As I mentioned, I spent yesterday installing Windows 7 on Erin's machine among other things. Got done, everything worked perfectly without a hitch, including his mapped network drives vs. mine which iTunes seems to decide to destroy every time it's on for awhile. So I decided it must not be our network or the server, and I was going to figure this out.
I probably read about 50 various forum posts until it finally dawned on me that the antivirus I still use, "Blink" might not actually be compatible with Windows 7 - they are a research company and tend to be slower to upgrade on stuff like that. Sure enough, uninstalled it, installed Microsoft's free "Security Essentials" (which btw, for a free program is quite nice, small, and fast), and no more problems. Hooray!
It's a cloudy snowy Sunday, a great day to be drinking coffee and looking out the window - with Erin working again today I will be doing a lot of reading, finishing household chores, and just enjoying the day!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Merry Christmas
Four fun filled days of celebration! We kicked it off Wednesday night with a "small" gathering at our house (ended up being 15 people, but we had plenty of great food!) Besides eating, Erin and I had our wills witnessed and notarized. Who else has their own personal notary public? (thanks a million Shelley!)
Thursday was a little quieter, but fun nonetheless! For the first time in 12 years in Rochester, I not only attended a Christmas Eve service, but we played bells for two of them. That was fun in itself, but I managed to get 5 handbell "alumni" to come and play as well. It was a very fun afternoon! And the weather held - it rained a lot but nothing too bad. Erin and I enjoyed a quiet evening of apple cider, opening presents, playing with the kitties, and watching "Superhero Movie" (I wouldn't recommend it)
Friday, I woke up expecting to be completely snowed and iced in. Looked outside, didn't look like much happened, started reading weather reports and it appeared to have stayed above freezing all night, and the roads looked to be ok. So we started out, and really didn't encounter anything bad - a little slush here and there but we made it to the cousins without any problem. Lots of fun catching up with my "second family" (they were my Rochester family when I moved up here 12 years ago), a big yummy lunch, and then off to my "first family" to see the nieces, mom, Chris & Erin. More fun, running around, opening presents, and watching Alvin & the Chipmunks Christmas videos.
Saturday morning it was snowing but since Erin had to work in the afternoon we started out at 9:30 onto the snowy roads. As it turned out, the snow must have stayed north because by the time we got to St. Paul it was sunny and the roads were clear. Erin went off to work and I enjoyed a quiet afternoon of unpacking, cleaning up the house, and installing Windows 7 on Erin's computer (I did mine the other day).
The complete photo album:
Thursday was a little quieter, but fun nonetheless! For the first time in 12 years in Rochester, I not only attended a Christmas Eve service, but we played bells for two of them. That was fun in itself, but I managed to get 5 handbell "alumni" to come and play as well. It was a very fun afternoon! And the weather held - it rained a lot but nothing too bad. Erin and I enjoyed a quiet evening of apple cider, opening presents, playing with the kitties, and watching "Superhero Movie" (I wouldn't recommend it)
Friday, I woke up expecting to be completely snowed and iced in. Looked outside, didn't look like much happened, started reading weather reports and it appeared to have stayed above freezing all night, and the roads looked to be ok. So we started out, and really didn't encounter anything bad - a little slush here and there but we made it to the cousins without any problem. Lots of fun catching up with my "second family" (they were my Rochester family when I moved up here 12 years ago), a big yummy lunch, and then off to my "first family" to see the nieces, mom, Chris & Erin. More fun, running around, opening presents, and watching Alvin & the Chipmunks Christmas videos.
Saturday morning it was snowing but since Erin had to work in the afternoon we started out at 9:30 onto the snowy roads. As it turned out, the snow must have stayed north because by the time we got to St. Paul it was sunny and the roads were clear. Erin went off to work and I enjoyed a quiet afternoon of unpacking, cleaning up the house, and installing Windows 7 on Erin's computer (I did mine the other day).
The complete photo album:
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| 2009-12-25 |
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
...A Cisco Small Business Christmas
OK, really this had nothing at all to do with Christmas - I've been looking at this for over 2 years and it finally dropped to the price I wanted it to be, and since I was ordering Christmas stuff anyway...well there it is. A Cisco 24-port gigabit switch, complete with rack mount brackets.
Yes I'm a geek.
Lazy Cat
Thanks to friend DJ for this one (~20 seconds worth the watch)
Lazy Freaking Cat - Watch more Funny Videos
Lazy Freaking Cat - Watch more Funny Videos
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
"The Year We Make Contact"
It just dawned on me this morning that in a few weeks it will be 2010. Now officially that is the last year of this decade (since years started at 1 not 0) but it still sounds all impressive/scary! What I think is kind of amusing is the movies, TV shows, and predictions of the future that we all grew up with, and those with years on them are approaching. Or, in some cases, "past" events that happened in shows set in the future (a la "Star Trek").
Some notables that I've thought of:
-"2010 - The Year We Make Contact" (2010) - ok this one could still happen, and actually we may not be far off from this given what's going on with the space program - and it could very well be Americans and Russians too!
-"Back to the Future 2" (2015) - I don't see 2015 being much like the 2015 they had. Power laceup high tops (no on both counts), power jackets (no), flying cars (not likely), and inflation to where a Pepsi was $50 (no). Not to mention everything was run on fusion - and we haven't figured that one out yet. From a 1985 perspective, those things, particularly the inflation one, seemed likely! And we certainly haven't abolished all lawyers!
-"Star Trek series(s)" (events in their past) - the engenics war was supposed to have happened in 1992, although they altered the timeline and explained that one away. 2009 was supposed to be an Earth-to-Saturn manned flight (no). 2012, the "Millenium Gate" (no - and one of the worst Voyager episodes ever). 2024, the reunification of Ireland by the UK (didn't this already happen a few years ago?) 2053, WWIII. 2063, First Contact with the Vulcans.
I think in some ways Star Wars was smart to set their story "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away". That makes it kind of timeless.
Post some of your favs
Some notables that I've thought of:
-"2010 - The Year We Make Contact" (2010) - ok this one could still happen, and actually we may not be far off from this given what's going on with the space program - and it could very well be Americans and Russians too!
-"Back to the Future 2" (2015) - I don't see 2015 being much like the 2015 they had. Power laceup high tops (no on both counts), power jackets (no), flying cars (not likely), and inflation to where a Pepsi was $50 (no). Not to mention everything was run on fusion - and we haven't figured that one out yet. From a 1985 perspective, those things, particularly the inflation one, seemed likely! And we certainly haven't abolished all lawyers!
-"Star Trek series(s)" (events in their past) - the engenics war was supposed to have happened in 1992, although they altered the timeline and explained that one away. 2009 was supposed to be an Earth-to-Saturn manned flight (no). 2012, the "Millenium Gate" (no - and one of the worst Voyager episodes ever). 2024, the reunification of Ireland by the UK (didn't this already happen a few years ago?) 2053, WWIII. 2063, First Contact with the Vulcans.
I think in some ways Star Wars was smart to set their story "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away". That makes it kind of timeless.
Post some of your favs
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Addicted
I noticed last night that there was a new version of Picasa, 3.6, so I went ahead and installed it. One of the new/expanded features is face recognition. I was mostly curious, as I wondered how good it could really be. The answer? Scary good. And very organized. I typed in about 40 names on faces from pictures (it is hooked into your google address book so it's really easy), and then it just started churning on everything. I understand the technology involved, the product I work on uses things like this in its real-time analytics code. But for a free home product to be this good...well I was surprised.
A few that matches it made that were truly scary good - I labeled about 5 pictures of my niece at ages 3-5, and it started matching pictures of her at 1 or younger. I don't know that a human person would make that connection unless they had known her. So there must be a lot more smarts in there than just "match this face to this face".
Now for me, this is about the best (worst?) possible combination of features given my mild OCD, love of computers, and organizing things. I sit here and it's like a playing a great new video game - label a picture, see what else it matches. Frankly I'm getting WAY too excited about this.
I'll leave you with a picture we just took (no the face matching stuff doesn't do cats!) I thought this one was particularly adorable, Madame Sparkles just loves sitting under the tree.
A few that matches it made that were truly scary good - I labeled about 5 pictures of my niece at ages 3-5, and it started matching pictures of her at 1 or younger. I don't know that a human person would make that connection unless they had known her. So there must be a lot more smarts in there than just "match this face to this face".
Now for me, this is about the best (worst?) possible combination of features given my mild OCD, love of computers, and organizing things. I sit here and it's like a playing a great new video game - label a picture, see what else it matches. Frankly I'm getting WAY too excited about this.
I'll leave you with a picture we just took (no the face matching stuff doesn't do cats!) I thought this one was particularly adorable, Madame Sparkles just loves sitting under the tree.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Shameless self-promotion and catchup
OK, this isn't exactly "self" promotion, but once again, my church (Zumbro Lutheran) is presenting their annual Christmas concert, the "Service of Lessons and Carols", at St. Mary's Hospital chapel, on Sunday, December 20th, 6:30pm-8:30pm. Open to the public. I'll be directing and playing handbells, and as always there will be many great groups and ensembles playing traditional Christmas music. The picture above is from 2007 - a little blurry. For people who have never been to St. Mary's "chapel" (I quote that because it's huge), it's a beautiful place.
See my facebook page for additional details.
I can't believe it's already December 12th! People will start dropping off of work this week for the rest of the year, I plan on working the Monday and Wednesday of Christmas week, and I'm very excited that a friend of mine from college will be coming up that Monday night and we're going skiing Tuesday. And there might even be a lot of snow with all that we've had now!
The storm this week sort of forced me to make some decisions about my ailing snowblower and what to do about it, and after deciding the one I really wanted to buy if I was going to buy one was $950, I decided to sell the old one for cheap and get a snow removal contract for the year. Four different friends recommended "Minnesota Outdoor Maintenance" and the guy was very friendly and thorough on the phone, price was reasonable, and did a nice job clearing everything out from the Tuesday/Wednesday stuff. It's nice to have that taken care of - the snow of course, and not wondering if the old snowblower was going to start or work. For those of you who think I sound lazy, I'm really not - I don't mind shoveling, and on the lighter days I will. The problem is the heavy days and having the time to do it - snow isn't like lawn mowing that you can sort of do on a schedule or put off another day if you need to.\
Both Erin and I are avoiding mainstream shopping for the most part - partly just not buying so much, and the things we are doing have been ordered online. If you're not one of those last-minute people, online shopping is sure a lot easier and less stressful, and can probably save you a bit of money too if you are willing to look around.
Otherwise, I'm just enjoying the season, seeing friends, attending a few small gatherings, and looking forward to some time off! I hope everyone is finding this year's holiday season hopeful and exciting, as well as rejuvenating, and a time to be with those you love.
I'll leave you with a great quote from a video they showed at church last week - the video was describing the aspects of Christmas that we often seem to miss out on in today's world. One of the statistics mentioned was that it would cost $10 billion for everyone in the world to have clean sources of drinking water. Americans spend $450 billion on Christmas every year. Kinda makes you think about it a little bit.
The quote I'll leave you with: "Give less presents. Give more presence."
Friday, December 4, 2009
Christmas Ornaments
"We are the Borg. Enjoy your holidays. Resistance is futile." (yes, it says that when you press the button or turn on the lights)I have to admit that Hallmark Keepsake ornaments are a lot of fun. We decided to update the collection this year and get all the Star Trek: Voyager past ones (5 total). The whole album (tree, closeups) here:
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| 2009-12-04 |
Monday, November 30, 2009
Texas
As we approach Saturday evening and Nebraska's Big 12 championship game vs. Texas, this article summarizes all the heartbreaking losses to the horns over the past 15 years:
http://www.omaha.com/article/20091129/BIGRED/711299771
Even though most fans would hate me saying this, generally Nebraska has gotten its share of good breaks in games (many against Colorado including last year's 57-yard field goal winner, the final stop of Michigan at the crazy end of the 2005 Alamo Bowl, the 3rd and 10 conversation against Notre Dame in 2002, blocked FG against Pittsburgh in 2005 to preserve an ugly 7-6 win, and no one would ever forget the miracle against Missouri in 1997...) Against Texas though? It's all seemed to go their way. The 4th and 1 long pass in the 1996 Big 12 title game, the two fumbles inside the 5 in 1999, interception in the end zone when a FG would have tied in 2002, and the Terrance Nunn fumble right over the first down line which would have otherwise sealed the game in 2006. I was at the last 2. It was utterly amazing to see meltdown after meltdown.
