Every time that we attend a fireworks display with him, the wind is such that all we see is smoke. As I always say, "if you've seen one firework, you've seen them all!" So really, what's so bad about a little smoke?
I suppose that some will label this post sappy or self-indulgent. I would challenge both of those characterizations, but I really have no idea what self-indulgent actually means. So there.
This weeking has also marked a huge turning point in the summer, and perhaps my life. I wish that I could discuss it further with you loyal readers, but at this time I just cannot. I can say, however, that the remainder of the summer is going to be filled with huge decisions and plenty of change. Many of you know how much I hate change, so this will be difficult.
Tomorrow includes watching the team time trial stage on OLN and then travelling back to Charlottesville. I'll only be there a few days before I return to Cincinnati for the MS150. After the 150, my return to Charlottesville may be delayed. It will depend on how things go with my meeting on Wednesday.
Blue Train.
This weekend has been quite interesting. I am very, very glad to be here with my parents. It is always great to see them. Also, the time away from Charlottesville has been nice. Being in South Carolina has reminded me of Furman. In addition to being reminded of Furman, I have had the opportunity to be surrounded by some of my best friends -- all of which I met at Furman.
People seem to think that as friends spend time apart, their relationships must grow stale. I'm here to say that's not the way it always is. From the minute I saw my friends in the airport it was just like we never missed a step.
I knew that when I graduated I had made a great set of friends. There was no doubt about it. I was angry that I was going to have to make new friends. I was happy with my old ones. That feeling of anger slowly faded as I tried to make new friends. But, there is just something about these guys that is just not reproducible. Our currents paths have diverged slightly, but I know that at some point we are all going to be back together again.
I guess that would describe the weekend well. On a more practical note, today's events included 18 holes of golf, 45 minutes on the bike and 30 minutes running. We had a great dinner at the hotel and then got to watch some great fireworks.
My dad is quite the fireworks bad luck charm. Every time that we attend a fireworks display with him, the wind is such that all we see is smoke. As I always say, "if you've seen one firework, you've seen them all!" So really, what's so bad about a little smoke?
I suppose that some will label this post sappy or self-indulgent. I would challenge both of those characterizations, but I really have no idea what self-indulgent actually means. So there.
This weeking has also marked a huge turning point in the summer, and perhaps my life. I wish that I could discuss it further with you loyal readers, but at this time I just cannot. I can say, however, that the remainder of the summer is going to be filled with huge decisions and plenty of change. Many of you know how much I hate change, so this will be difficult.
Tomorrow includes watching the team time trial stage on OLN and then travelling back to Charlottesville. I'll only be there a few days before I return to Cincinnati for the MS150. After the 150, my return to Charlottesville may be delayed. It will depend on how things go with my meeting on Wednesday.
Blue Train.
Sunday, July 03, 2005
Karl Rove as Informant
Could Karl Rove have been the one to leak the identity of a CIA operative to reporters? This CNN article describes a Newsweek report that may answer this very question.
According to the article, Rove and Time magazine reporter Cooper had email contact prior to Time's revelation that Valerie Plame's was a CIA operative.
It is common knowledge that Rove has been able to manipulate the media and Bush's opponents in a way that no one else has. Little, however, is known about his methods for doing so. If this allegation is true, Rove's puppeteering ways could be no more.
There is no "characterization" of the contents of their email or personal correspondence. An independent investigation has been ongoing into this matter. I wonder what their final conclusion will be?
I have my own opinion. What's yours?
Technorati Tags:
Karl Rove
Valerie Plame
CIA
According to the article, Rove and Time magazine reporter Cooper had email contact prior to Time's revelation that Valerie Plame's was a CIA operative.
It is common knowledge that Rove has been able to manipulate the media and Bush's opponents in a way that no one else has. Little, however, is known about his methods for doing so. If this allegation is true, Rove's puppeteering ways could be no more.
There is no "characterization" of the contents of their email or personal correspondence. An independent investigation has been ongoing into this matter. I wonder what their final conclusion will be?
I have my own opinion. What's yours?
Technorati Tags:
Karl Rove
Valerie Plame
CIA
Breaking Personal News
More on this tomorrow.
Update: I cannot describe this matter further in the blog. If you would like to know more, please email. Thanks.
Update: I cannot describe this matter further in the blog. If you would like to know more, please email. Thanks.
Friday, July 01, 2005
Internet Competency
I am sitting here at the Charlottesville-Albermarle airport waiting for my flight out.
I happened upon this earlier in the day, and couldn't let it go without mention. Various California universities are considering a standardized test for Internet competency to be completed before admission to college. The test will not become mandatory for a few years, but may be available as early as this fall on a volutary basis.
The proponents of such an exam are teaming up with Educational Testing Service to create the test. Doesn't ETS already have a monopoly on these admission tests? I think we are all familiar with the $100+ cost of the GRE!
If it's on the Internet it must be true. Do I pass?
Technorati Tags:
Internet test
college
I happened upon this earlier in the day, and couldn't let it go without mention. Various California universities are considering a standardized test for Internet competency to be completed before admission to college. The test will not become mandatory for a few years, but may be available as early as this fall on a volutary basis.
The proponents of such an exam are teaming up with Educational Testing Service to create the test. Doesn't ETS already have a monopoly on these admission tests? I think we are all familiar with the $100+ cost of the GRE!
If it's on the Internet it must be true. Do I pass?
Technorati Tags:
Internet test
college
Identity Theft Oops
DSW has a huge problem. According to CNN (ref), the list of people whose card information was stolen from a DSW customer database includes the FTC chairperson Deborah Platt Majoras.
Hopefully this will push lawmakers into taking data security legislation more seriously.
Then again, maybe not. Am I cynical?
Hopefully this will push lawmakers into taking data security legislation more seriously.
Then again, maybe not. Am I cynical?
The Pseudo Feud
Brooke Shields takes aim at Tom Cruise's comments about her dance with antidepressants.
Don't you just love it when celebrities feud?
Richard Karn: Welcome to Celebrity Feud. Today Scientology and Celebrity Mothers will face off. Before we meet the teams, let's have our first face off.
Karn: Welcome Tom and Brooke. Hands on the buzzers. We asked 100 people what they think of when they hear the word "pseudo".
BUZZ
Karn: Brooke?
Brooke Shields: Scientology
Karn: Good answer, show me Scientology!
DING
Karn: Not bad. That was the second most common answer. Tom, for the steal?
Tom Cruise: Psychiatry?
