The Lurker

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 21:07:40 GMT

It's possible that the lesson to be learned here is that this is a flawed test... ;o)

I would like to think it's not, but one must consider all possibilities.

New blog

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 20:56:25 GMT

For personal comments I am mostly transitioning to my new blog, Quantum Entanglement. If you happen to be interested, most of my personal notes/comments will be there in the future.

I will mostly (but probably not exclusively) use Livejournal for participation in different communities that I view, participate in, and debate in from time to time.

Sat, 08 Jul 2006 03:29:32 GMT

I really, really, really would like to have this available to me to organize my computer desktop. I think it would really help me and fit the way I think and organize stuff. (Having said that, it would also drive others nuts that wind up looking over my shoulder sometimes when I work...

Sun, 25 Jun 2006 02:42:43 GMT

When a computer hard drive tanks (craters, cashes in, kicks the bucket, dies, prepares itself for the trash heap...), it's a highly disruptive event.

When it happens on your notebook computer while at a business meeting out of town, it's a traumatic event.

When that notebook computer has much of the work you've done over the last few years, it feels somewhat catastrophic.

*sigh*

The ever popular (?!?) "Word of the Day"

Mon, 19 Jun 2006 09:16:15 GMT

Today's word is, "hubris."

For a formal definition, you can look here.

For a demonstration of hubris in action, simply look here and be astounded.

It is possible that I (or almost anybody else) could come across as arrogant at times. Most of us couldn't possibly hold a candle to these guys, though...

Sun, 11 Jun 2006 05:33:11 GMT

The word of the day is... patent troll.

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:02:13 GMT

There is a story about an attempt to halt the spread of "the despised cane toad" in Australia by introducing a gene that would cause future generations to all be male. Now, that may well be a good solution to the problem, but I found the following comment very funny:

"The expansion of the cane toad population is dependent on the number of females, because they lay between 7000 and 30,000 eggs, so this would limit the population."

Now, on the face of it that's fine.

But, really... the population is dependent on the number of females not chiefly because the females produce thousands of eggs, but because the males don't produce any.

Fri, 26 May 2006 03:04:44 GMT

This is sad.

Mon, 20 Mar 2006 05:26:48 GMT

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations - you got 10 out of 10 correct!

Could You Pass the US Citizenship Test?

(Shamelessly stolen from stephene)

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 21:05:42 GMT

I'm not slacking!

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 16:14:03 GMT

I'm becoming a genius...

4. "It takes a lot of time to be a genius; you have to sit around so much doing nothing, really doing nothing."
-- Gertrude Stein (1874 - 1946), U.S. writer.

Who am I?

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 16:35:54 GMT

There might be some good

to go along with the bad.

So... who am I?

Ugh

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 15:55:06 GMT

I hate that when I got home from playing basketball last night the question wasn't whether I needed to ice, but rather what body parts needed the ice the most.

I also hate it that when I was walking down for some coffee in the office this morning a co-worker looked at me and said, "oh, basketball last night?" just from the way I was walking.

*grumble*

The things you learn...

Wed, 02 Nov 2005 06:16:01 GMT

When I taught high school I sometimes told my students that any day in which you learned something was a successful day.

Using that criteria, today was a successful day.

Today I learned if a doctor looks at your toe a couple of days after the accident and says, "That looks really good!" that they are using a totally different scale of "goodness" than you've ever used. ;o)

BANG!

Thu, 13 Oct 2005 03:39:25 GMT

Have you ever been in a car when the airbags went off?

They are loud.

I mean... really, really loud.

*sigh*

Review of Serenity - The Movie

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 06:01:36 GMT

I did get to go see the premier of Serenity on Tuesday. I am planning to write a more complete review later, but for now here is my comment.

I'm sorry I haven't yet written a full review of Serenity yet. The problem, you see, is that I enjoyed the movie enough that I have since been spending my few hours of free time watching the episodes of Firefly (upon which the movie is based).

Perhaps 'nuff said?

It was outstanding.

Serenity!

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 17:11:58 GMT

So... today is the day of the screening "Blogger's Bonanza." I'm going with a friend of mine from work (two tickets, but my wife is playing mom tonight, unfortunately), so I'll include his thoughts in my review tonight, too.

I'll be honest. When I heard about this while "free tickets for bloggers" thing, my first reaction was one of skepticism. (Okay... that's not quite true. My first reaction was "Hey! Free stuff!" After that, though, I was skeptical. Why would they give me free tickets if the movie was any good?) I've been doing some research, though, and now I'm really looking forward to this movie.

I've spoken (either in person or online) with several people that saw the original series, Firefly, when it was on. Every single one of them spoke highly of it, and expressed excitement about the release of the movie. Since it seems to have much the same creative team and much of the same cast for the movie, that's encouraging.

As an aside for those that might be interested, the SciFi channel is running all 11 episodes of the original series this week. Fire up the Tivo!

Interesting

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 13:52:26 GMT

You are a
Social Moderate
(55% permissive)

and an...
Economic Conservative
(73% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Capitalist

Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid

The original iPod nano ad?

Fri, 23 Sep 2005 20:04:27 GMT

Okay, maybe not.

A great spoof, though.

Enjoy.

Blogging perks?

Thu, 22 Sep 2005 21:10:25 GMT

Are there perks to this kind of disjointed, whatever topic comes to mind, politics, personal, family, sports, movie, entertainment, games, rambling online conversation?

Is there any reason to do this?