So...I think we're due. Colt McCoy is going to throw 5 interceptions and Suh is going to return 2 of them for TDs and Nebraska is going to win Saturday :)
http://www.omaha.com/article/20091129/BIGRED/711299771
Even though most fans would hate me saying this, generally Nebraska has gotten its share of good breaks in games (many against Colorado including last year's 57-yard field goal winner, the final stop of Michigan at the crazy end of the 2005 Alamo Bowl, the 3rd and 10 conversation against Notre Dame in 2002, blocked FG against Pittsburgh in 2005 to preserve an ugly 7-6 win, and no one would ever forget the miracle against Missouri in 1997...) Against Texas though? It's all seemed to go their way. The 4th and 1 long pass in the 1996 Big 12 title game, the two fumbles inside the 5 in 1999, interception in the end zone when a FG would have tied in 2002, and the Terrance Nunn fumble right over the first down line which would have otherwise sealed the game in 2006. I was at the last 2. It was utterly amazing to see meltdown after meltdown.
So...I think we're due. Colt McCoy is going to throw 5 interceptions and Suh is going to return 2 of them for TDs and Nebraska is going to win Saturday :)
Stardate
This doesn't surprise me in the slightest, but I was amazed at how thorough it was:
http://trekguide.com/Stardates.htm
The reason I even went looking for this is because Google Calendar has some new default calendars you can add to your own - originally it had one of all the US Holidays, but now you can add calendars for your favorite sports teams. Digging further I found one called "Star Date", thinking maybe it would be the Star Trek star date, but it wasn't. But it got me wondering what the ST stardates would be for the current timeframe - and the answer is it's complicated, because there wasn't (and still isn't) consistency in how stardates were used in all the series' and movies.
My education for the day.
http://trekguide.com/Stardates.htm
The reason I even went looking for this is because Google Calendar has some new default calendars you can add to your own - originally it had one of all the US Holidays, but now you can add calendars for your favorite sports teams. Digging further I found one called "Star Date", thinking maybe it would be the Star Trek star date, but it wasn't. But it got me wondering what the ST stardates would be for the current timeframe - and the answer is it's complicated, because there wasn't (and still isn't) consistency in how stardates were used in all the series' and movies.
My education for the day.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Much to give thanks for!
Wednesday night Erin and I began preparing for having 8 people here for the big meal on Thursday. Erin did his usual masterful job of planning and preparing a wide array of wonderful thanksgiving dishes, including a cranberry sage turkey/stuffing with cranberry gravy, sweet potato bake, "Kenny Rogers" corn bread, steamed vegetables with the most sinfully delicious alfredo sauce (one of the quotes was "I took a taste of this and felt naughty"), cranberry jelly, milk rolls, and apple and pumpkin pies. Everything was SO good - anyone who knows me knows how picky an eater I am and I had some of everything.
My mom and my two nieces decided to stay overnight and we watched "A Bug's Life" and played with the kitties, and Keagann even somewhat learned how to play Mario Kart Wii. They left Friday afternoon and Erin unfortunately had to work on Black Friday (I avoid going within 1000 feet of a retail store on that day at all costs). I stayed home and watched Nebraska finish off Colorado and prepare for the Big 12 championship game vs. Texas next week. It will be an interesting game, I don't really think Nebraska's offense can keep up but we'll see...even if they lose it's been a very good second season for Bo Pelini.
I've been diving through "Super Mario Bros Wii" - Nintendo really knocked this one out of the park. I know I wrote it once before, but any game series that I'm still playing 29 years later after the original one came out has got to be good. There are so many creative things in this game, and it's challenging but still basic enough that anyone can play it. I've finished 7 of the 8 worlds, and am looking forward to seeing what they come up with for the ending. It's especially fun because Erin and also my friend Trevor are playing it at the same time, so I have someone to compare notes with.
I did my version of holiday shopping today - online, with my cup of coffee, at my desk :) I found a site that I'd recommend for anyone looking for sci-fi-ish stuff and comics, tfaw.com. I'm also looking to collect up all of the Hallmark keepsake ornaments I missed that were Star Trek: Voyager related - I think there are 6 total. We are putting up a real live tree this year, something I haven't had since I was 4 I think. Erin got LED pine cone lights and I've been saving decorations for years.
Finally - since new fall TV is about over, my brief reviews of the shows I regularly watch:
- Glee - by far the best new show of the year for me. And fortunately 2 more episodes in December!
- Big Bang Theory - continues to be just good fun, if you're a geek it's especially funny but I think everyone can enjoy it!
- House - season 6 is going ok, not quite as captivating as some of the earlier ones but still worth watching
- Flash Forward - I was intrigued by this one when I saw the trailers, but I have to say it's not really capturing my attention. May get bumped off the DVR list.
- V - 4 episodes in, and I'm just not getting caught up in it. The last episode was better but so far nothing really exciting and new.
- Ugly Betty - Season 4, I think they're setting it up to be cancelled or for this to be the last season. Not as funny as it was in earlier seasons.
- Modern Family - just started into this one a couple weeks ago, REALLY funny! Probably isn't the "rewatch" kind but great for 21 minutes of laughs a week.
- How I Met Your Mother - not sure why I keep watching this one but there are some good jokes/lines in it. I think Neil Patrick Harris is probably what keeps it going.
I hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed holiday.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Thanksgiving Eve
While this isn't an official holiday, it sorta ends up being one for a lot of people. All the people who get Thursday and Friday off often take of Wednesday too (as I'm doing) - I don't imagine there are many people in the building where I work today.
It's also the crazy last-minute grocery shopping day where you get that thing you forgot (or, *gasp*, you didn't get any groceries yet and hope there's still stuff left). Black Friday is an insane shopping day, but grocery shopping today might scare me more.
Speaking of Black Friday - I see some stores are now opening at 3am. I think it would make more sense to just open at midnight, as it would be a lot easier to just stay up until midnight than to get up at 3am :) I will be continuing with tradition again and avoiding stores at all costs that day, and happily watching football (Huskers vs. Colorado on ABC at 2:30 woohoo!)
Finally, a video my friend Cathy posted earlier on Facebook - kids re-enacting the first Thanksgiving (cynically) - it's funny because it's little kids doing the acting, but sad too...
Looking forward to a fun, food-filled day with family and friends tomorrow. Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving everyone!
It's also the crazy last-minute grocery shopping day where you get that thing you forgot (or, *gasp*, you didn't get any groceries yet and hope there's still stuff left). Black Friday is an insane shopping day, but grocery shopping today might scare me more.
Speaking of Black Friday - I see some stores are now opening at 3am. I think it would make more sense to just open at midnight, as it would be a lot easier to just stay up until midnight than to get up at 3am :) I will be continuing with tradition again and avoiding stores at all costs that day, and happily watching football (Huskers vs. Colorado on ABC at 2:30 woohoo!)
Finally, a video my friend Cathy posted earlier on Facebook - kids re-enacting the first Thanksgiving (cynically) - it's funny because it's little kids doing the acting, but sad too...
Looking forward to a fun, food-filled day with family and friends tomorrow. Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving everyone!
Friday, November 13, 2009
wwjd
OK I guess I'm not in the mood to stayout of politics today...
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/14065/the-wwjd-hate-crime-inciters-are-getting-some-support-for-their-dc-protest
You can read the article, but the picture alone is enough. Anyone holding up a poster that says "God Hates You" is clearly not reading the same bible I am. While it is not my place to judge anyone, I have a hard time thinking of that person as a Christian.
The other thing the article points out is that hate crimes laws for years protected (and still do protect) religious-based hate crimes. Nobody seemed to mind then.
I get this question a lot - the "why do you need hate crimes laws when you already have laws governing these bad actions?" e.g. if someone commits murder, they should be punished for murder, no matter what the reason was, that murder is inherently bad no matter why. Fundamentally I actually agree. The problem is that there is so much subjectivity in our legal system, particularly with sentencing. Say for example someone killed someone else because they were gay. Judges and juries all have personal beliefs, and while they aren't supposed to get mixed into their decisions, we're human, and of course they do. So, a homophobic judge might be swayed to give the murderer a lesser sentence. Wrong? Of course. But that is the reality of things. If there is a hate crime law that gets tacked on top of it, that ensures that won't happen. Still not completely fair? Of course it isn't, but our legal system wouldn't function well if it were overly rigid either. And you still have to prove that something is a hate crime in court, which is not always easy to do.
I guess mostly I see hate crimes as sort of a deterrent - if it makes anyone think twice about acting out violently against someone of some sort of minority specifically because they're a minority, it's done its job.
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/14065/the-wwjd-hate-crime-inciters-are-getting-some-support-for-their-dc-protest
You can read the article, but the picture alone is enough. Anyone holding up a poster that says "God Hates You" is clearly not reading the same bible I am. While it is not my place to judge anyone, I have a hard time thinking of that person as a Christian.
The other thing the article points out is that hate crimes laws for years protected (and still do protect) religious-based hate crimes. Nobody seemed to mind then.
I get this question a lot - the "why do you need hate crimes laws when you already have laws governing these bad actions?" e.g. if someone commits murder, they should be punished for murder, no matter what the reason was, that murder is inherently bad no matter why. Fundamentally I actually agree. The problem is that there is so much subjectivity in our legal system, particularly with sentencing. Say for example someone killed someone else because they were gay. Judges and juries all have personal beliefs, and while they aren't supposed to get mixed into their decisions, we're human, and of course they do. So, a homophobic judge might be swayed to give the murderer a lesser sentence. Wrong? Of course. But that is the reality of things. If there is a hate crime law that gets tacked on top of it, that ensures that won't happen. Still not completely fair? Of course it isn't, but our legal system wouldn't function well if it were overly rigid either. And you still have to prove that something is a hate crime in court, which is not always easy to do.
I guess mostly I see hate crimes as sort of a deterrent - if it makes anyone think twice about acting out violently against someone of some sort of minority specifically because they're a minority, it's done its job.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
V
I was very excited when I saw that the 2009 version of "V" was coming to ABC in November. Many of you probably remember the 1984 mini-series "V" and the lesser-known one season of "V" after that. The mini-series was groundbreaking for 1984, both in terms of sci-fi, special effects, and a captivating story line. For the whole year after that, my friends and I played "V" at recess (initially we all wanted to be the resistance heros, but after awhile for some reason we all wanted to be the Visitor characters instead). In recent years these came out on DVD, and even now 25 years later the mini-series still looks good and is exciting to watch.
However...after 2 episodes, the 2009 version is not impressing me. I don't feel any connection to the characters, the basic story premise is the same but the story line is not nearly as action-packed, and everyone has perfect-looking CG special effects now - show me something new and creative!
I've had discussions about this with my friends, and I'm sure part of watching old shows or movies is the emotional and "time-in-your-life" connection you have to them, but I do think that some video entertainment is timeless and some isn't. Here is my list of major 80s stuff that I can watch over and over:
* Original Star Wars Movies (1977-1983)
* MASH (late 70s/early 80s)
* V Mini-Series (1984)
* Quantum Leap (1989-1993)
* Cheers (1982-1993)
* Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)
* He-Man/She-Ra cartoons (1983-1985)
* Dallas (1978-1991)
Post your "re-watchables" from the 80s!