Karn: Good answer, show me Psychiatry!
BUZZ
Karn: Oh, sorry Tom. That answer is not even on the board.
Cruise: Richard, Richard, Richard, Richard. You're being glib. Do you even know the history of Family Feud?
Karn: I know that Louie Anderson could have crushed you and all the followers of Scientology if he were still the host. Now, show me the number one answer!
DING
Karn: Tom Cruise's relationship with Katie Holmes. Ouch. The Celebrity Mothers will control the game. Let's play the feud!
I guess it would go something like that.
Technorati Tags:
Tom Cruise
Brooke Shields
Don't you just love it when celebrities feud?
Richard Karn: Welcome to Celebrity Feud. Today Scientology and Celebrity Mothers will face off. Before we meet the teams, let's have our first face off.
Karn: Welcome Tom and Brooke. Hands on the buzzers. We asked 100 people what they think of when they hear the word "pseudo".
BUZZ
Karn: Brooke?
Brooke Shields: Scientology
Karn: Good answer, show me Scientology!
DING
Karn: Not bad. That was the second most common answer. Tom, for the steal?
Tom Cruise: Psychiatry?
Karn: Good answer, show me Psychiatry!
BUZZ
Karn: Oh, sorry Tom. That answer is not even on the board.
Cruise: Richard, Richard, Richard, Richard. You're being glib. Do you even know the history of Family Feud?
Karn: I know that Louie Anderson could have crushed you and all the followers of Scientology if he were still the host. Now, show me the number one answer!
DING
Karn: Tom Cruise's relationship with Katie Holmes. Ouch. The Celebrity Mothers will control the game. Let's play the feud!
I guess it would go something like that.
Technorati Tags:
Tom Cruise
Brooke Shields
Adult Audiences Only
Recently "The Washingtonienne" has become the talk of the book community. The author, Jessica Cutler, lost her job and decided to move to Washington, DC. She got a job working on Capitol Hill in various low paying and low prestige jobs.
Apparently she "has a great personality" because she managed to frequent with some very influential people. Her friends were always bothering her about the details, so she decided to create a blog. That way, she thought, she could write it once and everyone could read it.
Much like Java (write once, run anywhere), that didn't work out as planned. The blog became public and she lost her job. That's not the end of the story for our DC vixen. She decided to capture her exploits in a book, titled "The Wasingtonienne."
This book is a huge seller. However, many people forget that the book was actually based on a blog. Last night, as I was bouncing around the blogosphere (awful name!), I came upon an archive of that original blog.
This blog is NC-17 at best. I had to cover my own eyes. I post this only because I know that someone out there has read the book and wondered if the original blog was still available.
Apparently she "has a great personality" because she managed to frequent with some very influential people. Her friends were always bothering her about the details, so she decided to create a blog. That way, she thought, she could write it once and everyone could read it.
Much like Java (write once, run anywhere), that didn't work out as planned. The blog became public and she lost her job. That's not the end of the story for our DC vixen. She decided to capture her exploits in a book, titled "The Wasingtonienne."
This book is a huge seller. However, many people forget that the book was actually based on a blog. Last night, as I was bouncing around the blogosphere (awful name!), I came upon an archive of that original blog.
This blog is NC-17 at best. I had to cover my own eyes. I post this only because I know that someone out there has read the book and wondered if the original blog was still available.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
More LAF Fundraising
The Washington Post has a "review" of Lance Armstrong's new clothing line. The writer, unnamed in the byline, spends a significant amount of time describing how you can only look good in cycling apparel when you are actually cycling. Yet, if you wear a basketball or baseball jersey, your fashion statemtent is considered normal.
I suppose that I can see the difference. The baseball and basketball apparel are not tight fitting and tend not to reveal one's Mesopotamia (the area between a person's Tigres and Euphrates. Got it?).
The author takes his/her sweet time in getting down to business. The real purpose of the article is to describe Lance's new clothing line. He and Nike are making some casual and active apparel that will feature the 10/2 logo. This is a reference to the day he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, October 2, 1996.
With the purchase of each item, Nike plans to donate its customary one dollar to the LAF foundation. As the writer of the article points out, the simplicity of the yellow wristband is lost with the introduction of this clothing line. With the wristbands, Nike donated all the money it made from their sales. However, these clothes will be selling for $20 to $160. No matter what the item's price, Nike will donate a flat $1.
The monetary donations from the sales of the LiveStrong bands are extraordinary. The LiveStrong bands have generated over $20million in donations to the LAF from Nike. Nike paid for all of the production costs of the bands and donated every bit of the sales. Impressive.
One question remains about this new clothing line. Would Nike, a company that had $13.7 billion in revenue last year (fiscal 2005), really suffer if it were to donate a little more than a dollar on each purchase?
Nike should be commended for monetarily supporting Cancer research and public awareness efforts, but the question must still be asked.
I suppose that I can see the difference. The baseball and basketball apparel are not tight fitting and tend not to reveal one's Mesopotamia (the area between a person's Tigres and Euphrates. Got it?).
The author takes his/her sweet time in getting down to business. The real purpose of the article is to describe Lance's new clothing line. He and Nike are making some casual and active apparel that will feature the 10/2 logo. This is a reference to the day he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, October 2, 1996.
With the purchase of each item, Nike plans to donate its customary one dollar to the LAF foundation. As the writer of the article points out, the simplicity of the yellow wristband is lost with the introduction of this clothing line. With the wristbands, Nike donated all the money it made from their sales. However, these clothes will be selling for $20 to $160. No matter what the item's price, Nike will donate a flat $1.
The monetary donations from the sales of the LiveStrong bands are extraordinary. The LiveStrong bands have generated over $20million in donations to the LAF from Nike. Nike paid for all of the production costs of the bands and donated every bit of the sales. Impressive.
One question remains about this new clothing line. Would Nike, a company that had $13.7 billion in revenue last year (fiscal 2005), really suffer if it were to donate a little more than a dollar on each purchase?
Nike should be commended for monetarily supporting Cancer research and public awareness efforts, but the question must still be asked.
eBay Documentary Update
Fraudulent bag purchases aside, the eBay documentary on CNBC has been a huge ratings success for the network, according to this story.
I want to restate my recommendation about this documentary. There is a great technical side to it as I mentioned in my previous entry. The images of their server rooms and network operations center are really cool.
Technical "stuff" not your cup of tea? No worries. The documentary contains some juicy nuggets for you fans of the social, managerial or operational aspects of the company.