I've never heard a great answer to that question, other than vague (and usually somewhat silly) generalities about a psychological need to feel connected, or to feel like somebody is listening, or to claim one's 15 minutes of fame. Today, though, that all changed.

No, really. It did.

Today there is a real, honest-to-goodness, tangible benefit to blogging.

I get a pair of free tickets to go see a movie, Serenity, at an advance screening. What did I have to do in order to get these tickets? I simply had to agree to write the most stunningly positive and glowing review a movie has ever received! (Okay, not really. I just made that part up.)

I simply agreed to blog a review of the movie - positive or negative.

If you're not familiar with it, the movie is the feature film based on the short-lived television series Firefly. The synopsis of the film (from the filmmakers) is as follows:

Joss Whedon, the Oscar® - and Emmy - nominated writer/director responsible for the worldwide television phenomena of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL and FIREFLY, now applies his trademark compassion and wit to a small band of galactic outcasts 500 years in the future in his feature film directorial debut, Serenity. The film centers around Captain Malcolm Reynolds, a hardened veteran (on the losing side) of a galactic civil war, who now ekes out a living pulling off small crimes and transport-for-hire aboard his ship, Serenity. He leads a small, eclectic crew who are the closest thing he has left to family –squabbling, insubordinate and undyingly loyal.

So... in return for doing something I would kind of enjoy doing anyway, I get to go see a movie that I probably wouldn't have made time to see right away. Based on the previews, I fully expect it to be a highly enjoyable movie, so I'm looking forward to that.

It's really a win-win-don't lose situation.

The movie guys get a little added publicity... wait - since I'm now a movie reviewer I should use the lingo. They get a little extra BUZZ surrounding their movie.

I get free movie tickets.

You - well... you get to read what an aerospace engineer in Dallas thinks of the movie. I'll be honest - you might be getting shafted in the whole "benefits" department here...

I'll see the movie on the 27th. My review will be posted that night or the following morning.

Bye!

UPDATE: I got confirmation by email today (9/24/05) that I am "in" for this showing. How cool is that?

An Open Letter

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 20:27:38 GMT

To Whom It May Concern:

If this applies to you, you probably don't know know it. Ask the people around you. They know.

I was driving behind you (and there were a LOT of you) during my commute this morning. Thanks to my finely tuned mental abilities (or perhaps the somewhat dazed sleepiness from getting up so early), I could practically hear your thoughts as you drove. They went something like this:

Oh my.

Look. Look at that. There are flashing lights up ahead way over on the left side. I've never seen flashing lights like that before.

I wonder what happened.

I'd better slow down and take a closer look.

Oh, MY! There's been an accident! There are two... TWO!!!... vehicles involved. And the police responded. Imagine that!

Well... even though it's WAAAAAAYYYYY over there, I'd better slow down a little more so I can see bette... I mean, so I don't cause a hazard.

(BA-BUMP! BA-BUMP!)

Oopsie! I seem to have strayed somewhat from my lane and hit those little bump thingies on the road. I wonder why they put those there. They're kind of noisy. Fortunately the guy next to me had his neck craned all the way to the left, too, so he didn't notice.

I'm almost past the accident now and I still haven't really seen much damage. It must all be on the other side of the car. I'd better slow down more so I can fully appreciate the catastro... rather, so there's no danger of me hitting emergency workers or anything.

Huh. That was fascinating. All those pretty lights. I can still see them in the rear-view mirror. I'd better keep my attention up there. You never know when such an opportunity will arise again!

Such pretty lights...

Now, I'm going to make a couple of assumptions. First, since you are on the freeways during this time, you almost certainly share my commute with me on a daily basis. As such, I have a news flash for you. You see these on average at least once a day.

PLEASE MOVE ALONG!

Thank you.

Thu, 08 Sep 2005 21:01:12 GMT

stephene pointed out to me the other day that I haven't posted anything here for a LONG time.

But... today is not the day to change that. I will post an update soon. =oD

On parenting...

Mon, 09 May 2005 12:59:06 GMT

Being a parent is a wonderful thing. It is a great privilege.

Most days it is easy to remember how great it is to be a parent.

Then there are the days in which your son ends a conversation with (and this is an exact quote):

"By the way, the toilet is overflowing and won't stop running."

It's time for a change...

Thu, 05 May 2005 19:45:00 GMT

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 22:28:25 GMT

Find the problem with this story. (Okay... it's not that hard - I've pointed it out. =oP )

TAMPA (AP) — A woman who lives four miles south of Tampa International
Airport claimed she was sprayed by fuel dumped from a jet flying low over
her neighborhood.
The accusation was denied by both airport and federal officials. (Related
column: Why do planes have to dump fuel for emergency landings?)

Vicki Morris, 51, a real estate agent, said she was on her daily walk Monday
night when the alleged incident occurred. She said she heard a whooshing
sound, consistent with a plane hovering overhead, and then felt a mist
accompanied by a strong fuel odor.

"It was like someone had poured kerosene to start a fire," said Morris, who
said she had difficulty breathing and experienced tingling of her skin and
scalp after the incident.

Airport spokeswoman Brenda Geoghagan said there was no emergency that would
have forced a jet to dump its fuel Monday night, and Federal Aviation
Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen concurred.

"There was no emergency declared and no authorized dumping of fuel" in the
area of Morris' claim, Bergen said.

Morris said she went through three bottles of air freshener while battling
the scent, which was still slightly detectable in her neighborhood early
Tuesday.

Jet fuel is a known carcinogen that causes irritation to eyes, nausea,
headaches and lightheadedness.