However...after 2 episodes, the 2009 version is not impressing me. I don't feel any connection to the characters, the basic story premise is the same but the story line is not nearly as action-packed, and everyone has perfect-looking CG special effects now - show me something new and creative!
I've had discussions about this with my friends, and I'm sure part of watching old shows or movies is the emotional and "time-in-your-life" connection you have to them, but I do think that some video entertainment is timeless and some isn't. Here is my list of major 80s stuff that I can watch over and over:
* Original Star Wars Movies (1977-1983)
* MASH (late 70s/early 80s)
* V Mini-Series (1984)
* Quantum Leap (1989-1993)
* Cheers (1982-1993)
* Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)
* He-Man/She-Ra cartoons (1983-1985)
* Dallas (1978-1991)
Post your "re-watchables" from the 80s!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Ho Ho Ho
Ho Ho Mochas at Caribou this morning...of course I had to get one. They now come in dark, regular, and white chocolate - of course I'll have to try all 3 :)
Handbells for 1 - take two
This Sunday I'll be doing a handbell solo for the prelude at the 8:30am service at my church Zumbro Lutheran (prelude starts at 8:15). I did one last year in March for a lenten service, but I've never done one for a Sunday service. While I generally don't get nervous playing handbells, it is a little different when everyone is looking at only you and not 11 other people playing.
Should be interesting...
Should be interesting...
Monday, November 9, 2009
Blast from the Past
I got this forwarded to me today, and I can't resist posting it - it's my full class picture from 4th grade, and I dare everyone to reply to this post and guess which one I am:
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Make music not war
Thanks to mom for this one...
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/11/03/vif2.battleship.massachusetts.cnn
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/11/03/vif2.battleship.massachusetts.cnn
Huskers Win
I don't normally write about sports stuff on my blog, but I have to tip my hat at the game I watched last night with my friend Ryan - Nebraska vs. Oklahoma. This is a series that has had some classics over the years, and while neither team last night was #1 or #2 or even in the top 10, this was another one that be added to the rich history. Nebraska's defense played a near perfect game and held Oklahoma to 3 points, and despite having almost no offense, Nebraska won 10-3 after returning an interception to the 2-yard line setting up the only touchdown. This is a particularly big win after Nebraska's home loss to Iowa State earlier in the season and gives them a leg up on winning the Big 12 north title. Given where the Huskers were 2 years ago, this is an amazing turnaround.
Earlier in the season, thanks to my great friend Will, I had the chance to attend the 300th consecutive sellout game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, vs. Louisiana-Lafayette. Nebraska won 55-0, but the historical significance of 300 sellouts was really the story that night - there was a jet fight flyby at the beginning, videos during the game with former players and coaches talking about Husker history, and a video at the end of the game with highlights over the 300 sellout streak (that's 1968 when it started, before I was born!)
I tell most people about how great an environment a Nebraska football game is, unlike anything else in sports, and I think most people don't get it unless they've actually grown up there or been to a game. There are no pro teams in the state, and no other major college sports teams. The one major difference though, to me, are the fans themselves - not only are they all fairly well-educated from a football standpoint (boos come from the crowd not just randomly, but when refs make bad calls) but they also exemplify good sportsmanship. Sure, it is easy to be good sports when your team wins most of the time, but the team hasn't been winning in more recent history, and the fans are still the same - welcoming to the opposing team and its fans, and appreciative at the effort the teams give, regardless of the outcome. The fans in the opposing team's locker room end zone always applaud the opposing team when it leaves the field. This is not typical of football fans in college and especially the pros - I've been to many other college stadiums and games and many fans do not display good sportsmanship of any kind.
I'm sure I'm a little biased, but when you hear these things repeatedly over many years from opposing coaches and fans, you tend to believe it. The article below, written by a Lousiana-Lafayette broadcaster visiting for the game, really sums it up well - worth the two minutes to read. Keep in mind that this guy is a broadcaster that follows his team to many games and stadiums and sees a lot of different fans.
http://scubasblog.com/2009/09/30/there-is-no-place-like-nebraska/
Go Huskers!
Earlier in the season, thanks to my great friend Will, I had the chance to attend the 300th consecutive sellout game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, vs. Louisiana-Lafayette. Nebraska won 55-0, but the historical significance of 300 sellouts was really the story that night - there was a jet fight flyby at the beginning, videos during the game with former players and coaches talking about Husker history, and a video at the end of the game with highlights over the 300 sellout streak (that's 1968 when it started, before I was born!)
I tell most people about how great an environment a Nebraska football game is, unlike anything else in sports, and I think most people don't get it unless they've actually grown up there or been to a game. There are no pro teams in the state, and no other major college sports teams. The one major difference though, to me, are the fans themselves - not only are they all fairly well-educated from a football standpoint (boos come from the crowd not just randomly, but when refs make bad calls) but they also exemplify good sportsmanship. Sure, it is easy to be good sports when your team wins most of the time, but the team hasn't been winning in more recent history, and the fans are still the same - welcoming to the opposing team and its fans, and appreciative at the effort the teams give, regardless of the outcome. The fans in the opposing team's locker room end zone always applaud the opposing team when it leaves the field. This is not typical of football fans in college and especially the pros - I've been to many other college stadiums and games and many fans do not display good sportsmanship of any kind.
I'm sure I'm a little biased, but when you hear these things repeatedly over many years from opposing coaches and fans, you tend to believe it. The article below, written by a Lousiana-Lafayette broadcaster visiting for the game, really sums it up well - worth the two minutes to read. Keep in mind that this guy is a broadcaster that follows his team to many games and stadiums and sees a lot of different fans.
http://scubasblog.com/2009/09/30/there-is-no-place-like-nebraska/
Go Huskers!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Precious Cargo
Yesterday we took the kitties to the vet for their 1.5 year checkup (really just over one year of when we got them, so one year since their initial vet visit). Madame was mewing sadly all the way there, almost like she thought we were getting rid of her or something. Fluffy Face seemed a little more excited about the field trip.
We love the vet we go to - Heritage Pet Hospital on Hwy 52 just north of 19th St. I'm sure there are many good vets in town, but if you're looking for one I would recommend them - besides being very friendly, they donate a lot of services to area animal shelters.
Both kitties did fine with all the poking, prodding and checking, and Fluffy Face was a trooper for his rabies shot. Madame was not so much of a trooper, and flinched and I think got double poked :( and was kind of lethargic for awhile after, but today all seems to be forgiven. Fluffy Face is now 11.6 lbs (I guess 11.5 is ideal for his age) and Madame weights in at 9.9.
Two years ago I never thought of myself as an animal person, a pet person, or a cat person, and now I am strongly all of the above. I certainly never hated animals or anything, but having two of them has brought a lot of fun and joy to our lives!
Here's one of their most recent pictures - their eyes don't actually glow, that's the camera :)
We love the vet we go to - Heritage Pet Hospital on Hwy 52 just north of 19th St. I'm sure there are many good vets in town, but if you're looking for one I would recommend them - besides being very friendly, they donate a lot of services to area animal shelters.
Both kitties did fine with all the poking, prodding and checking, and Fluffy Face was a trooper for his rabies shot. Madame was not so much of a trooper, and flinched and I think got double poked :( and was kind of lethargic for awhile after, but today all seems to be forgiven. Fluffy Face is now 11.6 lbs (I guess 11.5 is ideal for his age) and Madame weights in at 9.9.
Two years ago I never thought of myself as an animal person, a pet person, or a cat person, and now I am strongly all of the above. I certainly never hated animals or anything, but having two of them has brought a lot of fun and joy to our lives!
Here's one of their most recent pictures - their eyes don't actually glow, that's the camera :)
Friday, November 6, 2009
Coffee Mate
Yes I obsess way too much about coffee...but this is a treat most coffee drinkers would enjoy. Every year, Coffee Mate releases their holiday flavors, including "peppermint mocha" which my sister introduced me to a couple of years ago. I guess it's so popular it sells off the shelves within a few days. I managed to get some last night at Target and am enjoying my peppermint mocha coffee this morning.
It's the little things...in about an hour I get to start a new adventure for me, taking the cats to the vet for their yearly checkup (Erin has done all the previous ones). Should be interesting!
It's the little things...in about an hour I get to start a new adventure for me, taking the cats to the vet for their yearly checkup (Erin has done all the previous ones). Should be interesting!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Election Day
I don't generally notice an off-year election, but I did read through the headlines this morning, including 2 governors races (I thought the states alternated each even year?) and sadly, this one from Maine:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-11-04-gay-marriage-maine_N.htm
Yes I know we live in a democracy, but somehow things like this and what happened in California last year just seem kinda wrong to me - if people can put anything on a ballot and vote on it and win by simple majority, it seems like they could vote in just about any sort of discrimination. I guess there's not a good solution to this...just frustrating.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-11-04-gay-marriage-maine_N.htm
Yes I know we live in a democracy, but somehow things like this and what happened in California last year just seem kinda wrong to me - if people can put anything on a ballot and vote on it and win by simple majority, it seems like they could vote in just about any sort of discrimination. I guess there's not a good solution to this...just frustrating.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Funny for the day
Being sick a week I'm way behind on posting stuff, but this is a good corny joke for the day and the season - thanks to Mary Jo for this one.
Bob and Betty Hill were vacationing in Europe. They were driving a rented car along a deserted highway, not far from Transylvania. It was late at night, and it was raining so hard Bob could barely see the road. Suddenly, the car skidded out of control. Bob tried to control the car, but it swerved and smashed into a tree.
In the silence that followed, Bob sat dazed, shaking his head to clear the fog. He looked over at Betty and saw that she was unconscious, and her head was bleeding. He had to get her medical assistance as quickly as possible.
Bob carefully lifted his wife and carried her down the road through the rain. In a short while, he saw a light and headed towards it. It was coming from a large, old house. He approached the door and knocked.
A small, hunched man opened the door and Bob gasped, "My name is Bob Hill, and this is my wife Betty. We've been in a terrible accident and my wife has been seriously hurt. May I please use your phone?"
"I'm so sorry," replied the hunchback. "We don't have a phone. My master is a doctor; come in and I will get him!"
Soon Igor returned with the doctor who said, "I'm afraid my assistant has misled you. I am not a medical doctor; I am a scientist. However, it is many miles to the nearest clinic, and I have had a little bit of medical training. I will see what I can do. Igor, bring the Hills to the laboratory."
With that, Igor carried Betty to the lab, and Bob followed closely. Igor placed Betty on a table. Immediately Bob collapsed from his own injuries, so Igor placed Bob on an adjoining table.
After a brief examination, Igor's master looked worried. "Things are serious, Igor. Prepare a transfusion." Igor and his master worked feverishly, but to no avail. Bob and Betty Hill were no more.
The Hills' deaths upset Igor's master greatly. Wearily, he climbed the steps to his conservatory to his grand piano. He often sought solace in music, so he played, and a stirring, haunting melody filled the house.
Meanwhile, Igor tidied up the lab. As he worked, his eyes caught movement. He saw the fingers on Betty's hand begin to twitch, keeping time to the haunting music. Stunned, he watched as Bob's feet moved in perfect rhythm. With wide eyes, he was shocked as Betty and Bob suddenly sat up straight.
Unable to contain himself, he dashed up the stairs to the conservatory.
He burst through the door and shouted to his master, "Master, Master! The Hills are alive with the sound of music!"