No matter your needs, technical or nontechnical, it's worth your time.
I want to restate my recommendation about this documentary. There is a great technical side to it as I mentioned in my previous entry. The images of their server rooms and network operations center are really cool.
Technical "stuff" not your cup of tea? No worries. The documentary contains some juicy nuggets for you fans of the social, managerial or operational aspects of the company.
No matter your needs, technical or nontechnical, it's worth your time.
Relatively Normal at Room Temperature
Well, I never thought that I would say this, but it appears that Hollywood finally produced a fairly normal relationship.
According to their publicists, Ben Affleck and Denison graduate Jennifer Garner are now married. These are two fairly well known celebrities and their marriage comes as a surprise, at least to me.
In the hyper publicized relationship of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, this is almost an interesting contrast.
I say almost for two reasons. First, normal people don't actually announce their wedding through a publicist. Second, when it comes right down to it, who cares.
I am fielding bets on the over/under for the length of this marriage. Post to the comments if you want in on that action.
According to their publicists, Ben Affleck and Denison graduate Jennifer Garner are now married. These are two fairly well known celebrities and their marriage comes as a surprise, at least to me.
In the hyper publicized relationship of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, this is almost an interesting contrast.
I say almost for two reasons. First, normal people don't actually announce their wedding through a publicist. Second, when it comes right down to it, who cares.
I am fielding bets on the over/under for the length of this marriage. Post to the comments if you want in on that action.
Programming Notes at Room Temperature
Hello.
I just wanted to alert everyone to an excellent bit of programming on CNBC. As it turns out, I normally cannot even say C-N-B-C before I fall asleep. But, this recommendation is for real.
CNBC has put together an hour long documentary about the rise of eBay and its place in the Internet community. This is not a PR project for the company. CNBC reporter David Faber does an excellent job of presenting both the good things and the bad things about the company.
The documentary describe eBay's fraud preventation division in some detail. Faber choose a few special cases of fraud and attempts to follow those from the initial complaint until the situation is resolved. It is an interesting look at how these cases are handled. They report that something like one-one-hundreth of all sales are fraudulent. That's a small percentage, but eBay does process a ton of requests so they add up. ("ton" is a technical term in that usage.)
One of my favorite parts of the documentary comes near the beginning. The vice president of operations takes the film crew on a tour of its data center and network operations center. It would appear that under normal circumstances cameras are not allowed inside these two areas.
The network operations center (NOC) is filled with wall monitors listing bandwidth, the number of new user registrations per second, listings per second, bids per second, etc. The operations staff collects lots of information that users probably consider trivial. However, they use this information to shave fractions of seconds off of common page rendering operations. These seconds, accumulated over millions of users, represent significant savings for the company and customers alike.
Also, Faber take us into several high level meetings where controversial listings are discussed. One of these scenes revolve around bodily fluids. I can't do the scene justice by simpy quoting it. So, I urge you to watch. It is a great laugh.
I am sure that in the coming evenings CNBC will be re-airing this original documentary. Be sure to search it out and watch.
I just wanted to alert everyone to an excellent bit of programming on CNBC. As it turns out, I normally cannot even say C-N-B-C before I fall asleep. But, this recommendation is for real.
CNBC has put together an hour long documentary about the rise of eBay and its place in the Internet community. This is not a PR project for the company. CNBC reporter David Faber does an excellent job of presenting both the good things and the bad things about the company.
The documentary describe eBay's fraud preventation division in some detail. Faber choose a few special cases of fraud and attempts to follow those from the initial complaint until the situation is resolved. It is an interesting look at how these cases are handled. They report that something like one-one-hundreth of all sales are fraudulent. That's a small percentage, but eBay does process a ton of requests so they add up. ("ton" is a technical term in that usage.)
One of my favorite parts of the documentary comes near the beginning. The vice president of operations takes the film crew on a tour of its data center and network operations center. It would appear that under normal circumstances cameras are not allowed inside these two areas.
The network operations center (NOC) is filled with wall monitors listing bandwidth, the number of new user registrations per second, listings per second, bids per second, etc. The operations staff collects lots of information that users probably consider trivial. However, they use this information to shave fractions of seconds off of common page rendering operations. These seconds, accumulated over millions of users, represent significant savings for the company and customers alike.
Also, Faber take us into several high level meetings where controversial listings are discussed. One of these scenes revolve around bodily fluids. I can't do the scene justice by simpy quoting it. So, I urge you to watch. It is a great laugh.
I am sure that in the coming evenings CNBC will be re-airing this original documentary. Be sure to search it out and watch.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Study Crazy
Hey.
I am in DC attempting to solicit responses for my study. I knew that this was going to be difficult. But, I have run into much resistance from participants than I expected.
It appears that most people are "too busy" to participate.
One guy was sitting in a Starbucks and told me that he was a Day Trader. Was I supposed to be impressed with how busy he was? Or was I supposed to be impressed because he was going to make lots of money? I was impressed by neither. As a matter of fact, I determined he was an idiot. Anyone who relies on WiFi at a Starbucks for second-by-second buy and sell decisions is a moron. Hopefully he doesn't have a family to support because a glitch in the WiFi could cause him serious problems. What's more, I can imagine that the Starbucks staff would not be too likely to provide technical support. Latte anyone?
Update: The day was long and mostly unproductive. I had one insight, however. I often hear people complain about those Presidential approval polls. These moaners complain that the surveys can't possibly be representative since they are never personally contacted for their opinion. Today I approached people all day trying to get their opinion. However, there were very few takers. They were too busy to answer. They can't be bothered with a few questions.
So, they whine about not being asked and then they whine about being asked! You can't have it both ways people. Wise up.
I am in DC attempting to solicit responses for my study. I knew that this was going to be difficult. But, I have run into much resistance from participants than I expected.
It appears that most people are "too busy" to participate.
One guy was sitting in a Starbucks and told me that he was a Day Trader. Was I supposed to be impressed with how busy he was? Or was I supposed to be impressed because he was going to make lots of money? I was impressed by neither. As a matter of fact, I determined he was an idiot. Anyone who relies on WiFi at a Starbucks for second-by-second buy and sell decisions is a moron. Hopefully he doesn't have a family to support because a glitch in the WiFi could cause him serious problems. What's more, I can imagine that the Starbucks staff would not be too likely to provide technical support. Latte anyone?