Thursday, October 22, 2009
8-bit Nintendo Jam
Thanks to friend Trevor for this one...anyone who grew up with the original Nintendo games will appreciate this!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Astounding
You may have already seen this news story, but in case you didn't....
http://www.advocate.com/article.aspx?id=100265
I'm really resolved to the fact that people all have their own personal beliefs, and that I'm not going to agree with all of them. But when a public official is refusing to perform an interracial marriage because he's "concerned for the offspring", and then say he's not a racist...he should be removed from his duties. I honestly can't believe in 2009 we are still having this conversation, but the simple answer to this one is that he is not doing his job and he should be fired. Period.
http://www.advocate.com/article.aspx?id=100265
I'm really resolved to the fact that people all have their own personal beliefs, and that I'm not going to agree with all of them. But when a public official is refusing to perform an interracial marriage because he's "concerned for the offspring", and then say he's not a racist...he should be removed from his duties. I honestly can't believe in 2009 we are still having this conversation, but the simple answer to this one is that he is not doing his job and he should be fired. Period.
Fun Nostalgia
I do miss some of the fun shows from the late 80s/early 90s, including "Family Matters", which, was actually quite a positive step forward for the different characters they portrayed.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Going for 2
This is probably the wrong crowd for this post, but...it's my blog and the "mark as read" button is easy to click :)
Last night I watched Nebraska play Missouri (football) and make an amazing 4th quarter comeback and win (GO HUSKERS!) They started the 4th quarter down 12-0. First touchdown, extra point, 12-7. Next touchdown, 13-12, 12:49 left in the 4th quarter. Now, nearly all coaches have a card that tells them on what scores they should go for a 2-point conversion instead of kicking the extra point. The theory is that if you're up by 1, 4, or 5 (or 7 + one of those), going for 2 would put you up by 3 (a full FG), 6 (2 full FG) or 7 (1 full TD) and kicking the extra point doesn't really give you anything more than you have.
BUT...my addendum to this theory is that the more time left in the game, the more unpredictable possible combinations of scoring that are left. So, with 12:49 left in the game, there are potentially many scoring opportunities left in the game for both teams. Nebraska went for 2 and missed. Sure, they're still up 1, and could have been up 3. BUT...later in the quarter they scored again. NOW, they kicked the extra point, and are up 20-12, up by 8. In this case, being up 9 (kicking both extra points and not going for 2 on the previous TD) would have been MUCH better, because up 9 means the other team ABSOLUTELY has to score twice to catch up, up 8 means they could score a TD and a 2-point conversion.
So...my football rant for the day. In this game it didn't really matter, Missouri didn't score another point and Nebraska was victorious 27-12.
Last night I watched Nebraska play Missouri (football) and make an amazing 4th quarter comeback and win (GO HUSKERS!) They started the 4th quarter down 12-0. First touchdown, extra point, 12-7. Next touchdown, 13-12, 12:49 left in the 4th quarter. Now, nearly all coaches have a card that tells them on what scores they should go for a 2-point conversion instead of kicking the extra point. The theory is that if you're up by 1, 4, or 5 (or 7 + one of those), going for 2 would put you up by 3 (a full FG), 6 (2 full FG) or 7 (1 full TD) and kicking the extra point doesn't really give you anything more than you have.
BUT...my addendum to this theory is that the more time left in the game, the more unpredictable possible combinations of scoring that are left. So, with 12:49 left in the game, there are potentially many scoring opportunities left in the game for both teams. Nebraska went for 2 and missed. Sure, they're still up 1, and could have been up 3. BUT...later in the quarter they scored again. NOW, they kicked the extra point, and are up 20-12, up by 8. In this case, being up 9 (kicking both extra points and not going for 2 on the previous TD) would have been MUCH better, because up 9 means the other team ABSOLUTELY has to score twice to catch up, up 8 means they could score a TD and a 2-point conversion.
So...my football rant for the day. In this game it didn't really matter, Missouri didn't score another point and Nebraska was victorious 27-12.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Twins!
I don't really follow baseball, but I have to tip my hat to the Minnesota Twins for last night's HUGE 12-inning win over Detroit to get into the playoffs. The Twins are consistently good every year, despite having one of the lowest payrolls in baseball, and it's fun to see that money does not alone make a winning team.
And of course this means the Metrodome REFUSES to die, as there will be at least one more Twins game there :)
And of course this means the Metrodome REFUSES to die, as there will be at least one more Twins game there :)
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
GSM Mobile Phone Security
I know I babble a lot about computer and internet security, and I tend to be more paranoid about it than most people...but I thought this topic was important to mention, because it covers a much wider range of people than just wireless network computer users.
GSM (Global System for Mobile) is the technology standard used to encrypt and transmit voice and data on most of the cell/mobile phone networks in the world. Everyone in the US that has AT&T or T-Mobile for service, as well as most major carriers in over 200 other countries use the GSM standard.
The GSM specification was created back in 1980, as a way to try to standardize mobile phone encryption and transmission. Now, for those of us who were alive in 1980, take a second to remember what kind of computers and computing power existed back then (Apple II+, Commodore 64, IBM/MS-DOS computers where processors were measured in HERTZ and memory was measured in KILObytes). For those who don't remember this, just imagine the computers back then had less power than even the lowest-end TI calculators have today, and certainly way less than any current mobile phone. OK....got that idea in mind?
The encryption strength and algorithm that is used in GSM was VERY strong for 1980. Even super computers in 1980 would have taken a long time to brute-force attack the 64-bit encryption that was being used. The encryption algorithm was also proprietary (secret) which, in 1980 wasn't a problem to keep secret because we didn't have the internet and the unlimited collaboration potential we have now. In addition, given the processing power of mobile phones in 1980, it would not have been possible to use any stronger encryption or any more complex encryption algorithms. It was the right solution for then.
Fast Forward to 2009, 29 years later. We're still using the same GSM technology from 1980. The same encryption strength, the same encryption algorithms. Personal computers have the processing power that super computers had in 1980. Even the lowest-end mobile phones have more processing power than computers in 1980. 128-bit encryption is the MINIMUM now for computer applications (keeping in mind that 128-bit encryption isn't just twice as good as 64-bit, it's 2 to the 64th POWER better than 64-bit encryption - it increases exponentially). We have the internet and can share ideas and collaborate with the entire world. We've also had 29 years to figure out the "secret" proprietary encryption algorithms. Can you see where this is going?
GSM has been completely cracked. Any hobbyist with a little spare cash and a willingness to do some googling can hook up a circuit board and antenna to their laptop (via standard USB or ethernet) and monitor and decrypt GSM-based transmissions right out of the air. There's enough open source software out there to make it easy to listen to voice streams, look at data streams, or whatever the streams of packets happen to be transmitting/receiving from a GSM phone.
The problem with this technology no longer being secure, as opposed to other wireless technologies like WEP and WPA, is that even if there's a newer more secure technology available, it will take years for everyone currently on GSM networks to be upgraded to use it. Not only would the network itself have to be upgraded, but all existing phones would have to be as well - not something that happens overnight.
Again, none of this is meant to scare people, it's just meant to make people aware. People should never make the assumption that everything they do on their phone is private and secure and should understand the risks.
A couple of other points to make:
Internet use on GSM phones - while the encryption used to transmit packets from your phone to the tower is broken and crackable, if you're using a secure web connection (https/SSL) in the web browser itself, that encryption is in addition to the GSM encryption, and is much better/stronger (it is the same as what your PC web browser uses) so there is less to worry about. So, for example, if you access your online banking site from your phone, you're still protected by the SSL encryption the banking website is using.
People that don't use the GSM network (the other major one being CDMA, used by Sprint and Verizon) - if you think you're safer, you're probably not. While there is no specific widespread CDMA cracking technology out there yet, the level of technology CDMA uses isn't really much stronger than GSM, it's just that GSM is a bigger target since it's used so widely across the world. It's day is coming :(
GSM (Global System for Mobile) is the technology standard used to encrypt and transmit voice and data on most of the cell/mobile phone networks in the world. Everyone in the US that has AT&T or T-Mobile for service, as well as most major carriers in over 200 other countries use the GSM standard.
The GSM specification was created back in 1980, as a way to try to standardize mobile phone encryption and transmission. Now, for those of us who were alive in 1980, take a second to remember what kind of computers and computing power existed back then (Apple II+, Commodore 64, IBM/MS-DOS computers where processors were measured in HERTZ and memory was measured in KILObytes). For those who don't remember this, just imagine the computers back then had less power than even the lowest-end TI calculators have today, and certainly way less than any current mobile phone. OK....got that idea in mind?
The encryption strength and algorithm that is used in GSM was VERY strong for 1980. Even super computers in 1980 would have taken a long time to brute-force attack the 64-bit encryption that was being used. The encryption algorithm was also proprietary (secret) which, in 1980 wasn't a problem to keep secret because we didn't have the internet and the unlimited collaboration potential we have now. In addition, given the processing power of mobile phones in 1980, it would not have been possible to use any stronger encryption or any more complex encryption algorithms. It was the right solution for then.
Fast Forward to 2009, 29 years later. We're still using the same GSM technology from 1980. The same encryption strength, the same encryption algorithms. Personal computers have the processing power that super computers had in 1980. Even the lowest-end mobile phones have more processing power than computers in 1980. 128-bit encryption is the MINIMUM now for computer applications (keeping in mind that 128-bit encryption isn't just twice as good as 64-bit, it's 2 to the 64th POWER better than 64-bit encryption - it increases exponentially). We have the internet and can share ideas and collaborate with the entire world. We've also had 29 years to figure out the "secret" proprietary encryption algorithms. Can you see where this is going?
GSM has been completely cracked. Any hobbyist with a little spare cash and a willingness to do some googling can hook up a circuit board and antenna to their laptop (via standard USB or ethernet) and monitor and decrypt GSM-based transmissions right out of the air. There's enough open source software out there to make it easy to listen to voice streams, look at data streams, or whatever the streams of packets happen to be transmitting/receiving from a GSM phone.
The problem with this technology no longer being secure, as opposed to other wireless technologies like WEP and WPA, is that even if there's a newer more secure technology available, it will take years for everyone currently on GSM networks to be upgraded to use it. Not only would the network itself have to be upgraded, but all existing phones would have to be as well - not something that happens overnight.
Again, none of this is meant to scare people, it's just meant to make people aware. People should never make the assumption that everything they do on their phone is private and secure and should understand the risks.
A couple of other points to make:
Internet use on GSM phones - while the encryption used to transmit packets from your phone to the tower is broken and crackable, if you're using a secure web connection (https/SSL) in the web browser itself, that encryption is in addition to the GSM encryption, and is much better/stronger (it is the same as what your PC web browser uses) so there is less to worry about. So, for example, if you access your online banking site from your phone, you're still protected by the SSL encryption the banking website is using.
People that don't use the GSM network (the other major one being CDMA, used by Sprint and Verizon) - if you think you're safer, you're probably not. While there is no specific widespread CDMA cracking technology out there yet, the level of technology CDMA uses isn't really much stronger than GSM, it's just that GSM is a bigger target since it's used so widely across the world. It's day is coming :(
Monday, September 21, 2009
Online Privacy
The title of this article is misleading, because it's really commenting on the whole "how private is your information" issue in terms of Facebook and social networking:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/09/20/project_gaydar_an_mit_experiment_raises_new_questions_about_online_privacy/?page=full
I guess I've always understood these basic concepts of online privacy:
1) If you post some piece of information about yourself online (social networking, etc.) (data, pictures, etc.) they're out there and you should assume that you no longer have complete control over it.
2) The more information you put out there, the easier it is to correlate and determine other things about you.
3) No matter what a company's privacy policy is, SOMEONE at that company has full access to whatever you've given them, and you can't guarantee that they will not abuse that access.
I'm not trying to scare people, I just want to point out that this is an ongoing tradeoff between convenience and cost vs. privacy and security. Things like Facebook are free, and they are useful services. The tradeoff is that you trust them with information about you. It is certainly in their best interest to try their best to keep your information private, but both them and everyone you allow to see your information (e.g. your friends list) can see everything you put up there, and thus can let anyone else they want to see it see it.
I use Gmail (Google Mail) and many people use other online mail services, and we're trusting these services with the contents of all our emails. We do this because the service is free, convenient, and useful, and so we assume the risk of a third party storing our email data.
The main point is, it's ultimately your choice - if you want to use something like Facebook, which may provide a great benefit to you, you also assume the risks. Be as careful as you can, limit your risk, but remember that nothing is perfect.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/09/20/project_gaydar_an_mit_experiment_raises_new_questions_about_online_privacy/?page=full
I guess I've always understood these basic concepts of online privacy:
1) If you post some piece of information about yourself online (social networking, etc.) (data, pictures, etc.) they're out there and you should assume that you no longer have complete control over it.
2) The more information you put out there, the easier it is to correlate and determine other things about you.
3) No matter what a company's privacy policy is, SOMEONE at that company has full access to whatever you've given them, and you can't guarantee that they will not abuse that access.
I'm not trying to scare people, I just want to point out that this is an ongoing tradeoff between convenience and cost vs. privacy and security. Things like Facebook are free, and they are useful services. The tradeoff is that you trust them with information about you. It is certainly in their best interest to try their best to keep your information private, but both them and everyone you allow to see your information (e.g. your friends list) can see everything you put up there, and thus can let anyone else they want to see it see it.
I use Gmail (Google Mail) and many people use other online mail services, and we're trusting these services with the contents of all our emails. We do this because the service is free, convenient, and useful, and so we assume the risk of a third party storing our email data.
The main point is, it's ultimately your choice - if you want to use something like Facebook, which may provide a great benefit to you, you also assume the risks. Be as careful as you can, limit your risk, but remember that nothing is perfect.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Palm to drop Windows
I'm not at all surprised, and I'll also say it's about time :)
http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/smartphones/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=220001048
I hope this means more and better stuff for the WebOS and my Pre!
http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/smartphones/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=220001048
I hope this means more and better stuff for the WebOS and my Pre!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Turing
Most of us in the computer science field know the name "Turing", referring to famous mathematician Alan Turing. He was the man mainly responsible for famously cracking the enemy encryption codes during WW II, something many believe was a key to the outcome of the war.
Sadly, despite the huge contributions he made to the world (he also created many math and computer science theories still in use today, including the famous "Turing Machine"), a few years later in 1952 he was convicted of "gross indecency" - basically homosexuality, illegal at that time - and had the choice of going to prison or going through a procedure called chemical castration, which was injecting female hormones into your blood stream. To avoid jail he chose the second option, and 2 years later committed suicide at the age of 41.
This morning I read that the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Gordon Brown, at the urging of several in the computer science and gay communities, gave an apology and special recognition to Turing's accomplishments. I thought this was a really great gesture for him to make.
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/12920/the-man-the-apple-logo-salutes-to-alan-turing-gets-apology-from-british-prime-minister
Sadly, despite the huge contributions he made to the world (he also created many math and computer science theories still in use today, including the famous "Turing Machine"), a few years later in 1952 he was convicted of "gross indecency" - basically homosexuality, illegal at that time - and had the choice of going to prison or going through a procedure called chemical castration, which was injecting female hormones into your blood stream. To avoid jail he chose the second option, and 2 years later committed suicide at the age of 41.
This morning I read that the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Gordon Brown, at the urging of several in the computer science and gay communities, gave an apology and special recognition to Turing's accomplishments. I thought this was a really great gesture for him to make.
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/12920/the-man-the-apple-logo-salutes-to-alan-turing-gets-apology-from-british-prime-minister
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Thou shalt not...
From the "why don't I ever learn" file...
#1 - "Thou shalt not upgrade programs that are functioning correctly, just for the sake of upgrading.*"
#2 - "Thou shalt suppress the need to try out every beta or upgrade."
I spent about 2 hours this morning recovering from trying to install an early adopter version of a Lotus Notes upgrade, which, if I'd read the forum posts about it, I never would have considered. And the version I have is working the best of any Lotus Notes I've had in 12 years. So WHY do I do this? I think I have some gene that makes me want to upgrade stuff.
*NOTE: Security patches to Windows or other OS's don't count - anyone NOT doing automatic Windows updates of security patches is just asking for it.
#1 - "Thou shalt not upgrade programs that are functioning correctly, just for the sake of upgrading.*"
#2 - "Thou shalt suppress the need to try out every beta or upgrade."
I spent about 2 hours this morning recovering from trying to install an early adopter version of a Lotus Notes upgrade, which, if I'd read the forum posts about it, I never would have considered. And the version I have is working the best of any Lotus Notes I've had in 12 years. So WHY do I do this? I think I have some gene that makes me want to upgrade stuff.
*NOTE: Security patches to Windows or other OS's don't count - anyone NOT doing automatic Windows updates of security patches is just asking for it.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
My day has been made!
I am a religious listener to the podcast "Security Now" - a weekly podcast about computer and internet security now in its 5th year. I would recommend this show to anyone who uses a computer on the internet - Steve Gibson is great at explaining things in plain terms and I also believe he does this because he's truly interested in sharing information with everyone, and not to make money.
Anyway, every other week they do listener Q&A shows, answering 12 questions from listeners. I have sent in comments and questions over the years, and have never had any on. Apparently, one of mine is read in the most recent episode of the podcast. I haven't actually listened to it yet (I'm about 2 behind) but I'm VERY excited!!!
Anyway, every other week they do listener Q&A shows, answering 12 questions from listeners. I have sent in comments and questions over the years, and have never had any on. Apparently, one of mine is read in the most recent episode of the podcast. I haven't actually listened to it yet (I'm about 2 behind) but I'm VERY excited!!!
50 miles
I have to give a shout out to my friend Wayne who is doing his first 50-mile race this weekend...
http://waynelsona.blogspot.com/2009/09/superior-trail-50-mile-preparations.html
Besides just being an all-around great guy and friend for so many years, Wayne was the first office mate I ever had as a co-op, and was my longtime IBM lunch buddy for over 10 years before taking a job in St. Paul (which makes meeting up for lunch a bit more difficult :)
Wayne is also the one that got me into running 12 years ago - sneakily - so sneakily he probably didn't even know he was doing it - I started tagging along on his short (3-mile) marathon training runs, and just kept tagging along, finally "tagging along" on his 20-mile runs, and then finally doing my own marathon the next year. We've been "runner support" for training, and many times alternated doing marathons different years because it was fun to have someone cheering you on the sidelines, dropping you off, picking you up at the end, etc.
He's now at another level of racing, one I may never get to, but then I never thought I'd run 26.2 miles either before I met him (I never thought I could run 10 miles before I met him and learned that running does not mean sprinting :)
So, all the best this weekend Wayne!
http://waynelsona.blogspot.com/2009/09/superior-trail-50-mile-preparations.html
Besides just being an all-around great guy and friend for so many years, Wayne was the first office mate I ever had as a co-op, and was my longtime IBM lunch buddy for over 10 years before taking a job in St. Paul (which makes meeting up for lunch a bit more difficult :)
Wayne is also the one that got me into running 12 years ago - sneakily - so sneakily he probably didn't even know he was doing it - I started tagging along on his short (3-mile) marathon training runs, and just kept tagging along, finally "tagging along" on his 20-mile runs, and then finally doing my own marathon the next year. We've been "runner support" for training, and many times alternated doing marathons different years because it was fun to have someone cheering you on the sidelines, dropping you off, picking you up at the end, etc.
He's now at another level of racing, one I may never get to, but then I never thought I'd run 26.2 miles either before I met him (I never thought I could run 10 miles before I met him and learned that running does not mean sprinting :)
So, all the best this weekend Wayne!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
The Cloud
Some interesting articles on slashdot about the growth of "cloud computing":
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Hinchcliffe/?p=771
http://edgeperspectives.typepad.com/edge_perspectives/2009/08/defining-the-big-shift.html
http://i.zdnet.com/blogs/web_os_2009_large.png
My mode of managing my personal information has been slowly shifting to the "cloud" over time - when I switched to gmail a few years ago I eliminated all email clients on my PC. With my last new phone I switched my calendars and contacts over to Google applications from a PC-based Outlook, and this weekend I moved the rest of my "personal information management" stuff (tasks, notes) to Google applications as well.
As always, having everything online is a mixed blessing. It's accessible anywhere there's an internet connection, which is becoming basically anywhere. However, you're also ceding trust of your personal information over to a third party - in my (and many people's) case something free like Google. It's also NOT accessible if for some reason you can't connect to them.
When I was converting over my notes and documents, I did stop short of moving everything to Google docs - I separated all my documents into two categories, one being information I don't care if anyone sees and the other information I want to know for sure only I have access to. While I don't really think that anything in category one will be seen by the wrong people, if it's in the "cloud" there's always a chance it will be. So I am trading convenience for security on those documents (passwords, financial data, etc.) that I consider most important.
It will be interesting to see how this trend continues and we become more and more dependent on the internet and the "cloud". My latest phone isn't really worth much without an internet connection now (yes I can still call people without it). A PC is very much less useful without an internet connection now than it was 10 years ago. It seems that laws are going to have to catch up this trend soon - right now, we trust companies like Google not to abuse our information (and it's in their best financial interest not to do so) but legally there is probably lots of leeway as to what they can do with it.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Hinchcliffe/?p=771
http://edgeperspectives.typepad.com/edge_perspectives/2009/08/defining-the-big-shift.html
http://i.zdnet.com/blogs/web_os_2009_large.png
My mode of managing my personal information has been slowly shifting to the "cloud" over time - when I switched to gmail a few years ago I eliminated all email clients on my PC. With my last new phone I switched my calendars and contacts over to Google applications from a PC-based Outlook, and this weekend I moved the rest of my "personal information management" stuff (tasks, notes) to Google applications as well.
As always, having everything online is a mixed blessing. It's accessible anywhere there's an internet connection, which is becoming basically anywhere. However, you're also ceding trust of your personal information over to a third party - in my (and many people's) case something free like Google. It's also NOT accessible if for some reason you can't connect to them.
When I was converting over my notes and documents, I did stop short of moving everything to Google docs - I separated all my documents into two categories, one being information I don't care if anyone sees and the other information I want to know for sure only I have access to. While I don't really think that anything in category one will be seen by the wrong people, if it's in the "cloud" there's always a chance it will be. So I am trading convenience for security on those documents (passwords, financial data, etc.) that I consider most important.
It will be interesting to see how this trend continues and we become more and more dependent on the internet and the "cloud". My latest phone isn't really worth much without an internet connection now (yes I can still call people without it). A PC is very much less useful without an internet connection now than it was 10 years ago. It seems that laws are going to have to catch up this trend soon - right now, we trust companies like Google not to abuse our information (and it's in their best financial interest not to do so) but legally there is probably lots of leeway as to what they can do with it.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Happy Labor Day!
I read about the origins of Labor Day on Wikipedia this morning, and the first US Labor day was in 1882. Oddly, half of the workers in the country don't get the day off now because the other half do get it off and want to go shopping, eat out, etc....go figure.
A fun weekend, kicking off Saturday with meeting HS friends Pat & Laura and kids in Bloomington for lunch, and then off to second-cousin Brittany's wedding. Lots of fun seeing the "Minnesota Byes" as I like to refer to them. We headed home relatively early (9pm) since it was an hour and a half drive from the reception in Medina to Rochester.
Sunday morning coffee with friend Bill, and a day of working on some projects I had been putting off. I finally got everything else that hadn't nicely converted from my old phone to my new one into either Google tasks, Google docs, or just stored in documents on my computer, and put the final closure on Outlook and Windows Mobile. Also worked on the never-ending video conversion and editing project - eventually it will all get done! Sunday evening Chinese takeout and a later evening wine tasting with a couple of friends.