Update: The day was long and mostly unproductive. I had one insight, however. I often hear people complain about those Presidential approval polls. These moaners complain that the surveys can't possibly be representative since they are never personally contacted for their opinion. Today I approached people all day trying to get their opinion. However, there were very few takers. They were too busy to answer. They can't be bothered with a few questions.
So, they whine about not being asked and then they whine about being asked! You can't have it both ways people. Wise up.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Academic Advisor Trouble
Update: Sorry for posting this multiple times. Weak signal last night.
Good evening.
Tonight I received a very odd email from my advisor. It appears that he received a tenured professorship offer from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. He has to decide to accept or reject the offer within two weeks.
If he accepts this position, he would have to start working there this Fall. As he said in his email, it is a great opportunity for him. UIUC is a top 5 CS department and it is a great honor for him to be offered this position. Honestly, I don't see how he could turn it down.
My advisor is very well known in the field of real time computing. He has worked hard for 20 years (dating back, I'm sure, to his undergraduate days) to acheive a prominent position in his field. This is a great reward for that hard work.
He asked all of his advisees to send their thoughts about his offer. To say anything other than "accept" would be an incredibly selfish thing to do. Offers like this are few and far between. I like my advisor. He's a great guy. He worked hard and he deserves to benefit from that effort.
If he does decide to take the position, I have no idea what I would do. Despite the many uncertanties, I know that I would absolutely not take the other professor in our research group as an advisor. Other than that, I honestly have no idea what I would do.
So, like usual, I choose not to think about it until I have to. When/if he takes the offer, I will have to ask myself some serious questions about my future as a CS researcher.
Since he only has two weeks to decide, we'll know soon enough. Stay tuned.
Good evening.
Tonight I received a very odd email from my advisor. It appears that he received a tenured professorship offer from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. He has to decide to accept or reject the offer within two weeks.
If he accepts this position, he would have to start working there this Fall. As he said in his email, it is a great opportunity for him. UIUC is a top 5 CS department and it is a great honor for him to be offered this position. Honestly, I don't see how he could turn it down.
My advisor is very well known in the field of real time computing. He has worked hard for 20 years (dating back, I'm sure, to his undergraduate days) to acheive a prominent position in his field. This is a great reward for that hard work.
He asked all of his advisees to send their thoughts about his offer. To say anything other than "accept" would be an incredibly selfish thing to do. Offers like this are few and far between. I like my advisor. He's a great guy. He worked hard and he deserves to benefit from that effort.
If he does decide to take the position, I have no idea what I would do. Despite the many uncertanties, I know that I would absolutely not take the other professor in our research group as an advisor. Other than that, I honestly have no idea what I would do.
So, like usual, I choose not to think about it until I have to. When/if he takes the offer, I will have to ask myself some serious questions about my future as a CS researcher.
Since he only has two weeks to decide, we'll know soon enough. Stay tuned.
More Cruise
According to this insider report, almost 20 minutes of the Today Show interview with Tom Cruise were cut from broadcast. Cruise's "people" wanted the Today Show to only air portions of the interview that dealt directly with the War of the Worlds. Obviously, the Today Show producers realized they were sitting on ratings gold and initially refused to cut any part of the interview.
Cruise reps threatened to keep Cruise from appearing on the show ever again if the interview was broadcast as filmed. What was aired appears to be a compromise between the Today Show producers and Cruise PR staff. If what was aired was a compromise to make Cruise look as good as possible, what else could he have possibly said?
Tom: "Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt. Do you even know the history of America? I do. It was founded by L. Ron Hubbard, Matt."
Lauer: "Tom, America was founded before L. Ron Hubbard was even born."
Tom: "Matt, stop being glib. You should be more responsible as a journalist."
Cruise reps threatened to keep Cruise from appearing on the show ever again if the interview was broadcast as filmed. What was aired appears to be a compromise between the Today Show producers and Cruise PR staff. If what was aired was a compromise to make Cruise look as good as possible, what else could he have possibly said?
Tom: "Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt. Do you even know the history of America? I do. It was founded by L. Ron Hubbard, Matt."
Lauer: "Tom, America was founded before L. Ron Hubbard was even born."
Tom: "Matt, stop being glib. You should be more responsible as a journalist."
Internet Crashes in Pakistan
What a great headline! But, alas, I cannot claim credit. That little gem of English was crafted by the folks at CNN. The full story can be found here.
I really love the fact that after almost 10 years of the mainstream Internet, reporters still think that the Internet can crash.
Of course, a more appropriate headline would have been "Internet Connectivity Crippled in Pakistan". An undersea cable was knocked offline by a faulty power system. It turns out that Pakistan operates only one land based connection to the rest of the Internet. Officials claim to operate a satellite based backup system which provides a much lower data rate.
Obviously! It has to go all the way through the atmosphere and then back down. Duh!
The article does not mention if intra-Pakistan Internet traffic was affected. I would assume that such communication remained available.
I really love the fact that after almost 10 years of the mainstream Internet, reporters still think that the Internet can crash.
Of course, a more appropriate headline would have been "Internet Connectivity Crippled in Pakistan". An undersea cable was knocked offline by a faulty power system. It turns out that Pakistan operates only one land based connection to the rest of the Internet. Officials claim to operate a satellite based backup system which provides a much lower data rate.
Obviously! It has to go all the way through the atmosphere and then back down. Duh!
The article does not mention if intra-Pakistan Internet traffic was affected. I would assume that such communication remained available.
Cancer Myths
If you believe that "[t]he medical industry is withholding a cure for cancer from the public in order to increase profits," then you are in the company of 27% of the American public. That is according to this article at CNN.com.
The complete results appear in the journal Cancer.
The other myths, and the frequency with which Americans believe them, are astonishing. The story is a must read.
In a Forbes article describing the same research results, the study's lead author is quoted as saying, "[t]he higher the income and the higher the education, the less likely [respondents] were to believe the myths." That's quite the statement.
Whether or not that's true, I hope that this study helps underscore the importance of Cancer education.
As they say, a lie is halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its shoes on.
The complete results appear in the journal Cancer.
The other myths, and the frequency with which Americans believe them, are astonishing. The story is a must read.
In a Forbes article describing the same research results, the study's lead author is quoted as saying, "[t]he higher the income and the higher the education, the less likely [respondents] were to believe the myths." That's quite the statement.
Whether or not that's true, I hope that this study helps underscore the importance of Cancer education.
As they say, a lie is halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its shoes on.
Monday, June 27, 2005
Politician's as Medical Doctors
It was reported today that medicine prescribed by doctors to treat anxiety and insomnia will no longer be covered for patients on Medicare.
Obviously I am no medical doctor. Or am I? I once read a book about how to read an ECG. So I guess by Tom Cruise's definition, I am a cardiologist.
In any event, I know little about these benzodiazepine-based drugs. From this article it would appear that there are possible downsides to this drug, such as addiction.
Shouldn't doctors be the ones who make the decision as to what drugs are appropriate for the treatment of their patients? I know that argument has been made many times before, but it bears repeating. As a matter of fact, Dr. Donna Fick does just that in the aforementioned article:
"I would never say someone should never be on a certain class of drugs. That's up to a doctor who can see the whole picture, but I generally think they should be avoided in older adults."
These things should be debated by people with a background in toxicology and medicine, but I just had to say something.
I guess I'll stick to Technology, where at least I am trained!
Obviously I am no medical doctor. Or am I? I once read a book about how to read an ECG. So I guess by Tom Cruise's definition, I am a cardiologist.
In any event, I know little about these benzodiazepine-based drugs. From this article it would appear that there are possible downsides to this drug, such as addiction.
Shouldn't doctors be the ones who make the decision as to what drugs are appropriate for the treatment of their patients? I know that argument has been made many times before, but it bears repeating. As a matter of fact, Dr. Donna Fick does just that in the aforementioned article:
"I would never say someone should never be on a certain class of drugs. That's up to a doctor who can see the whole picture, but I generally think they should be avoided in older adults."
These things should be debated by people with a background in toxicology and medicine, but I just had to say something.
I guess I'll stick to Technology, where at least I am trained!
Doing not talking
The recent controversy about the Downing Street Memo (ref) has been well reported in liberal circles, but largely ignored by the popular press. This memo claims that the Bush administration decided to invade Iraq without completely exploring diplomatic solutions to the "problem", as they told the American people. In other words, war with Iraq was not a last resort as the administration would have Americans believe.
This is disturbing enough.
Today, however, the Times (those who broke the DSM story) revealed that Iraq bombings in the months before the invasion were in preparation for war and not for ethnic protection, as the administration claimed. The story also reveals that the British RAF was just as responsible for these bombings as the American forces.
Advance internal decision about war plans is deceitful enough. Actually perpetrating war actions. amidst claims that no war decision had been made, is horrifying.
When will the lies stop?
I am glad that, for whatever reason, the American people are starting to wise up about America's position in Iraq. Hopefully real change can be made.
Has it been four years yet?
This is disturbing enough.
Today, however, the Times (those who broke the DSM story) revealed that Iraq bombings in the months before the invasion were in preparation for war and not for ethnic protection, as the administration claimed. The story also reveals that the British RAF was just as responsible for these bombings as the American forces.
Advance internal decision about war plans is deceitful enough. Actually perpetrating war actions. amidst claims that no war decision had been made, is horrifying.
When will the lies stop?
I am glad that, for whatever reason, the American people are starting to wise up about America's position in Iraq. Hopefully real change can be made.
Has it been four years yet?
Tom Cruise Update
Did Tom try to recruit Scarlett Johansson into Scientology? According to this article, the answer is "yes"!
Not only that, but the article reports that her disinterest cost her a role in Mission Impossible III.
I see a possible EOE violation here. Do you?
Not only that, but the article reports that her disinterest cost her a role in Mission Impossible III.
I see a possible EOE violation here. Do you?
Sunday, June 26, 2005
The Long Post Home
Hey? Where do I come up with these blog titles? Its really hard to say.
Recently I have posted about things that should interest my readership. First, the post containing a reference to Google Maps should have generated at least one response. Second, I assumed that my previous post about Scientology would generate a commentary from a different, but just as important, reader. And yet, nothing.
I try not to meta-blog, but I wanted to find out if I was missing something?
Meta blog: Blog about your own blog.
We are still in Cortland, NY. Cortland is about 20 miles away from Ithaca and about 8 hours from Charlottesville. It's a nice town that houses a SUNY college. The Country Inn and Suites where I am staying offers free coffee, apples and cookies 24/7. Its a taste treat to be able to munch away on a cookie and sip a coffee any time I feel the urge. Of course I can't eat cookies, so that part is pretty much out. And, come to think of it, the apples are quite nasty. So, I guess that leaves coffee? Well, there is no Splenda to be found. So, I guess there's really no such thing as free snacks.
Today was consumed by about 8 hours of volleyball. Are you kidding me? It was great. I have always had a special place in my heart for volleyball. Every Tuesday evening in the summer after HS graduation was spent playing pickup sand volleyball with my friends. I was known as the only guy who would leave each game with sand in his ears. Today's games were a little different since we were playing on grass. For most Americans, touching grass is not a huge problem. My histamines, however, seem to stage a wicked, violent revolt every time my bare skin comes into contact with those green blades of pain. So, I was trying to stay on my feet. That goal was definitely accomplished through what the outside observer may describe as lethargy.
My fondness for volleyball was cemented during the last summer olympic games when Misty May and Kerri Walsh engaged in vigorous celebrations while rolling about in the sand. Talk about compelling video.
If 8 hours of volleyball was not enough, the temperatures here in NY reached a balmy 102 degrees. During our lunch break, I went for a 1/2hr run. The run was excellent, but the farms of NY offer little in the way of shade. To give you a better idea of just how hot it was, my foot actually stuck to the ground when I accidentally stepped into asphalt goo during my run.
Asphalt goo: The tar like substance applied to asphalt in a futile attempt to keep the cracks in the surface from spreading.
I checked my face in the mirror, and it occurs to me that I should have worn sunscreen. Not to fear, my beard provides a very natural UV repellent!
Tomorrow I return to Charlottesville.
I'll see you there, hopefully!
Recently I have posted about things that should interest my readership. First, the post containing a reference to Google Maps should have generated at least one response. Second, I assumed that my previous post about Scientology would generate a commentary from a different, but just as important, reader. And yet, nothing.
I try not to meta-blog, but I wanted to find out if I was missing something?
Meta blog: Blog about your own blog.
We are still in Cortland, NY. Cortland is about 20 miles away from Ithaca and about 8 hours from Charlottesville. It's a nice town that houses a SUNY college. The Country Inn and Suites where I am staying offers free coffee, apples and cookies 24/7. Its a taste treat to be able to munch away on a cookie and sip a coffee any time I feel the urge. Of course I can't eat cookies, so that part is pretty much out. And, come to think of it, the apples are quite nasty. So, I guess that leaves coffee? Well, there is no Splenda to be found. So, I guess there's really no such thing as free snacks.