Monday morning - Erin is at orientation for his new job, so I had coffee with Bill again this morning, and am now in the process of doing some more video editing and, unfortunately, figuring out why iTunes isn't working again. I may have narrowed it down to the "Apple Mobile Device Support" process which I don't use, I continue to disable, and iTunes keeps re-enabling, I'm sure trying to be helpful. I'm nearly ready to give up on iTunes altogether after the recent number of times it's quit working - I don't honestly know how "regular" people (meaning people who wouldn't spend the hours I spend figuring out how to fix this stuff or don't have the computer background I do) actually get any of this stuff to work.
I do plan on enjoying the weather today, the whole weekend has been fantastic Minnesota summer/fall weather and I'm loving every minute of it!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Don't accidentally turn caps lock on
A woman was apparently fired from her job for writing sentences in all caps in an e-mail to co-works because her boss deemed them "too confrontational":
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10594014
In a related topic, I read somewhere the other day that we really need a "sarcasm font" :)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10594014
In a related topic, I read somewhere the other day that we really need a "sarcasm font" :)
Sunday, August 30, 2009
iTunes again
It must be a bad technology weekend for me. As I was trying to fix a myriad of problems Friday night - iTunes freezing, some games I have not running correctly (determined on Vista you have to run them in Administrator mode because when they were made everything was "administrator" mode). As I was trying to determine the problem, I made sure my home network was function correctly, and did some diagnostics on my server machine to make sure it was also working correctly. I somehow accidentally got the server RAID into a mode called "Initialization", and nearly had a heart attack, that it was erasing all 2.5 TB of accumulated server data, stuff that it's taken me years to build. Thankfully, after reading through the documentation, I found out there are two modes of "initialization" - one is the erase kind, and one goes through and re-verifies and re-writes all of the drives' data - and I was in the second one! It seems to me they shouldn't call that one "initialization" so as to keep people like me from freaking out.
I FINALLY did find an obscure post on Apple's forum about anti-virus causing issues with iTunes. The post reply actually said I must have a virus, which I don't, but in trying to verify that I don't have a virus, I force-updated the anti-virus software, and the problem went away. Further searching (once I started including anti-virus in the search criteria) found posts on other forums saying that iTunes uses all sorts of system-level calls that can be very sensitive to what anti-virus software does. Fortunately the problem is fixed now.
I do wonder how "normal" users fix problems like this - I know many people are now tech-savvy enough to do google searches and look at forums, but many are not - I'm sure some people would just give up with something like this! Or worse, take the computer in to some repair place and have them charges hundreds of dollars to "fix" it.
Speaking of bad tech, I also found out that Charter has decided that it's ok to change a fundamental DNS service so that if you try to access an address that doesn't exist, it "helpfully" returns a search page based on the incorrect thing you typed in. OK so maybe for some people that might be helpful, but it ALSO causes things like VPNs to no longer work correctly - I spent a few hours trying to figure out why all of a sudden my VPN that I use to do work remotely was no longer functioning correctly. And the only fix for this is to go in and manually alter DNS settings - now I KNOW most people wouldn't know how to do that!
Sigh.
I FINALLY did find an obscure post on Apple's forum about anti-virus causing issues with iTunes. The post reply actually said I must have a virus, which I don't, but in trying to verify that I don't have a virus, I force-updated the anti-virus software, and the problem went away. Further searching (once I started including anti-virus in the search criteria) found posts on other forums saying that iTunes uses all sorts of system-level calls that can be very sensitive to what anti-virus software does. Fortunately the problem is fixed now.
I do wonder how "normal" users fix problems like this - I know many people are now tech-savvy enough to do google searches and look at forums, but many are not - I'm sure some people would just give up with something like this! Or worse, take the computer in to some repair place and have them charges hundreds of dollars to "fix" it.
Speaking of bad tech, I also found out that Charter has decided that it's ok to change a fundamental DNS service so that if you try to access an address that doesn't exist, it "helpfully" returns a search page based on the incorrect thing you typed in. OK so maybe for some people that might be helpful, but it ALSO causes things like VPNs to no longer work correctly - I spent a few hours trying to figure out why all of a sudden my VPN that I use to do work remotely was no longer functioning correctly. And the only fix for this is to go in and manually alter DNS settings - now I KNOW most people wouldn't know how to do that!
Sigh.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Food and iTunes
I so look forward to the occasional lunches now where I have time to sit and read the latest Time magazine for an hour - I feel like I'm maybe somewhat up-to-date on world affairs now.
Last week's feature was of particular interest to me - it was about the food industry and sustainable food production. I have been reading up on this the past several years, but until recently it has been a topic considered "way out there", "what the hippie tree huggers are doing", etc. but it's becoming more and more serious now that we have economic issues and as the world's food demand continues to grow.
Most people see "organic" food labels now days. Basically, if something is certified organic by the USDA, it means it was made with no chemicals, pesticides, antibiotics, etc. Some organic producers go far beyond that - the winery we saw in California ran "bio-dymaically" meaning the entire production was in harmony with the ecosystem - zero waste, pests were controlled by natural predators, and almost zero outside watering. The interesting thing about all of this is that 70 years ago, anything grown anywhere would have been certified organic - there was no such thing as non-organic food. And now the pendulum is swinging back again - we're finding that all the stuff we've done to try to increase food production, make food "better" (i.e. genetically modifying), etc. has long-term consequences and in reality may not really be helping solve the food shortage problems of the world.
Time points out the common thinking that producing food the "old fashioned way" - sustainably - just can't keep up with the increased demand for food by the growing world population. Strictly speaking, if you look at the amount of calories produced and the cheaper costs of producing these calories, that is probably true. They go on to say that the calories being produced are of lower quality, and that part of the reason we have the obesity problem is because we're eating more of the "cheap" calories - in reality if we had more of the good stuff, we'd not feel the need to eat as much. And of course the environmental impacts are hard to put a price tag on.
It will be interesting to see where all of this goes. Erin and I have been buying nearly all organic foods for the past couple years, and buy as much as we can at the local food co-op "The Good Food Store" here in Rochester, which tries as much as possible to use locally grown and produced food which reduces the amount of shipping that goes on. I think too that a lot of people think that buying food this way is more expensive, and what we've found is that in some cases it is, and in some it's actually quite a bit cheaper - for example, there we can buy things in bulk (we can even bring and weigh our own containers and avoid the packaging). And in a lot of cases the local produce is the same as or cheaper than what's shipped around to the grocery stores. I'm sure on the whole we spend a bit more, but it hasn't broken the bank.
I have to throw in my regular iTunes rant - I upgraded to 8.2.1 and all of a sudden my main system copy started freezing in the middle of songs. I tried re-installing, running hard drive diagnostics, etc. all to finally find that going back to the previous version fixed it. This is the sort of thing that keeps me leary of upgrades - patches should make stuff better not worse!
Last week's feature was of particular interest to me - it was about the food industry and sustainable food production. I have been reading up on this the past several years, but until recently it has been a topic considered "way out there", "what the hippie tree huggers are doing", etc. but it's becoming more and more serious now that we have economic issues and as the world's food demand continues to grow.
Most people see "organic" food labels now days. Basically, if something is certified organic by the USDA, it means it was made with no chemicals, pesticides, antibiotics, etc. Some organic producers go far beyond that - the winery we saw in California ran "bio-dymaically" meaning the entire production was in harmony with the ecosystem - zero waste, pests were controlled by natural predators, and almost zero outside watering. The interesting thing about all of this is that 70 years ago, anything grown anywhere would have been certified organic - there was no such thing as non-organic food. And now the pendulum is swinging back again - we're finding that all the stuff we've done to try to increase food production, make food "better" (i.e. genetically modifying), etc. has long-term consequences and in reality may not really be helping solve the food shortage problems of the world.
Time points out the common thinking that producing food the "old fashioned way" - sustainably - just can't keep up with the increased demand for food by the growing world population. Strictly speaking, if you look at the amount of calories produced and the cheaper costs of producing these calories, that is probably true. They go on to say that the calories being produced are of lower quality, and that part of the reason we have the obesity problem is because we're eating more of the "cheap" calories - in reality if we had more of the good stuff, we'd not feel the need to eat as much. And of course the environmental impacts are hard to put a price tag on.
It will be interesting to see where all of this goes. Erin and I have been buying nearly all organic foods for the past couple years, and buy as much as we can at the local food co-op "The Good Food Store" here in Rochester, which tries as much as possible to use locally grown and produced food which reduces the amount of shipping that goes on. I think too that a lot of people think that buying food this way is more expensive, and what we've found is that in some cases it is, and in some it's actually quite a bit cheaper - for example, there we can buy things in bulk (we can even bring and weigh our own containers and avoid the packaging). And in a lot of cases the local produce is the same as or cheaper than what's shipped around to the grocery stores. I'm sure on the whole we spend a bit more, but it hasn't broken the bank.
I have to throw in my regular iTunes rant - I upgraded to 8.2.1 and all of a sudden my main system copy started freezing in the middle of songs. I tried re-installing, running hard drive diagnostics, etc. all to finally find that going back to the previous version fixed it. This is the sort of thing that keeps me leary of upgrades - patches should make stuff better not worse!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
McCain
I don't know why John McCain couldn't have been more like this during the presidential campaign:
I may disagree with his beliefs, but this is the kind of leadership we need on BOTH sides of the aisle - people are never all going to agree on anything, but you don't have to use fear and lies to get your beliefs across. I tip my hat to the senator.
I may disagree with his beliefs, but this is the kind of leadership we need on BOTH sides of the aisle - people are never all going to agree on anything, but you don't have to use fear and lies to get your beliefs across. I tip my hat to the senator.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Minnesota Summers
I have to say this has been the longest string of nice weather I can remember in a long time - even with the rain last night. We haven't had to run the air conditioner much, the yard is looking better than it ever has even without watering, and we've been able to enjoy outside almost every day. I do not at all miss Nebraska summers where it was in the 90s (or worse) and humid.
Saturday we enjoyed a wonderful day of boating on the Missisippi river with some friends. We rented a pontoon boat and just leisurely floated up and down the river, with lunch at the Pickle Factory in Pepin, WI. It was an interesting mix at the restaurant, because there were all sorts of boaters there, and also lots of bikers (motorcycle) presumably cycling down the Wisconsin side of the river which is the more scenic side. We were all very worn out and a bit sunburned by the time the day was done!
I have to tip my hat again to Caribou Coffee this morning for just generally being a good business. They may not all be this way, but the one I go to is just a little extra friendly and takes the time to say hi and get to know the regulars.
Saturday we enjoyed a wonderful day of boating on the Missisippi river with some friends. We rented a pontoon boat and just leisurely floated up and down the river, with lunch at the Pickle Factory in Pepin, WI. It was an interesting mix at the restaurant, because there were all sorts of boaters there, and also lots of bikers (motorcycle) presumably cycling down the Wisconsin side of the river which is the more scenic side. We were all very worn out and a bit sunburned by the time the day was done!
I have to tip my hat again to Caribou Coffee this morning for just generally being a good business. They may not all be this way, but the one I go to is just a little extra friendly and takes the time to say hi and get to know the regulars.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Democracy and TV
Democracy certainly does make for interesting TV and media. All today:
and on the other end
I've never been a fan of Rush Limbaugh but definitely not today :(
and on the other end
I've never been a fan of Rush Limbaugh but definitely not today :(
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The Golden Girls
Came across this one this one this morning in my news feeds - when you consider this show was on in the late 80s/early 90s, some pretty "forward" topics for then:
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Panic At The Blinkin' Fallout
Saturday morning coffee in hand we started the trek to Omaha at 9am. We had targeted 9am and left right on time! Unfortunately just after Albert Lea I realized I had forgotten the concert tickets (the main reason we were going) and so we had to do a do-over. Fortunately it was only an hour in, and our friend Christine brought the tickets and met us in Stewartville which cut off about 40 extra minutes of driving into and out of Rochester again. Thanks Christine!