Today was consumed by about 8 hours of volleyball. Are you kidding me? It was great. I have always had a special place in my heart for volleyball. Every Tuesday evening in the summer after HS graduation was spent playing pickup sand volleyball with my friends. I was known as the only guy who would leave each game with sand in his ears. Today's games were a little different since we were playing on grass. For most Americans, touching grass is not a huge problem. My histamines, however, seem to stage a wicked, violent revolt every time my bare skin comes into contact with those green blades of pain. So, I was trying to stay on my feet. That goal was definitely accomplished through what the outside observer may describe as lethargy.
My fondness for volleyball was cemented during the last summer olympic games when Misty May and Kerri Walsh engaged in vigorous celebrations while rolling about in the sand. Talk about compelling video.
If 8 hours of volleyball was not enough, the temperatures here in NY reached a balmy 102 degrees. During our lunch break, I went for a 1/2hr run. The run was excellent, but the farms of NY offer little in the way of shade. To give you a better idea of just how hot it was, my foot actually stuck to the ground when I accidentally stepped into asphalt goo during my run.
Asphalt goo: The tar like substance applied to asphalt in a futile attempt to keep the cracks in the surface from spreading.
I checked my face in the mirror, and it occurs to me that I should have worn sunscreen. Not to fear, my beard provides a very natural UV repellent!
Tomorrow I return to Charlottesville.
I'll see you there, hopefully!
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Odd Friday Happenings
Good evening.
I am reporting live from upsate New York. You will be happy to know that we happened on a hotel that provides free Internet access. Who would have thought this Internet thing was going to catch on?
Well, I just wanted to post a URL that describes the "Tom Cruise, Matt Lauer Fight". This seems to prove that Tom Cruise has completely lost his mind and now lives in some sort of fantasy world where he is an expert on anything that he reads about.
Let'e put this in perspective. I read a book titled "Bringing Down the House." Its a fascinating book about MIT students who figured out an elaborate card-counting scheme that would help them win at blackjack with incredible frequency. So, if I lived in the same world as Tom Cruise, this would make me an expert on blackjack, card-counting, statistics, mathematics and the life of MIT students since that is the focus of "Bringing Down the House"! However, I know absolutely nothing about cards. This is evidenced by my inability to understand or remember the rules of Crazy 8s. I am assuming that my lack of knowledge in the other, above named, topics goes without saying.
In addition, Tom Cruise called psychiatry as a "psuedoscience." Listen, I am a Computer Scientist. If there is anyone who knows about the psuedosciences, it's Computer Scientists.
However, it gets better. I was flipping channels tonight and landed on "Scarborough Country". Let me just say that I cannot stand that guy, but they were talking about this so I decided to give it a listen. Joe introduced the expert that would discuss this issue: Dr. Drew. Almost all of you will recognize him as the cohost of the now cancelled MTV show Loveline. (It should be noted that the radio version of the show still exists as a nationally syndicated program hosted by Dr. Drew and Adam Corolla.) Yes, Dr. Drew is a medical doctor specializing in addiction. However, for most people he is a goofy guy who talks about the sexual dysfunctions of teenagers while sitting next to a cohost who's resume includes a stint as the host of Comedy Central's flagship show "The Man Show."
So, let's recap: we have celebrities claiming to be experts while celebrity experts comment on the validity of the first celebrity's claims.
Could we actually get a real expert to talk about this before Americans start to dismiss those who seek psychatric help as weak, stupid, incompetent or disposable? Oh wait, it may already be too late. According to the CNN QuickVote, 21% of the respondents agree with Tom Cruise and believe that psychiatry is a psuedoscience.
Before I sign off, I want to report one more interesting tidbit that I learned this evening: I went to Furman University as an undergraduate. Furman is located in Greenville, South Carolina. It turns out that the flight that killed the lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd (no, his name is NOT Lynyrd or Skynyrd) took off from Greenville. As a guy who considers Lynyrd Skynyrd as one of his favorite bands, I am ashamed to say that I didn't know that until tonight. I suppose it pays to watch CMT.
I am reporting live from upsate New York. You will be happy to know that we happened on a hotel that provides free Internet access. Who would have thought this Internet thing was going to catch on?
Well, I just wanted to post a URL that describes the "Tom Cruise, Matt Lauer Fight". This seems to prove that Tom Cruise has completely lost his mind and now lives in some sort of fantasy world where he is an expert on anything that he reads about.
Let'e put this in perspective. I read a book titled "Bringing Down the House." Its a fascinating book about MIT students who figured out an elaborate card-counting scheme that would help them win at blackjack with incredible frequency. So, if I lived in the same world as Tom Cruise, this would make me an expert on blackjack, card-counting, statistics, mathematics and the life of MIT students since that is the focus of "Bringing Down the House"! However, I know absolutely nothing about cards. This is evidenced by my inability to understand or remember the rules of Crazy 8s. I am assuming that my lack of knowledge in the other, above named, topics goes without saying.
In addition, Tom Cruise called psychiatry as a "psuedoscience." Listen, I am a Computer Scientist. If there is anyone who knows about the psuedosciences, it's Computer Scientists.
However, it gets better. I was flipping channels tonight and landed on "Scarborough Country". Let me just say that I cannot stand that guy, but they were talking about this so I decided to give it a listen. Joe introduced the expert that would discuss this issue: Dr. Drew. Almost all of you will recognize him as the cohost of the now cancelled MTV show Loveline. (It should be noted that the radio version of the show still exists as a nationally syndicated program hosted by Dr. Drew and Adam Corolla.) Yes, Dr. Drew is a medical doctor specializing in addiction. However, for most people he is a goofy guy who talks about the sexual dysfunctions of teenagers while sitting next to a cohost who's resume includes a stint as the host of Comedy Central's flagship show "The Man Show."
So, let's recap: we have celebrities claiming to be experts while celebrity experts comment on the validity of the first celebrity's claims.
Could we actually get a real expert to talk about this before Americans start to dismiss those who seek psychatric help as weak, stupid, incompetent or disposable? Oh wait, it may already be too late. According to the CNN QuickVote, 21% of the respondents agree with Tom Cruise and believe that psychiatry is a psuedoscience.
Before I sign off, I want to report one more interesting tidbit that I learned this evening: I went to Furman University as an undergraduate. Furman is located in Greenville, South Carolina. It turns out that the flight that killed the lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd (no, his name is NOT Lynyrd or Skynyrd) took off from Greenville. As a guy who considers Lynyrd Skynyrd as one of his favorite bands, I am ashamed to say that I didn't know that until tonight. I suppose it pays to watch CMT.
Friday, June 24, 2005
Things aren't easy
Things aren't easy. I think, however, that if they were then it wouldn't be challenging or fun.
Having said that, a little help every now and again isn't all that bad. I would be doing a great diservice to my reader if I were to start ranting. So, I won't.
To the news of the day:
1. It is important to note that the roads on Google Maps are not necessarily paved. I spent some time on maps.google.com earlier today planning a nice, interesting, new ride. I had a great path that seemed to be about 2 hrs. I was going to ride out to the airport and make a right staying on a road that would eventually loop around to the otherside of the airport and return me to where I started. 1 mile after making a right at the airport, the road turned to gravel. For those of you who have heard my Knight's of Columbus dancing story may be reminded of the following quote: "Oh, I didn't know the road turned to gravel this soon." Needless to say, the route was ruined and I was forced to improvise.
2. The dining room captain at Panera threatened me today. He said that he keeps his eye on "campers" like me. Michael Jackson jokes aside, I felt put off. I was sitting at a booth for two, minding my own business. I was not sitting at a table for four spread out like an eagle. Also, I just finished a Caramel Latte (yes, I am *that* guy) and a lunch. That comes to a grand total of about $12. Doesn't that get me a seat in the "dining room" for 4 hours? I agree that during the lunch rush space is at a premium and I adhere to the social laws. If I saw people holding food in their hands waiting for a seat then I certainly would have collapsed my work area to allow a patron to chow. Also, I would have never taken up a table for four. Anyone who does that must be an undergrad! Needless to say, I was a bit miffed. I have talked with this captain before and I know that he means well. The more he and I talked about this, the more upset I got. Eventually I was sure that I would never return to Panera. However, when I walked out he slipped me a coupon for a free coffee and bagel. You know exactly where I am going for breakfast!
3. Softball. That doesn't even get a comment.
4. I seemed to be very hungry and operating on a huge calorie deficit. I really thought that I was eating enough, but apparently I was wrong. So, tonight I tried to make up for that a little bit. To do so, I decided to satisfy a recent, surpressed craving -- peas! I have wanted cooked peas for almost a week now. I was able to partially satisfy this animalistic urge yesterday when we frequented the Ruby Tuesday for a late lunch. However, those peas are cold and I, like a pregnant woman who wants Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream, was not satisfied with the plain Chocolate Chip ice cream of cold peas. Close, but no cigar. I digress. (If I hadn't just digressed, I would digress about how much I enjoy saying "I digress". But, I digress.) The frozen peas that I bought at the 'teet cooked up nicely in the microwave. Once cooked, they appeared a radiation (not radiant) green and they tasted excellent. In addition to the peas, I had some pasta, carrots, a turkey sandwich and an apple. Mmmmm, good!
5. The 11:00pm Seinfeld is no longer being shown on one of the local ABC affiliates. In the past months, the Seinfeld has started at 11:05pm. From 11:00pm to 11:05pm a news snippet was shown. The affiliate is a small, local operation and during the first few weeks of the newscast, you could really tell. But, things slowly fell into place. The newsreaders are actually quite good and the stories aren't awful. A few nights ago, however, the news snippet turned into a full out evening newscast. Apparently this was not a planned thing, since my Tivo schedule still thinks that Seinfeld is on. So, I suppose its both good and bad, at the same time!
That's all for now. You can expect some full updates this weekend about my volleyball escapades. Remember Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes from the pro beach volleyball circa 1990? Yeah, they were losers! I am going to kick some butt. Get off me, net!
Having said that, a little help every now and again isn't all that bad. I would be doing a great diservice to my reader if I were to start ranting. So, I won't.
To the news of the day:
1. It is important to note that the roads on Google Maps are not necessarily paved. I spent some time on maps.google.com earlier today planning a nice, interesting, new ride. I had a great path that seemed to be about 2 hrs. I was going to ride out to the airport and make a right staying on a road that would eventually loop around to the otherside of the airport and return me to where I started. 1 mile after making a right at the airport, the road turned to gravel. For those of you who have heard my Knight's of Columbus dancing story may be reminded of the following quote: "Oh, I didn't know the road turned to gravel this soon." Needless to say, the route was ruined and I was forced to improvise.
2. The dining room captain at Panera threatened me today. He said that he keeps his eye on "campers" like me. Michael Jackson jokes aside, I felt put off. I was sitting at a booth for two, minding my own business. I was not sitting at a table for four spread out like an eagle. Also, I just finished a Caramel Latte (yes, I am *that* guy) and a lunch. That comes to a grand total of about $12. Doesn't that get me a seat in the "dining room" for 4 hours? I agree that during the lunch rush space is at a premium and I adhere to the social laws. If I saw people holding food in their hands waiting for a seat then I certainly would have collapsed my work area to allow a patron to chow. Also, I would have never taken up a table for four. Anyone who does that must be an undergrad! Needless to say, I was a bit miffed. I have talked with this captain before and I know that he means well. The more he and I talked about this, the more upset I got. Eventually I was sure that I would never return to Panera. However, when I walked out he slipped me a coupon for a free coffee and bagel. You know exactly where I am going for breakfast!
3. Softball. That doesn't even get a comment.
4. I seemed to be very hungry and operating on a huge calorie deficit. I really thought that I was eating enough, but apparently I was wrong. So, tonight I tried to make up for that a little bit. To do so, I decided to satisfy a recent, surpressed craving -- peas! I have wanted cooked peas for almost a week now. I was able to partially satisfy this animalistic urge yesterday when we frequented the Ruby Tuesday for a late lunch. However, those peas are cold and I, like a pregnant woman who wants Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream, was not satisfied with the plain Chocolate Chip ice cream of cold peas. Close, but no cigar. I digress. (If I hadn't just digressed, I would digress about how much I enjoy saying "I digress". But, I digress.) The frozen peas that I bought at the 'teet cooked up nicely in the microwave. Once cooked, they appeared a radiation (not radiant) green and they tasted excellent. In addition to the peas, I had some pasta, carrots, a turkey sandwich and an apple. Mmmmm, good!