We got to Omaha at about 4:45 - originally I had targeted 3, and so an extra 1:45 wasn't so bad. We met up with good friends Karli and Trevor and headed downtown and to the Old Market for some walking around by the river and dinner. There is a new pedestrian bridge across the Missouri river which was really neat, and we walked over to Iowa and back - we even stood on opposite sides of the state line :)
After dinner we drove around a little bit more (Erin had never been to Omaha) and stopped for Cold Stone ice cream.
Sunday morning after breakfast at the Cracker Barrel, Erin and I headed over t
o visit Grandma Bye - always a lot of fun for me, and I get to see her at least once a year if not more. Grandma recently turned 90! Grandma is the only time I get to catch up on family news too, and it's great to hear how everyone else in the family is doing.
Back to T&K's and lunch at a Philly Cheese Steak place in Bellevue, and a little relax time (watching Tiger Woods choke away the PGA championship) and off to Council Bluffs and the concert. We probably should have gone a bit earlier, as it took awhile to park, but we made it in time to see the end of "Panic At The Disco", followed by an hour of "Fallout Boy" (including a cover of "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey which got the whole crowd going) and finally "Blink 182" into the evening - they are quite entertaining! The bad part was after the concert, where the "parking lot" was a bunch of empty fields and there was no one directing traffic, so it took over 3 hours to finally get out. We were happy to get to bed at 2am.
Monday we had breakfast at the "Wheat Fields", a great little cafe, and Erin and I headed down to Plattsmouth, NE, to give Erin a brief tour of where I grew up. All the schools I went to are either torn down or have been converted to other schools, but I was able to show him where they were. It was nice to see the house I grew up in looks to be in really good shape and is being well taken care of by its new owners. We cruised up and down main street, and took the toll bridge out of town for the complete experience.
Besides boredom, the drive back was uneventful and nice weather.
We got to Omaha at about 4:45 - originally I had targeted 3, and so an extra 1:45 wasn't so bad. We met up with good friends Karli and Trevor and headed downtown and to the Old Market for some walking around by the river and dinner. There is a new pedestrian bridge across the Missouri river which was really neat, and we walked over to Iowa and back - we even stood on opposite sides of the state line :)After dinner we drove around a little bit more (Erin had never been to Omaha) and stopped for Cold Stone ice cream.
Sunday morning after breakfast at the Cracker Barrel, Erin and I headed over t
o visit Grandma Bye - always a lot of fun for me, and I get to see her at least once a year if not more. Grandma recently turned 90! Grandma is the only time I get to catch up on family news too, and it's great to hear how everyone else in the family is doing.Back to T&K's and lunch at a Philly Cheese Steak place in Bellevue, and a little relax time (watching Tiger Woods choke away the PGA championship) and off to Council Bluffs and the concert. We probably should have gone a bit earlier, as it took awhile to park, but we made it in time to see the end of "Panic At The Disco", followed by an hour of "Fallout Boy" (including a cover of "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey which got the whole crowd going) and finally "Blink 182" into the evening - they are quite entertaining! The bad part was after the concert, where the "parking lot" was a bunch of empty fields and there was no one directing traffic, so it took over 3 hours to finally get out. We were happy to get to bed at 2am.
Monday we had breakfast at the "Wheat Fields", a great little cafe, and Erin and I headed down to Plattsmouth, NE, to give Erin a brief tour of where I grew up. All the schools I went to are either torn down or have been converted to other schools, but I was able to show him where they were. It was nice to see the house I grew up in looks to be in really good shape and is being well taken care of by its new owners. We cruised up and down main street, and took the toll bridge out of town for the complete experience.
Besides boredom, the drive back was uneventful and nice weather.
Friday, August 14, 2009
OPEN!
One year, one month, and 12 days later, 50th Avenue is finally open. Only 11 months later than planned :) I was able to drive on the new road on my way home last night - it's actually a bit eerie in the dark, now that all the trees are gone, no street lights, and there are many turn lanes and corners that go into nowhere (for future roads).
A few things that were surprising - the roundabout where the future intersection of 41st St will be, there's no bridge at the bottom of the hill (they put in drainage sewers and culverts all over the place which probably makes more sense), and it's 4 lanes - I knew originally they said it was going to be 4 lanes, but then as they were building it, it didn't really look like it would be. But it is.
As I was approaching the roundabout with the other cars, I could see some of them looking a little hesitant and confused - I fully expect someone to go around it the wrong way, hopefully no accidents will happen.
A few things that were surprising - the roundabout where the future intersection of 41st St will be, there's no bridge at the bottom of the hill (they put in drainage sewers and culverts all over the place which probably makes more sense), and it's 4 lanes - I knew originally they said it was going to be 4 lanes, but then as they were building it, it didn't really look like it would be. But it is.
As I was approaching the roundabout with the other cars, I could see some of them looking a little hesitant and confused - I fully expect someone to go around it the wrong way, hopefully no accidents will happen.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Weight Loss
I've mentioned before that I read "Time" magazine, and I think it's one of the few magazines left that writes for content and not fluff. I was skeptical this week when the feature story was about weight loss - EVERY magazine, internet news website, blog, commercial, etc. seems to have an article or two about weight loss, and they all seem to focus on whatever the latest "thing" is. Fitness magazines like "Men's Fitness" are notorious for this - "do backwards situps to get ripped" or something dumb like that. Or "this supplement will burn fat 10 times faster than normal". Local TV news is probably the worst - they will make you believe that some new thing they spend 3 minutes on in the "health" section of the broadcast will fix all your problems. In reality these articles or clips are, at best, worthless by themselves, and at worst, trying to secretly push you to buy something.
Time's article talked about the relationship between exercise and weight loss. I was skeptical when I started reading, as I figured they'd start quoting studies that "prove" some very specific point or angle, which is or will be refuted by another set of studies they'll quote next month. I was refreshingly surprised to find a more general discussion about something I've sorta learned in my own life experience, and have heard from several other friends who have been down the lifetime weight loss road. Exercise doesn't seem to be a key component of weight loss. Don't get me wrong - exercise is important for good health, the benefits are many. The article points out that regular amounts of healthy exercise help protect from heart disease, improve mental clarity and release endorphins which just make you feel better in general. But it doesn't significantly help weight loss. That is counter to everything we've been told for the past 40+ years from all the "expert" wisdom and government agencies like the FDA. I'll refrain from ranting about what I think of conventional "wisdom", but I'll say that I wish that they would more often update themselves when newer understandings or ideas are available. (if you ever want to get me started on this topic, just say the words "food pyramid")
I can really only share my own experience though. The two times in my life I've lost serious weight, both were because I focused on what I was eating. One was a really bad diet (which I'd now label as basically "starvation" and was hard on my body). I lost 40+ lbs in under 4 months. The other was a more sensible, healthier diet - this one focused on carb and high-glycemic (i.e. sugar) reduction. I lost 40+ lbs in about 6 or 7 months and have somewhat stuck with the principles of it. But in both cases there wasn't massive amounts of exercise going on.
Conversely, I have run 3 marathons and the miles of training that go with them. I never lost ANY weight during any of those 3 training periods, despite running 400+ miles in 18 weeks during each training period - in fact during one of them I gained a few pounds. The two most serious periods of weight training I did? I certainly got in good shape and built lots of muscle, but I didn't lose any weight then either.
The article pointed out a few simple things that do make you think about how exercise works on us. One is that exercise probably makes us hungrier - which is probably true because you expend energy and your body wants more. If our bodies were programmed to instantly go into our energy reserves (fat) right away, then we wouldn't be hungry - but we aren't programmed that way, so we have to resist the urge to "reload" that our body wants. Will we starve without eating after we exercise? Of course not, but our DNA doesn't know that.
Another is the "entitlement" complex - the idea that we allow ourselves to indulge more BECAUSE we exercise. I know I do this - after playing basketball for two hours at the RAC every Sunday night (quite a workout), I'd go out with the guys I played with and get appetizers or dessert at TGI Fridays. I seriously doubt I ever came out ahead on those - at best I broke even. This is especially true when exercise is social - you go running with your running group and then go to Starbucks afterwards and have a muffin and a latte. If you run 3 miles, you might cover the calories of half of the muffin.
One of the last things the article mentioned was that strenuous exercise may be causing us to be still and sedentary more of the rest of the time. I can say this true for me - on the days I did long marathon training runs, I didn't do ANYTHING else the rest of the day. Not only did I feel entitled not to do anything, my body just needed to rest from the abuse I just put to it. Whereas walking, mowing the lawn, vacuuming, etc. aren't strenuous enough on your body to make it just want to stop afterward (we may still be lazy and not doing anything afterward but that's another issue :)
I would never advocate that people stop exercising. And my rule #1 always applies in things like this - do what works for you! I just know in my experience that trying to lose weight through massive amounts of exercise can be frustrating if you don't get the results you are looking for.
Time's article talked about the relationship between exercise and weight loss. I was skeptical when I started reading, as I figured they'd start quoting studies that "prove" some very specific point or angle, which is or will be refuted by another set of studies they'll quote next month. I was refreshingly surprised to find a more general discussion about something I've sorta learned in my own life experience, and have heard from several other friends who have been down the lifetime weight loss road. Exercise doesn't seem to be a key component of weight loss. Don't get me wrong - exercise is important for good health, the benefits are many. The article points out that regular amounts of healthy exercise help protect from heart disease, improve mental clarity and release endorphins which just make you feel better in general. But it doesn't significantly help weight loss. That is counter to everything we've been told for the past 40+ years from all the "expert" wisdom and government agencies like the FDA. I'll refrain from ranting about what I think of conventional "wisdom", but I'll say that I wish that they would more often update themselves when newer understandings or ideas are available. (if you ever want to get me started on this topic, just say the words "food pyramid")
I can really only share my own experience though. The two times in my life I've lost serious weight, both were because I focused on what I was eating. One was a really bad diet (which I'd now label as basically "starvation" and was hard on my body). I lost 40+ lbs in under 4 months. The other was a more sensible, healthier diet - this one focused on carb and high-glycemic (i.e. sugar) reduction. I lost 40+ lbs in about 6 or 7 months and have somewhat stuck with the principles of it. But in both cases there wasn't massive amounts of exercise going on.
Conversely, I have run 3 marathons and the miles of training that go with them. I never lost ANY weight during any of those 3 training periods, despite running 400+ miles in 18 weeks during each training period - in fact during one of them I gained a few pounds. The two most serious periods of weight training I did? I certainly got in good shape and built lots of muscle, but I didn't lose any weight then either.
The article pointed out a few simple things that do make you think about how exercise works on us. One is that exercise probably makes us hungrier - which is probably true because you expend energy and your body wants more. If our bodies were programmed to instantly go into our energy reserves (fat) right away, then we wouldn't be hungry - but we aren't programmed that way, so we have to resist the urge to "reload" that our body wants. Will we starve without eating after we exercise? Of course not, but our DNA doesn't know that.
Another is the "entitlement" complex - the idea that we allow ourselves to indulge more BECAUSE we exercise. I know I do this - after playing basketball for two hours at the RAC every Sunday night (quite a workout), I'd go out with the guys I played with and get appetizers or dessert at TGI Fridays. I seriously doubt I ever came out ahead on those - at best I broke even. This is especially true when exercise is social - you go running with your running group and then go to Starbucks afterwards and have a muffin and a latte. If you run 3 miles, you might cover the calories of half of the muffin.
One of the last things the article mentioned was that strenuous exercise may be causing us to be still and sedentary more of the rest of the time. I can say this true for me - on the days I did long marathon training runs, I didn't do ANYTHING else the rest of the day. Not only did I feel entitled not to do anything, my body just needed to rest from the abuse I just put to it. Whereas walking, mowing the lawn, vacuuming, etc. aren't strenuous enough on your body to make it just want to stop afterward (we may still be lazy and not doing anything afterward but that's another issue :)
I would never advocate that people stop exercising. And my rule #1 always applies in things like this - do what works for you! I just know in my experience that trying to lose weight through massive amounts of exercise can be frustrating if you don't get the results you are looking for.