5. The 11:00pm Seinfeld is no longer being shown on one of the local ABC affiliates. In the past months, the Seinfeld has started at 11:05pm. From 11:00pm to 11:05pm a news snippet was shown. The affiliate is a small, local operation and during the first few weeks of the newscast, you could really tell. But, things slowly fell into place. The newsreaders are actually quite good and the stories aren't awful. A few nights ago, however, the news snippet turned into a full out evening newscast. Apparently this was not a planned thing, since my Tivo schedule still thinks that Seinfeld is on. So, I suppose its both good and bad, at the same time!
That's all for now. You can expect some full updates this weekend about my volleyball escapades. Remember Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes from the pro beach volleyball circa 1990? Yeah, they were losers! I am going to kick some butt. Get off me, net!
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Top Movie Quotes
Well, that lovely group AFI has posted another of its movie related rankings. This time it is another iteration of the top movie quotes list.
You can find the entire list here.
I think that many good quotes were missed. Let me list a few of them here:
"Rubbing is racing", "Days of Thunder"
"Better late than never", "Ghostbusters II"
"Get her!", "Ghostbusters"
"Vegas, baby!", "Swingers"
"Don't be that guy.", "PCU"
"You're so money and you don't even know it.", "Swingers"
"Razzle-dazzle", "Stripes"
"That's a fact, jack!", "Stripes"
"She gets around, like a record!", "Office Space"
"Hack the planet!", "Hackers"
"Are you reading the dictionary? I like to break a mental sweat too!", "Dodgeball"
"Nice shot nurse", "Meet the Parents"
"I got the style that makes the ladies smile", "Be Cool"
This is just a list from the top of my head. All the server space in the world could not possibly store all of the movie quotes that are lodged forever in my cranium.
Read the list, and add your favorite quotes in the comments!
You can find the entire list here.
I think that many good quotes were missed. Let me list a few of them here:
"Rubbing is racing", "Days of Thunder"
"Better late than never", "Ghostbusters II"
"Get her!", "Ghostbusters"
"Vegas, baby!", "Swingers"
"Don't be that guy.", "PCU"
"You're so money and you don't even know it.", "Swingers"
"Razzle-dazzle", "Stripes"
"That's a fact, jack!", "Stripes"
"She gets around, like a record!", "Office Space"
"Hack the planet!", "Hackers"
"Are you reading the dictionary? I like to break a mental sweat too!", "Dodgeball"
"Nice shot nurse", "Meet the Parents"
"I got the style that makes the ladies smile", "Be Cool"
This is just a list from the top of my head. All the server space in the world could not possibly store all of the movie quotes that are lodged forever in my cranium.
Read the list, and add your favorite quotes in the comments!
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
CNN Wifi Security Coverage
In the continuing efforts to understand Wifi, here comes another article from the popular press.
This one does not consider the types of people who use Wifi, or their patterns, but rather the security risks associated with connecting to Wifi hotspots.
The article contains quotes from an "ethical hacker" who talks about how easy it is to uncover the data being sent by users. The article also details another common type of attack -- rogue access points. Again, according to the "ethical hacker", this attack consists of setting up an access point with the same SSID as a legitimate access point in an attempt to lure the user into their control. Once a user is associated with the rogue access point, the "ethical hacker" claims it is easy to control their computer.
He does echo my sentiments when it comes to online security: assume that nothing is secure. Only then will you be more likely to make wise decisions about storing or transmitting sensitive data.
By the way, I use quotes around "ethical hacker" since that is a very odd term that seems invented by this guy or CNN. I have heard of "grayhats" and "whitehats", but "ethical hacker" is new to me! Do you believe that such "ethical hackers" exist? Or is the lure of that susceptible data too much to resist?
This one does not consider the types of people who use Wifi, or their patterns, but rather the security risks associated with connecting to Wifi hotspots.
The article contains quotes from an "ethical hacker" who talks about how easy it is to uncover the data being sent by users. The article also details another common type of attack -- rogue access points. Again, according to the "ethical hacker", this attack consists of setting up an access point with the same SSID as a legitimate access point in an attempt to lure the user into their control. Once a user is associated with the rogue access point, the "ethical hacker" claims it is easy to control their computer.
He does echo my sentiments when it comes to online security: assume that nothing is secure. Only then will you be more likely to make wise decisions about storing or transmitting sensitive data.
By the way, I use quotes around "ethical hacker" since that is a very odd term that seems invented by this guy or CNN. I have heard of "grayhats" and "whitehats", but "ethical hacker" is new to me! Do you believe that such "ethical hackers" exist? Or is the lure of that susceptible data too much to resist?
Slow Day
Well, today was a slow news day for me. So, I don't have much to say of substance.
It was a lively distraction, however, to make the lunch time trip to Bodos on the Corner. This Bodos location has become the subject of folklore here at the University of Virginia. The "Coming Soon" signs were posted on the store front 10 years ago. As time passed, the joke became, "Will so-and-so get his PhD before Bodos opens?"
But, last week, the wait was over and Bodos on the Corner was open for business. The Cavalier Daily, the paper of record at the University of Virginia, reported that the owner had overcome personal, monetary and motivational problems to open this location. If you are interested, the article can be found here. It is worth the read.
Bodos specializes in sandwich bagels and, as you all know, I love a great bagel sandwich. They also make a mean Caesar Salad. The perfect storm of lunch restuarants! I picked up a whole wheat bagel with lettuce, tomato, turkey and mustard. The only downside: SPICY mustard. Ugh.
Otherwise, things were pretty normal today. I made the daily trip to Panera and said hello to all my friends. For some reason, they know my name and my order! Who would have thought that spending hours in Panera every day for almost two weeks would get you noticed?
It was a lively distraction, however, to make the lunch time trip to Bodos on the Corner. This Bodos location has become the subject of folklore here at the University of Virginia. The "Coming Soon" signs were posted on the store front 10 years ago. As time passed, the joke became, "Will so-and-so get his PhD before Bodos opens?"
But, last week, the wait was over and Bodos on the Corner was open for business. The Cavalier Daily, the paper of record at the University of Virginia, reported that the owner had overcome personal, monetary and motivational problems to open this location. If you are interested, the article can be found here. It is worth the read.
Bodos specializes in sandwich bagels and, as you all know, I love a great bagel sandwich. They also make a mean Caesar Salad. The perfect storm of lunch restuarants! I picked up a whole wheat bagel with lettuce, tomato, turkey and mustard. The only downside: SPICY mustard. Ugh.
Otherwise, things were pretty normal today. I made the daily trip to Panera and said hello to all my friends. For some reason, they know my name and my order! Who would have thought that spending hours in Panera every day for almost two weeks would get you noticed?
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