Trust
I have to tip my hat to Caribou this morning - as they were getting my regular morning order (coffee) ready, I realized I didn't have my wallet with me. I went out to the car and it wasn't in there, I called Erin and he verified that it was at home. I went back inside and asked if they could keep the stuff there until I got back with my wallet. The person helping me (although they all know me by name now) said just take it and catch them tomorrow. I of course came right back and paid for it after I got my wallet, but it got me to thinking about the bigger picture of trust in our society today.
I'm not stupid and naive and I know there are people that will take advantage of you. That being said, I don't think I've really ever gone wrong starting on the side of trusting people. I think some businesses see this too - you treat people like criminals and they will act like criminals. Computers and the internet are a good example - software companies, music sellers, etc. have tried for years to put protections on their stuff (the worst examples of these being DRM on music). In the end they all fail. There is going to be a certain percentage of people who steal stuff regardless of what you do, and you aren't going to make money on them anyway. But most people will pay for good quality stuff at a reasonable price. Certainly companies should pursue people for stealing, and the government should have reasonable laws in place to help try and stop this from happening. But starting with the assumption that everyone will steal from you pretty much assures that it will happen.
Maybe I'm too much of an idealist, but that's my thought for the day.
I'm not stupid and naive and I know there are people that will take advantage of you. That being said, I don't think I've really ever gone wrong starting on the side of trusting people. I think some businesses see this too - you treat people like criminals and they will act like criminals. Computers and the internet are a good example - software companies, music sellers, etc. have tried for years to put protections on their stuff (the worst examples of these being DRM on music). In the end they all fail. There is going to be a certain percentage of people who steal stuff regardless of what you do, and you aren't going to make money on them anyway. But most people will pay for good quality stuff at a reasonable price. Certainly companies should pursue people for stealing, and the government should have reasonable laws in place to help try and stop this from happening. But starting with the assumption that everyone will steal from you pretty much assures that it will happen.
Maybe I'm too much of an idealist, but that's my thought for the day.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Breakfast that would have been in bed
I did not sleep well last night for awhile, and after finally falling back to sleep at 5:30am, I slept until 8:30 (which is unusual for me). In the meantime, Erin got up earlier and was preparing me a wonderful breakfast in bed - poached eggs with double bacon and holandaise sauce, grapes, and french press coffee! I ended up getting up just a little too early for
him to make it upstairs with everything, but I nonetheless enjoyed everything VERY MUCH!Yesterday between our day's activities, was some time for naps - for the kitties and Erin - a good picture of the event.
Friday, August 7, 2009
"smart" playlists
I hate to beat on Apple again, but then if they are supposed to be the leader in the personal entertainment electronics industry, I guess it's ok to complain!
One of the default "smart" playlists in iTunes groups music by decade - e.g. I have a "90's Music" playlist. Now, all the music I ripped from CD doesn't have a year filled into the year field, and that's my own problem - I knew that would be the case. However, music I've purchased from iTunes does have all its fields filled in, including year. And they're all wrong :) (ok MOSTLY wrong). It appears that, at best, the year that is filled in is the year of the album the song came from - meaning that if it was on a greatest hits album, which many older songs are, then it is labeled with that year - which is totally NOT what you would want if you were going to do a playlist called "90's music". And some of them I can't even figure out what year they have put in there - it doesn't seem to match anything.
If this is the worst problem of my day, then life is good. End of rant!
One of the default "smart" playlists in iTunes groups music by decade - e.g. I have a "90's Music" playlist. Now, all the music I ripped from CD doesn't have a year filled into the year field, and that's my own problem - I knew that would be the case. However, music I've purchased from iTunes does have all its fields filled in, including year. And they're all wrong :) (ok MOSTLY wrong). It appears that, at best, the year that is filled in is the year of the album the song came from - meaning that if it was on a greatest hits album, which many older songs are, then it is labeled with that year - which is totally NOT what you would want if you were going to do a playlist called "90's music". And some of them I can't even figure out what year they have put in there - it doesn't seem to match anything.
If this is the worst problem of my day, then life is good. End of rant!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
50th Ave
Finally took a little bike ride down the ever-under-construction 50th Avenue 3 blocks away from our house. They are FINALLY getting close to done - it appears to be one layer of asphault short of being finished - side trails are all done and sod is in.
Something interesting we found out that I didn't know about - even though 41st St doesn't yet go through to 50th Ave, when it does, the intersection will be aroundabout. Roundabouts are quite common in Europe and Mexico, and honestly are a very efficient way of handling traffic on the slightly less busy main roads (impractical for larger roads that really do need lights). Yet, they haven't caught on in America much. Rochester has a few - some by RCTC, one on Fox Valley Drive in the middle of a park. There's also a couple on the exit to the Medford Outlet mall from I-35. My hometown also put one in on a particularly bad intersection next to the new high school - quite a surprise when I went back last time. But the country is really still hooked on lights and 4-way stops. I hope this is a trend. I also hope they finish 41st St soon as that would be ultra-convenient for us.
Something interesting we found out that I didn't know about - even though 41st St doesn't yet go through to 50th Ave, when it does, the intersection will be aroundabout. Roundabouts are quite common in Europe and Mexico, and honestly are a very efficient way of handling traffic on the slightly less busy main roads (impractical for larger roads that really do need lights). Yet, they haven't caught on in America much. Rochester has a few - some by RCTC, one on Fox Valley Drive in the middle of a park. There's also a couple on the exit to the Medford Outlet mall from I-35. My hometown also put one in on a particularly bad intersection next to the new high school - quite a surprise when I went back last time. But the country is really still hooked on lights and 4-way stops. I hope this is a trend. I also hope they finish 41st St soon as that would be ultra-convenient for us.
Friday, July 31, 2009
The Death of Handwriting
A repost of friend Shelley's...
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1912419,00.html?xid=rss-topstories-cnnpartner
I have to admit I always thought cursive writing was a big waste of time. Why in the world would we learn to print in kindergarten, only to re-learn the whole thing in 3rd grade? And let me tell you, mine was bad - partly because I broke my arm in 4th grade during some of our main handwriting learning time, but partly because I'm just bad at writing. The minute I wasn't forced to use it, I stopped. And the minute I learned how to type more than 10 words a minute, I stopped writing altogether basically. I sign my name. I occasionally write a phone number or a grocery list.
I used to occasionally go through and write the whole cursive alphabet just to see if I could remember it, if I was somewhere bored and had absolutely nothing else to do. I'd now see this as a waste of time over twiddling my thumbs.
So, I don't mourn the death of handwriting at all - I think we all still need to learn to write, but not to the point of obsession, and certainly not cursive!!!!
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1912419,00.html?xid=rss-topstories-cnnpartner
I have to admit I always thought cursive writing was a big waste of time. Why in the world would we learn to print in kindergarten, only to re-learn the whole thing in 3rd grade? And let me tell you, mine was bad - partly because I broke my arm in 4th grade during some of our main handwriting learning time, but partly because I'm just bad at writing. The minute I wasn't forced to use it, I stopped. And the minute I learned how to type more than 10 words a minute, I stopped writing altogether basically. I sign my name. I occasionally write a phone number or a grocery list.
I used to occasionally go through and write the whole cursive alphabet just to see if I could remember it, if I was somewhere bored and had absolutely nothing else to do. I'd now see this as a waste of time over twiddling my thumbs.
So, I don't mourn the death of handwriting at all - I think we all still need to learn to write, but not to the point of obsession, and certainly not cursive!!!!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Home
While I could probably write pages and pages on the wonderful week's vacation Erin and I just returned from, I'll try to summarize :) This was a 2-part vacation, driven by the fantastic wedding of my friend John from college, and his (now) wife Lillian.
We started out last Wednesday evening driving to Roseville to stay with my wonderful cousin Cindy who always volunteers to be our bed and taxi service to the airport so we can save money on parking, extra flights from Rochester, and most of all sleep. We woke up at 4am and were at the airport by 5:15am ready for our 6:30 flight. After a short stop in Denver, lots of coffee, and another short flight to San Diego, we get there - and it's 10am Pacific time! The morning that never ends! Fortunately we had the whole day Thursday to relax, recover, and adjust to the
time zone (we went to bed at 7:30). Friday was a wonderful day seeing all the arriving old friends, as well as new friends at the wedding rehearsal (I had the honor of being a "grooms-person" - there were men and women on both sides of the wedding party, which I think was SO cool). Rehearsal dinner at a great Mexican place in Olde Town called Cafe Coyote, and back to the hotel for some sleep for the big day. Saturday the weather was beautiful (really always is there), not too hot, and was just perfect at 5:15pm when the wedding started (preceded by the wedding party men sharing So Co shots in my hotel room). Reception across the street at the Museum of Conteporary Art in La Jolla, overlooking the ocean (the hotel, church, and gallery were all within 2 blocks - awesome). Great appetizers, dinner, cake, dancing, and then quite a late-night after party at Jack's - La Jolla night club, which was quite upscale - John's grandma even attended!Sunday morning we got to have a leisurely breakfast with best friends John
& Jen and their 2 kids at a little place called The Cottage - a hidden treasure of a restaurant in La Jolla. Our flight left at 1:00pm to San Fran, so we hopped on the shuttle and arrived mid-afternoon, picked up our rental car, and made our way through downtown to our hotel on Fisherman's Wharf. Had it not been for our Sonoma wine tour which we really had to drive to, I think a car would not have been necessary, as it really was harder to drive and park anywhere than it was to take public transit. We walked around and had sourdough bread sandwiches for dinner Sunday evening, and made our way to Pier 33 for a boat trip and tour of Alcatraz - quite cool - by the time we got there it was getting foggy and darker, which made everything just a bit eerie and authentic.Monday, after breakfast at the IHOP which was attached to our hotel (Erin was VERY excited about this), we headed up the 101 across the Golden Gate Bridge - in the fog - which made it quite a cool experience. Weather was beautiful the rest of the way up, and really the rest of the day, for our wine tour in Sonoma. We had a small bus full of people and a great tour guide/driver and we managed to hit 5 wineries. I am now well educated in wine, and, sadly, probably very spoiled now, because I now know that the cheap $5 bottles of Yellow Tail just aren't the same as what we tasted out there - this wine was amazing. We even signed up for the Benziger Wine Club, which sends you 6 shipments a year of a couple bottles of their newest and finest. A short stop at The Red Grape pizzaria in Sonoma which had some of the best pizza I've ever had, and we headed back to San Fran, making a detour around the other side of the bay to pick up a friend of Erin's who was stuck without a car, to hang out and catch up with him.
Tuesday we slept a bit later in the morning and then realized we didn't really have time to figure out how to get to the Castro District for the Castro Tour we s
igned up for - so we drove - really probably not the smartest idea as it took forever to park and then it was 2-hour parking so we had to move the car. As it turned out it was ok, the tour was 2 hours, we moved the car, spent some more time walking around and eating lunch, and then headed back to the hotel via Golden Gate Park (really just drove through it, as we didn't have time to stop). Ghiradelli Square was on Erin's list of things to see, and 5 blocks from our hotel, so we went down to load up on chocolate-y goodness before dinner with some friends we met at John & Lillian's wedding in SD, at a place called Luna Park - this time we were smart enough to figure out the mass transit, which was much quicker and simpler to use than driving and parking!Early plane ride out of SF (9am) which meant getting up at 5:30am to get there, ditch the car, and get checked in. Short hop to Phoenix, longer ride to Minneapolis, picked up by Cindy, and off to home (there was an accident on 52 which took us some doing to get around, but nothing too bad). I'm sure we were more excited to see the kitties than they were to see us but they were there waiting!
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